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HISTORY 



OF THE 



TOWN OF EXETER 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



By CHARLES H. BELL. 



EXETER: 
THE QUARTER-MILLENNIAL YEAR. 

1888. 



PRESS OF 
E. FARWELL & CO. 
BOSTON. 



PREFACE. 



My chief aim iu preparing this history has been to make it 
useful. I have quoted largely from the manuscript records of the 
town, because they are liable to be destroyed, and what is in 
print is safe. For the same reason, and for the benefit of gene- 
alogists, I have given many lists of early names. 

A town history is valuable almost in proportion to the accessi- 
bility of its contents. For the sake of ease of reference I have 
made a general classification of subjects in the present work ; 
have introduced numerous sub-titles ; have arranged all consider- 
able lists of names in alphabetical order ; have given a full table 
of contents at the beginning and a sufficient index at the end. 
Classification necessitates some repetition, but that is of small 
consequence in comparison with the advantages of the method. 

A complete genealogical history of Exeter is a desideratum. 
But it would be a work of years. In this volume will be found 
all the information deemed most valuable to the investigator of 
family history, which is contained in the records of the town ; 
to wit : all the " family registers " iu auy books ; all the marriages 
and births in the first (oldest) book, and all the deaths in the 
same, before the year 1800. 

In addition to these I have added, from other sources, the fol- 
lowing : excerpts from the records of old Norfolk county, Massa- 
chusetts ; a list of all the baptisms of children in Exeter, by the 
Rev. Woodbridge Odliu, between 1743 and 1763 ; a list of all the 
publishments of intentions of marriage in the town between 1783 
and 1800. These lists may properly be termed new, as they are 



iv PREFACE. 

taken from manuscripts which have not been open to public 
inspection. 

The orthography of proper names has been a source of per- 
plexity. A uniform rule is hard to fix and harder to follow. In 
spite of the best intentions variations have crept in. My only 
consolation is that I have probably not spelt names in half so 
many ways as their owners did. 

My thanks are especially due to Professor Bradbury L. Cilley 
for the unlimited use of the manuscripts of his grandfather, the 
Hon. John Kelly, and of the late William Smith, Esq., each of 
whom planned a histor^^ of the town ; also to John Ward Dean, 
Esq., of Boston, and to my townsmen Messrs. George W, Dear- 
born, John T. Perry, William H. Belknap, Edward Giddings and 
many others who have most obligingly aided me in obtaining 
information. 

It would be idle to suppose that this work is free from mistakes. 
In writing the history of a town the difficulties may be said to be 
in a direct ratio to the remoteness of the period treated of. 
Exeter being two hundred and fifty years old. the information 
respecting it has had to be gleaned from a multitude of sources, 
and the liabilities to errors of all kinds are correspondingly 
increased. The greatest care and pains have been bestowed, 
however, to insure accuracy, and it is hoped that mistakes Avill 
not be found to be immerous or important. 

My townsmen will of course note many omissions, due for the 
most part to limited time and space. It is not believed that they 
will seriously detract from the value of the work to others. 

Charles H. Bell. 



CONTENTS. 



MUNICIPAL. 



CHAPTER I. 



Exeter as an Independent Republic. — The Rev. John "V^Tieelwright ; 
the deeds from the Indians; the disputed Indian deed of 1629; trials of 
the opening year; the first church; another Indian deed; the Combina- 
tion ; the first criminal proceeding ; the Elders' oath ; the oath of the 
people ; first allotment of lands ; notices of early settlers ; early enact- 
ments. . . • . . • • • • • 3 — 43 

CHAPTER II. 

Exeter under the Massachusetts Government. — The conditions of 
annexation ; the fishery ; the care of the cattle ; the staple commodity ; 
project for a change of government ; number and names of inhabi- 
tants 44 — 61 

CHAPTER III. 

Exeter under the New Hampshire Provincial Government. — 
Gove's rebellion against Cranfield ; Robert Tufton Mason's land suits ; 
resistance to illegal taxation ; the province -without a government ; 
specimens of early town accounts; the mast-tree riot of 1734; a dis- 
orderly election ; demonstration against the stamp act ; patriotic action 
of the town in 1770; another patriotic expression of the town; help for 
the suffering poor of Boston; the census of 1775; the earliest written 
Constitution 62 — 89 

CHAPTER IV. 

Exeter under the State Government. — The Association test of 
1776; first reading of the Declaration of Independence ; the evils of a 
paper currency ; the paper money mob of 1786 ; the Convention for the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution ; the visit of Washington ; court- 
house, fire engine, library, etc. ; honors to the memory of Washington ; 
temperance; War of 1812; prayer in town meetings; support of the 
poor ; celebration of bi-centennial anniversary ; re-naming streets ; new 
court-house ; lighting streets ; sidewalks ; steam fire engine ; water 
works. . . . • . • • • • .90 — 111 



Vi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

Boundaries and Divisions ; Roads and Bridges. — The Hampton 
bound of 1653 ; the Dover bound of 1653 ; Captain Thomas AViggin's 
deed of gift ; enlargement of Exeter bounds ; Squamscot Patent under 
Exeter government ; townships carved from Exeter territory ; highways, 
their location, laying out and repairs ; bridges ; the village streets. 

112 — 128 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Common Lands. — Lands of Edward and William Hilton ; grants of 
town lands ; list of distributees of land as reported in 1725 ; proceedings 
to hasten a distribution ; final distribution. . . . 129 — 146 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Officers of the Town. — List of toMn officers : rulers ; assistant rulers ; 
town clerks ; selectmen ; moderators ; representatives. . 147 — 152 



ECCLESIASTICAL. 
CHAPTER VIII. 

The First Religious Society. — Attempts to get a pastor, after j\Ir. 
Wheelwright's departure ; Mr. Dudley engaged ; new house of worship ; 
difficulty of paying salary ; fears of losing Mr. Dudley ; death of Mr. 
Dudley ; Elder Wentworth temjjorarily employed. . . 155 — 170 

CHAPTER IX. 

The First Society and its Offshoots. — A new meeting-house; re- 
organization of the church ; death of Mr. Clark ; engagement of Mr. 
John Odlin ; parish of Newmarket set off; a new meeting-house ; 
Epping parish set off; Brentwood parish set off; Rev. Woodbridge 
Odlin, colleague ; second parish incorporated ; succession of pastors, 
Isaac Mansfield, William F. Rowland, John Smith, William Williams, 
Joy H. Fairchild, Roswell D. Hitchcock, William D. Hitchcock, Nathan- 
iel Lasell, Elias Nason, John O. Barrows, Swift Byington. 171 — 193 

CHAPTER X. 

The Second Parish; Other Religious Societies. — Rev. Daniel 
Rogers; his epitaph; Joseph Brown ; Isaac Hurd ; Asa Mann; Orpheus 
T. Lanphear ; John W. Chickering, Jr. ; George E. Street ; Quakers ; 
the Baptist society ; the Universalist society ; the Christian society ; 
the Methodist society ; the Advent society ; the Roman Catholic 
society; the Unitarian society ; the Episcopal society. . 194 — 211 



CONTENTS. vii 

MILITARY. 

CHAPTER XL 

The Indian and French Wars. — Philip's war; King William's -war; 
services of Exeter men ; a fortunate escape ; Queen Anne's war ; Colonel 
Wintkrop Hilton's expeditions ; his death; occurrences of 1712; assault 
upon the Rollins family ; the Louisburg expedition ; roll of Captain 
Light's company; occurrences of 1746; the Crown Point expeditions ; 
Captain Nathaniel Folsom at Lake George ; capitulation of Fort William 
Henry; inventory of Major John Oilman's losses; later expeditions 
against French posts ; the Exeter Cadets. . . . 215 — 239 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Revolution and the War of 1812. — The powder from Fort Wil- 
liam and Mary ; the Exeter volunteers march to Cambridge ; Exeter 
soldiers in 1775; in 1776; in 1777; in 1778; in 1779; in 1780; in 
1781 ; supplies furnished by the town to soldiers' families; the War of 
1812; roll of Captain Nathaniel Oilman's company; roll of Captain 
James Thom's company. 240 — 259 

CHAPTER Xin. 

The War for the Union. — Exeter soldiers in the several New Hampshire 
regiments ; in the military or naval service. Notices of officers, Oen. 
Oilman Marston ; Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Pearson ; Lieutenant 
Colonel Moses N. Collins ; Captain Albert M. Perkins. . 260 — 282 

EDUCATIONAL. 
CHAPTER XIV. 

The Schools and Academies. — Law of INLassachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire ; list of early instructors ; town orders concerning schools; forma- 
tion of school districts ; the Robinson Female Seminary ; the Phillips 
Exeter Academy ; the Female Academy. ... . 285 — 300 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Press. — The earliest newspaper ; first New Testament printed in the 
State ; samples of early journalism ; the NcAvs-Letter ; the Oazette and 
present publications ; contributors to the press. . . 301 — 314 

INDUSTRIAL. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Mills and Manufactures. — The first saw-mill ; Pickpocket falls granted ; 
CraAvley's falls; Pickpocket; paper-mills; powder-mills; "falls of the 
Squamscot ;" Exeter Manufacturing Company; other water-mills. 

317 — 334 



viii CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Busixiiss AND Trade. — Lumbering; ship-building; pottery; duck manu- 
factory ; saddlery and carriages ; hats; ^vool ; leather; the earlier mer- 
chants ; banks; insurance companies 3oo — 348 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Judges and Lawyers. —John Oilman; Robert Wadleigh ; Kinsley Hall ; 
Peter Coffin ; Richard Hilton ; Xicholas Oilman ; Samuel Oilman ; 
X'icholas Perryman ; X'^oah Emery ; William Parker ; John Pickering ; 
Oliver Peabody ; Nathaniel Parker ; Oeorge Sullivan ; Moses Hodgdon; 
Solon Stevens ; Jeremiah Smith ; James Thom ; Joseph Tilton ; Jotham 
Lawrence ; Stephen Peabody ; Jeremiah Fellowes ; Oeorge Lamson ; 
AA'illiam Smith ; Oliver W. B. Peabody ; John Sullivan ; Samuel T. 
Oilman; James Bell; John Kelly; Timothy Farrar; Amos Tuck; 
Henry F. French ; John S. Wells ; William W. Stickney ; Alva Wood ; 
Oeorge C. Peavey ; other lawyers. .... 349 — 377 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Medical Mex. — Thomas Deane ; Josiah Oilman; Dudley Odlin ; Robert 
Oilman ; Eliphalet Hale ; John Oiddingc ; John Odlin ; Nathaniel Oil- 
man ; Caleb O. Adams; Joseph Tilton; Samuel Tenney ; X'athaniel 
Peabody ; William Parker, Jr., X'athan X^orlh ; AVilliam Perry ; David 
W. Oorham ; Samuel B. Swett ; other physicians. . . 378 — 389 

CHAPTER XX. 

Families and Individuals. — Dudley family; Folsom family; Leavitt 
family; Thing family ; Conner family ; Lyford family ; Robinson family; 
Smith families ; Odlin family ; Barker, Colcord, DoUoft', Kimball, Shute 
and others. Jonathan Cass; Enoch Poor; John Rogers; James Bur- 
ley ; Samuel Hatch ; Seth Walker ; Joseph Pearson ; Waddy V. Cobbs; 
John C. Long. The colored population. . . . 390 — 399 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Homicides; Burial-places; The "White Caps." — Mrs. Willix ; John- 
son; John Wadleigh ; Mrs. Ferguson; first four public burial-places; 
the cemetery ; other burial-places. The " White caps ;" their search for 
hidden treasure. ........ 403 — 414 



CONTENTS. ix 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Things New and Old. — Trees: the oldest elm; early houses ; the Clif- 
ford house ; Dean house ; Ladd house ; Rowland house ; Odiorne 
house; Hildreth house ; Peabodj- house ; Oilman house ; Tilton house ; 
other old houses ; statistics; societies; localities. . . 415 — 428 

APPENDIX. 

I. The Indian deed of 1629 to Wheelwright and others. II. Transcripts of 
the Exeter Records, 1639 to 1644. III. Extracts from Hon. Jeremiah 
Smith's bi-centennial address, 183S. .... 431 — 469 

GENEALOGICAL. 

Family Registers, from the Exeter Records. Marriages, from the Exe- 
ter Records. Births, from the town Records. Deaths, prior to the 
year 1800, from the town Records. Births, Deaths and Marriages 
from the earliest town Records. Marriages, Births and Deaths 
from the Records of old Norfolk county, in Massachusetts. Baptisms 
of children in the First society, from 1743 to 1763. Publishments of 
intentions of marriage, from 1783 to 1800. . . . 3 §2 



CORRECTIONS. 



Page 149, Thomas Deane, Nathaniel Webster and Josiah Oilman were 
selectmen in 1741. 
" 151, John Oilman was representative in 1697 as well as in 1693. ^^ 
" 219, line 38, for Huntson, read Huntoon. 
" 220, note, for Edward, read N'athaniel, Swasey. . 
" 239, line 13, for lieutenant. Colonel, read lieutenant colonel. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Fac-simile of Exeter " Combination " 

re-subscribed April 2, 1640 
Plan of the village of Exeter in 1802 
Exeter with its sub-divisions 
Plan of the township of Exeter in 1802 



drawn July 4, 1639; 




• ■ • • ■ 


Frontis. 


• • • • • 


Page 103 


• • • • • 


" 121 


■ ■ • • • 


" 317 



MUNICIPAL. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



CHAPTER I. 

EXETER AS AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC. 

The river Pascataqua which forms the bound, next the sea, 
between New Hampshire and Maine, may, with its tributaries, be 
rudely represented by a man's left hand and wrist laid upon a 
table, back upwards and fingers wide apart. The thumb would 
stand for the Salmon Falls or Newichwannock river, the forefinger 
for Bellamy river, the second finger for Oyster river, the third for 
Lamprey river and the fourth for Exeter or Squamscot river ; 
while the palm of the hand would represent the Great Bay, into 
which most of those streams pour their waters, and the wrist the 
Pascataqua proper. 

Before the foundation of Exeter there were but two organized 
settlements within the limits of New Hampshire, the one at the 
mouth of the Pascataqua about Strawberr}' Bank, now Ports- 
mouth ; the other about Dover at the confluence of the Salmon 
Falls and the Pascataqua. Both settlements were straggling, 
small and weak, being wholly self-ruled, for as yet there was no 
general government in New Hampshire. The Europeans who 
composed the population had most of them come thither to better 
their worldly condition by fishery and trade, and with no purpose 
of a religious character. The greater number of them were bred 
in the English church, and had little sympathy with the Puritans 
of the Massachusetts Bay. 

Besides the inhabitants of these two settlements there were a 
few scattered dwellers along the Pascataqua and its aflfluents. 
Two of the most prominent of these, Edward Hilton and Thomas 
Wiggin, belong to Exeter history. Hilton was originally a fish- 
monger in the city of London, and emigrated to this country in 
1623, doubtless with the expectation of engaging in the fishery 
here. He settled in Dover at what is now styled the Point, and 
after seven years obtained from the Council of Pl3niiouth, under 
the authority of the British Crown, a grant of lands on the upper 



4 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Pascataqufi, known as the Hilton or Squamscot Patent. It em- 
braced Dover Point and a belt of territory south of the Pascataqua 
and east of the Squamscot, three miles in breadth, and extending 
to the falls of the latter river, at what is now Exeter. This grant 
afterwards passed into the hands of a company who appointed 
Captain Thomas Wiggin their agent. 

Hilton and Wiggin had before 1640 both quitted Dover, and 
planted themselves on opposite sides of the Squamscot, and within 
three or four miles of the falls. There they were found by the 
company who settled Exeter, on their arrival, or soon afterward, 
Hilton domiciled in what is now South Newmarket, and Wiggin 
in what is now Stratham. Both were men of enterprise and natu- 
ral leaders, and each, no doubt, had his retainers about him. Hil- 
ton was attached, in a quiet way, to the observances of the Eng- 
lish church, and, consequently, was held in small consideration by 
the Puritan authorities of the Massachusetts Bay, when they came 
subsequently to rule over the New Hampshire settlements. Wig- 
gin's religious professions harmonized more nearly with their own, 
and he consequently enjoyed a much greater share of their appro- 
bation and confidence. 

If we are to credit tradition there were three other persons 
dwelling at the falls of the Squamscot before the arrival of 
the company of Wheelwright in 1638. These were Ealph Hall, 
Thomas Leavitt and Thomas Wilson, all of whom were located on 
the eastern side of the river, while most of the other early comers 
chose the western side. Hall and Leavitt were young men, and 
may, for aught we know, have been tlie pioneers of the settle- 
ment ; but the antecedents of Wilson leave little room to doubt 
that he was of Wheelwright's company. 

The falls of the Squamscot, round which the village of Exeter 
has clustered from the beginning, are formed by the passage of a 
beautiful inland stream over a succession of ledges into a broad 
basin below, where its waters mingle with the tides from the sea. 
This was a well known fishing place of the Indians. The country 
around was covered, for the most part, with dense forests, broken 
here and there by tracts of natural meadow, and by marshes bor- 
dering upon the tide-water. 

On the third day of April, 1638, the Eev. John Wheelwright 
purchased l:)y a deed from the local sagamore and his son, a re- 
lease of the right of the Indian occupants to this localit}^ and to a 
tract of the surrounding country, thirty miles in extent, reaching 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 5 

from the Dorthern boundary of the Massachusetts Bay ou the 
south, to the Pascataqua patents on the east, and on the north to 
Oyster river. His purpose in making the purchase was to begin 
a settlement, to which he gave the name of Exeter.* 

THE REV. JOHN M^HEELWRIGHT. 

Mr. Wheelwright, who is justly styled the founder of Exeter, 
deserves a more extended notice. He was born in or near the 
hamlet of Saleby in Lincolnshire, England, probably in the early 
part of the year 1592. His father was a man of sufficient means 
to afford him a university education, and to leave him heir to some 
freehold property. At Sidney College, Cambridge, he gained his 
bachelor's degree in 1614, and that of M. A. four years later. 
One of his fellow collegians was the famous Oliver Cromwell, who 
afterwards bore testimony to his athletic vigor and pluck, "that 
he was more afraid of meeting AVheelwright at football than he 
had been since of meeting an army in the field, for he was infalli- 
bly sure of being tripped up by him." Mr. Wheelwright was 
married on the eighth of November, 1G21, to Marie, daughter of 
the Rev. Thomas Storre, vicar of Bilsby, in the county of Lincoln ; 
and on the ninth of April, 1623, having taken holy orders, on the 
death of his father-in-law, succeeded him in the vicarage. He is 
described as a faithful and zealous minister ; but like many able 
and conscientious men of his time, he was led to question the au- 
thority of certain dogmas and observances of the English church, 
until he found himself at length arrayed in the ranks of the Puri- 
tans, so that after about ten years he was silenced by the ecclesi- 
astical powers, for non-conformity. He continued to reside in 
England for two or three years afterwards and then emigrated to 
the new world. He took with him his wife by a second marriage, 
Mary, daughter of Edward Hutchinson of Alford, and his five 
children, and landed in Boston on the twenty-sixth of May, 1636. 

There he soon became highly esteemed, insomuch that after 
about six months, it was proposed by some of the members of the 
Boston church that he should be settled over them as a second 
teacher, in conjunction with the Rev. John Wilson and the Rev. 



» Of course this name was borrowed from Exeter in England. The cause of its se- 
lection is unknown. There is no evidence that Wheelwright ever had any acquaint- 
ance with the English Exeter, and the only one of his companions who is known to 
have come from that place, or its vicinity, was Godfrey Dearborn. 



(3 . HISTOPvY OF EXETER. 

John Cotton, two of the most eminent divines of the colony. But 
upon some objection beiug made to this, Mr. Wheelwright was 
placed in charge of a new church gathered at Mount Wollaston, 
afterwards Braiutree and now Quincy ; and i-eceived a grant of 
two liundred acres of land there. 

About this time Anne Hutchinson, a woman of keen wit and 
dominant disposition, the wife of William Hutchinson, a brother 
of Wheelwright's second wife, rendered herself a conspicuous 
fiffure in the reli2,ious circles of Boston. With the fondness for 
theological speculations which was characteristic of that age, she 
had adopted some opinions not in unison with those of the major- 
ity of the ministers and elders of the Massachnsetts Bay, and was 
in the habit of enunciating them in the shape of criticisms on their 
sermons and doctrines, at weekly meetings of the sisterhood held 
at her house in Boston. These heterodox opinions were the merest 
theoretic abstractions imaginable, such as that "the person of the 
Holy Ghost dwells in a justified person," and that " no sanctifica- 
tion can help to evidence to us our justification," and the like, and 
had no possible relation to the practical concerns of life. Their 
opponents, however, gave them the bad name of "Antinomian." 
But Wheelwright also professed the same views in the main, and 
Cotton timidly indorsed them, while a large proportion of the 
members of the Boston church approved them. All this was bit- 
terly unpalatable to the authorities of church and state (who were 
substantially the same) in the Massachusetts Bay, and they took 
counsel together how to suppress the rising heresy. Excommuni- 
cation of the offenders was the obvious remedy ; iDut as l)y far the 
greater part of the Boston church were in sympathy with them, 
there was danger that in the attempt to apply that remedy the 
movers might find themselves victims instead of victors. They 
therefore resolved on other and safer measures. 

Apparently every utterance of Wheelwright was strictly 
watched, to find cause of accusation against him. At length the 
desired pretext was obtained, in a sermon which he preached on a 
Fast day in Boston, on the nineteenth of January, 1636-7. It is 
impossible for any unprejudiced person of our time to discover in 
this production, which is still extant, anything to cause alarm to 
the most timorous heart, but to the jaundiced eyes of the Massa- 
chusetts rulers of that day, it seemed to be filled with threatenings 
of ruin and destruction. And tliey determined that out of his dis- 
course they would find matter for his condemnation. It would 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 7 

require too much space to follow in detail the various proceedings 
which they instituted against Wheelwright. First, the great and 
Greueral Court, backed by an advisory counsel of the clergy, pro- 
nounced him guilty of "sedition and contempt of the civil author- 
ity." Wheelwright was not daunted by this. The next applica- 
tion was a synod of the clergy of the colony, who, after a laborious 
session of twenty-four days, condemned no less than eighty-two 
erroneous opinions, which they alleged had been brought to New 
England and " spread underhand there." Wheelwright attended 
the meetings of the synod, and, of course, understood very well 
that its conclusions were in effect, if not by name, a condemna- 
tion of his position and course ; but he did not swerve a hair's 
breadth for that. Then his prosecutors determined to oust him 
b}' force. The General Court was to be the instrument; and in 
order to make sure of a majority of deputies who would perform 
their beliests, the authorities resorted to the extraordinary course 
of a special election. Before this tribunal, thus organized to con- 
vict, Wheelwright appeared and pleaded not guilty. To such a 
trial there could be but one ending. For the offences of which he 
had previously been found guilty, " and for now justifying himself 
and his former practice, being to the disturbance of the civil 
peace," he was by the court disfranchised and banished. 

Wheelwright was not the only victim. Mrs. Hutchinson also 
was banished from the colony, and several of their adherents were 
"disarmed" — deprived of all weapons — an ignominious and 
harsh punishment at that time when the means of protection and 
defence were so essential. Thus one of the earliest acts of those 
who emigrated hither to obtain their religious freedom, was to 
establish a religious despotism. The poor pretence that the act 
was necessary for the maintenance of "the civil peace," finds no 
justification in any fact which the most prejudiced apologist has 
been able to urge in its favor. 

The sentence against Wheelwright was pronounced early in 
November, 1637, and he was allowed two weeks to depart out of 
the jurisdiction. Much to the surprise of many, instead of accom- 
panying his sister-in-law to Rhode Island, where he would have 
been welcomed to an asylum of religious freedom, he turned his 
face towards the far less inviting solitude of the falls of the 
Squamscot. It is probable that he sailed from Boston to the 
mouth of the Pascataqua in a coaster belonging to John Clark, 
afterwards of Rhode Island, one of his sympathizers ; and then 



8 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

made his difficult way overland to his destination. The succeed- 
ing inclement season he must have passed in the rude cabin of 
some neighboring settler, perhaps that of Edward Hilton. It was 
a bitter winter, and the snow covered the ground to the depth of 
three feet, from the fourth of November to the fifth of the follow- 
ing March. 

But no sooner were the icy chains of winter loosed, than the 
resolute and indefatigable Wheelwright began to bestir hbnself in 
making preparations for his new settlement. 

THE DEEDS FROM THE INDIANS. 

The release of the Indians' right to the lands in and about Exe- 
ter was contained in two deeds which are still preserved, and are 
here given, with the original orthography and contractions. 

Know all men by these presents that I Wehanownowit Sagamore 
of piskatoquake for good considerations me therevnto mouing & 
for certen comodys which I have received have graunted & sould 
vnto John Whelewright of piscatoquake, Samuel Hutchinson & 
Augustine Stor of Boston Edward Calcord & Darby Field of pis- 
catoquake & John Compton of Roxbury and Nicholas Needome of 
Mount Walliston all the right title & interest in all such lauds, 
woods, meadows, riuers, brookes springs as of right belong vnto 
me from Merimack riuer to the patents of piscatoquake bounded 
w""'' the South East side of piscatoquake patents & so to goe into 
the Country north West thirty miles as far as oyster riuer to haue 
& to hold the same to them & their heires forever, onely the ground 
w'^ is broken up excepted. & that it shall be lawfull for the said 
Sagamore to huut & fish & foul in the said limits. In Witness 
whereof I haue hereunto set my hand the 3*^ day of April 1638. 
Signed & possession giuen. These being present 

James Wall. 

James, his m'ke Wehanownowit his m'ke. 

his W. C. m'ke. 
William Cole 

his M m'ke. 
Lawrence Cowpland 

Know all men by these p''sents y' I Wehanownowitt Sagamore of 
Puschataquake for a certajne some of money to mee in hand payd 
& other m''chandable comodities wch I haue reed as likewise for 
other good causes & considerations mee y'' imto spetially mouing 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 9 

haue granted barganed alienated & sould vnto John Wheelewright 
of Pischataqua & Augustine Storr of Bostone all those Lands 
woods Medowes Marshes rivers brookes springs with all the app""- 
tenances emoluments pfitts comoditys there unto belonging lying , 
and situate within three miles of the Northerne side of y*" river 
Meremake extending thirty miles along by the river from the sea 
side & from the sayd river side to Pischataqua Patents thirty Miles 
vp into the countrey North West & soe from the ffalls of Pischa- 
taqua to Oyster river thirty Miles square ev'y way, to haue & to 
hould the same to them & y'' heyres for euer only the ground wch is 
broaken vp is excepted & it shall bee lawfull for y'' sayd Saga- 
more to hunt fish & foule in the sayd lymitts. In witnesse w'of I 
have hereunto sett my hand & scale the third day of Aprill 1G38. 

Signed sealed & deliv'ed & 
possession given in the p'sence of 

James his m'ke Aspamabough 
his m'ke 

Edward Calcord Wehanownowit his m'ke. 

Nicholas Needham Pummadockyou* his m'ke. 

AVilliam Furbar the Sagamore's son 

It will be observed that in the description of the premises re- 
leased, the main difference between these two instruments was in 
regard to the southern boundary ; in the former deed it was a line 
three miles north of the Merrimac river ; in the latter it was the 
river itself. The occasion of this duplication of the title-deeds 
was, in all likelihood, the want of knowledge of the exact location 
of the northern limit of Massachusetts ; and the intention was to 
claim to that limit, and to rely on whichever of the deeds the 
better sustained that claim. 

The change of grantees named in the deeds indicates that there 
could have been no intention of vesting the title in them person- 
ally ; and, accordingly, it will be found that they never assumed 
the ownership in themselves, but allowed the conveyances to enure 
to the benefit of the great body of the settlers, and the lauds to be 
at their disposal and control. This fact, taken in connection with 
the prompt appearance upon the ground of no less than nine of 
Wheelwright's friends and supporters, in the character of grantees 



*The original deeds bear the totems or distinctive marks of Ibe Indians, being rude 
sketches, as follows: those of James and of Wehanownowit a man holding a toma- 
hawk; that of Pummadockyon a man holding a bow and arrow; and that of Aspam- 
abough a bow and arrow. 



10 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

and witnesses, and the speedy arrival of numerous others, leaves 
little question that the project of the Exeter settlement had been 
fully organized and understood beforehand. 

THE DISPUTED INDIAN DEED OF 1629. 

In the trial of the action at law of Allen against Waldron in 
1707, which involved ihe title to substantially all the lands in New 
Hampshire, the defendant introduced in evidence a deed purport- 
ing to have been executed by Passacouawa}^, sagamore of Pena- 
cook, Runawit of Pentucket, Wahanownawit of Squamscot and 
Howls of Newichwannock, to the Rev. John Wheelwright and 
others, on the seventeenth day of May, 1629, nearly nine years 
prior to the date of the deeds already mentioned. It assumed to 
convey the rights of the grantors' tribesmen to the same territory 
described in those deeds, and even more. The instrument under- 
went the ordeal of the courts unscathed, and passed into the his- 
tory of the time as a genuine document, and was universally so 
regarded for a hundred years. In 1820 Mr. James Savage, while 
editing an edition of Winthrop's Journal, was led, by a compari- 
son of dates, to inquire into the authenticity of the deed, and with 
characteristic positiveness, to pronounce it spurious. His view 
was adopted by several of the historians of New Hampshire, in- 
cluding Mr. John Farmer and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bouton. 
It has, however, been queried by some others whether the reasons 
given for discrediting the instrument are conclusive. 

But it seems quite unnecessary to go, in this work, into any in- 
quiry on the subject. Whether the deed of 1629 was true or false, 
it is certain tliat Wheelwright in making his settlement did not 
rely upon it, but upon the conveyances of the later date. The 
question respecting the authenticity of the earlier deed, therefore, 
however interesting it may be to antiquaries, can affect no one's 
title or claim, and is of no practical importance. 

The instrument, however, as a historical curiosity, is worthy of 
preservation. Being of considerable length it will be placed in the 
appendix (I). 

TRIALS OF THE OPENING YEAR. 

The opening year of Exeter's settlement must have tested to the 
utmost the courage and endurance of the colonists. Everything 
needed to render the place habitable had to be created ; for the 



HISTORY OF EXETEll. 11 

lack of means of transport in the wilderness preclnded the convej'- 
ance thither of anything beyond the absolute essentials of exist- 
ence. The trees of the primeval forest had to be felled, and from 
their trunks rude dwellings constructed, to shelter the tender ones. 
The absence of household furniture compelled the fashioning of 
substitutes from wood or bark. Planting-land must be cleared, 
and seed sown, to provide against the danger of starvation. Nu- 
merous other wants, the products of civilization, clamored also to 
be at once supplied ; so that every hour of the first season must 
have been devoted to providing the means for rendering life 
secure and tolerable. Nothing short of extraordinary firmness of 
character, the consciousness of right in their religious trials, and 
their confidence in their leader and pastor, would have enabled the 
early settlers of the town to bear up under the difficulties and 
hardships of their position. 

From the best information that can now be obtained, the popu- 
lation of P^xeter did not advance during the first year much, if at 
all, beyond a score of families. These consisted in about equal 
proportions of Wheelwright's parishioners and adherents from 
Mount Wollaston and its vicinity in Massachusetts, and of his con- 
nections and friends lately arrived from Lincolnshire in England. 
In July, 1637, in the midst of the Antinomian excitement, a ship 
had reached Boston, from England, bringing as passengers a 
brother of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, and a number of other transat- 
lantic friends of Wheelwright. The General Court of Massachu- 
setts had recently enacted a law forbidding new comers to tarry 
in the colony for a longer time than three weeks, without the 
written permission of a member of the council or of two other 
magistrates. That friends of Wheelwright should be suffered to 
make their permanent homes in Massachusetts was out of the ques- 
tion. Governor Winthrop gave them leave to remain for four 
months, but no longer. In November, 1637, therefore, they had 
to seek an abiding place elsewhere. They, doubtless, chose to go 
where Wheelwright went, and found winter quarters somewhere on 
the Pascataqua ; and in the following spring sat down with him at 
Exeter. Of these we can reckon about ten heads of families, and 
of those who came from the neighborhood of Boston, about the 
same number. 

The wives and little ones did not stay long behind. Wheel- 
wright's family left Massachusetts in March, 1638, to follow him 
to Exeter by water. The difficulties of travelling thither l)y land 



12 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

were too great for women and children, even at the most favorable 
season. But it was quite practicable to navigate a vessel of fair 
size along the coast and up the river to the very foot of the falls of 
the Squamscot ; and it is altogether likely that most of the fami- 
lies adopted that mode of conveyance for themselves and their 
more portable household effects. 

THE FIRST CHURCH. 

This was essentially a religious colonization, and there can be 
no doubt that at an early stage, a church was gathered, though its 
records have long since disappeared. We assume that this was 
done before December 13, 1638, because the fact is recorded in 
the past tense in Winthrop's contemporaneous History of New 
England, under that date. The time of the formation of the 
church is not there given, but the facts recited would imply that 
it must have been in existence for some weeks, if not months 
before that date. It probably included in its membership all, or 
nearly all, the adult persons in the settlement. The members of 
the newly gathered church wrote to the church in Boston, no doubt, 
in the autumn of 1638, asking for the dismission of Wheelwright 
therefrom, in order that he might be their minister ; but as Wheel- 
wright himself, for obvious reasons, did not join in the petition, 
the elders of the Boston church declined to lay the i)roposal before 
the members. Upon this being made known to Wheelwright he 
sent his own request to the same effect, which reached the elders 
early in December ; and thereupon on the sixth of the following 
January the Boston church dismissed Wheelwright, Richard Mor- 
ris, Hichard Bulgar, Philemon Pormort, Isaac Gross, Christopher 
Marshall, George Bates, Thomas Wardell and William Wardell 
" unto the church of Christ at the falls of the Pascataqua, if they 
be rightly gathered and ordered." And two months afterwards, 
on March 3, 1639, they dismissed to the same church, also, 
Susanna Hutchinson, widow, Mary, the wife of Wheelwright, 
Leonora, the wife of Kichard Morris, Henry Elkins and his wife, 
this time without conditions, being apparently satisfied that the 
church of Exeter tt-as "rightly gathered and ordered." 

It was a circumstance none too creditable to the temper of the 
authorities of Massachusetts, that after they had relieved them- 
selves from all, even imaginary danger from their heterodox 
brethren by banishing them from their territory, they must needs 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 13 

grudge them a friendly reception among their new neighbors. In 
September, 1638, tlae General Court of that colony directed the 
governor to write to the Rev. George Burdett at Dover, Thomas 
AViggin at Squamscot, and others, of the vicinity, reproaching 
them for having aided Wheelwright in founding the plantation at 
Exeter. This gratuitous act of unfriendliness must naturally have 
reached the ears of the parties at whom it was aimed, and could 
not fail to embitter them still more against their persistent perse- 
cutors. 

Shortly afterwards the settlement of Winicowet, now Hampton, 
was begun under the authority of Massachusetts. Prior to this 
time that colony had made no claim nor attempt to exercise juris- 
diction over any territory lying more than three miles north of the 
Merrimac river — the line to which the obvious construction of her 
charter would appear to restrict her. But Winicowet was above 
that distance north of the Merrimac, and, moreover, was embraced 
in Wheelwright's purchase from the Indians. He, therefore, gave 
notice to the settlers of Hampton and to the General Court of 
Massachusetts that the lands of Hampton had been bought by 
Exeter from the Indian sagamores, and would be lotted out in 
farms, unless Massachusetts could show a better title. The Gen- 
eral Court replied that they looked upon this as against good 
neighborhood, religion and common honesty, as Exeter knew that 
Massachusetts claimed Hampton as within her patent, or as vacant 
land, and had taken possession thereof by building a house there 
above two years before. The Exeter proprietors made reply, that 
they claimed nothing which was within the patent of Massachu- 
setts. But, before that, the authorities of Massachusetts had sent 
men to explore the course of the Merrimac, and had discovered 
that its source was far to the northward of the Pascataqua planta- 
tions, and thereupon resolved upon that construction of their 
charter which they promulgated by a solemn order in 1652, claim- 
ing that the northern bound of their patent was an east and west 
line drawn through a point three miles northerly of the northern- 
most extremity of the Merrimac. This new interpretation must be 
admitted to be highly artificial ; but Massachusetts had a strong 
government, while the New Hampshire settlements were feeble, 
and England was hopelessly far away. Massachusetts was thus 
in a condition to enforce her claims, and they were submitted to 
for the time. But when they were subsequently brought before 
the English tribunals they were unhesitatingly rejected. 



14 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Thus passed the first year of the life of the new town, if town 
it can be called which was without municipal regulations or any 
kind of civil government. Thus far the inhabitants had been so 
fully engrossed in providing for their prime necessities, their inter- 
ests were so little conflicting, and the influence of their leader was 
so complete, that no disorder or serious differences had occurred. 
But the second year was to bring accessions to their numbers, of 
those who could not be expected to jdeld equal obedience to 
Wheelwright's wishes. The existence of the new plantation had 
been bruited about, and another set of inhabitants, of different 
antecedents and purposes, began to come in. And before the end 
of the second year the population had at least doubled. 

ANOTHER INDIAN DEED. 

On the tenth of April, 1639, ^Mieelwright succeeded in strength- 
ening the town's title to the territory purchased from Wehanowna- 
wit and Pummadockyon the year before, by the confirmatory grant 
of another Indian of authority, indorsed upon their deed, in the 
following terms : 

Know all men by these p^'sents that I Watohantowet doe fully 
consent to the grant within written, & do yeild up all my right in 
the said purchased lands to the ptys w"' in written. In witnesse 
whereof I haue herevnto set my hand the tenth day of April 1639. 

I doe likewise grant vnto them for goode consideration all the 
meadows & gi'ounds extending for the space of one english mile 
on the East side of Oyster river. April 10. 1639. 

These being p'sent 

Watohantowet * his m'ke. 
his a m'ke 

Darby Field 

From the last clause in the foregoing grant it appears that 
Watahantowet claimed the proprietorship of lands beyond Oyster 
river, afterwards appropriated by Dover, and now included in Dur- 
ham. So far as those lands were concerned, Exeter benefited 
little by the conveyance. 



* The totem of Wataliantowet delineated upon the deed was an armless man. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 15 

THE COMBINATION. 

As the second season aclvfinced the need of some form of civil 
government became apparent. There were no constituted authori- 
ties over the patent of New Hampshire, and the Exeter settlers 
were driven to the expedient adopted nineteen years before by the 
Pilgrim Fathers, and perhaps employed by one at least of the 
other plantations upon the Pascataqna. They agreed upon a vol- 
untary association for governmental purposes, which was drawn up 
by their pastor and subscribed by him and probably by the greater 
number of the adult males of the settlement. It bore date the 
fourth day of July, 1639 ; just one hundred and thirty-seven years 
before the adoption of the memorable declaration of American 
Independence. 

The following is the language of this compact : 

Whereas it has pleased the lord to moue the heart of our Dread 
Soveraigne Charles, by the grace of god King of England, Scot- 
land France & Ireland, to grant licence & liberty to sundry of his 
subjects to plant them selves in the AYesterne partes of America ; 
Wee his loyall subjects, brethren of the church of Exceter, situate 
& lying upon the river of Piscataquacke w"" other inhabitants there 
considering w"^ our selves the holy will of god and oiir owne neces- 
sity that we should not live w*out wholsome lawes & ci\'il govern- 
ment amongst us, of w"" we are altogether destitute, doe in the 
name of Christ & in the sight of god combine our selves together, 
to erect & set up amongst us such government as shall be to our 
best discerning, agreeable to the will of god, professing our selves 
subjects to our Soveraigne Lord King Charles according to the lib- 
ertys of om* English Colony of the Massachusets & binding our 
selves solemnely by the grace & helpe of Christ & in his name & 
f eare to submit our selves to such godly & christian laws as are 
established in the Realme of England to our best knowledge, & to 
all other such lawes w'' shall upon good grounds be made & inacted 
amongst us according to god y' we may live quietly & peaceablely 
together in all godlyness and honesty. 

Mon. 5*, d. 4"^ 1639. 

This instrimient was soon found to be unsatisfactory to some of 
the brethren, because of its too lavish expressions of loyalty to the 
king, who was of course in their minds identified with prelacy. 
Like their neighbors of Massachusetts they were willing to 



16 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

acknowledge, in a general way, that he was their lawful sovereign, 
and that they were his subjects, but they had no disposition to 
make any unnecessary or exuberant professions of allegiance. It 
might have been at this time and on this account that some of the 
inhabitants made overtures to the Massachusetts authorities to be 
received under their government, as the people of Dover had just 
done. The Exeter people, however, soon "repented themselves" 
and withdrew the proposal. The objectionable feature of the 
Combination had been cancelled, and a new compact drawn, of the 
same purport, except that it simply acknowledged the king to be 
their sovereign, and themselves to be his subjects. This second 
compact was executed in due form, was apparently satisfactory to 
the former dissentients, and went into effect, as the basis of gov- 
ernment. But, quite curiously, it seems to have led to trouble in 
the opposite direction — because it did not contain loyalty enough. 



THE FIRST CRIMINAL TROCEEDING. 

One Gabriel Fish, a member of the Exeter church, who perhaps 
understood by the change in the compact for government, that roy- 
alty was at a discount, was guilty of "speaking against" his maj- 
esty ; possibly of uttering speeches which might be construed as 
treasonable. This by no means suited the views of the leading 
men of Exeter. They at once caused Fish to be arrested, and 
some of them proceeded to Massachusetts to take advice what to 
do with him. 

This occuiTence brought a new and singular figure into the his- 
tory of the town. Captain John Underhill was a military adven- 
turer who after having lived for seven years in Massachusetts and 
distinguished himself in the Pequot war, and otherwise, was dis- 
armed for his adherence to the opinions of Wheelwright and Mrs. 
Hutchinson, and came to Dover, where he was chosen chief magis- 
trate, under the style of governor. He was fond of brave apparel, 
addicted to the use of " the good creature tobacco," and possibly 
not averse to a stoup of strong waters, a little too partial to the 
other sex, and wore his political and religious principles rather 
loosely ; in short, he showed a singularly incongruous outline 
against the prim background of New England Puritanism. He, 
hearing of the detention of Fish, and perhaps to ingratiate himself 
with the prelatical party who were strong at the mouth of the Pas- 
cataqua, and would be glad to see a maliguer of the king soundly 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 17 

punished, sent thirteen armed men from Dover to Exeter, who 
took Fish from custody there, and conveyed him to Dover. This 
and otlier instances of misconduct occasioned a change of opinion 
in Dover respecting Uuderhill, wliicli resulted in deposing him 
and electing Thomas Roberts in his place, who at once restored 
Fish to the authorities of Exeter. It is not improbable that his 
return was a source of embarrassment. The change in the Exeter 
Combination would hardly justify his punishment for speaking 
against the king, and the authorities of IMassachusetts were by no 
means anxious to claim jurisdiction of the case ; so we may imag- 
ine that the charge against Fish was not pressed. 

But tlie result of this liasco appears to have been to make j'^et 
another change in the P^xeter compact for government. On the 
second of April, 1G40, the original Combination, as alread}' given 
in these pages, was re-executed, with the following explanatory 
preamble : 

Whereas a certen combination was made by us the brethren of 
the chur^'li of P^xeter w"' the rest of the Inhabitants bearing date 
Mon. o"^, d. 4, 1639 w'' afterwards upon the instant request of 
some of the brethren, was altered & put into such a form of wordes, 
wherein howsoever we doe acknowledge the King's Majesty our 
dread Soveraigne & our selves his subjects, yet some expressions 
are contained therein w'' may seeme to admit of such a sence as 
somewhat derogates from that due Allegiance w^ we owe iito his 
Highuesse quite contrary to our true intents and meanings : Wee 
therefore doe revoke, disanull make voyd and frustrate the said 
latter combination, as if it never had been done & doe ratify, con- 
firme & establish the former, w*" wee only stand unto, as being in 
force & vertue, the w'' for substance is here set down in manner 
and form following. 

Mon. 2\ d. -2, 1640. 



Here follows the combination substantially as it was originally 
drawn, and appended to it are the following signatures : 

John "Whelewright Richard BuUgar 

Augustine Storre Christopher Lawson 

Thomas Wight George Barlow * 

William Wantworth Richard Moris 

Henry Elkins Nicholas Needham 

George Walton * Thomas Willson * 

Samuell Walker George Ruobone * 



18 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Thomas Pettit William Coole * 

Henry Roby James Walles * 

Willia Weiibourne Thomas Levitt * 

Thomas Crawley * Edmond Littlefield 

Chr: Helme John Crame * 

Darby Field * Godfrye Deareborne * 

Robert Read * Philemon Pormort 

Edward Rishworth Thomas Wardell 

Francis Mathews * Willia Wardell * 

Ralph Hall Robert Smith * 
Robert Soward* 

We have advanced a little beyond the chronological order of 
our narrative, for the purpose of giving a continuous history of 
the formation and changes of the Combination. We will now 
return to the original date of it, July 4, 1(339. 

At the same time when that Combination was formed, a regular 
scheme of government was apparently established. The executive 
aiid judicial functions were vested in a board of three magistrates, 
or elders, of whom the chief was styled Ruler. They were chosen 
by the whole body of the freemen, who wei'e the electors and legis- 
lators, their enactments, however, requiring the approval of the 
Ruler. An inhabitant had to be admitted a freeman, before he 
could enjoy the privileges of an elector ; and there is one instance 
of a freeman being deprived of his privileges as such, by reason 
of misconduct. 

Both the Elders and the People were required to take certain 
prescribed oaths, which are here given. 

THE ELDERS OATH, Y*^ 4th DAY, 5x11 M°. 1639. 

You shall sweare by the great and dreadfull name of the high 
God maker & Gov'' of heaven and earth, and by the Lord Jesus 
Christ y® Prince of the Kings and Rulers of the earth that in his 
name and f eare you will Rule and Governe this his people according 
to the righteous will of God's Ministeringe Justice and Judgm' 
upon the workers of iniquity and Ministering due incurridgm' and 
Countinance to well doers — protecting of people so farre as in 
you by the helpe of [God] lyeth, from forren Annoyance and in- 
ward disturbance that they may live a quiett and peacable life in 
all godlyness and honesty. Soe God bee helpful and gratious to 
you and yo" in Christ Jesus. 



*These made their marks; although at least one of them James Wall (here written 
Walles) was capable of writing a neat signature. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 19 



THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE. 



Wee doe here sweare by the Great and dreadfull name of ye 
high God, maker & Gouern"' of Heaven & earth and by the Lord 
Jesus X' y*^ King & Savio'' of his people that in his name & fear we 
will submitt o"" selves to be ruld & gouerued by, according to y* 
will & word of God and such holsome Laws & ordinances as shall 
be derived theire from by o' honr'^ Rulers and y" Lawfull assistance 
with the consent of y*^ people and y' wee will be ready to assist 
them by the helpe of God in the administracon of Justice and 
p^'servacou of peace with o'' bodys and goods and best endeauo" 
according to God, so God protect & saue us and o" in Christ Jesus. 

Isaac Gross was chosen the first Ruler, and undoubtedly quali- 
fied himself by taking the Elder's oath. It is not unlikely that he 
was also a ruling elder in the church. On the eighteenth of January, 
1640, Augustine Storre and Anthony Stanyan were joined with 
him, and the three were to have " the ordering of all town affairs 
according to God." These officers corresponded closely to our 
modern selectmen, in respect to their duties, and under their 
administration the affairs of the little town went on satisfactorily. 

A glimpse of the customs of the time is afforded us by a trans- 
action recorded in the Note Book of Thomas Lechford, Esq., an 
English lawyer, who practised his profession in Boston in Massa- 
chusetts from 1638 to 1611. Under date of July 5, 1639, he 
records the drawing of a covenant between Elizabeth Evans of 
Bridgend in the county of Glamorgan in Wales and John Wheel- 
wright, minister, by which she engaged to become his servant for 
three years from June 25 then last past, for three pounds per 
annum as wages, and in consideration that her passage to this 
country was paid by Wheelwright. The instrument appears not 
to have been executed in Boston, and we know that Wheelwright's 
sentence of banishment was still in force. No doubt it was com- 
pleted in Exeter, having been brought thither by Richard Bulgar 
or Richard Morris, both of whom had business with the lawyer 
about that time. 

FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LANDS. 

It was near the close of the second season before any general 
distribution of land appears to have been made, from the ample 
domain at the disposal of the town. On Wednesday of the first 
week in December, 1639, the town made a beginning, by first 



20 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

defining the extensive uplands and meadows which belonged to 
Edward Hilton, whose claim was treated as antedating that of the 
Exeter proprietors. 

They then provided that all the meadows belonging to the town 
between the village and Mr. Hilton's house, and from Lamprey 
river to the head of the Little Bay should be equally apportioned 
into four parts ; of which one part should be divided liy lot among 
those inhabitants who had no cattle, or a less number of goats than 
four ; the hay growing thereon, however, to be distributed among 
the others, until such time as they should have cattle of their own, 
or sell the meadows to those having cattle. The other three parts 
of the meadows were to be divided by lot among the inhabitants 
having cattle, according to the number thereof ; and the division 
was to be made before the next court or town meetinir. 

The town also provided that upland lots for planting should be 
laid out by lot to all the inhabitants, by the river between Stony 
creek and the creek on this (the south) side of Mr. Hilton's, 
according to the number of persons and cattle belonging to each, 
except such persons as lived on the eastern side of the river, and 
"William Hilton and John Smart, who were to have lots on that 
side of the river, where the town should think most convenient, 
[acting] by Ruler Needham and Augustine Storre. 

The division of lands thus ordered was duly made, doubtless in 
the course of the same month.* 

The marshes and meadows, bearing spontaneously a species of 
grass on which when dried the cattle could well subsist, were at 
this eai'ly period, when no considerable clearing away of the forest 
had been effected, of great value to the settlers. The whole extent 
of them was but one hundred and ten acres, but they were appor- 
tioned with particularity among the thirty-seven heads of families 
then belonging to Exeter, excluding Edward Hiltou, whose lauds 
had already been secured to him. These marshes were situated 
partly in the vicinity of Lamprey river, and partly between the 
Hilton place in what is now South Newmarket, and the present 
village of Exeter. 

The uplands for planting-lots, which were also divided, amounted 
to about four hundred and thirty- three acres, and were allotted to 
thirty-two inhabitants, not including Edward Hilton, nor those 
who lived on the eastern side of the river. The shares varied from 



* A complete record of the allotments may be found in the appendix (11). 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 21 

four acres and twenty rods, per man, to eighty acres. Ten of the 
inhabitants received each no more than the smaller amount ; and 
only Wheelwright received the larger. The uplands here dis- 
tributed lay on the western bank of the salt river, beginning at the 
brook on the southerly side of the Hilton place in South Newmarket 
and extending towards Exeter village about one mile and thi-ee- 
quarters, if the measurements are correct. 

The inhabitants began early to exercise their new privileges as 
legislators, and before the second year of the settlement had passed 
by, had enacted a small body of orders, made necessary by the 
circumstances of a frontier life. Setting fire to the woods and 
thus destroying the feed of the cattle was forbidden. So was 
digging a saw-pit and leaving it open, and the offender was made 
liable to pay the damage caused thereby to man or beast. Every 
man was required to cut down such trees 07i his own lot, as were 
offensive to any other, under the penalty of half a crown for each 
refusal. This last requirement is a refinement of legislation, the 
like of which is probably not to be found in any other code in 
Christendom. 



NOTICES OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

The close of the second year of the new settlement found the 
inhabitants increased in numbers, with an organized government 
founded on a voluntary association, and constituting a complete 
autonomy ; with rights of property secured, and apparently noth- 
ing wanting but greater population and strength to insure their 
perpetuity. 

This seems a convenient time to take an inventory of the mate- 
rial of which the original settlement of Exeter was composed. The 
following is a list of the adult males, almost without exception of 
English birth, and mostly heads of families, who are known to 
have been inhabitants of the place within the first two years after 
its foundation in the spring of 1638. 

1. George Barlow, of whom, prior to his appearance in Exeter, 
nothing has been learned. He had no assignment in the uplands 
or marshes in 1639, but was a subscriber of the restored Combina- 
tion, A\n-il 2, 1640 ; so it seems probable that he came in the early 
spring of that year. In 1641 he received from the town a grant 
of forty acres of upland, and in 1650 four acres more. In 
1649-50 leave was given him and others to set up a saw-mill at 



22 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

the falls on Lamprey river a " a little above the wigwams." He is 
said to have been a preacher while in Exeter, and he certainly was 
so in Saco in 1652 ; but his style was so little relished by the 
powers of Massachusetts that in 1653 they forbade him to preach 
or prophesy under a penalty of ten pounds for each offence. About 
1660 he removed to Plymouth and there essayed to be a lawyer. 
He is referred to in Bishop's Neio England Judged for his severity 
against the Quakers. 

2. George Bates, a thatcher, was an inhabitant of Boston as 
early as December, 1635, and, two years later, received a grant of 
fifteen acres of land there. He had been admitted to the Boston 
church in January, 1636, but having taken his departure to Exeter 
he was on the sixth of January, 1639, in company with several 
others, dismissed to the church newly gathered in that place. His 
stay in Exeter, however, proved brief, and he was received back 
again into the Boston church May 31, 1640. From his associa- 
tions he was probably a sympathizer with Wheelwright, but though 
his handicraft must naturally have been in request in a new place, 
it is very likely that the hardships and privations of a frontier life 
were too much for his strength or his resolution, and he aban- 
doned it. 

3. Jeremiah Blackwell came to this country in the ship True- 
love in 1635, being then eighteen years old. Where he passed 
the succeeding three or four years is not ascertained. At the end 
of that time he appeared in Exeter. In the division of the up- 
lands in 1639 he received four acres and twenty poles, being, no 
doubt, the share of a single or childless man. After that his name 
is not mentioned. It is clear that he made no long stay in Exeter. 

4. Richard Bulgar, born in 1608, probably came over in the 
fleet with Winthrop, and in 1637 had an allotment of twenty acres 
of land in Boston. He was admitted to the church there in 1634, 
and had a child baptized the same year. His residence was in 
Roxbury, and he is described as a bricklayer. His handwriting 
would indicate that his education was good. Being disarmed in 
1637 on account of his sympathy with the Antinomian party, he 
departed the next year to Rhode Island, but in 1639 received his 
dismission to the church in Exeter. There he was allotted four 
acres and twenty poles of upland, and subscribed the Combination. 
In 1641 he was chosen lieutenant of "the band of soldiers," and 
in 1644 lot layer. Soon afterwards he left Exeter, and in 1646 
was described as of Boston. Later he returned to Rhode Island, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 23 

where his intelligence and business capacity were rewarded with 
the office of Solicitor General, wliich he held in 1656, and two or 
three subsequent years. 

5. Edward Colcord was born in 1616 or 1617 and came to this 
country in 1631. For the next seven years he probably lived 
somewhere on the Pascataqua, and being an active man and 
acquainted with the Indians he rendered assistance to Wheelwright 
in obtaining his land grants from the sagamores, and was a party 
to one of the deeds. 

A religious colony could not have been greatly to his taste, and 
in 1640 he had removed to Dover, where he was a magistrate to 
end small causes. But in 1645 he was a resident of Hampton, 
and the following year saw him back again at Exeter, where he 
obtained a grant of lands from the town, and the right of an 
inhabitant. It is doubtful if he availed himself of this, for in 
1652 the town again voted to receive him, together with two 
others, as inhabitants, and invited them to take up their residence 
in Exeter. Colcord received more than one grant from the town, 
and was appointed to some minor offices. But he was incorrigibly 
litigious and something of a rolling stone, and after a brief sojourn 
in the town he made himself a home in Hampton, where he died 
February 10, 1681-2. He and his wife Ann had ten childi-en, 
several of whom were married. Their descendants still live in 
Exeter and the vicinity. 

6. William Cole was of Boston February 20, 1637, when he 
received an allotment of two acres of land " only for his present 
planting," at Mount Wollastou. No doubt he was a parishioner 
there of Wheelwright, and certainly was one of his earliest com- 
panions at Exeter, for he witnessed one of the Indian deeds of 
April 3, 1638. In the first division of lands he received a share 
both in the marshes and the uplands, and he was a signer of the 
Combination. He was appointed an overseer of fences in 1643, 
but probably soon followed Wheelwright to Wells. He after- 
wards removed to Hampton, where his wife Eunice became " vehe- 
mently suspected " of being a witch. He died in Hampton May 
26, 1662, aged eighty-one years. His descendants are still found 
in the vicinity. 

7. John Compton was of Eoxbury in 1634, and was disarmed 
in 1637 for his adhesion to the AVheelwright party. The circum- 
stance that a summons was issued March 12, 1638, to him and 
others who "had licence to depart" out of Massachusetts, to 



24 IIISTOllY OF EXETER. 

appear at the uext court if they were uot gone before, was not 
likely to have prolonged his stay there, and it is safe to infer that 
he was at the falls of the Squamscot withAVheelwright on April 3, 
1638, as he was a grantee in one of the Indian deeds then exe- 
cuted. In the first division of lands he received a considerable 
share both of marsh and upland. He did not subscribe the Com- 
bination, but probably soon returned to Boston, where the Book 
of Possessions shows that he owned a house and garden, about 
lGrj2. 

H. Lawrence Copeland was of Braiutree and presuinably a pa- 
rishioner of Wheelwright. lie was in Exeter April 3, 1638, and 
witnessed one of tlie Indian deeds of that date. It is not probable 
that he remained long in the town. He returned to Braiutree to 
reside, where he attained the extraordinary age of one hundred 
years. 

9. John Cram probably ])egan to live in Boston as early as 1635, 
and in 1637 was assigned sixteen acres of land at Muddy Eiver 
(Brookline). At the first division of lauds in Exeter he was no 
doubt settled there, as he was allotted eight acres and forty poles 
of upland ; he was also a signer of the Combination. He had a 
wife and two or more children when he came to Exeter. His sou 
Josepli, supposed to be the oldest, was drowned June 24, 1648, 
aged fifteen years ; and his daughter Lydia was born July 27 of 
the same year. He served as townsman in 1648 and 1641) and 
soon after removed to Hampton and there died March 5, 1681-2. 
The town record commemorates him as "• good old John Cram, one 
just in his generation." He was twice married, his first wife being 
named Lydia ; his second Esther. His descendants are still found 
in the vicinit3^ 

10. Thomas Crawley, of whom nothing is learned, prior to his 
appearance in Exeter. His name does not occur in the first ap- 
portionment of lands, but as he subscribed the Combination, it is 
very likely that he came to I^xeter between January and April, 
1640. In 1644-.) he had a grant of a house lot of four acres on 
condition of building upon it and fencing it within a twelvemonth. 
Other grants were subsequently made him ))3' the town, the most 
important of which was that of a saw-mill privilege, in the present 
Brentwood, in 1652, which has been known as "■ Crawley's falls," 
to this day. He had children, one of whom was named Phebe, a 
minor in 1660. Crawley probably went to Maine, where his name 
was afterwards found. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 25 

11. Godfrey Dearborn was from Devonshire in Elngland, perhaps 
from the city of E^xeter, and brought to the new Exeter a wife and 
two or three children. An assignment of ten acres and fifty poles 
of upland was made him, and his name is affixed to the Combina- 
tion. Later he received other grants of land, and in 1648 was one 
of the selectmen. It has been supposed that he lived in what is 
now Stratham, near the Scammon place. About 1650 he removed 
to Hampton. His wife having died he married November 25, 1662, 
Dorothy, the widow of Philemon Daltou, and himself died Febru- 
ary 4, 1686. His posterity is numerous. 

12. Henry Elkius, a tailor, was of Boston in 1634, and there 
had an assignment of eight acres of land in 1637. Sidina; with 
Wheelwright in the theological controversy of that year, he was 
disarmed, and came in 1638 to P^xeter. He, with his wife Mary, 
was dismissed from the Boston church to that of Exeter March 3, 
1630. They had a daughter, Maria, baptized in Boston, April 8, 

1638. In the first division of lands in P^xeter he received one of 
the smaller shares of upland ; and he set his name to the Combina- 
tion. He continued in P^xeter till 1645, but some time afterwards 
removed to Hampton and died there November 19, 1668. 

13. Darby Yield is described by Winthrop as an Irishman, 
though some slight evidence has been discovered to connect his 
patron3'mic with the Hutchinson famil3\ He appeared in P^xeter 
as one of the grantees of the Indian deed of April 3, 1638, and 
witnessed the deed of confirmation of Watohantowet April 10, 

1639. He had no share in the first division of lands, but was a 
subscriber of the Combination. He is noted as the first European 
who visited the White mountains, which he did in 1642. In 1645 
he was living at Oyster river, now Durham, and died in 1649, leav- 
ing children. 

14. Gal)riel P'ish, fisherman, was an early inhabitant of Boston 
and moved to Exeter in 1638. On the third of August, 1639, he 
gave Edward Rishworth a letter of attorney to receive ten pounds 
from James Carrington of Thorsthorpe in Lincolnshire, P^nglaud ; 
whence we may infer that he, perhaps, came from that great hive 
of the friends of Wheelwright. After Fish was arrested for speak- 
ing against the king, as has already been mentioned, he probabl}'- 
thought it wise to return to Boston, where apparently his offence 
was easily condoned. The records show the birth and baptism of 
several of his children there in 1642 and subsequently. Fish was 
a householder in Boston, according to the Book of Possessions, 
compiled al^ont 1652. 



26 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

15. Isaac Gross, of Boston in 1635, was termed hnsbaudman, 
and received a " great" allotment of fifty acres of land at Muddy 
River in 1637. Being a friend of Cotton and Wheelwright he was 
disarmed, and followed the latter to Exeter. There in the first 
di\asion of lands he had, under tlie honoi'ary title of "Mr.," an 
assignment of twenty-eight acres and one hundred and forty poles 
of upland, and of marshland six acres and fifty poles "on this 
side of Mr. Hilton's " and two acres at Lamprey river. From this 
liberal allowance, it is to be inferred that he had a considerable 
family, and also an unusual number of cattle. He was dismissed 
January 6, 1639, from the Boston to the Exeter church, and was 
chosen the first Ruler of the plantation of Exeter, in w^hich capac- 
ity he served about a year, probably. He returned to Boston " in 
a few years," according to Savage, and there died in 1649, leav- 
ing a good estate to be divided among his widow, children and 
grandchildren. 

16. Ralph Hall, said to be a son of John Hall, senior, and a 
brother of Deacon John Hall of Dover, was born in 1618. If, 
therefore, as tradition asserts, he was located in Exeter before the 
arrival of Wheelwright's company, he could not have been above 
twenty years of age. It is understood that he lived on the eastern 
side of the salt river, down nearly to the mouth of Wheelwright's 
creek. It might have been for that reason that he had no share in 
the first division of lands, but his name appears to the Combina- 
tion. He may have lived in Charlestown about 1647 with his wife 
Mary, as has been alleged. The Exeter records show the death 
of his daughter Mercy in July, 1648, aged about one year and a 
half, and the birth of his daughter Hildea, April 16, 1649. He is 
said to have gone to Dover in 1650. But he returned to Exeter 
fourteen years afterward, Avhen he was admitted an inhabitant, 
October 10, 1664, and received a grant of fifty acres of laud. He 
was a lieutenant, then an officer of responsibility, and held various 
positions of trust in the town, the most important being that of 
delegate to the first provincial assembly iu 1680. His death took 
place in March, 1701. Some of his descendants have been men of 
note, and the name has always been kept alive in the town. 

17. Christoplier Helme, a Lincolnshire man, connected by 
blood with others of the Exeter ijioneers, arrived iu Boston in 
July, 1637, no doubt, and was suffered to remain there not above 
four months, so that he probably reached Exeter among the fore- 
most. He received no share in the first allotment of lands, for 



HISTOEY OF EXETER. 27 

what reason it is not known, but he set his hand to the Combina- 
tion. Upon tlie departure of Wheelwright in 1643, Hehne returned 
for a little time to Boston, and thence migrated with the Gorton- 
,ists to Warwick, Rhode Island. There he died before December, 
1650, leaving a widow Margaret and a son William. Some of his 
name, presumably descendants, have been prominent in Rhode 
Island. 

18. Edward Hilton has already been mentioned. The records 
of Exeter show that he was settled and had a house in the part of 
Exeter which is now South Newmarket, at least at early as Decem- 
ber, 1639. He became a leading man in the place, serving as 
townsman or selectman from 1645 nearly every year up to 1652. 
In 1646 he was one of the purchasers of Wheelwright's house, in 
order that it might be used as the residence of the Rev. Nathaniel 
Norcross, afterwards of Lancaster, who had been invited to settle 
in Exeter ; and after the declination of Mr. Norcross he was in 
1650 one of the inhabitants who, in behalf of the town, entered 
into the engagement with the Rev. Samuel Dudley to become their 
minister. Mr. Hilton was repeatedly chosen by the inhabitants 
on important committees to look after their interests, and was in 
all respects a useful and valuable citizen. He died early in the 
year 1671. 

19. William Hilton, a brother of Edward, and a member of the 
Fishmongers' Guild of London, came over to Plymouth in the ship 
Fortune, November 11, 1621. There he remained till the arrival 
of his wife and two children in the Anne, in July or August, 1623. 
In a little time afterwards they settled themselves on the Pascat- 
aqua with Edward Hilton at or near Dover. In the first division 
of lands in Exeter, he was assigned three acres of marsh, and it 
was voted that he and John Smart were to have lots on the other 
(eastern) side of the river, where it should be thought most con- 
venient ; and on the third of February, 1641, it was agreed by 
the town that he might enjoy certain marshes and uplands at 
Oyster river. He seems to have occupied some part of the de- 
batable ground between Exeter and Dover, but was perhaps 
accounted a citizen of the latter place. This was certainly the 
case in 1644 when he was chosen a deputy to the Massachusetts 
General Court from Dover. But shortly afterwards he went 
further to the eastward, and maintained much the same divided 
citizenship between Kittcry and York. His death occurred in 
the latter place in 1665 or 1666. 



28 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

20. Samuel Hutchiuson was an unmarried brother of Mrs. 
Wheelwright, and no doubt landed in Boston with other Lincoln- 
shire friends July 12, 1637, and was upon his special request 
licensed to remain there until the first month after winter. Then 
he proceeded to Exeter, and was made a grantee in one of the 
Indian deeds of April, 1638. Little more than a month after- 
wards a grant of land appears to have been made him in Rhode 
Island, where his brother William had gone. Though Samuel 
resided there at a later period, he probably did not go at once, but 
staid for a year or two in and about Exeter. His mother, Mrs. 
Susanna Hutchinson, was there, an inmate of Wheelwright's 
family, as probably he was also. He, with Needham and others, 
negotiated with Tliomas Gorges, September 27, 1641, for the 
tract of land at Wells, Avhicli was the second place of refuge of 
AVheel Wright and his followers. He died in Boston, it is believed, 
in 1677. 

21. Christopher Lawson, a connection of Helme and others of 
the Combination, without much question arrived with them from 
Lincolnshire at Boston in New England, in July, 1637, and proba- 
bly proceeded to Exeter the next year. His name appears on the 
Combination, but not in the division of lands. He was a cooper 
by trade, and a trader by nature. Some of his dealings in Exeter 
appeared rather too sharp for the primitive fashions of the place, 
and on the fifth of September, 1643, he was bound over in the sum 
of ten pounds to answer to the charge of extortion brought against 
him by five of his neighbors. Apparently his character was not 
seriously affected by this circumstance ; for the town bestowed 
upon him, the next year, a right of fishery in the river, Avhich 
would now be regarded as an indefensible monopoly. Lawson 
vibrated for some years between P^xeter and Boston, two of his 
children being baptized in the latter place, one in 1643 and the 
other in 1645. In 1648 he was a member of a committee to invite 
the Rev. Mr. Tompson of Braintree to settle over the church in 
Exeter, and the same year the town made him a grant of one hun- 
dred acres of land. After buying and selling lots in Dover and 
in Boston, and dabbling to a consideral)le extent in shares of the 
" Squamscot Patent," Lawson went, before 1665, to Maine, where 
he became a considerable man. There he suffered some domestic 
infelicities, which resulted in ])ringing mutual complaints between 
his wife Elizabeth and himself before the General Court in 1669. 
And there, for want of further knowledge, we leave him. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 29 

22. Thomas Leavitt Avas^ry probably a connection of Wheel- 
wright's wife, and another of those " friends " who reached Boston 
in Jul}^ 1637. It is possible that he proceeded at once to Exeter, 
and thns antedated the organized settlement, as the tradition is. 
He took npland on the eastern side of the fresh river jnst above 
tlie falls, and the same long remained in the possession of his 
descendants. In the first division of lands he received one of the 
smaller shares, fonr acres and twenty poles of the uplands ; being 
then a young man, for he lived till November 28, 1696. His name 
was also appended to the Combination. He became an inhabitant 
of Hampton about 1643. His wife was Isabel, daughter of John 
Bland of JMartha's Vineyard, who came from Colchester, England. 
They had eight children, and numerous descendants. Three of 
the sons were probably residents of Exeter. 

23. Edmund Littlelield not improbably came to Boston with 
Wheelwright's other friends in July, 1637, accompanied by his son 
Anthony. His wife Ann and six of their other children did not 
accompany him, but sailed later, and reached Boston in the ship 
Bevis in May, 1638. Littlelield was a warm partisan of Wheel- 
wright, and probably was early at Exeter. He had assigned him 
in the first division of lands, twenty-one acres of upland ; and 
was a subscriber of the Combination. The circumstance that he 
had no share of the meadows implies that he owned no cattle, 
which is lilvely to have been the case, as he was a new comer in 
the countr3\ Littlefield remained in Exeter no longer than Wheel- 
wright, but accompanied him to Wells, where he was a leading 
man, and is spoken of in handsome terms by Judge Bourne in his 
history of that town. He died December 11, 1661. 

24. Francis Littlefield was the eldest son of Edmund, and was 
born in 1619. Tradition, fortified by some known facts, asserts 
that he had at an early age quitted his parents, who, believing 
him to be dead, gave the name Francis to another son born in 
1631 ; but that the older Francis, who was really living, crossed 
the Atlantic and rejoined his father, probably at Exeter, and 
before the division of the uplands in 1639. In that division he 
received one of the smaller shares, foin* acres and twenty poles. 
It is probable that he was already married, or he would hardly' 
have had an assignment separate from his father's. He probabl}' 
left Exeter as early as his father did, and went to Woburn, 
Massachusetts, where his wife Jane died December 20, 1646, 
leaving a daughter six days old. Shortly afterwards he went to 



30 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Dover. In 1648 he was again married, and after two or three 
years removed to Wells, and there passed the rest of his long life. 
He died in 1712, leaving several children. 

25. Christopher Marshall was of Boston in 1634, and joined 
the church in August of that year. He was admitted freeman May 
6, 1635 ; in 1637 belonged to the party of Cotton and Wheelwright. 
He was married between August, 1634, and May 13, 1638, and 
was dismissed to the church at Exeter, January 6, 1639, but did 
not remain long in the place. Savage thinks he returned to Eng- 
land in 1640 or 1641, and nothing more is learned of him. 

26. Francis Mathews was one of the company sent over by 
John Mason in 1631. He was a signer of the Combination, but 
probably soon afterwards removed to the part of Dover which is 
now Durham, with his wif e Thomasine and three children. There 
he died about 1648, and his descendants in Strafford county have 
been numerous. They more commonly spell the name Matlies. 

27. Grifflu Montague was of Brookline in 1635. He received 
in December, 1639, ten acres and fifty poles in the division of 
uplands in P^xeter, and one acre and thirty-six poles in the division 
of the marsh " next the town." From this we infer that he had a 
family and some cattle. His name appears several times upon the 
Exeter records within the ensuing twelve years. He belonged to 
Cape Porpoise, Maine, in 1653, and died before April 1, 1672, 
leaving his property to his wife Margaret. 

28. William Moore (spelled Mauer or Mawer) was probably the 
same person to whom it appeared to the selectmen of Boston, on 
the twenty-sixth of September, 1636, that William Hudson had 
" sold a house plot and garden without the consent of the appointed 
allotters, contrary to a former order, said Mawer being a stranger." 
On February 19, 1638, there was granted to him " a great lot at 
the Mount (Wollaston) for nine heads." On February 7, 1640, 
he w-as described as " late of Boston," in a conveyance which he 
made to Captain Edward Gibbon, for fifteen pounds, of one house 
and garden plot with the building thereon and appurtenances. 
William Moore received in Exeter in December, 1639, twenty-two 
acres and one hundred and ten poles, in the division of the 
uplands, two acres and forty poles in the marsh " on tliis side of 
Mr. Hilton's," and one hundred and twenty poles of that at 
Lamprey river ; the amount of the former corresponding well with 
the "nine heads" of his family, and the latter showing that he 
was possessed of cattle. He did not subscribe the Combination, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 31 

for what reason is unknown. He remained a lifelong inhabitant 
of the town, and bore his share of its burdens, as well as enjoyed 
its rewards and honors. He received grants of lands, and held 
various offices of responsibility. He was a captain in the militia ; 
and the last appearance of his name upon the records is as mod- 
erator of a town meeting in 1699. He must have been then an 
old man, and probably died soon afterwards. He left numerous 
descendants. 

29. Richard Morris was of Boston, having probably immigrated 
thither in the fleet with Winthrop in 1630 ; and in 1631 was, with 
his wife Leonora, admitted to the church. At that time he was 
styled sergeant ; in 1633 he was made ensign, and later lieutenant. 
He was deputy to the General Court in 1635 and 1636, and the 
next year was in coimnand of the fort at Castle Island. Appar- 
ently something had occurred to weaken his standing with the 
authorities before 1637, but in that year he forfeited all their good 
will by signing a remonstrance in favor of Wheelwright ; so that 
he was disarmed, and retired to Exeter, the next year, probably. 
In the first division of lands he received thirty-three acres of 
upland, and seven acres and forty poles of marsh ; so he probably 
had a considerable household and cattle. His name appears on 
the records with the honorable prefix of "Mr." He was a signer 
of the Combination, and was dismissed to the church at Exeter in 
January, 1639. It is probable that Mr. Morris did not care to 
remain in Exeter after Wheelwright's departure, and the extension 
of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over the New Hampshire set- 
tlement ; and it seems likely that he was the person of that name 
who went to Portsmouth, lihode Island, in 1643, and was living 
there in 1655. 

30. Nicholas Needham was of Boston in 1636, and received on 
the twentieth of February of that year an allotment of two acres 
of land at Mount Wollaston, "only for his present planting." 
No doubt a parishioner and sympathizer of Wheelwright, he proba- 
bly came with him to Exeter, as he Avas made a grantee in one of 
the Indian deeds of 1638. In the apportionment of the lauds, he 
received twelve acres and sixty poles of upland, and four acres of 
marsh. He also set his signature to the Combination. Being 
elected the second Ruler of the settlement, he held the office about 
two years, when he resigned it October 20, 1642. His rcBidence 
in Exeter did not outlast that of Wheelwright. Foreseeing the 
hour of need, he, with others, negotiated with Thomas Gorges iu 



32 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

1641 for a tract of land in Wells, to which \yheelwrlght and his 
immediate friends retired, when the long arm of Massachusetts 
power was extended over the New Hampshire plantations. The 
historian of Wells is not certain whether Needham settled in that 
place. If he did not his subsequent history is unascertained. 
Savage thinks he was living in 1652. 

31. Thomas Pettit was of Boston in 1634, from which time he 
served for three years and a half with Oliver Mellows, and there- 
upon January 8, 1638, received from the town a grant of a house 
plot " towards the new mylne." Mellows was in sympathy with 
Wheelwright, and was disarmed in 1637, and it w^ould be very 
natural that his journeyman should be led by the same feeling to 
migrate to the ne sv settlement which Wheelwright was founding. 
Pettit received six acres and thirty poles as his share of the Exeter 
uplands, and also affixed his name to the Combination. He was 
for a while a man of some prominence in the town and served as 
selectman in 16o2 and 1655, after which his name disappears from 
the records. His wife was named Christian ; the}^ had a daughter 
Hannah, born in Hxeter in the beginning of February, 1647-8. 
His son, Thomas Pettit, Jr., had a grant of thirty acres of land in 
1649. 

32. Philemon Pormort was married in Alford, Lincolnshire, 
England, October 11, 1627, to Susanna, daughter of William 
Belliugham. They emigrated to Nevr England, probably with one 
child or more, and were admitted to the Boston church in August, 
1634. He was chosen schoolmaster April 13, 1635, and in 1637 
had a grant of tliirty acres of land. Pormort was an adherent of 
Wheelwright, having quite likely known liim in England, and was, 
on Wheelwright's expulsion from Massachusetts Bay, advised to 
depart himself, on pain of imprisonment ; therefore he came to 
Exeter. He was a subscriber of the Combination, was dismissed 
in January, 1630, to the Exeter church, and received fourteen 
acres and seventy poles in the division of the uplands. He had 
three children, at least, born in this country, one or two of them at 
Exeter. He went with Wheelwright to Wells, and, according to 
the historian of that town, remained there some years, taking an 
active part in the affairs of the church, but at length Avas denied 
tlie privilege of conununion for the reason that his theological 
views did not agree with those of the ruling powers in Massachu- 
setts. He was in Boston in 1653, and is supposed to have re- 
moved thence to Great Island or Portsmouth. Descendants 
bearing his name have till lately lived in the vicinity. 



HISTORY OF EXETEll. 33 

33. Robert Read was of Boston as early as 1635, and in Exeter 
early enongli to be entitled to an allotment of nine acres and fifty 
poles in the division of the uplands, and to set his name to the 
Combination. lie removed to Hampton after 1645, according to 
Kelly, and afterwards to Boston, and finally to Hampton again, 
according to Quint. To him and his wife Hannah were born three 
children: Rebecca, September 29, 1646; Deborah, January 25, 
1649; and Samuel, who was baptized April 3, 1653, and died 
March 31, 1654. Read's wife died June 24, 1655, and he himself 
was drowned October 20, 1657, with six others by the upsetting 
of a boat sailing out of Hampton river ; a catastrophe on which 
was founded Whittier's poem of the Wreck of Ri vermouth. 

34. Edward Rishworth was baptized at Saleby in Lincolnshire, 
England, May 5, 1617. In all probability he came to this coun- 
try with others of Wheelwright's friends in Jul}", 1637, and 
became one of the earliest settlers of Exeter. He appears to have 
])een nearly connected, by his marriage, with the family of "Wheel- 
wright's wife. In the division of the uplands he was awarded one 
of the smaller shares, and he was a signer of the Combination. 
In 1640 he was chosen by the court of the town to be '' Secretary, 
to look to the book, and to enter all actions that are brought." 
This undoubtedly included the functions of Town Clerk. Wlien 
Wheelwright left P^xeter, Rishworth departed Avith him to Wells, 
where he became a man of consequence. He was a magistrate 
and a representative of York, to which place he removed from 
Wells, for thirteen years. He lived to be nearly seventy, and a 
son of his, bearing the same name, was the husband of Wheel- 
wright's daughter Susanna. 

35. Henry Roby was of the Combination, but had no share in 
the first division of the uplands or meadows ; so very likely he 
did not come to Exeter till the spring of 1640. He was granted 
liberty in 1649, with others, to set up a saw-mill, and in 1650 was 
chosen selectman. Soon afterwards he removed to Hampton 
where he died in the spring of 1688. After the erection of New 
Hampshire into a royal province, Roby was appointed a judge of 
the Court of Sessions, before which the Rev. Joshua Moody was 
tried in 1684 for refusing to administer the Lord's Supper in the 
form set forth in the book of common prayer, to Governor Cranfield. 
Roby was at first for acquitting Moody, but Cranfield "found 
means " to gain him over, and he concurred with other justices in 
the judgment of condemnation. In his later years Roby is said 



;]4 HISTOIIY OF EXETER. 

by Kelly to have become intemperate and embarrassed, so that at 
his death he was buried hastily to avoid arrest of his body. His 
wife was named Kuth, and they had several children. His descend- 
ants are still found in this region. 

36. George Ruobone or Rabone was assigned one of the smaller 
shares in the division of the uplands ; and was a subscriber of the 
Combination. He appears to have remained in Exeter but a short 
time, as he is represented by Judge Bourne in his history of AVells, 
to have been one of the earliest settlers of that place "before 
Wheelwright and his fellow refugees came from Exeter." He 
seems afterwards to have changed his rather unusual name to 
Haborne, and under that designation is described in a deed as of 
Hampton in 1G50. 

37. Robert Seward subscribed the Combination, but had no 
share of the nplands, having probably not arrived in P^xeter before 
the spring of lG-40. He staid but a brief time, and was living in 
Portsmouth in 1649, after which nothing has been ascertained 
respecting him. 

38. John Smart came from the county of Norfolk, England, to 
Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635, with his wife and two sons, 
and in September of that year drew his house lot there. He came 
to Exeter in time to receive an assignment of one acre and twenty- 
six poles of the meadows " next the town," which implies that he 
had cattle or goats. The lands he first took up appear to have 
been situated on the eastern or Stratham side of the river, and he 
did not subscribe the Combination. But he was a public-spirited 
citizen, and joined with others in the agreement to purchase 
Wheelwright's house, to be used as a parsonage. He lived in the 
northerly part of the town, now Newmarket, and his descendants 
live there still. 

39. Robert Smith is thought to have been of Boston in 1638. 
In the division of the Hxeter uplands he had six acres and thirty 
poles, a share one-half larger than the smallest ; and his name was 
affixed to the Combination. When the town came under the Mas- 
sachusetts government, on tlie seventh of September, 1643, he was 
appointed one of the magistrates " to end small business at Exe- 
ter." After a residence of some years in the place he removed to 
Hampton. Hon. Joseph Smith, a judge of the Superior Court, 
and a :nan useful and prominent in his day, was his son. 

40. Anthony Stau3'an, described as glover, was a passenger 
from England to Boston in 1635, and in February, 1637-8, had 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 35 

assigned to him " a great lot for eleven heads" at Mount Wollas- 
tou. In P^xeter, in December, 1639, there were awarded to him, 
under the honorary designation of " Mr.," twenty-seven acres and 
one hundred and thirty-five poles of upland, and ten and one-half 
acres of the marshes. These large grants imply that he had a 
considerable family, and a good number of cattle. He was a 
member of the Exeter church, and though a resident of the town 
prior to the execution of the Combination, did not set his hand to 
it. Possibly he was in doubt whether to fix his residence in the 
new settlement, as in July, KUl, he was "granted to be a towns- 
man" of Boston, and on the twenty-fourth of July, 1G42, his son 
John was baptized there, at the age of six days. But if he medi- 
tated abandoning Exeter he soon changed his mind, for he was 
back again in May, 1643, and held the otfice of magistrate to end 
small causes in 1645, and that of town clerk in 1647. Subse- 
quently he removed to Hampton from which he was representative 
to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1654. He was living in 
1683. His first wife was named Mary, and after her decease he 
married, January 1, 1656, Ann, widow of William Partridge of 
Salisbury, jMassachusetts. He left children by whom liis name 
has been handed down to our time. 

41. Augustine Storre was doubly a brother-in-law of Wheel- 
wrio-ht, being a brother of his first wife, and the husband of a 
sister of his second. He undoubtedly came over from England in 
July, 1637, and probably left Boston in the autumn following, and 
was in P^xeter in the spring of 1638. When the first division of 
lands was made, he was allotted, with the title of respect of 
" Mr.," twenty acres and one hundred poles of upland, and two 
and three-quarters acres of the marshes. His name appears on 
the Combination, the next in order to Wheelwright's, and he was 
chosen an assistant to the first Kuler. It is evident that he was 
held in high esteem by the inhabitants. AVhen Wheelwright's resi- 
dence in Exeter came to an end, Storre, as might be expected 
from their connection, quitted the place also, and is understood to 
have oone to Wells, after Avhich nothing is learned of him. 

42. Samuel Walker had one of the smaller assignments of land 
in Exeter, and was a signer of the Combination. Of his former 
history nothing has been discovered. In 1643, in a time of 
scarcity, he was one of those appointed by the town to appropriate 
and dispose of to the needy, any corn not required by the owners 
before harvest. This appointment speaks well for his character 



M HISTORY OF EXETER. 

for discretion and fairness. It is supposed that he left the town 
soon afterwards, probably for the eastward. 

43. James Wall was a carpenter, and was sent over from Eng- 
land, with two otjiers, by John Mason, the patentee of New 
Hampshire. They came in the Pied Cow, under a written contract 
dated March 14, 1634, to run five years, by which they were em- 
ployed to build saw-mills and houses for him at Newichwannock. 
They arrived there the thirteenth of July of the same year, and 
there Wall remained till some time after the death of Mason in 
1635. He was in Exeter April 3, 1638, and witnessed one of the 
Indian deeds to Wheelwright of that date, and no doubt remained 
there during the formation of the settlement, when his services as 
a carpenter would be most important. On the assignment of the 
lands, ten acres and ninety poles of uplands and something less 
than two acres of the marshes fell to his share. His name also 
appears upon the Combination. He mnst have lived in Exeter 
about twelve years, and was a useful citizen, repeatedly intrusted 
with town offices. In 1650 he changed his residence to Hampton, 
and died there October 3, 1659, leaving a widow, Mary, and two 
children. 

44. George Walton, born about 1615, becams an inhabitant of 
New Hampshire about 1635, and so remained till his death, half a 
century later. He had no assignment in the lirst division of lands 
in Exeter, but joined in establishing the Combination a few 
months later ; so it is not unlikely that he came to Exeter between 
those events. He did not remain very long, for in 1648 he was in 
Dover, where he was licensed to keep an " ordinary'," and in 1662 
was a vintner in Portsmouth. His later years were passed at Great 
Island, where he suffered from the persecutions of a "stone- 
throwing demon," an account of which may be found in Mather's 
Magnolia and elsewhere. Less superstitious persons, however, 
attributed his tribulations to mischievous human agency. His 
wife was named Alice, and they had several children, one of whom 
was Shadrach Walton, well known in the military, civU and judi- 
cial service of the province. 

45. Thomas Wardell, a shoemaker, and an inhabitant of Lin- 
colnshire, England, came to this country, and was admitted to the 
Boston church November 9, 1634. By his wife Elizabeth he had 
two children, baptized in Boston; Eliakim, November 23, 1634, 
and Martha, September 3, 1637, and two others, born probably in 
Exeter; Benjamin, in February, 1640, and Samuel, May 16, 1643. 



HISTORY OF EXETER, 37 

lu January, 1637, he was allotted twenty acres of land in Boston, 
but being an outspoken supporter of Wheelwright he was dis- 
armed ; and thereupon proceeded, in 1638, no doubt, to Exeter. 
In January, 1639, he was recommended by the Boston church to 
membership in that formed at Exeter. He received twelve acres 
and sixty poles in the division of the Exeter uplands, and was a 
signer of the Combination. Evidently he was a man in whom his 
townsmen reposed confidence ; for in 1641 he was chosen sergeant 
of the band of soldiers in Exeter, and approved as such by Nicho- 
las Needham, Ruler ; in 1642 he was chosen one of the committee 
to collect and distribute to the poor the surplus corn, in a time of 
scarcity ; and in 1643 he was appointed by the General Court of 
Massachusetts a magistrate to end small causes in Exeter. But 
he did not continue there very long afterwards. It is uncertain 
whether he removed to Ipswich or to Boston, Avhere the death of a 
person bearing his name is recorded December 10, 1646. 

46. William Wardell, supposed to be a brother of Thomas, 
probably came to this country in 1633 with Ednuuid Quincy, whose 
servant he is described as being, and joined the Boston church 
February 9, 1634. By his wife Alice he had a daughter Meribah, 
born May 14, 1637, and a son Uzell, April 7, 1639 ; the latter 
born in Exeter. He received in Boston February 20, 1636, two 
acres of land laid out at the Mount (Wollaston) only for his 
present planting; and February 19, 1637, a great lot at the same 
place " for three heads." But the next year he migrated to I2xe- 
ter, on being disarmed as a friend of the Antinomian party. He 
took with him some cattle, or goats, as it appears that he had in 
the first division of lands one hundred and twenty poles of meadow 
" on this side of Mr. Hilton's," and the same quantity at Lamprey 
river. He also had ten acres and fifty poles of upland ; and set his 
hand to the Combination. He left Exeter with AYheelwright, and 
his name is subscribed as a witness to the deed of Sao-amore 
Thomas Chabinocke to John Wadleigh at Wells October 18, 1649, 
and attested by said Wardell's oath March 25, 1657. He also 
swore allegiance to Massachusetts at Wells July 5, 1653. Another 
person of the same name was living in Boston at the same time, 
but whether a relative is not known. 

47. William Wenbourne was of Boston in 1635, in which year 
there was born to hun and Elizabeth his wife, a son John, on the 
twenty-second of November. A second son was born September 
21, 1638, bearing the same name, the former one having doubtless 



38 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

died. The latter part of the next year Weiibourue was in Exeter, 
where he was allotted seven acres and thirty poles of upland, and 
a few months later signed the C!ombination. Upon the town being 
received under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, he was appointed 
clerk of the writs and one of the three inferior magistrates. He 
probably returned to Boston before 164:8, where he was chosen 
constable in 1653, and was living in 1662. The name of A\"inborn 
has been preserved in Durham up to recent times, so it is not 
unlikely that his descendants are still to be found in the vicinity. 

48. William AVentAvorth was a native of Lincolnshire, England, 
and was born in March, 1615-16. He was a family connection and 
parishioner of Wheelwright, and probably came to this country in 
July, 1637, in the vessel with others of Wheelwright's " friends." 
No doubt he made little stay in Boston, but pushed on speedily to 
the Pascataqua country, and was one of the earliest at the settle- 
ment of Exeter. He had in the division of the uplands one of the 
small shares, and set his signature, in excellent chirography, to 
the Combination. When Massachusetts began to stretch out her 
hand over the New Hampshire towns, he joined Wheelwright in 
departing into Maine, and resided in Wells until 1649, when he 
removed to Dover, where, with the exception of temporary 
absences, he spent the residue of his life. He was a ruling elder 
in the church, and as such was a preacher and expounder, though 
not technically a clergyman. At some time after the decease of 
the Rev. Samuel Dudley, which occurred in 1683, he was employed 
to preach at Exeter, and continued to do so until 1693, when by 
reason of age and infirmity he was compelled to desist. He lived, 
however, till March 15, 1696-7, when he had completed his eighty- 
first year. His physical vigor was remarkable, as is evidenced by 
his successful resistance to the attempts of the Indians to enter 
the house where he was at the Dover massacre in 1689 ; and no one 
of the little company of Exeter pioneers, save Wheelwright, was 
of a more sturdy manhood than Wentworth. He was the progeni- 
tor of a long line of descendants, able and stalwart, mentally and 
physically ; three of whom held the highest executive offices in the 
province of New Hampshire ; others have sat in the councils of 
the nation, and many more have manifested the hereditary 
capacity and force in various callings. The history of tlie family 
has been laboriously compiled ]iy one, by no means the least dis- 
tinguished of Elder Wentworth's descendants. 

49. John Wheelwright deserves here a brief sketch of his 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 39 

subsequent career. He retreated before the advance of Massachu- 
setts to Wells in the spring of 1643, and while he was there the 
G-eneral Court, in not the most gracious manner, annulled his 
sentence of banishment, and re-enfranchised him. After minister- 
ing to the little community at Wells for four years, he accepted 
the invitation of the church at Hampton to settle over them as the 
pastoral colleague of the Rev. Timothy Dalton, their religious 
teacher. In Hampton he continued, to the entire acceptance of 
his flock, until 1(355 or 1G5G when he made a voyage to England. 
There he was received with high favor b}' Oliver Cromwell, his 
fellow collegian, now the highest personage in the land ; nhd also 
by Sir Henry Vane, a friend and fellow sufferer in the Antinomian 
struggle in Massachusetts. After Cromwell's death Wheelwright 
returned to New England, in company with several other minis- 
ters, in the summer of 16(32. He accepted the invitation of the 
church at Salisbury, Massachusetts, to become their spiritual 
guide, and, though then arrived at the age of threescore and ten, 
enjoyed among them the longest pastorate of his checkered life. 
He had his trials there, indeed, for he was not one to yield his 
opinions because another opposed them, but on the whole his min- 
istrations were useful and his motives and independence were 
respected. It was a pleasant episode in his later life that he 
preached a sermon in 1671-2 in behalf of Harvard College, solic- 
iting contributions for the rebuilding of Harvard Hall which had 
been destroyed by lire, — thus showing that he harbored no malice 
against the dignitaries of Massacliusetts for the harsh treat- 
ment that he had formerly received at their hands. His death took 
place at Salisbury November 15, 167'J. 

50. Thomas Wight, of whom nothing is learned prior to his 
appearance in Exeter, had six acres and thirty poles allotted hiin 
as his share of the uplands ; and was a subscriber of the Combina- 
tion. In the five subsequent years that he spent in the town, his 
name appears seldom on the records. He had a house, and 
perhaps two, as his " old house" is referred to ; and he was cen- 
sured and fined in 1642 by the town court for " contemptuous 
carriage and speeches against the court and magistrates." He 
lived in the town at least two years and a half, afterwards, and 
then went away, we know not whither. Mr. Savage thinks Thomas 
Wight was the same person elsewhere called Thomas AVright, but 
he gives no authority for the belief. The name is uniformly 
written Weight in the town records ; but is subscribed Wight, 
apparently in his own hand, to the Combination. 



40 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

51. Balthazar Willix, whose name would indicate that he was 
of foreign origin, was undoubtedly in Elxeter as early as tlie 
l)eginuing of ir)40, as he was then awarded one of the smaller 
shares of the uplands. He was not a signer of the Combination. 
His name appears, however, repeatedly in the records, at a later 
date, in his own bold and handsome chirography. In jNIay, 1643, 
he was one of the petitioners to the General Court pf Massachu- 
setts to receive Exeter under their government. His name is not 
found in the records after 1 (!.■)(). In the month of May or June, 
1648, Willix's wife was robbed and brutally murdered on her way 
from Dover to Plxeter. Whether the perpetrator of the outrage 
was ever brought to justice is not known. "NVillix did not remain 
in Exeter long afterwards, but took up his residence in Salisbury, 
where he was taxed in 165U, and died March 23, 1651. 

52. Thomas Wilson came to this country in June, 1633, with 
his wife and three sons ; Humphrey, Samuel and Joshua. He also 
had children born here: Deborah in August, 1634, and L3'dia in 
November, 163(5. His home was in Koxbury, and he had the 
misfortune to lose his house and goods by fire. Being in sympa- 
thy with Wheelwright he came with him to p]xeter to reside, but 
subsequently made peace with the church which he had left. He 
was a signer of the Combination, and occupied the island at the 
falls and some lands on the eastern side of the river. In the first 
division of lands he received four acres and twenty-eight rods of 
marsh. He built the first grist-mill in the town. On the twentieth 
of October, 1642, on the resignation of Nicholas Needham as 
Ruler, he was elected his successor. He died in the summer of 
1643, leaving a will in which he made provision for his widow and 
children. The former was married the next year to John Legat. 
A difference arose about the estate between her and her oldest 
son, Humphre}^ which was by the General Court referred to the 
County Court at Ipswich. Humphrey Wilson continued an inhabi- 
tant of the town through life, probably, and his descendants, 
though none bearing his name, are still living in Exeter. 

The foregoing are the names of all the men who are known to 
have been inhabitants of Exeter in the first two years of its exist- 
ence. William Eurber and John Uuderhill, though temporarily in 
the place at the times of the execution of the Indian deeds, which 
they respectively witnessed, were residents of Dover, and never 
of Exeter. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 41 

EARLY ENACTMENTS. 

The third 3^ear opened upon Exeter, in the spring of 1640, with 
a population of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred souls, 
including women and children, living under a practicable and regu- 
lar system of government. The municipal regulations adopted by 
the inhal)itants from time to time, as long as they ruled them- 
selves, were generally marked by equity and good sense. A few 
examples are given : 

It was enacted that any inhabitant might sell to the Indians 
such merchandise as he pleased, except weapons, ammunition and 
strong waters. The charges of the town were to be ratably pro- 
portioned among the inhabitants, owners of land, and cattle, and 
privileges. In conformity with the professions of the Combina- 
tion, treason, " reviling his majesty the Lord's anointed " and the 
like, were made punishable capitally. Judicious regulations were 
prescribed in regard to the purchase of lots, the felling of timber, 
and the attendance of the inhabitants at town meetings. The 
miller's toll was limited ; all creeks were declared free for fishing ; 
fences were ordered to be erected, and highways of three rods in 
width to be made. Rules were laid down to prevent injury to 
growing crops by swine. The control of the lands by the town 
was jealously preserved ; and no inhabitant was permitted to buy 
for his own use from the Indians any of the planting ground 
reserved for their cultivation ; but must tender it first to the town. 

It would appear that even in this early stage of the settlement, 
slander was not wholly unknown, and an order was passed that 
any persons spreading abroad any accusation which could not be 
proved by the mouth of two or three witnesses, should be liable to 
the court's censure. Thus early too was enacted the law that no 
foreigners should be employed to work in the town, if inhabitants 
would do the work as cheaply and as well. Of course it was not 
natives of foreign countries that were here referred to, but any 
persons not citizens of Exeter. This disinclination to encourage 
" foreigners " to come into the town, was exhibited repeatedly by 
similar orders, at later dates ; and, indeed, is thought by some not 
to have entirely died out yet ! 

These regulations appear to have been scrupulously carried into 
effect, without distinction of persons. 

* The first clerk of the town and court was Edward Rishworth. 
The second was John Legat, who had been a resident and school- 



42 niSTORY OF EXETER. 

master of Hampton in 1640, and afterwards filled the same impor- 
tant station in Exeter. He wrote a handsome hand, and was well 
informed and business-like, and for several years took a somewhat 
prominent part in the affairs of the town. He received repeated 
grants of lands and privileges, and was one of the townsmen from 
1647 to 1649. It was probably in the latter year that he removed 
back to Hampton. There he was living in 1664. His name is 
not extinct in the vicinity. 

By the spring of 1641 a " band of soldiers " had been organized 
in Exeter, and the freemen elected Richard Bulgar lieutenant and 
Thomas Wardell sergeant ; and their choice was approved by 
Ruler Needham. 

On the twenty-sixth of October, 1642, Nicholas Needham re- 
signed his office of Ruler, and Thomas Wilson, being chosen in 
his place, gave his approbation to all the laws and orders which 
had been made during Ruler Needham's administration. 

The grain crop of the season of 1642 was for some reason a 
very scanty one, and by the succeeding spring the poorer class of 
inhabitants began to suffer from scarcity of food. The majority 
of the town made no scruple in applying the doctrine of " eminent 
domain" to the case. On May 6, 1643, they appointed a commit- 
tee of discreet and judicious citizens, and authorized them to 
search the houses, and take therefrom any corn not needed by the 
owners, and dispose of the same to such poor people as stood most 
in need of it, for such pay as they could make ; the owners, how- 
ever, to be compensated at market rates ; an arbitrary measure, 
but one entirely justifiable under the peculiar circumstances. 

Meadow or marsh lauds were considered specially desirable by 
the owners of cattle, as no other mowing grouud had yet been res- 
cued from the forest. Patches of this natural grass land Avere 
found by explorers here and there, on the margins of streams ; 
and it was ordered, August 21, 1643, that an}^ inhabitant who 
should discover any piece of marsh land of less than twenty acres, 
should be at liberty to enjoy it as his own ; if above twenty acres, 
it was to be at the disposal of the town, except that the finder was 
to be entitled to a double proportion of it. 

At a town court held September 5, 1643, Christopher Lawson 
was put under recognizance to answer to the charge of extortion 
" at the next Court to be holden for Exeter either here or else- 
where." This language indicates an understanding that the town 
government was about to be merged in an authority of a wider 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 43 

sweep, which we shall see was soon accomplished. One of the 
last acts of the town court was to fill up the measure of justice to 
Thomas Biggs, who was found guilty of sundry petty larcenies, 
by adjudging him to make ample restitution to the sufferers, and 
also to be whipped six stripes. It is satisfactory to know that 
this punishment was very likely the making of the young culprit, 
for he became a useful citizen, and was repeatedly elected to posts 
of responsibility in the town, in after years. 

The records of the town, during the period of its self-govern- 
ment, contain many particulars of interest that could not well be 
included in this chapter ; and for the satisfaction of the curious, 
it has been thought expedient to print them entire in the original 
language and orthography, in the appendix (II). 



CHAPTER II. 
EXETER UNDER THE MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT. 

By the spring of 1G43 nil the New Hampshire plantations, except 
Exeter, were under the sway of Massachusetts. Hampton had 
orignally been settled from that colony ; Dover and Portsmouth 
had been induced to submit themselves to her rule, partly by her 
claim that they fell within her patent, but more, perhaps, by the 
favorable terms which she held out to tliem. That church-mem- 
bership was a prerequisite to the privilege of voting in civil affairs, 
was a cardinal doctrine in Massachusetts. This was now surren- 
dered, and the citizeus of the New Hampshire towns were to be 
allowed the elective franchise without reference to that qualifica- 
tion ; a proof of the price Avhich the Bay Puritans were ready to 
pay, to purchase an extension of their jurisdiction. 

Exeter was the last to yield. A large part of her inhabitants 
felt that they had been treated with harshness and injustice by the 
authorities of Massachusetts, and some of them utterly refused to 
submit again to her dominion but quitted the place to avoid it. 
A petition, however, was forwarded in May, 1643, to the Massa- 
chusetts General Court, that Exeter might be received within tlieir 
jurisdiction. It was subscribed by Thomas Rashleigh, Richard 
Bulgar, William Wenborne, Thomas Wardell, Samuel Walker, 
Christopher Lawson, John Legat, Henry Rob}', Thomas Biggs, 
AVilliam Cole, Tliomas Pettit, Robert Smith, John Cram, Nathan- 
iel Boulter, Robert Seward, Abraham Drake aud AVllliam JNIoore. 
Eleven of these were signers of the Combination. The petition 
itself has been destroyed, and we can only infer its contents from 
the reception it met with. It could not have been an uncondi- 
tional surrender to Massachusetts, but must have stipulated for 
some terms which her rulers were unwilliug to grant. Tlie Gen- 
eral Court answered curtl}', that " as Exeter fell within the Massa- 
chusetts patent, they took it ill that the petitioners should capit- 
ulate witli them." In other words the Exeter people must accept 

such conditions as Massachusetts chose to impose. 

44 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 45 

Immediately afterwards a second petition was forwarded, 
couched in language sufficiently humble, as follows : 

To the Right Worshipful the Governor, the Deputie Governor and 
the Magistrates, with the assistance and deputyes of this honored 
Courte at present assembled in Boston. 

The humble petition of the inhabitants of Exeter, who do 
humbly request that this honored Court would be pleased to 
appoint the bounds of our Towne to be layed out to us, both 
towards Hampton & also downe the River on that side which Capt. 
Wiggons his farm is on, for he doth Clame all the laud from the 
towne downwards, on the one side, & Hampton on the other side 
doth clame to be neere us, that we shall not be able to subsist to 
be a Towne except this honored Court be pleased to releave us. 
And we suppose that Capt. Wiggens his farme and a good way 
below it, may well be laid within our Township if this honored 
Court so please. 

Also we do humbly crave that the Court would be pleased to 
grant that we may still peaceably enjoy thouse small quantitie of 
meddows, which are at Lamperell river that Dover men now seeme 
to lay clame to, notwithstanding they know we long since purchased 
them & allso quietly possest them with their consent. 

Likewise we do humbly request that this honored Court would 
be pleased to establish three men among us to put an Ishew to 
small differences amongst us, & one to be a Clarke of the writes, 
that so we might not be so troblesom to the Courts for every small 
matter. The three men which we desire the ending of Controver- 
sies are Anthony Stanean, Samuel Greenffield & James Wall & 
we do desire that John Legat may be the Clarke of the writes. 
Thus leaving our Petition to your Judicious Consideration & your- 
selves to the Lord, we rest and remaine ever ready to do 3'ou our 
best service. 

Samuel Greenfield * Henry Roby 

Anthony Stanyan Richard Carter 

Thomas AVij?ht William M[oore] 

Nathaniel Boulter James Wall 

John Tedd * Humphrey Willsou 

Robert Hethersay Ralph Hall 

John Legat JohnBursley* 

Abraham Di-ake Francis Swain 

Thomas Jones * John Davis 

Nicholas Swain Balthazer Willix 

Thomas King * John Smart 



4G HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Of these twenty-two subscribers only four had set then- hands to 
the Combination, and not one of them was in any wa}' connected 
with tlie Antinomian dissensions of 1637. 

This petition bore date May 12 [1643], and apparently was pre- 
sented near the close of the current session of the General Court. 
The printed records make no mention of it then ; but an indorse- 
ment upon the petition shows that both branches of the Legislature 
acceded to it. 

On the seventh of the following September the General Court 
formally received Exeter within the Massachusetts government 
and assigned it to the neAvly formed county of Norfolk. But it is 
a curious fact that in the appointment of permanent town oflicers 
the nominees of the^ accepted petition were rejected, and signers 
of the rejected petition and of the Combination were preferred. 
William Wenborne was appointed clerk of the writs, and William 
Wenborne, Robert Smith and Thomas Wardell were made masi'is- 
trates to decide small causes. Massachusetts knew how to con- 
ciliate as well as to coerce. 



THE CONDITIONS OF ANNEXATION. 

The terms on which Exeter was admitted were substantially 
those accorded to the other New Hampshire towns : namel}', " the 
same order, and way of administration of justice and way of keep- 
ing courts, as is established at Ipswich and Salem ;" exemption 
from " all public charges other thau those that .shall arise for or 
from amoug [the people] themselves, or from any occasion or 
course that may be taken to procure their own proper good or 
benefit;" and the enjoyment of " all such lawful liberties of fish- 
ing, planting, felling timber as formerly they have enjoyed in the 
said [Pascataqua] river." The town was to send no delegate to 
the General Court, but this was no hardship, as the inhabitants 
could ill afford the expense which would thereby fall upon them, 
and their apparent need of a representative in the Legislature was 
small. 

At first it was ordered that PLxeter causes at lavr should be tried 
at Ipswich ; afterwards at the courts held in one of three or four 
towns (not including Exeter) in the county of Norfolk. There 
ample opportunities were afforded to the inhabitants for settling 
all litigated questions above the jurisdiction of the town magis- 
trates ; and towns were compelled b}' presentments of the grand 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 47 

jury to keep their meeting-houses, watch-houses, stocks, roads and 
bridges in good and serviceable order ; while the General Court 
exercised a watchful and paternal care over their ecclesiastical and 
municipal concerns. 

The government of Exeter was of course modified, to conform 
to the usages of Massachusetts. Three townsmen were chosen, 
Richard Bulgar, Samuel Greenfield and Christopher Lawson, 
whose duties approximated those of selectmen of the present day. 
By a vote of the town, April 8, 1644, they were empowered to 
' ' make town rates ; to distrain for all town debts ; to pay the 
town's debts out of the town's treasury, or to make rates for it ; 
to look to the execution of all town orders ; to grant and lay out 
lots, provided they be not above twenty acres ; to receive into the 
town as inhabitants, or to keep out, such as they in their wisdom 
think meet." 

THE FISHERY. 

The fishery furnished a very important article of subsistence to 
the early inhabitants ; indeed, for the first few seasons, before the 
land had been brought fairly under cultivation, it must have been 
well nigh indispensable. The river, above and below the falls, 
abounded in fish of various kinds, and the salmon, we learn from 
tradition, were especially plentiful. Still we can hardly give 
credence to the often repeated tale that the ancient indentures of 
apprenticeship in Exeter used to contain a proviso that the 
apprentices should uot be compelled to eat salmon more than twice 
a week ! No instrument containing such a clause has ever been 
found ; and the story has been told of half a score of towns in 
England, and was, undoubtedly, an importation from that country. 

The salmon, for the excellent reason that they can no longer 
pass the dams to breed their young in tlie fresh water above, have 
long deserted the Squamscot ; but the alewives still frequent the 
river, though probably not in such profusion as formerly. At first 
the latter were chiefly used as manure for the cultivated lands ; 
and thus rendered necessary the stringent regulations that were 
adopted to prevent swine and dogs from feeding upon them. 

As early as the second of November, 1640, it was ordered by 
the town that "all creeks are free; only he that makes a weir 
therein is to have in the first place the benefit of it in fishing time ; 
and so others may set a weir either above or below, and enjoy the 
same libertv." 



48 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Ou the twenty-eighth of June, 1G44, the town granted to Christo- 
pher Lawson and his heirs '' the right to set a weir in the river of 
Exeter " upon certain conditions, one of which w\as that the inhabi- 
tants should be supplied with alewives lo fish their land, at three 
shillings a thousand, in such pay as the town afforded ; and another 
that he should make flood gates " so that barks, boats and canoes 
may come to the town." The inhabitants reserved to themselves 
liberty to fish in the falls and elsewhere in the river, but not to set 
any other weir so as to forestall Lawson's. This monopoly, 
though formidable in sound, being extended to Lawson's " heirs 
forever," enjoyed but a brief span of life ; for the very next year, 
April 26, 1645, the town resumed the control of tlie fisliery by 
passing the following vote : 

All the creeks for fishing this year are divided into three divi- 
sions by lot, eleven or twelve persons to a division according as 
the lots lie, as follow : the first division of lots, from the mill 
downward, are to have Rawbone's creek and the creek ai)ove it; 
the second division from the mill downward, are to have all the 
creeks on the mill side of the river ; and tlie tliird division are to 
have all the creeks on the town side of the river, except Mr. 
Needliam's creek and the great cove creek, which two creelvs lie 
common. 

This vote casts a little light upon tlie topography of the town at 
that early date. The mill (there was then but one) was Wilson's, 
on the eastern side of the island at the falls. The "mill side" 
of the river was the opposite from the " town side" which was, 
of course, the western. This indicates that, from the very begin- 
ning, the main settlement was on the western side of the river ; 
though tradition asserts that two or three settlers planted their 
houses on the opposite bank, between what is now styled Powder- 
house point and Wheelwright's creek ; and depressions in the soil, 
-which may have been cellars, go to confirm the tale. 

The people of Exeter were not long in discovering that the 
Massachusetts control was to be no sinecure, but was to extend 
sometimes to their pettiest concerns. When, in 1644, they chose 
Samuel Greenfield to "keep a sulHcient ordinary, and draw wine 
and strong w^aters, and trade with the Indians," the General Court 
" denied him to draw wine until they had a more full and satisfac- 
tory information of him." And wdien the town "took the minds 
of the trained bands for the re-establishing Richard Bullgar in 
his former office of lieutenant," the General Court "thought it not 
meet that he should be their lieutenant until further information 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 49 

be given to this Court of said Bullgar ;, in the meantime he to exer- 
cise the trainband as their sergeant." 

The first three or four years after Exeter submitted to Massa- 
chusetts appear to have formed a critical period in the history of 
the town. The departure of Wheelwright and other leading inhabi- 
tants was a heavy draft upon the little colony, not to be counter- 
balanced by the ordinary recruits of a frontier settlement. Relig- 
ious differences had crept in among the inhabitants to such an 
extent that the aid of the General Court was evoked to compose 
them. A committee of ministers was accordingly appointed to 
examine the ground of the complaints, and to do their best to 
bring about harmony. At the same time the town prayed to be 
excused from the payment of taxes — " rate and head money," — 
no doubt upon the plea of their poverty and unsettled condition. 
The General Court, willing as they were to afford relief in spirit- 
ual matters, were not inclined, however, to remit their pecuniary 
obligations, l)ut " conceived meet that they forthwith send in their 
rates to the Treasurer." 

Two events concurred, however, within the next three years, to 
give renewed strength to the town, and tide it over the threatening 
period, to stability and prosperity. The first was the settlement 
in Exeter of Edward Gilmau in 1647, and his relatives shortly 
afterwards, men of property and energy, who setup saw-mills and 
gave an impulse to the business of the place. The second was the 
engagement in 1G.')0 of the Rev. Samuel Dudley as the minister 
of the town, who united the previously discordant religious 
elements, and became in every respect one of the most useful 
citizens. 

TIIK CAIIK OF THE CATTLE. 

On the first of May, 1649, the selectmen, in behalf of the town, 
entered into a written agreement with Gowen Wilson to drive, and 
take the oversight of the cows and other cattle of the inhabitants, 
for the season. As the transaction illustrates the customs of the 
times, the instrument is here given in full : 

It is covenanted and agreed upon between Gowen Wilson and 
the town of P^xeter that the said Gowen is to keep all the neat 
herd of the town of Exeter from one-year-old and upward (work- 
ing cattle excepted) from the day of the date hereof until three 
weeks after Michaelmas, to go every morning through the town at 

4 



50 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

the usual time that cow-herds go forth, and so to have the cattle 
turned into the town street and the said Goweu to drive them into 
the woods, and all the day to keep tliem in such convenient places 
as may be best for their feeding, on both sides of the river, and at 
night to bring them home again, at the like usual time of herds 
coming home ; iu like manner to bring them through the street 
from the first house to the last who have cattle in that street, and 
to seek up or cause to be sought any that shall be lost from before 
him, and in like manner to keep them every third Sabbath day. 

And iu consideration hereof the inhabitants of the town who 
have cattle are to pay or cause to be paid uuto the said Goweu 
Wilson the sum of eleven pound, to be paid by every man's equal 
proportion according to the number of their cattle in manner as 
folio wetli, viz. : at the first entry to have a peck of corn a head 
for all and every the milch cows, and a pound of butter a cow, 
suddenly, after his eutry upon the said work, as he shall have 
occasiou to use it. And the rest of the aforesaid (11 1.) is half 
of it to be paid in good English commodities at price current, 
about the beginning of August uext, and the other half of the pay 
to be paid in corn at harvest at 3 ^ a bushel. 

AYituess to this agreement the hands of us, 

GowEN "Wilson, 
John Leoat, 
James Wall, 
Henry IIoby. 

This writing discloses to us some facts of interest about the 
condition of the settlement and its people at that period. The 
cattle were compelled to gather their subsistence " in the woods," 
because so little of the surrounding country was as yet cleared 
from the forest growth. A cow-herd was necessary to keep 
them from straying ; therefore it is clear that there was an absence 
of enclosures. " The town street" implies that as yet there was 
but a single thoroughfare, doubtless along the line of the present 
AVater street. The fact that the herd was to be driven to pasture 
only " every third Sabbath," shows the respect entertained by the 
people for the Lord's da3^ And the mode in which compensation 
was to be made, in corn, butter and English commodities, without 
a particle of cash, reveals the extreme scarcity of money among 
the people. Indeed, for long years afterwards, much of the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 51 

business of the place was carried on ])y ])arter, or " country 
pay," as it was termed, and would have been practicable in no 
other method. 

Up to the year 1G50 the General Court had at intervals made 
appointments of local magistrates to end small causes in the town. 
In 1645 they were Anthony Stanyan, Robert Smith and John 
Legat ; in 1(U6 Anthony Stanyan, Samuel Crreenfield and James 
Wall. But when in May, 1G50, the inhabitants made application 
for another similar appointment, it was refused by the General 
Court upon the ground that there was no need of such commis- 
sioners, as Captain Thomas Wiggiu, an Associate, lived so near. 
But the town were allowed the privilege of choosing a cqnstable, 
provided the person of their choice should be approved by the 
county court " as fit for the place." 

The fathers of Exeter early learned the need of a system of 
supervision of the conduct of their public servants. As early as 
August 2G, 1650, a vote was passed that one of the duties of the 
townsmen should be to "call to account" their predecessors in 
office. And this, or some equivalent mode of auditing the 
accounts of the receiving and disbursing officers of the town, was 
maintained with great regularity afterwards, from that time to the 
present. 

THE STAPLE COMMODITY. 

Tlie manufacture of lumber was, for more than a century, the 
chief source of revenue to the inhabitants. There was everywhere 
an al)nudance of the fittest oaks and pines that had survived their 
weaker brethren, and were truly monarchs of the forest. Tiie 
land was owned in common, and a long period elapsed before 
much of it was divided. The lumber, therefore, cost the inliabi- 
tants nothing but the necessary labor in getting it out. Naturally, 
some secured much more than others ; there was a great deal of 
waste ; and non-residents did not hesitate to help thsmselves from 
the bounteous supply. To remedy these troubles, and to insure 
something like equality or equity among the inhabitants in the 
enjoyment of the products of their common domain, as well as to 
prevent strangers from encroaching thereon, the town from time 
to time adopted regulations ; a brief summary of which will be 
presented. 

On the first of October, 1640, the felling of timber within half 
a mile of the town, except on one's own particular lot, or for 



52 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

buildiug or fencing, was prohibited under a penalty of five shillings 
per tree ; and it was provided that none but inhabitants or town 
dwellers should have liberty to fell or saw any pine, oak or other 
timber under a like penalty to the offender. 

On the fourteenth of January, 1642, " upon the great complaint 
of the great destruction and spoil of timber about the tow^n," it 
was ordered that the inhabitants who had felled timber for pipe 
staves or bolts, should have a year's time to work it up, except 
that those who had timber Ij'ing for a year unwrought, should have 
but six months more ; after which if still unwrought, it should be 
forfeited. 

On th^ sixteenth of February, 1647, it was required that every 
inhabitant should cease felling timber for the present till further 
order. Such as had timber felled had liberty to work up so much 
of it as would complete their i)roportions formerly granted or 
legally purchased ; and what they had felled more than their 
shares, they were to leave to the town's use. Every inhabitant 
should give an account to the townsmen what shares he had pur- 
chased and what timber he had already used. The}' who had not 
made up their proportional shares might fell timber aud woi'k it 
up, to the amount of their said shares. A penalty of five shillings 
was imposed " for every tree that any man shall transgress in." 
John Legat and Thomas Pettit were appointed cullers of pipe 
staves for the town, aud sworn according to the order of the 
court. 

On the twenty-second of April, 1650, it was ordered " by the 
freemen and some others, chosen for the ordering of the sole 
affairs of the town," that every inhabitant should pay for every 
thousand of pipe staves made by him, two shillings, for the mainte- 
nance of the ministry ; for every thousand of hogshead staves one 
shilling and six pence ; aud for every thousand of bolts, sold 
before made into staves, four shillings. 

On the twenty-sixth of August, 1650, it was voted by the town 
that none but settled inhabitants should have the privilege upon 
the Common to fell or use timber, and not future comers into town 
until they should be accepted for inhabitants ; all others were 
prohibited. Onlj' one person to each house lot was to enjoy the 
privilege, and he must build a good, habitable house thereon withiu 
six months. 

On the first day of Ma}^ 1657, it was voted that "for the preser- 
vation of pipe-stave timber, and that there might be some proi)or- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 53 

tiou [fixed], that some might not have great [share] of thnber and 
some none," it was ordered that from that time forward there 
should not be above one person in a family at one time employed 
in making of pipe staves, hogshead staves or bolts, or in any other 
work concerning white oak timber, except it be for saw-mills or 
building of houses or fencing stuff, on pain of forfeiture of ten 
shillings for each transgression, one-half to him who should give 
notice, and the other half to the use of the town. This order 
applied to work upon the Common, and on all ground not laid out. 

It was voted June 2<S, 165-4, that the order theretofore made, 
debarring strangers from coming into town to fell timber and make 
staves, should be still in force ; and that for time to come no man 
living in another town, should, under any pretence whatsoever » 
fell timber or make staves or bolts or any timber work, unless he 
became a settled inhabitant, approved of by the town, and resident 
three months in the town before he should make any improvement 
of timber. 

On the first day of December, 1664, "the town ha\ing taken 
into consideration the worth of masts, and that every year they 
may be still of greater consequence, and that his majesty for his 
own shipping may cause some to be transported from hence ; for 
the preservation of such timber as may make masts, " ordered that 
.Tohn Folsom be authorized to mark such trees as he thought fit for 
masts ; to impose a penalty of twenty shillings upon any one 
felling a tree so marked ; and to sell such trees for the benefit of 
the town, at the following prices : " for those of thirty inches 
[diameter] and upwards, thirty shillings each ; between thirty and 
twenty-four inches, twenty shillings ; between twenty-four and 
twent}^ inches, ten shillings." 

At a town meeting jNIarch 3, 1673-4, it was ordered that thence- 
forth every single person who was legally admitted into the town 
should have liberty to make one thousand white oak pipe staves 
within one year, or the value of them in hogshead or barrel staves, 
red or white, and no more ; and every family of less than four, 
servants excepted, three thousand ; provided, that neither single 
persons nor families should sell their privilege to any other, but 
might hire men to work out their proper proportions. 

Samuel Leavitt and John Wedgewood were empowered to 
" seize upon " any transgressor of the order, and to have for theii* 
pains, one-half the overplus of his proper share ; the other half to 
go to the town. 



54 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

On the twentieth of April, 1652, the town agreed to pa}'^ to the 
Rev. Saninel Dudley twenty shillings for the use of his two bulls. 
Mr. Dudley, in addition to his qualifications as a religious teacher, 
was a notable man of affairs. He acquired numerous tracts of 
land, was interested in mills and in agriculture, was employed to 
keep the town books, was the general conveyancer and attorney 
of the place, and now seems to have added to his other cares the 
desire to improve the breed of the cattle of the town. 

The early records of Exeter are made up pretty largely of the 
elections of oMicers and of grants of land, but an occasional entry 
is met with which apparently must have had in its time a special 
significance. Such a one is a vote passed November 9, 1652, that 
the town book should be kept in Thomas King's house, and should 
not go therefrom unless there should be special occasion, and that 
by consent of the major part of the town ; and that any person 
warned to be at a town meeting who should not be there at half 
an hour after the time appointed, should pay for the use of the 
town two shillings ; and John Robinson was appointed to " gather 
up " any fines incurred for violation of this order. Curiosity is 
naturally excited to learn the occasion of such action. Had any 
unscrupulous hand attempted to tamper with the records? Had 
some obnoxious vote been prematurely sprung upon a town meet- 
ing? We ask these questions in vain. Interesting as the infor- 
mation might be, no clue to it has reached to our time. 

In the lumber business many transient persons were employed. 
If disabled by sickness or accident, there was danger that the 
town would be made liable for their support. To guard against 
pauperism from this source, the following vote was passed April 
o, 1665 : 

Ordered that what person soever shall hire any servant for more 
or less time, if it happen that he that is hired shall be lamed or 
any ways unserviceal)le made in work during that time [he] shall 
be kept by the charge of him that hires him, if he be not able to 
keep himself, that so the town may be freed from such charges. 

This vote was supplemented by a rule promulgated by the select- 
men, August 30, 1671, as follows : 

Ordered that no man shall receive any person or persons into 
town without the consent of the selectmen, or security to free the 
town from any cliarge that may ensue thereby, upon twenty 
shillings a mouth forfeiture ; and that uo man shall come to 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 55 

inhabit, by purchase or otherwise, without the consent of the 
selectmen, upon the same penalty. 

PROJECT FOR A CHANGE OP GOVERNMEXT. 

For nearly a quarter of a century after the death of John IMason, 
the patentee of New Hampshire, in 1635, little had occurred to 
remind the inhabitants that his representatives still claimed the 
title to the soil. They lived in England, and Robert Tufton 
jMasou, to whom his grandfather's American estates descended, 
did not become of age till 1650. He was attached to the estab- 
lished church and the royal government ; therefore it would have 
been idle for him, during the protectorate of Cromwell, to expect 
any aid from the ruling powers in regaining the lands of which he 
alleged that Massachusetts had dispossessed him. But upon the 
restoration of Charles II. to the English throne, in 1660, he peti- 
tioned his majesty for the restoration of the lands. The king's 
attorney general, to whom the subject was referred, reported that 
Mason had a good and legal title to the province of New Hamp- 
shire. Though no immediate action resulted therefrom, yet we 
shall see that this movement of Mason was destined ere long to 
produce momentous consequences. 

Until 1661, the king did nothing ; but on April 25, of that year, 
in consequence of other complaints and petitions, respecting 
matters of dispute in New England, he commissioned Colonel 
Richard Nicholls, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel 
Maverick to visit the several colonies of New England ; to deter- 
mine all complaints ; to provide for the peace and security of the 
country according to their discretion and to such instructions as 
they should receive from the king ; and to report to him their 
doings. 

This commission was exceedingly obnoxious to the rulers of 
Massachusetts, who were conscious that it was especially aimed at 
themselves and their conduct, and who claimed that it was an 
interference with rights vested in the colonists by their charter. 
The commissioners, however, pursuant to their instructions, visited 
the several colonies of New England, and their inquiries caused 
little friction, except in Massachusetts and her dependencies. 
They determined that the assumption of that colony to include 
within her charter limits and jurisdiction the New Hampshire 
settlements, was an act of usurpation ; and gave the people of those 
settlements to understaiud that they would release them from the 
rule of Massachusetts, if that were their desire. 



56 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Accordingly a petition was drawn, addressed to the King of 
England, purporting to represent the wishes of the towns of Ports- 
mouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton, expressing their great joy 
that his majesty had sent over the Commissioners, and sorrow at 
their ill treatment by the Bay government ; and praj'ing that the 
king would take the petitioners (towns) into his immediate pro- 
tection, that thej' might be governed by the known laws of Eng- 
land ; and that they might enjoy the sacraments they had been so 
long deprived of. This petition, so far as known, contained but 
nine signatures, two of them of Exeter men, Edward Hilton and 
John Folsom. The former was a moderate church of England 
man, the latter, who apparently was concerned in circulating the 
paper, was of a high and somewhat turbulent temper. There is 
no doubt that there was a party in New Hampshire disaffected to 
the government of Massachusetts, and had there been a reasonable 
probability that they would have bettered themselves by a demon- 
stration against it, a considerable number of names might have 
been obtained for that end. But the reflecting part of them had 
little confidence in the present movement, and prudently kept clear 
of it. 

The General Court of Massachusetts in their turn appointed a 
committee to inquire into the disposition of the New Hampshire 
towns towards their government. Respecting that of Exeter they 
interrogated the Rev. Samuel Dudley, who replied as follows : 

Concerning the question that is in hand, whether the town of 
Exeter hath subscribed to that petition to his majesty for the 
taking of Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton and f^xeter under his 
immediate government, I do affirm to my best apprehension, that 
the town of Exeter hath no hand in that petition directly or 
indirectly. 

It is sufficient for our purpose to know that the action of the 
royal commissioners led to no change of government, but rather 
to a demonstration in favor of Massachusetts. The several New 
Hampshire towns united in a general collection to aid in building 
a new hall for Harvard College, to replace that which had been 
recently destroyed by fire. For this laudable purpose the town of 
Exeter contributed ten pounds. 

In connection with this subject it is worthy of mention that 
Samuel Maverick, one of the king's commissioners, had about the 
year 1660, made a brief report to his majesty, Charles II., respect- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 57 

ing the several settlements in tlie New England colonies, which he 
was, by his early and long residence in this country, well qualified 
to do. This paper, after lying unknown to historians for more 
than two hundred years, has recently come to light. Every scrap 
of information of that early date, is of interest. Maverick's notice 
of Exeter, therefore, meagre though it is, is entitled to a place 
here : 

Exeter, Above this (the saw-mill on Lamperell creek), at the 
fall of the river Pascataqua, is the town of Iilxeter, where are more 
saw-mills ; down the south side of this river are farms and other 
straggling families. 

Taxation was probably no more agreeable to property holders 
in former times than it is at present. In February, 1672, the 
selectmen gave notice to the inhabitants to bring in a list of their 
estates, both of outlands and all else, to one of the selectmen, 
together with an account of all debts due them from the town, 
on or before the next sixth day of March ; under the penalty of 
forfeiting what was due them from the town, upon their neglect to 
bring in an account thereof, and of the payment of two shillings 
by every one Avho should not bring in a list of his estate to make 
a true rate by. We can imagine that this rule would cause the 
exhibition of all claims against the town : but whether it would 
bring to light all taxable property, might depend much on the 
amount which the rate payer would be liable to be assessed. 

The year 1(575 was made men)orable by the fierce outbreak of 
Indian hostilities known as King Philip's War. The loss of life 
with which Exeter was visited, is related in detail in another 
chapter. To defray the growing charges of the Indian war the 
General Court of Massachusetts on the thirteenth of October 
levied upon the New Hampshire towns seven single country rates. 
The proportion of Exeter was eight pounds, eight shillings for a 
single rate, and the entire tax required of the town was twent3'-five 
pounds, four shillings in November, 1675, and thirty-three pounds, 
twelve shillings in March, 1676. Happily, the war was of brief 
duration. 

On the eleventh of March, 1679, Edward Smith, Edward 
Oilman and Peter Folsom were appointed by the town a committee 
to ascertain the town debts and the legality of the same. It thus 
appears that we have an early precedent for incurring a town debt ; 
and the report of the committee having fortunately been preserved. 



58 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

is given here, as an example of the formal manner in which 
agents of the town performed their functions two hundred years 
ago. 

Theis may certifie all whome it may concerne that whereas wee 
underwritten, at a Towne meeting y'^ 11"' of March 1678 [9] were 
appointed a comittee to examine y^ Towne Debts & y" legallity 
thereof, and y*' Towne standing to y'' same as wee should bring in 
o"" Judgm'% doe declare & informe as followeth ; that wee under- 
written as aforesd haveing tryed & examined y" accounts, charges 
and disbursments of Capt", John Gillman, doe find for & allow 
uuto him. Errors excepted, — 77'. 19". 00'^ 

The last Barr" of powder w*^'' Capt". Gillman bought for y<= 
Towne stock is not included in y'' Sume al)oue written. 

Edwu Smith. 
Edwaud Oilman 

PeTEU X FOLLSIIAM. 

Exeter continued under the laws of Massachusetts between 
thirty-six and tliirty-seven years, until New Hampshire, in 1680, 
was erected into a royal province. The rule of the sister colony 
was on the whole equitable and beneficial ; and the little town 
exhibited marked improvement, both in respect to material advan- 
tages, and in the temper and harmony of the people. 

NUMBER AND NAMES OF INHABITANTS. 

The population made but a very gradual increase, as was to be 
expected, for there was little in the frontier settlement to attract 
new comers. It was those who were content to endure hard work 
and hard fare, in the faith of securing better things in the future, 
who were the bone and sinew of Exeter. Yet there was a gain in 
numbers. On the twelfth of October, 1669, the General Court 
appointed John Gilman lieutenant of the military company, at the 
same time declaring that there were ' ' about sixty soldiers in Exe- 
ter." This, if the usual ratio holds good, would imply that there 
were about three hundred inhabitants of all classes. A fair pro- 
portion of the early settlers had passed their lives in the town, and 
were succeeded by then- children. Others had come in, some for 
a temporary, others for a permanent residence. The new names 
that appear upon the town records between 1640 and 1680 will be 
given here, together with others derived from other sources. No 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



59 



complete list is to he found, on the books of the town, or else- 
where, and it is probable that the fullest that can now be gathered, 
is quite imperfect. 

NAMES FIRST ON THE TOWN BOOKS BETWEEN IGIO AND 1680. 



John Barber, 
John Bean, • 
Thomas Biggs, 
Nathaniel Bolter, 
Robert Booth, 
Richard Bray, 
WilUam Bromfield, 
John Bursley, 
Philip Cartee, 
Philip Chesley, 
John Clark, . 
Jeremy Connor, 
Thomas Cornish, 
Ciiristian DoUofl', 
Abraham Drake, 
Nathaniel Drake, 
Teague Drisco, 
Biley Dudley, 
Sanuiel Dudley, 
Theophilus Dudley 
Eleazer Elkins, 
Ephraim Folsora, 
Israel Folsom, 
John Folsom, 
John Folsom, Jr., 
Nathaniel Folsom, 
Peter Folsom, 
Samuel Folsom, 
John Garland, 
Charles Oilman, 
Edward Gihnan, Si., 
Edward Oilman (Jr.), 
John Oilman, 
John Oilman, Jr., 
Moses Oilman, 
Charles Olidden, 
James Godfrey, 
Alexander Gordon, 
Samuel Greenfield, 
William Hacket, 



April 


1, 


1678 




January 


21, 


1660- 


1 


September 


5, 


1643 




jNIay 


6, 


1645 




February 


10, 


1647- 


8 


October 


10, 


1664 




December 


1, 


1664 




September 


-5, 


1643 




March 


29, 


1608 




January 


21, 


1664- 


5 


August 


29, 


1661 




October 


10, 


1664 




January 


12, 


1648- 


9 


March 


30, 


1668 




June 


10, 


1644 




April 


22 


1649 




October 


10, 


1664 




April 


1, 


1678 




May 


13, 


1650 




December 


1, 


1664 




]\Iarch 


3, 


1673- 


4 


April 


1, 


1678 




October 


10, 


1664 




November 


4, 


1647 




September 


28, 


1668 




October 


10, 


1664 




March 


80, 


1670 




October 


10, 


1664 




August 


26, 


1650 




September 


28, 


1668 




May 


10, 


1652 




November 


4, 


1647 




January 


12, 


1648- 


9 


April 


1, 


1678 




February 


10, 


1647- 


8 


March 


30, 


1674 




March 


16, 


1660- 


1 


October 


10, 


1664 




May 


19, 


1644 




October 


10, 


1664 





GO 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Joseph Hall, 
Samuel Hall, 
Robert Hathersay (Her 
William Huntington, 
Edmond Johnson, 
Thomas Jones, 
Joel Judkins, 
Duny (?) Kelley, 
James Kidd, 
John Kimming, 
Thomas King, 
Nathaniel Ladd, 
Cornelius Lary, 
David Lawrence, 
Jeremy Leavitt, 
Moses Leavitt, 
Samuel Leavitt, 
John Legat, . 
Nicholas Liston, 
Henry Magoon, 
Thomas Marston, * 
Richard Morgan, 
Nicholas Norris, 
George Person (Pearson 
Thomas Pettit, Jr., 
Robert Powell, 
Thomas Rashleigh, 
John Robinson, 
Jonathan Robinson, 
Jonathan Rollins, 
Thomas Rollins, 
John Saunders, 
Edward Sewall, 
Jonathan Sewall, 
Robert Seward, 
John Sinclair, 
John Smart, . 
John Smart, Jr., 
Robert Smart, 
Edward Smith, 
Nicholas Smith, 
Francis Swain, 
Nicholas Swain, 
Richard Swain, 



sey), 



), 



October 

March 

August 

February 

August 

August 

April 

October 

March 

October 

January 

February 

October 

March 

March 

October 

September 

October 

January 

April 

January 

March 

August 

March 18 ( 

May 

October 

May 

April 

March 

October 

March 

January 

April 

April 

April 

October 

January 

April 

April 

March 

March 

March 

December 

November 



10, 1664 
11, 1678-9 
5, 1644 

27, 1644-5 
26, 1650 

5, 1644 
2, 1675 

10, 1664 

11, 1678-9 
10, 1664 
16, 1644-5 
18, 1678-9 
10, 1664 
30, 1674 
30, 1670 
10, 1664 

28, 1668 
20, 1642 

12, 1648-9 

2, 1664 
16, 1644-5 

29, 1668 

30, 1671 
about), 1679 

20, 1652 
10, 1664 

6, 1643 
20, 1652 

3, 1673-4 
10, 1664 
30, 1670 
16, 1644-5 

2, 1675 

1, 1678 

1, 1678 
10, 1664 
16, 1644-5 
22, 1649 
22, 1649 

30, 1670 

4, 1658-9 

31, 1645 
16, 1646 

4, 1647 



• Frobably nevet; came to live iu Exeter 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



(U 



Joseph Taylor, 
William Taylor, 
John Tedd, . 
Jonathan Thing, 
Jonathan Thing, Jr., 
Thomas Tyler, 
Robert Wadleigh, 
John "Warren, 
Thomas Warren, . 
John Wedgewood, 
William Whitridge, 
Gowen Wilson, 
Humphrey Wilson, 
John Young, 

111 addition to the foregoing, the following names of persons 
belonging to Exeter within the period referred to, appear on the 
records of old Norfolk county, to wit : 





March 


4, 1658-9 




June 


26, 1650 




November 


4, 1647 




January 


22, 1659-60 




March 


30, 1670 




May 


20, 1652 




March 


15, 1667-S 




April 


22, 1049 




October 


10, 1664 




March 


3, 1673-4 




April 


3, 1649 




November 24, 1650 




June 


17, 1644 




March 


30, 1670 



John Barsham, 1669 
Isaac Cole, 1671 
Isaac Cross, 1651 
David Cushing, 1655 



John Goddard (?) 1678 ' 
Thomas Hithersea, 1650 
Henry Lamprey, 1666 
Edward Littlefield, 1651 



And the foUowins: additional names are extracted from a list of 
those who took the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the country, 
November 30, 1G77, at Exeter; all, with a few possible excep- 
tions, inhabitants of the town. 



John Clark, Jr. 
James Daniel 
Stephen Dudley 
Mr. Michael French 
Daniel Gilman 
Jeremy Gilman 
Moses Gilman, Jr. 
Kinsley Hall 
Armstrong Horn 
William Morgan 
James Perkins 



David Robinson 
George Roberts 
Edward Roe 
James Sinclair 
Mr. Richard Smart 
Robert Smart, Jr. 
Jonathan Smith 
Mr. John Thomas 
John Wadleigh 
Joseph Wadleigh 



CHAPTER III. 

EXETER UNDER THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCIAL 

GOVERNMENT. 

The new governraeut of the province of New Hampshire went 
into operation in January, 1680. A governor and six councillors 
were appointed by the Crown. One of the councillors was an 
Exeter man, John Gilnian, who, under the Massachusetts regime, 
had been a magistrate and an Assistant. The members of the 
lower house of Assembly were elected by the people of the several 
towns, Exeter being entitled to choose two. Her deputies in 1680 
were Captain Bartholomew Tippen and Lieutenant Ralph Hall. 
The latter had been a resident of the town for a number of years ; 
but Tippen was a new comer, and apparently did not remain long. 
He had been a man of some prominence under the Massachusetts 
government, which was probably the reason that he was so speedily 
elected to office here. 

Though the population of the town must have been about three 
hundred, the number of qualified voters at the first election was 
but twenty ; there being in the entire province only two hundred 
and nine. There was no uniform rule determining the qualifica- 
tions of voters, but they were selected arbitrarily ; one conse- 
quence of which was that Exeter had a less number, in proportion 
to her population, than some of the other towns. Exeter had 
nearly seventy tax-payers. 

For the first two years after New Hampshire had become a 
distinct province, and so loug as the principal offices of govern- 
ment were filled by her own citizens, affairs went on smoothly. 
But Robert Mason, who, as the heir of John Mason, the patentee, 
claimed the soil of New Hampshire as his property, and at whose 
solicitation, and for whose benefit, in a great measure, a separate 
government had been provided for the province, found that he was 
yet no nearer the fruition of his hopes of securing the title and 
emoluments of the lands, than he was under the rule of Massa- 

C2 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 63 

cbusetts. He therefore made application to the king for the 
appointment of a new governor, a stranger to New Hampshire, 
Edward Cranfield, a need}', arbitrary and unscrupulous man. 
Mason's request was complied with, and he at once took effectual 
means to attach the appointee to his interest. 

The people speedily read the character and purposes" of their 
new governor. He took his seat in October, 1683, and summoned 
an assembly in November, with whose concurrence a fresh body of 
laws was ena<3ted, one of the most important of which provided 
for a change in the manner of selecting jurors. They had before 
been chosen by the inhabitants of the several towns ; thenceforth 
they were to be appointed by the sheriff, after the English custom. 
This piece of legislation was a fatal mistake for the people, for 
it put the entire pei'sonnel of the judicial courts into the control of 
the governor ; who, having the right to suspend refractory coun- 
cillors, could thus appoint such judges and sheriffs, and tlii'ough 
them, such jurors as he pleased. 

The governor, however, kept up a show of fairness, until the 
assembly had voted him a present of two hundred and fifty pounds, 
by which they vainly hoped to detach him from the interest of 
Mason. Immediately afterwards he came out in his true colors ; 
aud Ijecause he could not make the popular branch consent to a 
bill Avhich he approved, and because he refused to approve certain 
bills which they presented, he resorted to the extreme and unpre- 
cedented step of dissolving the assembly. 

gove's rebellion against cranfield. 

Then, for the first time, the full extent of their utter powerless- 
ness against the tyranny of a mercenary governor dawned upon 
tlie understanding of the mass of the people. It is not strange 
that it suggested to some unbalanced minds the idea of forcible 
resistance. Edward Gove of Hampton, who had been a member 
of the dissolved assembly, distracted by indignation and heated 
by strong drink, attempted to raise the standard of revolt. He 
succeeded, howev^er, in enlisting only eight or ten young fellows in 
his own town and Exeter, who joined him probably in a spirit of 
adventure, fortified, perhaps, with the idea that they were thus 
championing the cause of the people. Gove, with his little follow- 
ing, armed with sword and pistol, appeared on horseback in the 
streets of Exeter, and rode to the sound of the trumpet, into 



(54 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Hampton, where they were soon arrested and committed to prison 
for trial. 

The hare-brained project never could have endangered the gov- 
ernment for a moment, but Cranfield chose to regard it in the most 
serious light, and without delay issued a commission for a court to 
try the culprits. Through his attorney general he caused an indict- 
ment to be presented to the grand jury against them, for treason, 
the highest crime known to the law. For this offence the prison- 
ers, nine in number, were tried, with indecent haste, little more 
than a week after the acts complained of were committed ; and, 
apparently undefended, were found guilty ; Gove of the entire 
offence of treason, and the others of lesser offences. Gove was 
sent to England and imprisoned in the Tower of London about 
three years, and then was pardoned and returned home. 

The Exeter men concerned in this escapade were Robert, John 
and Joseph Wadleigh, sons of Robert Wadleigh who was a 
member of the dissolved assembly, Thomas Rollins and John 
Sleeper, and perhaps Mark Baker. They were all permitted by 
the governor to be set at liberty on giving security to keep the 
peace, except one of the Wadleighs, who was detained in prison 
for more than a year afterwards by the governor, apparently out 
of ill will to his father. Edward Smith and John Young, both of 
Exeter, had also been complained of as associated with Gove, but 
were not indicted. Nathaniel Ladd, likewise of Exeter, acted as 
the trumpeter to Gove's train, but when the others were captured, 
made his escape. It is probable that he remained perda until 
after the trial. He put his mettle to a better use a few years later 
when he fought at Maquoit against the hostile Indians, though he 
received his death-wound there. 

Governor Cranfield finding his selfish projects impeded by the 
presence in his council of men identified in feeling with the people, 
suspended, by virtue of the power conferred b}^ his commission, 
three of his councillors, among them John Gilmau of Exeter ; and 
filled their places with others more subservient to his will. Then, 
all things being prepared to his mind, Mason entered upon his 
legal campaign against the landholders of the province. 



ROBERT TUFTON JIASOn's LAND SUITS. 

In order to understand the feelings of the people it is necessary 
to look at Mason's claim from their point of view. They were 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 65 

aware that, half a century before, the soil had been granted to 
Captain John Mason by the Council of Plymouth, by virtue of a 
royal patent. But they believed that though he maintained a 
settlement upon it for a few years, his heirs after his death had 
abandoned it. During the more than forty years that had elapsed 
since that time, the territory had been regarded and dealt with as 
if it had never been granted. A title had been purchased from 
the Indian occupants, and the lands had thenceforward been bought 
and sold, and transmitted by inheritance, in all respects as if they 
were allodial. They had been improved by the sweat of the 
settlers' brows, and defended by their blood against the incursions 
of savage enemies. These claims outweighed a thousand-fold in 
tlieir minds the stale paper title of Mason, His demands they 
regarded as unjust and inequitable in the highest degree, and they 
were prepared to resist them to the bitter end. 

But as the courts were now constituted, and the jurors selected, 
they knew that they were helpless. Mason brought a great number 
of suits, in the different towns of the province, to recover the 
lauds from their occupants. In Exeter the following persons 
were sued : Nathaniel Folsom, Ricliard Morgan, Kinsley Hall, 
Ralph Hall, Christian Dolloft", Ephraim Folsom, Philip Cartee, 
Moses Leavitt, John Folsom, Eleazer Elkius, Jonathan Robinson, 
Jonathan Thing, Humphrey Wilson, Peter Folsom, John Gilmau, 
Jr. and iiphraim Folsom; — in the adjoining precinct of Squam- 
scot, Andrew \Yiggin and AN^illiam Moore, Jr. 

Pliable juries were empanelled by the sheriff, a creature of 
Crantield's, and the tenants knew it to be idle to make defence ; 
so verdicts were returned against them " at the rate of from nine 
to twelve in a day." So far as the courts were concerned the 
governor and Mason had everything their own way. 

But when the attempt was made to put the judgments in force, 
the tenants had their innings. The sheriff could indeed formally 
deliver to the claimant the possession of the lauds he had recov- 
ered ; but the formality amounted to nothing, and the tenants 
continued to enjoy the premises as before. Attempts were made 
to sell the lands that had been thus levied on, but nobody woul4 
buy them. After a few experiments of this kind Mason recognized 
the futility of the proceedings, and for the time desisted. But it 
was fully a quarter of a century before the verdict of an indepen- 
dent jury put a quietus on the Masoniau claims, and relieved the 
land-owners from apprehension. 



66 HISTORY OF EXJ^TER. 



KESISTANCE TO ILLEGAL TAXATION. 



But the irrepressible Craufield, in the language of one of his 
contemporaries, "had come here after money, and money he 
would have." After vainly trying several devices to induce the 
General Assembly to pass a bill to raise money, he determined in 
1684 to levy taxes on the people with the assent of the council 
only, and without the concurrence of the popular branch of the 
assembly. This was clearly a usurpation of power ; and even his 
accommodating council at first remonstrated against it. But the 
apprehension of an outbreak among the Indians at the eastward 
induced them to comply. The taxes were ordered by the governor 
and council, and warrants were issued to the constables of the 
several towns for their collection. But they met everywhere the 
same reception as in Exeter, where John Folsom, the constable, 
returned his warrant with the statement ' ' tliat he had demanded 
the taxes, but was answered by almost all of them that the 
[governor's] commission directed the taxes should be raised by 
the General Assembly, but these being done by the governor and 
council, they would not pay." 

Thereupon the Exeter warrant was committed for collection to 
Thomas Thurton, provost marshal of the province, together with 
an order of the Court of Sessions for a fine of fifty shillings 
against John Folsom, for neglect of duty as constable. Thurton 
was a coarse, brutal man, and his errand was not calculated to 
win him a very hearty welcome. He came to Exeter by way of 
Hampton, attended by his deputy, both on horseback, with swords 
by their sides. Half a score of Hampton men, armed with clubs, 
followed them on horseback to see and share the anticipated sport. 
They proceeded first to the house of Edward Gilman, situated 
nearly opposite the site of the present First church. Such a caval- 
cade naturally attracted attention, and it took little time for the 
whole village to learn the business that had brought it. A crowd 
gathered. John Folsom, the delinquent constable, appeared, and 
Thurton demanded of him the fine imposed by the Quarter 
Sessions. Folsom replied that if the marshal " came to levy 
execution at his house, he should meet with a red-hot spit and 
scalding water ; and that he did not value any warrant from the 
governor, council or justice of the peace, and that the marshal 
might go, like a rogue as he was." 

Two of Mr. Gilman's aunts were at his house, the wife of John 
Gilman, the suspended councillor, and of Moses Gilman, his 



» 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 67 

brother ; and they likewise gave Thurton to understand that they 
had kettles of boiling water ready for him, if he came to their 
houses to demand rates. The marshal now began to realize that 
he had come on a bootless errand. The crowd, reinforced by 
the addition among others of the Rev. John Cotton, the temporary 
minister of the town, then began to hustle the marshal and his 
deputy up and down the house, asking them tauntingly what they 
wore at their sides, — meaning their swords, which were, to be 
sure, rather ridiculous appendages, when their wearers dared not 
use them. There was nothing worse than horse play, but the 
marshal understood very well that if he were to attempt any serious 
resistance, he was liable to be roughly treated. From Edward 
Oilman's he and his deputy went next to the house of the widow 
of Henry Sewall, to obtain refreshment for themselves and their 
horses. The crowd followed them thither, and still kept up the 
same system of annoyance. Then the officers and their unwel- 
come retinue proceeded to the house of Jonathan Thing, to serve 
an attachment upon him ; but the crowd would not suffer them to 
do so, but plainly declared to the marshal that he " should do no 
business relating to the execution of his office." In the end, the 
officers were glad to get off with whole skins, and without making 
the least progress in the business they had come for. 

We obtain our only knowledge of this transaction from the testi- 
mony of Thurton himself, a bitterly prejudiced and unscrupulous 
witness ; but it is evident that though the whole community were 
indignant at the illegal attempt at taxation, and determined that 
the marshal should not be permitted to execute his warrant, yet 
they scrupulously refrained from acts of violence. The glimpse, 
too, that we get of the Exeter women of two hundred years ago 
proves that they possessed a spirit worthy of the mothers of men 
who had to endure the hardships of a frontier life, and to meet the 
onslaughts of a savage foe, with no defence save then- own right 
arms and trusty weapons. 

THE PROVINCE WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT. 

The records of Exeter tell nothing of the transactions of a 
period of several years between 1680 and 1690. There were proba- 
bly reasons in the condition of the times for this reticence. Robert 
Mason sought to support his land-claims by searching the books of 
records of the several towns, whereupon the books were abstracted, 
and for a time disappeared. Meantime Governor Cranfield became 



(58 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

discouraged in his attempt to gather wealth from his position in 
New Hampshire, and abandoned his office. Walter Barefoote 
succeeded him, and was in his turn succeeded by Joseph Dudley. 
Then in 1686 the province passed under the rule of Edmund 
Andros, governor of New England. As the appointee and repre- 
sentative of a Catholic sovereign, James 11. , he made few friends 
in Puritan Massachusetts where was his official residence. His 
downfall approached on this side of the water, with equal steps 
with that of his royal master, on the other side. Almost simul- 
taneously with the deposition and miprisoument of Andros by the 
Massachusetts colonists, in the spring of 1689, came the news of 
the Revolution in England, and the accession of William III. 
The New England colonies were thus left without a representative 
of royalty to rule over them. Massachusetts, with her charter and 
long experience, easily set up a temporary government which 
answered all her wants ; but New Hampshire had no facilities for 
the purpose, and simply went on for nearly a year witliout an 
executive ; and, thanks to the orderly disposition and good sense 
of the people, without serious difficulties ; and this notwithstand- 
ing the situation was further complicated by the fact that an 
Indian war was raging in the province at the time, and Dover and 
Oyster river were the scenes of savage incursions and atrocities. 

More than one attempt was made to induce the people of the 
province to unite in choosing delegates to establish a government 
ad interim^ but for a time without avail. They did, indeed, go so 
far as to elect William Vaughan of Portsmouth, a member of the 
board of commissioners of the United Colonies of New P2ngland, for 
defence against the Indians ; though there is no entry upon the 
records of Exeter that she took part in the election. And it was 
not until December, 1689, that the New Hampshire towns reached 
the point of choosing delegates to meet for the purpose of devising 
some method of protection against the common enemy. Delegates 
were then elected by Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton, 
who assembled in convention at Portsmouth on the twenty-fourth 
of January, 1690. The whole number was twenty-two, of whom 
four were from Exeter : Robert Wadleigh, Samuel Leavitt, William 
Hilton and Jonathan Thing ; the last two talking the place of 
William Moore, who was originally chosen. The convention 
agreed upon a brief plan for the present government of the 
province, and submitted it to the people ; and in pursuance thereof 
in Dover, if nowhere else, an election was held and officers were 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 69 

voted for. But the unreasonable jealousy manifested by Hampton 
towards the other towns, prevented the proposed government from 
going into effect. 

By this time the need of a recognized head of autliority in the 
province was so apparent and so pressing, that some of the princi- 
pal men of Portsmouth who were kindly affected towards Massa- 
chusetts, drew up a petition, addressed to the authorities of that 
colony, to be received under their government and protection, as 
formerly, until their majesties' pleasure should be known. The 
petition was speedily circulated in the several towns, and received 
the signatures of three hundred and seventy-two persons, a very 
large proportion of the adult males in the province. Of these, 
sixty or seventy, at least, were residents of Exeter. Agreeably to 
the prayer of the petition the old union with Massachusetts was 
renewed on the nineteenth of March, 1690, and lasted until the 
commission of Governor Samuel Allen was published in New 
Hampshire on the thirteenth of August, 1692. 

During the second union Massachusetts made a call upon the 
New Hampshire towns to choose each " two meet persons " to 
assemble together with the Justices of the Peace of the province, 
to adjust the chai^ges of the Indian war, and to assess the amount 
thereof upon the inhabitants. Exeter chose Peter Coffin and John 
Gilraan as her representatives for this duty. 

The records of the town do not show any important action for 
several years after this, save what properly belongs to other 
departments of this history. At the annual meeting in April, 
1705, John Light was received an inhabitant, and had a condi- 
tional grant of land ; perhaps the last instance of this formal 
investiture with the privileges of citizenship. It was not many 
years later that the final division of the town's lands was made, 
after which there was no reason, and no attempt, to keep up the 
old theory of a close corporation of the inhabitants. 

Shortly afterwards the town began to improve their system of 
records. It was voted in 1707 that " all rates made by the select- 
men shall be committed to the town clerk to be entered upon 
record, before they be delivered to the constable ;" in 1713 that 
" the town clerk buy a book at the town's charge and enter all the 
votes needed by the selectmen, at large, and all accounts of the 
town's disbursements, debt and credit ;" and in 1721 that " a book 
shall be bought for the selectmen to keep a fair record of what 
money they raise, and how they dispose of it." These acts speak 



70 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

well for the care and prudence of the people, and merit the 
warmest gratitude of the antiquary and historian in later times. 

From the selectmen's accounts we learn that in the year 1714 
they paid bounties to Captain Hill and Samuel Dudley, Jr., on 
"five wolves' heads." These animals were so great a source of 
annoyance that the bounty paid for their destruction was raised 
by the town, two years afterwards, to two pounds a head. 

In the year 1717 the selectmen paid to Peter Folsom, Jr., for 
work on the stocks, fifteen shillings aud eight pence ; and to 
Samuel Goodhue for mending the glass in the meeting-house, one 
pound and eleven pence. Later payments for the same objects, 
especially the latter, appear on the selectmen's account books, with 
some frequency. The meeting-house windows must have been a 
burden on the rate-payers. 

In the same year the province authorized an issue of paper 
money to the amount of fifteen thousand pounds, which was to be 
lent to inhabitants in small sums on approved landed security. 
The town chose Samuel Thing, Nicholas Gilman, Nicholas Gordon, 
Moses Leavitt and Jonathan Thing a committee to act with the 
representatives, in letting a portion of the money, in Exeter, and 
empowered a majority of them to appraise upon oath the value of 
the lands offered as security for such loans. 

At the same meeting it was voted that Samuel Thing and Henry 
Dyer request Colonel John Bridger, his majesty's surveyor gen- 
eral, to mark the trees in the town which were fit for the king's 
service, " so that his majesty's subjects may go to work to get their 
livelihood." The law which reserved for masts for the royal nav\' 
the largest and finest growth of the forest, was a stnnding 
grievance to the colonists, as the language of the above vote 
implies, and led, as we shall see, to later trouble. In the same 
year the town for the first time voted compensation to their officers ; 
twenty shillings to each of the selectmen and five shillings to each 
of the assessors, and committee. The presumption is that before 
that time these officers had performed their duties gratuitously, 
regarding the honor of their positions as a sufficient recompense. 
It is. perhaps, needless to add that the fashion of payment, once 
set, has been pretty faithfully followed, from that time to this. 

On March 22, 1722, the town voted to make the minister's rate 
by itself, to be paid in money ; and all other town charges to be 
paid in "peichers;" an ineffectual attempt, probabW, to write 
" specie." But specie at that time meant something quite differ- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 71 

ent from gold and silver coin. It must have referred to articles 
of produce or mei'chandise at certain specified prices, for the vote 
proceeds to define the " specishers " (as the word is spelled this 
time) in which the town charges may be paid, as being " mer- 
chantable boards and joist at 40/- per M. ; Indian corn at 3/- 
per bushel; Barley 3/6; Eye 4/-; wheat 5/6; Ked oak hhd. 
staves 30/- per M. ; White oak 40/-; White oak bbl. 30/-; 
good pork 4 d a lb ; beef at 3 d." 

The accounts of the selectmen for the year 1721 show that they 
paid four shillings and sixpence for " a brazen head put on the 
black staff ;" and those of 1728 a like sum for " a black staff." In 
our days of republican simplicity it requires a moment's thought to 
realize that these entries refer to the official badge of the consta- 
ble, which was then a black rod surmounted by a royal crown of 
brass. Though we may smile at such insignia now, there was a 
deal of dignity and of authority too, in them, a hundred and fifty 
years ago. 

At a meeting of the town, held September 28, 1731, a new 
meeting-house having been built, it was voted that the old one be 
taken down as soon as it could be with convenience, and that a 
court-house be built of the stutf of said old house. Theophilus 
Smith, Benjamin Thing and Jeremiah Conner were appointed a 
committee to " discourse with workmen " about taking down the 
old meeting-house and building a court-house, and to make report. 

It was also voted that the town-house should be built forty feet 
long and twenty-five feet wide, and be set on the south side of the 
highway over against the meeting-house, as nigh the school-house 
as might be with conveniency to the town land ; and that the 
court-house be finished, so far as it could be done, by the first of 
March next, so that the court might sit in it. 

This provision for a court-house, which in all probability was 
designed to be fitted up in the town-house building, was made in 
consequence of an act passed by the General Assembly in 1730, 
which provided for one term of the Inferior Court to be held in 
each year in Exeter, and gave the like privilege to Dover and to 
Hampton. Prior to this, all the courts in the province were held 
in Portsmouth, to the manifest inconvenience of parties who 
resided in the interior. Great efforts were made before and after 
this time, to give the inland towns a small share, at least, of the 
courts ; but the people of Portsmouth, aided by the influence of 
the provincial government, constantly resisted and obstructed the 



72 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

just legislation for the purpose, up to the time of the Revolution, 
when P^xeter became in effect the capital of the State. It is not 
known whether under the law of 1730 even a single term of the 
Inferior Court was held outside of Portsmouth ; for the provincial 
officials had the address to induce the king in council either to 
refuse his assent to the law, or to order the repeal of it. The 
tradition is that this was done by the influence of the lieutenant 
governor and surveyor general, in revenge for the insult to his 
authority committed by the "mast-tree mob" in Exeter, hereafter 
to be mentioned. 

The town-house was finished in 1732 and stood nearly opposite 
the meeting-house. It was flanked b}' the stocks and whipping- 
post, erected in the most public position as a terror to evil-doers. 
The "town-house rates" amounted to two hundred and forty 
pounds, four shillings and eight pence.* 

THE MAST-TKEE RIOT OE 1734. 

The lumbermen of the New Hampshire frontiers were not men 
troubled with nice scruples. They regarded the legal claim of tlie 
king to the most valuable trees on their lands, as one which it was 
not morally wrong for them to evade or to transgress. And this 
feeling was intensified by the domineering conduct towards them 
of the surveyor general and his agents. Consequently there were 
not a few of them who had no hesitation in taking the risk incurred 
by despoiling the royal navy of its thnber, and the surveyor gen- 
eral of his perquisites. If they were detected and convicted, they 
were willing to pay the penalty ; if they escaped discovery they 
slept none the less soundly. 

Complaints had been repeatedly made in regard to some of the 
people of Exeter that they paid small regard to the laws on this 
subject. As early as 1708 John Bridger, then surveyor general, 
addressed a letter to Peter Coffin and Theopbilus Dudley, justices 
of the peace in Exeter, charging that several mast trees which 
were reserved for her majesty's navy, had been felled, cut and 
destroyed by Jeremiah Gilman, James Oilman, David Oilman, 
Samuel Piper, John Downer, Moses Pike and Jonathan Smith ; 
and requiring said Coffin and Dudley to do them justice according 



*0n March 2G, 1733, the town excused the tax-payers of the new parish of New- 
market from an assessment of twenty-flve pounds for this object, " in considera- 
tion that tliey had lately been at great expense iu building a meeting-house and 
settling a minister there." 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 73 

to law. What came of the application is not known, but it is 
questionable whether the surve^'-or general got much satisfaction. 

His successor in office, David Dunbar, who had been a soldier 
and was arbitrary, needy and litigious, learning or suspecting that 
mast trees had been cut in P^xeter, in the early part of the year 
1734, visited a saw-mill at the Copyhold, as it was and still is 
called, in that part of Exeter which is now Brentwood, to see if 
he could discover any lumber there, from trees of the size reserved 
for the nav3^ The people employed in the woods around were of 
course at once apprised of his presence, and divined his purpose ; 
but having very little respect for dignitaries of his sort, made the 
welkin ring with their shouts and cries and with the discharges of 
small arms. The surveyor general, fearing that if he persisted in 
his investigations, they would proceed to acts of violence, con- 
cluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and retreated. 
But he was satisfied that the law had been violated, and that an 
inspection of the piles of lumber about the mill would prove it. On 
his return to Portsmouth, therefore, he employed ten men to proceed 
in a sail boat to Exeter, and thence to go to the Copyhold mill, to 
set the king's broad arrow on any lumber they might find there, 
which gave evidence of being cut from mast trees. 

These men landed at the village of Exeter in the evening of 
April 23, 1j6.S4^ and proceeded to the public house of Samuel 
Gilman on "Water street, the same house afterwards occupied by 
Oliver Peabody, and still standing, though much altered. There 
they passed the evening, in the fashion of the tune. Meanwhile 
the fact of their arrival and the nature of their errand spread 
rapidly through the town. A number of the persons who were 
most aggrieved by the operations of the surveyor general, assem- 
bled at the public house kept by Zebulon Giddinge,* afterwards 
occupied by the family of the Eev. William F. Rowland, and also 
still standing, and there disguising themselves so as to resemble 
Indians, sallied forth, about thirty in number, to head off Dunbar's 
expedition. 

What they did, we learn chiefly from the testimony of those 
whom they assailed, men neither by character nor by feeling likely 
to give a perfectly impartial account. But there seems little doubt 
that the quasi Indians seized upon several of Dunbar's party as 
they were about going to bed, and handled them pretty roughly, 



*The orthography of this name has been modernized into Giddings. 



74 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

hauling them down stairs and hustling them out of the door, at 
the same time uttering dire threats against them. They certainly 
frightened and dispersed the party, and scuttled their boat and 
destroyed the sails. The unlucky wights, who little expected such 
treatment, were fain to retrace their way to Portsmouth as best 
they could, bearing the marks of their adventure in the shape of 
torn clothes and bloody noses, if nothing worse. 

The actors in this illegal proceeding were probably well known 
in Exeter, and included men who were by no means habitual law- 
breakers. Dunbar was furious at their demonstration. Holding 
the office of lieutenant governor as well as of surveyor general, he 
instantly summoned a meeting of the council, Belcher, the gover- 
nor, being at the time absent from the province. To them he 
represented that he believed the justices of the peace in Exeter 
had some knowledge of the affair, and proposed that they should 
be sent for and examined before the council, and that a proclama- 
tion should be issued, offering a reward for detecting the persons 
that were guilty of the oft'ence. The council, however, were not 
prepai'ed to sanction tliese proposals of the testy lieutenant gover- 
nor, but replied that in their opinion the examination of the matter 
appertained to the justices of the peace, and not to the council, 
and the issuing of a proclamation appertained to tlie governor ; 
and therefore they did not advise it without his order. 

The governor did, indeed, issue a proclamation, but offered no 
reward, except the vague promise that "whosoever shall detect 
the offenders above mentioned, or any of them, shall receive all 
proper marks of the countenance and favor of this government." 
The governor and his lieutenant were not friends. 

The baffled lieutenant governor subsequently addressed a letter 
to Nicholas Gilman, John Gilman and Bartholomew Thing, justices 
of the peace at Exeter, in which he demanded that some of them 
should go with Charles Gorwood, his assistant, to Copyhold mill. 
Black rock mill, upper and lower Tuckaway mills, Wadleigh's mill, 
the Book mill, Gilman's mill and Piscassic mill, all in Exeter, and 
the last two near Newmarket, and there oblige men to separate 
and mark for his majesty's use such white pine boards as they 
found sawn from mast trees. And in case of the non-compliance 
of said justices with the above order, he required them to hire or 
impress a man to go with said Gorwood for the purpose aforesaid. 

The justices, after nearly a month's delay, replied that they had 
employed a man to go with Gorv.^ood as desired ; but as to his 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 75 

demand that some of them should go, they could not, upon the 
most deliberate consideration, find any authority to support them 
in so doing. Thus Dunbar had to submit to a snubbing in every 
quarter. 

The ludicrous phase of the affair is to be found in the testimony 
of Peter Greeley, who was Dunbar's particular assistant and 
henchman. He deposed that Simon Oilman of Exeter revealed to 
him in confidence that the people of Exeter had hired three Natick 
Indians to kill Dunbar, Theodore Atkinson, and himself (Greeley), 
and had supplied the Indians with a quart of rum each every day, 
" that they should not fail of their work ;" and that the Indians, 
as soon as they had accomplished the deed, were to go at once to 
Natick, where they would not be discovered. Apparently it 
never dawned on Peter Greeley or his headstrong employer that 
Simon was " chaffing" them, and that the whole demonstrations, 
from Dunbar's visit at Copyhold mill to the riotous proceedings at 
Exeter, were simply intended to prevent the further interference 
of the surveyor general with the lumbermen, however they failed 
to respect the trees reserved for the use of his majesty's navy. 

At the annual town meeting in March, 1738, Elisha Odlin was 
chosen town clerk in the place of Bartholomew Thing, who had 
held the office for several years befoi-e. So far as we can now 
discover, the change was made in consequence of the feeling that 
had arisen on the then engrossing question of the division of the 
town's common lands. For some cause, now unknown. Thing 
declined to deliver up the town books and records to his successor. 

It may be that he had some show of right for withholding the 
records. Concealment of the public archives was no new thing in 
the history of the province, and it had taken place probably with 
very general approval. But in the present case the majority of 
the inhabitants were indignant at the late town clerk's conduct. 
A meeting of the town was called, and voted that the books should 
be removed out of Thing's hands and put into Odlin's ; that Jona- 
than Wadleigh, Edward Hall, John Robinson, John Odlin, Jr. 
and Zebulon Giddiuge, should be a committee to prosecute Thing 
if he refused to deliver them, and that the selectmen should raise 
money to defray the charges of such prosecution. Nothing further 
is heard of the recalcitrant town clerk's scruples. 

The town meeting of June 15, 1738, was held in the town-house, 
the first information which the record affords, of its completion. 

It appears that the town was somewhat infested with wolves. 



76 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

even as late as 1742, for at the March meeting in that year a 
bounty of five pounds was voted " to any person of the first parish 
who should kill a grown wolf within said parish limits." At the 
first glance it does not appear why this offer should be confined to 
a single j^arish, unless indeed it referred to a " wolf in sheep's 
clothing." But when it is remembered that the inhabitants of the 
southwesterly part of the town had recently been set off into a 
separate parish, it is easy to see that the intention was to bind 
Exeter to pay the bounty, and to leave the new precinct of Brent- 
wood to act for itself. The reason of making the bounty so large, 
undoubtedly, was the depreciation of the paper money of the 
period. 

In looking over the records of the town meetings we are often 
met by entries of adjournments for fifteen minutes, or for other 
brief periods. The cause of these little intermissions of business 
was ostensibly to allow the voters time for consultation, or the 
committees the opportunity to prepare their reports. But when 
we remember the habits of the times, and that there were compara- 
tively few men who did not indulge in strong potations pretty 
regularly every day, we can see that another consideration was, 
perhaps, not without its weight. It was manifestly only fair that 
men should be allowed time to take their customary refreshment, 
without apprehension that some objectionable vote might be 
carried in their absence. An adjournment put all upon an equal 
footing, — in one sense, at least. It is proper to say, however, 
that in the matter of dram-drinking, Exeter was no worse, and 
probabl}' no better, than all other places. Indeed, in after years, 
when the temperance reform arose, the town earl}^ took advanced 
ground in its favor. As indicative, however, of the universal use 
of strong liquors on all occasions, we find among the town accounts 
for 1722 these entries : " Expenses of town, ram and shuger 5/6 ; 
rum, raising the bell 1/- ; rum and shuger 2/6 ; same 10/-; same 
1/6." In the accounts for 1736 are found the following : "paid 
Capt. Samuel Gilman for drink given to those men that signed a 
deed for land in the way that led to drtnkioater road 17/4," and 
" for 1 gall, rum and 2 lb. sugar and allspice for William Gay's 
(a town pauper's) funeral, 1 1. 5 s. 2 d." and in 1743, these : " for 
rum and sugar in proving the bounds of Kensington 17/9;" and 
" Benjamin Thing for rum to move the pound 10/-." 

In the year 1 746 the people of Newmarket and others presented 
a petition to the General Assembly for leave to erect a draw- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 77 

bridge over the Squamscot river between Newmarket and Strat- 
ham. As early as the year 1700, a right of ferry had been granted 
there to Eichard Hilton, which had been in use up to that time. 

The convenience of a bridge to the people of the towns which 
had in the meantime grown up on the northwestern side of the 
river, who had to pass it in order to go to Portsmouth the seat of 
government, furnished a powerful argument to the ^jietitioners. 
But Exeter feared that a bridge would cause injury to its business, 
and appointed Ezekiel Gilman, Daniel Oilman and Nicholas 
Ferryman a committee to oppose the petition. They set out, in a 
lengthy remonstrance to the assembly, various reasons against 
the erection of a bridge ; the likelihood that it would prevent the 
ascent of the fish, especially the bass, which were represented as 
abundant ; the obstruction to the free passage up and down the 
river, of mast trees, rafts, gundalows and vessels, and the conse- 
quent injury to the navigation and ship-building interest of Exeter ; 
and, in fact, made the best of a rather weak case. But the Legis- 
lature passed a bill permitting the bridge to be built, under some 
restrictions. Various difficulties postponed the erection of it, and 
more legislation was found needful ; among other things a lottery 
was legalized in aid of the enterprise ; and it was not till a quarter 
of a century had elapsed that the bridge was fairly completed. 



A DISORDERLY ELECTION. 

The demeanor of the people of Exeter at town meetings in the 
earlier part of the present century, is said to have been in general 
a pattern of decorum. Every voter, for example, respectfully 
doffed his hat in passing the moderator to deposit his ballot. But 
it was not alwa3'S so. At a meeting of the town held on the 
twenty-fifth of October, 1755, for the choice of representatives in 
the assembly, things were not conducted in this orderly fashion. 
The long contest over the question of incorporating a second 
parish had just ended in the triumph of the seceding members, 
who had procured an act of the assembly freeing them from all 
liability to the old parish ; and it is more than likely that some 
bitterness of feeling was the result. Peter Oilman and John 
Phillips, two prominent partisans of the new parish, were declared 
elected representatives. A remonstrance was presented to the 
assembly, against their being allowed to take seats, upon the 
ground of unfair practices in their election. A hearing was had 



78 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

thereon, at which Ephraim Robinson, a prominent member of the 
old parish, testified that " when the votes were numbered and the 
person declared to be chosen, the moderator was told the votes 
were not all brought in ; to which he answered it was too late to 
bring in, then, for the person was chosen. Then there was a poll 
desired by seven persons or more, and it was denied. In voting 
for the second person, a number of persons declared they would 
not vote till the first vote was decided ; and in voting for the last 
person there was one vote changed after it was put into the hat, 
and some more was asked to be changed. And when the second 
person was declared to be chosen, there was a poll again demanded 
by seven persons or more, but not granted. The whole of the 
meeting was carried on with the greatest irregularity and confu- 
sion, after the moderator was chosen, that ever I see in any town 
meeting before." 

The Legislature ordered the return to be set aside and a precept 
to be sent to the town for a new election ; at which Peter Oilman 
and Zebulon Giddinge were chosen. 

For several succeeding years the attention of the people was 
much occupied with the French and Indian wars, which, though 
carried on at a distance, yet demanded new military organizations 
at home, every season. Exeter sent forth her annual quota of 
combatants, and was substantially the headquarters of one or 
more battalions, as will appear in the chapter devoted to military 
history. 

The 3'ear 1758 was memorable for the prevalence in the town of 
that most dreaded scourge, the small-pox, a legacy, not improba- 
bly, of the camp. It made such inroads among the inhabitants 
that a town meeting was found needful, to give authority to the 
selectmen to take effectual measures for its eradication. 



DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE STAMP ACT. 

Scarcely had tlie welcome news of peace with France and her 
savage allies been proclaimed, before the determination of England 
to exact tribute from her American colonies was manifested, by 
tlie passage of the Stamp Act ; which was rendered no more 
agreeable to the people of New Hampshire by the knowledge that 
it originated from the suggestion of one of her own sons, Mr. John 
Huske. There is no need to repeat here the oft told tale of the 
mingled sorrow and indignation with which this injudicious piece 



HISTORY OF KXETEK. 79 

of legislation was universally received on this side of the water. 
The feeling of the citizens of Exeter was well expressed by the 
Rev. Daniel Rogers, pastor of the Second church, who wrote in 
his diary under date of November 1, 17G5, the day when the law 
went into effect : " The infamous Stamp Act, abhorred by all the 
British Colonies, took place." 

The fifth of the same month used in many places in New Eng- 
land to be observed as "pope's day," in commemoration of the 
discovery of Guy Fawkes's gunpowder plot. This year it was 
made the occasion of a display of popular feeling in'Exeter against 
the Stamp Act. Three effigies, representing, according to the 
Rev. Mr. Rogers, the pope, the devil and a stamp master, but 
according to another eye witness, Lords North and Bute as two of 
the characters, were carried about the streets of the town, and 
finally taken across the river, to the front of where the jail after- 
wards stood, and there set fire to and burnt to ashes. We may 
safely assume that the exhibition was witnessed by the citizens 
with abundant tokens of approbation. 

The person appointed stamp-distributor for New Hampshire 
was constrained by the expressions of popular feeling to resign his 
office, and consequently no stamps ever got into use. This led to 
the opinion on the part of some persons, that proceedings in the 
courts of law could possess no validity, and to fears that universal 
license was to rule. But the substantial citizens of Exeter did not 
hesitate to array themselves against disorder. They entered into 
a written engagement for mutual protection and defence, whicli 
they subscribed and published, in the following terms : 

Whereas many evil minded persons have, on account of the 
Stamp Act, concluded that all the laws of this province, and the 
execution of the same, are at an end ; and that crimes against the 
public peace and private property may be committed with 
impunity, which opinion will render it unsafe for the peace officers 
to exert themselves in the execution of their offices : 

Therefore we the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Exeter, 
to prevent, as much as in us lies, the evils naturally consequent 
upon such an opinion, and for preserving the peace and good 
order of the community and of our own properties, do hereby 
combine, promise and engage to assemble ourselves together when 
and where need requires, in aid of the peace officers, and to stand 
by and defend them in the execution of their respective offices, 



80 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



and each other in our respective properties and persons, to the 
utmost, against all disturbers of the public peace and invaders of 
private property. 

Witness our hands at Exeter this 15"^ day of November A. D. 
1765. 



John Bellamy 
Theodore Carleton 
Eliphalet Coffin 
Peter Coffin 
John Dudley 
Noah Emery 
Nathaniel Folsom 
Samuel Folsom 
Trueworthy Folsom 
John Giddiuge 
Bartholomew Oilman 
Daniel Oilman 



John Ward Oilman 
Josiah Oilman 
Josiah Oilman ter. 
Nicholas Oilman 
Peter Oilman 
Samuel Oilman 
Samuel Oilman 4*1* 
John Hall 
John Lanison 
John Nelson 
Thomas Odiorne 
AVinthrop Odlin 



Thomas Parsons 
Benjamin Philbrick 
John Phillips 
Enoch Poor 
John Rice 
Charles Rundlet 
Theophilus Smith 
Joseph SAvasey 
Daniel Tilton 
Jacob Tiltou * 



PATRIOTIC ACTION OF THE TOWN IN 1770. 

The following year the Stamp Act was repealed, to the great 
joy and gratitude of the colonists. But England insisted on her 
claim of right to tax the Americans without their consent, and 
imposed a duty on the importation of tea and a few other articles 
into the provinces. This renewed the irritation among the col- 
onists, which, however, did not fairly break forth into open expres- 
sion until the intelligence of the " Boston massacre," March 5, 
1770. Twelve days after that tragical occurrence a meeting of 
the town of Exeter was called, upon a petition of a number of the 
inhabitants, to act upon the following articles : 

1. To see whether the town will pass any vote for the encour- 
agement of the produce and manufactures of this country. 

2. To see whether they will pass any vote or votes to discoun- 
tenance the importation and consumption of unnecessary and 
superfluous foreign articles ; and very particularly, as the duty on 
Tea furnishes so enormous a sum towards the support of a set of 
miscreants who devour the fruits of our honest industry, and [are] 
justly deemed the bane of this countr}^, to see if the town will pass 
a vote not to make use of any foreign tea, and use their influence 
to prevent the consumption of it in their respective families, till 
the duty is taken off. 



*Two copies of this agreement have been found, diHei'ing slightly in the names of 
the subscribers. All the names upon each are here retained. 



HISTOllY OF EXETER. 81 

3. To see if the town will inquire, or choose a committee to 
inquire, of the representatives of this town, what legal and consti- 
tutional measures have been taken by the General Assembly of 
this province for the redress of our grievances, in order to know 
what, or whether any measures ma}' now be advisable to be pro- 
moted by them, and if any measures be advisable, to give tlieir 
Representatives [instructions] to be by them observed, at their 
next session. 



At the meeting of the town, held on the twenty-fifth of March, 
1770, the vote for the encouragement of the produce and manu- 
factures of this country passed in the affirmative, as did also that 
to discountenance the importation and consumption of unnecessary 
and superfluous articles. The town also resolved not to make use 
of any foreign tea, but to exert their influence to prevent the con- 
sumption of it in their respective families, till the duty should be 
taken off. Upon the article relative to the inquiry and instruction 
of the representatives, a committee was appointed, consisting of 
Nathaniel Folsom, John Phillips, Nicholas Oilman, Samuel 
Folsora, Joseph Gilman and Enoch Poor. 

The meeting was then adjourned to the succeeding second of 
April, on which day the committee made their report, at consider- 
able length. The substance of it was, that the General Assembly 
of this province had authorized a letter to be prepared and signed 
by their Speaker, addressed to their agent at the Court of Great 
Britain, to be presented to the king, expressing then- hearty con- 
currence with the patriotic sentiments contained in a communica- 
tion received from the house of Burgesses of Virginia ; that the 
proposed letter was drafted and sent to the Speaker (Peter 
Gilman) at Exeter, for his signature, but as it did not express his 
personal views, he failed to subscribe it, wherefore it was not 
transmitted to England seasonably to co-operate with the petitions 
from the other colonies; and "■ that our American brethren may 
not construe it as deserting their interest upon any ungenerous 
separate views, we therefore give it as our instruction to the rep- 
resentatives of this town to use their influence in the House to 
promote a more public demonstration of their being governed by 
those noble, patriotic and loyal principles in which they have so 
happily harmonized with the other provinces, and, particularly, 
that an address to his majesty for redress of grievances, may 
(though late) be forthwith transmitted without further loss of 
time." 

6 



82 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The representatives were also instructed to expedite the act for 
dividing the province into counties. 

The report of the committee was adopted by the town. 

The facts of the case were that Peter Gihnan, who was tlien, 
perhaps, the foremost citizen of the town, and had occupied the 
Speaker's chair in the General Assembly for a number of years, 
was opposed to measures looking to resistance to the Crown of 
England. He had received honors and emoluments from the royal 
governors, had repeatedly taken the oath of allegiance in his 
official capacity, had nothing to gain, but much tliat might be lost 
by a change of government, and had arrived at a period of life 
when a man becomes conservative and averse to radical measures. 
It is only fair to say, however, that in compliance with the evident 
will of his constituents he soon after set his signature to the letter 
referred to ; and though it was well known that he disapproved of 
the measures of the Revolution, yet he remained at his home, unmo- 
lested, throughout the war that followed, and apparently retained 
the respect of his townsmen, though they, with scarce an excep- 
tion, were whigs of the most determined character. In 1771, when 
he ceased to be a member of the assembly, the town gave hun 
a vote of thanks for his past services as their representative. 

The law for dividing the province into counties, a long delayed 
act of justice to the people, went into effect in 1771. By its pro- 
visions certain terms of the courts were to be held in Exeter, and 
it was proposed that the town should furnish a suitable site for a 
county court-house. The open space in front of the present town- 
house, was then disfigured by a pound and several small buildings, 
erected in the midst of it. At a meeting of the town held July 8, 
1771, it was voted "to grant liberty for a county court-house to 
be built on the land on which the pound and the shops belonging 
to Dr. Josiah Oilman, John Ward Gihnan, Samuel Gilnian and 
Samuel Folsom now stand," and that the land should be cleared of 
all incumbrances whatsoever. It was some years, however, before 
the court-house was erected, and in the meantime the courts were 
held in the town-house, which stood nearly opposite the First 
church. The earliest session of the Superior Court in the town 
was held on the first Tuesday of September, 1771. 

In the year 1771 was built, at the expense of the town, the 
brick powder-house, near the first point on the eastern side of the 
salt river. Whether this was done in anticipation of the armed 
struggle that was soon to follow, we cannot tell. It is probable, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 83 

however, that it became the storehouse in that war, and perhaps 
in subsequent wars, of " the town's stock of powder." The quaint 
little structure is one of the links that connect us with the past, 
and should not be suffered to go to decay. 

ANOTHER PATRIOTIC EXPRESSION OF THE TOWN. 

Political affairs were now gradually but surely tending towards 
a wider separation of the colonies from the mother country. The 
British Parliament, with a perverse misunderstanding of the temper 
of our people, persisted in retaining the duty on tea imported into 
the colonies, as a token of their right to impose taxes on them 
without their consent. It was the fly in the ointment. The Ameri- 
cans, who had previously been liberal consumers of tea, would 
have no more of it. And when the attempt was made to force it 
upon them, the sons of liberty of Boston boarded the vessels laden 
with the detested herb, and flung their cargoes into the sea. 

Thereupon, on the twenty-fifth of the same December a meeting 
of the citizens of Exeter was called for an expression of opinion 
in the premises; and was held on the third of January, 1774. 
Nathaniel Folsomwas chosen moderator. The action of the voters 
is thus described : 

The meeting proceeded to take into consideration the rise of the 
present general uneasiness through the continent, which appears 
to them to be fairly, as well as briefly, stated by the honorable his 
majesty's council of the province of Massachusetts Bay, in their 
late advice to their governor. It was then moved [and] ruled that 
a number present draw up what they conceive to be the general 
sense of the meeting upon the matter under consideration, who, 
having consulted together, report that the}' apprehend the sense of 
this town cannot be better expressed than by adopting the resolves 
of the patriotic citizens of Phihidelphia, which are as follows, viz. : 

Resolved^ Tliat the disposal of their own property is the inher- 
ent right of freemen ; that there can be no properly in that which 
another can, of right, take from us without our consent ; that the 
claim of Parliament to tax America is, in otlier woi'ds, a claim of 
right to levy eontrilmtions on us at pleasure. 

2. That the duty imposed by Parliament upon tea landed in 
America, is a tax on the Americans, or levying contribution on 
them without their consent. 

3. That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the 
Americans, namely, for the support of government, the adminis- 
tration of justice aud the defence of his majesty's dominions in 



84 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

America, has a direct tendency to render assemblies useless, and 
to introduce arbitrary governmeut and slav-ery. 

4. Tliat a virtuous and steady opposition to this ministerial plan 
of governing America, is absolutely necessary to preserve even 
the shadow of libert}', and is a duty which every freeman in 
America owes to his country, to himself and to his posterity. 

5. That the resolution lately come into by the East India Com- 
pany to send out their tea to America subject to the payment of 
duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce the 
ministerial plan, and a violent attack upon tlie liberties of America. 

6. That it is the duty of every American to oppose this attempt. 

7. That whoever shall directly or indirectly countenance this 
attempt or in any wise aid or abet in unloading, receiving or 
vending the tea sent or to be sent out by the East India Company 
while it remains subject to the payment of a duty here, is an 
enemy to America. 

The foregoing resolves, after having been repeatedly read, 
passed almost unanimously. 

Further Resolved, That we are ready on all necessary occasions 
to risk our lives and fortunes in defence of our rights and liber- 
ties, professing to have as great a veneration for freedom as any 
people on earth. 

Voted, That this town do return their sincere thanks to all the 
cities, towns and persons in America who have at any time nobly 
exerted themselves in the cause of liberty. 

Voted, That John Phillips, Esq., John Giddinge, Esq., Col. 
Nicholas Gilman, Mr. Samuel Brooks and Mr. Joseph Gihnan, 
they or any three of them, be a committee to correspond with the 
committee of Portsmouth, and any and all other committees, in 
this or the neighboring governments, as they may see occasion ; 
and that they cause the proceedings of this meeting to be pub- 
lished in the New Hampshire Gazette as soon as may be. 

Voted, That the Committee of Correspondence wait on the 
dealers in teas in this town, and desire them to desist from pur- 
chasing any moi'e teas, until the duty thereon is taken off. 

Upon the eigliteenth of July the town chose as deputies to the 
first Provincial Congress, John Giddinge, Theophilus Gilman, 
Nathaniel Folsom, John Phillips and Samuel Gilman, with power 
to them or any three of them to join in choosing delegates to the 
Continental Congress ; and voted that ten pounds, lawful money, 
should be paid by the selectmen towards defraying the expenses of 
sucli delegates. The Provincial Congress met on the twenty-first 
of July at Exeter, and chose Nathaniel Folsom of Exeter, and 
John Sullivan delegates to the Continental Congress. 



HISTOllY OF EXETER. 85 

HELP FOR THE SUFFERING POOR OF BOSTON. 

The next step taken by Great Britain towards effectually alienat- 
ing her American subjects, was the passage of the Boston port 
bill. This measure put an end to all commerce and nearly all 
business in the principal town of New England, and as a matter of 
course, caused great distress to the laboring class there, whom it 
threw out of employment. The warmest s^nnpathy was expressed 
fi'om all quarters with the oppressed inhabitants of Boston. 

In Exeter a town meeting was called to take into consideration 
" the distressing cu'cumstances of the town of Boston, occasioned 
by a cruel and arbitrary act of the British Parliament in blocking 
up their harbor," and to pass a vote to raise money for the relief 
of the industrious suffering poor of said town. 

At the meeting held October 31, 1774, it was resolved to raise 
by taxation one hundred pounds, lawful money, for the suffering 
poor of Boston ; with the proviso that ' ' if any person or persons 
shall be against paying their proportion of the tax, if they enter 
their names with the clerk within ten days, they shall be exempted 
from paying anything of said tax." 

The assessment of this sum is set forth on the town books, and 
to the credit of our fathers it may be said that few, if any, appear 
to have taken advantage of the clause of exemption. The full 
amount was promptly collected and paid over to the authorities of 
the town of Boston. 

The following correspondence respecting the gift, is worth}' of 
preservation. 

LETTER FROM EXETER TO THE COMMITTEE OF BOSTON. 

Gentlemen, 

It gives us peculiar satisfaction that we are the happy instruments 
of conveying relief to the distressed. We send you by the bearer 
hereof Mr. Carlton, one hundred pounds, which sum was unani- 
mously and cheerfully voted by this town for our suffering 
brethren in Boston. The cause for which you now suffer we 
esteem the common cause of all America ; your prudence and 
fortitude we admire. That you may be assisted by all the colonies 
in the present glorious struggle for liberty, and endued with 
wisdom and patience to persevere to the end is the desire and 
hearty prayer of your sincere friends. 

I have the honor. Gentlemen, in behalf of the selectmen of Exe- 
ter, to subscribe myself your most humble servant, 

Samuel Brooks. 
New Hampshire, Exeter, 6th February, 1775. 



86 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

REPLY TO EXETEK. 

Boston, February 8, 177.5. 
Sir, 

Our worthy friend Mr. Carlton has just now called in and 
left with me one hundred pounds, lawful money, a generous dona- 
tion from the patriotic inhabitants of Exeter for their suffering 
brethren in Boston. You will please to tender the thanks of the 
Committee of Donations to our kind benefactors for this mark of 
their Christian sympathy and affection. The approbation of the 
past conduct of this greatly oppressed and distressed metropolis 
affords us great satisfaction, but especially the tender and benevo- 
lent sentiments expressed in your letter. Prudence and fortitude 
have doubtless been exhibited, but humility becomes us, and our 
thankful acknowledgements are due to God, from whom alone 
every good gift and every perfect gift is derived, and on Him alone 
we must constantly depend for all that wisdom, patience and forti- 
tude, Ave need in this day of sore trial. By his help and favor we 
shall persevere, and in the end see the happy accomplishment of 
all our desires. We hope for the continuance of the prayers, 
countenance and assistance of our friends. We cannot doubt it 
since they unitedl}^ consider the cause as common. 

Yours and others', our friends' donations will be applied agreea- 
ble to the intent of the charitable donors. Printed accounts of the 
conduct of the Committee are now inclosed, and I trust will give 
satisfaction to all tlie friends of truth and righteousness. 

I am, sir, your obliged friend and humble servant, 

David Jeffries. 
Per order of the Committee of Donations. 
To Samuel Brooks, Esq. 

At a meeting of the town December 26, 1774, it was voted to 
adopt the association agreement determined upon by the Continen- 
tal Congress, and by them recommended to the British colonies, 
commonly known as the non-importation agreement ; and the 
following persons were chosen to see that the agreement be strictly 
adhered to, viz. : Daniel Tilton, Thomas Odiorne, Theophilus 
Oilman, William Parker, John P2mery, Nicholas Oilman, Nathan- 
iel Folsom, Theodore Carleton, P^noch Poor, Theophilus Smith, 
Thomas Folsom, Peter Coffin, Samuel Folsom, Joseph Oilman, 
James Hackett, John Oiddinge, Josiah Oilman, Eliphalet Hale, 
Josiah Robinson, Josiah Barker, Nathaniel Oorclon, Ephraim 
Robinson and Samuel Brooks. 

We have information (though the record fails to show it) , that 
at the same meeting a resolution was adopted against the intrusion 
of pedlers, hawkers and petty chapmen, who obviously could deal 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 87 

in the forbidden commodities with little danger of detection. The 
popular sentiment against violations of the non-importation agree- 
ment was plainly expressed in a published letter of the time 
written from Exeter, that if this vote of the town and the law of 
the province should be ineffectual to prevent them, "it is the 
opinion of many that an experiment ought to be made of Tar and 
Feathers !" 

At the same meeting the following persons were chosen deputies 
to represent the town in the (second) Provincial Congress held in 
Exeter on the twenty-fifth of January, 1775 : Nathaniel Folsom, 
Theophilus Gilman, Nicholas Gilman, William Parker and John 
Giddinge. By that congress John Sullivan and John Langdon 
were elected delegates to the Continental Congress. 

Throughout the year events were hurrying on to a crisis. Three 
other congresses of the province assembled in Exeter in 1775. 
The first of these met on the twenty-first of April. Exeter was 
represented in it by Nathaniel Folsom, Nicholas Gilman, John 
Giddinge, Theophilus Gilman and p]noch Poor. On the seven- 
teenth of May another like convention of deputies of the people 
opened its session. The delegates of the town were Nathaniel 
Folsom, Nicholas Gilman and Enoch Poor ; but when the first and 
last of these were summoned into the military service, a new elec- 
tion was held June 26, to supply their places. John Giddinge and 
Theophilus Gilman were chosen. The latter desired to be excused, 
because he was elected " against his consent," and Noah Emery, 
and afterwards Samuel Brooks were selected " to serve six months, 
if necessary." 

This body was kept alive, by repeated adjournments, till the 
fifteenth of November, and in its recesses the provincial committee 
of safety was in continual session, in Exeter. 

It was from this Congress, it is alleged, that the earliest official 
suggestion of national independence emanated. Matthew Thorn- 
ton, its president, in a " noble letter" to the Continental Congress 
at Philadelphia, bearing date May 23, 1775, held this language : 

We will not conceal that many among us are disposed to 
conclude, that the voice of God and Nature to us, since the late 
hostile design and conduct of Great Britain, is, that we are bound 
to look to otir whole jpolitical affairs. 

THE CENSUS OF 1775. 

On the twenty-fifth of August, 1775, the Provincial Congress 
recommended to the selectmen of the several towns and places in 



88 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



the colony, to take the exact number of all the Inhabitants therein, 
and make return of the same in several columns as specified ; and 
also to report the number of fire-arms and the stock of powder in 
each place. 

The return made by the selectmen of Exeter was as follows : 



Males under 16 years of age 
Males from 16 years to 50 not in the army 
All males above 50 years of age 
Persons gone in the army 



401 
273 

86 

51 
892 

38 
193 
150 

801 lbs. 

50 lbs. 

Selectmen 
of 
Exeter. 



All females 

Negroes and slaves for life 

Fire arms 

Fire arms wanting 

Powder 

Town stock of powder 

Samuel Brooks 

Theodore Carleton 

Peter Coffin Jun. 

Eph" Robinson 

6 October 1775, Sworn to before Zaccheus Clough, Just. Peace. 

THE earliest WRITTEN CONSTITUTION. 

The authority of the king's officers having come to an end, 
the need of a regular and stable system of government in New 
Hampshire had now become so urgent, that in October the 
province made application to the Continental Congress for advice 
and direction what course they ought to adopt. The answer of the 
Congress, given in November, was a recommendation in substance 
that a full and free representation of the people should be called, 
to establish, if thought necessary, a form of government such as 
should best promote the welfare of the province, during the contin- 
uance of the dispute with Great Britain. 

In pursuance of this advice a fifth Provincial Congress was 
summoned, to be composed of persons having real estate in the 
province to the value of five hundred pounds each, to meet at Exe- 
ter on the twenty-first day of December, and to serve for one 
year, to transact such business and pursue such measures as they 
might judge necessary for the public good ; and in case there 
should be a recommendation from the Continental Congress that 
the colony assume government in any particular form, which would 
require a House of Representatives, to resolve themselves into such 
a House as the Continental Congress should recommend. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 89 

John Giddiuge and Noah Emery were selected as delegates of 
Exeter, without specific instructions. 

This last provincial representation of New Hampshire came 
together on the day appointed, and spent the first two weeks of 
their session in disposing of preliminary matters, in order that time 
might be allowed for deliberate consideration before acting upon 
the momentous question of " taking up government," as the phrase 
of the day was. 

Then, everything being made ready, on the fifth day of Janu- 
ary, 1776, the delegates, in pursuance of the powers committed to 
them by their constituents, resolved themselves into a House of 
Eepresentatives ; adopted a written Constitution, the first of 
EITHER OF the United States ; elected under it the needful legis- 
lative, judicial and executive officers ; and thus New Hampshire 
became, in effect, free and independent of the British Crown. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EXETER UNDER THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 

The Coustitution adopted b}^ New Hampshire in the early part 
of 1776, though in some respects imperfect, as might naturally 
have been expected, being the first of its kind, yet served the 
purposes of the people sufficiently well until it was superseded by 
a more complete instrument, framed al)out the close of the Kevo- 
lution. 

Exeter, by the census of 1775, containing seventeen hundred 
and forty-one inhabitants, had become practically the capital of 
the State, the seat of government, and the centre of all civil and 
military activity in New Hampshire. 

There is little upon the records of the town to show that the 
people had become sovereign, except that new safeguards were set 
up against the selection of unsuitable persons for public office. 
The members of the council, for example, were required to be 
respectable freeholders, and no man could sit in either house of 
the Legislature who had treated electors with liquor to gain their 
votes. The people evidently valued at its true worth the privilege 
of governing themselves, which they were paying so heavy a price 
to secure. 

THE ASSOCIATION TEST OF 1776. 

The Continental Congress resolved on the fourteenth of March, 
1776, to recommend to the several Assemblies or Committees of 
Safety of the United Colonies immediately to cause to be disarmed 
all persons within their respective colonies who were notoriously 
disaffected to the cause of America, or who refused to associate to 
defend by arms the United Colonies against the hostile attempts 
of the British fleets and armies. 

The Committee of Safety of New Hampshire in order to carry 
this resolve into execution, on the twelfth of April, 1776, sent 
circulars to the selectmen of the several towns and places in the 

90 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



91 



colony, requesting them to desire all males above twentj'-one yenvs 
of age (lunatics, idiots and negroes excepted) to sign the following 
declaration, and, wlieu that should be done, to make return thereof 
together with the names of all who should refuse to sign the same, 
to the General Assembly or Committee of Safety of the colony. 
The declaration was in these words : 

We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that 
we will, to the utmost of our power, at the rislv of our lives and 
fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British 
fleets and armies against the United American Colonies. 

It is a matter of deep regret that the complete return from Exe- 
ter has not been preserved. At least three hundred names, and 
probably more, must have been reported, for or against the patri- 
otic declaration, but all except those upon a single sheet, forty- 
eight only, are lost. The names preserved are here given. From 
what is known of the sentiments of the voters of the town it is 
believed that the number of those refusing to sign might be 
counted on the fingers of one hand, with some to spare. 



Josiah Beal 
John Bond 
John Cartee 
Benjamin Cram 
Stephen [Creighton?] 
Thomas Dolloff 
Noah Emery 
Gerould Fitz Gerould. 
Josiah Folsom 
Bartholomew Gale 
Eliphalet Giddinge 
John Giddinge 
John Giddinge, Jr. 
David Gilman 
Joseph Gilman 
Josiah Gilman, Jr. 



Samuel Folsom Gilman 
Zehulon Gilman 
Nathaniel Gordon 
Daniel Grant 
Samuel Harris 
Jonathan Hopkinson 
Kinsley H. James 
Benjamin Kimball 
Robert Kimball 
Edward Ladd 
Joseph Lamson 
Samuel Lamson 
Kobert Lord 
Thomas Lyford 
Benjamin' Morse 
Habertus Neale 



William Odlin 
John Patten 
Samuel Quimby 
Jos. Rollins 
David Smith 
Theophilus Smith 
Joseph Stacey 
Benjamin Swasey 
Joseph Swasey 
Joseph Thing 
Stephen Thing 
Winthrop Thing 
Thomas Tyler 
Dudley Watson 
Josiah Weeks 
Josiah Wyatt 



FIRST READING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



A little more than seven months after New Hampshire had 
"taken up government," a scene was witnessed in Exeter which 
is worthy of a brief description. 



92 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Hostilities had been waged between Great Britain and the 
United Colonies for more than a year, and the foolish obstinacy of 
the king forbade all hopes of reconciliation on terms that Ameri- 
cans conld submit to without disgrace. Even the conservative and 
the timid had begun to think of " independency " as something 
within the range of possibilit}', while the ardent sons of liberty 
chafed at the delay in shaking off the yoke of allegiance to the 
mother country. We have already seen that the subject had been 
mooted long before in the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire. 

The leading men of Exeter and of the State government were 
fully prepared, and even anxious, for the final step of separation. 
Both houses of the Legislature had united in instructions " to our 
delegates in the Continental Congress to join with the other colo- 
nies in declaring the thirteen United Colonies free and independent 
States ; solemnly pledging our faith and honor that we will on our 
parts support the measure with our lives and fortunes." 

From this time forward all was impatience in Exeter to learn the 
action of the Continental Congress on the momentous question. 
At length, on the eighteenth day of July, 1776, the wished for 
news arrived. A courier rode into the village, bringing with him 
a jDacket addressed to the chief executive of New Hampshire, 
containing the immortal Declaration of American Independence, 
under the authentication of John Hancock, president of Congress. 

As soon as its contents were ascertained, it was determined that 
the paper should be publicly read to the citizens, forthwith. The 
Legislature had adjourned, but the Committee of Safety were in 
session. The tidings circulated through the town with lightniuo- 
rapidity. Men, women and children dropped their employments, 
and gathered about the court-house, to listen to the words that 
made them free. 

John Taylor Gilman was chosen for the signal honor of reading 
for the first time in the capital of the State, the charter of Ameri- 
can freedom. Prominent among his hearers were Meshech Weare, 
the President of the State, Matthew Thornton, who was hunself a 
few months later to set his hand to the Declaration, General 
Nathaniel Folsom, Colonel Pierse Long and Dr. Ebenezer Thomp- 
son, all sterling patriots and members of the Committee of Safety. 
There too was Colonel Nicholas Gilman, the New Hampshire 
financier of the Revolution and the right hand of the executive. 
He had ardently longed for the time when independence should 
be proclaimed, and now he was to hear, from the lips of his son, 
that the hour had struck. 



HISTOEY OF EXETER. i)P, 

As soon as liis hastily gathered audience had assembled, the 
youthful reader began his grateful task. We can imagine with 
what bated breath all listened for the first time to that impressive 
statement of the causes which led America to take up arms. The 
clear tones in which the eloquent periods were enunciated never 
faltered, until the masterly climax was reached, when the rush of 
patriotic feeling became too great for speech, and for a moment 
the reader was compelled to pause, to regain the power of utter- 
ance. 

Often as the charter of our liberties has been since repeated in 
Exeter, in times of national trial and of national prosperity, it was 
never listened to with more devout thankfulness, greater faith, or 
more honest pride than on this, its first reading. 

THE EVILS OF A PAPEIl CUUKEXCY. 

The colonies committed the often repeated mistake of attempt- 
ing to carry on a war by means of l>ills of credit. The result was 
a rapid inflation of the prices of all the necessaries of life, which 
the people vainly attempted to control, by legislation. 

On May 5, 1777, a meeting of the town was called " to regulate 
and affix the prices of goods and other articles, for said town, and 
to do and act in all affairs agreeable to the directions of an act of 
this State passed the tenth day of April last." The follovv-ing 
persons were chosen a committee to make report upon said matters : 
Eliphalet Hale, Josiah Barker, David Fogg, Samuel Folsom, 
Joseph Lamson, Josiah Oilman, Peter Coffin and Samuel Brooks. 
No report of their doings is upon record, but it is safe to say that 
any plan they could have devised, short of a complete change of 
the circulating medium, would have been inadequate to relieve the 
financial troubles of the time. 

On May 11, 1778, the town chose Nathaniel Folsom, Samuel 
Hobart and John Pickering delegates to the convention to be held 
at Concord on the tenth of June following, to form a permanent 
plan of government for the State. 

Another fruitless attempt to stay the constantly waning value of 
the paper currency was made by the town, a year later. On July 
19, 1779, Josiah Robinson, Nathaniel Gordon, Eliphalet Giddinge, 
Eliphalet Hale, Eliphalet Ladd, Gideon Lamson and John T. 
Gilman, a committee appointed by the town to consider the 
subjects of a reduction of the price of the necessaries of life, and 



n 



94 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

the support of the credit of the currency, reported the following 
scale of prices, to hold good until the succeeding first of Septem- 
ber, viz. : 

West India rum 81. 8s. per gallon Salt made in Xew England, 71. 4s. 

New England rum 51. 8s. " " per bushel 

Molasses 41. 16s. " " Indian corn 51. 8s. per bushel 

Brown sugar 16s. to 18s. " lb. Rye 61. 

Chocolate 26s. " " Wheat 91. 12s. 

Coffee 22s. " " Lamb 5s. " lb. 

Tea 81. 8s. " " Beef 4s. 6d. " " 

Cottonwool 40s. " " Veal 4s. 6d. 

C No W. I. or other foreign ^salt Salt pork 1 2s. 

I to exceed 91. 12s. per bushel Butter 12s. 

Best English hay 301. per ton 
Other hay in proportion thereto. 

The committee also reported the following resolutions : 

Besolved, That wool, flax, cloth and other articles of the produce 
of this country not herein particularly mentioned, shall not exceed 
the price of twenty shillings for what was commonly sold for one 
shilling in the year ITT-i, and in that rule of proportion to any 
sum or sums. 

Besolved, That we will sell no articles of merchandise not par- 
ticularly above mentioned, at a higher price than they are now 
sold. 

Resolved, That the tradesmen and laborers of this town will not 
exceed the above rate of twenty for one for their labor and manu- 
factures, including those articles they may have of the produce of 
this country, and excluding those of foreign import, and that they 
will reduce the same in proportion as the prices of merchandise 
and the produce of the country are from time to time lowered. 

Resolved, Upon condition the other towns in this State adopt 
similar measures respecting their merchandise and produce, that 
from and after the first day of September next, we will continue 
to lower the prices mouth by month, unless some other general 
plan shall be adopted by the people of this State. 

Resolved, That all those who shall hereafter dare to refuse con- 
tinental currency, or require hard money for rent or any other 
article whatever, or shall in any way endeavor to evade the salu- 
tary measures proposed by this body, shall be deemed enemies to 
the interest and independence of this United States, and shall be 
treated in such manner as the town shall hereafter order. 

Resolved, That the foregoing be offered for signing, to every 
male inhabitant of this town, paying taxes. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. ^ 95 

The report of the committee was unanimously adopted. Stephen 
Thing, David Fogg and Simeon Ladd were chosen a committee to 
offer the resolves to the inhabitants, for their signatures. 

At an adjourned meeting the committee reported that some 
persons had declined to sign the resolves. The town instructed 
them to present them to such persons a second time, and upon 
their refusal, to return their names to the selectmen, who were 
directed to publish the same in the New Hampshire Gazette. So 
far as can be learned from the imperfect files of the Gazette known 
to be in existence, no such publication of names was found to be 
necessary. But resolutions, however patriotic, could not annul 
the laws of finance and trade. 

On the twenty-sixth of March, 1781, the credit of the paper 
currency had sunk so low that a day's work on the highway was 
by order of the town estimated at forty dollars. On the thirty-first 
of March, 1783, after the bills of credit had gone out of circula- 
tion, and accounts were kept in metallic currency, the same was 
reckoned at no more than three shillings. 

The constitution agreed upon by the convention of 1778 for the 
government of the State, having been rejected on reference to the 
people ; and another convention having been ordered, to be held 
in Concord on the second Tuesday of June, 1781, the tow6 on the 
fourth of that month appointed Nathaniel Folsom and John T. 
Oilman delegates thereto. 

The fourth of July, 1778, according to the recollection of a gen- 
tleman who witnessed it, was suitably observed in Exeter, although 
it is not known with what ceremonials. The first printed account 
of a celebration of the anniversary which has been met with, was 
that of 1781. A contemporary journal describes the day as 
" ushered in by a display of colors and the most lively tokens of 
joy. At noon the principal gentlemen assembled at the Raleigh 
tavern, kept by Colonel Samuel Folsom, where they were honored 
by the company of the honorable council, and speaker of the 
Assembly, at a genteel collation, after which a number of suitable 
toasts were drank and thirteen cannon discharged." 

The people of Exeter endured their full proportion of the 
hardships that were caused by the AYar of the Revolution. A large 
share of the business from which the town had derived its support, 
was arrested, and had it not been that the public offices and State 
administration were transferred to the town, there would have 
been much more suffering. But the Legislature was in session 



96 HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

much of the thne, and during its adjournments the Committee of 
Safety, with equal powers, sat in its stead. Exeter was also the 
headquarters for most of the military operations ; so that, 
altogether, there was no small amount of activity and remunera- 
tive employment in the town. 

What Exeter did to furnish soldiers for the war, will be told in 
another chapter. Her citizens were loyal to their own country, 
with scarce an exception, A few were lukewarm, but the only 
downright tory that is known was Robert Luist Fowle, the printer, 
who was committed to prison on the charge of counterfeiting the 
provincial paper currency, but made his escape, and took refuge 
within the Bi'itish lines. 

But after the war was over, there came a time of peculiar stress. 
The Utopia that so many had looked forward to, as the natural 
result of independence, was not realized. Times were hard and 
cash was scarce. Ignorant and unreflecting people fancied that 
the panacea for these ills, was for the government to issue fresh 
bills of credit. But, fortunately, there were those in authority in 
the State with sufficient knowledge of political economy to prevent 
the Legislature from resorting to that deceptive remedy for finan- 
cial troubles. But they could not convince the " green-backers " 
of those days ; and at length matters came to such a pass that the 
infatuated clamorers for paper currency determined to make an 
attempt to dragoon the Legislature into sanctioning it. 

THE PAPER MONEY MOB OF 178G. 

A body of men from the towns in the western part of Rocking- 
ham county by a concerted movement assembled September 20, 
1786, at Kingston, thence to march to Exeter, where the State 
Legislature was in session. They were mustered in a sort of 
military array under leaders, some of whom had served in the 
revolutionary army. Joseph French of Hampstead, James Coch- 
ran of Pembroke and John McKean of Londonderry were the prin- 
cipal officers. In the afternoon they made their entry into the 
village of Exeter, by way of Front street. They numbered about 
two hundred, one-half of them marching on foot and armed with 
guns or swords, and the remainder folio tving on horseback, and 
carrying clubs or whips. The General Court was sitting in the 
First church, and the Superior (judicial) Court in the town-house 
on the opposite side of the street. The insurgents marched into 



HISTORY OF EXETEH. 97 

the centre of the village, aud by mistake surrounded the hitter 
building. If their object had been to overawe the legal tribunal 
within it, they would have signally failed, for Judge Samuel Liver- 
more was presiding, and so far was he from being daunted, that 
he ordered the business of the court to proceed, and sternly 
forbade every one to look out of the windows. 

But it was the General Court that the insurgents meant to 
intimidate, and they attempted to stretch a cordon of men around 
the meeting-house where the legislators were. But there was by 
this time a great body of spectators on the ground, partly citizens 
of the town, and partly inhabitants of neighboring places who had 
come in to witness the proceedings. They were generally opposed 
to the lawless intruders, so that when the latter endeavored to 
draw near the meeting-house, they found it no easy matter to 
overcome the inertia of the nnfriendly crowd. Little by little, 
however, they forced their way to the building, and stationed sen- 
tinels at the doors and windows. They then, after ostentatiously 
loading their fire-arras, announced their purpose to compel the 
Legislature to enact a law for the emission of abundant paper 
money which should be made a legal tender for debts and taxes, 
and their determination to hold the law-makers in durance until 
the demand was complied with. One or two representatives who 
attempted to make their escape were driven back with insult. It 
fortunately happened that the chief executive of the State was a 
man of courage and resolution, and not unacquainted with arms, 
John Sullivan, who had gained the rank of major general in the 
Revolution. He appeared at the entrance of the building and 
listened to the requirements of the assemblage. In a temperate 
and reasonable reply he gave them to understand that they need 
not expect to frighten him, for he had smelt powder before. 
''You ask for justice," he continued, "and justice you shall 
have." But he did not order tliem to disperse ; he perhaps thought 
it was wiser to let them keep together, in order the more effectually 
to stamp out the tendency to insurrection against the constituted 
authorities. 

The afternoon wore away ; the General Court were still prison- 
ers, and no progress had been made towards an adjustment. By 
this time many of the better class of citizens of Exeter were filled 
with shame and indignation at the unchecked riotous demonstra- 
tion, and one of them, Colonel Nathaniel Gilman, with the assist- 
ance of others, successfully practised a ruse de guerre, in order to 

7 



98 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

raise the siege. It had then become dusk, and a high and close 
fence around the church-yard prevented the rioters from seeing 
distinctly what was going on outside. He caused a drum to be 
beaten briskly at a little distance while a body of citizens 
approached with a measured military step, and then cried out in 
his stentorian voice, "Hurra for government! Here comes 
Hackett's artillery !" The cry was echoed by others, and the 
insurgents did not wait for more. Their valor was not up to the 
fighting point, and they rapidly retreated, standing not on the 
order of their going. They afterward made their rendezvous on 
the western side of the Little river, on the road to Kingston, and 
there a great part of them spent the night. 

No sooner had they retired than steps were taken to crush this 
revolt in the bud. Messengers were sent into the neighboring 
towns bearing orders to the officers of the militia to muster their 
commands, and march at once to the scene of action ; and in Exe- 
ter a company of the first citizens enrolled themselves under the 
command of Captain Nicholas Gilman, who had served as an 
officer through the war. The next morning saw nearly two 
thousand men under arms in Exeter. President Sullivan assumed 
the direction of the column, which at once moved against the 
insurrectionary force, the volunteers of Exeter claiming the post 
of honor in the van. Arrived within about an eighth of a mile 
from their antagonists, they were halted by order, when a small 
troop of horsemen * under Colonel Joseph Cilley, a revolutionary 
officer of distinction, galloped forward, forded the river, and made 
prisoners of the principal leaders of the insurgents ; after which 
their followers surrendered at discretion. 

Thus terminated the most formidable demonstration against the 
government which was ever made on the soil of New Hampshire. 
The happy result of it was in no small degree clue to the loyal 
feeling and prudence and pluck of the people of Exeter. The 
attempt to dictate legislation by force having proved so ignomin- 
ious a failure, it was not deemed necessary to inflict serious pun- 
ishment upon the offenders. 

But the Legislature, in order that the opinion of the people of 
the State should be fairly tested on the expediency of issuing a 
paper currency, passed a bill to authorize its emission, to be sub- 

* Tradition says that Major Jonathan Cass, the father of the statesman Lewis Cass, 

distinguished himself on this occasion, and in the charge leaped bis horte completely 
over a well. 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 99 

mitted to the voters of the several towns for their approval or 
rejection. And on the twenty-third of October, 1786, a meeting 
of the citizens of Exeter was held for tlie expression of their 
opinion. A committee of leading men consisting of John T. 
Gilman, Oliver Peabody, Samuel Tenney, John Phillips, Nicholas 
Gilman, Thomas Folsom and Noah Emery was appointed, to make 
a report upon the subject, who prepared full and elaborate reasons 
in writing against the measure, which were read in the meeting ; 
and when the vote was taken it was found that there were but six 
in favor of the plan, and seventy-nine against it. 

THE CONVENTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

CONSTITUTION. 

On the thirteenth of February, 1788, assembled in convention at 
the court-house in Exeter the delegates chosen by the several 
towns in the State, to consider and pass upon the constitution 
framed for the government of the United States, under which we 
now live. It was an anxious period. The proposed constitution 
contained a provision that it was to go into effect upon its ratifica- 
tion by nine of the thirteen States. Eight had already voted their 
approval of it, and the interest of the country centred upon New 
Hampshire, the ninth to act upon it. The session of the conven- 
tion in Exeter lasted ten days. So great was the opposition devel- 
oped to the adoption of the new instrument, that its friends 
thought it wiser to postpone final action upon the question for a 
season ; and the convention was adjourned to meet again at 
Concord in the following June. The public sentiment had by that 
time so distinctly manifested itself that after a session of four days 
the convention Avas ready by a fair majority to ratify the constitu- 
tion, and thus to put the new government into operation. The 
delegate of Exeter, who was one of the most influential in bringing 
about this result, was John Taylor Gilman. 

THE VISIT OF WASHINGTON. 

The year 1789 is one to be remembered in Exeter, by a visit 
from the Father of his country. George Washington, having been 
inaugurated the first President of the Republic, was then maldng a 
tour through the Northern States. He had passed two or three days 
in Portsmouth, and left that place in the morning of the fourth day 
of November. His habits of extreme punctuality are well known, 



100 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

and he probably set out from Portsmouth exactly as the hands of 
the clock pointed to the half hour after seven. The people of 
Exeter had made arrangements to receive him with a handsome 
cavalcade. But some of the party were a little dilatory, and 
before they were in the saddle Washington made his appearance, 
it not yet being ten o'clock. He was mounted on horseback, as 
was his practice when entering a town, and was attended by his 
two secretaries, Colonel Tobias Lear and Major William Jackson, 
who rode in an open carriage, and by a single servant. He wore 
a drab surtout and a military hat. The streets were thronged with 
people waiting to welcome the distinguished visitor, and Captain 
Simon AViggin in command of the artillery company of Exeter, ' 
had his men promptly in line, and received his Commander-in- 
Chief with a salute of thirteen guns. 

The party alighted at the public house kept by Colonel Samuel 
Folsom, where they were waited upon by Colonel Nicholas Gilman, 
who had been a staff officer under Washington at Yorktown, and 
other revolutionary soldiers and citizens, proud to do the honors 
of the tos\^n to the President. They invited him to tarry for a 
night and partake of a public dinner. But his engagements, pre- 
viously made, compelled him, with reluctance as he informs us in 
his diary, to decline. They, however, gave him a collation, which 
he graciously accepted. Among those who had the honor of 
waiting on him at the table was a young lady relative of Colonel 
Folsom, who had solicited the privilege. Washington saw at once 
that she was no menial servant, and calling her to him, addressed 
her a few pleasant words and kissed her. She lived to attain a 
good old age, and was the friend of some of the most distinguished 
men of a subsequent generation, but probably no incident of her 
life made so lasting an impression upon her memory as the kiss of 
Washington. 

The few hours of Washington's stay in Exeter were soon ended, 
and he resumed his journey. A cavalcade of gentlemen escorted 
him outside the village. He took the road to Kingston, on his 
way to Haverhill, Massachusetts. When he reached the top of 
Great hill, he directed the driver of his carriage to halt, that he 
might look back upon tlie wide view of Exeter and its vicinity. 
He gazed a few moments at the fan- landscape- that lay at his feet 
and stretched away to the ocean, and remarked admiringly upon 
its beauty ; and with this pleasant farewell to Exeter he went on 
his way. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 101 

COURT-nOUSE, FIRE ENGINE, LIBRARY, ETC. 

The town, on October 13, 1788, had instructed the selectmen to 
put up a chimney in the town-house, and to make such repairs on 
the building as to render it suitable for the sessions of the General 
Court aud county courts. But three years afterwards the need of 
a new court-house became apparent, and on the twelfth of Septem- 
ber, 1791, the town voted to raise, to be assessed the next year, 
two hundred and fifty pounds for the purpose of building one, to 
be placed on the land between the house of the late General 
Folsom and that of Ward Clark Dean ; and that so much of said 
land as should be necessary, be appropriated for the purpose. 
This location was in the middle of the present Court square, just 
in front of the town-house. The buildiug was completed, there, 
in season for the town to hold its annual meeting in it, in March, 
1793. 

The State constitution which was adopted by the people in 1783 
was found on trial to require amendment, aud on August 8, 1791, 
the town, at a meeting held for the purpose, appointed Samuel 
Tenney a delegate to the convention to be held at Concord on the 
succeeding first Wednesday of September, to revise the constitu- 
tion. 

At the March town meeting in 1794, it was voted to raise a sum 
not exceeding seventy pounds, for the purchase of a new fire 
engine, hooks, etc., for the use of the town; and that Gideon 
Lamson be empowered to bargain for the same, and, to sell the 
engine then belonging to the town, and account for the proceeds 
thereof. The former engine here referred to was procured in 1774 
at the cost, including transportation, of fifty-two pounds. 

It was also voted that any persons who might be unwilling to 
pay their taxes assessed for the new engine, could have them 
abated upon application to the selectmen, by the first Monday of 
May following. This, and one or two other similar cases of con- 
sideration, exhibited by the majority, for the inability or opposition 
of a minority of the tax-payers, are worthy of being recorded, to 
the credit of the town. They are in sharp contrast to the ideas 
and practice of some communities, in later times. 

At the adjourned annual meeting in March, 1797, it was voted 
by the town that Benjamin Clark Gilman and his associates should 
have the privilege of sinking an aqueduct in Fore street, and such 
other streets as they might find convenient, for supplying water to 
customers ; and of breaking ground to repair the same ; on condi- 



102 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

tion that they should put the streets in as good a state as they 
found them in, within a reasonable time, and should indemnify 
the town against prosecutions on that account. 

In 1797 the Legislature incorporated several of the principal 
citizens of the town as the " Exeter Social Library." They at 
once completed an organization, and adopted rules and regula- 
tions. From a little pamphlet printed for their use by Henry 
Ranlet in the same year, it appears that they began with thirty- 
eight proprietors and one hundred and sixty-eight volumes. The 
number of the latter was subsequently much increased, and the 
society continued in existence for a considerable period, until the 
books having probably become pretty familiar, the interest in the 
library so far abated, that its contents were divided among the 
propi'ietors. 

In the year 1798 a number of citizens, for the better protection 
of their property from loss by fire, entered into a voluntary asso- 
ciation called the "Fire Society of I^xeter." Their constitution 
provided that the number of members should not exceed twenty- 
five, and that no person should be admitted, except at a meeting 
where three-fourths of the society were present ; and if more than 
a single ballot were cast against him. Each member was to keep 
always in readiness two leather buckets, and two bags a yard and 
a half in length and three-quarters of a yard in breadth, with 
strings at the mouth ; and at every alarm of fire was instantly to 
repair with his buckets and bags to the house or other building of 
the member whose danger should appear greatest, and make every 
exertion for the preservation of his building and personal property. 
Various fines were prescribed for delinquencies, which went, if 
this society was conducted like similar associations elsewhere, to 
pay for an occasional dinner and jollification for the members. 
The society, having this happy commingling of the utile with the 
duld,, was kept up for many years, and was the precursor of other 
combinations for the same object. The "Junior Fire Society" 
was in successful operation in 1817, and the "Phoenix Fire 
Society" in 1832. 

HONORS TO THE MEMORY OF WASHINGTON. 

Nearly all the sessions of the State Legislature were held in 
Exeter from the beginning of the year 1776 to 1784 ; but for the 
succeeding fifteen years they were distributed among three or 
four towns, Exeter receiving but a small share of them. The 



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HISTORY OF EXETER. 103 

last meeting there was ia December, 1799. Near the close of 
the session intelligence was received of the death of Washington, 
which occurred on the fourteenth day of the mouth. The General 
Court immediately suspended business and resolved, in respect to 
the memory of the deceased patriot, to go into mourning for the 
term of three mouths. And on the day following, the executive 
and legislative officers of the State, with the selectmen and citizens 
of the town, escorted by a military company of students of the 
academy in uniform with proper badges of mourning, marched in 
procession to the First meeting-house, where religious exercises 
were performed, appropriate to the sad event. The citizens of 
the town resolved to take further and more formal notice of the 
national bereavement. They accordingly invited the Hon. Jere- 
miah Smith to deliver a eulogy on the late President. On the 
succeeding twenty-second of February, which was generally 
observed as a day of mourning throughout the land, they gathered, 
with all the insignia of respect and grief, in the meeting-house of 
the First parish, and there listened to an eloquent oration in honor 
of the deceased First Citizen of America, pronounced by one who 
was fully capable of appreciating his greatness and his virtues, 
and who had known him in public and in private life, in his official 
position at the national capital and as his visitor at Mount Vernon. 

In 1799 the streets of the town for the first time received 
authoritative names, recommended by a committee of citizens, and 
adopted by the town, as they are given upon the plan drawn by 
Phineas Merrill in 1802, a copy of which is contained in this 
volume. 

In 1801 the "Exeter Aqueduct" received incorporation from the 
Legislature of the State, and brought into the village water drawn 
from springs not far from the present station of the Boston and 
Maine Railroad. It was conveyed through perforated logs, and, 
of course, the supply was quite limited. Benjamin Clark Gilman 
was the projector of the enterprise in 1797 ; and in later time the 
management of the aqueduct fell into the hands of Nathaniel S. 
Adams, and finally of John Bellows. It was abandoned a number 
of years ago. 

At the annual town meeting in 1804 it was voted that the select- 
men, in case of blocking snows, should employ proper persons to 
open the roads, at the expense of the town. 

In 1811 the town voted that the selectmen purchase for the use 
of the town a new fire engine and appurtenances at a cost not 



104 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

exceeding three hundred dollars ; the engine of 1794 being deemed 
insufficient. 

TEMPERANCE ; WAR OF 1812 ; PRAYER IN TOWN MEETINGS. 

As early as 1812 germs of the temperance reform began to show 
themselves in the action of the town. A vote was passed at the 
annual meeting to request the selectmen to prevent the selling or 
having of any liquors at the court-house on town-meeting days, 
and to make it the duty of a constable to see that the vote should 
be carried into full effect. The following preamble and resolution 
were also adopted : 

Ketailers of ardent spirits duly observing the laws are a nec- 
essary class of men. But when they so grossly abuse the trust 
and confidence reposed in them as to sell ardent spirits in less 
quantities than the laws permit, harbor citizens of the toAvn in 
their stores and shops day after day and night after night, spend- 
ing the money which ought to be expended in the support of their 
families in co'rrupting the morals and setting a destructive example 
before others, it is time for the town to arouse from their slumbers, 
place the axe at the root of the tree of vice and idle habits by 
rigidly executing the laws amply sufficient to effect it. This is 
an increasing evil, and for which a remedy is immediately wanted. 

Resolved, therefore, That the selectmen and overseers inspect 
all disorderly licensed houses, etc., and prosecute such offenders 
with the utmost severity of the law. 

The war against England, which was declared .in 1812, was 
regarded by the majority of the people of New England as un- 
necessary and wrong. Exeter partook of that feeling, and when 
a meeting of the town was called in August, 1812, to see what 
pay and bounty should be offered to the militia called into the 
service of the United States, appointed a committee, consisting of 
JohnT. Gilraan, Oliver Peabody, Samuel Tenney, Gideon Lamson 
and Joseph Tilton, Jr., to take the subject into consideration. 
At an adjourned meeting the committee submitted a written 
report, setting out that for reasons therein given, the town ought 
not to pay bounties or add to the compensation provided by law 
for men employed in the military service in that war. The report 
was accepted. 

On the second of November following, the meeting of the citi- 
zens for the choice of representatives in Congress and presidential 
electors, was opened by "a well adapted prayer by the Rev. Mr. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 105 

Rowland." This appears to have been the inauguration or possi- 
bly the revival of a practice which afterwards continued for more 
than a quarter of a century. 

SUPPORT OF THE POOR. 

In 1817 the town passed a vote that the selectmen and over- 
seers be authorized to purchase a farm or house for the use of the 
town where they might place the poor, and that they hire for that 
purpose a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars. A purchase 
was accordingly made of a house and land near Beech hill ; and 
in 1821 the town voted to enlarge the town farm by the addition 
of the "Cuba" land adjoining it, and to establish an almshouse 
and house of correction. Prior to that time the mode of providing 
for tliose who needed support was by letting them out by auction, 
or rather by diminution, to the lowest bidder. Their number was 
comparatively small, and their several capacities and incapacities 
were well known. The responsible citizens who were willing to 
board, clothe and care for them at the least cost to the town, were 
allowed to take them to their homes, and have the charge of them. 
It is believed that under this system the paupers usually received 
good treatment ; and they certainly were not sent far away from 
their acquaintances and familiar surroundings, to pine among 
strangers in a strange place. 

In 1823 the town adopted an act of the Legislature for the es- 
tablishment of police in towns. 

In 1826 the town appropriated four hundred dollars to procure 
a lot of land for the use of the county, to erect a fire-proof build- 
ing upon, for public offices and the preservation of public records. 
The building was constructed of brick with stone vaults to contain 
the books and files of the county, and was located on Front street, 
just easterly of the Phillips Exeter Academy. It answered its 
purpose satisfactorily for half a century, but the increase of the 
records, and the demand for greater care for their preservation, 
will soon render necessary enlarged and better constructed accom- 
modations. 

At the annual meeting in March, 1832, the town appropriated 
three hundred dollars for the purchase of a hay scale. It was 
placed nearly opposite the First church and in front of the lot on 
which the Squamscot House was afterwards erected, in 1837. 

The situation of the court-house was felt to be inconvenient 6u 



106 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

many accounts, and in 1834 the town gave the selectmen authority 
to purchase a lot of land, and remove the court-house thereon, 
and fit up the same at the expense of the town, upon condition 
that one hundred and fifty dollars of the cost should be contributed 
by individuals. The condition was complied with, and the build- 
ing was removed to the southerly corner of Court and River streets, 
where its immediate successor still stands. Petitions were subse- 
quently presented for the sale or lease of the lot where it had 
stood, but the town wisely declined to part with the control of the 
land, and it has since constituted what is known as Court square, 
and now has a very useful drinking fountain in the centre. 

In 1838, at the annual meeting, the town again put upon record 
its sentiments in relation to the mischiefs of the habit of strong 
drink, as follows : 

Jlesolvexl, That as much of the paupei'ism, disease and misery 
existing among us may be attributed to intemperance, it is desir- 
able that all suitable means should be used for the promotion of 
the temperance cause, and we, tlie citizens of this town, in town 
meeting assembled, authorize our selectmen to take all lawful and 
equitable measures for the removal of this evil from among us. 

CELEBRATION OF BI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. 

The year 1838 being the two hundredth anniversary of the foun- 
dation of the town, was recognized as a proper occasion for public 
exercises in commemoration of that event. The necessary prep- 
arations were seasonably made, and the Hon. Jeremiah Smith 
was designated to prepare a historical address to be pronounced 
on the occasion. The fourth of July was chosen as a suitable day, 
and the citizens of the neighboring towns which had once formed 
parts of Exeter, were invited to join in the celebration. 

The day was favorable. A procession, composed of a large 
body of citizens, the children of the Sunday schools and of the 
town schools, and the students of the Phillips Exeter Academy, 
escorted by the company of Exeter Artillery, all under the direc- 
tion of Captain Nathaniel GUman, 3d, chief marshal, marched 
through the principal streets of the village to the meeting-house of 
the First parish, which was filled to overflowing. After music by 
the band, and the singing of appropriate pieces by the choir, the 
Rev. Isaac Hurd offered an impressive prayer. Then the ven- 
erable Judge Smith delivered his interesting and valuable address, 
extracts from which will be found in the appendix to this volume 
(III). 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 107 

After the close of the exercises at the meeting-house a proces- 
sion was again formed, of the invited guests and subscribers to 
the public dinner, and moved to the court-house, in the lower 
story of which the tables had been arranged. The Hon. 
Timothy Farrar presided at the dinner, assisted by the Hon. 
William Plumer, Jr., of Epping, Captain Nathaniel Oilman, 3d 
and William W. Stickney, Esq., of Newmarket. After the cloth 
was removed the presiding officer made an address of welcome 
and congratulation. A series of sentiments were then read, which 
were severally responded to, by the Hon. William Plumer, Jr., 
the Hon. Prentiss Mellen, and other gentlemen of note present. 

In the evening there was a levee at Howard hall, and the day 
was closed with a brilliant display of fireworks. The entire cele- 
bration was most satisfactory, and was highly enjoyed by the 
numerous assemblage which had gathered from far and near. The 
chairman of the committee of citizens, to whom much credit was 
due, was Joseph Tilton, Esq. 

RE-NAMING STREETS ; NEW COURT-HOUSE. 

In 1840 the selectmen received authority to name the streets 
anew, and performed that duty as follows : 

The street leading from Great bridge towards Hampton is to be called 
High street. 

From Mary Jones's corner towards Stratham, Portsmouth avenue. 

" Great bridge to James Grant's, Pleasant street. 

" " " to Joseph Furnald's, Water street. 

«' " " to Christian chapel, Franklin street. 

" Franklin street to Court street, South street. 

" Joseph Tilton's to John Gordon's, Front street. 

" Kiniings's brook to James Bell's, Main street. 

" James Bell's to Jeremiah Smith's, Middle street. 

" Squamscot house to Little river bridge, Court street. 

" Widow Odiorne's to Exeter bank. Centre street. 

" Margaret Emery's to Colonel Chadwick's, Ladd street. 

" Sherburne Blake's to William Lane's, Spring street. 

" J. Robinson, Jr.'s to Main street. Academy street. 

" Isaac Leavitt's to Samuel Philbrick's, Winter street. 

" Samuel Philbrick's to Water street. Back street. 

" Rev. Mr. Rowland's to Joseph Furnald's, Summer street. 

" Samuel Moses's to Back street, Cross street. ^ 

" Cross street to Water street, Green street. 



108 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Most of the streets still retain the names here given them, but 
a few have taken others, more iu accordance with the fitness of 
things. Cross street, for example, has given place with great pro- 
priety to Cass street, as it contains the house where the Hon. 
Lewis Cass was born. And therein is a hint that ought to be 
taken and improved. The town is noted for the number of dis- 
tinguished men who have resided in it. What more appropriate 
nomenclature for its streets could be adopted than the names of 
its principal inhabitants and families? Wheelwright, Hilton, 
Dudley, Gilman, Folsom, Phillips, Sullivan and other historic 
names are far preferable for this purpose, in every point of view, 
to such unmeaning appellations as Front, Back, Middle, Centre, 
and the like. This would be a graceful method of keeping green 
the memory of the Exeter worthies of the past, and the quarter 
millennial anniversary of the town is a peculiarly suitable occasion 
to make the change. 

In the spring of 1841 the court-house, that had been moved 
seven years before into Court street, was destroyed by fire. An 
exhibition called the " Burning of Moscow " had just been held in 
it, and was the cause of this less extensive conflagration. The 
town held a meeting on the sixth of April of the same year, and 
appropriated the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars for 
a town-house, to contain a town hall and court rooms. The 
building committee were James Burley, Nathaniel Gilman, Jr., 
William Conner, James Bell and Ira B. Hoitt. The building was 
promptly erected, of wood, and is still standing on the lot where 
the former court-house was situated, but is now occupied by the 
Town Library, the Natural Histor}' Society, the Grand Army of 
the Republic, etc. It was used for the purposes for which it was 
originally designed, only about fifteen years. 

At the March town meeting in 1842 a resolution was passed, to 
license one apothecary to sell spirituous liquors, for medicinal pur- 
poses and the arts only, and to grant no further license therefor. 
And the next year it was resolved, with but a single dissenting 
voice, to license one town agent and no more, and to prosecute 
offenders against the license law. 

In 1844 the useful practice was begun of printing the annual 
accounts of the selectmen and overseers, for distribution among 
the tax-payers. The practice has been kept up each year since, 
and has been extended to the reports and accounts of all the 
officers of the town. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 109 

The selectmen had been empowered in 1840 to procure to be 
made a survey and plan of the town. This was accomplished in 
1845. Joseph Dow of Hampton was the surveyor employed, and 
from his draft two plans were published, the one of the village 
and the other of the entire township. Similar plans had been 
issued forty-three years previously, by Phinehas Merrill of 
Stratham ; and a plot of the village on a larger scale has been 
since published from a survey made in 1874. 

In 1844, at the annual meeting, an appropriation of four hun- 
dred dollars was made for the purchase of a town clock, which 
was set up in the tower of the First church. 

On October 8, 1850, the town appointed GUman Marston, John 
Kelly and Joseph G. Hoyt delegates to the convention to be held 
at Concord on the sixth of November following, to revise the con- 
stitution of the State. 

In 1852 the town, taking warning from a disastrous conflagra- 
tion which had recently occurred, by which the two principal hotels 
had been laid in ashes, caused the purchase of another fire engine 
at the cost of six hundred and fifty dollars, and laid out a further 
considerable sum in the improvement of the reservoirs. 

The wooden town-house which was erected in 1841 was found 
to be ill located, and insufficient, and a movement was made in 
1853 to build another, better suited to the public needs. For that 
purpose the town authorized an appropriation of thirty thousand 
dollars. The measure was not carried without strenuous and 
bitter opposition. Some of the older and more conservative citi- 
zens contended that the building then in use answered its end suf- 
ficiently, particularly as it had been erected only twelve years 
before, and were especially aggrieved by the exorbitant sum pur- 
posed to be expended. The question of the location of the pro- 
posed building, too, caused a difference of opinion, which was not 
settled until March, 1855. The Dean lot, at the northwestern 
corner of Court square and Water street, received the majority of 
suffrages, and there the new building, which is of brick, and of 
fine architectural proportions, and has from that time to the 
present been equally ornamental and useful to the town, was 
placed. 

It was in 1853 that the first appropriation was made by the 
town for the establishment of the Public Library. The project 
originated with some public spirited citizens, who laid the founda- 
tions for its success by contributing to the infant Library, from 



no HISTORY OF EXETER. 

their own collections, a considerable number of useful books. 
The town was quite ready to adopt the enterprise, and appropriated 
for the care and increase of the Library for the first few years 
three hundred, and since then five hundred dollars annually, 
besides providing suitable rooms for its accommodation in the old 
town-house. As the expense of library service is small, the chief 
part of the annual appropriations has been laid out in books, and 
from that source, and by donations from various quarters, the 
shelves have been gradually filled. 

A fund of five thousand dollars for the enlargement of the 
Library was given by the late Dr. Charles A. Merrill ; the income 
of which is to be applied to the purchase of works of sterling 
value. 

The number of volumes now in the Library amounts to more 
than six thousand. They are, with few exceptions, well selected, 
and are very generally circulated in the households of the town, 
and diligently perused. 

LIGHTING STREETS ; SIDEWALKS ; STEAM FIRE ENGINE ; WATER WORKS. 

The streets of the town were first lighted in 18G3, although gas 
works had been in operation several years previously. The lights 
at first were rather few and far between, and some persons com- 
plained that they only served to make the darkness more visible ; 
but the number has since been so much increased that there is no 
longer any question of their utQity. 

In the same year it was voted to fund thirty thousand dollars 
of the debt of the town, which had been incurred in building the 
town-house, and in bounties and aid to soldiers' families in the 
War of the Rebellion. 

About the year 1871 the sidewalks of the village underwent a 
very general renovation. Before then they were mostly made of 
gravel, except in the business part of Water street. It was felt 
that they were hardly up to the requirement of the times, and an 
order was adopted to encourage the citizens to reconstruct them 
in an improved fashion. The town agreed to repay to all land- 
owners in the village one-half the expense of sidewalks of con- 
crete, brick or other durable materials, which they should cause 
to be laid in front of their respective lots. The offer was quite 
generally taken advantage of, and the vUlage has since afforded 
better facilities for pedestrians than are to be found in most places 
of equal population and means. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. Ill 

Notwithstanding Exeter had for a century been quite in the 
fore front of country towns in providing against the danger of 
fires, and had made very considerable annual payments for that 
purpose, yet, up to the year 1873, nothing more eflicient than 
hand engines had been procured. It was then determined that a 
steam fire engine was a necessity. Though the expense of it and 
of all the needful accompaniments, including a substantial house 
of brick on Water street, was somewhat onerous, yet the service 
rendered by the acquisition, on one or two occasions, fully out- 
weighed the cost. The fire department of the town is highly effi- 
cient, and its members have shown their pluck and endurance on 
many a hard fought field. And now that abundant hydrants have 
been added to all other safeguards, the risk of any wide conflagra- 
tion seems reduced to a minimum. 

A new convention to revise the constitution of the State was 
ordered, to be held at Concord on the sixth of December, 1876, 
and the town elected as delegates thereto, William W. Stickney, 
Gilman Marston, William B. Morrill and John J. Bell. 

The 'Exeter Water Works" went into operation in 1886. This 
is the title of an incorporated company, which has established its 
reservoirs and pumping apparatus on a little stream which leads 
to the historic "AVheelwright's creek." Thence the water is driven 
to a stand pipe on the summit of Prospect hill, which gives it a 
sufficient head to reach the top of the highest building in the 
village. A contract has been executed between the corporation 
and the town, by which the former, in consideration of an annual 
subsidy of two thousand dollars, engaged to furnish to the town 
for the term of twenty years, all the water needed for the extin- 
guishment of fires and for other municipal purposes ; and also, on 
certain conditions, to turn over to the town, its works, plant and 
property, upon being reimbursed the cost thereof. 



CHAPTER V. 

BOUNDARIES AND DIVISIONS; ROADS AND BRIDGES. 

The original townsiiip of Exeter, as described in the deeds of 
the Indian sagamores to John Wheelwright and his associates, 
embraced all the territory between the Merrimac river (or three 
miles north of it) on the south ; the sea on the east ; the Pascata- 
qua patents on the eastern north, and a line one mile beyond the 
Oyster river on the western north ; and extended from the sea 
thirty miles into the country. This was a goodly domain, and 
must have contained, at the lowest estimate four or five hundred 
square miles. But only a fraction of it was ever occupied by the 
people of Exeter. It was soon curtailed on nearly every side. 

Winicowet, or Hampton, was settled shortly after Exeter. Its 
entire original territory, including the present townships of Hamp- 
ton, North Hampton, Seabrook, South Hampton, Hampton Falls 
and Kensington, and containing not less than seventy square 
miles, was carved from the Indians' grant to Wheelwright. 
Dover, on the north, pushed her occupancy, under the claim of a 
purchase from the Indians, not only to Oyster river, but southerly 
across the intervening space to Lamprey river, excepting a small 
triangle of land bordering on the Great Bay. Of the western 
north part of the Wheelwright Indian purchase, not less than 
thirty square miles were held to belong to Dover ; the greater part 
of it in the present township of Durham. 

The western bound of Exeter was fixed by a committee of the 
General Court of Massachusetts at about twenty miles distance 
from the sea, instead of thirty miles, the limit of the Indian grant ; 
so the area of the town was thus further shorn of about one-half 
its original dimensions. 

A single addition to the town's territory is also to be recorded. 
In 1656, or earlier, Thomas Wiggin, agent of the owners of 
the southern division of the Squamscot patent, by his deed of 
gift conveyed to the town a belt of land from the southerly end 

112 



HISTORY OF EXETETi. ll;J 

thereof, about a mile in breadth and between two and three miles 
in length. 

When all these subtractions and this addition were made, 
Exeter, in place of its original ample precincts was reduced in 
territory to about seventy square miles. This is occupied by the 
present townships of Exeter, Newmarket, South Newmarket, 
Epping, Brentwood and Fremont. 

These various alterations of boundary were not accomplished 
without objection. Towns are as averse as land-owners to any 
diminution of their possessions, and there are few more fruitful 
sul)jects of contention than conterminous boundaries. 

There is scarcely a doubt that the bounds of Dover and of 
Hampton were laid out by committees of the General Court of 
Massachusetts, before Exeter acknowledged the jurisdiction of 
that colony. It was claimed by Dover that Lamprey river was 
thus fixed as the line between that township and Exeter in 1641 
or 1642 ; and the western bound of Hampton, where it adjoined 
the eastern extremity of fCxeter, was early assumed to be distant 
two miles from the meeting-house of the latter town, and, without 
much question, had been so defined under the authority of the 
Massachusetts colony. 

When the petition of Exeter to be received within the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts was presented. May 12, 1643, the consent 
of the deputies and of the magistrates was indorsed thereon, and 
Samuel Dudley, Edward Rawson and Edward Carleton were ap- 
pointed a committee for laying out the bounds. It is not known 
what, if an^'thing, was done by the committee. On the seventh 
of the following September, when the petition was /o?'mf/Z/^ granted, 
William Paj'ue, Matthew Boyes and John Saunders were appointed 
to settle the bounds between Exeter and Hampton, within two 
months. If they performed that duty, it was not very satisfacto- 
rily, for the General Court on the sixth day of May, 1646, in 
response to the petition of several inhabitants of P^xeter, appointed 
Samuel Dudley, Edward Rawson and Edward Carleton to "lay 
out Exeter bounds next to Hampton, and so round about them, 
provided there be no entrenching on the bounds of the patent of 
the lords and gentlemen mentioned in the patent of Squamscot, 
or in any gi-ant formerlj' made to Dover by this court." This 
resulted, no doubt, in fixing the location of the line between the 
eastern extremity of Exeter and Hampton, but not of that dividing 
the two towns farther to the westward. 



114 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

THE HAMPTON BOUND OF 1653. 

On the fourteenth of October, 1651, Hampton petitioned the 
General Court for a committee to lay out the west end of the 
bounds of their township, and Samuel Winslow, Thomas Bradbury 
and Robert Pike were appointed for the purpose. Thereupon, the 
people of Exeter, wishing to adjust all matters of boundary which 
were in dispute with their neighbors, on the twenty-ninth day of 
December following, gave authority to Samuel Dudley, Edward 
Hilton, Pxlward Oilman, John Legat and Humphrey Wilson, to 
"make an agreement with Hampton and Dover about the bounds 
of the town, or to petition to the General Court about it if they 
cannot agree with the other towns." And on May 10, 1652, 
having then probably received notice of the appointment of the 
commissioners by the General Court in the preceding October, 
the town chose Samuel Dudley, Edward Hilton, Edward Oilman 
and Thomas King, to meet with those commissioners "to lay out 
the bounds between us and Hampton, to agitate and conclude 
with them, or to make then- objections according to the court 
order, if they cannot agTee." 

On the same day the town requested Samuel Dudley and Edward 
Oilman to "go to the next General Court as messengers for the 
town, to treat with the Court about the liberties and bounds of 
our town, that we be not infringed upon either by Dover or 
Hampton." Ten days later, the town excused Mr. Oilman from 
the duty and appointed Edward Hilton in his stead ; and Mr. 
Dudley and John Legat were desired to compose the petition to 
send to the said General Court. Samuel Dudley, Edward Hilton, 
Thomas Pettit, John Legat, Edward Oilman, James Wall, 
Humphrey Wilson, Nicholas Listen and Thomas Cornish, or any 
six of them, were authorized to set their hands to the petition in 
behalf of the rest of the town. 

The report of the commissioners appointed by the General 
Court in October, 1651, was returned on the thirtieth of Septem- 
ber, 1653, in the following terms : 

Mr. Samuel Winslow, Mr. Thomas Bradbury and Mr. Robert 
Pike, being chosen by the General Court to lay out the west line 
of Hampton bounds, upon their best information have concluded 
that their west line shall run from the extent of the line formerly 
agreed on, to come within two miles of Exeter meeting-house 
upon a direct line to that part of Ass brook where the highway 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 115 

goes over, aud from thence upon a direct line so as to leave Exeter 
falls at the town bridge, a mile and a half due north of the same, 
and from thence upon a west and by north line as far as the 
utmost extent of Salisbury bounds that: way. 

THE DOVER BOUND OF W'yS. 

While the questions with Hampton were pending, Dover, on the 
twentieth of October, 1652, petitioned the General Court to have 
"their limits confirmed to them ;" and thereupon, and on the said 
petition of Exeter, the General Court, on the twenty-sixth of 
October, of the same year, appointed William Payne, Samuel 
Winslow and MatthcAV Boyes, or the major part of them, to lay 
out the bounds between the two townships, and certify the court 
and the towns what they should determine. 

Their report bore date March 9, 1653, and was in these words : 

We have determined and agreed that the line formerly laid out 

shall stand, they taking a point from the middle of the bridge on 

the first fall on Lamprey river, aud so to run six miles west and 

by nortli, but the land betwixt the line and the river shall belong 

to Exeter, they not having liberty to set up any mill except the 

right specified on the first fall, but the timber betwixt the line and 

the river shall belong to Dover in such time as they shall see meet 

to make use of the same to their best advantage ; provided that 

both the towns shall have full liberty to make use of the river 

upon all occasions [as ?] before. Exeter hath liberty to make use 

of all the timber half a mile between the line and Lamprey river 

towards the bridge, and one mile between the line and the said 

river towards the second fall, and for these Mr. Edward Hilton is 

to have belonging to his mill all the timber within compass of one 

mile and a half square, if it be to be had betAvixt the line and the 

river Lamprey. 

William Payne, 

Samuel Winslow, 

Matthew^ Botes. 

Such remained the dividing line, in substance, between Dover 
and Exeter for the next fourteen years. In 1657 representatives 
of the two towns, Valentine Hill, John Bickford, Sr. and William 
Furber for the former, and Edward Hilton and John Oilman for 
the latter, " settled the bounds " by marking the line ; and agreed 



116 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

upon the enjoyment that each should have, of the border land. 
Nothing further was done so far as is known, till Exeter asked 
for the enlargement of her territory in 1667. 

CAPTAIN THOMAS WIGGIN's DEED OF GIFT. 

In the order of time the next change of bounds of Exeter was 
occasioned by the gift to the town by Thomas Wiggin in or before 
1656, of a tract of land one mile in breadth, from the southern 
end of the Squamscot patent. The occasion of this gift is now 
unknown. Wiggin is described in connection with it, as agent of 
the proprietors of the southern division of the patent, so that the 
act may have been performed in their behalf. Or, as Wiggin was 
apparently dilatory in paying to Exeter his minister's tax, it is 
possible that the gift had some relation to that. The land was 
bounded as follows : beginning at the falls of the Squamscot, 
thence running northerly by the salt river to the mouth of Wheel- 
wright's creek ; thence southeasterly to the line of Hampton ; 
thence by the line of Hampton and of Exeter to the bound begun 
at. The town of Exeter, in order that there might be no uncer- 
tainty about the title or jurisdiction of their new acquisition, on 
the twenty-eighth of April, 1656, ordered that a petition be pre- 
sented to the next General Court that Captain Wiggin's deed of 
gift to the town, of land and meadow, might be confirmed to 
them ; and that Mr. Bartholomew of Ipswich be employed to 
present the petition. It happened by a fortunate coincidence that 
Mr. Bartholomew was a member of the committee appointed by 
the General Court to make partition among the several proprietors 
of the Squamscot patent, of which the land in question was a 
part ; and in the return of the committee, May 22, 1656, the gift 
was recited and confirmed. 

On the thirtieth of March, 1668, the town deputed John Oilman, 
John Folsom, Sr., Jonathan Thing, Ralph Hall and John Warren, 
to lay out the line between the Shrewsbury (division of the 
Squamscot) patent then held by Richard Scammon and the terri- 
tory of Exeter adjoining the same, with the consent of the said 
Scammon. It appears that Hampton laid some claim to the land 
given by Captain Wiggin, as above mentioned, for when, on the 
thii'tieth of March, 1670, a portion of it was granted to Edward 
Oilman, Peter Folsom, John Young, Edward Smith, Thomas 
Rollins, Jeremy Leavitt, Jonathan Thing, Jr. and John Clark, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 117 

the grantees were required to bind themselves in the sum of ten 
pounds each to the town, to try the title of their lands with the 
town of Hampton, if need should require. 

ENLARGEMENT OF EXETER BOUNDS. 

No further controversy in regard to the extent of the town 
appears to have arisen until March 15, 1667, when John Oilman 
was empowered " to petition the General Court for an enlargement 
of the bounds of the town, and to prosecute the business ; and to 
procure Captain Hubbard or Josiah Hubbard to assist him if he 
sees it needful." The petition was duly presented, and on May 
15, 1667, the court ordered that Richard AYaldron, Robert Pike 
and Samuel Dalton, as a committee, should view the land desired 
by the petitioners, and make return at the next session. The 
report of the committee bore date the eighth of October, 1667, 
and was in these words : 

We whose names are hereunto subscribed being appointed by 
the honored Oeneral Court to view and consider of the bounds of 
the township of Exeter and to make return to the next session of 
the court, two of us having taken a survey of the lands about their 
town and the bounds of other towns adjacent. 

We whose names are underwritten do judge that the bounds of 
the town of P^xeter shall extend northward to Lamprey river, and 
from the first fall in Lamprey river six miles upon a west and by 
north line adjoining to Dover bounds as they are laid out and 
confirmed, and then two miles further upon the same point of the 
compass, that to be their north bounds ; and from the foot of 
Exeter falls by the present grist-mill a mile and a half due south 
to Hampton bounds, and from that south point to run upon a west 
and by north line ten miles into the woods adjoining to Hampton 
bounds, that to be their south bounds ; and so from the end of 
that line upon a straight line over the land to meet with the other 
line on the north that extendeth from Dover bounds, that to be 
their head line, westward, and Squamscot patent to be their east 
bounds. 

Samuel Dalton, 
Richard Walderne. 

Though I could not by reason of straitness of time make a 
full view of all the lands above mentioned, yet from what I do 



118 HISTOKY OF EXETEK. 

know of it, together with that information that I have liad of those 
that do well know of the quality of the rest of the land, do judge 
that the bounds above mentioned may be just and reasonable, and 
do concur in subscription. 

Robert Pike. 

The substantial change made by this report was to give to 
Dover the tract of land south of Lamprey river and between that 
river and the west and by north line prescribed by the commission 
of 16o3, being an area of some eight or ten square miles, and to 
add to Exeter a belt of about two miles in width along the whole 
western end of the township, making, perhaps, fifteen square miles 
of territory. The report of the committee was confirmed by the 
General Court, with the proviso " that all pine trees fit for masts, 
which are twenty- four inches diameter and upwards, within three 
foot of the ground, that grow above three miles from the meeting- 
house where it now stands, in any place within the bounds of said 
town (Exeter) , are hereby reserved for the public ; and if any 
person or persons shall presume to fell down any such pine tree fit 
for masts, he or they shall forfeit ten pounds for every tree ; the 
one-half to the informer, and the other half to the public treasury 
of the country." 

It remained only to mark upon the ground the lines thus 
described, and the town on the twenty-ninth of March, 1668, 
chose John Oilman, Jonathan Thing, John Folsom, 8r. and 
Moses Gilman to run the line between the two meeting-houses of 
Hampton and Hxeter ; Jonathan Thing, Robert Smart, Ralph 
Hall, John Folsom, Sr. and Nicholas Listen to run the line 
between Dover and Exeter; and John Folsom, Sr., John Folsom, 
Jr., Jonathan Thing, William Moore and Moses Gilman to run the 
west and by north line between Hampton and Exeter. 

For some cause a good deal of delay occurred in performing the 
work, and on the twenty-second of February, 1670-1, the town 
added to the last committee Ralph Hall, Nicholas Listen and John 
Gilman, who were empowered to run the line between Hampton 
and Exeter " according to the court order, that is, to begin at the 
bound tree at Ass brook and so upon a direct line so as to leave 
Exeter falls a mile and a half due north of the same, and from 
thence upon a west and by north line to the extent of ten miles ; 
and what these men or a major part of them shall do, shall stand 
in as good force as if the whole town were present." 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 119 

But the work went on at a snail's pace, if it went on at all. 
The duty was perhaps not an agreeable one, and the committee 
were reluctant to act, and on the tenth of July, 1671, the town 
took up the subject anew. Philip Cartee, Christian DoUoff and 
John Folsom, Sr. were chosen "to make an end of measuring" 
the line between Hampton and Exeter ; Nicholas Smith, John 
Bean, John Young and John Folsom, Sr. were designated to run 
the line between Exeter falls and Lamprey river falls. "If any of 
these men refuse to go, he is to pay ten shillings." John Gilman, 
Jonathan Thing, William Moore, Ralph Hall, Moses Gilman, 
Nicholas Listen, Samuel Leavitt, Peter Folsom, Robert Smart and 
John Folsom, Sr. were chosen to run the line between Dover and 
Exeter, with power to a major part of them to determine the 
same. 

But the end was not yet. On the twenty-ninth of April, 1672, 
the town gave to Samuel Dudley, Ralph Hall and John Gilman, 
"full power to agree with Hampton men about all differences that 
may be between the inhabitants of Hampton and Exeter concern- 
ing lands." Under this authority it is probable that the long 
pending questions of town lines were finally adjusted, and to the 
substantial satisfaction of the parties concerned. 

It took a little longer to put a quietus on the difference with the 
people of Dover. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1672, the select- 
men of that town and the selectmen of Exeter agreed, in behalf of 
their respective towns, to refer " the difference between them about 
Lamprey [river point] " to the arbitrament of Robert Pike, Samuel 
Daltou and John AVincol. This probably related to the gore of 
land northerly of Lamprey river and between the first fall thereon 
and the Great Bay, claimed by Exeter, and still retained by New- 
market as successor to Exeter. The report of the arbitrators has 
not been found, but there can be little doubt that it sustained the 
claim of Exeter. 

No question of boundary appears to have arisen again between 
the towns until 1679, when on March 11 the town resolved that 
" in answer to Major Waldron's request of some of our town to 
come and meet with some of their town (Dover) in reference to 
the running of the line between us, and for a final agreement of 
the same, it is agreed by the town that they will not any otherwise 
run the line or agree with the town of Dover, but as the line is 
already run by the town of Exeter." A rebuff so pointed as this 
seems to have silenced the worthy Major, for nothing further is 



120 niSTOKY OF EXETEK. 

heard of the subject for a long period. At length, on the six- 
teenth of January, 1710-11, the town of Exeter took final action 
upon it by appointing Nicholas Gilman, Jonathan Wadleigh and 
Jonathan Thing, a committee "to procure the settlement of the 
line between Dover and Exeter out of any otiice, and to new run 
the line if occasion be." 

As this boundary line was settled in 1(367 so it has substantially 
remained to this day. If it has been the subject of later conten- 
tion, the original parties have long ceased to be interested in 
it, for the northern section of Exeter became Newmarket in 
1727, and the southern section of Dover became Durham in 1738. 

SQUAMSCOT PATENT UNDER EXETER GOVERNMENT. 

The Squamscot patent, situated mostly on the eastern side of 
the Squamscot river and Great Bay, was, in 1656, divided under 
the authority of Massachusetts into three shares. With the first 
(northern) division, Exeter history has nothing to do. The second 
(middle) division was assigned to Thomas Wiggin and his partners. 
The third (southern) division was awarded to a company known, 
from the place of their residence in England, as " the Shrewsbury 
men." Of this company Wiggin was then the agent, and from 
the southern part of this division he gave a strip of land a mile in 
width to the town of Exeter. The second and the third division 
thus curtailed compose substantially the present town of Stratham. 

AViggin had been living at Sandy point near the northern ex- 
tremity of the middle division, probably from the ver}^ foundation 
of the P^xeter settlement. His name occurs frequently in the 
Exeter records, as if he w^ere regarded in the light of an inhabi- 
tant. It is evident that he was rated in the town for the support 
of the ministry, though he was somewhat dilatory in payment. 
Possibly he may have thought that the Exeter assessments were 
onerous, and that he would fare better if assigned to another place. 
However, on the sixth of May, 1657, the Massachusetts General 
Court, in an order which recited that " his land and property had 
not as yet been brought within the limits of any town, nor been 
liable to pay taxes and assessments as others of our honored mag- 
istrates have done," required that "his dwelling house, with all 
the lands and proprieties thereto appertaining, shall belong to the 
town of Hampton, and by the selectmen of the said town to be 
assessed in all rates according to law, any law or usage to the 
contrary notwithstanding." 



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HISTOHY OF EXETEH. 121 

Thereafter, not only Wiggin's estate, but presumably all the 
taxable estates in that portion of the Squamscot patent, were 
assessed in Hampton until November 28, 16!)2, when it was ordered 
by the president and council of the province of New Hampshire 
that "the inhabitants of Squamscot, within this province, begin- 
ning from Mr. Thomas Wiggin's at Sandy point and upwards, 
shall be rated by the selectmen of Exeter to all public assessments ; 
also that they be under the command of the militia of Exeter until 
further orders." 

This enactment continued in force for more than twenty-three 
years. Its effect was to unite the inhabitants of the two contigu- 
ous precincts under the same town government. The citizens of 
each were vested with the same rights, and subject to the same 
liabilities. They all took part in town meetings and were equally 
eligible to town offlces. A fair proportion of the municipal officers 
were selected from each territory. But as the population of 
Squamscot patent increased, the desire naturally grew up among 
the inhabitants to be incorporated into a town by themselves. 
Their remoteness from church and school, to which they had to 
contribute their share of the cost, was an unanswerable argument 
in favor of their wish, and after some disagreement among them- 
selves on the subject, they were incorporated with town privileges 
under the name of Stratham by a charter dated March 20, 1716. 
This, of course, terminated their connection with Exeter. 



TOWNSHIPS CARVED FROM EXETER TERRITORY. 

Since that time Exeter has lost about three-fourths of its area 
by new townships successively set off from it. The history of the 
several earlier partitions will be found in the ecclesiastical portion 
of this work, as the towns were originally detached in the form of 
parishes. 

Newmarket was taken from Exeter December 15, 1727. South 
Newmarket was set off from Newmarket June 27, 1849. 

Epping was taken from Exeter February 23, 1741. 

Brentwood was taken from Exeter June 26, 1742 ; Poplin was 
severed from Brentwood June 22, 1764, and its name was changed 
to Fremont July 8, 1854. 

Exeter now contains a little short of seventeen square miles of 
land, not a twentieth part of the quantity which the deed of the 
Indian sagamores purported to grant. 



122 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

HIGHWAYS, THEIR LOCATIOX, LAYING OUT AND REPAIRS. 

It would be interesting, if it were practicable, to trace the origin 
and history of the various roads in and about Exeter. But for the 
first century most of them were opened without any public author- 
ity that can now be discovered, and many were as unceremoniously 
discontinued when they ceased to be needed. Only the fittest 
survived. 

The river was the first great highway, so far as it would serve 
as such. Each dweller on its banks had his, canoe, and boats of 
burden were abundant. Every road terminated or connected with 
its landings. Where there was no water way, but there was 
frequent need of communication, as with the neighboring village 
of Hampton, a land way had to be provided. But as the travel 
for several generations was chiefly on horseback, the roads were 
little more than bridle paths. They are referred to as such in the 
earlier records, as " the path towards Hampton," " the Salisbury 
path," and the like. 

In the opposite direction wider thoroughfares were needed for 
the convenience of hauling lumber to the landing places on the 
river. We find early mention, for example, of "the mast-way," 
leading in the direction of Eppiug, a chief use of which was 
indicated by its name ; and there is no doubt that wood-paths, 
passable by sleds and wheels, were rudely constructed to the 
northern and western sections of the township. The great im- 
portance and value of the lumber business demanded them. 

The need of maintaining suitable roads in the town was fully 
recognized from the beginning. A vote of February 1, 1640-1, 
referred to a former order (not preserved) that highways were to 
be at least three poles in width ; and required that since they had 
become narrowed in various places, they should be rectified and 
made of full breadth betwixt that time and the middle of April, 
1642. 

On June 17, 1644, it was agreed at a town meeting that four 
days should be set apart to mend the highways, "to begin on the 
fourth day of the week come a sevennight ;" that the inhabitants 
should be at their labors at six and leave at twelve, then rest till 
two, and work till six o'clock ; and such as might be absent should 
be fined five shillings for every day ; and they that had teams 
should work them, upon the penalty of twenty shillings for every 
day's neglect, until the four days should be expired. When the 
scarcity and relatively greater value of money at that period are 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 123 

considered, the penalty for non-appearance which the people im- 
posed upon themselves, seems enormous, and shows the sacrifices 
they were willing to undergo in order to provide their town with 
suitable thoroughfares. 

The earliest record of the appointment of officers to superintend 
the highways is dated November 24, 1650. Abraham Drake and 
John Legat were chosen to view the highway, and to give Henry 
Roby liberty to enlarge his garden out of it, but to restore the 
liighway to its usual breadth out of his lot ; and so Edward Gilman 
and others, provided that tlie highways be not made worse than 
they then were. 

On the first of September, 1651, PMward Gilman was chosen 
surveyor of the highways for the year, ' ' to call forth laborers for 
the work and give directions." In 1652, April 20, James Wall, 
John Legat and Thomas King were appointed to view the high- 
ways, to see that they were not reduced in width, and were author- 
ized to pull up fences that encroached on them, or that stopped up 
any common places of access to the river side. 

At a town meeting January 21, 1660-1, Thomas King and John 
Warren were appointed to call upon Hampton for laying out of a 
county way between Exeter and Hampton. 

At the time of the election of selectmen in 1660, their powers 
were very fully defined, but they were forbidden, among other 
things, to lay out new highways. In 1664, October 10, the town 
gave authority to Thomas King, John Folsom, Sr. and John Rob- 
inson to lay out highways where they should judge convenient. 

On the third of April, 1671, Moses Gilman and Samuel Leavitt 
were elected surveyors of the highways, and it was ordered that 
whoever of the inhabitants should fail to come into the highways 
to work at such time as they should appoint, should forfeit five 
shillings for every day's neglect, to be distrained upon by the 
constable forthwith. 

It was ordered by the town August 30, 1671, that there should 
be sufficient room for " a loaden cart to pass in all highways, and 
whosoever shall block up the highways so as a cart cannot con- 
veniently pass, or what timber shall be dangerous, shall be 
forfeited to the town, and the constable forthwith to take it away 
by distress." There seems a little confusion of ideas in the order ; 
it could hardly have been intended that the person blocking the 
highways should be forfeited to the town and taken by distress. 

In 1675 a surveyor of highways for each side of the river was 
chosen, and for several years that method was annually pursued. 



124 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

BRIDGES. 

The earliest mention of a bridge in the records of the town is 
upon May 19, 1644, when it was determined that the townsmen 
should procure a bridge over Lamprey river. This was while that 
river was understood by the inhabitants to be wholly within the 
limits of Exeter. Before the resolution was carried into effect, 
however, the town became apprised of the claim of Dover that 
Lamprey river had been authoritatively fixed upon as the general 
boundary between that township and Exeter ; and then the inhab- 
itants of the latter ordered, January 27, 1644-5, that Anthony 
Stauyan and James Wall should go to Lamprey river to meet with 
" the men of Dover to consult, conclude and bargain with them 
concerning the making of a bridge over the said river." If 
Dover were to have the land to the river, then it was just that she 
should pay her share for bridging it. In 1647 both towns were 
fined for neglect to keep a bridge there, Dover five pounds, but 
Exeter only thirty shillings. It is not known whether the court 
assumed to adapt the penalties to their respective degrees of de- 
linquency. 

In all probability the first bridge erected in the town was that 
across the fresh river, just above the falls, where the "great 
bridge" now is. That was most immediately necessary to accom- 
modate the residents on either side of the river, and for the com- 
munication between Exeter and Hampton, which was not inconsid- 
erable. At first the bridge was only suitable for passengers on 
foot or on horseback, and it was not until it had become a part 
of the ''covrnty way," that it was widened sufficiently to accom- 
modate carts. In 1675, the County Court ordered that the town 
of Exeter should make "their 'boom' six foot wide within the 
rail, and raise it on both sides sufficiently ; to be finished by the 
next Hampton Court upon the penalty of ten pounds." It is 
rather mortifying to add that the required improvements were not 
made, and the penalty was incurred. The court, however, was 
lenient, and allowed further time, being well aware that such public 
exactions were heavy burdens upon the struggling frontier settle- 
ments. 

As early as 1693, this had acquired the designation of "great" 
bridge, by which it has been ever since known. This name in- 
dicated that there was then at least one other bridge, and of less 
dimensions. In 1708, May 30, the town resolved that the great 
bridge be made a horse bridge, wide enough for two horses to pass 



HISTORY 0¥ EXETER. 125 

"on breast." The other bridge, which by contrast, gave the 
foi'mer its distinctive name, was, without much doubt, the prede- 
cessor of the present " string bridge." It was not built all at one 
time, nor by a single person. The earliest mill was situated on 
the island at the lower falls. The proprietor of it was Thomas 
Wilson, and after his death his son, Humphrey Wilson. They 
also owned land on the eastern side of the river, near the mill, and 
that part of the river which formed the channel between the mill 
and that shore was called "Wilson's creek." No doubt a 
"stringer" was at an early day laid across the creek to connect 
the island with the nearest shore. Thus the inhabitants would be 
enabled to take their grists to the mill without the aid of a boat. 
At a later date. Captain John Oilman became the owner of another 
grist-mill on the western side of the island. He naturally desu-ed 
it to be connected with the western shore by a bridge of his own ; 
his mill and the Wilson mill being rival establishments. At a 
town meeting on the first Monday of April, 1709, the town gave 
him all their right to the stream and the island where his mill was, 
"with the privilege for a bridge to go on the island." This led 
to the completion of the second bridge across the river. It con- 
sisted for above a century of nothing more than one or two timbers 
laid across each of the channels of the river, with hand rails at the 
side, so that a man could safely pass with a bag of meal on his 
shoulder. It obtained the name of "string bridge" from the 
manner of its original construction, and still retains it, though for 
many years past it has been rebuilt in a substantial shape, with 
space for carriages to pass each other upon it, and a sidewalk. 

There can be little doubt that the first highway was made along 
the western bank of the river, nearly in the line of the present 
Water street, leading from the great bridge on the one hand, to 
the earliest meeting-house on the other. This was doubtless what 
is spoken of as the "village street" in the contract between 
Gowen Wilson and the town. May 1, 1649. The road which led 
from that street near its northern extremity, westerly into the 
interior, is mentioned by the name of "lane's end" in the town 
records as early as 1650. This was for a hundred and fifty years 
one of the main avenues to the water side ; and over it was trans- 
ported a large proportion of the original growth of the forests 
which covered many square miles of the old township. In later 
times its importance has dwindled, and it has assumed the pictu- 
resque aspect of one of the old English couuti'y lanes, its roadway 



12n HISTORY OF EXETEU. 

being worn deeply below the surface level on each side, and lined 
by pollard trees and bushes. Its name, too, has undergone trans- 
formations. It appears on the town plan of 1846 as " Back street," 
and on that of 1874 as "Park street," but it is popularly known 
as " Katy's lane " from the residence there of a colored woman 
whose Christian name adhered to it by natural affinity. 

Roads to Hampton, to Stratham and to Salisbury, to those parts 
of the township Avhich were afterwards set off as Newmarket, 
Epping and Brentwood, and to Kingston, were undoubtedly in use 
long before the year 1700. 

On the fourth of March, 1658-9, it was ordered by the town 
that Thomas King and his partners in the mill set up about three 
miles up the river, should have liberty to build a bridge and make 
a highway, over which others might pass on foot, or on horseback, 
or drive cattle ; but in case others made use of it in the way of 
carting, they should make a proportionate allowance to the said 
partners, according to their use. This was probably the authority 
for building what were called the "neck road" and "King's 
bridge." That territory which was included between the Exeter 
fresh river and Little river was known by the name of "the neck." 
It was crossed by this road in a southwesterly direction. The 
original names of the road and of the bridge are still familiar to 
old residents, but to the present generation the way is better 
known as the road to East Kingston. 

THE VILLAGE STREETS. 

The thoroughfare now termed "Front street" received in the 
original nomenclature of the town ways, ninety years ago, the 
name of "Fore street," afterwards that of " Coui't street," and 
finally the present designation. It probably had nothing that 
could be properly called sidewalks before the year 1807. A paper 
is still extant bearing date in that year containing subscriptions 
for "defraying the expense of making a gi'avel walk with posts, 
rails, etc., in Court street," the amount of which was eighty dollars 
and twenty cents. The names of the pu])lic spirited subscribers 
deserve to be preserved. They were Phillips Exeter Academy, 
John T. Gilman, Oliver Peabody, Nathaniel Oilman, Nicholas 
Oilman, Oeorge Sullivan, Jeremiah Smith and Samuel Tenne3\ 

The avenues which connect Front and Water streets are of 
later date. Spring street was laid out in 1730, Centre street in 
1734, and Academy street, which, by reason of its manufactories 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 127 

of leather, long bore the euphonious title of "Tan lane," was not 
opened till still later. The road along the eastern shore of the 
river was not formally laid out till 1739, though there can be little 
doubt that it had been used by the public as a way to the mills 
and to the water side for three-fourths of a century before at 
least. In fact, as already intimated, the early roads appear to 
have been made and unmade, just according to the varying needs 
of the people, without the aid of engineers, and irrespective of 
direction or grades. The consequence is that in the older parts 
of the town there is scarcely a furlong of highway built on a 
straight line. This circumstance undoubtedly contributes greatly 
to the picturesqueness of the place. Rectangular streets are con- 
venient, but they are anything but beautiful. 

None of the streets in the village southerly of Front street and 
of that part of Water street between the two bridges are much 
above half a century old. Court, Franklin and Pine streets, and 
their connections, were laid out across fields, but Elm street had 
its germ in Moulton's lane, and Elliott street in Whitefield's lane. 
Those lanes led to the dwellings of persons bearing those names 
respectively. Lincoln and Garfield streets, as their names would 
indicate, are still more recent. 

The records of the town and of the courts show that in the 
earlier times, the highways were sometimes suffered to fall into 
sad disrepair, and to become inconvenient or unsafe for travel by 
reason of incumbrances. For example, "meeting-house hill," 
whose sloping side formed an easy chute for logs into the river, 
was used from early times as a convenient place of deposit for 
timber. No doubt travellers were often incommoded by it, and at 
length, August 30, 1671, the town passed an order that "whereas 
there is likely to be great damage by laying logs on meeting-house 
hill, by beating down the banks of it, there shall be no more logs 
laid between Nicholas Norris his house and the southeast side of 
the hill, upon forfeiture of what timber shall be laid there, to be 
fortliwith seized on by the constable for the use of tlie town." 

The open space in front of the present town hall, now bearing the 
name of Court square, was another localit}' tempting to cumberers of 
the ground. Near the middle of the last century a pound, which was 
doubtless more useful than ornamental, and several small shops 
had been huddled there, so that not only was the eye offended by 
t'he sorry group, but the highway must have been reduced to the 
narrowest dimensions. The need of a site for a court-house 
afforded occasion, a few years later, for abating the nuisance. 



128 HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

But of all parts of the town, Water street has been the heaviest 
burden upon the patience of travellers and highway surveyors. 
As late as 1768, the eastern part of it, between the great and the 
string bridge, was so narrow that the selectmen w^ere authorized, 
by a purchase of land or otherwise, to make it sufficient and wide 
enough for safe passing. The street was originally much nearer 
the level of the river than it now is, and has been raised by con- 
tinually repeated layers of earth and gravel, until its present grade 
is in some parts several feet higher. The sub-cellars of some of 
the business blocks are little, if at all, below the natural surface 
of the ground. About the point where the street turns to the 
north, it was within the century past so depressed that in very 
high tides the water flowed over it to a depth that admitted of the 
passage of boats above the roadway for a considerable distance. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMMON LANDS. 

The inhabitants of Exeter having the absokite disposal of the 
lands within the township, it was to be expected that numerous 
applications would be made to them for allotments therefrom. 
This was in fact done to such an extent that a great part of the 
early records are filled with grants of lands, and descriptions 
thereof by the lot layers chosen by the town. The descriptions 
are unfortunately so vague, and refer to so few permanent land- 
marks, that it is impossible, without a degree of labor far out of 
proportion with the value of the result, to fix the present location 
of most of the earlier lots. No equality or rule of proportion, so 
far as can be perceived, was observed in making the allotments, 
except in the division of lands in December, 1639, and in the final 
distribution ; but each inhabitant received as much as the town 
saw fit to give him. No doubt the assignments were intended to 
be equitable, in view of the circumstances of each case, which 
were of course well kuown to the voters. But it is not remarkable 
that in process of time this method of doling out the lands 
created dissatisfaction, especially to those who fancied that they 
were not treated so well as others, which led at length to a general 
division of the residue of the public domain, and almost literally 
gave "every man a farm." This conclusion, however, was not 
reached until nearly a century had expired. An account of the 
disposal of the common lands, as brief as is consistent with clear- 
ness, is a necessary part of this history. 

When the town was first settled in 1638, each person probably 
chose such a site for his dwelling as best suited his convenience, 
with due reference to the rights of others. If any record was 
made of their several holdings it has disappeared. We only know 
that the main settlement was near the falls of the Squamscot, and 
on the western side of the river. 

9 129 



130 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

At the close of the second season, in December, 1639, a system- 
atic distribution of certain uplands, perhaps all that were free 
from the forest growth, and of all the meadows and marshes lying 
on the salt river, was made, among all, with few exceptions, of 
the inhabitants. The details of this transaction appear else- 
where.* 

LANDS OF EDWARD AND WILLIAM HILTON. 

Before doing this, however, the town designated the bounds of 
Edward Hilton's lauds, which lay in the present township of 
South Newmarket, as follows : "his upland ground is bounded in 
breadth from the creek next from his house towards Exeter on 
the one side and a certain point of land OA^er against Captain Wig- 
gins his house, between the marsh and the upland, that his bounds 
on the other side, and it is to extend into the main the same dis- 
tance in length as it is in breadth ; and that he shall have all the 
meadows which he formerly occupied from his house to the mouth 
of Lamprey river." 

To these lands the town laid no claim of proprietorship. At a 
later period they were alluded to in the records as a grant made 
to Hilton "by composition." It is evident that he held them by 
vu'tue of some prior claim ; whether by actual possession, or as 
appurtenant to the "Hilton patent," is not known. 

The town also agreed, on May 3, 1640, that Willam Hilton 
should continue to enjoy those two marshes on Oyster river which 
he then, and had formerly, possessed, and "which Mr. Gibbies 
(Gibbons?) doth wrongfully detain from him, with the rest of 
those marshes which formerly he hath made use of, so far forth 
as they may be for the public good of this plantation ; and so much 
of the upland [adjacent] to them as shall be thought convenient 
by the neighbors of Oyster river which are belonging to this 
body." 

GRANTS OF TOWN LANDS. 

Depositions on the files of the old county of Norfolk show that 
the town at a very early date bestowed upon Thomas Wilson the 
island in the river at the falls, on which his house and grain-mill 
were situated, reserving to the inhabitants only the right to land 
their canoes, and lay their fish there. 



* See Appendix (I). 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 131 

On May 6, 1643, the town granted to Thomas Rashleigh 14 or 
16 acres of land, with the expectation probably that he was to 
make a permanent settlement there as their minister. He remained 
abont a year, and on his departure the land reverted to the town, 
and was subsequently regranted to the Rev. Samuel Dudley. 

On August 21, of the same year, a vote was passed that any 
inhabitant who should find a marsh of less than twenty acres, 
might enjoy it as his own forever ; if of more than twenty acres, 
it was to be at the town's disposal, but the finder was to have a 
double portion out of it. 

From the earliest surviving book of the town is taken the fol- 
lowing record of such marshes : 

Found, by Samuel Greenfield and Nathaniel Boulter, two parcels 
lying westward from the town, by estimation nineteen acres 
apiece ; found the first of May, 1644. Granted at a town meeting 
the 16th of 11th month to Nathaniel Boulter and Samuel Greenfield. 

Found, by Robert Booth, one parcel westward from the town, 
by estimation thirty acres, which is in the town's hands to be lotted 
out, if Mr. Wheelwright doth not come to live in Exeter again. 

Found, by James Wall and Ralph Hall, two parcels, both of 
them by estimation three acres. 

Found, by Robert Hathersaj^, Thomas Jones and Richard Bull- 
gar, two pieces of meadow, the fifth of August, 1644, which lieth 
half way up the fresh river, and on both sides of it, being the 
same brook which goodman . . . Said meadow lieth westward 
from Exeter some two miles, be it more or less, which is by esti- 
mation ten acres, be they more or less, provided that they do not 
exceed twenty acres. 

Richard BuUgar doth assign his part of the aforesaid meadows 
to Robert Hathersay ; witness his hand. 

Richard Bullgar. 

On June 10, 1644, the town made a grant to Samuel Greenfield 
of 20 acres; and on June 17, following, voted that a tract of 
marsh should be given to the Rev. John Wheelwright, on condi- 
tion that " he doth come amongst us again." 

On January 16, 1644-5, the town made grants as follows to 
these persons : Thomas Biggs ; Thomas Crawley 4 acres, condi- 
tionally ; * Thomas King ; John Legat, conditionally ; Thomas 
Marston 80 acres, "if he come to live among us;" William 
Moore ; Henry Roby ; John Saunders ; John Smart, Sr. 10 acres ; 
Anthony Stanyan 30 acres. 



♦The condition usually was that the grantee should improve the land by building 
upon it, fencing it, or the like, within a limited time. The number of acres is btated 
in all cases where it is given in the record. 



132 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

On the same day it was ordered that "there shall be 500 acres 
of land on the back side of the common field, and 500 acres beyond 
Humphrey Wilson's great lot towards Hampton, divided by lot 
to all the inhabitants of the town according to their ratements." 

It was also ordered that "the flats between James Wall's 
point and Thomas Wight's old house shall be divided out equally 
to the inhabitants against whose lots it lies, and the flats on the 
other side of the channel to be divided to the rest of the inhabi- 
tants whose lots do not but against the flats on this (the western) 
side, yet all to lie in common for fishing, till it be improved." 

The following grants were made by the town in the year 1645 : 

January 27, John Cram : Thomas Crawley ; Godfrey Dearborn ; 
Robert Hersey : William Huntington ; Thomas Jones ; John 
Legat ; Thomas Pettit ; Robert Smith ; James Wall ; Balthasar 
Willix. April 26, Edward Colcord 100 acres. December 31, 
John Legat, ^ acre. 

The following grants were made in 1 646 : 

February 5, Thomas Biggs 13 acres; Nathaniel Boulter. May 
25, Francis Swain 6 acres ; Goodman [John] Smart. June 8, 
Goodman [John] Smart 300 acres. 

The planting grounds of the Indians were excepted and reserved 
to them in the grant of the Indian sagamores to Wheelwright. 
They were probably small and not numerous. Inhabitants were 
forbidden by the town to buy them, except with the approval of 
the townsmen. 

One such purchase is noted upon the records. John Legat and 
Humphrey Wilson on the eighth of June, 1646, bought of the 
sagamore a tract of land containing, by estimation, six or seven 
acres, lying on the eastern side of the river by the lower falls, 
where said Legat's and Wilson's house lots were. The bargain 
probably being a fair one, the townsmen gave their written appro- 
val of it. 

The following grants were made in 1647 : 

February 16, Mr. [Anthony] Stanyan 20 acres. November 
4, George Barlow 40 ; Nathaniel Boulter 50 ; Edward Oilman 
[Jr.] ; Samuel Greenfield 50 ; William Moore 10 ; Francis 
Swain and Nicholas Swain 100 ; Richard Swain 30. December 
15, Thomas Jones 20; William Moore 30; James Wall, 138; 
Humphrey Wilson 30. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 133 

The foUowiuo; grants were made in 1648 : 



'e o' 



February 10, John Cram 40 acres; Ralph Hall 20; Thomas 
Jones 40; John Legat 140; Thomas Pettit 40; Anthony Stan- 
yan 300 ; Balthasar Willix 20. March 4, Thomas Biggs, Godfrey 
Dearborn, Thomas Jones, 50 eacli ; Henry Koby 20. November 
16, George Barlow 4; Mr. Edward Gilman [Jr.] 100; Christo- 
pher Lawson 100. 

At the last named date is the first record of the appointment of 
lot layers : John Cram and John Legat. 

On the same day "it was agreed that 500 acres of land next 
the two great lots above mentioned shall be laid for a common 
field, to be fenced by the town, planting ground for every man to 
have his equal share, that are householders." 

It was also agreed "that the remainder of that [plain] before 
mentioned to the corner of John Cram's lot or Bell Willix's, and 
so unto the fresh river, shall be [laid] out for an ox common, 
for working cattle and steers and horses, for every man to have 
his equal share, provided he do his portional share of fencing by 
the last day of May next, and those who do not fence are to have 
no right in said common." 

The following grants were made in 1649 : 

January 12, Thomas Biggs and John Bursley 10 acres each, 
"to cut firewood and timber;" Thomas Cornish 10, "to cut fire- 
wood;" John Cram 10; Thomas King 100; Nicholas Listen 10, 
"to cut firewood ; " James Wall. 

The following grants were made in 1650 : 

March 21, John Legat ^ acre. June 26, Samuel Dudley; 
Gowen Wilson conditionally. August 26, Abraham Drake and 
Nathaniel Drake 30 each; Thomas King 8; John Legat 10. 
November 24, Thomas Biggs 20 ; Thomas Cornish 10 ; Thomas 
Crawley 5 ; Ralph Hall ; Nicholas Listen 20 ; Henry Roby 10 ; 
Francis Swain 20 ; Nicholas Swain 5 ; Gowen Wilson 10. 
December 5, John Warren 5. 

COMMON PLANTING FIELD. 

On January 2, 1650-1, it was ordered by the town "that there 
shall be a common field laid out for planting ground beyond the 



134 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

second river from the town, westward about two miles and a half, 
for every man that is an inhabitant of the town to have his part 
laid out by lot, and in quantity according to his rate to the minis- 
try bearing date the 1 of the 11 mouth, 1650, viz., for every ten 
shillings which he pays to have 15 acres of land, laid out together 
by lot, beginning at the head of the fall and so to but upon the 
river downward, and every acre to be one rod in breadth, provided 
that if any man that now is an inhabitant shall leave the town 
before one whole year after the date hereof be expired, then he is 
to leave his lot to the town again." 

The following grants were made in 1651 : 

January 2, Henry Roby 60 acres. February 19, Samuel Dudley 
80. December 29, Samuel Dudley, for grazing, etc. 

The following grants were made in 1652 : 

April 20, Samuel Dudley 100 acres ; Edward Oilman [Jr.] ; 
John Legat 100; John Robinson, conditionally; Robert Smart. 
May 10, Thomas Cornish 40 ; Samuel Dudley 100 ; John Garland, 
conditionally ; John Legat 100 ; Nicholas Listen 40 ; Thomas 
Fettit 40 ; Francis Swain 40 and 20 ; Thomas Taylor 20 ; John 
Warren 40 and 20. May 20, Thomas King 100 ; Thomas Pettit, 
Jr. 30. July 8, Edward Gilman, Sr., John Leavitt,* John 
Oilman and Moses Oilman 200, "those of them that come not 
to live with us by the next summer to forfeit their shares again 
to the town." 

On May 20, 1652, it was ordered by the town "that all the 
land within a mile and a half of [or about] that northeast end of 
the town that is not already granted out, shall continually lie 
common for feeding and firewood and the like use." 

On November 6, 1652, "it was ordered and also granted to 
Mr. Edward Hilton, in regard that he hath been at charge in 
setting up of a saw-mill, that he shall enjoy for himself and his 
heirs forever, a quarter of a mile below his mill, with the land and 
timber belonging thereunto, and also above his mill a mile and a 
quarter with the land and timber belonging thereunto. This land 
and timber is to lie square, only on this side of Piscassock river 
to come about a stone's cast." 



*ltis l)0Ueved that John Leavitt, who was a son-in-law of Edward Oilman, 8r., 
never iived in Kxeter. He was of Hinghaiu, Massachusetts. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 135 

The following grants were made from 1654 to 1661, inclusive : 

1654, February 15, Nicholas Listen 20 acres, conditionally. 

1655, September 30, Ralph Hall 10 acres. 

1657, January 21, John Robinson, conditionally. May 11, 
Edward Hilton, Jr. 50 acres, conditionally. 

1659, March 4, Samuel Dudley, "upon consideration of draw- 
ing out all the grants in the town book," etc. ; Joseph, son of 
William Taylor, 40 acres. 

1660, January 21, John Bean and Nicholas Listen 10 acres. 
January 22, Goodman [John] Folsom ; Thomas King and Jona- 
than Thing 40 ; Goodman [John] Robinson 10. June 11, Good- 
man [John] Folsom 20 ; Gowen Wilson 10. 

1660-1, March 16, John Hilton 30 acres. 

At the town meeting held on the day last named, it was ordered 
"that though there may be a proposition for the giving of land, 
yet from this time forward there shall none be granted till the 
next meeting following that on which it was propounded." 

This excellent rule appears to have checked the bestowal of 
lands for a brief season, but it broke forth again, three years 
afterwards, more profusely than ever before. 

The following grants were made in 1664 : 

January 21, Philip Chesley 30 acres, conditionally.* October 
10, John Bean 30; Richard Bray 30; William Bromfield 30; 
Arthur Cham [or Cane] 15 ; Biley Dudley 50 ; Samuel Dudley ; 
Theophilus Dudley 50 ; Israel Folsom 10 ; John Folsom, Sr. 60 
and 20 ; John Folsom, Jr. 20 ; Nathaniel Folsom 10 ; Peter 
Folsom 10 ; Samuel Folsom 15 ; John Gilman, Jr. 20 ; Moses 
Gilman 50 ; Alexander Gordon 20 ; William Hacket 30 ; Joseph 
Hall 15; Ralph Hall 50; Dany (?) Kelley 10; James Kidd 20; 
Thomas King 40 and 3 ; John Kimiug 30 ; Cornelius Lary 15 ; 
Samuel Leavitt 15 ; Nicholas Listen 40 ; William Moore 30 and 
6 ; Richard Morgan 20 ; Robert Powell 20 ; John Robinson 15 ; 
Jonathan Robinson 15 ; John Sinclair 15 ; Robert Smart 80 and 
20 ; AVilliam Taylor 20 ; Jonathan Thing 60 ; John Warren 40 ; 
Thomas Warren, Jr., son of John, 10. December 1, John Gilman, 
Sr. ; Henry Magoon 10. 



*The condition not being complied with, the land was regranted, October 10, 1864, 
to William Bromfield. 



136 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The following grants were made from 1G65 to 1669 inclusive : 

I660, April 3, John Gilman, Jr. 20 acres ; James Kidcl 20. 
1666, April 4, James Godfrey 10 acres. July 3, Charles 
Gilman 30, conditionally. 

1668, March 15, Nicholas Listen and Robert Wadleigh 10 acres. 
March 29, Philip Cartee (often written Carter) 16 or 17. Septem- 
ber 28, John Folsom, Jr. 20 ; John Gilman 30 ; Samuel Leavitt 
20 ; Jonathan Thing. 

1669, May 3, John Folsom, Sr. 20 acres.. - 

The following grants were made from 1670 to 1672 inclusive : 

1670, March 30, Samuel Dudley 10 acres; John Robinson 30; 
Goodman [John] Clark 30 ; Peter Folsom 30 ; Edward Gilman 
100 ; Jeremy Leavitt, Thomas Rollins, Edward Smith, Jonathan 
Thing, Jr. and John Young 30 each. These last eight grants 
were of laud given to the town by Thomas Wiggin, and the 
grantees bound themselves to try the title, if contested by Hamp- 
ton. October 2o, Samuel Folsom 2 ; Lieut. [Ralph] Hall 30. 

1671, April 3, John Bean 6 acres ; Henry Magoon 20. 

1672, April 29, Samuel Leavitt 50 acres. 

The following grants were made from 1674 to 1678 inclusive : 

1674, February 9, Moses Gilman ; Kinsley Hall 10 acres. March 
3, John Clark ; William Moore 12. March 30, Christian DoUoff 
10 ; Samuel Dudley^ 600 ; Edward Gilman 200 ; Lieut. [John] 
Gilman GOO; Moses Gilman 600; Lieut. [Ralph] Hall 400; 
David Lawrence 10; John Robinson 200; Thomas Rollins 12; 
Humphrey Wilson 400. 

1675, April 2, John Folsom, Sr. 200 acres; John P'olsom, Jr. 
200; Daniel Gilman 30; John Gilman, Jr. 30; Joel Judkins 10; 
Samuel Leavitt 300 ; Goodman [Nicholas] Listen 300 ; William 
Moore 300; Edward Sewall 4'; Robert Smart, Sr. 300; Edward 
Smith 100. 

1676-7, March 19, Samuel Leavitt 6 acres. 

1677, August 27, Kinsley Hall. 

1678 (about) March 18, George Pearson. 

On March 11, 1678-9, Jonathan Thing was put in the place of 
Ensign [William] Moore with Mr. [Samuel] Dudley and Lieut. 
[Ralph] Hall, for the equal distribution of lands to such as had 
none when the great lots were granted (March 30, 1674). 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 137 

The followhio; grants were made in 1681 and 1682 : 



^o o'^ 



1681, January 31, Philip Cartee 20 acres; John Clark 50; 
Jeremy Connor 20 ; Biley Dudley 50 ; Theophilus Dudley 100 ; 
Teague Drisco 20; Eleazer Elkins 50; Peter Folsom 100; Joseph 
Hall 50; Kinsley Hall 100; Samuel Hall 50 ; John Kiming 50; 
Moses Leavitt 50 ; Henry Magoon 20 ; Nicholas Norris 50 and 
50; James Sinclair 50 ; John Sinclair 20; Edward Smith 100; 
Mr. [Robert] Wadleigh ; John Wadleigh 50. February 7, Mr. 
[Samuel] Dudley 20. March 30, Ephraim P'olsom 100; Cor- 
nelius Lary 40 ; Richard Morgan 60 ; David Robinson 100 ; 
Joseph Wadleigh 100 ; John Young 100. 

1682, March 14, Samuel Dudley, Jr. 100 acres ; Stephen 
Dudley 100; Jeremy Gihnan 100; Nathaniel Ladd 100; Moses 
Gilman, Jr. 100 ; Robert AVadleigh 200. 

On March 14, 1681-2, these orders were adopted by the town : 

That all the inhabitants of this town have free liberty to clear 
any swamp land within this township for the producing of meadow, 
not exceeding ten acres for each inhabitant, provided they 
entrench not upon former proprieties. And it is further ordered 
that what heretofore hath been done and hereafter may be done in 
pursuance of this act and order shall be as good a title as any 
other town grant. 

Whereas it was formerl}' enacted by this town that the neck of 
land on the southwest side of the little river was to lie for a per- 
petual common, but being not found upon record, it is now ratified 
and confirmed at this meeting, and the selectmen are to set the 
bounds ; which said neck of land is intended to be all the land 
between the great river and the little river, and towards Pickpocket 
near about King's falls, and on the northwest side as far as a 
place called King's meadow. 

On March 30, 1682, it was "enacted by general consent that 
that piece of land between Edward Sewall's fence, Christian 
Dolloff's fence or land, John Beau's fence, Henry Magoon's fence 
or land and the way that goes from Henry Magoon's land to Pick- 
pocket mill, which said piece of land now lying common, shall lie 
perpetually common for the use of the town, either for a common 
field or for what else shall be thought convenient for the town." 

The following grants were made from 1690 to 1697 inclusive : 

1690, October 6, Peter Coffin. 

1693, October 10, Captain Peter Coffin, tAvo parcels, one of 60 
acres, he to pay the town in money therefor. 



138 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

1G97, March 29, Samuel Leavitt 20 acres. November 4, Mr. 
[Rev.] John Clark, 100 acres, "provided he live in the town ten 
years." 

The following grants were made in 1698 : 

February 3, Samuel Bean 40 acres ; Edward Gilman ; James 
Gilman 40 ; Jeremy Gilman 40 ; Nicholas Gilman 40 ; Richard 
Hilton 100; Winthrop Hilton 100; Thomas Lyford 30; Samuel 
Piper 20 ; William Taylor 20 ; Samuel Thin^ 50 ; Henry Wad- 
leigh 10. February 21, William Ardell 100; Robert Barber 50; 
James Bean 30 ; John Bean, Sr. 100; Jonathan Clark 20 ; Peter 
Coffin 200; Robert Coffin GO; Jeremy Conner 30; Christian 
DoUoff 10; Richard Dolloff 100; Samuel Dolloff 100; Philip 
Dudy 50 ; Abraham Folsom 50; P2phraim Folsom, Jr. 20; John 
Folsom, Sr. 100 ; John Folsom 40 ; Peter Folsom, Jr. 30 ; David 
Gilman and James Gilman 80 ; John Gilman 50 ; John Gilman, 
son of Capt. John, 40 ; Moses Gilman, Jr. 30 ; Stephen Gilman 
50 ; Charles Glidden 100 ; John Glidden 50 ; Richard Glidden 50 
and 50 ; Alexander Gordon 60 ; James Gordon 60 ; John Gordon 
20 ; Nicholas Gordon 30 ; William Grafs (Graves) 30 ; Richard 
Hilton 20 ; Philip Huntoon 30 ; Job Judkins 30 ; Benjamin 
Leavitt 50 ; Daniel Leavitt 70 ; John Leavitt 100 ; Moses Leavitt 
6 ; Lieut. Samuel Leavitt 100 ; Samuel Leavitt, Jr. 70 ; Samuel 
Lawrey 20 ; Thomas Lyford 30 ; Richard Mattoon 50 ; Clement 
Moody 30 -|- ; William Moore, Jr. 60 ; Richard Morgan, Sr. 100 ; 
Richard Morgan, Jr. 50 ; Samuel Pease 50 ; Robert Powell 50 ; 
Benjamin Rollins 50 ; Joseph Rollins 50 ; Moses Rollins 50 ; 
Thomas Rollins, Sr. 100 ; Thomas Rollins, Jr. 20 ; Charles 
Rundlet, Jr. 30 ; John Scribner 40 ; James Sinclair 50 ; Theoph- 
ilus Smith 30 ; Thomas Speed 50 ; Philip Spenlow 40 ; Francis 
Steel 20 ; Nathaniel Stevens 20 ; Benjamin Taylor 20 ; Nathan 
Taylor 30 ; Jonathan and John Thing 60 ; Henry Wadleigh 20 
and 20 ; Jonathan Wadleigh 50 ; Robert Wadleigh 50, 20 and 50 ; 
Thomas Wilson 50 ; Israel Young 30 ; James Young 30 ; John 
Young 30 and 20 ; Robert Young 30 ; Sarah Young 50. March 
28, John Bean, Jr. 60 acres ; Biley Dudley 30 ; Theophilus Dudley 
50 ; Moses Gilman, Sr. 50 ; Richard Glidden 40 ; Dudle}' Hilton 
50 ; Philip (?) Huntoon 10 ; Benjamin Jones, Sr. 50 ; Moses 
Leavitt ; Francis Lyford 200 ; Alexander Magoon 50 ; Richard 
Mattoon 20 ; James Norris 40 ; Moses Norris 30 ; Nicholas Norris 
3 ; George Pearson 50 ; William Powell 20 ; Thomas Rollins 20 ; 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 139 

Charles Rundlet, Jr. 50 ; James Rundlet, 50 ; John Scribner 10 ; 
Jonathan Smith 20 ; Nicholas Smith 20 ; Theophilus Smith 30 ; 
Francis Steel; Haines (?) Woolford 30. April 29, Peter CotHu 
100 ; Joel Jndkins 60 ; Jonathan Norris 50. August 26, Richard 
Bounds ( ?) . 

At the town meeting on March 28, 1698, the very sensible vote 
was passed, "that those who had land given them at the last 
meeting shall have no more given them at this meeting." 

The following grants were made from 1699 to 1709 inclusive : 

1699, September 5, Samuel Elkins 20 acres; Thomas Gordon 
40 ; Moses Lea^'itt. 

1700, April 17, Cornelius Conner 30 acres; Ephraim Folsom, 
Sr. 20; Peter Folsom, Sr. 100; Joshua Gilmau 50; Stephen 
Gilman 30 ; Dudley and Richard Hilton 20 ; Jonathan Hilton 50 ; 
Joseph Young 40. May 10, Jeremiah Gilman 100. September 9, 
Ephraim Folsom, Jr. 20 ; James Leavitt 100 ; Jonathan Robinson, 
Sr. 100. 

1701, April 1, Jeremiah Conner 15 acres; Thomas Rollins, 
Sr. 100 ; Jonathan Thing 30 ; Thomas Webster 50. September 9, 
Robert Coffin, mill privilege and flats. 

1702, first Monday of April, Capt. Peter Coffin 200 acres; 
Robert Coffin 100 ; Cornelius Conner 30 ; Capt. John Gilman, Sr. 
100 ; Ens. John Gilman 100 ; .John Gilman, son of Moses ; Nich- 
olas Gilman 100; Capt. Kinsley Hall 100; Dudley Hilton 50; 
Benjamin Jones, Sr. 40 ; Job Judkius 40 ; Mr. Moses Leavitt, Sr. 
100; Israel Smith 100; Ithiel Smith 50; Jacob Smith 50; Jona- 
than Smith 100 ; Joseph Smith 50 ; John Thing 30 ; Jonathan 
Thing 100. 

1703, first Monday of April, Richard Dolloff 20 acres ; Thomas 
Dolloff 40 ; Daniel Gordon 50 ; Bartholemew Thing 50. 

1705, first Monday of April, John Glidden 50 acres ; Nathaniel 
Ladd 50; Nehemiah Leavitt 50; John Light 60, "provided he 
shall live 7 years in the town ;" Nicholas Norris 20 ; Jethro 
Pearson 50 ; John Sinclair, son of James, 100 ; George Veasey 
100 ; Thomas Veasey 100 ; Jonathan Wiggin 100. 

1706, first Monday of April, Daniel Bean, Jr. 100 acres; 
Samuel Dudley, Jr. 100 ; Stephen Dudley, Jr. 50 ; Francis 
Durgin 20 ; Cartee Gilman 100 ; Col. Winthrop Hilton 400 ; Moses 
Norris 50 ; Aaron Rollins 100 ; John Rollins 100 ; Charles Rundlet, 
Jr. 50; James Rundlet 50; Thomas Seawell 100; John Sinclair 



140 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

50 ; Theophilus Smith 30 ; Samuel Stevens 60 ; John Thing 100 ; 
Joseph Thing 100 ; Thomas AVebster 50. 

1707, first Monday of April, Lieut. John Gilman 100 acres; 
Daniel Ladd 100 ; Satchell Kundlet 100. 

1709, first Monday of April, Daniel Bean 80 acres. 

For the next five years it does not appear that any land grants 
were made, nor that any action was taken by the town in regard 
to the common lands. 

On April 5, 1714, the town resolved "that two miles of the 
west end of the township be laid out by men appointed, for a 
perpetual commonage for the use of the town." 

This decision was not to the liking of many of the inhabitants, 
and, as will be seen, attempts were soon made to revoke it, which 
were never abandoned until that object was effected. 

On March 13, 1717, it was voted " that Nicholas Gilman, Thomas 
Webster and Samuel Thing be a committee to make diligent 
search in the town records that whereas thei'e is complaint by 
several persons that they have not had their proportion in lands 
given them by the town, in order that they may have their share ; 
the committee to make report of their doings therein to this 
meeting." 

The meeting was accordingly adjourned to the first Monday in 
November, 1717. There is no record of the adjourned meeting, 
nor that any proceedings were had under the vote. 

For the five years ensuing, the only action taken by the town in 
relation to its lands, was the appointment of a committee in 1720 
to report whether any inhabitants' land grants had been encroached 
upon by the late lines run between town and town. The commit- 
tee reported that certain lands laid out to Jonathan Gilman and 
Nathaniel Webster were included within the bounds of Kingston ; 
and in consequence thereof there were laid out to them in 1725 
by the lot layers of Kingston four acres of the common land "in 
Exeter, to make good their loss. Exeter at that time was without 
lot layers, having failed to choose any. 

On March 30, 1724, the town resolved as follows : 

Whereas sundry persons desire to have a town meeting to grant 
out land, who have not had their share of land as they ought to 
have, and desire a committee to be chosen to hear what those 
persons have to say, and to draw up Avhat they conclude of, and 
to present it to the selectmen, who a\'e to call a town meeting to 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



141 



effect what the committee conclude of. Mr. Justice [Samuel] 
Thing, Bartholomew Thing, Joseph Hall, Josiah Hall and Edward 
Gilman to be a committee to search the town book to lind who 
ought to have land and who ought not 

At an adjournment of the town meeting called for the purpose 
aforesaid, held April 12, 1725, it was voted : 

That the srant of the two miles common at the western end of 
the township be wholly null and void, and that the said two miles 
with all the other common land in the township not heretofore 
granted, be divided in proportion according to the return of Samuel 
Thing, l">sq., Joseph Hall, Bartholomew Thing, Pxlward Gilman, 
Josiah Hall, committee chosen by the town for that end, as per 
list under the said committee's hands of every person's name who 
had land allowed him with the number of acres annexed thereto, — 
the said land not to be divided till the expiration of ten years 
from the date hereof. 

The following is the list reported by the committee : 

LIST OF DISTRIBUTEES OF LAND AS REPORTED IN 1725. 



NAMES. 


ACKKS. 


NAMES. 


ACRES. 


Samuel Akers, 


20 


Capt. EHphalet Coffin, 


100 


Daniel Ames, 


30 


Edward Colcord, 


20 


John Barber, Sen""., 


50 


Jonathan Colcord, 


40 


John Barber, Jr., 


30 


Cornelius Conner, 


100 


Robert Barber, 


30 


Jeremy Conner, SenJ"., 


100 


Nathaniel Bartlett, 


20 


Jonathan Conner, 


50 


Edward Bean, 


30 


Moses Conner, 


40 


Jeremiah Bean, Sen""., 


100 


Philip Conner, 


40 


Jeremiah Bean, Jr., 


40 


Samuel Conner, 


30 


John Bean, Sen"*., 


40 


Dr. Thomas Dean, 


30 


John Bean, Jr., 


30 


Sampson Doe, 


20 


Samuel Bean, Sen""., 


50 


Samuel Doe, 


20 


William Bean, 


30 


Richard Dolloff, 


80 


John Brown, 


20 


Samuel Dolloff, 


80 


Giles Burleigh, 


30 


Samuel Dolloff, Jr., 


30 


James Burley, 


20 


Cornelius Drisco, 


50 


Josiah Burleigh, 


30 


Mr. Biley Dudley, 


100 


Joseph Burleigh, 


20 


James Dudley, 


70 


Jeremiah Calef, 


20 


Jonathan Dudley, 


50 


Jonathan Clark, 


40 


Joseph Dudley, 


40 


Richard Clark, 


40 


Nicholas Dudley, 


100 


Solomon Clark, 


30 


Samuel Dudley, Sen""., 


100 


Mr. Ward Clark, 


50 


Samuel Dudley, Jr., 


50 



142 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



NAMES. 



Stephen Dudley, Sen""., 
Stephen Dudley, Jr., 
Trueworthy Dudley, 
Francis Durgin, 
Samuel Edgerly, 
Thomas Edgerly, 
Samuel Elkins, 
Seth Fogg, 
Abraham Folsom, 
Benjamin Folsom, 
Edward Folsom, 
Ephraim Folsom, Sen""., 
Ephraim Folsom, Jr., 
Jeremiah Folsom, 
John Folsom, Sen""., 
John Folsom, Jr., 
Jonathan Folsom, 
Estate of Peter Folsom, Jr. 

deceased, 
William Folsom, Sen""., 
William Folsom, Jr., 
Daniel Giles, 
Ancbew Oilman, 
Benjamin Oilman, 
Caleb Oilman, 
Carty Oilman, 
Daniel Oilman, 
David Oilman, 
Edward Oilman, Sen'"., 
Edward Oilman, Jr., 
Ezekiel Oilman, 
Israel Oilman, 
Lieut. James Oilman, 
James Oilman, Jr., 
Capt. Jeremiah Oilman, 
Maj. John Oilman, 
Capt. John Oilman, 
Lieut. John Oilman, 
Jonathan Oilman, 
Joseph Oilman, 
Joshua Oilman, 
Maverick Oilman, 
Moses Oilman, Sen"^,, 
Moses Oilman, Jr., 
Nathaniel Oilman, 



ACRES. 


NAMES. 


AOREg. 


100 


Nehemiah Oilman, 


50 


30 


Maj. Nicholas Oilman, 


250 


50 


Nicholas Oilman, Jr., 


50 


30 


Peter Oilman, 


70 


20 


Samuel Oilman, 


60 


20 


Simon Oilman, 


50 


100 


Thomas Oilman, 


30 


20 


Andrew Olidden, 


100 


100 


Benjamin Olidden, 


30 


100 


Joseph Olidden, 


30 


30 


Nathaniel Olidden, 


30 


100 


Richard Olidden, Sen""., 


50 


30 


Richard Olidden, Jr., 


30 


100 


Alexander Oordon, 


100 


80 


Daniel Oordon, 


30 


100 


James Gordon, 


30 


100 


John Oordon, Jr., 


30 




Jonatlian Gordon, 


50 


50 


Nicholas Gordon, 


100 


30 


Thomas Gordon, 


50 


30 


Thomas Gordon, Jr., 


30 


30 


John Graves, 


30 


100 


William Graves, Sen""., 


50 


80 


William Graves, Jr., 


30 


150 


Thomas Haley, 


20 


50 


Edward Hall, 


150 


50 


Joseph Hall, 


150 


70 


Josiah Hall, 


120 


150 


Capt. Kinsley Hall, 


200 


50 


Paul Hall, 


80 


30 


Theophilus Hardy, 


80 


50 


Benjamin Hilton, 


30 


100 


Edward Hilton, 


40 


50 


Jonathan Hilton, Sen'"., 


50 


100 


Jonathan Hilton, Jr., 


30 


250 


Joseph Hilton, 


70 


200 


Capt. Richard Hilton, 


150 


100 


Samuel Hilton, 


60 


50 


William Hilton, 


50 


50 


Winthrop Hilton, 


50 


30 


Job. Judkins, Sen^, 


70 


30 


Job Judkins, Jr., 


30 


120 


Joseph Judkins, 


40 


50 


Caleb Kimball, 


20 


50 


John Kimball, 


20 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



143 



NAMES. 

Moses Kimming, 
Capt. Nathaniel Ladd, 
Nathaniel Ladd, Jr., 
Daniel Leary, 
Samuel Learj-, 
Dudley Leavitt, 
Lieut. James Leavitt, 
John Leavitt, 
Joseph Leavitt, 
Dea. Moses Leavitt, 
Selah Leavitt, 
Stephen Leavitt, 
Timothy Leavitt, 
John Lord, 
John Lougee, 
Stephen Lyford, 
Thomas Lyford, 
Alexander Magoon, 
Benjamin Magoon, 
Samuel Magoon, 
John Marsh, 
Richard Mattoon, 
Samuel Mighill, 
Clement Moody, Sen*"., 
Clement Moody, Jr., 
John Moody, 
Jonathan Moody, 
Walter Neal, 
James Norris, 
John Norris, 
Jonathan Norris, 
Moses Norris, Sen""., 
Moses Norris, Jr., 
Nicholas Norris, Sen""., 
Samuel Norris, 
Rev. John Odlin, 
Jethro Pearson, Sen''., 
Jethro Pearson, Jr., 
Nathaniel Pease, 
John Perkins, Sen""., 
John Perkins, Jr., 
William Perkins, Sen""., 
William Perkins, Jr., 
Nicholas Perryman, 
Ephraim Philbrick, 



ACRES. 


NAMES. 


ACRES. 


30 


Robert Pike, 


20 


GO 


Richard Preston, 


20 


40 


John Quimby, 


20 


40 


John Robinson, 


130 


40 


Jonathan Robinson, Senr., 


50 


80 


Jonathan Robinson, Jr., 


100 


200 


Joseph Robinson, 


70 


50 


Thomas Robinson, 


20 


30 


Benjamin Rollins, 


40 


200 


John Rollins, Jr., 


30 


50 


Samuel Rollins, 


50 


40 


Edward Scribner, 


30 


50 


John Scribner, Sen^., 


50 


20 


John Scribner, Jr., 


50 


30 


Joseph Scribner, 


30 


100 


Samuel Scribner, 


40 


100 


Edward Sewall, 


40 


100 


Stephen Sewall, 


30 


30 


James Sinclair, 


100 


50 


John Sinclair, Sen""., 


100 


30 


John Sinclair, Jr., 


30 


30 


Joseph Sinclair, 


40 


30 


Richard Sinclair, 


40 


50 


Samuel Sinclair, 


40 


50 


John Smart, 


40 


40 


Joseph Smart, 


30 


30 


Robert Smart, 


50 


30 


Benjamin Smith, 


30 


30 


Benjamin Smith, Jr., 


30 


30 


David Smith, 


30 


30 


Edward Smith, 


30 


60 


Jacob Smith, 


70 


40 


Jonathan Smith, 


50 


30 


Nathaniel Smith, 


30 


30 


Nicholas Smith, 


30 


100 


Oliver Smith, 


70 


70 


Richard Smith, 


50 


30 


Capt. Theophilus Smith, 


150 


50 


Theophilus Smith, Jr., 


50 


100 


Benjamin Taylor, 


30 


40 


Joseph Taylor, 


50 


30 


Nathan Taylor, 


30 


40 


William Taylor, 


80 


20 


Lieut. Bartholomew Thing, 


150 


20 


Benjamin Thing, 


100 



144 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



NAMK.S. 

Daniel Thing, 

Jonathan Thing, 

Heirs of Capt. Jonathan Thing, 

Jr., dec<5., 
Joseph Thing, 
Josiah Thing, Jr. (son of 

Samuel), 
Nathaniel Thing, 
Samuel Thing, Esq., 
Abner Thurston, 
Ensign Henry Wadleigh, 
Capt. Jonathan Wadleigh, 
Jonathan Wadleigh, Jr., 



The aforenamed 249 persons are they to whom the committee 
lias proportioned the common land of this town. 



ACKE9. 


NAMES. 


ACRES. 


80 


Philip Wadleigh, 


50 


50 


Robert Wadleigh, Sen''., 


100 


> 


Nathaniel Webster, 


50 


100 


Thomas Webster, 


100 


100 


Humphrey Wilson, 


50 




Dea. Thos. Wilson, 


200 


50 


Benjamin York, 


50 


50 


Richard York, 


40 


300 


Charles Young, 


30 


20 


Daniel Young, 


80 


100 


James Young, 


30 


200 


Jonathan Young, 


50 


30 


Robert Young, 


50 



PROCEEDINGS TO HASTEN A DISTRIBUTION. 

It is not surprising that a majority of the inhabitants were un- 
willing to wait ten years in accordance with the report of the com- 
mittee, for the actual division of the lands. Such a prospect was 
particularly tantalizing to those who were then without real estate, 
when it lay with the majority of their own number to say how soon 
they might come into possession of very substantial homestead 
lots. 

Accordingly, in something less than four years, the subject was 
resumed; this time by the inhabitants as "Proprietors of the 
Common Lands." The first proprietors' meeting was called by 
the selectmen of the town, upon an application stating that the 
common lands were being trespassed upon. It was held January 
6, 1729, and adjourned to the twentieth of the same month. A 
vote was passed that the clause in the returji of the committee 
forbidding the division of the lands for ten years, be null and 
void, and that a division be made forthwith ; and Edward Gilman, 
Edward Hall, Jeremiah Conner, John Folsom and Andrew Gilman 
were chosen a committee to make partition of the lands according 
to the return of the committee who proportioned them, and "go 
about the work as soon as may be." 

This committee failed to do the "work" for which they were 
appointed ; apparently for the reason that some of their number 
were opposed to the plan of immediate division. So nearly two 



HISTORY OF EXETER. U") 

years more went by before the matter was again moved. Another 
meeting of the proprietors was then called, and held November 9, 
1730, at which Captain John Oilman, Edward Oilman, Joseph 
Hall, Peter Oilman and Israel Oilman were chosen a committee 
to lay out the common lands agreeably to the proportion made by 
the committee in 1725 ; and Edward Hall and Jeremiah Conner 
were subsequently added to the new committee. 

After nearly two years' consideration, the last-named committee 
reported a plan for the separation of the common la ds, at the 
west end of the township, into sixteen ranges, containing in the 
aggregate 1485 lots of ten acres each, to be distributed among 
the inhabitants, agreeably to the apportionment made by the com- 
mittee appointed in 1725. This report was accepted by the town 
October 19, 1782 ; and it was voted that Mr. Maylem should draw 
all the lots for the proprietors, according to the division made by 
the last appointed committee. The resolution was at once carried 
into effect ; and a full list of the drawing appears in the Proprie- 
tors' Records. 

FINAL DISTRIBUTION. 

But there was still some dissatisfaction with the allotments. 
Complaint was made that some of the inhabitants had never 
received their " ten acre lots," to which they considered themselves 
entitled, under the vote of the town of March 14, 1681-2, and 
that certain inequalities existed in the former divisions, which 
ought to be corrected. Another meeting of the town was there- 
fore held June 15, 1738, which was continued by adjournments to 
August 28, at which it was resolved (for the third time?) that 
the vote passed by the town April 5, 1714, that two miles of the 
western end of the township should be for a perpetual commonage, 
be null and void, and that the said two miles be laid out and 
divided with the rest of the commons among the inhabitants. 

A committee of seven were appointed, consisting of Captain 
Samuel Oilman, Lieutenant John Robinson, Captain Peter Oilman, 
Mr. Trueworthy Dudley, Cornet Ezekiel Oilman, Ensign Richard 
Mattoon and Captain John Oilman, vSr., who received specific in- 
structions as to their duties in dividing the lands ; were to be 
allowed compensation at the rate of eleven shillings each per day ; 
were empowered to hire a surveyor at the cost of fourteen shillings 
per day, and were given twelve months in which to make their 
report. The time was subsequently enlarged to two years. The 

10 



14G 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 



committee attended to the duty assigned tliem and filed their return 
on Auo-ust 18, 1740. In it they provided ten acre lots for several 
persons who had not hitherto received them, and added twenty 
names to the list reported by the committee of 1725, as follows : 



NAMES. 



ER. 


NAMES. 


ACRES. 


20 


John Light's heirs, 


20 


40 


Ebenezer Martin, 


10 


10 


John Mudget, 


10 


10 


Thomas Mudget, 


10 


10 


John Roberts, 


13 


12 


Samuel Smith, son of Jacob, 


15 


10 


Francis Steel's heirs. 


50 


40 


Edward Stevens's heirs, 


40 


30 


Samuel Stevens's heirs, 


10 


IJ 


Thomas Young, 


20 



John Burley's heirs, 
Thomas Dolloft"'s heirs, 
Samuel Fogg, 
Israel Folsom, 
John Fox, 
Joel Judkins, 
Christopher Kenniston, 
Daniel Ladd, 
Thomas Lary, 
Nehemiah Leavitt's heirs, 



The committee were empowered to make changes in the lots as 
drawn in 1732, in certain cases when found needful, and a few 
such changes were made ; hut in general those lots were allowed 
to remain without alteration. 

The adoption of the last report completed the disposal of the 
public lands of the town, with the exception of a few fragments 
chiefly by the side of the river. The titles granted by the town 
have never been questioned. 

The meetings of the proprietors were kept up a few years after 
the division of 1740, and then abandoned; and the Proprietors' 
Records were ordered to be delivered to the town clerk. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OFFICERS OF THE TOWN. 

Is this chapter is given a, list of the principal officers of Exeter 
from its foundation to the present time. It is generally taken 
from the town books, but in the few cases where they fail to afford 
information, it has been sought for elsewhere. With the exception 
of some of the earlier years, the list is almost complete. 

For a long time the elections were held at irregular intervals, 
and the terms of service varied correspondingly. The general 
rule must have been that incumbents of offices held over until 
their successors were elected. This is especially the case with 
reference to the office of town clerk, which was never treated as 
an annual one before 1 720. The number of selectmen was variable ; 
from 1644 to 1690 it was three ; then it was raised to five, and so 
continued till 1817, when it was reduced to three again. 

It may interest those who are curious about "first things," to 
know that the earliest election of lot layers in the town which is 
on record was in 1648 ; the earliest (and only) election of clerk 
of the market was in the same year ; the earliest surveyor of 
highways, in 1651 ; of tithing men, in 1678 ; of pound-keeper, in 
1680, and of moderator, not until 1686. This may be the fault 
of the records, for very probably such officers were chosen earlier, 
and the fact failed to be recorded. We can hardly suppose, for 
example, that town meetings were held for near half a century 
without a moderator. 

Apparently a good deal of interest used to be taken in the choice 
of constables. Attached to this office was the irksome duty of 
collecting the rates. The person chosen could decline the office, 
but only on the payment of the then heavy fine of five pounds. 
This a great many did rather than accept the disagreeable position. 
At length the practice grew up of allowing the constable-elect 
to excuse himself from performing the duties, on his furnishing a 
substitute acceptable to the town. 

147 



148 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS. 
RULERS. 

Isaac Gross, 1633. Nicholas Neeiham, 1639 to 1642. Thomas Wilson 
1642 to 1643. 

ASSISTANT RULEKS. 
Augustine Storre and Anthony Stanyan, 1639- 



TOWN CLERKS. 



John Legat, 
Eilward Smith, 
Jon ithan Thing, 
Sam.iel Thing, 
Kinsley Hall, 
Josiah Hall, 
Bartholomew Thing, 
Elisha Odlin, 
Zebulon Giddinge, 
Josiah Gilman, Jr., 
Ephraim Robinson, 
Joseph Tilton, 
John J. Parker, 
George Smith, 



1649 
16S4 (?) 

1689 
1700-1719 
1720-172.5 
1726-1729 
1729-1737 
173S-1743 
1 744-1 7S2 
1783-lSOO 
1801-1809 
1809-1811 
1812-1831 
1831, 3 



John S. Sleeper, 
Daniel Melcher, 
Charles Conner, 
Joseph T. Porter, 
James M. Lovering, 
John Tyrrell, 
Franklin Lane, 
Samuel D. Wingate, 
Augustus H. Weeks, 
Charles Grant, 
William H. Belknap, 

Joseph S. Parsons, 
George E. Lane, 



1832, 3 
1834-1837 

1838-1842 
1843-1846 
1847-1849 

1850 
1851-1854 

1855 
1856, 7 
1858-1860 
1861-1865, 
1875-1888 
1866-1869 
1870-1874 



SELECTMEN. 



nichard Bulgar, 
Samuel Greentield, 
Christopher Lawson, 
Edward Hilton, 
Anthony Stanyan, 
William Moore, 



James Wall, 
John Legat, 
Godfrey Dearborn, 
John Cram, 
Henry Roby, 
Thomas King, 
Nathaniel Drake, 
John Gilman, 1052, 4, 5, 7, 61, 8, 71, 
2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 87 
Thomas Pettit, 1652 

John Robinson, 1653, 61, 6, 73 



1644 
1644-1646 
1644 
1645, 6, 1651 
1645, 6 
1647, 54, 8, 71, 2, 
91, 4, 9 
1647, 9 
1647-1650 
1648 
1648, 9 
1650 
1650, 2, 8, 62 
1651 



Humphrey Wilson, 1653, 8 

Moses (Oilman, 1653, 60, 73, 4, 7, 93 
Nicholas Listen, 1654, 5, 7, 62, 6 



John Warren, 
Jonathan Thing, 

Nicholas Smith, 
John Tedd, 
John Folsom, 
Thomas Biggs, 



1855, 7 
1658, 01, 8, 71, 2, 
6, 82, 3 
1658 
1658, 62 
1660, 8, 91 
1660 
Ralph Hall, 1666, 73, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 80 



Samuel Leavitt, 
Elward Smith, 
Edward Gilman, 
Kinsley Hall, 
John Folsom, Jr., 
Moses Leavitt, 



1675, 91, 6 

1679, 80 

1680, 1, 2, 3, 90 

16S1, 90, 3 

1681, 96 

1682, 3, 91, 6 



Biley Dudley, 1687, 90, 4, 5, 9, 1700 



V_ (/A^V/ ''•"vCA^ vst^^"^^- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



149 



John Wadleigh, 1687 

William Hilton, 1690 

Francis Lyford, 1690 

Ephraim Folsom, 1691 

Theophilus Dudley, 1693, 4, 5, 9 
Richard Hilton, 1693, 1701, 2, 3, 7, 

8, 15 
John Wilson, 1693 

Robert Smart, Sr., 1694 

Moses Oilman, Jr., 1694 

Jonathan Robinson, 169.5 



Henry Wadleigh, 
James Sinclair, 
Winthrop Hilton, 
James Oilman, 
Andrew Wiggin, 
William Scammon, 
Nicholas (Oilman, 



1695 
1695, 1700, 6, 21 
1696 
1696 
1699, 1712,4 
1699, 1700 
1699, 1700, 1, 9, 
18,21,5,6,7,9 
Theophilus Smith, 1699, 1706, 11, 
12, 7,8, 27,33,4,6, 7,9,40* 
Theophilus Dudley, 1700-1709, 11 
Simon Wiggin, 1701-1705 

Jonathan Thing, 1701-1705, 14, 5, 6 
John Oilman (son of Moses), 1701- 

1705, 8 
Samuel Leavitt, 1704, 7 

Robert Coffin, 1705, 7, 8 

Jonathan Wadleigh, 1705, 7, 8, 12, 
4, 5, 6, 23, 4, 6, 7, 8, 29, 32 
John Robinson, 1706, 20, 5, 38 

Bradstreet Wiggin, 1706 

William Moore, 
William French, 
Jeremiah Conner, 
Capt. John Oilman, 1711, 4, 5, 6, 8, 
20, 3, 4, 8, 9, 30 
Lieut. John Oilman, 1711, 2, 4, 7, 

31, 2 
Joseph Hall, 1715, 6, 7, 21, 3, 4 

Nicholas Oordon, 1716, 7, 8, 22, 5 
Moses Leavitt, 1717 

Edward Hall, 1718, 20, 2, 6 



1709, 11, 2 

1709 

1709, 22, 30, 1 



Thomas Wilson, 1720, 3, 4 

Cornelius Conner, 1720 

James Leavitt, 1721, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 32 
Bartholomew Thing, 1721, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

33, 6, 7 
Samuel Thing, 1722 

Eliphalet Coffin, 1725, 33 

Caleb Oilman, 1725, 30, 1, 6, 7 

Theophilus Oilman, 1726 

Joseph Thing, 1728, 30, 1, 2,3, 4, 6, 7, 9 



Thomas Webster, 
Samuel Oilman, 
Edward Oilman, 
Stephen Lyford, 
Jonathan Oilman, 
Peter Oilman, 
Ezekiel Oilman, 
Trueworthy Dudley, 
Daniel Thing, 
James Oilman, 
Josiah Oilman, 
Thomas Dean, 
Elisha Odlin, 
Jonathan Conner, 



1730, 1, 2 

1733, 6, 7, 8 
1734, 40 

1734 

1734, 00, 60 
1738 
1738 
1738 
1739 

1739, 40, 3-1750 
1739, 55, 6 



1740 
1743-1748 



Josiah Sanborn, 1743, 4, 5, 6, 50, 1, 

2,3,4,7,8 
John Odlin, Jr., 1743-54, 6, 7, 8, 9 
John Rice, 1743, 52, 6, 7, 8, 9, 61, 2, 
3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 70 
Zebulon Oiddinge, 1744-1748 

Samuel Fogg, 1747-1749 

Ephraim Robinson, 1749, 50, 2, 3, 4, 
60, 72, 5, 7, 8, 80-1785 
Nathaniel Bartlett, Jr., 1749-1754 
Samuel Oilman, Jr., 1751, 3, 4, 60 



Robert Light, 
James Leavitt, 
Charles Rundlett, 
John Phillips, 
Peter Folsom, 
John Kimball, 
Joseph Leavitt, 
John Oiddinge, 



1751, 5 
1755 
1755, 66, 7, 8, 9 
1756 
1756 
1757 
1757 
1758, 9, 61, 2, 3, 4 



*This is one of several instances where the same name was handed down through 
two or more Renerations, and it is difficult to ascertain where the father's term of 
office terminated, and the son's began. The same is true of other names, John Gil- 
mau, for example, which represents at least four different persons in this list. 






150 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Nicholas Oilman, 1758, 9, 61, 2, 3, 4, 

6, 7, 8, 70, 1 
Josiah Robinson, 1759, 66, 7, 8, 9, 

70, 1 
Theophilus Oilman, 1760, 1 

John Dudley, 1760-1764 

Daniel Tilton, 1762, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

70, 1, 80, 1 
Joseph Oilman, 1769, 70, 1 

Peter Coffin, 1771-1775 

Nathaniel Oordon, 1772, 6, 93 

Samuel Brooks, 1772-1775 

Theophilus Smith, 1772, 6 

Ephraim Folsom, 1773, 4 

Theodore Carleton, 1773-1775 

Thomas Folsom, 1773, 4, 5, 7, 9 

Joseph Cram, 1776, 80-90 

Eliphalet Oiddinge, 1776-1778, 1788 

-94, 1802, 3 
Trueworthy Oilman, 1776, 7, 8, 80- 

87 
John T. Oilman, 1777, 8 

Benjamin Boardman, 1778, 9 

Eliphalet Ladd, 1779, 84, 5, 6 

Jedediah Jewett, 1779, 82, 3, 4 

Samuel Folsom, 1779 

James Thurston, 1780-1783 

Nathaniel Oilman, 1785, 91, 2 

Ephraim Robinson, 1786-93, 95- 

1805, 7 
Oideon Lamson, 1786, 1794-1805, 9 
Oliver Peabody, 1787-1791 

Dudley Odlin, 1787-1790 

Jeremiah Robinson, 1792, 3, 1810-16 
Samuel Tenney, 1792-1800 

Jeremiah Leavitt, 1794-1807 

Oeorge Odiorne, 1794-1796 

Benjamin C. Oilman, 1797-1801, 14, 

5, 6 
Samuel Oilman, 1801, 2 

Trueworthy Robinson, 1803-1806 
Daniel Conner, 1804-1807 

Nathaniel Parker, 1806 

Jeremiah Dow, 1806 

Neheiniah Folsom, 1807, 17-24 

John Kimball, 1807-13, 17-29 



Edmund Pearson, 
Thomas Kimball, 
Josiah Folsom, Jr., 
Harvey Colcord, 
Enoch Rowe, 
John Oordon, 
Joseph Osborne, 
John Rogers, 
Freese Dearborn, 
Josiah Robinson, 
John Smith, 
Theodore ]Moses, 
Oeorge Smith, 



1808-1813 

1808 

1808, 9 

1809-1814 

1810-1816 

1814-1816 

1815, 6 

1817-1829 

1825-1829 

1830-1835 

1830 

1830 

1831-36, 8, 9 



James Burley, 1831-37, 40, 1, 2 

Josiah R. Norris, 1836-1839 

John Dodge, 1837, 40 

Jeremiah Robinson, Jr., 1838-41, 3, 

4,5 
William Conner, 1841-46, 50, 1 

WilHam Philbrick, 1842 

John T. Oordon, 1843-1848 

Retire H. Parker, 1846-1848 

Nathaniel Swasey, 1847, 8 

Jewett Conner, 1852-54, 63-67, 1879- 

85, 7 
Benjamin Lang, 1849-1851 

William P. Moulton, 1849 

John Foss, 1849, 50 

Lewis W. Perkins, 1851-1853 

Oeorge W. Furnald, 1852-1854, 1868- 

70 
Edwin O. Lovering, 1854 

William II. Robinson, 1855, 6 

Asa Jewell, 1855-1857 

Ammi R. Wiggin, 1855, 6 

Alfred Conner, 1857, 8, 72 

John W. Elliott, 1857, 8 

James W. Odlin, 1858, 9 

John Clement, 1859, 60 

Nathaniel O. Oiddings, 1859, 60 

Nathaniel Shute, 1860, 1 

Joseph D. Wadleigh, 1861, 2 

Josiah J. Folsom, 1861-63, 1879-86 
Adoniram J. Towle, 1862 

Solomon J. Perkins, 1863-1867 

Joseph T. Porter, 1864-1867 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



151 



Jacob Carlisle, 
John IL Kimball, 
Daniel F. Hayes, 
Joseph Perkins, 
William B. Morrill, 
Joshua Getchell, 
Lyford Conner, 



1S()S, 9 
186S, 9 
1S70, 1 
1870, 1 
1871-84, 6 
1872, 3 
1873 



Nathaniel G. Oilman, 
Oliver L. Giddings, 
Charles H. Downing, 
John M. Wadleigh, 
Andrew J. Fogg, 
George W. Green, 
Charles H.- Towle, 



1874-1876 

1874-1876 

1877, 8 

1877, 8 

1885, 6 

1887 

1887 



MODERATORS. 



Peter Coffin, 
William Moore, 
Kinsley Hall, 
Theophilus Dudley, 



1696, 1705 

1698 

1700, 4 

1706, 9 



Moses Leavitt, 1707, 8, 13, 4, 5, 23, 6 
John Gilman, 1711 

Nicholas Gilman, 1716, 7, 8, 30-35, 

7, 9, 43-48 
Captain John Gilman, 1720, 4, 5, 7, 

9, 36, 8 
Samuel Thing, 1721, 2, 8 

Ezekiel Gilman, 1740 

Zebulon Giddinge, 1741 

Peter Gilman, 1742, 54, 5, 60-68, 

70-73, 6 
James Gilman, 1749, 50, 3 

Samuel Gilman, 1751, 2, 9 

John Odlin, 1756-1759 



Nathaniel Folsom, 1774, 5, 7, 9, 85-90 
John Phillips. 1778 

Nicholas Gilman, 1780-84 

John T. Gilman, 1791-1794, 1806, 7, 
9, 10, 1, 7, 8, 20-25 
Oliver Peabody, 1795, 7, 1801, 5, 12 
Samuel Tenney, 1796, 8, 9, 1800, 8 
Jeremiah Smith, 1802, 3, 4, 13-16 
Nathaniel Gilman, 1819 

James Burley, 1826-1842 

James Bell, 1843-1846 

Woodbridge Odlin, 1847-1849 

Nathaniel Gilman, 1850-1853 

William B. MorriU, 1854, 5, 9, 60-66 
James M. Lovering, 1856, 7 

Joseph G. Hoyt, 1858 

Charles G. Conner, 1867-1886 

John J. Bell, 1887 



REPRESENT A.TIVES. 



Bartholomew Tippen, 
Ralph Hall, 
William Moore, 
Robert Wadleigh, 
Robert Smart, 
Thomas Wiggin, 
Samuel Leavitt, 
John Folsom, 
John Gilman, / 

Jonathan Thing, 
Moses Leavitt, 



1680 

1680 

1681, 92 

1681 

1684 

1684 

1685, 92, 6, 1703 

1685, 94, 5 

, .-.- 1693 

1693 

1693, 5, 8, 1702 



Theophilus Dudley, 1693, 5, 8, 1702, 

9,11,2 
Kinsley HaU, 1694, 5 

David Lawrence, 1696, 1703 



Samuel Thing, 1703, 13, 4, 5, 27, 8 
Nicholas Gilman, 1709, 11-15, 1732 
Capt. John Gilman, 1716-1722 

Lieut. John Gilman, 1716-1722 

Bartholomew Thing, 1727, 8, 31-35 
Benjamin Thing, 1730, 1 

Peter Gilman, 1733, 4, 5, 7, 9, 40-42 
5, 9, 52, 5, 8, 62, 5, 8 



Edward Hall, 
Samuel Hall, 
Nathaniel Gilman, 
Zebulon Giddinge, 

Samuel Gilman, 
John Phillips, 



1736 

1736 

1737, 9, 40 

1741, 5, 9, 52, 5, 

8, 62, 5, 8 

1742 

1755, 71 



152 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



John Giddinge, 


1771, 4, 5, 6 


Nathaniel Folsom, 17 


74, 5, 8, 82, 3 


Noah Emery, 


1776 


Thomas Odiorne, 


1777 


Samuel Hobart, 


1777, 8 


John T. Oilman, 177 


9, 81, 1810, 1 


Ephraim Robinson, 


1779, 81, 6 


Jedediah Jewett, 


1782-1784 


Joseph Cram, 


1782 


Josiah Oilman, Jr., 


1785 


Dudley Odlin, 


1787-1790 


Benjamin Conner, Jr., 


1791-1803 


Nathaniel Oilman, 


1804 


George Sullivan, 


1805, 13 


Nathaniel Parker, 


1806-1809 


Oliver Peabody, 


1812 


Joseph Tilton, Jr., 


1814-1822 


John Kimball, 


1820, 1 


William Smith, Jr., 


1822-1824 


Oliver W. B. Peabody, 


1823-1830 


Jeremiah Dow, 1825- 


1828, 31, 2, 3 


Samuel T. Oilman, 


1829 


Nathaniel Conner, 


1829, 30 


Jotham Lawrence, 


1831 


John Rogers, 


1832-1834 


John SulHvan, 


1834-1837 


William Odlin, • 


1835-1837 


William Perry, 


1838 


Daniel Conner, 


1838, 9 


Nathaniel Oilman, 3d, 


1839, 40 


Samuel Hatch, 


1840 


Woodbridge Odlin, 


1841 


Josiah Robinson, 


1841, 2 


Amos Tuck, 


1842 


Theophilus Goodwin, 


1843, 4 


Charles Conner, 


1843, 4 


Oilman Marston, 1845 


-48, 72, 3, 76 




8, 80, 2, 4, 6 


John Kelly, 


1845 


James Bell, 


1846 


William Wadleigh, 


1846-1848 


George Gardner, . 


1847, 8 


John F. Moses, 


1849, 50, 1 


Nathaniel 0. Oilman, 


1849, 50 


Nathaniel Gordon, 


1849, 50 


Charles J. Oilman, 


1851 


Isaac Flagg, 


1851, 2 



Oren Head, 
Nathaniel O. Perry, 
William Conner, 
William W. Stickney, 
Retire H. Parker, 
James M. Lovering, 
George F. Waters, 
Jeremiah W. Marsh, 
Henry Shute, 
Isaiah S. Brown, 
William B. Morrill, 
Charles H. Bell, 1858- 
Nathaniel K. Leavitt, 
Jewett Conner, 
Moses N. Collins, 
Charles Burley, 
Abraham P. Blake, 
Joseph C. Hilliard, 
Samuel D. Wingate, 
Nathaniel 0. Giddings, 
Henry C. Moses, 
Charles 0. Conner, 
Joseph W. Merrill, 
James W. Odlin, 
WilHam H. Robinson, 
Andrew J. Hoyt, 
Sebastian A. Brown, 
Eben Folsom, 
John G. Oilman, 
John H. Kimball, 
George W. Furnald, 
Jacob Carlisle, 
Asa Jewell, 
John D. Lyman, 
Thomas Leavitt, 
Josiah J. Folsom, 
Joseph T. Porter, 
Horace S. Cummings, 
William Burlingame, 
Alfred Conner, 
Daniel Sanborn, 2d, 
Winthrop N. Dow, 
Charles O. Moses, 
Andrew J. Fogg, 
John J. Bell, 
Edward H. Oilman, 
John Templeton, 



1852, 3 

1852, 3 

1853, 4 
1854 
1854 

1855-1857 
1855 

1855, 6 

1856, 7 

1857, 8 

1858, 9 
-1860, 72, 3 

1859, 60 

1860, 1 

1861, 2 
1861 

1862, 3 
1862, 3 

1863. 4 
1864, 5 

1864, 5 

1865, 6 

1866, 7 
1866, 7 

1867. 8 

1868. 9 
1868, 9 

1869, 70 

1870, 1 

1870, 1 

1871 

1872, 3 

1874. 5 
1874, 5 
1874, 5 

1876 

1876, 7 
1876 

1877, 8 
1877, 8 

1878 
1878, 80 
1880 
1882 
1882, 4, 6 
1884 
1886 



ECCLESIASTICAL. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FIEST SOCIETY. 

The formation of the First churcli in Exeter, and the events of 
the pastorate of the Rev. John Wheelwright, have ah'eady been 
narrated. Mr. Wheelwright was not inclined to stay to witness 
the extension of the authority of Massachusetts over the settle- 
ment that he had founded, but removed with his family, probably 
in the early spring of 1643, to the almost unbroken forests of 
Wells, in Maine. But it would not have been lilie him to leave 
his flock without a shepherd, and accordingly we find that the 
people were provided with another religious teacher, Mr. Thomas 
Rashleigh. 

Mr. Rashleigh had been admitted to the Boston church three 
years before, being then a student of divinity. In 1641 he had 
ministered " as chaplain" to the people of Cape Ann, afterwards 
Gloucester, in Massachusetts, where there was then no organized 
church. He came to Exeter in the spring of 1643, no doubt, by 
the desire of Mr. Wheelwright, and with some intention of making 
a permanent settlement there. On the sixth of May, in that year, 
the town granted him a house lot, and he undoubtedly continued 
to act as their minister during the remainder of his stay in the 
place, which was something less than a twelvemonth. His house 
lot, of which the grant must have been conditional only, -was 
re-granted by the town, five years after he went away, to the Rev. 
Samuel Dudley. Why Mr. Rashleigh remained no longer is not 
known ; though the subsequent existence of two parties in the 
church or town, may furnish the clue to his early departure. 

In the spring of 1644 some of the inhabitants made an attempt 
to gather a new church in Exeter, and to call the aged Rev. 
Stephen Bachiler of Hampton to the ministry thereof. They went 
so far as to appoint a day of humiliation, on which to carry both 
these purposes into effect, but intelligence of their design having 
reached the ears of the Massachusetts General Court, that body 

155 



156 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

summarily overruled it, by adopting, on the twenty-ninth of May, 
1644, the following resolution : 

"Whereas it appears to this court that some of the inhabitants of 
Exeter do intencl shortly to gather a church and call Mr. Bachiler 
to be their minister, and forasmuch as the divisions and conten- 
tions which are among the inhabitants are judged by this court 
to be such as for the present they cannot comfortably and with 
approbation proceed in so weighty and sacred affairs ; it is there- 
fore ordered that direction should be forthwith sent to the said 
inhabitants to defer the gathering of any church, or other such 
proceeding, until this court or the court at Ipswich, upon further 
satisfaction of their reconciliation and fitness, shall give allowance 
thereunto. 

On the same day the General Court passed this further order : 

That Mr. Wheelwright (upon a particular, solemn and serious 
acknowledgment and confession by letters of his evil carriages 
and of the court's justice upon him for them*) hath his banish- 
ment taken off, and is received as a member of the Common- 
wealth. 

The adoption of both the foregoing orders on the same day 
leaves little doubt of the willingness of the government of Massa- 
chusetts that Mr. Wheelwright should return to his charge in 
Exeter, if he desired. The people evidently so understood it, for 
immediately after learning the court's decision, they made a grant 
to Mr. Wheelwright, his heirs and successors forever, of certain 
marshland, "with these conditions, that he doth come amongst 
us again." The major part of the inhabitants having thus 
evidenced their desire for their former pastor's return, it seems 
unquestionable that he might have resumed his position there, to 
the general acceptance. 

But Mr. AVheelwright, for reasons satisfactory to himself, did 
not choose to go back. And the project of gathering another 
church and of settling Mr. Bachiler over it, was very wisely 
abandoned. Still it is not probable that the people, a large pro- 
portion of whom were members of the church, went on without 
some religious ministrations. Mr. Hatevil Nutter was an " exhort- 
ing elder" of the church of Dover, and the following facts, 
gleaned from the records of Exeter, establish a strong probability 
that he was employed to minister to the spiritual wants of the 



* A careful perusal of Wheelwright's second letter will show how unjust to him 
this statement is. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 157 

people of the latter place. Mr. Nutter was the owner of a tract 
of land at Lamprey river, and at least as early as the beginning 
of the year 1645 the town " covenanted " to inclose it with fence ; 
and more than once betwixt that time and 1650 called upon all the 
inhabitants to do their shares of fencing, under the penalty of 
paying the wages of others, who should be hired in their stead. 
Tiie town continued to render this service for the Elder for five 
years ; and until they had provided themselves with a regular 
minister, the Rev. Samuel Dudley. Then, on June 11, 1650, Mr. 
Nutter, by his receipt upon the town book, acknowledged that the 
fence which the town " was engaged b}^ covenant" to set up for 
him at Lamprey river, was accepted ; and he was heard of no 
more in Exeter. 

In view of Mr. Nutter's gifts as an exhorter, and in the absence 
of any other known or imaginable consideration for which the 
inhabitants could have so bound themselves to keep his land 
inclosed, it seems reasonable to infer that it was done in return 
for his services as a religious teacher among them, during that 
interval of five years or more, while they were without a regular 
minister. 

ATTEMPTS TO GET A PASTOR. 

But the town in the meantime did not abate their efforts to 
secure a resident minister. In the spring of 1646 an invitation 
was given to Mr. Nathaniel Norcross, a young clergyman and " an 
university scholar," to settle over the church ; and on May 25, of 
that 3'ear, it was agreed that Edward Hilton and Thomas King 
should purchase Mr. Wheelwright's house and land, in the town's 
behalf, for Mr. Norcross. Sixteen of the principal citizens entered 
into a written agreement to be responsible to the purchasers for 
the price paid, in case the town should fail to fully reimburse 
them. But Mr. Norcross did not accept the proposal. Possibly 
he may have been deterred by the divisions which still continued 
among the people. 

Those divisions were the subject of a petition presented the 
succeeding year to the Massachusetts General Court, the great 
tribunal for the redress of all grievances, civil and ecclesiastical ; 
and the following order was passed in response thereto : 

In answer to the petition of some of Exeter the court think 
meet that Mr. Ezekiel Rogers, Mr. Nathaniel Rogers and Mr. 
Norton be requested by this court and authorized to examine the 



158 HISTOEY OF EXETER. 

grounds of the complaiiit, and, if it may be, to compose things 
amongst them ; wliich if they cannot do, tlien to certify to this 
court what they find, and also think best to be done, which may 
conduce to peace and the continuance of the ordinances amongst 
them. 

No record is found of the doings of the committee under this 
order, but the people of Exeter were sufficiently united, November 
16, 1648, to join in a call to the Rev. William Tompson of 
Braintree, " a worthy servant of Christ," to become their minis- 
ter. And it was voted that "in case he could be attained to 
come," he should be allowed by the town tliirt}^ pounds a year, 
and the profits that should accrue to the town from the saw-mill, 
and the use of the house and land which were purchased of Mr. 
Wheelwright, so long as he continued with them as a minister. 
Christopher Lawson, Edward Gilman and John Legat were 
appointed to present the offer to him ; and if he declined it, to 
invite some other person, with the counsel and advice of the elders 
of Boston, Charlestown and Roxbury. 

j\Ir. Tompson did not see fit to accept the call, and the town 
voted April 22, 1649, to invite Mr. Joseph Emerson of Rowley, 
to come to Exeter and be the minister there ; but they met with 
no better success in this, than in their preceding applications. 

MR. DUDLEY EXGAGED. 

But at length their persistent efforts to obtain a settled pastor 
were rewai'ded by a fortunate issue, in the engagement of the Rev. 
Samuel Dudley. In anticipation of his coming and to provide 
means for his support, the town by its officers and leading citizens, 
on the twenty-second of April, 1650, established this order: 

Every inhabitant of the town shall pay for every thousand of 
pipe staves he makes, two shillings, which shall be for the mainten- 
ance of the ministry ; and for every thousand of hogshead staves, 
one shilling sixpence ; and for every thousand of bolts sold before 
they be made into staves, four shillings ; and what is due from 
the saw-mills shall also be for the maintenance of the ministry. 

It is ordered that after the publication hereof any man that shall 
deliver any staves or bolts before they have satisfied the town 
orders, they shall pay ten shillings for every thousand staves, and 
twenty shillings for every thousand bolts. 

And on the thirteenth of INIay, 1650, the following agreement 
was executed between a committee of the town and Mr. Dudley, 
defining the terms of his settlement : 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 159 

It is unanimously agreed upon b}' INIr. Samuel Dudley and the 
town of Exeter that Mr. Dudley is forthwith so soon as comforta- 
ble subsistence can be made by the town for him and his family in 
the house which was purchased of Mr. Wheelwright, that then the 
said Mr. Dudley is to come to inhabit at Exeter and to be a minis- 
ter of God's word unto us, until such time as God shall be pleased 
to make way for the gathering of a church, and then he to be 
ordained our pastor or teacher according to the ordinance of God. 
And in consideration of this promise of Mr. Dudley, the town 
doth mutually agree to fit up the aforesaid house and to fence in a 
yard and garden for the said Mr. Dudley, and to allow forty 
pounds a year towards the maintenance of the said Mr. Dudley 
and his family ; and that the use and sole improvement of the 
aforesaid house bought of Mr. Wheelwright, and all the lands and 
meadows thereunto belonging, shall be to the proper use of him 
the said Mr. Dudley, during the time that he shall continue to be 
a minister of the word amongst us. And what cost the said Mr. 
Dudley shall bestow about the said house and lauds in the time of 
his improvement, the town is to allow unto him or his, so much 
as the said house or lands are bettered by it, at the tune of the 
said Mr. Dudley's leaving of it either by death or by some more 
than ordinary call of God otherwise. And it is further agreed 
upon that the old cow-house, which was Mr. Wheelwright's, shall 
by the town be fixed up fit for the setting of cattle in, and that 
the aforesaid pay of £40 a year is to be made in good pay every 
half year, in corn and English commodities at a price current, as 
they go generally in the country at the time or times of payment. 

To the premises which concern myself I consent unto. Witness 
my hand. 

Sam : Dudley. 

And for the town's performance of this part of this aforesaid 
agreement we whose names are hereunder written do jointly and 
severally engage ourselves to Mr. Dudley. AVitness our hands. 

Edward Hilton, 
Edward Gilman, 
John Legate, 
Hexry Roby, 
» James AVall, 

Humphrey Wilson. 

The people of Exeter were fortunate in indacing Mr. Dudley to 
cast his lot with them, A son of Governor Thomas Dudley, and 



ir,0 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

son-in-law of Governor John Winthrop, he had acquahitance and 
influence with the principal characters of the Massachusetts Bay. 
He was born in England about the year 1610, and passed the first 
twenty years of his life there, in the society of people of intelligence 
and position. Though not bred at the university, his education 
had not been neglected, and as early as 1637 he was spoken of as 
qualified for the clerical office, and in 1649 is said to have preached 
at Portsmouth, though it is not known that he was settled in the 
ministry before he came to Exeter. For the preceding twelve 
years he had resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts, where he hatl 
repeatedly served as a delegate to the General Court, and for two 
years had held the office of Assistant. It is evident that such a 
man was a great acquisition to the little community of Exeter. 

The language of Mr. Dudley's contract implies that the church 
which was formed in Wheelwright's time had, in the seven years 
when it was destitute of a regular pastor, lost its organization. 
Whether the wished for opportunity for gathering a new church 
occurred during Mr. Dudley's ministry, the books of the town 
afford us no information. 

On the twenty-sixth of June, 1650, it was ordered by the town 
that Francis Swain have twenty shillings for his pains and time 
" in going into the Bay to receive Mr. Dudley his pay." This un- 
doubtedly refers to that clause of Mr. Dudley's contract which 
provided that his salary might be paid in " English commodities." 
Those were only to be procured from some trader in '• the Bay," 
as Massachusetts was commonly called ; and, no doubt, Mr. 
Swain had been employed by the town to make inquiry there for 
some person who was willing to exchange those commodities for 
lumber or such other products as the town could furnish. 

It tells well for the zeal and energy of the new minister of 
Exeter that in six weeks from the time of his settlement, he in- 
duced the people to pass a vote to build a new meeting-house. It 
was on the same twenty-sixth of June, 1650, and was in these 
terms : 

Its agreed that a meeting-house shall be built, of twenty foot 
square, so soon as workmen can conveniently be procured to do 
it, and the place appointed for it is at the corner of William 
Taylor's lot next the street, and William Taylor is to have of the 
town 20 s. for five rods square of his laud in that place. 

This location was undoubtedly upon the elevation on the western 
side of the salt river afterwards known as "meeting-house hill." 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 161 

It is in the northerly skirt of the present village, near where Sum- 
mer street unites with the road to Newmarket. There is little 
question, too, that an earlier place of worship had been situated 
near the same spot, probably a little northwesterly of it, sur- 
rounded, in the English fashion of the time, by a yard for the 
burial of the dead. On December 29, 1651, the town gave Mr. 
Dudley liberty to fence "the piece of ground where the graves 
are, and to have the use of it for grazing or feeding of cattle 
whilst he stays in Exeter, but not to break up the said land." 
Uniform tradition points out this spot as the earliest churchyard. 
The surface of the ground is covered with clay, and is now 
utilized for the manufacture of drain tiles. There was formerly a 
brick-yard there. From time to time the decayed remains of 
human bones have been exhumed from the soil, which gave occa- 
sion for the remark, respecting a certain brick house erected in 
the town a couple of generations ago, that it was "built from the 
dust of our ancestors ! " 

No doubt even the light burden which the town had assumed in 
their contract with their minister weighed somewhat heavily upon 
some of the poor parishioners, for an order was agreed upon, 
December 5, 1650, that the townsmen should have power to 
"make a rate upon all such of the inhabitants of the town as do 
not voluntarily bring in according to their abilities, for the satis- 
fying of the town's engagement unto Mr. Dudley for his main- 
tenance." 

On the same day the town authorized Francis Swain or Henry 
Roby, if they could, to bargain with some able merchant in the 
Bay, to furnish Mr. Dudley, in exchange for hogshead and pipe 
staves, forty pounds' worth of good English commodities, in the 
following May, for his year's maintenance. 

Before Mr. Dudley had lived a year in the town he had so won 
the favor and confidence of his people, that they volunteered to 
defend his reputation when it was assailed by the tongue of slander. 
On the nineteenth of February, 1651, they authorized "the present 
townsmen, Henry Roby, Thomas King and John Legate, to vindi- 
cate the credit and reputation of Mr. Dudley against the reproach- 
ful speeches and calumniation of John Garland, by proceeding 
against him in law, according to the demerit of his [offence]." 
This John Garland had, a few months before, been accused of 
taking the town's timber as an inhabitant, without sufficient war- 
rant. It is not at all unlikely that Mr. Dudley, who stood up 
u 



162 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

manfully for the rights of his parishioners, was forward in making 
the accusation, and thus incurred the ill-will and "reproachful 
speeches" of his defamer. It is not known that a suit was 
brought ; but is more probable that the slanders were retracted 
and apologies made. 

On the first of September, 1651, it was determined that John 
Warren should ' ' go into the Bay to receive the town's pay of Mr. 
Kimball for Mr. Dudley." The repeated negotiations for the 
forty pounds' worth of English commodities had, therefore, been 
brought to a successful termination. 

NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP. 

The meeting-house, which was resolved upon more than a year 
previously, was not yet built, but it was now voted to complete 
it, by the primitive expedient of requiring all the inhabitants to 
contribute their personal labor for the purpose. The order was 
passed September 1, 1651, as follows: 

That the meeting-house shall begin to be built upon the next 
second day [Monday], and a rate to be made how much work 
every man shall do towards it, and so be called forth to work 
upon it by Thomas King and John Legate, as need shall require ; 
that the work be not neglected till it be finished ; and that every 
man that neglects to come to work upon a day's warning shall 
pay 5 shillings the day, to be forthwith seized by the constable. 

In spite of this peremptory vote, however, the meeting-house 
was not erected, nor apparently even begun, for more than three- 
fourths of a year afterwards. 

The following order was therefore passed, July 8, 1652 : 

It is ordered that a meeting-house shall forthwith be built, and 
that every man, both servants as well as others, shall come forth 
to work upon it, as they are called out by the surveyors of the 
work, upon the penalty of 5 s. a day for their neglect ; and 
teams are to be brought forth to the work by the owners, as they 
are called for by the said surveyors, upon the penalty of 10 s. a 
day for their neglect. And the surveyors or overseers appointed 
for the said work are Mr. Edward Oilman, Thomas King and 
Edward Hilton, Jr., and they are to see the work finished and not 
to have it neglected. 



"O* 



There is little doubt that this attempt proved successful, and 
that the meeting-house was substantially completed within the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 163 

year. On the twenty-third of October, 1652, John Robhison and 
John Gihnan were chosen as overseers of work on the nieeting- 
honse in place of Edward Gihnan aud Edward Hilton, the former 
of whom was about to sail for England, and the latter was im- 
mersed in his private business ; and in August of the year follow- 
ing, a return of commissioners appointed by the General Court of 
Massachusetts to lay out the western bounds of Hampton, refers 
to the "Exeter meeting-house" as an accomplished fact. It is, 
however, a pathetic illustration of the narrow resources and pov- 
erty of the early settlers, that though their purpose was to build 
merely the most primitive structure, only twenty feet in extent, 
probably of squared logs, and furnished with rude benches of 
boards as they came from the saw-mill, yet in order to accomplish 
it, they were obliged to impress the services of every inhabitant 
aud servant, and to occupy more than two years of time. The 
poor building, however, with some additions, had to serve them 
as a place of worship for over forty years. 

DIFFICULTY OF PAYING SALARY. 

The task of raising Mr. Dudley's stipend was found no easy 
one. Not every person who had the means, had also the disposi- 
tion to contribute. Captain Thomas Wiggin, as has been else- 
where stated, resided in what was known as the Squamscot patent, 
which was not within any township. He was, however, presuma- 
bly a member of Mr. Dudley's congregation, being rated as such. 
But he was not prompt in paying his rates, and on the fifteenth 
of December, 1653, the town voted that "the selectmen have 
power to take some course with Captain Wiggin about Mr. Dudley's 
rate, as they shall see meet." How the captain adjusted the 
matter at the time is unknown ;* but a few years afterwards, on 
May 6, 1657, he induced the General Court of Massachusetts to 
pass an act making his house and property taxable in the town of 
Hampton. This gave him such vantage ground over the people 
of Exeter that they could not take any legal "course " with him, 
however delinquent he might prove ; and they were fain to resort 
to negotiation. On March 4, 1658, they empowered Mr. Dudley 
and Mr. [Edward] Hilton "to treat with Captain Wiggin, and to 
agree with him what annual payment he is to make to the town 



* As the captain was a large holder of land, it is possible that be turned over to the 
town some tracts of it, to balance the account. The town certainly received from 
him certain "land and meadow," for which no other consideration is known. 



164 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

towards bearing the charges of the public ministry." Thereafter, 
of course, the captain paid no more than he chose to pay. But 
this episode has carried us a little in advance of our main story. 

After the expiration of five years the charge of maintaining a 
minister was found almost too onerous for the town, which had 
lost some of its inhabitants, and was otherwise incapacitated, and 
on June 13, 165o, a new agreement was made with Mr. Dudley 
to this effect : 

By reason of the town's decreasing and other disabilities, the 
town cannot well bear the burden of pa^^ing him forty pounds a 
year as their minister, and he is not willing to urge from them 
what they could not comfortably discharge, therefore, the contract 
between them, recorded on the town books, is annulled, and he 
lays down his place as a minister ; and what exercises he shall 
perform on the Sabbath day he does as a private person ; for the 
present summer he promises to perform them constantly ; after- 
wards he is to be at liberty. But so long as he continues at Exeter 
he promises to be helpful, what he may with convenience, either 
in his own house or some other which may be appointed for the 
Sabbath exercises. 

The inhabitants of the town have sold Mr. Dudley that dwelling 
house wherein he lives, cow-house, house lot and meadow with the 
commonage and the appurtenances for which he pays fifty pounds, 
twenty of which being half of the rate due him the present year ; 
fifteen for which the town is behindhand for former rates ; and 
fifteen pounds ' ' in respect of what labor shall be performed this 
present summer." 

And should said Dudley remove his family from the town he 
promises to offer the said premises to the town for the same price 
of fifty pounds to be paid in corn, and English goods, or in neat 
cattle at an appraisal ; and in case of his decease his family may 
occupy the premises for a year and then the town shall have the 
said offer. 

Said Dudley wUl require nothing of the town for what pains he 
shall take in performing Sabbath exercises after this summer. 

Any cost or charge laid out upon the house by said Dudley after 
he pays for it, shall be reimbursed to him to the extent of the 
additional value thereof, in case of purchase by the town. 
The contract signed by Samuel Dudley, 

JoHK Oilman, ") 

Thomas Pettit, I ^*^^' *^^® 

^\T TIT • town. 

W illiam Moore, j 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 165 

In the following spring the people made a new attempt to insure 
a suitable support to their minister. On the twenty-eighth of 
April, 1656, it was agreed that for the maintenance of the public 
ordinances, all the saw-mills belonging to the town should be 
rated, as follows : the old mill upon the fall, seven pounds ; Hum- 
phrey Wilson's mill, seven pounds ; the new mill of John Gilman, 
six pounds ; Mr. Hilton's mill, five pounds. Those who made 
pipe staves should pay three shillings a thousand, and those who 
made barrel staves two shillings a thousand therefor ; all for the 
maintenance of the ministry. And in case any maker should send 
away any staves without acquainting the town therewith, he 
should forfeit to the town ten shillings for every thousand so sent 
away. In consideration of the saw-mills being so rated, they were 
to be freed from the rate which they formerly were to pay the 
town ; " but when the ministry faileth, the old covenant to be of 
force." 

FEA.RS OF LOSING MU. DUDLEY. 

In the autumn of the same year the people of Portsmouth made 
an attempt, in which they were nearly successful, to induce Mr. 
Dudley to quit Exeter and settle in that place. They voted, on 
the twenty-seventh of October, to give him an invitation . to be 
their minister, and to pay him a salary of eighty pounds a year. 
Their selectmen were appointed a committee to present him the 
vote, and to close a contract with him. On November 10 they 
waited upon him and acquainted him with the proposal. 

He is said to have acceded to it, and agreed to visit them the 
next spring. But the prospect of losing their minister stimulated 
the people of Exeter to renewed exertions to retain him. This is 
the record of their action : 

At a full town meeting in this place legally warned the 8 day of 
June 1657, it was ordered and agreed that so long as Mr. Dudley 
shall be a minister in the town, the town is to pay him fifty 
pounds yearly in merchantable pine boards and in merchantable 
pipe staves at the current price ; if the boards and staves do not 
reach the said sum, the remainder to be paid in merchantable corn. 
Furthermore the dwelling house, house lots and other lots and the 
meadow on the west side of the Exeter river, all formerly Mr. 
Wheelwright's, shall be confirmed unto Mr. Dudley, his heirs and 
assigns from this time forever, notwithstanding any promise or 
engagement to the contrary. 

The selectmen of the town shall yearly, as aforesaid, gather up 
the said sum, and in case they be defective herein, to be answer- 



166 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

able to the town for their default, and to pay themselves what is 
not gathered up by them. 

This last provision certainly indicates that the office of select- 
man, in the olden time, was no sinecure ! The action of the town, 
however, induced Mr. Dudley to forego any design he may have 
had of leaviuo" Exeter, and he was content to accept the smaller 
stipend and continue among his old parishioners. The people 
were not ungrateful, as the numerous grants of lands and privi- 
leges from time to time made him by the town bear testimony. 
And that they had implicit confidence in his integrity may be 
gathered from the final proviso in the following resolution, passed 
in town meeting March 4, 1658 : 

It was granted to Samuel Dudley that tract of land between 
Griffin Mountague's house lot and Mr. Stanyan's creek, lying all 
on the right hand of the path next to the river, upon consideration 
of drawing out all the grants in the town book or any other neces- 
sary orders contained in the same, which grants or orders are to 
be fairly written ; provided that if there be any grant or order 
recorded formerly in any town book to hinder this grant, then this 
grant to Samuel Dudley to be of no effect, otherwise to stand in 
force. 

From time to time, afterwards, orders were adopted by the 
town for the purpose of facilitating the collection of Mr. Dudley's 
salary. 

On the twenty-eighth of March, 1662, it was ordered that for 
every thousand of heading and barrel staves that were got out, 
there should be eighteen pence allowed to the town's use, " that 
is, to the ministry." 

On the twenty-fifth of April, 1664, it was voted that Captain 
John Clark's mill should pay five pounds annually to the public 
ministry. 

And on the same day it was determined that " a lean-to " should 
be added to the meeting-house, with a chimney, which should 
serve as a watch-house. 

A lean-to, in the parlance of the time, was an addition, usually 
of one room, with a single sloping roof, like a shed, such as used 
to be often attached to the rear of old-fashioned houses. 

On the fifteenth of March, 1668, it was voted that Lieutenant 
Ralph Hall have full power given him to arrest and sue any inhab- 
itants who refused to pay to the rate of the ministry, which he was 
authorized to gather up or to collect by distraint. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 167 

On the tenth of July, 1671, it was ordered that " instead of the 
selectmen gathering np the minister's rate, Mr. Dudley is from 
this time forward to gather up his rate himself, and instead of £40 
yearly as heretofore, there is now granted to him £60 in such kind 
of pay as hath been formerly agreed of." The selectmen were to 
make the rate yearly, and in case any inhabitant should refuse to 
pay his rate, the selectmen were to empower Mr. Dudley to " get 
it by the constable." 

Matters were now so well arranged between parson and people 
that no further action of the town appears to have been necessary 
for a considerable period. But only five years after the last entry, 
a most surprising and unaccountable thing was done at the Hamp- 
ton court ; the town of Exeter was presented for ' ' letting their 
meeting-house lie open and common for cattle to go into," and the 
selectmen were ordered under a penalty of five pounds to cleanse 
the house, and have the doors hung, and shut tight, etc. This 
accusation has a formidable sound, and on the face of it would 
convey the impression that the town was guilty of gross negli- 
gence, nearly approaching to sacrilege. But that cannot be 
believed of a people who were maintaining at no small cost, a 
minister of high character and much energy and influence. It 
would rather seem to be the result of an accident of a day, exag- 
gerated to the court by some malicious mischief-maker. Those 
were days of few door fastenings, and of many indictments. 
Nothing further being heard of the present case, it is to be pre- 
sumed that all suitable amends were made for the misadventure, 
whatever it might have been. 

Two years after this, on the first of April, 1678, Jonathan 
Thing, John Folsom, Jr., Jonathan Robinson and Theophilus 
Dudley were chosen tithing men ; the first instance of the election 
of such officers in the town, so far as the records show. 

On the eighteenth of February, 1679, the following order was 
made by the selectmen, for the better accommodation of the 
church-goers : 

At the request of Jonathan Thing, Edward Oilman, Edward 
Smith, Peter Folsom, Nathaniel Ladd, Moses Leavitt, for the 
erecting of a gallery at the end of the men's gallery, for their 
wives, it is granted unto them the privilege thereof, provided they 
build the same upon their own charge, leaving also room to build 
another end gallery if the same be required. Also, the gallery 
wherein Edward Smith, Biley Dudley, Edward Oilman and the 



168 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

rest do sit in, and have upon theii- own proper charges built, we 
do further confirm and allow of. 

The " other end gallery" was soon required. On the second of 
July, 1680, the north end of the meeting-house was granted to 
Mrs. Sarah Wadleigh, Sarah Young, Alice Gilman, Abigail Wad- 
leigh, Ephraim Marston's wife, Grace Gilman and Mary Lawrence, 
"there to erect and set up another gallery adjoining the other 
women's." 

Thus it appears that the little meeting-house of twenty feet 
square, which had been outwardly enlarged by the addition of a 
lean-to with a chimney, had had its interior capacity increased by 
two galleries, and was now about to receive a third. This denotes 
not only a larger population, but surely no diminution of religious 
interest. 

In the year 1680 the town passed out of the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts, under the newly established royal pro\incial gov- 
ernment of New Hampshire. The most notable effect which the 
change produced in parochial affairs, was to make the minister's 
rate payable on the twentieth of March, instead of one month 
later, as before. 

DEATH OF MR. DUDLEY. 

There was no \dsible sign of failure of the powers, physical or 
mental, of Mr. Dudley, as he drew on to old age. When he was 
sixty-nine, he was appointed upon a committee for the equal dis- 
tribution of the town lands, a duty which no feeble man would 
have been selected to perform. And during the four years of life 
which still remained to him, we do not learn that his natural force 
had abated, or that he failed to minister acceptably to the wants 
of his people. He died in Exeter on the tenth of February, 1683, 
at the age of seventy-three years. 

In his death the people of the town suffered a serious loss. He 
had become to them, in his thirty-three years of service, much 
more than a religious teacher. He was an important member of 
the civil community, an intelligent farmer, a considerable mill 
owner, a sound man of business, and the legal adviser and scrive- 
ner of the entire people. The town intrusted him with its 
important aft'airs, and he in return was the stanch defender of its 
interests. It is true that he always had a sharp eye to his own 
advantage, but he had a large family to provide for, and he was 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 1G9 

never accused of wrong or dishonesty. He was a gentleman of 
" good capacity and learning " in his profession, and a sincere and 
useful minister. Fortunate was it for Exeter that in its feeble 
stage it was favored with the counsel and example of a man of 
such goodness, and wisdom and practical sagacity. 

Mr. Dudley's remains rest in the neglected burying-ground just 
south of the gas-house, on "Water street, and, no doubt, beneath 
a stone slab from which the inscription-plate has disappeared. 

He was thrice married, first in 1632 or '33, to Mary, the 
daughter of Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts, who died 
in about ten years ; second, to Mary Byley of Salisbury, who died 
in Exeter about a year after her husband was settled there ; and 
third, to Elizabeth, whose famUy name is not known. He had 
children by each marriage, and in all ten sons and eight daughters, 
five or six of whom died before reaching maturity. But several 
of each were married, and lived in Exeter, and their descendants 
are still numerous in the vicinit3^ 

For several years after the decease of Mr. Dudley, the town was 
without a settled pastor. The records are wanting between 1682 
and the latter part of 1689, and no tradition has survived to tell 
us what religious privileges were within the reach of the inhabi- 
tants during that period. But it is not to be supposed that a 
people who had recently provided increased accommodations in 
their meeting-house would long permit them to go unimproved. It 
is altogether probable that temporary engagements were made with 
such clergymen as could be procured, to perform clerical duty. 
From outside sources we learn that in the latter part of 1684 the 
Rev. John Cotton, son of the Rev. Seaborn Cotton of Hampton, 
was li^ang, and officiating, in a ministerial capacity, in Exeter, 
but how long he continued there, we cannot ascertain. From 
that time forward we have no definite information, until October 
6, 1690, when the town 

Voted, That Elder William Wentworth is to be treated with for 
his continuance with us in the work of the ministry in this town 
for one complete year ensuing. The men chosen to treat with him 
are Biley Dudley, Kinsley Hall and Moses Leavitt. 

William Wentworth, when just arrived at man's estate, was one 
of the original settlers of Exeter. After a residence there of five 
years, he quitted the place, in company with Mr. Wheelwright, 
and tarried a while in Wells, and then established his permanent 



170 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

home ill Dover. There he had become a leading elder in the 
church. And now, after near half a century's absence, he was 
called back to the scene of his earliest American experience, to 
occupy the honorable and responsible post of religious teacher. 
How long he had already so officiated in Exeter we have not the 
data to determine, but as he was to be employed to " continue " his 
work there, it is clear that this was not the beginning of it. Nor 
was it the end ; for on October 6, 1691, William Moore and Peter 
Coffin were chosen to treat with Elder Wentworth to supply and 
carry on the work of the ministry in the town the ensuing year ; 
and on March 30, 1693, after having voted that the salary payable 
to the minister shall be accounted a necessary town charge, the 
town agreed with Mr. William Wentworth " to supply and perform 
the office of a minister one whole year, if he be able ; and if per- 
formed, the town do promise to pay him the sum of forty pounds 
in current pa^^, or proportionable to any part of the year." 

But Mr. Wentworth had reached the age of seventy-eight years, 
and, though his life was still somewhat further prolonged, he had 
probably become unable, by reason of natural infirmities, to 
comply with their proposal. It soon became necessary, therefore, 
to look elsewhere for a minister. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST SOCIETY AND ITS OFFSHOOTS. 

The first step which the town took for the purpose of finding a 
suitable minister was highly characteristic of the simplicity of 
the times and of the deference then paid to the judgment of the 
clergy. On the twenty-third of June, 1693, John Oilman and 
Biley Dudley were selected in behalf of the town "to go to the 
neighboring ministers and take their advice for a meet person to 
suppW the office of the ministry in the town of Exeter." 

In less than three months the desired person was found, and 
on the eighteenth of September, John Oilman, Peter Coffin and 
Robert Wadleigh were appointed to "treat with Mr. John Clark, 
and procure him to come to this town to be our minister." A 
month later, it was voted to empower the same committee to 
" agree with Rev. John Clark to be our iiiinister, and what salary 
they do agree with him for the first half year, the town do engage 
to pay." 

There is every reason to believe that Mr. Clark was at once 
engaged, and that he performed satisfactorily his clerical functions 
in Exeter during the stipulated six months ; for at the end of that 
period, on the twentieth of April, 1694, the town began to take 
measures for securing a parsonage. 

Peter Coffin, Robert Wadleigh and Richard Hilton were chosen 
in behalf of the town to treat with and buy from Captain John 
Oilman, Moses Oilman, Sr., Humphrey Wilson, Samuel Leavitt, 
John Folsom, Peter Folsom, Jonathan Thing and John Wadleigh, 
' ' a certain house and land lying and being near unto the present 
meeting-house, and to be improved by the town for the use and 
benefit of the ministry of the town for the time being ; and what 
they agree therefor, the town will pay by way of rate upon the 
inhabitants, as the law directs ; and the committee is empowered 
to finish the house and make it habitable for the minister forth- 
with, and to repair the fences about the land, and to inquire the 

171 



172 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

expense of redeeming the marsh at Wheelwright's creek, common- 
ly called the town marsh ; and whatever the committee jndge to 
be due for the premises to report to the selectmen, and they to 
make rate for the same upon the inhabitants." 

A later record, however, renders it unlikely that the authorized 
purchase was ever made. The house referred to was situated near 
" the present meeting-house ;" but it was soon after determined 
to build a new place of worship, which the town located at quite 
a distance from the former ; and in view of that contingency the 
committee very probably thought the selection of a parsonage 
were better postponed. 

On the twenty-fifth of April, 1695, the town gave authority to 
the selectmen to make a " Ratt (rate) for the use of the ministry 
according to the province law." 

A NEW MEETING— HOUSE. 

In the following January the important question of erecting a 
new house of worship was mooted ; and at a town meeting held 
on the twentieth day of that month, after debate in the matter, 
the major part of the freeholders of the town voted that there was 
great need to build a meeting-house, "where the worship and 
service of God may be performed, and that the same should be 
erected on the hill between the great fort and Nat. Folsom's 
barn." Peter Coffin, Samuel Leavitt and Moses Leavitt were 
appointed building committee. 

This location was upon the little elevation on which the First 
church now stands. Old residents remember that there was for- 
merly more of an ascent than now from the street to the church, 
which has been diminished, perhaps, by the continual raising of 
the grade of the road-bed and the sidewalk. 

It was afterwards ordered that Captain Coffin should keep the 
account of the inhabitants' labor upon the meeting-house, and 
that men should have but three shillings a day for their work, and 
lads what the committee should order. 

The meeting-house was completed in due time, and was, of 
course, much more spacious than the little building which it super- 
seded. It stood, perhaps, a little nearer to the street than the 
present First church, and had doors at the east and west ends, the 
pulpit on the north side, and stau-s leading to a women's gallery 
on the south side. Round the walls were erected the pews, the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 173 

privilege of which was purchased by the well-to-do worshippers, 
and the middle space was probably occupied with benches. These 
latter seats were public property, aud were assigned to the mem- 
bers of the congregation who had no pews, according to seniority 
and social position, probably, by a committee chosen for the 
purpose. 

On the seventh of December, 1696, the new structure was so 
far completed that the first assemblage of the town for business 
purposes was held in it ; when Joseph Smith of Hampton and 
John March of Greenland ( ?) were chosen to decide the contro- 
versy among the inhabitants about "seating" the meeting-house, 
that is, designating the seats to be occupied by the several families 
and individuals of the congregation who had not pews. It was 
a difiicult and delicate task to give to every one just the place to 
which he considered himself entitled, and the referees were author- 
ized to select an umpire in case they could not agree. And in 
order that they might have the assistance of persons acquainted 
with the standing and claims of all the parties interested, the town 
appointed Peter Coffin, Moses Leavitt, Theophilus Dudley and 
William Moore, to meet the referees and " lay the case before 
them," within sixteen days. 

But seating the meeting-house was apparently no easy matter, 
for it was not until more than a year had passed that the business 
was finally settled. At a town meeting held February 3, 1698, it 
was voted that "the new meeting-house should be seated by the 
committee now chosen, William Moore, John Smart, Biley Dud- 
ley, Kinsley Hall, Samuel Leavitt and Moses Leavitt, and they 
have full power to seat the people in their places, and to grant 
places for pews to whom they seem meet ; and those men that 
have places for pews shall sit in them with their families, and 
' not be seated nowhere else.' " 

And on the same day the committee assigned places for pews 
to the following persons : 

To Kinsley Hall, his wife and five children, at the west door. 

To Moses Leavitt and his family, at the left hand of said Hall's 
pew. 

To Edward Hilton, for himself and wife, and son Winthrop, and 
his wife and two daughters, Mary and Sobriety, on the north side 
of the meeting-house joining to the pulpit and Moses Leavitt's 
pew. 

To Richard Hilton, for himself, and wife and four children, his 
mother and sister Rebecca, on the north side of the meeting-house 
joining to the parsonage pew. 



174 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

To Mr. [Humphrey] Wilson and his wife, and his son Thomas, 
and two daughters, Martlia Wilson and Mary, and Elizabeth 
Gilman, joining to Richard Hilton's pew on the east side of the 
meeting-house. 

To Nicholas Gilman and his wife, and John Gilman, and 
Alice and Catharine Gilman, joining to Mr. Wilson's pew and 
the east door. 

To Captain Robert Wadleigh and his wife, and his son Jona- 
than Wadleigh, at the south side of the meeting-house joining to 
the women's stairs. 

To Robert Cottin and his wife, and Elizabeth Coffin, and the 
widow Coffin and her children, joining to Captain Wadleigh's 
pew. 

To Jeremiah Gilman and his family, joining to the south door. 

To Simon Wiggiu and his family, joining to Jeremiah Gilman's 
pew. 

In the meantime the new minister appears to have conducted in 
his office in a most discreet and satisfactory fashion, so that on 
November 4, 1697, the town gave him "one hundred acres of 
land upon the neck, provided he lives in the town ten years after 
this, and if he should die before the end of ten years, the laud to 
fall to his heirs." It was also voted to add ten pounds to his 
salary "if he take care of the parsonage [lands] and provide him- 
self with wood." And on March 28, 1698, the town voted that 
Mr. Clark ' ' be considered for what charge he be out upon the 
hundred acres of land, provided he be drowf (drove?) away out 
of town within seven years after the grant." 

On the twenty-sixth of August, 1698, this definite arrangement 
was made with Mr. Clark for his stipend : 

Whereas it was agreed with Rev. Mr. Clark that he should have 
60 1. salary, but now voted that he shall have 10 1. more to find 
him in firewood and keep the fences in repair, being 70 1. in all, 
together with use of parsonage lands and meadows. 

And at the same time : 

Voted, That a church be gathered, and Mr. Clark ordained Sep- 
tember 21, and a day of humiliation be held the 7 day of same 
mouth, aud Captain Peter Coffin, Captain [Kinsley] Hall and 
Theophilus Dudley were chosen to make provision for same. 

RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. 

Accordingly, on the day fixed, the young minister duly received 
ordination at the hands of several neighboring clergymen, and 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 175 

was placed in charge of the church, which had been re-organized 
on the Sunday preceding, when a covenant and confession of faith 
were subscribed by the following members : 

John Clark, pastor Peter Coffin 

John Oilman William ^Nloore 

Thomas Wiggin Kinsley Hall. 

Nicholas Oilman Eichard Glidden 

Theophilus Dudley Elizabeth Oilman 

Samuel Leavitt Elizabeth Clark 

Byley Dudley Judith Wilson 

Moses Leavitt ■Margaret Bean 

John Folsom Sarah Dudley 

Henry Wadleigh Deborah S inkier 

Jonathan Robinson Deborah Coffin 

Thomas Dudley Sarah Sewell 

John Scrivener Mehitabel Smith 

There must have been an understanding that the town was also 
to furnish a habitation for the minister, which had not been com- 
plied with, since on the first of May, 1G99, it was voted to pay Mr. 
Clark one hundred pounds, in consideration that he relinquished 
his claim for a parsonage house during his life. 

The new church was not considered quite complete without 
some means of calling the congregation together, and on the fifth 
of September, 1699, it was voted that a bell should be bought of 
Mr. Coffin for the use of the town, and Henry Wadleigh and 
Samuel Thing were appointed to agree with him for it, and get it 
hung. From that time to the present, now nearly two hundred 
years, the summons to the inhabitants to assemble for public wor- 
ship on Sundays, and the proclamation of mid-day and of nine 
o'clock at night on every day of the year, have been rung out from 
the towers of the successive meeting-houses of the First church. 

The estimation in which Mr. Clark continued to be held by his 
people, is shown by a vote of the town, passed the first Monday 
of April, 1704, that his rate be made distinct by itself, and that a 
contribution be forthwith set up for him. The "contribution" is 
understood to mean a box for the offerings of casual attendants at 
church. Such gifts were termed " strangers' money," and the 
purpose of the town was to appropriate them to the benefit of the 
pastor. 

At the annual meeting of the town, on the first Monday of 
April, 1705, it was decided that the old meeting-house should be 



176 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

sold by the selectmen, and a school-honse built at the town's 
charge, and set below Jonathan Thing's house next the river. 



DEATH OF MR. CLARK. 

But on July 25, 1705, the connection so happily formed between 
the town and its minister was dissolved by his death, at the early 
age of thirty-five. Mr. Clark was a son of Nathaniel and Eliza- 
beth (Somersby) Clark of Newbury, Massachusetts, and was born 
January 24, 1670. He graduated from Harvard College at the age 
of twenty, and married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Benjamin 
Woodbridge of Medford, Massachusetts. Mrs. Clark's grand- 
mother was a sister of the Rev. Samuel Dudley, and Mr. Clark's 
widow married the Rev. John Odlin, and was the mother of the 
Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, both of Exeter ; so that the settled 
clergymen of the town from 1650 to 1776, more than a century 
and a quarter, were connected by the ties of blood or marriage. 

Mr. Clark left four children, and an estate appraised at about 
a thousand pounds, of which his "library of books" was valued 
at twenty pounds. He was a man of piety and much usefulness, 
and had evidently attached his people to him in an extraordinary 
degree. They paid to his widow the full amount of his salary, 
and erected a tomb over his remains at the expense of the town, 
and made repairs upon it, twenty years afterwards. His body 
reposes in the yard of the First church, and over it were inscribed 
these lines : 

A prophet lies under this stone, 
His words shall live, tho' he be gone. 

When preachers die what rules the pulpit gave 

Of living, are still preached from the grave. 

The faith and life which your dear Pastor taught 

Now in the grave with him, sirs, bury not. 

On the first of August, 1705, the town took the primary steps 
for finding a successor to the Rev. Mr. Clark, by appointing Peter 
Coffin, Samuel Leavitt and Moses Leavitt to " take care of the 
ministers who come to preach, till a day of humiliation, which was 
fixed for the last day of August, and to take advice of said minis- 
ters or of any whom they see good, where the town may be 
supplied with a minister suitable for the town." 

On the third of September, Samuel Leavitt, Moses Leavitt, 
Theophilus Dudley, Simon Wiggin, Richard Hilton and Jonathan 



HISTORY^OF EXETER. 177 

Thing were chosen a committee to provide preaching for three 
months ; and Nicholas Gilman and Jonathan Thing, to " give Mr. 
Adams, Mr. Whiting or Mr. Curwin (?) a call to carry on the 
work of the ministry among us ;" their time and expenses to be 
paid by the town. 

On the twelfth of November, 1705, Peter Coffin, Samuel Leavitt 
and Moses Leavitt were appointed a committee to call a minister, 
in order to a full settlement, if the town and said minister agree ; 
and at a town meeting on the first Monday of April, 1706, it was 
voted to give Mr. [John] Odlin a call "to carry on the work 
of the ministry in this town, and that the following persons be 
empowered to make full agreement with Mr. Odlin about salary 
and other things needful, viz. : Peter Coffin, Winthrop Hilton, 
Theophilus Dudley, Richard Hilton, Samuel Leavitt, Moses 
Leavitt, Simon AViggiu, David Lawrence, Theophilus Smith and 
Samuel Thing." 



ENGAGEJIENT OF MR. JOHN ODLIX. 

The committee agreed with Mr. Odlin that he should receive 
seventy pounds a year salary, with the use of the parsonage lands 
and meadow, and the "strangers' contribution money," and two 
hundred acres of land on the commons, and one hundred pounds 
besides, in three payments within one year ; also five pounds 
yearly for wood, " if the town see it convenient." And on the 
next annual meeting on the first Monday of April, 1707, it was 
voted that " the contribution be set up, and begin next Sabbath, 
and the inhabitants to paper their mone3's with their names upon 
the paper ; and they that don't paper, it shall be accounted 
strangers' money." 

The Rev. Mr. Odlin was ordained over the society on the 
twelfth of November, 1706, being then in the twenty-fourth year 
of his age. As he had on the twenty-first of the preceding Octo- 
ber married Mrs. Elizabeth Clark, the widow of his predecessor, 
it is probable that he had preached in Exeter for some time before. 
For some years after his settlement, very little appears upon the 
records in relation to parochial affairs ; evidence that minister and 
people were well satisfied with one another. 

At the annual town meeting in 1711, it was determined that the 
minister's rate be made single by itself, for time to come ; and in 
1713 ten pounds were added to Mr. Odlin's salary, making it 

12 



178 HISTOEY OF EXETER. 

eighty pounds a year. Again in 1718 the town voted another 
increase of ten pounds to Mr. Odlin's salary, and the selectmen 
were empowered to make a rate for the same. There were two 
very good reasons for these increments of salary ; first, the 
enlargement of the minister's family by the birth of four or five 
children, and second, the introduction of paper currency, which 
raised the prices of the necessaries of life. The latter cause went 
on increasing, as we shall see later, for a generation and more. 

In 1720 the town voted to add still another ten pounds to Mr. 
Odlin's salary ; in 1722 to make the minister's rate by itself, to be 
paid in cash, and that the selectmen raise money to repair the 
meeting-house, what is necessary; and in 1725 voted another 
increase of twenty pounds to the salary. 

PARISH OF NEWMARKET SET OFF. 

Up to the 3'ear 1727 the whole township of Exeter was a single 
parish. Its dianensions, if it had been a perfect square, would 
have been more than nine miles on every side. The labors of the 
minister, in performing his pastoral duties throughout such an 
extent of territory, must have been extremely arduous ; while the 
scattered inhabitants in the more distant parts of the town were 
often deprived of the privilege of attending religious worship. It 
is not strange, therefore, that the little communities of outlying 
inhabitants, as soon as they were strong enough to maintain min- 
isters for themselves, desired to be cut loose from the mother 
parish. But as the law then stood, all residents in a town were 
liable to taxation to support the established ministry in it, unless 
they were released from the obligation by the consent of a majority 
of the inhabitants, or by a legislative enactment. 

The first part of old Exeter to ask a separation for parochial 
purposes, was the northeastern quarter, the territory which now 
constitutes in the main, the towns of Newmarket and South New- 
market. A petition for that object, subscribed by upwards of 
thirty of the residents of that section, was in the early part of the 
year 1727 presented to the selectmen; and at a meeting of the 
town held on the ninth of October, 1727, it was 

Voted, That the petitioners of the north part of the town (being 
more than 30 in number) shall be set off to be a parish by them- 
selves, and bounded as follows : beginning at the south side of 
Major Nicholas Oilman's farm, next to the town, beginning at the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 179 

salt river and from thence to run a cross northwest line 4 miles 
into the woods, and from thence to run a north and by east line 
while it comes to Dover line, and so bounding upon Dover line 
east and by north to the extent of the town's bounds, and so 
bounding upon the salt water to the bounds first mentioned ; pro- 
vided that the above said parisli do settle an orthodox minister and 
do pay the minister themselves at their own charge, that then the 
said new parish shall be excused from paying to the ministry of 
the old parish. 

The new parish, which received the name of Newmarket, was 
incorporated December 15, 1727. But apparently it was not till 
more than five years afterwards, that it was fully emancipated 
from its obligations to pay taxes to Exeter for municipal purposes. 



A NEW MEETING-HOUSE. 

In 1728, November 16, at a meeting of the "First parish in Exe- 
ter," a vote was passed that a new, meeting-house should be built 
and set on " some part of that land which the present meeting- 
house standeth on, which land the town purchased of Captain 
Peter Coffin for that use." 

This resolution was probably rendered necessary by the increase 
of population consequent on the termination of the Indian wars. 
Men had now ceased to carry their guns with them to church, and 
the tide of immigration into the frontier settlements had resumed 
its normal flow. 

But the early meeting-houses were of slow growth, and it was 
nearly a year later before the next step was taken. On the eighth 
of October, 1729, it Avas voted that the proposed meeting-house 
should be sixty feet long and forty-five feet wide, and have two 
tiers of galleries. And at an adjourned meeting, 

Voted, That the meeting-house to be built shall stand near our 
present meeting-house where our committee shall order ; shall be 
built and finished as soon as may be with economy within two 
years ; that there be as many pews built therein as may be with 
conveniency, and sold by the committee to those that will pay 
down the money for them for paying for the building of the house ; 
that the committee shall be allowed nothing for their trouble and 
charge until the house be finished, and then no more than what 
shall be allowed them by a committee of three men chosen by the 
inhabitants to examine their accounts. Major John Oilman, 
Jonathan Wadleigh, Nicholas Gordon, Bartholomew Thing and 
John Robinson were chosen committee to carry on the work. 



180 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

On the next annual meeting of the town March 30, 1730, it was 

Voted, That those inhabitants of the First parish who are 
desirous of having a steeple to the meeting-house now a-building, 
shall have liberty to build and join a steeple to the said house, 
provided it be built wholly by subscription and no charge to the 
town. 

The meeting-house was raised July 7 and 8, 1730, and com- 
pleted, with due economy no doubt, within the stipulated period 
of two years, so that it was occupied on Thanksgiving day, 
August 28, 1731. John Folsom is said to have been the master 
workman. The dimensions of the building were fixed by vote of 
the town. It had two galleries and a broad aisle running up to 
the pulpit, on each side of which were benches for those of the 
congi-egation who did not own pews. They were assigned seats 
by a committee, who took into consideration their several ages, 
infirmities and social standing. The pews were generally situated 
around the sides of the house, and appear to have been thirty-two 
in number, besides ten in the lower gallery. In March and April, 
1731, the pews on the main floor were sold, and were purchased 
at the prices and by the persons named below : 

No. 14 to Maj. Nicholas Oilman for £21. 

24 Capt. Theophilus Smith 16. 

15 Lieut. Bartholomew Thing 21. 

20 Dr. Thomas Dean 15. 

30 Capt. Eliphalet Coffin 18.10 
19 Capt. Peter Oilman 13.10 

31 Dea. Thomas Wilson 13. 
13 Jonathan Oilman 23. 
10 Nathaniel Webster 11. 

21 Francis Bowden 12. 
12 Samuel Conner 20. 

32 Edward Ladd 17. 

22 Capt. Jonathan Wadleigh 15. 

25 Capt. James Leavitt 16. 

23 Lieut. John Robinson 20. 

5 Benjamin Thing 12.10 
4 Nathaniel Bartlett 16.10 
9 Samuel Oilman 13. 

18 Daniel Oilman 13.5 

6 Dea. John Lord 12.15 

16 Nathaniel Oilman 17. 
8 Mrs. Hannah Hall 13.5 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 181 



No. 



3 


to Ezekiel Oilman for 


£20. 


29 


Caleb Gilman 


17. 


27 


Thomas Webster 


17. 


11 


Capt. John Gilman, Jr. 


21. 


28 


Jeremiah Conner 


20.10 


7 


Col. John Gilman 


13.5 


2 


Jonathan Conner 


21.15 


1 


Mr. John Odlin 


15. 


17 


Col. John Gilman 


12.13 



And on the seventh of November, 1731, the following sales 
were made of pews in the lower gallery : 

No. 



9 


to Col. John Gilman for 


£ 10. 


1 


Nicholas Gordon 


12.5 


5 


Bartholomew Thing 


10.5 


6 


Jeremiah Conner 


10.5 


7 


Richard Smith 


13. 


8 


Daniel Thing 


11. 


4 


Philip Conner 


11. 


10 


Joseph Thing 


10. 


3 


Nathaniel Webster 


12. 


2 


William Doran 


12. 



Agreeably to permission given by the town a high steeple was 
erected upon the structure at the west end thereof, at the charge 
of a number of public-spirited citizens, who afterwards, on April 
4, 1639, transferred the ownership thereof to the town on the 
re-payment of the cost, about one hundred and fifteen pounds. 
Peter Gilman and Nathaniel Gilman were the building committee 
of the steeple, and the contributors thereto were 

John Gilman Daniel Gilman 

Nicholas Gilman William Lampson 

Nicholas Gilman, Jr. Abraham Folsom 

Peter Coffin Ephraim Philbrick 

Samnel Gilman Jonathan Gilman, Jr. 

Francis James Jonathan Folsom 

Dudley James Robert Light 

Cartee Gilman Thomas Webster 

Joseph Thing Moses Swett 

Nicholas Gordon John Lord 

John Leavitt Benjamin Thing 

Theophilus Smith Daniel Thing 

Thomas Dean Josiah Gilman 

Nathaniel Ladd Henry Marshall 



182 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

John Folsom Josiah Ladd 

Oliver Smith Joshua Oilman 

Benjamin Folsom Abner Thurston 

Jeremiah Calfe, Jr. Peter Oilman 

Kinsley James Nathaniel Oilman 
John Baird 

This steeple stood till 1775, when it was blown down in a heavy 
gale, and afterwai'ds was rebuilt at the expense of the town. 

On the twenty-eighth of September, 1731, the town voted to 
take down the old meeting-house, which had been left standing 
while the new one was built beside it, as soon as it could be done 
with convenience, and to construct a court-house with the materials 
thereof, and appointed Theophilus Smith, Benjamin Thing and 
Jeremiah Conner a committee to ' ' discourse with workmen " about 
taking down the one and putting up the other, and make report. 

The expected occasion for a court-house proving illusory, the 
materials taken from the old meeting-house were used in building 
a town-house, which was located on the opposite side of the street, 
near the site of the present Gorham Hall. 

Those who are conversant with the construction of the early 
churches in this country, are aware in what a high box of a pulpit 
the minister used to be perched. It must have been hard for him 
to establish any link of sympathy with hearers so far away. And 
it seems that some of the people of Exeter realized this truth, and 
wished to diminish the distance between people and pastor. On 
March 26, 1733, the town voted that "any particular person or 
persons that are desirous of having the pulpit lowered, have libert}' 
to lower it eighteen inches, provided they do it at their own 
charge, and leave it in as good order as it now is." 

As early as 1735, the dwellers in the western part of the town, 
who were now becoming somewhat numerous, and were at an 
inconvenient distance from the meeting-house, made petition to the 
town for help to support a minister among themselves. But the 
town declined the request, probably on the ground that the inhabi- 
tants of that section were not yet strong enough to set up a 
religious establishment of their own. It will appear, however, that 
the petitioners were persistent, and eventually succeeded in creat- 
ing not only one, but two new parishes in that territory. 

The value of the paper currency had declined in 1736 to such an 
extent that, on the twenty-ninth of March of that year, the town 
voted an addition of fifty pounds a year, for five years next 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 183 

ensuing, to Mr. Odlin's salary of one hundred and fifty pounds, 
payable in good public bills of credit on either of the provinces, 
" he acquitting all further claims for the time past." 

In 1737 the town books show that an hour-glass was purchased, 
at the cost of four shillings and six pence. This, undoubtedly, 
was to be placed upon the pulpit, not as an admonition of brevity 
to the preacher, but simply to serve the purpose of a clock. 

In 1737 forty-two of the inhabitants of the southwestern part of 
the town petitioned the selectmen to call a town meeting, to con- 
sider their request to be set off as a separate parish, with the 
followiug bounds, viz. : " Beginning at old Pickpocket upper saw- 
mill, and from thence running south to Kingston line, thence west 
and by north by Kingston line four miles ; thence north four miles ; 
thence easterly' to Newmarket, southwest corner bounds ; and so 
bounding by Newmarket south bounds so far till a south line will 
strike Pickpocket mill, and then to run from Newmarket line south 
to said mill, the bound first mentioned." These bounds are very 
nearly those of Brentwood, as it was afterwards incorporated. 

But the town was not yet prepared to consent to the separation, 
and at the meeting held on November 14, 1738, voted not to grant 
the request of the inhabitants of the west end of the town for a 
new parish. 

At the annual town meeting, the twenty-sixth of March, 1739, 
a vote was passed to pay the cost of the steeple to the contributors 
to the erection thereof, as has already been stated, and the select- 
men were instructed to hang the bell therein. This was probably 
a new bell, bought by individual subscriptions. For two or three 
years previously the subject of the purchase of a new bell, to be 
placed in the steeple of the church, had been pending, and the 
town repeatedly refused to make the order. In the meanwhile, 
however, the people were not without the means to call them to 
public worship, and to give them the hour for retiring at night. 
The bell which had been purchased of Peter Coffin in 1699 was 
still in the steeple of the old church, and, after the demolition of 
that building, was hung upon the town-house, no doubt, as the old 
account books show that it continued to be regularly rung. Very 
likely the reason for the refusal to procure a bell for the new meet- 
ing-house was, that the steeple was not the town's property ; for, 
as soon as it became so, all objection seems to have ended. It is 
said that the old bell of 1699 was afterwards removed to Pick- 
pocket, and long did duty upon the factory there in calling the 
operatives to their work. 



184 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

EPPING PARISH SET OFF. 

At the annual meeting of the town, on the thirtieth of March, 
1741, the petition of a number of the inhabitants "living at 
Tuckaway or thereabouts," praying that the town would set them 
off as a parish by themselves, was presented, and by vote of the 
town was denied. 

These were residents of the northwestern part of the town ; and 
they did not sit down contented with the refusal, but within the 
succeeding year presented their petition to the General Assembly 
of the province, by which, after a notice to Exeter and a hearing 
thereon, it was granted, February 3, 1742. The bounds of this 
parish, which received the name of Epping, and was soon after- 
wards, on the twenty-third day of the same month, incorporated as 
a town under the same designation, were as follows, viz. : 
" Beginning at Durham line at the northwest corner of the parish 
of Newmarket, and from thence bounding on the head line of said 
Newmarket to the southAvest corner of the same, and from thence 
to run south about twenty-nine degrees west parallel with the head 
line of the town of Exeter, extending to half the breadth of the 
township of Exeter from Durham line aforesaid, and from thence 
to run west and by north to the middle of the head line of the 
town of Exeter, and from thence to bound upon Chester and 
Nottingham to the northwest corner of Exeter, and from thence 
bounding east and by south on Nottingham and Durham to the 
first bounds." 

BRENTWOOD PARISH SET OFF. 

A petition of some of the inhabitants of the southwestern part 
of the town, that they should be set off as a separate parish, was 
presented about the same time, and the town, at a special meeting, 
on the twenty-second of February, 1742, voted to grant the 
petition, and that "the petitioners have set off to them and 
their successors one-half the breadth of the land in said town 
lying at the westerly end thereof, for a parish, bounded as follows, 
viz. : beginning at the head of Newmarket line, thence running on 
a south line to Exeter great fresh river, and then one-half mile 
by said river, and then south to Kingston line, and so to the head 
of the township ; provided that the abovesaid parish do settle an 
orthodox minister of Christ, and maintain and support the same, 
and all other parish charges within the same, of themselves." 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 185 

This vote received the sanction of the General Assembly, and 
the parish of Brentwood was incorporated June 26, 1742. 

Thus the original territory of the town was now divided into 
four distinct parishes : the northeastern quarter being Newmarket ; 
the northwestern, Epping ; the southwestern, Brentwood, and the 
southeastern retaining the primary designation of Exeter. These 
were of neai'ly equal areas, except Brentwood, which was somewhat 
larger than the others.* 

Scarcely had these difficulties with the outlying sections of the 
town been adjusted, when a more serious trouble arose in the very 
heart of the place. This was about the time of the great religious 
awakening in New England, when the influence of White field, 
preaching a new gospel of enthusiasm, was felt more or less in all 
the churches. His followers were the " new lights," but the 
more conservative religionists set their faces like a flint against his 
methods. The members of the First parish in J^xeterwere divided 
in their preferences. Mr. Odlin, their minister, was a conser- 
vative, as were a majority of his congregation. But a considerable 
minority of them held different views. Mr. Odlin was getting in 
years, and somewhat infirm, and was desirous of having his son 
Woodbridge settled with him, as his colleague. Nearly two-thirds 
of his parish were of the same mind. 

At the annual meeting of the town, on the twenty-eighth of 
March, 1743, upon an article in the warrant, inserted on the peti- 
tion of seventy-one of the inhabitants, it was voted that Nicholas 
Oilman, Thomas Wilson, Benjamin Thing, James Leavitt, Stephen 
Lyford, James Oilman and Nicholas Ferryman be a committee to 
treat and agree wath the Rev. AYoodbridge Odlin, relating to 
settling as a colleague with his father, with power to complete an 
arrangement with him. 

From this vote forty-four of the inhabitants entered their written 
dissent. It is not understood that there was any personal excep- 
tion to the younger Mr. Odlin ; the sole objection was to his 
religious views and position. The dissentients seceded from the 
church and society, and established a religious organization of 
their own, the history of which will be found under its appropriate 
head. 

REV. vrOODBRIDGE ODLIN, COLLEAGUE. 

On June 21, 1743, the committee communicated to the Rev. 
Woodbridge Odlin the invitation of the majority of the town to 



•The town of Poplin (now called Fremont) was set off from Brentwood June 22, 
1764; and the town of South Newmarket from Newmarket June 27, 1849. 



186 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

settle over them as colleague with his father, upon the salary of £37 
10 s., lawful money, also £50 yearly for the first four years of his 
settlement ; and after his father's death, £65 annually, and the use 
of the parsonage. He on the same day accepted the invitation ; 
and the committee at once made an agreement with the Rev. John 
Odlin that his salary should be reduced to £50 a year, with the 
improvement of the parsonage. 

The liev. Woodbridge Odlin was, on the twenty-eighth of 
September, 1743, ordained as colleague, accordingly. 

The seceders from the congregation maintained separate religious 
worship at their own expense ; but according to the law of the time, 
they were not exonerated thereby from paying taxes to support 
the Messrs. Odlin. They made repeated attempts, as will be seen, 
by petition to the town and to the provincial government, to be 
relieved from this burden, but for near twelve years in vain. The 
bitter feeling that had been aroused by their opposition to the party 
of the Messrs. Odlin, and their rather unceremonious departure, 
forbade all hopes of harmony between the antagonistic elements. 

On the twenty-sixth of March, 1744, the town voted not to 

grant the petition of Samuel Oilman and others, to be exempted 

"from paying to the stated ministry, or having a reasonable sum 

allowed them annually by the town toward the support of a gospel 

minister among themselves. 

Thereupon the petitioners made application on the eighteenth of 
July following, to the General Assembly of the province, for 
relief from taxation, for the support of the ministry of the town, 
provided they should maintain a minister themselves. On July 24, 
the town appointed Nicholas Ferryman, James Oilman and Zebulon 
Giddiuge a committee to oppose the petition. After repeated 
written statements and counter-statements by the parties, the 
General Assembly thought proper to do nothing in the premises. 

It was during this year that the Rev. John Odlin, learning that 
the Rev. George Whitefield was coming to Exeter, with the inten- 
tion of preaching there, met him on the border of the town, and 
solemnly adjured him not to trespass upon his parochial charge. 

On the ninth of April, 1748, the mischievous effects of paper 
currency were again shown, by the necessity of an addition of £200 
old tenor to the Rev. Mr. Odlin's salary for the year, and on the 
twenty-seventh of March, 1749, by a further increase of £100 old 
tenor, for that year, provided he would give an acquittance for all 
arrearages. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 187 

The seceding society had again preferred their petition to be 
exempted from taxation for religious services, by which they did 
not profit, but the town again voted to "do nothing about the 
petition of a number of the society of the new meeting-house." 

On the eighteenth of June, 1750, the town voted to pay the 
Rev. John Odliu £600 old tenor for the year, provided he would, 
at the end thereof, give a receipt for all arrearages ; and to add 
to the Rev. Woodbridge Odlin's salary £350 old tenor for the 
year, on like conditions. And the town again refused "to allow 
the petition of those in the new meeting-house." 

On the thirtieth of March, 1752, the petition of " those worship- 
ping in the new meeting-house" was again brought before the 
town, and again denied. 

The Rev. John Odlin died November 20, 1754. He was born 
in Boston, Massachusetts, November 18, 1681 ; graduated from 
Harvard College in 1702, and ministered to the people of Exeter 
for forty-eight years. He was twice married ; first to Mrs. Eliza- 
beth (Woodbridge) Clark October 21, 1706, by whom he had five 
children, and who died December 6, 1729 ; and second, to Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Leavitt) Briscoe, widow of Captain Robert Briscoe. 
Mr. Odlin, though somewhat unyielding in his opinions, was a 
faithful and zealous pastor, and he lived in a time of strong relig- 
ious excitement and di'vision. He chose the conservative rather 
than the progressive side, and was supported by the majority of 
his people. But it must have been a bitter trial to him to see so 
lai'ge a portion of his church and parish alienated from him. He 
was persevering and conscientious, however, and retained the 
affection and respect of his followers to the last, as is evidenced 
by their vote on the twenty-first of November, 1754, to raise £100 
new tenor, for defraying his funeral charges. 

He is represented as a man of excellent powers of mind. He 
presided over the convention of ministers which assembled in 
1747, and was made chairman of one of its most important 
committees. A sermon which he preached in 1742 was* printed 
by the agency of the Rev. Mather Byles of Boston, who wrote a 
preface to it which contained this commendatory allusion to the 
author : 

It is with no small pleasure that in tliis precarious season I see 
sucli a harmony among the ministers of superior reputation among 
us, and especially that our living fathers in the ministry are so 
united, Avho saw our temple so much in its first glory. 



188 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

At length, the coutuiual efforts of the members of the new 
society accomplished their purpose of independent existence. On 
the eighth of April, 1755, sixty-two members of that society pre- 
sented their petition to the General Assembly, that they and their 
associates might be freed from paying taxes for the support of 
the ministry in the old meeting-house, for the future, and be 
incorporated as a parish. The town appointed Peter Gilman and 
Zebulon Giddinge agents to resist the petition. Peter Gilman was 
a leading member of the assembly, and also the principal peti- 
tioner. It would appear, therefore, that the majority of the town 
had extraordinary confidence in his obedience, in expecting him 
to oppose his own petition, or that their feelings had become mol- 
lified towards the petitioners, and they no longer expected to 
compel them to contribute to the support of Mr. Odlin. At all 
events, the petition was successful, and the petitioners were, on 
the ninth day of September, 1755, incorporated as the Second 
parish in Exeter ; and for the future, any new comer in the town, 
or any person arriving at full age, was to "have the liberty of 
three months to determine to which parish such person will 
belong." 

Thereafter, the warrants for the annual meetings of the sup- 
porters of the First church in Exeter were for many years addressed 
to " all the inhabitants of the town exclusive of all the parishes ;" 
meaning all the inhabitants who were not included in Newmarket, 
Epping, Brentwood and the Second parish in Exeter. 

On the twenty-ninth of March, 17G2, at a meeting of the 
society so warned, it was voted that a new bell be purchased, of 
eight hundred pounds weight ; and on the thirteenth of December, 
following, that "the meeting-house be repaired, the repairs to be 
new glazing with sash glass, shingling, and clapboarding on the 
fore side and east end, and that it be painted according to custom ;* 
and that the bell be for the town's use." On the twentieth of 
March, 1764, it was voted " to use the part of the money divided 
to this parish by the town from the sale of wharf lots, to pay for 
the bell." 

The succeeding years were a transition period from the most 
inflated paper currency to hard money. In April, 1765, Mr. 
Odlin's salary received an addition of £700 old tenor ; in April, 



* The custom at that time was to paint only the doors and window-frames, and 
the ttnish around them. It is doubtful if there was then a house in the town which 
was completely painted. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 189 

17G6, an addition of £400 old tenor; and in 1767 his entire 
salary was fixed at £100 lawful money. Old tenor had become a 
thing of the past, and a specie basis had been reached. 

Mr. Odlin continued to minister to his people through the 
troublous period which preceded the Revolution, and was a warm 
supporter of the rights of his countrymen. The pulpit at that day 
was a chief advocate of American liberty, and in both the religious 
societies of Exeter its utterances were of no uncertain sound. 
Mr. Odlin died the tenth of March, 1776. His parish manifested 
their regard for his memoi-y by the payment of the expenses of 
his funeral and a gift of twenty-five pounds to his widow. 

He was born April 28, 1718, and graduated from Harvard Col- 
lege at the age of twenty. He married, October 23, 1755, Abigail, 
the widow of the Rev. Job Strong of Portsmouth, and the 
daughter of Colonel Peter Oilman of Exeter, by whom he had 
eight children. 

He is described as a very pious man ; his preaching was practi- 
cal ; his manners were plain and modest. There was an unaffected 
simplicity in all he said or did. He has also been termed a 
" perfect gentleman," no doubt rather in reference to his qualities 
of character than to his external appearance or manners. 

In July following the decease of Mr. Odlin, the society gave a 
call to the Rev. Isaac Mansfield to become their pastor, Avho was 
accordingly ordained over them October 9, 1776. 

In the year 1778, Mr. John Rice, a member of the society, died, 
giving to the parish, by his will, the house on Centre street, which 
is now the parsonage, and certain lands on the little river, "to be 
appropriated to the support of a minister so long as the parish 
shall continue, and constantly support a regular learned minister 
or ministers," but in case of failure thereof, to be appropriated 
for the benefit of a grammar school in Exeter forever. The devise 
was to take effect upon the decease of his wife. She died five 
years afterward, and by her will gave certain house lots and a 
wharf to the parish, on the same conditions specified in the will of 
her husband. 

After Mr. Mansfield had been in Exeter about ten years, there 
was a disposition manifested by both parishes to reunite. Reso- 
lutions were adopted by each, expressing such a desire. But it 
was found that they could not come together under the ministry 
of Mr. Mansfield, who had, by some imprudent speeches and 
actions, lost, to some extent, the attachment of his people. An 



190 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

arrangement was therefore made between him and his society the 
following year, that if a majority of the parish were in favor of his 
dismissal, he would request it at the hands of a council. That 
course was taken, and his connection with the society was dissolved 
September 18, 1787. 

Mr. Manslield was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, in the 
year 1750, and graduated from Harvard College in 1767. He had 
served as a chaplain in the continental army about Boston, before 
he came to Exeter. He remained in the town awhile, after his 
dismissal, and taught a school. Afterwards, he returned to his 
native place, where he became a magistrate. He died in Boston, 
at the age of seventy-six years. 

After Mr. Mansfield surrendered the pastoral charge, the two 
societies, for two years and more, united in supporting public 
worship, and in 17.S8, jointly invited the Rev. David Tappan of 
Newbury, Massachusetts, to settle over them. It happened, un- 
fortunately, that the call was not unanimous and on that account 
was not accepted. The two societies did not agree in another 
choice, and the first society, in 1790, invited the Rev. William F. 
Rowland to the pastoral office, and he was ordained over them the 
second of June in that year. Eight years afterwards, a new 
church building was erected, which is still in use by the society, 
though its interior was altered and modernized in 1838. The ex- 
terior was fortunately unchanged. Its style and proportions have 
been much admired, and it is undoubtedly a fine specimen of the 
architecture of the period. Ebenezer Clifford of Exeter is under- 
stood to have designed it. 

For thirty-eight years Mr. Rowland continued to minister to the 
people, during which time he witnessed the substantial extinction 
of the church of the other society, and the growth of a new church 
rising from its ashes ; and a very considerable increase in the 
population and wealth of the town. He was dismissed at his own 
request December o, 1828, and continued to live in P^xeter until 
his death, June 10, 1843. 

Mr. Rowland was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, May 26, 1761. 
He was a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1784. 
He was twice married ; first, to Sally, daughter of Colonel Eli- 
phalet Ladd of Portsmouth, July 30, 1793 ; and second, to Ann, 
daughter of Colonel Eliphalet Giddinge of Exeter, August 29, 
1802. He left one sou and two daughters, who all died unmarried. 
Mr. Rowland was honored in a way that no other New Hampshire 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 191 

clergyman has been, — he was twice appointed to deliver eleetiou 
sermons, in 179(5 and in 1809, both of wliich were published. 

His successor in the pastorate was the Rev. John Smith, in- 
stalled March 12, 1829, and dismissed at his oWn request February 
14, 1838. He was a native of Weatherslield, Connecticut, and a 
graduate of Yale College in 1821. 

Shortly after Mr. Smith was settled, the need of a vestry was 
urgently felt, for evening religious meetings and the like, and, 
with the concurrence of the parish, a few gentlemen, Dr. William 
Ferry, Captain Nathaniel Gilman, Jr. and others, took upon them- 
selves the immediate expense of erecting such a building on the 
northern part of the parsonage laud, on Centre street. It was of 
two stories, the upper of which was used for singing schools and 
other purposes not necessarily religious. This building subse- 
quently became the property of the parish, and in the year 1843, 
after the construction of a vestry in the meeting-house rendered it 
no longer necessary, was sold to a number of gentlemen for the 
purpose of a Female Academy ; and later, when that use had termi- 
nated, was altered into a dwelling house. It is now occupied as 
such by Mrs. Joseph W. Gale. 

The Rev. William Williams was the next minister of the society, 
installed May 31, 1838. The first year of his stay was signalized 
by extensive alterations made in the interior of the church build- 
ing. Up to that time the entire space within the walls was in- 
cluded in the audience room ; the high pulpit, surmounted by a 
sounding-board,* was on the north wall, and galleries ran around 
the other three sides. A great part of the pews were of the old 
square pattern, with seats facing in all directions. 

The changes in the building consisted in flooring over the lower 
story, and finishing rooms in it for a vestry, lecture room, etc., 
and in adapting the upper story for an auditorium. Of course, 
the old galleries were removed, and a smaller one erected for the 
choir ; a pulpit of modern and moderate diniensious was placed 
at the west side, the pews were altered into "slips," and the walls 
were frescoed. Excepting that the change involved the ascent of 
a flight of stairs, it was an undoubted improvement. 

Mr. Williams was dismissed October 1, 1842, by reason of the 
failure of his health and some difficulties that arose. He after- 



* The ladies of the society, unwilling that so interesting a relic of the old times 
should go to destruction, have caused the sounding-board to be rehabilitated and 
suspended in the lower hall of the church. 



192 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

wards entered the medical profession. He was a graduate of 
Yale College in the class of 1816. 

The society next chose for their minister the Rev. Joy H, 
Fairchild, who was installed September 20, 1843, and resigned 
July 30, 1844. A charge of iucoutiuenee at the place of his 
former settlement preferred against him, gave rise to protracted 
controversies that forbade all hope of his future usefulness in 
Exeter. He was a native of Guilford, Connecticut, and a gradu- 
ate of Yale College in 1813. 

The Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock was the next regular occupant 
of the pulpit. He was ordained November 19, 1845, and dis- 
missed July 7, 1852. He was a native of East Machias, Maine, 
born August 15, 1817, and an alumnus of Amherst College of 
the class of 1836. While settled in Exeter, he spent one year in 
Germany, in the universities of Halle and Berlin. After leaving 
Exeter he was a professor in Bowdoin College for three years, and 
then was appointed to a like position in the Union Theological 
Seminary, New York. Of this institution he was afterwards made 
president, and held the office up to the time of his death June 17, 
1887. 

He was succeeded in Exeter by the Rev. AYilliam D. Hitchcock, 
who was installed October 5, 1853, and began his ministrations 
with every prospect of permanence and usefulness, but his career 
was cut short in a single year by his death November 23, 1854. 

More than a year and a half expired before the pulpit was again 
permanently filled. The Rev. Nathaniel Lasell was installed June 
19, 1856, and asked his dismission, after three years of service, 
June 12, 1859. He was subsequently engaged in the profession 
of teaching. 

The Rev. Elias Nason was the next incumbent, installed Novem- 
ber 22, 1860, and dismissed May 30, 1865. He was a native of 
Billerica, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Brown University. 
He had been a teacher and an editor before he was ordained, and 
through life held the pen of a ready writer, on literary and histor- 
ical subjects. He published several works of history and biogra- 
phy, and delivered numerous lectures. He died in Billerica, 
Massachusetts, June 17, 1887, the same day as his predecessor in 
the Exeter ministry, the Rev. Dr. R. D. Hitchcock. 

The next on the list of pastors was the Rev. John O. Barrows, 
a graduate of Amherst College in 1860, who was installed Decem- 
ber 5, 1866, and received his dismission October 6, 1869, which 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 193 

he had requested in order that he might enter upon mission work 
in Asia. 

The Rev. Swift Bj'ington, the present minister of tlie society 
and the sixteenth in order, was installed June 2, 1871. He is a 
graduate of Yale College in the class of 1847, and a native of 
Bristol, Connecticut. 



la 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SECOND PAEISH. OTHER RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

The circumstances under which the secession from the original 
parish took place, in the year 1743, have been related. The 
seceders, who numbered about one-third of the tax-payers, and 
comprised some of the principal and wealthiest citizens, set up 
separate religious services, and proceeded without loss of time to 
erect a house of worship and organize a church. 

Their meeting-house was finished in 1744, on land given them 
by Colonel Peter Gilman and Samuel Gilman, situated on the north- 
erly side of what is now Front street, between the houses of Dr. 
Josiah Gilman and John Dean, on the lot now owned by Colonel W. 
N. Dow. It was of two stories and of good dimensions, standing 
parallel with the street, with a steeple in which a bell was hung, 
on the western end. The pulpit was in the side farthest from the 
street ; a gallery ran round the other three sides, and the main 
entrance was opposite the pulpit. 

The attempts made from time to time by the worshippers in the 
new meeting-house to obtain exemption from the payment of min- 
ister's rates for the support of the old parish have already been 
detailed. In these days of wider religious tolerance we may think 
that the adherents of the Messrs. Odlin should have been more 
liberal, and ought to have exonerated their withdrawing brethren 
from the forced contribution which the law enabled them to exact ; 
but it is not quite safe to say what would have been our own 
conduct if we had lived in their time, and had felt the same provo- 
cation which they did. It is too late now to attempt to decide 
upon the merits of the respective parties. 

The new society for some years had no settled pastor. In 1746 
they made an unsuccessful attempt to engage the services of the 
Rev. Samuel Buel ; and in 1747 they invited Mr. John Phillips, 
one of their own number, and afterwards the founder of the 
Phillips Exeter Academy, to assume the pastoral office, but he 

194 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 195 

modcstl}^ declined, upon the ground of his incapacity, pai'tly by 
reason of the delicacy of his lungs, to perform all the duties of 
the position. The}^ were more successful with the Rev. Daniel 
Rogers, who preached for them early after their separation, and 
again in the latter part of 1747, and pleased them so well that he 
remained with them during the rest of his life. They gave him a 
formal call, and on the thirty-first of August, 1748, he was, by 
consent of a council of churches, installed over the society as their 
minister. This was not done, however, without a remonstrance 
from the old church, backed by the opinion of six ministers from 
neighboring towns, that the proceeding was irregular. 

The interest felt by the members of the new society in its 
welfare may be inferred from the disposal which one of their num- 
ber, Nicholas Gilman, Jr., made of his property. At his death 
in 1746, he devised to his brother Peter Gilman, Samuel Gilman 
and Daniel Thing, his dwelling house, barn, orchard, and about 
twenty-two acres of land, to be improved by them for and towards 
the support of the minister of the church or for any other pious 
use. The house was pleasantly situated by the side of the river 
near the great bridge, just at the entrance of the present Franklin 
street, and facing towards Water street. It was occupied as the 
parsonage by the Rev. Mr. Rogers during his life; and in 1786 
after his death, the trustees were incorporated by act of the Legis- 
lature, and let the property for various terras until the year 1826, 
when they disposed of it by leases for the period of nine hundred 
and ninety-nine years. The income of the proceeds has been 
employed towards the support of the minister of the society, in 
repairs upon the meeting-house, and in other " pious uses," such 
as the distribution of Testaments, the support of young men 
designed for the ministry and the like. 

In July, 1755, while the last petition for the incorporation of 
the new parish was pending in the Provincial Assembly, the two 
churches mutually agreed upon an ecclesiastical council, to which 
were referred the differences between them, in order to a reconcil- 
iation, though apparently without any expectation of effecting a 
reunion. The council censured the course of the separatists in 
certain particulars, but advised the old church to receive them into 
fellowship again, whenever they should accept the report and 
manifest their readiness to practise agreeably thereto. This the 
new church voted to do, but the old church required some further 
acknowledgment, which the former refused to make. After the 



196 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

incorporation of the new parish, however, on the ninth of Septem- 
ber, 1755, there was no collision between the two societies, and 
for many years no fellowship, bnt each went its way, in peace. 

Mr. Kogers's connection with the Second parish terminated only 
with his life. It extended over the stormy political period of the 
American Revolution, but the relations between him and his 
people were always pacific. He died in Exeter in 1785, at the age 
of seventy-eight. He was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, August 
8, 1707, graduated from Harvard College in 1725, and was tutor 
there from 1732 to 1741. He was married November 3, 1748, to 
Anne, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Foxcroft of Boston, on which 
occasion his church presented him with the sum of two hundred 
and fifty pounds. From middle life, when he came to Exeter, to 
his death at an advanced age, he labored assiduously for the 
welfare of his people, and to the entire satisfaction of church and 
congregation. For more than half a century he kept in interleaved 
almanacs a brief record of his daily life and employments, which 
show him to have been an amialjle, faithful and devoted religious 
teacher. He was a warm friend and admirer of the Rev. George 
Whitefield to whom he attributed his own conversion, and had 
that eloquent divine twice to preach to his Exeter charge, first on 
the twenty-sixth of October, 1754, and again on the twenty-ninth 
of September, 1770, when Whitefield delivered his last discourse 
the day before his death. 

In token of their esteem for then- late pastor, his parishioners 
voted to bear the expense of his funeral. His body lies in the old 
burying-ground on Front street, west of the railroad, and upon 
the massy tablet above it is the following inscription : 

Here lie the remains of 
the Reverend Daniel Rogers, 
Pastor of a church gathered in this place 1748, 
who died December 9ti» 1785 aged 78 years. 
He had been many years a Tutor in Harvard College, 

was a faithful pious minister of Jesus Clu-ist, 
and a worthy son of the Reverend Jolui Rogers, 

pastor of the first church in IpsAvich, 
who died December 28tii 11 45 in his 80ti» year; 
who was a son of John Rogers of the same place 
Physician and Preaclier of God's Word, 

And President of Harvard College, 
who died July 2"^ 1684 aged o4 years; 
who was eldest son of the Rev<i Nathaniel Rogers, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 197 

who came over from England in 1636, settled at Ipswich 

colleague pastor with the Rev"^' Nathaniel Ward, 

and died July 2^' 16o5 aged 57 years; 

who was son of the Reverend John Rogers 

a famous minister of God's M'ord at Dedham, England, 

who died October IS*'' 1639 aged 67 years ; 

who was a grandson of John Rogers of London 

Prebendary of St. Paul's, Vicar of St. Sepulchre's 

and Reader of Divinity, 
who was burned at Smithfield February 14, 1555, 
first martyr in Queen Mary's reign.* 

Thou martyred saint and all ye holy train 
O be your honor'd Names ne'er read in vain. 
May each descendant catch your hallow'd fire 
And all your virtues all their breasts inspire. 
Prophets like you in long succession rise 
Burning and shining, faithful firm and wise, 
And millions be their crown beyond the skies. 

For nearly seven years after the death of Mr. Rogers the new 
parish was destitute of a settled minister. During that time there 
was a strong feeling in favor of a permanent reunion of the two 
parishes. In 1786 resolutions were passed by both expressing 
their desire for a restoration of their former relations, and in the 
latter part of 1787 when both were without pastors, they appar- 
ently united in hiring a temporary supply until the next annual 
meeting. On March 29, 1788, the members of the new church 
partook of the communion with those of the old, at the invitation 
of Deacon Samuel Brooks of the latter, and during that and the 
succeeding year both parishes joined in attendance upon public 
worship, which was maintained at their joint charge. In 1788 
both societies united in a call to the Rev. David Tappau of New- 
bury, Massachusetts, to settle over them, but because the call was 
not unanimous, he declined it. Attempts were made to agree upon 
another candidate, but without success. 

In 1790 the new parish invited the Rev. Samuel Austin of New 
Haven, Connecticut, to their pulpit for two months, and ou the 
twelfth of July in the same year, gave him a unanimous call to a 
permanent settlement, at an annual salary of one hundred jDounds. 
Mr. Austin did not accept, and on September 24, 1792, the parish 



*The claim that this family was descended from the Smithfield martyr has of late 
years been disallowed, as based upon a mistaken belief. 



198 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

voted to concur with the church iu giving a call to the Eev. Joseph 
Brown, who accordingly was installed over them on the succeeding 
twentieth of November. After a service of five years he was dis- 
missed at his own request, the twenty-eighth of August, 1797, 
the parish making him a gift of fifty dollars upon his departure. 
Mr. Brown was a native of Chester, in England, and was educated 
at the seminary of the pious Lady Huntingdon, whose chaplain 
was the Rev. George Whitefield. His ministration in Exeter was 
quite successful, and he was afterwards settled at Deer Isle, in 
Maine, and died there in 1804. 

After the removal of Mr. Brown, the society not being readily 
disposed to provide themselves with a successor, its numbers grad- 
ually began to decline. Religious services, however, were kept up 
with more or less frequency, and the organization of the parish 
was regularly preserved. Every year a certain sum was voted to 
sustain public worship, and various clergymen were temporarily 
employed to conduct the Sunday services. Thus matters went on 
until about the year 1812, the church having dwindled until it 
became practically extinct, though the parish received accessions 
from time to time. 

In 1811 the Rev. Hosea Hildreth came to Exeter as an instruc- 
tor in the Academy, and was employed to fill the pulpit of the 
society. This he continued to do most of the time for about five 
years, and until the society was provided with a settled pastor. 
On the twenty-fourth of December, 1812, the church was re-or- 
ganized, with a creed drawn up by Mr. Hildreth, which would 
admit those who questioned the doctrine of the trinity, of whom 
there were several in the society. 

On December 2, 1816, the parish gave a unanimous call to 
the Rev. Isaac Hurd to become their minister at a salary of six 
hundred and fifty dollars, and he was installed over them Septem- 
ber 11, 1817. At the same tune he was appointed theological 
instructor in the Academy. 

On the thirty-first of March, 1823, the society appointed a com- 
mittee to report a plan for a new meeting-house, to replace the old 
one which had been in use nearly eighty years, and on the eigh- 
teenth of May following, Nathaniel Gilman, Joseph Tilton, Jere- 
miah Dow, Jotham Lawrence and Peter Chadwick were chosen to 
superintend the erection thereof. It was placed on land furnished 
by the trustees of the Academy for the purpose, and the master 
builder was Nathaniel Conner. It was completed in season for 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 199 

the next annual meeting of the parish in March, 1824, to be held 
therein, and has well answered the needs of the parish to the 
present time, with an addition to its length of about fifteen feet, 
which was made in 1863, 

After a harmonious and successful ministry of nearly thirty 
years Mr. Hurd proposed to the society to settle a colleague with 
him, generously relinquishing all claim to pecuniary compensation 
thereafter. To this proposal the society, assuring theu' pastor of 
their undiminished affection and regard, assented, and in April, 

1846, called tlie Rev. Robert S. Hitchcock of Randolph, Massa- 
chusetts, to the associate pastorate, but by reason of the state of 
his health he declined the invitation. The Rev. Samuel D. Dexter 
was subsequently invited, and, giving a favorable response, was 
ordained as colleague pastor with the Rev. Mr. Hurd December 2, 

1847. His ministry was cut short, however, by his death April 
20, 1857. He was a native of Boston, and a graduate of Harvard 
College. During his residence in Exeter his personal and religious 
character was such as to gain him a strong hold upon the people, 
and his premature decease, at the early age of twenty-four years, 
closed a career of bright promise. 

The Rev. Asa Mann was installed as colleague, in the place of 
Mr. Dexter, November 19, 1851. During his term of service, 
the Rev. Dr. Hurd, on the fourth of October, 1856, at a ripe old age, 
beloved and honored for his amiable character, his Christian vir- 
tues and his faithful labors, went to his rest. Mr. Mann contin- 
ued in Exeter less than a year afterwards, being dismissed from 
his charge July 8, 1857. He was a native of Randolph, Massa- 
chusetts, and a graduate of Amherst College, and had been settled 
at Hardwick, Massachusetts, before he came to Exeter. 

His successor in the pulpit of the Second parish, the Rev. 
Orpheus T. Lanphear, was installed February 2, 1858, and after 
a successful service of six years, on being called to a church in 
New Haven, Connecticut, was dismissed by council February 21, 
1864. He was a native of West Fairlee, Vermont, and a graduate 
of Middlebury College, and had previously been the pastor of the 
High street church in Lowell, Massachusetts. 

The Rev. John W. Chickering, Jr., began to preach for the 
society on the first Sunday of July, 1865, was in\^ted to become 
their permanent minister, and was installed ^ the fifth of the suc- 
ceeding September. He remained for five years, and was dis- 
missed July 18, 1870. During latter part of his pastorate the 



200 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

society purchased, enlarged and remodelled the dwelling house on 
Court street, which has since been occupied as the parsonage. 
Mr. Chickering left Exeter to accept a professorship in the Deaf 
Mute College in Washington, D.C. He was a native of Portland, 
Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin College, and had served as 
pastor of the church in Springfield, Vermont, prior to his coming 
to Exeter. 

The eighth and present pastor of this societ3^ is the Rev. George 
E. Street, who was installed March 30, 1871.. He is a native of 
Cheshire, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College, and was 
the minister of the First church in Wiscasset, Maine, when invited 
to Exeter. Since his installation, the society have provided them- 
selves with a chapel for evening meetings and the like, situated 
on Elm street. 

QUAKERS. 

About the middle of the last century there were a few Quakers 
in Exeter, who held meetings for a time in a barn which stood on 
the southerly side of what is now Front street, just opposite the 
head of Centre street. Among them were Samuel and John 
Dudley, grandsons, it is presumed, of the Rev. Samuel Dudley. 
The Rev. Daniel Rogers's diary for the year 1753 shows that on 
the twenty-fifth of January, "the Quakers, Samuel Dudley, etc., 
came into our meeting and spoke;" that on March 7, "the 
Friends were carried to court this week," and on March 10, " Lord's 
day, John Dudley spake after the first singing, A.M." 

The Friends who were carried to court were undoubtedly Eliza- 
beth, wife of Joseph Norris, and Joanna, Avife of James Norris. 
Tlie records of the Court of General Sessions show that at the 
March term, 1753, these Wo women were indicted for a breach of 
the peace and violation of the act for the better observance of the 
Lord's day. It is probable that their offence was the disturbance 
of the Sunday service in one of the meeting-houses. They were 
arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. When inquired of whether 
they would be tried by the court or the jury they resolutely refused 
to answer, probably having little expectation of an acquittal by 
either. 

The court, upon hearing the testimony of witnesses, and the 
answers of the respondents themselves, found them both guilty, 
and they were ordered to pay a fine of five shillings each, aud to 
find sureties for their future good behavior. 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 201 

The fiue and costs were at once paid, and no further account is 
found of Quakers in the town. 



THE BATTIST SOCIETY. 

A Baptist church was organized in Exeter, October 17, 1800, 
consisting of ten members. The elders and brethren forming the 
council on the occasion, were from the churches in Haverhill and 
NcAv Rowley in Massachusetts, and in Newton and Brentwood in 
New Hampshire. The Rev. Hezekiah Smith, D.D., was president 
of the council, and the Rev. Shubael Lovell, clerk. In the spring 
of 1801 a society was formed, in connection with the church, by 
voluntary subscription. The members were few in number and of 
means somewhat limited, so that for several years they were able 
to have preaching but a third or a half of the time ; but having 
those in their own church whose gifts of exhortation were 
acceptaljle to the congregation, and edifying to the brethren, 
meetings were regularly held on Sundays when no minister could 
be procured ; a practice which they found to be attended with the 
best results. Their first place of meeting was at the dwelling 
house of Harvey Colcord, and afterwards at the Centre school- 
house. In the year 1805, they built and dedicated their first 
meeting-house, situated on Spring street. 

In 1806 Mr. Barnabas Bates, afterwards distinguished as the 
advocate of cheap postage and otherwise, preached for the society 
for several months. In the spring of 1801) the Rev. Ebenezer L. 
Boyd became their preacher, and labored with them for two years 
Avith encouraging results. In 1814, and the two succeeding years, 
the Rev. Charles O. Kimball and the Rev. James McGregore sup- 
plied their pulpit a part of the time. In the winter and spring of 
1817 the services were conducted by students from the theologi- 
cal school at Danvers, Massachusetts, then under the care of the 
Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin. To one of those students, the Rev. James 
Coleman, they gave an invitation to become their pastor, but, having 
determined to devote his life to missionary work, he declined. 

In the year 1817 a Sunday-school was first commenced in con- 
nection with the society, which has ever since been continued. 
The first teacher was Deacon John F. Moses, who, for half a 
century, with little interruption, held the office of superintendent, 
and was, during his life, one of the principal pillars of the church 
and society. 



202 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The society was incorporated by the Legislature of the State in 
1818, and the same year had their first settled minister, the Eev. 
Ferdinand Ellis, who served them from June, 1818, to September, 
1828. After the close of his pastoral connection he continued to 
reside in Exeter, and was, for a number of years, a successful 
schoolteacher. In the autumn of 1828, the Rev. John Newton 
Brown was settled over the society and remained until February, 
1833. He resumed the pastorate again in 1834, and retained it 
until he was dismissed in April, 1838. It was during this period, 
in the years 1833 and 1834, that the society built their second 
meeting-house on Water street,* dedicated November 19, 1834, in 
which they held public worship until the erection of their present 
church on Front street. In the interim between the two settle- 
ments of Mr. Brown, from May 29, 1833, to February 16, 1834, 
the Rev. John Cannan, from Yorkshire, England, ministered to 
the society. After Mr. Brown's final departure, it was moi-e than 
two years before another minister was settled, but for about half 
that period the Rev. J. G. Naylor regularly supplied the pulpit. 

In November, 1840, the church gave an invitation to the Rev. 
Noah Hooper, Jr., to become their minister, which he accepted, 
and continued with them from December 1, of that year, until July 
20, 1845. For nearly three years after this the church was with- 
out a regular pastor, though for about one-third of that period Mr. 
T. H. Archibald, licentiate, preached to them. Their next settled 
minister was the Rev. Elijah J. Harris, who remained from the 
spring of 1848 to April 7, 1850. Then the Rev. James French 
became their minister from January, 1851, to January 1, 1853. 
After his dismission, the Rev. Mr. Russell was employed as 
preacher for a time. The Rev. Franklin Merriam was the next 
settled minister, installed in September, 1854, and dismissed in 
November, 1856. His successor was the Rev. James J. Peck, 
whose pastorate continued from February, 1857, to April, 1861. 

On the first of July, 1861, the Rev. Noah Hooper was solicited 
to assume the pastoral charge of the society a second tune, to 
which he assented, and filled the position until the autumn of 1871, 
when, at his repeated request, he was dismissed. He is still 
residing in Exeter, at a good old age, in the enjoyment of much 
bodily and mental vigor. 



* The Water street buildins is still standing; and after serving the purpose of a 
military aruKjry for some years, has now been transformed into au oi)era house. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 203 

The Eev. John N. Chase was next imated to the pastorate of 
the society, and was received into that connection January 16, 
1882, and still remains therein, having already served a longer 
time than any of his predecessors. 

In December, 1854, twenty-two members withdrew from the 
Water street church, and formed themselves into a new society. 
They held their meetings at first in a hall on Water street, until 
they built themselves a house of worship on Elm street, which 
was dedicated October 1, 1856. Up to this time the Kev. J. B. 
Lane supplied them with preaching. Soon after their removal to 
their new house, the Rev. T. H. Archibald was settled over them. 
His term of ministerial service continued about two years. For 
some time after his dismissal their pulpit was supplied by students 
from the Theological Institution of Newton, Massachusetts, and 
afterwards by the Rev. Mr. Mayhew. About the year 1862 the 
Rev. Charles Newhall was installed as the pastor, and continued 
in the office some eight years. In 1871 the two Baptist societies 
resolved to reunite ; the Elm street organization was given up, and 
its members were merged again in the Water street society. Their 
meeting-house on Elm street afterwards passed into the possession 
of the Second Congregational parish, and is used by them as a 
chapel. 

In 1874 the reunited Baptist society purchased a lot on the 
corner of Spring and Front streets, on which, in that and the fol- 
lowing year, they erected their present handsome brick church. 
Notwithstanding the liberality of the members of the society, it 
left upon them a heavy load of debt, Avhich, however, by the 
strenuous, continued efforts of the people, supplementing the gen- 
erous gifts of Deacon John F. Moses and his son, Henry C. 
Moses, P^sq., has since been fully discharged, and the seats of 
the church are made free. 

THE UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY. 

It is said that a society of Universalists was formed in Exeter 
as early as 1810, who supported public worship for ten years or 
more, when their organization was abandoned and the members 
were dispersed among the other religious societies. They had been 
incorporated by an act of the Legislature in the year 1819. Some 
years later their interest revived, and Snnday services were main- 
tained in the old court-house, by the Rev. Hosea Ballon and other 
able preachers of the denomination. On the twenty-sixth of May, 



204 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

1831, several of the leading men of the sect formed themselves 
anew into a society, erected a house of worship on the east side of 
Centre street, and soon supplied themselves with regular ministers. 
Among the earliest were the Eev. Theophilus K. Taylor and the 
Rev. AVilliam C. Hanscom, the latter of whom appears to have 
preached at Newmarket also. The Rev. James Shrigiey of Balti- 
more, Maryland, was installed over the society June 16, 1837, 
and remained three years or more. He was a man of much ability, 
and became subsequently an officer of the Maryland Historical 
Society. The Rev. H. P. Stevens was the next minister, but 
continued only a year or two. Then the Rev. Henry Jewell 
assumed the pastoral charge, and under his administration the 
congregation increasecl to such an extent as to warrant the erec- 
tion of a new and larger church. Accordingly, the lot on the 
eastern corner of Front and Centre streets was purchased, and 
upon it was built the structure which has served as a place of 
worship, successive!}^ for the Universalists and the Unitarians, 
and now is occupied by the Methodist society. It was dedicated 
December 18, 1845, Mr Jewell preaching the discourse on the 
occasion. 

The next minister settled over the society was the Rev. R. O. 
Williams. He was a practitioner of the medical, as well as of 
the clerical profession. His stay was not very long, and his suc- 
cessor is believed to have been the Rev. John L. Stevens, who 
ministered to the society with ability for some years. He has 
since been distinguished as the editor of an influential political 
journal in the State of JNIaine, as a diplomatist and author. After 
his departure, the Rev. Silas S. Fletcher was the occupant of the 
pulpit, and the last of the preachers of Universalism settled in the 
town. In 1854 the society disposed of their church to the newly 
formed Unitarian society, and abandoned their separate organiza- 
tion. Mr. Fletcher continued to reside in Exeter until his death 
several 3'ears later. 

THE CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. 

The members of the Christian society were in the habit of 
holding meetings for religious worship in private houses, for some 
time prior to the year 1830. They aimed to free themselves from 
the constraint of theological dogmas, and so professed no creed 
but the Bible. Elder Abner Jones is said to have been the founder 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 205 

of the sect, and at one time lived in Exeter, and occasionally 
preached to the people. Their first permanent minister appears 
to have been Polder John Flanders, Avho remained five or six years. 
In the meantime, the congregation grew, a chnrch was formed, 
and a chapel was built at the foot of Franklin street. Elder Eli- 
jah Shaw became subsequently the minister of the society, aiKl 
published, in a little pamphlet, a sketch of the doctrines of his 
people, entitled "Sentiments of the Christians." About the year 
1840 Elder Edwin Burnham had the pastoral charge, and this 
was apparently the culminating point of the society. The chapel 
had to be enlarged to accommodate the hearers. But soon after 
this, the noted William Miller, who predicted the destruction of 
the world in 1843, preached in Exeter, and many of the Christian 
Society became believers in his theory, and deserted their former 
associates. 

This succession weakened the Christian society, but it still went 
on for nearly twenty years longer. Elder Simeon Swett, who was 
the compounder of several medical preparations which acquired 
popularity, Elder Julius C. Blodgett and, finally. Elder John W. 
Tilton, successively ministered to the society, but it never recov- 
ered fully from the loss of members which it sustained in 1842, 
and at length, toward the year 1860, came to an end. Its house 
was closed, and its records and papers are said to have been 
destroyed. 

THE METHODIST SOCIETY. 

The first steps towards the formation of a Methodist society 
were taken by five ladies in 1830. Upon their invitation, the 
Rev. D. I. Robinson, then stationed in Newmarket, came to 
Exeter and arranged for religious meetings to be held on every 
alternate Sunday. The next year the Rev. Amos H. Worthing of 
Newmarket, continued to hold occasional services in Exeter ; and 
in 1832 Exeter became a regular station, to which the Rev. Azel 
P. Brigham was appointed by the Conference. The meetings of 
the society were at that time held in the old court-house, and the 
number of attendants was much increased. In November, of the 
same year, John Clement, Samuel Tilton and Moses P. Lowell 
organized the First Episcopal Methodist Society in Exeter, by pub- 
lication in a newspaper, according to law. 

In 1833 the Rev. A. 11. Worthing was stationed in Exeter, and 
in 1834 the Rev. Samuel Hoyt, the society, by invitation, occupy- 



206 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

ins; the old Universalist cliurcli on Centre street. In the latter 
year, however, they erected a brick church of their own, on the 
east side of the river, upon Portsmouth avenue. The dedicatory 
sermon was preached, February 10, 1835, by the Eev. George 
Storrs. In 1835 the Rev. W. H. Hatch was appointed minister 
of the society ; in 1836 the Rev. Alfred Medcalf , on account of 
whose illness the Rev. O. Hinds, and afterwards the Eev. Jacob 
Sanborn took his place. Mr. Sanborn remained for the succeed- 
ing three years, and under his charge the church was highly 
prosperous. 

It was in 1836, on the evening of the tenth of August, that the 
town was disgraced by a scene of public disorder at the meeting- 
house of the Methodist society. The Rev. George Storrs, a noted 
advocate of the abolition of slavery, attempted to deliver a lecture 
there on that subject. A crowd of pro-slavery men, idlers and 
boys gathered, and determined that he should not. As he per- 
sisted in his attempt, he was interrupted by hooting, by the fling- 
ing of stones at the windows and blinds, and by streams of water 
from the fire engines ; so that, finding it impossible to go on, he 
at length desisted, and his audience dispersed. No serious damage 
was done to persons or property ; the worst injury was to the 
good fame of the town. All that can be said in mitigation of the 
offeuce is that it was not an unexampled one in New England at 
that time. 

The Rev. E. D. Trickey was the pastor in 1840 and 1841, at 
which time the church numbered about one hundred and eighty 
members. In 1842 the Rev. D. I. Robinson was stationed at 
Exeter. The divisions on the slavery question, and the "Miller 
excitement," seriously interfered with the harmony of the society, 
and a majority of the members with their pastor seceded, and a 
Wesleyan Methodist church was organized. This was never 
very prosperous. For some years after 1842, Exeter was united 
with Amesbury, Massachusetts, and had no separate minister. In 
1847 the Rev. Isaac W. Huntley was the pastor, and in the two 
years following, the Rev. Ebenezer Peaslee. 

In 1858 the Rev. James M. Buckley, then just from college, 
supplied the pulpit. He was earnest, able and eloquent, and drew 
a large congregation. He has become distinguished in later years, 
and is now a doctor of divinity and editor of the New York 
Christian Advocate, the leading Methodist journal of the country. 
The next year the Rev. Mr. Stokes had charge of the society, but 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 207 

the interest awakened by Mr. Buckley died away after his depart- 
ure, and the society declined, and soon came to a full stop. 

In 1861 and 1862 the brick meeting-house was occasionally 
opened, but it was not till 1867 that the Methodists, including 
some new comers, re-organized theu- society. In that year the 
Rev. C. W. Millen supplied them with preaching for a few weeks, 
holdino- services in a hall on Water street. After he left, the 
Rev. J. D. I'olsom began his labors with them, and the congrega- 
tion increased. The Rev. H. B. Copp succeeded Mr. Folsom in 
1868, and remained three years. During his stay the society pur- 
chased from the Unitarian society the church on the corner of 
Front and Centre streets, where they still worship. The Rev. S. E. 
Quimby was the next pastor, for the term of three years. The 
society had now grown in strength and numbers. In 1874 and 
1875 the stationed minister was the Rev. S. C. Farnham ; and in 
the three following years the Rev. J. H. Haines. The church and 
congregation were largely increased during his administration. 
The Rev. M. Howard was the next minister, for the years 1879 
and 1880 ; and the Rev. J. W. Walker succeeded him in 1881 and 
part of 1882 ; and the Rev. C. H. Hannaford filled out the latter 
year. In 1883 the Rev. C. J. Fowler was the pastor, and in 1884 
the Rev. John W. Adams was assigned to the place. 

The society had long struggled with a considerable debt, in- 
curred when they purchased their house of worship in 1868, and 
Mr. Adams resolved to make a determined effort to pay it off. 
By the concurrent action of his church and society he was enabled 
to accomplish the desirable result, and on December 28, 1884, 
announced it to his society, on which occasion he delivered a 
discourse on the Centenary of Methodism. 

In 1886 Mr. Adams was transferred to another scene of labor, 
and the Rev. C. N. Nutter succeeded to the Exeter charge. 

THE ADVENT SOCIETY. 

This society probably took its rise from the doctrine of the 
immediate second coming of Christ, preached by William jMiller 
in the year 1842. It was chiefly made up of members of the 
Christian and the Methodist churches, who left their old commun- 
ions in the full faith that the end of the world was at hand. Of 
course when the time fixed for the final catastrophe came and went 
without the expected event, the faith of many was shaken, but a 



208 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

considerable part of the believers decided that a mistake in the 
time Avas no reason for rejecting any other tenet of their religion, 
and so have continued their regular worship in their chapel on 
Clifford street. Their views as to doctrines are much the same as 
those which were held by the " Christians," but of course the 
expected second advent of Christ is the prominent subject of 
interest with them, and their aim is to be constantly ready to 
welcome it. 

/ 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIETY. 

The Catholic society of Exeter was organized in 1853 by the 
Rev. John McDonnell of Haverhill, Massachusetts. For some 
years it was small in numbers, and lacked the means to l^uild a 
house of worship. There was no resident priest, and services were 
held only occasionally. But as the numbers increased a regular 
pastor was found necessarj^, and the Rev. J. Ph. Perrache was 
appointed in July, 1859. Meetings were held in the building on 
Centre street which had formerly served as the Universalist 
church. Father Perrache remained in Exeter something less than 
three years, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Bernard O'Hara, 
in the month of April, 1862. 

The Rev. Canon Walsh assumed charge of the society in Decem- 
ber, 1865, and retained it about three years and a half, iintil the 
appointment of the Rev. M. C. O'Brien in June, 1869. His stay 
was very brief, and the Rev. Charles Egan followed him in 
November of the same year. Father Egan's residence was longer 
than that of either of his predecessors, and he did not give place 
to his successor, the Rev. Michael Lucy, until December, 1875. 
The next incumbent was the Rev. John Power, who was placed 
in charge of the society in October, 1878, and was succeeded in 
January, 1883, by the present pastor, the Rev. John Canning. 

The society in 1868 erected their brick church in Centre street, 
and purchased the house adjoining, on the corner of Water street, 
for the residence of the pastor. 

THE UNITARIAN SOCIETY. 

The Unitarian society was formed in June, 1854. It was chiefly 
composed of members of the Second parish who entertained Uni- 
tarian opinions, and were not satisfied with the style of preaching 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 209 

there, and of the Universalists, whose society had decliued in 
numbers and means. The neAV organization purchased the Uni- 
versalist church at tlie corner of Front and Centre streets, and 
there maintained their worship for the succeeding fourteen years. 
For nearly two years they had no settled minister, but were tem- 
porarily supplied ; though a considerable part of that time the 
Rev. Joseph Angler, a graduate of Harvard College in 1829, was 
their preacher. 

On the twenty-fourth of April, 1856, the Rev. Jonathan Cole 
was installed as their pastor. After remaining about four years 
he asked his dismission, but was prevailed upon at the request of 
the society to remain for a year or two longer, until they could 
decide upon his successor. Mr. Cole was a graduate of Harvard 
College of the class of 1825, and after he left Exeter removed to 
Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he died in 1877. 

In September, 18G2, the society invited the Rev. .John C. 
Learned, who had then just completed his course of study in 
Divinity School at Cambridge, to become their minister. He 
accepted the invitation and, after completing a tour in Europe, 
was ordained over them May 6, 1863. He retained the connection 
nearly six years and a half, when it was dissolved upon his appli- 
cation on account of the impaired condition of his health. After 
quitting Exeter he took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri, 
where he still remains. During his pastorate the society acquired 
the strength and means to provide themselves with a new place of 
worship, and erected their present church on the corner of Maple 
and Elm streets. 

His successor was the Rev. Edward Crowninshield (Harvard 
Divinity School, 1870), who was ordained over the society about 
the first of August of tlie same year. His health was found to be 
insufficient for the position, and he resigned it after a single year's 
labor. 

Another year had nearl}^ expired before his place was supplied 
by the Rev. Benjamin F. McDaniel, who received his theological 
education at the same school, in the class of 1861). His pastorate 
extended over a period of ten years and a half, but during that 
time he was twice compelled to ask for temporary leave of 
absence, to recruit his healtli by foreign travel. At length he was 
dismissed by his own desire, and after a short settlement in Salem, 
Massachusetts, he removed to the milder climate of San Diego, 
California. It was while Mr. INIcDaniel was in Exeter that the 

14 



21U HISTOEY OF EXETER. 

society built upon the lot adjoining the church their present parson- 
age house. 

Mr. McDauiel was followed by the Rev. John E. Mande, a 
graduate of Harvard College, who was ordained October 9, 1883. 
His term of service lasted only one year, when he fell a victim to 
disease. 

The Rev. Alfred C. Nickerson, a graduate from the Harvard 
Divinity School in 1871, is the present pastor, and assumed the 
office in the month of April, 1886. 

THE EPISCOPAL SOCIETY. 

The Episcopal society in Exeter dates from the year 1865. It 
originated with students of the Academy who had been brought 
up in that church, and wished to enjoy its services while pursuing 
their education. The Rev. Dr. (now Bishop) F. D. Huntington 
cordially seconded the movement and conducted the first service in 
the town hall, in July, 1865. In September following the parish 
of Christ Church was organized. 

The next month the Rev. Dr. George F. Cushman, a graduate 
of Amherst College in 1840, took charge of the parish, and 
remained six months. Services were at first held in the town hall, 
and afterwards in the building on Centre street, originally used 
by the First Congregational society as a vestry. 

The Rev. James Haughton, a native of Boston, and a graduate 
of Harvard College in the class of 1860, succeeded Dr. Cushman, 
and under his rectorship the present church on Elliott street was 
built. The means for it, $12,500, were raised by the exertions of 
the indefatigable treasurer of the parish. Miss Caroline E. Harris, 
and of the rector. The church was ready for occupation at 
Christmas, 1867, and consecrated September 30, 1868, with no 
debt, and with free sittings. 

After the resignation of Mr. Haughton, to take the charge of 
the new society in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Rev. Dr. 
Samuel P. Parker, an alumnus of Harvard College, succeeded to 
the rectorship. He remained two years, during which the society 
prospered and increased in strength. For some time after his 
departure there was no settled clergyman over the parish, but in 
July, 1872, the Rev. Henry Ferguson, a native of Connecticut, 
and a graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, assumed the charge. 
In 1875 he obtained a year's leave of absence, and travelled 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 211 

abroad. During his absence the Rev. J. H. George had the 
charge of the parish. Mr. Ferguson resumed his duties, upon his 
return, and remained about two years longer. Afterwards he was 
for a time rector of the church in Claremont, and then received an 
appointment to the professorship of history, iu his alma mater, 
which he still holds. 

The Rev. George B. Morgan, also a native of Connecticut and 
an alumnus of Trinity College, was the successor of Mr. Fergu- 
son. His ministry extended over the period of eight years, when 
he resigned it, to take the rectorship of a church in New Haven. 

The present rector is the Rev. Edward Goodridge, like his two 
immediate predecessors, born in Connecticut and educated at 
Trinity College. He began his labors in Exeter February 26, 
1887. He had previously been stationed in Geneva, Switzerland 
in charge of the American church there. 



MILITARY 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE INDIAN AND FRENCH WARS. 

Although under the laws of Massachusetts the people of Exe- 
ter had to maiutaiii a watch-house aud some show of an orsauized 
militia, yet until the year 1675 the place had never been made the 
object of any Indian hostilities. There must have been frequent 
intercourse between the whites and the aborigines, but their rela- 
tions were pacific and friendly. Possibly the precautions taken 
by the former contributed to maintain this tranquillity. 

But in the year named an Indian war broke out, brief, but in 
some sections active and bloody. Philip, chief sachem of the 
Wampanoags, has the credit, or discredit, of being the instigator 
of the movement. His own people belonged in the southern part 
of New England, but he had the power and address to enlist some 
of the eastern tribes to make common cause with him. This was 
the less difficult, because some of them had grievances of their 
own to revenge. 

Exeter was a frontier town, and necessarily suffered to some 
extent from the raids of the barbarous enemy. In the month of 
September, 1675, a party of savages made a descent upon the set- 
tlement of Oyster river, adjoining Exeter on the north, and 
burned two houses and killed four persons. They also made 
captives of two others, one of them "a young man from about 
Exeter" according to the historian, Hubbard, but whose name is 
unknown. By the aid of an Indian " better minded than the rest " 
he succeeded in giving them the slip, and returned to the garrison 
at Salmon Falls, after about a month's absence. 

Four of the same party of Indians, probably, proceeded to Exe- 
ter, aud made a prisoner of Charles Rundlet, an inhabitant of the 
town. He was left in the custody of one of their number, named 
James, whom he induced to connive at his escape. Rundlet was 
accidentally drowned at the mouth of Exeter river, nearly a quarter 
of a century later. 

215 



216 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The other three Indians, whose names were John Sampson, 
Cromwell and John Linde, placed themselves in ambnsh in the 
woods near the road leading to Hampton. Soon afterwards John 
Kobinson, a l)lacksmith who had removed frbm Haverhill, Massa- 
chusetts, to P^xeter in 1G57, made his appearance, with his son, 
on their way to Hampton. The father, according to tradition, 
was carrying a warming-pan. The Indians fired from their lurk- 
ing place upon them, and shot the elder Robinson dead.* The 
bullet passed through his body from back to front, and lodged just 
under the skin. The son, upon hearing the report of the guns, 
ran into a swamp where the Indians pursued, but could not over- 
take him. He I'eachcd Hampton about midnight and gave infor- 
mation of what had occurred. 

About the same time that Robinson was shot, another Exeter 
man, John Folsom, was riding on horseback along the same road, 
driving a pair of oxen before him. He heard the report of the 
guns which gave Robinson his death wound, and presently dis- 
covered the three Indians creeping on their bellies towards him. 
He abandoned his oxen, put his horse to speed and made his 
escape, though it is said that one of the savages sent an ineffect- 
ual shot after him. 

In October following the occurrences just related, the Indians 
made another incursion to Exeter, and killed one man near Lam- 
prey river. Several of them were seen about Exeter, and between 
Hampton and Exeter, where they killed one or two men in the 
woods as they were travelling homewards. The names of those 
slain have not been preserved. These outrages naturally terrified 
the people of the town and vicinit}^, and prevented them from 
attending to their daily business, or exposing themselves in any 
way to the rifle and the scalping-knife of the cruel and stealthy 
foe. Fortunately this outbreak of hostilities was of brief duration, 
and was ended in 1676 by the death of the chief fomenter of it, 
and Exeter experienced no further molestation at this time. 

KING William's w^ar. 

Nearly fifteen years passed away before the Indians again took 
up the hatchet. They were then set on by the French in Canada, 
and the brunt of their attacks fell upon the border settlements of 



* There seems to be an uncertainty exactly when this tragedy occurred. The 
record of the town gives the date as the tweuty-flrst of October, 1675. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 217 

New Hampshire and Maine. A terrible massacre was committed 
upon the settlers of Coehecho in 1689 ; but it was not until the 
succeeding year that Exeter was invaded. On the fourth of July, 
1690, eight or nine white men went out to work in the field near 
Lamprey river, when a party of Indians fell upon them and slew 
them all, and departed, carrying with them a lad into captivity. 
The next day the enemy beset Captain Hilton's garrison in Exe- 
ter. Lieutenant Bancroft being then stationed in the town with a 
small force, at the distance probably of three or four miles, 
relieved the garrison, at the loss, however, of eight or nine of his 
party. It was of one of his men, Simon Stone * by name, that the 
wonderful preservation from death, after numerous and seemingly 
mortal wounds received on this occasion, is related by Cotton 
INIather, in his Macfnalia. 

On the sixth day of the same July, a severe conflict took place 
between two scouting companies under the command of Captains 
Floyd and Wiswall, and a large body of savages at Wheelwright's 
pond in Lee, in which thirteen of the whites were killed. The 
enemy then pursued their way westward, and within the period of 
one single week added at least fifteen more victims, slain between 
Lamprey river and Amesbury, Massachusetts, to those already 
enumerated, in their bloody raid. How many of these belonged 
in Exeter we have unfortunately no present means of ascertaining. 

About June 9, of the next 3'^ear, 1691, the Indians killed two 
men at Exeter, whose names are unknown. 

In the latter part of the succeeding month of July, an expedi- 
tion was sent to the eastward against the Indian enemy, under the 
command of Captain March and others, and landed at a pface 
called Maquoit, near Casco, on the coast of Maine. They were 
attacked by great numbers of the enemy, and Nathaniel Ladd, an 
inhabitant of Exeter, who was in the expedition, received a mortal 
wound, of which he died on the eleventh of August, following. 

During the continuance of the Indian wars, Exeter, by reason 
of its exposed situation, needed to be garrisoned a large part of 
the time, not only for the protection of its own inhabitants, but 
as a bulwark against assaults upon the interior settlements. 
Sometimes the militia of other places were detailed for this duty, 
but most of the time, probably, the guard was composed of Exeter 
men. The records of their service are not now to be found, in 



♦Then or afterwards of Groton, Massachusetts. 



218 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

most cases, but a few have fortunately escaped destruction, to 
give us an idea of the trying experiences of the time. 

The earliest that we can discover bears date March 17, 1693, 
and is as follows : 

The soldiers under my command, quartered by the inhabitants 
of Exeter from the 1 day of December, 1G'J2, to the 17 of March, 
1692-3, the number is twenty and two, and two quartered at Mr. 
Andrew Wiggins, one of them since the arrival of their majesty's 
gevernment in this province, to the 17 IMarch,. 1692-3, the other 
quartered fifteen weeks in the aforesaid time. 

per me, Thomas Thaxter, Capt. 

The above is a true account of the soldiers quartered by the 
inhabitants of Exeter. 

Jonathan Thing, Capt. 

In the year 1693 a truce was "patched up," as Belknap pithily 
expresses it, between the aborigines and the English, which was 
violated without scruple by the former in the following year.* 
But Exeter happily escaped any further attack until the month of 
July, 1695, when two men are recorded to have been slain there by 
the Indians. Like so many others who perished in the same man- 
ner, they are to us nameless. 

The precept du-ected to the authorities of Exeter, November 2, 
1695, for the election of assemblymen, contained also the order 
following : 



'o 



You are required to give notice to the captain of your town that 
he stands upon his guard, the Indians being on the frontiers. 

William Redfokd, Dpt. 

Kinsley Hall was the captain of the first company of militia in 
Exeter, and from his return we learn that he lost no time in pro- 
viding for the emergency. He impressed men from time to time 
through the autumn and winter, and until April, 1696, requiring 
of each instalment about a month's service, as follows : 

John Young, Sr., Jacob Smith, Alexander Gordon, Francis 
Steel and Job Judkius, from November 4 to December 2, 1695. 

Thomas Eollins, John Sinclair, Joshua Oilman, I^dward Masry 
(?) and John Judkins, from November 14 to December 12, 1695. 



* By the mai=sacre at Oyster river on July 18, 1794. On that occasion Exeter was 
ordered to furni>h twenty men to range the woods in pursuit of the enemy, but no 
record of their service is to be found. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 219 

Edward Dwyer, Ebenezer Folsom, John Ficket, Jethro Pearson 
aud Strong Home, from December 2 to December 30, 16'J5. 

Samuel Bean, Jeremy Conner, Edward Cloutman, Samuel Dol- 
loff and James Randlet, from December 12, 1695, to January 9, 
1(396. 

John Bean, James Bean, Israel Smith, James Leavitt and 
Stephen Gilman, from December 30. 1695, to January 20, 1696. 

Samuel Piper, Nicholas Smith, Nicholas Gilman, Philip Spenlow 
aud Moses Rollins, from January 9 to February 6, 1696. 

William Graves, Clement ISIoody, Jonathan Smith aud John 
Leavitt, from January 27 to February 24, 1696. 

Francis Lyf ord, Biley Dudley, Alexander Magoon and Nathaniel 
Ladd, from P>bruary 6 to March 5, 1696. 

Nicholas Gordon, James Young, Mark Stacy and William 
Powell, from February 24 to March 23, 1696. 

Peter Folsom, from March 5 to April 2, 1696. 

The whole account of the soldier's wages from November 5, 
1695, to April 2, 1696, was £52, 16 s. 

In addition to the above Exeter men whose tour of duty was in 
their own town, another, Jonathan Thing, served in the garrison 
at Oyster river, one month from April 2, 1696 ; and sixteen others 
were summoned to Oyster river for two days. 

It appears, also, that P^xeter furnished the garrison in the town 
through the spring and summer, and until November 9, 1696, as 
follows : 

Job Judkius, Alexander Gordon, D Meserve, Charles 

Rundlet, Armstrong Home, Ebenezer Folsom, Francis Steel, 
John Gordon, Nathan Taylor and Richard Dolloff, from April 
13 to August 3, 1696. 

David Lawrence, Thomas Wilson, John Gilman, Israel Young, 
Richard Morgan, Jonathan Clark, Ephraim Folsom, Samuel 
Dudley, Job Judkins and David Robinson, from August 3 to 
August 31, 1696. 

Charles Glidden, George Pearson, William Taylor, William 
Jones, George Gorly (?), Nicholas Norris, Alexander Gordon, 
Sr., Jonathan Wadleigh, Daniel Bean and Roger Kelly, from \^ 

August 31 to September 28, 1696. "^^■4>i/uwLt 

James Gilman, Philip Huutson, Philip Dudy, Jacob Smith, ^^^ 

Moses Kimming, Theophilus Smith, Jeremiah Gilman, Joseph 
Rollins, Benjamin Jones aud Moses Norris, from September 28 to 
October 26, 1696. 

Cornelius Leary, John Beau, Sr., James Gordon, Caleb C-Jilman, 
Jeremiah Beau, Abraham Folsom, William Scammon, Richard 
Morgan, Sr., Benjamin Taylor and Jonathan Robinson, from 
Octo^ber 26 to November 9, 1696. 

Moses Leavitt also served in the garrison at Exeter from July 
28 to September 22, 1696. 



220 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

No lists of the Exeter soldiers in "King William's War," 
except those above given, have been found ; but these are enough 
to show that the daily life of the people was never wholly free 
from apprehension, and that there was no craven spirit in the 
Exeter men of two centuries ago. 

A FORTUNATE ESCAPE. 

A remarkable coincidence, which resulted in frustrating a plan 
formed by a party of savages for the destruction of the town, 
occurred June 9, 1697. On that day a party of women and 
children went into the woods, against advice and without a guard, 
for the purpose of picking strawberries. To frighten them, so as 
to render them more cautious iu future, some one, without the 
least suspicion that an enemy was near, fired an alarm, upon which 
a great part of the men hurried together, with arms in their hands . 
In point of fact, a party of Indians were at that very time lying 
in ambush in another part of the town,* with the intention of 
making an assault the next morning, but hearing the alarm, they 
supposed they were discovered, and hurriedly decamped, killing, 
on their way, John Young, wounding his son, a child, and taking 
captive a thu"d, Luke Wells, by name. Young was one of those 
who had been impressed into service in the Exeter garrison in the 
winter of 1695-6. 

Peace was concluded in Europe between the English and Fi-ench 
by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697. King William's war ended the 
next year, and for a brief period no hostile tribes committed dep- 
redations on the northern provinces in America. But in less than 
four years there were such indications that the Indians were again 
about to take the war path, that the governor and council of New 
Hampshire, in February, 1702, ordered Captain Peter Coffin of 
Exeter, and the captains of Oyster river and Dover, to keep 
scouts of two men daily from Kingston to Salmon Falls river till 
further orders ; and in March, following, ordered Captain Coffin 
to send two men to scout from Exeter to Pickpocket mill, thence 
to Kingston, and so back to Exeter ; also to send two men to 
Lamprey river, to the house of John Smith and so back to Exeter. 

Queen Anne came to the English throne in 1702, and her name 
has been applied to the Indian war which broke out afresh in 
America the next year. 



* The place of the ambush was what is now called Fort Rock, in a pasture in the 
rear of the present house of Mr. Edward Swasey. 



'i<*>^ 



</ 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 221 

QUEEN ANNe's WAR. 

In the winter of 1703-4 the government of New Hampshire re- 
solved to send out a scouting expedition against the savage euemy. 
Captain John Gihnan, Jr., a son of Councillor John Gilraan, and 
Captain Winthrop Hilton, were the commanding officers of the 
two companies in Exeter, and were encouraged to raise volunteers 
for the expedition. The former reported, in a week, that he had 
enlisted twenty men, and expected twelve more, exclusive of 
officers ; and that several gentlemen of Exeter had subscribed for 
the purchase of thirty pairs of snow-shoes, for their use, which 
were in preparation. Captain Hilton, a grandson of Edward 
Hilton and a nephew of Governor Joseph Dudley, reported that 
he had only received his notice the night before, and was of the 
opinion that if one company were to go from Exeter, it would 
weaken the place too much to take more men away from it. 
Captain Hilton, who was soon to become a successful and distin- 
guished commander, was commissioned major, and took the com- 
mand of the three companies composing this scouting party. 

They ranged the woods on snow-shoes in quest of the savages, 
but did not succeed in meeting any. It was "an honorable ser- 
vice," the council declared, and ordered a handsome gratuity to 
each of the commanding officers. 

In March, 1704, a force was raised to range the shores of 
Maine, and was put" under the command of that veteran Indian 
fighter. Colonel Benjamin Church. Hilton was appointed his 
major, and rendered excellent ser\dce. He was allowed to have 
the militia of the New Hampshire towns mustered, from which to 
procure volunteers for the enterprise, and took with him, according 
to Belknap, "a body of men;" but, unfortunately, no means of 
knowledge exist how many were contributed by Exeter. The 
expedition occupied the summer of 1704. 

On the twenty-sixth of April, in the same year, a party of 
Indians, who had committed depredations in Oyster river the day 
before, killed Edward Taylor near Lamprey river, and afterwards 
took his wife Rebecca and their son, and carried them into captiv- 
ity. Mrs. Taylor was subsequently restored to her friends, but 
had been harshly treated. Her master, who was called Captain 
Sampson, was on one occasion so enraged with her (without pro- 
vocation) that he determined to put an end to her life. He first 
attempted to. hang her to the limb of a tree by his girdle, Imt it 
gave way under the weight of her body. The disappointment 



222 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

angered him to such a degree, that he resolved, if a second attempt 
failed, he would beat her brains out with his hatchet. Fortunately, 
before he could put his resolve into execution, Bomaseen, an 
Indian of authority, made his appearance aud arrested the fatal 
blow. 

The histories inform us in disappointing general terms, that 
about August 10, 1704, the savages did much mischief at Ames- 
bury, Haverhill and Exeter. But no particulars are preserved, 
save that John Young was slain at Exeter while travelling between 
the town and Pickpocket. He was probably the son of the person 
of the same name who fell beneath the weapons of the savage foe 
seven years before. 

COLONEL Hilton's expeditions. 

In the winter of 1704-5, the indefatigable Colonel Winthrop 
Hilton with two hundred and seventy men, among whom were 
twenty friendly Indians, was sent to Norridgewock on snow-shoes, 
to harry the enemy. They found the village deserted, but burnt 
the wigwams and a chapel, erected by the French. 

The summer of 1705 was spent in negotiations for exchanges of 
prisoners ; but in July, 1706, notice was received that a large body 
of French Mohawks were on their way towards Pascataqua. Colo- 
nel Hilton with sixty-four men marched from Exeter to intercept 
them, but was obliged to return for want of provisions, without 
meeting them. The enemy committed depredations at Dunstable, 
Amesbury and Kingston, after which a party of them numbering 
about twenty remained lurking around the house of Colonel Hilton 
in Exeter, with the intent of destroying that brave and energetic 
oflicer. On the twenty-third of July they observed ten men go out 
to the field in the morning, with their scythes, to mow. The 
Indians crept cautiously between them and the weapons which 
they had laid aside, and then fell upon them. They killed four, 
Richard Mattoon, his son Hubertus, Robert Barber and Samuel 
Pease, and three others they carried captive, Edward Hall, Samuel 
Mighill and a mulatto. Three only escaped, Joseph Hall, John 
Taylor, who was sorely wounded but recoveTed, and another. 
Edward Hall (a nephew of Colonel Hilton) and Mighill were 
carried to Canada, where Hall obtained so much favor from the 
French and Indians by building them a saw-mill that they allowed 
him and Mighill to go out into the woods to hunt, and sometimes 
unattended. The two prisoners took advantage of one of these 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 223 

opportunities and made their escape. They were for three weeks 
traversing the forests on foot, with nothing to subsist on except 
lily roots and the rind of trees, till Mighill was so exhausted that 
he lay down to die. Hall made all possible provisions for his 
comfort and left him, to seek the nearest English settlement. He 
soon reached Deerfield, Massachusetts, and immediately sent a 
party to Mighill's relief. They found him alive, and brought him 
to the fort where he recovered his strength, and returned with his 
companion to their home. The names of Hall and Mighill are 
found upon the tax list of Exeter in 1714. 

In the winter of 1706-7, Colonel Hilton, in command of two 
hundred and twenty men, made another excursion to the eastward, 
which resulted in the destruction of above twenty of the enemy. 

In the month of July, 1707, two brothers, Stephen and Jacob 
Gilman, as they were riding from Exeter to Kingston, were 
ambushed and fired upon by a party of seven Indians. Stephen 
had his horse shot under him, and was in danger of being scalped 
before he could get clear. The other received several shot 
through his clothes, one of which grazed his body. His horse also 
was wounded, yet he defended himself on foot, and succeeded in 
getting into the garrison. One escaped to Kingston, the other to 
Exeter. 

Later in the year, on the thirteenth of September, one man was 
killed near the meeting-house in Exeter, by the Indians ; and two 
days afterward, another, John Dolloff, in the woods. 

In the winter of 1708-9, Colonel Hilton made along and tedious 
march with one hundred and seventy men to Pequawket in search 
of the enemy, but without success. 

In 1700, on the sixth of May, William Moody, Samuel Stevens 
and two sons of Jeremiah Gilman, Jeremiah and Andrew, were 
surprised by the Indians at Pickpocket mill in Exeter, and carried 
away prisoners. Moody was taken to Canada, and while his 
captors were traversing French river with huu in canoes, a few 
days afterward, they were attacked by a party of English under 
Captain ^Yright of Northampton, Massachusetts. Several of the 
Indians were killed, and Moody was left alone with one savage 
in a canoe. The English encouraged him to despatch the Indian, 
which he attempted, but in the struggle the canoe was overset, 
and Moody swam to the shore. Two or three of the English ran 
down to the bank and helped him to land, but a number of the 
enemy attacked them, and Moody unhappily yielded himself again 



224 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

to the savages, who afterwards put him to cruel torture, roasted 
hhn alive at the stake, and devoured his flesh. 

The brothers Gilmau, after their capture, were separated from 
each other. Andrew was told that Jeremiah was killed and eaten ; 
and as the latter never returned to Exeter the story was for a 
long time believed to be true. But it is since alleged that after a 
tedious captivity Jeremiah escaped to the Connecticut river, fol- 
lowed it to its mouth, and there spent the residue of his life, and 
that his descendants are now to be found in the States of Connec- 
ticut and New York. Andrew returned to his friends, and lived 
in that part of Exeter which is now Brentwood, for almost half a 
century afterwards, Stevens, too, returned to Exeter, and was 
taxed there in 1718. 

On the eleventh of June, 1709, as Ephraim Folsora was riding 
home about sunset, from the village of Exeter to his house in 
what is now South Newmarket, he was fired upon by an Indian 
and killed. 

In 1710 the Indians were very menacing, and scouts were kept 
up continually on the frontier. A few rolls of their names have 
been preserved, which show that Exeter was not backward in fur- 
nishing men for this duty. Captain Nicholas Oilman led a scout- 
ing party from June 21 to 23, comprising the following persons : 

.John Barber, Thomas Dolloff, John Dudley, Jonathan Folsom, 
William French, Dudley Hilton, Jonathan Ililton, John Lougee, 
Thomas McKeen, Richard Smith, Kobert Woolford and Richard 
York. 

And from June 23 to 25, the following : 

Daniel Bean, Jeremiah Conner, John Drisco, James Dudley, 
Samuel Dudley, Stephen Dudley, Daniel Fames, Ephraim Folsom, 
John Folsom, Jonathan Folsom, Cartee Oilman, David Oilman, 
Edward Oilman, Jeremiah Oilman, Benjamin Jones, Daniel Ladd, 
John Ladd, Nathaniel Ladd, Joseph Lawrence, Daniel Leary, 
Samuel Mitchell, James Sinclair, Nicholas Smith, Bartholomew 
Thing, John Thing, Daniel Young, Jonathan Young, 

Captain Nicholas Oilman was also in command of a detachment 
at Hilton's garrison of Exeter, of which the following persons had, 
on the third of Jnly, served seven days : Jeremiah Arringdine, 
Samuel Bean, Daniel Fames, Cornelius Leary, Thomas Lowell, 
Bartholomew Thing, John York and John Young ; and the follow- 
ing, fourteen days : Armstrong Horn, Thomas Leary and Samuel 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 225 

Lovering. And on the fifth of July he went again on a scout of 
two days in command of the following persons : Daniel Bean, 
John Bean, Jeremiah Conner, Philip Duda, James Dudley, Samuel 
Dudley, Abraham Folsora, John Folsom, Cartee Oilman, Daniel 
Oilman, Jeremiah Oilman, Jonathan Hilton, John Ladd, Nathan- 
iel Ladd, Daniel Leary, John Nash, John Perkins, John Scribner, 
James Sinclair and Daniel Young. 

DEATH OF COLONEL HILTON. 

Scarcely two weeks after the return of this scout, the enemy, 
who had long been on the watch for an opportunity to take their 
daring and dreaded enemy, Colonel Winthrop Hilton, at a disad- 
vantage, succeeded in their purpose. He went out on the twenty- 
second of July with a party of seventeen men, to peel some large 
hemlock logs which he had cut for masts the previous season, and 
which were liable to be injured by worms unless stripped of their 
bark. They were lying at the distance of about fourteen miles to 
the westward of his house. The day had been stormy. While 
the party were employed in doing the work, a body of Indians 
fired upon them from an ambush and killed three, Colonel Hilton 
and two others. The remainder of the whites, intimidated by 
their loss, and finding their guns unser\T,ceable by the wet, fled, 
except two who were taken captive. These were Dudley Hilton, 
a brother of the colonel, and John Lougee, both of Exeter. The 
next day one hundred men marched in pursuit of the Indians, but 
discovered only the bodies of the fallen. The enemy in their 
triumph had struck their hatchets into the brain of Colonel Hilton, 
and left a lance sticking in his heart. His body was brought to 
his home, and buried with every mark of respect and honor. 

Dudley Hilton was never more heard from, and probably 
perished in captivity. Lougee was taken to Canada and thence 
to England. He returned to Exeter as early as 1716, and was 
married and left descendants there. 

The enemy were so much emboldened by their success that they 
appeared in Exeter in the open road, and carried away prisoners 
four children who were there at play. Three of them were un- 
doubtedly daughters of Richard Dolloff ; and the next that we hear 
of them is from a petition of their father to the Assembly of the 
Province in May, 1717, in which he stated that in the preceding 
summer he went to Canada to redeem them, and succeeded in 

15 



226 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

getting one, by paying to lier Indian captor twelve pounds and 
seven shillings. For this money he gave a bond to Major Schuy- 
ler, a commissioner appointed by the province of New York ; and 
he prayed that the province of New Hampshire would afford him 
aid, that he might go again to Canada to obtain the release of his 
other two children. The assembly voted him ten pounds in 1717, 
and a like amount, the year following. The printed records from 
which the foregoing account is gathered, are supplemented by tra- 
dition, to the effect that the children were on their way from school 
to the strong-house in what is known as the " garrison pasture," 
and were stopping to play, when they were captured, and that 
another child had just gone into the woods to gather an armful of 
hemlock, and seeing the fate of her companions was enabled to 
conceal herself in the bushes, and so escaped. Tradition further 
states that after peace was established, their father brought two 
of the gii'ls back from Canada. The other one, who had married 
an Indian husband, also returned to Exeter with the intention of 
remaining, but, thinking she was slighted on account of the match 
she had made, went back to Canada. 

The Indians, at the same time that they captured the Dolloff 
children, took John Wedgwood and carried him to Canada, and 
killed John ]Magoon. The fate of the latter Avas attended by a 
singular coincidence. Three nights before, he had dreamed that 
he should be slain by the Indians at a certain place near his 
brother's barn. He repeatedly visited the spot, and told the 
neighbors that he should, in a little while, be killed there; "and 
it fell out accordingly." 

On the sixteenth of August, 1710, less than a month after the 
death of Colonel Hilton, a company of ninety-one men marched, 
under the command of Captain John Gilman, in pursuit of the 
enemy. They were out five days, but returned without meeting 
the invaders. The roll of the company is given in Potter's INIili- 
tary History of New Hampshire, and the commander and about 
half of the number appear to have been inhabitants of Exeter. 

The following named persons, believed all to have belonged to 
Exeter, served at various times in 1710 in scouting parties in 
pursuit of the savages, under the command of Captain Nicholas 
Gilman or Captain John Gilman. 

Jeremiah Arringdine John Bean 

John Barber Samuel Bean, Jr. 

Daniel Bean Jeremiah Conner 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



227 



Thomas DoUoff 
John Drisco 
Philip Duda 
James Dudley 
John Dudley 
Samuel Dudley 
Stephen Dudley 
Daniel Eames 
Abraham Folsom 
Ephraim Folsom 
John Folsom 
Jonathan Folsom 
Nathaniel Folsom, Jr. 
William French 
Cartee Oilman 
Daniel Oilman 
David Oilman 
Edward Oilman 
Jeremiah Oilman 
Andrew Olidden 
Thomas Oordon 
Josiah Hall 
Dudley Hilton 
Jonathan Hilton 
Armstrong Horn 
Benjamin Jones 
Daniel Ladd 
John Ladd 
Nathaniel Ladd 
Cornelius Lary 
Daniel Lary 
Thomas Lary 



Joseph Lawrence 
James Leavitt 
John Liijht 
John Lougee 
Samuel Lovering 
Thomas Lowell 
Thomas McKeen 
Alexander Magoon 
John Marsh 
Samuel Mighill 
John Perkins 
Thomas Powell 
Jonathan Robinson 
Thomas Robinson 
Benjamin Rollins 
John Scribner 
James Sinclair 
James Sinclair, Jr. 
John Sinclair 
John Sinclair, Jr. 
Israel Smith 
Ithiel Smith 
Nicholas Smith 
Richard Smith 
Benjamin Taylor 
Bartholomew Thing 
John Thing 
Robert Woolford 
John York 
Richard York 
Daniel Young 
Jonathan Young 



OCCURRENCES OF 1712. 

No other loss of life at the hands of savages occurred iu Exe- 
ter so far as can be ascertained, until the sixteenth of April, 1712. 
At about four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, Timothy Cun- 
ningham, as he was travelling from Hilton's garrison to the village 
of Exeter, was shot down by a part}^ of Indians. He was a shop 
keeper in Boston,* and left a wife and four children, and a respect- 
able property there. It is not known what errand it was that 



* The writer is indebted to the papers of that distinguished antiquary, the late 
Charles W. Tattle, Ph. D., for information as to the residence and circumstances of 
this stranger victim of savage hostility. 



228 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



called him forth on the journey that terminated so tragically. His 
body was interred in the second burying-ground in Exeter, where 
his gravestone still remains, with the inscription: "Here lies 
buried y* body of Timothy Cunningham, aged 46 years. Departed 
this life y^ IG of April 1712." 

In the year 1712 the following men were drawn from the Exe- 
ter companies of Captain Nicholas Gilman and Captain John 
Gilman for a scouting party under the command of Captain James 
Davis. Sixteen others from the same place served with these, 
but as their names are already given in the list of 1710, they are 
not repeated here. 



Edward Bean 
Jeremiah Bean 
John Bean 
John Bean, Jr. 
Samuel Bean 
Jabez Bradbury 
John Clark 
Ebenezer Clough 
Tristram Coffin 
Samuel Dolloff 
Jonathan Dudley 
Samuel Elkins 
Jeremiah Folsom 
Joshua Gilman 
Morris Gilman 
Alexander Gordon 
Thomas Harris 
Peter Havey 
John Leavitt 
Selah Leavitt 
Samuel Magoon 



Nathaniel Mason 
Clement Moody 
Abraham Morgan 
Jonathan Norris 
Jethro Pearson 
Richard Preston 
Owen Reynolds 
John Roberts 
Aaron Rollins 
Joseph Rolhus 
William Scammon 
Samuel Scribner 
Samuel Sinclair 
Daniel Smith 
David Smith 
Nathaniel Smith 
Joseph Taylor 
Joseph Thing 
Matthew Thompson 
Robert Young 



ASSAULT UPON THE ROLLINS FAMILY. 



The last Indian raid upon Exeter territory that history relates, 
was during what is known as " Lovewell's war," on the twenty- 
ninth of August, 1723, at Lamprey river. Ixlward Taylor, who 
was killed by the Indians, as already stated, on April 26, 1704, 
left a daughter who was the wife of Aaron Rollins. Most of the 
inhabitants at that time retired to the garrison houses at night, 
for greater security, but this Rollins and his famil}^ which con- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 229 

sisted of his wife, a son and two daughters, had neglected to do ; 
and on the night of the day mentioned, eighteen redskins assaulted 
his house. His wife, with two of the children, attempted to make 
then- escape by flight, but were immediately seized. The husband 
secured the door before the assailants could enter and, with his 
eldest daughter of about twelve, stood on the defence, repeatedly 
firing upon the enemy whenever they attempted to force an 
entrance, and at the same time calling loudly to his neighbors for 
help, which none dared to render. Rollins was at length killed, 
and the savages broke open the door and slew his daughter. Him 
they scalped, and cut off the poor girl's head. Mrs. Rollins and 
her son and the remainiijg daughter were carried to Canada. The 
mother was redeemed after a few j^ears, but the son was adopted 
by the Indians, -and lived all his life with them. The daughter 
married a Frenchman, and when she had reached the age of sixty 
years, returned to her native place, with her husband, in the 
expectation of recovering the property which had belonged to her 
father ; but finding that to be impracticable they returned after a 
year or two to Canada. 

In the month of May, the next year, 1724, Captain Daniel Ladd 
of Exeter, was ordered with a company from the same place to 
march on a scoutiug expedition in search of the Indians, in the 
direction of Lake Winnipisaukee. They were most of them absent 
six days, and found no enemy. Their names are recorded as 
follows : 

Daniel Ladd, Captain Abraham Folsom 

Andrew Oilman, Lieutenant John Folsom 

Ezekiel Oilman, Clerk Patrick Oreing (?) 

Daniel Oiles, Sergeant Nathaniel Olidden 

John Moody, Corporal Joseph Leavitt 

John Huntoon, Corporal John Magoon 

Abner Thurston, Corporal Philip Moody 

Xehemiah Leavitt, Pilot John INLidget 

Samuel Akers i James Xorris 

John Bean Ephraim Philbrick 

John Cartee John Quimby 

Joseph Coleman Chi'istopher Robinson 

Jonathan Conner Jacob Smith 

Samuel Eastman Jonathan Young 

For a score of years after this there was peace with the Indians 
and their French abettors. During that time, two or three tiers 



230 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

of townships were partially settled on the Canada side of Exeter, 
so that that place was no longer an exposed frontier, and did not 
directly suffer from hostile inroads, during the French and Indian 
war which began in 1744. But the town was from time to time 
called upon to furnish men for scouting parties, and for the pro- 
tection of the exterior settlements. The following troopers, from 
the company of Captain Dudley Odlin of Exeter, performed scout 
duty to Nottingham and on the frontier from July 29 to August 
7, 1745, in pursuance of the governor's orders : 

Jethro Pearson, Q. Master Daniel Robinson 

John Dudley, Jr. Ephraim Robinson 

Jonathan Fogg John Rundlett 

Peter Hersey Richard Sanborn 

Ebenezer Light Joseph Wadleigh, Jr. 

THE LOUISBURG EXPEDITION. 

In 1745 occurred that seemingly quixotic campaign against the 
strong fortress of Louisburg on the island of Cape Breton, which 
was projected by a tanner, "planned by a lawyer, and executed 
by a merchant, at the head of a body of husbandmen and mechan- 
ics," but which, to the surprise of the world, resulted, by reason 
of a series of fortunate accidents, in a triumphant success. New 
Hampshire contributed five hundred men to the expedition in the 
first instance, and a reinforcement of one hundred and fifteen 
more. From Exeter, Ezekiel Oilman went as major of the New 
Hampshire regiment, Trueworthy Ladd and Daniel Ladd as cap- 
tains, James Dudley, Samuel Conner and Jonathan Folsom as 
lieutenants, and Dr. Robert Oilman as surgeon ; and John Light 
enlisted and commanded a company of the reinforcement. No 
complete rolls of the troops employed in this enterprise are found, 
but we have what purports to be a list of Captain Light's com- 
pany, which numbered forty-seven men, nearly all of Exeter. 

ROLL OF CAFTAIN LIGHt's COMPANY. 

I 

John Light, Captain Caleb Brown (sick) 

Joshua Winslow, Lieutenant John Brown 

Jeremiah Veasey, Ensign Jack Covey 

Jonas Addison George Creighton 

Joseph Akers Amos Dolloff'(sick) 

Joseph Atkinson David Dolloff 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 231 

Joseph Dudley Moses Lougee 

Joseph Dudley James Marsh 

John Edgerly Clement Moody 

Moses Ferrin William Morey 

William Fifield Joseph Philbrick 

Moses Flanders William Prescott 

Joseph Folsom EHphalet Quimby 

John Forrest Benjamin Robinson 

John Gibson Josiah Sanborn (sick) 

Joseph Giles Samuel Scribner 

James Gilman John Severance 

James Gloyd (?) Ebenezer Sinclair 

James Gordon Samuel Sinclair 

Robert Gordon Abram Stockbridge 

Joseph Judkins Jonas Ward 

Daniel Kelley (sick) Thomas Watson 

"Nathaniel Lamson John Wells 
Thomas Lary 

It is evident ttiat the rolls of the New Harapshu-e troops engaged 
in this expedition are verj" imperfect. A petition addressed to 
the General Assembly in November, 1745, setting out the shame- 
ful defects of the commissary department, is subscribed by eight 
persons, all of whom describe themselves as "commissioned offi- 
cers" of the New Hampshire forces who took part in the expedi- 
tion. Of these eight, seven were inhabitants of Exeter; namely, 
Trueworthy Dudley, James Dudley, Jonathan Folsom, Andrew 
Downer, Daniel Gale, Peter Thing and Benjamin Kimming. But 
the names of the last four of them are not found in any roster of 
the troops that is known. 

It is on this occasion that the town, for the first time, granted 
partial exemption from taxation to volunteer soldiers. On the 
third of February, 1745-G, it was 

Voted, That all who went in the first embarkation against Cape 
Breton be exempted from their town poll-tax rate the present year, 
and that all who yet remain at Cape Breton be exempted from pay- 
ing theii- province rate for their polls the present year. 

Major Gilman distinguished himself by his ingenious device for 
transporting the artillery over the swamps, into which the wheels 
of the gun carriages sank so deeply that they could not be moved. 
He had been engaged in lumbering, and was used to drawing 
masts by teams of men over boggy ground upon sleds, and advised 
the same course with the artiller3^ It was adopted, and with 



232 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

complete success, and the expedient contributed greatly to the 
speedy reduction of the town. 

Dr. Oilman was severely wounded near Louisburg by a piece of 
shell, and returned to his home. 

OCCURRENCES OF 1746. 

In 1746 a regiment of eight hundred men was raised in New 
Hampshire for an expedition against Canada, and placed under the 
command of Colonel Theodore Atkinson. One of the companies 
was raised by Captain Dudley Odlin of Exeter ; but no further in- 
formation in reference to it is to be found. The expedition 
accomplished nothing. 

On the first of June, in the same year. Captain Daniel Ladd of 
Exeter commanded a company of about fifty men to perform scout 
duty at Canterbury and vicinity. His lieutenant, Jonathan 
Bradley, and a part of his men were from Exeter. They were on 
duty through June, August and September. On the tenth of 
August they were at Rumford, now Concord, and Lieutenant 
Bradley, with a party of seven, started for a garrison two miles 
distant, and fell into an ambush of a large party of savages, who 
killed the lieutenant, fighting valiantly till the last, and five of his 
companions, and carried two into captivity, one only escaping. 

Two days after Captain Ladd's company set out, a squad of 
fourteen men, all from Exeter it is believed, marched under the 
command of Sergeant Joseph Rollins, from Portsmouth to Canter- 
bury, to carry provisions to the soldiers there stationed. They 
took with them a train of sixteen horses. The roll comprises the 
names of Jeremiah Bean, Wadleigh Cram, Joshua Folsom, Josiah 
Folsom, Daniel Grant, Samuel Hall, Thomas Kimball, Joseph 
Leavitt, Samuel Norris, Jonathan Robinson, Josiah Robinson, 
Josiah Rollins, Josiah Sanborn and Benjamin Smith. They were 
absent three days. 

On the twenty-first of August, 1746, John (or Nathaniel) 
Folsom of Exeter was shot dead b}' Indians at Nottingham, where 
he was stationed for the defence of the inhabitants. The tradi- 
tion is that he volunteered to take the place of a neighbor who had 
been drafted for the service, but whose sweetheart was unwilling 
that he should go ; and that he was left alone at Nottingham by 
his companion soldiers, before those drawn to succeed them had 
arrived there ; also that two of the Indians in the party who killed 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



233 



him were Sabatis and Plausawa, who were, in the fall of 1753, 
slain by Peter Bowen and one Morrill at Contoocook. 



THE CROWN POINT EXPEDITIONS. 

In 1755, war having broken out again between the English and 
the French, and an expedition being projected against Crown 
Point, under the command of General William Johnson, New 
Hampshire raised a regiment of five hundred men for the purpose, 
and put it under the command of Colonel Joseph Blanchard. The 
Exeter compan}' consisted of eighty-four men. 

The following is a roll of the company, being the imperfect list 
given in Potter's Military History, completed from papers left by 
Captain Folsom, who, during the Revolution, was a major general 
in command of the State militia : 



Nathaniel Folsom, Captain 
Jeremiah Oilman, Lieutenant 
Jonathan Folsom, Ensign 
David Page, Ensign 
John Cartee, Sergeant 
Gihnan Dudley, Sergeant 
Jonathan Xorris, Sergeant 
Elias Smith, Sergeant 
Jacob Smith, Sergeant 
Moses Oilman, Corporal 
William Oilman, Coi-poral 
Dudley Hardy, Corporal 
Solomon Smith, Corporal 
Nathaniel Folsom, Jr., Clerk 
William Moore, Drummer 
Moses Baker 
Benjamin Batchelder 
William Batchelder 
Ebenezer Bean 
Dudley Becket 
Jacob Bridgham 
Daniel Cartee 
Benjamin Cass 
Francis Coombs 
Robert Cram 
Thomas Creighton 
William Davis 
David Doll off 
Joseph Dolloff 



Nicholas Dolloff 
Benjamin Dow 
Samuel Dudley 
Trueworthy Dudley 
Benjamin Folsom 
John Folsom 
Benjamin Fox 
Edward Fox 
Caleb Oilman 
Jeremiah Oilman, Jr. 
Joseph Goodhue 
Benjamin Oreen 
Ambrose Hinds 
Jacob Hobbs 
John Holland 
Ebenezer Hutchinson 
John Kimball 
Nathaniel Kimball 
Benjamin Kimming 
Joseph Leavitt 
Nathaniel Leavitt 
Oreen Longfellow 
Nathaniel Meloon 
Isaac Perkins 
Thomas Perkins 
Ephraim Pettingill 
Joseph Pettit 
Jacob Pike 
James Piper 



234 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Jeremiah Prescott Jonathan Smith 

Samuel Pulsifer Solomon Smith, Jr. 

Joseph Purington Thomas Smith 

Robert Rollins William Smith 

Daniel Sanborn John Steel 

Tristram Sanborn Nathaniel Stevens 

Joseph Scribner John Taylor 

Robert Seldon John Thing 

Abraham SherifT Caleb Thurston 

Abraham Smart John Thurston 

Edward Smith Matthias Towle 

Israel Smith Samuel Webb 

Jacob Smith, Jr. Josiah Wiggin 

Jacob Smith, 3d. Samuel AMnslow 

John Smith John Whittum 



CAPTAIN FOLSOM AT LAKE GEORGE. 

On the eighth of September General Johnson was attacked in 
his camp at Lake George by Baron Dieskau at the head of the 
French troops and Indians, who met with a disastrons repulse. 
The New Hampshire regiment was stationed at Fort Edward, 
several miles away, but a scouting party having reported that 
there were indications of a conflict, Captain Folsom was ordered 
out with eighty men of the New Hampshire regiment (presumably 
the Exeter company) and forty men of New York under Captain 
McGinnis. They attacked and dispersed the guard placed over 
the baggage of the French army, and when the retreating troops 
of Dieskau appeared, Folsom stationed his men among the trees, 
and kept up a fire upon the enemy till night, inflicting much 
damage. This exploit, in which Folsom lost but six men, and 
deprived the enemy of their baggage and ammunition, gained 
ereat credit to that oflScer and his command. 

After the engagement at Lake George it was deemed necessary 
to reinforce General Johnson, and New Hampshire put in the fleld 
a second regiment, of three hundred men, commanded by Colonel 
Peter Gilman of Exeter. The first company had for its officers two 
Exeter men, Jethro Pearson, captain, and Nicholas Gilman, lieu- 
tenant, and was composed of inhabitants of the town and vicinity. 

A contribution by several of the citizens of the town in Septem- 
ber, 1755, produced the sum of two hundred and seventy pounds, 
to be divided as bounty between six volunteer troopers in the 
Crown Point expedition. The names of five of the volunteers 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 235 

appear by a contempoi'aneoiis document to have been Nathaniel 
Thing, Eliphalet Giddinge, Samuel Conner, Jr., Joseph Smith 
and Robert Smith. It is not known who was the sixth. 

About the same time a scout was led into the vicinity of Number 
Four (Charlestown) , by Captain Summersbee Oilman. It is un- 
certain who or how many others of the citizens of Exeter were of 
the party, but tradition gives the names of Dr. Robert Oilman 
and Captain James Leavitt as among them. 

The regiment contributed by New Hampshire in 1756 for the 
expedition against Crown Point, and commanded by Colonel 
Nathaniel Meserve, contained these three subaltern officers, 
Samuel Folsom, David Page and Trueworth}' Ladd, and a number 
of men, belonging to Exeter, several of whom were attached to a 
company of carpenters, under the command of Captain John 
Giddinge. Toward the close of the campaign Captain John 
Oilman joined the reguuent with a company of seventy-three men, 
recruited from Exeter and neighboring places. Little was accom- 
plished by the expedition. 

Another " Crown Point" expedition was organized in 1757, and 
a New Hampshire regiment under the same colonel took part in 
it. John Oilman was the major, and John Lamson the surgeon's 
mate, of the regiment, both of Exeter. A company under Captain 
Richard Emery was raised in Exeter and the adjacent towns. 
The greater part of the regiment with its lieutenant colonel and 
major, including this company, were surrendered at Fort William 
Henry on the ninth of August, by the English Colonel Monroe, 
to the French General Montcalm. The capitulation provided that 
the English and provincials should be allowed the honors of war 
and a safe escort with their baggage to Fort Edward. This stip- 
ulation was shamefully violated. The Indian allies of the French 
fell upon the defenceless prisoners, and plundered and butchered 
or made prisoners of a great portion of them. The New Hamp- 
shire regiment lost eighty of its two hundred men. 

CAPITULATION OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 

Of Exeter men. Dr. John Lamson, James Calfe, Antipas 
Oilman, Thomas Parker and Ctesar Nero (a slave of Major 
Oilman) are known to have been carried captive to Canada. It 
is believed that they all, excepting Calfe, eventually returned to 
their homes, though Cresar Nero continued a prisoner for three 



230 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

years or more. As for Dr. Lanison, his adventures deserve espe- 
cial mention. When the savages were let loose upon the prisoners 
he allowed himself to be stripped of his clothing, rather than lose 
his !ife, and was taken a captive to Canada. His Indian master 
there, when under the influence of strong drink, repeatedly 
threatened his life, and the doctor, upon application to the French 
governor at Montreal, was ransomed, and despatched to France in 
a cartel ship, whence he was exchanged and sent to Eugiand. 
There, by reason of his familiarity with the French language, he 
was suspected of being a spy, but a letter which he wrote in exon- 
eration of himself attracted the attention of General Edward 
Wolfe, the father of the future captor of Quebec, and Lamsou 
was appointed surgeon's mate in the king's regiment which the 
elder Wolfe commanded. But Lamsou desired to return to his 
home, and the general procured him a position on the Norwich 
man-of-war bound to America. He thus returned to Exeter after 
an absence of less than two j'ears. He was not deterred by his 
hard experience from subsequently serving as surgeon of another 
New Hampshire regiment, as will appear. 

At the same massacre at Fort William Henry, Major John 
Gilman was fortunate enough to escape captivity, but at the cost 
of losing his clothing and of suffering great hardsliips. It is said 
that to avoid the savages he was obliged to swim the Hudson 
river three several times. 

His statement of the loss of property which he sustained on the 
occasion, and for which he was reimbursed by the province, is 
here given, as evidence of the style in which an officer of rank, at 
that day, took the field. 

An Inventory of Cloaths &c. Taken by the Indians from Major 
John Gilman after the Capitulation at Fort William Henry in 
August, 1757. — Viz. 

To 1 Great Coat £l5.-three other Coats £40- £55. 0. 

3 Jackets £30-2 Waiste Coats £12- 
1 Gown £9-2 pr breeches £14- 
5 White Shirts £25-4 Striped Do £10- 

1 pr boots 90s.-2 pr shoes 50s- 

2 Worsted Caps 22s 6-3 Liunen Do 20s- 
2 black ribbands 22s 6-2 Silk handk'fs 60s 
1 Tea pot 15s-l Coffe pot 9s-2 tin pint pots 7s 6- "j 

1 Do ^ pint 2s 1 Do Jill Is 6 1 Tunnel 2s-Grater Is 6 '}> 2. 6. 6 

2 Tin Sause 6s-3 Tea Spoons Is 9 J 



42. 


0. 





23. 


0. 





35. 


0. 





7. 


0. 





2_ 


2 


6 


4. 


2. 


6 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 237 

4 lb. Chocolate 20s lib. Tea 3os-8 lb. Coffee 32s 4. 7. 

3 pr worsted stockins lOOs-3 pr Cotton Do. 7os- 3 pr yarn 

Do. 52s 6- 
1 gold Laced Hatt £12 1 Ditto plain £4 
1 Wigg 90s-2 tin Canisters 10s 1 lb Ginger 5s 
Bible 2 Vols 60s Sei-mon book 10s Ivory book 15s 

1 book of Military discipline 

2 c Pump nails 2s 6 ^c lOd Ditto 3s-l brass Ink pot 10s- 

1 Pocket knife & fork "s-l paper Ink powder 5s 

2 pr gloves 20s-l bridle 20s-Saddie baggs 40s 
1 Comb Is 6 2 blankets £6-1 Chest Lock 20s- 
1 gun £17. 10 1 Sword Silver hiked £20-1 Flask 30s 
1 Watch £20 1 Tin paper Case 7s 6 
1 Pocket book 5s Cash 50s-Table Cloth 15s 

1 glass bottle 2s-l Avooden Ditto 4s- 

2 flat Irons 33s 9, 1 Punch bowl 13s 3d- 
6^ lb Pewter 60s 9d-h Doz Tea Cups & Sausei-s 15s- 
i Doz knives & forks 33s 9d h Doz wine glasses 33s 9 
1 pepper box 2s-a Cuttoo 6s-i^ Pins 4s- 
I yd Quality for gunstring 3s- 1 hodd 12s 6 
1 Sword belt 15s-6 lb Soap 18s 
To my Xegro boy's Gun & Cloathing 
he being taken & carryd to Canada 

New Tenor 
Errors Excepted per 
Sworn to in y*^ house May 5, 1758- 

Memorandum 

The Great Coat within mentioned was of Drabb Kersey almost new — one 
of the other Three Coats & one pair of the Breeches were of blue broad Cloth 
Fine (lately made) such as is now sold for £27 old Tenor per yard — another 
of the said Three Coats Avas of Fine Duroy lined with the same — about one 
Quarter worn — The other of said Coats was of Light Coloured broad Cloth 
had been Turn'd & NeAv lined — one of the Jackets was of Scarlet broad cloth 
fine and new lined with white Tammy — another of the Jackets was of Cutt 
Velvet Figured — The other Jacket was of Green Silk Camblet Trimmed Avith 
Silver Twist on Vellum — the other pair of the Breeches were of Xew Deer 
Skin — both of the waiste Coats was of broad cloth light coloured about half 
worn. 



LATER EXPEDITIONS AGAINST FRENCH POSTS. 

Immediately after the capitulation of Fort William Henry, a 
battalion of two hundred and fifty men was recruited and placed 
under the command of Major Thomas Tash. One of the com- 
panies had for its captain, John Ladd of Exeter. A small part of 
the company, apparently, came from the same place. The bat- 



11. 


7. 


6 


16. 


0. 





5. 


5. 





4. 


5. 





0. 


15. 





iOs- 0. 


15. 


6 




12. 





4. 


0. 







1. 


6 


39. 


0. 





20. 


1. 


6 


3. 


16. 





2. 


7. 





3. 


15. 


9 


3. 


7. 


6 


0. 


12. 





0. 


15. 


6 


1. 


13. 





30. 


0. 





330. 


13. 


3 


John Gilman 





238 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

talion was stationed at Number Four in the western part of the 
province. 

Yet another regiment for the Crown Point expedition under 
Colonel John Hart was contributed in 1758 by the province. Its 
surgeon's mate was Dr. John Odlin of Exeter, and from the same 
place went Captain Summersbee Gilman and Captain Trueworthy 
Ladd, and a considerable proportion of the members of their re- 
spective companies, as well as Ensign Trueworthy Dudley of 
Captain Ladd's company. The regiment was divided, a part join- 
ing the expedition against Louisburg, and the residue, under the 
lieutenant colonel, performing guard duty on the western frontier. 

In the year 1759 New Hampshire sent a regiment of a thousand 
men, under the command of Colonel Zaccheus Lovewell, to serve 
under General Amherst against the French stations on Lake 
Champlain. Exeter was the headquarters of the regiment, and 
among its officers were Richard Emerj^, major. Dr. John Lamson, 
surgeon, and Winthrop Odlin and Samuel Folsom, captains, all of 
Exeter. The company of the last was undoubtedly composed in 
great measure of men from the same town. The regiment partic- 
ipated in the reduction of Ticonderoga, and in the capture of 
Quebec, under General James Wolfe. 

The next year, another New Hampshire regiment was raised for 
an expedition against Canada. John Goffe was its colonel, and 
Richard Emery served again as major, and John Lamson as sur- 
geon. A company from Exeter and vicinity was commanded by 
Captain Jacob Tilton, whose ensign was Eliphalet Hale. This 
campaign resulted in the capture of Montreal and the reduction 
of Canada, so that peace once more allowed the American colonies 
to turn their entire attention to the promotion of their material 
prosperity. 

After every war there is a manifest improvement in the militia. 
Those who have served and returned from the field, are not 
satisfied until they impart some of the soldierly discipline and drill 
which the}^ there acquired to the citizens' military organizations 
at home. There had always been a militia in New Hampshire 
from the earliest settlement. The officers prided themselves very 
much on their titles, but the exercise of their commands was not 
very regular or imposing. If a man could shoot, and was ready 
to perform his tour of duty, the absence of uniform and ignorance 
of facing and wheeling were excusable. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 239 

THE EXETER CADETS. 

Bxit after the French wars, more attention was paid to the 
niceties of the military art. Governor John Wentworth took pride 
in a fine display of soldiery, and in 1769, encouraged the people 
of Exeter to form a corps (V elite as a sort of exemplar to improve 
the character of the militia in general. It consisted of a battal- 
ion, termed the "Cadets," and was handsomely uniformed and 
equipped. Several gentlemen of the town, of age and position, 
joined it ; among them George Odiorne, Christopher Rymes, James 
Hackett, John Emery, Ephraim Robinson, Caleb Eobinson, 
Nathaniel Gookin and William Elliott. They were allowed to 
choose their officers, who were commissioned by the governor ; 
John Phillips as colonel, Samuel Folsom as lieutenant, Colonel and 
Peter Coffin as major. In 1770 the governor came up from Ports- 
mouth with his lady and suite, when the commissions were pub- 
lished, and dined with Colonel Phillips ; and two years after- 
wards, paid another visit to his Cadets, as he termed them, and 
was much pleased with their military proficiency. The colonel 
paid great attention to the discipline and appearance of the bat- 
talion, and called them out often for exercise. 

The governor furnished new bright muskets and equipments to 
the corps, and, perhaps, flattered himself that he could rely upon 
their support under any and all circumstances. How entirely he 
mistook his men, a few short years were to demonstrate. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE REVOLUTION, AND THE WAR OF 1812. 

In New Hampshire, the American Revolution may be fairly said 
to have begun with the armed raid upon Fort William and Mary, 
at Newcastle, in December, 1774. This was strictly an uprising 
of the people, at the bidding of no higher authority than an ad- 
visory committee ; and as those engaged in it were liable to be 
visited with condign punishment if it led to no change of govern- 
ment, it well bespeaks the intensity of the popular feeling of re- 
sistance to the coercive measures of the mother country. 

In this enterprise a considerable number of Exeter men were 
concerned, though the occasion did not require that they should 
contribute anything beyond their presence and moral support. 
The following account of the part they took was drawn in sub- 
stance from the lips of Gideon Lamson of Exeter, about fifty years 
after the occurrence : 

A private scheme was laid by a few, the last of November, to 
get the powder and cannon from Fort William and Mary. General 
Sullivan, Colonel Langdon and Major Gaines and a few that could 
be trusted in Portsmouth, went down the river in boats in the 
night, and were to be supported early in the morning from Exeter. 
General Folsom, Colonel Nicholas Gilman and Dr. John Giddinge, 
with about twenty-tive, who carried their arms, set off in the night 
agreed on. We rode into Portsmouth after daybreak, and stopped 
at Major Stoodley's inn ; no appearance of the design ; nothing 
was said about Sullivan's party. We had coffee about sunrise. 
Major Stoodley looked queer on such guests, with guns and bay- 
onets. Colonel Hackett, with fifty or sixty foot, soon after eight 
o'clock, stopped at the hay-market, and waited for information 
from General Folsom. The inhabitants, on Ilackett's arrival, 
looked on with wonder. Little was said iu answer to inquiries. 
At nine. Colonel Langdon came to Stoodley's and acquainted 
General Folsom and company with the success of the enterprise, — 
that General Sullivan was then passiug up the river with the loaded 
boats of powder and cannon. The guard at the fort was small ; 
no resistance was made. Governor Wentworth knew nothing of 

240 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 241 

the affair till it was too late. The narrator was the youngest per- 
son in the company of horse, and the only survivor of the party.* 

While this account, as might be expected from the lapse of 
time, and the age of the relater, is incorrect as to some of the 
details of the transaction, there is no doubt that it is true in the 
main. A large party of Exeter men, seventy-five or upwards in 
number, marched to Portsmouth under arms, in pursuance of a 
concerted plan to render any necessary aid in stripping the fort of 
its armament, and in the movement they were headed by some of 
the principal citizens of the town, whose names are given in the 
foregoing account. For this, as well as for other demonstrations 
of his sympathy with the patriotic party. Colonel Nathaniel Fol- 
som, two months later, was, by order of the royal governor, John 
Weutworth, deprived of his conunission as a justice of the peace, 

THE POWDER FROM FORT WILLIAM AND MARY. 

There were taken from Fort "William and Mary, besides cannon 
and small arms, about one hundred barrels of gunpowder. This 
was conveyed up the river to places of safet3^ There is a popu- 
lar tradition that it was deposited under the pulpit of the Rev. 
Mr. Adams's meeting-house in Durham. Quite likely some part of 
it was hidden there ; but as it was important to put it out of the 
reach of any party that might be sent to recover it, prudence 
would dictate, instead of storing it all in one place, to distribute it, 
and at rather distant points. A letter of the time, which has for- 
tunately been preserved, seems to indicate such a disposition of 
it, in Exeter and the neighboring towns. 

The letter contains an application from the chairman of the 
Portsmouth Committee of Correspondence to the like committee of 
Exeter, for four barrels of powder, under the apprehension that 
Portsmouth was in danger of being attacked. This was on the 
twenty-first of April, 1775, two days after the opening of hostil- 
ities at Concord and Lexington. The request was duly honored, 
and on the blank leaf of the application is a statement made at the 
time, of the quantity of powder stored in Exeter and the vicinity, 
as follows : 



* A corroboration of this statement is found In the account presented afterwards by the 
town to tlie Slate of New Hampslilre, as follows: 

To Capt. James Hackett's company to Portsmouth 

to take the cannon, etc., £27.11.4 

To Capt. John Giddings' company to ditto, etc., 10. II. 2 

To Capt. Eliphalet Ladd's account, do. 6. 0. 

16 



242 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Kingston, in po: 


ssession 


of Ebenr Long, 




12 barrels, 


Epping, 


do. 


David Lawrence & others, per rect. 


8 


Poplin, 




Zach. Clough, 




4 


Nottingham, 




Maj. Jos. Cilley, Jr. 




8 


Brentwood, 




Capt. Marshall &• James 


Robinson, 


6 


Londonderry, 




Messrs. Sam^ Allison & John Bell, 


1 


Exeter, 




Col. Sami Folsom, 




2 


(C 




Col. Nathi Folsom, 




1 


« 




Col. Poor, 




2 


« 




Theophilus Oilman, 




2 


<( 




Thomas Odiorne, 




2 


« 




Ephraim Robinson, 




2 


« 




John Rice, Esq. 




2 


(( 




Samuel Brooks, 




2 


« 




Nath' Gordon, 




6 


« 




John Row, 




4 


(( 




[James Pickering, 




4 


Portsmouth, 




Jos. Avers, deli^ by Col. 
Dr. Giddings, 


Oilman & 


4 



72 



There cau be little doubt, from all the circumstances, that this 
return indicates the depositaries of the greater portion of the spoils 
of Fort William and Mary. 



THE EXETER VOLUNTEERS MARCH TO CAMBRIDGE. 

Events now crowded fast upon one another. On the evening of 
the nineteenth of the same April, came a flying rumor to Exeter 
that tlie British regulars had marched forth from Boston, and had 
opened hostilities at Concord. Very soon afterward the news was 
confirmed from Haverhill, with the addition that the countr}^ was 
gathering, and a severe action was raging, when the messenger 
left to alarm the towns. The inhabitants of Exeter were put in 
great commotion. Men thronged the streets, discussing the mo- 
mentous intelligence until a late hour of the night. About day- 
break the next morning an express arrived summoning volunteers 
to march at once for Cambridge. The bells rang, and the drums 
beat to arms. There was no hesitation in the men of Exeter. 
Notwithstanding the absence of their trusted leaders, Nathaniel 
Folsom, Nicholas Oilman and Enoch Poor, who happened to be 
in Dover, they made haste to be ready. Some cast bullets, others 
made up cartridges, and every preparation was completed in the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 243 

shortest time possible. At nine o'clock in the morning one hun- 
dred and eight men paraded near the court-house, armed and 
equipped. No time was wasted in preliminaries. Which road 
shall we take? The nearest, through Haverhill. Who shall 
command us ? Captain Ilackett. Are you ready ? demanded the 
newly chosen officer. Yes. March ! And they were off. 

The mothers and wives and sisters of the volunteers had busied 
themselves in fitting them out for the march, and bade them adieu 
with tearful eyes, but no word of discouragement. The Exeter 
company spent the first night at Andover, having crossed the 
Merrimac by ferry at Haverhill. They found the latter town 
shrouded in gloom, for in addition to the prospect of a war, the 
best part of their village had just been laid in ruins b}^ a destruc- 
tive conflagration. The company reached Cambridge about two 
o'clock in the afternoon of the second day. They were assigned 
quarters in one of the college buildings, the floor of which, as one 
of the men quaintly remarked, tliej^ found as hard as any other 
floor ! 

The next day they elected permanent officers. James Hackett 
was chosen captain ; a ship-builder by profession — resolute, per- 
emptory and courageous. In his youth he is said to have served 
in Major Robert Rogers's famous Rangers. John Ward Gilman 
and Nathaniel Gookin were the lieutenants, and John Taylor 
Gilman, Gideon Lamson and Noah Emery, Jr. were the sergeants. 
Nearly all of these served in some military capacity later in the 
Revolution. John T. Gilman, then only twenty-one years of age, 
was one of the most active aud energetic in getting the company 
so promptly in the field. He was afterwards a member of the 
Continental Congress and fourteen years Governor of the State. 

The company was well armed and equipped for actual fighting. 
Twenty-five of their muskets were from the stock furnished to the 
Exeter Cadets by the royal Governor Wentworth, who little 
imagined that he was supplying arms to be turned against the 
authority of the mother country. They had also bayonets, belts 
and cartridge boxes well filled with ammunition, and a good drum 
and fife, but neither tents nor blankets. They attracted no little 
notice, by their soldierly bearing, and were handsomely compli- 
mented by General Heath. The company, as such, remained at 
Cambridge but little more than a week, when, the immediate exi- 
gency having passed, some of the members returned home, and 
the remainder probably joined some of the permanent military 
organizations then forming. 



244 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Of the one hundred and eight men who marched to Cambridge 
on the morning of April 20, 1775, no complete list is known. It 
is unfortunate that the names of all the patriots who were so ready 
to respond to their country's earliest call to arms, cannot be 
handed down to posterity. The few which are known with cer- 
tainty, are here given : 

James Ilackctt, Captain Eleazer Ferguson 

John Ward Gilmau, Lieutenant Ebenezer Light 

Nathaniel Gookin, Lieutenant Jonathan Lougee 

John Taylor Oilman, Sergeant John Light 

Gideon Lamsou, Sergeant Caleb Mitchell 
Noah Emery, Jr., Sergeant 

At a meeting of the town on the ensuing fifteenth of May it was 

Voted, That the men that went to Cambridge on the late alarm 
be paid ten shillings each, and that Mr. Hackett be paid ten 
dollars for his service. 

Voted, To refund the money expended by the committee on that 
occasion ; and that the provisions which were purchased for the 
support of said men, and are now in the committee's hands, be 
taken care of ; that the powder, ball and flints be returned to the 
selectmen. 

Voted, The thanks of the town to the committee for their good 
service. 

The accounts of the selectmen show what the town expended 
on the occasion : 

1775 

April. Cash paid Timothy Chamberlain for bread 
supplied to the men that went to the Lex- 
ington battle £3. 10. 
Cash paid the committee for tlie money 
advanced to the men that went to Cam- 
bridge 22. 10. 
For purchasing lead for the town to make 

bullets 10. 0. 

1776 By paid 74 men for their service at Cam- , 

bridge in April, 1776(5) as per town note 30. 7. 9 

1777 Paid Eleazer Ferguson, Ebenezer Light, 

Jonathan Lougee, John Light and Caleb 
Mitchell in full for their service at Cam- 
bridge in the year 1775 1. 17. 3 



HISTORY OF EXETER. * 245 

An account was afterwards presented to the State of New 
Hampshire by the town, containing these items : 

To Captain Hackett's pay for his company 

to Cambridge in 1775 £137. 13. 10 

To Ephraim Robinson account to Cambridge 

in 1775 3. 0. 

EXETER SOLDIERS IN 1775. 

Of the men who filled the New Hampshire regiments in April 
and May, 1775, the names of the volunteers from Exeter, so far 
as they can be now ascertained, are here given. 

Of Captain Henry Dearborn's company, iu Colonel Stark's regi- 
ment it is stated in the fourteenth volume of the New Hampshire 
Provincial Papers that a part were from Exeter. The tax lists of 
the town contain three of the names on the roll of that company, 
Jonathan Gilman, Jeremiah Conner and Zebulon Marsh ; but these 
may not be all, as a considerable proportion of those in the army 
probably had not reached the taxable age. 

In Captain Winthrop Rowe's company, in Colonel Poor's reg- 
iment, were the following persons, with their several occupa- 
tions and ages : 



"O^ 



Jonathan Flood, husbandman, 31 Thomas Creighton, shipwright, 38 

Noah Robinson, blacksmith, 19 Spencer Wallace, " 30 

Ehphalet Lord, hatter, 20 Asa Ireland, saddler, 22 

Moses Clark, blacksmith, 19 William Mugridge, blacksmith, 17 

Moses RoUins, " 19 William McKim, barber, 47 

James Beal, cordwainer, 21 Cato Duce. 

In Captain Philip Tilton's company, Colonel Poor's regiment : 

Joseph Marsh, blacksmith, 21 Benjamin Loud, barber, 20 

Nathaniel Coffin, husbandman, 26 Joseph Leavitt, husbandman, 50 

In Captain James Norris's company, Colonel Poor's regiment : 
Eliphalet Norris, blacksmith, 18 

Tn Captain Samuel Oilman's company. Colonel Poor's regiment : 

Eliphalet Coffin. 

In Captain Richard Shortridge's company, Colonel Poor's regi- 
ment : 



246 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



William Bennett 
Simon Oilman 
John Hilton 
Simeon Marshall 



Thomas Speed 
Elijah Vickery 
Thomas Webster 



Colonel Enoch Poor was himself of Exeter, as was the sur- 
geon of his regiment, Dr. Caleb G. Adams. 

Returns of the following companies in Massachusetts regiments 
show that they contained Exeter men as follows : 

Captain Jeremiah Oilman's company, Nixon's regiment, Sep- 
tember 30, 1775 : 

Samuel Magoon. 



Captain Hugh Maxwell's company, Prescott's regiment, Sep- 
tember, 1775 : 

Edward Brown. 

Captain John Currier's company, James Frye's regiment, Octo- 
ber 6, 1775: 

Michael Brown. 

Captain Isaac Sherman's company, Baldwin's regiment, Sep- 
tember 26, 1775: 



Caleb Robinson, 1st Lieutenant 
Ebenezer Light, Sergeant 
Caleb Mitchell, Sergeant 
Jonathan Cass, Corporal 
Isaac Grow, Corporal 



Samuel Lamson, Sergeant 
Joseph Brooks, Sergeant 
John Light, Corporal 
Thomas Carlton, Corporal 
Moses Lougee, Fifer 



Daniel Barker 
William Cushing 
Joseph Dolloff 
Simeon Farmer (Palmer?) 
Eleazer Ferguson 
Caleb Oilman 
John Oilman 
Josiah Gordon 
Theophilus Hardie 
Ebenezer Judkins 



Daniel Leary 
Benjamin Leavitt 
William Leavitt 
Jonathan Lougee 
Joseph Lovering 
Dudley Marsh 
John Nichols 
Benjamin Norris 
Samuel Norris 
Abraham Perry 



Joseph Purmort 
James Ross 
Elisha Smith 
Samuel Smith 
Trueworthy Smith 
Josiah Steel 
Isaac Stubbs 
Bradstreet Taylor 
Nathaniel Thing 



Captain Isaac Sherman was a native of Connecticut, and had 
been a school teacher in Exeter ; so that his acquaintance there 
enabled him to enlist so large a number in his company. It is 
probable that many of the men had gone to Cambridge on the first 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 247 

alarm, April 20, 1775; and remained there after their comrades 
of the Exeter company returned home ; and the fact that New 
Hampshire did not organize her regiments at once, would explain 
why they and others joined regiments credited to Massachusetts. 

On the sixth of October, 1775, the selectmen of Exeter, in 
response to a mandate of the General Court for a census, returned 
fifty-one inhabitants "gone to the army," 

In December, 1775, at the urgent request of General "Washing- 
ton, New Hampshire furnished thirty-one companies of militia for 
service in the army, for the term of six weeks. Two of these 
companies came in part, at least, from Exeter. No rolls of them 
have been preserved, but the officers were as follows : 

Twenty-second company : Benjamin Boardraan, captain, Porter 
Kimball, lieutenant, Winthrop Dudley, second lieutenant. 

Thirtieth company : Peter Coffin, captain, John Hall, lieutenant, 
James Sinclair, second lieutenant. 

Each of these companies contained, also, three sergeants, three 
corporals, two musicians and forty-seven privates. 

After their six weeks' service expired, a regiment was organized 
from the members of the thirty-one companies who were willing to 
remain, and Captain Peter Coffin was commissioned major thereof. 
How many other Exeter men served in it, there is no means of 
learning, as no rolls are known to be extant. The regiment con- 
tinued in service under Colonel John Waldron until after the evacu- 
ation of Boston in March, 1776. 

The Exeter rates assessed in 1775 against the following persons, 
all of whom were in the military service, were abated : Jonathan 
Brown, Samuel Hardy, Thomas Lord, William McKim and Tim- 
othy Sanborn. 

EXETER SOLDIERS IN 177G. 

A return of Colonel Poor's regiment in 1776, shows that William 
Evans of Exeter, twenty-seven years old, enlisted January 1, and 
deserted March 2 'J, and that John Gilman, Jr., aged twenty-two, 
was sick and absent July, 1776. 

In June and July, 1776, Colonel Isaac Wyman's New Hamp- 
shire regiment was raised to reinforce the army in Canada. 

Exeter was represented in it by Noah Emery, paymaster, and 
by several members of Captain William Harper's company, of 
whom we are able to specify only two : Jonathan Flood and John 
Steel, the latter of whom enlisted as a private, but is said to have 
been promoted to orderly sergeant. 



248 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



In July, 1776, a second regiment was organized from men 
obtained from the militia of the State, to reinforce the army in 
Canada, and placed under the command of Colonel Joshua Win- 
gate. In Captain Simon Marston's company were the following 
Exeter men : 



William Bennett, Ensign 
James Rundlett, Drummer 
Simeon Marshall 
Edward Eastham* 
John Wadloigh 
Ebenezer Ferguson 
Simeon Palmer 



James Creighton 
Levi Robertson 
David Fogg 
Seth Fogg 
Simon Drake 
Thomas Webster 
Samuel Dutch 



Simon Oilman 
Moses Leavitt 
Abraham Sheriff 
Elijah Vickery 
Kinsley H. James 
Samuel Daniels 
William Gushing 



On the nineteenth of September, 1776, Colonel Pierse Long was 
commissioned commander of a battalion organized on the continen- 
tal basis, which, in November of the same year, was ordered to 
reinforce the army at Ticonderoga, and was there stationed when 
that post was evacuated on the approach of General Burgoync in 
the year following. Adjutant James McClurc was of Exeter, as 
were also the following persons : 



Joseph DoUofF 
Joseph Kennison 



In Captain Mark Wiggin's company : 

Eichard Dolloff Joel Loud 

Benjamin Perkins William Chelsea 

In Captain John Calfe's company : 

William McKim. 

In Captain Nathan Brown's company : 

Benjamin Hoyt Wilham Hoyt 

In September, 1776, the General Court of New Hampshire voted 
to reinforce the army at New York with two regiments, the first 
of which was placed under the command of Colonel Thomas Tash. 
Captain Daniel Gordon's company of this regiment contained the 
following officers and men belonging to Exeter : 



Paul Lambert 



Zebulon Oilman, Lieut. Dole Pearson 
Jonathan Norris, Ensign Josiah RoUins, Jr. 
Dudley Watson Samuel Smith 

David Jewett Daniel Barker 

James Oordon Jonathan Woodman 



Caleb Thurston 
Benjamin Conner 
Abraham Brown 
Samuel Moody 
John Nealey, Jr. 



*This name, being uncommon, is frequently confounded with Eastman, and so written. 



HISTORY OF EXETEll. 249 

In the month of December, 1776, an order was made for the 
drafting of live hundred men from the several militia organiza- 
tions of the State, into a regiment to be commanded by Colonel 
David Oilman. Peter Coffin was major and Samuel Brooks, Jr., 
quartermaster, both of Exeter. It is probable that some six or 
seven of the members of Captain Daniel Gordon's company were 
Exeter men, but it is not easy to identify them. 

From a return of the men enlisted for the war in Colonel Cilley's 
regiment of the New Hampshire line, 1776, it appears that two of 
them were from Exeter, viz. : 

Samuel Locke Abner Thurston 

EXETER SOLDIERS IN 1777. 

Upon a re-organization of the New Hampshire troops in the 
continental service, in 1777, the roster shows the following officers 
from Exeter : 

In Colonel Hale's (second) regiment : 

William Elliott, Adjutant Ebenezer Light, Second Lieut. 

AVilliam Parker, Surgeon Noah Robinson, Second Lieut. 

Caleb Robinson, Captain 

In Colonel Scammell's (third) regiment : 

Nicholas Oilman, Adjutant Nathaniel Oilman, Lieutenant 

Exeter men enlisted in the second regiment : 

In Captain Carr's company : 

Thomas Webster John DollofF 

Samuel Norris Robert Arnold 

In Captain Titcomb's company : 

James Creighton. 

The following is a list of Exeter men hired or enlisted between 
January and March, 1777, for three years or during the war, 
belonging to the fourth regiment of militia, to complete the conti- 
nental battalions : 

Henry Barter Trueworthy Dudley Joseph Gordon 

James Beal Jonathan Flood William Gordon 

William Bell Jonathan Folsom Isaac Grow 

James Creighton Michael George • Simeon Haines 

Samuel Davis Cartee Oilman Jonathan Hill 



250 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



John Hilton 
Benjamin Hoyt 
William Hoyt 
Jonathan HoiDkinson 
John Jepson 
James Kelley 
Ebenezer Light 
Moses Lougee 
Samuel Magoon, Jr. 
Jacob Merrill (Morrill?) 



Daniel Morse 
Enoch Morse 
Benjamin Xealey 
William Nealey 
Eliphalet Norris 
James Norris 
Samuel Norris 
Paul (a negro) 
Noah Robinson 
Moses Rollins 



James Rundlett 
William Sloan 
Thomas Speed 
Daniel Sullivan 
Bradstreet Taylor 
Abner Thurston 
John Wadleigh 
Thomas Webster 



In addition to these we find on various rolls, of the three years' 
men in the continental regiments in the spring of 1777, these 
names, from Exeter : 



Dennis Bickford 
Edward Eastham 
Simon Oilman 



Edward Leavitt 
John Nichols 
James Sloan 



Abraham Wadleigh 



In the month of June, 1777, the State authorized a battalion to 
be raised for the defence of Rhode Island, to serve six months. 
The command of it was given to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph 
Senter. Joseph Leavitt and Enoch Rowe of Exeter were respec- 
tively sergeant major and quartermaster of the battalion. It is 
believed that there were other Exeter men in it ; probably in 
Captain Robert Pike's company. 

Later, in September of the same year, the alarm was spread of 
the incursion of Burgoyne, and orders were given to raise one- 
sixth part of the men of the several militia regiments for imme- 
diate service, to resist the invasion. 

Among those drawn from the Exeter men in the fourth regi- 
ment were the following, most of whom served in Colonel Stephen 



Evans's regiment 



Benjamin Cass 
William Chelsea 
Zebulon Oilman, Capt. 
James Oordon 
John Kimball 
Moses Kimball 



Nathaniel Ladd 
Eliphalet Lord 
Joseph Lovering 
Benjamin Morse 
Jonathan Norris, 2^ Lieut. 
Joseph Permort 



Abraham Sheriff 
John Swett 
Ebenezer Swasey 
Nathaniel Thing 
Daniel Tilton 



These names are all found upon the tax lists of Exeter, and it 
is probable that there were others below the taxable age, but 
liable to do military duty, among those drawn. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



251 



In addition to the foregoing, there were several Exeter gentle- 
men of position and mature years who volunteered and marched 
to Saratoga, under the command of Captain John Langdon of 
Portsmouth. Of this number were : 



Col. Nicholas Gilman, as lieutenant 
Maj. James Hackett 
Capt. Eliphalet Giddings 



Capt. Nathaniel Giddings 
Ephraim Robinson, Esq. 
Samuel Gilmau 



The taxes of the following persons were abated in 1777, upon 
the ground that they were " in the army," and probably all in the 
New Hampshire line. 



Henry Barter 
Jonathan Cass, Lieut. 
John Dean's boy 
Ward C. Dean's boy 
Trueworthy Dudley 
Jonathan Flood 
James Folsom's boy 
Jonathan Folsom 
Cartee Gilman 
WiUiam Gordon, Sergt. 



Isaac Grow, Sergt. 
Benjamin Hoyt 
William Hoyt 
John Kimball, Jr. 
Moses Kimball 
Ebenezer Light, Lieut. 
John Light 
Moses Lougee 
James McClure, Adjt. 
William McKim 



Joseph Marsh, Corp. 
Caleb Mitchell 
Benjamin Norris 
Caleb Robinson, Capt. 
Elisha Smith 
Thomas Speed 
Josiah Steel 
Nathaniel Thing 



These, of course, were exclusive of the younger men, below the 



taxable age. 



EXETER SOLDIERS IN 1778. 



In the list of absentees from Colonel Cilley's (first) continental 
regiment, January 10, 1778, were the following residents of 
Exeter : 



William Nealey, 


age 29, 


wounded ; 


left at Albany. 


Thomas Hammon, 


32, 


deserted ; 


" " Exeter, 


Enoch Morse, 


16, 


sick; 


" <' Fishkill, 


Abner Thurston, 


20, 


wounded ; 


" " Albany, 



Absentees from Colonel Hale's (second) continental regiment : 



James Rundlett, Sergeant, 


23, 


missing ; 


left at Hubbardton, 


James Beal, 


22, 


a 


u 


Thomas Creighton, 


42, 


(( 


" " Ticonderoga, 


John Nichols, 


20, 


(( 


" " Hubbardton. 


WiUiam Bell, 


22, 




" " Albany, 


Edward Wade, 


23, 


sick; 


tl n « 



252 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



William Gordon, 


24, 


missing ; 


Samuel Smith, 


24, 


deserted ; 


Henry Barter, 


25, 


a 


"W^illiam Leavitt, 


25, 


<( 


Jonathan Hopkinson, 


26, 


(( 


Dennis Bickford, 


36, 




Noah Marsh, 


22, 




John Hilton, 


20, 




Jonathan Hill, 


17, 




Cartee Oilman, 


41, 


missing ; 


Simon Oilman, 


28, 


ii 


James Creightou, 


27, 


wounded ; 



left at Hubbardton. 
" " Fishkill. 



Albany. 



Jerseys. 
" " Hubbardton. 



Albany. 



It is to be recollected that this reghnent suffered greatly by 
casualties, and more by capture at the battle of Hubbardton, Ver- 
mont, after the evacuation of Ticonderoga ; and those described 
as missing and left at Ticonderoga or Hubbardton, were probably 
prisoners. Those described as "deserters," were probably not 
such in the usual acceptation of the term, but simply missing, in 
the haste and confusion of retreat ; and apparently had rejoined 
the colors before June, 1779. 

When the invasion of Rhode Island, then held by the British, 
Avas projected in 1778, a number of Exeter gentlemen entered into 
a written engagement with General Sullivan, who was to lead the 
expedition, in the terms following : 

Hampton Falls, April 12th, 1778. 
We severally engage, if called by the Hon. Major General 
Sullivan before the close of the ensuing campaign, we will imme- 
diately repair to the quarters properly equipped for battle, as volun- 
teers from 1-Cxeter in New Hampshire. 



Samuel Folsom 
James Hackett 
Caleb Sanborn 
Peter Coffin 
Nathaniel Oiddinge 
Thomas Odiorne 
Eliphalet Oiddings 
James Thurston 



James McClure 
Benjamin Lamson " 

I SAvear I will go or send a better man 
Esq. (William) Parker 

goes himself or send a hand 
Ward C. Dean 
Samuel Oilman 



This paper is given as a proof of the patriotic feeling which 
animated the most responsible and respectable citizens of the 
town ; though it is presumed that no call was made under it for 
the military service of the subscribers. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



253 



EXETER SOLDIERS IN 1779. 

The following Exeter soldiers were enlisted between April and 
August, 1779, to fill up the New Hampshire continental regiments, 
to serve during the war : 



John Bardett 
Richard Cook 
Samuel Lock 



Alexander Patterson 
George Patterson 



It appears from the roll of absentees of the second New Hamp- 
shire regiment, June, 1779, that John Sanborn, a farmer, aged 
thirty-three, was a private, residing in Exeter. 

Five Exeter men were enlisted for service in Rhode Island 
under General Gates, August 28, 1779, for the term of six months, 
viz. : 



Jeremiah Polsom 
Nathaniel Lovering 
Jonathan Lvford 



Jonathan Thing 
Levi Thing 



A return of the men enlisted for the war in the third New 
Hampshire regiment, dated December, 1779, shows the following 
Exeter soldiers, viz.*: 



Abraham Comings 
Richard Cook 
Jonathan Flood 



Daniel Morse 
John "Wadleigh 



EXETER SOLDIERS IN 1780- 



In July, 1780, Exeter furnished the following recruits for the 
New Hampshire regiments in the continental army, to serve till 
the last day of the succeeding December. Their ages, when 
known, are given : 



Prime Coffin, 


30 


Richard Loveren, 


20 


William Cushing, 


20 


Joseph Parsons, 


20 


Joseph Dolloff, 


21 


Dole Pearson, 




Ephraim Dudley, 


21 


William Robinson, 


26 


Trueworthy Dudley, 


19 


Daniel Taylor, 




Luke Libbey, 


22 


Stephen Watson, 


18 


Prince Light, 


37 







In the same year Henry Dearborn paid bounties to the follow- 
ing Exeter recruits to fill up the continental army : 



254 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Michael George Daniel Sullivan 

Samuel Marsh John Weeks 

Benjamin Morse 

In July, 1781, Exeter sent the following six months' men to 
serve in the continental army at West Point : 

]3aniel Bickford Richard Loveren 

EXETEK SOLDIERS IX 17S1. 

From a return made by the selectmen of Exeter May 25, 1781, 
it appears that the following persons from the town had enlisted 
in the New Hampshire regiments before January, 1781, to serve 
durins; the war : 



^o 



Hem-y Barter Samuel Marsh 

Richard Cook Benjamin Morse 

James Dockum Daniel Morse 

Zephaniah Downs Enoch Morse 

Jonathan Flood William Nealey 

Michael George James Norris 

Cartee Gilman Samuel Norris 

Ezekiel Gilman Alexander Patterson 

Joseph Gordon George Patterson 

William Gordon John Powell 

Jonathan Hill Daniel Sullivan 

John Hilton John Wadleigh 

Samuel Lock Thomas Webster 

Moses Lougee John Weeks 

And these enlisted since January, 1781, for three years : 

Ephraim Dudley John Edwards Eliphalet Rollins 

On September 18, 1781, the selectmen of Exeter paid travel 
money to the following soldiers in Captain Jacob Webster's 
company in Colonel Daniel Reynolds' regiment of militia : 

William Gushing Stephen ]\Iarsh 

Trueworthy Dudley Phineas Richardson 

Josiah Gordon Daniel Watson 
Benjamin Loveren 

The whole number of different men furnished by Exeter during 
the Revolution, for service in the army, was not less than two 
hundred : a pretty fair jiroportion from a town of less than eigh- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 25.') 

teen hundred inhabitants. Most of them served for brief periods, 
to be sure, but many of them were out on two or more expedi- 
tions. A few were probably not inhabitants of tlie town, espe- 
cially in the later stages of the war, when it became dillicult to 
obtain recruits, but it is believed that their number was more than 
counterbalanced by that of the Exeter men who were hired to fill 
up the quotas of other places. 

The town was not unmindful of those who went forth to fight 
its battles, but dealt generously with them and the families they 
left behind them. 

At a meeting of the town held on July 8, 1776, to expedite the 
raising of men for the reinforcement of General Sullivan's army 
in Canada, a bounty of two pounds, two shillings, over and above 
the colonial bounty, was promised to each good and able man that 
should enlist and pass muster. 

On the nineteenth of January, 1778, it was 

Voted, That the selectmen be a committee to supjjly such fami- 
lies of the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers belong- 
ing to this town as now are or shall be engaged in the continental 
service, with such necessaries of life as their circumstances 
require. 

A subsequent resolution provides similar assistance to the fami- 
lies of such as have died in the service, and to that of Captain 
Caleb Robinson, at the discretion of the selectmen. 

On the thirtieth of March, 1778, it was voted that Captain 
Trueworth}^ Oilman, instead of the selectmen, be a committee to 
furnish aid to soldiers' families ; and on the twenty-ninth of 
March, 1779, Captain Eliphalet Ladd Avas chosen to supply the 
families of soldiers, agreeably to the resolution of the General 
Court for the purpose. 

On the twenty-seventh of March, 1780, it was voted that the 
selectmen supply the families of the soldiers with money, not 
exceeding one-half of their wages monthly. 

On March 21, 1782, the town appointed the selectmen a com- 
mittee to supply the families of the soldiers of the town now in 
the continental service. 

The accounts of the selectmen show the following disburse- 
ments under the foregoing votes : 

1778. Supplying soldiers' families £ 570. 0. 

1779. Cash paid committee to hire soldiers to go to Rhode 

Island, under command of Col. Mooney 1253. 0. 



£180. 


0. 


(37.J. 


0. 


2262. 


18. 7 


24. 


0. 


513. 


0. 


240. 


0. 


6000. 


0. 


12,119. 


14. 


18,510. 


15. 



25G HISTORY OF EXETER. 

paid hire of 3 continental soldiers 

" continental and state bounty to 5 soldiers 
supplying soldiers' families 
paid S. Folsom money paid to hire soldiers 
1780. paid committee for hiring soldiers 
cash paid wives of five soldiers 
committee to hire soldiers 



These last euormous sums, fortuuatel}^ were equivalcut to only 
a comparatively moderate amount iu hard money. 

Nor, after the war was over, did the town forget the veterans, 
who had followed the fortunes of Washington in the regular mili- 
tary service. On March 29, 1784, it was 

Voled, That every soldier who has been iu the New Hampshire 
line of the continental army from this town and who has received 
no town bount}^ shall not be taxed in the town for his poll for so 
many years as he served in the line. 

The list of officers belonging to Exeter was not a small nor 
insignificant one, especially if we reckon not only those who 
belonged to the continental line, but also the much greater number 
who took the field on various expeditions or emergencies. It 
included in the regular continental service alone, one brigadier 
general, one major, one captain and A. A. general, three surgeons, 
three commissaries, two captains and two lieutenants. 

A consitlerable number of the men in service perished from cas- 
ualty or disease. Many received wounds ; and the names of two, 
whose injuries were of exceptional severity, were for years upon 
the State pension list. A few lived well into the present century, 
aud, it is to be hoped, enjoyed, in the decline of life, substantial 
tokens of the gratitude of the country which they risked their lives 
to sustain. 

The jail in Exeter, during the Revolution, was made a recepta- 
cle for foreign prisoners and for tories from this and other 
provinces, especially New York. It was not a very safe place of 
confinement, as was proved by the notorious Henry Tufts aud 
others having made their escape from it. A guard had to be fur- 
nished in 1777 for two months, when it was filled with prisoners, 
to keep them secure, and the following Exeter men were employed 
in that capacity : 



HISTORY OF EXETER 



257 



Samuel Oilman, 3d 
Theophilus Folsom 
Samuel Harris 
William Odlin 



Simeon Palmer 
James Rundlett 
Samuel Rust 
John York 



THE WAR OF 1812. 

. With the party which brought on the war with Great Britain in 
1812, the people of Exeter, in common with the majority of those 
of New England, had little sympathy. It was not to be expected, 
therefore, that they would be ready to volunteer, to any extent, to 
serve in the army in that contest. The town earl}' refused to 
add to the pay of the militia called into the military service of the 
United States, or to offer them a bounty. 

In the year 1814, however, several bodies of the State militia, 
which were composed in part of residents of the town, were 
ordered out by the governor, for the defence of the towns on the 
seacoast. 

Captain Jacob Dearborn's company, enlisted September 26, 
1814, for sixty days' service, contained the following men credited 
to Exeter : 



AYilliam Pearson, Ensign 
Isaac Kendall, Sergt. 
Albert Carleton 
David Goodwin 



James H. Hale 
Jonathan Johnson 
Walter Little 



On the ninth of September, of the same year, Captain Nathaniel 
Gilman, 3d, was ordered to Portsmouth with his company of 
militia, tlie greater part of whom probably belonged in p]xeter. 

Their term of service was about three weeks. The roll of the 
company was as follows : 



Nathaniel Oilman, 3d, Capt. 
Nathaniel B. Gordon, Lieut. 
William Odlin, Ensign 
N. P. Poor, Sergt. and Clerk 
William Channing, Sergt. 
Oliver Brooks, " 

John Gordon, Jr., " 
Samuel Somerby, " 
Thomas Tyler, " 

EdM'in Channing, Corp. 
William Robinson, " 
Phillips Gilman, " 
17 



Henry O. Mellen, Corp. 
John B.Hill, 
Abram Prescott, Musician 
Weare Prescott, " 
Samuel Eldridge, " 
Benjamin Bachelder 
Moses Bickford 
Nathaniel Bickford 
Josiah Blake 
Francis Becket 
Benjamin P. Bachelder 
Benjamin Barker 



258 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Elijah Bean 
Jonathan Brickett 
James Buiiey 
James Clark 
Daniel Colcorcl 
John R. CaldweU 
John Clark 
James Clark, 2d 
Daniel Clark 
John Cook 
Solomon Davis 
William Dickey 
Peter Elkins 
Jeremiah Edgerly 
Jeremiah Fuller 
William Fuller 
James Folsom, 4th 
Josiah Folsom, 3d 
Peter Folsom 
David Fogg 
Abba Oilman 
John Oilman 
Joshua C. Oates 
Francis Orant 
Joseph Greenleaf 
William Hood, Jr. 
John Haley 
Joseph J. Hoyt 
Theodore Hill 
Noj'es Hopkins 
John Lougee 
John Leavitt 
John Marsh 
Charles Marble 
Benjamin jNIelcher 
Eliphalet Marston 
Meserve Meader 
James Odlin 



Joseph Odlin 
Nathan Parker 
Moses Pike, Jr. 
Samuel Pottle 
William Penney 
John Peavey 
Moses Perkins 
Samuel Robinson 
John Rowe 
Nathaniel Robinson 
John Roby 
LoAvell Rollins 
Jacob Rowe 
Meshach Rollins 
Sargent Rowley 
Eliphalet Sweet 
Trueworthy Swasey 
Benjamin R. Sanborn 
William Sawyer 
Henry Swasey 
Isaac Shepard 
Amos Stickney 
Oeorge Smith 
Oideon Scriggins 
Josiah O. Smith 
Joseph Saffbrd, Jr. 
William Smith 
Abraham Towle 
Ludovicus Towle 
Simon Taylor 
Lewis Wentworth 
John Williams 
Benjamin Wiggin, Jr. 
William Wiggin 
John Webber 
Benjamin Webster 
Joseph York 



On the tenth of the same September, Captain James Thorn's 
company was ordered to Portsmouth ou the same service, and 
remained about the same length of time. It is believed that they 
were all, with a possible exception or two, Exeter men. Fortu- 
nately New Hampshire was not invaded, and therefore their cam- 
paign was a bloodless one. The following is the roll of the com- 
pany : 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



259 



James Thom, Capt. 
Ilollis C. Kidder, Lieut. 
Simon Winslow, " 
Jeremiah Palmer, Sergt. 
Jonathan Dearborn, " 
Edward Lawrence, " 
John F. Moses, " 
Jonathan Folsom, Corp. 
Lawrence Brown, " 
Nathaniel Rundlett, " 
Stephen L. Gordon, " 
Charles Parks, Drummer 
Joseph Parks, Fifer 
James Chase 
David Clifford 
Joseph R. Dearborn 
Jesse DoUoff 
Robert Dunn 
Nathaniel Dutch 
Orrin Edgerly 



Isaac Flagg 
Samuel Garland 
Samuel R. Gilman 
John T. Gordon 
Samuel Haley 
Alexander Hodgdon 
David Keller 
Nathaniel Kidder 
Levi Morrill, 
John S. Noble 
Benjamin Paul 
Henry Ranlet 
Winthrop Robinson 
John Rundlett 
Charles F. Sleeper 
Benjamin Swasey 
Edward Thing 
Mark Tilton 
Daniel Veasey 
Jeremiah F. Young 



This constituted, so far as is known, the whole of the contribu- 
tion to the military service rendered by the people of Exeter in 
the war of 1812. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 

The first gun that was fired against Fort Sumter by the Seces- 
sionists, April 12, 1861, aroused all the patriotic feeling of the 
people of New Hampshire, in common with that of the entire 
North. But the State was in no condition to contribute any 
immediate aid to the force that was demanded for the defence of 
the national capital. For years no regular militia organization 
had been maintained by New Hampshire ; and though a few quasi- 
military companies in the larger towns existed for holiday parade, 
they were in most cases no more under the command of the execu- 
tive, than any other associations of civilians. 

But when the President issued his proclamation for seventy-five 
thousand volunteers, for three months' service, more than double 
the number needed to fill the one regiment requu-ed from New 
Hampshire, were enlisted in less than two weeks. In Exeter, 
fifty-three men, most of them belonging to the town, volunteered ; 
but before the first regiment was fully organized, the call of the 
President for forty-two thousand three years' volunteers appeared. 
Those who had enlisted for three months were then given the 
option to volunteer for the longer term, and many of them 
accepted it. It thus happened that no Exeter men were included 
in the Fu-st Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers, for three 
months' service. 

In the meantime the work of raising and organizing regiments 
to serve for three years, went on in response to the repeated calls 
made by the President. In nearly every one of these Exeter was 
represented, by original members, or by recruits subsequently 
forwarded. In two or three of them the town furnished the 
greater part of a company each. 

After the last of the three years' regiments was dispatched, 
there came a time of great stress. The government resorted to 
conscription to fill up the depleted ranks of the army. Those who 

260 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 261 

were drawn from Exeter duly complied with the requirements of 
the law. But the subsequent calls for troops bore hardly upon 
the town. A small place, with a steady population, the departure 
of the large proportion of its young men left comparatively few of 
the class from whom armies are recruited. It was not like the 
case of a large city, from whose superabundant population men 
can always be found for any enterprise, "for a consideration." 
The consideration Exeter was ready and willing to pay, and fur- 
nished its officers with all the money that was needed, to All up its 
quotas. But the class who were willing to become food for 
powder for hire merely, can hardly be expected to make patriotic 
soldiers. The men who enlisted for the town in the latest stages 
of the war were, to a great extent, strangers to Exeter, and 
although some of them rendered useful service in the field, others 
were mere " bounty jumpers," and never reached the front, but 
deserted on the way thither. 

And on the whole, Exeter nobly performed her part in putting 
down the Rebellion and preserving the Union. The lists of names 
given in this chapter will show how large a proportion of her 
small population fought for their country on land and sea, how 
many rose to command, and how many proved their devotion with 
their blood. Every call for men was promptly met, and at the 
close of the war the town was credited with a surplus of twenty. 

The following list of the officers and soldiers of Exeter who 
served in the several New Hampshire regiments, with a brief 
account of the military history of each, is taken from the Reports 
of the Adjutant General of the State. It is liable to be imper- 
fect, however, as from various causes, those reports lack com- 
pleteness, to say the least. 

The regiments which contained Exeter men left the State for 
the seat of war, at the dates following : the Second, June 20, 
1861 ; the Third, September 14, 1861 ; the Fourth, September 27, 
1861 ; the Fifth, October 29, 1861 ; the Sixth, December 25, 

1861 ; the Seventh, January 14, 1862 ; the Eighth, January 24, 
1862; the Ninth, August 25, 1862; the Eleventh, September 11, 

1862 ; the Twelfth, September 27, 1862 ; the Thirteenth, October 
6, 1862 ; the Fifteenth, November 13, 1862. All these were three 
years' regiments except the Fifteenth which was for nine months 
only. 

THE SECOND REGIMENT. 

Oilman Marston, colonel, mustered June 4, 1861 ; resigned April 17, 1863. 
Brigadier general of volunteers ; repeatedly severely wounded ; resigned 
April, 1865. 



262 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



William H. Smith, captain, mustered 1st lieutenant of Company E August 
1, 1861; promoted to captain August 1, 1862; transferred to Company B; 
died of wounds June 7, 1864. 

Albert M. Perkins, captain, mustered 1st sergeant of Company E June 3, 
1861; promoted to 2d lieutenant August 16, 1861; promoted to adjutant 
September 1, 1862; promoted to captain of Company D June 18, 1863; 
severely wounded at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1863 ; mustered out 
June 21, 1864; dead. 

William H. Colcord, 1st lieutenant, mustered corporal of Company E 
June 3, 1861; promoted to 1st sergeant; promoted to 2d lieutenant May 
18, 1863; promoted to 1st lieutenant July 2, 1863; wounded at Cold Har- 
bor, Virginia, June 3, 1864; mustered out June 21, 1864. 

Frank H. Hervey, 1st lieutenant, mustered private in Company E Sep- 
tember 13, 1862; promoted to quartermaster sergeant September 12, 1864; 
promoted to 1st lieutenant May 20, 1865; not mustered; mustered out 
June 12, 1865. 



John H. Bennett, 
Charles E. Colcord, 

Andrew J. Currier, 

Calvin L. Dearborn, 

Frank Ellison, 
Charles A. W. Flood, 

Samuel Flood, 

Peter W. Gardner, 

John H. Hale, 
Isaiah T. Haines, 
Oren M. Head, 
Elbridge A. Leavitt, 



Co. E * must. June 3, '61 ; transf. to 4 U. S. 

Artillery Nov. 4, '62. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; disch. for disab. 

Aug. 2, '63. 
«' " must. June 3, '61 ; w. si. July 2, '63 ; 

must, out June 21, '64. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; d. of disease in 

hospital Nov. 16, '61. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; unaccounted for. 
" ♦' " " " " deserted Dec. 26, 

'62. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; disch. for disab. 

March 15, '62. 
» " must. Dec. 8, '63; transf. from Co. 

A12N, H. V. June 21, '65; de- 
serted Warsaw, Va., Aug. 18, '65. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; disch. by order 

Aug. 30, '62. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; pro. corp. Jan. 1, 

'63 ; must, out June 21, '64. 
" B, disch.; pro. adjt. 8 N. H. V. Dec. 1, 

'61. 
" E, must. June 3, '61 ; disch. for disab. 

Oct. 16, '62 ; dead. 



* The following contractions are used, in order to economize space, viz., must, for mus- 
tered; transf. for transferred; dis. or disch. for discharged; disab. for disability; captd. for 
captured; w. for wounded; si. for sliglitly; sev for severely; d. for died; k. for killed; pro. 
for promoted; corp. for corporal; sergt. for sergeant. In giving the year, the centuries are 
omitted. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



263 



James Mclntee, 

Edward Marshall, 
John Mori, 

William H. Morrill, 
Dennis Murphy, 

Daniel Nelligan, 

Patrick O'Neal, 
Charles Page, 
Francis Pettigrew, 
David Pike, 
William Robinson, Jr., 

James Rundlett, 

James H. Sanborn, 

John Shepard, 
Jeremiah Tanner, 
George A. Taylor, 
George H. Thing, 
John 0. Thurston, 
William H. Twilight, 



Co. E, must. Dec. 8, '63 ; transf. from Co. 

A12N. H. V. June 21, '65 ; absent 

on detached service Dec. 19, '65. 
" B, must. Aug. 8, '64; absent sick Dec. 

19, '65. 
" F, must. Dec. 11, '63; transf. from Co. 

A 12 N. H. V. June 21, '65 ; must. 

out Dec. 19, '65. 
E, must. June 3, '61 ; k. Williamsburg, 

Va., May 5, '62. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; re-enlisted Jan. 1, 

'64 ; deserted Fredericksburg, Va., 

Aug. 10, '65. 
" K., must. Aug. 18, '64; w. sev. and 

missing in action Gettysburg, Pa., 

July 2, '63. 
" F, must. Aug. 18, '64 ; must, out Dec. 

19, '65. 
" E, must. Aug. 30, '62; d. of disease 

Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 12, '64. 
" " must. Aug. 30, '62 ; must, out June 

9, '65. 
" " must. Aug. 30, '62 ; pro. corp. July 

1, '63 ; must, out June 21, '64. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; pro. corp. March 

1, '63; w. si. July 2, '63; pro. 

sergt. July 1 , '63 ; must, out June 

21, '64. 
Co. E, must. Aug. 30, '62 ; transf. to Inv. 

Corps Feb. 4, '64; dis., Feb. 20, 

'65. 
" I, must. Aug. 30, '62; w. si. July 2, 

'63 ; w. May 16, '64; dis. for disab. 

Concord May 20, '65. 
" E, must. Aug. 30, '62 ; des'd Falmouth, 

Va., Dec. 17, '62. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; re-enl. Jan. 1, 

'64 ; dis. for disab. June 24, '64. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; corp.; dis. for 

disab. Aug. 2, '61 ; dead. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; w.; re-enl. Jan. 1. 

'64 ; d. of disease Oct. 28, '64. 
" " must. June 3, '61 ; must, out June 

21, '64. 
" K, must. June 8, '61 ; disch. for disab. 

Aug. 1, '61. 



264 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 



THE THIRD REGIMENT. 

John E. Wilbur, captain of Company B, mustered August 22, 1861 ; dis- 
missed May 11, 1863. 

Andrew J. Fogg, 1st lieutenant, mustered August 22, 1861 ; 2d lieutenant ; 
promoted to 1st lieutenant June 17, 1862; resigned May 9, 1863. 

George H. Giddings, 1st lieutenant, mustered August 22, 1861 ; corporal 
of Company B; promoted to 1st sergeant; re-enlisted February 14, 1864; 
Avounded slightly August 16, 1864; promoted to 1st lieutenant October 12, 
1864. 

John S. Bryant, 1st lieutenant, mustered August 22, 1861 ; corporal of 
Company B; promoted to sergeant; re-enlisted February 24, 1864; pro- 
moted to 1st lieutenant April 6, 1865 ; died of disease May 23, 1865. 

Simon N. Lamprey, 2d lieutenant, mustered August 22, 1861 ; corporal 
of Company B; promoted to 1st sergeant; promoted to 2d lieutenant July 
20, 1863 ; dead. 

John M. Head, 2d lieutenant ; mustered August 22, 1861 ; sergeant of 
Company B ; promoted to 2d lieutenant August 22, 1862 ; dead. 

Co. B, 



Woodbury Beny, 
John Broadbent, 
Samuel Caban, 

William Caban, 
James Carlisle, 
Gideon Carter, Jr., 
Edward F. Carver, 
John W. Clement, 

Charles W. Colbath, 
Ezra G. Colcord, 
Warren S. Dearborn, 

Cornelius Donovan, 



must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Aug. 

23, '64. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; pro. corp. ; dis. 

for disab. Dec. 4, '62. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. June 16, '62; 

disch. on account of wds. Sept. 2, 

'62. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. sev. June 16, 

'62 ; d. of wds. June 30, '62. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. si. May 13, 

'64 ; must, out Aug. 23, '64 ; dead, 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Aug. 

23, '64. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Aug. 

23, '64; dead, 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; pro. corp. ; red. 

to ranks; pro. corp. Dec. 5, '62; 

must, out Aug. 23, '64. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. si. May 13, 

'64 ; must, out Aug. 23, '64. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; corp. ; transf. to 

U. S. Sig. Corps Feb. 29, '64. 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. July 10, '63, 

pro. corp. ; re-enl. Feb. 22, '64 ; w. 

by disch. of own rifle May 13, '64; 
must. Aug. 22, '61 ; transf. to V. R. 

Corps Sept. 16, '63. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



265 



Daniel W. Dudley, 

Sereno G. Dudley, 
John Duffy, 
Daniel W. Elliott, 

Joshua Fieldsend, 
John Finn, 
Edward F. Hall, 

Horace J. Hall, 
Erskine W. Hebbard, 
George R. James, 
Booth Kaye, 
Joseph Ward Leavitt, 

William R. Leavitt, 
John M. Mallon, 
William S. Marston, 

WiUiam J. Morrison, 

Joseph E. Prescott, 

John Riley, Jr., 
Ambrose E. Rowell, 



Co. B. must. Aug. 22, '61 ; pro. corp. July 
7, '63 ; w. si. May 16, '64 ; must, 
out Aug. 23, '64. 

» " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Feb. 

22, '64. 

" " d. of disease, Hilton Head, S. C, 

Sept. 21, '62. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. June 16, '62. 

pro. Corp. June 23, '63 ; must, out 

Aug. 23, '64. 
" " ' must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Aug. 

23, '64. 

" C, must. Aug. 22, '61; dis. for disab. 

Hilton Head, S. C, Dec. 26, '62. 
'' B, must. Aug. 22, '61 ; lostrt. arm Aug. 

16, '64; must, out Oct. 23, '64; 

dead. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; d. of disease July 

19, '63. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61; dis. for disab. 

July 28, '62. 
" 1), must. Aug. 23, '61 ; wagoner; re-enl. 

Feb. 27, '64. 
" B, must. Aug. 22, '61 ; d. of disease 

Aug. 20, '63. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; pro. corp.; 

re-enl. Feb.l 3, '64; pro. 1 sergt.; 

July 7, '65 ; must, out July 20, '65. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61; d. of disease 

Feb. 18, '62. 
" D, must. Aug. 23, '61 ; pro. corp. ; dis. 

for disab. March 16, '63. 
" B, must. Aug. 22, '61 ; w. June 16, '62; 

transf. to U. S. Sig. Corps Oct. 13, 

'63. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; corp. ; red. to 

ranks Sept. 24, '61 ; pro. corp. Oct. 

11, '61; pro. sergt. Oct. 18, '62 ; 

must, out Aug. 23, '64. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; re-enl. Feb. 14, 

'64 ; pro. corp. ; d. of dis. Ports- 
mouth, R, I., Oct. 29, '64. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61; re-enl. Jan. 1, 

'64; dead. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; Corp.; suspended; 

reinstated ; re-enl. Feb. 22, '64. 



266 

William Senior, 

James Smith, 

Jacob 1). Stone, 
Frederic F. Thing, 

John H. Thing, 

James H. Tattle, 

Irvin M. Watson, 
Jeremiah S. Weeks, 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

Co. B, must. Aug. 22, '61 ; must, out Aug. 

23, '64. 
" I, must. Jan. 6, '63 ; w. Aug. 16, '64 ; 

pro. Corp. May 1, '65; must, out 

July 20, '65. 
" B, must. Aug. 22, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Dec. 13, '62. 
" " must. Sept. 17, '62; destd. ; sentenced 

to hard labor and forfeit, of pay ; 

must, out Sfept. 17, '65. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; sergt. ; pro. 1st 

sergt. ; red. to r. ; pro. sergt. ; 

pro. sergt. major April 5, '64; must. 

out Aug. 23, '64. 
" '< must. Aug. 22, '61 ; re-enl. Feb. 14, 

'64 ; killed Deep Run, Va., Aug. 

16, '64. 
** " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; sergt.; must, out 

Aug. 23, '64. 
" " must. Aug. 22, '61 ; d. of disease 

March 23, '63. 



Abram Dearborn, 
Charles McDonald, 
Joseph Nichols, 
George E. Thing, 



THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 

Co. B, must. Sept. 18, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Beaufort, S. C, Sept. 15, '62 ; dead. 

" " must. Dec. 8, '63 ; desrtd. New York 

city, Nov. 12, '64. 
" I, must. Dec. 8, '63 ; must, out June 

22, '65. 
" B, must. Sept. 18, '61 ; dis. for disab. 
Annapolis, Md., Oct. 19, '61. 



THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 



Thomas Warburton, 1st lieutenant, mustered August 11, 1863, private 
in Company I ; wounded June 16, 1864 ; promoted to 1st lieutenant October 
28, 1864 ; mustered out June 28, 1865. 



Daniel Bennett, 
Benjamin F. Bowley, 

William Brown, 



Co. H, must. Aug. 10, '64 ; must, out June 

28, '65. 
" I, must. Aug. 11, '63; w. June 3,' 64; 

pro. corp. Nov. 1, '64; must, out 

June 28, '65 ; dead. 
" H, must. Aug. 17, '64; must, out June 

28, '65. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



267 



George H. Bussell, 
John Campbell, 
John Clark, 
Joseph Dailey, 

Abraham Dearborn, 
Victor Dixon, 
John House, 
Robert Jackson, 
Patrick Kelley, 
Edward Lafferty, 

Daniel Moore, 
Patrick McMuUen, 
Francis Mullen, 
Joseph Murray, 
Joseph B. Sawyer, 
John Scanlan, 
William Smith, 
John White, 



Co. I, must. Dec. 7, '63 ; transf. to U. S. 

Navy April 19, '64. 
" H, must. Aug. 16, '64 ; w. April 7, '65 ; 

must, out June 15, '65. 
" " must. Aug. 8, '64; must, out June 

28, '65. 
" A, must. Aug. 16, '64; missing April 7, 

'65 ; regained ; must, out June 28, 

'65. 
" I, must. Aug. 11, '63; transf. to Inv. 

Corps April 26, '64 ; dead. 
" B, must. Aug. 18, '64 ; must, out June 

28, '65. 
" A, must. Aug. 17, '64; pro. corp. ; w. 

April 7, '65 ; absent sick since, 
must. Aug. 22, '64 ; sup. to have 

deserted en route to regiment. 
" C, must. Aug. 11, '63; must, out June 

28, '65. 
" H, must. Dec. 28, '63; deserted from 

hospital Alexandi'ia, Va., Nov. 15, 

'64. 
must. Aug. 22, '64 ; sup. to have 

deserted en route to regiment, 
must. Aug. 16, '64 ; sup. to have 

deserted en rovie to regiment. 
" D, must. Aug. 11, '63. w. June 3, '64 ; 

must, out June 28, '65. 
" K, must. Dec. 7, '63 ; missing at Cold 

Harbor, Va., June 3, '64. 
•' E, must. Aug. 11, '63 ; absent sick since 

May 26, '64 ; dead. 
" E, must. Aug. 16, '64 ; pro. corp. June 

11, '65 ; must, out June 28, '65. 
" K, must, Dec. 7, '63 ; deserted. Front 

Royal, Va., June 1, '64. 
" G, must. Aug. 16, '64 ; d. of disease 

July 5, '65. 



THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 

Henry H. Pearson, lieutenant colonel, mustered November 30, 1861 ; 
captain of Company C ; promoted to lieutenant colonel October 15, 1862 ; 
killed in action May 26, 1864. 

Matthew N. Greenleaf, captain, mustered November 2, 1861 ; sergeant of 
Company C; promoted to 2d lieutenant April 29, 1862; promoted to 1st 



268 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



lieutenant November 12, 1862; promoted to captain July 1, 1863; wounded 
July 30, 1864; honorably discharged November 28, 1864; restored to rank 
March 1, 1865; mustered out July 29, 1865. 



Edward T. Bennett, 
Albert Bowley, 
Albert A. Bowley, 
Benjamin F. Bowley, 
Ezekiel Clough, 
Thomas H. Clough, 
Thomas Clough, 

Lucius Cole, 
Frank Corcoran, 

Andrew J. Davis, 
John Doody, 

William Doody, 

James Elkins, 
James M. Farnum, 

John G. C. FuUer, 

David F. Oilman. 



Co. C, must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Georgetown, D. C, June 6, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Concord, N. H., April 28, '63. 
" " must. March 12, '64; must, out July 

17, '65. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61; dis. for disab. 
< New York city, Oct. 17, '62 ; dead. 
" " must. Nov. 27', '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Dec. 30, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Newbern, N. C, June 2, '62. 
" I, must. Feb. 4, '64 ; w. May 12, '64 ; 

Av. July 3, '64 ; transf. to V. R. 

Corps; must, out Aug. 21, '65. 
" E, must. Aug. 11, '63; must, out May 

12, '65. 
" I, must. Dec. 3, '63 ; pro. corp. ; captd. 

Poplar Grove Church, Va., Sept. 

30, '64 ; paroled ; must, out May 

23, '65. 
must. Nov. 27, '61 ; w. July 30, '64 ; 

must, out Nov. 29, '64. 
must. Nov. 27, '61 ; missing at Bull 

Run, Va., Aug. 29, '62 ; regained ; 

dis. for disab. Philadelphia, Pa., 

March 16, '63; dead, 
must. Nov. 27, '61 ; missing at Bull 

Run, Va., Aug. 29, '62 ; regained ; 

deserted Annapolis, Md., Nov. 25, 

'62. 
must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Roanoke IsL, N. C, June 24, '62. 
must. Nov. 28, '61 ; d. of disease De 

Camp. gen. hospital, N. Y., Dec. 

11, '62. 
must. March 20, '65 ; transf. from 

Co. CON. H. V. June 1, '65; 

absent sick July 17, '65. 
I, must. March 12, '64; transf. to V. 

Res. Corps March 1, '65; must. 

out July 29, '65. 



C, 



H, 



C, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



269 



Thomas Hartnett, 
Zephaniah Henninger, 

Samuel S. Hodgdon, 
William Keefe, 
Joel A. Leighton, 

Edmund E. Lovering, 
Albert F. Marsh, 
Morris Reardon, 

Josiah B. Robinson, 
Pascal L. Robinson, 

Joseph Rock, 
William Ryan, 

George H. Smith, 

Jared P. Smith, 
Merrick M. Smith, 

George W. Stevens, 
Patrick W. Sullivan, 



Geoi'ge W. Swain, 



Co. C, must. Nov. 27, '61 ; deserted Lexing- 
ton, Ky., April 7, '63. 
" F, must. Dec. 7, '63 ; transf. from Co. 

F 9 N. H. V. June 1, '65 ; must. 

out July 17, '65. 
" C, must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Philadelphia, Pa., July 28, '63. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; deserted New- 
port News, Va., Aug. 2, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; sergt.; dis. for 

disab. Fairfax Sem'y, Va., Oct. 

14, '62 ; dead. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; transf. Inv. 

Corps May 1, '64. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; d. Hatteras Isl., 

N. C, Jan. 31, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Washington, D. C, Jan. 11, '63; 

dead. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; d. Roanoke Isl., 

N. C, June 20, '62. 
" A, must. March 21, '65; transf. from 

Co. A 11 N. H. V. June 4, '65; 

pro. Corp. July 1, '65; must, out 

July 17, '65. 
" C, must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Newbern, N. C, June 26, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; missing at Bull 

Run, Va., Aug. 29, '62 ; regained; 

deserted while on furlough Jan. 9, 

'63. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; re-enl. Jan 3, '64 ; 

Corp. ; pro. sergt. ; captd. Poplar 

Grove Church, Va., Sept. 30, '64 ; 

paroled ; must, out May 26, '65. 
" " must. Aug. 3, '64 ; must, out June 4, 

'65. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; re-enl. Dec. 27, 

'63; w. July 30, '64; pro. sergt. 

July 1, '65; must, out July 17, 

'65. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; d. Nicholasville, 

Ky., Sept. 4, '63. 
" '* must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Washington, D. C, June 26, '62. 
" " must. Nov. 27, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Newbern, N. C, June 24, '62; 

dead. 



270 

Joshua W. Weeks, Jr., 

Stephen White, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Co. C, must. Nov. 27, '61 ; deserted New- 
port News, Va., July 12, '62. 

" " must. Dec. 26, '63 ; deserted while 
on furlough in N. H. Feb. 10, '65. 

THE SEVENTH REGIMENT. 

must. Dec. 5, '63 ; sup. to have de- 
serted en route for regiment. 
Co. F, must. Feb. 28, '64 ; pro. corp. ; pro. 
sergt. Dec. 29, '64 ; must, out July 
20, '65. 

THE EIGHTH REGIMENT. 

Oren M. Head, adjutant, mustered December 1, 1861 ; honorably dis- 
charged March 19, 1864. 

George S. Cobbs, 2d lieutenant, mustered December 20, 1861 ; sergeant of 
Company B ; promoted to 2d lieutenant December 16, 1863 ; killed in action 
near Alexandria, La., May 14, 1864. 



John Morris, 
Samuel P. Sargent, 



Sewall A. Abbott, 
John H. Carpenter, 
Timothy Coakley, 

Charles H. Davis, 
John Dyer, Jr., 
George Gilman, 
Charles E. Hale, 
Daniel P. Hartnett, 

Ira Healey, 

Samuel H. Henderson, 



Co. B, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

New Orleans, La., May 2, '63. 
" D, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; d. of disease 

Camp Parapet, La., Nov. 9, '62. 
" B, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; transf. Vet. Res. 

Corps July 2, '63 ; must, out Dec. 

19, '64 ; dead. 
" " must. Dec. J26, '61 ; deserted Cheney- 

ville, La., March 19, '64. 
" " must. Dec. 20, '61 ; must, out Jan. 

18, '65. 
" D, must. Dec. 31, '61 ; deserted New 

Orleans, La., Nov. 8, '62. 
" A, must. Oct. 20, '61 ; musician ; re-enl. 

Jan. 4, '64. 
" B, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; w. June 14, '63 ; 

pro. Corp. Aug. 1, '63 ; re-enl. Jan. 

4, '64 ; transf. Co. B Vet. Bat. 8 

N. H. V. Jan. 1, '65. 
« " must. Dec. 20, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

New Orleans, La., Oct. 27, '64; 

dead. 
" I, must. Jan. 4, '64 ; captd. Sabine Cross 

Road, La., April 8, '64 ; released ; 

transf. Co. C Vet. Bat. 8 N. H. V. 

Jan. 1, '65. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



271 



David G. Kelley, 
Michael Melvin, 

Henry L. Ruggles, 
Jonathan Tebbetts, 
George E. Thyng, 
James G. Tilton, 

Woodbury C. White, 



Co. B, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; pro. sergt. ; re- 

enl. Jan. 4, '64 ; dead. 
" D, must. Dec. 20, '61 ; re-enl. Jan. 4, 

'64 ; transf. Co. B Vet. Bat. 8 N. H. 

V. Jan. 1, '65. 
" K, must. Aug. 11, '64; transf. Co. B, 

Vet. Bat. 8 N. H. V. Jan. 1, '65. 
" B, must. Dec, 20, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

CarroUton, La., July 5, '62 ; dead. 
" " must. Dec. 20, '61 ; dis. for disab. 

Ft. Indep. Boston, Feb. 14, '62. 
" " must. Dec. 20, '61 ; pro. corp. July 

6, '62 ; re-enl. Jan. 4, '64 ; transf. 

Co. B Vet. Bat. 8 N. H. V. Jan. 1, 

'65. 
" " must. Dec. 20, '61 ; d. of disease 

Ship Island, Miss., May 2, '62. 



THE NINTH REGIMENT. 

Chester C. Stevens, captain of Company D, mustered August 10, 1862 ; 
resigned December 25, 1862. 

Charles J. Simons, 1st lieutenant, mustered July 3, 1862; sergeant of 
Company A ; wounded July 30, 1864 ; promoted to 2d lieutenant November 
1, 1864; i^romoted to 1st lieutenant February 1, 1865; mustered out June 
10, 1865. 



Alfred A. Avery, 
Charles W. Batchelder, 
Francis M. Caldwell, 

Leonard H. Caldwell, 

John K. Carswell, 

George D. Clay, 
Patrick Crean, 
Jeremiah F. Dearborn, 



Co. D, must. July 26, '62 ; d. Paris, Ky., 

Oct. 19, '63. 
" " must. July 26, '62 ; corp. ; must, out 

June 10, '65. 
" A, must. July 3, '62 ; corp. ; pro. sergt.; 

transf. to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 28, 

'63 ; must, out July 1, '65. 
" " must. July 3, '62 ; 1st sergt. ; w. sev. 

Dec. 16, '62 ; dis. for disab. April 

18, '63. 
" D, must. July 26, '62; transf. to Vet. 

Res. Corps Feb. 28, ' 63; must, out 

July 5, '65 ; dead. 
" A, must. March 20, '65 ; must, out May 

6, 'Go. 
" D, must. July 26, '62 ; must, out June 

10, '65. 
" " must. July 26, '62 ; must, out June 

10, '65. 



272 

John Edwards, 

David Floyd, 
Franklin H. Foster, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Moses D. French, 



John G. C. Fuller, 



William Gleason, 



Thomas Goodwin, 



Paul Gordon, 



Zephaniah Heninger, 



Co. H, 

" B, 
" A, 



" c, 



James Hicks, 


<< 


H, 


James Hughes, 


(( 


B, 


Philander Keyes, 


(( 


D, 


John Lord, 


it 


A, 


James J. Miller. 


a 


H, 


John Morris, 






Ephriara McCusic, 


(( 


A, 


James O'Brien, 


(( 


U 


Patrick Reynolds, 


It 


U 


Joseph S. Powell, 


a 


E, 



must. Dec. 10, '63 ; captd. Spottsyl- 

vania, Va., March 12, '64; d. of 

disease, Andersonville, Ga., Sept. 

11, '64; grave 8426. 
must. Dec. 7, '63 ; deserted Harper's 

Ferry, Va., April 4, '64. 
must. July 3, '62 ; pro. sergt.; pro. 

sergt. major March 1, '63; captd. 

Petersburg, Va., July 30, '64 ; d. of 

disease Salisbury, N. C, Dec. 14, 

'61. 
must. July 26, '62 ; dis. for disab. 

Oct. 17, '62. 
must. March 20, '65 ; transf. to 6 N. 

H. V. June 1, '65. 
must. Dec. 8, '63 ; supposed to have 

deserted en route to regiment, 
must. July 26, '62 ; corp. ; deserted 

Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, '62. 
must. Dec. 8, '63 ; deserted Hall's 

Gap, Ky., June 28, '64. 
must. Dec. 7, '63 ; captd. Poplar 

Grove Church, Va., Sept. 30, '64 ; 

ret. to duty May 5, '65 ; transf. to 

6N. H. V. June 1, '65. 
must. June 14, '64 ; deserted Peters- 

Inirg, Va., July 14, '64. 
must. Dec. 7, '63 ; deserted Stone 

Bridge, Ivy., Jan. 2, '64. 
must. July 26, '62 ; wagoner ; d. 

Milldale, Miss., July 30, '63. 
must. July 3, '62 ; dis. for disab. 

March 15, '63. 
must. Dec. 5, '63 ; k. in action July 

30, '64. 
must. Dec. 5, '63 ; sup. to have de- 
serted en route to regiment, 
must. July 3, '62 ; corp. ; captd. Pe- 
tersburg, Va., July 27, '64 ; d.- of 

disease Danville, Va., Feb. 7, '65. 
must. July 12, '62 ; deserted Concord, 

N. H., Aug. 24, '64. 
must. July 3, '62 ; missing in action 

May 12, '64. 
must. May 15, '62; w. Dec. 13, '62; 

dis. for disab. Washington, D. C, 

Feb. 17, '63. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



273 



William Ryan, 
Andrew J. Sanborn, 
Christopher Staples, 
George W. Tanner, 
Seth Tanner, 
Eugene Thurston, 
Joseph B. Wadleigh, 
John E. G. Weeks, 
Henry Wood, 



must. Dec. 7, '63 ; sup. to have de- 
serted en route to regiment. 
Co. D, must. July 26, '62 ; sergt. ; k. Spott- 
sylvania, Va., May 12, '64. 

" " must. July 26, '62 ; must, out June 
10, '65. 

" A, must. July 26, '62 ; must, out June 
10, '6o. 

" " must. July 26, '62; dis. for disab. 
Dec. 15, '62. 

" D, must. July 26, '62; Corp.; deserted 
Camp Denison, O., Dec. 7, '63. 

" A, must. July 3, '62 ; pro. sergt. ; d. of 
disease Feb. 2, '64. 

" D, must. July 26, '62; transf. to Vet. 
Res. Corps May 8, '64 ; dead. 

" " must. July 26, '62; deserted Balti- 
more, Md., April 29, '63. 

THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 



Moses N. Collins, lieutenant colonel, mustered August 6, 1862; major; 
promoted to lieutenant colonel September 9, 1862 ; killed in action May 6, 
1864. 

John K. Cilley, 1st lieutenant, mustered September 1, 1862; 1st lieu- 
tenant Company I ; mustered out April 30, 1864, to accept appointment of 
captain and A. Q. master in the regular army. 



John J. D. Barker, 
John W. Gilman, 
Thomas Heritage, 
Henry Howard, 
James Keith, 
Charles H. Nealey, 
Richard D. Nealey, 

George H. Reynolds, 

Pascal L. Robinson, 
18 



Co. I, must. Sept. 2, '62 ; d. of disease June 

28, '63. 
" " must. Sept. 2, '62; d. of disease 

Petersburg, Va., Sept. 27, '64. 
" K, must. July 26, '64; d. of disease on 

transport Oct. 13, '64. 
must. July 21, '64; sup. to have 

deserted en route to regiment, 
must. July 27, '64 ; sup. to have 

deserted en route to regiment. 
Co. I, must. Sept. 2, '62 ; must, out May 17, 

'65. 
" " must. Sept. 2, '62 ; sergt. ; w. Dec. 13, 

'62 ; d. of wds. Washington, D. C, 

Jan. 5, '63. 
" " must. Sept 2, '62 ; must, out June 4, 

" A, must. March 21, '65 ; transf. to 6 N. 
H. V. June 1, '65. 



274 

Moses H. Stickney, 

Josiah W. Taylor, 
William P. Tilton, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Co. I, must. Sept. 2, '62 ; k. in action Pe- 
tersburg, Va., July 30, '64. 

" " must. Sept. 2, '62 ; pro. sergt. major 
Sept. 2, '62 ; av. sev. May 6, '64 ; 
d. of disease March 18, 'Go. 

" " must. Sept. 2, '62; transf. to brig, 
band Nov. 1, '63 ; must, out June 
4, '65. 



Henry Allen, 
John Anderson, 
Alexander Brown, 
George Brown, 
Melvin Elwood, 
Charles Frederic, 
Peter W. Gardener, 
Samuel Grant, 
William Green, 
Louis Limbold, 
James Mclntee, 
Frank Malleck, 
Louis Miller, 
John Mori, 
Patrick Riley, 
George Stuman, 
Samuel F. Turner, 



THE TWELFTH REGIMENT. 

must. Dec. 11, '63; sup. to have 
deserted en route to regiment. 
Co. D, must. Dec. 11, '63; deserted York- 
town, Va., April 12, '64. 
" G, must. Dec. 11, '63; transf. to U. S. 

Navy April 29, '64. 
" D, must. Dec. 11, '63; k. Cold Harbor, 

Va., June 3, '64. 
" H, must. Dec. 8, '63 ; deserted White 

House, Va., May 31, '64. 
" I, must. Dec. 11, '63; k. Cold Harbor, 

Va., June 3, '64. 
" A, must. Dec. 8, '63 ; transf. to 2 N. H. 
Vols. June 21, '65. 
must. Dec. 11, '63; sup. to have 

deserted en rovte to regiment, 
must. Dec. 11, '63; sup. to have 

deserted en route to regiment. 
must. Dec. 11, '63; sup. to have 
deserted en route to regiment. 
Co. A. must. Dec. 8, '63 ; transf. to 2 N. H. 
Vols. June 21, '65. 
" I, must. Dec. 11, '63; transf. to U. S. 

Navy April 29, '64. 
" I, must. Dec. 8, '63 ; k. Cold Harbor, 
Va., June 3, '64. 
must. Dec. 11, '63 ; transf. to 2 N. H. 

Vols. June 21, '65. 
must. Dec. 8, '63 ; sup. to have 
deserted en route to regiment. 
Co. D, must. Dec. 11, '63; w. June 3, '64; 
dis, for disab. May 17, '65. 
" E, must. Dec. 12, '63 ; transf. to U. S. 
Navy April 29, '64. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 

THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT. 



275 



John Sullivan, Jr., assistant surgeon, mustered Sept. 16, 1862 ; assistant 
surgeon; honorably discharged August 16, 1864. 

George N. Julian, captain, mustered September 27, 1862 ; captain of 
Company E ; mustered out January 31, 1865. 



Job C. Allard, 

Frederick Bearse, 
John C. Brown, 
Alanson Cram, 
Newton Cram, 
Jesse L. Dolloff, 

James W. Folsom, 
George E. Garland, 
Alfred J. Oilman, 
E-ufus Lamson, 
Howard M. Moses, 
George H. Rollins, 
Frederic W. Sawyer, 

George H. Vanduzee, 
John C. Vanduzee, 

William West, 
Lowell H. Young, 



Co. E, must. Sept. 19, '62 ; w. si. June 1, 

'64 ; pro. corp. Feb. 13, '63 ; w. si. 

Sept. 30, '64 ; must, out June 21, 

'65; dead. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62; corp. ; transf. to 

U. S. Navy April 26, '64 ; dead. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62; wagoner; d. of 

disease Exeter Jan. 19, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; must, out June 

10, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; corp. ; transf. 

to U. S. Navy April 26, '64. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; pro. corp. Aug. 

26, '62; pro. sergt. March 1, '65 ; 

must, out June 21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; must, out June 

21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62; pro. corp. May 

1, '65 ; must, out June 21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; must, out June 

21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; must, out June, 

21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; must, out June 

21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62; transf. to Vet. 

Res. Corps Sept. 30, '63. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; dis. for disab. 

Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 14, '63; 

dead. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; sergt.; k. Cold 

Harbor, Va., June 1, '64. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62; pro. corp.; dis. 

for disab. Point of Rocks, Va., 

Jan. 27, '65 ; dead. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; corp.; must, out 

June 21, '65. 
" " must. Sept. 19, '62 ; w. si. June 15, 
'64 ; must, out June 21, '65. 



27G 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



THE FIFTEENTH REGIMENT. 



Joseph E. Janvrin, assistant surgeon, mustered October 28, 1862 ; assist- 
ant surgeon; mustered out August 13, 1863. 



George W. Batchelder, 

William H. B. Brigham, 

Frederic W. Carter, 

Gideon Carter, 
George W. Gadd, 

John W. Morse, 

"William Xudd, 

George A. Prescott, 

John A. Sinclair, 

John T. Sinclair, 
Jeremiah W. Smith, 

John A. Smith, 
George R. Thurston, 
James S. Tuttle, 






Co. I, must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug, 

13, '63 ; dead. 
" " must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. 
" " must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. ' 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; d. of disease, 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63 ; dead, 
must. Oct. 22, '62; d. of disease 

Exeter Aug. 9, '63. 
must. Oct. 28, '62; deserted Con- 
cord ; retd. ^larch 14, '63 ; must. 

out Aug. 13, '63. 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; discharged, 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; deserted Concord ; 

retd. March 14, '63 ; w. :May 27, 

'63 ; must, out Aug. 13, '63. 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. 
must. Oct. 22, '62 ; must, out Aug. 

13, '63. 
must. Oct. 28, '62 ; deserted Concord 

Oct. 21, '62. 



(I a 



THE FIRST REGIMENT OF N. II. CAVALRY. 



John Harvey, 
Harrison Jones, 
John P. Weston, 



Troop H, must. July 29, '64 ; deserted Camp 
Stoneman, I). C, Sept. 3, '64. 

" " must. July 29, '64 ; deserted Camp 
Stoneman, D. C, Aug. 27, '64. 

" " must. July 29, '64 ; deserted Camp 
Stoneman, 1). C, Sept. 5, '64. 



In addition to the foregoing list, Exeter sent into the military 
and naval service almost an equal mnnber of other men whose posi- 
tions and history have not been accurately noted and preserved. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



277 



The Rev. Mr. Nason, at the close of each of the years 1861, 1862 
and 1863, published the names of all the Exeter men who had, at 
those dates respectivel}^ gone into the service, and from those 
names the following list is chiefly taken. Its complete accuracy 
is not vouched for ; indeed it is quite clear that it is erroneous in 
its assignments to New Hampshire regiments, if the Reports of 
the Adjutant General of the State are to be depended upon. But 
without doubt nearly every one of the men named entered the 
service of the country in some organization or capacity, though it 
may not be correctly given in this statement. 



OTHER EXETER MEN IN THE MILITARY OR NAVAL SERVICE.* 



R. I. 



U. 



Charles W. Batchelder, 

William Bean, 

Charles Beimett, 

A. J. Bowley, 

Eben S. Bowley, 

Azel P. Brigham, 

Bruce Brigham, 

Ephraim Brigham, 

George H. Brigham, 

"William Broderick, 

George H. Brown, 

G. W. Brown, 

Freeman Caban, 

W. EdAvin Carter, 

James W. Chase, 

William Chase, 

George W. Clark, 

William A. Clark, 

George Clough, 

H. C. Clough, 

Charles W. Colcord, 

Freeman Comier, 44 X. Y.; Colonel. 

Edward J. Conner, 17 U. S. A.; Capt. 



9 A. 

6C. 
7 Maine. 
Cavalry. 
4. 
11 Mass. 
11 Mass. 
11 Mass. 
11 Mass. 
S. Navy. 

14 Mass. C. 
R. I. Cavalry. 

U. S. Navy. 

15 1; dead. 
Mass. Battery. 

U. S. Navy. 

32 Mass. 

12 Mass. K. 

8H. 

1 Mass. B. 

8B. 



John Conner, 
W. Conner, 
Maurice Cotter, 
J. N. Crummett, 
E. P. Cummings, 

Surgeon. 
Albert O. Curtis, 
George Dearborn, 



U. S. Navy, 

15. 

9 Mass. 

U. S. Navy. 

23 Mass. Asst. 

13 Mass, 
15 Mass. Bat. 



1 S. 



J. F. Dearborn, 9 A. 

J. S. Deai-born, Cook's Mass. Bat. 
A. P. DeRochemont, 2 Mass. 

G. W. Dewhurst, U. S. Navy acting 

master. 
G. W. Dewhurst, Jr 
Hem-y Dewhurst, 
John E. Dodge, 
J. Donovan, 
Samuel Dow. 
Daniel V. Durgin, 
William E. Durgin, 
Ira E. Early, 
Horace Ellison, 
John Farnham, 
C. E. Folsom, 
Charles H. Folsom, 

Q. M. 
James W. Folsom, 
Joseph Folsom, 
Charles H. Foss, 
George W. Fuller, 
J. F. Furnald, 
George W. Gale, Jr., 

Asst. Surg. 
James H. Garland, 
George Gill, 
Isaiah W. GiU, U. 

master. 
Nathaniel Gill, 
Gardiner Gilman, 



Carolina. 

Clerk. 

22 Mass. 

8B. 



12 Maine B. 

8. 

5 Mass. 

5 Mass. 

17 Mass. 

Clerk; U. S. 

11. 
13. 

8 A. 

13 E. 

4. 

U. S. Navy ; 

14 Mass. F. 

R. I. Cavalry. 

Navy acting 

11 Mass. 
45 Mass. 



*The figures refer to New Hampshire Regiments, unless a different State is indi- 
cated. 



278 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Sewall Goodwin, U. S. Navy. 
John Gordon, 55 Mass.; Captain. 

Charles Greenleaf, 15 Mass. 

Daniel D. Haines, 8 B. 

J. H. Hartnett, 2 E. 

Michael Hartnett, U. S. Navy. 

D. C. Harris, 8. 
S. C. Hervey, 14 Mass. B ; Lieut. 
William B. Hill, 17 Mass. F ; Lieut. 

J. H. Huse, 2 E. 

James Irving, 1 Mass. B. 

George W. Kimball, U. S. Navy. 

James Kimball, U. S. Navy. 

James Kincaid, U. S. Navy. 

Augustus J. Leavitt, 29 Mass. 

Charles H. Leavitt, 29 Mass. K. 

John Ward Leavitt, 5 Mass. 

John Leavitt, 9 E. 

Joseph W. Leavitt, 5 Mass. 

Patrick Little, 9 A. 

Thomas McEnery, 3. 

Daniel INIcNary, U. S. Navy. 

D. F. McNeal, 19 Mass. 

A. Merrill, 12 Mass. E. 
John Munjoy, U. S. Navy, 
James Murphy, 8 B. 
Paul F. Nason, A. A. G. Ai-til. Brig. 

5 Corps. 

C. P. H. Nason, Clerk. 

Charles H. Nealey, 111. 

B. Nealey, U. S. Navy. 



Norris, 



15. 
U. S. Navy. 



John O'Brien, 
G. G. Odiorne, 16Ind.; Asst. Surgeon. 
J. C. Payson, 13 D. 

T. K. Payson, U. S. Navy. 

Asa E. Perkins, 40 N. Y. 

Valentine A. Pickering, 2 Mass. Bat. 
George W. Robinson, 28 Mass. I. 



Henry S. P. Rollins, 
Charles W. Rogers, 
Charles Rowe, 
Frank G. Rundlett, 
A. J. Sanborn, 



U. S. Navy. 
U. S. Navy. 

3D. 
U. S. Navy. 

9 A. 



Charles Sleeper, 


U. 


S. Navy. 


William H. Sleeper, 




3B. 


Charles Smith. 






J. R. Smith, 




44 Mass. 


Stacy, 


U. 


S. Navy. 


C. H. Staples, 


u. 


S. Navy. 



Charles W. Stevens, Ky. Pay. Dept. 

David Stickney, 8 D. 

Daniel W. Stone, U. S. Navy. 

W. C. Swasey, 12 Mass. K. 

William E. Swasey, U. S. Navy. 

James M. Tappan, 8 A. 

L. F. Tebbetts, 2 B. 

J. I. Tebbetts, U. S. Navy. 
Warren V. B. Tebbetts, 17 Mass. F. 

Eugene Thurston, 9 A. 

Charles J. Towle, U. S. Navy. 
Henry Veasey. 

Wheelock G. Veasey, 16 Vt.; Colonel. 

G. A. W. Vinal, 6 ]\Iass. K. 
George A. Wadleigh, 3 Mass. Cav.; 

Lieutenant. 

James P. Wadleigh, 9 A. 

W. Wainwright, U. S. Navy. 

OrinP. Waldo, 11. 

Henry Walker, 8 G. 

William H. Walton, 3. 

Edward Warren, U. S. Navy. 

Freeman Wallace, U. S. Navy. 

H. Weeks, 6 E. 

Henry A. Weeks, 26 Mass. A. 

J. E. G. Weeks, 9 A. 

Nathaniel Weeks, 2d, U. S. Navy. 

John S. Weeks, Inv. Corps. 
W. Whitehouse, 

Alfred Willey, 17 U. S. A. 
Charles Willey. 

Edwin Willey, 13 Mass. B. 

George Willey, U. S. Navy. 

James Willey, 12 Mass. 

Henry Wood, 9 A. 

W. Wyman, 4. 

J. R. Young, 8 B. 



It is much to be regretted that no complete and authentic account 
of the services and sufferings, or even of the names, of the resi- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 279 

dents of Exeter who perilled their lives in their country's cause, 
has been kept. This should no longer be. Late as it is, and 
difficult as it may now be to compile such an account, the town 
owes it to the memory of the heroic dead to ascertain the exact 
part taken by every one of its citizens in aiding to preserve the 
integrity of the Union, to be inscribed upon permanent record, for 
the information of present and future generations. Exeter has 
yet no memorial of her soldiers ; such a history would be a tribute 
more appropriate than any monument of marble or bronze and 
equally enduring. 

A few brief biographical notices of some of the more prominent 
officers will properly close tliis chapter of Exeter history. 

General Oilman Marston was born in Orford, New Hampshire, 
of which town his grandfather, a captain in the old French war, 
was one of the earliest settlers from Hampton. His early life was 
passed on a farm, and he paid the expenses of his own education 
by school keeping, graduating from Dartmouth College in 1837. 
He studied law, and in 1841 came, an entire stranger, to Exeter. 
In a sliort time, his diligence, attention to business and personal 
interest in the affairs of his clients, secured him a valuable practice. 
In 1845 he took his first step in political life as a representative in 
the State Legislature, and was twice re-elected, and appointed a 
delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1850. In 1859 he 
was chosen a representative in the Congress of the United States, 
and re-elected in 1861. Being in Washington in the anxious 
period that followed the inauguration of President Lincoln, he 
joined the battalion commanded by Cassius M. Clay for the de- 
fence of the national capital, and as soon as the exigency there 
had passed, returned to New Hampshire and tendered his services 
to the State Executive. 

He was appointed colonel of the Second Regiment, originally 
enlisted for three months only, but its term of service then ex- 
tended to three years. One month from its arrival in Washing- 
ton it took part in the battle of Bull Run, where the colonel was 
severely wounded by a bullet which shattered his right arm near 
the shoulder. The surgeons would have amputated it, to save his 
life, but, by reason of the colonel's resolute refusal, it was saved, 
to become about as serviceable as the other. He soon returned 
to his regiment, and was in command of it at Williamsburg, at 
Fair Oaks, during the seven days' battles before Richmond, at 



280 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Malvern Hill, and at Fredericksburg. In the winter of 1862-3, 
while active operations were suspended, he returned to his seat in 
Congress. 

He was appointed brigadier general in the fall of 1862, but did 
not accept the appointment till April, 1863, when he was put in 
charge of a large camp of confederate prisoners, in Maryland, in 
command of his own and two other New Hampshire regiments. A 
year later, the command of a brigade of New York troops in the 
Eighteenth Corps was given him, and he took part in the assault 
on Drury's Bluff. Thence his command was ordered to Cold 
Harbor, and in the memorable conflict there his brigade in one-half 
hour lost five hundred men. Subsequently, he participated in the 
assault on the works at Petersburg ; and then was directed by 
General Grant to take charge of several posts on the James, where 
he remained until autumn, but, being attacked by chills and fever, 
from his long exposure in that miasmatic region, he Avas obliged 
to quit the army on sick leave. He was again elected to Congress 
in the succeeding March, and after the fall of Richmond resigned 
his commission of general. 

General Marston's military services are matter of history. Per- 
haps no higher commendation could be given him than that paid 
by a field officer of his old command. The Second Regiment, as 
is well known, made a distinguished record in the war. Major 
Cooper, in his report to the adjutant general, wrote thus of its 
first commander: "Whatever name or fame the regiment may 
possess, it is indebted for almost wholly to the untiring zeal and 
effort of Colonel, now General Gilman Marston." 

After the expiration of his third congressional term. General 
Marston returned to Exeter and resumed his law practice. Neither 
his political nor his military service had lessened his zeal or his 
industry in his profession, and he has ever since had all the busi- 
ness that he cared for. Few of the principal causes arising in his 
section have been tried without his assistance, and he has often 
been summoned to other parts of the State to conduct important 
suits. 

The people of Exeter have manifested their confidence in his 
ability and usefulness as a law maker by continuing him for an 
unprecedented length of time as a representative in the State 
Legislature, where his position and experience have given him an 
influence second to that of no other member. 

In 1882 Dartmouth College conferred upon General Marston 
the honorary degree of LL. U. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 281 

Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Pearson was born in Newport, 
Illinois, February 26, 1840. By his own exertions he determined 
to obtain an education, and with that view came to P^xeter and 
entered the Phillips Academy. He was a faithful student, and a 
great reader of books, especially of history and biography. Upon 
the breaking out of the Rebellion he was fired with military and 
patriotic ardor, and proceeded, a part of the way on foot, to 
Washington, where he joined a military company and took part in 
the battle of Bull Run. He then returned to Exeter, and was 
commissioned by the governor captain in the Sixth New Hamp- 
shire Regiment. In order to procure recruits, he appointed war 
meetings in the towns adjacent to Exeter, at which he addressed 
the people with great effect, and thus he enlisted his company. 
The people of Exeter, in recognition of his patriotic services, pre- 
sented him with a handsome sword and other substantial tokens of 
their regard. 

In April, 1862, he commanded his company in the action at 
Camden, North Carolina, and in August, at the second battle of 
Bull Run, and wrote accounts of both, which showed superior 
military capacity. The next year he distinguished himself in the 
engagements at Chantilly, South Mountain and Fredericksburg, 
and, later, at Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. And when, in 
December, 1863, the regiment re-enlisted, he received the merited 
appointment of lieutenant colonel. In the great campaign of 
C4rant in Virginia, he led his men in the battle of the Wilderness 
with judgment and ability. On the twent^'-sixth of May, 1864, at 
North Anna river, while reconnoitring the enemy through his 
field glass, he received the bullet of a sharp-shooter in the fore- 
head which deprived him of life, at the early age of twenty-three. 

He was beloved by his men for his attention to their wants, and 
for his coolness and courage and ability. Few volunteer officers 
were better equipped than he with the knowledge and qualities re- 
quired to make a successful commander. His brother officers 
respected and admired him, and his death was sincerely lamented 
by all who knew him. 

Lieutenant Colonel Moses N. Collins was born in Brentwood, 
in April, 1820. He received a thorough academic education, and 
for several years was employed in teaching in the State of Mary- 
land. He then returned to New Hampshire to prepare himself 
for the practice of the law, and completed his studies in Exeter in 
the office of General Oilman Marstou, whose partner he became. 



282 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

He was elected to the State Legislature from his native town in 
1860, and from Exeter in 1861 and 1862. In the latter year he 
received the appointment of major, and subsequent!}', of lieutenant 
colonel of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, then forming. 
After arriving at the seat of war, the regiment had not long to 
wait before receiving their "baptism of fire." At Fredericksburg 
they joined in the bloody, unavailing assault upon Marye's Heights, 
and were, for two hours, exposed to a tremendous cannonade, and 
lost heavily. 

In 1863 the regiment was engaged in the siege of Vicksburg, 
and afterwards bore their part of the hardships and sufferings of 
Burnside's army in Knoxville. At this time Lieutenant Colonel 
ColUus was in command, in the absence of the colonel. In the 
spring of 1864 the regiment was ordered to rejoin the army of the 
Potomac, and was engaged in the terrible conflicts of Grant's 
advance upon Richmond. In the battle of the Wilderness on 
May 6, 1864, the Eleventh was under fire nearly all the day. 
In an advance against the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Collins 
received his death wound, being shot directly through the head. 

He was a man of much resolution and force of character, and 
had established a high reputation as a lawyer of skill and ability. 
His death was a public loss. 

Captain Albert M. Perkins was a native of Exeter, and at the 
time of the breaking out of the war was about eighteen years of 
age. He had received a good academic education and was bright, 
active and popular. He was of an adventurous spirit, and loyal 
to the core, and entered into the contest with enthusiasm. His 
first position was that of orderly sergeant, from which he was pro- 
moted through several grades to the office of captain, earning 
every step by his courage and good conduct. He not only never 
shrank from any exposure, but set an example to his men of 
boldness and enterprise on all critical occasions. 

It was in the battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the w^ar, 
that he received the wound which occasioned the loss of his arm, 
and eventually was the cause of his untimely death. He lived to 
witness the triumphant close of the great conflict, but not long 
afterward. His life was short, but it comprised more daring and 
sacrifice than most lives of threescore years and ten. 



EDUCATIONAL. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 

The first settlers of Exeter were too intelligent not to realize 
the importance of furnishing proper instruction to their children, 
nor did they make their home in the remote region of the Squam- 
scot without providing a suitable teacher for them. Philemon 
Pormort, one of their number, was an experienced sclioolmaster. 
He had taught the 3'outh of Boston acceptably, and, no doubt, as 
long as he remained in Exeter, exercised his calling there. His 
stay was about five years. Before he departed, another person 
Avell qualified to be his successor had come to settle in the town : 
John Legat. He had taught a school in Hampton, and presum-- 
ably filled the same useful station in P^xeter. He lived in the 
place up to the year 1652, at least. The records of the town 
contain no information in regard to the earliest schools, as they 
were probably maintained, not at the public charge, but by the 
parents of the children who attended them. Nor for many years 
after towns were made by law responsible for the maintenance of 
schools, do the records refer to the subject. "We learn, however, 
that in 1(569 John Barsham, who had been employed elsewhere as 
a teacher of the young, was living in Exeter, and it is natural to 
suppose that he was one of the line of schoolmasters. 

About the middle of the seventeenth century the colony of 
Massachusetts passed a law that every town of fifty families should 
maintain a schoolmaster capable of teaching children to read and 
write, and every town of one hundred families should set up a 
grammar school, provided with a teacher qualified to prepare boys 
to enter the univei'sity, that is. Harvard College. And this law, 
in substance, was continued in force in the province of New 
Hampshire after its separation from Massachusetts. 

For two generations or more, the limited population of Exeter 
required the maintenance of elementary schools only, and had not 
reached the number of families which obliged the town to support 

285 



286 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

a grammar and classical teacher. But somewhere near the begin- 
ning of the last century the increase of inhabitants had probably 
made it necessary to provide facilities for the higher grade of in- 
struction. 

At the annual town meeting in April, 1703, a vote was passed 
that the selectmen should hire a schoolmaster for a year, "to 
keep school three months in the old meeting-house, and the rest of 
the year at their discretion." 

The next year the town voted to sell the old meeting-house, and 
"to build a school-house at the town's charge, and set it below 
Jonathan Thing's house next the river." 

In 1706 the rather indeterminate vote was passed, that "the 
town would have a schoolmaster hired." 

No school- house had been built in the spring of 1707, for the 
town then resolved : 

That the school-house be built on the land the town bought of 
Mr. Coffin by the new meeting-house, forthwith ; to be thirty feet 
in length, twenty feet in breadth and eight feet stud. 

. There is no reason to doubt that this order was carried out ; 
and we may therefore picture to ourselves this first building erected 
purposely for a school-house in Exeter, standing on the opposite 
side of the way from the meeting-house, in dimensions one-half 
larger than the earliest known house of worship in the town. It 
was intended for the grammar or Latin school, without doubt. 
The records show that schools of less pretensions were also kept 
for longer or shorter terms in the more distant parts of the town. 

LIST OF EARLY INSTRUCTORS. 

"We do not learn who filled the important station of head of the 
grammar school before the year 1714, but from that date the 
account books of the selectmen give the names of the successive 
masters, with few interruptions, to the close of the century. It 
will be observed that they wei-e generally college graduates. The 
following is the list, which includes also the names of such teachers 
of other schools as are given. 

Jonathan Pierpont (Harvard College 1714), 1714 and 1715 
Nicholas Terryman* and Enoch Coffin (H. C. 1714), 1716. 



♦ Mr. I'errynian was a native of England, and a man of excellent education. He became a 
lawyer uiui practised in Exeter. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 287 

Nicholas Penyman, 1717, 1718. 

Joseph Parsons (H. C. 1720) and Robert Hale (H. C. 1721), 1720, 1721. 

Robert Hale and John Graham, 1722. 

Ward Clark (H. C. 1723), 1723, 1724. 

Benjamin Choate (H. C. 1703 ?), 1729. 

EHsha Odlin (H. C. 1731), 1730. 

Nicholas Oilman, Jr. (H. C. 1724), 1731, 1732. 

Cartee Oilman, 1732. 

Peter Coffin (H. C. 1733) and WiUiam Graves, 1733. 

Elisha Odlin, 1734. 

Meshech Weare (H. C. 1735), 1735. 

Cartee Oilman (on north side of river) and Edward Barnard (H. C. 1736), 
1736. 

Peter Coffin, 1736. 

Maverick Oilman's -wife (at Deer Hill), Cartee Oilman (on south side), 
1737. 

Nicholas Oilman, Jr., and Edward Barnard, 1737. 

Elisha Odlin, 1738. 

John Creighton (on Deer Hill road), Abigail Conner (at Mast swamp), 
1739. 

Woodbridge Odlin (H. C. 1738), 1739, 1740. 

John Creighton (on Deer Hill road), 1740. 

Joel Judkins's wife (on white pine plain), Elisha Odlin (at Deer Hill), 
1741. 

Woodbridge Odlin, 1741, 1742. 

Jonathan Glidden (at TuckaAvay), 1742. 

Mr. (John) Phillips (H. C. 1735), 1742, 1743. 

Elisha Odlin, 1743. 

John Creighton, 1744. 

John Chandler (H. C. 1743) and Nehemiah Porter (H. C. 1745), 1745. 

Nathaniel Oilman (H. C. 1746), 1746. 

Nathaniel Oilman and John Creighton, 1747. 

Stephen Emery (H. C. 1730?) and Nathaniel Oilman, 1748, 1749. 

Cartee Oilman, Samuel Brooks (H. C. 1749) and John Creighton, 1749, 
1750. 

Ebenezer Adams (H. C. 1747) and John White (H. C. 1751), 1751, 1752. 

John Feveryear (H. C. 1751), John White and Samuel Brooks, 1753. 

William Parker (H. C. 1751) and Samuel Brooks, 1755. 

Samuel Brooks, 1756, 1757, 1758. 

Joseph Pearson (H. C. 1758), 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765. 

Tristram Oilman (H. C. 1757), 1761. 

Moses Badger (H. C. 1761), Dr. Joseph Tilton, Theophilus Smith, Jr, 
(H. C. 1761), 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770. 

Joseph Pearson, 1770, 1771. 

Philip Babson, 1772. 



288 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Joseph Peai-son, Abraham Perkins, Joseph Cummings (H. C. 1768), 1772, 
1773. 
John Frothingham (H. C. 1771), 1773. 
Thomas Burnham (H. C. 1772), 1773, 1774. 
Isaac Sherman (Y. C. 1770), 1774. 
Joseph Pearson, William Fogg (H. C. 1774), 1778. 
Dudley Ocllin (H. C. 1777), 1779. 

Nathaniel Healy (H. C. 1777), Dudley Odlin, William Fogg, 1780. 
Dudley Odlin, 1781. 

Dudley Odlin, William Fogg, Nathaniel Parker (IJ. C. 1779), 1782. 
Joseph Lamson (H. C. 1741 ?), William Fogg, 1783. 
Andrew Hinman, William Fogg, 1784. 
^ Andrew Hinman, Joseph Lamson, John Morrison, 1785. 
Leonard Whiting, John Morrison, 178(3. 

Rev. Isaac Mansfield (11. C. 1767), Jonathan Fifield Sleeper (D. C. 1786), 
Ephraim Robinson, Jr., William Peabody, 1789. 
Isaac Mansfield, 1790. 
Caleb Robinson, Jonathan F. Sleeper, 1792. 

TOAVN ORDERS CONCERNING SCHOOLS. 

It may be of interest to give a brief synopsis of the action of 
the town, from time to time, in respect to their schools, in the last 
century. 

In 1728 the town ordered that "the school shall be kept five 
months in the school-house, four months at Pickpocket and three 
months at Ass brook." 

This yearly division of the instruction, so that the children of 
each section of the town might enjoy their equitable proportion of 
its advantages, was kept up for a considerable time. 

In 1734 it was wisely determined that the school be kept the 
ensuing year in the school-house or in the town-house, "which the 
schoolmaster should think best." 

In 1739 the following vote was adopted : 

That there be £120 raised by the selectmen to be improved in 
schooling in manner following : the proportion of money raised 
within the limits hereafter mentioned be improved in keeping 
school in the town-house or school-house ; that end of the town 
called Ass brook to belong to the town school and the road that 
leads to Newmarket, and Pickpocket road as far as Richard 
York's, and the road to Philip Wadleigh's, and all the people that 
live thereabout ; all the people in those limits to be accounted to 
the town school, and the remaining part of the town to have their 
proportion of money to be improved in schooling. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 289 

In the year 1742 the appropriation for schools had been in- 
creased to one hundred and forty pounds, and the selectmen were 
instructed "to hire a standing school in the town for the year 
ensuing ; and that the several branches of the town have their 
share of the money allowed to them in proportion to what they 
pay ; and in case the £140 voted be not sufficient therefor, that 
they be empowered to raise a sufficiency." 

In 1747 the arrangement for schools adopted by the town was 
as follows : 

Voted, That the selectmen raise so much money for the school 
as that the i)art paid by the inhabitants between Capt. John 
Oilman's on Tuclvaway road and the little river on Kingston road, 
and on the neck road and so farther as to take in Major Ezekiel 
Gilman on Newmarket road and Peter Folsom on Hampton road, 
shall be sufficient to keep a Latin school, and that the money that 
the other parts pay shall be for keeping school as they shall agree 
on. 

Ou the twenty-eighth of April, 1755, at a meeting of the town 
it was voted that the selectmen " have liberty to part off a con- 
venient part of the town-house and build a chimney in it so that 
th3 town be at no cost for the same, but at the cost of private 
persons, and be for the use of the school." 

In 1768 the town gave the selectmen authority to get the old 
town bell recast into a bell for the use of the school ; but as the 
people who lived outside its sound were to get no benefit from it, 
it was considerately added that the outskirts of the town were to 
be at no cost for it. 

FORMATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

In the year 1805 a law was enacted by the Legislature of New 
Hampshire, providing for the separation of towns into districts 
for the purpose of maintaining schools. In conformity thereto 
the town appointed a committee to examine, and recommend a 
proper partition, and in 1807 voted to divide the town into six 
districts, as reported by the committee. From that time, for 
three-quarters of a century, the duty of providing instructors for 
the public schools was taken from the selectmen, and imposed upon 
the officers of the several districts. This law has since been 
changed, without disturbance to the school system of the town. 

It would be impracticable to furnish a list of all the teachers, 
even if it were desirable. Among those, however, who have enti- 

19 



290 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

tied themselves by long and faithful service to particular remem- 
brance, may be mentioned the Rev. Ferdinand Ellis, and his t-o'o 
daughters, Charlotte and Ehoda, Benjamin B. Thompson, a vet- 
eran instructor, and Sperry French, who has for above a quarter 
of a century had the charge of a capital grammar school. 

The superintending school committees appointed by the town 
have ordinarily been gentlemen of education, interested in the 
subject, and cheerfully giving much ill compensated labor to the 
object of improving the means of instruction. Their efforts and 
recommendations have contributed greatly to bring the system of 
schools up to its present state of efficiency. Several of their 
reports have been models of the art of enforcing sound sense by 
pleasantry. Those of the late Professor Joseph G. Hoyt were as 
full of wit as of wisdom. 

The present school board consists of Messrs. John D. Lyman, 
John A. Brown and George W. Weston. 

Of the various changes in the State laws which experience has 
dictated, for the promotion of popular education, that which pro- 
vided for the grading of schools was one of the most important, and 
was adopted in the town in the year 1847. A High school was 
established, in district No. 1, to which pupils from the other 
districts were admissible, and the grammar and primary schools 
were kept distinct. A handsome house for the High school was 
erected near the old town-house, on Court street. 

The High school has had for its principal teachers the following 
persons : Elbridge G. Dalton (A. M., Dart. Coll. 1855) from 1848 
to 1853 inclusive ; Joseph Eastman (Dart. Coll. 1850) for 1854 ; 
Nathan F. Carter (Dart. Coll. 1853) from 1855 to 1863 ; Orlando 
M. Fernald (Harv. Coll. 18G4) for 1864 ; Lewis F. Dupee for 
1866 and 1867 ; John T. Gibson (Dart. Coll. 1864) from 1867 to 
1869, and for 1871 and 1872 ; Frederic A. Fogg (Bowd. Coll. 
1869) and Martin H. Fisk (Dart. Coll. 1852) for 1870 ; Albion 
Burbank (Bowd. Coll. 1862) from 1872 to the present time. 

The High and the grammar schools have always maintained an 
excellent standing, notwithstanding the fact that for the last 
twenty years their pupils have been exclusively boys. This was 
the result of the establishment of the Robinson Female Seminary, 
which was open to all the girls above the age of nine years, and 
qualified for admission to the grammar schools. The fears of 
some advocates of the co-edacation of the sexes, that this separa- 
tion would work injury to both, have thus far not been realized- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 291 

lu additiou to the schools described, the town has also one sub- 
grammar school, two intermediate, five primary, and three un- 
graded schools. The whole number of pupils is four hundred and 
ninety-four. The school board highly commend the schools, but 
strongly recommend that some of them should be better housed. 

THE ROBINSON FEMALE SEMINARY. 

William Robinson, a native of Exeter, left the town after reach- 
ing his majority, to seek his fortune elsewhere. In this he was 
highly successful, and at his death in Augusta, Georgia, where he 
had resided for many years, he left a large property. After 
making, by his will, a handsome provision for his widow and rel- 
atives, he appointed the town of Exeter his residuary legatee, iu 
trust, for the purpose of establishing a female seminary in which 
" the course of instruction should be such as would tend to make 
female scholars equal to all the practical duties of life ; such a 
course of education as would enable them to compete, and suc- 
cessfully, too, with their brothers throughout the world, when they 
take their part in the actual duties of life." In admitting appli- 
cants to the advantages of the seminary he directed that, "all 
other things being equal, the preference should always be given to 
the poor and the orphan." There is little doubt that Mr. Robin- 
son, iu making this disposition, had in mind the academy in his 
native town founded by Dr. John Phillips, for the education of 
boys, and intended to make this a companion institution for the 
other sex. 

His death occurred during the civil war, which delayed for a 
time the announcement to the town of the contents of his will, but 
in the spring of 1865 the tidings were received. The town voted 
to accept the bequest, and appointed agents to receive it. The 
amount realized was about a quarter of a million of dollars. 

A plan for the establishment and regulation of the seminary was 
carefully elaborated by a committee, and adopted by the town, 
and received the sanction of the Legislature of the State. It 
provided for a board of trustees to whom the government of the 
institution was committed, to consist of seven citizens, to be 
elected by the town, one each year, and to serve for the term of 
seven years. Any girl resident in the town who had reached the 
age of nine years, and was qualified for the grammar school, was 
entitled to enter the seminary, and enjoy its instruction without 
the payment of tuition. 



202 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

In order that there should be no delay in affording the benefits 
of the gift to all, a school was opened in 1867 in the old town hall 
for girls, answering the above requirement, and experienced 
teachers were employed. It was also determined to procure at 
once a suitable lot of land, and to erect a building for the seminary 
thereon. This was not accomplished without some difference of 
opinion which produced delay ; but on the fourth day of July, 
1868, the corner-stone of the seminary building was laid on a 
commanding part of the tract of land, of near sixteen acres, which 
had been purchased in the western part of the village. In 1869 
the structure was completed, of brick, with a granite basement, 
and three stories in height. 

The seminary went into operation in September of the same 
year. Eben Sperry Stearns, a native of Bedford, Massachusetts, 
and a graduate of Harvard College in 1841, was the first principal. 
He remained in charge of the institution until the year 1875, 
during which time the school was thoroughly organized, and proved 
to be a success. Mr. Stearns then accepted the offer of the pres- 
idency of a normal college at Nashville, Tennessee, and left 
p^xeter. His successor in charge of the Robinson Seminary was 
Miss Harriet E. Paine, who discharged the duties for three years 
with acceptance, and was succeeded b}^ Miss Annie M. Kilham in 
1878. She resigned the position after five years of faitliful ser- 
vice, and George N. Cross, A. M., was appointed principal, who 
has managed the school with much success to the present time. 

The course of study is arranged to extend over a period of eight 
years, and there is also a course preparatory to admission to col- 
lege of three years. As complete an education can be obtained at 
the seminary as at almost any other institution of the kind in the 
country. Of course, the great majority of the pupils do not com- 
plete the course ; out of an attendance of from one hundred and fifty 
to one hundred and seventy-five, the number of graduates averages 
yearly about ten only. But far the larger number of the pupils 
remain long enough to acquire an education which renders them 
"equal to all the practical duties of life," and are undoubtedly 
great gainers by the means of instruction which the liberality of 
the founder of the seminary has placed within their reach. 

Most of the students of the Robinson Seminary belong to 
Exeter, though non-residents may be admitted upon the pajanent 
of a small tuition, and a few such are always in the school. 

The corps of instructors at the present time are these : 



HISTOIIY OF EXETER. 293 

George N. Cross, A. M., Principal, Natural Sciences and Elocution. 

Adeline A. Knight, Latin and Greek. 

Martha F. Rice, B. L., Higher Mathematics, English and Composition. 

Lucy Bell, Drawing, Painting and Art Study. 

Oscar Faulhaber, Ph. D., French and German. 

Eliza C. Lufkin, Language, History, Physiology and Reading. 

Georgie W. Shute, English Grammar, Geography and Natural History. 

Maria L. Grouard, Arithmetic, Algebra and United States History. 

Cecilia F. Gustine, Vocal Music. 

Bessie P. Ordway, Assistant in the Laboratory. 

The present board of trustees consists of the following residents : 

Charles G. Conner, Henry C. Moses, George N. Proctor, William Bur- 
lingame, Edwin G. Eastman, George W. Furnald and Charles H. Gerrish. 

THE PHILLIPS EXETEU ACADEMY. 

John Phillips was a son of the Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover, 
Massachusetts, and was born there December 27, 1719. Under 
his father's tuition he prepared himself to enter Harvard College 
at the age of twelve years, and graduated in 1735. For a while 
afterwards he was employed in teaching, at the same time study- 
ing medicine and divinity. He was admitted to the ministry but 
was never settled over a parish. In 1741 he came to Exeter, and 
there made his permanent home, at first as teacher of a Latin 
school ; but afterwards engaged in trade, which he found very 
profitable. 

As he advanced in years and increased in wealth, he was more 
and more impressed with the desire of employing his property for 
benevolent and charitable uses. He contributed liberally to the 
funds of the infant Dartmouth College, and joined with his 
brother Samuel in founding the Phillips Academy in Andover, 
Massachusetts. 

But his special project was to establish an educational insti- 
tution in his own town of Exeter. This he wisely accomplished 
in his lifetime, and enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing it char- 
tered, organized and in successful operation before his death. 
The Phillips Exeter Academy was formally opened on the first 
day of May, 1783. Dr. Phillips endowed it by gift and devise 
with property to the amount of about sixty thousand dollars ; far 
the greatest sum that had at that time been devoted to such an 
enterprise in the country. He drew up with anxious care a con- 
stitution for the government of the institution, nominated a board 



294 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

of trustees of whom he was one, and naturally the president ; 
appointed the instructors, and for twelve years until his death in 
1795, virtually directed everything connected with the Academy. 

For the first few years the principal instructor was William 
Woodbridge, one of a line of preachers and teachers ; but by 
reason of ill health he gave up the position, and a singularly felic- 
itous appointment was made for his successor, of Benjamin Abbot, 
a native of Andover, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Harvard 
College, in 1788. He possessed rare qualifications for the place, 
an amiable disposition, sound scholarship, the power of command, 
a high sense of responsibility and honor, and the combination of 
qualities that are implied in the expression " a complete gentle- 
man." Under his efficient charge the academy soon acquired 
that pre-eminence which it still, after the lapse of a century, 
retains. 

Dr. Abbot was most efficiently aided in his preceptorial duties 
by a succession of able men and accomplished scholars, not a few 
of whom became afterwards distinguished as presidents and pro- 
fessors of colleges or in the various walks of professional life. 
The names of Hosea Hildreth, I'rancis Bowen, Daniel Dana, 
Samuel D. Parker, Joseph S. Buckminster, Alexander H. Everett, 
Nathaniel A. Haven, Jr., Nathan Lord and Henry Ware, on the 
roll of instructors, are vouchers that no "journey-work" was 
allowed to pass, among the pupils. 

To the first of these, Hosea Hildreth, the principal and the 
academy were especially indebted. He was educated for the min. 
istry, and occupied the pulpit a considerable part of his life. But 
he had exceptionally valuable qualities as a teacher. He was not 
content to guide his pupils in the humdrum style of the old peda- 
gogues. He possessed much originality and humor, and strove 
to rouse the pride and ambition of the students so as to bring out 
the best there was in them. The formation of the " Golden 
Branch" society, for the promotion of scholarship and literary 
training, was due to Professor Hildreth. For fourteen years he 
devoted his best powers to the work of instruction in the acad- 
emy, and his influence was peculiarly stimulating and elevating. 

Nor was the list of Dr. Abbot's pupils less remarkable, for the 
number of those who subsequently rose to the highest rank in 
scholarship and in literature, in political and professional position. 
Among them were Lewis Cass, Daniel Webster, Joseph G. Cogs- 
well, John G. Palfrey, Jared Sparks, Edward Everett, John A. 



HISTORY OF EXETEE. 295 

Dix, George Bancroft, Richard Hildreth, and many others scarcely 
inferior to them in celebrity. 

Dr. Abbot, after having ronnded out his half century of useful 
labor, resigned the principalship in 1838, on which occasion there 
was a great assemblage of his pupils, to do him honor. 

His successor was Dr. Gideon L. Soule, a native of Freeport, 
Maine, and a graduate of Bowdoin College in 1818. He had been 
a pupil of Dr. Abbot, and afterwards associated with him as a 
professor of ancient languages in the academy for a number of 
years. He was fully indoctrinated with the views and methods of 
his old preceptor, was a thorough classical scholar, and possessed 
rare natural qualities f6r the high post to which he was promoted. 
He was of commanding presence and dignified manners ; and 
understood well how to appeal to the best instincts of his pupils. 
Like his predecessor he had the gift of command, and was a 
thorough gentleman in the best sense of the term, courteous, high 
minded, just and generous in his treatment of all. He also was 
ably supported by the professors and teachers associated with him 
in his work. One of the number, now no more, was Professor 
Joseph G. Hoyt, afterwards appointed Chancellor of the Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis, Missouri. In some respects he was 
the counterpart of his predecessor. Professor Hosea Hildreth. He 
had much of the same impatience with outgrown methods, and 
much of the same power of impressing his own personality upon 
his associates and pupils. He was not only not afraid of novel- 
ties, but courted them. He never half supported a measure ; he 
was for it or against it with his whole might. The scheme of 
allowing greater liberty to the students, and of trusting more to 
their own self-government, he supported with characteristic 
warmth. He was in the board of instruction for eighteen years, 
and few of those connected with the academy from the beginning 
have left a more marked impress upon its management and char- 
acter than Professor Hoyt. 

Although Dr. Soule was not one given to innovation, it was 
during his rule, and with his assent, that a radical change was in- 
augurated in discipline and methods in the academy. A wider 
liberty was allowed to the students ; they were treated more like 
men, and less like children. They were taught that in their con- 
duct they were to be governed by the unwritten code of propriety 
and honor which is recognized as the fundamental principle of 
every moral and enlightened community, and not by any set of 



296 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

written regulatious. Instead of studying, as tlieretofore, under 
the eye of an instructor, tliey were permitted to prepare their 
lessons in tlieir own rooms, and only required to assemble at the 
academy for recitations, usually thrice each day, and for prayers. 
This was a critical experiment to make, perhaps, and its success 
depended greatly upon the disposition of the pupils to wisely use, 
and not abuse, the greater freedom granted them. The reliance 
placed upon their good sense and self-control was not mistaken. 
The adoption of the new plan has never been regretted ; and the 
good effects of it are visible in the increase of manliness and self- 
respect among the great majority of the students. 

After Dr. Soule had completed his fiftieth year of duty, as a 
professor and as principal of the academy, he retired from active 
employment, bearing with him the respect and cordial affection of 
his associates and of the numerous body of pupils who had enjoyed 
the great advantage of his instruction and his example. 

The next immediate head of the institution was Dr. Albert C. 
Perkins, a native of Byfield, Massachusetts, and a graduate of 
Dartmouth College. He occupied the post of principal for about 
ten years, when he resigned it to accept the presidency of the Adel- 
phi Institute in Brooklyn, New York. 

For two years after this the duties of the principalship were 
practically performed by the two senior professors, George A. 
Wentworth and Bradbury L. Cilley, each of Avhom had been con- 
nected with the academy as a member of the corps of instruction 
for about a quarter of a century. They were active coadjutors of 
Dr. Soule in the " new departure" which was begun in his term of 
office, and still retain their positions in the institution. 

Walter Quincy Scott, D.D., the present principal of the academ}^, 
assumed the station in 1885. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio, a 
graduate of Lafayette College in 1869, and had been the president 
of the Oliio State University before his appointment to this 
position. 

In the one hundred and five years of its existence, the Phillips 
Exeter Academy has, as might be expected, made a prodigious 
growth, in point of means, and numbers and extent and character 
of instruction. For the first twenty years the average number of 
students was less than forty, and at the close of Dr. Abbot's con- 
nection, did not exceed seventy. It is now nearly five times the 
latter number. The endowment given by the fouuder, large as it 
Avas for the time, has been increased almost tenfold, in part by 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 297 

wise mauagemeut, but chiefly by additional gifts from various 
benefactors. The average age of the pupils has increased by at 
least two years within the last half century, and in the extent and 
thoroughness of the work accomplished, the advance has been fully 
commensurate with the progress of the institution in the other 
respects mentioned. 

The original endowment of Dr. Phillips has been since supple- 
mented by various benefactions. 

John T. Oilman of Exeter gave, in 1794, two and one-quarter 
acres of land, which constitute a great part of the inclosure in 
which the present academy buildings stand. 

Nicholas Oilman of Exeter bequeathed, in 1814, one thousand 
dollars, the income to be expended for instruction in sacred music. 

John Langdon Sibley of Cambridge, Massachusetts, began, in 
1862, a series of gifts, amounting in all to more than forty thousand 
dollars, the income to be expended for the support of students of 
poverty and merit. 

In 1870 the academy building was burned to the ground, and 
subscriptions were raised to the amount of nearly fifty thousand 
dollars to replace it. The chief contributor was William Phillips 
of Boston, Massachusetts, who gave ten thousand dollars. 

Jeremiah Kingman of Harrington, in 1873, bequeathed the resi- 
due of his estate, amounting to above thirty-six thousand dollars, 
the income to be appropriated to the support of indigent and mer- 
itorious students. 

Woodbridge Odlin of Exeter left by his will, in 1875, twenty 
thousand dollars to endow a professorship of English. 

In 1877 and 1879 a gentleman, who preferred that his name 
should not be known, made gifts to the amount of ten thousand 
dollars. 

In 1878 and 1880 Henry Winkley of Philadelphia made dona- 
tions amounting to ten thousand dollars. 

John C. Phillips of Boston gave twenty- five thousand dollars 
in 1884. 

Francis P. Hurd, son of the Rev. Dr. Isaac Ilurd, bequeathed, 
the same year, fifty thousand dollars. 

Francis E. Parker of Boston made a residuary bequest in 1886, 
which yielded about one hundred and ten thousand dollars. 

The last five gifts were unrestricted, and are applicable to the 
general purposes of the academy. 

In addition to the foregoing principal donations, four scholar- 
ships have been founded, named for the donors : 



298 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

Charles Burroughs, in 1868, of the value of one thousand 
dollars, 

George Bancroft, m 1870, of the value of two thousand dollars. 
Samuel Hale, in 1872, of the value of two thousand dollars. 
Nathaniel Gordon, in 1872, of the value of two thousand dollars. 

To-day the Phillips Exeter Academy has a faculty of ten in- 
structors, pupils to the number of three hundred and twenty and 
upwards, representing nearly every State and Territory in the 
Union, and divided between a classical and an Eno;lish course of 
instruction of four years each ; property, including lands and 
school buildings, to the amount of nearly six hundred thousand 
dollars ; chapel, recitation rooms, dormitory, gymnasium and in 
process of construction a laboratory, — all fitted with the best 
modern improvements. 

And these advantages are not for the rich alone ; they are 
equally within the reach of any young man who has the ability 
and determination to obtain an education. Good conduct and 
diligence are the only requisites. The payment of tuition is 
remitted in all cases where students are in needy circumstances, 
and twenty-four scholarships are annually distributed among the 
pupils, who are applicants, according to proficiency and general 
merit. Four of the scholarships, the Bancroft, Gordon, Hale and 
Burroughs, are worth in money from seventy to one hundred and 
forty dollars each. The others — foundation scholarships as they 
are termed — yield between one and two dollars per week during 
the school year. The rooms in Abbot Hall are assigned to 
students of restricted means, at a trifling rent, and accommodate 
about fifty. In the same hall there are commons for the board of 
a somewhat larger number, at simply the cost price. A young 
man who obtains a foundation scholarship, therefore, needs little 
more to defray his expenses. About one-third of the whole 
number of students receive free tuition. 

Tso distinctions have ever been made in the academy by reason 
of pecuniar}' condition. The poorest lad is as free to carry away 
the honoi's, and is as much respected if lie is deserving of respect, 
as the millionnoire. Indeed, some of the most venerated names on 
the list of alumni are those of men who received aid from the 
foundation, which alone enabled them to accomplish their educa- 
tion, and who were proud in after years to attribute their success 
in life thereto. 

The present faculty of the Phillips Academy is as follows : 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 299 

Walter Quincy Scott, D. D., Principal, and Odlin Professor of English. 

George A. Wentworth, A. M., Professor of Mathematics. 

Bradbury L. Ciller, A. M., Professor of Ancient Languages. 

Oscar Faulhaber, Ph. D., Professor of French and German. 

James A. Tufts, A. B., Professor of English in the Classical Department. 

George L. Kittredge, A. B., Professor of Latin. 

Clarence Getchell, A. B., Instructor in Physics and Chemistry. 

Carlton B. Stetson, A. M., Listructor in Latin and English. 

Albertus T. Dudley, A. B., Director of the Gymnasium. 

William A. Francis, A. M., Instructor in Mathematics. 

The board of trustees consists of the following: George S. 
Hale, Boston, President ; Charles H. Bell ; Walter Q. Scott, 
ex-officio; Charles F. Dunbar, Cambridge; John T. Perry; 
Francis O. French, New York ; and there is one vacancy. 

THE FEMALE ACADEMY. 

The Exeter newspapers of the earlier part of the century show 
repeated advertisements of private schools for " young misses." 
They met with so much patronage that it naturally occurred to the 
people that a permanent seminary for the instruction of females 
would be desirable. In 1826 a charter was obtained from the 
State Legislature, to incorporate the Exeter Female Academy. It 
went into operation soon afterwards, and the upper story of the 
building on Centre street, in which was the vestry of the First 
church, was secured for the accommodation of the school. The 
first teacher is believed to have been Miss Julia A. Perry, who was 
a pupil of the celebrated educator. Miss Z. Grant. Miss Perry 
remained at the head of the academy until 1834, when she was 
succeeded by Miss Elizabeth Dow, daughter of Jei'emiah Dow of 
Exeter. She continued in charge of the academy for two years, 
it is believed. Her successor was Isaac Foster, A. M., a native 
of Andover, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, 
in the class of 1828. He also served two years, from 1834 to the 
spring of 1836, when Miss Emily S. Colcord, of South Berwick, 
jNIaine, a lady who is remembered as possessed of peculiar qualifi- 
cations for the charge of such an institution, became the principal 
of the academy. Her term of service extended over a period of 
seven years. Miss Elizabeth A. Chadwick, a daughter of Colonel 
Peter Chadwick of Exeter, was the next principal teacher for four 
years, and in the spring of 1849 gave place to Miss Sarah J. P. 
Toppau, daughter of the Hon. Edmund Toppan of Hampton. She 



300 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

held the position two years at least. Miss Harriet Russell, 
daughter of Dr. Richard Russell of Somersworth, is believed to 
have been the next in the order of preceptresses. Her stay was 
probably not longer than two years. Elbridge G. Dalton was at 
the head of the academy in 1853-4. At that time he had five 
assistants, and the aggregate number of pupils for the year was 
one hundred and sixty-six. The course of instruction extended 
over a period of five years, and Latin, modern languages, instru- 
mental music, designing and landscape drawing, and other accom- 
plishments were taught. The trustees at that time wei'e the Rev. 
Isaac Hurd, Dr. David W. Gorham, Hon. Amos Tuck and Joseph 
Tilton, Esq. It is supposed that Mr. Dalton retained the direc- 
tion of the academy until in 1858 he assumed the same position 
in the High school. 

Miss Mary A. Bell, daughter of the Hon. James Bell of Exeter, 
next had the principalship of the Female Academy, probably for 
four years, when she was succeeded by Miss Amanda C. Morris 
of Somersworth, daughter of Captain John Morris. John Foster, 
a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1858, was the last principal of 
the Female Academy. He had the charge of it through the 
summer and autumn of 1864, and then gave it up. It was never 
revived. The splendid gift of William Robinson for the educa- 
tion of the girls of Exeter became known the next spring, and the 
Female Academy was superseded. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE PRESS. 

As there is no more efficient educational agency than the print- 
ing press, a chapter upon what it has accomplished in Exeter 
cannot be out of place in this division of our histor3\ 

The first printer who practised his art in the town was Robert 
Luist Fowle, a nephew of that Daniel Fowle who introduced print- 
ing in the province at Portsmouth in 1756. The uncle and 
nephew were partners there for a time before the latter came to 
Exeter, which was apparently before 1775. It is intimated that 
a difference in their political opinions was a moving cause of their 
separation, Daniel favoring the views of the " liberty-bo3^s," 
while Robert inclined towards the conservatives. If so, they 
made a poor choice of abiding places, for while there was a strong 
ministerial party under the wing of the royal governor at Ports- 
mouth, Exeter, almost to a man, stood up for the liberties of the 
country. 

Robert Fowle, though a poor enough printer, is said to have 
done some work for the royal government, and afterwards, in 
1775, for the new regime. He had enough of the Vicar of Bray 
in his composition, to appear, at least, to be true to the ruling 
powers, whoever they might be. 

THE EARLIEST NEWSPAPER. 

In 1776 he began to publish a newspaper in Exeter, called Tlie 
New Hampshire Gazette or Exeter Mornitig Chronicle. It was 
sufficiently patriotic in tone, of course, for nothing else would have 
been tolerated. He was discreet enough to gain the confidence of 
the leading men in the popular movement, so that he was at length 
employed in the delicate and confidential business of printing the 
bills of credit for the State. 

301 



302 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

It was not long before counterfeits were discovered, of these, 
and of tlie similar paper currency of other States, and suspicion 
arose, from various circumstances, that Fowle was concerned in 
issuing the spurious bills. The Committee of Safety at once 
ordered him to be committed to the jail in Exeter. He had the 
effrontery then to propose to the committee that in case they would 
screen him from punishment, he would confess what he knew in 
reference to the offence. If he had done this from principle, in 
order that justice might be vindicated, it would have been pardon- 
able, if not commendable, but his subsequent conduct forbids such 
a construction of his motives. The committee took him at his 
word, and he made disclosures of his furnishing the types to one 
or more tories, from which to print the fraudulent paper money. 
In return for his revelations the authorities were to allow him his 
liberty on bail. Whether it was that no one cared to be his surety 
is not known, but he remained in jail untU he took "leg bail," and 
escaped to the British lines. Tliis was about the first of August, 
1777. The Committee of Safety wrote to the committee in Boston 
to ask then' aid in arresting him ; but he was beyond their reach. 

In 1778 the Legislature of the State proscribed him with many 
other loyalists who had lied, and ordered his property confiscated ; 
but probably he had little left to confiscate, if his complaint after- 
wards made of the pillaging of his effects had an}' foundation in 
fact. 

He did not make his appearance again in Exeter for a number 
of years, nor uutil peace was established. He was then a pen- 
sioner, as was said, of the English government as a loyalist who 
had suft"ered loss of property for his principles. He married the 
widow of his brother Zechariah Fowle, and apparently kept a 
small shop for the sale of English goods in the town. An adver- 
tisement of his in The American Herald of Liberty^ August 13, 
17D3, requests all indebted to him for newspapers, advertisements, 
blanks, etc., in the years 1776 and 1777, to make immediate pay- 
ment ; and notifies those persons who ' ' plundered him of his print- 
ing office, books of account, papers, book-shop, etc., in 1777, to 
make satisfaction, or they will be called upon before the Court of 
the United States." After living in Exeter a few years, he re- 
moved to Brentwood, and there died in 1802. 

There is a tradition that the " forms," from which the unauthor- 
ized bills of credit were printed in 1777, were some years after- 
wards found, concealed under a barn. They were probably some 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 303 

of those wliicli Fowle acknowledged that he furnished to the tories 
of the tune, who took off impressions from them, to which they 
forged the signatures. It was one of the methods of injuring and 
discrediting the government in the Revolutionary War, as is well 
known, to counterfeit its currency. 

Robert Fowle kept up the publication of his newspaper until his 
arrest in 1777. The number for January 7, in that year, con- 
tained an account of Washington's victory at Trenton, and a notice 
by Joseph Stacy, jail keeper, of the escape of three prisoners 
"lately brought from New York as enemies to American liberty." 

He was succeeded in the printing business in Exeter by his 
brother Zechariah. The latter must have had something of an 
establishment, for he continued to issue a newspaper, and in 1780 
put forth an edition of the laws of the State in a folio volume of 
one hundred and eighty pages, with various continuations. Zech- 
ariah was an undoubted whig, and does not appear to have lost the 
confidence of his party by the defection of his brother. How long 
he continued his paper is uncertain ; but certainly into 1781, and 
not improbably a couple of years longer. 

It had the same title as the paper contemporaneously issued at 
Portsmouth, The New Hampshire Gazette. The Exeter journal, 
from the beginning, exhibited no publisher's name, and was suffi- 
ciently like its Portsmouth namesake to be mistaken for it except 
for the imprint at the bottom of the last page — "printed at 
Exeter." 

The political tone of this gazette may be gathered from one or 
two specimens of its contents. In the number for May 28, 1781, 
is this item of military intelligence : 

"FisHKiix, May 17. A party of ours under Colonel Green 
were surprised by the enemy about sunrise. Major Flagg was 
murdered in his bed ; the colonel badly wounded. They attempted 
to carry him off, but finding he could not march so fast as their 
fears obliged them, they inhumanly murdered him. Blush, Britain, 
at the horrid relation ! " 

In a subsequent number, which contained an account of General 
Arnold's expedition in Virginia, were these lines, which are more 
remarkable for their force than for poetical grace : 

Oh Benedict, thy name recorded shall stand 

On shame's black roll and stink through all the land, 

In memory fixed so deep that time in vain 

Shall strive to wipe those records from the brain. 



304 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Zechariah Fowle died near the close of the war. 

A newspaper is said to have been established in Exeter in June, 
1784, and to have been discontinued in the succeeding December. 
Its title was The Exeter Chronicle^ and its publishers were John 
Melcher and George J. Osborne. They were inhabitants of Ports- 
mouth, but whether either of them lived in Exeter while this short 
lived venture lasted, is not known. 

The next printer who is known to have set up an office in the 
town was Henry Ranlet. He began business in 1785, and about 
July in that year commenced the publication of a weekly paper 
called The American Herald of Liberty, vihich. was continued under 
different names, and by various publishers until 1797. One remark 
may be made respecting all these early journals, that they are 
uniformly destitute of local intelligence, and are usually made up 
of articles exti'acted from other papers, of a few political essays, 
and of advertisements, which last are the most interesting of all 
their contents. 

Ranlet was a more skilful printer than either of his predecessors, 
and the list of his publications is remarkable in number and in 
variety. Besides his newspaper he printed many books, partly on 
his own account and partly for publishers in Boston and Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts, and in Portsmouth. He was one of the earliest 
of country printers to supply his office with the types for musical 
characters, and issued as many as ten or twelve volumes of collec- 
tions of vocal and instrumental music. He closed his industrious 
and respectable life in 1807. 

On the principle, perhaps, that " competition is the soul of 
business," another printing office was opened about the j^ear 1790 
in Exeter by John Lamson, who had been a partner of Ranlet in 
1787. Mr. Lamson took for his associate Thomas Odiorne, a son 
of Dea. Thomas Odiorne, and a graduate from Dartmouth College 
in 1791. He possessed literary taste and ability but had no prac- 
tical acquaintance with the business of a printer. Their connec- 
tion was of short duration. Mr. Odiorne's name appears alone in 
the imprint of a few volumes, in point of t3'pography very taste- 
fully executed for the time. He was an author of two or three 
poetical works, one of which, entitled The Progress of Refinement^ 
was published in Exeter. 

THE FIRST NEW TESTAMENT PRINTED IN THE STATE. 

In 1794 William Stearns and Samuel Winslow brought out a 
few publications in the town. In 1796 Mr. Stearns printed and 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 305 

partially bound an edition of two thousand copies of the New 
Testament, the first ever issued in New Hampshire. New Ipswich 
has claimed the honor of having the first press in the State to put 
forth any part of the Scriptures, but Dover had preceded it by an 
edition in 1803, and Exeter was seven years in advance of that. 
Nearly the whole edition was unfortunately consumed by a fire in 
the printing office, so that it is almost impossible to find a copy at 
this day. 

The American Herald of Liberty, which was begun by Henry 
Ranlet, and underwent repeated changes of title, to The Neio 
Hampshire Gazette in 1791 ; The New Hampshire Gazetteer in 
1792 ; The Weekly Visitor or Exeter Gazette in 1795, and The 
Herald of Liberty or Exeter Gazette in 1796, was published succes- 
sively by the printers already named, Lamson, Lamson & Odiorne, 
Samuel Winslow and Stearns &, Winslow. 

SAMPLES OF EARLY JOURNALISM. 

One or two extracts from the paper may be amusing. The first 
is an advertisement of a lost mare : 

Perdited or furated on an inauspicious nocturnal hour subse- 
quent to the day lately authoritatively devoted to humiliation and 
penitence from the foenilian dome of the hyposcriptoratid, a leu- 
cophoeated quadruped, of the jumentean order, equestrian genus, 
feminine gender, capitally f nscated, asterically marked in cinciput, 
in stature according to equisonic admeasurement fourteen and a 
half clenched fists, in the quiudeciraal year of existence, tollutates 
with celerity, succussates with agility a course concitated, is 
elegantly graceful, and all in the superlative degree. Whoever 
from the preceding iconism, by percontation, deambulation, per- 
scuitation or otherwise, shall give intelligence of the nonpareil, 
and will apport or communicate the same to me, shall become recip- 
rocal of a remuneration adequate to the emolument from 

John Hopkinson. 

April 18, 1788. 

This effusion must probably have been the production of some 
mischievous student of Dr. Phillips's new academy, as Mr. Hop- 
kinson was a worthy tradesman, who was about as likely to have 
written one of Cicero's orations as to have produced such a farrago 
of turgid bombast. 

Another passage from the paper of February 22, 1788, was in 
relation to the convention then sitting to ratify the proposed 
Federal Constitution. 

20 



306 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Yesterday the honorable Convention conckided their debates on 
the several sections of the Constitution, and it is supposed it will 
be canvassed upon general principles previous to the all important 
question. In their debates has been the greatest candor, a desire 
for information on the important subject appears to have been the 
object of the members composing that honorable body, and from 
theu" desire to promote the great interest of the community, we 
hope the most salutary determinations. 

The all important moment is at hand 

When we the fate of milhons must decide, 

Freedom and peace will soon pervade the land, 
Or Anarch stretch his horrid pinions wide. 

From this extract it is not difficult to infer the political leaning 
of the paper. 

The journal, entitled The Freeman's Oracle or New Hampshire 
Advertiser, was commenced in the town about August 1, 1786, 
presumably by Lamson and Ranlet who conducted it in 1788. It 
bore the imprint of John Lamson alone in 1789, and did not sur- 
vive that year. 

In 1797 Henry Ranlet established a paper entitled The Political 
Banquet and Farmer's Feast. The Exeter Federal Miscellany was 
established about December 1, 1798, and the former paper was 
probably merged in the latter, which, thus fortified, was certainly 
continued to October, 1799, and perhaps longer. 

No complete files of any of these early Exeter journals, which 
were all weekly publications, are known to exist, and it is from a 
few scattering copies that the foregoing information has been 
chiefly derived. It will be seen, however, that from 1774, or 
earlier, when Robert L. Fowle first set up his press in Exeter, to 
the end of the century, the town was probably always supplied 
with one or more printers, and for nearly all the time with a like 
number of newspapers. 

As has been stated, Mr. Ranlet lived and continued his printing 
business until 1807. During the last part of his life he had as a 
partner, Charles Norris, a practical printer, who kept up the busi- 
ness after Mr. Ranlet's death until 1832. A part of that time he 
had partners. John Sawyer was one, and Ephraim C. Beals 
another ; and Mr. Norris was for some time connected with the 
publishing firm of E. Little & Co. of Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
for which he did a considerable amount of printing. The chef 
d'oeuvre of his press was Hoole's translation of Tasso's Jerusalem 
Delivered, published in 1819 in two octavo volumes. It is a 
really beautiful specimen of Exeter typography. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 307 

It is not known that the town could boast a newspapei* between 
1800 and 1810, but on May 21, of the latter year, Ephraim C. 
Beals began the publication of The Constitutionalist, a weekly 
journal of fair dimensions. In February, 1811, Mr. Beals trans- 
ferred the paper to Charles Norris & Co., and at the expiration of 
the first year it came to a stop, probably for lack of support ; but 
Mr. Beals recommenced it June 23, 1812, and it survived, with 
two other changes of proprietors, till June, 1814. It has been 
said that James Thom, a young lawyer, afterwards of Derry, had 
the editorial charge of the paper, but it is pretty evident that he 
could have given little time to it, for in respect to original matter 
and local news, it was but scarcely in advance of its predecessors 
of the last century. In March, 1813, Joseph G. Folsom became 
its publisher and editor, but gave it up in the following June on 
account of ill health, when Nathaniel Boardman took it up and 
carried it to its end. The period of the war of 1812 was charac- 
terized by great bitterness of political feeling and by very un- 
pleasant personalities in journalism, and The Constitutionalist was 
not entirely free from them. 

It was two years after the termination of The Constitutionalist, 
before another paper arose. It was started by Henry A. Ranlet, 
October 2, 1816, under the name of The Watchman. Two months 
later it went into the hands of Nathaniel Boardman, and its title 
was changed to the Exeter Watchman. But newspajDer property 
in the town was not very permanent in those days, and November 
9, 1819, George Lamson became the proprietor, and added to it 
the second title of Agricultural Repository ; and to complete the 
round of metamorphoses, Samuel T. Moses became the publisher 
February 6, 1821, and gave it the designation of The Northern 
Republican. Mr. Moses was a practical printer, and his name 
appears upon the title page of several publications at about this 
date. The Northern Republican was continued only to the for- 
tieth number. 

John J. Williams, a native of Exeter, and a trained printer, 
began business in 1818, in the office which had been occupied by 
Henry A. Ranlet, then lately deceased. His brother, Benjamin J. 
Williams, was a bookbinder ; and a short time afterwards they 
united, under the firm of J. and B. Williams, in the printing and 
publishing business, to which they subsequently added that of 
stereotyping. Their establishment grew to be large and profitable, 
and for upwards of twenty years issued a great vai'iety of works, 



308 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

for the most part new editions of those which were ah*eacly favor- 
ites of the public. Some of them were books of sterling value, 
and put forth in handsome style ; perhaps a greater number were 
novels and tales issued in 24mo volumes and usually in boards 
on roan bindings. These had a great sale, and included many of 
the works of Scott, Bulwer, Marryat and others. 

George Lanison was a native of the town, who had a collegiate 
education and studied the profession of the law. For a few years 
he was engaged in the publication of legal works in Exeter, and 
then removed to the city of New York, where he died. 

Francis Grant began life as a bookbinder, but was afterwards 
the proprietor of a small printing office and became a bookseller 
and publisher. As such his name and appearance were familiar 
to the students of the academy for half a century and more. He 
published that very useful little work, called A Book fot Neio 
Hampshire Children^ in Familiar Letters from a Father, written 
by Hosea Hildreth, which ran through five editions. Mr. Grant 
commenced the issue of The Rockingham Gazette, a weekly news- 
paper, September 21, 1824. The editor was Oliver W. B. 
Peabody. The paper was a decided improvement upon all that 
had preceded it, but the profession of journalism was yet in its 
infancy. The Gazette came to a close in October, 1827, when its 
subscription list was transferred to The Portsmouth Journal. 

Within the next three j'ears two abortive attempts were made to 
establish journals in the town, one by Joseph Y. James, February 
12, 1829, whose experiment was called The Hive, but apparently' 
lacked the industry of the bee or the sweetness of the honey, for 
it came to an end in 1830 ; and the other by Michael H. Barton, 
the " 2d. mo. 12th. 1830 " whose venture was issued in duodecimo 
form, eight pages in a number, and named Something Nexv. This 
publication was designed to introduce a perfect alphabet and a 
reformed orthography ; a scheme which has employed the atten- 
tion of many ingenious men. Mr. Barton's plan, whatever it was, 
was not of sufficient interest to make his publication a success, 
for it probably never got beyond the first number. 

THE NEWS LETTER. 

At length, however, a permanent newspaper was established by 
John S. Sleeper, May 31, 1831, in The Exeter News Letter. Mr. 
Sleeper, though not a native of the town, was the son and grand- 
son of residents, and passed his childhood in Exeter. Being of 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 309 

an active, adventurous disposition, he went early to sea, and by 
his ability and intelligence rose to the command of a merchant 
vessel. For twenty-two years he followed the profession, and 
then undertook the launching and management of a newspaper. 
In this he was equally successful. He held an easy and graceful 
pen, and knew well the kind of matters in which the public are 
interested. He edited and published The Exeter News Letter for 
two years, and then sought a wider field, first in the growing town 
of Lowell, and afterwards in Boston, Massachusetts, where he 
founded, and for twenty years conducted, to great popularity and 
success, The Boston Mercantile Journal. 

John C. Gerrish, who was familiar with the printing office, 
succeeded to the control of The Neivs Letter, and fortunately 
engaged for his editor John Kelly, a college graduate and a 
lawyer by profession, possessed of much literary taste and a 
pleasant vein of humor that enabled him to give attractiveness to 
the driest subject. He was a thorough antiquary, and prepared 
for the columns of the paper a series of historical and genealogical 
" Collectanea," which were the fruits of much study and research, 
and have been of value and assistance to many investigators of 
family history since. Mr. Kelly for nearly twenty 3'ears retained 
the editorial charge of the paper, though the proprietorship was in 
the meantime transferred to Messrs. Smith, Hall & Clarke, all of 
them skilled printers. 

The Rev. Dr. Levi W. Leonard subsequently edited The News 
Letter, and, at a later date, Charles Marseilles became the pro- 
prietor. It afterwards went into the hands of William B. Morrill, 
who managed it for several years, and is now the property of John 
Templeton, a graduate of the printing office, and not without ex- 
perience in writing for the press. The News Letter has been 
repeatedly enlarged in dimensions, and now contains nearly twice 
the amount of reading matter that it had in the beginning. 

The firm of Smith, Hall & Clarke was composed of Oliver 
Smith, Samuel Hall and Samuel B. Clarke, all straightforward, 
successful business men. Mr. Hall is the only survivor, and has 
for some yeai's retired from active occupation. Thomas D. 
Treadwell, who was employed for many years as a printer in the 
establishment of J. and B. Williams, and afterwards in the office 
of The News Letter, has recently died, at an advanced age. 

But we have not yet done with the Exeter newspapers. On the 
second of April, 1835, was begun The Christian Journal, a fort- 



310 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

nightly publication, by the Executive Committee of the Eastern 
Christian Publishing Association. Elijah Shaw was the editor, 
and J. C. Gerrish, the printer. There was also an "editorial 
council" of three, chosen yearly. At the beginning of the fifth 
year the title of the paper was altered to The Christian Herald and 
Journal; at the beginning of the sixth, it was abbreviated to The 
Christian Herald, and the paper was issued weekly. It was next 
removed to Newburyport, Massachusetts, and was published there 
afterwards. 

The first number of The Granite State Democrat, a weekly 
paper, appeared in January, 1840. James Shrigley was publisher, 
and Joseph L. Beckett, printer. Mr. Shrigley was a minister of 
the Universalist denomination, and Mr. Beckett was a native of 
Exeter, who had served his time in a printing office, and was long 
employed by the proprietors of The Boston Post. He was a genial 
soul, with a good deal of humor. This paper, like so many others, 
changed hands repeatedly. In 1842 it was conducted by Ferdi- 
nand Ellis, Jr., and afterwards by AVilliam Young. In January, 
1843, Samuel C. Baldwin became the proprietor, but, by reason of 
the failure of his health, it was discontinued March 9, 1843. A 
subsequent effort to revive it proved unsuccessful. 

In 1841 no less than three attempts were made to establish new 
journals in the town. The first was in February, when a prospec- 
tus was issued of a semi-monthl}^ to be called The Hose and Thorn, 
but it is supposed that no sufficient encouragement was offered. 
In June appeared the first number of The Granite Pillar and New 
Hampshire Temperance Advocate, to be continued monthly by 
Abraham R. Brown under the editorship of Joseph Fullonton, but 
it was short-lived. The last literary venture of the year was a 
semi-monthly, called The Factory Girl and Lady's Garland. It 
appeared November 1, J. L. Beckett being the publisher. It, or 
its successors, continued to be issued in Exeter for about six years 
it is believed. In 1842 it was known as The Factory Girl simply, 
and was conducted by C. C. Dearborn ; and in 1843 as The Fac- 
tory Girl's Garland, by A. li. Brown. In 1845 and 1846, it was 
much enlarged and entitled The Weekly Messenger, Literary 
Wreath and Factory Girl's Garland. Later it was removed to 
Lawi'ence, Massachusetts, by J. L. Beckett. 

A weekly sheet, called The Squamscot Fountain, and devoted to 
the cause of temperance, was begun in 1843 by Samuel Webster 
and J. P. Clough. It also underwent a change of title and of 
proprietors, but those did not save it from an early dissolution. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 311 

la 1846 was begun a paper called The Factory Girl's Album and 
Operatives' Advocate, by Charles C. Dearborn, as publisher, and 
William P. Moulton, as printer. At first it was issued weekly, 
and afterwards, semi-monthly, and was enlarged ; but it was con- 
tinued only a little more than a year. 

January 1, 1853, a single number of a projected weekly, of a 
religious and literary character, to be styled The Olive Leaf, ap- 
peared under the editoi'ship of R. O. Williams, by Currier & Co., 
proprietors, but it never readied a second number. 

About the year 1857, Thomas J. Whittem, who had established 
The American Ballot, a weekly paper dedicated to the interests of 
the American party, at Portsmouth, about thi'ee years prior to that 
time, ti'ansf erred it to Exeter, and continued to publish it there 
until its discontinuance in 1865. 



THE GAZETTE, AND PRESENT PUBLICATIONS. 

The Exeter Gazette was founded in 1876 by James D. P. Win- 
gate and A. P. Dunton. Three years afterwards, J. H. Shaw 
purchased the interest of Mr. Dunton. In 1883 Mr. Wiugate 
became, as he still is, the sole proprietor. An experiment was 
made, a few years since, of issuing a daily paper from the same 
office, but the general circulation of the metropolitan journals is 
fatal to ventures of that kind in the smaller towns. The Daily 
Gazette struggled against fate for six months, when it succumbed. 

The Weekly Protest was established by Andrew J. Hoyt in 1880, 
an organ of the Greenback party. 

The Exonian, published by the students of the Phillips Acad- 
emy, was begun in 1878 ; and The Phillips Exeter Literary 
Monthly, a magazine in octavo form, in May, 1886. 

The present periodical publications of the town are The News 
Letter, The Gazette, The Protest and The Exonian, all weekly, and 
The Literary Monthly. 

CONTKIBUTOrvS TO THE PRESS. 

Exeter has had its share of authors, though none very voluminous. 
No attempt will be made here to give a complete or exact biblio- 
graphical account of their productions ; but a list of such writers 
as are recalled is subjoined, with the titles, or some brief descrip- 
tion of the character of their works. The letter n. after a name 
stands for native, and r. for resident of the town. 



312 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Rev. John Emery Abbot, n. Sermons ; and Memoir by Henry 
Ware, Jr., 1829. 

Rev. John W. Adams, r. Sermons, 1884 and 1885. 

Joseph L. Beckett, n. Du-ectory and History of Exeter, etc., 
1872. 

Charles H. Bell, r. John Wheelwright, 1876. History of 
Phillips Exeter Academy, 1883. 

Rev. John N. Brown, r. Emily and other poems, 1840. 

Rev. Ebenezer L. Boyd, r. Thanksgiving Discourse, 1813. 

James Bmiey, n. Company Discipline, 1820. 

Rev. Jacob Chapman, r. Genealogy of the Folsom Family, 
1882. Genealogy of the Philbrick Family, 1887. 

Rev. Jonathan Cole, r. One or more sermons. 

Charles Denis Rusoe D'Eres, r. Memoirs, 1800. 

This person, a Canadian, claimed to have been a captive among 
a tribe of Indians with an unpronounceable name, for eleven years. 
His story is generally regarded as apochryphal, and the chief 
merit of the book isHts rarity. 

Rev. Ferdinand Ellis, r. Election Sermon, 1826, and other 
sermons. 

Rev. Joy H. Fairchild, r. Autobiograpliy and Remarkable 
Incidents, 1855. 

A perfect sheaf of pamphlets were issued in relation to the 
offence imputed to him, and containing reports of the various in- 
vestigations and trials to which he was subjected. 

Jeremiah Fellowes, 7i. Reminiscences, moral poems and trans- 
lations, 1824. 

Charles L. Folsom, n. Oration before Handel Society of 
Dartmouth College, 1821. 

Henry F. French, r. Treatise on farm drainage. 

Dr. S'elah Gridley, r. A volume of poems. 

Rev. James Haughton, r. One or more sermons. 

Rev. Hosea Hildreth, r. Discourse before Washington Benev- 
olent Society, 1813. Two discourses to townsmen, 1824. Book 
for New Hampshire Children, 1839, 5th ed. 

Joseph G. Hoyt, r. Miscellaneous writings and reviews, 1863. 

Mary W. Janvrin, n. Peace, or the Stolen Will, etc. 

Rev. Henry Jewell, r. Dedication Sermon, 1846. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 313 

Caroline E. Kelly, n. Grace Hale, and other juvenile works. 

John Kelly, r. Historical communications to various publica- 
tions. 

Alexander H. Lawrence, w. Examination of Hume's Argument 
Against Miracles, 1845. 

Rev. John C. Learned, r. Obituary Sermon on L. W. Leonard, 
D. D., etc. 

Rev. Orpheus T. Lanphear, r. One or more sermons. 

Rev. Charles Lowe, n. Sermons and various religious writings. 

Rev. Benjamin F. McDaniel, r. One or more sermons. 

Rev. Elias Nason, r. Sermons and other tracts. 

Rev. Alfred C. Nickerson, r. Sermons, 1887. 

Thomas Odiorne, w. The Progress of Refinement, 1794, etc. 

Rev. John Odlin, r. Sermons, 1725, etc. 

[Woodbridge Odlin], n. Review of Result of Council, 1842. 

Amos A. Parker, r. A Trip to the West and Texas, 1836. 

Rev. Samuel P. Parker, r. One or more sermons. 

Oliver W. B. Peabody, n. Poem on bi-ccnteunial of New 
Hampshire, 1823. Address before Peace Society, 1830, etc. 

William B. O. Peabody, w. Sermons ; and Memoir by his 
brother, 1849. 

Robert F. Pennell, r. The Latin subjunctive, etc. 

John T. Perry, n. Sixteen Saviors or One ? 1879. The Credi- 
bility of History, etc. 

Dr. William Perry, r. Address in behalf of Insane Hospital, 
1834. 

Rev. William F. Rowland, r. Election sermons 1796 and 1809, 
etc. 

John S. Sleeper, r. Tales of the Ocean, 1842. Salt Water 
Bubbles, etc. 

Jeremiah Smith, r. Eulogy on Washington, 1800. Bi-centen- 
nial discourse, 1838. Judicial opinions, etc. 

William Smith, n. Remarks on Toleration Act of 1819, 1823. 
Remarks on the assassination of Julius Ciesar, 1827. 

Rev. George E. Street, r. Memorial discourse on Hon. Amos 
Tuck, 1880, etc. 

John Templeton, n. Hand Book of Exeter, 1883. 

Dr. Samuel Teuuey, r. Papers in various historical and scien- 
tific publications. 

Tabitha Tenney, n. Female Quixotism, or the Adventures of 
Dorcasina Sheldon, 3 vols., 1841, 5th ed. Domestic Cookery, 
1808. 



314 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Oliver Welch, r. Arithmetic, 1812, several eds. 

George A. Wentworth, r. Series of text books in mathematics. 

Rev. John Wheelwright, r. Fast day sermon, 1637. Mercurius 
Americanus, 1645. 

Charles E. L. Wingate, n. History of the Wingate Family, 
1886. 

This enumeration does not include several authors who were 
born, or lived for some time, in the town, but whose literary work 
cannot with reasonable probability be assigned to the period of 
their residence there. Such were Lewis Cass, w., Henry A. S. 
Dearborn, w., Timothy Farrar, r., Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock, r., 
William Ladd, ?*., Charles Folsoni, ?i., Dudley Leavitt, ??., and 
others. 



INDUSTRIAL. 




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CHAPTER XVI. 
MILLS AND MANUFACTURES. 

The falls in the rivers were imdoubtedly amoug the induce- 
ments which determined the location of the settlement of Exeter. 
Their immediate value as fishing places was no more fully recog- 
nized than their prospective importance as sources of water power 
for turning the wheels of mills. 

The Exeter river afforded, in addition to and above the main 
falls at the head of tide water, at least five valuable mill sites 
within the original limits of the town ; and Little river, which 
empties into it, two, if not more, of less magnitude. Lamprey 
river also had large falls near its mouth, and lesser ones at other 
pohits of its course, while the Pascassic,* a branch of the Lam- 
prey, furnished water power which was afterwards utilized for two 
mills, at least. 

The first mill in the town was for grinding grain, and was built 
by Thomas Wilson at the foot of the main falls on the easterly 
side of the island now reached by String bridge, near where a simi- 
lar mill stands to this day. That part of the stream which runs 
in the channel on the eastern side of the island was known as 
AYilson's creek. The mill site and the island, on which Wilson 
also erected his house, were granted to him b}'^ the town, probably 
in the very first season of their occupation, and before any formal 
records that we know of were kept. The evidence of this is found 
in depositions taken in the year 1651. Edmund Littlefield and 
Griflin Montague testified that " the inhabitants of the town of 
Exeter did give and grant unto Thomas Wilson free liberty to 
draw as much water from the higher falls as should sufficiently 
serve his turn at all times for his own use, either by dio-o-iuo- 
through the rocks or by damming the falls ; and further the town 
did freely give and grant unto Thomas Wilson that island that his 
house stands upon ; only did reserve so much liberty for landino- 

*Tliis name, we leam from Jenness, was early epelt Pascasscck. It has been modernizcfl 
without improvc-ment, iuto Plecassic. 

317 



318 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

their cauoes and laying of fish." And John Compton and Robert 
Eead testified that the town granted "to Thomas Wilson that 
creek or Avater course at the higher fall at Exeter to dig and draw 
that water he should stand in need of at any time without any 
limitation ; and also gave the little island by the falls on which his 
house and mill standeth," The "higher" fall refers, of course, to 
that farthest down the river and next to tide water ; higher in 
altitude but lower in location. 

Mr. WUson naturally lost no time in improving his privilege by 
the erection of a mill, and we find that the town passed an order 
November 2, 1640, regulating " the miller's toll." He died in 
1643, and his widow afterwards married John Legat ; but the mill 
went into the hands of his son, Humphrey Wilson, who had the 
charge of it for many years after. 

Up to the year 1647 we have no account of any saw-mill being 
built in Exeter. Pipe staves and other kinds of small lumber 
manufactured before that time, were in all probability riven or 
split out from the logs. The square timber was hewn with the 
axe, and the boai'ds needed for home use were sawn in "pits," 
which were excavations in the ground, of the depth of six or seven 
feet. The log to be cut up was laid across the mouth of the 
cavity, and the long, two-handled saw was used by two men, one 
standing in the pit beneath the log, and the "top sawyer" 
mounted above it. 

An ordinance of the town forbade the digging of saw-pits in 
places where they were liable to prove dangerous to man or beast. 

THE FIRST SAW-MILL. 

But in the year 1647 the town took a great step forward. An 
arrangement was made for the immediate construction of saw- 
mills, which would give a greatly increased value to the abundant 
timber. 

Edward Gilman, of Welsh lineage, emigrated from Hingham in 
Norfolk, England, to this country, with five children, in the year 
1638, and settled in Hingham, Massachusetts. His eldest son, 
Edward, thirty years of age, married, and a man of property and 
enterprise, came to Exeter in 1647 and proposed to become an 
Inhabitant, upon certain conditions. The occasion was esteemed 
so important that an agreement in writing was entered into 
between him and the townsmen and principal inhabitants, of the 
tenor following : 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 319 

4 November 1647. The agreement of the iuhabitauts of the 
town of Exeter. 

Imprhnis, That we do accept of Edward Oilman the younger to 
be a townsman amongst us, and do give and grant him liberty to 
set up a saw mill or mills in any river or within the liberty of Exe- 
ter, and to have the privilege of the river for the use of the mills, 
and of the pines for sawing, or masts or any other timber for 
sawing, to have the privilege of it within the liberty of Exeter. 

21y. The aforesaid Edward Gilman does engage himself to 
come and live as a townsman amongst them, and to setup a saw- 
mill by the last of March next ensuing, if he come, or at the 
furthest by the last of August next ensuing. 

oly. The said Gilman does engage himself to let the towns- 
men have what boards they stand in need of for their own use in 
the town, at three shillings a hundred, and what two-inch planks 
they shall need for flooring at the same price, and to take country 
pay at price current, if the mill shall saw it. 

41y. The said Gilman does engage himself that what masts he 
makes use of, to give them as much as if he sawed them into 
boards, and to a load haul ten hundred in every 3,000 to the town, 
oly. Its agreed than Anthony Stanell [Stanyan] shall have 
liberty to put in a quarter part for a saw-mill provided he do make 
good his proportion or quarter part in every respect of charges as 
a partner, so that the work be not hindered by him ; if he do, to 
forfeit his share to the aforesaid Gilman and to pay what damages 
he shall sustain by it. Eor the true and sure performance of the 
same we do bind ourselves in a forty pounds sterling. In witness 
whereunto we have set our hands. 

William Moore, townsman, Edward Gilman. 

Samuel Greenfield,* 

Nathaniel Boulter, 

Balthazar Willix, 

Edward Hilton. 

Mr. Gilman at once took up his residence in the town and 
became a leading citizen. His father, Edward Gilman, Sr., and 
his two brothers, John and Moses, followed him to Exeter within 
the next five years, and his brother-in-law, John Folsom, in about 
twelve years. Edward Gilman, Jr., completed and put in opera- 
tion a saw-mill, according to his agreement, in the spring or sum- 
mer of 1648. It was on the west side of the river upon the upper 
fall near the present Great bridge ; and before June, 1650, he 
erected another saw-mill on the opposite side of the river. It is 
not known that Anthony Stanyan availed himself of the privilege 
reserved to him in the agreement with the town, of becoming a 
partner in the mills. 



320 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Encouraged by this example, a number of the more enterprising 
inhabitants made application to the town for mill sites. . On April 
22, 1649, Nathaniel Drake, Abraham Drake, Henry Roby and 
Thomas King, were empowered by the town to set up a saw-mill 
at Little river " with liberty of felling timber on the commons for 
the said mill, provided they come not for timber on the hither side 
of the river towards Mr. Gilman his saw-mill, whereby he may be 
damnified for want of timber." The tenns of the grant were the 
same as those allowed to Edward Gilman, Jr., in respect to his 
mill. The locality referred to was probably that where the Little 
river crosses the road to Brentwood, which some of the sentimen- 
tal young people of a former generation denominated the " vale of 
Ovoca." 

On the same April 22, 1649, liberty to set up a saw-mill was 
given to Edward Hilton, James Wall, John and Robert Smart and 
Thomas Biggs, on Pascassic river ; and to George Barlow, Nicho- 
las Listen,* Francis Swain, Nicholas Swain and John Warren, at 
the falls at Lamprey river •" a little above the wigwams." The 
terms in each case were the same as those allowed to Edward 
Gilman, Jr. Both these localities were probably in the present 
town of Newmarket. 

That it might be distinctly understood that no person should 
encroach upon the privileges already ceded to Mr. Gilman, it was 
ordered by the town, June 10, 1650, "that there shall not be 
liberty granted unto any man to set up any saw-mill at Exeter 
falls upon the town's ground to hinder Edward Gilman of his 
former grant of his two saw-mills at the falls, or timber for any 
other saw-mills near to the said falls." 

It appears that another saw-mill was about this time erected on 
the east side of the river, probably at the foot of the falls nearest 
tide water, and on land of Humphrey Wilson. This was owned 
in common by Wilson, James Wall and the Rev. Samuel Dudley. 
And on the second of January, 1650-1, it was agreed between 
them and the town that the former two should pay for the lumber 
two shillings per thousand for the oak and pine boards and plank 
they should take off the commons and saw ; but Mr. Dudley was 
to "go free without payment for his third." 

This exemption was, of course, made in consideration of the 
ministerial office and services of Mr. Dudley, but it did not pass 



* Tills man's uame was often written Lissen or Leeson, as It was probably pronounced. It 
Is believed that he came to Exeter from Salem, Maseachusetts, where his name was spelt as 
In the text. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 321 

unchallenged. Henry Roby and John Gilman dissented from the 
vote. No doubt they believed that Mr. Dudley was sufficiently 
compensated by the provision already made for him by the town. 
Perhaps, too, they discerned, what the records plainly indicate to 
us, that Mr. Dudley was a keen man of business, and abundantly 
capable of taking care of himself without having any distinctions 
made in his favor. But it was a courageous thing, in those days, 
when the ecclesiastical office was hedged about with so much disf- 
nity and authority, for a layman to put his name on record in 
opposition to a motion for the benefit of his minister. 

The fathers of Exeter, however, were never timid or backward 
in the expression of their opinions, and rarely withheld them out 
of deference to the views of those who differed from them. 

For more than a century the books of the town show the names 
of dissentients from the majority, oftentimes only one or two in 
number, on most of the vexed questions of municipal policy. 

PICKPOCKET FALLS GRANTED. 

Another privilege for a saw-mill was given by the town, on 
April 20, 1652, to the Rev. Samuel Dudley and John Legat and 
their heirs and assigns forever, at the second or third fall above' 
the town on the fresh river, as they might prefer, with the right to 
take timber for their mill from the commons there, upon the terms 
of paying the town five pounds a year so long as the mill should 
be employed in sawing, and of supplying the inhabitants for their 
own use boards at three shillings a hundred, if taken from the 
mill. They chose what in all probability was then known as the 
second fall above the town, embracing the present Paper mill fall 
and Pickpocket fall. These are near together, and not being then 
defined by dams, might well enough have been counted as one fall. 
The name of Pickpocket was very early given to the mills there 
built. Its origin is uncertain. It is probably a corruption of the 
designation given by the Indians to the locality ; though there are 
not wanting those who derive it from the supposed unprofitable- 
ness of some of the business undertakings there. 

On May 10, 1G52, an agreemeutwas proposed between the town 
and Edward Gilman, Jr., that he and his assigns should thence- 
forth pay to the town for the use of what timber his two saw-mills 
should cut, ten pounds a year, in lieu of half a hundred of boards 
on every two thousand sawn, as was originally stipulated. 
Whether it was absolutely concluded, the record fails to state. 

21 



:]-22 HISTORY (W EXETEK. 

Ou the same clay Jxlward Gilman, Sr., Edward Oilman, Jr., 
Edward Colcord and Humphrey Wilson had granted to them by the 
town liberty to set up a saw-mill at the lower falls in Lamprey 
river by the bridge, and to take tmiber on the common land there 
for their mill, on the payment of five pounds a year to the town, 
after the mill should be built. This site was within the limits of 
the present town of Newmarket. 

On the same tenth of May, lGo2, Thomas King had from the 
town liberty for a saw-mill on the great fresh river below the 
grant to Mr. Dudley and John Legat at the foot of the fall, and 
timber for the same on the commons, he and his assigns paying to 
the town five pounds a year therefor, and furnishing boards for 
the town's use, at three shillings a hundred. This was the first 
fall above the town, and has been known from that time to the 
present as King's fall, from the original grantee. 

On the same day Thomas Pettit, Nicholas Listen, Thomas 
Cornish, John Warren and Francis Swain received from the town 
a privilege for a saw-mill at Lamprey river ' ' on the next great 
fall above the fall that some of them have already taken posses- 
sion of, paying five pounds a year for the privilege, beginning 
presently after next Michaelmas." This fall was in the present 
town of Newmarket. 

GRANT OF Crawley's falls. 

Ou May 20, 1652, the town granted to Robert Seward and 
Thomas Crawley liberty to erect a saw-mill ou the great fresh 
river on the next fall above Mr. Dudley's and Mr. Legat's (pro- 
vided it does not prejudice their or other former grants) and 
timber on the commons there for it, they to pay the town five 
pounds a year therefor. This site, which is now in the town of 
Brentwood, has never lost its name of " Crawley's falls," given it 
from that of the second of the original grantees. 

In the multiplicity of these grants it was obviously necessary 
that the town's interest should not be neglected, and on the eighth 
of July, 1652, the inhabitants appointed a committee consisting 
of Edward Colcord, John Legat and Thomas Biggs to call to 
account the owners of saw-mills and to make demand for such 
boards or plank as were due to the town, and upon non-payment 
to take a legal course for the recovery of the same ; and on Feb- 
ruary 15, 1653-4, their authority was extended to "the present 
year coming." The duties of this committee were so congenial to 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 323 

the inclination of its chairman, that we cannot help thinking that 
he must have been instrumental iu its appointment. To be "in 
the law " was the normal condition of Edward Colcord. 

On November 6, 1653, the town conferred upon Edward Hilton 
" in regard that he had been at charge in setting up a saw-mill, to 
enjoy for himself and his heirs forever, a quarter of a mile below 
his mill with the land and timber belonging thereunto, and also 
above his mill a mile and a quarter with the land and timber 
belonging thereunto. This land and timber is to lie square ; only 
on this side of Pascassic river to come about a stone's cast." The 
mill referred to is supposed to have been on the Pascassic, and 
together with the land granted, to have been within the present 
town of South Newmarket. 

In 1653, Edward Gilman, Jr., the principal mill owner of the 
town, made a voyage to England to procure improved mill gearing, 
and never returned, having been lost at sea on his passage. His 
younger brother, John Gilman, succeeded him in his business and 
in a great part of his property, and w^as quite competent to fill his 
place. He survived Edward more than fifty years, and became 
one of the most useful and distinguished citizens of the place. 

Lumbering being then the chief money producing industry in 
the town, the mill owners were very naturally called upon to pay 
their dues in cash towards the support of the minister. At a town 
meeting held April 28, 1656, it was agreed that "for maintaining 
the public ordinances the saw-mills belonging to the town should 
be rated as follows : the old mill upon the fall, seven pounds ; 
Humphrey [Wilson's] mill at seven pounds ; the new mill of John 
Gilman at six pounds ; Mr. Hilton's mill at five pounds." The 
natural inference from this is that the other mill sites which had 
been granted, were not yet profitably occupied. It w^as also pro- 
vided that "when the ministry faileth, the old covenant should be 
in force : to wit, from the old and the new mill, half a hundred 
upon two thousand ; and from the Humphrey [Wilson] mill, 
eighteen pence upon a thousand, and plank, two shillings upon a 
thousand." 

On May 11, 1657, the town make a grant to Edward Hilton, 
Jr., of fifty acres of pine swamp adjoining his father's lot, " for 
his sole use for the mill that he intends to set up on the east side 
opposite the new mill, upon the falls of Exeter, with liberty to set 
up said mill, for which he is to pay five pounds annually ; upon 
the proviso that he is not to prejudice the new mill any way in 



324 IIISTOKY OF EXETER. 

respect of water. If John Gilman and the rest be willing that he 
should fell timber upon the common, then this grant is to be relin- 
quished ; but in case he keeps this grant, he is to make no use of 
timber upon the common." 

On June 8, 1657, it was ordered "that all the pines upon the 
commons from this time forward shall be reserved for the use of 
the saw-mills already set up, or that have been granted and shall 
be set up, except that there is liberty for masts, fence building 
and canoes ; and if, at any time, there shall be any particular 
grants of lands made to any, yet the owners of saw-mills shall have 
liberty to carry off the pine timber, except before excepted. " 

On the twenty-fifth of April, 16G4, the town directed that Cap- 
tain John Clark's mill should pay "five pounds annually to the 
public ministry, though there be something dubious within the 
grant, at such times that it shall not be improved." The meaning 
of the latter expressions quoted seems to be itself " something 
dubious." The mill referred to must have been that on Little 
river, afterwards known as Gordon's, and still later as Giddiugs's 
and Rowland's. The site was originally granted, April 22, 1649, 
to the Drakes, Roby and Thomas King, the last of whom, on June 
28, 1654, "resigned up his grant of a saw-mill formerly granted 
to him," which was evidently this one, because he continued to 
hold and enjoy the other privilege given him on the great river. 

In 1653 Edward Gilman, Jr., being on the eve of sailing for 
Europe, conveyed to his brother Moses one-fourth of a saw-mill 
" now a building on little fresh river, on the western side thereof," 
— evidently the mill in question. Apparently, he must have pur- 
chased a share of the rights of the original grantees. Captain 
John Clark, who was an old lumberman with whom both the Gil- 
mans had previously had dealings, probably acquired the mill by 
purchase afterwards. It is repeatedly referred to in the later 
records of the town as Captain or Major Clark's mill. 

Strict faith appears to have been kept by the town with the 
owners of mills erected in conformity with its grants. In the 
numerous donations of land to individuals, subsequently made 
within the territory whose trees were assigned to the mills, a pro- 
viso was always inserted that the pine timber, except masts, etc., 
should not pass with the soil because it was appurtenant to the 
mills. 

The original grist-mill of Thomas, afterwards of Humphrey 
Wilson, served for a number of 3'ears to grind all the grain of the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 325 

inhabitants, but at length John Oilman thought it expedient to 
build another at the main falls. This he probably did by the 
desire of the inhabitants. 

On the twenty-fifth of October, 1670, Nicholas Listen and John 
Robinson were chosen by the town to go and forewarn Humphrey 
Wilson not to set his dam over the highway upon the upland near 
to John Oilman's grist-mill. 

What repl}^ Humphrey Wilson made to this "forewarning" is 
not known, but, perhaps, not a perfectly satisfactory one, for on 
the very next day the town voted, "that whereas there had been 
formerly, to their understanding, a privilege of water, and a liberty 
of a creek granted to Humphrey Wilson upon condition that he 
should supply the town's use in respect of grinding their corn, and 
the town since finding, especially of late, by experience, to their 
great loss and damage, that they have not been answered to their 
expectation, the town do hereby grant to John Oilman the privi- 
lege of the water, so that the saw-mills or any other mill or mills 
or any other ways by stopping of gates that may hinder his grist- 
mill, shall be at liberty for the use of the grist-mill to answer the 
town for grinding their corn ; upon which consideration the said 
John Oilman do promise upon all occasions to supply the town in 
grinding their corn, except more than ordinary providence hinder." 

On March 3, 1673, it was ordered " that those who have felled 
any pine trees have liberty to take them away within a year ; after 
which any of those to whom mills appertain, may take them away 
for the use of their mills ; but hereafter, when those who fell pine 
trees shall not carry them away within three months, they shall be 
forfeited to any one who takes them away for the use of the owner 
of one of the mills." 

It was also ordered "that whoever shall fell any pine tree 
(except for canoes, masts [or] building), and shall not improve it 
and bring it to the use of the mills to which the privilege of the 
timber is granted, for every tree so felled shall forfeit ten shillings 
to the town." 

The principal mill sites having been thus disposed of, the town 
had little occasion to take action concerning them afterwards, 
except in the two instances to be mentioned. 

On September 9, 1701, the town granted " to Robert Coffin, his 
heirs and assigns, all the right the town hath or had in Lowd's 
falls at Lamprey river, with all the privileges of the flats twenty 
rods below said falls, said Coffin not to hinder any transportation 



326 HISTORY OF EXETP:r. 

of timber down said river ;" in consideration whereof said Coffin 
bound himself to pay five pounds yearly to the town or ministry 
by way of rate, so long as any mill should stand upon said fall on 
the side next to Exeter. This site was in the present town of 
Newmarket. 

And on the first Monday of April, 1709, the toAvn voted to give 
" all the right the town have in the stream and island to Captain 
John Gilman, where the said Gilman's corn-mill now stands, with 
privilege for a bridge to go on to the island,; and the abovesaid 
John Gilman doth oblige himself to grind the inhabitants' corn 
when wanted, for two quarts in every bushel." 

None of the several mill sites mentioned were improved, so far 
as has been learned, for any other purposes than for grinding 
grain and sawing lumber, until the needs of the country during 
and subsequent to the AVar of the Revolution impelled men to 
employ the water power in the manufacture of otlier indispensable 
articles. 

riCKPOCKET. 

The mill site and privilege ceded by the town in 1652 to the 
Rev. Samuel Dudley and John Legat, embraced, as has already 
been explained, the fall which has from very early times borne 
the above unprepossessing name. The first use to w^iich it was put 
was to drive a saw-mill, and probably it has never since been 
without one, or more. The Pickpocket mill was a well known 
locality, both to white men and to Indians. The latter were only 
too intimately acquainted with it, for in their raids upon the fron- 
tier settlements they visited it repeatedly in pursuit of victims or 
captives. 

When Brentwood was set off from Exeter in 1742 the main 
river was made the boundary between the two towns, for the dis- 
tance of about half a mile. The Pickpocket fall was in that part 
of the river, so that one-half of it belonged in each town. There 
have been mills there on each side of the river, since ; but the 
chief manufactories have been on the Brentwood side. 

One of the earliest attempts in this part of the countr}' to manu- 
facture cotton cloth was initiated there, by a company composed 
mostly of inhabitants of Exeter. They were incorporated by act 
of the Legislature of the State in 1809, under the name of the 
Exeter Cotton Manufacturing Company. 

They erected a factory containing eight thousand spindles, and 
for a time employed Samuel Chamberlain as their agent. He had 



HISTORY OF EXETER. • 327 

a store at the main village, in which he offered for sale, in any 
quantity, "yarn and cotton bats," the products of the mill. Joseph 
Hyde then acted as the resident superintendent. Of coui'se the 
business was conducted on a small scale, and in a primitive 
fashion, and probably brought little profit to the original investors, 
but the company continued to prosecute it for twenty years, and 
about 1820 a card factory was added to the original works, and an 
iron furnace for casting machinery. 

Not far from the year 1830 Captain Nathaniel Gilman, Jr., pur- 
chased the control of the property, and continued the manufacture, 
with John Rogers as agent. In 1840 he sold it to John Perkins, 
and a few years later the factory met the fate to which all such 
establishments are liable, and was consumed by fire. 

It was afterwards rebuilt, and adapted to the manufacture of 
paper. Willard Russell, Jacob Colcord, Joshua Getchell, and a 
Boston stock company of which Isaac Bradford was agent, suc- 
cessively occupied it, for the latter use. 

The manufacture of wooden boxes, in connection with a saw- 
mill, is carried on there, at the present time. 

THE PAPEK-MILLS. 

The fall in the Exeter river next above King's fall has for 
more than a century past been improved, and most of the time as 
the site of paper-mills, as well as of a grist-mill. 

The first paper-mill was begun in 1777 or soon after, by Richard 
Jordan, a practical manufacturer, who came from Milton, Massa- 
chusetts. He purchased this site and water power for the pur- 
pose, from Joseph Leavitt, 3d, and others. His first experiments 
were seemingly not entirely successful, but we learn from a 
newspaper of the time that in September, 1785, the mill had under- 
gone a thorough repair and was nearly finished. In 1787 Jordan 
sold the paper-mill, power and implements to Eliphalet Hale, who 
in 17*J5 conveyed them to William Hale. They both continued 
the production of paper, the latter until after the year 1806 ; and 
the property next passed into the hands of Stephen or Gideon 
Lamson who in 1813 conveyed it to Enoch Wis wall and John 
Hunting of Watertowu, Massachusetts. They retained it but a 
couple of years, and in 1815 transferred it to Thomas Wiswall of 
Newton, Massachusetts. He removed to Exeter, and took into 
partnership Isaac Flagg, and the firm of Wiswall and Flagg con- 
tinued the manufacture of paper there with success, until the death 



328 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

of the senior partner in 1836. Three years before, in February, 
1833, the mill had been burned, but was rebuilt the same season, 
with improved apparatus. After the decease of Thomas Wiswall, 
Mr. Flagg took one of his heirs, Otis Wiswall, into partnership, 
and they continued the manufacture under the firm of Flagg and 
Wiswall. Still later, the three sons of Mr. Flagg, Isaac, Jr., 
Joseph and Samuel C. Flagg, succeeded to the property, and prose- 
cuted the business until the year 1870, when the mill was again 
reduced to ashes, and was not replaced. The privilege is now 
owned by the Hon. Nathaniel Gordon. 

THE POWDER-MILLS. 

Every reader of history will recall the dismay of Washington 
when he discovered, not long after he assumed the command of 
the American army at Cambridge in 1775, their destitute condi- 
tion in the all important article of gun-powder ; as well as the 
sagacity Avith which he concealed the appalling fact, and reached 
out, far and near, to supply the deficiency. But still, the scarcity 
and need of powder in the earlier stage of the war was apparent 
to all, and stimulated patriotic ingenuity to attempt its manufact- 
ure. It was undertaken for the first time in New Hampshire, in 
Exeter. Colonel Samuel Hobart, a native of Groton, Massachu- 
setts, and a former resident of Ilollis, had served as paymaster to 
the New Hampshire troops about Boston in 1775, and removed in 
1776 to Exeter, and there, probably with the assistance of Colonel 
Samuel Folsom, who was allowed to borrow of the State on his bond 
three hundred pounds for the purpose, purchased from Samuel 
Quimby the mills and water privilege at King's falls, and constructed 
a powder-mill. It was a difficult undertaking, but Hobart was a 
man not easily discouraged, and soon succeeded in putting his ma- 
chinery into good working order. The mill commenced operations 
about the middle of August, 1776. The following description of 
it appeared in a contemporary newspaper under date of August 24 : 

A powder-mill erected in this town b}' Colonel Saumel Hobart, 
who, for his expedition, merits thanks from the public, having 
employed a number of the best hands in the countr}', and is now 
agoing, and is an improvement upon the former plans of powder- 
mills ; said to be preferable to those before built in New England. 
Forty-four pestles are carried by one shaft, standing in rows on 
each side thereof. Besides the mill, within the aforesaid time, 
has been completed a building for pulverizing and purifying the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 329 

saltpetre for one part, and ou the other, a room for drying the 
powder. All the works have been contrived and carried on under 
the inspection of the ingenious Mr. C, late of Boston, and is 
capable of manufacturing 2400 weight of powder in a week. 
The Committee of Safety sitting in this town, in company with 
several other gentlemen, visited the powder-mill on Thursday 
evening, when it was going in all its parts, performed by water, 
viz., pounding, grinding, sifting and graining. They were well 
pleased therewith, fired a number of muskets and pistols charged 
with the powder taken from the drying room, and judged it in 
every respect equal to an}^ imported from Europe. 

The manufacture of poAvder was continued by Colonel Hobart 
for some time, perhaps throughout the war. In 1777 he had a 
contract with the State to supply the troops therewith. It is mar- 
vellous that with the poor materials at command the manufacture 
was so successful. There was no supply of sulphur or saltpetre 
in the country, and the State encouraged their production by of- 
fering prices in the nature of bounties, for each, of domestic man- 
ufacture. The saltpetre was largely procured by leaching the soil 
taken from beneath old barns and stables ; — to such straits were 
our fathers reduced to obtain the means to defend their liberties. 

After the war was over, Colonel Hobart put his mills to a dif- 
ferent use. The old method of manufacturing "wrought" nails 
was by shaping and heading each one separately by hand without 
the aid of machinery. This was a slow and laborious process, and 
necessarily very expensive. So valuable were tlie products, as 
appears by the inventory of the property of a deceased person, 
about half a century earlier, that the stock of nails belonging to 
his estate was actually counted, and the number of them set down 
at nine hundred and one. The estate was divided amicably among 
several heirs, and some wonder has been expressed how they dis- 
posed of the odd nail. 

The art of cutting or slitting iron into nail rods by machinery 
had recently been invented, and Colonel Hobart fitted his mills 
for that work. We learn from the Freeman' s Oracle of Septem- 
ber 27, 1785, that "the furnace and slitting-mill some time 
past undertaken by Colonel Hobart at King's falls, in this town, 
were last week completed, and visited by the judges of the Supe- 
rior Court then sitting." 

Ten years after this Colonel Hobart sold his land, mills and 
water rights, including the iron works or forge at King's falls, to 
Joshua Barstow, who continued to occupy the chief p>art of them 



330 HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

for the same purposes, it is believed, until his death about 1824. 

In 1814 Bars tow conveyed a small part of the land with one- 
fourth of the water power to Charles C. Barstow, gunsmith, who 
set up the manufacture of small fire-arras there, to a limited ex- 
tent. This, it is presumed, lasted but a few years. After Joshua 
Barstow's decease the property was occupied by Benjamin Hoit. 
It then included a large wooden mill, which is said to have been 
first designed for the manufacture of cotton cloth. Hoit used it 
for the production of coarse yarns and cotton batting. From his 
possession the establishment passed into that of Nathaniel Gor- 
don, and subsequently, about 1830, was purchased by Benjamin 
R. Perkins. The same kind of manufactures were kept up by 
both the last named proprietors. 

About 1838 Mr. Perkins sold the property to Oliver M. Whipple 
of Lowell, Massachusetts. He established powder-mills upon it, 
under an act of incorporation, by the name of the King's JNIills 
Powder Company. Alvin White was the superintendent of the 
works, and at a later period, James F. Huntington. The latter was 
a man of wonderful coolness and daring. On one occasion the 
roof of one of the buildings, in whicli was stored a large quantity 
of powder, took fire. Ninety-nine men in a hundred would have 
left it to its fate, but Huntington braved the terrible risk, mounted 
the roof and poured on water until he extinguished the flames. 

Before that time, however, more than one of the mills had been 
blown up. On the evening of August 25, 1840, about a quarter 
past nine, the people for miles around were startled by an explo- 
sion of a large quantity of powder at the mills, which shook the 
very ground. Fortunately no one was injured, as all the workmen 
had o;one to their homes. But it is said that the violence of the 
explosion was so great that it actually emptied the water out from 
the canal into the adjacent highway. 

Another similar accident happened on the seventeenth of May, 
1843, when a single building, containing about one hundred and 
fifty pounds of powder, was destroyed. One of the workmen who 
was in the building was literally blown to pieces, and fragments 
of his body were caught and hung in the branches of a neighbor- 
ing tree. 

The powder manufacture ceased some time after 1850, and the 
old cotton-mill on the falls was burned and the dam carried away. 
In 1855 the property was purchased by AVilliam M. Hunnewell, 
who repaired the dam and moved a large mill building upon the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 331 

premises, and fitted it up for the manufacture of hubs, spokes 
and shingles. This he carried on, besides a grist and saw-mill, 
until the year 1867, when he conveyed the whole to the Exeter 
Manufacturing Company, who are still the owners. 

"the falls of the squamscot." 

At the principal falls in the village of Exeter there are, and 
long have beeo, two dams, twenty or thirty rods apart, known as 
the upper and lower, with reference to their position on the stream. 
At the lower dam the river is divided by an island into two chan- 
nels. There were constructed on these falls, in the following- 
order, first, Thomas Wilson's grist-mill ; then Edward Oilman's 
two saw-mills, one on the eastern and the other on the western 
side of the river ; then Humphrey Wilson's saw-mill, on the east- 
ern side ; and lastly, John Gilman's grist-mill on the western side 
of the island. Some of them changed ownership many times, and 
others were added in after years ; but it was long before a mill 
Avas built there for any different use. At length, however, mills 
for a variety of other purposes sprang up. 

AVhen AVashington visited the place in 1789 he recorded in his 
diary that "in the town are considerable falls which supply sev- 
eral grist-mills, two oil-mills, a slitting-mill and snuff-mill." 

The oil-mills were for expressing linseed oil from flaxseed ; the 
slitting-mills for catting nail rods. 

In 1795, Dr. Samuel Tenney, in his account of Exeter, stated 
that the dams over the falls "afforded seats for four double 
geared corn-mills, four saw-mills, two oil-mills and one fulling- 
mill." 

From Phinehas Merrill's plan of the village in 1802 we learn 
that there were then, at the upper dam, Ebeuezer Clifford's grist 
and saw-mills and York's grist and saw-mills on the western side ; 
and D. Clark's grist-mill and fulling-mill, S. Wiggin's oil-mill, and 
S. Folsom's nail factory on the eastern side. On the lower dam 
were S. Brooks's grist-mill on the western side, and 8. Oilman's 
saw-mill and J. Smith's oil-mill on the eastern. 

MerrilVs Gazetteer informs us that in 1817 the fulling-mill, the 
two oil-mills, the saw and grist-mills were still there, and that a 
woollen factory had been added, which was on the west side of the 
upper dam. This was a building of considerable size, erected by 
Nicholas Oilman in 1803 to contain carding and other machinery. 



332 HISTOEY OF EXETER. 

After his death it was owned for some years by Colonel 
Nathaniel Gilman, and used for the manufacture of satinet cloths, 
under the management of his sons Nicholas and Daniel. The old 
woollen-mill, as it was termed, was subsequently occupied by Cap- 
tain James Derby as a machine shop, and then by Woodbridge 
Odlin as a storehouse. Between 1845 and 1850 it was burned. 

In the latter part of 1824 Dr. William Perry completed a mill 
situated on the east side of the upper dam, for the manufacture of 
starch from potatoes. He was induced to undertake this enter- 
prise by a series of experiments which convinced him that British 
gum, which was used by the cotton manufacturers as a sizing for 
their cloth, was nothing but charred starch. Moreover, it was 
imported and expensive. Dr. Ferry succeeded in making starch 
which was highly commended, and furnished the cotton-mills in 
Lowell, at a lower price, with a perfect substitute for British gum. 
His mill was burned to the ground March 3, 1827, but he rebuilt 
it at once. Again it was burned in 1830, and the energetic doc- 
tor had it in operation again in three weeks' time. He used from 
thirty to forty thousand bushels of potatoes annually. At length, 
some enterprising and not too scrupulous person contrived to dis- 
cover in a clandestine way the secrets of the business, which gave 
rise to competition and rendered it less remunerative, and after a 
time the doctor abandoned it, and the mill was turned to other 
uses. 

EXETEK MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 

About the year 1827 the design was formed to utilize, for the 
purpose of cotton manufacture, the water power of the upper falls 
in the village of Exeter, which was then owned in fractions by 
several persons, and employed for various objects. Two com- 
panies Avere formed for the purpose. Benjamin Abbott, John T. 
Gilman, Nathaniel Gilman, John Rogers, William Perry, George 
Gardner and their associates were incorporated by the Legislature 
in June, 1827, as the Exeter Mill and Water Power Company ; 
and Nathaniel Gilman, John T. Gilman, Bradbury Cilley, Stephen 
Hanson, John Rogers, Nathaniel Gilman, 3d, Paine Wingate and 
their associates as the Exeter Manufacturing Company. 

The former corporation purchased the control of the water 
power, and conveyed to the Manufacturing Company a sutlicient 
part of it to operate five thousand spindles. The Manufacturing 
Company erected a brick mill of suitable capacity, and commenced 
the manufacture of cotton sheetings therein in the year 1830. The 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 333 

building agent was Stephen Hanson of Dover ; the first president 
was John Houston, and the clerk and manufacturing agent was 
John Lowe, Jr. 

The plan of two corporations being afterwards found cumbrous 
and unnecessary, the Mill and Water Power Company, by author- 
ity of an act of the Legislature, in 1861 conveyed all theu' prop- 
erty and franchises to the Manufacturing Company. 

The Exeter Manufacturing Company have also acquired all 
the water rights at the lower dam, so that they are now the owners 
of the entire available power on the river between the Paper mill 
fall and tide water. 

In the year 1876 that company erected a new mill, adjoining 
the old one, thereby substantially doubling their manufacturing 
capacity. By reasou of the lowering of the river in the summer 
months, it became necessary, also, to provide the establishment 
with auxiliary steam power. 

In December, 1887, the upper two stories of the old mill were 
consumed by fire, but the damage was repaired and new machinery 
put in and set in operation in about two mouths. The modern 
protections against fire, with which the building was provided, no 
doubt prevented a more extended conflagration. 

The management of the company is efficient, and in accord with 
the improved methods of the times. The goods they manufacture 
have always maintained the highest standing in the market. 

Since the year 1864 Hervey Kent has been the treasurer and 
agent. 

The other officers of the company are Eben Dale, president ; 
Eben Dale, Hervey Kent, Thomas Appleton, John W. Farwell 
and William J. Dale, Jr., directors. 

OTHER WATER-MILLS. 

Above the fall in the Little river, which has been mentioned, are 
two others within the township of Exeter. The one nearest the 
village was improved almost a century ago, in operating Barker's 
fulling-mill. Upon the other, further up the stream, near the 
line of Brentwood, has been erected a saw-mill. The water power 
of each is somewhat limited. 

We have it upon the authority of a gentleman of veracity, some 
years since deceased, that there was, in former times, a saw-mill 
carried by the water of Kimmiug's brook. The brook is fed by 
springs, and flowed originally through a forest, so that it is easy 



334 HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

to believe that its volume of water was once much greater thau it 
now is. 

Below the main falls of the river, and on the western side, 
more than half a century ago, was built a tide-mill for grinding 
bark for tanning purposes, by John Rogers and Joseph Furnald. 
The building is still standing, though it is a number of years since 
it was employed for its original use. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

BUSINESS AND TRADE. 

As has alread}' been stated, the main reliance of the inhabitants, 
in the early times, for the means of support, was upon the growth 
of the forest. And lumbering continued to be their chief occupa- 
tion for upwards of a hundred years, and until the soil was well 
nigh stripped of its finest timber. It was a pernicious employ- 
ment for the moral and material welfare of the community. The 
traders indeed found it profitable. They bought the timber and 
paid for it in merchandise, then rafted the logs down the river, or 
had them cut up in the mills into small lumber, which they sent 
off in coasters, realizing large profits from either transaction. But 
the lumbermen themselves worked hard, fared hard, and were too 
apt to drink hard. Agriculture, which should have been their 
principal dependence, was neglected. The owners of farms that 
might have been made profitable, failed to raise products enough 
for their own subsistence, and lived upon Virginia corn and pork, 
which they bought from the traders. Their great ambition was to 
keep up their teams of working oxen to haul their lumber to mar- 
ket. At night they gathered in the numerous taverns and spent 
the hours in drinking and coarse merriment. They were poor in 
the midst of plenty, and destitute of all wholesome ambition. 

It is not easy to estimate the quantity of timber which was car- 
ried away from the town while the process of deforesting was 
going on. Some vague idea of it may, perhaps, be formed from 
the dealings of a single person. In 1754 Colonel John Phillips, 
then a principal trader in Exeter, sold to Colonel Warner of 
Portsmouth, one hundred and twenty-five thousand four hundred 
twenty-seven feet of boards and lumber ; in 1757, nearly the same 
quantity, and in 1759, one hundred and fifty-nine thousand eight 
hundred eighty-six feet. 

After the peace of 1763 things changed for the better. The cul- 
tivation of the soil was seen to be indispensable ; the owners of 

335 



33 G HISTORY OF EXETER. 

lands turned to farming for their support, and thrift and prosper- 
ity gradually took the place of imprudence and poverty. 

SHIP-BL'ILDING. 

From a very early period the various kinds of craft to navigate 
the river, the great highway, from the light canoe to the sturdy 
gundalow, were constructed in Exeter. From those it was an easy 
transition to build vessels for sailing along the coasts, and for 
ocean voyages. As early as 1651 Edward Gilman, Jr., had upon 
the stocks a vessel of about fifty tons burden. In the returns of 
the custom-house in Portsmouth for three months in the year 1692, 
two clearances from Exeter for Boston are found ; one of the 
sloop "Endeavor" of Exeter, twenty tons burden, plantation 
built, having on board six thousand of pipe staves, and four hun- 
dred feet of pine planks ; the other of the sloop "Elizabeth" of 
Exeter, of twenty tons, Francis Lyford, commander, plantation 
built, having on board one thousand feet of boards, four thousand 
staves, fourteen thousand of treenails, fifteen hundred feet of pine 
planks and joist. Within the same period, the arrival of the same 
sloop "Endeavor" is noted, from Hampton, laden with hay. 
This shows one of the little rounds of the coasting trade. The 
vessel took to Boston manufactured lumber sold from Exeter ; 
then probably returned as far as Hampton with merchandise, the 
proceeds of the sale, which was there exchanged for hay, an abso- 
lute necessity to the lumbermen of Exeter, who, as yet, had not 
mowing land enough to subsist their hard worked teams through 
the long winters. 

As time went on, the building of larger vessels became an im- 
portant and profitable industry in Exeter. The river was of suffi- 
cient depth to allow the passage of a ship of four or five hundred 
tons, and few so large were required for the commerce of the 
earlier part of the last century. Most of the voyages to the West 
Indies and across the Atlantic were made in vessels of not more 
than one-half that tonnage, and those were the routes most com- 
mon and most profitable to the New England merchants. Some 
of the vessels launched from the Exeter ship-yards remained the 
property of the builders, and were employed in commerce between 
that place and foreign or domestic ports, but more were contracted 
for by Portsmouth merchants, or sold in England or elsewhere. 

So lucrative had this branch of manufactures become, that 
shortly after the middle of the last century several gentlemen 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 337 

of energy and means were attracted to the town to engage in it. 
Between 17.)0 and 17G0, John Montgomery, a partner of Joshua 
Wentworth of Portsmouth, came to Exeter and set up in the busi- 
ness of ship-buildiug and trade in lumber. A little later, Enoch 
Poor of Andover moved into town, and engaged in the same call- 
ing. Charles Ruudlett and Zebnlon Giddinge were also among the 
ship-builders of that day. 

In 1761 the partnership of Oilman, Folsom & Oilman was 
formed, which dealt extensively in lumber and built many vessels. 
Their trade with the ports of the West Indies and with London 
was more considerable than that of any other concern in the town. 
The fifteen or twenty years before the Revolution were the golden 
period of ship-building in Exeter. As many as twenty-two ves- 
sels, great and small, it is said, have been upon the stocks there 
in a single season ; and from eight to ten was the usual annual 
product. 

The water side must have presented a busy scene in those times. 
From the lower falls down as far as meeting-house hill on the 
west side of the river, ship and lumber-yards stretched almost 
continuously between the stores and wharves. On the streets, a 
little way back, were blacksmith shops, where the roar of the 
forge and the ringing blows of the hammer were heard from morn- 
ing till night, making a fitting accompaniment to the sounds of 
the shipwright's adze and the calker's mallet which arose from the 
hulls propped up on the ways, waiting the hour when they should 
take their plunge into the element for which they were destined. 
"Wages were good, and money was abundant. From the lumber- 
man who furnished the framework to the nice joiner who wrought 
the elaborate finish of the cabin, all concerned in the business en- 
joyed their increased shares of comforts and luxuries, and devoutly 
drank to the standing toast, — success to ship-building. 

But the War of the Revolution put a stop to all this activity. 
Capitalists would not risk their money in building vessels which 
could not sail from our ports without the risk of capture by the 
king's armed cruisers, and the blacksmiths and ship carpenters 
who were thrown out of employment enlisted in the military ser- 
vice or entered privateers. Still, a few vessels were kept in use. 
In 1776 Captain Eliphalet Ladd was permitted by the Legislature 
to make a voyage to two or three West India ports, on condition 
that he should bring back, if procurable, certain military stores 
for the use of the State. 

22 



338 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

After the war was over, sliip-buildiiig was resumed, but not to 
the same extent as before. Colonel James Hackett was employed 
in it, as were also Joseph Swasey, Gideon Lanison, Daniel Conner 
and others. 

On the fourth of July, 1793, we are informed by a newspaper 
of the time, "the field pieces in the town fired salutes in honor 
of the day, and were answered from the Indiaman now on the 
stocks, being beautifully decorated with French and American 
colors." In his sketch of Exeter, in 1795, Dr. Samuel Tenney 
stated that four or five vessels of various burdens were then an- 
nually built in the town, and about the same number were em- 
ployed in foreign trade. Among the deaths recorded in an Exeter 
paper dated August 20, 1799, is that of Mr. Nathaniel Cotton, 
aged twenty-three, " on board schooner Amity of this port." 

The ship-building interest gradually decreased in the town, after 
the coming in of the present century, though the manufacture of 
sail-cloth and twine and many blacksmiths' shops are remem- 
bered by our oldest citizens. One who recently deceased, used to 
describe a large vessel of probably five hundred tons that he saw 
on the stocks, the bowsprit of which projected beyond the fronts 
of the adjacent buildings, into Water street, between Spring and 
Centre streets. A vessel of that size had so great a draft of 
water that it had to be buoyed up by empty hogsheads in order to 
pass down the river at ordinary tide. 

The second Avar with England, and the measures which preceded 
it, put a final period to the building of ships in Exeter. For a 
generation the occupation which had formerly been so prosperous 
fell entirely into disuse. But in the year 1836, a schooner of from 
one to two hundred tons was set upon the stocks on the river near 
meeting-house hill, and launched, fully rigged. The enterprising 
builder was Nathan Moulton of Hampton Falls. She took in a 
cargo of potatoes, and sailed, it is believed, for Philadelphia. 
"With that efl'ort, it is feared that ship-building in Exeter breathed 
its last. 

The river has long ceased to be the great thoroughfare for sup- 
plying the town with necessaries from abroad. The railroads, by 
the inducements of greater rapidity and cheapness, have appro- 
priated nine-tenths of that kind of transportation. But many 
heavy and bulky articles still come up the river from Porstmouth 
by the old conveyance of " Furnald's packet." The navigation of 
the channel had become so obstructed, some years ago, by rocks 



jy 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 339 

and shoals, that it was found necessary to petition Congress for 
an appropriation for its improvement. It was granted and wisely 
expended. Coasters now bring cargoes of coal directly to the 
wharves without transshipment. But the days of the old-time 
activity on the river will never be repeated, unless there should be 
a reversion, in the carriage of merchandise, to the earlier methods. 

POTTERY. 

The potter's art, one of the earliest inventions of man, must 
have been practised in Exeter near the middle of the last century. 
Nathaniel Libbee, who died about 1756, was described in a deed 
of the time as "potter." Jabez Dodge was established in busi- 
ness as a manufacturer of earthen-ware in 1794, and advertised 
for an apprentice in June, of that year, From that time to the 
present, the business has been maintained. Among those con- 
cerned in it were Samuel Dodge, William Philbrick, Oliver Osborne, 
Samuel Leavitt, Asa D^ Lamson and F. H. Lamson. The ware 
produced was generally of the brown kind, for household use, 
although the present proprietor has an ambition to give a more 
artistic character to his work. Mr. Osborne for many years man- 
ufactured what were called portable furnaces of earthen-ware, 
which answered well the wants of the housewife, and had a large 
sale. 

DUCK MANUFACTORY. 

About the j^ear 1790 Thomas Odiorne began in Exeter the man- 
ufacture of duck or sail cloth, the first in the State. His factory 
was on the present Green street, then called Carpenter's lane, 
probably from the fact that it had been largely occupied by ship 
carpenters. The only power employed was that of human muscles. 
The State Legislature encouraged the work by paying a bounty of 
seven shillings on each bolt of duck produced. Eight spinners of 
warp, and about the same number of weavers, were employed in 
the mill, and the weft was spun in private families. After a few 
years the establishment passed into the hands of four young men 
who prosecuted the business for a time, when it was discontinued. 

SADDLERY AND CARRIAGES. 

The manufacture of saddlery was early, and for a long time 
one of the principal and lucrative industries of the town. It was 
asserted, at the close of the last century, that a greater quantity 



340 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

of saddlery was made iu Exeter thau iii any other place north of 
Philadelphia. 

The first light carriage used iu the town, according to tra- 
dition, was introduced by the Kev. Daniel Rogers, about the year 
1754. It was of two wheels, and without a top, much like what, 
in later times, was termed a gig. It was then called a " chair."* 
Before that time Mr, Rogers always rode to his meetings on horse- 
back. A fcAv years afterwards, Brigadier Peter Gilman brought 
into town the first fall-back chaise with a square top. Chaise, 
carriage and harness making became subsequently a very consid- 
erable business in Exeter, for a long period, extending from the 
latter part of the last century down to near the present time. It 
is still carried on, but not to the same extent as formerly. 

Among the most considerable past and present manufacturers 
of carriages in the town may be mentioned J. Coffin Smith, James 
and William Odliu, John Lamson, Daniel Williams, George 
Smith, Woodbridge Odlin, Robert and Henry Shute, William and 
Joel Lane, Benjamin Brown, John Dodge, Daniel and James F. 
Melcher, Lewis Mitchell, Oliver W. Smith, Head and Jewell, 
AVilliam L. Gooch, E. G. and J. G. Robinson, J. C. Safford, J. 
M. Clark and A. J. Fogg. 

HATS ; WOOL ; LEATHER. 

Hat making was an important trade in Exeter, a century ago, 
when it was conducted in comparatively small establishments and 
before the aid of steam had been called in to expedite the work 
and multiply the products. The family of Leavitts are said to 
have been engaged, for two or three generations, in this branch of 
industry. Connected with it, of course, was the traffic in furs and 
skins. This latter, in process of time, exceeded the other part of 
the business in amount and consequence. Theodore Moses and 
Abner Merrill were two prominent men of the town, who owed 
much of their success to this trade. John F. Moses, a son of the 
former, and Jeremiah L., Joseph and Benjamin L. Merrill, sons 
of the latter, became afterwards dealers in wool on a large scale, 
and accumulated much property from it. William Lane, Wood- 
bridge Odlin and Luke Julian were also very prosperous wool 
merchants. At the present time Henry C. Moses, son of John F. 
Moses, and George N. Julian, son of Luke Julian, resident in 
Exeter, are each engaged in similar business iu Boston. 



♦Tradition errs here. Tlie Kev. Nicholas Gilman owned a "cliair'' in 1737. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 341 

Another employment which flourished for some time in the 
town, was that of tanning and currying leather. Academy street, 
long ago, received its unsavory alias of "Tan lane" from being 
the headquarters of this industry. Edmund Pearson is one of the 
earliest remembered tanners, and his son, Nathaniel, succeeded 
him. Jeremiah Dow, Jeremiah Robinson and Retire H. Parker 
were among the principal men afterwards concerned in the busi- 
ness, in the same street. The decline of that interest closed one 
after another of the establishments, and the burning of John F. 
Moses's morocco factory a few years since removed the last vestige 
of the trade, once so actively and profitably pursued in that 
locality. 

The manufacture of boots and shoes for a while occupied a 
good number of hands in Plxeter. Stephen L. Gordon, Jeremiah 
L. Robinson and others met with variable degrees of success in 
the business, but it never took a very firm root in the town, in 
those days. Of late it has been i'e-\'ived, with vastly improved 
facilities and machinery. The Exeter Boot and Shoe Company 
have added within a few years a new and productive industry to 
the town, and are reaping an assured success from their enterprise. 

James Derby, an energetic machinist, started several undertak- 
ings in Exeter, about half a century since, none of which, how- 
ever, proved permanent. At one time he was concerned with 
others in book publishing. They proposed to issue the Bible with 
Scott's commentaries, in six or eight large volumes ; but having 
completed the New Testament in two volumes, they went no 
farther. He set in operation machine works, at two several 
times, the last between 1840 and 1850, in the brick shops on 
South street. Several other citizens were interested with him, 
there, in the manufacture of steam and gas pipes, the first estab- 
lishment for the purpose in New England, as was alleged. It 
was subsequently disposed of to J. B. Richardson and S. T. San- 
born. Some wooden buildings used in the fabrication of the pipe 
having been destroyed by fire, the proprietors transferred the busi- 
ness to Boston. 

The brick machine shop was then occupied for a time as a 
brewery, in which J. M. Lovering and I. S. Brown were inter- 
ested, but the undertaking proved unsuccessful. It has been used 
since that time for the building of carriages. 

The Exeter Machine Works is the name of a company which 
has existed in the town for almost a generation. Its buildings. 



342 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

which also indude an iron foundry, are situated near the raih'oad 
station. The chief manufactures are steam engines, sectional 
boilers, shafting, machinery, etc., and a specialty is made of 
steam heating apparatus. The work of the company is widely 
and favorably known. The present officers are, Charles U. Bell, 
president ; William Burlingame, treasurer ; C. U. Bell, A. G. 
Dewey, W. Burlingame and J. K. Burlingame, directors. 

The Brass Works of E. Folsom & Co. have been in operation 
about twenty years. The firm manufacture brass and iron fittings, 
pipes and the like, for steam, water and gas. Their buildings are 
near those of the Machine Works, and their business has always 
been thoroughly well conducted. The partners are Ebeu Folsom, 
Josiah J. Folsom and J. F. Wiggiu. 

The Exeter Gas Light Company, mentioned in a former chap- 
ter, was chartered in 1854. Their works are situated at the 
corner of Green and AVater streets. The officers are F. H. 
Odiorne, president, Austin M. Copp, treasurer, and Arthur F. 
Cooper, superintendent. 

The Exeter Water Works have their reservoirs and pumping 
apparatus on Portsmouth avenue, and a stand pipe on Prospect 
hill. The officers are Edwin G. Eastman, president, Elbert 
Wheeler, treasurer, and Charles H. Johnson, collector. 

There are other companies and business establishments in the 
town, worthy of mention, as the Eockinghara Machine Company, 
turning out machines for burnishing the heels of boots and shoes, 
the Tile Drain Manufactory of George W. Wiggin, and the Exeter 
Coal Company, of which George W. Clark is agent. It is not the 
purpose of this work, however, to furnish a business guide or 
directory. 

THE EAKLIER MERCHANTS. 

Exeter, being at the head of tide water and of navigation, se- 
cured early an important trade with the towns farther inland. 
This it has never entirely lost, though the springing up of new 
centres of business and the substitution of improved modes of 
transportation of merchandise, have tempted the more distant 
places to carry their traffic elsewhere. 

Several of the early merchants have been named in the account 
of ship-building. Indeed, every one engaged in that business 
dealt also in the commodities which his workmen required, and 
furnished them with necessaries as part of their wages. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 343 

111 the earlier days, not far from the middle of the last century, 
Colonel Daniel Oilman, Samuel Oilman, Zebulon Giddinge, Dr. 
John Giddinge and John Phillips were among the other principal 
merchants ; then followed William Elliot, Peter and Eliphalet 
Coffin, John Emery, Joseph Lamson, Jr., and Ward C. Dean. 
Eliphalet Ladd began to trade about the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion, and was entex'prising and very successful. 

At a later date, John T. Oilman, Joseph S. Oilman, Oilman 
and Moses, Gideon Lamson and Simon Wiggin w^ere among the 
leading men in business, and still later, John Gardner, Daniel 
Ranlet, P^lliot and James, Josiah Oilman Smith, Charles Conner, 
Nathaniel Weeks, S. B. Stevens, William II. Clark, Thomas 
Lovering, Thomas Conner, and Joseph T. Porter of the firm of 
Porter and Thyng. 

These, of course, are but a few, and perhaps not all the most 
important, of the many who have been engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits in the town. The list, however, includes persons whose 
business lives extend over the period of more than a century, and 
down to a date within the memory of the present generation. It 
would be impracticable to attempt more, here. 

One business house is exceptional in its hereditary character. 
Ward Clark Dean commenced trade on Water street about the 
year 1770. His son-in-law, John Gardner, entered his store as 
his clerk soon after the year 1800, and continued with him until 
Mr. Dean retired in 1823. Mr. Gardner then succeeded him in 
the business with his son, George Gardner, as his partner ; George 
Gardner continued the business in 1848, with John P. P. Kelly as 
his partner, until 1857, when John E. Gardner, the great-grandson 
of the founder of the business, became partner of Mr. Kelly, and 
has so remained up to this tune. 

It ought also to be remembered, to the credit of our fathers, 
that women were not debarred, in the olden time, from their nat- 
ural right to engage in merchandise. The widow of the Rev. 
Nicholas Oilman, near the middle of the last century, kept a shop, 
as well as managed a considerable landed estate ; and a daughter 
of Ward Clai'k Dean, a generation or more later, was a rival of 
her father in trade, and is said to have been by no means unsuc- 
cessful in enticing away his customers. 

BANKS. 

The old Exeter Bank was chartered in 1803. Before that time 
money accommodations were probably obtainable by Exeter people 



344 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

from a bank iu Portsmouth, of which Oliver Peabody, and after- 
wards John T. Gilman, was the president. 

The Exeter Banli had originally a capital of two hundred thou- 
sand dollars. Jeremiah Smith was the president, and Nathaniel 
Rogers the first cashier. Afterwai'ds, John Rogers succeeded to 
the post of cashier ; and about 1830 Samuel D. Bell, for about 
five years ; and then Timothy Farrar, who continued in it until 
the charter of the bank expired by limitation ; it having been re- 
newed iu 1824 for the term of twenty years. 

The Exeter Bank was kept in a building of one story at the 
corner of Centre and Water streets, afterwards occupied for a 
number of years by the Atlantic and Rockingham Fire Insurance 
Companies. The bank had quite a history. In its earlier days 
the cashier had occasion once to be absent from his post, and re- 
quested Mr. L., one of the directors, to take his place. That 
gentleman, very obligingly consented, though entirely inexpe- 
rienced in the duties. This was before the time wheu country 
banks had arrangements with banks in the city to redeem their 
circulation, and when they were liable to be called upon at any 
time to pay a considerable amount of their own bills in other money. 
So the cashier left in the drawer a sutticient sum to meet such a 
demand. 

While the temporary cashier was in control, a person entered 
the bank and presented a draft for two hundred dollars and up- 
wards for payment, and received for it four bills, supposed by Mr. 
L. to be for fifty dollars, but in reality for five hundred dollars 
each, and the balance in smaller curreucy. The receiver took 
away the money, but soon after returned and asked Mr. L. if the 
bank rectified mistakes. " No, sir," said the quasi cashier, " after 
a man has taken his money and gone out, no mistakes are cor- 
rected." The customer departed. 

When the cashier returned home and reckoned up the day's 
business, he found his cash eighteen liundred dollars short. lie 
interrogated his substitute, who told him about the transaction 
mentioned. " Where did you get the fifty dollar bills from?" in- 
quired the cashier. The partition was pointed out. "Those," said 
the cashier, "are bills for five hundred dollars." The other was 
astounded, and said he did not know that there were any of that 
denomination. 

The bank called upon the person who had thus been overj^aid, 
to refund the money. But he refused, probably salving his con- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 345 

science with the answer made liim at the time, that "no mistakes 
were corrected." The bank brougtit a suit against him to compel 
restoration. The matter was bittcrl}' contested, for the defendant 
had influential friends. In the end the bank recovered back the 
amount of the overpayment. But a little episode at the trial is 
worth relating. The jury were sent out into their room to delib- 
erate upon the case just at nightfall. It was found that there was 
a wide dilference of opinion among them. So they fell to arguing 
the matter. One of their number, a small tradesman, who was 
used to going to bed earlj^, grew drowsy, ard quietly lay down 
upon a bench in a dark corner and Avent to sleep. His absence 
was not noticed by the others, and they continued to discuss the 
questions in the case till well towards morning. The arguments 
advanced by those who favored the defendant were one by one 
overthrown and abandoned, and at length it appeared that there 
was no one who would not acquiesce in a verdict for the bank. A 
ballot was then taken, when it appeared that only eleven had voted. 
The sleeper was roused. The foreman explained the question to 
him. " Well," said he, "I am in favor of giving the defendant a 
verdict." The foreman answered, that there were others of the 
jury who were at first of the same opinion, but after fully consid- 
ering the case they had one after another changed their minds, and 
were now all in favor of the plaintiff. "Well," said the accom- 
modating juror, " if you gentlemen have been discussing this matter 
all night, and have all agreed for the plaintitf, you may put me 
down for the plaintiff too." 

The old- Exeter Bank was doubtless extremely well managed, for 
its time. But a modern cracksman would laugh to scorn its pro- 
tections against plunder. Its locks were primitive, with keys that 
were large enough for weapons of offence. Now-a-days they 
would not stand an hour against a burglar. But in 1828 the art 
of breaking banks was in its infancy. And when a gang of thieves 
from Rhode Island robbed the Exeter Bank, as they did in that 
year, they found it necessary to take at least two or three weeks 
to make the necessary preparations. It is a wonder that their 
purpose was not discovered. They had one or two huts or haunts 
in the neighboring woods where they remained and prepared their 
false keys by day, and at night came into the village and tested 
their work, in the locks of the bank. At length they succeeded 
in entering the stone vault, and took therefrom about thirt}^ thou- 
sand dollars in bills, and some hard money, with which they made 



346 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

off. The story of the detection of the guilty parties is a long one, 
and much of tlie ingenuity displayed in the process, does not 
appear in the published report of the trial. A quantity of the 
money was found hidden under a stone wall. The stolen bills 
that they passed were a chief means of fastening the crime upon 
the robbers ; and it is said that some incrusted silver coin which 
Ebenezer Clifford had brought up in his diving-bell from a wrecked 
ship at the bottom of the ocean, and deposited in the bank, fur- 
nished another clue. It is sufHcient to say that the depredators 
were discovered, and brought to trial, and' after a full hearing 
sentenced to imprisonment, and the greater part of the stolen 
property was recovered. 

The P^xeter Savings Bank was incorporated in 1828, and man- 
aged in connection with the Exeter Bank. John Houston was the 
first president and Samuel D. Bell, treasurer. Afterwards William 
Perry was chosen president, and Timothy Farrar, treasurer. The 
business of the Savings Bank was in 1842 wound up and closed, 
but in 1851 it was revived, and carried on in the building of the 
Granite State Bank. Woodbridge Odlin was chosen president 
and Samuel H. Stevens, treasurer, who was afterwards succeeded 
by N. Appletou Shute. Upon the flight of the latter in 1873, 
after having embezzled a great part of the funds, the Savings 
Bank went into the hands of a receiver, and the residue of its 
assets were distributed ratably among the depositors. 

The second bank of discount in the town was incorporated in 
1830, and styled the Granite Bank. Its capital was two hundred 
thousand dollars. John Harvey was the president until about 
1844, when James Bell was chosen. James Burley was the 
cashier. It continued in business until 1851 and was then re- 
chartered under the name of the Granite State Bank, and the 
capital was reduced one-half. Moses Sanborn was then made 
president, and Samuel H. Stevens, cashier. Joseph T. Gilraan 
afterwards became president, and N. Ap])leton Shute, cashier. 
After Mr. Gilman's death in 1862, Abner Merrill was elected 
president, and held the office until 1877, the bank in the mean- 
time having been organized under the national laws. Mr. Merrill 
was succeeded in the office of president by his three sons, in turn, 
Jeremiah L. Merrill, Benjamin L. Merrill and Charles A. Merrill. 
In January, 1873, the cashier, N. Appleton Shute, became a 
defaulter to a large amount and fled the country. The deficit was 
made up by the stockholders and the bank kept on, Warren F. 
Putnam being chosen cashier. 



HISTORY OF EXETER, 347 

After the decease of Dr. Charles A. Merrill, Benjamin F. 
Folsom was chosen president, and subsequently Charles E. Bying- 
ton was elected cashier in place of W. F. Putnam. They still hold 
their offices. The directors of the Granite State National Bank 
are Benjamin F. Folsom, Eben Folsom, John E. Gardner, "Warren 
F. Putnam and Amos C. Chase ; and there is one vacancy. 

In 18G8 the Union Five Cents Savings Bank was incorporated, 
and opened with Joshua Getchell as president and Joseph S. 
Parsons as treasurer. The successive presidents since have been 
William B. Morrill, Charles Burley, William P. Moulton and W. 
H. C. Follansby ; the treasurers, Frank P. Cram and Sarah C. 
Clark. 

After the Exeter Savings Bank went into the receiver's hands 
in 1873, the Squamscot Savings Bank was incorporated. Its first 
president was Obadiah Duston, who was followed by Joseph 
Janvrin. George B. Webster is now the president, Francis 
Hilliard, treasurer, and William H. Belknap, cashier. 

INSURANCE COMPANIES. 

Fifty years ago, when mutual insurance was in vogue, Exeter 
was quite a centre for that business. In 1832 was incorporated 
the Rockingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which Na- 
thaniel Gilman, Jr., was made president, John T. Burnham, sec- 
retary, and James Burley, treasurer. In 1837 John Harvey was 
chosen president, and in 1838, Timothy Farrar. In 1839 there 
was a change of directors, attended with some feeling, but the 
president and secretary remained in office, with John Sullivan as 
treasurer. In 1843 James Burley was elected president, Isaac L. 
Folsom, secretary, and Jeremiah Dearborn, treasurer. This board 
of officers continued till about 1852, when Moses Sanborn became 
president, William P. Moulton, secretary, and John Tyrrell, 
treasurer. Five j^ears afterwards, John S. Wells was chosen to 
the presidency, and Joseph C. Hilliard to the treasurership, Wil- 
liam P. Moulton remaining secretary. The company had been 
very successful, and issued policies on a large amount of property. 

The Atlantic Mutual Fire Insurance Company was chartered in 
1847. Its business must have been limited prior to 1856, when 
we find that it was managed by the same executive officers as the 
Eockingham. This continued to be the case for several years. 
Charles Conner succeeded John S. Wells as president of both 



348 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

companies about 1863, and remained with W. P. Moulton and 
J. C. Hilliard as officers of the Rockingham until about 1866, 
when its affairs were wound up. The business of the Atlantic was 
carried on with Charles Conner as president, and Josepli S. Parsons 
as secretary and treasurer, until about 1871, wlaen that company, 
too, succumbed to the growing preference for insurance in stock 
companies. 

The Rockingham Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company was 
incorporated in 1833. For some years little was heard of it, but 
in 1856 William Conner was its president, William P. Moulton, 
the secretary, and Joseph C. Hilliard, treasurer. John S. Wells 
succeeded Mr. Conner as president, and was succeeded by Charles 
Conner. Then William Conner was again chosen president, and 
held the office until his decease a year or two since. Charles E. 
Lane was secretary and treasurer a few years, and then George 
W. Wiggin was elected, about 1866, to those offices, and held 
them till 1874. The present officers are George B. Webster, pres- 
ident, and Henry A. Shute, secretary and treasurer. As its name 
imports, this company confines its insurance to farm buildings, or 
equivalent risks. It is now the oldest company in the town. 

In 1885 the insurance of property in New Hampshire against 
fire, was mostly in stock companies existing out of the State. On 
account of a law enacted by the Legislature in that year, they, by 
a concerted action, determined to take no more risks in New 
Hampshire. It became necessary, therefore, that other means of 
insurance should be provided at home, and without delay. 

The Exeter Mutual Fire Insurance Company was the first new 
company organized in the State to meet the new condition of 
things. It was put in operation under the general law of the 
State on the fifteenth day of October, 1886. Charles H. Bell was 
chosen president, and Arthur B. Fuller, secretary and treasurer. 
In 1887 Mr. Fuller resigned his offices, and George W. Weston 
was elected in his place. This and the Rockingham Farmers' are 
the only insurance companies now in the town. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
JUDGES AND LAWYERS. 

John Oilman, the second sou of Edward Gilman, Sr., bOrn in 
England January 10, 1624, came to Exeter before 1650, and 
immediately became a prominent citizen. From the first he was 
concerned with his brother Edward in mills and lumber. After 
IMward was lost at sea in 1653, he inherited much of the latter's 
property, and took his place in developing the resources of the 
town. He was chosen selectman more than one-half the years 
between 1650 and 1680; was repeatedly elected commissioner to 
end small causes ; and appointed upon committees to care for the 
town's interests. He had several handsome grants of land from 
the town, and a special right of a grist-mill. In the two years 
before New Hampshire was emancipated from the Massachusetts 
government he held the office of associate (judge) of the old 
Norfolk county court. 

In 1680 Mr. Gilman was made a councillor of the newly erected 
province of New Hampshire, and in 1682 a judge of the Court of 
Pleas ; but in 1683 he was by Governor Cranfield relieved of both 
offices. It is needless to say that his reputation in the province 
did not suffer by reason of his removal. In 1693 he was chosen 
by his townsmen a delegate to the Assembly, and was made 
Speaker of the House, and again chosen in 1697. 

He married, June 30, 1657, Elizabeth, daughter of James 
Treworgy (from which came the popular Christian name of True- 
worthy), and had six sons and ten daughters, and very numerous 
descendants. He built the "log house" opposite the Great 
bridge, which is still standing. He died July 24, 1708. 

Robert Wadleigh was accepted as an inhabitant of Exeter Sep- 
tember 26, 1676, at which time he probably removed there with 
his family. He was then a man of mature years, and had five 
sons, some of them tending towards manhood. He had lived in 
Wells, Maine, more than twenty years before, and in 1666 pur- 

351 



352 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

chased a considerable tract of land at a place since known as 
Wadleigli's falls on Lamprey river in the present town of Lee, one- 
half of which he conveyed to Nicholas Listen. There Mr. Wad- 
leio-h lived until he came to Exeter. He soon became known to 
the people of Exeter, and was chosen to responsible positions. In 
1680 he was a deputy to the General Assembly, of which he acted 
as clerk. In 1681 the inhabitants made him a grant of two hun- 
dred acres of land, and the next year his tax was the highest in 
the town. 

A year afterwards he was sued by an agent of Mason, probably 
for the possession of some of his lands, and by exceptional good 
fortune won the verdict of the jur3^ His antagonist took an 
appeal to the king, upon which Wadleigh determined to go himself 
to England to look after his interests. He had a further reason 
for so doing, in the fact that his three sons were at tliat time 
under condemnation for taking part in " Gove's rebellion " against 
Governor C'ranfield's tyrannical administration. The impression 
which Wadleigh made upon the Privy Council must have been 
favorable, for he was, after his return, appointed a justice of the 
peace and councillor of the province, doubtless on their recom- 
mendation. 

Mr. Wadleigh continued to receive marks of the confidence of 
his townsmen, and of the provincial authorities. In 1692 he was 
appointed one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and, 
a year afterwards, a judge of the Superior Court. This position 
he continued to fill until 1697. He died iu Exeter not far from 
the year 1700. His descendants are somewhat numerous, and the 
name is still kept up in the town and vicinity. 

Kinsley Hall was a son of Ralph Hall, one of the signers of the 
Combination, and was born iu Exeter in 1652. He was a captain 
in the militia, an offlce then of no small repute, and served the 
town in various capacities, which denote the popular appreciation 
of his ability and intelligence. He was one of the selectmen for 
some years, moderator, and deputy to the General Assembly in 
1694 and 1695. He was also a councillor of the province, 
appointed iu 1698, and a judge of the Superior Court from 1697 
to 1698, and again from 1698 to 1699. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dudley, and, after her decease, a 
second wife, and had several children, by whom the name has 
been preserved in the town until very recently. Judge Hall died 
in 1736. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 353 

Peter Coffin was born in Devonshire, England, in 1630 or 1631. 
He came to this conutry young, and removed to Dover before 
1650. There he became a merchant, and was interested with 
IMajor Richard Waldron in a trucking house for dealing with the 
Indians. He was a lieutenant in service in Philip's Indian war, 
and was elected while in Dover .to various town offices, and re- 
ceived some of the minor judicial appointments. He was quite 
successful in the accumulation of property. In 1689 when the 
garrisons at Dover were attacked by the savages and Major 
Wuldron was killed, Mr. Coffin's house was entered, and the 
Indians compelled him to scatter among them handfuls of silver 
money, of Avhich they found a bag full, that they might scramble 
for it. 

He fortunately escaped from their hands. Shortly afterwards 
his house and buildings were burned, and he removed to Exeter 
in 16'J0, and was received an inhabitant by a vote of the town, 
and land was granted him for a wharf. He immediately engaged 
in business there, and was selected by the town to serve on impor- 
tant committees, and twice chosen moderator. In 1692 he was 
appointed a councillor of the province, and in 1697 Chief Justice 
of the Superior Court. This position he held for a year, and until 
a change of governors. In 1699 he was commissioned an asso- 
ciate justice of the same court, and continued in office until 1712. 

He died March 21, 1715, and this obituary notice was published 
in The Boston Neios Letter of March 25 : 

On Monday the 21st current, died at Exeter the honorable Peter 
Coffin, Esq., in the 85th year of his age, who was late judge of his 
Majest3''s Superior Court of judicature, and first member of his 
Majesty's Council of this province, a gentleman very serviceable 
both in Church and State. 

He left five sons and four daughters. His son Robert, born in 
1667, resided in Exeter, and married Joanna, daughter of John 
Gilman, and widow of Henry D^^er. He died in 1710 without 
issue. His sou Tristram also lived in Exeter and had four chil- 
dren, of whom two, daughters, married Bartholomew and Benja- 
min, sons of Jonathan Thing. 

Richard Hilton was a son of Captain William Hilton and grand- 
son of Edward Hilton, and lived in that part of Exeter which is 
now South Newmarket. He served as one of the selectmen for 
seven years, between 1693 and 1715, and was a judge of the 

23 



354 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Superior Court in 1698 and 1699. Little is known of him besides, 
except that he married his cousin Ann, daughter of Edward 
Hilton, Jr. 

Nicholas Gilman was a son of Councillor John Oilman, and was 
born in Exeter December 26, 1678. He was a farmer and mer- 
chant. He lived in Exeter village on the south side of Front 
street, on the spot where the late John Williams built his brick 
house, afterwards occupied by Isaac Flagg. In 1729 he was com- 
missioned a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and held his 
seat on that bench for about a year, when he resigned in order to 
give his whole time to his private business. But in 1732, on re- 
ceiving the appointment of judge of the Superior Court, he ac- 
cepted it and performed the duties until 1740, and then retired 
to private life. He died in 1741, leaving children, several of 
whom occupied distinguished positions. He was a man of large 
property, and the owner of several slaves. 

Samuel Gilman was a son of the foregoing, and was born in 
Exeter May 1, 1698. He was twice married and had children, 
who all died before him. He had an ample estate, and lived in 
the house on the south side of Water street, afterwards the home 
of Judge Oliver Peabody. He kept a public house there for a 
number of years, was a colonel in the militia, and was appointed 
to the bench of the Superior Court the same year that his father 
left it. He discharged his judicial duties for seven years. All 
accounts agree in representing him to be a man of the highest 
character, universally respected and esteemed. He lived to the 
age of eighty-six. 

None of the above-named judges of the highest provincial court 
were educated as lawyers. And the custom of appointing to that 
responsible position men of sound sense, business knowledge and 
uprightness, without regard to their legal knowledge, was contin- 
ued for many years after this time, mainly, it is supposed, for the 
want of enough suitable men educated to the profession. But, for 
the purposes of the time, the appointments were quite satisfactory. 

The first trained lawyer in Exeter was Nicholas Perryman. He 
was born in England December 24, 1692, but emigrated quite 
young, after the death of his parents, and appeared in Exeter 
between 1710 and 1720. Where he received his education is not 
known, but that it was not neglected is apparent from the fact 
that he was employed as master of the grammar or classical school 
from 1716 to 1718. With whom he pursued his legal studies does 



IIISTOKY OF EXETER. 3o5 

not appear. But as early as 1730 he seems to have been fully 
engaged in the practice of the law. He was repeatedly employed 
by the town in suits, and in contested matters in the Assembly. 
He was the chief conveyancer of th(? inhabitants, and his work was 
neatly executed and correctly expressed, so far as it has been ob- 
served. He mairied Joanna, daughter of Stephen Dudley, and 
granddaughter of the Rev. Samuel Dudley, by whom he had four 
children, all of whom he outlived except one daughter, who mar- 
ried Noah Emery. He died in Exeter August 9, 1757. 

Noah Emery was a son of a lawyer of the same nan)e, and was 
born in Kittery, Maine, December '2^^ 1725. He must have come 
to P^xeter before his maturity, for he married Joanna, the daughter 
of Nicholas Ferryman, March 20, 1745, she then being but four- 
teen years of age and he under twenty. He studied his profession 
with his father-in-law, and probably was associated with him in 
business during the latter part of his life. The amount of purely 
legal business at that time must have been small, and it is likely 
that they added to it trade or other sources of profit. But Mr. 
Emery doubtless had his fair share of such professional employ- 
ment as there was. 

When the Revolution broke out he took sides warmly with the 
patriotic party, and was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Con- 
gress, of which he also served as clerk. He was prominent enough 
to be appointed upon some of the most important committees in 
that body and in the House of Representatives, into which it 
resolved itself. 

In 1776 Mr. Emery was commissioned clerk of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and held the office until his death in 1787. He 
left five sons and four daughters. His son of the same name 
succeeded him in the clerkship. 

William Parker was a son of Judge William Parker of Ports- 
mouth, where he was born in 1731. He was a graduate of Har- 
vard College in 1751, and after being employed as a teacher for a 
while, studied law with his father, and commenced practice in 
Exeter in 1765, He was able, well read and possessed of no 
small store of ready wit, but was afflicted with an unconquerable 
diffidence which prevented him from taking part in oral trials, so 
that his employment was chiefly confined to office work. But he 
stood high in the estimation of the community, who bestowed 
upon him a fair share of remunerative business. 



35G HISTORY OF EXETER. 

AVhen the Revolution swept away the old reijtme in the State, 
his father was removed from the office of Register of Probate, and 
the sou, who was identified with the popular movement, was ap- 
pointed in his place, and was continued in the post until his death 
in 1813, on which his son John J. Parker was chosen register and 
remained so through his life until 1831. Thus three generations 
of this family held the office continuously for near a century. 

In 1790 Mr. Parker was connnissioned judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and retained the position t^l 1807 when he was 
more than seventy-five years of age. The new constitution, 
adopted after his appointment, declared that the commissions of 
judges should be void when they reached the age of seventy, but 
it was an open question whether that provision applied to cases 
like his. The Legislature settled the question by passing an ad- 
dress for his removal ; not because of any dissatisfaction, however, 
with him or his official conduct. He died, universally esteemed and 
respected, at the age of eighty-one. 

John Pickering, a lawyer of eminence, afterwards Chief Justice 
of the State, and judge of the District Court of the United States, 
resided in Exeter for one or two years during the Revolution. 
Whether he came with the intention of making tlie place his per- 
manent home, or to be in a more congenial atmosphere during the 
contest between tlie provinces and the mother country, is a matter 
of conjecture. He was taxed as a citizen in 1778, and the same 
year was chosen by the town a delegate to the convention to revise 
the constitution of the State. Though Mr. Pickering was known 
as a friend to the liberties of his country, he appears to have been 
a little timid in taking steps that might compromise him with the 
loyal party. In 1774 he was chosen by the Provincial Congress a 
delegate to the Continental Congress. He publicly declined the 
honor, upon the plea that the court was coming on, and his en- 
gagements to his clients would not permit him to be absent. John 
Sullivan was elected in his place, who, in thanlving the convention, 
remarked, with a sly glance at Pickering, that he, too, had his 
court engagements, but he regarded his duties to his clients as of 
small moment in comparison to his higher duties to his country in 
that time of trial. The impression was general that Pickering's 
patriotism was of rather a faint-hearted kind. 

Oliver Peabody was the son of a man of tlie same name, and 
was born in Andover, Massachusetts, September 2, 1753. He 
graduated from Harvard College in 1773 ; studied law in the office 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 357 

of the distinguished Theophihis Parsons, and began practice in 
Exeter about the year 1778. He was a careful and diligent 
student, and a faithful and punctual practitioner. His business 
capacity was appreciated by the community, and his personal 
qualities, his amiable disposition and courtesy of manner gave 
him much popularity. A great part of his life was passed in pub- 
lic stations. From 1789, for several years, he was annually chosen 
treasurer of the county ; and in 1790 he was elected State senator, 
but resigned his seat to accept the appointment of Judge of 
Probate. After holding that position three years, he was again 
elected to the State Senate two successive years, in the latter of 
which he presided over that body. He again resigned the senator- 
ship on being chosen treasurer of the State, Avhich he continued to 
be for nearly ten j^ears. The next year he was made sheriff of 
the county, and held that post five years. Again elected to the 
State Senate, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, and remained upon the bench until the re-organization of 
the judiciary of the State in 1816. 

In addition to all these, he held other positions of trust of com- 
paratively private character. Yet Judge Peabody was no office 
seeker. He had pressed upon him other and more important posi- 
tions, any of which, in all probability, he might have obtained 
had he consented to be a candidate, but declined them. He was 
fond of social and domestic life, and had no desire for anything 
that would separate him from that. 

He died in Exeter August 3, 1831. He was the father of the 
two distinguished twin brothers, Oliver W. B. and William B. O. 
Peabody, and of the wife of Alexander H. Everett. 

Nathaniel Parker was a son of Judge William Parker, then of 
East Kingston and afterwards of Exeter, and was born October 
22, 1760. He obtained his education in the excellent schools of 
Exeter, studied law in his father's office, and began practice in 
the town before 1790. He, like his father, had little aptitude or 
inclination for the forensic side of his profession, though he prob- 
ably had a sufficiency of legal knowledge. He was chosen clerk 
of the State Senate in 1803 and the following year, and represen- 
tative from Exeter from 1805 to 1809 inclusive. In some of the 
latter years he was also Deputy Secretary of State, and in 1809 
was chosen Secretary. His death occurred in Exeter April 2, 
1812, and he left no descendants. 



358 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

George Sullivan was a son of General John Sullivan of the Rev- 
olution, and was born in Durham August 29, 1771. He obtained 
his education at the Phillips Exeter Academy and at Harvard 
College, and took his degree in 1790. He read law in his father's 
office, and settled in practice in Exeter in 1793 or 1794. He was 
a good student, well fitted for professional work, and of fine per- 
sonal presence, and soon secured an ample clientele. He was sent 
as representative to the State Legislature in 1805, and made so 
good an impression there that the Executive conferred upon him 
the appointment of Attorney General of the State, which he held 
for two years. In 1811 he was elected to the Congress of the 
United States for one term, and in 1814 and 1815 was a member 
of the State Senate. In the latter year he was a second time 
appointed Attorney General of the State and continued in the 
faithful and satisfactory discharge of the duties of the post for 
twenty years, when he resigned it upon the passage of a law which, 
though increasing the salary, forbade the occupant of that office 
to practise in civil causes. Mr. Sullivan's civil engagements were 
too important and lucrative to be sacrificed even for the sake of 
an office to which he was so peculiarly adapted. 

Mr. Sullivan was an honorable, high minded lawyer, and had 
none of that petty sharpness which would take advantage of every 
trifling slip of an adversary. He was essentially an orator, and 
spared no pains to perfect himself in the art of eloquence. His 
voice was musical, and he trained it with care. His gesticulation 
was graceful, his language was well chosen, and his sentences 
were beautifully rounded. His addresses to the jury were models 
of argument, persuasion and appeal, and were extremely effective. 

While in point of technical legal knowledge, and in the power 
to deal with abstract principles, Mr. Sullivan was confessedly not 
the equal of some of his competitors, yet in his own chosen field 
there was no one of them who surpassed him. He ranked among 
the first advocates in the State, and measured himself with the 
leaders of the bar, without losing by the comparison. 

He belonged to a family noted in the law, and in which the 
attorney-generalship might almost be said to be hereditary, as his 
father held it before him and his son after him. The united terms 
of service of the three generations in the positions of public pros- 
ecutor, as attorney general or county solicitor, must have ex- 
ceeded fifty years. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 359 

Mr. Sullivan died in Exeter April 14, 1838. He was twice 
married. Two of his sons followed his own profession, John, of 
Exeter, and James who, after practising a few years in Pembroke 
and Concord, removed to Michigan where he passed the residue of 
his life. 

Moses Hodgdon, a native of Dover, who began practice there 
in 1801, came to Exeter and lived in the town from about 1811 to 
1813, when he returned to 'Dover, and continued to reside there 
afterwards till his death. He had the reputation of being a sound 
and careful lawyer. 

Solon Stevens was born in Charlestowu October 3, 1778, the 
son of Samuel Stevens, and the grandson of the Phineas Stevens 
who defended the fort at "Number Four" from the assaults of 
the Indians, about the middle of the last century. 

He was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1798. After 
studying law with Benjamin West and John C. Chamberlain, he 
was admitted to the bar, and came to Exeter to settle, about the 
year 1801. He remained, probably, seven years, and then 
removed to Boston. But there his health failed him, and he went 
back to his early home, to die, at the age of thirty years. 

Jeremiah Smith was for forty years one of the foremost citizens 
of Exeter. A native of Peterborough, he attended the schools of 
the town, and was early noted for his mental acumen and aptitude 
to learn. In 1777 he entered Harvard College, and at the same 
time enlisted in the army for two months in a company raised to 
oppose the advance of General Burgoyue. He fought valiantly at 
Bennington, and was slightly wounded, but declared afterwards 
that the music of bullets had no charms in his ears. After two 
years in Harvard he finished his collegiate course in Queen's (now 
Rutgers's) College in New Jersey. For three or four years after- 
wards he was engaged in teaching, at the same time reading law. 
When lie presented himself before the Hillsborough bar for admis- 
sion, it was objected that he had no counsellor's certificate that he 
had spent the proper time in study. Smith rode all the succeeding 
night to Salem, Massachusetts, and back, and produced the 
proper certificate the next morning, but the president of the bar 
declined to call another meeting to consider his application, on 
the ground that there was not time during the term. 

The Scotch-Irish blood of the young applicant, who now saw 
that he was being trifled with, was instantly up, and he applied to 
the court for his admission, at the same time stating the treatment 



360 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

that he had received from the bar. The judges ordered that he 
should be admitted, mueli to the disgust of the lawj^ers, wlio did 
their best to make it uupleasant for him. Smith wrote to a friend 
that " it Avas devilish hard to be refused admittance to bad com- 
pany ! " However, he had his revenge. When the next court 
met without his name appearing on the docket, two of the lawyers, 
Baruch Qhase and Nathaniel Green, to annoy him, asked if they 
should pass his list of entries to the clerk. He thanked them and 
wrote and handed them the following : 

Common sense v. Baruch Chase. 
Common honesty v. Nathaniel Green. 

They troubled him no more ; nor, to do them justice, did the 
rest, when they discovered how thoroughly qualified he was for his 
profession. Business rapidly flowed in upon him, and he was soon 
one of the leading lawyers of his section. 

After three years' service in the State Legislature he was, in 
1790, elected a member of the Congress of the United States, and 
afterwards was thrice re-elected. While in Congress, he made the 
acquaintance of many of the most eminent men of the country, 
with some of whom he remained on terms of intimacy ever after. 

He resigned his seat in 1797 to accept the appointment of Dis- 
trict Attorney of the United States, and, the same year, came to 
Exeter to reside. He was already married. For the next three 
years he labored assiduously in his profession, attending the courts 
in at least four counties. In 1800 he received the appointment of 
Judge of Probate for the county of Rockingham. A treatise upon 
probate law which, with characteristic diligence he drew up at that 
time, has since been published, in great part, and shows his 
thoroughness, learning and judicious application of principles. In 
February, 1801, he was commissioned by President Adams, then 
just about to go out of office, a judge of the United States Circuit 
Court. He prepared himself for his new functions by careful 
study, and until the law was repealed, by which the court was es- 
tablished, performed his duties with fidelity. When he was tluis 
relieved from that office, he was at once appointed Chief Justice 
of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. The salary attached to 
the place was so inadequate that he could not, in justice to him- 
self and his young family, accept the appointment. But the Legis- 
lature twice raised the salary in order to retain his services. 

He filled the office with consummate ability and learning until 
1809, when he was persuaded to resign it, and to become a candi- 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 361 

date for the governorship of the State. He was elected, but the 
position was not at all to his liking, and he felt no regret when he 
found that he was not re-elected. In 1813 he was again commis- 
sioned Chief Justice of the Superior Court, and presided there 
until the change in the judicial system in 1816. For a few years 
after this he engaged in legal practice, and about 1820 retired 
from the profession. 

He was not entirely relieved from the cares of business after- 
wards, as he was the president of the Exeter bank and the treas- 
urer of the Phillips Exeter Academy. But he gave most of his 
time to his family and friends, and to reading and writing. He 
was never idle. He enjoyed society, and was a great talker among 
congenial companions. Once, when he had passed an evening in 
the company of Judge Theophilus Parsons and others, where he 
had furnished the lion's share of the conversation, he was late at 
breakfast the next morning. One of the gentlemen inquired 
where he was. "Oh," said Parsons, "he is in bed, resting that 
tongue of his." 

Many anecdotes are told of his ready wit among his townsmen. 
It was once proposed in the town meeting to construct a new 
fence around the burying ground, which the judge considered un- 
necessary. "What use is there, Mr. Moderator," said he, "in 
going to tlie expense of a new fence about such a place ? Those 
who are outside of it have no desire to go in, and those who are 
inside am not get out ! " 

One of the most marked traits of Judge Smith was his uniform 
cheerfulness. He had his disappointments and trials in life, some 
of them of a serious character. But he bore them without repin- 
ing or bitterness. He was always found the same. 

He was certainly one of the ablest men, and most learned law- 
yers that New Hampshire has produced. Long after his death a 
volume of his legal decisions was for the first time published, 
edited by his son, who bears his name, and has also occupied a 
seat upon the supreme bench of the State. Their great value was 
imiversally acknowledged by the members of the profession, and 
one distinguished judge expressed regret that they had not been 
published much earlier, as they would have saved the people of 
the State a great sum of money in litigating questions which had 
long ago been so satisfactorily decided by him. 

Judge Smith died in Dover September 21, 1842. 



362 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

James Thorn was a son of Dr. Isaac Thom of Londonderry, 
where he was born August 14, 1785. He graduated at Dartmouth 
College at the age of twenty, studied law under the direction of 
George Sullivan in Exeter, and after his admission in 1808, set up 
an office there. He was bright and popular, and had one accom- 
plishment better appreciated in his time than in ours — he sang 
a good song. In the war of 1812 he was in command of a com- 
pany of militia which was ordered to Portsmouth for the defence 
of the sea-coast for a brief tour of duty. He used to tell ludicrous 
stories afterwards of his military service. "There came once an 
alarm that the British were landing at Rye," he said, "and all my 
company were instantly taken sick, and I the worst of all." How- 
ever, there was no real occasion to try their mettle against the 
enemy. 

After seven years' life in Exeter, Mr. Thom removed to Derry, 
where he passed the remainder of his days in the practice of his 
profession, and a part of the time as the cashier of a bank. 

Joseph Tilton came to Exeter to engage in the practice of the 
law in 1809. He had been admitted eight years before, which 
time he divided between Wakefield and Rochester. He was a 
native of East Kingston. He has been described as a " business 
lawyer," as he rarely took any prominent part in trials in court. 
But he was a sound and well read counsellor who acquired a 
respectable practice, and enjoyed the friendship and respect of 
his eminent contemporaries in the profession, Mason and Web- 
ster, Sullivan and Bartlett, and particularly of Chief Justice 
Richardson, who enjoyed Mr. Tilton's humorous stories and con- 
versation, and admired that quality so much more appreciated by 
the bench than by the bar, his invariable promptness and readiness 
for trial when his cases came in order. "Mr. Tilton is altcays 
ready," was the judge's testimony. 

The good things said that set the table in a roar, often fall flat 
when they come to be committed to paper. But lawyers, at least, 
will see the point of one of Mr. Tilton's sayings. A coach full of 
members of the bar were on their way from Portsmouth to Exeter. 
One of them remarked upon the beauty of a farm by the roadside, 
and wished he were the owner of it. " I'll tell you how you can 
get half of it," said Tilton. " Bring a suit for the whole, and 
refer it out of court. The referees will be sure to give you half !" 
Mr. Tilton was a member of the Legislature from I^xeter for 
nine years from 1814 to 1823, and though he made little noise in 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 363 

the political world, was really a power there. He had the entire 
confidence of his townsmen and of those who knew him best, and 
administered the trusts that fell upon him with uprightness and 
fidelity. 

He married Nancy, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Folsom, 
and lived in the house in which she was born. He died, without 
leaving descendants, March 28, 1856, at the age of eighty-two 
3^ears. 

Jotham Lawrence was a descendant of one of the early residents 
of Exeter. His father lived in Epping, where he was born Feb- 
ruary 7, 1777. He was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy, 
and studied his profession with George Sullivan. Admitted a 
counsellor of the Superior Court in 1805, he had probably been in 
practice in the inferior courts for two years before. He began 
business in his native town, but in 1809 removed his residence to 
Exeter, which was thenceforth his home. 

Mr. Lawrence was not distinguished as an advocate, but had his 
fair share of the business of a general character, such as fell to 
the lot of most country lawyers. There were a few distinguished 
men in his day who were leaders of the bar, and argued nearly 
all the causes. They rode the circuits into the different counties, 
with the judges. This was a survival of the English fashion, 
which has now entirely disappeared in New Hampshire. The 
other members of the profession drew writs and deeds and other 
instruments, and aired their eloquence only in the inferior tri- 
bunals. 

Mr. Lawrence took no special interest in political affairs though 
he was a member of the Legislature from Exeter in 1831, and 
afterwards held the office of Bank Commissioner. In his later 
years, and before a regular Police Court was established in the 
town, he was the Justice before whom the complaints for criminal 
offences were usually brought. 

He was twice married and had three sons and several daughters. 
One of his sons, Alexander H. Lawrence, was a lawyer of emi- 
nence in Washington, I). C. 

Mr. Lawrence died in Exeter November 6, 1863. 

Stephen Peabody practised law about two years in Exeter, from 
1811 to 1813. He was a native of Milford, and after quitting 
Exeter returned there to live. He was a lawyer of excellent 
standing and a man highly respected. 



364 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Jeremiah Fellowes, born in Exeter May 1, 1791, and a son of 
Epliraim Fellowes, was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy 
and Bowdoin College, graduating at the age of nineteen. He Avas 
fonder of poetry than mathematics in college, or than Blackstone 
when he was a student at law afterwards. He went through the 
usual course of study in George Sullivan's office, and began 
practice in 1813. He still devoted much of his attention to liter- 
ature, and in 1824 published a volume of his metrical productions, 
entitled Reminiscences, 3foral Poem^ and Translations. Before 
he reached middle life, however, his mental powers lost their 
balance, and it became necessary for him to enter an asylum for 
the insane. He never recovered, but remained there till his death 
in 18G5. 

— George Lamson, who has already been referred to in the chapter 
on the Press, was a son of Gideon Lamson of Exeter, and was 
born in 1794. After a course of preparation at the academy in 
the town, he passed through Bowdoin College, and studied for the 
bar with George Sullivan. Though he opened a law office, he was 
apparently chiefly interested in the printing office. He became 
the publisher of The Exeter Watchman in 1819, and began the 
issue of law books. In 1823 he gave up his legal business and 
removed to New York city where he undertook the business of a 
bookseller, but with little success. He died there August 4, 1826. 
He has been described as " a good scholar, an insatiable reader, 
and a ready writer." He had many and warm friends who 
mourned his untimely death. 

William Smith opened his law office in Exeter in 1820. A son 
of Hon. Jeremiah Smith, he was born in P^xeter August 31, 1799, 
and graduated from Harvard College in 1817. He studied his 
profession with his father 

He was bright, able and popular. Brought up among the prin- 
cipal people in the place, and in the midst of abundance, he 
lacked but the spur of necessity to bring out his best powers and 
to enable him to take his stand among the very foremost. At the 
age of twenty-two his townsmen elected him to the State Legisla- 
ture, and returned him the two following years. He was appointed 
a colonel upon the staff of the governor, and received repeated 
invitations to deliver addresses before literary and other societies, 
which he accepted, and for which he received high encomiums. 

He developed a taste, also, which is not common among the 
young, for historical and antiquarian studies. The past of his 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 365 

native town he investigated witli special interest, and ransacked 
records, interrogated tlie old inhabitants, and gathered from all 
sonrces a large mass of historical information in reference to it. 
His purpose was to prepare and publish a history of Exeter, and 
it is unfortunate that he did not live to complete it. His labors 
in this direction, however, were not wasted. His father used the 
materials which he collected, for the foundation of the excellent 
bi-centennial address which he delivered in 1838 ; and the same 
memoranda have been of very great service to the present writer. 

Mr. Smith did enough in the law to show that he was capable 
of attaining eminence, ^ut he never realized the need of exertion, 
and never settled down to steady, hard work. He was generous 
and careless in regard to money, and in other ways was unbusi- 
nesslike, and caused anxiety to his friends. But he was always 
loved aud esteemed ; his foibles were regarded as venial, and a 
splendid future appeared to be before him. 

At this point his career was interrupted by failing health. In 
the spring of 1828 he had a severe attack of lung fever, which 
left him with a cough and other indications of pulmonary feeble- 
ness. He never recovered from it. The next season he did not 
rally, and he then determined to try the effect of a milder climate. 
He passed the winter of 1829-30 in Mississippi, among friends 
living there. But the hoped for relief never came. He died March 
29, 1830, unmarried. 

Another of f]xeter's brilliant 3'oung lawyers was Oliver W. B. 
Peabody, son of Judge Oliver Peabody, born July 9, 1799. He 
graduated from Harvard College in 1816, and from the Harvard 
Law School six years later, having been a teacher in the interim 
a part of the time. He was a diligent student, a thorough scholar 
and a well read lawyer, and his native abilities were of the first 
order. The highest expectations were naturally formed of his 
success in his profession. But he was formed for the pursuits of 
literature, and not for the contests of the forum. His commence- 
ment part at college was a poem. After he was admitted to the 
bar he was the editor of an Exeter newspaper, T/ie Jtockhigham 
Gazette. He wrote and delivered numerous addresses and poems 
on public occasions, one of which, a poem on the two hundredth 
anniversary of the settlement of New Hampshire, was specially 
admired. The last eight years of Mr. Peabody 's professional 
life, he was annually elected to the Legislature, where he made 
his mark as an accomplished scholar and law-maker. In 1830 he 



366 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

removed to Boston, Massachusetts, not with the design of prose- 
cuting his profession, so much as to find a wider field for the 
occupation of his pen. He assisted his brotlier-iu-law, Alexander 
H. Everett, in conducting Tke North American lievieiv, and for 
some time had the editorial charge of The Boston Daily Advertiser. 
In 1835 he was chosen a representative from Boston in the 
General Court, and received the next year the appointment of 
Register of Probate. He held the office six years, during which 
he found time for much literary work. Jefferson College, in 
Louisiana, then offered him the chair of English Literature. He 
accepted it for a short time, hoping that his health, which was 
delicate, might be benefited by a change to a milder climate. In 
this he was disappointed, and returned to the North and began the 
study of divinity with an eye to the Unitarian pulpit. He read 
with his brother William, who was a settled clergyman in Spring- 
field, Massachusetts. 

In 1845 he was installed over a society in Burlington, Vermont, 
where he spent the short residue of his life in the enjoyment of 
the love and honor of all who knew him. He died there Jul}' 5, 
1848. 

John Sullivan belonged to a family of lawyers. His father and 
grandfather were such, his brother and two of his own sons, to 
say nothing of his granduncle, also, and several of his descendants. 
They had some inherited qualities which fitted them for the 
profession, especially the power of addressing juries in a pecu- 
liarly persuasive and effective manner. The oratory of John 
Sullivan so much resembled that of his father, that Ichabod Bart- 
lett, who knew them both well, said that if he heard the voice of 
the former where he could not see him, he should think it was the 
father come back again. 

John Sullivan was educated in the Phillips Academy in Exeter, 
and read law with his father. He never lived elsewhere than in 
his native town. He was admitted to the bar about 1825, and 
soon had to measure himself with the promising young lawyers at 
that time living in the town. He was able and high spirited, and 
the competition did him good. In 1828 he was commissioned 
solicitor of the county, and thus gained an opportunity to show 
his capacity in the department of criminal law, which was always 
to his liking. The stately march of the precedents pleased his 
ear, and his habits of accuracy were gratified by the strict techni- 
calities. Moreover, his /or?e was the marshalling of evidence and 
presenting it to the jury in its most telling form. 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 3G7 

For ten years lie performed the duties of the solicitorship, and 
then received the appointment of Judge of Probate. That office 
he held for the same period of time, and then was commissioned 
Attorney General of the State, which he continued to be, by suc- 
cessive appointments, to the close of his life. 

Of this important office his administration was worthy of all 
praise. Diligent, faithful and accurate, he rarely made even the 
slightest mistake, and his uprightness and honor secured him from 
any suspicion of wrong or impropriety. He was singularly 
judicious in dealing with his cases. Instead of becoming by 
familiai'ity callous to the feelings and fate of the culprits brought 
under his official notice, he made broad distinctions between the 
hardened offenders and the unfortunate victims of folly or impru- 
dence, and treated the latter in a way creditable to his humanity. 
More than one offender who had fallen into bad company, but had 
not become vicious, have had reason to thank Attorney General 
Sullivan for saving them from the stigma and contamination of 
a long term of imprisonment, and for the opportunity to retrieve 
their past errors. 

Though by nature of a quick temper, he was courteous in his 
treatment of all men, unless he had reason to believe that some 
slight or unfairness was intended. Then his anger blazed up. 
But in the court-room, where forensic blows were given and taken 
fairly, he fought out his battles manfully, and bore no malice. • 
And when he was cut down by death, November 17, 1862, the 
unanimous verdict of the profession pronounced him a model 
attorney general. 

Another of the promising young lawyers of Exeter, who was 
taken away in his early prime, was Samuel T. Gilman, a son of 
Colonel Nathaniel Gilman, born May 7, 1801 ; died January 23, 
1835. He graduated from Harvard College at eighteen, with a 
high rank for scholarship, and after a year's service as Assistant 
in the Phillips Exeter Academy, pursued the study of the law 
under Jeremiah Smith, and began practice in his native village 
about 1823. His talents were superior, and he had the gift of 
popularity. He was elected representative to the State Legisla- 
ture, and appointed to deliver a Fourth of July address in Exeter ; 
and scarcely a young man of his generation gave promise of a 
brighter future. But the indications of pulmonary disease made 
their appearance, and though everything was done to arrest the 
fatal malady, it was all in vain. Before he reached the age 
of thirty-four his existence on earth was ended. 



3G8 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

For some five or six years Samuel D. Bell, afterwards Chief 
Justice of the Superior Court, lived in Exeter. He was invited 
there from Chester, where he first practised, by Judge Jeremiah 
Smith, who was pleased with the manner in which Mr. Bell, who 
was solicitor of the county, conducted the prosecution against the 
robbers of the old Exeter bank in 1828. The Judge was president 
of the bank, and offered Mr. Bell the post of cashier, upon the 
expectation, probably, that he would be able to combine with it a 
certain amount of the practice of the law. But that was undoubt- 
edly found not to be feasible, and after holding the office until 
about 1835, Mr. Bell removed from the town, for the purpose of 
pursuing his profession elsewhere. 

James Bell came to Exeter in 1831, from Gilmanton, Avhere 
he had originally begun practice, after having graduated from 
Bowdoin College, and studied his profession with his brother, 
Samuel D. Bell, and at the Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. 
He was thoroughly equipped for the position of a leading lawyer. 
Modest and unassuming by nature he never lost the perfect 
command of his powers, and contended for every right of his 
clients with the most pertinacious. His temper was under 
perfect control, and he treated all with the respect which their 
conduct allowed. He was quick in liis perceptions, but his logical 
faculties were never harried out of their sound, deliberate conclu- 
sions. His acquired were fully equal to his natural powers. By 
careful study and reflection he had made himself a master of the 
learning of his profession. Of the affairs of every day life, agri- 
culture, business, mechanics and trade, he had a competent 
knowledge that stood him in good stead in his varied professional 
engagements. He had thoroughly trained himself for the duties 
of his calling, and no surprise daunted him ; no exigenej' found 
him unprepared. Added to this he possessed a ready tact, to 
present always the equitable side of his cause, and had the weight 
of an upright private character, which never fails to tell, for 
counsel and client. 

Mr. Bell was not long in acquiring a wide and valuable 
practice. He accomplished his work rapidly, and was capable of 
much continuous application. Before the sessions of the courts 
he prepared his causes with care and system. There was then no 
rest for him until the " previous proclamation" at the end of the 
term. His engagements for several years embraced nearly every 
contested cause of importance on the dockets of his own county 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 3G9 

and many on those of other counties. After listening to the 
judge's charge to the jury in one trial, he packed up his papers, 
and moved across the bar to open the next cause to another jury ; 
and so on in a great proportion of the cases till the final 
adjournment of the court. 

Such work, tlaough he apparently went through it with ease, was 
of course wearing, and at length resulted in a disease that insid- 
iously sapped the foundations of his life. In 1846 he received the 
offer of the post of Agent of the Lake Manufacturing Company, 
which would be less confining in its duties, while it was much in 
the line of his profession. He accepted it and removed from 
Exeter to Gilford. 

In that year he had been elected a member of the Legislature 
from Exeter. In 1850 he was sent from his new home a delegate 
to revise the Constitution of the State. In 1853, and the two fol- 
lowing years, he was the candidate of his part}' for governor of 
the State, but his party was in the minority. But then came a 
change in the political complexion of the State, and in 1855 he 
was elected by the Legislature a senator of the United States for 
six years. He took his seat, but he felt that his days were num- 
bered. The disease that had long lurked in his system increased 
in violence, and he died at his home in Gilford May 26, 1857. 

He left daughters and sons, one of whom followed his father's 
profession. 

John Kelly did not come to live in Exeter until 1831, twent}'- 
three years after he had been admitted to the bar, and when his 
legal practice was substantially over. He was born in "Warner 
March 6, 1786, the son of the Rev. William Kell}', and received 
his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1804, He pur- 
sued his legal studies in the office of Jeremiah H. Woodman, and 
began practice in Henniker, but soon removed to Northwood. 
There he continued to reside and to attend to the business of his 
profession until his removal to Exeter, with the exception of the 
year 1814, which he spent in Concord in the editorial charge of 
Tlie Concord Gazette. From Northwood he was sent in 1826 and 
1827 a representative to the State Legislature. 

la 1831 Mr. Kelly received the appointment of Register of 
Probate, which necessitated his residence in Exeter. He held the 
office till 1842, at which time he was chosen treasurer of the 
Phillips Exeter Academy, and remained in that post up to the 
year 1855, In 1833 he became editor of The Exeter J^eivs Letter, 

24 



370 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

tifter the departure of its founder, Jolm S. Sleeper. Under his 
oversight the paper lost none of the valuable features imparted 
to it by its former conductor, but took on others derived from its 
new editor. A vein of pleasantry ran through its articles, which 
entertained the readers, and often enabled the writer to exert a 
useful influence on subjects where didactics would have repelled. 

But it was the historical and antiquarian information which, as 
has heretofore been stated, Mr. Kelly contributed to the columns of 
the paper that especially gave it a wider circulation and repute. 
His Collectanea have been mentioned in a former chapter. 

Mr. Kelly was an original member of the New Hampshire His- 
torical Society, and served as its recording secretary for a number 
of years. To the valuable historical Collections edited by Farmer 
and Moore he contributed a carefully prepared series of sketches 
of the early clergy of New Hampshire. After his removal to 
Exeter he was again chosen a representative in the Legislature in 
1845 ; in 1847 and 1848 a member of the P^xecutive Council ; and 
in 1850 a delegate to the convention to revise the State Constitu- 
tion. 

He married Susan Hilton " the belle of Northwood," a descend- 
ant of P^dward Hilton, and had several children ; among them 
one son, John P. P. Kelly, and a daughter, the wife of the late 
Joseph L. Cilley of Exeter. 

Timothy P\arrar, a son of a distinguished judge of the same 
name, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who had practised law in 
Portsmouth and Hanover, and had been a judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas for some years, came to Exeter in 183C, to take 
the office of cashier of the Iilxeter Bank, which he held till the 
expiration of its charter in 1844, when he removed to Boston 
which was ever after his home. 

Amos Tuck, a native of Parsonsfield, Maine, in 1810, and a 
graduate of Dartmouth College in 1835, came to P^xeter in 1838 
from Hampton where he had been teaching an academy and study- 
ing law. He entered the office of James Bell and completed his 
preparatory studies there, so that in December of the same year 
he was admitted to the bar, and became the partner of Mr. Bell. 
They remained together eight years, until the senior partner 
removed to Gilford. Their practice was extensive, and their trials 
of contested causes were particularly numerous and successful. 
Mr. Tuck was diligent, sagacious and faithful to the interest of 
clients, antl soon won the reputation of an able and trustworthy 
lawyer. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 371 

Though bred a democrat in politics, he early showed his disap- 
probation of the position of his party upon the slavery question, 
and was among the earliest, in company with John P. Hale, to 
t.ike his stand against it. He employed all his energies and in- 
fluence to strengthen the Free Soil party, which united in 1847 with 
the Whig party to elect him a representative in the Congress of the 
United States. He served there six years, with marked ability 
and credit. 

In 1847 he associated himself with the late William W. Stickuey 
in the practice of his profession. Their partnership, which com- 
manded a large and profitable business, continued about ten years. 
For two or three years, subsequently, he had for his partner in 
practice, his son-in-law, Francis O. French, now of New York 
city. 

In 1856 he was a member of the convention in Philadelphia 
which founded the Republican party, and served upon the commit- 
tee which reported its platform of principles ; and in 18(30 he was 
a delesate to the Chicago Convention which nominated Abraham 
Lincoln for the presidency. In 1861 he was appointed by the 
governor of the State to attend what was called the "Peace Con- 
vention," which attempted in vain to avert the threatened sec- 
tional conflict. In that body he reported the Declaration of the 
Northern members, of the concessions they were willing to make 
for the preservation of peace. 

J\Ir. Tnck was appointed by President Lincoln, with whom he 
had enjo3x^d an acquaintance while in Congress, naval officer of 
the port of Boston, a post of importance and value. This he held 
by a re-appointment until 1865 when he was removed by President 
Johnson. He was afterwards for some years employed by the 
Atlantic and Pacific railroad to take charge of the sales of lands 
of that corporation, and took up his residence for the time in 
St. Louis. He was, later, engaged in various enterprises, which 
carried him much away from Exeter, but gave him agreeable and 
gainful occupation. Twice also he visited Europe, and travelled 
there somcAvhat extensively. 

He was always much interested in the cause of education. For 
nearly thirty years he was a trustee of the Phillips Exeter Acad- 
emy, and for about ten years of Dartmouth College. When the 
town of Exeter received the noble donation of William Robinson 
for the foundation of a female seminary, Mr. Tuck took great 
interest in the shaping and location of the institution ; was the 



372 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

author of the constitutiou adopted by the towu, and a trustee, and 
the first president of the board. 

Mr. Tuck's life was an active and honorable one. His public 
career reflected much credit upon his ability and judgment. He 
had a high ambition, and Avas endowed with the qualities of a 
leader of men. His separation from his original party was based 
on grounds which were as creditable to his sense of right as to 
his political sagacity. His administration of the several positions 
of honor or trust that Avere conferred upon him was able and 
faithful. He was an astute man of business and accumulated a 
large estate, but was liberal in contributing to public objects and 
in private charity. 

He was twice married, and had by his first wife, the daughter 
of David Nudd of Hampton, three children who survived him : 
Mrs. Frye of Boston, Ellen, wife of Francis O. French, and 
Edward Tuck, both of New York city. 

Henry F. French lived in Exeter about eighteen years, from 
1841 to 18-j*J. He was a son of Daniel French, a lawyer in 
Chester, where he was born in 1813 ; and after an academic educa- 
tion, studied law with his father and at the Harvard Law School, 
and was admitted to practice in 1835. He was appointed solicitor 
of the county in 1838 and retained the oflice for ten years. In 
1848 he received the appointment of bank commissioner which he 
held for four years. In 1855 he was commissioned a judge of 
the State Court of Common Pleas, and remained upon that bench 
until the court was abolished in 1859. These several offices he 
filled with ability and credit and to the general satisfaction. 

He removed in 185i) to Massachusetts, where he was assistant 
district attorney for the county of Suffolk from 1862 to 1865, and 
then accepted the presidency of the Massachusetts Agricultural 
College, which he resigned after little more than a year's service, 
and returned to practice in Boston. In 187G he was appointed 
second assistant secretary of the United States Ireasury, and re- 
moved to Washington where he remained in the discharge of his 
duties until the accession of President Cleveland, when he retired 
to his farm in Concord, Massachusetts, and died there November 
29, 1885. 

Judge French was a ready, keen and thoroughly equipped 
lawyer. He had studied his profession diligently, and could bring- 
to the front his knowledge and his best powers at a moment's 
notice. His habits of business were methodical, and nothing was 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 373 

neglected. While he was upon the bench he never left any cases 
or questions at loose ends ; when the term was over the entire 
business, so far as he could control it,' was done. 

He was an agreeable companion, and kept on pleasant terms 
with all. He was also a man of marked public spirit. In Exeter 
he was interested in the streets and sidewalivs and school-houses, 
in the laying out of the new cemetery, in the planting of shade 
trees, and in all that pertained to the improvement and beautify- 
ing of the place. 

The judge was fond of husbandry, and read and wrote much on 
that subject. As the representative of an Agricultural Associa- 
tion he visited England to examine the improvements made by 
the great proprietors there in the cultivation of tlieir lands, and 
after his return he published a volume on Farm Drainage. 

Though the greater part of his active life was passed away from 
Exeter, he retained many warm friends thei*e who were interested 
in his welfare and mourned his loss. 

John S. AVells passed in Exeter the last fourteen years of his 
life. He was born in Durham in 1803, and was a grandnephew 
of General John Sullivan of the Revolution. In his 3'outh he 
learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, but by his own exertions 
obtained an education and prepared himself for hif? profession. 
His fu'st practice was in Guildhall, Vermont, from which place he 
removed after about eight years to Lancaster, New Hampshire, 
where he acquired a large practice, and held the office of county 
solicitor during two terms. He was also elected to the Legislature 
from Lancaster three years, the last of which he was chosen 
Speaker of the House. 

He came to Exeter in 1846. The recent departure of James 
Bell from the county made an excellent opening in the toAvu for a 
leading lawyer, and his political opinions also helped him to 
clients. In a very little while his docket became a large one, and 
his time was fully employed. In 1847 he received the appoint- 
ment of attornej'^ general, but he probably felt that he could not 
afford to surrender his private practice for the office. In 1851 he 
was elected to a seat in the State Senate, and was re-elected the 
following year. He presided over that body both years. In Jan- 
uary, 1855, he was appointed by the governor a senator of the 
United States to fill out the unexpired term of Moses Norris, and 
held his seat until the succeeding fourth of March. Two years 
before, he had been a candidate before the Legislature for the same 



374 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

honor, but missed it by a few votes. In 1856 and 1857 he was the 
candidate of his party for governor of the State, but the political 
revolution of 1854 left him in the minority. 

Mr. Wells was highly successful in his profession. He was 
a keen business man, and believed that the laborer is worthy of 
his hire. 

Though not what would be called particularly studious in his 
habits, yet he had a considerable library, and consulted it not a 
little in his business. His legal learning was more than respect- 
able, and he was capable of a good deal of continuous work. But 
he was fonder of trials at nisi prius than of any other professional 
employment, for there his peculiar qualities were at their best. 
He had a hue person, and a winning address. His voice was like 
that of his kindred Sullivans, sweet and well modulated. He had 
fluency of speech, and a knowledge of the weaknesses of human 
nature, which enabled him to address himself to the vulnerable 
side of the jury with much effect. 

His domestic life was a chief source of enjoyment to him. He 
married early, and was the father of five children, three of Avhoni 
outlived him. He was a fond parent, and felt the deepest interest 
in the welfare and happiness of his family. He died in Exeter of 
a lingering disease August 1, 1860. 

William W. Stickney removed to P^xeter from Newmarket in 
1847. He was no stranger, as he had practised law in the count}' 
for near twenty years before. He was born in Enfield, graduated 
from Dartmouth College in 1823, and was admitted an attorney 
three j'ears afterwards. Before he came to Exeter he had been 
three years a member of the State Legislature, and was again 
elected one year from Exeter. In 1S4U he was appointed United 
States attorney for the district of New Hampshire, and served 
until the coming in of President Pierce. In 1857 he was made 
judge of probate for the county, and performed the duties of that 
office with entire acceptance until he reached the constitutional 
limit of seventy years of age. He was also for many years a 
director of the Granite State Bank and of the Manchester aud 
Lawrence Railroad, and president of the Exeter Machine Works. 
Judge Stickney's qualities were rather solid than brilliant. He 
was a diligent, methodical, careful practitioner, who neglected no 
business entrusted to him. In the course of his long professional 
life, he is said to have missed attending but a single term of the 
courts, and that was by reason of illness. His reputation for 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 375 

integrity was never qnestioned, and he had the confidence and 
respect of all. His preparation of his causes for trial was most 
thorough, and he argued them to the jury and to the court with 
earnestness and force. His example can be cited to young men 
entering upon the legal profession as in all respects worthy of 
imitation. 

He died March 19, 1888, at the advanced age of eighty-six 
years. 

Alva Wood was a native of Georgetown, Massachusetts, and 
Avas born August 18, 1821. He received his education in the 
schools of that place and at Pembroke Academy. His law studies 
he pursued in the olfice of Bell and Tuck in Exeter, was admitted 
to practice about 1847, and immediately opened his office in the 
town. He had the art of making acquaintances easily, and soon 
became known as an active, Avorking lawyer. His business in- 
creased as time went on, until few of the practitioners in the 
county could show so heav}' a docket as his. He was persistent 
and spared no pains to cai'ry out his plans, and succeeded in some 
instances where a less determined person would have failed. He 
was liberal in his practice, and by his uniform good nature and 
obliging disposition preserved friendly relations with all, even 
those who represented the most adverse interests. The legal pro- 
fession was to him at once his occupation and his pride, and he 
valued his successes in it above all else. Politics he cared little 
for in comparison, though he maintained his fealty to his party. 

For a year before his death his powers had obviously been 
failing, but it was not generally suspected that he was near his 
end, so that the news of his sudden decease February 17, 1878, 
was a great shock to his townsmen and friends. Enemies he had 
few or none, for he never allowed the friction of forensic contests 
to rouse any permanent ill feeling in his breast. His wife was a 
daughter of John C. Gerrish, and she, with a son and two 
daughters, survived him. 

The life of George C. Peave}^ several years of which were 
passed in Fxeter, was a remarkable one. An injury to his spine, 
caused by an accident, resulted in almost total inability to walk, 
and such sensitiveness of his eyes to the light, that he was practi- 
cally almost blind. He was compelled to pass most of his time 
in a reclining position, with a bandage over his eyes. Most men 
would have despaired of performing any business under such cir- 
cumstances. Not so he. He had studied law, and he entered 



376 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

vioorously into practice. He found somebody to read to him and 
to write for him. He lay upon his lounge in the office and in 
court, but he could talk, and he had the command of all needed 
faculties. 

After remaining ten j^ears or upwards in Exeter he went to 
Strafford, was married to a devoted wife, who was not only eyes 
but hands and feet to him ever afterwards. With her aid he 
carried on not only a large law practice, but four country stores 
besides, and extensive dealings in lumber. .Nearly twenty years 
afterwards some favorable features in his malady encouraged him 
again to remove to Exeter, but he found that he could not con- 
tinue there without a recurrence of his worst symptoms, and he 
returned to Strafford, where he died May 5, 1876, at the age of 
sixty-one years. 

Other names, besides those mentioned, are found upon the roll 
of practitioners of the law in Exeter. Joseph Boll purposed 
making the place his home and staid there a short time in 1812 
before he began his successful career in Haverhill. Thomas Rice 
appears to have been there in 1817 and Abram Smith in 1829, 
but of them we learn nothing. Gilman Marston came in 1840, 
and a brief sketch of him will be found in the chapter on the War 
for the Union. David A. Gregg, who had practised in Derry, 
came to Exeter in 1842, to take the office of Register of Probate. 
He died in Derry in 1866. Melburn F. Eldridge had an office in 
the town two or three years between 1840 and 1850, and then took 
his departure, it is believed, to Nashua. E. Frank Tucke, a 
native of Kensington, a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1843, 
and a man of many winning qualities, began business in the place 
about three years afterwards, but died in 1857 at the early age of 
thirty-five years. J. Hamilton Shapley, a native of Portsmouth 
and for a number of years a lawyer there, filled the offices of Reg- 
ister of Deeds and Register of Probate, in Exeter, and continued 
in practice there for a time, but has now retired from the active 
pursuit of his profession. Nathaniel Gordon, a native of the 
town and a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1842, practised law 
for a number of years after 1850, and then quitted it for wliat he 
found to be more profitable occupation. Horace C. Bacon studied 
law with John S. Wells and was his partner from about 1852 to 
1856, and then removed to Epping and afterwards to Lawrence, 
Massachusetts. Nathaniel G. Perry, a native of the town and a 
graduate of Harvard College, had barely entered into practice 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 377 

when a disease of the lungs cut short his career. Charles H. Bell 
came to the place from Somersworth in 1854, and practised law 
about fourteen years, ten of Avhich he was solicitor of the county, 
and then retired. John "W. Clark kept an office in Exeter from 
about 1857 to 1868, and went to Washington, D. C, to accept a 
position in one of the departments. Moses N. Collins has already 
been noticed in one of the military chapters. Samuel H. Stevens, 
who had practised law in Bristol, became cashier of the Granite 
State Bank in Exeter in 1856, and remained a few years, but 
afterwards fixed his residence in Concord, where he died in 1876. 
Samuel M. AVilcox, a former practitioner in Orford and in Fran- 
cestown, entered into partnership with John S. Wells about 1859, 
and after his decease continued in practice in the town a few 
years, and then removed to Washington, D. C. Francis O. 
French was a partner of Amos Tuck two or three years after 1860, 
and then became a banker, first in Boston and afterwards in New 
York. Benjamin F. Ayer removed from Chicago, Illinois, to 
Exeter in 1862, but after a brief stay returned again. Ilendrick 
D. Batchelder practised law in the town a few years about 1860, 
and then went to Poughkeepsie, New York. John J. Bell, who 
had resided in Maine, came to Exeter about 1865, and after prac- 
tising his profession al)out ten j^ears and accepting the office of 
Judge of the Police Court, retired. Andrew Wiggin opened an 
office in the town about 1865 and after a few years removed to 
Boston. Joseph F. Wiggin, a native of Exeter, entered practice 
between 1860 and 1870, and for a few years held the office of 
Judge of Probate. For some time past he has had an office in 
Boston, but retained a connection with some lawyer in Exeter. 
S. Dana Wiugate was admitted an attorney about 1867, and did a 
considerable probate and pension business, but died shortl}^ after. 
Charles U. Bell began practice in Exeter about 1868, and after 
about five years went to Lawrence, Massachusetts. B. Marvin 
Fernald was a partner of Joseph F. Wiggin for a time, and is 
now in Boston. P. Webster Locke, L. G. Hoyt and Fred S. 
Hatch each passed from one to three or four years in Exeter, and 
have gone elsewhere. 

The present lawyers in practice in the town are Gilman Marston, 
J. Warren Towle, Thomas Leavitt, Albert C. Buzell, Edwin G. 
Eastman, Charles H. Knight, Arthur 0. Fuller, Henry A. Shute 
and E. W. Ford. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MEDICAL MEN. ' 

The number of physicians of education in the country two cen- 
turies ago was very small. Exeter had none that we know of. 
Walter Barefoote, so far as is recollected, was the only one in the 
province. But it is not to be supposed that there was an entire 
absence of practitioners of the healing art. There were always 
those who had a certain skill in nursing and administering to the 
relief of the sick, even if they did not claim the ambitious title of 
doctors. Barbers practised venesection. Clergymen frequently 
studied medicine in addition to divinity, as did Dr. John Phillips, 
that they might minister to bodies as well as to minds diseased. 

But it was not until one-quarter of the seventeenth century had 
passed, that a regular physician was established in Exeter. It 
was, perhaps, an era in the history of the town. The doctor was 
a man of consequence in the early times, second only to the jnin- 
ister. His dress indicated the importance of his profession. His 
cocked hat and full bottomed wig and his indispensable cane were 
awe-inspiring, to say nothing of his saddle bags stuffed with strange 
and nauseating medicaments which he dispensed with profusion to 
his patients. 

The mistakes of the early doctors, if they made any, in prescrib- 
ing internal remedies, are long buried out of remembrance. But 
some accounts of the manner of their treatment of external in- 
juries have been preserved. One of those worthies is said to have 
replaced and bound on, vpside doion^ a toe which had been cut 
from a patient's foot, and it grew so. Another put bandages 
around the hands of a child which had been badly burned, confin- 
ing the fingers together, so that they adhered to each other and 
could not be separated. 

Exeter's first physician, so far as can be discovered, was Dr. 
Thomas Deane. He was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born 
November 23, 1694, and a son of Thomas Deane. The family 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 379 

moved to Hampton while the son was a young man, and this, per- 
haps, led him to Exeter. There in 1718 he married Deborah, 
daughter of the Eev. John Clark, and afterwards made his home. 
Where and to what extent he prepared himself for his profession 
is not known, but he began practice, without doubt, no long time 
after his marriage. He lived in Exeter till his death in 1768. He 
was once or twice chosen to the office of selectman, but his pref- 
erence seemed to be for military position. He was a captain and 
afterwards major in the militia, and upon the books of the town, 
where every man's rank was scrupulously given him, his profes- 
sional was usually supplanted by his military title. 

Dr. Deane was one of the proprietors of the town of Gilmanton 
and took an active part in building up the second church and parish 
in Exeter, which is the more noticeable as his wife was a step- 
dauo-hter of the Rev. John Odlin, the miuister of the old parish. 
No evidence of his professional skill has come down to us, but he 
was not without books. One which belonged to him — The Art 
of Chiruryeri] — is still preserved, in the possession of John Ward 
Dean of Boston, a descendant. 

Dr. Deane is said to have lived on the east side of the river in 
a house next to that afterwards occupied by Dr. Nathaniel Peabody . 
He had three wives and eleven children. 

We learn from the diary of the Rev. Nicholas Oilman that on 
returning from Cambridge to Exeter greatly indisposed, July 10, 
1725, he "applied himself" to Dr. Sargent. It is not known that 
this was an Exeter practitioner. It is probable that he was of 
Hampton or Salisbury, Massachusetts, where there were families 
of tlie name. 

The next Exeter physician in the order of time, so far as has 
been ascertained, was Dr. Josiah C4ilman, a son of Judge Nicholas 
Oilman. He was born in Exeter Eebruary 25, 1710, and died 
January 1, 1703. In 1731 he married Abigail, daughter of 
Captain Eliphalet Coffin. Where he studied his profession we do 
not know ; quite probably, however, with Dr. Deane. Dr. Oilman 
was a medical practitioner in the town for probably half a century, 
and seems to have satisfied the people. In that time he saw 
several competitors enter the field, but apparently they did not 
crowd him out. 

He was a man of considerable education, with good business 
capacity. He subscribed for a copy of Prince's Chronology, 
shortly after reaching his majority, and was clerk of the Pro- 



380 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

prietors of Gilmantou more than thirty years, as well as the 
draftsman of a plan of that town. He was the father of ten 
children. 

Dudley Odlin was born September 22, 1711, a son of the Rev. 
John Odlin of Exeter. He was a practitioner of medicine, and so 
far as is known, was never married. He built the large gambrel 
roofed house on Front street, afterwards occupied by Colonel 
Nathaniel Gilman. He died at the age of thirty-six, and by his 
will gave the house to his nephew Dr. John;Odlin. 

Robert Gilman was a son of Colonel John, and a brother of 
Brigadier Peter Gilman. He was born June 2, 1710, and was 
bred a physician. His wife, by whom he had three children, was 
Priscilla Bartlett. The most that can be learned of Dr. Robert 
Gilman is that he volunteered to go as a surgeon in the expedition 
against Louisburg in 1745, and was wounded in the leg by a 
piece of shell, on account of which the Assembly of the province 
made him an allowance. His wife had died in 1743, and it is 
probable that he did not survive his injurj^ many j'ears. 

Dr. Eliphalet Hale appears to be the next Exeter physician in 
chronological order. He was a son of Nathan Hale of Newbury, 
Massachusetts, where he was born in 1714. He was in practice 
in Exeter before 1750, and died at the age of fifty years. His 
first wife was Elizabeth Jackson, and his son Eliphalet was for a 
time a manufacturer of paper at the mill in Exeter. His second 
wife was a daughter of Colonel John Dennet, and after her 
husband's death she married Dr. John Phillips. 

John Giddinge was a native of E^xeter, born September 11, 
1728, and a son of Zebulon Giddinge. He became a physician, 
and was also engaged in mercantile business. At the age of 
twenty-three he married Mehetabel, eldest daughter of Brigadier 
Peter Gilman. Dr. Giddinge was a man of prominence. He Avas 
elected selectman several years, and a representative just before 
and during the early years of the Revolution. He commanded a 
company of those who marched from Exeter to Portsmouth to 
support, if necessary, the party of General Sullivan and Langdon 
in the raid upon Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth harbor, in 
December, 1774, and was one of the most active and trusted sup- 
porters of the patriotic cause in the Legislature. In 1775 he was 
nominated for the important appointment of delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress, but modestly withdrew his name. His death 
occurred, it is believed, about the year 1785. 



HISTORY OF EXP:TEII. 381 

John Oclliu was a son of the Rev. Elisha Odlin, and was born 
in Exeter September 4, 1732. He studied medicine, very proba- 
bly, witli his inicle. Dr. Dudley Odlin, and practised for above 
twenty years in Exeter. He married Mary, daughter of Joshua 
Wilson, and had three children. In 1782 he sold his house in 
Exeter and removed to Concord where he lived afterwards. 

Nathaniel Oilman was a son of Colonel Daniel Oilman and 
was born in Exeter about the year 1740, He was a practising 
physician. His wife was a Treadwell of Portsmouth. They had 
three children, one of whom, Nathaniel Waldron Oilman, was a 
merchant in the town, and died in 1854. Dr. Oilman was in 
practice before the Revolution and probably died about 1782. 

Caleb O. Adams was born in Exeter January 8, 1752. He 
became a physician, and practised in the town. He married, 
December 8, 1774, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Folsom of Ports- 
mouth, and granddaughter of Oeneral Nathaniel Folsom of Exe- 
ter. In 1775 he was appointed surgeon of Colonel Enoch Poor's 
third New Hampshire regiment, but did not remain in the service 
beyond that year. He died probably in 1783, leaving a widow 
and two children. His widow married Oovernor John T. Oilman. 
John Lamson was a native of Exeter, and born about 1736. 
He received a medical education, and was at the age of twenty- 
one appointed surgeon's mate in the New Hampshire regiment 
raised for actual service under the command of Colonel Nathaniel 
Meserve. Two hundred men of the regiment were ordered to 
Fort William Henry at Lake George, under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Ooffe, and Dr. Lamson accompanied them. 
His adventures after the surrender of the garrison to Montcalm, 
have been described on page 236 of this history. After his return 
home, though he served in another military expedition, he spent 
most of the residue of his life in the practice of medicine and 
surgery in Exeter. He died in November, 1774. 

It seems that during his captivity in Canada he manifested 
qualities that won the regard of the savages among whom he lived. 
The year after his decease a party of them visited Exeter and 
made inquiry for him, supposing he was still living. On being 
informed of his death, they all sat down and maintained profound 
silence for a season, that being their mode of manifesting their 
respect and sorrow for the departed. 

Dr. Joseph Tilton was born at Hampton Falls September 26, 
1744. He received his early education in the town schools there. 



382 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

and it was necessarily somewhat scanty. At sixteen years of age 
he began the study of medicine and surgery with Dr. Ammi R. 
Cutter of Portsmouth, a physician of note, and remained with liim 
for five years. Being then fitted to commence practice he married 
the daughter of John Sliaclvford of Portsmouth, and in 1767 
settled in P^xeter. There were then three other physicians in the 
place, and the opening was not a promising one. But he perse- 
vered, and as the fashion of the time was, opened an apothecary's 
shop, and offered his services as a physician and surgeon. His 
industry and fidelity were in a few years rewarded by a good share 
of practice, which extended into no less than thirteen towns, and 
was exceedingly laborious, as he had no means of travelling except 
on horseback. 

During the Revolutionary War he was absent from home as the 
surgeon of a privateer for one or two cruises. With this excep- 
tion he continued his practice in Elxeter for above sixty years. 
In early life his constitution was slender, but he strengthened it 
by his active habits, his temperance in eating and abstinence from 
ardent spirits, so that in his later years he enjoyed uninterrupted 
health. 

He lived for sixty-eight years in the house still standing on the 
north side of Water street, nearly opposite the foot of Spring 
street, and died in January, 183<S. He left no male descendants. 

Dr. Samuel Tenney was a native of Byfield, Massachusetts, 
born November 27, 1748. He was educated under Master Moody 
at Dummer Academy, and at Harvard College, in the class of 
1772. He studied medicine with Dr. Kittredge of Andover. He 
came to Exeter early in 1775 to settle, but on the breaking out 
of the Revolution determined to enter the army. He mounted his 
horse and rode to the vicinity of Boston, arriving just in season 
to assist in relieving the wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He served through the war as surgeon ; one year as assistant to 
Dr. Eustis in a Massachusetts regiment, and afterwards in the 
Rhode Island line. He was present at the surrender of Burgoyne 
and of Cornwallis. He volunteered for the defence of Red Bank 
on the Delaware, himself using a musket in emergency ; and dressed 
the wounds of Count Donop who was mortally hurt in the assault 
upon that work. The Count delivered to him his pocket-book for 
safe keeping, — remarking that he looked like an honest man. 

At the close of the war Dr. Tenney returned to Exeter where 
he married and resided for the residue of his life, though he did 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 383 

not resume professional practice. The tradition is that he liad 
some trouble about a case of dislocation of the shoulder which he 
undertook to reduce, and abandoned the profession in disgust. 

He was fond of scientific studies, and had a strong inclination 
towards political life. He was a member of the convention for 
forming the Constitution of New Hampshire in 1791 ; in 1793 he 
received the appointment of Judge of Probate for Rockingham 
county, which he held until 1800 w4ien he was elected a member 
of Congress. He served there for three terms. His death 
occurred in 1816. 

Dr. Tenney was a member of several literary, historical and 
scientific societies and contributed articles to their publications. 
For the American Academy of Arts and Sciences he wrote an 
accouut of the mineral waters of Saratoga, and a theory of pris- 
matic colors ; for the Massachusetts Historical Society a historical 
and topographical account of P^xeter, and a notice of the dark 
day. May 19, 1780 ; and for the Massachusetts Agricultural Society 
a much approved treatise on orcharding. He also prepared valu- 
able political essays for the newspapers, particularly in favor of 
the Federal Constitution, in 1788. 

He was a man of fine presence, and of much dignity. His 
domestic and social relations were of the happiest character. He 
was universally esteemed and respected, and in his death, his 
townsmen felt that they had met with no ordinary loss. 

Dr. Tenney's wife was Tabitha, daughter of Samuel Gilman, 
a highly accomplished lady. She was the author of two or more 
published works, the chief of which was Female Quixotism which 
had much popularity in its time, and went through several editions. 
Dr. Nathaniel Peabody was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, 
March 1, 1741. He never attended school a da}^ but derived his 
early education from his father who was an eminent physician. 
He studied and practised medicine with him from twelve to eighteen 
years of age and till his father's death. When he was twenty he 
settled in Plaistow, now Atkinson, and obtained an extensive 
practice as a physician. At thirty years of age he was connnis- 
sioned by the royal governor, a justice of the peace and quorum. 
In 1774 he was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the militia. He 
espoused with ardor the cause of his country^, and took part in the 
raid upon Fort William and Mary in Portsmouth harbor in 
December of that year. 



384 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

In the earlier years of the Eevolutioii he was a leading member 
of the Legislature, and of the Committee of Safety. In 1778 he 
was appointed adjutant general of the militia of the State, and 
served as such that year in Rhode Island. In 1779 he was elected 
a delegate to the Continental Congress. After his return home he 
was for several years a member of the State Legislature, and 
major general of the militia. 

He was one of the chief founders of the New Hampshire Medical 
Society, and received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree 
of Master of Arts. Doctor or, as he was commonly styled, General 
Peabody was fond of display, and probably injured his property 
by indulging in it, and in the later years of his life his affairs 
became deranged, and he was arrested by his creditors for debt, 
and committed to jail in Exeter. Thus it happened that he became 
a resident of the town for about twenty years. He enjoyed the 
privilege of the prison limits, and was not actually confined, but 
lived in a house on the eastern side of the river, not far from the 
Great bridge. But he was restricted to certain bounds, which he 
could not pass without involving his sureties in heavy liabilit}'. 
The limits, however, allowed him the freedom of the greater part 
of the village. 

He continued to practise his profession, to some extent, through 
life, and was esteemed a physician of skill and learning. 

Dr. Peabody in his best days had the confidence and respect 
of the prominent men among whom he moved. But pecuniary 
embarrassments exposed him to the charge of dishonorable deal- 
ino;s, and his manners were not such as to render him an agreeable 
companion. He was cynical in his notions, and having himself 
great powers of endurance, he had little patience with others who 
complained. He had probably acquired the rough habits and 
expressions of the camp, also, and employed them without much 
discrimination. He is said to have been a man of wit, and to 
have had his softer side ; but, apparently, he did not often present 
it to others. 

He was undoubtedly a man of much ability, and if he had paid 
less attention to public aft'airs and more to his own, might have 
acquired fortune and a life of ease. His patriotism and services 
for his country entitle him to our gratitude, and his foibles may 
well be consigned to oblivion. He died in Exeter, June 27, 1823. 

William Parker, Jr., is supposed to have been a son of Judge 
William Parker of Exeter, and was born near the middle of the 



HISTORY OF P:XETER. 38o 

last centur}'. Little is learned of his early history, but hg was in 
November, 1776, sufficiently versed in the knowledge of his pro- 
fession to be considered worthy of the responsible appointment of 
surgeon in the second regiment of the New Hampsliire line in the 
Revolutionary army. He served through the following year, and 
was at Ticonderoga when that post was evacuated upon being 
invested by General Burgoyne, and at the affair of Hubbardton, 
where his regiment lost so heavily. His service in the field ended 
apparently with that campaign. He then resumed his medical 
practice in Exeter. He must have been a physician of some 
standing, for he was called to prescribe for a lady visiting in the 
family of Benjamin Abbot, the principal of the academy, about 
1796, the lady being very ill with an unknown disease. It proved 
to be the yellow fever. Dr. Parker contracted it from his patient 
and died of it. 

Nathan North came to Exeter to practise medicine in the latter 
part of the last century, and remained about twenty years. He is 
represented as a man of sense and ability, with a competent 
knowledge of his profession, and became the attending physician 
of the principal families of the town. But he Avas not proof 
against the pi-evailiug convivial fashions of the time, and at length 
fell into habits of inebriety, which, of course, seriously interfered 
with his practice. In the year 1815 Dr. North removed from the 
town, and is said to have abandoned his pernicious habits, and 
maintained a high standing in his profession afterwards. 

William Perry was a sou of Nathan Perry of Norton, Massa- 
chusetts, and was born December 20, 1788. He prepared himself 
for college in part at an academy, of which his brother Gardner 
was then principal, at Ballstou, New York, and entered Union 
College, but at the close of his freshman year migrated to Harvard 
College, where he took his degree in 1811. While an undergrad- 
uate, in 1808 he made a trip down the Hudson river in Fulton's 
first steamboat, the "Clermont." He studied medicine with Dr. 
James Thacher of Plymouth, and afterwards in Boston under the 
instruction of Drs. John Gorham and John Warren. By the 
latter he was recommended to a few gentlemen of Exeter who had 
applied to him to advise them of some promising young physician 
to settle in the town. He accordingly opened his office there in 
1814. His progress at first was obstructed by the resident medical 
men who were naturally jealous of a young competitor ; but before 
long his professional learning and correct habits with his industry 

25 



:]S6 HISTORY OF EXETEH. 

and ability opened his way to a wide practice, which he retained 
even to old age. It reached to the remotest parts of the county 
and sometimes beyond it. It was, of course, very laborious, and 
not what would in these times be called lucrative. But it was 
sufficient for his needs, and enabled him to live as he desired, to 
educate his family, and to realize a handsome competency. 

Dr. Perry was of an inquiring and inventive bent ; and was not 
content to follow outgrown methods. He contrived new appli- 
ances for the treatment of injuries, and devised new remedies for 
disease, and gained much reputation thereby. He was one of the 
earliest of the medical men of the State to agitate the project of 
establishing an Asylum for the Insane, which has since been 
accomplished in so admirable a manner. In 1835, after delivering 
a course of lectures before the students of the Bowdoin Medical 
College, he was offered a professorship there, but declined it. 

An account of his enterprise in the manufacture of potato starch, 
has already been given in a former chapter. 

For much more than half a century Dr. Perry was the principal 
physician and surgeon, not only in the town, but in the section. 
In all difficult cases which arose in the neighboring places, he was 
the natural consulting authority. In surgical operations, espe- 
cially, his experience was large, and his opinion was of the greatest 
weight. He was often called into court, to give testimony as an 
expert in important causes. He was decided in his opinions, but 
he based them on authorities and the soundest reasoning. Cross 
examination never shook his testimony, but rather brought out 
fresh support for his views. 

He was a conscientious and positive man. He strove always to 
discern the right course, and then pursued it unswervingly. He 
tolerated no temporizing, and still less an^'thiug approaching to a 
compromise of principle. People always knew where to find him. 
He was sometimes involved in differences with others, but he 
marched straight on, and in the end won the respect of even his 
antagonists, for his honesty and uprightness. He lived to the age 
of ninety-six years. 

An old age like Dr. Perry's was something to be desired. Free 
from nearly all the infirmities incident to advanced life, his mem- 
ory and judgment for the most part unclouded, in the midst of 
relatives and friends, and of a community who valued and 
respected him, he passed his later years in serenity and peace. 
He was gratified by the respect and consideration everywhere 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 387 

shown him. At the last two presidential elections his fellow citi- 
zens of the town with one accord refrained from voting, nntil he 
cast the first ballot. On his later birthdays his old patients and 
friends called on him to wish him health and happiness, and to 
present him tokens of their love and good will. And when his 
long life was brought to a close, the community, as one man, sin- 
cerely mourned the loss of him who had so long been a faithful 
and valued leading character in the town. 

David ^Y. Gorham was a son of Nathaniel Gorham, Jr., and 
was born in Cauandaigua, New York, in the year 1800. He 
obtained his education at the Phillips Exeter Academy and at 
Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1821. He chose the 
profession of medicine, and established himself in practice in Exe- 
ter, and there remained until his death in 1873. He was a careful 
and reliable physician, and acquired an extensive practice, and few 
medical men commanded the confidence of their patients more com- 
pletely than he. He was an excellent man of business, liberal, but 
exact, and the impersonation of promptness. In 1844, on the 
decease of Dr. Abbot, he was chosen a trustee of the Phillips Exeter 
Academy, and continued in the discharge of the duties to the time 
of his decease. His services in that capacity were of the highest 
value. He was assiduous in looking after the interests of the 
institution, in ever}^ ^^'^J- His accurate business habits and sound 
judgment were alwaj^s a source of strength to the management. 
When the old academy building was burned in 1871, it was 
largely through his exertions and influence that it was replaced by 
the present beautiful and appropriate structure. 

He was one of the most important members and a principal sup- 
porter of the Unitarian Society. He served annually as one of the 
executive committee, and voluntarily took upon himself the unde- 
sirable duties of treasurer and collector. His uniform patience, 
good temper and excellent system enabled him to keep the finan- 
cial affairs of the society in a sound condition, and thus a chief 
source of variance and difficulty was avoided. The minister's 
salary was never a daj^ in arrear, during his term of office. His 
death was a heavy blow to the institutions to which he had been 
so helpful, and a serious loss to the community, where he was 
highly esteemed. Dr. Gorham married early in his professional 
life, Elizabeth P., daughter of Dr. Benjamin Abbot. He survived 
her death only about two months. Of their three children, two 
outlived him. Dr. William H. Gorham, who divides his time 



388 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

between Exeter and Boston, and Mary, wife of George C. Sawyer 
of Utica, New York. 

Sanuiel B. Swett was a native of Boston, a son of Colonel 
Samuel and grandson of Dr. John Barnard Swett of Newbnryport, 
Massachusetts, a distiuguislied physician. He obtained his med- 
ical education in New York and Paris, and came to Exeter about 
1840. He had a large practice in that and the adjoining towns 
for upwards of twent}^ years, and then removed to Jamaica Plain, 
Massachusetts, where he still resides. , 

Wdliam G. Perry, a son of Dr. William Perry, graduated from 
Dartmouth College in 1842 and after completing his medical 
course in this country, studied a year in P'rance. He has been in 
practice in the town since about the year 1846. 

In addition to the medical practitioners named, there have been 
many others who lived for longer or shorter periods in the town. 
Dr. Josiah Rollins, a native of Exeter, appears to have practised 
between 1750 and 1778. Dr. Selah Gridley was a resident of the 
town for some years before his death in 1826, though it is believed 
that he did little in his profession. Dr. Thomas O. Folsom, a 
native of the place, died in 1827, shortly after he received his 
degree of M. D. Dr. Abraham D. Dearborn, a son of Freese 
Dearborn, practised in the town a few years about the j^ear 1840, 
as did also Dr. Thomas Flanders and Dr. Blodgett. Dr. Charles 
Warren passed more or less time in Exeter for a number of years, 
attending to patients. Dr. George W. Gale had at one time a 
considerable practice. Dr. Franklin Lane, a son of Joel Lane, 
began his medical life in Exeter, and at tlie same time was editor 
of The Exeter News Letter. He afterwards removed to Baltimore, 
Maryland, where he still lives. 

Dr. George G. Odiorne, also a native of the town, commenced 
practice there, but afterwards went to the West. Dr. Ezra 
Bartlett was a number of years a practitioner in the town, and 
removed to Taunton, Massachusetts, where he now is. Dr. E. P. 
Cummings established himself in the town as a homoeopath, a little 
time prior to the war, and then was employed in the naval service, 
and died in Newbnryport, Massachusetts. Dr. Samuel Perham 
for some years passed a great part of his time in Exeter in 
treating certain classes of disease. Dr. Albert Carroll practised 
a few years in the place, but is now deceased. Dr. Charles C. 
Odlin, a son of Joseph Odlin, was born in the town, and pursued 
his profession there for several years with success, and is now 
located in Melrose, Massachusetts. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 389 

Dr. Joseph ]M. Patch was oue of the earliest medical men in 
Exeter to give his chief attention to dentistry which lie did from 
1838 to 1849. Dr. William L. Johnson afterwards practised as a 
dentist for something near twent}' years, in the town, and then 
removed to Boston. He was succeeded in that branch of the pro- 
fession by Drs. W. D. Vinal, Mark W. Pray, Charles H. Gerrish, 
J. E. S. Pray and A. T. Severance. The last three are still in 
practice. 

The physicians now in general practice in Exeter are Drs. 
William G. Perry, Robert Mason, Lafayette Chesley, Edward 
Otis, A. H. Varney, Walter Tuttle and W. B. Mack. 



CHAPTER XX. 

FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS. 

There are several Exeter families which settled early iu the 
town, and are still represented there by descendants. Some of 
them have been more numerous, and some more conspicuous than 
others. A part of them have already been referred to in these 
pages, and others will hereafter be. The limited extent of the 
work forbids extended notices of many individuals. 

The Dudley family iu the town dates from 1650. The Rev. 
Samuel Dudley had no less than eighteen sons and daughters, 
most of whom lived to be married. They became connected with 
the Hiltons, the Gilmans, the Leavitts, the Lyfords, the Halls and 
other families, and their descendants in the vicinity are very 
numerous. The Christian names of Dudley and AVinthrop, still 
widely used, indicate how extensive are the relationships of the 
family. Several prominent members of the family are mentioned 
in various connections elsewhere in this work. A fact was stated 
in an earlier chapter which showed the Rev. Samuel Dudley's 
interest in improving the breed of neat stock iu the town. Since 
that was printed, it has come to the knowledge of the writer that 
the same taste has been inherited by his descendants. To this 
day the Dudleys are said to be peculiarly fond of fine cattle. 
And it is not too nuich to say that other qualities, which gave 
repute to the earlier holders of the name, have also been trans- 
mitted to their progeny. 

Of this family, one member. Judge John Dudle}', merits par- 
ticular notice. Born in Exeter April 9, 1725, he was brought up 
in the household of Colonel Daniel Gilman. Though deficient in 
education he engaged in trade with success, and became one of 
the foremost men of his day in the province. He removed to 
Raymond in 17G6, was a representative in the Legislature and 
Speaker of the House, a member of the Committee of Safety, and 
in 1784 was appointed to the bench of the Superior Court, and 

31)0 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 391 

performed the duties of the position for twelve years. His native 
sound understanding, sagacity and impartiality enabled him to 
acquit himself as a Judge to the acceptance of the bar no less than 
of the people at large. 

The Folsom family is among the foremost in numbers. John 
Folsom, who emigrated from England to this country, came to 
Exeter between 1650 and 1660, and served the latter year as well 
as in 1668 as selectman of the town. His son John was a select- 
man in 1691 and a representative in the provincial Assembly in 
1688, 1694 and 1695. It was he who refused to attemptto collect 
by distress the illegal taxes levied by Governor Cranfield and his 
Council. Other members of the family held office in the town 
from time to time afterwards, but it was two of the great-grand- 
sons of the early settler who attained the highest distinction. 

Nathaniel Folsom, the son of Jonathan and Anna (Ladd) 
Folsom, was born in 1726. At the age of twenty-nine he com- 
manded a company of the New Hampshire regiment in the expe- 
dition against Crown Point, and distinguished himself, as has 
been related on a previous page. He was appointed by the royal 
governor a colonel of militia, but took the popular side when the 
division came between the colonies and the mother country. He 
was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774 and was 
elected to the same body three times afterwards. He took part 
in the movement to strip Fort William and Mary of its armament 
in 1774, and in 1775 was honored with the responsible appoint- 
ment of Major General of all the New Hampshire militia, and 
retained it through the war. Drafts from the various regiments 
were often called into active service, and his duties were impor- 
tant and sometimes arduous, but he performed them with exem- 
plary fidelity. 

General Folsom was also a member of the Committee of Safety, 
a Councillor, and a Judge of the Inferior Court. His time during 
the Revolution was almost constantly devoted to the public service 
in various capacities, and perhaps no one of the men of the time 
enjoyed a greater measure of the reliance of the people than he. 
Among his last public duties was that of presiding temporarily 
over the convention for framing a new Constitution of the State 
in 1783. 

This able man and true patriot died May 26, 1790. 

Samuel Folsom, his brother, was less conspicuous, but stood 
high in the confidence of the community. He was an innkeeper, 



392 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

and his house was on the corner of Court square and Water street, 
and is now occupied by Dr. George W. Dearborn. It was there 
that Washington partook of a collation on his visit to the town in 
1789. Samuel Folsom was the lieutenant colonel of the Exeter 
Cadets, under Colonel John Phillips. 

Charles Folsom, of a later generation, was a graduate of 
Harvard College in 1813, and was afterwards tutor and instructor 
in Italian. For several years he was chaplain and teacher of 
mathematics in the United States navy, and had among his pupils 
David G. Farragut, afterwards the distinguished Admiral, who 
never forgot his obligations to Mr. Folsom, but, years afterwards, 
presented him with a magnificent silver vase suitably inscribed, in 
testimony of his gratitude. His classical scholarship was thorough 
and exact, and he died with the respect of all who knew him. 

The Leavitt family was one of the earliest in the town. Samuel 
Leavitt was one of the selectmen in 1675, 1691 and 1696, and was 
a representative in the Assembly in 168.3, and three subsequent 
years. 

Moses Leavitt, his brother, was selectman in 1682, and three 
years besides; representative in 1693 and three other years, and 
moderator seven years. Descendants of theirs have from time to 
time held town offices since. Dudley Leavitt, the well known 
compiler of the almanacs, derived his descent from the same 
family. 

The Thing family dates also far back in the iiistory of the town. 
Jonathan Thing, the first comer, was a selectman in 1658 and 
seven years afterwards, town clerk in 1689, and representative in 
1693. Samuel and Bartholomew, his sons, held the same offices 
for even longer periods, and the service of the latter did not end 
till 1737. They were among the leading men of the town for a 
long period. 

The Conner family was also an early one, and has produced in 
several generations men of prominence. Benjamin Conner was 
one of the shrewdest political managers of his time, and repre- 
sented the town in the Legislature thirteen years in succession. 
Daniel Conner, who is remembered by many, was a man of energy 
and large dealings ; and William and Charles, sons of Nathaniel 
Conner, a noted builder, occupied positions of trust ; to say 
nothing of the living. 

The Lyford family is another of those who have long clung to 
Exeter. They have not been ambitious for public employment, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 393 

but they have led respectable, useful lives. Some of the earlier 
members of the family followed the sea, but most of them have 
settled independently upon their farms. The late Gideon C. 
Lyford was at one time largely engaged in trade, and always sus- 
tained the character of an upright, honorable dealer. 

The ancestor of the Gordon family appeared in Exeter within 
the first half century after its settlement. He had a mill upon the 
Little river. His descendants occupied lands in the southwestern 
part of the town, and were generally farmers, except one or two 
who had the control of mills at King's falls. One, of a later gen- 
eration, George William Gordon, was appointed consul at Rio 
Janeiro, and was afterwards postmaster of Boston. Nathaniel 
Gordon, a present resident of the town, was a lawyer by profes- 
sion, and has been president of the State Senate. 

The family of Robinsons has been somewhat conspicuous in the 
town. Ephraim Robinson was for a long series of years in town 
offices, and was apparently one of those square, uncompromising 
men whom any town is fortunate to entrust its interests to. 
Caleb Robinson rose to the rank of major in the continental 
service in the Revolution, and Noah Robinson to that of captain. 
William Robinson, the founder of the Female Seminary, was of 
the same blood, as was Jeremiah L. Robinson, who for a number 
of years was one of the active business men of tlie place. 

The Smiths, of whom there were two or three different families 
in the earlier times, and perhaps more later, included several 
jnembers of prominence. Theophilus Smith was a name which 
came to the front for two or three generations. It would, how- 
ever, require careful investigation to trace out the ditferent 
branches of the earlier P^xeter families of the name. Judge Jere- 
miah Smith was not connected with either. He was of Scotch- 
Irisli descent. 

The Odlin family, though not so extensive as some of those 
mentioned, has been a noted one in the town. The two genera- 
tions of ministers, and their descendants among the infiuential 
business men a great part of tlie time since, have done much for 
Exeter's advancement. William, James and Woodbridge Odlin 
ai'e well remembered. The last was the founder of the chair of 
English in the Phillips Academy. 

The families of Barker, Colcord and Dolloff have been long- 
settled in P^xeter, and those of Kimball, Shute and several others 
for a somewhat less time. Their members have been, generally. 



394 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

good citizens and reputable men. Want of space forbids a more 
extended notice of tliem. 

Of the many individuals outside of the families spoken of, who 
have attained more or less prominence, brief sketches are here 
given of a few, of whom little or no mention has yet been made. 
There could be many more added, if the dimensions of the volume 
permitted. 

Jonathan Cass was a native of Exeter, born about 1750. He 
was a blacksmith by trade. At the beginni^ig of tlie Revolution 
he enlisted in the army, and served through the war, coming out 
at the close with a captain's commission. He then resumed his 
business in the town and remained for several years, when he 
re-entered the military service, emigrated to Ohio and attained the 
rank of major. He had several children born in I^xeter, one of 
whom was the distinguished Lewis Cass, who used afterwards to 
pay occasional visits to the place of his nativity. The house in 
which he was born was upon the east side of Cross, now called 
Cass street. 

Enoch Poor was born in Andover, Massachusetts, and distin- 
guished himself in his early manhood by making a run-a-way 
match with his wife. He was an enterprising ship-builder and 
merchant in Exeter when the War of the Revolution broke out. 
All eyes were turned to him, as one of the natural leaders. He 
was resolute, brave, and accustomed to command. Appointed 
colonel of the third New Hampshire regiment in the continental 
line, he justified by his conduct the most favorable expectations 
that were formed of his military talents. Lafayette chose him in 
1780 aftei- his appointment as brigadier general, to lead a brigade 
in his corps of Light Infantry. His death occurred that year in 
New Jersey. The accounts of the time attributed it to bilious 
fever, but recent investigations point to a duel with a brother 
officer, as the cause. In the arm}' the " point of honor," as it was 
termed, led to many fatal meetings between those who should 
have turned their weapons only against the common enem3^ Gen- 
eral Poor was highl}' esteemed by Washington and by Lafayette. 
Nearly fifty years after his death the latter visited Concord, New 
Hampshire, and partook of a collation there as the nation's guest. 
On being called on for a toast he gave "the memor}^ of Light 
Infantry Poor and Yorktown Scammell ;" a graceful compliment 
to the State which sent those Revolutionary heroes into the service 
of the country. 



HISTORY OF EXETP:R. 395 

Colonel John Eogers was one of the most enterprising and in- 
fluential men of his day in Exeter. A few of the principal people 
used to govern the place then. They nominated officers, deter- 
mined what improvements were necessary, and arranged all the 
town business ; and the majority of the voters fell in with their 
l^lans without objection. Of these leaders Colonel Rogers was 
for many years the ruling spirit. 

He was a sou of Judge Nathaniel Rogers, and was born July 2, 
1787, at Newmarket. He received his education at the Phillips 
Exeter Academy, and was appointed in 1808 cashier of the old 
Exeter Bank, and so continued for twenty-two years. He was 
also the colonel of the fourth regiment of militia. For fourteen 
years from 1817 he was chairman of the board of selectmen. He 
was interested in the manufacturing companies, in tanning, in 
morocco dressing, and, indeed, in almost too many of the move- 
ments for the im])rovement of business in the town. 

Colonel Rogers was a large, fine looking man, of courteous 
manners, and was exceedingly popular. He was three times 
married, his first two wives being daughters of Colonel Nathaniel 
Oilman, and his last a daughter of Rev. Jacob Cram. He died 
in July, 1837, leaving a widow and six children, two of whom are 
still living, Frances, the widow of John Chadwick of Exeter, and 
Jacob Rogers of Lowell, Massachusetts. 

James Burley was born in the town in 1784, and was a promi- 
nent character for many years. He early manifested a great apti- 
tude for militar}^ exercises. For a long time he commanded a 
uniformed company', was colonel of the fourth regiment of militia, 
and published a work on military tactics in 1820. For some years 
he was the landlord of the hotel nearly opposite the First church, 
and afterwards was chosen cashier of the Granite Bank, an office 
which he held to the time of his death, in 18.50. He was a man 
of prompt and resolute character, and was highly respected for his 
integrity and honor. He held repeatedly the office of moderator 
and selectman. He was twice married, and his sons and step-son 
were among the early residents in Chicago, Illinois. 

Samuel Hatch was long a prominent figure in the political affairs 
of the town. He was a cabinet-maker and dealt in furniture. A 
Democrat of positive faith, he lived in the days when his party 
opposed granting to railroads the right of way over private lands. 
He was thoroughly honest and of no small ability. He was once 
chosen representative to the Legislature, though a majority of the 



396 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

voters belonged to the opposite political party ; and was twice a 
member of the State Senate. He had several sons, who were well 
educated, but none of them settled in Exeter. One of them, 
Daniel G. Hatch, was a judge in Kentucky. 

Seth Walker was born in Portsmouth August 29, 1756. Early 
in the Revolution he joined the army, and was at the siege of 
Boston. He afterwards entered a privateer and was captured by 
a British man-of-war. He retired from the service with the rank 
of captain, and afterwards had the command of a regiment of 
militia. Early in the present century he was elected Register of 
Deeds for the county of Rockingham and took up his residence in 
Exeter. In those days when they found a good officer they kept 
him ; and Colonel Walker held the Registership nearly thirty 
years, without opposition. He, and his daughters, who assisted 
him in his office, filled a great succession of A'olumes with their 
clerkly chirography, and Colonel Walker became known through- 
out all the county. His conduct in his official as well as in his 
private capacity Avas above reproach. A year or two before his 
decease he removed to Derry, where one of his daughters resided. 

Joseph Pearson was a son of Jethro Pearson, an officer in the 
old French war, and was born in Exeter. He was well educated, 
and in 1786 received the appointment of Secretary of the State. 
He was a fine penman, and performed his duties so satisfactorily 
that he retained his office for twenty years. He then returned to 
Exeter to pass the remainder of his life. His house was on Water 
street, at the summit of meeting-house hill, which on that account 
was sometimes known as Secretary's hill. 

Waddy V. Cobbs was a native of Virginia, enlisted in the 
United States army, and so distinguished himself in the wars Avith 
the Indians in the South, that he was promoted to a commission. 
In the latter part of 1814 he was in command of a company, and 
was ordered to New Orleans, and arrived there on the ninth day 
of January, 1815, just one day too late to take part in the famous 
battle. He continued in the service until he reached the rank of 
major, and then was retired from active serAnce by reason of 
paralysis of his loAver limbs. He then came to Exeter, where his 
Avife's relatiA'^es were, and there lived until his death January 1, 
1847, at the age of fifty-nine. His wife survii^ed him more than 
thirty years, and Avas A^ery efficient in charitable and bencA'olent 
undertakings. During the Rebellion she was at the head of the 
ladies' organization for the relief of the soldiers, and perhaps no 



HISTORY OF EXETER. -397 

one in the town did more than she to supply the vohinteers in 
camp and hospital with necessaries and comforts. 

John C. Long Avas a native of Portsmouth, and a grandson of 
Pierse Long, a gallant Revolutionary officer, and a member of the 
old Congress. His father was for many years a shipmaster. He 
entered the United States navy in 1812 as a midshipman. Only 
four mouths afterwards he was on the frigate "Constitution" 
when she captured the "Java." It was a trying introduction to 
his new profession for a youngster of sixteen, but he never repent- 
ed of the choice he had made. He remained in the service more 
than fifty-one years. In this time he was intrusted with every 
variety of duty, afloat and ashore, and in all situations acquitted 
himself with success and honor. One of the most unpleasant of 
his emplo3'ments was the transportation of Louis Kossuth and his 
followers to this country on board the steam frigate "Mississippi." 
The Hungarian exile so entirely mistook the purpose of our gov- 
ernment in offering him a conveyance on a national vessel, that he 
insisted on making an inflammatory address from the ship to the 
red republicans in the harbor of Marseilles. The captain firmly 
forbade conduct so certain to embroil us with a friendly power. 
The result was that Kossuth withdrew from the vessel. Captain 
Long was fully sustained by the government. 

In 1857 Captain Long was promoted to the command of the 
Pacific squadron, and became commodore. A severe accident 
which he met with on board his flagship the "Merrimac," almost 
incapacitated him for active duty. But he served out his term of 
two years, and then returned to his home in Exeter. In 1861 he 
was placed upon the retired list, and died vSeptember 2, 1865. 

As an officer. Commodore Long was distinguished for profes- 
sional knowledge, fidelity to duty and a high sense of honor. He 
exacted from his subordinates no more than he was willing to 
perform himself. 

In his social relations he was unassuming, kindly and generous. 
His manners were marked by the high bred ease and courtesy of 
the old school. He was emphatically a good man. The poor had 
in him a liberal and constant friend. And when he quitted the 
earth he left no enemy behind. 

The colored population of Exeter has always been more con- 
siderable, propoi'tionall}^ than that of other country towns in New 
Hampshire. In colonial times the wealthier inhabitants held 
slaves, whose descendants remained domesticated in the place, 



398 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

and intermarried with otliers, so tliat tlieir numbers have been well 
kept up. Several of them fought for their liberties in the War of 
the Revolution. One of these was Oxford Tash, who died Octo- 
ber 14, 1810, at the age of about sixty. He had probably been 
brought up a servant in the family of Colonel Thomas Tash of 
Newmarket, and perhaps was freed as a reward for his military 
service. He was wounded in action, but with a high sense of 
honor refused to apply for a pension so long as he was able to 
support himself. 

He left descendants, and his son, Charles G. Tash, is well 
remembered. He was of excellent manners, and high spirited like 
his father. He became enamored of a white girl and wished to 
marry her, but her friends were unwilling that she should become 
his wife. He brooded over it until his reason became unsettled. 
One evening he called to see her, and as she bade him good night 
he discharged a pistol at her loaded with two bullets, which 
severely wounded her, and with another pistol inflicted a wound 
upon himself. There is little doubt that his design was to put an 
end to the lives of both. But both recovered. Tash was tried for 
the offence and found guilty of an assault with intent to kill, but 
was respited by the court on the ground of unsoundness of mind. 
Tobias Cutler, a Revolutionary pensioner, died in Exeter in 
September, 1834, at the age of seventy-six. He was born in. 
Rindge and was a slave of Colonel Enoch Hale. In 1781 he en- 
listed in the continental army with the consent of his master who 
engaged to free him at the age of twenty-one years. The town of 
Rindge thereupon agreed that he should be received and deemed a 
free inhabitant, upon his manumission by his master. After the 
war he came to live in Exeter. He left descendants who are still 
living in the town. 

Another colored Revolutionary pensioner was Jude Hall who 
died in August, 1827, at the age of eighty. He was a man of 
powerful physique, and it is said that the parts of his ribs which 
are usually cartilaginous were of solid bone, so that his vital 
organs were inclosed in a sort of osseous case. He lived on the 
old road to Kensington, near the line of that town. He was the 
chief witness of the government in the trial of John Blaisdell for 
the homicide of John Wadleigh, and was charged by the counsel 
with a disposition to " stretch the truth," but not, however, with 
perjury. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 399 

A very remarkable family of colored preachers originated in 
Exeter, of the name of Paul. The Rev. iS^athaniel Paul -who had 
been in the ministry twenty-one years died in Albany September 
10, 1839, at the age of forty-six, having, it was said, been the 
means of much good. He had two older brothers who were also 
Baptist ministers, — Thomas, the eldest, who died in Boston, and 
Benjamin of New York city. 

One of the centenarians of Exeter was a man of African 
descent, Corydon, who is said to have been once a slave of Dr. 
John Phillips. He died in 1818 at the age of one hundred years. 

The older inhabitants recall many "characters" among the 
colored population, London Daly, Prince Light and others. The 
last named was a favorite leader among them. Harry Manjoy, 
sometimes called Emery, is well remembered. He was brought to 
Exeter by Noah Emery, a shipmaster, not from Africa, probably, 
but from some foreign port wjiere he was offered for sale. He 
claimed to have been a prince in his native country. He lived 
with Captain Emery until the latter's death, and afterwards sup- 
ported himself by his labor. He was industrious and respectable, 
and lived to a good old age. 

At the southern extremity of what is now Elliott sti'eet, formerly 
a mere lane, lived a colored man named Whitfield, whose wife 
was quite a superior woman, belonging to the Paul family already 
mentioned. Their son, Joseph M. Whitfield, went to Buffalo, 
New York, and there followed the business of a barber. He was 
a man of some education and of decided talent, and was the 
author of poems, generally' on the subject of slavery, which 
attracted much notice. A number of his friends united in pub- 
lishing a volume of his metrical productions, in 1853. They cer- 
tainly will compare favorably with those of three out of four of 
the collections of verse issued in the country. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



26 



CHAPTER XXI. 

HOMICIDES; BURIAL-PLACES; THE "WHITE CAPS." 

Since the settlement of Exeter by white men, its annals have 
been stained by only four known cases of homicide. The earliest 
and latest were the most painful, the victim in each case being a 
woman. 

Balthazar Willix was a man of more than ordinary education, 
and came to Exeter about the year 1644, He had married, the 
preceding- year, Mary, the widow of Thomas Hawksworth, as we 
are informed, and she was probably the unfortunate person who 
was the subject of the tragedy about to be related. 

In the mouth of May or June, 1648, she went by water from 
Exeter to Oyster river in Dover, to dispose of some cattle. She 
seems to have been a woman of business capacity, and it may be 
that her husband, who was apparently a foreigner, thought her 
more likely to be successful in her dealings than himself. Robert 
Hethersay or Hersey, rowed her to Dover in his canoe, and 
engaged also to return with her in the same conveyance, when her 
business was accomplished. 

She sold the cattle, and received payment partly in corn, and 
the residue, three pounds, in money. Then she proceeded to the 
lauding at Oyster river, to meet and return with Hersey, but he 
was not to be found. He must have gone off with his canoe 
without waiting for her, for what cause we know not. 

What then befell the poor woman can only be conjectured. 
Whether she attempted to return home by land or employed some 
person to transport her in a boat is not known. The fact that she 
had with her what was then a considerable sum of money was 
undoubtedly known. It proved a temptation to some unscrupu- 
lous person so powerful that it cost the unhappy creature her life. 
Her dead body was afterwards found in the river, bearing marks 

of brutal violence. 

403 



404 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Her husband was shocked, and naturally indignant with Hersey 
whose negligence he regarded as the cause of the terrible calamity, 
and who, to exculpate himself had apparently made insinuations 
against the character of the murdered woman. In the heat of his 
anger and distress Willix brought two actions at law against him, 
one for failure to perform his contract of re-conveying the woman 
to her home, and the other for defamation, in "raising an evil 
report " about her. The unhappy man, perhaps, hoped by venti- 
lating the whole matter in a court of justice, to vindicate the char- 
acter of his dead wife. But he appears to have been better 
advised, before the session of the court, and never summoned 
Hersey to answer to the suits, and they were dropped. 

Nothing further has been learned respecting the case, and the 
ruffian who perpetrated the shameful deed was apparently never 
brought to justice. Willix quitted Exeter the following year, and 
removed to Salisbury, Massachusetts, and died there in March, 
1G51. 

MURDER OF JOHNSON. 

Almost a century and a half passed by, before Exeter lost 
another inhabitant by criminal violence. The second homicide 
was committed in the autumn of 1794. The name of the victim 
was Johnson, and his slayer was his own sou. They lived on the 
eastern side of the river, near the old jail. The father was some- 
what given to drink, but not quarrelsome. The son. Jack Johnson, 
followed the sea, was short and thick in figure, and resented any 
allusion to his "duck legs." He did not get on well with his 
father, and had been heard to threaten hun that he would "come 
up with him" soon. 

One evening the father and son were at the barn of Mr. Grant, 
a neighbor, at a husking party. Old Mr. Johnson was somewhat 
intoxicated, and very talkative, and staid till after the others were 
all gone ; then he took his departure. That was the last time he 
was seen alive. The next morning he was missed at his home, 
and his son Jack went about ostensibly in search of him. He first 
made inquiries at Hackett's ship-yard, across the river, where 
Joseph Swasey was building a vessel. He said to him and the 
workmen present, " I believe some of you have killed my father." 
"What's that you say. Jack," replied Mr. Swasey, "you know 
none of us would hurt your father — not near as soon as you 
would." 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 405 

Jack next went to Mr. Grant's, and said to the family, " I 
believe you have my father hid in your cellar." They bade him 
go down aud see. He did so, and made a great show of peering 
behind the tubs aud barrels. 

His conduct excited the suspicions of the neighbors, but they 
did not know enough to take any decided steps against him. 
Meantime a new vessel was going down the river to Portsmouth, 
and Jack got on board to go in her. At night she lay about a mile 
below the town, and he went on shore. In the middle of the night 
he returned to the vessel and crawled into the bunk with Mr. 
Swasey, in a state of great fright and perturbation. 

At Portsmouth he shipped with Captain (Nathaniel ?) Boardman 
for a voyage to sea. But there was no rest for him anywhere. 
The consciousness of crime so pursued him that he was impelled 
to confess all the circumstances of it to the captain, and then threw 
himself overboard into the sea and perished. 

It appears that he lay in wait for his father's coming forth from 
Grant's, and struck him down with an axe. He dragged the body 
to Clark's baru which stood alone in a field, and buried it in the 
cellar. Afterwards, on the night when he was on his way to Ports- 
mouth, in the vessel, he disinterred the body and cast it into the 
river. It was on his return from this errand that he manifested 
such agitation and fear. 

Under the circumstances, no legal investigation was thought 
necessary, aud the wretched story of this parricide and suicide 
does not appear upon our criminal records, but has come down to 
us only by imperfect tradition. 

HOMICIDE OF JOHN WADLEIGH. 

On the evening of the eighteenth of February, 1822, John Wad- 
leigh of Exeter received injuries which resulted in his death the 
next morning. His home was on the old road to Kensington, and 
some forty rods or more from the line of that town. Wadleigh 
and John Blaisdell of Kensington left Exeter village at about half 
past five o'clock in the evening, to return to their homes. It was 
a dark and stoi-my night, and the walking was very slippery. 
Though they were sober Avhen they started, Wadleigh had in his 
pocket q, bottle of rum. He carried with him an axe, and Blais- 
dell had a rough, heavy axe handle. 

Three hours afterwards the two appeared at the house of Jude 
Hall, a colored man, less than two miles from the place from which 



406 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

they took their departure, and Blaisdell applied to Hall to help 
him to lead Wadleigh iu, sajung that he was drunk, and "had 
been fighting with a sleigh." He said that AVadleigh would have 
died if he had not taken hini up, and that he had led him from the 
CoA^e bridge. In fact he had taken him directly past his (Wad- 
leigh's) own house, to Hall's which was thirty or forty rods beyond. 
Blaisdell in explanation of this circumstance said he would not 
have carried Wadleigh into his own house for ten dollars, implying 
that it would have excited suspicion that he had inflicted the injury 
from which Wadleigh was suffering. 

Blaisdell and Plall helped Wadleigh, who was covered with blood, 
and almost insensible from the effect of a fracture and depression 
of the sl<ull at the temple, to his own house, where Blaisdell 
remained but ten minutes, excusing himself from staying longer 
by saying that he must go home to take care of his cattle. Hall 
staid through the night until Wadleigh breathed his last. 

The next morning a party went to Blaisdell' s house to arrest 
him on the charge of murder, and found that he had disappeared. 
They followed him, by his tracks in the snow, for many miles 
through the woods, and by cross roads, through Kensington and 
the adjoining towns, and at length apprehended him in Exeter 
near the border of Epping, 

On the trial which took place in the succeeding September, 
these facts were shown, as well as the following : The two men 
were seen by two different parties not far from the Cove bridge, 
on the evening when Wadleigh received his hurt. The first party 
consisted of Robinson and Smith, and they were going in a sleigh 
towards Exeter. They inquired of the two men, who were standing 
beside the road, how far it was to Wedgewood's, and were 
answered by one of them — not by Wadleigh. The other party 
were Brown and Cheney, the former in a sleigh and the other 
walking beside it. They were going in the direction of Kensing- 
ton, away from Exeter. They passed the two men standing beside 
the road near the Cove bridge, one of whom said to Brown, " Take 
this man aboard, he is drunk and has been fighting with a sleigh," 
and stating that it was John Wadleigh. Brown, who knew 
Wadleigh, said, " Come John, get in, I am going by 3'our house 
and will carry you home." Wadleigh gave no answer to tliat nor 
to a second invitation of the same purport, but was observed to 
breathe very heavily. Brown then said to his companion, "He 
don't seem to care about getting iu, and I will go along, if you 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 407 

will take care of him." The other replied that he would do so, 
and Brown and Cheney went on. 

Near the Cove bridge and about four feet outside of the 
travelled path of the road was found the next day a great pool of 
blood, " as if a hog had been killed there." The axe and the axe 
handle which the two men carried were found near, in the snow, 
and the former on the other side of the fence. A physician testi- 
fied that the fracture of Wadleigh's skull could hardly have 
occurred from a fall on the ice, nor from contact with the runner 
of a sleigh, but appeared to have been caused by a blow from 
some blunt, square-cornered instrument. There was also slight 
evidence that Blaisdell harbored a grudge against Wadleigh. 

The case was argued with great ability by Ichabod Bartlett for 
the prisoner, and by Attorney General George Sullivan for the 
prosecution, and the charge to the jury was given by Mr. Justice 
Levi Woodbury. The jury, after an hour's deliberation, returned 
into court with a verdict of " guilty of manslaughter," and the 
prisoner was sentenced to confinement in the State prison for the 
term of three years. 

MURDER OF MRS. FERGUSON. 

Bradbury Ferguson, a native of Sandwich, was living in Exeter 
in 1840, employed as a journeyman hatter. His home was in the 
western skirt of the village, on the north side of the road leading 
to Kingston. His wife's maiden name was Eliza Ann Frothing- 
ham, and she was a native of Portsmouth. They had six children, 
the eldest but twelve years of age. 

On the first day of October of that year, Ferguson had been at 
the regimental muster at Epping, where he performed military 
duty. He returned home in the evening intoxicated to the point 
of being morose and quarrelsome. He soon drove his wife to the 
house of a neighbor for protection. He followed her, and insisted 
on her being given up to him, and used violence to the neighbor 
who attempted to interfere in her behalf. The police were sent 
for, and arrived between ten and eleven o'clock. Mrs. Ferguson 
returned to her home while they were there. She complained to 
them that she had been abused by her husband then and at other 
times. He denied the charge and called on her to " show the 
wounds." After a good deal of conversation, Ferguson was 
induced to promise that he would be quiet and not abuse his wife 
anymore that night; but he declared that in the morning "he 



408 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

would give her a divorce, for he would not live with her any 



more." 



The poor wife at length consented to pass the night in the house 
with him, but with evident forebodings. In the night the children 
were awakened by the discharge of a gun. They ran into their 
mother's room, and found her lying on the floor, and their father 
standing beside her. They asked him what he had done, and he 
answered that he had shot her. The wounded woman desired her 
husband to lay her upon the bed, and he did so. He then inquired 
of her where his best clothes were. She told him. He collected 
them together. Then he looked at the wound upon his wife's 
body, and remarked that she would not live. One of his little 
boys inquired what he shot his mother for. He answered that she 
provoked him to it. He gave his gun, with which he did the 
deed, to his eldest son, and told him he might go and call in 
the neighbors ; and then gathering up his bundle of clothing he 
left the house and went away on foot. 

The unfortunate woman lived but a short time after his depart- 
ure, and gave no account of the circumstances of the shooting. 
Ferguson was arrested four days afterwards, in Sandwich. He 
was indicted and tried for murder at the Court of Common Pleas 
in Portsmouth in the following February. He was ably defended, 
but his guilt was manifest, and the jury rendered a verdict of 
guilty of murder of the second degree ; on which he was sentenced 
to imprisonment for life. He died in the State prison several 
years ago. 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

In the two hundred and fifty years of Exeter's history, five 
successive places have been used for the general burial of the 
dead. The earliest was on the northwestern slope of meeting- 
house hill, near the site of the first unpretending house of worship. 
This was probably in use for the first two generations. No doubt 
some rude stones were originally set up to mark the spots where 
the bodies lay, and the ground was held sacred for a time. Tlie 
Rev. Mr. Dudley was permitted by the town to enclose it, and to 
pasture his cattle upon its herbage, provided he should not attempt 
to cultivate it or break its surface. But for a long time past no 
traces of memorial stones have been visible there, and all feeling 
of sanctity about the spot has vanished. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 409 

The next place of sepulture, in the order of time, was a beauti- 
ful knoll on the west side of the salt river, near the present gas 
works. So far as can be gathered from the remaining tomb- 
stones, its use extended from the latter part of the seventeenth to 
the early part of the eighteenth century. It has been sometimes 
called the "Thing burying ground," perhaps because several of 
the inscriptions still legible upon the head-stones commemorate 
persons of that name. There are, however, an equal number 
bearing the names of early members of the family of Ladd, and 
those have been enclosed by a neat and durable fence, erected in 
1850 by Alexander Ladd, a descendant. Only a part of the origi- 
nal contents of this burial-place is now marked by mounds or 
monuments. Within the memory of living men the graves ex- 
tended on both sides of the elevation, to the lower ground beyond, 
but no traces of them are now perceptible. All the mortuary 
inscriptions remaining in 1864 were copied by the Rev. Elias 
Nason, and published in the sixteenth volume of The Ntto England 
Historical and Genealogical Register. One of the monuments, 
from which the inscription plate has been removed, is thought on 
probable evidence to be that of the Rev. Samuel Dudley. This 
place of burial became disused when in 169G the new meeting- 
house was erected "on the hill between the great fort and 
Nat. Folsom's barn," the site of the present First church. The 
yard surrounding the meeting-house was then devoted, after 
the English fashion, to burials. For a long period, most of the 
dead, except in the remoter districts, were interred there. There 
rest the remains of two or three of the clergymen, and of a great 
number of those who were the pillars of the religious and civil 
society, in their day and generation. The church-yard was origi- 
nally much more capacious than it now is, and has been repeat- 
edly curtailed by the widening of the street and of the sidewalk in 
front of it. It remained in use for probably almost a hundred 
years, and must have been overcrowded at last. 

Early in the present century, on the sole authority of a few of 
the leading men of the town, all the tomb and head stones were 
removed from the yard, or levelled to the ground and covered with 
earth, so that in a little time the enclosure was overgrown with 
turf, and all marks of the tenants beneath were substantially 
obliterated. 

On what grounds this apparent act of vandalism was justified, 
we cannot imagine. Yet it is clear that it met the approval of the 



410 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

majority of tlie people, or it could not have been accomplished, at 
least without the most strenuous opposition. But it is not learned 
that the least objection was made. It must be supposed that 
weighty reasons were in existence for so extraordinary a step, 
which we cannot appreciate. The loss which it caused to the 
antiquary and the investigator of family history, is well nigh 
irreparable. 

About the year 1742 Colonel John Gilman devised to the town 
a tract of land for a burial-place, upon the condition which was 
seasonably complied with that it should be fenced within three 
years. It is situated upon the north side of Front street, west of 
the railroad, and extends across to Winter street. It thus became 
the fourth public burying-yard of the town, and continued in use 
about a century. The remains of the Rev. Daniel Rogers, of 
John Taylor Gilman, of Jeremiah Smith and of many other dis- 
tinguished citizens there repose. The opening of the new ceme- 
tery in 1844 nearly put an end to burials in this inclosure, and 
naturally it fell into neglect. It became overgrown with weeds 
and bushes, and was in sad need of an Old Mortality to prevent 
further dilapidations. One of the citizens, unwilling that it 
should share the fate of its predecessors, recently took steps that 
resulted in the appropriation by the town of a sum of money for 
the restoration and improvement of the burying-place, so that its 
lease of existence is prolonged for a season. 

This fourth buryiug-ground having been filled, past further 
service, several gentlemen of the town in 1843 conceived the plan 
of establishing a private cemetery which could be inci'eased in 
extent as occasion might require, and would be permanent and 
not liable to be abandoned and neglected. For this purpos-e they 
organized under the statutes of the State a company incorporated 
as the Exeter Cemetery Association. Dr. D. W. Gorham, Amos 
Tuck, Henry F. French, James Burley and Charles C. P. Moses 
were the principal promoters of the scheme. 

They procured a lot of land and laid it out for the purpose. 
The lots found purchasers readily, and the cemetery has now been 
in use for more than forty years. It is situated somewhat too 
near the village, perhaps, but the successive enlargements which 
have increased its dimensions to thirty acres or more, have all 
been in the opposite direction. It is well i)lanted with trees and 
shrubs, and is an attractive spot. Much good taste has been 
manifested in the fitting and ornaments of the lots, and in the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 411 

monumeuts erected upon tliein. The late William P. Moultoii 
was at his decease president of the Association, Charles Barley is 
the treasurer, and William II. Belknap the secretary. 

In addition to the public burial-places enumerated, another 
situated in the soutliwestern part of the town, near Great hill, 
should be mentioned. It is for local use, and its age has not 
been ascertained. 

There are also several private or family burying-yards in dif- 
ferent parts of the town. Two of them are near the main village, 
on the east side of the river, and have been used chiefly, if not 
wholly, by the families of Leavitt and Folsom respectively. 

TFIE "white caps." 

A natural transition from the subjects of the earlier part of 
this chapter, murders and church-yards, would be to ghostly 
apparitions and tlie diabolical pranks of witches, if there were 
any such to relate. But in the times when the great witchcraft 
delusion, two centuries ago, subverted the religion and the common 
sense of the people of other neighboring places, Exeter main- 
tained its equipoise. A town of so much antiquity might, 
perhaps, be expected to have its old time traditions, at least, 
of visitations from the unseen world, but none such have been 
heard of. Not a haunted house is known to the oldest inhabitant. 
Nearly everything that can be said to verge on the supernatural, 
is modern. A story is indeed told of the re-appearance of an 
elderly gentleman after his decease, for the purpose of warning 
his youthful widow that she must follow him within a year, which 
she did. But the story is only a single generation old, and has 
excited curiosity rather than awe. 

One house, in which a servant girl accidentally inflicted a fatal 
wound upon herself with a pistol, is said to have been avoided 
since by her countrywomen, but it was never asserted that her 
spirit walked there. Another house was for a time the scene of 
some strange and inexplicable freaks of self-propelling articles of 
furniture, and the like ; but it never received a bad name on that 
acccunt. 

Towards the close of the last century, however, an occurrence 
took place in the town, which denoted, at least, that the belief in 
the existence of supernatural agencies was common. Indeed we 
know, from various sources, that at that time, and much later, 



412 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

the mass of the people hardly questioned the existence of witches, 
or the appearance and interposition in human affairs of disem- 
bodied spirits. This credulity was often taken advantage of by 
the mischievous to cause affright, and by the mercenary to extort 
money. Unprincipled impostors are known to have travelled the 
country to work upon the hopes and fears of those whom they 
could influence by pretending to magical powers, in order to 
swindle them out of their property. 

One such sharper, a perfect Dousterswiyel in the art of impos- 
ture, was named llainsford Rogers. He was a native of Con- 
necticut, but lived also in Massachusetts and in New York. 
Though illiterate he was once a school teacher. He pretended to 
a deep knowledge of chemistry, and claimed that he possessed the 
power to raise, or to lay, spirits, good and evil, at his pleasure. 
He began his career of operating on the superstitious belief of 
people, at Morristown, New Jersey, in 1788. There he succeeded 
in defrauding his followers out of a large sum of money, by the 
pretence that he could secure for them a concealed treasure, 
through the agency of the spirits. Then he absconded. The 
story of his methods of deluding his dupes is told at large in a 
little volume entitled The Morristown GJiost, published soon after 
the occurrence. 

The same person, with sometimes a different name, was said to 
have depleted the pockets of the people in several of the Southern 
States, afterwards, by similar means. In 1797, he appeared in 
Adams county, Pennsylvania, under the alias of Rice Williams. 
There, with a confederate or two, he repeated his tricks upon con- 
fiding persons, and succeeded in making oft" with a considerable 
sum. 

It was not far from that time that he came to Exeter, bearing 
his true name of Rainsford Rogers, which had, perhaps, not 
acquired so bad an odor in New England as in some other quarters. 
In a short time he formed the acquaintance of a number of persons 
whom he judged to be suitable for his purpose. They were, of 
course, men of substance, able to furnish the money which he was 
planning to transfer to his own pocket, and sufficiently credulous 
to put entire faith in his representations. When he had enlisted 
a dozen or more, after fully sounding them, he broached to them 
his project. He informed them that he had reason to believe that 
a subterranean treasure of great value existed in the neighborhood, 
which, by his magical skill and with proper means and aid, he 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 413 

could discover and appropriate for their common benefit. He 
secretly visited several localities for the pui-pose of " prospecting," 
and at meetings of his followers, reported his discoveries. So 
skilful was he in stimulating their greed, and so plausible in 
explaining every successive step of his operations, that they never 
dreamed of any trick or dishonesty, but followed all his directions 
to the letter. 

He repeatedly conducted them on dark nights to out-of-the-way 
places, to dig in the swamps with spades and other implements, 
and kept them at work, sometimes, it is said, for hours, in delving 
for the hidden prize. He instructed them that on those expedi- 
tions it was essential that they should wear white caps — a circum- 
stance which afterwards gave the name to the company. On one 
of the nocturnal excursions there appeared before the eyes of the 
awe-stricken diggers a figure all in white, representing a spirit, 
which uttered some words which were not well understood. One 
of the " white caps," anxious to lose nothing of the weighty com- 
munication, responded — "a little louder, Mr. Ghost ; I'm rather 
hard of hearing !" 

But dig as diligently as they might, they reached no treasure. 
After a time Rogers disclosed what he declared to be the reason 
of their want of success. The golden deposit was there, beyond 
question ; but they needed one thing more to enable them to find 
and grasp it. That was a particular kind of divining-rod. It 
must be made of dear materials, but it was infallibly sure of 
doing the business. It could not be obtained this side of Pliila- 
delphia, and would cost several hundred dollars. But if they 
would contribute the necessary sum, he would at once proceed to 
Philadelphia, purchase the needful implement and then return and 
introduce them to a golden hoard that would reimburse them a 
hundred-fold for their advances. 

It is a marvel that the faith of his adherents was not shaken by 
so transparent a device, but he had tutored them so adroitly that 
their cupidity got the better of their caution and common sense. 
The deluded company raised the money required, and delivered it 
to the sharper, who mounted his horse, with a saddle and bridle 
borrowed from one of his dupes, and rode off — to parts unknown, 
never to return. 

It was but a little time after his departure before the whole 
affair was made public. The white caps had not held their clan- 
destine meetings unobserved. Each midnight rendezvous, each 



414 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

delviug excursion in the swamps, had been watched, and all their 
credulity and imbecility were revealed. The worthy but super- 
stitious persons who had been seduced into this ridiculous position, 
became heartily ashamed of themselves, and prayed that their 
folly might never be mentioned. But the joke was too good to 
be kept in silence, and many a sly allusion to their white head-gear 
made their ears tingle for years after. The deaf man who 
required the ghost to "speak a little louder " never heard the 
last of his unfortunate speech. 

The names of most of the sufferers by this imposture have been 
preserved, but as their conduct was weak rather than culpable, to 
publish them could serve only to gratify an idle curiosity, and 
might cause pain to the feelings of their descendants. 

Possibly the exposure of this fraud may have had a beneficial 
effect upon succeeding generations. The belief in the supernatu- 
ral does not appear to have misled any to similar acts of credulity 
in later years. Digging for hidden treasure has never been 
attempted in the town, since the memorable experience of the 
"white caps." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THINGS NEW AND OLD. 

The town of Exeter is noted for its fine ornamental trees. In 
the early years of the century the Lombardy poplars in trim rows 
mounted guard around the principal edifices, but they did not take 
kindly to the northern climate. The stately sycamores were next 
introduced, but those, too, drooped, and disappeared. Maples 
and elms supplied their places, and thrive in the congenial soil, 
o-iving refreshing shade and adding beauty to the village. 

The elms are not all of recent growth. Some of them can 
boast a life more than double that usually assigned to man. 

The oldest elm in Exeter is probably that which stands in front 
of the house of tlie late Isaac Flagg on Front street. A hundred 
and fifty-eight years ago the residence of Judge Nicholas Gilman 
was there. His son, the Kev. Nicholas Gilman, afterwards of 
Durham, on the third of April, 1730, according to his diary, " set 
out elms before father Gilmau's house." The father died in 1741 
and his son followed him in 1748. How long the house stood we 
know not, but the elms lived on and survived them all. 

One of them had a narrow escape from destruction in the early 
part of the present.century. Tlie axe was already laid at its root, 
when Colonel Nathaniel Gilman, who loved a fine tree, interposed. 
'' What are you going to cut that elm down for?" he inquired of 
the occupant. " For firewood." " Let the tree stand," said the 
colonel, " and I'll give you a load of firewood." The offer was 
accepted and the doom of the tree was averted for the time. 

When Deacon John Williams purchased the lot, about 1828, two 
of the elms were standing in the prime of their beauty, and he was 
very proud of them. " I gave five hundred dollars for the lot," 
said he, " and I would not take that sum for the trees." But 
since then one of them has succumbed to the ravages of time, and 
has disappeared. The other is still standing, and has been stayed 
by iron bolts, where the branches diverge from the trunk. It has 

415 



416 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

now seen more than a liimdred and sixty snmmers and winters. 
Eight generations may have enjoyed its shade, from Judge Nich- 
olas Gilman to his great-great-great-grandson who is now living. 

The old tree is a living link that binds us to the distant past. 
Long may it continue to lift on high its venerable crown. 

A notice of a few of the old houses in Exeter and of their occu- 
pants, will not be out of place here. The distinctive names given 
them are those by which they have been popularly known. The 
first is ' 

THE CLIFFORD HOUSE. 

The oldest house in the town is undoubtedly that on the 
northerly corner of AVater and Clifford streets, now owned by 
Manly W. Darling. It was built by Councillor John Gilman. He 
was living in it in 1676, and there is ground for the belief that it 
dates back to 1658. It was constructed of square logs, the upper 
story projected a foot or more beyond the lower, and the windows 
were scarcely more than loop-holes. It was thus completely 
adapted for the defence of its inmates against the attacks of the 
savages, and is known as a " garrison house." 

The original structure was small, and constitutes the main body 
of the present house. No doubt additions must have been soon 
made to it, for the first occupant had sixteen children, all but four 
of whom lived to maturity. The wing which protrudes towards 
the street was a much later appendage. 

In this wooden castle lived Councillor Gilman till his death in 
1708. His son. Colonel John Gilman, succeeded him in the 
ownership of the house. He was then about thirty-two years of 
age, with a wife and three or four children. He was active and 
energetic, and acquired property and influence. In 1719 and 1720 
he was licensed by the provincial Assembly to keep a place of 
public entertainment in "his log house by the bridge." Colonel 
Gilman was the father of eleven children, and died in 1740. 

His eldest son was Peter, born in 1703, and married seven days 
after reaching the age of twenty-one. His father, realizing that 
no house is large enough for two generations, then proceeded to 
build himself another dwelling near by, to which he presently 
removed ; and in 1732 executed to Peter a deed of gift of the old 
mansion. 

Peter's family would not be considered a small one in these 
degenerate days. He had seven daughters, but it Avas doubtless 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 417 

a sore trial to him that he had uo sou to inherit the house that his 
grandfather built, so as to "keep it in the name." Peter Oilman 
was a man of note, in civil and military life. He was Speaker of 
the House of Assembly and a councillor of the province, and rose 
to the rank of brigadier general in the militia, through his exploits 
in the French and Indian wars. He was mucli esteemed by his 
townsmen. It is related that on one occasion a press-gang came 
from Portsmouth to Exeter to seize meu to serve in his majesty's 
navy, but the brigadier warned the party that any whom they 
might capture would surely be rescued before they reached Strat- 
ham, and they desisted. When the separation between the mother 
country and her American colonies was impending, the brigadier 
felt bound by the oaths of allegiance he had taken to Britain, to 
set his face against all disloyal proceedings. If he liad been less 
respected by his neighbors, he would have been tabooed, or 
perliaps maltreated, by the " high sons of liberty ; " but no insult 
was offered to him. 

He was a man of strong religious feelings, and a great admirer 
of the evangelist Whitefield. An amusing story has been pre- 
served of his being so deeply affected by a discourse of the great 
preacher that he fairly rolled on the ground, in an agony of 
penitence. Of course when the schism took place in the First 
society in 1743, the brigadier went off into the new church, and 
became one of its chief supporters. 

It was during Peter Oilman's occupation of the house that the 
front wing was added to it. It was probably built in 1772 or 
1773, while he was a councillor. John Wentworth was then the 
governor, young, popular and fond of show and ceremony. His 
Exeter councillor, the first in the place since the century came in, 
was desirous of showing him due honor, on occasion of his visiting 
the town. The low-storied rooms of the old house seemed hardly 
suitable for the reception of the highest dignitary of the province. 
The brigadier, therefore, had this addition made to it, of two 
stories, so as to lodge the governor, and perhaps to furnish a 
chamber for the meeting of the council also. The whole was 
finished inside with panelled work, in the elaborate style of the 
joinery of the time. 

As the brigadier left no sou to succeed him in the homestead, 
the place after his death in 1788 went into the possession of 
Ebenezer Clifford, who removed from Kensington to Exeter about 
that time. He was an ingenious mechanic, and studied architect-. 



418 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

lire aud made scientific experiments outside of his regular calling. 

He manufactured a diving bell, with which he brought up from 
the bottom of the sea valuable property from one or more wrecked 
vessels. A relic of the old diving bell is still extant. It is the 
wooden duck which now serves as a weather vane upon the rear 
wing of the old house. This was the float by means of which the 
diver in the water below, was enabled to communicate his Avauts 
to his assistant in a boat at the surface. 

While Mr. Clifford was master of the house he had for a boarder 
a lad who was destined at a later day to become the pride and 
boast of two States, that of his birth, education, and professional 
training, and that of his matured powers and later life. Daniel 
Webster came to Exeter to attend the Phillips Academy in 1796, 
and was an inmate of Mr. Clifford's family for several months. 
He had lived in a frontier settlement without instruction in the 
minor graces of life, and was habitually guilty of some breach of 
etiquette at the table, which Mv. Clifford was desirous of cor- 
recting. But knowing that young Webster was diffident and 
sensitive he was reluctant to hurt his feelings by pointing out the 
fault directly. Trusting to the youth's quick sightedness to make 
the proper application, he one day reproved his apprentice, who 
in the homely fashion of the time sat at table with the family, for 
committing the self-same fault which he had observed in AVebster. 

He did not overrate the latter's discernment. Never again did 
he give cause for criticism on that account. 

THE DEAN HOUSE. 

On the site of the present town-house, formerly stood a hand- 
some dwelling with a gambrel roof, which dated from about the 
year 1724. It was erected by Nathaniel Oilman, or by his father 
Judge Nicholas Oilman for him. He, according to tradition, was 
commonly known as " Oentleman Nat," probably on account of 
his nicety of dress or manners. He was a man of property and 
lived handsomely, but died at an early age, leaving a widow and 
one or more children. The eldest of these, John Phillips would 
have afterwards taken to wife, but she preferred another. He 
therefore wooed and won her mother, the widow, in despite of a 
slight disparity in their ages, she being forty-one while he was 
but twenty-seven. But she was well dowered. It is highly 
probable that they occupied the house after their marriage, but 
this is not positively asserted. At a later date Mr. Phillips 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 4iy 

erected for himself a house on the north side of Water street near 
by, and there lived with his second wife, until his death. 

Joseph Gilman resided in the earlier habitation, afterwards, 
through the Revolution, and until his emigration in 1788, to the 
Ohio country, which in those days was a greater undertaking than 
it now is to cross the continent. He had obtained a thorough 
business traiaing in Boston, and returned to Exeter in 1761 to 
become a partner in the firm of Gilman, Folsom & Gilman, which 
was largely engaged in commerce and trade. He was then a 
widower, but in 1763 married again, and probably at that time 
set up his establishment in the house. He made a singular dis- 
covery there. In the middle of the structure was a large stack of 
chimneys. Between the flues was a secret repository, left perhaps 
for the purpose of concealment of property or persons, and in it 
he found deer-skin pouch filled with old French crowns. The 
history of the deposit he could never learn, but suspected that 
some former occupant had bestowed his stock of specie in this 
secret storehouse, when he was about departing on some hazard- 
ous errand, to the Indian or French wars, and never returned, 
nor revealed the secret to others. 

During the Revolution the house was the place of meeting of 
the Committee of Safety of the State, of which Mr. Gilman was a 
member, and a resort of the Whigs, of the town and elsewhere. 
The second Mrs. Gilman was a superior and highly accomplished 
woman. To some of the young French officers who were in the 
American army it was a great boon to visit Exeter and converse 
with a lady who understood their language so thoroughly, and 
was accustomed to the elegancies of life. The Gilmans had no 
lack of distinguished visitors. One of them was Samuel Adams. 
It was in the darkest hours of the Revolutiou. His spirits were 
depressed, and not even Mrs. Gilman's sprightly talk could rouse 
him to cheerfulness. He walked the room and wrung his hands. 
" Oh God," he cried, " must we give it up ! " His ailment was 
one which nothing but a military success could relieve. 

Not many years after Mr. Gilman left Exeter, John Gardner 
came there to live. He married Deborah, daughter of Ward Clark 
Dean, and occupied the house that Mr. Oilman quitted. Mr. 
Gardner was a native of Boston, and became a merchant. Of a 
confiding disposition, he suffered himself to become responsible 
for others, until he failed in business. His creditors pocketed 
their percentage and reconciled themselves to a loss in which there 



420 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

was nothing dishonorable. But he did not. He never rested until 
he was able to repay to every creditor the full amount of his 
claim, with interest. Mr. Gardner is remembered by the older 
citizens, as a man of pleasant address, and remarkable even after 
he had long passed his threescore years and ten, for his cheerful- 
ness and buoyancy of spirits. 

Somewhere about the year 1820, probably, Mr. Gardner built 
the house on Court square now occupied by his grandchildren, and 
removed into it. His father-in-law. Ward C. Dean, then came 
into the occupation of the old habitation, and resided there until 
his decease in 1828; after which his widow lived there till her 
death in 1843. Jn 1855 the laud on which the house stood was 
purchased by the town, and the present town-house was erected 
there. The old building was razeed by cutting away one of its 
stories, and removed to Franklin street, where it now remains. 

THE LADD HOUSE. 

On a little elevation a few rods south of Water street is the 
residence of John T. Perry. It has an old time look, never 
having been modernized without, so that no one can see it without 
feeling that it has a history. It consists of two sections, of differ- 
ent dates, the earlier of which was built by Nathaniel Ladd in 1721 
or soon after. It was of brick, which is now covered with wood, 
to correspond with the portion which was added later. 

The Ladd family is an old one in the town. We have already 
mentioned one of the name who sounded the trumpet in Gove's 
rebellion against Governor Cranfleld, and was afterwards slain in 
an expedition against the Eastern Indians. There were other 
notable characters in the famil}'. Simeon Ladd, who came upon 
the stage at least three generations afterwards, was keeper of the 
jail. He was something of a wag, and the president of a society 
of choice spirits called the " Nip Club," who used to assemble at 
one of the taverns on regular evenings for convivial purposes. 
He perhaps inherited a tendency to eccentricity from his father, 
who is said to have long kept a ready made coffin in his house to 
meet an emergency, and who invented a pair of wings which he 
fondly believed would enable him to cleave the air like a bird, 
until he tried the experiment from an upper window. 

Eliphalet Ladd was born in 1744, and while young developed 
much aptitude for business. He was a shipmaster and merchant 
during the Revolutionary contest, and made at least one voyage 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 421 

iu the war time to the West Indies, from which he returned after 
an absence of sixty days, with a cargo of rum, molasses, etc. 
His vessel was several times chased by English men-of-war. He 
also built several ships, one of which was among the largest ever 
launched iu Exeter, and was called the Archelaus. She was of 
about five hundred tons, and was nearly three years in building. 
Captain Ladd's energy and pluck were rewarded by the acquisition 
of a competency. In 1792 he removed to Portsmouth. 

His son, William Ladd, born in Exeter in 1778, and a graduate 
of Harvard College, was well knovvn as the " apostle of peace." 

The Nathaniel Ladd who built the house which is under notice 
had two sons, to whom he conveyed it, and who probably occupied 
it until 1747 when it was bought by Colonel Daniel Oilman. His 
son Nicholas then moved into it. This was "Treasurer" Nich- 
olas Oilman who was afterwards distinguished as the financier of 
New Hampshire in the Revolution. He had three sons, John 
Taylor, afterwards governor of the State many years, Nicholas, 
an officer of the Revolution and a senator of the United States, 
and Nathaniel who was State senator and treasurer. The father 
was a man of much business and many cares. He was a devoted 
Whig, notwithstanding he was a particular friend of the royal 
governor, who would have sacrificed much if he could have 
secured Mr. Oilman's support to the British cause. In his capac- 
ity of treasurer of the State he had his ofiice in this house, and 
there, no doubt, he affixed his handsome signature to the paper 
bills of credit to which the State and the country were obliged to 
resort, to carry on the war. The treasurer lived to thankfully 
witness the termination of hostilities and the virtual establishment 
of the independence of his country, and died April 7, 1783. 

His eldest son, John Taylor Oilman, next owned and occupied 
the mansion, and it was during his tenancy, no doubt, that the 
narrow street upon which it is situated received the designation of 
" Oovernor's lane." About the year 1815 he removed to the 
dwell inar on the south side of Front street, which was afterwards 
his home, and the old house came into the occupation of Colonel 
Peter Chad wick, a native of Deerfield, it is believed. He long 
held the office of Clerk of the Courts. An honorable, high minded 
gentleman, he was much respected, and is pleasantly remembered 
by the older residents. He died in 1847, but his family resided 
in the house for many years after. 



422 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The old mansion at length came into the possession of the 
present owner, a descendant of Treasurer Gilman, who appre- 
ciates it, and has improved and adorned it without sacrificing its 
antique character. It is a remarkable coincidence that Mr. Perry- 
moved into the dwelling in April, 1883, just one hundred years to 
a day after the death of his great-grandfather there. 

THE ROWLAND HOUSE. 

The square edifice on the northwest corner of Park and Summer 
streets, which is surmounted by a hipped roof with overhanging 
eaves, was erected quite early in the last century and was occupied 
for two or three generations by families of the name of Giddinge. 
Zebulon Giddinge was married in 1724 at the age of twenty-one, 
and probably lived in the house from that time to his death in 
1789. He was chosen representative to the Assembly nine years, 
and clerk of the town thirty-nine. He was an innkeeper, and his 
house stood by the road over which all the lumbermen hauled their 
logs to the river side. Naturally, he did a large business in dis- 
pensing liquid refreshments. It was at his house that the partici- 
pants in the mast-tree riot in 1734 assembled to put on their 
disguise of Natick Indians, and perhaps to prime themselves for 
their illegal undertaking. At a much later date meetings used to 
be held there for a more creditable purpose ; — for consultations 
on the irritating course of the British Parliament towards the 
colonists, and how best to unite the whole people in measures of 
resistance. 

Dr. John Giddinge was a son of Zebulon, as was also Colonel 
Eliphalet, who continued to live in the house after his father's 
death. The colonel was engaged in ship-building and lumbering. 
He had a son Nathaniel who, while quite young, exhibited superior 
talents for business. His father naturally encouraged him and 
pushed him forward. He was popular and was early appointed a 
colonel of the fourth regiment of militia, a rank which conferred 
distinction, but cost no small amount of time and expense to meet 
the expectations of the oflflcers of his command. His father built 
for him the stately house on the plains, which was subsequently 
occupied by Jeremiah Smith, and after him by Joseph L. Cilley. 
But the young man was a fast liver, and died before he reached 
middle age. 

Eliphalet Giddinge survived until 1830, and his successor in 
the paternal residence was the Rev. William F. Rowland, who 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 423 

was bis son-in-law. Mr. Rowland had resigned the pastorship of 
the First church in 1828, and was never again settled over a 
society. He died in 1843, and his children continued to live in 
the house until the death of the last surviving daughter in 1886. 
The house is now the property of Dr. Charles H. Gerrish. 

THE ODIORNE HOUSE. 

On the corner opposite to the house just described is another 
which for more than fifty years past has been occupied by Mrs. 
Bickford, and was built about 1737 by Major John Gilman, whose 
losses at Fort William Henry are recorded on pages 236 and 
237. It has the gambrel roof characteristic of its time, and is 
a fine specimen of colonial architecture. Major Gilman spent the 
residue of his life in it. He was the owner of a slave whose three 
sons were the colored preachers of the name of Paul, referred to 
in a former chapter. 

Major Gilman had twelve children, the eldest of whom became the 
wife ot Deacon Thomas Odiorne who lived in the house after the 
death of its first owner, until his own death in 1819. The deacon 
was a worthy, patriotic citizen and had the respect of all. His 
widow survived him about ten years. Not long after her decease, 
the house came near being the scene of a double tragedy. It was 
in one of its rooms that Charles G. Tash, as has already been 
i-elated, attempted to take the life of Sally Moore, a white girl, 
and of himself, but fortunately failed to inflict a fatal hurt upon 
either. 

THE HILDRETH HOUSE. 

Upon the triangular lot at the intersection of Front and Linden 
streets is a large dwelling which evidently belongs to two periods. 
The easterly portion of it is the older, and was built about the 
year 1730 by Daniel, son of Judge Nicholas Gilman. Twenty- 
five years afterwards he was commissioned colonel of the militia, 
and, according to tradition, then enlarged his house with the 
western addition, in order to receive as a guest Governor Benning 
Wentworth, who was about to pay a visit to Exeter. Colonel 
Daniel Gilman was a large fai-mer and trader, and employed as a 
servant John Dudley, afterwards judge of the Superior Court, 
who owed to his employer the encouragement and assistance that 
enabled him to develop his native powers and attain his high posi- 



424 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

tiou. The Rev. George Whitefield had iu Colonel Gilman a stanch 
friend and admirer. When he visited Exeter for the last time, 
and preached there his final sermon, on the twenty-ninth of Sep- 
tember, 1770, it is recorded that he "dined with Captain [Col.] 
Gilman," Whitefield commenced his service in the forenoon of 
that day in the church of the Second parish, but as it was found 
altogether insufficient to accommodate the throng who assembled 
to hear him, he was obliged to preach outside. In order to avoid 
the shining of the sun in his face he crpssed the street, and 
mounted upon a board laid upon a couple of hogsheads, from 
which he addressed his congregation. ]n the afternoon he rode 
with the Eev. Mr. Parsons to Newburyport. But he had long- 
overtaxed his strength, and his hours were numbered. The next 
morning he breathed his last. 

Colonel Gilman died suddenly in church, of apoplexy, in 17H0. 
His son, Dr. Nathaniel Gilman, succeeded to the ownership of the 
house, but survived his father a few 3'ears only. The house then 
passed through several hands into the possession of the Rev. 
Hosea Hildreth, who resided in it during his stay in P^xeter. 

It is now occupied by two families, those of Mrs. Samuel Til ton 
and of the Rev. Noah Hooper. 

THE PEABODY HOUSE. 

The house on the south side of AVater street now owned by 
Warren F. Putnam was erected by Sanniel Gilman, who moved 
into it November 3, 1725, and lived there during the succeeding 
sixty years. He was an innkeeper, a colonel and a judge. In 
1734 he entertained the party sent by Surveyor General David 
Dunbar from Portsmouth to Exeter to discover what mast trees 
had been illegally felled, when the stalwart woodsmen broke in 
upon them and gave them entertainment of a very different nature. 

After the death of the worthy builder, the habitation was pur- 
chased by Oliver Peabody, and he with his interesting family 
lived there till 1831. Jeremiah Dow, a tanner, and a man of 
much force of character, succeeded to the occupancy of the house. 
Since his time the property has had several owners, and has 
undergone such transformations that it is difficult now to realize 
that the house has seen a hundred and sixty-three years. 

THE OILMAN HOUSE. 

The large gambrel roofed house on Front street nearly opposite 
the Baptist church is above one hundred and fifty years old, and 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 425 

was erected by Dr. Dudley, son of the Eev. John Odlin. Dying 
in middle life he devised it to his kinsman Dr. John Odlin. After 
occupying it twenty years or more, the latter transferred his 
residence to Concord, and sold the house to Colonel Nathaniel 
Gilman. His home it was until his death. It was truly the 
abode of plenty and good cheer. The colonel was a public 
spirited citizen, interested in trade, in manufactures and in agri- 
culture, and with a large acquaintance in the State. His wife was 
the impersonation of hospitality. Their children were numerous, 
and popular. They literally kept open house. On public occa- 
sions, especially, their rooms and table overflowed with guests. 

Colonel Gilman died in 1847, and the house was, afterwards, 
the home of his widow, and of his youngest son Joseph T. Gilman, 
until his decease in 18G2. His Avidow married Charles H. Bell, 
and they now occupy the house. 

THE TILTON HOUSE. 

On the southeast corner of Water street and Court square, is a 
house which enjoys the distinction of having once sheltered the 
Father of his country. It was built by Colonel Samuel Folsom, 
in 1770 or the following year, to replace a former house which 
had been burned, on the same spot. The account of Washing- 
ton's visit to Exeter in 1789 is given on a previous page. Colonel 
Folsom died the year following, and his family continued to 
reside there. One of his daughters was afterwards married to 
Joseph Tiltou, an Exeter law^^er, who lived in the house until his 
decease in 1872. It is now owned by Dr. George W. Dearborn. 

There are other houses in the town of perhaps equal antiquity 
with those named, but space is wanting to describe them. The 
Feavey house on the Newmarket road is one of the most ancient 
and curious ; the Colcord house on the plains is covered with plank 
for the purpose of defence, and has been styled a half gari'ison 
house ; the Leavitt house on the corner of Front and Winter 
streets is very early, and contains a good deal of panelling. 
Unfortunately for the lover of antiquity many of the older dwell- 
ings have been so much modernized that their real age can hardly 
be detected. 

STATISTICS ; SOCIETIES ; LOCALITIES. 

The town of Exeter is situated in the southeastern part of 
New Hampshire, a little east of the centre of the county of Rock- 



426 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

ingham. It is nine miles from the sea, and fifty miles almost 
northerly from Boston, with which it is connected by the Boston 
and Maine Railroad opened in 1840. It is a half shire town, and 
is the seat of the county offices, of the clerk of the Judicial 
Courts, the Registry of Deeds, and of Probate. They contain the 
records of the entire province up to the year 1771, when it was 
divided into counties, and of the county of Rockingham since that 
date. Two terms of the Supreme Judicial Court are held in the 
town annually, and a term of the Court of Pr.obate monthly. 

The census shows that the population has about doubled, since 
the beginning of the century. In 1800 it w^as 1727; in 1820, 
2114 ; in 1850, 3274 ; in 1880, 3569. The assessed value of the 
taxable property in 1887 was $3,197,884. 

The public buildings of the town are a town-house containing a 
count}' court-room, another used for the public library and other 
purposes, eight houses of public worship, the buildings of the 
Phillips Exeter Academy, the Robinson Female Seminary and the 
High School, and Opera House, the county record offices and the 
jail. 

Three weekly newspapers are published in the town, besides a 
weekly paper and monthly journal issued by the students of the 
Academy during term time. 

The Washmgton Lodge of F. and A. Masons was established in 
the town early in the century, and was discontinued some years 
after, but was revived about 1820 under the name of i\xQ'Phoenix 
Lodge. This was kept up ten or twelve years. 

Star in the East Lodge No. 59 was instituted in 1857, and has 
furnished the following officers of the Grand Lodge : Charles H. 
Bell and John J. Bell, Grand Masters ; Charles G. Conner, 
Samuel M. AVilcox, Jeremiah D. Parker and Joseph S. Parsons, 
Deputy Grand Masters. The present chief officers of Star in the 
East Lodge are, George N. Cross, W. M., Joseph E. Knight, 
S. W., Edmund E. Freeman, J. W., William F. Rundlett, Sec, 
and William H. C. Follansby, Tr. 

St^. Albans Royal Arch Chapter was constituted in 1869. Its 
present chief officers are Charles G. Conner, H. P., John P. P. 
Kelly, A"., Winthrop N. Dow, S., George W. Weston, Sec, 
Robert C. Thomson, Tr. 

Sagamore Lodge JSfo. 9, I. 0. 0. F., was established in 1845. 
It became dormant in 1864, but was revived in 1873. It has 
furnished one Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, James W. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 427 

Odlin. The present chief officers of Sagamore Lodge are S. 
Abbott Lawrence, N. G., Charles L. Palmer, V. G., G. W. 
Wetherell, ^ec, John P. Elkins, Tr. 

Swamscot Lodge No. 2, K. of P.^ was instituted April 6, 1870. 
Its present chief officers are F. E. Rollins, C. C, Adolphus 
Smart, V. C, J. Warren Tilton, K. of B. & S., John S. Hayes, 
M. ofE. 

Moses N. Collins Post No. 26, G. A. 7?., was established in 
1870. Its chief officers are A, J. Gilman, Com.., B. F. Rowe, 
S. V. C, G. L. Stokell, J. V. C, G. W. Gadd, Adft, Lewis E. 
Gove, Q. M. 

Jady Hill is the eminence rising from the east bank of salt 
river, just below the village. From the earliest times it has been 
called by that name. The derivation of it cannot be learned. 
Some have fancied it was a, corruption of shady hill, but for no 
better reason than the resemblance of the words. 

Bride Hill is an elevation on the Hampton road about three 
miles from the Great bridge, and is in fact just over the line in 
the town of Hampton. A romantic story of the marriage of a 
pair of lovers in the olden time under the " bridal elm," a sym- 
metrical tree on the side of the hill, is told, but not verified. The 
hill has long borne the name. 

Ass Brook, which crosses the road to Hampton about two miles 
east from the village, has been so styled from the very earliest 
times, but from what circumstance is unknown. The claim that 
it was originally Ash brook is unsupported by early documents. 

WlieelwrigMs Creek, which crosses the road to Stratham, within 
a mile from the village, received its name from the founder of 
Exeter. 

PoiveWs Point is a projection of the east bank into the salt 
river between Wheelwright's creek and the village. Its name 
came from Robert Powell, an early settler. 

The Round-about is a bend in the salt river, a couple of miles 
below the village, in the shape of a horse-shoe. 

The Oak Lands is the name affixed to a large tract of woodland 
containing many oaks, in the northern part of the town. 

Beech Hill is an elevation in the northwestern part of the town, 
about four miles from the village. 

Bloody Brook crosses the road to Eppiug about two and a half 
miles from the village. Its name is probably derived from the 
dark color of the bed of the stream. 



428 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Fresh Meadow is the name given to a tract of low land adjoin- 
ing the Brentwood line about midway between its two extremities. 

The Mast Swamp Road leads from the western part of the town 
towards Epping. 

Great Hill is a commanding eminence at the point where the 
corners of the townships of Exeter, East Kingston and Brentwood 
come together. 

Eockfj Hill is on the road to Hampton, about three-fourths of a 
mile from the Great bridge. 

Tower Hill is an ascent on the east side of the river nearest the 
Great bridge. 

Town Hill is in the village, near the intersection of Main and 
Water streets. 

The Plains is the name given to the level stretch of land in the 
northwestern part of the village. 

Other names of localities, that have not become obsolete in 
Exeter and in the towns which once belonged to it, have been 
heretofore referred to. There were, however, in the earlier times 
places whose designations were then familiar as household words, 
but have long been disused and forgotten. Who now can tell 
where was the Nursery, the Temple, or the Patent land, — -places 
doubtless well known a century ago ? Probably no man living. 

Does not this render it likely that other things, well under- 
stood by the fathers, have since their time perished from memory, 
and should it not make us distrustful of passing upon their con- 
duct, judgments liable to be based upon inadequate knowledge ? 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX I. 

THE INDIAN DEED OF 1629 TO WHEELWRIGHT & ALS. 

Whereas wee the Sagamores of Penacook, Pentucket, Squam- 
squot & Nuchawanick are Inclined to have y" English Inhabitt 
amongst us, as they are amongst our Countrymen in the Massa- 
chucets bay, by w'^'' means wee hope in time to be strengthnecl 
against our Enemyes the Tarratens who yearly doth us Damage : 
Likewise being Perswaided y' itt will bee for the good of us and 
our Posterety &c'. To that end have att a generall meeting (att 
Squamsquot on Piscataqua River) wee the afores*^ Sagamores w"' a 
universall Consent of our subjects doe Covenant and agree w"' the 
English as followeth : Now Know all men by these Presents that 
wee Pass^icouaway Sagamore of Penacook, Ruuawitt Sagamore of 
Pentucket, wahangnonawitt Sagamore of Squamscott, and Rowls 
Sagamore of Newchawanick, for a Compitent Valluation in goods 
allready Received in Coats, Shurts & victualls, and alsoe for y* 
Considerations afores*^ doe (according to y^ Limits and bounds 
hereafter granted) give, grant, bargaiue, sell, Release Rattafie and 
Contirme, unto John Whelewright of y" Massachucets baye Late 
of England, A minister of y^ Gospel, Augustin Story, Thom^ Wite, 
W"" Wentworth and Thom' Levitt, all of y" Massachucetts baye in 
New England, to them their heires and Assignes forever, all that 
part of y'^ maine Land bounded by the River of Piscataqua and 
the River of Merrimack, that is to say, to begin att Newchewanack 
ffalls in Piscataqua River afores*^, and soe Doune s*^ River to the 
sea, and soe alongst the sea shore to merrimack River, and soe up 
along s*^ River to the falls att Pentucett afores**, and from s"^ Pen- 
tucett ffalls upon a Northwest Line twenty English miles into the 
woods, and from thence to Run upon a Streight line North East & 
South West till meete w"' the maine Rivers that Runs down to 
Pentucket falls & Newchewanack ffalls, and y" s*^ Rivers to be the 
bounds of the s'' Lands from the thwart Line or head Line to y^ 
afores*^ ffalls, and y'' maine Channell of each River from Pentucket 

431 



432 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

& Newcliewanack ffalls to the maine sea to bee the side bounds, 
and the maine Sea betweene Piscataqua River And Merrimack 
River to be the Lower bounds, and the thwart or head Line that 
runs from River to river to be y® uper bound ; Togeather w'** all 
Hands w* in s*^ bounds, as alsoe the lies of S holes soe Called by 
the English togeather w"" all Proffitts, Advantages and Appurte- 
nances whatsoever to the s'^ trixct of Land belonging or in any 
wayes appertaineiug ; Reserveing to our Selves Liberty of makeing 
use of our old Planting Land, as alsoe ffree Liberty of Hunting, 
flishiug and fowling ; and itt is Likewise w"^ these Proviseos ffol- 
lowing viz'. 

First, that y" s*^ John Wheelewright shall w"* in ten years after 
the date hereof sett Doun w"' a Company of English and begin a 
Plantation att Squamscott ffalls In Piscataqua River af ores'*. 

Secondly, that what other Inhabitants shall Come & Live on s** 
Tract of Land Amongst them from Time to Time and att all times 
shall have and Enjoye the same benefitts as the s'* Whelewright 
af ores'*. 

Thirdly, that If att any time there be a numb'' of People 
amongst them that have a mind to begin a new Plantation that 
they be I^ncouraged soe to doe, and that noe Plantation Exceede 
in Lands above ten English miles Squaire, or such a Proportion as 
amounts to ten miles Squaire. 

Fourthly, that y*" afores'' granted Lands are to be Divided into 
Tounshipps as People Increase and appeare to Inhabitt them, and 
that noe Lands shall be granted to any p''ticular p''sou but what 
shall be for a Township, and what Lands w^'in a Township is 
granted to any Perticular Persons to be by vote of y^ major part 
of y^ Enhabitants Legally and ord''ly settled in s'* Township. 

Fifthly for manageing and Regalateing, and to avoide Conten- 
tions amongst them, they are to be under the Goverment of the 
Collony of the Massachusetts (their neighbours) and to observe 
their Laws and ord'" untill they have a settled Goverment Amongst 
themselves. 

Sixthly wee the afores** Sagamores and our Subjects are to have 
free Liberty (w*in the afores** granted tract of Land) of fflshing, 
fowling, hunting & Planting &c. 

Sevently and Lastly every Township w*in the aforesaid Limits 
or tract of Land that hereafter shall be settled shall Paye to 
Passaconaway our Cheife Sagamore that now is, & to his succes- 
sors forever, If Lawfully Demanded one Coats of Trucking Cloath 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



433 



a year & every yeare for an Ackuowledgraent, and also shall Paye 
to M"' John Whelewright afores'* his heires and successors forever, 
If Lawfully Demanded, two bushills of Indian Corne a yeare for 
and in consideration of said Whelewright's great Paiues & Care 
as alsoe for y^ Charges he have been att to obtain this one grant 
for himselfe and those aforementioned, and the Inhabitants that 
shall hereafter settle In Townships on y^ aforesaid granted Prem- 
ises : And wee the afores'^ Sagamores, Passaconaway Sagamore of 
Penecook, Runawitt Sagamore of Pentucet, Wahangnouawitt Sag- 
amore of Squaamscott and Rowls Sagamore of Newchewanack doe 
by these Presents Rattafie and Contirme all y'' afore granted and 
bargained Premises and Tract of Land afores'^ (excepting & 
Reserving as afore Excepted & Reserved & the Proviseos afores"^ 
f unfilled) w'^ all the meadow and Marsh grounds therein. 
Togeather w"^ all the mines Mineralls of what Kind or Nature 
soever, with all the Woods Timber and Timber Trees, Ponds, 
Rivers, Lakes, runs of Water or Water Courses thereunto belong- 
ing, with all the ffreedome of ffishinge, ffowlinge, and Hunting as 
ourselves with all other benefitts, Proffltts, Privledges and Appur- 
tenances whatsoever thereunto, of all and any Part of the said 
Tract off Land belonging or in any wayes Appertaineinge, unto him 
the said John Whelewright, Augustin Storer Thomas Wite, 
William Wentworth and Thomas Levitt and their heires forever 
as afores"^. To have and to hold y" same As then- owne Proper 
Right and Interest, without the Least Disturbance Mollestation or 
Troble of us, oar heires, Execcutors, and Administrators, to and 
with the said John Whelewright Augustin Storer Thomas Wite 
William Wentworth and Thomas Levitt their heires Execcutors, 
Administrators and assignes and other the English that shall 
Inhabitt there And their heires and assignes forever, shall 
Warrant Mainetaine and Defend. In Wittnes whereof wee have 
Hereunto sett our hands and scales the Seventeenth day of May 
1629 And in the fflfth yeare of King Charles his Reigne over 
England &c'. 

Signed Sealed & Delivered 
In Presents off us. 



Wadargascom mark 
MiSTONOBiTE mark 
John Oldham 



Passaconaway mark 
RuNAWiT mark 
Wahangnownawit mark 



28 



434 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Sam^^ Sharpe Rowls mark * 

Memorand" ; on y" Seventeenth day of maye one thousand six 
hundred twenty & nine, In the ffifth year of the Reigne of our 
Sovereigne Lord Charles King of England, Scotland ffrance & 
Ireland, Defend^' of y'' ffaith &cK Wahangnownawit Sagamore 
of Squamscot in Piscataqua River, did in behalfe of himselfe and 
the other Sagamores aforementioned then Present, Deliv"" Quiett 
& Peaceable Possession of all y" Lands mentioned in the w*in 
writen Deed, unto the w*in named John Whelewright for the ends 
w*in mentioned in Presents of us Walter Nele Governer Geo. 
Vaughan ffacktor and ambros Gibins Trader for y^ Company of 
Laconia, Rich*^ Vines Governer and Rich'^ bonithan Assistant of 
y* Plantation of Sawco, Thom^ Wiggin agent and Edward hiltou 
Steward of the Plantation of Hiltons Point, and was signed 
sealed & Delivered In our Presents. 

In Wittness whereof we have hereunto sett our hands the day 
& yeare above Written. 

RiCH° Vines Walter Neale 

RiCH° BoNiTHON Geo. Vaughan 

Thon^ Wiggin Ambrose Gibbins 

Edward Hilton 
Entered and Recorded According to the originall the 20th may 
1714. 

Pr. WM. Vaughan Record"". 



*The marks or totems of the Indians are affixed to their names as follows: Passa- 
conaway, a man with extended arms; Runawit, a deer's antlers; Wahangnownawit, 
a bow and arrow; Rowls, a one-armed man. What the marks of the two Indian 
witnesses, Wadargascom and Mistonobite, are intended to represent, it is not easy 
to say. 



APPENDIX II. 

TRANSCRIPTS OF THE EXETER RECORDS, 1639 TO 1644. 

Certaine ord'" made at the Co'*' houldeu in Exeter the 4"' day of 
the first wealve in the 10"^ Month, 1639. 

Imprimis. That M^ Edward Hilton his vpland ground is 
bounded in Breadth from the Creeke next from his house towards 
Exeter on the one side & a Certaine point of Land ov'" against 
Captaine Wiggins his howse between the Mash and the vpland 
that his bounds one the oth'' side and it is to extend into the 
maine the same distance in Length as it is in Breadth, and that he 
shall have all the meadowes w*"'' hee formerly ocupied from his 
howse to the mouth of Lamprell River. 

2*^ Lye. That all the Meadowes w"^ belonge vnto the Toune of 
Exeter, leying betweene the Townes and mr. Hilton's howse, as 
Likewise the Meadowes from Lamprell River vnto the head of 
the little Baye shall be equally devided into fouer parts whereof 
the 4* p'" shall be devided by lott to such of the inhabitants of 
the Towne of Exeter as have noe Cattle or fower Goats, and the 
profitt of the haye w*"'' [now] growes thereupon shall bee devided 
amongst them w'='' have the [three] oth*" pt' ontill such tyme as 
they have Cattle of there owne or [till] they sell the Grounds to 
those that have Catties. 

3"^ Lye. That the three oth'' pt' shall bee equally devided 
amongst those that have Cattle, to each head of Cattle 

there pportion to bee devided to each of them by [lott] w"** 
de visions are to bee made betwixt this and the next Co*^ 

[4]th Lye. That all the inhabitants of the Towne of Exeter 
shall have their vpland lotts for planting laid out by the Riv'' 
bettweene Stony Creeke and the Creeke on this side Mr. Hiltons, 
according to the num"" of y'^ psons and Cattle, in equall p portion 
w'='' p portion is to be devided to them by lott, except such psons 
as live one the oth'" side the Riv% and Will. Hilton and Goodm. 
Smart who are to have the lotts one the oth"" side the Riv'' where 

435 



436 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

the Tonne shall bee thought most Convenient, By o"' Rul"' Needam 
and Mr. Starre deputeis to this purpose. 

5* Lye. That whosoever shall Carry themselves disorderly 
vnreverently in the Co** Towards the Magistrates or in y'' p'"sence 
shall bee lyable to such a Censer as the CV shall thiuke meete. 

A Division of the vplands From the Cone against Eocky poynt 
to the Creeke next on this Side Mr. Hiltons. 

1. Imp"". Mr. Stanjou 27 acers 135 poole, one end butting vpon 
the river Eastward & the other end running vp into the majne 
six scoore poole in Length. 

2. Mr. Grosse 28 acres 140 poole butting as afforesayd. 

3. Goodman Walker 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

4. Goodman Mower 22 acers 110 poole butting as aforesayd. 

5. Thomas Louett 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

6. William Wentford 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

7. Goodman Coole 12 acers 60 poole butting as aforesayd. 

8. Edward Rishworth 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

9. Robert Smyth 6 acers 30 poole butting as aforesayd. 

10. Goodman Littlefejld 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

11. Goodman Winborne 7 acers & 40 poole butting as abouesaj'd. 

12. Jeremiah Blackwell 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

13. George Raborne 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

14. Goodman Dearborne 10 acers 50 poole butting as aforesayd. 

15. Mr. Needum 12 acers 60 poole butting as aforesayd. 

16. Goodman E^lkine 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

17. Goodman Crame 8 acers 40 poole butting as aforesayd. 

18. Goodman Littlefejld 21 acers butting as aforesayd. 

19. Thomas AVeight 6 acers 30 poole butting as aforesayd. 

20. Jams Wall 10 acers 90 poole butting as aforesayd. 

21. Mr. Pormott 14 acers 70 poole butting as aforesayd. 

22. William Wardell 10 acers 50 poole buttmg as aforesayd. 

23. Goodman Compton 12 acers 60 poole butting as aforesayd. 

24. Thomas Wardell 12 acers 60 poole butting as aforesayd. 

25. Goodman Pettit 6 acers 30 poole butting as aforesayd. 

26. Goodman Willix 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

27. Goodman Bulgar 4 acers 20 poole butting as aforesayd. 

28. Mr. Morris 33 acers butting as aforesayd. 

29. Mr. Wheelewright 80 acers butting as aforesayd. 

30. Robert Read 9 acers & 50 poole butting as aforesayd. 

31. Abner 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 437 

32. Mr. Storr 20 acers 100^ poole butting as aforesayd. 

33. Griffine Mountegue 10 acers 50 poole butting as aforesayd, 
bouglit by Mr. Edward Hillton of Thomas Croly. 

Thomas X Crolys marke, witnes Richard Bullgar. 
Noate here a great mistake, in this Record viz. euery akeer 
herein mensioned stands but for halfe an alier as atests 

Rob. Booth, 

Sept. 26, 1670. 

A note how the marshes were diuided in the First diussion next 
the Towue, the quantity being 14 acers. 

1. Imp"" to Goodman Smart one acre & 26 poole bee it more or 
lesse. 

2. To Goodman Coole ^ acre & 13 poole bee it more or lesse. 

3. To o'' pastor 8 acers i quarters bee it more or lesse. 

4. To Goodman Mountegue 1 acre 26 poole bee it more or lesse. 

5. To Mr. Storr 2 acers 3 quarters bee it more or lesse. 

Theire is also diuided 14 acres to y^ Sayd partys at Lamprome 
Riuer & the Same p portion to each party as aboue Sayd. 

In the Second Diuission 19 acers on this sid Mr. Hiltons is 
diuided & six acers on Lamproue Riuer, as Followeth, 

1. Irap"^ to James Walls one acre & 54 poole bee it more or lesse 
& halfe an acree at Lamprone riuer. 

2. To Mr. Morris 7 acres bee it more or lesse & 2 acres 40 poole 
at L : Riuer. 

3. To Goodm : Willson 3 acres 28 poole bee itmor or lesse & 1 
acre a Lamp : Riuer. 

4. To Mr. Grosse 6 acers & 50 poole be it more or lesse & 2 acres 
a Lam : Riuer. 

In the Third Diuission 18 acres on this side Mr. Hilton's & six 
acers at Lamprone Riuer diuided & giuen as before as followeth. 

1. Imp'', to William Hilton 2 acres & 40 poole be it more or lesse 
& 120 poole at Lamprone Riuer. 

2. To William Mower 2 acres & 40 poole bee it more or lesse & 
120 pool L : Riv : 

3. To John Compton 12 acrs be it more or lesse & 120 poole at 
Lamp : riuer. 

4. To William Wardell 120 poole bee it more or less & 120 poole 
at Lamp : Riuer. 

5. To Mr. Stanjon 8 acers more or lesse & 2 acers & halfe at 
Lamp : riuer. 



438 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

6. To Mr. Needura 3 acers bee it more or lesse & 1 acre at Lamp : 
Eiuer. 

In the 4'^ Diuission 19 acres on this side Mr. Hiltons & 14 
acers at Lamp : Eiuer diuided & given to them that haue noe 
cattle, & to euery man an equall p portion w'^'' comes to euery one 
an acer & an halfe. 

Theire is a small parcell about 2 acers of marsh bee it more or 
lesse w*^*^ was giuen to William Winborne that lyeth betwixt Mr. 
Needums march & theii'e marsh w""*" had noe cattle betwixt this 
& Mr. Hilton's. 

1. It was agreed by the Inhabitants in the yer 1639 upon the 
18'^ day of the 11"" month that Isack Grosse, Rular, Agustin 
Store and Anthony Stanyon shall haue y^ Ordring of all towne 
affaiers according to god. 

Orders made by the Co'^ held at Exeter the 6 day of the 12 Mo. 
1639. 

That noe man shall sett fier vpon the wood to the destroying of 
the feed for the Cattle, or to the doing of any oth"" hurt vnd' 
paine of payeing the damage that shall insue thereby, after the 
midle of the 2 month. 

That every man shall fall such trees as are in his lott being 
offencive to any oth"^. And if aff due warninge any shall refuse, 
to pay halfe a Crowne for every tree that is soe offensive. 

That every action that is tryed the pty that is Cast in it shall 
pay to the Jury foure shillings. 

Orders made by the Co*^ held at Exeter the 6 day of the 1 mo*** 
(1639-40.) 

That noe wines or Strong watter shal be Sould by retaile to the 
English but by thomas Wardle. 

It is ordered that Avhosoeuer shall dige a saw pitt & shall not 
fill it or Cover it, shal be liable to pay the damage that shall com 
to man or beast thereby. 

It is ordered that all the Swine that is not cared doune the riuer 
by the 4 day of the 2 month, the owners shall be liable to pay the 
damage that shall befall any thereby. 

That all grounds, woods & such preuiliges as appertaine to the 
towne, such inhabitans as haue their lotts small or great in the 
bounds of the toune shal be liable to pay such comon Charges as 
the towne shal be at, according to theire proportion of ground, 
Catles, or other preuilidges they doe injoye in y'' towne, whither 
prisent or absent. 



, HISTORY OF EXETER. 439 

It is furder ordered that euerie man that is an inhabitant of the 
Toune shall hane free libirtie to trade with the Indians in any 
thuige exsepte it be powder, shot, or any warelike weapons, or 
Sacke or other Stronge watters, according to the former order ; 
and as for prizes of what Corne there shal be traided with them 
shall not exceed foure Shillings the bushell. 

6. It is here recorded that Anthonie Stanyon hath satisfied 
the Cort Conserneing the offence giuen by hime to ou^ Ruler 
Nedham. 

It is iuacted for a law constituted & made & consented vnto by 
the whole assemblye at the Cort Sollomly meet togeather in Exeter 
this 9 day of the 2 moneth Ano. 1640. 

That if any person or persons shall plot or practise eyther by 
Combination or otherwise the betrayeing of his Contrie or any 
priusipall part thereof into the hands of anye forrainge state, 
Spanish Duch or french, Contrarye to the Allegiance we p fesse 
& owe to on"" Dread Souveraigne lord kiuge Charles his heires & 
successors, it being his majesties pleasuer to ptect vs his loyall 
Subjicts, Shal be punished with death, if anye person or persons 
shall plot or practise Trecherge, treson or rebellion, or shall reuile 
his majestie the lords anoynted Contrarye to the Allegiance we 
professe and owe to our dread Souveraine lord kinge Charles his 
heires & successors (ut supra) shal be punished with death. 

Numb. 16 

Exo. 22. 28 

1 Kings, 2, 8, 9, 44. 

An Order about purchesing howse lots. 

3. It was Ordered by the Inhabetants in the jT^ere 1640 in the 
11"' day of the 2'^ month that none Inhabetant nor farinar shall 
purchese aney howse lots of aney but thay shall bulde an habeta- 
tion or dweling house vpon it with in the space of six months next 
folowing aney such purchese, & whosoeuer shall kepe lots in thar 
hand aboue six months vubult one or haue seurall howse lots in 
there hands shall pay such charges vpon eurey loot as shall a 
Rise in the towne Rates and whosoeuer shall sell house or howse 
lots before they haue tendred the saile tharof to the townsmen, 
that ded of saile is voyd, if the town shall giue as good a prise as 
he that formerly bought it. 

4. It was Agreed vpon and ordred by the Inhabetants of 
Exetar in the yer 1640, in the first day of the 8'*^ month that none 



440 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

shall fell aney timbar within halfe a mile of the towne, except it 
be vpon thar partic-ular lots without it be for bulclinge or fencing 
vpon the peunaltie of S'' for evtrey tree so fellcl. 

5. It was Agreed vpon and Ordred the day & yei'e next aboue 
writen that none but such as are Inhabetants and town dwelars 
shall haue libertie to fell or sawe aney timber thar Oake or pine 
or aney otliar, but they shall be liable to an equal fine a Cording 
to the proporshon so feled or sawn. 

It is ordered and Agreed vppon by the iuhabitanc of the Towne 
of Exeter that noone shall fell Aney Oke timber w"' in halfe A 
mile of Aney part of the Towne, Except it be vppon there pticular 
lott or for building or fenceing, vppon the penialltie of [each 
tree] five shillings. 

Its ordered by the Inhabitance of the Towne at A [meeting] 
whoseuer shall Absent themselves from Towne [meeting] after] 
due warning shall for [each] offence forfeit 

Orders mayd by the Cort at Exeter houldeu the secund day 
moth 9"S 1640. 

Imp"" y* Edward Eishwoorth is chosen by order of Cort to be 
Secritery to the Cort to looke to the booke & to enter all such 
actions are brought, and to have 12'^ layd downe at the entring 
euery action. 

2 ly. Its likewise agreed vpon y* the lands y' are layd outt 
according to the former order, both for theire butting, bounding 
& p portion, are now confirmed & ratifyd in the cort Eowles. 

3 ly. It is a lawe mayd y* if either pson or psons shall by any 
means draw sids, to make comuotions or seditions in these o'' 
Jurisdictions, hee shall pay tenn pounds & stand liable to the 
further Censure of the Court. 

4 ly. Its agreed vpon that the Milner shall take for his wast 
& towle 5"^ of meale, & w' euer is wanting more is to be mayd 
good by him, & hee to stand lyable to the Corts censure vpon Just 
& sufficient testimony of the same. 

5 ly. Its agreed that all pitts & hooles are to bee filled up & 
trees remoued, w'^ ly neare the way, Avithin a fortintts tyme or 
else they are to pay 10' & bee lyable to the Censure of the Court. 

61y. That all Creeks are free, only hee y' maks a ware therein 
is to haue in the first place the beuefitt of it in Fishing tyme & soe 
others may sett a ware either aboue or below & enjoy the same 
liberty. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 441 

It is agreed upon by the Inhabitauts of Exeter that enery man 
shall Fence the next spring a generall fence euery man an eqnall 
p portion according to the quality of ground lyng within the fence 
by the middle of the secund moentli w'^'' will bee 1641, and w* damage 
can bee mayd [to] appear for the want of a suflicient Fence hee 
y' ows it is to make it good, & if the sayd Fence bee not sett vp 
at the day appoynted euery day after hee y* is behind hand herein 
shall pay Five Shillings a day. 

Orders mayd & agreed vpon at Exeter, houldeu this 3'^ day, 
moenth 12^^ 1640. 

Its agreed vpon y* Mr. William Hilton is to enjoy those two 
marshes in Oyster River w'^'^ formerly he hath had possession of 
& still are in his possession & the other marsh w'^'' Mr. Gibbies 
doth wrongfully detayne from him with the rest of those marshes 
w*^*^ formerly hee hath mayd use of soe fare forth as they may bee 
for the publique good of this plantation. And soe much of the 
vpland (adjoining) to them as shall bee thought couueiyent by 
the neighbores of Oyster Riuer, w'='^ are belonging to this body. 

It is further agreed vpon y* vpon o"" former agrement euery one 
shall fence his p portion of ground & if any refuse, whoseuer will 
fence it shall haue the use of it till they bee fully satisfyd, if it 
bee ould ground, & if it bee new hee shall have it for his payens. 

where As it was formerly agreed vpon in generall y*^ all the 
Toune should generally fence & w° they come to fence prticularly 
others should doe as much for them in fencing as they did for y"" 
outsids w*^'' vpon farther consideration is not thought equall yrfore 
now it is agreed y' w" wee come to fence in particular y* it must 
bee putt to the consideration of two indifereit men w* y'' fence is 
worth by those w'='' fenced the out side, is to bee mayd good unto 
them again by such as [the land] appertains two. 

Its likewise agreed that whosoeuer buyes the Indean ground by 
way of purchase is to tender it first to the towne before they are 
to make p per vse of it in prticular to themselves. 

Orders mayd by the Court at Exeter, moenth First, day the 12''' 
1640 [1641.] 

Imp"", whereas the highwayes by vertue of a forme' order were 
to bee in breadth 3 pole at the least, yet notwithstanding they are 
straytued in diuerse places, wee doe therefore here agaiue order 
that they should bee rectifyd & mayd the full breadth as afore- 
sayd betwixt this & the middle of the secund moenth w<='' shall be 



442 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

iu the yeare of o"" Lord 1642, & alsoe such ground as is taken in 
coutary to order, to bee rectifyd within the sayd tjnne. 

Orders mayd by the Court at Exeter d : 30 : m : First, 1641. 

Its agreed vpon y* all the Swine aboue ^ a yeare ould and 
vpwards are to bee sent downe into the great bay by the 10"' day 
of secund moenth, & w* Swine are found in the towne after y* 
tyme aboue y*^ age, vf^ hurt they doe iu a sufficient Fence, there 
owners are to make it good. 

Its further agreed y' according to former , orders y' all are to 
have y"" fences finished of y'' home lotts by the middle of y" next 
moenth, or otherwise to stand to y*" perill y' may ensue. 

Its agreed that none but inhabitants of the towne shall plant 
w hin the townes libertys w hout there consent. 

Whereas the freemen of Exeter haue mayd choyce of Mr. 
RichUrd Bui gar to be Leefetenant of y*^ band of Souldgers in Exe- 
ter, & prsented to y® court houlden at Exeter cl : 30 : m : First 1641, 
I the ruler of the sayd plantation doe ratify & confirme y'' sayd 
choj^se & doe further grant y' the sayd Mr. Richard Bulgar shall 
bee enstauled & confirmed Leeftenant by the freemen y'' next 

trayning day. 

Nicholas Needham. 

Whereas the freemen of Exeter haue mayd choyse of Thomas 
Wardell to bee Sargiant of the band of Souldgers in Exeter, & 
pr sented to y*" Court houlden at Exeter d : 30 : moenth First 
1641, I the Ruler of the sayd plantation do confirme the sayd 
choyse & d(oe further) grant yHhe sayd Thomas Wardell shall 
be enstaled by the 

the next trayning day. 

Nicholas Needum. 

An order mayd by the (Court at) Exeter, d : 10"\ m : 4* 1641. 

Its ordered y' Goodman shall allow the Indeans one 

bushell of corne for y^ labor & w'^*' was spent by y" in re- 

playnting of y' corne of y" w*^'' was spoyld by his corne (swine?) 
& hee to make vp y'' lose at haruest, according as y* corne may 
bee judged worse then there corne w'='* was nev'' hurt. 

An order mayd at the Court at Exeter the last day of June 
1641, it is agreed vpon that thar shall be none accusations deulged 
or spread abroud of aney parsone or parsons but what thare be 
proued by the mouth of to or three witnescs for they that shall so 
doe shall be liable to the Court Sensur, this is not in poynt of 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 443 

damidegs trespas but in point of slanders in a mans good name. 

It was Agreed vpon and ordred by the Inhabetants of Exetar 
in the yere 1641 (-42) in the 14*'^ day of the 11"' month, that no 
fareuars shall worke within the limmets of our towne, to be paid 
out of timbar or pipstaues for thar worke, nor to hindar any any 
of the Inhabtants from Imployment prouided that the Inhabetants 
Can or will doe that worke as Cheap and sufishent as the farinar, 
but if thay will not, then are the Inhabetants free to bringe in 
Farenars. 

Vpon the great complaint of the great distruction & spoyle of 
timbar about the towne of Exetar it was Agreed and ordred by 
the Inhabetants in y' 14"^ day of the ll*'' mouth that all such of 
y" Inhabetants that haue felled aney timbar for pipstaues or boults 
before this Ordar wos made, shall haue one yers time to worke it 
vp, Except it be such as had timbar lieiug vnwr ought vp a yere, 
and such are alowed but 6 months to worke vp such timbar, and 
if aney timbar belonging to these men shall be found vpon the 
Common vnwrought vp aftar the 6 months then it shall be forfit 
and at the townsmens disposing and the Common to be Clered of 
all timbar which was felled for pipstaues or boults euery 6 months, 
except they be in pipstaues or boults, vpon the pennaltie of the 
forfetur tharof . 

Cort at Exeter, mth. 5, d : 10"> 1642. 

The Censure of the Court against Thomas Weight for [con- 
temptuous carriages] & speeches against both y" Court & the 
magestrate w*"^^ hee is to bee fined 20' & to pay all Court charges 
besids, & his liberty to bee taken away as hee is a freeman. 

Its agreed y' all mane^ of cattle are to haue keepers a days & 
are to bee looke to of nights & kept vp, if any damage come by 
any answerable satisfaction mst be mayd. 

Att the Court houldne att Exeter the 20* of the 8"^ moneth 
1642. 

Mr. Needham resines vp his offlse of being Ruler, and by the 
choyce and Approbation of the boddey of the Towne, mr. Thomas 
Wilson is Established Ruler. 

John Legat is Chousene by the Court to be secritere to the 
Court to keepe the booke, and to enter all such Actiones as are 
brought and to haue 12^ layede downe att the enterey of euerey 
Action. 



444 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Att the Courte liouldeue att Exeter the 7* Day of the 9*'' mo. 
1642. 

Our honored Ruler mr. Thomas Willson doth give his Approba- 
tion and confermes All thouse howlesome lawes and orders w'='^ 
are here Recorded w'^'^ ware made in the time that mr. Needam 
was Ruler. 

It is ordred by the Court houldne att Exeter the Q^^ day of the 
third m° 1643, That m"^ Thomas Rashley shall haue giuene vnto 
him for A house lott that peece of land w'='' lyeth betweene 
Grifiug Mountegue his lott and M"" Stanyon his Creeke, Conteyneing 
14 or 16 Akers be more or lese, only excepteing 2 Akers and A 
halfe for A loot for Grifing Mountegue next to the creeke. 

It is farther ordred by the Court Above named that Thomas 
Wardall, William Winborne, Samuell Walker and Robert Reade 
shall haue libertey and Athoretey to searche [in] the howse or 
howses of Aney p son or p sones wi [thin our] Jurisdictiones, 
And to take into theire Custodey [and make] sale of Aney such. 
Corne as they shall find in ther [houses] which is more then the 
ptie or pties shall have ne [ed] of for theire one Families till har- 
uist next, prouided th [at] the pties Above named make good pay 
for the sd Co [rue] and as good A pryce as it is ginerally sould 
for in [the Riuore, and theis pties to dispoose of such Corne so 
[taken] by them vnto such poore people as stands most in n [eed.] 
of it for the best pay they Can Make, and att the f [irst] price 
w'^'' the pties Aboue named bj^e it att. 

It is Ordred by voate at a towne meetinge houlden at Exetar 
ye 2itii of Agust 1643 that aney Inhabetant of the towne of Exetar 
which shall finde vndar 20 Ackars of marsh shall Injoye the same 
as his owne foreuer by vertew of this ordar but if he or thay shall 
finde above 20 Ackars then it is at y" towns disposall, prouided 
that he or thay which finde y^ march of aboue 20 Ackars shall 
haue a duble portion out of it. 

At the Court houldne the 5^^ of the 7^^^ mo. (43.) 

Christey Lawson binds himselfe in the som of Ten pounds starl- 
ing vnto the countrey to Answere A presentment brought Against 
him for extortion by William Coale, Tho. Weight, James Wall, 
William Wentworth, and Tho. Petet, and this to be Answerd by 
him att the next Court w'=^' shall be houlden for Exeter, either 
heere or else wliare. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 445 

William Coale, Thomas Weight, James Wall Will"^ Went"" 
and Tho. Petet do bind themselues in the som of 50' the peece to 
be payd to the Countrey, In Case they do not follow the p'sent- 
ment brought Against Chi'istey Lawson by them for extortion, the 
next Court houldne for Exeter heere or elsewhare. 

Corne spoyled by swine, it is ordred that James Wall shall haue 
Alowd him 3 bushells of Corne, George Rabone 3 bushells, Tho. 
Weight 1 bushell and halfe, George barlow 1 bushell to be payde 
by John Bursley for leaveing opne A cart gapp or by whome he 
Can prove hath left it opne, or hath bine the Cause of the leaueing 
it opne. 

It is ordred that William Coale, Tho. weit and Tho. Wardall 
shall pay vnto Sam" Walker, Hen. Robay and Tho. Petet either 
of them A peck of Corne for harme dune vnto them by swine. 

It is ordred that Tho. Biggs shall pay vnto Grifing Mountegu 
for taking Away his oure 2^ 6*^ and charges or a new owre and the 
Court charges. 

It is farther ordred att the Court houlden the 5"' of the 7'^^ mo. 
1643, that Tho. Biggs shall pay vnto the Sagamoure for takeing 
Away his Net and parting of it 5". 

It is farther ordred that Tho. Bigs shall be whipt 6 strips for 
takeing Away a sith of Captanie Wigons and other petey lasones. 

It is ordred that Christoy Lawson shall speedely puide A fyle 
for Will'" Wentwoth, and AVill'" Wentwoth to pay 7' for it. 

It is ordred that Will. Coale and Rob. Smith shall ouersee the 
fences About the Towne and giue warning to them whose fences 
Are defectiue, and If they be not Amended the owners there of 
to pay for what hurt is done through those fences. 

' 3M9 day (44.) 

Its agreed that the tounsmeu shall pocure a bridg ouar laraprill 
Riuar. 

Its left to the 3 townsmen to purches mr. Whelwrights howse 
with all lands belonging thervnto for the towne. 

It is agred that all dogs shall be Clogd and [sid liud] in y'^ 
day and tid vp in the night, and if aney dogs shall be found tres- 
pasing in the lots they that shall find them may showt them or 
folow them to the howse to which that dog doth belong and Charg 
5' vpou the ouar of that dog or bitch which shall be leued by ordar 
from the townsmen & halfe the fine to f aul to towne and halfe to 
the partie that takes that dog, and the trespas to be judged by tow 
men and the trespas to be paid for. 



446 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Sarauell Grenfel Chosen to kepe the a sufisheut ordenarey and 
draw wine and strong waters and trad with the Indans, and 
Sargant Wardall hath libartie to draw of his wine that is in his 
hands or Samuel grenfeld to take his wine of his hands. 

when we Coul a generall meting, men to haue 3 days warning. 

[It] s agred that the trained bands minds should be knowne and 
if thay would hands to be pocured to the Genrall Court for 

the Restablishing leftenant Richard Bullgar in his formar ofis and 
Sargant Wardall pocure the like libartie and both to be sent to 
the Court. 

the 17 day of y'' 4"" mouth 44. 

its agred that at a towne meting in Exetar that the marsh that 
wos promist to Anthoney Statiyon by seuen of the Brethren as far 
as in them lay shall be giuen to mr. Whelwright his aiers and 
sucksesors for euer, allso that Anthoney Stauyon is to haue as 
much in anothar deriction as will ansor to the shars of 6 brethren 
and himselfe as Couuenient, if not in qualitie then it is to be in 
quantitie, this grant to Mr. Whelwright is with these Condishons 
that he doth Com amongst us againe, if not it is to be still in the 
towns hands, and Anthoney Stanyon is to be satisfied by y** toune 
for his charges that he is out. 

It is ordered at this Toune meeting that every man shall kepe 
vp his cattell every night in some yard or Pen vpon the penalty of 
12*^ a peece every night, excepting working cattell, & if any mans 
cattell trespass they are to pay the damages besides the fine, the 
17 of ye 4'^ M. 1644. 

17 day 4 mo. 44. 

Its ordred that thar shall be a Hey way downe to the marches 
without side of grifeu mountegs lot, Right downe to the Riuor. 

It is agred that that fence which Runs by the liroke Avhich Runs 
betwen Humf rey Willsens house and Mr. Whelwrights shall be set 
vpon to be set vp within 2 dayes aftar the date of this ordar, and 
if it shall be neglected then thay whos fensing shall be downe 
aftar this weke shall pay 1 0'' the Rood for eurey weke tell it shall 
be set vp. 

It is agred that 4 dayes shall be set apart to mend the heywayes 
to begine one the 4"' da}- of the weke Com a seuen night and to be 
at thar labors from 6 and leue at 12 and Rest tell 2 and worke tell 
6 a clock, and such as shall be absent from the worke at the ours 
aboue writen shall be fined o** for euery day, and thay that haue 
terns shall worke them vpon the penalltie of 20" for euery day 
neglect vntill the 4 days shall be expired. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 447 

Oi'dred voted and granted at a town metiuge by a goynt Consent 
that Christepher lason hath a grant to set a weare in the Riuar of 
Exetar y'' 28* of the 4* mo. 1644, to him and his Aiers foreuer 
vpon the Condishous as foloweth, first that y*^ Inhabetants of y^ 
towne of Exetar shall be supplyed with Alewifes to fish thar 
ground euery yere before aney othars at 3' par thousand, and whot 
Alewifes are taken shall be equally deuided according as y'= Inhab- 
etants shall agre, and if thar be no fish taken then Christepher to 
be fre from aney damiedges to y'^ towne, and whot fish the Inhabe- 
tants shall buy of ye said Christepor he y^ said Chrisephor doth 
binde himself e to take such pay for it as y'' towne afords, to be 
paid once in six months, and In case the said Christepor or his 
sucksesors shall heraftar tendar y^ saile of y" weare that then he 
shall in y* first place tendar it to y" towne for Countrey pay, and 
we y" Inhabetants do Retaine our liberties to fish in y^ fawls or 
elce whar in y'' Riuar, but not to set vp aney othar ware so as to 
forstall that ware which Christopher is to set vp, and y® said 
Christepher is to make flud gats so that barkes botes and Canows 
may Com to the towne, in witnes her vnto we do set to our hands 
for vs and our sucksesars Intarchangably for euer y® day and yere 
aboue writen. 

In y*^ behalf e of y*^ towne 

Richard Bullgar 

Samuel -\- Grenfelds marke. 

Christopher lawson. 

It is ordered that none but seteled iuhabitantes shall make use 
of woode or common, nor that noe inhabytant shall inploy anny 
Aboute wod worke, but of the setteled inhabitants. 



APPENDIX III. 

BICENTENNIAL ADDRESS OF HON. JEREMIAH SMITH. 

A FEW PASSAGES, FOR THE MOST PART BIOGRAPHICAL. ARE OMITTED 
AS THE INFORMATION THEY CONTAIN IS GIVEN IN THE EARLY PART 
OP THIS VOLUME. 

"We need not be told, that our ancestors were not so rich ; that 
they were hiborious, industrious and economical ; that they 
belonged to the middle class of society in their native countr}', 
embracing, however, none of the lowest of that class, who had 
neither the wish nor the ability to emigrate. 

It will be my endeavor to vindicate the religious character of 
the first settlers, and that of their leader, in an especial manner, 
under the cruel persecution he underwent. Persecutors are much 
in the habit of giving false characters of the men they persecute, 
as if that would palliate, which only aggravates the injury. The 
civil fathers of Massachusetts, and the reverend elders, must have 
had hard hearts, if, when they beheld the little band, — thirty or 
forty families, — collecting their wives and children, their cattle, 
their furniture and their scanty stores, for the wilderness of 
Swamscot, they felt no pity for the sufferers. Albeit these men 
were not of the melting mood, they must have shed tears at the 
piteous sight. It was but a journey of three or four days, but in 
prospect it was dreary enough. There was a small settlement at 
Lynn, older ones at Salem and Ipswich, and a plantation just 
begun at Newbury ; but all between was a thick, dark forest, and 
the path little better than marked trees. We are told that about 
this time a person lost his way in the icoods, between Salem and 
Lynn, and wandered about several days before he reached a settle- 
ment. Two years before, the famous Hooker, with his little 
colony of one hundred souls, who settled Hartford, were a whole 
week performing their journey, encumbered as our little colony 
was. I need not say, that, after three or four days' journey ours 

448 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 449 

reached Swamseot Falls greatly fatigued. Here they found no 
friends to bid them welcome. This was the most painful circum- 
stance of all. 

Several weeks must have been spent in preparing log huts to 
shelter them from the weather. But the toils of our emigrants 
were but just beginning. Their views were merely agricultural, 
to till the ground for a subsistence ; and we must remember it was 
the hard and plain tillage of a common, not of an exuberant soil. 
The settlements at Portsmouth and Dover were made by traders, 
factors and fishermen, who hoped to carry on a profitable traffic 
with the natives and foreigners, and to enrich themselves from the 
sea, not the land. Mason and Gorges aimed at still greater 
things. Their connections at Court, and their influence with the 
Great Council of Plymouth, obtained grants of large tracts ; to 
Gorges, Maine, and to Mason, New Hampshire. These lands they 
intended to parcel out to others at a small quit-rent. They were 
to be cultivated by tenants, while the proprietors were to be 
clothed with the jura regalia; with all the trappings of little 
mouarchs. Experience soon taught them the fallibility and the 
futility of all such schemes. They expended large sums in putting 
the machine in motion, and died in debt. Neither they nor their 
posterity ever realized a tenth part of the sums they expended. 
Our lands are not rich enough to support landlord and tenant. 
The cultivator must have all the produce, and little enough, too. 
The views of some projectors were still more romantic. They 
flattered themselves Avith immense wealth from the discovery here 
of rich mines of the precious metals ; such as the adventurers in 
our southern hemisphere had in fact realized. 

The little band we have conducted to this place, in point of 
condition, intelligence and education, will compare well with the 
first settlers of Massachusetts, if we except a very few of superior 
family, wealth and education, who took the lead in that enterprise. 
Perhaps there never was a greater equality in the rank, condition, 
education and circumstances of the planters of a new colony ; 
none rich, and none without the means of obtaining the necessaries 
of life ; none highly educated, and none without the education 
common to the same rank in the mother country at the time. 

Among our settlers there were no merchants, or manufacturers,- 
or persons skilled in the arts of trade. They were from the agri- 
cultural districts of England ; of course not ignorant of the art of 
husbandry, as then practised in that country; but they could 

29 



450 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

hardly be aware how little their knowledge would avail them here. 
The soil was different from that of Lincolnshire and Norfolk ; 
and there the tillage was of lands long cultivated ; here a wilder- 
ness was to be subdued and turned into a fruitful field, a new 
science to them. No doubt their scanty portion of implements of 
agriculture was ill adapted to their wants ; and a supply was not 
at that day, as now, a matter of easy acquisition. They must 
have suffered, too, for want of animals. Cattle of all kinds were 
scarce and dear. The new plantations in Massachusetts could 
spare none, at any price. 

It seems Captain Mason had sent over, a few years before, a 
large number of cattle of the best breeds, imported from Denmark. 
He died about two years before, and his servants had possessed 
themselves of his effects. Probably from these men our settlers 
were able to obtain a partial supply. But, after all, the prospect 
was gloomy ; gloomy as the dark forests in the midst of which 
they had seated themselves. What now, think ye, supported the 
drooping spirits of our emigrants ? If ever there was a people 
thrown entirely upon their own resources, few and scanty as those 
resources were, we have them here. They were beyond the 
bounds of Massachusetts ; strangers to the people of Dover and 
Portsmouth ; every way strangers. There was no congeniality 
between them. Massachusetts had driven them out. To whom 
shall they go? Happily, they belonged to that class of men who 
find no difficulty in answering the question. They had just been 
condemned as enemies of God and his religion ; but this unjust 
sentence of their fellow mortals could not deprive them of what 
they valued above all earthly good — their religious principles and 
belief ; and to these they looked for support. 

The bulk of mankind, j^ou know, adopt the religious opinions 
in which they were born and educated, without examination and 
without inquiry ; and what is so adopted makes but a feeble im- 
j)ression on the mind. But it was not so with the Puritans who 
settled New England, any more than with the first converts to 
Christianity ; they heard gladly, but did not yield implicit faith. 
"Are these things so?" They inquired, reasoned and compared, 
and were reasoned with ; their convictions, therefore, were strong. 
They could not fail to produce fruits. They had the faith that 
overcomes the world and all wordly things. 

The Author of nature has implanted in the heart of man a 
strong attachment to the land of his birth ; to parents, children, 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 451 

kindred ; to the scenes of his early youth, and even to the graves 
of his ancestors. Yet all these will he forsake when his conscience 
calls for the sacrifice. So thought and so acted the Puritans who 
settled New England. The rulers of their native land, and the 
church in which they were nurtured and fed, like an unnatural 
step-mother, as in their anger they called her, cast them out for 
non-conformity to a few idle ceremonies she was pleased to enjoin. 
They could not in conscience obey. They had persuaded them- 
selves that this gaudy worship was popish and idolatrous, and 
therefore to be resisted at all hazards ; and so believing, they 
left, such of them as were not driven away, their native laud, and 
came to this wilderness. 

The settlers of Exeter belonged to this sect of Christians. 
When they joined themselves to their brethren of Massachusetts, 
they had the hope that they had reached the termination of all 
their sufferings for conscience's sake. And was this an unreason- 
able hope? In this New World, what should hinder their enjoy- 
ing in brotherly love and Christian fellowship the pure, simple 
worship of God, unmixed with popish superstitions; accountable 
for their Christian faith and religious observances, not to the 
infallible head of the popish or the never-erring head of the 
English churches, but to the unerring head of the true church, 
Christ himself. This was the Puritan doctrine in Euo-land. And 
they were mistaken. Their teacher in theology, it was believed, 
had assigned an undue proportion to the covenant of grace in 
the economy of salvation, and in politics they were also found in 
error. They wished to continue Vane in the chair of government, 
whereas the majority, as it proved at the next election, preferred 
his rival. Both questions were alike settled b}^ major vote. 
Where was now the right of private judgment in matters of 
religion, where conscience is so deeply concerned? For these 
offences (for in minorities they are offences), they must now pass 
once more through the fiery furnace of persecution. This second 
death was far more painful than the first. It was upon grounds 
far less intelligible than the first. It was upon a difference of 
opinion in abstruse points in theology. 

When persecution visits a country, it is their boldest as well as 
their best men who become its victims. When all other earthly 
hopes fail, they abandon their firesides and their altars, that they 
may keep their consciences. It is the weak and timid minds who 
remain at home. They meanly crouch beneath the rod of the 



452 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

oppressor, afraid to exercise tlieir reasoning powers. They find 
it safest to conceal tlieir religious opinions, and seek security in 
hypocrisy. "Who fled from France on the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes, one hundred and fifty years ago? The choicest s])ii'its 
of that gallant nation ; the men of the greatest intellectual and 
moral strength. They enriched the neighboring nations. Our 
population in America gained moral and intellectual strength by 
this foolish as well as wicked measure of Louis XIV. To this 
cause we are indebted for our Bowdoins, our Dexters, our Jays, 
DeLanceys, Boudinots, Hugers. Who were the men driven from 
England by the bloody Mary and her no less cruel sister ? The 
Puritans : men of whom the world was not worthy. The effect of 
persecution for opinions, is to set people to thinking and reason- 
ing. It improves the intellectual and moral powers — gives added 
strength and firmness of purpose But I am afraid it hardens the 
heart ; for how often do we find the persecuted, on a change of 
circumstances, themselves acting the wicked part of persecutors? 
And so it was in New England in her early days. 

Before the arrival of his friends, Mr. Wheelwright had pur- 
chased from the Sagamore of Piscataqua a large tract of land, — 
upwards of five hundred thousand acres. There is no pretence 
that the men of Exeter acquired any legal title by this purchase. 
Neither Wheelwright, nor any of the other grantees named in the 
deed, ever asserted any exclusive right in himself. The tow^n 
acted as the proprietors. I would not be understood to adopt Sir 
Edmund Andros's language, " that such deeds were no better than 
the scratch of a bear's paw." 

The first settlers at the time had no mode of obtaiuino; a lesral 
title. The Council of Plymouth had been dissolved a short time 
before, and Mason, to whom they had granted, was dead ; and 
his devisees were infants, and no claim was made in their behalf 
for thirty years ; and then tliey waked up, not to benefit them- 
selves, but to vex and disquiet the peaceable inhabitants who, 
though destitute of a legal, had, nevertheless, the most equitable 
of all titles : — purchase from the natural owners ; ?'>//_(/ possession, 
without any adverse claim ; the dffence of the settlement against 
the savages and the French ; and the cultivation and settlement 
of a part of the country, whereby the value of the rest was greatly 
enhanced. In truth, they paid the full value and more, and could 
with a clear conscience hold the lands they claimed, against the 
world. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 453 

r cannot learn that onr Indians ever complained, or afterwards 
set up anj^ title to the lands sold to Wheelwright. The transac- 
tion between Wheelwright and the sagamore was a sufficient 
license to settle and occupy, and was highl}' creditable to his liber- 
ality, prudence and care of his flock. But our ancestors could 
not only find no one to sell them the lands they possessed, but 
they could find no person to govern them. As English-born 
subjects, they knew they could not throw off their allegiance to 
the Crown. But the Crown had no representative in New Eng- 
land. Massachusetts governed itself, and so, in fact, did all the 
other settlements. From necessity, therefore, this handful of men 
were compelled to resort to original principles. That the weak 
might be protected against the strong, and the good against the 
bad, they seem at first, by mere verbal agreement, to have insti- 
tuted government. 

At the close of the first year, on the fourth of July, 1639, they 
solemnly subscribed a written instrument, or constitution, which 
they called a Combination. With an acknowledgment of some 
sort of dependence on the Crown, they adopted the Phiglish Chris- 
tian laws, as they understood them, — doubtless intending in this 
truly democratic government, to reject, in toto, all that regarded 
the hierarchy and church establishment, which they deemed popish 
and anti-Christian, and altogether unsuitable to a settlement lil^e 
ours. In this opinion they were far more correct than the tyrant 
Governor Cranfield, half a century afterwards, who instituted a 
criminal prosecution against Mr. Moody, the minister of Ports- 
mouth, for disobedience to that system, in refusing to administer 
the sacrament, according to the rites of the English Church, to 
himself and his unworthy associates. Mr. Moody withstood the 
little tyrant to his fall, and suffered imprisonment for a long time 
in the common jail. 

John Wheelwright of Lincolnshire was born in the latter end 
of the reign of Elizabeth. His ancestors, no doubt, were of 
respectable standing in society, for he inherited a considerable 
real estate, which he disposed of by his last will. His parents had 
the good sense to bestow a portion of their wealth in giving their 
son a learned education. He had bright parts, and in youth was 
remarkable for the boldness, zeal and firmness of mind he dis- 
played on all occasions. He was educated for the ministry, but 
embracing the Puritan sentiments, he necessarily incurred the 
censure of the Church for non-conformity. Laud was then 



454 HISTORY OF EXETEK. 

Arcb))isbop of Canterbury, aud determined to enforce tbe strictest 
observance of tbe ceremonies. We are not informed of tbe partic- 
ular in wbicb AVbeelwrigbt failed. Cotton's Avas, not kneeling at 
tbe sacrament. 

Laud was a learned and probably a sincere man ; but, like many 
otber good men, be indulged an excessive fondness for tbe 
pageantry and splendor of public worsbip ; for tbe miuutiie aud 
exterior parts of religion. He was, at tbe same time, tbe most 
active member of tbe Higb Commission Court — a tribunal witb 
wbicb many of our early and distinguisbed clergy bad occasion to 
be well acquainted. Wben tbe great and undefined power of tbis 
Court was wielded by a determined Higb Cburcbman, no Puritan 
could exercise bis ministry witbin its reacb, and its jurisdiction 
was co-extensive witb tbe kingdom itself. Tbe learned, mild and 
catbolic Cotton could not elude its pursuivants. He was obliged 
to fly bis country like a felon. Mr. Wbeelwrigbt came to Boston 
about tbree years after Cotton. 

Every tbiug went on prosperously as could be desired, in tbe 
new settlement. A cburcb was gatbered, and Mr. AVbeelwrigbt, 
of course, was tbe pastor. Moderate gTauts of land were made 
to bim. He bad no otber compensation for bis services and 
advances. His knowledge and superior talents must bave been 
extremely useful in tbe infant plantation. Our early records sbow 
a strong and grateful sense of tbe obligation on tbe part of tbe 
town. For a sbort time be deemed bimself safe from bis perse- 
cutors ; but Massacbusetts in that day bad a politic bead and 
a long arm., and Mr. Wbeelwrigbt was obliged to remove, and tbe 
four New Hampsbire towns submitted to Massacbusetts, — Exeter 
tbe last. Tbis was in 1643. 

Wbeelwrigbt, just before bis removal, obtained of Sir Ferdiuaudo 
Gorges a grant of a considerable tract in Wells. In tbe deed be 
is styled "Pastor of tbe Cburcb in Exeter." He remained in 
Wells about tbree years. 

His next remove was to Hampton. Tbat people greatly desired 
bis ministerial services. He remained eigbt or nine years at 
Hampton, and tben returned to England, wbere be renewed bis 
acquaintance witb bis old classmate, Oliver Cromwell, aud witb 
bis old friend. Sir Henry Vane. Botb tbese distinguisbed men, 
tbougb at odds witb eacb otber, were friendly to Wbeelwrigbt. 
Tbis was near tbe close of Ci-omwell's eventful life. Wbeelwrigbt 



HISTORY OF EXETEU. 4o5 

is said to have been a favorite witli the Pi'otector. While iu Ens:- 
laud he probably resided chiefly on his estate in Lincolnshire, one 
hundred and thirty miles north of Loudon. 

At the Restoration, in 1660, he returned, and was soon settled 
in Salisbur}^, in our vicinity, as the successor of their first minis- 
ter, Mr. W. Worcester. Here he closed a long and busy life, 
being reputed a sound, orthodox, pi'ofitable and approved minister 
of the gospel. He died November, 1679 — the oldest minister in 
New England — about eighty-five years of age. 

From his family proceeded all the Wheelwrights iu Massachu- 
setts, Maine and New Hampshire. Many of his descendants have 
been respectable in character and property. His son, grandson 
and great-grandson have been councillors. Thus it pleased heaven 
to bestow on him the blessing of long life, and a numerous and 
honorable progeny. 

I have gone into the history of Mr. Wheelwright's persecution 
and sufferings, not for the purpose of condemning the errors and 
wrongs of the government of that day, but to vindicate the char- 
acter of our founder. We have an interest in his good name, and 
he who robs him of that, robs us. I entertain no doubt that, 
speaking in general terms, the elders and magistrates of Massa- 
chusetts were good men, and thought themselves justified in their 
treatment of AVheelwright and his friends. Without a minute and 
careful examination of this case we can have no just conception of 
the early settlers, their bigotry, superstition and intolerance. It 
ai'ose in some measure from their peculiar situation ; and no trans- 
action of the early day can be understood without a minute atten- 
tion to these traits in their character. To omit these, in giving a 
history of that time, would be like enacting Shakespeare's Hamlet, 
leaving out the character of the Prince of Denmark. 

Religion at that day entered into every thing ; the magistrates 
were elected, and the government administered, according to the 
particular religious views of the majority. Both clergy and laity 
were made worse by the union, just as they themselves believed 
to be the case in the country whence they came. Many of the 
writers of these times were unfriendly to Wheelwright and Vane ; 
yet even they are obliged to admit that Wheelwright was famous 
for learning, ability, piety and zeal, and that his moral character 
was entirely free from spot or blemish. 

The amiable Elliot says, Mr. Wheelwright's conduct " in New 
Hampshire discovered an ambitious turn — a desire to be chief." 



456 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Sullivan, in his history of Maine, adds to the ambition, of being 
the first man in Exeter in 1638, that of mingling in the quarrels of 
Dover with the redoubtable Underhill, Lai'kham and Knolles, "as 
they pretended about religion, but in fact for the chair of the Dover 
government." 

The Exeter men are supposed to have taken sides with their 
chief, in these ambitious schemes of rule. I have spared no pains 
to make myself acquainted with the written memorials of Exeter, 
and all other records and information within my reach, and I 
venture to say nothing can be further from the truth. This 
account of the early times here, to compare small things with 
great, is just about as fabulous as the early history of Rome. 

A short time after Wheelwright's removal to Maine, on his 
application, his sentence of banishment was repealed. Some 
writers say he made an open confession of his errors. The letters 
are preserved, and speak for themselves. He expressed his sorrow 
for the part he had taken in the controversy, aud his grief at the 
censorious speeches he had made, and his unchristian temper in 
the sharp contentions of that day. I have no doubt of the sin- 
cerity of all this. His personal attendance was dispensed with. 
Hubbard's remark is no doubt correct, — "and so if the Court 
have over done in passnig the sentence, it might in part help to 
balance the account, that they were so ready to grant him a 
release." 

Among the persons who united their fortunes to ours during 
the first century (for I must confine myself for obvious reasons 
chiefly to that period), and whose names are still "familiar to 
our ears as household words," — the men who bore the heat and 
burden of the day, and to whom this day must be devoted ; — 
among these men we find the names of Oilman, Folsom, Hilton, 
Colcord, Thing, Gordon, Magoon, Conner, Kobinson, Pearson, 
Lawrence, King, Odiorne, Lamson, Tilton, Philbrick, Poor, Perr^'^- 
man, Emery and many others. The descendants of these respect- 
able men still dwell among us. Time would fail me even briefly 
to mention the good things our records abundantly testify con- 
cerning them ; — how acceptably they filled the municipal and 
public offices conferred upon them. Bat I cannot deny myself 
the pleasure of a brief notice of two or three. 

It is no disparagement to any other family here, to say that in 
numbers, and every thing that constitutes respectability, the 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 457 

Gilmans stood at the head. The father, Edward, had come to 
Hiugham, and was admitted a freeman of Massachusetts abont 
the time of our first settlement. He soon removed to Ipswich, 
and near the close of his life followed his three sons to Exeter, 
where he died. The sons, Edward, Moses and John, were all 
sensible, moral, industrious and enterprising, and very soon made 
themselves acquainted with the best methods of advancing a new 
settlement in the wilderness. Edward, the son, came first, and 
was very much engaged in setting up mills, — useful at all times, 
and indispensably so at this early stage of our affairs. He came 
soon after Wheelwright's removal, and seems quite early to have 
taken the lead in our town affairs, and to have shared large]}', as 
long as he lived, the confidence of his fellow townsmen. I need 
scarcely add that he was public-spirited. To obtain improved 
machinery and mill-gear, he took a voyage to England in 1653, 
and was lost at sea. Of Moses, we hear less ; he left a numerous 
progeny. 

The town and province records, together with those of Massa- 
chusetts, would enable us to trace the life of John, the youngest 
son, at considerable length; but I must be brief. He came here 
a short time before Edward sailed; — married a respectable 
woman, and had sixteen children, twelve or thirteen of whom 
married and left issue. Among his sons were John and Nicholas. 
The latter had seven sons, one of whom was Daniel, born in 1702, 
the father of Nicholas who was the first treasurer of our State. 
This Nicholas filled the most responsible oflices, and was the 
father of the late John Taylor, who, when a young man, was re- 
called from Congress to succeed his late father in the treasurer's 
office, early iu 1783. I need not enumerate the offices this son 
filled with so much credit to himself and honor to the State, and 
double honor to his native town. He was eleven years succes- 
sively governor, and afterwards three years, making a longer 
period than that filled by any other person. Probably the same 
thing may be said at the next cevtenmal; and I am sure no man 
in private or public life ever left a fairer reputation behind him, 
for firmness, integrity and independence. 

The second son, Nicholas, you all know. He entered the 
Revolutionary army early in the war, and had a full share of its 
sufferings and its glory to the close. In 1786 he was appointed a 
member of the old Congress ; and, excepting a short period when 
he was a senator in the State Legislature, and presided over that 



458 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

body, he was a member of the House of Kepreseutativcs and of 
the Senate of the United States until his death in 1814. He was 
also a member of the convention which formed the Constitution of 
the United States. His integrity and patriotism in all these 
highly honorable and responsible offices was never questioned for 
a moment. 

But I must not suffer myself to be diverted from the ancestor, 
bvthe eminent characters and services of the great-great-arandsons 
of one branch of his numerous descendants. If that ancestor, 
one hundred and fifty years ago, could have been indulged with 
prophetic vision of the future, and could have beheld the various 
branches of his descendants, filling the highest offices in public 
life in his beloved and free country, it Avould surely have yielded 
him a pleasure than which there is none greater ; it would have 
cheered his old age to the very verge of a most active, long and 
useful life. 

The records of our town show the first John, during the latter 
half of our connection with Massachnsetts, as the first among our 
able and respectable men. Accordingly, when disconnected, in 
the latter end of the reign of Charles II., and New Hampshire 
became a separate province under the immediate government of 
the Crown, John Oilman was selected to fill the office of councillor. 
The chief executive and legislative power was vested in that body. 
He had the honor to be suspended from that body by Governor 
Cranfield. The measure was honorable to Mr. Gilman, and 
excited no surprise in the public mind, or his own. When the 
courts and juries were packed, why should the Council, the supreme 
judiciary, escape? He died in 1708. 

From his son descended the late Brigadier Gilman, whom some 
of you must well remember. In his day he was among the first 
men of our country ; successively representative, speaker, at the 
head of the militia, and a member of the Supreme Executive 
Council, appointed by the Crown. 

It would take too much of our precious time to enumerate all 
the names of this respectable family who have been able and 
useful ministers of the gospel, members of the Council, and judges 
in our highest courts of law, all of whom derived their descent 
from this single stem, and connected in various ways with the 
first families of the country. I will only add, that the Gilmans at 
all times, under the provincial, colonial and State governments, 
have been unwavering in their patriotism and love of country. 



IIISTOKY OF EXETER. 459 

The Folsoms, a distingnisbed family, came early to us ; prob- 
ably they were settled awhile at Hingham, where they acted a 
distiuguished part in a memorable dispute in that place. They 
have filled no small space in our annals. The late General 
Folsom was a most zealous patriot of the Eevolution, and a member 
of the old Congress. In the French war of 1755, he distinguished 
himself as an officer under General Johnson, at the capture of the 
Baron Dieskau, near Lake George. 

But one of the most celebrated names in our annals is that of 
Hilton. Edward Hilton is justly called the father of New Hamp- 
shire. He came from London, and settled in Dover in the spring 
of 1623. Here he resided from fifteen to twenty years, and then 
removed to P^xeter. He died in 1671, leaving a large estate. His 
son Edward married the granddaughter of Governors Winthrop 
and Dudley. His son Winthrop, the fruit of that marriage, was 
better educated than most young men of the day, and was early 
introduced into public life. He was distinguished as a soldier, — 
"amoug the most fearless of the biave, the most adventurous of 
the daring." He was, of course, much in service, for he lived in 
stirring and troublous times, in the reigns of William and Anne. 
His uncle, the second Governor Dudley, was then governor of 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and had great confidence in 
him. Hilton was particularly obnoxious to the Indians, having 
been successful in many encounters with them. "His sharp black 
eye and his lojig bright gim" struck terror into the hearts of the 
savages. They long watched for an opportunity to cut him off 
on his plantation at the Newfields. He was largely concerned in 
the masting business ; and in 1710, Avhile so employed in that 
part of Exeter now Epping, his party was suddenly surprised, 
and Colonel Hilton fell at the first fire. He was then under forty, 
and a mandamus councillor, and died universally lamented. He 
was, indeed, an honest and brave man. 

We have seen that Exeter was an independent State from the 
settlement till 1643. There was no connection between the four 
towns then, and for sixty years after, composing the whole State. 
Our records were then well kept, and the votes and orders well 
penned, perhaps with as much correctness as at this day. From 
these we are able to derive some information concerning the 
sentiments, temper, views and condition of the people. Their 
laws and regulations were few, — such only as their peculiar cir- 
cumstances required. 



460 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

The besetting sin of this day is, to multiply statutes ; many 
of which are a dead letter, and some worse. It is many times the 
hardest task imposed on our judges, to find out their meaning. 
In making the attempt, we ofteu find reason to believe that the 
makers did not understand their own meaning. The Combination 
was no doubt from Wheelwright's pen, and compares well with 
similar compositions before and since. It is the only act of incor- 
poration our town has ever had. We are a self-created body 
politic. 

We cannot now determine how many of our inhabitants were 
church members, certainly all were not. All who owned the soil 
participated in the government. The attempt to exclude all but 
church members is visionary' and impracticable. It cannot last 
long, and generally the society is not a quiet one while it does 
last. The Massachusetts government of church members was in 
fact an aristocracy. With us the legislative power was conven- 
iently exei'cised by the people. Tlie executive and prudential 
functions were vested in a Ruler, with two assistants. The Ruler 
and the people were mutually bound by oaths in the form pre- 
scribed. Treason and sedition were punished with death. Texts 
of scripture were added to this law, which show the respect of 
the framers for the Jewish polity ; a worse model, and one less 
adapted to their circumstances and condition, they could hardly 
have chosen. Our law makers had a most exalted opinion of the 
dignity of rulers. Nothing could exceed their zeal to preserve, 
pure and untarnished, their good name. Insolence to magistrates 
and contempt of authority were never suffered to escape severe 
punishment. As they are the mirrors in which the majesty of the 
people is beheld, this evinced the gi-eat respect the people had 
for themselves. 

Our notions are quite different ; we treat our rulers as if they 
were usurpers, and chose themselves instead of being the work of 
our own hands. They are the hxdt^ — the target at which every man 
may safely thrust his poisoned arrows. Whether this tends to 
make them high-minded and faithful to us and our interests. I 
will not pretend to say. If they are, it is at a considerable 
sacrifice ; for it has been observed that few men leave office with 
the same purity of character and reputation they enter upon it. 
What is the equivalent they receive for this ? Calumny and slan- 
der of individuals were also made highly penal. Such prosecutions 
were, of course, frequent. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 4C1 

There were laws, nlso, for the protection of the few Indians 
that seem to have remained a short time among ns. Trade with 
them in arms, amnumition and strong waters was strictly for- 
bidden. If any piu'chase was made from the Indians, it belonged 
to the town, if they chose to have it. This was politic, and tended 
to prevent fraud. Town meetings were the subject of regulations, 
and all the A^oters required, under a penalty, to attend. Regula- 
tions were made for the organization of the militia, — the appoint- 
ment of officers was, in the train band, subject to the approbation 
of the ruler. Laws also were made for the assessment and collec- 
tion of taxes ; and various and minute regulations respecting 
animals of all kinds. Even dogs did not escape their notice. The 
same may be said of fishing, and lumber, and laws were enacted 
to prevent waste and destruction of timber. There was a fore- 
cast on this subject hardly to have been expected in the midst of 
so great abundance. The highways and bridges came in for their 
share of attention. There was a law against setting fire to the 
woods ; and, what we should hardly have expected, a law requiring 
trees overhanging the adjoining owner's land to be cut down, or 
lopped. And there was also a law, copied I believe from that of 
Massachusetts, about digging pits and leaving them open. The 
sale of wine and strong waters was subject the Indian 
character much better. It is no reproach to the Protestant relig- 
ion that the Catholic is better adapted to the savage tribes. They 
understand it better than Calvinism. 

On the subject of our husbandry and population, there are other 
thinos beside Indian hostilities to be considered. The uncertainty 



4G8 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

in our land titles had a most powerful and bad effect. Our first 
planters bad uotbing in tbeir cbaraeter in common -with speculators 
or squatters. They bad too mucb religion and morality for eitber ; 
but_tbey could not be insensible all the time to the claim of the 
Masons, and that it was regarded at home as the only legal title. 
This hung over them like an incubus, and retarded settlements 
and improvements of all kinds. Perhaps, too, we must allow 
something for bad government, till a short time before our sepa- 
ration from Great Britain. 

At the end of the first century, the population of New Hamp- 
shire did not exceed ten thousand, and ours was the smallest of 
the four towns. We had but twenty qualified voters for the choice 
of representatives, as fixed by the Council in 1680. Exeter, in 
its ancient limits, in 1830 contained 7330 inhabitants. 

I have left myself no room to speak on many subjects belong- 
ing to the occasion, connected as it is with the anniversary of our 
national independence. I must pass over, altogether, every thing 
that concerns the trade and business of our early days, — the 
manners, customs, dress, furniture, houses, style of living, of our 
early inhabitants ; even of their early uniform and steady love of 
popular liberty and free institutions. 

I could state from our records the votes and proceedings, show- 
ing how we were gradually prepared for the bold measure of 
fourth of Jul}', 1776, — how hearty and unanimous we were in 
our obedience to the measures recommended by our wise men, 
though injurious to our particular interests; — such as the non- 
importation and non-consumption of articles before deemed nec- 
essaries of life; — how we preferred to put off the citizen, and 
put on the soldier ; — how cheerfully we bore the dangers and 
liardships of the war, contracting heavy debts to raise men and 
supplies for the army. 

If we were not foremost, there were none Ijefore us in our zeal 
for the early declaration and steady maintenance of the independ- 
ence of our countr}'. And when, at the close of the contest, and 
under an unexampled pressure of burthens, others were heard to 
murmur and complain, we were among those who quietly and 
peaceably submitted to the rule of law. Instead of joining in the 
clamor for paper money and tender laws, we remonstrated against 
them. 

All these things, and many more of the kind, are they not 
wiitten in the books of our records? which, if time permitted, 



HISTORY OF EXETEIi. 469 

I would gladly recite to you on this occasion. In what regards 
schools and education, we have at all times aimed, as in all things 
else, at the useful rather than the showy. 

The public service of the day is now drawing to a close. We 
have spent the last hour sitting in judgment on our ancestors and 
predecessors, and we have found much to commend and little to 
condemn. I hope their shades now look down upon us and smile 
their approbation of the doings of the day. What will be the 
judgment of our posterity pronounced one hundred years hence 
upon us and our deeds? 

This meeting is now adjourned, to meet here fourth of July, 
1938. If the progress of the future shall keep pace with the past, 
the meeting will then be holden in a temple, — I hope a Christian 
one, — more lofty and spacious than this, as much more as this 
exceeds the first Exeter church of twenty feet square. The glory 
of the second temple will, doubtless, exceed that of the first; but 
the real greatness of a people depends little on the grandeur of 
their temples, or on the glory of external things, but on the culture 
of the mind, and the purity and graces of the heart. 

We have this day passed the dividing line between ancestor and 
posterity, and must, henceforth, take our places with the people 
of the third century. Why then should not we rejoice, if the 
impartial judgment of the next centennial should award the prize 
of superior learning, more cultivated mind, and better taste in the 
fine arts, to the third century. 

Let us, then, in this our new character, do all we can, that the 
superiority shall then be equally manifest in religion, virtue and 
moral worth. 



GENEALOGICAL. 



u 



FAMILY REGISTERS. 



FROM THE EXETER RECORDS. 

Benjamin Abbot, b. Andover, Mass., 17 Sept. 1762, md. 1 Nov. 1791 
Hannah Tracy Emery, b. Exeter 7 March 1771. 
Then- child, John Emery, b. 6 Aug. 1793. 
Mrs. Hannah Tracy Abbot d. 6 Dec. 1793. 

Benjamin Abbot md. (2d) 1 ]\Iav 1798 Mary Perkins, b. Boston 24 May 
1769. 

Their children, Mary Perkins, b. 14 Feb. 1799 ; d. 23 June 1802. 
Elizabeth, b. 14 Nov. 1801. 
Charles Benjamin, b. 19 Jan. 1805. 

Caleb G. Adams, b. 8 Jan. 1752, md. 8 Dec. 1774 Mary Folsom, dau. of 
Nathaniel Folsom, b. 25 Aug. 1751. 
Their children, Dolly, b 7 Jan. 1776; d. 21 Jan. 1810. 
Nathaniel Folsom, b. 19 March 1782. 

Samuel and Elizabeth Adams. 

Their childi-en, William Parker, b. Exeter 10 Oct. 1784; d. 18 Feb. 1827. 
Sarah, b. Durham 21 Nov. 1785; d. 22 Sept. 1842. 
Samuel Winborn, b. Durham 31 Oct. 1787; d. 1 Jan. 1831. 
Eliza, b. Durham 7 July 1789; d. Portsmouth 4 Aug. 

1802. 
Jeremiah Parker, b. Durham 10 May 1791 ; d. Exeter 

30 June 1822. 
Mary Sewall, b. Durham 21 Dec. 1794; d. Exeter 1 June 

1817. 
Anna Matilda, b. Durham 30 June 179G. 
Catharine P., b. Durham 31 Aug. 1798; d. Exeter 4 

March 1804. 
John, b. Portsmouth 21 Nov. 1800; d. Portsmouth, 17 

May 1802. 
Nathaniel Sheafe, b. Exeter 28 Nov. 1802 ; d. Exeter 14 

Sept. 1849. 

3 



4 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Col. Samuel Adams d. Portsmouth of yellow fever 2 Aug. 1802. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Adams d. Boston 23 March 184j. 

Xathaniel Bartlett, Elizabeth Dennet ; md. 23 Oct. 1739. 
Their children, Elizabeth, b. 7 Feb. 1741. 

Dorothy, b. 19 April 1742 ; d. April 1804 [wife of Eliph- 

alet Hale] . 
Mary, b. 17 Jan. 1743-4. 
Nathaniel, b. 9 Dec. 174.5. 
Catharine, b. 21 Jan. 1748. 
Mary, b. 22 Oct. 1749. ' 

Priscilla, b. IG June 1751. 

John Bean. 

His children, John, b. 15 Aug. 1661; d. 18 INIay 1666. 
Daniel, b. 23 March 1662-3. 
Samuel, b. 23 March 1665-6. 
John, b. 13 Oct. 1668. 
Margaret, b. 27 Oct. 1670. 
James, b. 17 Dec. 1672. 
Jeremy, b. 20 April 1675. 
Elizabeth, b. 24 Sept. 1678. 

Shackford Sewards Bennet, Mehitable Giddingc ; md. 18 Dec. 1788. 
Their child, Charles, b. 20 March 1790. 

Amos Blanchard's children b. in Exeter. 
Maria, b. 23 Jan. 1805. 
Luther, b. 12 March 1807. 

Joseph Boardman. Lydia Oilman; md. 16 Sept. 1823. 
Their children, Lucy Maria, b. 29 July 1824. 

Juliana G., b. 6 Feb. i827. 
Mrs. Lydia L. Boardman, wife of Joseph Boardman, d. 2 Feb. 1832. 

Thomas Bond md. 23 May 1762 Mary Ciiddinge, dau. of Zebulon and 
Deborah Giddinge. 
Their children, Deborah, b. 2 July 1764. 
Abigail, b. 18 Dec. 1765. 
Mary, b. 10 May 1768. 
Widow Mary Bond d. 28 June 1790, in her 56th year. 

Francis Bowden, son of Michael Bowden of Lynn, md. 18 Feb. 1734-5 
Elizabeth Webster of Exeter, dau. of Thomas and Deborah Webster. 
Their children, Deborah, b. 7 Dec. 1735. 
Rebecca, b. 28 Sept. 1 740. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 5 

Samuel Brooks, son of Samuel Brooks of Medford, md. 27 June 1751 Eliz- 
abeth Pike, dau. of "William and Judith Pike, late of Exeter, said 
William being son of Joseph Pike, late of Barnstaple, Eng. 
Their children, Oliver Pike, b. 16 Feb. 1751-2 ; d. 8 June 1755. 
Samuel, b. 23 Oct. 1753; d. Natchez 1818. 
Joseph, b. 17 April 1755; d. 1 Aug. 1775. 
Elizabeth, b. 17 Jan. 1760; d. 19 Feb. 1760. 
Elizabeth, b. 3 Dec. 1761. 
AVilliam, b. 20 Jan. 1764. 
Mary, b. 23 Dec. 1767. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Brooks d. 7 March 1794. 
Samuel Brooks md. (2d) Tirzah James, dau. of Dudley James. 
Their children, Oliver, b. 9 Aug. 1796. 

James Emery, b. 28 July 1799. 
Elizabeth, b". 27 June lisOl. 

Samuel Brooks d. March 1807. 

Mrs. Tirzah Brooks d. Philadelphia 25 Jan. 1831, aged 76. 

Samuel Brooks, Jr., son of Samuel and EHzabeth Brooks, md. 14 Dec. 1779 
Mary Giddinge, dau. of John and Mehitable Giddinge. 
Their children, Dolly, b. 25 June 1781. 
Betsey, b. 1 April 1783. 

Isaiah S. Brown, b. Hampton Falls, md. 1 April 1842 Elizabeth Ann Fuller. 
Their childi-en, William H., b. 6 Feb. 1843 ; d. 16 Sept. 1843. 
Abby J., b. 10 March 1844. 

John Burley. 

His children, Mary, b. 19 Oct. 1715. 
John, b. 8 Dec. 1717. 
Jacob, b. 23 Jan. 1720. 

James Burleigh of Ipswich md. 14 Feb. 1780 Susanna Swasey of Exeter. 
Their children, James, b. 7 Sept. 1784. 

Susanna, b. 15 Feb. 1789. 
Rufus, b. 21 March 1791 ; d. 26 March 1809. 
William, b. 24 April 1794; d. 24 Aug. 1844. 
Selina, b. 17 Dec. 1796. 
Harriet, b. 14 July 1798. 
James Burleigh d. very suddenly 3 April 1812, 

Lieut. Jonathan Cass md. 20 Dec. 1781 Mary Gilman, dau. of Theophilus 
and Deborah Gilman. 
Their chilcb-en, Lewis, b. 9 Oct. 1827. 

Deborah Webster, b. 16 April 1784. 

George, b. 25 Jan. 1786 ; d. 1873. 

Charles Lee, b, 15 Aug. 1787 ; d. Ohio 4 Jan. 1842. 



6 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Polly, b. 12 Aui?. 1788. 

Johii Jay, b. 28 Feb. 1791 ; d. 29 April 1792. 

Samuel Chamberlain, son of John, of Chaiiestown, md. 30 Sept. 1783 Mary 
Tilton of Exeter. 
Their children, Samuel Phillips, b. 24 Jan. 1786; d. Portsmouth 8 Feb. 
1822. 
Mary Parker, b. 15 Feb. 1788; d. 10 March 1817 [wife of 

Rev. Mr. Perry of Bradford]. 
Jacob Tilton, b. 6 Aug. 1791 ; d. at sea. 
William Frederick Rowland, b. 29April 1797. 
Elizabeth Dorothy, b. 3 Jan. 1800. 
Margaret Tilton, "b. 4 Dec. 1801 ; d. 20 Jan. 1821. 
Frances Groves, b. 23 April 1804. 
Julia Ann, b. 4 Nov. 1806. 
Edward Groves, b. 14 Nov. 1808. 
Henry Phillips, b. 4 Sept. 1811. 

Mrs. Mary Chamberlain d. 22 April 1826. 

Frederick Charlton (Carlton), son of Theodore Charlton and Deborah, was b. 
7 Oct. 1704; d. 2 Feb. 1766. 

John Clark. 

His children, Solomon, b. 19 Feb. 1672. 
Ichabod, b. 25 Dec. 1674. 
Mary, b. 18 June, 1678. 

The Rev. John Clark, minister of Exeter, md. 19 June 1694 Elizabeth 
Woodbridge, dan. of Rev. Benjamin AVoodbridge. 
Their childi-en, Benjamin, b. June 1695. 

Nathaniel, b. 19 Dec. 1697. 
Deborah, b. 3 Nov. 1699. 
Ward, b. 12 Dec. 1703. 
The Rev. John Clark d. 25 July 1705, aged 35. 

Samuel B. Clarke, Philena F. Robinson ; md. 27 Jan. 1847. 
Their childi-en, Frank Bartlett, b. 23 Nov. 1847. 
Elizabeth F., b. 11 Jan. 1849. 

William Henry Clark, son of Moses Clark and grandson of Dea. Moses 
Clark, md. 16 Feb. 1825 Sarah Hilton, dau. of Col. Richard Hilton of 
Newmarket. 
Their children, Charles Edwin, b. 22 Nov. 1825. 
William A., b. 30 Sept. 1827. 
John M., b. 4 Jan. 1830. 
George W., b. 27 Jan. 1832. 
Edward li., b. 31 March 1834. 
Martha J., b. 27 Jan. 1837. 



IIISTOriY OF EXETER. 7 

Sarah E., h, 28 March 1S40. 
James A., b. 23 March 1843. 

Eliphalet Coffin mcl. 11 Feb. 1710 Judith Noyes, widow of Parker Noyes 
and dau. of James Coffin of XeM'bury. 
Their chilcken, Abigail, b. 13 Nov. 1711. 
Peter, b. 8 Dec. 1713. 
Judith, b. 22 Dec. 1717. 
Eliphalet, b. o Nov. 1719 ; d. 3 May 1722. 
Deborah, b. 11 Feb. 1720-1; d. 25 Sept. 1721. 
Capt. Eliphalet Coffin d. 16 Aug. 1736. 

Jeremiah Connor, Anne Gove ; md. 3 July 1696. 

Their children, Jeremiah, b. 18 April 1697 ; d. April 1722. 

Jonathan, b. 5 Dec. 1699. 

Philip, b. 3 March 1701-2. 

Samuel, b. 3 May 1704. 

Hannah, b. 20 Sept. 1706. 

Anne, 1). 30 March 1709. 

Benjamin, b. 7 Sept. 1711. 
Anne, wife of Jeremiah Connor, d. 12 Feb. 1722-3. 

Cornelius Connor. 

His child, Moses, b. 6 Dec. 1707. 

Jonathan Connor, son of Jeremiah and Ann Connor, b. 5 Dec. 1699, md. 23 
Jan. 1723-4 Mehitabel, dau. of John and ^lehitabel Thing, b. 19 July 
1706. 
Their chikben, Anne, b. 15 Sept. 1724. 

Mehitabel, b. 5 Dec. 1726 ; d. 30 Aug. 1736. 

Jeremiah, b. 8 Feb. 1730-1. 

Jonathan, b. 14 Oct. 1737. 

Anne, b. 10 Dec. 1739. 

Mehitabel, b. 27 July 1742. 

John Thing, b. 16 July 1745. 

Philip Connor, Maria Dudley; md. 14 May 1729. 
Their children, Maria, b. 22 Sept. 1731. 
Philip, b. 25 Sept. 1733. 
Joseph, b. 16 Feb. 1735. 
Joshua, b. 18 Aug. 1743. 

Samuel Connor, b. 3 May 1704, md. 26 May 1726 Sarah Oilman, b. 18 
Dec. 1708. 
Their children, Maria, b. 12 May 1728. 

Anna, b. 2 Nov. 1730; d. 22 Aug. 1742. 
Samuel, b. 2 April 1733. 



8 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Jeremiah, b. 18 Nov. 1736. 

Joshua, b. 2 Auo:. 1738; d. 16 Aug. 1742. 

Sarah, b. 5 Dec. 1741; d. 22 Aug. 1742. 

Eliphalet, b. 14 Aug. 1743. 

Joseph, b. 7 Aug. 1746. 

Mary, b. 3 Oct. 17.50. 

Benjamin Conner, Abigail Bartlett; md. 25 June 1734. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 4 Feb. 1736. 

Jeremiah, b. 26 March 1739. 

Nathaniel, b. 8 April 1742. ! 

Abigail, b. 31 May 1744. 

Anne, b. 18 March 1746. 

Benjamin, b. 28 March 1748. 

Mary, b. 25 Jan. 1750. 

Joseph Bartlett. b. 15 Oct. 1752. 
Benjamin Conner md. (2d) Mary Leavitt, widow of Jeremiah Leavitt. 
Their children, Huldah, b. 4 Dec. 1760. 

Ephraim, b. 5 Feb. 1763. 

Nathaniel, b. 

Benjamin Conner d. 18 Oct. 1811, aged 101 yrs. 1 mo. 
Mrs. Mary Conner d. 20 March 1820, aged 93 yrs. 6 mos. 

Jeremiah Conner, son of Jonathan and Mehitable Conner, md. 1 Sept. 1754 
Hannah Sanborn, dau. of Jabal and Abiah Sanborn, 
Their children, Mary, b. 30 May 1755. 

Dudley, b. 29 Nov. 1756. 

Jonathan Conner, Jr., Mary Jewett; md. 10 ]March 1765. 

Their children, Jesse, b. 18 Dec. 1765; d. Parsonsfield, Me., 8 Jan. 1841. 

Ehzabeth, b. 14 Aug. 1770; d. 25 Sept. 1770. 

Daniel, b. 17 Aug. 1771 ; d. 23 Sept. 1863. 

Nathaniel, b. 16 Oct. 1773; d. 5 July 1849. 

Jedediah, b. 20 Oct. 1775; d. 28 Jan. 1838. 

Mary, b. 11 Jan. 1778. 

Jonathan, b. 29 April 1780; d. 7 Sept. 1780. 

Eunice, b. 24 May 1782; d. 22 July 1867. 
Mrs. Marv Conner, wife of Jonathan, d. 25 Nov. 1816. 
Jonathan Conner d. 13 Nov. 1820, aged 83. 

Nathaniel Conner and Tirzah (Lyford) Conner. 

Their children, Charles, b. 17 May 1798; d. 29 July 1804. 
Mary Ann, b. 17 Feb. 1800. 
Oliver W., b. 25 Oct. 1801 ; d. 17 April 1840. 
John L., b. 16 Aug. 1803 ; d. 24 Jan. 1847. 
' Charles, b. 30 Nov. 1805. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 9 

William, b. 23 Feb. 1808. 

Jewett, b. 21 March 1810; d. 27 July 1810. 

Thomas, b. 12 Aug. 1812. 

Alfred, b. 12 Aug. 1814. 

Freeman, b. 11 May 1816; d. 1 Jan. 1817. 

Nathaniel, b. 13 May 1818; d. 24 Sept. 1818. 
Mrs. Tirzah Conner d. 28 July 1828, aged 53 yrs. 4 mos. 
Nathaniel Conner md. (2d) Mrs. Elizabeth Palmer 22 Jan. 1833. 
Their child. Freeman, b. 22 jNIarch 1836. 
Nathaniel Conner d. ;5 July 1849, aged 76 years. 

Charles Conner, b. 30 Nov. 180o, md 27 Aug. 1832 Mary Taylor Oilman, b. 
26 May 1806. 
Their children, Charles Oilman, b. 6 July 1833. 

Edward Joseph, b. 11 Aug. 183o ; d. lo Aug. 1868. 
p:iizabeth Oilman, b. 13 Jan. 1838 ; d. o Sept. 1838. 
William Thomas, b. 14 Feb. 1840; d. 1 Aug. 1841. 
])aniel Oilman, b. 21 Jan. 1842. 
Mary Elizabeth, b. 24 Aug. 184o. 

Joseph Cram, son of Benjamin and Martha Cram, md. 7 June 1780 Ann 
Brown, dau. of Nathan and Ann Brown of Hampton Falls. 
Their children, Benjamin, b. 10 March 1781. 
Jacob, b. 9 Jan. 1783. 
Anne, b. 8 March 1787. 
Sarah, b. 18 Aug. 1790. 

Robert Cross of Portland md. 5 Oct. 1807 Caroline Tilton, dau. of ])r. 
Joseph Tilton. 

• Their child, Caroline Matilda, b. 5 Aug. 1808 ; d. 16 Dec. 1808. 

Isaac Currier md. 10 April 1760 Elizabeth Robinson, dau. of Ephraim and 
Mary Robinson. 

Their children, Isaac, b. 10 Nov. 1760. 
Ephraim, b. 9 Sept. 1762. 

Rufus E. Cutler, son of Tobias Cutler, b. 2 March 1797, md. 12 March 1825 
Anna Cilley, b. 2 Oct. 1796. 

Their children, Sarah A., b. 22 June 1827 ; d. 6 Alay 1836. 
Harriet F., b. 26 Feb. 1828. 
Rufus E., b. 10 March 1830. 
John O., b. 10 May 1832. 
Eliza A. C, b. 4 Sept. 1834. 

♦ 
William B. Dana and Margaret Ann Dana. 
Their child, Elizabeth Ann, b. 13 Aug. 1827. 



10 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

William Davis and Elizabeth Davis. 

Their children, William Putnam, b. 11 Sept. 1823. 
Abigail Bartlett, b. 25 May 1825. 

Dr. Thomas Dean md. 2 Oct. 1718 Deborah Clark, dau. of Rev. John Clark. 
Their children, John, b. 5 Sept. 1719. 
Jane, b. 20 June 1721. 
Thomas, b. 23 Dec. 1723. 
Elizabeth, b. 28 Dec. 1725. 
Deborah, b. 15 June 1728; d. G Sept. 1735. 
Mary, b. 17 July 1731. 
Abigail, b. 

Col. John Dennet of Portsmouth md. 3 Feb. 1798 Elizabeth Lamson, dau. 
of Dr. John Lamson of Exeter. 
Their childi-en, Elizabeth, b. 4 Feb. 1799. 

John Sherburne, b. 25 June 1800. 

Jabez Dodge, son of Benjamin Dodge of Beverly, b. 15 Jan. 1747, md. 15 
Aug. 1771 Lydia Philbrick, dau. of Benjamin Philbrick. 
Their children, Hannah, b. 22 Aug. 1772 ; d. 7 April 1787. 

Benjamin, b. 1 May 1774. 

Joseph, b. 9 May 1776. 

Jabez, b. 10 June 1778; d. 28 Jan. 1803. 

Lydia, b. 31 Dec. 1780 ; d. 7 Aug. 1847. 

Samuel, b. 26 Feb. 1783. 

Elizabeth, b. 28 April 1785. 

Hannah, b. 4 Aug. 1787 ; d. 28 Dec. 1787. 

Anne, b. 16 May 1789. 

John, b. 30 Nov. 1791 ; d. 31 Jan. 1865. 

Isaac, b. 13 April 1794. 
Mr. Jabez Dodge d. 11 April 1806. 

John Dodge, b. Exeter 30 Nov. 1791, md. 1 Sept. 1816 Lydia Gerrish, b. 
Portsmouth 20 Aug. 1793. 
Their children, Caroline G., b. 11 July 1817; d. 24 July 1842. 
Frances M., b. 22 Sept. 1819. 
Lydia, b. 4 Jan. 1822. 
Harriet, b. 10 May 1824. 
Sarah E., b. 5 June 1827. 
Alexander, b. 16 Feb. 1830; d. 27 Oct. 1830. 
Elizabeth Hurd, b. 18 Dec. 1834 ; d. 8 April 1836. 

Christian Dolhoof (DoUoff). 

His children, Mary, b. 17 Sept. 1667. 
John, b. 17 Feb. 1668-9. 
James, b. 25 Dec. 1670. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. H 



Puchavd Dolloflf. 

His childi-en, Sarah, b. 10 Jan. 1702. 

Margaret, b. 18 :March 1704. 
Abigail, b. 26 Feb. 1706. 
John, b. 20 April 170.S. 
Jonathan, b. 17 Oct. 1710. 

Samuel DoUoff. 

His children, Samuel, b. 1 Feb. 1703. 

Elizabeth, b. 1 March 1706. 

Abner DoUoff and Miriam DoUoff. 

Their chUdren, Mercy, b. 6 Dec. 17^2, N. S. 
Richard, b. 2 Jan. 1755. 
David, b. 19 Jan. 1757. 
Phineas, b. 11 April 1759. 

Jeremiah Dow, b. Salem, N. H., 9 April 1773, md. 27 Xov. 1797 Hannah 
Parker, b. Bradford, Mass., IS Oct. 1776. 
Their children, Ednah Parker, b. 18 Jan. 1799. 

Retire Parker, b. 10 March 1801. 
Jeremiah, b. 5 Feb. 1803. 
EUzabeth, b. 11 Sept. 1806. 
Hannah Parker, b. 1 Nov. 1808. 
Mary Frances, b. 

Jeremiah Dow d. 13 Oct. 1847. 

Stephen Dudley, Sarah Oilman ; md. 24 Dec. 1684. 
Their children, Samuel, b. 19 Dec. 1685. 

Stephen, b. 10 :March 1687-8. 
James, b. 11 June 1690. 
John, b. 4 Oct. 1692. 
Nicholas, b. 27 Aug. 1694. 
Joanna, b. 3 May 1697. 
Treworthy, b. 

Samuel Dudley, Hannah Colcord ; md. 24 Nov. 1709. 

Their children, John, b. 22 June 1711. 

Samuel, b. 9 Feb. 1713-14. 
Hannah, b. 9 April 1716. 
Samuel, b. 26 Aug. 1718. 

Joseph Dudley, Merriah Oilman ; md. 26 Nov. 1724. 
Their child, Sarah, b. 25 Sept. 1725 ; d. 30 Aug. 1742. 

Ezra S. Durgin of Greenland md. 7 Dec. 1837 Ruth Stevenson of Saco, Me. 
Their children, Mary E., b. Exeter 7 Nov. 1839. 

William E., b. Exeter 1 Oct. 1841. 



12 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Albert A., b. Exeter 13 June 1844 ; d. 19 Jan. 1845. 
Ednah J., b. Exeter 10 Dec. 1845. 

Eleazer Elkins. 

His children, John, b. 3 Dec. 1674. 

Samuel, b. 27 June 1677. 

Epes Ellery, b. Gloucester, Mass., 29 Oct. 1769, md. 11 Sept. 1794 Anna 
Odell, b. 27 Feb. 1771 ; moved to Exeter in the year 1800. 
Their children, Anna Mary, b. Gloucester 24 March 1796. 
Epes, b. Gloucester 26 March 1800. 
James, b. Exeter 26 June 1803. ; 
George, b. Exeter 29 July 1804. 
David Haraden, b. Exeter 11 Sept. 1805. 
Nathaniel, b. Exeter 18 Jan. 1807. 
William Parsons, b. Exeter 1 Dec. 1809. 
Edward Turner, b. Exeter 16 June 1812 ; d. 11 March 1813. 

Noah Emery, b. 10 Nov. 1748, md. 5 Dec. 1771 Jane Hale. 
Their children, Mary, b.'24 Sept. 1772; d. 20 Sept. 1856. 
Elizabeth, b. 15 Oct. 1774. 
Nicholas, b. 4 Sept. 1776. 
John, b. 29 Oct. 1780. 
Noah, b. 30 Dec. 1782; d. at sea 1813. 
Jane, b. 19 Oct. 1788 ; d. 19 June 1802. 
Betsy Phillips, b. 15 Aug. 1794. 

Noah Emery d. 6 Jan. 1817. 
Mrs. Jane Emery d. 19 June 1813. 

Jonathan Flood, Mary Foy ; md. 

Their children, Joseph, b. 15 Aug. 1768. 
William, b. 2 Oct. 1773. 

Mary Foulsam, dau. of Samuel Foulsam, b. 27 Sept. 1664. 

JohnFoulsam d. 27 Dec. 1681. 

Abigail Foulsam, dau. of John Foulsam, b. 23 Dec. 1676. 

Samuel Foulsam, son of Nathaniel Foulsam, b. 18 Aug. 1679. 
Peter Foulsam, Catherine Oilman ; md. 
Their children, Susanna, b. 27 Sept. 1704. 

Elizabeth, b. 20 March 1706-7. 

John, b. 14 March 1708-9. 

James, b. 16 Oct. 1711. 

Peter, b. 27 July 1714. 

Catherine, b. 24 Jan. 1716-17. 

Richard Calley and Catherine, Relict of Peter Folsom, md. 

Daniel Folsom. 

His children, Daniel, b. 27 Aug. 1739. 
Ann, b. 2 April 1741. 
Abigail, b. 27 Feb. 1742-3. 



HISTOEY OF EXETER. 13 

Josiah Folsom, Martha Gold ; md. May 1754. 
Their children, Jemima, b. 7 March 1755, 
Martha, b. 7 Dec. 1756. 
Mary, b. 17 March 1763. 
Josiah, b. 1 June 1765. 
Dudley, b. 15 Dec. 1767. 
John, b. 26 June 1770. 
Deborah, b. 12 May 1772. 
Josiah Folsom, b. 25 Sept. 1725 ; d. 27 July 1820. 

James Folsom, Elizabeth "Webster; md. Dec. 1763. 
Their children, James, b. 12 Aug. 1765. 

pjlizabeth, b. 5 March 1767. 

Thomas, b. 11 May 1769. 

Nathaniel, b. 2 April 1771. 

Peter, b. 22 Feb. 1775 ; d. June 1817. 

Polly, b. 12 July 1776. 

John, b. 5 Nov. 1779. 

Samuel Folsom, Elizabeth Emery; md. 30 April 1780. 
Their children, Anne, b. 4 Feb. 1781. 

Samuel, b. 7 June 1783. 

Betsy, b. 26 March 1785. 

Joanna, b. 25 June 1787. 
Samuel Folsom d. 22 May 1790. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Folsom d. Sept. 1805. 

James Folsom, b. 22 July 1756, md. 2 Dec. 1784 Mary Folsom, b. 17 March 
1763. 
Their children, James, b. 24 Nov. 1785. 
Josiah, b. 2 March 1787. 
Mary, b. 13 Feb. 1789. 
LydiaB., b. 30 April 1791. 
Martha N., b. 23 July 1793. 
Sarah R., b. 12 Aug. 1795. 
Frances, b. 12 Feb. 1798. 
Peter G., b. 1 Nov. 1799. 
Nancy Y., b. 16 March 1802. 
Nicholas D., b. 10 June 1805. 
Lavina, b. 30 March 1808. 

James Folsom, Sarah Gilman ; md. 

Their children, Sophia, b. 26 Feb. 1787. 

Joseph Gilman, b. 7 Dec. 1788 j d. Sept. 1813. 
Sarah, b. 1 Nov. 1790. 
Henry, b. 5 Oct. 1792. 
Charles, b. 24 Dec. 1794. 
Anne, b. 12 Feb. 1797. 



14 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Mary Oilman, b. July 1799. 
William, b. 12 July isoS. 
Mrs. Sarah Folsom d. 11 July 1805. 

Josiah Folsom, b. 2 March 1787, md. 11 Oct. 1812 Mary Woodruff, b. 
Feb. 1783. 
Their child, Mary W., b. 9 Oct. 1813. 
Mrs. Mary Folsom d. 22 March 1814. 
Josiah Folsom md. 22 May 1825 Mary James, b. 12 Jan. 1798. 
Their childi-en, Elizabeth S., b. 14 May 1826. j 
Josiah J., b. 1 Aug. 1827. 
Ebenezer, b. 25 Oct. 1828. 
Mary, wife of Josiah, d. 12 April 1847. 

Henry" F. French md. Chester 9 Oct. 1838 Anne Richardson, dau. of Ch. 
Jus. William ]M. Richardson. 
Their chikken, Harriette Van Mater, b. Chester 29 Sept. 1839. 

William Merchant Richardson, b. Exeter 1 Oct. 1843. 
Sarah Flagg, b. Exeter 14 Aug. 1846. 
Daniel Chester, b. Exeter 20 April 1850. 
Mrs Anne R. French d. Exeter 29 Aug. 1856. 



••to- 



John George, Elizabeth Towle ; md. 24 Sept. 1734. 
Their children, Sarah, b. 16 Oct. 1736. 
Josiah, b. 19 Sept. 1738. 
John, b. 23 March 1739-40. 
Olive, b. 27 Feb. 1741-2. 

Zebulon Giddinge md. 12 Oct. 1724 Deborah Webster, dau. of Thomas 
Webster. , n ^ 

Their children, Pcrnal, b. 28 Sept. 1725. ■ ' ^^'f^ - 
John, b. 11 Sept. 1728. 
Abigail, b. 30 Oct. 1729; md. 10 Sept. 1756 Thilip, son 

of John Babson. 
Zebulon, b. 7 Feb. 1732-3 ; d. 9 March 1759. 
Mary, b. 23 Oct. 1734. 
Eliphalet, b. 17 Sept. 1736. 
George, b. 17 July 1738. 
Nathaniel, b. 26 Dec. 1744. 
Deborah, b. 2 Feb. 1746-7. 
Mrs. Deborah Giddinge d. 2 Feb. 1767, aged 64 yrs. 2 mos. 22 days. 
Zebulon Giddinge md. (2d) 8 May 1773 Mrs. Joanna Cottle, Avidow of 
Joseph Cottle of Newburyport. She d. 21 July 1773, aged 62 yrs. 5 mos. 
Zebulon Giddinge d. 30 May 1789, aged 86 yrs. 20 days. 

John Giddinge, Mehetabel Oilman ; md. 20 Nov. 1751. 
Their children, ]Mary, b. 13 July 1752. 

John, b. 22 July 1754; d. 12 June 1798. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 15 

Dorothy, b. 15 Oct. 1758. 
Mehetabel, b. 1 Feb. 1764. 
Deborah, b. 30 May 1770. 

Zebulon Giddinge, son of Zebulon and Deborah Giddingo, md. 30 May 1754 
Lydia Robinson, dau. of Ephraim and Mary Robinson. 
Their children, Lydia, b. 14 Aug. 1755. 

Deborah, b. 22 Dec. 1756. 
Zebulon, b. 14 Oct. 1758. 
Zebulon Giddinge d. at Cape Cod 9 March 1759, aged 26 yrs. 19 days. 
Mrs. Lydia Giddinge md. (2d) 4 May 1761 Samuel Oilman, and d. Dec. 
1791. [Oilman Genealogy says 4 July 1778.] 

Eliphalet Giddinge, Anne Lovering ; md. 18 Dec. 1760. 
Their children, Zebulon, b. 26 Sept. 1761 ; d. March 1769. 

Nathaniel, b. 6 Feb. 1765 ; d. March 1803. 

Pernal, b. 23 Sept. 1768 ; d. Dec. 1768. 

Joseph, b. 11 July 1770 ; d. 10 Sept. 1770. 

Eliphalet, b. 12 July 1773; d. 19 Aug. 1773. 

Anne, b. 15 Feb. 1775 ; d. 15 Aug. 1776. 

Lucretia, b. 10 Dec. 1776; d. 13 May 1777. 

Anne, b. 22 Oct. 1779; d. June 1811 [the wife of Rev. W. 
F. Rowland]. 
Mrs. Anne Giddinge d. 7 March 1809 in the 70th year of her age. 
Eliphalet Giddinge md. (2d) 16 Feb. 1812 widow Ann Lyford. 
Ann Giddinge, 2d wife of Eliphalet Giddinge, d. 12 Aug. 1818. 
Col. Eliphalet Giddinge d. 30 June 1830, aged 94 yrs. 

Nathaniel Giddinge, son of Zebulon and Deborah Giddinge, md. 6 Jan. 
1769 Mary Elwell, dau. of Zebulon and Lucy Elwell. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 17 Oct. 1769 ; d. June 1776. 
Lucy, b. 22 Feb. 1774. 
Nathaniel, b. 17 April 1784. 

Nathaniel Giddinge, son of Eliphalet Giddinge, md. Anne Folsom, dau. of 
Gen. Nathaniel Folsom. 
Their children, Eliphalet, b. 13 Dec. 1783. 
Dolly, b. 9 Jan. 1785. 
Polly, b. 15 Aug. 1786. 
Harriet Amelia, b. 25 Feb. 1789. 

Nathaniel, b. 1 Aug. 1791 ; d. June 1814 at Newburyport, 
unmd. 
Mrs. Anne Giddinge d. 27 April 1794, aged 32 yrs. 8 mos. 27 days. 

Nathaniel Giddinge md. (2d) 6 Nov. 1794 widow Peggy Warren. 
Their chikken, Ann Elizabeth, b. 20 Feb. 1796. 

Joseph, b. 9 Feb. 1798 ; d. 15 Aug. 1798. 



16 HISTOUY OF EXKTER. 

John Gilmaii, Elizabeth Treworthy ; md. 30 June 16.57. 
Their children, Mary, b. 10 Sept. l(3o8. 

James, b. 6 Feb. 16o9-60. 

Elizabeth, b. 16 Aug. 1661. 

John, b. 6 Oct. 1663. 

Catherine, b. 17 March 1664-J; d. 2 Sept. 1684. 

Sarah, b. 25 Feb. 1666-7. 

Lydia, b. 12 Dec. 1668. 

Samuel, b. 30 March 1671 ; d. Aug. 1691. 

Nicholas, b. 26 Dec. 1672. 

Abigail, b. 3 Nov. 1674. ' 

John, b. 19 Jan. 1676-7. 

Deborah and Joanna (twins), b. 30 April 1679; Deborah 
d. 30 Sept. 1680; Joanna d. 24 Dec. 1720. 

Joseph, b. 28 Oct. 1680. 

Alice, b. 23 May 1683. 

Catherine, b. 27 Nov. 1684, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Oilman, wife of John Oilman, d. 8 Sept. 1719. 
John Oilman d. 24 July 1708. 

Joanna, dau. of John and Elizabeth Oilman, was twice md., first to Capt. 
Robert Coffin, son of Peter Coffin, then to Henry Dyer. 

Moses Oilman. 

His children, Jeremy, b. 31 Aug. 1660. 

Elizabeth, b. 19 April 1663. 

James, b. 31 May 1665. 

John, b. 7 June 1668. 
Byley Dudley and Elizabeth Oilman md. 25 Oct. 1682. 

Edward Oilman. 

His children, Edward, b. 20 Oct. 1675. 

Antipas, b. 2 Feb. 1677 ; d. the 27th. 
Maverick, b. 11 April 1681. 

Nicholas Oilman, Sarah Clark ; md. 10 June 1697. 
Their children, Samuel, b. 1 May 1698. 
John, b. 24 Dec' 1699. 
Daniel, b. 28 June 1702. 
Nathaniel, b. 2 March 1704. 
Nicholas, b. 18 Jan. 1707-8. 
Josiah, b, 25 Feb. 1709-10. 
Sarah, b. 25 June 1712. 
Treworthy, b. 15 Oct. 1714. 
Elizabeth, b. 5 Nov. 1717. 
Joanna, b. 14 July 1720. 

John Oilman, Elizabeth Coffin: md. 5 June 1698. 
Their childi'cn, Joanna, b. 20 Sept. 1700. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 17 

Elizabeth, b. 5 Feb. 1701-2. 
Peter, b. 6 Feb. 1704-5. 
Abigail, b. 19 Aug. 1707. 
Robert, b. 2 June 1710. 
John, b. 5 Oct. 1712. 
Joanna, b. 27 Oct. 1715. 
Elizabeth, wife of John Oilman, d. 10 July 1720. 

Samuel Oilman, Abigail Lord; md. 2 Sejit. 1719. 

Their children, Samuel, b. 20 May 1720. 
Nicholas, b. 6 Oct. 1722. 
Robert, b. 30 Aug. 1724. 
Sarah, b. 1 Dec. 1725; d. 8 Dec. 1725. 
Abigail, b. 8 April 1727; d. 4 Au^, 1729. 
Daniel, b. 30 Jan. 1728; d. Nov. 1728. 
John, b. 24 May 1730; d. 24 Sept. 1735. 

John Oilman, Mary Thing; md. 8 Nov. 1720. 

Their children, John, b. 23 Dec. 1721 ; d. March 1721-2. 
John, b. March 1722-3 ; d. April 1723. 

John Oilman d. 6 Dec. 1722. 

Peter Oilman md. 8 Dec. 1724 Mary Oilman, Relict of John Oilman. 

Daniel Oilman, Mary Lord; md. 2 Sept. 1724. 
Their children, Mary, b. 12 Nov. 1725. 

John, b. 17 Sept. 1727. 

Daniel, b. 18 Nov. 1729. 

Nicholas, b. 21 Oct. 1731. 

Sommersby, b. 1733. 
Mary Oilman, wife of Daniel, d. 22 March 1735-6. 

John Oilman, Elizabeth Hale; md. 29 Dec. 1720. 
Their children, Nicholas, b. 20 Jan. 1721-2. 
Samuel, b. 20 April 1723. 
Sarah, b. 23 July 1724. 
Nathaniel, b. 18 June 1726. 

Nicholas Oilman, Mary Thing; md. 22 Oct. 1730. 
Their children, Bartholomew, b. 26 Aug. 1731. 
Nicholas, b. 13 June 1733. 
Tristram, b. 24 Nov. 1735. 
Joseph, b. 5 May 1738. 
Josiah, b. 2 Sept. 1740; d. 8 Feb. 1801. 
John, b. 10 May 1742 ; d. 8 June 1752. 
Mrs. Mary Oilman, wife of Nicholas, d. 22 Feb. 1789, aged 76 yrs. 1 mo. 

9 days. 
2a 



18 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Daniel Oilman, Abigail Sayer; md. 23 Sept. 1736. 
Their child, Abigail, b. 21 Sept. 1738. 

Nathaniel Oilman, Sarah Emery; md. 16 Sept. 1725. 
Their children, Tabitha, b. 21 July 1726. 

Sarah, b. 14 Feb. 1727-8 ; d. July 1729. 
Nathaniel, b. 9 April 1730. 
Sarah, b. 5 Sept. 1733 ; d. 6 Jan. 1735-6. 
Elizabeth, b. 14 Dec. 1735; d. 1 Jan. 1735-6. 
Joanna, b. 23 Aug. 1737. 

Treworthy Oilman, Susanna LoAve ; md. 17 June 1736. 
Their child, Treworthy, b. 23 May 1738. 

Josiah Oilman, Abigail Coffin; md. 2 Dec. 1731. 

Their children, Abigail, b. 12 Aug. 1732 ; d. 17 Jan. 1797. 

Eliphalet, b. 22 March 1734; d. 29 Sept. 1735. 

Peter, b. 14 March 1735-6. 

Judith, b. 11 Jan. 1737-8; d. Nov. 1815. 
Josiah Oilman d. 1 Jan. 1793. 

Joshua Oilman, Meriah Hersey ; md. Nov. 1702. 
Their children, Mariah, b. 2 Oct. 1704. 
Sarah, b. 20 Dec. 1708. 
Hannah, b. 14 Sept. 1712. 
Joshua, b. 2 Feb. 1716. 

Andrew Oilman, Joanna Thing; md. 27 Jan. 1714-5. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 19 April 1717. 

Jeremiah, b. 3 June 1719. 

Joanna, b. 6 Dec. 1721. 

Deborah, b. 28 Jan. 1723-4. 

Mary, b. 31 Aug. 1727. 
Joanna Oilman, wife of Andrew, d. 16 Nov. 1727. 

Andrew Oilman, Bridget Hilton ; md. 3 April 1729. 
Their children, Winthrop, b. 14 Feb. 1730-1. 

Elizabeth, b. 30 Nov. 1732. 

Anna, b. 23 Oct. 1734. 

Andrew, b. 28 Oct. 1736; d. 28 Jan. 1736-7. 
Bridget Oilman, wife of Andrew, d. 10 Nov. 1736. 

Jonathan Oilman, Jr., Elizabeth Sanburn; md. 12 May 1737. 
Their childi-en, Elizabeth, b. 19 Aug. 1741. 
Hannah, b. 8 Dec. 1742. 

Nathaniel Oilman, b. 10 Nov. 1759, md. 29 Dec. 1785 Abigail Odliu. 
Their,children, Frances, b. 11 Sept. 1787; d. 7 April 1821. 
Abigail, b. 10 Dec. 1789. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 19 

Nathaniel, b. 13 Nov. 1793. 

Ann, b. 10 Aug. 1796 ; d. 2 Jan. 1827. 
Mrs. Abigail Oilman d. 10 Aug. 1796. 
Nathaniel Oilman md. (2d) 13 Dec. 1796 Dorothy Folsom of Portsmouth. 
Their children, Nicholas, b. 2 Sept. 1799; d. 23 Jan. 1840. 

Samuel T., b. 17 May 1801 ; d. 23 Jan. 1835. 

Daniel, b. 28 June 1804 ; d. 4 Dec. 1841. 

John T., b. 9 May 1806. 

Charles E., b. 12 Feb. 1808; d. 23 Jan. 1840. 

Mary 0., b. 9 March 1810. 

JosephT., b. 12 Oct. 1811. 

Samuel Oilman, b. 15 ISIarch 1752, md. 30 May 1774 Sarah Hall. 
Their child, Josiah H., b. 15 Aug. 1775; d. 24 Dec. 1775. 
Mrs. Sarah Oilman d. 18 Jan. 1776. 

Samuel Oilman, ^lartha Kinsman ; md. 16 Sept. 1779. 
Their children, Samuel, b. 1 July 1780; d. 28 Aug. 1781. 

Samuel K., b. 31 Jan. 1782; d. 1 Oct. 1795. 

Jonathan, b. 27 April 1784 ; d. 7 June 1809. 

Martha, b. 20 Feb. 1786; d. 22 Feb. 1786. 

John K., b. 14 Aug. 1787. 

Martha, b. 21 Feb. 1789. 

Lydia, b. 11 May 1791 ; d. 2 Feb. 1832. 

Hannah, b. 15 May 1794. 

Samuel K., b. 2 May 1796. 
Mrs. Martha Oilman d. 19 Oct. 1809. 
Samuel Oilman d. 29 Aug. 1838. 

Samuel Oilman, Jr., Lydia Oiddinge ; md. 4 May 1761. 
Their children, Tabitha, b. 7 April 1762; d. 2 May 1837. 
Frederick, b. 28 Jan. 1764; d. 1798. 
Ehzabeth, b. Jan. 1765; d. May 1766. 
Robert, b. May 1768; d. Nov. 1769. 
Peter, b. 9 Feb. 1771 ; d. in France. 
Arthur, b. 28 Oct. 1773. 
Henry, b. 30 Aug. 1777. 
Samuel Oilman, Jr., d. July 1778. 

Jonathan Oilman, Elizabeth Leavit; md. 16 Jan. 1723-4. 
Their children, Alice,, b. 15 April 1725. 

Ehzabeth, b. 5 June 1727. 
Robert Briscoe, b. 21 June 1729. 
Alice, b. 11 July 1731. 
Jonathan, b. 18 May 1733. 
Hannah, b. 29 Dec. 1734. 



20 HISTORY or EXETER. 

Mary, b, 7 May 1737. 
Johii, b. 28 Nov. 1738. 
Robert Briscoe, b. 27 Nov. 1740. 
Hannah, b. 20 Nov. 1743. 
Dorothy, b. 18 July 1746. 

Josiah Oilman, Sarah Oilman; mcl. 30 Nov. 1763. 
Their children, John Phillips, b. 7 Nov. 1764. 
Sarah, b. 8 July 1766. 
Mary, b. 10 May 1768. 
Elizabeth, b. 11 June 1770. j 
Bartholomew, b. 9 Nov. 1772. 
Tabitha, b. 13 Aug. 177.3; d. 11 Oct. 1777. 
Anne, b. 9 Sept. 1777 ; d. Aug. 1823. 
Rebecca, b. 29 Sept. 1780; d. 21 Oct. 1815. 
Catherine, b. 3 Sept. 1782. 
Charlotte, b. 17 July 178o. 
Sarah Oilman, wife of Josiah, d. 26 July 1785. 

Joseph Oilman, Rebecca Ives ; md. 21 Sept. 1763. 
Their chilcben, Robert Hale, b. 6 Dec. 1764. 

Benjamin Ives, b. 29 July 1766. 

Thomas Oilman, Elizabeth Rogers; md. 31 Dec. 1772. 
Their children, Whlttingham, b. 30 Nov. 1773. 

Thomas, b. 25 Aug. 1775. 

John, b. 4 Dec. 1777. 

Nathaniel Clark, b. 20 Dec. 1779. 

Henry, b. 28 Aug. 1782. 

EHzabeth, b. 5 May 1786. 

Abigail Bromfield, b. 14 Feb. 1789. 
Thomas Oilman was b. 15 June 1747. 
Elizabeth Rogers, b. 22 Feb. 1754. 
Mrs. Oilman d. 8 Feb. 1791. 

Samuel Oilman, ^lary Blodget ; md. 30 Nov. 1780. 
Their child, Elizabeth Blodget, b. 16 Dec. 1781. 

John Ward Oilman, b. 9 May 1741, md. 3 Dec. 1767 Hannah Emery, b. 
24 June 1745. 
Their children, Stephen, b. 27 Aug. 1768 ; d. 9 Oct. 1849. 
AVard, b. 18 Dec. 1769; d. 14 Dec. 1821. 
Jane, b. 14 Sept. 1771 ; d. 3 April 1778. 
AUen, b. 16 July 1773. 

Deborah Harris, b. 26 May 1775 ; d. July 1864. 
John, b. 8 April 1777 ; d. 11 April 1777. 
Hannah, b. 6 May 1778. 
Jane, b. 23 July i7S0. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 21 

John, b. 15 Aug. 1782 ; d. 10 Sept. 1822. 

Samuel, b. 4 Jan. 1785. 

Joseph, b. 4 March 1789 ; d. 18 Aug. 1805. 

Elizabeth, b. 29 May 1791. 
Mrs. Hannah Gilman d. 22 June 1802. 
John W. Gilman d. IG June 1823. 

Joseph S. Gilm^an, Elizabeth Odlin ; nid. 

Their children, Elizabeth Ann Taylor, b. 5 July 1797 ; d. 9 Jan. 1882. 

Mary Taylor, b. 26 May 1806 ; d. 13 July 1877. 
Joseph S. Gilman d. 26 Sept. 1826. 
Elizabeth Gilman d. 1 April 1840. 

Eliphalet Gilman, Sarah Conner; md. 10 May 1778. 

Their children, Sally b. 17 Aug. 1779. 

Harriot, b. 8 June 1783. 

Patty, b. 15 April 1786. 

Eliphalet, b. 19 May 1788. 

Betsey, b. 13 Dec. 1789. 

Dorothy Bartlett, b. 11 May 1792. 
Mrs. Sarah Gilman d. 1796. 
Eliphalet Gilman d. 24 Nov. 1822. 

John Phillips Gilman, Elizabeth Hanson ; md. 7 Dec. 1788. 
Their children, Sarah, b. 4 May 1790. 

Elizabeth, b. 20 June 1794. 
Mary Ann, b. 4 Aug. 1797. 

Benjamin Clark Gilman, Mary Thing Gilman ; md. 24 June 1788. 
Their children, Phillips, b. 8 April 1789 ; d. 1838. 
Clarissa, b. 14 Nov. 1790. 
Charles William, b. 10 Feb. 1793. 
William Charles, b. 2 May 1795. 
Serena, b. 10 Sept. 1797. 

Samuel Frederick, b. 2 Dec. 1799 ; d. 5 Dec. 1816. 
Arthur Frederick, b. 23 Dec. 1801. 
Rufus King, b. 18 March 1804; d. 8 Feb. 1828. 
Mrs. Mary Thing Gilman d. 7 Dec. 1841. 

Nicholas Gilman, Sarah Hudson Mellen; md. 8 Sept. 1823. 
Their children, Augustus Henry, b. 9 Aug. 1824. 

Henry Augustus, b. 9 Aug. 1824; d. 25 Aug. 1824. 
Sarah Almira, b. 29 Aug. 1827. 

Alexander Gordon, said to be Scotch soldier of Charles 11., taken prisoner by 
Parliamentarians, sent to America 1651, md. 1663 Mary Listen, dau. of 
Nicholas Listen of Exeter. 



22 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

Their children, Elizabeth, b. 23 Feb. 1664. 

Nicholas,, b. 23 March 1665-6. 

Mary, b. 22 May 1668. 

John, b. 26 Oct. 1670. 

James, b. 22 July 1673. 

Alexander, b. 1 Dec. 1675. 

Thomas, b. 1678. 

Daniel, b. 1682. 
Alexander Gordon, Sr., d. Exeter 1697. 

Thomas Gordon, son of Alexander Gordon, md., 22 Nov. 1699 Elizabeth 
Harriman of Haverhill, Mass. 
Their children, Timothy, b. 19 Aug. 1700; d. in infancy. 

Thomas, b. 24 Aug. 1701. 

Diana, b. 26 Jan. 1703. 

Daniel, b. 1 Dec. 1704. 

Abigail, b. 28 May 1707. 

Benoni, b. 1709. 

Timothy, b. 22 March 1716. 

James, b. 

Hannah, b. 

Nathaniel, b. 25 March 1728. 

Benjamin, b. 
Thomas Gordon, Sr., d. 1762. 

Timothy Gordon, son of Thomas Gordon, md. 1748 Maria Stockbridge of 
Stratham. 
Their children, Abraham, b. 

Mary, b. 22 Oct. 1753. 
Hannah, b. 4 Dec. 1756. 
Timothy, b. 30 Dec. 1757. 
Maria, b. 

Elisha, b. 11 April 1763. 
Emma, b. 
John, b. 
Timothy Gordon, Sr., d. 1796. 

Timothy Gordon, son of Timothy Goi'don and a Revolutionary soldier, md. 
23 Jan. 1782 Lydia Whitmore of Newbury, Mass. 
Their children, William, b. 17 May 1783. 
Lydia, b. 11 Dec. 1785. 
John S., b. 23 Dec. 1786. 
Charles, b. 5 Sept. 1788. 
Nathaniel, b. 7 Dec. 1792. 
Timothy, b. 10 March 1795. 
Ebenezer, b. 28 Feb. 1797. 
Harriet, b. 4 Aug. 1804. 
Timothy Gordon d., a pensioner of the United States, 1836. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 23 

Nathaniel Gordon, son of Thomas Gordon, md. 1756 Elizabeth Smith of 
Exeter. 

- Their childi'en, Elizabeth, b. 19 Feb. 1758. 
Nathaniel, b. 1760. 
John, b. 19 June 1765. 
Mary, b. 23 April 1774. 
Nathaniel Gordon, Sr., d. 24 March 1789. 

Nathaniel Gordon, son of Nathaniel Gordon, Sr., md. 14 Nov. 1790 Sarah 
Shepard, dau. of Rev. Samuel Shepard of Brentwood. 
Then- children, Frances, b. 22 Sept. 1793. 
Sophia, b. 6 April 1795. 
Two others d. in infancy. 
Nathaniel Gordon md. (2d) 30 Aug. 1808 Mary Robinson. 
Their child, Mary Elizabeth, b. 22 Aug. 1809. 
Nathaniel Gordon d. 30 Dec. 1815. 

John Gordon, b. 19 June 1765, md. 8 Aug. 1790 Mary Batchelder of Kings- 
ton, b. 4 Jan. 1764. 
Their children, Nathaniel Batchelder, b. 2 March 1791. 
John T., b. 27 Oct. 1792. 
Stephen Leavitt, b. 25 April 1795, 
George William, b. 8 Feb. 1801. 

John S. Gordon, son of 2d Timothy Gordon of NcAvbury, Mass., md. 11 
March 1814 Frances Gordon, dau. of 2d Nathaniel Gordon. 
Their chikken, Frances Sarah, b. 7 Feb. 1815. 
Sarah Frances, b. 2 July 1817. 
Nathaniel, b. 26 Nov. 1820. 
Mary D., b. 24 Dec. 1827. 
John S. Gordon d. 1845. 

Nathaniel Gordon, son of John S. Gordon, md. 26 Dec. 1853 Alcina Eve- 
line Sanborn, dau. of Moses Sanborn of Kingston. 
Their children, Moses Sanborn, b. 14 Dec. 1854. 

John Thomas, b. 4 May 1857 ; d. in infancy. 
Nathaniel, b. 24 March 1859. 
Frances Eveline, b. 29 March 1861. 
Mary Alcina Elizabeth, b. 7 March 1864. 
Mrs. Alcina Gordon d. 14 April 1864. 
Nathaniel Gordon md. (2d) 4 June 1868 George Anne Lowe, dau. of John 
Lowe, Jr., and Sarah Anne (Simes) Lowe. 

James Gordon, son of Jonathan Gordon, b. 5 July 1725, md. Elizabeth Gil- 
man, dau. of Cartee Gilman, b. 14 April 1727. 
Their child, William, b. 13 March 1753. 



24 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Gordon d. and James Gordon md. (2d) Elizabeth DoUoff, 
dau. of Samuel DoUoff, b. 6 Feb. 1728. 
Their children, Joseph, b. 25 Aug. 1759. 
Esther, b. 24 March 1764. 
Lydia, b. 1 Nov. 1766. 

Benjamin Gordon, b. 20 Sept. 1798, md. 27 April 1823 Frances Folsom, 
b. 12 Feb. 1798. 

Their children, Calvin Folsom, b. 3 Feb. 1824. 
Frances Mary, b. 17 June 1827. 
Benjamin Franklin, b. 8 May 1830. 
Lydia Ann, b. 2 April 1833. 

Francis Grant, son of James and Betsey Grant, md. 2 Nov. 1822 Mary W. 
Carleton, dau. of Theodore and Mary Carleton. 
Their children, Daniel Francis, b. 13 Feb. 1824. 

Betsey, b. 15 April 1825; d. 12 March 1856. 
Charles, b. 26 March 1827. 
Mary Frances, b. 27 March 1829. 
Mrs. Mary W. Grant d. 13 June 1831. 

Francis Grant md. (2d) 3 May 1832 Abby J. Pike, dau. of Elias Pike of 
Newburyport. 
Then- children, George Augustus b. 28 Oct. 1833 ; d. 3 Nov. 1846. 
Ann Burley, b. 24 Nov. 1835 ; d. 27 May 1858. 
Abby Jane, b. 1 Dec. 1839. 
William, b. 15 Sept. 1841 ; d. 13 Aug. 1854. 
James Henry, b. 20 Nov. 1843 ; d. 10 Sept. 1847. 
Elias Pike, b. 21 Aug. 1848 ; d. 18 Sept. 1848. 
Mrs. Abby J. Grant d. 25 Oct. 1848, aged 41 jts. 8 nios. 

Josiah Hall md. 10 May 1719 Mrs. Hannah Light, widow of John Light. 
Their children, Kinsley, b. 11 Nov. 1720. 

Josiah, b. 21 Oct. 1721. 

Dudley, b. 20 Jan. 1722-3. 

Samuel, b. 20 April 1724. 

Abigail, b. 20 June 1726. 

Paul, b. 18 April 1728. 
Josiah Hall, Sr., d. 16 Oct. 1729. 

Kinsley Hall, Jr., and Mary Hall. 

Their children, Henry Ranlet, b. 20 July 1812. 

Catharine Norris, b. 10 July 1814. 
Charles Edward, b. 14 June 1816. 
Henry E.. 
Benjamin E. 

John Harris md. Mary Hall, dau. of Capt. Kinsley Hall, b. 18 Aug. 1678. 
Their child, Mary, b. 25 July 1707 ; md. Herbert Waters. 
Mrs. Mary Harris d. 2 March 1707-8. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 25 

Samuel Hatch of Wells, Mass., b. 14 July 1774, md. 14 May 1797 Mary 
Oilman, b. 2 April 1777. 
Their children, Daniel G., b. 3 Aug. 1798. 

Samuel, b. 19 May 1800; d. 26 Oct. 1801. 

Samuel, b. 9 Dec. 1802. 

Joseph W., b. 29 Sept. 1804; d. 20 Feb. 1822. 

William, b. 27 July 1806. 

Johnston, b. 17 July 1808 ; d. 7 April 1809. 

Johnston, b. 14 July 1810. 

Charles H., b. 14 July 1812 ; d. 21 June 1825. 

Mary Ann, b. 19 April 181o ; d. 22 Feb. 1828. 

Edward W. b. 16 Aug. 1818. 

C. W. Hervey, b. Newburyport, Mass., md. 9 Nov. 1836 Eliza H. Lunt, b. 
Portsmouth. 
Their childi-en, Francis H., b. 20 Feb. 1838. 

Charles W., b. 10 Dec. 1839 ; d. 8 Oct. 1846. 
Louis P., b. 18 April 1848. 

John Holland, Bethiah ]Magoon ; md. 1 Jan. 1730-1. 
Their chikken, Annis, b. o Oct. 1731. 
John, b. 14 June 1733. 
Mary, b. 8 July 1735. 
Robert, b. 5 Jan. 1737-8. 
Martha, b. 25 Dec. 1739. 
Bethiah, b. 25 March 1742. 

Daniel Holman and Hannah Holman. 
Their children, Daniel, b. 3 April 1715. 
Hannah, b. 3 April 1715. 

Francis James. 

His children, Kinsley, b. 19 Feb. 1708-9. 
Dudley, b. 5 Nov. 1713. 
Francis, b. 16 Feb. 1714-5. 

Kinsley James md. 5 Nov. 1735 Mary Hilton, dau. of Dudley and Mercy 
Hliton, b. 22 Oct. 1709. 
Their chikben, Elizabeth, b. 15 Sept. 1736; d. 27 July 1737. 
Mary, b. 10 Dec. 1737. 
Lois', b. 30 Sept. 1739; md. Theophilus Lyford, and (2d) 

Gideon Colcord. 
Kinsley. 
Ann, md. Thomas Lyford, and (2d) Col. Eliphalet Giddings. 

Dudley James, son of Francis and Elizabeth James, md. 5 March 1740-1 
Mary Light, dau. of John and Hannah Light. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 8 June 1742. 

Dudley Hall, b. 8 Sept. 1744; d. 8 May 1765. 
Robert, b. 9 Sept. 1746; d. 8 Feb. 1748-9. 



26 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Dudlej' James, Tirzah Emery; md. 12 July 1753. 
Their chikh-en, Tirzah, Caleb, b. 15 May 1755. 

Joshua, b. 31 Aug. 1757 ; d. 4 Oct. 1825. 

Mary, b. 2 Dec. 1759. 
Mrs. Tirzah James d. 2 Dec. 1759. 
Dudley James d. 24 Feb. 1776, aged 62 jts. 3 mos. 19 days. 

Samuel Jones md. Mary Lunt, dau. of Henry Lunt of Newbury. 
Their children, Henry, b. 7 July 1731. 
Abigail, b. 3 Oct. 1733. 
Susannah, b. 22 June 1739. 

Joel Judkins, Mary Bean; md. 1674. 
Their children. Job, b. 25 Jan. 1674-5. 

Sarah, Hannah, b. 13 Nov. 1678. (?) 
Mary, b. 7 Nov. 1678. (?) 

John Kimball, Abigail Lyford; md. 14 Feb. 1722-3. 
Their chilcU-en, Judith, b. 11 June 1724. 

Abigail, b. 18 Aug. 1726. 

John, b. 20 July 1728; d. 1 July 1738. 

Joseph, b. 29 Jan. 1730-1. 

Lydia, b. 4 Oct. 1733. 

Thomas, b. 10 March 1735-6. 

Mrs. Abigail Kimball d. 12 Feb. 1737-8. 

John Kimball md. (2d) 18 Sept. 1740 Sarah Wilson, dau. of Dea. Thomas 
Wilson. 

Theii" children, Sarah, b. 24 Aug. 1741. 
John, b. 25 Nov. 1742. 
Noah, b. 31 May 1744. 
Olive, b. 12 July 1746. 
Nathaniel, b. 16 Oct. 1747. 
Moses, b. 13 May 1749. 
Caleb, b. 16 July 1750. 
Thomas, b. 7 Feb. 1751-2. 
Jesse, b. 16 Nov. 1753. 

Thomas Kimball, Elinor Dudley; md. 25 Sept. 1746. 
Their children, Elinor, b. 10 June 1747. 

Dudley, b. 13 March 1748-9. 

John Kimball, b. 1 Jan. 1771, md. 8 Sept. 1825 Sarah Hodgkins, b. 7 Dec. 
1792. 

Their children, Mehetabel Ann, b. 12 Sept. 1826. 
John Hem-y, b. 8 Dec. 1827. 
Mary Abigail, Samuel Ney, b. 31 May 1831. 
Robert Porter, b. 18 Oct. 1833. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 27 

Mrs. Sarah Kimball d. 9 Aug. 1848. 
John KimbaD d. 29 Oct. 1849. 

Nathaniel Ladd, Elizabeth Oilman ; md. 1678. 
Their children, Nathaniel, b. 6 April 1679. 

Elizabeth, b. 6 Jan. 1680. 

Mary, b. 28 Dec. 1682. 

Lydia, b. 27 Dec. 1684. 

Daniel, b. 18 March 1686-7. 

John, b. 6 July 1689. 

Anna, b. 25 Dec. 1691. 
Nathaniel Ladd was mortally wounded in a fight with the Indians at 
Macquoit, and d. 11 Aug. 1691. 

Eliphalet Ladd, son of Josiah Ladd, b. 10 June 1744, md. 14 May 1772 
Abigail Hill, dau. of Elisha Hill of Berwick, b. 7 Sept. 1750. 
Their children, Sally, b. 6 July 1774 ; d. 12 Oct. 1798 [wife of Kev. W. F. 
Rowland]. 
Betsey, b. 12 Aug. 1776; d. Portsmouth 18 Nov. 1821 

[wife of Capt. Samuel Chauncy] . 
William, b. 10 May 1778 ; d. Portsmouth 1841. 
Henry, b. 30 April 1780; d. Portsmouth 1842. 
Charlotte, b. 9 April 1782. 
John Alexandfir, b. 9 May 1784, 
Caroline, b. 4 May 1786 
Sophia, b. 12 Feb. 1788. 

Joseph Lamsonmd. 7 Sept. 1747 PernalGiddinge, dau. of Zebulon Giddinge. 
Mrs. Pernal Lamson d. 21 Feb. 1809, aged 83 yrs. 5 mos. 

Benjamin Lamson, b. 11 Nov. 1740, md. 14 March 1765 Martha Dennis, b. 
27 Aug. 1735, and removed from Ipswich. 

Their children, Stephen, b. 24 Jan. 1766. 

Thomas Dennis, b. 27 April 1767; drowned 17 July 1784. 

Sarah, b. 24 Dec. 1768. 

Joseph, b. 11 Jan. 1771. 

Martha, Lydia, b. 8 June 1773; Martha d. 16 Feb. 1788; 

Lydia d. 7 Nov. 1790. 
Eunice, b. 4 Dec. 1775 ; d. 14 Sept. 1777. 
Clarissa, b. 29 Aug. 1780; d. 11 March 1824 [wife of 

George Sullivan]. 
Benjamin Lamson d. Concord July 1817. 

Joseph Lamson, Jr., md. 29 April 1769 Rachel Sanborn of Hampton Falls. 
Their children, Joseph, b. 8 Nov. 1770 ; d. 1793. 
Mehetable, b. 6 Oct. 1773. 
Polly, b. 9 Aug. 1775 ; d. 28 July 1792. 
Caleb, b. 29 June 1778. 



28 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Asa, b. 7 Jan. 1783. 
John, b. 8 Dec. 1785. 

Stephen Lamson, son of Benjamin Lamson, b. 24 Jan. 1766, md. 22 Aug. 
1793 Lucy Kendall of Ipswich, Mass., b. 4 Oct. 1774. 
Their childi-en, Lydia, b. 24 May 1794. 

Ephraim Kendall, b. 4 Jan. 1797. 
Susannah Kendall, b. 26 June 1801. 
Lucy, b. 2 Nov. 1805. 
Ruth Kendall, b. 14 Aug. 1808. 
Elizabeth Phillips, b. 7 May 1810. 

Jotham Lawrence of Epping md. 21 Feb. 1803 Deborah Robinson of Exeter. 
Their child, William F., b. 22 March 1804. 
Mrs. Deborah I^awrence d. 1 April 1804. 
Jotham Lawrence md. (2d) 25 Dec. 1810 Caroline Conner. 
Their children, Alexander H. b. 18 June 1812. 

Caroline F. b. 18 April 1815. 

Fitz Henry, b. 20 June 1817. 

Ellen C, b. 25 May 1819. 

Samuel C, b. 24 July 1823. 

Elizabeth D. C, b. 24 Aug. 1825. 

Sarah C, b. 20 Nov. 1828. 

Lydia L., b. 28 July 1831, 

Samuel Leavitt. 
His chilcken, John, b. 2 July 1665. 

Mary, b. 13 Jan. 1666-7. 
Elizabeth, b. 9 Jan. 1668. 
Hannah, b. 15 Aug. 1669. 
Samuel, b. 25 Dec. 1671. 
Jeremy, b. 6 April 1673. 

Moses Leavitt, Dorothy Dudley ; md. 26 Oct. 1681. 

James Leavitt, Alice Oilman; md. Nov. 1702. 
Their children, Elizabeth, b. 31 March 1704. 

lyiary, b. 5 June 1706. 

Samuel, b. 14 June 1709 ; d. 29 June. 

Joanna, b. 22 Feb. 1710-11. 

Alice, James, b. 14 Aug. 1713. 

Sarah, b. 14 Sept. 1715. 

Josiah, b. 22 Nov. 1718; d. 25 Dec. 1718. 

John, b. 23 May 1720; d. 1 March 1721. 
Mrs. Alice Leavitt d. 2 June 1721. 

Benjamin Leavitt, Abigail Batchelor ; md. 

Their chikben, John Blake, b. 1 April 1782 ; d. 4 Oct. 1859. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 29 

Jeremiah, b. 9 Jan. 1785 ; d. 9 Feb. 1827. 
Benjamin Dow, b. 16 April 1787. 
Abigail Thorndike, b. 12 May 1790. 
Mary Fogg, b. 1 July 1792. 
Daniel Sherburne, b. 1 Feb. 1795. 
Hannah Taylor, b. 17 April 1797. 
Frances, b. 9 Oct. 1799, 
Benjamin Leavitt d. 23 Aug. 1826. 

John Light md. 8 Nov. 1705 Hannah Lord, dau. of Robert Lord of Ipswich. 
Their children, Abigail, b. about 1 Nov. 1706; d. Jan. 1706-7. 
Hannah, b. 23 Dec. 1707. 
Dorothy, b. 6 Aug. 1709. 
Robert, b. 12 Sept. 1711. 
John, b. 3 Feb. 1713. 
Joseph, b. Feb. 1715 ; d. March. 
Ebenezer, b. 20 April 1716. 
Mary b. 10 March 1718. 

Jonathan Lord, Hannah Light; md. 14 Oct. 1731. 

John Lord, son of Tliomas Lord of Ipswich, md. 31 Oct. 1712 Abigail Oil- 
man, dau. of Moses and Anne Oilman, b. 24 July 1693. 
Their children, Anne, b. 18 Dec. 1713. 

John, b. 23 Oct. 1716; d. 21 Nov. 1716. 

Mary, b. 16 Jan. 1717 ; d. 28 Jan. 1717. 

Abiel [dau.], b. 9 March 1719 ; d. 26 March 1719. 

Robert, b. 23 March 1720 ; d. April 1720. 

Jolm, b. 1 Aug. 1721 ; d. 15 Aug. 1721. 

Edmund, b. 22 Sept. 1722; d. Oct. 1722. 

Abigail, b. 15 Jan. 1723-4. 

John, b. 27 March 1725. 

Robert, b. 22 Oct. 1726; d. Sept. 1727. 

Elizabeth, b. 6 Nov. 1727 ; d. 1 Sept. 1735. 

Jonathan, b. 7 Nov. 1729; d. 22 April 1730. 

Eliphalet, b. 18 Aug. 1731. 

Robert, b. 8 April 1733. 

Samuel, b. 5 May 1735; d. 23 Oct. 1735. 

Elizabeth, b. 22 Jan. 1736-7. 

Robert Lord, b. 16 Aug. 1735, md. 20 Oct. 1757 Elizabeth Lougee. 
Their children, Robert, b. 17 Aug. 175§; d. 16 April 1759. 
William, b. 11 Dec. 1760. 
Mary, b. 22 Oct. 1762. 
Hannah, b. 23 Sept. 1765. 
Robert, b. 24 Jan. 1768. 
Betty, b. 27 Sept. 1770. 

Daniel Loverain, Mary Sylla; md. 25 Dec. 1724. 



30 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Their children, Abigail, b. 15 Dec. 1725. 
John, b. 10 Jan. 1726-7. 
Mrs Mary Loverain d., and Daniel Loverain md. ('2d-) Mary Smith. 
Their childi-en, Mary, b. 13 April 1729. 

Ebenezer, b. 5 April 1731. 
Moses, Miriam, b. 1 July 1735. 
Hannah, b. 31 March 1738-9. 

Benjamin Lovering, Jr., son of Benjamin Lovering, md. Sally Swasey, dau. of 
Edward Swasey. 
Their children, Sally W., b. 4 Feb. 1807. ^ 

Elizabeth, b. 11 Aug. 1808. 
Benjamin, b. 22 Sept. 1809. 
Mary Ann, b. 23 Oct. 1811. 
Olivia, b. 9 June 1814. 
Caroline, b. Feb. 1817. 
Charles E. b. 1819. 

Thomas Lyford, Anne Conner; md. 5 Dec. 1728. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 6 Aug. 1741. 
Thomas, b. 12 May 1743. 
Elizabeth, b. 1 June 1745. 

Thomas Lyford, Jr., Anne James ; md. 

Their children, James, b. 14 Feb. 1764 ; drowned 13 Aug. 1789. 

Anne, b. 6 June 1767. 

Deborah, b. 3 May 1769. 

Molly, b. 13 Feb. 1771. 

Abigail, b. 12 Dec. 1772; d. 1870. 

Tirzah, b. 31 March 1775 ; d. 28 July 1828. 

John, b. 1 March 1777 ; d. 1803. 

Betty, b. 16 March 1779. 

Lois, b. 10 June 1781. 

Liberty, b. 6 July 1783. 

Thomas, b. 30 Nov. 1786; d. 2 April 1870. 
Thomas Lyford d. 27 July 1787, aged 44 jts. 2 mos. 
Mrs. Lyford (afterwards wife of Col. Eliphalet Giddings) d. 12 Aug. 1818. 

Henry Magoon and Elizabeth (Listen) Magoon. 
Their children, John, b. 21 Oct. 1658. 

Alexander, b. 6 Sept. 1661 ; md. Sarah Blake 7 Dec. 1682. 
Mary, b. 9 Aug. 1666. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Magoon d. 14 June 1675. 

Mark Malloon and Abigail Malloon. 
Their children, John, b. July 1732. 

Nathaniel, b. 7 April 1733. 
Jonathan, b. June 1735. 
Josiah, b. July 1737. 



HISTOEY OF EXETER. 31 

Rev. Isaac Mansfield of Exeter md. 9 Nov. 1776 Mary Clap, dau. of 
Nathaniel Clap of Scituate. 
Their childi-en, Theodore, b. 5 May 1778. 
Isaac, b. 6 Dec. 1786. 

William Meeds, Mary Dorin ; md. 

Their children, William, b. 3 Dec. 1766 ; d. New York 15 Oct. 1782. 

Benjamin, b. 31 Sept. 1768 ; d. Oct. 1815. 

Abigail, b. 23 May 1771 ; d. 20 Sept. 1799. 

Stephen, b. 13 May 1774 ; d. 5 Feb. 1775. 

Stephen, b. 14 May 1776 ; d. May 1800. 

Horatio Gates, b. 4 May 1778 ; d. Dec. 1816. 

Polly, b. 2 July 1781. 

William, b. 8 Dec. 1783. 

John, b. 5 Aug. 1789 ; d. 28 Dec. 1824. 
William Meeds, Sr., d. 20 March 1816. 
Mrs. Mary Meeds d. 7 Jan. 1827, aged 82 yrs. 

Daniel Melcher, b. Portsmouth 15 Jan. 1799, md. 27 April 1823 Nancy 
Y. Folsom, b. Exeter 16 March 1802. 
Their childi-en, Daniel Flagg, b. 22 July 1824. 
James Folsom, b. 1 Aug. 1826. 
Charles Henry, b. 23 Feb. 1829. 
Gershom Flagg, b. 22 May 1831. 
Mary Olivia, b. 27 Sept. 1833. 
William Perry, b. 6 Sept. 1836 ; d. 3 June 1838. 
William P., b. 16 Feb. 1839. 
Ann Elizabeth, b. 30 Oct. 1841. 
Lewis Cass, Ed^in Forrest, b. 28 Sept. 1844. 

Jeremiah L. Merrill, b. 4 Jan. 1819, md. 29 Nov. 1841 Mary E. Moses, b. 25 
June 1813. 
Their child, Joseph W., b. 25 March 1843. 

Lewis :Mitchell, b. Limington, Me., 6 April 1805, md. 11 Nov. 1829 Frances 
D. Wedgwood, b. 22 Sept. 1807. 
Their children, Lewis F., b. 6 May 1831 ; d. 30 Aug. 1839. 
Oriana, b. 8 Feb. 1834. 
Isaac H., b. 2 May 1836 ; d. 21 June 1845. 
Ellen E., b. 4 Nov. 1838. 
Fanny D., b. 8 June 1841. 
Harriet M., b. 1 May 1844. 
Isaac L., b. 26 Aug. 1846. 
Emma E., b. 12 July 1849. 
George W. E., b. 18 Feb. 1853. 

Rev. John Moody md. 5 April 1730 Ann Hall, dau. of Capt. Edward Hall. 
Their child, Mary, b. 4 March 1730-1. 



32 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

William Moore and Elizabeth Moore. 
Their children, John, b. 25 Dec. 1789. 

Ann, b. 23 April 1792 ; d. 21 Sept. 1841. 

Elizabeth, b. 10 Feb. 1795. 

Nicholas G , b. 9 Oct. 1797 ; d. 18 Oct. 1795. ( ? ) 

Nicholas, b. 30 May 1800 ; d. Oct. 1825. 

William, b. 27 June 1803; d. 19 May 1843. 

Catharine, b. 16 Feb. 1806. 

Charles, b. 20 Feb. 1810 ; d. 26 June 1814. 

Theodore Moses, b. 20 Sept. 1766, md. Stratham iNov. 1789 Deborah Emery, 
b. 22 Nov. 1769. 
Their children, Theodore B., b. 15 Nov. 1790. 
John F., b. 10 Sept. 1792. 
Susan T., b. 27 Aug. 1794. 
Samuel T., b. 20 Jan. 1798; d. 26 Oct. 1842. 
G. W., b. 7 Jan. 1800. 
Charles C. P., b. 17 May 1802. 
William P., b. 9 Aug. 1804. 
A. A., b. 2 Oct. 1807. 
A. T., b. 11 Feb. 1810. 
Elizabeth M., b. 25 June 1813. 
Mary E., b. 

John F. Moses, Mary Smith Pearson ; md. Dec. 1815. 
Their childi-en, James Colman, b. 21 Nov. 1817. 

Deborah, b. 16 Oct. 1819. 

John Lees, b. 9 May 1822. 
Mrs. Mary S. Moses d. 10 Aug. 1844, aged 54 yrs. 2 mos. 

Thomas Mudget, Elizabeth Smith; md. 2 May 1723. 
Their children, Sarah, b. 3 March 1725. 
Thomas, b. 11 Nov. 1727. 
Nicholas, b. 1 Jan. 1730-31. 

Josiah Nelson, b. 23 Nov. 175S, md. Mary Robinson, b. 9 April 1758. 
Their chUdren, Sally, b. 19 July 1781 ; d. April 1805. 

John, b. 30 April 1783. 

PoUy, b. 4 Aug. 1785 ; d. Nov. 1801. 

Caroline, b. 7 Oct. 1788; d. 11 Aug. 1837. 

Sophia, b. 31 March 1791 ; d. 2 March 1819. 

Ann, b. 27 Jan. 1795. 

Josiah, b. 19 July 1797. 

Horatio G., b. 31 March 1800 ; d. Fayetteville, N. C, 1831. 

Samuel, b. 9 Dec. 1804. 
Josiah Nelson, Sr., di-owned in river just below mill, Aug. 1812. 
Widow Mary Nelson d. 1 Nov. 1840, aged 82 yrs. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 33 

Nicholas Norris. 

His children, Moses, b. 14 An?:. 1670, md. 4 March lG91-2Iluth Folsom. 
Jonathan, b. o March 1G73. 
Abigail, b. 29 Nov. 1675. 
Sarah, b. 10 April 1678. 
James, b. 16 Nov. 1680. 
Elizabeth, b. 4 Sept. 1683. 

Dr. Nathan North and Nancy North. 

Their children, Alfred, b. 10 March 1807. 

Henry, b. 25 July 1811 ; d. 31 Dec. 1814. 
Charles, b. 5 Oct. 1813 ; d. 25 Sept. 1814. 
Dr. North moved from Exeter into Vermont June 1815. 

Mark Nutter. 

His children, Henry, b. 6 April 1786. 
John,'b. 25 April 1789. 
Mark, b. 25 Oct. 1792. 
Mary, b. 24 Aug. 1796. 

Joseph Odlin, Harriet A. Downs ; md. 8 Sept. 1846. 
Their child, Charles Cashing, b. 31 Oct. 1847. 

Thomas Odiorne, b. 1 Dec. 1733, md. 31 Jan. 1762 Joanna Oilman, b. 30 
Sept. 1739. 
Their children, Deborah, b. 11 May 1763 ; d. 1814. 
George, b. 15 Aug. 1764. 
Jane, b. 3 March 1766 ; d. 5 April 1766. 
John, b. 21 March 1767 ; d. 17 May 1824. 
Thomas, b. 26 April 1769. 
Joanna, b. 6 Feb. 1771. 
Ebenezer, b. 7 May 1773 ; d. 23 Dec. 1817. 
Elizabeth, b. 7 Jan. 1775. 
Ann, b. 9 Oct. 1778 ; d. 1830. 
Thomas Odiorne d. 28 April 1819. Mrs. Joanna Odiorne d. 5 April 1829. 

George Odiorne, b. 15 Aug. 1764, md. 4 Oct. 1787 Dolly Tufts of New- 
buryport, Mass., b. 22 March 1767. 
Then- child, Samuel Tufts, b. 27 May 1793. 
Mrs. Dolly Odiorne d. 8 Sept. 1793. 

John Odiorne, PoUy Thayer; md. 6 March 1800. 
Their children, Mary Jane, b. 21 Nov. 1800. 

Anna Maria, b. 13 Oct. 1802 ; d. 25 Oct. 1803. 
Henry Moore, b. 26 Aug. 1804 ; d. 14 Sept. 1805. 
Joanna, b. 30 Dec. 1806 ; d. 26 Jan. 1842. 
Richard Thayer, b. 14 March 1808; d. 17 Oct. 1808. 
Ann Moore T., b. 10 Dec. 1814. 

3a 



34 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Rev. John Odlin, Elizabeth Clark ; mcl. 21 Oct. 1706. 
Their children, John, b. 7 Nov. 1707. 

Elisha, b. 16 Nov. 1709. 
Dudley, b. 22 Sept. 1711. 
Samuel, b. 14 Aug. 1714 ; d. 31 Aug. 1714. 
Woodbridge, b. 28 April 1718. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Odlin d. 6 Dec. 1729. 
Rev. John Odlin, Mrs. Elizabeth Briscoe ; md. 22 Sept. 1730. 

Elisha Odlin, Judith Pike ; md. 1 Nov. 1731. 
Their children, John, b. 4 Sept. 1732. i 

Winthi-op, b. 23 Oct. 1734. 
William, b. 7 Feb. 1737-8. 
Elisha, b. 28 April 1741 ; d. 8 Dec. 1741. 
Anna, b. 10 Jan. 1743-4. 

John Odlin, Jr., Mrs. Alice Leavitt; md. 27 Feb. 1734-5. 

Their children, Elizabeth, b. 7 Feb. 1735-6 ; d. 16 Feb. 1735-6 
Abigail, b. 11 Feb. 1736-7 ; d. 12 Aug. 1747. 
Elizabeth, b. 30 April 1739. 
Sarah, b. 14 March 1740-1 ; d. 3 Sept. 1747. 
Alice, b. 5 Oct. 1743 ; d. 1814. 
John, b. 27 Dec. 1745 ; d. 3 Sept. 1747. 
Abigail, b. 28 May 1748 ; d. Dec. 1816. 
Samuel, b. 18 Dec. 1750. 

Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, Mrs. Abigail Strong ; md. 23 Oct. 1755. 
Their children, Elizabeth, b. 6 Aug. 1756 ; d. 21 Aug. 1756. 
Dudley, b. 13 Aug. 1757. 
Woodbridge, b. 26 Sept. 1759. 
Peter, b. 25 March 1762. 
Elizabeth, b. 8 April 1764. 
Abigail, b. 26 Aug. 1766 ; d. 19 July 1768. 
Abigail, b. 21 Oct. 1768; d. 10 Aug. 1796. 
John, b. 2 Dec. 1770 ; lost at sea. 
Mary Ann, b. 24 Sept. 1772, 

Dudley Odlin, Elizabeth Oilman ; md. 14 Feb. 1782. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 5 Feb. 1783. 

Betsy, b. 14 Dec. 1784; d. Oct. 1785. 
Woodbridge, b. 4 June 1786; d. 11 June 1809. 
Peter, b. 25 Dec. 1787. 
Caroline, b. March 1790 ; d 17 March 1817. 

William Odlin, b. 16 Feb. 1767, md. Betsey Leavitt, b. 21 Dec. 1769. 
Their children, James, b. 9 Jan. 1792. 

William, b. 10 Jan. 1793. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 35 

Thomas, b. 16 Nov. 1794 ; d. 5 March 1826. 
Joseph and Benjamm (twins), b. 16 Jan. 1797. 
Betsey, b. 23 Nov. 1799. 
Woodbridge, b. 9 May 1805. 
Mary Ann, b. 29 July 1810. 

James Odlin, Martha H. Osborne ; md. 27 Oct. 1816. 
Their children, James William, b. 3 Nov. 1817. 

George Osborne, b. 10 Sept. 1819; d. 10 Nov. 1820. 
George Osborne, b. 26. Aug. 1823. 
Joseph Edwin, b. 20 June 1825. 
Martha Jewitt, b. 21 July 1828. 

Nathaniel Page md. 21 March 1809 Charlotte Tilton, dau. of Dr. Joseph 
Tilton, b. 1 June 1779. 
Their children, Charlotte Dorothy, b. 20 Sept. 1809. 
Joseph Tilton, b. 29 Nov. 1811. 

Mrs. Charlotte Page d. 17 Aug. 1813. 



■-o^ 



William Parker and Elizabeth Parker. 

Their children, Nathaniel, b. East Kingston 22 Oct. 1760 ; d. 2 April 1812. 

John J., b. Exeter 17 Nov. 1770; d. 5 Oct. 1831. 

Mary Sewall, b. Exeter, 12 Feb. 1772. 

Samuel, b. Exeter 16 Aug. 1773. 
Hon. William Parker d. 6 June 1813, aged 82 jts. 
Mrs Elizabeth Parker d. 7 Oct. 1816, aged 76 yrs. 6 mos. 

Robert Parkes, Dorothy Gilman; md. 6 March 1783. 
Their chikken, Charles, b. 1 April 1784 ; d. 8 May 1841. 
Anne, b. 15 Sept. 1785; d. 6 Feb. 1821. 

Thomas Parsons. 

His children, Joseph, b. 6 Sept. 1762. 
Enoch, b. 16 June 1764. 
Stephen, b. 24 April 1766. 

Oliver Peabody, Frances Peabody ; md. 
Their children, Sarah, b. 23 Aug, 1783. 

Frances, b. 15 Nov. 1784; d. 17 July 1799. 

Lucretia, b. 4 July 1786. 

Oliver, b. 11 June 1788 ; d. 9 Feb. 1793. 

WiUiam Bourn, b. 14 March 1790 ; d. 17 Aug. 1790. 

Deborah Tasker, b. 30 April 1793; d. 12 May 1798. 

Oliver Wm. Bourn, Wm. Bourn Oliver (twins), b. 19 July 
1799 ; Oliver Wm. Bourn d. 5 July 1848. 

Edward Bass, b. 19 May 1802 ; d. 4 June 1830. 

Frances Bourn, b. 28 July 1804 ; d. Sept. 1805. 
Oliver Peabody d. 3 Aug. 1831. 



36 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Edmund Pearson, son of Jethro Pearson, b. 26 April 1758, md. Dorothy 
Swasey, dau. of Joseph Swasey, b. 24 Feb. 1760. 
Their children, Dorothy, b. 8 June 1780. 

James, b. 24 March 1782 ; d. at sea. 

William, b. 17 Feb. 1784; d. July 1844. 

Fanny, b. 4 Oct. 1785. 

Edmund, b. 20 June 1787. 

Mary Smith, b. 10 June 1790; d. 10 Aug. 1844. 

Henrietta, b. 4 Dec. 1792. 
Mrs. Dorothy Pearson d. 2 Feb. 1820. 
Maj. Edmund Pearson d. 23 Jan. 1842. I 

Nathaniel Pearson, son of Edmund Pearson, b. 11 Sept. 1797, md. 21 Oct. 
1821 Caroline Gerrish, dau. of Timothy Gerrish of Portsmouth, b. 8 
July 1798. 

Their childi-en, Olivia Gerrish, b. 18 Oct. 1822. 
Edmund, b. 18 July 1824. 
Nathaniel, b. 23 June 1826. 
Augustus William, b. 2 April 1830. 

Nathaniel Pearson, Sr., d. 5 Feb. 1841. 

Nathaniel Pease, Phebe Sanborn; md. 4 Nov. 1725 
Their children, Sarah, b. 10 July 1726. 
Samuel, b. 14 Dec. 1727. 
Ann, b. 17 Nov. 1729. 
Abigail, b. 28 Jan. 1731-2. 
Beersheba, b. 16 March 1733-4. 
Phebe, b. 21 Dec. 1735. 

William Perry, b. Norton, Mass., 20 Dec. 1788, md. 13 April 1818 Abigail 
Oilman, b. 10 Dec. 1789. 
Their children, Caroline Frances, b. 11 Dec. 1820. 
William Oilman, b. 21 July 1823. 
Abigail Oilman, b. 14 Nov. 1824. 
Nathaniel Oilman, b. 28 Oct. 1826. 
John Taylor, b, 5 April 1832. 

Joseph Perkins of Hampton Falls md. 30 Nov. 1825 Elizabeth Odlin of 
Exeter. 
Their childi-en, Joseph William, b. 29 April 1827 ; d. 24 May 1827. 
Elizabeth Odlin, b. 16 Oct. 1828. 
Woodbridge Odlin, b. 12 June 1831. 

Samuel Philbrick, son of Benjamin Philbrick, b. 20 April 1759, md. Hannah 
Robinson, dau. of John Robinson of Cape Ann, b. 26 Aug. 1763. 
Their children, Samuel, b. 12 June 1785. 
Elizabeth, b. 7 Feb. 1787. 
John Robinson, b. 29 Sept. 1789. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 37 

Hannah, b. 22 Sept. 1791. 
Benjamin, b. 3 Dec. 1793. 
Joseph, b. 8 Jan. 1797. 
Mary, b. 

William, b. 24 May 1803. 
Mrs. Hannah Philbrick d. 5 Nov. 1810, aged 47. 
Samuel Philbrick md. (2d) 17 Nov. 1814 Elizabeth Smith, dau. of Maj. 
Benjamin Smith. 
Samuel Philbrick, Sr., d. 10 March 1840. 

John Phillips, son of Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover, md. Mrs. Sarah 
Oilman, widow of Nathaniel Oilman. 
Mrs. Sarah Phillips d. Oct. 1765. 
John Philllips d. 21 April 1795, aged 75 yrs. 3 mos. 

William Pike, son of Joseph Pike of Barnstaple in England, md. 29 July 
1725 Judith Hilton, dau. of Col. Winthrop Hilton of Exeter. 
Their child, Elizabeth, b. 22 May 1726. 
AViUiam Pike d. 25 Oct. 1726. 
Mrs. Judith Pike md. (2d) 1 Nov. 1731 EUsha Odlin, son of Rev. John 
Odlin. 

Rev. James Pike of Somersworth md. 26 Aug. 1730 Sarah Oilman, dau. of 
Nicholas Oilman. 
Their child, Sarah, b. 13 July 1731. 

Moses Pike of Hampton Falls md. 6 April 1791 Theodate Sanborn. 
Their children, Abraham Sanborn, b. 5 Dec. 1792. 
Benjamin, b. 16 April 1794. 
Moses Hook, b. 11 March 1796. 
Jonathan, b. 23 Aug. 1798. 
Levi, b. 27 May 1801. 
Arvilla, Adeline, b. 9 July 1803. 
Hannah Hook, b. 23 Oct". 1805. 
John Kimball, b. 6 April 1808. 
Mary Shaw, b. 13 Oct. 1810. 
Ednah Dow, b. 2 July 1813. 
Sarah, b. 3 March 1816. 

Abraham S. Pike, son of Moses Pike, b. Dec. 1792, md. 11 Sept. 1817 Eliza- 
beth Walton, dau. of Samuel and Nancy Walton of Salisbury, b. 31 
May 1798. 

Their children, Elizabeth Ann, b. 13 April 1818. 
Samuel Walton, b. 8 Feb. 1820. 
Mary Adeline, b. 1 April 1823. 

Nathaniel Prescott, Sarah Tuck ; md. 4 Feb. 1741-2. 
Their children, Nathaniel, b. 22 April 1743. 



38 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Sarah, b. 24 Nov. 1745. 
John, b. 16 Dec. 1747. 
Nathaniel, b. 6 Aug. 1750. 
Edward, b. 6 Aug. 1755. 

John Purmort of Newcastle, b. 13 July 1715, md. 12 March 1741 Hannah 
Sinclau- of Stratham, b. 25 April 1719. 
Their childi-en, John, b. 11 Oct. 1742. 
Anne, b. 3 Jan. 1746. 
Hannah, b. 1 Aug. 1747. 
Joseph, b. 18 July 1749. , 

Richard, b. 16 Feb. 1751. 
Abigail, b. 16 July 1753 ; d. 7 Aug. 1754. 
Mark, b. 29 May 1755 ; d. 12 July 1776. 
Mary, Abigail, b. 22 March 1758. 
John Purmort d. 5 Oct. 1758. 

Joseph Purmort, b. 18 July 1749, md. 28 Feb. 1775 Mercy DoUoff, b. 6 Dec. 
1752. 
Their childi'en, Miriam, b. 25 Dec. 1775. 
Hannah, b. 13 May 1777. 
Abner, b. 13 March 1780. 
John, b. 24 Oct. 1784. 
Mrs. Mercy Purmort d. 31 Oct. 1784. 

Jonathan and Mercy Quimby. 

Their chilcb-en, Sarah, b. 20 Feb. 1732-3. 
James, b. 12 April 1736. 
Jonathan, b. 12 Feb. 1741. 

Samuel Randall of Cape Ann, son of Jacob Randall, md. 16 Jan. 1759 
Abigail Fafether, dau. of Daniel and Elizabeth Fafether, b. 21 Dec. 
1733. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 6 Feb. 1761. 
Susy, b. 7 Aug. 1762. 

Jacob Randall, son of Jacob Randall of Portsmouth, md. 5 June 1787 Anna 
Shute, dau. of Michael Shute of Newmarket, shipwright. 
Their childi-en, Jacob, b. 25 Dec. 1788. 

Sarah, b. 6 Oct. 1790. 
Mrs. Anna Randall d. 28 March 1792. 

Jacob Randall md. (2d) 7 Feb. 1793 Rebecca Masters, dau. of Dr. John 
Masters of Newmarket. 
Their child, Anna, b. 26 May 1794. 

Thomas Rawlins. 

His children, Thomas, b. 14 July 1671. 
Moses, b. 14 Oct. 1672. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 39 

Joseph, b. 6 May 167-. 
Mary, b. 8 May 167-. 
Benjamin, b. 6 July 1678. 

Joseph Rawlins, son of Joseph and Hannah Rawlins, b. 19 Dec. 1702, md. 
7 March 1728 Hannah Redman of Hampton. 
Their children, Joshua, b. 4 Oct. 1729. 

Patience, b. 20 Oct. 1732. 
Eliphalet, b. 23 July 1734. 
Joseph, b. 20 Aug. 1737. 

EdAvard M. Robinson, b. Stratham, md. Dover 27 May 1838 Olivia Jacobs, 
b. Hope, Me. 
Then- children, Mary 0., b. Exeter 7 Jan. 1839. 
Charles E., b. Exeter 3 Jan. 1845. 

John Rice md. 1 Jan. 1734-5 Anna Wilson, dau. of Dea. Thomas Wilson. 
Their child, John, b. 24 Dec. 1743. 

Jonathan Robinson. 

His children, John, b. 7 Sept. 1671. 
Sarah, b. 29 Oct. 1673. 
Hester, b. 12 Aug. 1677. 
Elizabeth, b. 6 Sept. 1679. 
Jonathan, b. 9 July 1681. 
David, b. 28 July 1684. 
James, b. 7 Dec. 1686. 
Joseph, b. 1 May 1690. 

John Robinson, Elizabeth Folsom; md. 1 Feb. 1725-6. 

Their children, Mehitable, b. 27 March 1729; d. 12 April 1731. 
Peter, b. 19 June 1731. 
Elizabeth, b. 5 Nov. 1734. 
John, b. 6 Aug. 1736. 
Mehitable, b. 6 April 1738. 
Catharine, b. 20 June 1742. 
Daniel, b. 14 July 1745. 
Mary, b. 7 Feb. 1748. 
Simeon, b. 18 Dec. 1752. 



') 



Ephraim Robinson and Mary Robinson. 
Their children, Lydia, b. 16 Nov. 1735. 
Mary, b. 9 Feb. 1737-8. 
Elizabeth, b. 24 May 1740. 
Anne, b. 7 April 1741-2. 
Ephraim, b. 19 April 1744. 
Caleb, b. 22 May 1746. 
Samuel, b. 17 Dec. 1750. 

Lucia, b. 25 June 1757 ; md. Jonathan Blake and d. 27 
Dec. 1808. 



40 HISTOEY OF EXETER. 

Ephraim Robinson, son of Eplu-aim and Marj- Robinson, b. 19 April 1744, 
md. 22 Jan. 1767 Deborah Giddinge, dau. of Zebulon and Deborah 
Giddinge, b. 2 Feb. 1747. 
Their children, Ephraim b. 16 Oct. 1767. 

Mary, b. 23 Aug. 1770 ; d. 9 June 1776. 

Zebulon, b. 2 Sept. 1772 ; d. 17 June 1776. 

Harriet, b. 19 June 1774; d. 14 June 1776. 

Mary, b. 12 Feb. 1777. 

Zebulon, b. 14 Feb. 1780. 

Deborah, b. 26 Jan. 1782 ; md. Jotham Lawrence. 

Harriet, b. 19 July 1784. ; 

Elizabeth, b. 7 Oct. 1786. 

William Frederick, b. 11 May 1790; d. 1 Sept. 1798. 
Ephraim Robinson d. 10 April 1809, aged 65 yrs. 
Mrs. Deborah Robinson d. 2 Aug. 1811, aged 64 yrs. 

Benjamin Rogers and Margaret Rogers. 
Their children, Susanna, b. 14 May 1746. 
Abigail, b. 5 Nov. 1749. 
Dionysius (dau.), b. 10 May 1752. 
Mary, b. 1 Xov. 1755. 

John Rogers, b. Newmarket 2 July 1787, md. 15 Nov. 1810 Frances Gil- 
man, dau. of Nathaniel Oilman, b. 11 Sept. 1787. 
Their children, Nathaniel Oilman, b. 25 April 1818. 

John Francis, b. 1 Dec. 1819. 
Mrs. Frances Rogers d. 7 April 1821, aged 33 yrs. 7 mos. 
Col. John Rogers md. (2d) 8 Sept. 1822 Ann Oilman. 
Their children, Frances Oilman, b. 25 Jan. 1824 

Ann Oilman, b. 20 May 1825. 
Mrs. Ann Rogers d. 2 Jan. 1827, aged 31 yrs. 
Col. John Rogers d. Exeter 22 July 1837, aged 50 yrs. 

Samuel Rowe, son of Capt. Enoch Rowe of Kensington, md. 15 May 1802 
Olive Pamdlett, now of Exeter. 
Their childi-en, Olivia, b. 19 Jan. 1803. 
Edward, b. 11 May 1805. 
James Samuel, b. 20 Oct. 1807. 
Samuel Rowe d. 23 Sept. 1828, aged 48 yrs. 

Capt. Charles Rundlet and Dorothy Rundlet. 

Their children, Dorothy, b. 8 March 1743. ^ 

Charles, b. 2 Dec. 1747. 
Daniel, b. 5 Aug. 1749. 
Elizabeth, b. 7 April 1751. 
James, b. 15 Jan. 1752. 
Jonathan, b. 5 Feb. 1757. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 41 

Lyclia, b. 14 Dec. 1758. 

Honor, b. 29 Nov. 17(30. 

Henry, b. 17 Oct. 1762. 

Joseph, b. 13 Sept. 1764; d. 30 May 1841. 

Josiah, b. 3 March 1766. 

James Rundlet, son of James Rimdlet of Exeter, b. 10 June 1744, md. 
1 June 1767 Dorothy Stevens of Epping. 
Their children, Hannah, b. 20 Feb. 1768. 

Dorothy, b. 21 Oct. 1770. 

James, b. 8 Dec. 1772. 

Edward, b. 25 Nov. 1774. 

Olive, b. 7 March 1778 ; d. 12 April 1778. 

Samuel, b. 12 April 1779 ; d. on ship Warren 3 July 1800, 

Olive, b. 27 April 1782. 

John, b. 2 Dec. 1787. 

Sarah, b. 9 April 1789. 

Nathaniel, b. 8 March 1794. 
Mrs. Dorothy Rundlet d. 29 Sept. 1795. 
James Rundlet md. (2d) 10 Nov. 1796 Sarah Rust. 

Their child, Benjamin, b. 8 Sept. 1797 ; d. 18 Sept. 1797. 
James Rundlet d. 28 Dec. 1800. 

Dudley Safford, b. 15 Nov. 1776, md. Betsey Oilman, dau. of Bradbury 
Oilman of Meredith. 
Their children, Charles Oilman, b. 17 Nov. 1804. 

Benjamin, b. 23 May 1806. 

Hannah Oilman, b. 1 Feb. 1807. 

Sophia, b. 29 July 1809. 

Oliver, b. 21 July 1811. 

Frances, b. 19 Feb. 1813. 

James Oilman, b. 6 April 1815; d. 21 Dec. 1815. 

Sophronia, b 9 Dec. 1816. 

Hem-y, b. 10 Oct. 1819. 

Elizabeth Ann, b. 2 July 1822. 
Dudley Safford d. 18 July 1822. 

William Sanborn of Exeter md. 2 Sept. 1731 Elizabeth Dearborn of 
Hampton. 
Their children, Simon, b. 28 Sept. 1736. 

Elizabeth, b. 25 Aug. 1738. 
Hannah, b. 30 March 1740. 
William, b. 9 Feb. 1741-2. 
Henry Dearborn, b. 23 Dec. 1743. 
Mary, b. 19 Sept. 1745. 
Josiah, b. 19 June 1747. 
Sarah, b. 12 May 1749. 
Anne, b. 15 Aug. 1751. 



42 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Theodate, b. 30 Aug. 1753. 
Abigail, b. 3 Oct. 1755. 

Josiah Sanborn, Deborah Bowden; md. 8 April 1770. 
Their children, Josiah, b. 9 Nov. 1771. 
John, b. 21 Sept. 1773. 

Edward Sewall. 

His chikh-en, Sarah, b. 17 Sept. 1676. 

Thomas, b. 28 March 1679. 
Joseph, b. 28 Dec. 1681. | 

Benjamin Pearse Sheriff, b. 10 July 1763, md. 12 Aug. 1788 Martha Oilman, 
b. 14 June 1768. 
Their children, Abigail, b. 24 Sept. 1789. 

Benjamin D., b. 30 Dec. 1791. 
Henry A., b. 25 Oct. 1793. 
Charles C, b. 8 Feb. 1795. 
Frederick, b. 12 May 1797. 
Martha Oilman, b. io Sept. 1799. 
Sarah, b. 6 March 1803. 
John Langdon, b. 18 Nov. 1804. 
Susannah, b. 24 Oct. 1806. 
John Langdon, b. 16 Aug. 1808. 
Mary, b. 16 May 1810. 

Henry Shute, b. Newmarket 18 April 1794, md. 27 Feb. 1820 Eliza R. 
Smith, b. Exeter 7 Feb. 1800. 
Their chilcben. Henry Augustus, b. 18 June 1821 ; d. 18 Dec. 1841. 
Ann Eliza, b. 15 Nov. 1824 ; d. 25 May 1858. 
Oeorge Smith, b. 2 March 1827. 
Sai-ah Frances, b. 26 May 1831. 

John Sinclair. 

His children, James, b. 27 July 1660. 
Mary, b. 27 June 1663. 
Sarah, b. 15 Sept. 1664. 

Jonathan Fifield Sleeper md. 20 Nov. 1791 Dorothy Tilton, dau. of Dr. 
Joseph Tilton, b. 20 April 1770. 
Their children, Elizabeth Jewett, b. 28 June 1792. 
John S., b. 25 Sept. 1794. 
Charles T., b. 24 Aug. 1796 ; d. 8 March 1818. 
Catharine Parker, b. 19 March 1804. 
Jonathan Fifield Sleeper d. 16 Dec. 1805, aged 38 jts. 
Mrs. Dorothy Sleeper d. 27 May 1809. 

John Sherburne Sleeper, b. 25 Sept. 1794, md. 22 Feb. 1826 Mary Folsom 
Noble. 



HISTOKY OF EXETER. 43 

Their childi-en, Charles Frederick, b. 27 Dec. 1826. 

Ariana Elizabeth Smith, b. 9 July 1829. 
John Howai-d, b. 24 Dec. 1831. 

Nicholas Smith. 

His children, Nathaniel, b. 9 June 1660. 
Nicholas, b. 3 Sept. 1661. 
Anne, b. 8 Feb. 1663. 
Theophilus, b. 14 Feb. 1667. 

Edward Smith, Mary ; md. 13 Jan. 1668-9. 

Jonathan Smith. 

His children, Israel, b. 16 Jan. 1670-1. 
Jacob, b. 10 Aug. 1673. 
Joseph, b. 7 Feb. 1680. 
Leah, b. 7 April 1683. 
Mehitabel, b. 14 Aug. 1685. 

Jonathan Smith, Mary Ames ; md. 17 March 1713-4. 
Their children, Jonathan, b. 9 Jan. 1714-5. 

Mary, b. 21 Feb. 1716-7. 
Mrs. Mary Smith d. 21 Dec. 1717. 
Jonathan Smith md. (2d) 11 Aug. 1719 Bridget Keniston. 
Their childi'en, Abraham, b. 1 June 1720. 

Lydia, b. 20 June 1722. 

Isaac, b. 22 May 1724. 

Elizabeth, Abigail, b. 25 Feb. 1725-6. 

Hepzibah, b. 23 July 1727. 

Jacob, b. 12 March 1728-9. 

Obadiah, b. 26 March 1731. 

Deborah, b. 23 Feb. 1732-3. 

John Walch-on, b. 8 Dec. 1735. 

Caleb, b. 4 March 1736-7. 

Bridget, b. 16 Feb. 1738-9. 

Nathan, b. 7 May 1741. 

Nathaniel Smith, son of Nicholas Smith, b. 15 Sept. 1695. 
His children, Mary, b. 7 Dec. 1721. 

Nathaniel, b. 17 April 1725. 
Patience, b. 24 Nov. 1727. 
Daniel, b. 13 April 1730. 
Elizabeth, b. 24 Feb. 1731-2. 
Sarah, b. 1 March 1733-4. 
Anna, b. 7 May 1740. 

Benjamin Smith md. 24 Jan. 1760 Mary Swasey, both of Exeter. 



44 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

Their children, Mary, b. 16 Oct. 1760 ; cl. 8 April 1790. 

Joseph, b. 19 July 1763. 

Sarah, b. 15 Dec. 1766. 

Benjamin, b. 21 April 1767 ; d. 8 April 1790. 

Elizabeth, b. 6 Sept. 1769. 

Sally, b. 6 Dec. 1771 ; d. 3 July 1787. 

Susanna, b. 8 Jan. 1774. 

John, b. 6 Dec. 1777. 

John, b. 19 Oct. 1778. 

Charlotte, b. 9 April 1780. 
Major Benjamin Smith d. 23 June 1811, aged 74 yrs. 
Mrs. Mary Smith d. Nov. 1814. 

Joseph Smith, Polly Burley; md. 13 Nov. 1786. 
Their children, John, b. 10 Oct. 1787. 
Mary, b. 18 Nov. 1792. 
Fanny, b. 2 April 1798. 
Sophia, b. 18 Sept. 1799. 

Jeremiah Smith, then of Peterborough, N. H., md. 8 March 1797 Elizabeth 
Ross of Bladensburgh, Md. 

Their children, Ariana Elizabeth, b. 28 Dec. 1797 ; d. 20 June 1829. 

William, b. 31 Aug. 1799. 

Jeremiah, b. 20 Aug. 1802 ; drowned 14 Oct. 1808. 
Mrs Elizabeth Smith d. 19 June 1827. 
Hon. Jeremiah Smith d. Dover 21 Sept. 1842. 

Samuel Somerby and Hannah Somerby. 

Their children, Mary Ann Montgomery, d. 4 Jan. 1821, aged 5 mos. 11 
days. 
George Adolphus, b. 2 Nov. 1821. 
Samuel Somerby d. 17 May 1824, aged 42 jts. 

Thomas Sullivan, Frances A. Leavitt; md. 7 Oct. 1836. 
Their children, Frances E., b. 18 March 1837. 
Mary H., b. 21 Jan. 1839. 
Charles W., b. 6 July 1841. 
George E., b. 26 Oct. 1843. 
Heni-y G., b. 18 July 1846. 

Richard \Yenman Swan, b. New York City, md. 18 Dec. 1845 Katharine 
Day, b. South Hadley Falls, Mass. 
Their children, Mary Hale, b. 24 July 1847. 
Richard H., b. 27 July 1848. 

Joseph Swasey, Apphia Morrill ; md. 13 Dec. 1735. 
Their children, Mary, b. 15 Oct. 1737. 

Joseph, b. 20 May 1743 ; d. 8 Jan. 1829. 



HISTORY or EXETER. 45 

Joseph Swasey, Jr., b. 30 May 1743, md. 10 March 11G5 Olive Lamson, b. 6 
Sept. 1744. 
Their children, Olive, b. 11 Jan. 1766; d. 16 Oct. 1821, widow of Ep. 
Dean. 
Joseph, b. 12 Feb. 176S ; d. 18 May 1820. 
Nathaniel, b. 26 March 1770 ; d. Sept. 1840. 
Lucretia, b. 23 Oct. 1772 ; d. Sept. 1837. 
William, b. 10 March 1778 ; d. 2-5 Dec. 1835. 
Susanna, b. 20 July 1780; d. 17 May 1840. 
Lydia, b. 15 Jan. 1783. 
Harriot, b. 28 July 1785. 
Rufus, b. 16 April 1788 ; d. in Boston 1840. 

Mrs. Olive Swasey d. 16 Jan. 1822. 
Capt. Joseph Swasey d. 8 Jan. 1829. 

Moses Swett and Hannah Swett. 

Their children, Josiah, b. 31 July 1743. 
John, b. 17 Dec. "l 748. 

Samuel B. Swett, M. D., Mary S. Lowe ; md. 4 Sept. 1845. 
Their child, Samuel, b. 16 June 1846. 

William Tarbox and Dolly Tarbox. 

Their child, Edwin Hill, b. Exeter 4 Aug. 1819 ; d. 28 Jan. 1821. 

Oxford Tash and Esther Tash. 

Their children, Mary, b. Exeter 14 March 1784 ; d. 20 July 1819. 

Lucy, b. Exeter 6 April 1786 ; d. 23 Nov. 1812. 

Susan, b. Exeter 3 July 1788. 

Robert, b. Exeter 3 Sept. 1790. 

Catherine, b. Exeter 25 July 1792. 

Charles G., b. Exeter 9 Dec. 1794; d. 11 June 1864. 

William G., b. Exeter 9 March 1797. 

Member Matilda, b. Exeter 25 July 1799. 
Oxford Tash d. 15 Oct. 1810. 
Mrs. Esther Tash d. 26 March 1844, aged 87 yrs. 

William Taylor. 

His children, Mary, b. 26 Oct. 1667. 
Nathan, b. 5 Feb. 1674. 

Jonathan Thing and Joanna Thing. 

Their children, Elizabeth, b. 5 June 1664. 

John, b. 20 Sept. 1665 ; d. 4 Nov. 1665. 
Samuel, b. 3 June 1667. 
Mercy, b. 6 March 1673. 
Jonathan, b. 21 Sept. 1678. 



46 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Capt. Jonathan Thing md. 26 July 1677 Mary Oilman, dau. of Hon. John 
Oilman, b. 10 Sept. 1658. 
Their children, Jonathan, b. 21 Sept. 1678. 
John, b. June 1680. 
Bartholomew, b. 25 Feb. 1681-2. 
Joseph, b. March 1684. 
Elizabeth, b. 

Benjamin, b. 12 Nov. 1688. 
Josiah, b. 

Mrs. Mary Thing d. Aug. 1691. 

Capt. Jonathan Thing md. (2d) July 1693 Martha lAViggin, widow of Thomas 
Wiggin and dau. of John Denison of Ipswich. 
Their child, Daniel, b. 12 May 1694. 
Capt. Jonathan Thing d. 31 Oct. 1694. 

Samuel Thing, Abigail Oilman; md. 8 July 1696. 
Their children, Joanna, b. 22 June 1697. 
Samuel, b. 28 March 1699. 
Abigail, b. 1 Dec. 1700. 
Elizabeth, b. 19 Dec. 1702. 
Sarah, b. 8 Jan. 1704-5. 
Lydia, Deborah, b. 14 Feb. 1707-8. 
Catharine, b. 19 May 1711. 
Josiah, b. 15 Sept. 1713. 
John, b. 17 May 1716. 
Mary, b. 18 May 1718. 
Alice, b. 14 Feb. 1722-3. 

Bartholomew Thing md. 7 Dec. 1705 Abigail Coffin, dau. of Tristram Coffin. 
Their childi-en, Tristram, b. 26 Oct. 1707 ; d. 22 June 1709. 

Josiah, b. 18 Aug. 1710 ; d. 5 March 1710-1. 
Mrs. Abigail Thing d. 2 May 1711. 

Bartholomew Thing md. (2d) 3 April 1712 Mrs. Sarah Kent, widow of John 
Kent and dau. of Capt. Joseph Little of Newbury. 
Their child, Mary, b. 3 Jan. 1712-3. 
Bartholomew Thing d. 28 April 1738, aged 57. 

Benjamin Thing md. Jan. 1711-2 Pernal Coffin, dau. of Tristram Coffin. 
Their children, Coffin, b. Sept. 1713. 

Deborah, b. 29 April 1719. 

Mrs. Pernal Thing d. 2 June 1725. 
Benjamin Thing md. (2d) 21 Oct. 1725 Mrs. Deborah Thing, widow of 
Samuel Thing. 
Their childi-en, Pernal, b. 29 July 1726. 

Winthrop, b. 10 Jan. 1727-8. 
Mary, b. 24 May 1730. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 47 

Anna, b. 18 Oct. 1732. 
Samuel, b. 13 Dec. 1735. 
Elizabeth, b. 2 Sept. 1740. 

Daniel Thing md. 3 March 1717-8 Elizabeth Clark, dan. of Henry Clark 
of Newbury. 
Their children, Elizabeth, b. 13 Aug. 1719 ; d. 27 Oct. 1719. 
Stephen, b. 28 Sept. 1720. 
Martha, b. 2 Jan. 1722-3, 
Bartholomew, b. 4 Aug. 1725. 
Eunice, b. 15 Oct. 1727 ; d. Oct. 1813. 

Samuel Thing, son of Samuel Thing, Esq., md. 26 Dec. 1722 Deborah 
Hilton, dau. of Col. Winthrop Hilton. 
Their child, Samuel, b. 9 Oct. 1723 ; d. 14 March 1723-4. 
Samuel Thing d. Sept. 1723. 

Stephen Thing md. 6 July 1768 Mehitable Connor, dau. of Lieut. Jonathan 
and Mehitable Connor. 
Their child, Betsey, b. 5 Jan. 1773. 
Stephen Thing d. 20 Sept. aged 70 yrs. 11 mos. 18 days, 

John Thompson, Anne Miller ; md. 26 Dec. 1750. 
Their child, Joseph Miller, b. 12 Nov. 1751. 

Daniel Thurston, b. 6 Aug. 1776, md. 4 Aug. 1798 Deborah Folsom, b. 29 
April 1778. 
Their children, Elizabeth Oilman, b. 6 Nov. 1798; d. 1820. 
Mary Jane, b. 3 Sept. 1801 ; d. 
Mary Jane, b. 15 June 1804, 

John Tilton, son of Samuel Tilton of Hampton Falls, md. 30 June 1791 
Patty Odlin, dau, of Winthrop Odlin of Exeter. 
Their childi-en, John Folsom, b. 8 Dec. 1792. 
Ebenezer, b. 29 Dec. 1795, 
Samuel, b. 28 Nov. 1797. 
Winthrop Odlin, b. 7 March 1800. 
Amy Folsom, b. 3 May 1802. 
William, b. 26 July 1804. 
Elizabeth, b. 18 Aug. 1806, 
Joseph, b. 22 July 1809. 
Sarah Ann, b. 1 Aug. 1813 ; d. 1814. 
Mrs. Patty Tilton d. 7 Sept. 1823. 

Dr. Joseph Tilton, b. Hampton Falls 25 Sept. 1744, md. 10 Sept. 1767 
Catharine Shackford, b. Portsmouth 12 Oct. 1745, 
Their children, Catharine, b. 18 Sept. 1768 ; md. Nathaniel Parker Nov. 
1793. 



48 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Dorothy, b. 20 April 1770; md. J. F. Sleeper 20 Nov. 1791. 

John Shackford, b. 5 Oct. 1772; lost at sea 26 or 27 Oct. 
1810. 

Joseph, b. 15 April 1776 ; d. 13 Sept. 1777. 

Charlotte, b. 1 June 1779 ; md. Nathaniel Page. 

Caroline, b. 30 May 1781 ; md. Robert Cross of Portland. 
'Mrs. Catharine Tilton d. 19 Jan. 1812. 
Dr. Joseph Tilton d. 5 Dec. 1837. 

Oliver Towle, b. Hampton 2 March 1783, md. 2 April 1806 Betsey Leavitt, 
b. Hampton 26 Sept. 1785. 
Their children, Oliver, b. 16 Oct. 1806 ; d. 20 Oct. 1809. 
Mary G., b. 24 Dec. 1807. 
Oliver, Jr., b. 13 Jan. 1810. 
Enoch W.,b. 15 June 1811. 
Betsey, b. 26 Oct. 1814 ; d. 2 April 1817. 
Angelina, b. 4 June 1816. 
Betsey L., b. 22 Nov. 1820. 
Amos, b. 23 July 1823. 
Adoniram J., b. 26 June 1827. 
Emily B., b. 2 June 1829 ; d. 11 March 1848. 

Henry Wadleigh, Elizabeth Ladd; md. 3 Dec. 1693. 
Their children, Sarah, b. 3 Sept. 1694. 

Abigail, b. 2 Sept. 1696. 

Joseph, b. Sept. 1698. 

Martha, b. Jan. 1700-1. 

Benjamin, b. 1703 ; d. 1716. 
Henry Wadleigh d. 2 Aug. 1732. 

Joseph Wadleigh, son of Robert Wadleigh, b. 7 Sept. 1711, md. 5 Jan. 
1737-8 Ann Swain. 
Their children, Hannah, b. 1 Aug. 1739. 
Sarah, b. 29 Nov. 1741. 
Joseph, b. 3 Nov. 1743. 
Anna, b. 17 Jan. 1745-6. 
Rachel, b. 3 Feb. 1747. 

Herbert Waters, Mary Harris ; md. 13 Nov. 1733. 
Their child, Herbert (daughter), b. 8 Aug. 1735. 

Humphrey Wilson. 
His children, Judith, b. 8 Nov. 16S4 ; d. 3 May 1667. 
Elizabeth, b. 11 Jan. 1665. 
John, b. 17 July 1667. 
Hannah, b. 12 Nov, 1670. 
Thomas, b. 20 May 1672. 
James, b. 27 Aug. 1673. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 49 

Thomas Wilson, Mary Light ; md. Oct. 
Their children, Humphrey, b. 9 Dec. 1699. 
Rebecca, i). 18 Nov. 1701. 
Anna, b. 18 June 1703. 
John, Thomas, b. 3 Nov. 1704. 
John, b. 7 Jan 1705-6. 
Sai'ah, b. 26 Sept. 1707. 
Joshua, b. 3 Sept. 1708. 
Sarah, b. 23 Nov. 1709. 
Mary,b. 19 Sept. 1711. 
Jabez, b. 1 June 1712 ; d. same day. 
Jonathan, b. 4 Sept. 1713. 
Moses, b. 1 May 1715. 
Judith, b. 18 Feb. 1717-8. 

Samuel D. "Wingate, b. Strathani, md. 8 Feb 1854 Orianna Mitchell. 
Their chikh'en, James D. P., b 2 April 1855. 
Charles E. L., b. 14 Feb. 1861. 

Samuel Winslow, Sarah Johnson ; md. 

Their children, Samuel, b. Exeter 8 Feb. 1795. 

George, b. Exeter 7 May 1796 ; drowned 27 Aug. 1812. 
Jonathan, b. Exeter 4 Nov. 1797. 

William Woodbridge, b. Glastonbury, Conn., md. 5 April 1785 Elizabeth 
Bi'ooks, dau. of Samuel Brooks of Exeter. 
Their childx-en, Elizabeth, b. 27 June 1786. 

Mary, b. 27 June 1786; d. 6 Aug. 1786. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Woodbridge d. 16 Nov. 1787. 

Jonathan Young, son of Robert Young, b. 22 Nov. 1712, md. 11 April 1738 
Abigail Scribner, dau. of John Scribner, b. 30 March 1717. 
Their children, John, b. 1 April 1739. 
Anna, b. 28 June 1741. 
Daniel, b. 17 Sept. 1743. 
Abigail, baptized 12 Oct. 1746. 
Joseph, b. 18 Sept. 1748. 
Benjamin, b. 1 Nov. 1750. 
Sarah, b. 15 Oct. 1752. 
Hannah, b. 18 Oct. 1755. 
Abigail, b. 5 July 1759. 



4a 



MARRIAGES. 

FROM THE EXETER RECORDS. 

EdAvard Arm, Joanna Meloney ; 13 Jan. 1782. 
Benjamin Abbot, Hannah Tracy Emery; .30 Oct. 1791. 
Samuel Aijfcdent, Jerusha Daniels ; 10 July 1800. 
Moses Atkinson, .3d, Newbury, Charlotte Dutch; 5 June 1S08. 
Richard Alley, Elizabeth A. Weeks ; 21 Oct. 1823. 
Obed E. Adams, Dover, Selina Burley ; 5 June 182.5. 
SAveen Anderson, Charlestown, Mass., Lydia Barker; June 1830. 
Landen Adams, Lowell, ^Slary F. Leavitt ; 27 Nov. 1834. 
Monroe Ayer, Haverhill, Hannah M. W. Proal ; 9 Oct. 1838. 
Francis Bowden, Elizabeth Webster; 18 Feb. 1734-5. 
Jonathan Blake, Lucey Robinson. 
Samuel Brooks, Jr., Mary Giddinge; 14 Dec. 1779. 
Benjamin Bod{,'e, Meribah Hall ; 19 Oct. 1780. 
Michael Brown, Ruth Allerd ; 9 Sept. 1781. 
Laurence Batson, Anne Creighton ; 1 Nov. 1 783. 
John Brooks, Elizabeth Mash ; 17 April 1785. 
Joshua Bangs, Anne B. Folsom ; 28 Feb. 1786. 
Shackford S. Bennett, Mehitable Giddinge : 18 Dec. 1788. 
Noah Barker, Mary Philbrick ; 7 Oct. 1789. 

Nathaniel Batchelder, Roxbury, Elizabeth Mudget ; 25 March 179!). 
Joshua Blanchard, Ruhannah Lovering ; 14 Jan. 1793. 
John Batchelder, Rachel Moore ; 14 May 1793. 
Joseph Blanchard, Chester, Mrs. Dorothy Folsom; 1 April 1794. 
John Bickford, Phebe McCoy; 24 Dec. 1794. 

James Bracket, Jr., Quincy, Mass., Elizabeth Odiorne; 7 Oct. 1795. 
Benjamin Boardman, Sarah Haven ; 30 Nov. 1795. 
Samuel Brooks, Tirzah James ; 6 Dec. 1795. 
Reuben Byram, North Yarmouth, Lois Swasey ; 11 Feb. 1808. 
Amos Blanchard, Lydia Boardman ; 12 March 1809. 
Allen Bastow, North Yarmouth, Mary Swasey ; 12 Aug. 1810. 
James Burley, Charlotte Oilman; June 1811. 

Rev. Abraham Burnham, Pembroke, Elizabeth Robinson; 19 Nov. 1816. 
James Burley, Mrs. Harriet L. Gale; 17 May 1818. 
Abel Brown, East Kingston, Elizabeth P. Dean ; 8 June 1818, 
John S. Beardslee, Hannah Hayes ; 4 June 1820. 
Moses P. Bickford, Eunice Burpee; 9 Nov. 1820. 
NathanieJ R. Burleigh, Mary Jane Odiorne : .30 June 1823. 

50 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 51 

Joseph Boardnian, Lydia L. Oilman; 16 Sept. 1823. 

Dudley Beckett, ^Slary A. Marsh, Xorth Hampton ; 1 Aug. 1828. 

Joseph A. Bailey, Dartmouth, Clarissa Clifford ; 7 Nov. 1827. 

John T. Blake, Kensington, Mary E. Moulton ; 1 Feb. 1829. 

Andrew Baker, Xewmarket, ]\Iary J. Sawyer ; Xov. 1832. 

Alfred M. Beck, Elizabeth S. Gilman ; 29 Oct. 1832. 

Josiah Blake, Sophia Smith ; 13 Nov. 1832. 

Oliver S. Bowley, Pamelia Leathers ; 5 Xov. 1833. 

Joseph Boardman, Sarah A. Smith ; 16 Dec. 1833. 

Stephen J. Batchelder, Sarah A. Hale ; 14 April 1834. 

Thomas H. Bartlett, Xancy L. Hayes ; 28 Aug. 1836. 

William G. Bragdon, Boston, Mary W. Folsom ; 1 Jan. 1837. 

Philip Carty, Elizabeth York ; 23 Sept. 1668. 

Jacob Carter, Abigail Steel; 13 Jan. 1777. 

Casar Clough, Priscilla Glasgo (negroes) ; 9 Dec. 1777. 

Moses Clark, Deerfield, Anna Loverain ; 8 March 1781. 

Jonathan Cass, Mary Gilman; 20 Dec. 1781. 

Samuel Chamberlain, Mary Tilton; 30 Sept. 1783. 

Dudley Cram, Sanbornton, Mary Rundlet; 21 Dec. 1783. 

Ephraim Currier, Abigail Hackett ; 27 June 1784. 

Samuel Colcord, Anne Gilman; 21 April 1785. 

Timothy Chamberlain, Esther Moses; 24 Sept. 1786. 

Isaac Currier, Sarah Lamson; 21 Nov. 1788. 

Tobias Cutler, Dolly Pauls, Stratham ; 15 Jan. 1790. 

John Caldwell, Polly Oilman; 10 April 1791. 

Bradbury Cilley, Xottingham, Martha Poor; 19 Nov. 1792. 

Harvey Colcord, Polly Wiggin. Stratham ; 20 Oct. 1795. 

Joseph Coomes, Stratham, Abigail Godfrey; 9 April 1799. 

George Colcord, Joanna Jones ; 19 Dec. 1801. 

Jedediah Conner, Elizabeth Jenkins; 17 April 1801. 

Rev. Jacob Cram, Hampton Falls, Mary Poor ; 13 Sept 1804. 

Gideon Carter, Hannah Gilman ; 22 Sept 1804. 

AVilliam S. Chase, JJeerfield, Xancy Sanborn; 28 Xov. 1805. 

Robert Cross, Portland, Caroline Tilton ; 5 Oct. 1807. 

Samuel Lee Count, Deborah Leavitt ; 10 Sept. 1809. 

Jedediah Conner, Abigail Gilman; 29 Dec. 1811. 

Thomas Colcord, Judith Wiggins ; 23 May 1812. 

Jacob Carter, Jr., Mrs. Nancy Davis ; 4 March 1814. 

Andrew Cook, Madbury, Harriet Speed; 1 Dec. 1814. 

Benjamin Clark, Xancy Lougee ; 22 Oct. 1815. 

James Conner, Berwick, Caroline Xelson; 31 Oct. 1815. 

Joshua Coffin, Haverhill, Clarissa Dutch ; 2 Dec. 1817. 

Rufus E. Cutler, Dinah Cilley ; 25 March 1823. 

Charles Carter, Wakefield, Mandana Safford ; 15 June 1822. 

John Cook, Martha T. Smart ; 2 Jan. 1823. 

William H. Clark, Sarah Hilton; 16 Feb. 1825. 

William T. Choate, Sarah AY. Levering ; 4 Dec. 1825. 

Henry Chew, Windham, Xancy J. Whitefield ; 10 Xov. 1827. 



52 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

William Conner, Betsy Lyford; Sept. 1832. 

William Cutts, Betsy Swasey ; IS Nov. 1830. 

Enoch G. Currier, Newmarket, Jane Hill; March 1830. 

Nathaniel Conner, Mrs. Elizabeth Palmer; 22 Jan. 1833. 

Samuel Cutler, Portland, Elizabeth D. Gardner ; 19 June 1833. 

Aretus Chandler, Lydia York, Brentwood; 1 Jan. 1834. 

Horatio L. Cowles, Williamsburg, Mass., Sarah A. Gordon ; 18 Jan. 1837. 

Samuel Colcord, Sophia Norwood; 12 April 1838. 

Andrew H. Collins, Kensington, Abigail Brown ; 30 Dec. 1838. 

Byley Dudley, Elizabeth Gilman ; 25 Oct. 1682. 

Jonathan Dolhoof, Mary Young; 17 Nov. 1737. , 

Lemuel Davis, Eleanor Dearing; 20 March 1780. 

Lenon Daily, Margaret (negroes) ; 11 March 1781. 

Thomas Dean, Lucretia Coffin; 13 April 1781. 

Samuel Daniels, Sarah Taylor ; 24 Oct. 1781. 

Minus Daniels, Elizabeth Taylor; 11 Nov. 1784. 

Eliphalet Dean, Olive Swasey ; 17 Jan. 1785. 

Abner DoUoof, Irene Smith, Brentwood; 22 March 1787. 

Cepio Duce, Phillis Folsom; 29 Nov. 1787. 

Robert Duce, Lois Straits ; 21 June 1790. 

Samuel T. Dudley, Abigail Randel ; 21 Nov. 1791. 

Samuel Densmore, Ossipee, Sally Wallace; Nov. 15, 1792. 
• John Dennett, Portsmouth, Elizabeth Lamson; 3 Feb. 1798. 

Benjamin Dodge, Portland, Abigail Gilman; 16 April 1797. 

John Dean, Jr., Anne Boardman; 11 May 1799. 

Samuel Dodge, Fanny Pearson; 30 June 1812. 

John Daniels, Eunice Kelly ; 7 Dec. 1814. 

William H. Dickey, Ehzabeth Locke ; 23 Oct. 1816. 

Andrew Dorsey, Nancy G. Duce ; 31 Aug. 1817. 

William C. Dolloff, Betsy Leavitt ; 13 Nov. 1817. 

Thomas Dean, Catharine Gilman ; 26 Sept. 1824. 

Nathaniel Dean, Elizabeth Gilman; 25 June 1826. 

Josiah Dudley, Sarah Robinson ; 27 Sept. 1827. 

Samuel Durant, Susan Daniels ; IS Oct. 1829. 

Charles H. Dunbar, Haverhill, Mass., Mary B. Leavitt; March 1830. 

Charles H. Daniels, Nancy M. Purington ; 8 Nov. 1841. 

Joseph Eldridge, Abigail Hall ; 8 Oct. 1781. 

Richard Emery, Liberty Hale ; 14 Nov. 1784. 

John Emery, Deborah Webb; 11 Jan. 1802. 

Samuel Endicott, Beverly, Mass., Sarah F. Holt; 4 June 1826. 
Kimball Eastman, Albany, N. Y., Mary Wentworth ; 10 Jan. 1829. 

James Foulsam, Elizabeth Thing; 18 June 1735. 

Seth Fogg, Elizabeth Marshall; 7 Dec. 1779. 

Samuel Folsom, Elizabeth Emery; 30 April 1780. 
David Fogg, Katherine Johnson; 8 Nov. 1780. 
Theophilus Folsom, Sarah Fogg; 12 Dec. 1780. 
Jonathan Folsom, Lydia Folsom ; 29 March 1781. 

Fortune Fogg, Lucy Hale ; 15 July 1781. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 53 

Stephen Fogg, Mary Filler ; 2 May 1782. 

Stephen Fogg, Sarah Marsh; 1 Sept. 1782. 

Mark Fifield, Stratham, Deborah Young; 16 Aug. 1783. 

James Folsom, Jr., Mary Folsom; 2 Dec. 1784. 

James Folsom, 4th, Sarah Oilman; 15 Oct. 1786. 

James Folsom, 3cl, Sarah Robinson; 31 Dec. 1786. 

Dearborn Fogg, North Hampton, Dorothy Rundlet ; 5 Sept. 1787. 

Joseph Flood, Elizabeth x\kers ; 17 Aug. 1789. 

Robert L. Fowle, Mrs. Sarah Fowle ; 6 Aug. 1789. 

Stephen Fogg, Mrs. Elizabeth Grant ; 3 April 1790. 

John Fogg, Mary Grant; 13 Nov. 1791. 

James French, Epping, Mehitable Moody, Brentwood ; 27 Jan. 1792. 

Stephen Fogg, Jr., Anne Batchelder; 29 Sept. 1793. 

Dudley Folsom, Lucretia Swasey ; 17 Jan. 1796. 

Richard Fuller, Elizabeth Fowler; 5 June 1796. 

George Fuller, Jr., Nancy York, Brentwood ; 26 April 1797. 

John Folsom, Jr., Newmarket, Anne Odlin; 22 March 1798. 

Nathaniel Folsom, Hallowell, Mary Bond; 6 Nov. 1800. 

David Fuller, Anne Watson, widow; 13 Nov. 1800. 

William Flood, Lydia Carter ; 6 Aug. 1804. 

Nathaniel Foster, North Yarmouth, Rebecca Swasey ; 19 Dec. 1804. 

AVilliam Fuller, Sukey Sleeper ; 31 March 1806. 

Jonathan Folsom, Lydia Folsom ; 17 April 1809. 

Peter Folsom, Hannah P. Hook; 17 Aug. 1809. 

William Flood, Hannah Moulton; 18 Dec. 1823. 

John Foss, Lucy H. Bailey ; 2 June 1826. 

Bradstreet French, Newmarket, Olive Oilman ; 22 May 1831. 

Lucius O. Felt, Martha A. Colley ; 4 May 1836. 

Abraham Flood, Abigail Dearborn ; May 1829. 

Nicholas D. Folsom,"Celina Blake ; 10 Oct. 1832. 

Benjamin Furbish, Mary Lane ; 16 May 1833. 

John Farnham, Jr., Newburyport, Lois D. Jenness ; 24 May 1838. 

Joseph B. Flagg, Harriet ]\L Flanders, Lowell, Mass. ; 15 April 1840. 

Joseph H. Ford, Elizabeth Whitcomb ; 7 Sept. 1840. 

Peter Oilman, Mary Oilman, wid. of John Oilman ; 8 Dec. 1724. 

Nathaniel Gookin, Judith Coffin ; 1 Jan. 1740-1. 

Eliphalet Oilman, Sarah Conner ; 10 May 1778. 

John Giddinge, Elizabeth Wiggin ; 25 Sept. 1781. 

Nathaniel Giddinge, Jr., Mrs. Anne Folsom; 21 May 1783. 

Zebulon Oilman, Jr., Mary Mash; 4 Oct. 1785. 

Nathaniel Oilman, Abigail Odlin ; 29 Dec. 1785. 

Benjamin Clark Oilman, Mary Thing Oilman ; 24 June 1788. 

James Grant, Betsy Piper ; 15 Feb. 1789. 

James Oilman, Patty Oilman; 25 May 1789. 

Joseph Gorden, Dolly Smith ; 31 Oct. 1790. 

Noah Oilman, Mahitable Steel ; 1 Jan. 1792. 

John Oilman, Dorothy Kimbal ; 30 Jan. 1792. 

John Taylor Oilman, Mrs. Mary Adams ; 5 July 1792. 



54 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Nathaniel Giddinge, Mrs. Peggy Warren ; 6 Nov/ 1794. 

William Gross, Dolly Leavitt ; 16 April 179<5. 

John Gardner, Boston, Deborah Dean ; 11 Dec. 179G. 

Joseph Smith Gilman, Mrs. Elizabeth Odlin ; l;3 Xov. 1793. 

James Gilman, Jr., Susanna Mason ; 23 Aug. 1809. 

Stephen Gale, Xewburyport, Harriet Eastham; 31 Aug. 1807. 

Jonathan Gilman, Lydia Lougee ; 25 Nov. 1807. 

Nathaniel Gordon, Mary Robinson ; 30 Aug. 1808. 

Stephen Grover, Nancy Barns ; 31 Jan. 1812. 

Eliphalet Giddinge, Mrs. Ann Lyford ; IG Feb. 1812. 

Tony Gardner, Newburyport, Mary Paul Cutler; 23 March 1810. 

John Gordon, Newbury, Frances Gordon ; 1814. 

Phillips Gilman, Betsy Gilman ; 8 Nov. 1815. 

Harrison Gray, Portsmouth, Clarissa Eastham; 23 April 18 IS. 

William Gould, Mary Beckett, Brentwood; 5 July 1819. 

Stephen L. Gordon, Rebecca Thayer ; 6 July 1819. 

James Gilman, Isabel Peavey ; 18 Sept. 1825. 

Biley Gilman, Harriet Burley ; 2S Feb. 1820. 

Andrew Gorham, Sarah G. Smith; 11 March 1822. 

Charles Gaylord, Mary J. Blake ; 10 July 1822. 

John Gilman, Hallowell. Me., Sally Becket ; 2 Feb. 1823. 

Benjamin Gordon, Jr., Frances Folsom ; 27 April 1823. 

John T. Gordon, Sarah Folsom ; 20 Nov. 1823. 

Silas Gould, Sarah G. Folsom ; 29 June 1823. 

James Gilman, 3d, Mary A. Chapman; 4 Jan. 1826. 

David W. Gorham, Elizabeth P. Abbott ; 3 May 1826. 

Theophilus Goodwin, Lois Dutch ; 28 May 1826. 

John C. Gerrish, Mary G. Folsom ; 4 Dec. 1826. 

Nehemiah Gilman, Martha J. Gray, Portsmouth; 25 Nov. 1828. 

Stephen Goodwin, Maiy Floid ; 24 June 1831. 

Charles C. P. Gale, Martha Walker ; April 1832. 

Oliver Gordon, Candia, Mary C. Dudley; 21 Nov. 1833. 

Nathaniel Gilman, 4th, Betsey F. Batchelder; 26 Dec. 1833. 

William F. Gordon, Mary L. Young ; 17 Feb. 1834. 

Seth Goodwin, Lavina Willey; 22 Oct. 1837. 

Esop Hale, Lucy Sinegall (negroes); 3 April 1777. 

Pery Hardy, Mehitable Lawrence; 13 Nov. 1777. 

Moses Hopkinson, Lucy Calf; 13 May 1781. 

Kinsly Hall, Honner Rundlet; 5 Nov. 1781. 

Benjamin Hilton, Elizabeth Thurston ; 23 March 1783. 

Levi Healey, Hampton Falls. Abigail Robinson; 2 Sept. 1784. 

Jonathan Hill, Sarah Wiggins ; 12 Sept. 1784. 

Nathaniel Herrick, Mary Hackett; 17 Dec. 1784. 

Thomas Hains, Hannah Lord; 17 March 1785. 

Edward Hilton, Jr., Newmarket, Deborah Wiggin ; 26 Nov. 1792. 

Caleb Hill, Newburyport, Mary Fowler ; 19 July 1795. 

Ezra Hutchins, Sally Currier; 26 Feb. 1797. 

Samuel Hatch, Marv Gilman ; 14 Mav 1797. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 55 

Richard Hilton, Xewmarket, Patty Leavit ; 31 Jan. 1798. 

Jonathan Hamilton, Benvick, Mass., Mrs. Charlotte Sweat; 12 April 1801. 

Joseph Hoit, Stratham, Betsy Odlin ; 26 Nov. 1801. 

Jonathan Hale, Coventry, Mrs. Mary Parker; 6 May 1802. 

William Hill, Betsy Wyatt ; 12 Aug. 1806. 

Ezekiel Hook, Lucretia Hill ; 1 Oct. 1807. 

Cuffe Hoit, Rose Whidden, Greenland ; 28 Sept, 1809. 

Noyes Hopkinson, Elizabeth R. Eaton; 6 Oct. 1816. 

William Hoit, Ellen E. Bacon, Sutton, Mass. ; 27 Sept. 1818. 

Rev. Isaac Hurd, Elizabeth Emery ; 16 March 1819. 

George Hanson, Brentwood, Mrs. Elizabeth Leavitt; 3 Dec. 1821. 

Purmot Hill, Lydia R. Smith ; 13 Feb. 1820. 

Jonathan Hunnewell, Mary Parker ; 23 March 1820. 

Abel F. Hildreth. Londonderry, Ann E. Giddings ; 21 Aug. 1820. 

Henry Hovey, Mary E. Dolloff ; 10 Sept. 1821. 

James Hill, Gilford. Elizabeth M. Hall ; 13 Sept. 1821. 

Joshua M. Haley, Mary WiUey ; 26 Oct. 1821. 

Thomas R. Hopkins, Boston, Anna M. Adams ; 3 July 1823. 

4Bamuel Ham, Frances Leavitt; 20 May 1824. 

Thomas Hardy, Boston, Sarah R. Folsom ; 31 Aug 1826. 

Moses Harris, Clementine Rundlet ; 18 Oct. 1826. 

Joshua Holt, Elizabeth M. J. Emery; 15 May 1827. 

Samuel Hodgdon, Joanna Tilton ; 25 Oct. 1835. 

Jeremiah Hall, Durham, Sarah A. Holt ; Jan. 1832. 

Charles A. Hartshorn, Boston, Abigail S. Floyd; 21 March 1834. 

Charles Henss, Boston, Sarah Folsom ; 9 Nov. 1835. 

Henry R. Hall, Mary A. Boardman ; 7 Oct. 1836. 

George Harrington, Martha A. Cliapman ; 20 April 1841. 

Moses Jewett, Martha Hale ; 17 Nov. 1737. 
Francis James, Abigail Lighton; 27 Jan. 1736-7. 

Isaac, belonging to Paul Jewett, Catherine, belonging to Josiah Robinson 

(negroes); 21 Nov. 1776. 
John Judkins, Abigail Swasey ; 12 Jan. 1778. 
Bradbury Johnson, Rachel Short; 24 Sept. 1786. 
John Johnson, Jr., Mary Piper; 14 Jan. 1789. 
Daniel S. Jones, Mary Steel; 18 Sept. 1791. 
Samuel Jones, Joanna Bond ; 22 Nov. 1792. 
Pomp Jackson, Susanna Dimond (negroes) ; 5 April 1794. 
Nathaniel Jefferds, Wells, Mass., Mary Folsom ; 13 Jan. 1802. 
Joseph A. Janvrin, Lydia A. Colcoi'd ; 14 Nov. 1822. 
James Jones, Ann Rowley, foreigners, 23 Dec. 1821. 
Luke Julian, Fitchburg, Abigail T. Moses ; Oct. 1832. 
Ebenezer James, Hampton, Abigail Robinson ; 3 Nov. 1829. 
Nathan Jewett, Mrs. Eliza S. Lang ; July 1830. 
Roger Kelly, Mary Holdi-idge ; 29 Sept. 1681. 
Moses Kimball, Plieebe Smart; 14 Feb. 1781. 
Casar Knnap, Mimbo Cottle ; 13 Dec. 1781. 
Peter S. Kimball, Abigail Dean; 6 Jan. 1783. 



56 HISTOKY OF EXETER. 

Dudley Kimball, Anne Folsom ; 21 May 1789. . 

John Kimball, Wakefield, Mrs. Mary Weeks ; 20 Aug. 1789. 

John Kimball, Anne Oilman ; 1 Oct. 1790. 

John Kennedy, Lyclia Blaisdell ; 25 Jan. 1807. 

John Kimball] Mrs. Sarah Hodgkins ; 8 Sept. 182-5. 

Samuel Kingsbury, Portsmouth, Mary J. Thurston ; 24 Nov. 1825. 

John Kennedy, Mary Hart ; 31 Dec. 1826. 

Francis Lyford, Rebecca Dudley; 21 Nqv. 1681. 

Nicholas Lisson, Jane ; 14 Dec. 1682. 

Jonathan Lord, Mrs. Hannah Light ; 14 Oct. 1731. 

John Leavitt, Abigail Giles; June 1735. ^ 

Josiah Ladd, Sarah Moss ; 3 Jan. 1737-8. 

Elias Ladd, Ann Oilman; 27 Nov. 1740. 

John Lord, Abigail Eliots ; 27 Nov. 1777. 

John Light, Sarah Marvel; 4 Dec. 1777. 

Josiah Leavit, Lydia Lawrence ; 6 July 1780. 

Joseph Lovring, Elizabeth Creighton ; 2 Nov. 1780. 

Joseph Lougee, Miriam Fog; 14 Nov. 1780. 

Daniel Leavitt, Elizabeth Magoon ; 21 Nov. 1780. - 

Eliphalet Lord, Abigail Lord ; 2 May 1781. 

Jonathan Louge, Nancy Simpson ; 6 Feb. 1783. 

Joseph Lamson, 3d, Mehitable Philbrick ; 3 Sept. 1784. 

Stephen Leavitt, Brentwood, Elizabeth Gordon ; 30 April 1787. 

Simeon Ladd, Deborah Oilman; 31 Jan. 1789. 

Robert Lord, Jr., Mary Davis, Poplin ; 30 Sept. 1789. 

Joseph T^amson, 3d, Susanna Folsom; Jan. 1793. 

Isaac Lord, Effingham, Susanna Leavitt; 4 Feb. 1793. 

Robert Lyford, Newmarket, Mary Lyford; 28 March 1793. 

EHsha Logic, Nancy Lord; 7 Sept. 1794. 

James Laine, Stratham, Deborah Folsom; 23 Nov. 1794. 

John Levering, Apphia Wyatt; 18 Sept. 1794. 

Kinsley Lyford, Elizabeth Scammons, Stratham ; 16 Feb. 1796. 

Samuel Lovering, North Hamjiton, Susanna Taylor, Hampton ; 8 March 

1796. 
Prince Light, Phillis Currier (negroes) ; 16 March 1800. 
Joseph Lamson, Jr., Mary Sewal Parker ; 14 Oct. 1800. 
Jotham Lawrence, Epping, Deborah Robinson; 21 Feb. 1803. 
Samuel Leavitt, Abigail Kimball ; 6 March 1803. 
Thomas Leighton, Elizabeth Mitchell ; 7 March 1804. 
Benjamin Leavitt, Betsy Dodge ; 1 July 1804. 
Joseph Lovering, Mrs. Sarah Calef, Kingston ; 24 March 1808. 
John Lakeman, Boston, Sally Rundlet; 12 Nov. 1808. 
John Lamson, Nancy Dodge; 15 Sept. 1811. 
William Lane, Abigail Daniels ; 19 Nov. 1815. 
John Lougee, Hannah T. Leavitt; 1817. 

Hasket D. Lang, Salem, Mass., Eliza S. Sleeper; 7 June 1819. 
Sargent S. Littlehale, Boston, Edna P. Dow ; 10 June 1819. 
Jonathan Lai'abee, Mary Davis ; 13 Oct. 1819. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 57 

Benjamin Leathers, Eliza Fogg; 4 March 1822. 

Edmund Leavitt, Concord, Nancy Reed ; 14 Jan. 1821. 

Gideon C. Lyford, Hannah E. Oilman ; 9 Sept. 1821. 

Oliver Larkin, Waterville, Me., Mary Oilman; 5 Nov. 1821. 

Charles Ladd, Abigail Hilton; 19 May 1822. 

John Leavitt, Mary S. Taylor ; 3 Nov. 1822. 

Heman Ladd, Haverhill, Mass., Hannah Oilman; 14 May 1823. 

Benjamin Leavitt, Sarah E. Stevenson ; 2-5 April 1833. 

Jonathan Leavitt, Angelina Towle ; 30 June 1 833. 

Oeorge W. Leathers, Mrs. Frances Deverson ; 28 Nov. 1833. 

Isaac Ladd, Mary James, Kensington ; 15 June 1836. 

Joshua A. Lunt, Jerusha H. Young ; Oct. 1830. 

Parker Lovejoy, St. Stephens, N. B., Harriet Swasey; July 1832. 

Wm. B. Lowd, Rebecca L. Shaw ; 3 Jan. 1836. 

Josiah Lane, Eliza A. Sanborn; 5 April 1836. 

Oeorge W. Little, Amesbury, Mary E. Swasey ; 27 Aug. 1836. 

Calvin Lovering, Mary J. French ; 5 June 1838. 

Benjamin Morss, Mary Oilman; 2 Jan. 1777. 

Samuel Mash, Hannah Bell; 16 Jan. 1777. 

Juba Merrile, Newbury, Hannah Holland (negroes); 3 Aug. 1777. 

Caleb Michele, Ann Hains ; 13 Nov. 1777. 

Francis Mason, Susanna Moses ; 6 June 1779. 

Winthrop Merrill, Date Steel ; 1 Sept. 1779. 

Joseph Mash, OUey Abuckle ; 17 Dec. 1780. 

Zebulon Marsh, Abigail Young ; 27 Sept. 1784. 

William Moore, Elizabeth Rundlet ; 2 Dec. 1789. 

Ebenezer Melony, Anne Hacket ; 24 Dec. 1797. 

John Meader, Elizabeth Oilman; 1 Jan. 1798. 

Simon Magoon, Kingston, Betsey Barstow ; 22 Nov. 1796. 

Ebenezer Mingo, Phena Sharp ; 23 Dec. 1796. 

James Marston, Packersfield, Mass., Mrs. Elizabeth Oiddinge ; 31 Aug. 1799. 

Henry Moore, Portsmouth, Ann Odiorne ; 10 Sept. 1804. 

William Mace, Stratham, Catharine Swasey; 29 Jan. 1812. 

Samuel Moses, Mary E. Haskell; 29 March 1812. 

Amos Morse, Newbury, Lucretia Dean ; 3 Nov. 1817. 

Abner Merrill, Sally W. Leavitt; 2 July 1816. 

John Mead, Olive Lovering; 31 Dec. 1818. 

Henry Menjoy, Abigail Pickering ; 7 March 1819. 

Ebenezer L. Moulton, Mary Leavitt; 27 Oct. 1822. 

Daniel Melcher, Nancy Y. Folsom ; 27 April 1823. 

Francis Mager, Catharine Thompson (negroes) ; 6 Nov. 1823. 

AVilliam Moore, Jr., Rachel French; 11 Aug. 1824. 

Sibley Moulton, Lucinda Fogg ; 30 Sept. 1824. 

Samuel H. Marsh, Martha B. Davis ; 30 March 1826. 

Thomas J. Marsh, Nancy S. Davis ; 30 March 1826. 

John Morrison, Mary Sheriff"; 29 Nov. 1827. 

Thomas Moulton, Mary Oordon ; 4 June 1828. 

Isaac O. Morse, Eunice Crockett ; 21 June 1837. 



58 HISTORY OF EXETEll. 

John Moulton, Lydia Leavitt ; Dec. 1829. 

Thomas G. Morse, Eliza J. BhiHchard ; 3 July 1833. 

George S. Harden, Eliza A. Pickering ; 8 Nov. 1835. 

Gilman McXeal, Emeline N. Batchelder ; 4 Sept. 1836. 

Archelaus Martin, Dinah Barne ; 11 March 1837. 

Peltiah Moulton, York, Me., Susan H. Card; 22 Dec. 1839. 

William P. Moses, Abby Iv. Leavitt ; 14 Nov. 1839. 

Theodore Moses, Harmony, Me., Abigail G. Colcord ; 19 Jan. 1840. 

Joseph H. Morrill, Salisbury, Mass., Olive Greenleaf ; 9 April 1840. 

Jonathan Nelson, Martha Folsom ; 27 April 1777. 

Josiah Nelson, Mary Robinson; 6 Dec. 1780. 

Eliphalet Norris, Lydia Rundlet ; 14 Dec. 1780. 

Dudley Nichols, Molly Badger; 2 April 1783. 

Mark Nutter, Lydia Nelson; 28 Dec. 1785. 

Harvey NicoUe, Hannah Mead ; 23 Dec. 1790. 

Benjamin Nason, Shapleigh, Me., Hannah Gilman; 17 Aug. 1794. 

Charles Norris, Catharine Ranlet ; 1 Sept. 1807. 

Rev. Ichabod Nicolles, Portland, Dorothea F. Gilman ; 1810. 

Charles Norris, Teresa Orn ; AjKil 1811. 

Nathaniel F. Nelson, Gilmanton, Lydia B. Folsom; 28 Feb. 1817. 

Dudley Nelson, Gilmanton, Martha N. Folsom; 5 Feb. 1818. 

Josiah Nelson, Martha W. Colcord; 31 March 1822. 

Rufus Newhall, Betsy Dolloff; 27 Feb. 1825. 

Joseph Newman, Mary Steele ; 29 Aug. 1827. 

Josiah Norton, Deborah Fogg ; 15 1836. 

Adam Nichols, Gloucester, Mass., Martha B. Folsom; Nov. 1829. 

Samuel F. Nelson, Lavina Folsom; 3 Oct. 1832. 

Dudley Odlin, Elizabeth Gilman ; 14 Feb. 1782. 

Woodbridge Odlin, Mary Brooks ; 11 Feb. 1789. 

William Odlin, Betsey Leavitt; 19 June 1791. 

Philip Osgood, Joanna Davis ; 17 March 1794. 

Samuel T. Odiorne, Philadelphia, Clarissa Gilman ; 1 Nov. 1815. 

James Odlin, Martha H. Osborne; 27 Oct. 1816. 

Woodbridge Odlin, Joanna Odiorne ; 4 Feb. 1828. 

Oliver W. Osborne, Mary A. Allen, Bradford ; 27 April 1837. 

Jonathan Perkins, Sarah ; 20 Dec. 1682. 

Jonathan Perkins, Elizabeth Folsom ; 1 April 1778. 

Primus, CillClough (negroes) ; 19 May 1779. 

Edmund Pearson, Dorothy Swasey ; 26 Oct. 1779. 
Samuel Page, Elizabeth Langdon ; 18 May 1780. 

Robinson Peters, Vilet ; 4 Sept. 1781. 

Oliver Peabody, Frances Bourn; 28 March 1782. 

Robert Parkes, Dolly Gilman; 6 March 1783. 

Samuel Philbrick, Hannah Robinson ; 28 Oct. 1784. 

Daniel Philbrick, Susanna Carty ; 19 Dec. 1790. 

Moses Pike, Hampton Falls, Theodata Sanborn; 6 April 1791. 

Nathaniel Parker, Catharine Tilton ; 14 Nov. 1793. 

Joseph Pearson, Dorothy Giddinge ; 5 April 1795. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 59 

Stephen Perkins, Rochester, Lydia Smith; 23 Feb. 1796. 

Rev. Walter Powers, Gihnanton, Mrs. Elizabeth McClure; 7 Aug. 1805. 

Offin B. Palmer, Wakefield, Sally Roofers ; 25 Sept. 1805. 

William Pearson, Sophia Osborne ; 16 April 1807. 

Nathaniel Page, Charlotte Tilton ; 21 March 1809. 

Joseph Plummer, Jr., Newburyport, Ann Cram; 4 Sept. 1809. 

John Paul, Martha Oilman ; 15 March 1810. 

John Pearson, Jr., Newbui'yport, Harriet P. Cai'lton ; 30 Sept. 1810. 

Jacob Paul, Jr., Catherine Wallace ; 18 Jan. 1813. 

Edmund Pearson, Wells, Mass., Hannah Philbrick ; 16 Oct. 1814. 

Samuel Philbrick, Elizabeth Smith ; 17 Nov. 1814. 

John Peavey, Hannah Daniels ; 16 Jan. 1816. 

Jeremiah Palmer, Elizabeth Moore; 28 Jan. 1816. 

Rev. Gardner B. Perry, Bradford, Mass., Maria P. Chamberlain ; 22 May 

1816. 
James Pearson, Susan Swasey ; 10 Nov. 1816. 
William Perry, Abby Oilman ; 8 April 1818. 

Nathaniel P. Page, Eastport, Me., Mary A. Robinson ; 16 Aug. 1822. 
Dennis Poor, Raymond, Mary Lovering ; 25 April 1824. 
Joseph Perkins, Elizabeth Odlin ; 29 Nov. 1825. 
James G. Page, Newmarket, Elizabeth Sawyer; 6 Dec. 1827. 
Daniel Pearson, Hannah Carter ; 5 June 1831. 
John W. Pettengill, Olive M. Fellows ; 29 Sept. 1833. 
Jeremiah J. Peavey, Luella J. Rowe ; 3 June 1834. 
Benjamin R. Perkins, Mary J. Dolloff; 21 Dec. 1834. 
Lewis W. Perkins, Eliza Leavitt ; Dec. 1829. 
Asher C. Palmer, Boston, Ann R. Folsom ; 27 Aug. 1833. 
William Philbrick, Sarah Lyford ; 29 Aug. 1829. 
AVilliam Parker, Canajoharie, N. Y., Dolly Blake ; 26 April 1834. 
Michael Prescott, Mary N. Hill ; 14 July 1834. 
Samuel Peavey, Sarah Oilman; 30 Oct. 1837. 
Lucian M. Pike, Newmarket, Satira D. Wadleigh ; 22 June 1840. 
Joseph Quince, Martha Oilman ; 29 Dec. 1822. 
Ephi-aim Robinson, Mary Shaw; 24 Jan. 1734-5. 
James Rundlet, Jane McCluer ; 25 Dec. 1777. 
John Robinson, Sarah Smith; 9 Jan. 1777. 
Francis Roberts, Jane Lovrain ; 30 Dec. 1778. 
Benjamin Robinson, Huldah Conner ; 24 July 1781. 
William Robinson, Jane Smith; Sept. 1782. 
Daniel Robinson, Abigail Robinson, Sanbornton ; 7 March 1785. 
Jonathan Rundlet, Anne Johnson; 16 Feb. 1786. 
Joseph Rundlet, Priscilla Wilson; 18 March 1787. 
Joseph Rundlet, Hannah Dow, Epping; 3 Dec. 1788. 
John Robinson, Sanbornton, Lydia Calfe ; 2 Jan. 1790. 
William Robinson, Mary Leavitt ; 12 July 1792. 
Zeehariah Robinson, Rebecca Hall; 21 Nov. 1793. 
James Robinson, Sanbornton, Deborah Dean Lord; 23 Nov. 1793. 



60 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

James Rundlet, Sally Rust; 12 Nov. 1796. 

Josiah Sanborn, Hannah Moulton ; 25 Aui^. 1681. 

Benjamin ShaAv, Molly Sanborn; 16 Sept. 1778. 

John Shepard, Gilmanton, Elizabeth Oilman ; 13 Dec. 1779. 

John Smith, Pheebe Thurston ; 20 Sept. 1781. 

John Sanborn, Anne Sanborn ; 29 July 1782. 

John Setier, Sarah Rundlet; 24 Sept. 1783. 

Benjamin Silsbee, Polly Folsom; 8 Oct. 1786. 

Joseph Smith, Polly Burleigh; 13 Nov. 1786. 

Lowel Rawlins, Sukey Fogg; 28 Dec. 1802. 

Samuel Rowe, Olive Rundlet ; 15 May 1802. 

Wm. F. Rowland, Ann Giddings; 29 Aug. 1802. 

Robert Roberts, Boston, Dorothy Hall ; 15 Dec. 1805. 

Daniel Rundlet, Sophia Folsom ; 6 April 1807. 

Henry A. Ranlett, Mary Fellows; 30 March 1817. 

Trueworthy Robinson, Jr., Lucy Melcher, Kensington; 30 Oct. 1817. 

Thomas S. Robinson, Brentwood, Sophia Gordon; 16 Dec. 1818. 

Jeremiah L. Robinson, Irene Fellows ; 26 Jan. 1823. 

James Robinson, Mary Elliot; 18 Feb. 1827. 

Daniel Ranlett, Sarah G. Smith ; 18 Xov. 1827. 

John Rogers, Martha P. Cram ; 20 March 1828. 

Samuel Rand, Epping, Mary Willey ; 13 April 1829. 

William Rowe, Mary A. Philbrick; Nov. 1836. 

Lucian B. Robee, Elizabeth Dean ; May 1832. - 

Henry Robinson, Almira Kelly; 14 March 1836. 

Jona. Robinson, Jr., Sarah S. Dearborn, North Hampton; 27 Sept. 1837. 

Charles H. Robinson, Ann M. Colcord ; 16 April 1840. 

Levi Rundlett, Irena M. Foye ; 4 July 1841. 

Thomas Swasey, Elizabeth Folsom ; 7 Jan. 1787. 

Zadoch Sanborn, Gilmanton, Abigail Tilton ; 31 Jan. 1788. 

Benjamin Pierce Sherift", Patty Oilman; 29 Sept. 1788. 

Josiah Coffin Smith, Annie Leavitt ; 11 July 1789. 

John Smith, Jr., Elizabeth Calef ; 18 July 1790. 

Rev. Jonathan Strong, Braintree, Joanna Odiorne ; 3 Nov. 1790. 

Joseph Sceavy, Rye, Martha Patten, Candia ; 13 June 1790. 

Nathaniel Sother, Mrs. Esther Chamberlain; 16 Dec. 1790. 

Daniel Smith, Jr., Polly Pickering; 14 Feb. 1791. 

Jonathan F. Sleeper, Dorothy Tilton ; 18 Nov. 1791. 

Titus Sharp, Phena Jacobs (negroes) ; 29 Dec. 1791. 

William Sibley, Gilmanton, Anna Thing, Brentwood ; 6 Sept. 1792. 

Thomas Stickney, Jr., Concord, Mary Ann Odlin; 7 Nov. 1792. 

Josiah Sanborn, Sanbornton, Olive Fogg ; 4 Feb. 1794. 

Simeon Stevens, Stratham, Ruth Sanborn; 8 May 1794. 

Jeremiah Stickney, Portsmouth, Charlotte Odlin ; 4 May 1795. 

John Steel, Elizabeth Hilton ; 2 Nov. 1793. 

Dudley Swasey, Danville, Vt., Apphia Loogee ; 5 March 1796. 

John Sawyer, Lovey Paul (negroes) ; 13 Jan. 1797. 

Robert Steel, Olive Hilton ; 4 Sept. 1796. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 61 

Josiah Sleeper, ^Margaret Taylor ; 29 Sept. 1796. 

Richard Smith, Jr., Seabrook, Hannah Tucker, Pittsfield; 20 Dee. 1798. 

Timothy Smith, Jr., Sanbornton, Polly Smith, Brentwood ; 7 Jan. 1799. 

William Swasey, Mary Piobinson ; 7 Aug. 1800. 

Greenleaf Seavey, Nancy Parks ; 13 July 1806. 

Jacob H. Sanborn, Kingston, Betsey Hoit ; 13 Jan. 1807. 

Joseph Smith, Jr., Sally Dutch ; 17 Nov. 1808. 

Samuel B. Stevens, Newburyport, Joanna Folsom ; 27 Aug. 1810. 

James Smith, Lydia Taylor ; 1810. 

Rufus Swasey, Abigail T. Leavitt ; 30 Aug. 1812. 

Samuel Somerby, Mary Swasey ; 7 Oct. 1812. 

Buswell Stevens, Pembroke, Catharine H. Emery ; 16 May 1814. 

Amos Saunders, Salem, Maria Steele ; 22 July 1816. 

Robert Shute, Emma Smith ; 5 Oct. 1817. 

Benjamin Swasey, Caroline Clark; 15 Oct. 1818. 

Parker Sheldon, Gardiner, Me., Elizabeth W. Conner ; 1 Nov. 1820. 

Hem-y Shute, Eliza R. Smith ; 29 Feb. 1820. 

Lewis Smith, Plymouth, N. H., Henrietta Robinson ; 1 Sept. 1822. 

James Sanborn, Hannah V. Colcord ; 16 Nov. 1823. 

John L. Stokle, Northwood, Mrs. Lydia Oilman; 12 Feb. 1824. 

John Scammon, Stratliam, Mary G. Barker ; 1824. , 

Joseph Safford, Danvers, Mass., Sally R. Folsom ; 10 June 1826. 

Josiah G. Smith, Francis A. Eastham ; 18 June 1826. 

William O. Smith, Mary G. Towle ; 3 May 1827. 

Oliver Smith, Charlotte Rundlett ; 1828. 

Timothy F. Shaw, Mrs. Mary Gale ; 27 July 1829. 

Jeremiah Sawyer, Susan Sheriff; Dec. 1832. 

William L. Swasey, Mary Oilman ; 10 Nov. 1830. 

Lewis F. Shepard, Sarah Dow ; March 1830. 

Elihu T. Stevens, Mary A. Odlin ; June 1832. 

Nathaniel Shute, Fitchburg, Susan G. Barker ; 1 Oct. 1832. 

Thomas Sullivan, Frances A. Leavitt ; 7 Oct. 1836. 

John R. Storey, Caroline C. Tilton ; 24 Dec. 1837. 

Elijah Tilton, Eunice Lee ; 5 April, 1778. 

Ephraim Thursten, Ann Mash; 11 Jan. 1780. 

John Thompson, Anne Wilson, 27 July 1784. 

James Thurston, Elizabeth Peabody, Brentwood; 9 Oct. 1791. 

Caleb Thurston, Jr., Mary Oilman; 17 Nov. 1792. 

John Tilton, Patty Odlin; 30 June 1793. 

Moses Thurston, Sarah Moses; 2 Sept. 1793. 

Nathaniel Taylor, Nancy Eastham; 21 Sept. 1794. 

Simeon Tole, Parsonsfield, Betsey More, Stratham ; 25 March 1794. 

Richard Thayer, Randolph, Mass., Deborah Odiorne; 10 Feb. 1799. 

John Poor Taylor, Lydia Jones ; 22 July 1799. 

Caleb Thurston, Jr., Anne Wiggins ; 31 Aug. 1799. 

Joseph Tilton, Rochester, Nancy Folsom ; 13 Jan. 1806. 

Dudley Thing, Lydia Swasey ; 28 Aug. 1808. 

Dr. Joseph Tilton, Catharine Shackford ; 10 Sept. 1767. 



62 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

John Tilton, Mary Luey : 6 March 1811. 

Abraham Towle, Mary Merrill; 29 Sept. 1816. 

William G. Tash, Sally P. Duce ; 2 Oct. 1819. 

John F. Tilton, Sarah Fogg ; 2 Dec. 1819. 

Winthrop Tilton, Joanna T. ;Morse ; 4 March 1823. 

James Tuttle, Maria Jenks ; 5 Feb. 1824. 

Laban A. Tyler, Mary Ranlet ; 8 April 1824. 

Zebulon G Thing, Sarah A. York, Brentwood ; 16 Xov. 1830. 

Perley Tuck, Kensington, Lavina Saffbrd ; G Jan. 1828. 

Elisha Towle, Kensington, Hannah S. Dolloft"; o April 1829. 

Nathaniel K. Thurston, Bradford, Mass., Sarah ^. York ; 13 May 1832. 

James D. Townsend, Dover, Sarah W. Hook; 21 Sept. 1834. 

William Treadwell, Harriet M. Ladd ; 9 Sept. 1836. 

Joseph Twombly, Shuah Wentworth ; 28 Sept. 1837. 

David D. Thompson, Mary E. King ; 9 Aug. 1840. 

linoch W. Towle, Susannah Perkins ; 15 Nov. 1832. 

James Underwood, Anna Thurston ; 4 Dec. 1777. 

Ned R. Underbill, Chester. Abigail Conner; 27 Aug, 1817. 

John White, Haverhill, Lydia Gilman; 24 Oct. 1687. 

Josiah Weeks, Abigail James; 9 Oct. 1776. 

Joseph Wait, Esther Heerd ; 3 Feb. 1783. 

Ceesar Wallace, Katy Duce ; 2o March 1783. 

Thomas Waters, Portsmouth, Deborah Rundlet; 24 July 1783. 

Cato Wallingsford, Margaret Peterson; 26 Feb. 1784. 

John Wadleigh, Elizabeth Daniels; 3 March 1784. 

Isaac Williams, Elizabeth Jenkins ; 16 Aug. 178(5. 

Nathaniel Weeks, Polly Pottle; 6 May 1787. 

Daniel Williams, Nottingham, Polly Jenkins ; 17 Oct. 1790. 

John AYebb, Polly Corney ; 27 Feb. 1792. 

Abner Wood, Loudon, Dolly Pearson; 18 June 1792. 

Simon Wiggin, Joanna Thurston ; 15 July 1792. 

David Watson, Jr., Lucretia York, Brentwood ; 30 March 1793. 

Joseph Whitfield, Newburyport, Nancy Pauls, Newburyport (negroes) ; 

12 Dec. 1797. 
James Weeks, Elizabeth Marsh; 30 Nov. 1800. 
John Walker, Portsmouth, Dolly Adams; 2 Jan. 1802. 
William Webb, Polly Odiorne. " 
Dan Weed, Gloucester, Lucy Rust ; 7 Dec. 1807. 
Joshua Wiggin, Comfort Wiggin, Newmarket ; 20 April 1809. 
George Wallace, Dolly Pauls; 1 Feb. 1818. 
John Walker, Mary Adjutant; 28 Aug. 1818. 
William Wadleigh, Sally Leavitt ; 1 Jan. 1817. 
John Watson, Newmarket, Betsy Gilman ; 9 Jan. 1822. 
Benjamin Wiggin, Boston, Mary A. Conner ; 2 March 1823. 
Nathaniel Weeks, Harriet B. Gilman ; 6 Aug. 1820. 
Benjamin J. Williams, Maria Thayer; 5 May, 1825. 
Richard B. Ward, Catherine F. Moore ; 2 June 1826. 
Joseph L. White, Mary P. Whitefield, Londonderry; 23 Dec. 1826. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 63 

James AVeeks, Jr , Sarah Sherifl"; o Feb. 1827. 

Ebenezer Wyatt, Sarah M. Leavitt ; 4 Dec. 1828. 

Edward W. Warren, Maliuda Crosby; 3 Nov. 1829. 

Levi Wilson, South Hampton, Eliza A. Fellows ; 15 June 1834. 

Foster G. Whidden, Celestia W. Gridley; 11 Oct. 1835. 

Ebenezer Willis, Mary F. Batchelder ; 22 Feb. 1836. 

John Williams, Abigail P. Stockbridge ; 29 Nov. 1838. 

Jonathan B. Wadleigh, Sarah Hicks ; 21 Oct. 1838. 

Hiram Whittemore, Pembroke, Elizabeth J. Hoyt ; 15 Nov. 1838. 

Jonathan P. West, Sarah F. Card ; 2 Feb. 1840. 

Josiah R. West, Esther G. Card ; 2 Feb. 1840. 

Alvan White, Susan Goodwin; 5 ^Nlarch 1840. 

Jonathan Y. York, Sarah Smith, Stratham ; 17 Nov. 1785. 

John York, Abigail Melcher, Kensington ; 18 Dec. 1802. 

Joseph Young, Sarah B. HaU ; 17 Oct. 1819. 

Isaac P. Yeaton, South Berwick, Me., Frances S. Gordon ; 15 June, 1835. 



BIRTHS. 

FROM THE TOWN UECORDS. 



Samuel, s. of Hannah Adkinson ; 29 March 1766. 

Josiah, s. of Jonathan and Susannah Bradley ; 20 Sept. 1745. 

John, s. of Samuel and Mary Brown; 2 Nov. 1761. 

Sarah, d. of Moses and Anne Coffin; 19 Sept. 1733. 

Frederick, s. of Theodore and Deborah Charlton (Carleton) ; 7 Oct. 1764 ; 

d. 2 Feb. 1766. 
Enoch Coffin March, s. of Peter Chadwick ; 13 Sept. 1818. 
John, s. of Peter Chadwick; 21 Oct. 1821. 
Henry Salter, s. of Andrew and Harriet Cook and grandson of Thomas and 

Mercy Speed ; 18 Jan. 1817. 
Ferdinand, s. of Rev. Ferdinand Ellis ; 12 March 1819. 
Susanna, d. of John and Mary Folsom; 10 May 1718. 
Josiah, s. of John and Mary Folsom; 24 July 1725. 
Abigail, d. of Daniel and Elizabeth Favor ; 21 Dec. 1733. 
James, s. of James and Elizabeth Folsom ; 27 June 1737. 
Charles Lee, s. of Isaac and Frances B. Foster ; 2 March 1836. 
Mary, d. of Stephen and Molly Gorham ; 1 April 1785. 
Mary, d. of Dudley and Mercy Hilton; 22 Oct. 1709. 
Jane, d. of Dr. Eliphalet and Elizabeth Hale ; 9 May 1751. 
John, s. of John Kimming ; 11 June 1670. 
Thomas Dolloff, s. of Martha Kimming; 21 March 1737. 
John, s. of Robert Kimball; 1 Jan. 1771 ; d. 29 Oct. 1849. 



64 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Nathaniel, s. of Dudley and Ann Kimball; 12 Jiyie 1805. 

Samuel Gilman, s. of Heman and Hannah Ladd ; 7 Sept. 1825. 

"William Frederic, s. of Jotham and Deborah Lawrence ; 22 March 1804. 

Alexander Hamilton, s. of Jotham and Caroline Lawrence ; 18 June 1812. 

Abigail Lighten ; 7 Nov. 1713. 

Mary Mann; 4 Sept. 1796. 

John Mann, George Mann (twins); 18 May 1799. 

Horace Edward, s. of Horace W. and Lydia S. Morse ; 4 Aug. 1840. 

Serena Maria, d. of Samuel Tufts and Clarissa Odiorne ; 8 Sept. 1817. 

Jeremiah Dow, s. of Retire H. and Hannah Parker ; 4 Oct. 1833. 

Charles, Jane, children of Charles Rundlett ; 9 May 1676. 

Thomas M., s. of James and Jane Rundlett; 26 Nov. 1798. 

Abigail, d. of Jonathan Smith ; 22 June 1678. 

Sarah, d. of EUsha and Lydia Sanborn ; 21 Aug. 1734. 

Benjamin, s. of Nicholas and Mary Smith; 1 Feb. 1702. 

Lydia, d. of Timothy and Abigail Somes ; 19 June 1760 

John, s. of Timothy and Abigail Somes ; 28 Oct. 1763. 

Catharine Shackford ; 12 Oct. 1745. 

Joseph Tilton ; 25 Sept. 1744. 

George Veasey ; 20 Oct. 1665. 

William, alias Elijah, s. of Elijah and Lydia Vickery ; 17 March 1782. 

Mary, d. of Jesse and Patience Worster ; 16 March 1747-8. 

Elizabeth, d. of Thomas and Susanna Webster; 21 June 1740. 



DEATHS, PRIOR TO THE YEAR 1800. 

FROM THE TOWN RECORDS. 

Deborah Warren, wife of John ; 26 June 1668. 

George Randol ; 15 Feb. 1666-7. 

Catharine Hilton, wife of Edward ; 29 May 1676. 

Antipas Marverick; 2 July 1678. 

Eliphalet Coffin ; 16 Aug. 1736. 

Catharine Shackford, wid. of John ; 16 Dec. 1799. 

Samuel Thursten ; 21 Jan. 1751. 

Anna Wadleigh, wife of Jonathan ; 8 March 1743—4. 

Ralph Hall ; 6 June 1671. 

Col. Samuel Gilman, s. of Nicholas ; 3 Jan. 1785. 

Peter Gilman, s. of John; 1 Dec. 1788. 



HISTORY OF EXETEK. 65 

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES. 

FROM THE EARLIEST TOWN RECORDS. 

The following is a transcript from the earliest book of records 
of the town, and is not embodied in the preceding tables. 

A I'ecord of the births, marriages and deaths of children and 
others in Exeter as they are brought to the clerk of the writs from 
the 6* of the first mo. ('48) or ('49.) 

1. Joseph Cram the son of John Cram and Lide, aged about 15 years, 
departed this hfe, being drounded the 2-ltii of June. 

2. At the same time Joseph Duncom servant to Capt. Wiggen was 
di'ouned, being in the same canoe with tlie other. 

3. Lidde Cram daughter of John Cram was born the 27*^ day of July 
Anno 13 om. 1648. 

Mary Boulter daughter of Nathaniel and Grace Boulter was born about 
the middle of May Ano. Dom. 1648. 

Hanna Pettet daughter of Thomas and Christian Pettet was born the 
beginning of February Anno Dom. 1647. 

Thomas Roby son of Henry and Ruth Roby was born the f day of 

March Anno Dom. 1645 or '46. 

John Roby son of Henry Roby and Ruth was born the 2 day of 
February An. Dom. 1648. 

Mercy Hall daughter of Ralph Hall aged about year and a half 

departed this life in July, 1648. 

Hildea Hall daughter of Ralph and Mary Hall was born the 16^11 of 
April 1649. 



EXETER MARRIAGES, BIRTHS AND DEATHS. 

Taken from the records of old Norfolk County hy William Smith, 
Esq., not on the town records. 

MARRIAGES. 

Nicholas Norris and Sarah Coxe ; 21 Jan. 1664-5. 
Edward Smith and Mary HaU ; 1668. 
Anthony Stanyan and Ann Partridge ; 1 Jan. 1655-6. 
George Veasey and Mary Wiggin ; 23 Jan. 1664. 
John Warren and Deborah Wilson ; 21 Oct. 1650. 
Humphrey Wilson and Judith Hersey ; 21 Dec. 1665. 

' 5a 



66 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

BIRTHS. 

Mary, d. of John Bean ; 18 June 1655. 

Henry, s. of John Bean ; 5 March 1662. 

Mary, d. of Thomas and Mary Cornish ; July 1648. 

Sarah, d. of Cornelius and Sarah Conner ; 23 Aug. 1659. 

Lydia, d. of John and Hester Cram ; 27 July 1648. 

Mary, d. of William Hackett; 2 Dec. 1665. 

Mary, d. of Ralph and Mary Hall ; 15 Jan. 1647. 

Elizabeth, d. of Henry Magoon ; 29 Sept. 1670. 

George, s. of George Veasey ; 20 Oct. 1665. 

Edward, s. of George Veasey ; 27 April 1667. 

A son of Gowen Wilson, b. and d. Nov. 1647. 

DEATHS. 

Edward Eurin (?) ; 9 Nov. 1667. 

Mary, d. of Ralph and Mary Hall; middle of June 1648. 

Edward Veasey ; 7 Nov. 1667. 



BAPTISMS 

OP CHILDREN IN THE FIRST SOCIETY FROM 1743 TO 1763. 

The following list is copied from a manuscript record kept by 
the Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, of all the children baptized by him 
between the years mentioned. It will be seen at once how small 
a proportion of the births are recorded upon the books of the 
town ; probably not nearly one-tenth of the whole number. Mr. 
Odlin's parish embraced only about two-thirds of the families of 
the town ; and children born of parents in the other parish were 
baptized by their minister. Mr. Odlin's manuscript contained 
also a number of names already given in the *•' Family Register," 
and not repeated here, and a few baptisms of children belonging 
to other towns where he preached, and those are omitted. 

The children were usually baptized at the age of from two days 
to one month, accoixling to the convenience of the pastor. Some- 
times there is an interval of only three or four months between the 
baptisms of two in the same family. In such cases one was 
probably considerably older. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 67 

Stephen, s. of Benjamin Atkinson; 26 June 1763. 

Mary, d. of Benjamin Atkinson ; 24 July 1763. 

Joshua and Cornelius, sons of Joshua Batchelder deceased; 16 April 1758. 

Benjamin, s. of Jeremiah Bean ; 26 July 1747. 

John, s. of Joshua Bean; 28 June 1747. 

Abigail, d. of Nathaniel Bean ; 20 March 1747-8. 

Deborah, d. of Sarah Bean ; 7 Nov. 1749. 

Francis, s. of Dudley Beckett; 23 March 1755. 

Dudley, s. of Dudley Beckett; 2 Jan. 1757. 

Deborah, d. of Dudley Beckett; 6 Jan. 1760. 

Sarah, d. of Dudley Beckett ; 1 Nov. 1761. 

Pernal, d. of Francis Becket ; 10 March 1745. 

Deborah, d. of Francis Beckett; 10 Dec. 1747. 

Betty, d. of John Bellomy; 11 July 1762. 

William, s. of Benjamin Boardman ; 4 July 1762, 

Mercy, d. of John Bond; 2 Feb. 1755. 

Jane, d. of John Bond ; 24 July 1757. 

Jean, d. of John Bond ; 10 Dec. 1758. 

Susanna, d. of John Bond ; 29 June 1760. 

John, s. of John Bond ; 5 Sept. 1762. 

Susanna, d. of John Bowden; 13 Sept. 1747, 

Margaret, d. of John Bowden ; 18 Nov. 1753, 

William Tyler, s. of John Bowden ; 5 Oct. 1755, 

Michael, s. of John Bowden ; 2 March 1760. 

Olive, d. of Joshua Brown ; 7 Aug. 1748. 

Dudley, s. of Samuel Brown ; 2 Dec. 1753. 

John, d. of Samuel Brown ; 16 Nov. 1760. 

Elizabeth and John, children of John Bucknal; 14 May 1749. 

Elizabeth, d. of James Calfe; 6 Aug. 1749. 

Jeremiah and James (twins) , sons of James Calfe ; 20 Jan. 1751. 

Lucy, d. of James Calfe ; 31 Oct. 1756. 

Lucy, d. of Jeremiah Calfe, .Tr. ; 3 July 1748. 

Mehitable, d. of Jonathan Cauley; 17 March 1754. 

Levi, s. of Joseph Chapman; 8 Dec. 1754. 

Mary, d. of Josiah Chapman; 29 March 1752. 

Tryphena, d. of Fennel Chapman; 5 Nov. 1758. 

Abigail, d. of Satchell Clark ; 5 Aug. 1750. 

Elisabeth, d. of Satchel Clark ; 15 Feb. 175^. 

Alice, d. of Satchel Clark ; 13 Nov. 1757. 

Abigail, d. of Satchel Clark; 21 Oct. 1759. 

Anne, d. of Thomas Clark ; 2 Jan. 1757. 

Ebenezer, s. of Ebenezer Colcord, Jr. ; 18 Feb. 1753. 

Sarah, d. of Benjamin Connor ; 20 April 1755. 

John and Moses, sons of David Connor; 21 Aug. 1748. 

Hannah, d. of Jeremiah Connor ; 6 April 1 760. 

Tristram Sanborn, s. of Jeremiah Connor; 21 Nov. 1762. 

Mary, d. of John Connor ; 30 Nov. 1755. 

Joseph, s. of Joseph Connor ; 14 Aug. 1 758. 



68 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Jacob, s. of Jonathan Cram ; 13 March 1763. 
Martha, d. of George Creighton ; 20 March 1747-8. 
George, s. of George Creighton; 10 June 1750. 
Eobert Light, s. of Thomas Creighton ; 8 March 1761. 
Thomas, s. of Thomas Creighton; 12 Sept. 1762. 
Isaac, s. of Isaac Currier; 18 July 1762. 
Ephraim, s. of Isaac Currier; 26 Sept. 1762. 
Susanna, d. of Minus Daniels ; 4 April 1762. 
Reuben, s. of Benjamin Darling; 22 July 1762. 
John, s. of Lemuel Davis ; 30 July 1757. 
Ruth, d. of Lemuel Davis; 29 July 1759. ^ 

Abigail, d. of Neheraiah Dean; 17 June 1759. 
Sarah, d. of Thomas Dolloff; 6 Nov. 1748. 
Caleb, s. of Andrew Downer; 11 Aug. 1746. 
Mary, d. of John Dudley ; 23 Nov. 1746. 
Odlin, s. of Capt. TrueAvorthy Dudley; 14 Feb. 1747-^ 
Dorothy, d. of Trueworthy Dudley ; 18 Nov. 1759. 
Dorothy, d. of Trueworthy Dudley ; 5 Sept. 1762. 
John, s! of True. Dudley, Jr. ; 29 Nov. 1747. 
Abigail, d. of George Dutch ; 25 March 1 744. 
Mary, d. of George Dutch ; 20 July 1746. 
Betty, d. of George Dutch ; 29 July 1750. 
Samuel, son of George Dutch ; 24 Dec. 1752. 
John, s. of George Dutch ; 14 Sept. 1755. 
Sarah, d. of George Dutch ; 10 June 1759. 
Mary, d. of Jonathan Edgerly ; 14 May 1758. 
Mary, d. of Jonathan Edgerley ; 28 Sept. 1760. 
John, s. of Jonathan Edgerley ; 18 July 1762. 
Noah, s. of Noah Emery ; 20 Nov. 1748. 
Richard, s. of Noah Emery ; 27 June 1756. 
Joanna, d. of Noah Emery; 24 Sept. 1758. 
Theresia, d. of Noah Emery; 12 April 1761. 
Richard, s. of Noah Emery; 7 Nov. 1762. 
Samuel, s. of Daniel Favour; 14 April 1749. 
Daniel, s. of Daniel Favour; 14 April 1751, 
Susanna, d. of Thomas Flanders ; 2 June 1745. 
Abigail, d. of Thomas Flanders; 19 July 1747. 
Joseph, s. of Thomas Flanders; 30 March 1760. 
Hannah, d. of David Fogg; 14 Sept. 1755. 
David, s. of David Fogg; 5 Feb. 1758. 
Molly, d. of David Fogg ; 30 March 1760. 
Sarah, d. of David Fogg; 6 June 1762. 
Sarah, d. of Enoch Fogg; 14 April 1756. 
Seth s. of John Fogg ; 10 May 1752. 
Miriam, d. of John Fogg; 8 May 1757. 
Jonathan, s. of John Fogg; 27 Aug. 1759. 
John, s. of John Fogg ; 11 Oct. 1761. 
Meribah, d. of Jonathan Fogg; 29 Aug. 1751. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 69 

Meribah, d. of Jonathan Fogg; 19 Aug. 1753. 

Samuel, s. of Josiah Fogg; 31 Oct. 1756. 

Mary, d. of widow Fogg; 20 July 1755. 

Jonathan Kingsbury and Betty, ch. of Daniel Folsom ; 28 June 1747. 

Abigail, d. of James Folsom; 9 Oct. 1743. 

Sarah, d. of John Folsom; 29 April 1750. 

Molly, d. of John Folsom ; 11 March 1753. 

Theophilus, s. of John Folsom ; 29 Aug. 1756. 

Samuel, s. of John Folsom; 17 June 1759. 

James, s. of John Folsom; 25 Dec. 1760. 

Elisabeth, d. of John Folsom ; 8 Nov. 1761. 

Samuel, s. of John Folsom; 18 Sept. 1763. 

Eliphalet, s. of John Folsom, Jr. ; 28 Feb. 1747-8. 

Susanna, d. of John Folsom, Jf. ; 24 Dec. 1752. 

John, s. of John Folsom, Jr. ; 31 Aug. 1755. 

Noah, s. of John Folsom, Jr. ; 12 Feb. 1758. 

Annah, d. of Jonathan Folsom; 23 Oct. 1757. 

Samuel Bradley, s. of Josiah Folsom; 28 June 1747. 

Martha, d. of Josiah Folsom : 4 June 1758. 

Sarah, d. of Josiah, Folsom ; 3 Sept. 1758. 
Lydia, d. of Josiah Folsom ; 16 Sept. 1759. 

Sarah, d. of Josiah Folsom ; 12 April 1761. 

Josiah Oilman, s. of Josiah Folsom ; 13 Feb. 1763. 

Katherine, d. of Peter Folsom ; 8 June 1746.^ 

Anna, d.' of Peter Folsom; 6 March 1747-8. 

EHsabeth, d. of Peter Folsom; 21 June 1752. 

Jonathan, s. of Peter Folsom; 14 July 1754. 

James, s. of Peter Folsom ; 29 Aug. 1756. 

Nicholas, s. of Peter Folsom ; 27 May 1759. 

Samuel, s. of Peter Folsom ; 8 Nov. 1761. 

Anna, d. of Samuel Folsom ; 16 Dec. 1753. 

Anna, d. of Capt. Samuel Folsom : 17 Dec. 1759. ' 

Deborah, d. of Samuel Folsom ; 19 Jan. 1763. 

Mary, d. of Thomas Folsom; 20 Oct. 1760. 

Anna, d. of Trueworthy Folsom; 23 Oct. 1763. 

John, s. of John Fox; 1 June 1755. 

Nathaniel, s. of John Fox; 31 July 1757. 

John, s. of John Furnald; 31 Dec. 1752. 

Bartholomew, s. of Daniel Gale ; 15 April 1750. 

John Cartee, s. of John Gale ; 19 Dec. 1762. 

Susanna, d. of Susanna Gale ; 24 Oct. 1762. 

Josiah, s. of Josiah George; 22 Feb. 1761. 

Elisabeth, d. of Josiah George; 6 Dec. 1761. 

Jean, d. of Andrew Gerrish; 16 Nov. 1760. 

Jonathan, s. of Antipas Oilman; 9 Sept. 1753, 

Dudley, s. of Antipas Oilman ; 16 Nov. 1755. 

Betty, d. of Antipas Oilman; 24 Dec. 1757. 

Alice, d. of Antipas Oilman; 10 Dec. 1758. 



70 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Lydia, d. of Antipas Oilman; 29 Nov. 1761. 

William, s. of Biley Oilman ; 17 Dec. 1752. 

Biley, s. of Biley Oilman; 13 Oct. 1754. 

Hannah, d. of Biley Oilman ; 7 Nov. 1756. 

Molly, d. of Biley Oilman; 2 Dec. 1759. 

Ezekiel, s. of Bradstreet Oilman; 11 Nov. 1750. 

Dudley, s. of Bradstreet Oilman ; 11 Jan. 1756. 

Chase, s. of Bradstreet Oilman ; 19 Feb. 1758. 

Comfort, d. of Bradstreet Oilman ; 16 March 1760. 

Bradstreet, s. of Bradstreet Oilman; 31 Oct. 1762. 

Sarah, d. of Caleb Oilman, Jr. ; 9 March 1755. 

Cartee, s. of Caleb Oilman; 12 Feb. 1758. 

Mary, d. of Caleb Oilman ; 22 Feb. 1761. 

Abigail, d. of Cartee Oilman; 3 Oct. 1762. 

Dolly, d. of Daniel Oilman (Cartee's son) ; 9 Oct. 1748. 

David, s. of David Oilman; 25 May 1746. 

Mary, d. of David Oilman ; 4 Sept. 1748. 

Samuel Folsom, s. of David Oilman ; 25 Nov. 1750. 

Elisabeth, d. of David Oilman; 9 Dec. 1753. 

William, s. of David Oilman; 10 July 1757. 

Betty, d. of David Oilman; 19 Aug. 1759. 

Lydia, d. of Israel Oilman; 28 June 1747. 

Ezekiel, s. of Jeremiah Oilman ; 24 Sept. 1758. 

John, s. of John Oilman, 4th; 14 Feb. 1747-8. 

Mehitable, d. of John Oilman, 4th ; 10 May 1752. 

Dorothy, d. of John Oilman; 8 Aug. 1756. 

John, s. of Jonathan Oilman ; 13 Sept. 1747. 

Samuel, s. of Josiah Oilman ; 17 Jan. 1759. 

Elisabeth, d. of Josiah Oilman ; 24 Aug. 1760. 

Jonathan, s. of Josiah Oilman, Jr. ; 13 Dec. 1761. 

Mary, d. of widow Mary Oilman; 17 Sept. 1760. 

Jonathan, s. of Moses Oilman; 14 Jan. 1759. 

Abigail, d. of Nathaniel Oilman; 10 Dec. 1747. 

Mary, d. of Nehemiah Oilman's widow ; 29 Nov. 1 758. 

Tristram and Sarah, twin children of Peter Oilman, Jr. ; 1 Nov. 1745, 

Nathaniel, s. of Peter Oilman ; 20 Aug. 1 749. 

Peter, s. of Peter Oilman ; 6 Oct. 1754. 

Nabby, d. of Peter Oilman; 21 Nov. 1756. 

Zebulon, s. of Peter Oilman; 24 Sept. 1758. 

Lydia, d. of Peter Oilman ; 19 July 1761. 

Simon, s. of Simon Oilman ; 29 June 1755. 

Nathaniel, s. of Theo. Oilman; 3 Feb. 1751. 

Nathaniel, s. of Theo. Oilman; 20 May 1753. 

Deborah, d. of Theo. Oilman; 13 April 1755. 

Eliphalet, s. of Theophilus Oilman; 13 Feb. 1757. 

Molly, d. of Theophilus Oilman; 12 Aug. 1759. 

Patty, d. of Theophilus Oilman; 6 Sept. 1761. 

Elisabeth, d. of Theophilus Oilman; 11 Sept. 1763. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 71 



Rebecca, d. of Benjamin Gordon; 22 March 1745. 

Benjamin, s. of Benjamin Gordon ; 14 April 1755. 

Benjamin, s. of Benjamin Gordon; 23 Jan. 1757. 

Josiah, s. of Benjamin Goi'don ; 2 July 1758. 

Simeon, s. of Benjamin Gordon; 31 May 1761. 

Esther, d. of James Gordon; 28 March 1762. 

Jacob, s. of John Gordon ; 10 Oct. 1756. 

Nathaniel, s. of Nathaniel Gordon ; 6 April 1760. 

Mary, d. of Nicholas Gordon ; 26 July 1747. 

Abraham, son of Timothy Gordon; 10 July 1748. 

Mary, d. of Daniel Grant; 8 April 1744. 

Paul Hall, s. of Daniel Grant ; 13 Nov. 1748. 

Daniel, s. of Daniel Grant; 17 Jan. 1759. 

Anna, d. of Wilson Graves ; 23 Dec. 1748. 

Jean, d. of Eliphalet Hale ; 12 May 1751. 

Elisabeth, d. of Dr. Eliphalet Hale; 21 March 1758. 

WiUiam, s. of Dr. Eliphalet Hale; 9 July 1758. 

Susanna, d. of Samuel Haley; 2 Feb. 1755. 

Esther, d. of Thomas Haley; 15 July 1744. 

Benjamin, s. of Thomas Haley; 17 May 1747. 

Sarah, d. of Thomas Haley ; 7 Nov. 1756. 

Samuel, s. of Thomas Haley; 17 June 1759. 

Josiah, s. of Samuel Hall ; 22 Dec. 1751. 
Edward, s. of Samuel Hall; 25 Feb. 1753. 

Sarah, d. of Samuel Hall; 23 June 1754. 
Jonathan, s. of John Hopkinson; 23 Oct. 1748. 

Moses, s. of Hopkinson ; 17 March 1754. 

Daniel, s. of Joseph Hoyt; 20 Jan. 1751. 
Jemima, d. of Joseph Hoyt ; 11 April 1756. 
Elizabeth, d. of Joseph Hoyt; 20 Oct. 1760. 
Benjamin, s. of William Hoyt; 14 July 1754. 
William, s. of William Hoyt ; 8 June 1755. 
Sarah, d. of William Hoyt ; 10 July 1757. 
Richard, s. of William Hoyt ; 25 Nov. 1759. 
Nicholas Smith, s. of William Hoyt; 26 Sept. 1762. 
Josiah, s. of Kinsley James ; 13 Feb. 1745. 
Jonathan, s. of Thomas Jennes ; 5 June 1757. 
Bathsheba, d. of John Judkins ; 7 Sept. 1746. 
Abigail, d. of John Judkins; 12 Oct. 1755. 
Bartimeus, s. of Jonathan Judkins ; 30 July 1749. 
Hannah, d. of Amos Kimball ; 23 June 1754. 
Elisabeth, d. of Amos Kimball; 15 Feb. 1756. 
Anna, d. of Amos Kimball ; 15 Oct. 1758. 
Abigail, d. of Samuel Hall; 2 May 1756. 
Nathaniel Bartlett, s. of Samuel Hall ; 11 Dec. 1757. 
Meribah, d. of Samuel Hall ; 3 June 1759. 
Kinsley, s. of Samuel Hall ; 12 Oct. 1760. 
Elisabeth, d. of Samuel Hall ; 5 Dec. 1762. 



72 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Anna, d. of Biley Hardy; 30 Nov. 1746. 

Judith, d. of Biley Hardy ; 9 Oct. 1748. 

Sarah, d. of DucUey Hardy ; 27 April 1746. 

Mary, d. of Dudley Hardy; 8 May 1748. 

Theophilus, s. of Dudley Hardy ; 27 April 1 755. 

Samuel, s. of Samuel Harper ; 31 Jan. 1747-8. 

William, s. of Samuel Hari>er; 14 June 1752. 

John Scribner, s. of Samuel Haii)er ; 4 May 1755. 

Benjamin, s. of Andrew Hilton ; 25 April 1762. 

John, s. of Jeremiah Hilton ; 27 June 1756. 

William, s. of Jeremiah Hilton; 12 Nov. 1758. 

Love and Sarah, ds. of widow Hilton; 10 Nov. 17o4. 

Caleb and Mary, ch. of Jacob Hobbs ; 26 Feb. 1747-8. 

Amos, s. of Amos Kimball; 12 Oct. 1760. 

Abigail, d. of Benjamin Kimball; 28 Oct. 1750. 

Mehitable, d. of Benjamin Kimball; 7 July 1754. 

Caleb, s. of Benjamin Kimball; 9 July 1758. 

Trueworthy, s. of John Kimball, Jr. ; 27 Sept. 1761. 

Peter Sanborn, s. of Joseph Kimball ; 3 Aug. 1760. 

Mary, d. of Nathaniel Kimball; 23 Nov. 1760. 

Sarah, d. of Nathaniel Kimball; 22 May 1763. 

Nathaniel, s. of Thomas Kimball, Jr. ; 27 May 1753. 

Elisabeth, d. of Thomas Kimball^ Jr. ; 2 March 1755. 

Nathaniel, s. of Daniel Ladd ; 9 March 1745-6. 

Nabby, d. of Edwai-d Ladd; 23 July 1749. 

Joseph, s. of Edwai'd Ladd, Jr. ; 30 Jan. 1763. - 

Anna, d. of Elias Ladd; 30 Sept. 1744. 

Peter, s. of Samuel Lamson ; 30 Aug. 1752. 

Katharine, d. of Samuel Lamson ; 3 June 1759. 

Peter, s. of Samuel Lamson ; 31 May 1761. 

Gideon, s. of William Lamson ; 28 June 1747. 

Mary, d. of Daniel Laiy, Ji'. ; 21 Dec. 1746. 

Jonathan, s. of Daniel Lary, Jr.; 4 Sept. 1748. 

Abigail, d. of Samuel Lary ; 29 June 1746. 

]>olly, d. of Samuel Lary ; 3 July 1748. 

Sarah and Mercy, daughters of Joseph Lawrence ; 26 June 1753. 

Molly, d, of Emerson Leavitt; 9 March 1755. 

Jeremiah, s. of Jeremiah Leavitt ; 12 Feb. 1748-9. 

Mary, d. of Jeremiah Leavitt; 21 March 1756. 

Susanna, d. of John Leavitt ; 5 Sept. 1756. 

Josiah, s. of John Leavitt ; 29 April 1759. 

John, s. of John Leavitt, Jr. ; 31 Jan. 1762. 

Plannah, d. of John Leavitt, Jr. ; 9 Oct. 1763. 

Dorothy, d. of Jonathan Leavitt ; 14 Sept. 1746. 

Joseph, s. of Jonathan Leavitt ; 29 Feb. 1747-8. 

Gideon, s. of Jonathan Leavitt; 26 Nov. 1752. 

Hannah, d. of Jonathan Leavitt; 21 April 1754. 

Mary, d. of Jonathan Leavitt ; 24 Oct. 1 756. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 73 



Jonathan, s. of Jonathan Leavitt ; 3 June 1758. 

Ruth, d. of Jonathan Leavitt ; 9 Aug. 1761. 

Selah and Edward, sons of Joseph Leavitt ; 20 June 1759. 

Lydia, d. of Joseph Leavitt; 9 Dec. 1759. 

Mary, d. of Joseph Leavitt; 29 March 1761. 

Dorothy, d. of Joseph Leavitt; 16 Oct. 1763. 

Joseph, s. of Nathaniel Leavitt; 30 Nov. 1755. 

Lydia, d. of Nathaniel Leavitt ; 5 Dec. 1756. 

Moses, s. of Nathaniel Leavitt ; 9 Dec. 1759. 

Abigail, d. of Nehemiah Leavitt; 14 Dec. 1700. 

Reuben, s. of Nehemiah Leavitt ; 13 March 1763. 

Anne, d. of widow Leavitt ; 7 Aug. 1757. 

Olive, d. of Ebenezer Light; 6 Mai'ch 1747-8. 

Mary, d. of Ebenezer Light; 12 Nov. 1749. 

Jonathan, s. of Jonathan Lord; 2 Aug. 1761. 

William, s. of Robert Lord, Jr. ; 5 July 1761. 

Hannah, d. of Edmund Lougee; 1 June 1755. 

Betty, d. of Joseph Lougee ; 13 March 1747-8. 

Joseph, s. of Joseph Lougee ; 12 Aug. 1753. 

Simeon, s. of Joseph Lougee ; 28 Sept. 1755. 

John, s. of Joseph Lougee ; 9 Jan. 1757. 

Nicholas, s. of Joseph Lougee; 2 Sept. 1759. 

Nicholas, s. of Joseph Lougee ; 15 Aug. 1762. 

Mehitable, d. of Moses Lougee; 28 July 1751. 

Jonathan Folsom, s. of Moses Jjougee ; 18 Nov. 1753. 

John, s. of Moses Lougee ; 14 Sept. 1755. 

Noah, s. of Moses Lougee ; 24 Sept. 1758. 

Moses, s. of Moses Lougee; 27 July 1760. 

John, s. of Ebenezer Lovering; 11 April 1762. 

P]lizabeth, d. of John Lovering; 14 Sept. 1746. 

Jonathan, s. of John Lovering; 7 Aug. 1748. 

Jean, d. of John I^overing ; 21 Sept. 1755. 

Anna, d. of John Lovering; Oct. 1758. 

Richard, s. of John Lovering ; 18 Jan. 1761. 

Nathaniel, s. of John Lovering ; 11 July 1762. 

Mary, d. of John Prescott Lovering; 8 Dec. 1754. 

Theophilus, s. of John Prescott Lovering; 21 Nov. 1756. 

Penelope, d. of Moses Lovering ; 31 Aug. 1760. 

Willoughby, s. of Moses Lovering; 31 Jan. 1762. 

Osgood, s. of Moses Lovering ; 10 April 1763. 

Dorothy, d. of Biley Lyford; 7 Sept. 1746. 

Alice, d. of Biley Lyford ; 3 July 1748. 

Alice, d. of Biley Lyford ; 28 April 1751. 

James Oilman, s. of John Lyford; 24 Aug. 1746. 

Dudley, s. of Moses Lyford ; 6 Aug. 1749. 

Francis, s. of Moses Lyford ; 12 May 1751. 

Oliver Smith, s. of Moses Lyford; 26 Aug. 1753. 

Mehitable, d. of Moses Lvford ; 28 Dec. 1755. 



74 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Jonathan, s. of Moses Lyford ; 26 Feb. 1758. 

Kinsley, s. of Theophilus Lj-ford ; 22 June 1759. 

Mary, d. of Theophilus Lyford; 5 July 1761. 

Benjamin, s. of Thomas Lyford ; 16 July 1749. 

Dolly, d. of Alexander Magoon ; 17 June 1750. 

Elizabeth, d. of Alexander Magoon; 3 Dec. 1752. 

Jonathan Leavitt, s. of Alexander Magoon ; 1 June 1755. 

Alexander, s. of Alexander Magoon ; 26 March 1758. 

Mercy, d. of Alexander Magoon ; 4 April 1762. 

Edward, s. of Benjamin Magoon, Jr. ; 26 Sept. 1756. 

Josiah, s. of Benjamin Magoon, Jr. ; 25 June 1758. 

Benjamin, s. of Benjamin Magoon, Jr. ; 17 Aug. 1760. 

Sarah, d. of Benjamin Magoon, Jr. ; 5 Sept. 1762. 

Hannah and Joseph, s. and d. of Joseph Magoon; 18 Sept 1757. 

Ephraim, s. of Joseph Magoon; 28 Jan. 1759. 

Mary, d. of Samuel Magoon; 16 June 1754. 

Hannah, d. of Samuel Magoon; 11 July 1756. 

Elisabeth, d. of Samuel Magoon; 9 July 1758. 

Maria, d. of Henry Marsh; 7 Sept. 1746. 

Anna, d. of Abigail Marshall ; 24 April 1758. 

Jonathan Thing and Simeon, sons of widow Abigail Marshall; 1 Oct. 1758. 

Mercy, d. of Joseph Maylem ; 7 Dec. 1746. 

Elisabeth, d. of Thomas Moore; 13 Nov. 1753. 

Martha, d. of Thomas Moore; 4 June 1759. 

Hannah, d. of Thomas Moore ; 10 July 1763. 

Mary, d. of Thomas Moore, Jr. ; 14 Dec. 1760. 

Josiah, s. of William Mooi-e ; 10 Nov. 1754. 

Josiah, s. of Thomas Nealey; 11 Oct. 1747. 

Sarah, d. of John Nelson; 29 June 1746. 

Olive, d. of John Nelson ; 4 Dec. 1748. 

Jonathan, s. of John Xelson; 12 May 1751. 

Josiah, s. of John Nelson ; 9 Sept. 1753. 

True worthy, s. of John Nelson ; 20 June 1756. 

Josiah, s. of John Nelson; 10 Dec. 1758. 

Anna, d. of John Nelson; 17 May 1761. 

Dudley, s. of Nicholas Nichols ; 10 Aug. 1755. 

John, 8. of Nicholas Nichols ; 3 Dec. 1757. 

Trueworthy, s. of Nicholas Nichols; 9 Sept. 1759. 

Sarah, d. of Captain John Odlin ; 28 Nov. 1756. 

John, s. of Dr. John Odlin; 11 Feb. 1759. 

Mary, d. of John Odlin, Jr. ; 17 July 1757. 

John, s. of John Odlin, Esq. ; 21 Oct. 1759. 

Hitty, d. of John Patridge; 20 March 1747-8. 

Jonathan, s. of John Partridge; 20 May 1750. 

John, s. of John Pai'tridge; 23 Dec. 1759. 

Jethro, s. of Jethro Pearson; 24 Jan. 1744. 

Abigail, d. of Jethro Pearson ; 17 May 1747. 

John, s. of Jethro Pearson; 19 May 1752. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 75 

Edmund, s. of Capt. Jethro Pierson; 30 April 1758. 

Taylor, s. of Joseph Pearson; 20 June 1756. 

Jonathan, s. of Joseph Pearson ; 5 Nov. 1758. 

Joseph, s. of Joseph Pearson; 29 March 1761. 

Jacob, s. of Anthony Peavey; 26 Jan. 1755. 

Anna, d. of Abraham Perkms ; 5 Feb. 1759. 

Jonathan, s. of Abraham Perkins; 30 Nov. 1760. 

Esther, d. of Abraham Perkins; 24 April 1763. 

Jonathan, s. of Jonathan Perkins ; 23 May 1756. 

Joseph, s. of Jonathan Perkins; 28 March 1758. ' 

Anne, d. of Jonathan Perkins; 17 Feb. 1760. 

Joseph, s. of Jonathan Perkins; 5 Sept. 1762. 

Benjamin, s. of Benjamin Philbrick ; 4 Feb. 1749-50. 

Lydia, d. of Benjamin Philbrick; 8 March 1752. 

Samuel, s. of Benjamin Philbrick; 15 Dec. 1754. 

Edward, s. of Benjamin Philbrick; 16 May 1757. 

Samuel, s. of Benjamin Philbrick ; 22 April 1759. 

John, s. of Benjamin Philbrick; 10 May 1761. 

Mary, d. of Benjamin Philbrick ; 19 June 1763. 

Mary, d. of David Philbrick ; 11 Jan. 1761. 

David, s. of David Philbrick ; 21 Feb. 1762. 

Henry, s. of Jacob Pike ; 12 Nov. 1758. 

Abigail, d. of Thomas Piper; 6 Sept. 1761. 

Francis, s. of Thomas Piper; 24 Oct. 1762. 

Jonathan, s. of Jonathan Porter; 8 May 1763. 

Bradstreet, s. of Philemon Prescott ; 21 July 1754. 

Elisabeth, d. of Philemon Prescott; 11 Sept. 1757. 

Mary, d. of Daniel Quimby; 12 April 1747. 

Mary, d. of Daniel Robinson ; 20 April 1755. 

John, s. of Daniel Robinson ; 14 Nov. 1756. 

Mehitable, d. of Daniel Robinson; 20 Aug. 1758. 

Sarah, d. of Daniel Robinson; 25 Nov. 1759. 

Daniel, s. of Daniel Robinson ; 16 May 1762. 

Anne, d. of Ephraim Robinson; 22 Dec. 1754. 

Jonathan and David (twins), s. of Josiah Robinson ; 10 April 1748. 

Dudley, s. of Josiah Robinson; 17 May 1752. 

Sarah, d. of Josiah Robinson; 6 Oct. 1754. 

Lydia, d. of Josiah Robinson; 5 Sept. 1756. 

Trueworthy, s. of Josiah Robinson; 20 Jan. 1760. 

Jeremiah, s. of Josiah Robinson ; 13 Dec. 1761. 

Eliphalet, s. of Eliphalet Rollins ; 17 April 1757. 

Nathaniel, s. of Eliphalet Rollins ; 4 Feb. 1759. 

Joshua, s. of Eliphalet Rollins; 17 May 1761. 

John, s. of Joseph Rollins ; 2 June 1754. 

Mary, d. of Joseph Rollins; 7 Sept. 1755. 

Huldah, d. of Josiah Rollins; 28 June 1747. 

Josiah, s. of Josiah Rollins ; 13 Aug. 1749. 

Hannah, d. of Josiah Rollins; 29 March 1752. 



76 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Anna, d. of Josiah Rollins ; 13 Oct. 1754. 
Mary, d. of Josiah Rollins ; 8 May 1757. 
Rhoda, d. of Josiah Rollins; 27 Aug. 1759. 
Elisabeth, d. of Josiah Rollins ; 26 Sept. 1762. 
Jonathan, s. of Charles Rundlett; 16 March 1755. 
Olive, d. of James Rundlett; 8 Feb. 1746-7. 
Samuel, s. of Satchel Rundlet; 18 March 1753. 
Ruth, d. of Satchel Rundlet ; 18 June 1756. 
Ruth, d. of Satchel Rundlet ; 12 June 1757. 
Debby, d. of Satchel Rundlet; 5 Oct. 1760. 
Benjamin, s. of Benjamin Safford ; 2 April 1758. 
Joseph, s. of Benjamin Safford; 10 July 1763. 
Sarah, d. of Abraham Sanborn; 26 Oct. 1755. 
Mary, d. of Abraham Sanborn; 17 July 1757. 
Tristram, s, of Abraham Sanborn ; 20 March 1763. 
John, s. of Eiisha Sanborn ; 28 June 1747. 
Stephen, s. of Phebe Sanborn; 2 Sept. 1750. 
Daniel, s. of Edward Scribner ; 31 July 1748. 
John, s. of Edward Scribner; 18 Sept. 1757. 
Anna, d. of John Scribner; 2 Feb. 1755. 
Constant, d. of John Scribner ; 20 July 1760. 
John, s. of John Scribner, Jr., 5 Aug. 1750. 
John, s. of Joseph Scribner ; 9 Feb. 1755. 
Samuel, s. of William Sibley ; 2 Jan. 1 763. 
Benjamin Folsom, s. of James Sinclair; 22 Nov. 1761. 
Elisabeth, d. of Richard Sinclair; 25 July 1762. 
Ebenezer, s. of Richard Sinclair; 29 Aug. 1762. 
Lydia, d. of Benjamin Smith; 30 Dec. 1753. 
Betty, d. of Benjamin Smith ; 15 Sept. 1757. 
Daniel, s. of Ebenezer Smith; 8 May 1763. 
Biley, s. of Israel Smith; 14 June 1747. 
Eliphalet, s. of Jacob Smith; 18 April 1762. 
Elizabeth, d. of Joseph Smith; 31 March 1754. 
Sarah, d. of Joseph Smith ; 7 Sept. 1755. 
Benjamin, s. of Joseph Smith; 31 Oct. 1756. 
Ljdia, d. of Joseph Smith; 13 Jan. 1760. 
Mehitable, d. of Joseph Smith; 22 Nov. 1761. 
Biley, s. of Joseph Smith, Jr. ; 24 May 1752. 
Reuben, s. of Reuben Smith, Jr.; 27 Dec. 1747. 
Tabitha, d. of Reuben Smith ; 13 Aug. 1749. 
Mehitable, d. of Widow Smith; 16 Aug. 1757. 
Lydia, d. of Timothy Somes ; 22 June 1760. 
John, s. of Timothy Somes ; 30 Oct. 1763. 
Josiah, s. of Henry Steel; 8 March 1746-7. 
Joseph, s. of Henry Steel ; 9 Oct. 1748. 
Joseph, s. of Henry Steel ; 20 Jan. 1754. 
Anna, d. of Hem-y Steel; 11 Jan. 1756. 
Ehsabeth, d. of Henry Steel ; 9 April 1758. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 77 



Eliphalet, s. of John Steel ; 27 Feb. 1757. 
Sarah, d. of Edward Stevens; 13 Nov. 1748. 
Abigail, d. of Edward Stevens; 8 June 1755. 
Patience, d. of Haley Stevens ; 8 Feb. 1746-7. 
John, s. of Nathaniel Stevens; 29 Sept. 1754. 
Ebenezer, s. of John Swazey ; 12 Sept. 1756. 
Abigail, d. of John Swazey; 14 Jan. 1759. 
John, s. of John Swazey; 14 Dec. 1760. 
Thomas, s. of John Swazey ; 17 April 1763. 
Elizabeth, d. of Joseph Swasey ; 10 Feb. 1751. 
Apphiah, d. of Joseph Swasey ; 9 Sept. 1753. 
Sarah, d. of Daniel Taylor ; 2 Sept. 1759. 
Mary, d. of Daniel Taylor ; 27 Sept. 1761. 
Betty, d. of John Taylor; 21 June 1747. 
Dolly, d. of John Taylor; 5 March 1748-9. 
Osgood, s. of John Taylor ; 4 Aug. 1751. 
John, s. of John Taylor ; 2 Sept. 1 753. 
Rebecca, d. of Joseph Taylor, Jr. ; 19 Oct. 1755. 
Sarah, d. of Coffin Thing"; 21 June 1759. 
Abigail, d. of Josiah Thing; 21 June 1747. 
Abigail, d. of Winthrop Thing; 16 Dec. 1753. 
Winthrop, s. of Winthrop Thing ; 23 March 1755. 
Deborah, d. of Winthrop Thing ; 30 Jan. 1757. 
Elisabeth, d. of Winthrop Thing; 18 Feb. 1759. 
Anna, d. of John Thompson; 16 Jan. 1754. 
Mary, d. of John Thompson; 29 Feb. 1756. 
Lydia, d. of John Thompson ; 9 April 1758. 
John, s. of John Thompson; 10 Feb. 1760. 
Anna, d. of John Thompson ; 6 June 1762. 
Ephraim, s. of Ichabod Thurston; 17 June 1753. 
James, s. of Ichabod Thurston; 11 April 1756. 
Anna, d. of Ichabod Thurston; 11 June 1758. 
Martha, d. of Ichabod Thurston ; 7 Dec. 1760. 
Huldah, d. of Christopher Toppan; 20 Aug. 1749. 
John, s. of Christopher Toppan; 17 Nov. 1754. 
Samuel, s. of Christopher Toppan ; 14 May 1758. 
John, s. of Christoplrer Toppan ; 6 July 1760. 
Abraham, s. of Christopher Toppan; 13 March 1763. 
Peter Oilman, s. of Daniel Tilton : 13 Aprd 1755, 
Robert, s. of Daniel Tilton; 27 Feb. 1757. 
Elisabeth, d. of Daniel Tilton; 9 March 1760. 
Mary, d. of Daniel Tilton; 30 Jan. 1763. 
Samuel, s. of Jeremiah Veasey ; 5 April 1747. 
Sarah, d. of Elijah Vickery ; 7 Sept. 1746. 
Hannah, d. of Elijah Vickery; 26 Feb. 1748-9. 
Nabby, d. of Elijah Vickery; 21 Oct. 1750. 
Betty, d. of Elijah Vickery ; 17 Nov. 1754. 
Samuel, s. of Joshua Vickerv ; 25 Jan. 1756. 



78 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

Judith, d. of Joshua Vickery ; 19 June 1757. 

Elisabeth, d. of Edward Wadleigh ; 10 June 1753. 

John, s. of Edward Wadleigh; 6 April 1755. 

Mary, d. of Edward Wadleigh; 30 July 1757. 

Abraham, s. of Edward Wadleigh ; 29 April 1759. 

Lydia, d. of Edward Wadleigh; 3 Aug. 1760. 

Sarah, d. of Edward Wadleigh; 12 Dec. 1762. 

Daniel, s. of Daniel AVard ; 30 July 1749. 

Sarah, d. of Daniel Ward; 10 Nov. 1754. 

Nathaniel, s. of Daniel Ward ; IS June 1758. 

Benjamin, s. of Daniel Ward ; 20 April 1760. . 

Andrew, s. of Daniel Ward ; 8 May 1763. 

Winthrop, s. of Winthrop Watson; 5 Nov. 1756. 

Winthrop, s. of Winthrop Watson; 25 April 1760. 

Dudley, s. of Matthias Weeks; 9 May 1762. 

John, s. of Matthias Weeks ; 12 Sept. 1762. 

Nabby, d. of James Whidden; 19 July 1747. 

Joseph, s. of Joseph Wiggin; 19 Dec. 1762. 

David, s. of Nathaniel Wiggin ; 16 May 1757. 

Deborah, d. of Humphrey Wilson ; 23 Nov. 1746. 

Susanna and Betty, twin ch. of Joshua Wilson ; 13 March 1747-8. 

Rebecca, d. of Joshua Wilson; 29 Oct. 1749. 

John, s of James Young; 14 Feb. 1747-8. 

Samuel and Daniel, twin s. of Jonathan Young; 9 Oct. 1743. 



PUBLISHMENTS 

OF INTENTIONS OF MARRIAGE IN EXETER FROM 1783 TO 1800. 

JosiAH GiLMAN, Jr., clevk of the town between the above dates, 
kept a memorandum-book in which he set down all the publish- 
ments made during his term of office. The subsequent marriages 
of the parties appear upon the town records in about one-half of 
the cases. Of course it is to be presumed that marriages were 
duly solemnized in all the other cases, with possibly a few excep- 
tions. 

The following list is transcribed from Mr. Oilman's memo- 
randum ; omitting of course the publishments of parties whose 
marriages already appear in this work. 

Lt. Samuel Adams, Elizabeth Parker; 1 May 1784. 

Ezekiel Barstow, Mary Conner; 27 Sept. 1799. 

Edmund Batchelder, Mary Lord ; 26 Oct. 1799. 

John Bean of Poplin, Molly Kimball; 25 March 1786. 

Dudley Beckett, Hannah Langiey; 25 March 1792. 

Francis Becket, Sally Dudley ; 2 Oct. 1790. 

Azariah Beede of Kingston, Elizabeth Lord ; 8 July 1786. 

Jacob Blasdel, Elizabeth Sanborn; 17 Dec. 1784. 

Robert Bond, Hannah Calfe ; 14 Jan. 1792. 

Capt. Nathaniel Boardman, Susanna Smith ; 18 Jan. 1800. 

John Brimhall, Dorothy Richardson of Newmarket ; 11 Aug. 1791. 

William Brooks, Tabitiia Glover of Marblehead ; 22 Aug. 1786. 

John Burley, Abigail Smith ; 19 March 1785. 

Jeremiah Calfe of Sanbornton, Mrs. Hannah Creighton; 3 Nov. 1797. 

Rev. Thomas Cary of Newbury, Deborah Prince ; 16 Aug. 1783. 

John Chase of Kensington, Martha Thurston ; Nov. 1783. 

Thomas Cheswell, Betsey Eastham ; 28 Oct. 1787. 

Thomas Clark of Nottingham, Mary Colcord; 29 Sept. 1792. 

Gideon Colcord of Newmarket, Mrs. Lois Lyford ; 19 July 1799. 

Benjamin Conner, Jr., Elizabeth Shepard of Brentwood; 16 Oct. 1784. 

John Conner, Jr., Nancy Shepard of Brentwood ; 16 April 1791. 

John Cook, Elizabeth Blasdell; 9 Aug. 1783. 

Richard Cross, Lj'dia Harford ; 27 June 1 789. 

79 



80 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

George Curtis, Temperance Dame; 19 April 1783. 

Josiah Danford of New Andover, Sarah Judkins ; 4 Dec. 1785. 

John Daniels, Abigail Taylor; 18 June 1791. 

Joseph Daniels, Molly Akers ; 30 Oct. 1790. 

Nathaniel Davis, Anne Fall of Kingston ; 2-3 Nov. 1797. 

Ward Clark Dean, Margaret Wood of Charlestown; 3 Nov. 1796. 

Gideon Doe of Parsonsfield, Mrs. Sarah Gilman ; 12 July 1799. 

Richard DollofT, Judith Fellows ; 12 June 1785. 

Richard DoUoff, Jr., Tammy Knowlton of Ipswich ; 10 May 1788. 

Benjamin Dow, Catharine Robinson; 24 Feb. 1787. 

Chandler Dow of Epping, Abigail Robinson ; 6 March 1790. 

Zebulon Duda of Newmarket, Mary Gilman; 14 July 1796. 

Francis B. Eastham, Love Tuck of Kensington ; 18 Sept. 1785. 

Nehemiah Emery, Mary Henderson ; 6 April 1799. 

Robert Emery, Eunice Orne of Salem, Mass. ; 15 June 1795. 

Cato Fiske, Alice Wooso of Brentwood ; 17 Nov. 1785. 

Abel Fogg, Polly Smith of Stratham ; 14 Feb. 1795. 

Jonathan Folsam, Sarah Green of Stratham ; 2 Oct. 1784. 

Josiah Folsom, Jr., Sally Lane of Stratham ; 3 Oct. 1795. 

Nehemiah Folsom, Elizabeth Taylor of Hampton; 21 May 1791. 

Nicholas Folsom, Dorothy Leavitt of Northfield ; 27 June 1784. 

Simeon Folsom, Mary Leavitt; 18 Jan. 1800. 

James Foster of Canterbury, Mrs. Betsey Sanborn ; 27 Nov. 1789. 

Antipas Oilman, Deborah Duda of Newmarket; 18 March 1796. 

Ephraim D. Gilman, Abigail Sanborn of Barnstead; 20 Aug. 1791. 

James Gilman, Jr., Betsey Lyford; 12 Dec. 1789. 

Joseph Gilman of Gilmanton, Sarah Fogg; 17 Aug. 1798. 

Theophilus Gilman. Jr., Lois Lyford; 16 Oct. 1790. 

Benjamin Gordon, Lydia Eastman of Kensington ; 23 Oct. 1790. 

Joseph Gordon, Jr., Sarah Smith of Stratham ; 14 Feb. 1789. 

William Gordon, Hannah Ladd ; March 1784. 

Benjamin Graves, Jr., Polly Taylor of Brentwood; 6 Jan. 1792. 

James Hackett, Mrs. Elizabeth Hodge of Newmarket; 18 March 1790. 

William Hale, Frances Haven of Wakefield ; 15 Nov. 1788. 

Capt. William Hale, Sally Farley of Newcastle, Me. ; 22 Dec. 1799. 

Jude Hall, Rhoda Paul ;" 21 Jan. 1786. 

John Hamilton, Mary Eastham ; 12 March 1796. 

James Hanaford, Mercy Dudley; 31 July 1784. 

Joshua Hill, Lucy Chase of Stratham ; 18 Sept. 1789. 

Edward Hilton, 3d. of Newmarket, Elizabeth Watson ; 24 Aug. 1792. 

Winthrop Hilton, Hepsibah Dockum ; 7 Nov. 1788. 

Dudley Bradstreet Hobart, Sophia Dearborn of Pittston, Mass. ; 17 Jan. 1790. 

Samuel Hobart, Sarah Adams ; 16 Oct. 1784. 

Stephen Hodgdon of Limerick, Mai-y Hill ; June 1788. 

William Hoit, Elizabeth Young Trickey, residents ; 23 Feb. 1793. 

William Hook of Salisbury, Sarah Watson; 17 May 1794. 

Samuel Hopkinson, Hannah Thurston ; 25 Feb. 1792. 

Capt. Henry Jackson of Boston, Hannah Swett; 14 Sept. 1799. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 81 

David Jewett, Polly Shepard of Brentwood; 7 Oct. 1786. 

Caleb Johnson of Hampstead, Maiy Thurston; 13 Aug. 1785. 

John Johnson, Margaret Greenough ; 5 Sept. 1789. 

Seth Johnson, Jr., of Haverhill, Ruth Graves : 11 June 1791. 

Samuel Judkins, Mary Gushing; 5 March 1785. 

Daniel Kelly of North Hampton, Polly Nichols ; 6 June 1790. 

William Kelly, Elizabeth Robinson ; 28 June 1788. 

Daniel Kimball, Sally Oilman ; 17 Jan. 1790. 

John Lamson, Sally Townsend of Charlestown ; 26 Sept. 1793. 

Oilman Leavitt of Brentwood, Lydia Barker; 29 April 1786. 

Luke Libbey, Nancy Crocker ; 2S Nov. 1784. 

Samuel Loud, Sarah Elliott ; 2 July 1791. 

Joseph Lovering, Eunice Smith of Newbury ; 20 Jan. 1798. ■ 

Francis Lyford, Mary Oilman (Biley's) ; 27 Sept. 1783. 

James Lyford of Canterbury, Deborah Lyford ; 8 Sept. 1792. 

John Lyford, Anne Hilton of Kingston; 30 Aug. 1799. 

Theodore Lyford, Rachel Colcord of Newmarket ; 16 Sept. 1797. 

Capt. Henry McClintock of Greenland, Anne Halliburton : 6 July 1799. 

Stephen Marsh of Hubbardston, Betsey Webster ; 4 Jan. 1788. 

John Melcher of Gilraanton, Rebecca Grant; 17 Aug. 1798. 

Daniel Williams Merrill, Mary Wilson Trickey, residents ; 26 Jan. 1793. 

Jonathan Moody of Brentwood, Betsey Haley ; 9 Dec. 1787. 

William Moody of Newbury, Sarah Kimball; 29 Sept. 1787. 

Coffin Moore of Lancaster, Dolly Leavitt ; 6 Feb. 1790. 

Joseph Moses, Martha Wiggin of Stratham ; 25 Jan. 1800. 

William Moulton, Molly Page of North Hampton ; 24 Oct. 1795. 

Nicholas NicoUe, Jr., Catharine Sanborn ; 18 Dec. 1785. 

John Nichols, Esther Proctor of Kingston; 19 June 1785. 

James Norris, Lydia Sherriff; Nov. 1783. 

Charles O'Conner, Mary Spenley ; 28 May 1785. 

George Odiorne, Polly Brackett of Quincy ; 12 Nov. 1794. 

Samuel Odlin, Polly Groves of Beverly ; 4 Feb. 1792. 

Jacob Paul, Dorcas Avery of Kingston; 3 Sept. 1791. 

Scipio Paul, Sarah Phelp of Pembroke ; 17 July 1789. 

James Pickering, Piosamond Fabins of Newington ; 17 Feb. 1798. 

Moses Pierce of South Hampton, Anne Lovering ; 8 June 1799. 

John Philbrick, Mehitable Lary of Stratham ; 20 Sept. 1788. 

Jeremiah Prescott of Gilmanton, Polly Swasey ; 16 July 1785. 

John Prescott, Elizabeth NicoUe ; 20 June 1795. 

Jacob Randall, Rebecca Masters ; 22 Dec. 1792. 

Thomas Rankin, Mrs. Esther McKim ; March 1784. 

Henry Ranlet. Betsey Hall ; 20 Jan. 1787. 

Caleb" Robinson, Jr., Judith Robinson; 18 Feb. 1792. 

Jeremiah Robinson, Mary Page of North Hampton ; 2 Oct. 1784. 

John Ptobinson, Elizabeth Smith of Stratham ; 23 July 1796. 

Jonathan Robinson, Mary Rollins ; 7 Feb. 1796. 

Joseph Robinson, Jr., Sarah Dow of Epping; 9 Dec. 1796. 

Daniel Rollins of Sanbornton, Abigail Godfrey ; 17 Dec. 1796. 
6a 



82 HISTORY OF EXETER. 

John Rook of Nova Scotia, Elizabeth March ; 26. March 1785. 

Rev. William F. Rowland, Sally Ladd of Portsmouth ; 10 June 1 793. 

David Rundlett of Stratham, Rhoda Robinson ; 11 Aug. 1794. 

Josiah Rundlett, Mary Ward ; 10 Aug. 1793. 

Samuel Rust, Jr., Betsey Beckett ; 18 March 1795. 

Benjamin Saflbrd, Jr., Judith Vickery of Hampton Falls; 22 April 1786. 

Joseph Safford, Betty Towle of Hampton ; 29 Oct. 1791. 

Lieut. Abraham Sanborn, Mrs. Mary Parsons of Amesbury ; 31 July 1790. 

Edward Sanborn of Epping, Deborah Gushing ; 3 Sept. 1791. 

Jeremiah Sanborn of Sanbornton, Theodate Sanborn; 3 Oct. 1786. 

Jesse Sanborn, Sally Stevens of Stratham; 14 Jan. 1796. 

William Sanborn, Anne Lovering of North Hampton ; 18 Jan. 1794. 

William Seward of Boston; Hannah Hackett ; 10 Feb. 1798. 

John Shaw, Elizabeth Folsom ; 28 May 1785. 

Nathan Shaw of Kensington, Sarah Haines; 3 Nov. 1787. 

Jonathan Shepard, Elizabeth Severance of Kingston ; 1 Dec. 1792. 

William Short, Patty Nowell of Newburyport ; 9 Dec. 1787. 

Levi Sleeper of Kingston, EHzabeth Lovering; 1 Feb. 1800. 

Caleb Smith, Lydia Gordon ; 12 Dec. 1789. 

David Smith, Sally Bennett ; 25 June 1795. 

Ebenezer Smith of Gilmanton, Judith Pearson; 3 Jan. 1789. 

John Smith, Hannah Wiggin of Stratham ; 8 March 1794. 

Peter Smith of Brentwood, Hannah Sanborn; 2 Aug. 1783. 

Reuben Smith. Elizabeth Wadleigh ; 9 May 1789. 

Richard Smith of Pittsfield, Sally Oilman; 16 July 1785. 

Chase Stevens, Hannah Dow; 29 Dec. 1798. 

George Sullivan, Clarissa Larason ; 7 Sept. 1799. 

Ebenezer Swasey, Jr., Mary Lyford ; Jan. 1784. 

Joseph Swasey, 3d, Elizabeth Fogg ; 7 Aug. 1790. 

Nathaniel Swasey, Mehitable Rowe ; 25 Aug. 1792. 

Dr. Samuel Tenney, Tabitha Oilman; 6 Sept. 1788. 

Lieut. Winthrop Thing, Lydia Oilman; 28 March 1794. 

Daniel Thurston of Stratham, Hannah Creighton ; 1 June 1792. 

Oliver Thurston, Anstris Cross; 25 Aug. 1792. 

Reuben Thurston, Sarah Cross ; 19 Nov. 1796. 

David Tilton of Hampton Falls, Mrs. Mary Merrill; 11 Jan. 1800. 

George Trefetheren, Anne Hilton ; 3 Jan. 1 789. 

John Wadleigh, Polly Becket ; 25 Dec. 1785. 

David Watson, Elizabeth Hook of Chichester ; 21 May 1795. 

AVilliam Webb, Deborah Nelson; 30 April 1795. 

Benjamin Wentworth of Portsmouth, Abigail Bennett ; 17 May 1795. 

Gideon Wiggin, Dorothy Lyford ; 22 July 1797. 

Joseph Wiggin, Jr., Mehitable Kimball; Aug. 1788. 

John Wilson of Sandwich, Abigail B. Hopkinson ; 6 Aug. 1791. 

Samuel Winslow, Sally Johnson ; 25 July 1794. 

Daniel York of Brentwood, Anne Smart ; 17 Sept. 1799. 



INDEX. 



The alphabetical arrangement of names which is adopted in 
this work is believed to obviate, in great part, the need of a very 
copions index. 



Abbot, Benjamin, 294. 

Academy, Phillips Exeter, 126. 

Advent society and pastors, 207. 

Allen V. Waldron, 10. 

Andros, Edmund, 6S. 

Antinomian, 6. 

Aqueduct, 101, 103. 

Association test of 1776, 90. 

Authors in Exeter, 311. 

Bachiler, Stephen, 15.5, 156. 

Banks, 343. 

Baptisms in first society. Gen., 66. 

Baptist society and pastors, 201. 

Barker, Josiah, 86, 93. 

Barlow, George, IS, 22. 

Bates, George, 12, 22. 

Bean, John, 59, 119. 

Bells, 183, 188. 

Bell. James, 107, 368. 

Bicentennial celebration, 106; ad- 
dress. Appendix III. 448. 

Biggs, Thomas, 43, 44, 59, 131. 

Births in Exeter, Gen., 63, 

Blake, Sherburne, 107, 108. 

Booth, Robert, 59, 131. 

Boulter, Nathaniel, 44, 45, 59, 131. 

Bounds of Exeter, 113: enlargement 
of, 117. 

Brentwood parish set off, 184. 

Bridges, 124, 125. 

Bridger, Col. John, 70, 72. 

Brooks, Samuel, 84, 85, 86, 88, 93, 
197. 



Bulgar, Richard, 12, 17, 19, 22, 44, 

47, 48, 131. 
Burial-places, 408. 
Burley, James, 108, 395. 
Bursley, John, 45, 59. 
Cadets, Exeter, 239. 
Carleton, Theodore, 80, 85, 86, 88. 
Cartee, Philip, 59, 65, 119. 
Cass, Jonathan, 98, 394. 
Cass, LeAvis, 108, 394. 
Cattle, care of the, 49. 
Census of 1775, 87. 
Chadwick, Peter, 107, 198, 421. 
Chesley, Philip, 59. 
Christian society and pastors, 204. 
Church, first, 12 ; re-organized, 174. 
Clark, Rev. John, 171, 175, 176. 
Clark, John, 59, 116. 
Clifibrd, Ebenezer, 418. 
Cobbs, Waddy V., 396. 
Coffin, Eliphalet, 80, 180. 
Coffin, Peter, 69, 72, 80, 86, 88, 93, 

171, 172, 174, 175, 176, 177, 181, 

221, 239, 351. 
Colcord, Edward, 9, 23. 
Colcord, Harvey, 201. 
Cole, William, 8, 18, 23, 44. 
Collins, Moses N., 281. 
Colored population, 395. 
" Combination" for government, 15. 
Common field, 133, 137, 141. 
Compton, John, 8, 23, 318. 
Conner family, 392. 
83 



84 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Connor, Jeremiah, 59, 71, 181, 182. I 
Constitution, earliest written, 89. 
Conventions, constitutional, 95, 99, 

101. 
Copeland, Lawrence, 8, 24. 
Copyhold, 73. 
Cornish, Thomas, 59, 114. 
Cotton, Rev. John, 6, 169. 
Court-house, 71, 101, 106, 108. 
Cram, John, 18, 24,44. 
Cranfield, Edward, 63, 64, 65, 66. 
Crawley's falls, 322. 
Crawley, Thomas, 18, 24, 131, 322. 
Crown Point expeditions, 233. 
Cunningham, Timothy, 227. 
Deane, Thomas, 180, 378. 
Dean, Ward Clark, 101. 
Dearborn, Godfrey, 18, 25. 
Dearborn, Henry, 245. 
Deaths in Exeter, Gen., 64. 
Derby, James, 341. 
Dollofi; Cln-istian, 59, 65, 119. 
DoUoff, Richard, children, 225. 
Drake, Abraham, 44, 45, 59, 123. 
Dudley family, 390. 
Dudlev, Biley, 59, 167, 169, 175. 
Dudley, John, 80, 200, 390. 
Dudley, Rev. Samuel, engaged, 159; 
defended, 161; new contract, 164; 
his salary, 166; death of, 168. 
Dudley, Theophilus, 59, 72, 167, 174, 

175, 176, 177. 
Dunbar, David, 73, 74, 75. 
Elkins, Henry, 12, 17, 25, 59. 
Emery, Noah, 80, 89, 91, 99, 247, 

355. 
Episcopal society and pastors, 210. 
Epping parish set oft', 184. 
Exeter, 5, 10, 11 ; statistics, 425. 
Families, early: Dudley, 390; Fol- 
som, 391 ; Leavitt, Thing, Con- 
ner, Lyford, 392 ; Gordon, Robin- 
son, Smith, Odlin, etc., 393. 
Family Registers, Gen., 3. 
Farrar, Timothy, 107, 370. 
Fellowes, .Teremiah, 364. 



Female academy, 299. 

Field, Darby, 14, 18, 25. 

Fire engines, 101, 103; steam 110. 

Fish, Gabriel, 16, 17, 25. 

Fishery in rivers, 47. 

Flats divided, 132. 

Folsom family, 391. 

Folsom, John, 53, 56, 59, 65, 66, 

116, 118, 119, 123, 171, 175, 180, 

182. 
Folsom, Nathaniel, 59, 65, 80, 81, 

83, 86, 87, 93, 232, 234, 391. 
Folsom, Peter, 57, 58, 59, 65, 116, 

119, 167, 171. 
Folsom, Samuel, 59, 80, 81, 82, 86, 

93, 239, 391. 
Fort William and Mary, raid upon, 

240; powder from, 241. 
Fowle, Robert L., 96, 301. 
French, Henry F., 372. 
Furnald, Joseph, 107. 

Gardner, John, 419. 
Garland, John, 59, 62, 161. 
General court, 7, 13, 44, 46, 48. 
Giddinge, Eliphalet, 91, 93, 190, 422. 
Giddinge, John, 80, 84, 86, 87, 89, 

91, 380. 
Giddinge, Zebulon, 73, 75, 78, 188, 

422. 
Gilman, Daniel, 423. 
Gilman, Edward, 57, 58, 59, 66, 67, 

116, 158, 159, 162, 163, 167,318. 
Gilman, Edward, Jr., 49, 59, 114, 

123. 

Gilman, Ezekiel, 231. 

Gilman, John, 58,59,64, 69, 74, 115, 

117, 118, 119, 125, 163, 164, 171, 
174, 175, 179, 181, 349. 

Gilman, Major John, 336. 

Gilman, John T., 92, 93, 99, 104. 

126, 421. 
Gilman, Joseph, 81, 84, 86, 91, 419. 
Gilman, Josiah, 80, 82, 93, 181, 194. 
Gilman, Moses, 59, 118, 119, 171. 
Gilman, Nathaniel, 97, 180, 182, 198. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



85 



Oilman, Nathaniel 3cl 106. 108, 126, 

191, 2.57. 

Oilman, Nicholas, 70, 74, 80, 81, S4, 

86, 87, 92, 98, 99, 120, 126, 174, 

175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 185, 352. 

Oilman, Nicholas, Jr., gift for pious 

uses, 195. 
Oilman, Peter, 78, 80, 81, 82, 180, 

182, 189, 194, 195, 416. 
Oilman, Samuel, 73, 76, 80, 82, 84, 

180, 181, 186, 194, 195, 352. 
Oordon family, 393. 
Oordon, Alexander, 59, 218. 
Oordon, Nathaniel, 86, 91, 93. 
Oordon, Nicholas, 70, 179, 181. 
Oorham, David W., 387. 
Gove's rebellion against Cranfield, 

63. 
Orants of lands by town in 1643 
and 1644, 131 ; in 1645, 6, 7, 132 ; 
in 1648, 9, 50, 133; in 1651-2, 
134; in 1654 to 1664, 135; 1665- 
1678,136; 1681 to 1693, 137; in 
1697-8, 138; 1699 to 1706, 139; 
1706 to 1724, 143; in 1725, 141 ; 
in 1740, 146. 
Orant, Daniel, 91. 
Orant, Francis, 308. 
Ore at bay, 3. 
Oreendeld. Samuel, 45. 47, 48, 51, 

59, 131. 
Orist-mills, 324. 
Oross, Isaac, 12, 19, 26. 
Ilackett, James, 243, 338. 
Hale, Eliphalet, 86, 93, 380. 
Hall, Kinsley, 61, 65, 169, 173, 174, 

175, 350. 
Hall, Ealph, 4, 18, 26, 62, 65, 116, 

118,119, 131, 166. 
Hatch, Samuel, 395. 
Helme, Chi-istopher, IS, 26. 
Hethersay, Ptobert, 45, 60, 131. 
Highways, repairs of, 122; laying- 
out, 123, 125. 
Hildreth, Rev. Hosea, 198, 294. 
Hilton, Dudley. 225. 



Hilton, Edward, 3, 8, 20, 27, 56, 
114, 115, 130, 157, 159, 163, 173. 

Hilton, Richard, 77, 173, 176, 177, 
352. 

Hilton, Col. AVinthrop's expeditions, 
223 ; death, 225. 

Hilton, William, 20, 27, 68, 130. 

Hobart, Samuel, 328. 

Homicides in Exeter, Mrs. Willix, 
403 ; Johnson, 404 ; John Wad- 
leigh, 405 ; Mrs. Ferguson, 407. 

Houses, early : Clifford house, 416 ; 
Dean house, 418 ; Ladd house, 
420 ; Rowland house, 422 ; 
Odiorne house, Hildreth house, 
423 ; Peabody house, Oilman 
house, 424 ; Tilton house, 425. 

Hoyt, Joseph, 9, 109, 295. 

Hutchinson, Anne, 6, 7, 11. 

Hutchinson, Samuel, 8, 28. 

Independence, earliest suggestion of, 

87. 
Indian deeds of 1638, 8, 9 ; of 1639, 

14; disputed deed of 1629, 10; 

Appendix 1,431. 
Indian wars, 215. 
Inhabitants prior to 1680, 59. 
Insurance companies, 347. 

Jones, Abner, 204. 

Jones, Thomas, 45, 60, 131. 

Judges and lawyers, notices of, 349. 

Kelly, John, 109, 369. 
Kimming, John, 60. 
King, Thomas, 45, 54, 60, 114, 123, 
157, 161, 162. 

Ladd, Daniel, 229. 

Ladd, Eliphalet, 190, 420. 

Ladd, Nathaniel, 60, 64, 167, 181, 
217,421. ■ 

Lamson, Oeorge, 364. 

Lamson, John, SO, 236, 304. 

Lamprey river, 3, 20. 

Lamprey, Henry, 61. 

Lands, first allotment of, 19, Appen- 
dix 11, 435. 



86 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Lands, grants of, 130; see "Grants 

of lands." 
Lands, final distribution of, 145. 
Lary, Cornelius, 60. 
Lawrence, David, 60, 177. 
Lawrence, Jotham, 198, 363. 
Lawson, Christopher, 17, 28, 42, 44, 

47, 48, 158. 
Lawyers, 349. 
Leavitt family, 340. 
Leavitt, Jeremy, 60, 116. 
Leavitt, Moses, 60, 65, 70, 167, 169, 

172, 173, 175, 176, 177. 
Leavitt, Samuel, 53, 60, 68, 119, 171, 

172, 173, 175, 176, 177. 
Leavitt, Thomas, 4, 18, 29. 

Legat, John, 44. 45, 50, 51, 52, 60, 
114, 123, 158, 159, 161, 162. 

Legislation, earliest, 21, 41. 

Light, John, 69. 

Listen, Nicholas, 60, 114, 118, 119. 

Littlefield, Edmund, 18, 29, 317. 

Localities, 426. 

Long, John C, 395. 

Lougee, John, 225. 

Louisburg expedition, 230. 

Lumbering, 51, 335. 

Lyford family, 392. 

Manufacturers, 341. 

Marriages, Gen., 50. 

Marshall, Christopher, 12, 30. 

Marston, Gilman, 109, 111, 279. 

Mason, John, 55, 62, 65. 

Mason, Robert Tufton, 55, 62, 63, 
64, 65. 

Massachusetts jurisdiction, 45. 

Mast trees, 70 ; riot of 1734, 72. 

Mathews, Francis, 18, 30. 

Maverick, Samuel, 55, 56, 57. 

Meeting-houses, 71, 160, 162, 167, 

173, 179, 181, 191, 194, 198. 
Merchants and trades, 342. 
Merrill, Abner and sons, 340. 
Merrill, Charles A., 109. 
Merrimac river, 8, 9, 13. 
Methodist societ}- and pastors, 205. 



Mills and' manufactures, 317, 331. 

Mob, paper money, of 1786, 96. 

Montague, Griffin, 30, 317. 

Moore, William, 30, 44, 45, 68, 118, 
119, 164, 173, 175, 319. 

Morrill, William B., 111. 

Morris, Richard, 12, 17, 19, 31. 

Moses, Henry C, 203, 340. 

Moses, John F., 201, 203, 340. 

Mount Wollaston, 11. 

Needham, Nicholas, 8, 9, 17, 31, 42. 

N'ew Hampshire, a royal province, 
62. 

Newmarket parish set off, 178. 

New parish, 186 ; set off, 188 ; history 
of, 194. 

News^japers, 301. 

New Testament first printed in New 
Hampshire, 304. 

Norris, Charles, 306. 

Norris, Nicholas, 60, 127. 

North, Nathan, 385. 

Notices of settlers of 1638-9, 21. 

Nutter, Elder Hatevil, 156. 

Oath of the elders, 18 ; of the people, 
19. 

Odiorne, Thomas, 80, 86, 304, 339, 
423. 

Odlin family, 393. 

Odlin, Rev. John, engaged, 177; sal- 
ary, 182 ; death of, 187. 

Odlin, Rev. W^oodbridge, colleague, 
185; death of, 189. 

Officers, town: rulers, assistant rulers, 
town clerks, selectmen, 148 ; mod- 
erators, representatives, 151. 

Oyster river, 3, 5, 9, 14. 

Paper-mills, 327. 

Paper money, 70, 93, 95. 

Parker, Nathaniel, 357. 

Parker, William, 86, 87, 355. 

Pascataqua river, 3, 7, 9, 11, 57. 

Peabody, Nathaniel, 383. 

Peabody, Oliver, 73, 99, 104, 126, 
356, 424. 

Peabody, Oliver W. B., 365. 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



87 



Pearson, Henry H., 281. 
Pearson, Joseph, 395. 
Peavey, George C, 375. 
Perkins, Albert M., 282. 
Perry, William, 191, 385. 
Perryman, Nicholas, 77, 185, 186, 

354. 
Pettit, Thomas, 18, 32, 44, 52, 114, 

164. 
Phillips Exeter academy, 293 ; notices 

of officers and benefactors, 294. 
Phillips, John, 80, 81, 84, 99, 194, 

239, 335. 
Physicians, notices of, 378. 
Pickering, John, 356. 
Pickpocket mills, 321, 326. 
Pike, Robert, 114, 117, 118, 119. 
Poor, Enoch, 80, 81, 86, 87, 245, 

394. 
Poor of Boston, tax for, 85. 
Poor, support of, 105. 
Pormort, Philemon, 12, 18, 32. 
Powder house, 82 ; mills, 328. 
Prayer in town meetings, 105. 
Prices, scale of, fixed, 94. 
Printers, 301. 
Provincial congress first, 84 ; second, 

87; fifth, 88. 
Public library, 109. 
PubUshmeuts, 1783 to 1800, Gen., 

79. 
Quakers, 200. 
Ranlet, Henry, 102, 304. 
Rashleigh, Thomas, 44, 60, 131, 155. 
Read, Robert, 18, 33, 318. 
Rebellion, see " War for the Union." 
Records of town, 43, Appendix H, 

435. 
Revolutionary soldiers from Exeter, 

in 1775, 242, 245; in 1776, 247; 

in 1777, 249 ; in 1778, 251 ; in 

1779, 253 ; in 1780, 253 ; in 1781, 

254 ; bounties and supplies to, 

255. 
Rice, John, gift of, 189. 
Rishworth, Edward, IS, 33, 41. 



Robinson female seminary, 291. 
Robinson family, 393. 
Robinson, Ephraim, 78, 86. 
Robinson, John, 60, 75, 123, 163, 

179, 216. 
Robinson, Jonathan, 60, 65, 167, 

175. 
Roby, Henry, 18, 33, 44, 45, 50, 123, 

159, 161. 
Rogers, Rev. Daniel, engaged, 195 ; 

death of, 196. 
Rogers, John, 395. 
Rogers, Rainsford, 413. 
Rollins, Thomas, 60, 64, 116, 218. 
Roman catholic society and pastors, 

208. 
Rowland, William F., 73, 190. 
Rundlet, Charles, 80. 
Ruobone, George, 17, 34. 
Saddlery and carriages, 339. 
Sail cloth, manufacture of, 339. 
Saw-mill privileges granted, 321, 323. 
Saw-mills, taxation of, 165. 
Seminary, Robinson female, 291. 
Seward, Robert, 18, 34, 44, 60. 
Schools of Exeter, 285; early in- 
structors, 286; school districts, 289; 
grading of, 290. 
Scrivener (Scribner), John, 175. 
Ship-building, 336. 
Sinclair, John, 60. 
Sleeper, John S., 308. 
" Small causes," commissioners to 

end, 51. 
Smart, John, 20, 34, 45, 60, 173. 
Smith, Edward, 57, 58, 60, 64, 116, 

167. 
Smith, Jeremiah, 103, 106, 107, 126, 

359. 
Smith, Robert, 18, 34, 44, 46, 51. 
Smith, Theophilus, 71, 80, 91, 177, 

181, 182. 
Smith, William, 364. 
Societies, 426. 

Soldiers, first officers of, 42, 48. 
Soule, Gideon L., 295. 



88 



HISTORY OF EXETER. 



Squamscot patent 4 ; annexed to Exe- 
ter, 120. 

Squamscot river, 4, 12. 

Stamp act, effigies burned, 78. 

Stanj'on, Anthony, 19, 34, 45, 51, 
124, 319. 

Stickney, William W., 107, 111, 
374. 

Storre, Augustine, 8, 9, 17, 19, 35. 

Storrs, Rev. George, 206. 

Streets : named, 103, 107 ; lighted, 
110; 126. 

Sullivan, George, 126, 358. 

Sullivan, John, 84, 87, 97, 366. 

Swain, Francis, 60, 160, 161. 

Swamp land, clearing of, 137. 

Swasey, Joseph, 80, 91. 

Swasey, Nathaniel, 220 n. (see " Cor- 
rections"). 

Swett, Samuel B., 388. 

Swett, Simeon, 205. 

Taylor, William, 61, 160. 

Taxation, illegal, of Cranfield, re- 
sisted, 66. 

Tedd, John, 45, 61. 

Temperance action of town. 104, 106, 
108. 

Tenney, Samuel, 99, 101, 126, 382. 

Thing family, 392. 

Thing, Bartholomew, 74, 75, 179. 

Thing, Benjamin, 71, 76, 181, 182, 
185. 

Thing, Jonathan, 61, 65, 67, 68, 70, 
116, lis, 119, 120, 167, 171, 176, 
177, 218. 

Thing, Samuel, 70, 175, 177. 

Thom, James, 258, 362. 

Tilton, Ur. Joseph, 381. 

Tilton, Joseph, Jr., 104, 107, 198, 
362. 

Timber trees, respecting cutting, 52, 
53. 

Tippen, Bartholomew, 62. 

Town-house, 109. 

Transcri])ts of Exeter records. Ap- 
pendix II, 435. 

Trees, ornamental, 415 ; oldest elm, 
415. 

Tuck, Amos, 370. 

Unitarian society and pastors, 208. 

Universalist societv and pastors. 203. 

Wadleigh, John, 61, 64, 171. 



Wadleigb, Jonathan, 75, 120, 174, 

179. 
Wadleigh, Robert, 61, 64, 68, 171, 

174, 349. 
Walker, Samuel, 17, 35, 44. 
Walker, Seth, 395. 
Wall, James, 8, 18, 36, 45, 50, 51, 

114, 123, 124, 131, 159. 
Walton, George, 17, 36. 
War of 1812, 104; Exeter soldiers in, 

257. 
War for the union, 261; Exeter sol- 
diers in, 261, 277. 
Warden, Thomas, 12, 18, 36, 42, 44, 

46. 
Warden, William, 12, 18, 37. 
Warren, John, 61, 116, 123. 
Washington, visit of, 1 789, 99 ; 

honors to, 102. 

Water works, 110. 
Webster, Nathaniel, 149 (see "Cor- 
rections"), 181. 
Wedgewood, John, 53, 61. 
Wehanownowit, 8, 9, 10, 14. 
WeUs, John S., 373. 
Wenbourne, William, 18, 37, 44, 46. 
Wentworth, William, 17, 38, 169, 

170. 
Wheelwright, John. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 

10, 12, 14, 17, 21, 38, 49, 112, 131, 

155, 156, 157. 
"White Caps," the, 411. 
Whitefield, Rev. George, 187, 196, 

424. 
Wiggin, Andrew, 65. 
Wiggin, Simon, 174, 176, 177. 
Wiggin, Thomas, 3, 13, 45, 51, 112, 

116, 120, 121, 163, 175. 
Wight, Thomas, 17, 39, 45. 
Williams, John J., 307. 
Willix. Balthazar, 40, 45. 
Wilson, Gowen, 49, 50, 61, 125. 
Wilson. Humphrey, 45, 61,65, 114, 

125, 159, 171, 174, 325. 
WUson, Thomas, 4, 17, 40, 42, 48, 

125, 130, 185, 317. 
Winicowet (Hampton), 13. 
Winthrop, Gov. John, 160, 169. 
Wood, Alva. 375. 
Wool trade, 340. 
Young, John, 01, 64, 116, 119, 218, 

220. 







_y\^J^rXfJ*^ 






■'-v-X