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THE 


HISTORY  OF  warren; 


\     \   V 


A    MOUNTAI^sT    HAMLET, 


LOCATED    AMONG 


The  White  Hills 


OK 


NEW     HAMPSHIRE. 


BY    WILLLOI    LITTLP: 


MANCHESTER,  N.  H. 

WILLIAM   E.    MOORE,   PRINTER,    UNION   BUILDING. 

1870. 


^m 


W  i-  -^M^. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of   Congress,  in  tiie  year  1870,  hy  ffiiiiam  little,  in  the  office  of   the 

Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


The  illuBtrations  in  this  volume  were  mostly  made  by 
Amos  F.  Clough,  Artist,  Warren,  N.  H. 


F»  R  E  F  ^  O  E 


To  preserve  the  Indian  traclitious,  tales  of  border  wars,  the 
memories  of  the  old  proprietors  and  first  white  settlers,  the 
legends,  anecdotes,  and  events  of  onr  mountain  hamlet,  and  to 

•<  afford    some    slight   assistance    to  the    great    iiistorian    of   New 

o  Hampshire   who  shall    come    hereafter,  was  why  this   book  was 

written. 

The  author  was  saihng  chip  boats  on  Aiken  brook  one  day 
when  a  very  small  boy.  A  companion,  several  years  older, 
now  Rev.  William  Merrill,  was  planting  potatoes  near  b\ . 
For  amusement  he  told  the  story  of  James  Aiken,  how  his 
house  was  burned  up,  who   did   it,  and    why,  and    showed   the 

__  old  cellar.     An  interest  was  excited;  it  grew  as  the  years  went 

f^  by,  and  the  result  is  this  history. 

^  The  writing  of  it   has    not   been   a    labor.      It   has    been   a 

pleasant  pastime,  a  source  of  amusement  —  "good  fun."  If 
any  are  disposed  to  smile  at  the  wi-iter's  efforts,  let  them 
remember  that  everv  one  must  have  a  little   recreation  of  some 


IV. 


kind,  and  that  while  the  writer's  friends  have  enjoyed  them- 
selves some  bv  huntino-  and  fishina",  some  bv  music  and  danc- 
ing-,  some  by  cards  and  gaming,  some  by  squinting  tlu'ough 
glass  tumblers  and  worshipping  the  god  Bacchus,  some  by 
paying  their  devotions  at  the  shrine  of  Venus,  some  by  buying 
pictures  and  costly  libraries,  some  by  sporting  tine  horses  and 
carnages  and  building  magnilicent  houses,  some  by  preaching 
and  prajdng  avid  singing  psalms  and  songs,  and  some  in  divers 
other  ways  too  nimierous  to  mention,  the  author  of  thQse  pages 
has  passed  many  pleasant  and  happy  hours  preserving  the  inci- 
dents of  his  native  town. 

But  we  wish  all  our  readers  to  know  that  this  j)leasant 
pastime,  writing  a  town  history,  is  a  costly  one;  that  we  have 
not,  cannot,  and  shall  not  make  a  cent  out  of  it;  that,  to  use 
an  expression  of  the  vulgar  world,  ''  We  are  a  good  deal  out 
of  pocket  by  the  operation ; "  and  that  the  whole  thing  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  ^ise  maxim  that  "  those  who  dance  shall 
pay  the  tiddler.'" 

We  claim  that  this  history  has  one  merit  over  ordinary 
town  histories,  and  that  is  unity.  That  instead  of  being 
heterogeneous  matter  thrown  together  without  any  regard  to 
connection  of  thought,  and  with  no  unity  except  perhaps 
that  of  time,  and  with  no  interest  to  any  one  except  persons 
particularly  acquainted  with  the  town,  we  have  grouped  our 
facts  together,  giving  unity  of  thought,  unity  of  time,  and 
we  hope  some  interest  to  the  general  reader. 

We  know  that  the  first  two  books  of  this  history  are  no 
more  applicable  to  the  town  of  Warren  than  to  any  other  of 
the  neighboring  towns.     But  it  seemed  necessary  to  write  them 


in  order  that  it  might  be  known  how  lliis  wiUI  nortiicrn    coun- 
try ciune  to  be  cuUiyated  and  settUxl. 

The  citizens  of  Warren  should  be  very  happy  that  they 
have  this  liistory.  Their  acts  and  those  of  their  ancestors  and 
their  friends  will  be  preserved  as  long  as  the  State  exists. 
They  have  a  bright  and  shining  page,  while  Wentworth,  Rom- 
ney,  Ellsworth,  Woodstock,  Benton,  and  Piennont,  and  all  the 
other  neighboring  lands  round  about,  have  lost  the  pleasant 
memories  of  their  early  settlers ;  and  all  their  historical  data, 
so  rich,  so  entertaining",  has  passed  aAvay  forever.  To-day  the 
inhabitants  of  those  regions  are  no  better  off  than  the  Negroes, 
Hottentots,  or  the  dwellers  on  the  Cannibal  Islands.  They 
have  no  place  in  history,  and  perhaps  never  will  have. 

To  those  who  have  assisted  us  in  producing  this  work,  we 
tender  our  most  grateful  acknowledg'ements.  We  would  men- 
tion Col.  Stevens  M.  Dow,  Ausou  Merrill,  Amos  F.  Clough, 
Geo.  Libbey,  Nathaniel  Richardson,  James  Clement,  Mrs.  Susan 
C.  Little,  Miss  Hannah  B.  Knight,  all  the  town  clerks,  and 
particularly  Russell  K.  Clement,  as  persons  who  have  materially 
aided  us.  We  would  also  return  our  most  sincere  thanks  to 
those  pleasant  writers  who  gave  "  Knickerbocker's  History  of 
New  York,"  ''Margaret,"  and  "Rural  Life."  We  have  helped 
ourselves  freely  to  such  portions  of  those  works  as  pleased  us, 
and  while  the  authors  of  them  will  not  sutler,  we  believe  the 
good  folks  of  Warren  will  be  much  happier  by  reason  of  our 
literary  larceny.  We  have  also  derived  great  assistance  from 
Vol.  vii.  of  the  N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.,  a  book  dry  as  a  chip  to  the 
general  reader,  but  one  of  the  most  valuable  historical  works 
ever  published  in  New  Hampshire.     But  most  especially  do  we 


VI. 


feel  thankful  to  those  persons  who  have  encouraged  us  in  writ- 
ing this  book,  by  placing  their  names  in  our  list  of  subscribers. 
We  shall  hold  them  in  happy  recollection  to  the  latest  day  of 
our  life. 

In  closing,  we  hope  that  those  who  look  over  these 
pages  may  be  in  some  degree  amused,  pleased,  edified,  and 
entertained;  and  that  some  one,  a  native  of  Warren,  may, 
many  yeai-s  hence,  revise,  add  to,  and  continue  this  history, 
making  a  book  ten  times  better  than  ours. 


COISTTENTS. 


Introduction. 17 


BOOK  I 


CONTAINING  A  HISTORY  OF  A  TRIBE    OF    INDIANS    NEVER    BEFORE  WRITTEN  BY 
ANY  OTHER  HISTORIAN. 

CHAP.  I.  Of  the  name  of  this  tribe,  or  how  they  called  themselves  one  name 
while  foreigners  called  them  another,  together  witli  where  they  resided 
in  the  most  permanent  manner,  and  what  great  tribes  lived  around  tliem .       "23 

CHAP.  II.    Containing  the  origin  of  the  Pemigewassetts  with  a  few  profound 

theories  very  interesting  to  know. 29 

CHAP.  III.    About  Acteon,— politely  called  old  Acteon,— and  what  he  as 

weU  as  others  said  of  tlie  manners  and  customs  of  the  Pemigewassetts.       33 

CHAP.  IV.  The  first  account  of  the  Nipniucks,  or  the  earliest  liistory  of  the 
Pemigewassetts,  and  of  their  union  with  other  tribes ;  also  how  a 
Bashaba  was  killed,  with  a  description  of  a  very  polite  way  of  treating 
captives,  and  a  foreshadowing  of  something  dreadful  to  happen.    -       -       41 

CHAP.  V.    Of  a  terrible  war,  pestilence,  and  famine,  the  heroes  of  which 

are  all  dead  and  their  names  forgotten. 47 

CHAP.  VI.  How  the  Pemigewassetts  and  the  rest  of  the  Nipmucks  were 
compelled  to  eater  a  new  league  to  protect  themselves  from  the  Mo- 
hogs,  Marquas  or  Mohawks,  with  a  slight  sketch  of  another  gi-eat  man 
who  came  to  be  Bashaba. 51 

CHAP.  VII.  In  which  is  set  forth  the  manner  the  Pemigewassetts  some- 
times enjoyed  themselves,  while  the  new  Bashaba  lived,  and  then  of  a 
slight  war  that  arose  which  was  exceedingly  entertaining  to  them,  to- 
gether with  its  pious  close  at  Quocheco. .W 


VIU. 


CHAP.  VIII.  How  according  to  tradition  the  Pemigewassetts  were  present 
at  a  great  couit  at  Qiiocbeco,  where  the  laws  were  very  legally  executed 
and  justice  done — according  to  the  idea  of  certain  exasperated  red  men .       64 

CHAP.  IX.  Containing  a  slight  attempt  at  biography,  or  the  early  life  of 
Waternomee,  otherwise  Wattanumon,  sometimes  vulgarly  called  Wal- 
ternumus,  last  chief  of  the  Pemigewassetts. Hit 

CHAP.  X.    How  the  Pemigewassetts  engaged  in  Queen  Anne's  war— of  sun- 
diy  expeditions — and  how  several  Pemigewassetts  were  surprised  and 
slain  hy  five  terrible  Marquas  led  by  the  brave  Caleb  Lyman .         -       -       73 

CHAP.  XI.  Of  several  things  that  happened  during  the  progress  of  the  war, 
and  how,  as  one  of  the  results,  the  Pemigewassett  tribe  was  destroyed 
and  their  hunting  gi-ounds,  of  which  Warren  was  a  part,  became  a 
solitude. 80 


BOOK  II 


TREATING  OF  INDIAN  FIGHTS  AND  MASSACRES,  EXPEDITIONS  AND  EXPLOKATIONS, 
RESULTING  IN  OPENING  TO  THE  WHITE  MAN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  PEMIGE- 
WASSETTS, AND  SLAKING  THE  VALLEY  NOW  CALLED  WARREN,  AND  ALL  THE 
ADJACENT  COUNTRY,  A  SAPE  PLACE  TO  LIVE  IN. 

CHAP.  I.    Of  two  wars  and  more  than  a  dozen  battles. 87 

CHAP.  II.    A  beautiful  solitude,  and  how  there  was  an  attempt  to  build  two 

forts  above  the  Pemigewassett  country,  and  what  came  of  it,         -       -       99 

CHAP.  III.  Giving  an  account  of  a  hunting  party  on  the  Asquamchumauke ; 
how  two  young  men  were  captivated  in  the  most  captivating  manner- 
concluding  with  how  one  got  his  back  tickled  with  the  oil  of  birch, 
while  the  other  did  not,  much  to  the  delight  of  all  concerned.  -       -       -      103 

CHAP.  IV.  How  the  salvages,  Sabatis  and  Christo,  stole  two  negroes  from 
the  settlement  at  Canterbury  and  the  excitement  it  caused,  together 
with  a  grand  result  before  hinted.at. 107 

CHAP.  V.  How  the  road  was  cut  through  the  woods,  and  how  the  gi-eat  and 
mighty  nation  of  Arosagunticooks,  composed  of  aU  the  Nipmuck  ti-ibes, 
including  our  Pemigewassetts  and  some  others,  sent  a  flag  of  ti'uce  to 
Number  Four.    Concluding  with  a  general  back  out. 110 

CHAP.  VI.  How  Sabatis  and  Plausawa  fared  in  the  hands  of  Peter  Bowen, 
together  with  the  miraculous  opening  of  the  jail.  Concluding  with  a 
captivating  account  of  a  whole  family  who  were  politely  invited  to  go 
to  Canada,  by  "  the  gentle  salvages.'' Ill 

CHAP.  VII.  How  Capt.  Peter  Powers  marched  gallantly  through  the  Pemi- 
gewassett counti-y  to  the  land  of  the  Coosucks ;  of  a  brave  exploit  and 
a  heroic  retreat.  -       - 120 


IX. 


CHAP.  Vlir.  Ol  a  gallant  exploit  ou  the  New  Hampshire  froutier,— of  an 
excited  eamp  ou  the  shore  of  Wachiiiauka  i>oni1,  with  other  entertain- 
ing and  curious  matter,  very  interesting  to  know.       ...        -        -      12G 

CHAP.  IX.  Account  of  the  manner  the  brave  Arosagunticooks  of  St.  Fran- 
cis passed  Captain  GoflTe:  the  capture  of  the  Johnson  family,  with 
other  incidents  no  doubt  very  interesting  to  the  participants,  together 
with  the  lirst  campaign  of  the  old  French  war. 132 

CHAP.  X.  Treating  of  the  assembling  of  the  regiment,  and  the  building  of  the 
log  fortress  at  Coos,  with  other  interesting  adventures,  in  the  country 
about  Lake  Champlain. 13C 

CHAP.  XI.  A  long  march  through  the  woods;  a  terrible  attack  on  an  Indian 
village ;  a  bloody  butchery— awful  to  the  participants— but  withal  very 
pleasant  to  read  about. 141 

CHAP.  XII.  The  retreat  and  its  horrors.  The  camp  on  the  Coos  interval 
under  the  shadow  of  the  mighty  Moosilauke;  concluding  with  a  beauti- 
ful and  golden  tradition  that  has  been  repeated  around  the  farmer's 
fireside  for  a  hundred  years. 14" 

•  CHAP.  Xni.  HoM'  the  surviving  rangers  all  got  safely  home  and  how 
thenceforward  the  Pemigewassett  land  containing  the  pleasant  little 
territoi-y  of  Warren,  became  a  very  safe  country  in  which  to  sojourn.    -      1.54 


BOOK    III. 


OP  THE  BIRTH  OF  A  MOUNTAIN  HAMLET,  OE  THE  PRECISE  AND  ACCURATE  HISTORY 
OF  THE  ACTS  OF  SIXTY-SIX  DISTINGUISHED  MEN,  OTHERWISE  KNOWN  AS 
THE  PROPRIETORS  OF  WARREN. 

CHAP.  I.  Concerning  a  great  shaggy  wood,  and  numerous  hunters  therein ; 
and  then  of  a  sweet  little  feud  between  three  royal  governors,  and  how 
one  of  them  politely  "  euchered  "  the  others,  much  to  theii-  delight.         -      1,57 

CHjVP.  II.  Of  a  fine  old  Governor  of  'ye  ancient  days,  and  of  his  royal  Sec- 
retary; how  these  two  M-orthies  built  golden  castles  in  the  air,  and 
finally  grew  quite  rich. 102 

CHAP.  III.  What  John  Page,  Esq.,  did,  or  how  he  procured  a  royal  charter 
of  our  mountain  hamlet,  Warren,  confeiTing  many  glorious  privileges 
and  only  a  few  conditions  vei-y  easy  to  be  complied  with. ....      lee 

CHAP.  IV.  Of  eager  men.— how  they  held  several  meetings— also  of  a  gay 
and  festive  corporation  dinner;  concluding  with  a  powerlul  eft'ort  to 
obtain  a  surveyor  of  the  King's  Woods. 176 


X. 


CHAP.  V.  How  the  lines  were  riiu  round  about  Warren;  a  camp  in  the  for- 
est ;  a  roaring,  raging  equinoctial  storm  worth  seeing,  and  a  report  of 
the  whole  affair  by  surveyor  Leavitt. 182 

CHAP.  VI.    Conditions  hard  and  terrible, — road  made  of  an  Indian  trail, — 

rich  lots  of  laud  dra\vn  by  lot,  aud  how  men  felt  rich  but  anxious.         -      187 

CHAP.  VII.  How  tlie  proprietors'  prospects  got  desperate— so  much  so 
that  they  were  willing  to  give  away  some  of  their  lands;  how  Phillips 
U'hite,  Esq.,  came  to  the  rescue— got  them  out  of  a  terrible  difficulty, 
and  Anally  procured  a  new  charter,  which  ends  this  book  and  intro- 
duces us  to  an  altogether  new  life  in  Warren.       ......      194 


BOOK    lY. 


WHICH  RELATES    HOW    OUR    WILD    MOUNTAIN    HAMLET    WAS    CULTIVATED    AND 
SETTLED. 

CHAP.  I.  Of  divers  and  sundry  sounds,  heard  on  the  head-waters  of  the 
Asquamchumauke,  and  of  two  hotels  in  'which  not  a  drop  of  "grog" 
could  be  got  either  for  love  or  money. 201 

CHAP.  II.    About  Joseph  Patch,  the  fli-st  white  settler  of  Warren,  aud  how 

he  had  a  few  huugi-y  visitors  which  ate  up  all  his  provisions.  -       -        -     207 

CHAP.  III.  How  eighteen  families  and  two  single  gentlemen  came  to  War- 
ren to  reside,  and  amused  themselves  building  cabins,  clearing  land, 
lumting  moose  and  deer  on  the  hills,  aud  lishing  in  the  clear,  rapid  trout 
streams. 214 

CHAP.  IV.  Of  how  the  early  settlers  of  our  mountain  hamlet  took  great 
thought  about  the  manner  they  should  be  sheltered,  and  what  they 
should  eat,  and  of  the  building  of  mills ;  concluding  with  the  mighty 
leaps  of  the  salmon,  and  a  delectable  swim  by  the  boys.   -        -        -        -      236 

CHAP.  V.  Narrating  how  two  men,  Stevens  Merrill  and  James  Aiken  loved 
each  other,— how  the  laws  were  executed,  and  a  house  burned  up,— 
concluding  with  a  "  pious  inquiry  "  worthy  of  all  good  christians.         -      243 

CHAP.  VI.  Mount  Carr;  its  ancient  inhabitants,  and  then  of  the  grand  old 
huntings  that  were  had  about  it,  with  a  beautiful  Moosehillock  descrip- 
tion tlirown  in  for  variety. 247 

CHAI".  \'ll.  Of  a  provision  lor  religious  meetings ;  grandiloqueut  descrip- 
tion of  one,  and  how  it  closed  with  a  cup  of  sweet  comfort  aud  peace, 
as  was  the  custom  in  ancient  times. -      2.57 


XI. 


CHAP.  VIII.  War!  How  it  reared  its  horrid  trout  and  its  din  resounded 
even  across  the  boundaries  of  Warren,  together  with  what  part  our 
earlv  settlers  took  in  it. 2G3 


BOOK    V. 


CONCERNING  THE  JIIUHTV  JIAKCH  OF  EVENTS  IN  THE  GREAT  CIVIL  HISTORY  OF 
WARREN. 

CHAP.  I.    Of  the  organization  ol'  the  hamlet,  and  how  certain  men  achieved 

immortal  glory  by  getting  elected  to  town  office. 275 

CHAP.  II.  How  the  revenue  was  raised  to  carry  on  the  war,  much  to  the 
delight  of  several  patriotic  gentlemen  called  lories ;  and  what  soldiers 
were  furnished  to  fill  ^Varren's  quota,  with  otlier  very  interesting  and 
entertaining  matter. 282 

CHAP.  III.    The  first  funeral  of  a  white  man  in  W^arreu;  or  how  John  MiUs 

died  and  was  buried.  .       -       - 204 

CHAP.  IV.  About  a  great  anny  in  Warren,  how  it  marched  and  counter- 
marched ;  of  the  pretty  names  it  was  called,  and  how  it  was  subsisted.     297 

CHAP.  V.  Thanksgiving  day,  or  how  there  was  feasting,  dancing  and  merry- 
making in  our  hamlet  among  the  hills. 304 

CHAP.  VI.    The  first  schools  of  Wan-en,  or  how  the  young  idea  was  taught 

to  shoot;  and  of  a  certain  oil  much  used  in  ye  ancient  days.     -       -       -     313 

CHAP.  VII.  How  Sarah  ^Vl^itcher  was  lost  in  the  woods,  what  happened  and 
how  they  hunted  for  her,  together  with  a  remarkable  dream,  and  how  a 
bushel  of  beans  suddenly  disappeared. 322 

CHAP.  VIII.  Of  a  mighty  battle  fought  between  two  ambitious  office  seek- 
ers, and  how  each  gained  the  victoi-y,  much  to  his  great  delight.     -       -      329 

CHAP.  IX.    Concerning  a  great  boundary  tend  and  what  came  of  it.      -       -      335 

CHAP.  X.    Of  the  mighty  requisites  necessary  to  make  a  perfect  democracy, 

all  graphically  portrayed  in  the  most  attractive  manner.  -       -       -       -      340 


BOOK    VI 


IN  WHICH  THB  MIGHTY    MARCH    MENTIONED    AT    THE    BEGINNING  OF  BOOK  V.  IS 
CONTINUED. 

CHAP.  I.  How  several  religions  came  to  Warren;  of  tythingmen  who  fined 
men  for  traveling  Sunday,  tliereby  making  them  exceedingly  happy; 
concluding  with  an  account  of  a  camp-meeting,  where  sevferal  pious 
youth  sounded  a  horn  in  the  night  and  disturbed  the  slumbers  of  the 
godly. 361 


Xll. 


CHAP.  II.  Of  grand  huntings,  fowlings,  and  fishings;  concluding  with  how 
a  'squire,  a  doctoi-,  and  a  minister  were  perfectly  delighted  trying  to 
catch  every  flsh  in  Wachipauka  pond. 370 

CHAP.  III.    How  the  turnpike  was  built,  and  of  divers  things  that  happened 

thereby. 384 

CHAP.  IV.  About  the  1812  war:  of  drafting  add  volunteering;  closing  with 
a  grand  muster,  when  Warren's  hills  heard  louder  music  than  ever 
before. 390 

CHAP.  V.  How  the  first  covered  stage,  accompanied  by  sweet  music,  ran 
through  Warreu,  with  an  account  of  the  first  post-oflice,  and  who  de- 
livered the  letters. 398 

CHAP.  VI.    The  Black  Plague,  otherwise  called  the  Spotted  Fever,  or  the 

greatest  horror  Warren  i^eople  ever  had. 404 

• 
CHAP.  VII.    How  almost  a  famine,  then  a  hurricane  came,  and  then  a  his- 
tory of  one  of  the  most  pleasant  years  Warren  ever  experienced.  -       -      408 

CHAP.  VIII.  What  a  woman  can  do  aud  how  she  did  it;  or  the  accomplish- 
ment of  one  of  the  greatest  "  requisites  "  of  the  last  century,  viz  :  the 
building  of  a  meeting-house. 422 

CHAP.  IX.    A  gay  little  chapter  about  witches. 431 

CHAP.  X.    The  first  store  in  Warren,  and  its  successors,  and  of  a  roaring, 

raging  canal  that  never  was  buUt. 441 


BOOK    YII. 


WHICH  BOOK  IS  BUT   A  CONTINTJATION  OF  BOOKS  V.  AND  VI.,  AND  CONTAINS  THE 
HISTORY  OF  THE  THIRD  GENERATION  OF  WARREN'S  WHITE  INHABITANTS. 

CHAP.  I.  How  gold,  silver,  and  diamonds  were  discovered  in  Warren;  and 
of  several  individuals  who  got  immensely  rich  mining,  especially  in 
their  imaginations. 449 

CHAP.  II.  How  the  Berry  brook  road  was  built,  and  a  path  on  to  Moosehil- 
lock  was  cut,  with  a  pleasant  account  of  several  individuals  who  nick- 
named each  other  in  the  happiest  manner. 4.54 

CHAP.  III.  Of  a  gi-eat  lawsuit  about  Mrs.  Sarah  Weeks,  whom  foolish  people 
called  a  witch,  concluding  with  pleasant  recollections  of  a  paring  bee 
and  a  "  shin- dig,"  if  anybody  knows  what  that  is. 461 

CHAP.  IV.    A  chapter  on  fires. 467 


Xlll. 


CHAP.  V.    How  and  when  the  railroad  was  built,  which  will  be  ;i  wonder  to 

luture  generations,  but  is  unite  a  common  thing  now.        ....      ^yz 

CHAP.  VI.    A  brief  acconnt  or  two  murders. 478 

CHAP.  Vn.  Concerning  a  great  rivalry  between  charitable  i-eligioiis  soci- 
eties, which  resulted  in  moving  and  remodelling  the  old  meeting-house, 
in  a  town-house,  a  new  scliool-house,  a  Ijcautiful  common,  and  in  im- 
proving the  graveyard,  all  which  is  an  honor  to  the  town  and  the  pride 
of  the  inhabitants. 483 

CHAP.  VIII.    Of  a  delectable  visit  to  Moosehillock,  and  what  can  be  seen 

there — the  weather  permitting. 490 

CHAP.  IX.    How  several  individuals  got  rich  manufacturing,  or  ought  to, 

with  the  glorious  results  of  it. 499 

CHAP.  X.    Of  several  things  that  luippened;   concluding  this  History  with 

sincere  thanks  and  many  kind  wishes. 508 


APPENDIX 


Explanatory  Notes. 

Natural  History  of  Warren. 

Selectmen,  Representatives,  and  other  Town  Oflicers. 

Town  Statistics. 

Lawyei-s,  Doctors,  and  Ministers. 

Military  Officers. 

Town  Lots. 

First  Inventory  and  Tax  List. 

Longevity. 

Genealogies. 

Miscellaneous. 

The  Poets  of  Warren. 

Amos  F.  Clough's  Diary,  kept  on  Moosehillock. 

Chronology. 

INDEX. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1.  Moosehillock,  from  Warren,  opposite  title  page. 

2.  Map  of  Warren       .... 

3.  AYebster  Slide  and  Wachipauka  Pond 

4.  Oak  Falls 

5.  KockySFalls 

6.  Portrait  of  Amos  F.  Clough,  Artist 

7.  Map  of  AVarren      .... 

8.  Mount  Carr 

9.  AYaternomee  Falls 

10.  Old  Barn  built  by  Joseph  Patch    . 

11.  Breaking-  and  Swingling  Flax 

12.  Old  Boundary  Lines 

13.  Our  Grandmothers'  Pastime 

14.  Portrait  of  Rev.  Joseph  Merrill     . 

15.  Portrait  of  Rev.  Moses  H.  Bixby  . 

16.  Map  of  Modern  Warren 

17.  Portrait  of  Samuel  B.  Page,  Esq. 

18.  Church  and  Village  School-House 

19.  Town  House  . 

20.  Sugaring  oflF   . 

21.  McCarter,  the  Hermit    . 

22.  Moosilauke  Falls    . 

23.  The  Forks  School-House 

24.  Moosehillock  from  Indian  Rock 

25.  Prospect  House,  Summit  of  Moosehillock 

26.  Portrait  of  Dr.  AVorcester  E.  Boynton 

27.  Portrait  of  Gen.  Natt  Head  . 


17 
23 
23 
87 
157 
171 
201 
201 
240 
274 
336 
360 
399 
426 
448 
462 
486 
486 
486 
486 
486 
486 
493 
493 
502 
510 


MAP    OF  MODERN  WAREEN 


i:n^tkoduction^. 


WHICH  GIVES  A  CONCISE  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA  ; 
ITS  SETTLEMENT  BY  THE  ENGLISH ;  THE  LOCALITY  OF  WARREN, 
ITS  BOUNDARIES,  MOUNTAINS,  HILLS,  STREAMS,  PRODUCTIONS, 
AND   INHABITANTS. 

America  was  discovered  by  Christopher  Columbus  iu 
1492.  The  first  permanent  English  settlement  was  made  at 
Jamestown,  Virginia,  in  1G07.  New  Hampshire,  another  British 
province,  was  settled  in  1623.  These  are  facts  that  every  one  is 
presumed  to  know. 

"Warren,  the  history  of  which  we  now  undertake  to  write,  is 
a  town  in  New  Hampshire.  It  is  situated  iu  latitude  forty-four 
degrees  uorth,  longitude  six  degrees  east  from  Washington,  and 
became  a  geographical  fact  July  14th,  1763.  Admiral  AVarren,  a 
gallant  commander  of  an  English  man-of-war,  was  its  godfather. 
These  are  facts  which  every  one  is  not  presumed  to  know. 

For  further  information  we  would  say  that  Warren  is  a 
mountainous  hamlet,  situated  in  one  of  the  western  valleys  of  the 
great  AVliite  Mountain  range.  The  latter  is  a  cluster  of  lofty 
peaks,  located  a  little  north  of  the  centre  of  the  State,  which 
vary  from  three  thousand  to  six  thousand  three  hundred  feet  in 
height.  Four  great  roads  pass  through  these  mountains,  connect- 
ing the  northern  and  southern  portions  of  the  State.  One  leads 
through  the  Pinkham  notch,  another  through  the  White  Mountain 

'    Tlie  AVliite  Hills  were  ralleil  by  the  Iiuliaus,  Waumbekketmethna ;  Waum- 
bekket  siguifles  White,  and  Metlnia,  mouiitaius. 

B 


18  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

notch,  a  third  through  tlie  Franconia  notch,  and  the  fourth  and 
most  western  one  through  the  Oliverian  notch.  Warren  is  situ- 
ated on  the  last  mentioned  thoroughfare. 

Tliat  there  may  be  no  mistake  about  the  locality  of  the  town, 
gazetteers  say  that  it  is  in  the  very  centre  of  Grafton  County,  is 
fourteen  miles  from  Haverhill,  one  of  the  shire  towns  of  the 
county,  seventy  miles  from  Concord,  the  State  Capital,  and  ninety- 
three  from  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire's  only  seaport. 

The  boundaries  of  Warren  are  the  gifts  of  nature.  Its  eastern 
line  runs  over  the  crests  of  three  lofty  mountains.  Mt.  Cushman 
on  the  north  rises  like  a  dark  wave  of  the  ocean  3,306  feet  high. 
Mt.  Kiueo,  a  hundred  feet  higher,  sweeps  away  in  wavy  crested 
summits  to  the  southeast,  and  Mount  Carr,  blue,  forest-clad,  and 
the  last  of  the  trio,  is  3,500  feet  in  height.  The  south  line  bends 
down  the  slopes  of  Eed-Oak  hill,  crosses  the  pebbly-bottomed 
Asquamchumauke,  and  creeps  up  to  the  elevation  of  2,059  feet 
over  Mt.  Sentinel.  The  western  line  is  over  a  spur  of  the  latter 
mountain,  crosses  Tarleton  lake  and  Mt.  Mist — so  called  from  the 
vapoi-  that  sails  up  to  its  summit  from  the  blue  waves  —  and  finds 
its  northern  termination  on  Webster  Slide  mountain.  The  latter 
is  2,170  feet  above  sea-level,  and  its  precipitous  face  slopes  down 
800  feet  to  the  deep  shadows  of  Wachipauka  or  Meader  pond.  The 
northern  line  rests  upon  the  flanks  of  Owl's  Head  mountain,  3,206 
feet  high,  Mt.  Black  3,550  feet,  "*  Moosilauke  about  5,000  feet,t  and 
Mt.  Waternomee,  a  woody  elevation  of  about  3,000  feet.  The  first 
is  a  most  curiously  shaped  mountain.  Like  a  whale  —  its  head  a 
sharp  angular  peak,  piercing  the  blue  ether,  its  dorsal  fin  white 
jagged  rocks,  rising  from  the  dark  forest  of  firs,  its  tail  a  dizzy 
precipice,  sinking  perpendicularly  a  hundred  fathoms  down, — it 
turns  up  its  huge  back  to  be  fanned  by  the  rude  winds.  The 
second,  Mt.  Black  without  a  white  spot  upon  it,  is  a  dark,  sombre 
monument,  rising  in  the  city  of  mountains ;  the  third,  Moosilauke, 
head  and  shoulders  above  the  others,  is  monarch  of  all,  and  the 

The  heiglit  of  tliese  mountains  was  ascertained  bv  Prof.  Guvot,  of  Princeton 
College,  in  1857. 

*Moosilanke  was  so  called  by  the  Indians  from  Moosi,  bald,  and  Auke,  a 
place— Bald-place.  On  the  lirst  niaps  it  was  M'ritten  Mooshelauke,  then  Mooshe- 
lock,  then  Moosehillock.  Manj-  persons  suppose  it  was  so  called  from  the  large 
number  of  moose  once  found  about  the  mountain. 

t  Some  say  5,051  feet ;  others  say  4,802  feet  high. 


HILLS    AND   STREAMS.  19 

foui"th,  Mt.  Waternomee,  is  a  green  wooded  mountain  with  three 
round  crests,  and  is  sometimes  known  as  the  southern  spvir  of  the 
Peuiigewassett  range. 

The  exact  centre  of  Warren  is  the  summit  of  Kniglit  hill. 
Standing  on  the  top,  one  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  lofty  crests, 
and  the  forest  hamlet  appears  like  a  huge  bowl,  with  another 
bowl  transparent,  formed  of  blue  sky  inverted  and  placed  over  it, 
and  resting  upon  the  riin  of  mountains. 

Warren  is  well  watered.  The  principal  stream  is  the  As- 
quamchumauke,  now  called  Baker  river.  It  rises  in  a  little 
meadow  pond  on  the  north  side  of  Moosilauke  mountain.  At 
first  a  wild  torrent,  then  a  bright  pebbly-bottomed  stream,  and 
lastly  a  deep  blue  river,  it  empties  into  the  Pemigewassett.  Its 
Warren  tributaries  from  the  west  ai-e  Merrill,  Berry,  and  Black 
brooks;  on  the  east.  East  Branch,  Batchelder,  and  Patch  brooks. 
Through  the  north  part  of  the  toAvn,  running  into  the  Connecticut, 
is  Oliveriau  brook.  These  are  the  jDrincipal  streams ;  but  small 
yet  never-failing  i"ivulets  gush  from  the  mountain  springs  situated 
in  every  ravine,  while  there  is  scarcely  a  meadow  which  does  not 
contain  a  fountain  whose  waters,  cool  and  crystalline,  bubble  up 
from  the  white  sands.  More  than  a  hundred  of  these  musical 
streamlets  make  Warren  one  of  the  best  watered  towns  in  New 
Hampshire. 

Five  sparkling  ponds  lie  sleeping  high  up  among  Warren's 
mountains.  Over  on  the  east  side  of  Mount  Carr  two  bright  gems 
gleam  in  the  greenwood,  which  from  their  locality  are  called  the 
Glen  ponds.  Near  Mt.  Mist  is  Kelley  pond,  furnishing  a  stream 
for  an  old  mill,  and  under  the  face  of  i^recipitous  Webster  Slide 
mountain  is  the  before-mentioned  Wachipauka  or  Meader  pond. 
West  of  Mt.  Mist,  and  kissing  its  sloping  base,  a  crystal  sheen  in 
an  emerald  setting,  is  Tarleton  lake. 

Within  the  town  are  numerous  hills,  some  of  which  deserve 
mention.  Eed  Oak,  Picked,  Clement,  and  Patch,  each  rise  about 
a  thousand  feet  high  on  the  east  side  of  the  Asquamchumauke. 
Bald,  and  Knight,  wood-crowned  heights  of  about  the  same  eleva- 
tion, are  situated  between  the  Asquamchumauke  and  Berry  brook. 

The  Iniliaus  'called  Black  brook  Mikaseota,  or  with  full  spelling  it  was  Mik- 
kasseotque.  —  Acteou. 


20  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Pine  hill  is  a  loug  rolling  ridge,  terminating  abruptly  in  Keyes 
ledge,  or  Mt.  Helen,  and  stands  between  Black  and  Berry  brooks. 
Wyatt,  Marston,  and  Beech  hills  are  on  the  western  border. 

Warren  is  rich  in  minerals.  On  Sentinel  mountain  is  a  large 
and  productive  vein  of  ore.  Gold,  silver,  iron,  copper,  lead,  zinc, 
plumbago,  molybdenum,  calc-spar,  rutil,  epidote,  beryl,  gaiuiets, 
quartz  crystals,  tourmalines,  and  many  others  are  found.  Near 
the  Summit  are  large  quantities  of  limestone.  Gneiss  and  mica 
slate  abound,  and  the  underlying  granite  which  crops  out  on 
Webster  Slide  mountain  and  Mount  Carr  affords  excellent  build- 
ing material. 

The  first  road  through  Warren  was  the  old  Indian  trail  enter- 
ing the  town  where  the  Asquamchumauke  leaves  it,  and  following 
the  Mikaseota  to  its  source  in  Wachipauka  pond,  it  descended  the 
slope  of  Webster  Slide  to  the  valley  of  the  Oliverian.  The  second 
was  built  by  the  first  white  proprietors,  and  wound  over  the 
Height  o' land  and  round  the  east  shore  of  Tarleton  lake.  The 
third  was  the  turnpike.  Then  the  road  over  Pine  hill  and  through 
the  Oliverian  notch  was  constructed,  and  last  of  all  the  railroad, 
which  follows  the  old  Indian  trail  with  little  variation  and  leaves 
the  town  by  the  above-mentioned  notch.  Numerous  other  roads 
have  been  made,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  later  inhabitants, 
among  which  is  the  bridle-path  over  Moosilauke  mountain. 

The  climate  is  very  healthy.  Residents  of  the  town  have 
seen  the  snows  of  a  hundred  winters.  Owing  to  the  elevation  of 
the  valley,  and  to  the  mountains  which  surround  it,  good  sleigh- 
ing often  lasts  from  December  to  April.  The  snow  then  suddenly 
disappears,  frequently  causing  destructive  freshets.  Summer 
treads  quickly  in  the  footsteps  of  winter,  the  crops  spring  forth  as 
if  by  magic,  and  autumn  never  fails  of  returning  an  abundant 
harvest  to  cheer  the  heart  of  the  husbandman. 

The  physical  formation  of  a  country  has  much  to  do  with 
moulding  the  character  of  its  people.  The  Indians  of  New 
Hampshire,  to  whom  we  shall  devote  the  first  book  of  this  history, 
especially  those  who  inhabited  the  central  par;t  of  the  State,  must 
have  been  a  race  of  mountaineers.'  As  such,  a  love  of  freedom, 
the  spirit  of  adventure,  and  a  granite  hardihood  must  have  char- 
acterized them.     Their  wars  with  the  early  English  pioneers  will 


INHABITANTS.  21 

form  the  material  of  book  the  second  of  this  very  sedate  and 
truthful  history. 

The  acts  of  the  sixty-five  distinguished  men,  otherwise  known 
as  the  provincial  proprietors  of  Warren,  will  be  accurately  nar- 
rated in  book  the  third. 

The  present  inhabitants  of  Warren  are  mostly  farmers.  They 
are  tenacious  of  their  rights  and  political  privileges,  and  are  just 
such  a  hardy  race  as  one  might  expect  to  tind  dwelling  among 
granite  boulders,  leaping  torrents,  and  high  hills.  In  the  Kevolu- 
tion  about  one-fourth  of  those  capable  of  bearing  arms  served  in 
the  army.  In  the  1812  war  they  furnished  their  quota  of  troops 
cheerfully,  all  who  went  going  as  volunteers.  The  adventui'es  of 
the  eaiiy  settlers  of  Warren  and  those  of  their  descendants  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  remaining  books  of  this,  we  trust,  most 
entertaining  history. 


^^-    .- 


..»'.■■-  ♦ 


HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 


BOOR  I. 


CONTAINING  A  HISTORY  OF  A  TRIBE  OF  INDIANS  NEVER  BEFORE 
WRITTEN   BY   ANY   OTHER   HISTORIAN. 

CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  NAME  OF  THIS  TRIBE,  OR  HOW  THEY  CALLED  THEMSELVES 
BY  ONE  NAME  AVHILE  FOREIGNERS  CALLED  THE5I  BY  ANOTHER, 
TOGETHER  WITH  WHERE  THEY  RESIDED  IN  THE  MOST  PER- 
MANENT MANNER,  AND  WHAT  GREAT  TRIBES  LIVED  AROUND 
THEM. 

The  first  sunlight  of  history  begins  to  dawn  upon  that 
little  territory  now  called  Warren,  of  which  we  have  just  given 
such  a  full  description,  about  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  reveals  a  pleasant  valley  surrounded  by  lofty  moun- 
tains, watered  by  a  rapid  river  and  a  hundred  tumbling  trout 
brooks  sparkling  tlown  from  the  hills,  and  inhabited  by  a  por- 
tion of  a  small  tribe  of  Indians  known  in  after  years  as  the 
Pemige  wassetts . 

This  people  belonged  to  the  Algonquin  race,  which  occupied 
the  whole  Atlantic  coast  from  the  gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to 
Cape  Fear.  * 

*Bancroft's  Hist,  of  U.  S.  Vol.  iii.  Chap.  22.    Whiton's  Hist,  of  N.  H. !». 


24  HISTOKY    OF    \VARREN. 

They  called  themselves  JSTipmucks.*  a  word  derived  from 
"  iiipe,"  meauiiig  fresh  water,  and  "auke,"  a  place,  an  *'  m"  being- 
thrown  in  by  skillful  manufacturers  of  Indian  words  for  the  sake 
of  euphony, —  the  whole  meaning  fresh-water  Indians,  a  name 
used  to  distinguish  them  from  those  who  resided  on  the  immediate 
sea  coast,  f 

These  Nipmuck  Indians  were  divided  into  numerous  tribes  or 
fiimilies,  each  having  a  head  or  chief,  and  we  are  told  that  as 
neighbors  of  the  Pemigewassetts  "a  great  and  powerful  tribe" 
lived  on  the  Nashua  stream  and  were  called  Nashuas.  t  That 
another  lived  on  the  Souhegan  river,  and  of  course  were  called 
SouHEGANs.  A  third  lived  at  Amoskeag  falls,  and  were  called 
Amoskeags.  a  fourth  inhabited  the  beautiful  interval  at  Con- 
cord, called  by  the  Indians  Pennacook,  and  they  were  Penna- 
COOKS.  A  fifth  dwelt  on  Squamscott  river,  now  Exeter,  and  for 
the  same  reason  were  called  Squamscotts,  A  sixth  stopped  at 
Newichannock,  and  they  were  Neaviciiaknocks.  A  seventh  stayed 
at  Piscataqua  river,  and  thej  were  Pascataquaukes.  An  eighth 
built  a  wigwam  city  at  Ossipee  lake,  and  they  were  the  cultivated 
Ossipees,  with  mounds  and  forts  like  more  civilized  nations.  A 
ninth  built  flourishing  villages  in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Pequaw- 
ket  river,  and  were  known  as  the  pious  Pequawkees,  who 
worshipped  the  great  Manitou  of  the  cloud-capped  Agiochook.  A 
tenth  had  their  home  by  the  clear  Lake  Winuepisseogee,  and  were 
esteemed  ''the  beautiful  Winnepissaukies."  An  eleventh  set  up 
their  lodges  of  spruce  bark  by  the  banks  of  the  wild  and  turbulent 
Androscoggin  river,  and  were  known  as  "  the  death-dealing 
Amariscoggins.*'    a  twelfth  cultivated  the  Coos  intervals  on  the 


*  Drake's  Biog.  of  Indians,  13,  '281.    Hist,  of  New  England,  (!3(>. 

fThe  Indians'from  tlie  interior  were  known  and  called  among  the  tribes  upon 
the  seashore  l>y  the  general  name  of  Nipnuicks,  or  Fresh-water  Indians,  and,  true 
to  their  name,  the  Xipmucks  usually  had  their  residences  upon  places  of  Stillwater, 
the  ponds,  lakes,  and  rivers  of  the  interior.  But  the  Indians  m  the  Merrimack 
valley,  although  properly  Xipniucks  and  living  in  distinct  bands  or  tribes,  were 
usuallv  called  bv  the  English,  Pennacooks,  etc. 

IXasliiia  means  the  river  witli  a  pebbly  Itottoni.  Souhegan  is  a  contraction  of 
Souheganash,  meaning  worn-out  hnuls.  Aiiwsh-eag  is  derived  from  Naniaos  (  aflsh) 
and  Auke  (a  place).  Pennacook  is  derived  from  Pennaqui  (  crooked )  and  Auke. 
Squamscott,  I'roin  Asquam  (water)  and  AuUe.  Neivicliannock ,  from  Xee  (my), 
Week  (  a  contraction  for  Wigwam ),  and  Owannock  ( come  ).  J'ascataquauke,  from 
I'os  (great),  Attuck  (a  deer),  and  Auke.  Ossipee,  from  Cooash  (pines)  and  Sipe 
(a  river).  Pcf/uawkees,  from  Vequnkin  (crooked)  and  Auke.  Winnepissaukies,  from 
AVmne  (beautiful),  Xipe  (water),  Kees  (high),  and  Auke.  Amariscoe/fftns,  from 
Xamaos  (lish),  Kees  (high),  and  Auke.  Coosucks,  from  Cooash,  pines.— Potter's 
Hist,  of  Mancliester. 


THE     NIPMUCKS.  25 

Connecticut,  and  were  called  "  the  swift  deer-hunting  Coosucks." 
Besides  these  twelve  tribes,  just  equal  in  number  to  the  tribes 
of  tiie  children  of  Israel,  the  Peuiigewassetts  also  had  as  neighbors 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  along  its  present  borders,  the  AVinne- 
COWETTS,*  inhabiting  a  beautiful  pine-tree-place  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  State,  the  Wachusetts  living  about  the  mountain  of 
that  name  in  Massachusetts,  the  Aga warns  residing  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Merrimack,  the  Pawtuckets,  who  fished  at  Pawtitcket  falls, 
and  several  small  tribes  upon  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  river 
whose  names  are  unknown. 

All  these  various  tribes  derived  their  pretty  names  from  some 
prominent  object  in  the  territory  wMch  they  inhabited.  Thus  the 
Pemigewassetts  are  so  called  from  the  principal  river  that  flowed 
through  their  hunting  grounds.  That  the  places  inhabited  by  the 
Indians,  neighboring  to  the  Pemigewassetts,  did  not  derive  their 
names  from  the  name  of  the  tribe,  can  be  seen  by  examining  the 
derivation  of  the  names  themselves.  For  instance,  we  are  told 
that  Pascataqua  means  ^' great  deer  place."  Now  we  have  too 
much  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  noble  Pascataquaukes  to 
believe  they  would  like  to  be  called  great  deer,  or  rather  great 
cowards.  Again,  Nashua  means  the  river  with  a  jiebbly  bottom; 
and  we  cannot  think  those  red  men  intended  to  call  themselves  the 
2)ehbIy-b(Atoiiied  Indians.  The  literal  significance  of  the  word 
Pemigewassett  is  "  the  crooked  mountain  pine  plfice  "  —  a  name 
that  will  answer  well  enough  for  a  river,  but  would  not  at  all 
desci'ibe  the  hardy  race  of  Indian  mountaineers  that  hunted  in  the 
pleasant  territory  of  Warren.  They  were  not  crooked  children 
but  straight  as  arrows;  they  were  not  mountains,  except  in  firm- 
ness and  strength;  nor  were  they  pines,  for  that  is  a  soft,  brittle 
wood,  and  they  were  tough  as  oaks.  We  conclude  that  the  Pem- 
igewassetts, and  all  those  numerous  tribes  who  called  themselves 
Nipmucks,  received  their  name  from  foreigners  in  pretty  much 
the  same  manner  that  Boston  men  are  called  Bostonians  and  the 
highly  moral  men  of  Gotham,  Gothamites. 

The  different  families  of  these  several  tribes,  neighbors  of  our 
Pemigewassetts,  were  not  very  careful  to  confine  their  residences 

*  JVinnecowetts,  from  Winne  (beautiful),  Cooash,  Jind  Auke.— Potter's  Hist,  of 
Mancliester,  28. 


26  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

to  any  particular  locality,*  but  generally  changed  them  several  times 
in  a  year,  and  changed  their  names  as  often  as  they  changed  their 
residences.  Consequently  when  a  few  families  went  to  Amoskeag 
falls  to  fish  they  were  Amoskeags;  if  they  went  to  the  rich  inter- 
vals of  Pennacook  to  plant  they  were  Pennacooks ;  if  they  went 
later  in  the  season  to  Winnepissiogee  lake,  where  they  could  fish 
through  the  ice  and  hunt  on  the  hills,  to  spend  the  winter,  they 
were  Winnepissaukies, — and,  furthermore,  any  tribe  had  but  to 
say  presto  and  ti*avel,  and  they  immediately  changed  into  some 
other  great  tribe. 

AVhere  in  Warren,  "the  beautiful  bowl  of  the  mountains,"  did 
the  Pemigewassetts  live?  They  had  numerous  camping-grounds, 
but  several  places  are  particularlj^  shown,  where  it  is  said  they 
built  their  wigwams. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  Asquamchumauke,  and  a  few  rods 
below  the  large  raih'oad  bridge  that  spans  its  waters,  was  a  fertile 
meadow.  Here  was  a  planting  place.  Arrow-heads  have  been 
found  there,  and  the  ridges  where  the  corn  grew  were  seen  by  the 
first  settlers.  But  the  Indians  who  sometimes  lived  here  left  a 
monument  more  enduring  than  the  little  mounds  where  they 
hilled  their  corn.  Twenty  rods  back  from  the  river,  and  fifty  feet 
higher  than  the  running  water,  a  trap  dyke  cuts  across  a  high 
ledge,  known  as 

INDIAN    ROCK. 

On  its  top  are  formed  four  smoothly  cut  bowls.  Lines  connecting 
them  would  point  east  and  west,  north  and  south.  Such  regularity 
shows  that  they  cannot  be  "pot-holes,"  and  they  were  without  doubt 
formed  by  the  Indians.     This  settlement  was  on  the  Indian  trail. 

*  From  thick  warm  valleys  where  they  winter  they  remove  a  little  nearer  to 
their  summer  tielrls.  When  it  is  warm  spring  they  remove  to  tlieir  fields,  where 
they  plant  corn.  In  mifldle  summer,  because  of  theabundance  of  tleas  whicli  the 
dust  of  the  lionse  breeils,  they  will  fly  and  remove  on  a  sudden  to  a  fresh  place. 
And  sometimes  having  fields  a  mile  or"  two  or  many  miles  assunder,  when  the  work 
of  one  field  is  over  they  remove  hence  to  the  other.  If  death  call  in  amongst  them, 
tliey  presently  remove  to  a  fresh  place.  If  au  enemy  approach  they  remove  to  a 
thicket  or  swamp,  unless  tliey  have  some  fort  to  remove  into.  •  Sometimes  tliey 
remove  to  a  hunting  house  in  the  end  of  the  year  and  forsake  it  not  until  the  snow 
lies  thick;  and  then  will  travel  home,  men  women  and  children,  through  the  snow 
thirty,  yea  fifty  or  si.xty  miles.  But  their  great  remove  is  from  their  summer 
fields  to  warm  and  thick  woody  bottoms,  where  they  winter.  Tliey  are  quick  in 
half  a  day,  yea  sometimes  in  a  iew  hours  warning  to  be  gone,  and  the  house  is 
up  elsewhere,  especially  if  they  have  a  few  stakes  ready  pitched  for  their  mats.  I 
once  in  my  travels  lodged  at  a  house  at  which  in  my  return  I  lioped  to  have  lodged 
again  the  next  night,  but  the  house  was  gone  in  that  interim  and  I  was  glad  to 
lodge  under  a  tree.— Roger  Williams'  Key,  3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  213. 


THE    PE3IIGEWASSETTS.  '  27 

Then  there  were  indications  of  another  settlement  near  Beach- 
hill  bridoe  over  Black  brook,  or,  as  they  called  it,  the  Mikaseota. 
This  was  a  favorite  place,  and  old  Indians  came  back  and  camped 
there  even  after  white  settlers  had  moved  into  the  valley. 

A  high  embankment  known  as  the  Blue  ridge  connects  the 
base  of  Keyes  ledge  with  the  foot  of  Sentinel  mountain.  This  is 
the  southern  shore  to  what  is  now  called  Kunaway  pond.  Where 
the  water  burst  through  is  plain  to  be  seen,  and  on  the  rocks  of 
the  former  beach  are  yet  the  marks  scored  by  the  tumbling  waves 
and  dashing  ice.  The  broad  acres,  once  the  bed  of  the  pond,  are 
now  fertile  meadows.  They  were  never  fully  overgrown  by  forest 
trees.  Mounds,  where  the  Indians  stored  their  corn;  ashes,  where 
burned  the  wigwam  tires;  pieces  of  rude  pottery,  axes  of  stone, 
arrow-heads  turned  up  by  the  ploughshare,  and  graves  under  the 
shadow  of  Marston  hill,  tell  that  here  once  was  an  Indian  village. 
By  it  ran  the  trail  *  leading  to  the  land  of  the  Coosucks.  In  front 
wound  their  Mikaseota,  silent  and  dark,  and  near  by  the  bright 
water  of  Ore  hill  brook  flashed  in  the  rocky  glen.  Here  the  steep 
hills,  that  once  sloped  down  to  the  curling  waves,  protected  from 
the  chill  winds  the  Indian's  maize,  his  pumpkins,  squashes,  and 
beans,  Avhich  grew  in  these  most  fertile  meadows. 

Then  by  the  mouth  of  Berry  brook, — the  stream  that  comes 
down  through  the  dark  ravine  from  Moosilauke, —  was  a  planting 
place.  Debris  from  the  wigwams,  rude  implements  of  husbandry, 
of  hunting  and  fishing,  have  been  found  here. 

High  up  on  a  plateau  of  Moosilauke  mountain  lies  one  of  the 
most  fertile  farms  of  Warren.  On  its  eastern  side  is  a  dark  ravine 
a  hundred  fathoms  deep.  Through  this  rushes  a  foaming  torrent, 
the  head-waters  of  the  Asquamchumauke.  On  the  north  the  lofty 
Moosilauke  shoots  up  five  thousand  feet ;  Mts.  AYaternomee, 
Cushmau,  and  Kineo  are  on  the  left,  a  woody  mountain  ridge  runs 
to  the  valley  on  the  right,  in  front  are  Mount  Carr  and  Mt. 
Sentinel,  and  through  the  passes  and  over  hills  may  be  seen  the 
distant  mountains  of  the  southwest.  Near  the  eastern  edge  of  the 
plateau  bubbles  up  a  clear,  cold  spring.  A  little  stream  flowing 
therefrom  Avinds  for  a  considerable  distance  nearly  parallel  to  the 

*  It  is  artmirjil)le  to  see  ^yhat  paths  their  naked  liarrteued  feet  have  made  in  the 
wilderness,  in  most  stoney  and  rocky  places,— lloger  Williams'  Iv.ej\ 


28  ♦  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

brink  of  the  raviue  and  then,  flashing  among  the  boulders,  leaps 
down  through  a  deep  gullj^  to  the  torrent.  Between  the  spi'ing 
and  the  brink,  in  a  grove  of  tall  hemlocks,  Indian  implements  * 
discovered  show  that  here  also  was  once  an  Indian  village. 

But  the  Pemigewassetts,  as  we  have  gently  intimated  before, 
were  not  confined  to  the  woody  territory  of  Warren.  They  had 
ample  hunting  grounds,  larger  than  any  of  the  other  great  tribes 
we  have  mentioned.  The  Height  o' land  was  their  northern  boun- 
dary and  the  Connecticut  river  was  on  the  west.  The  great  "White 
mountains  were  on  the  east,  while  on  the  south  was  the  land  of  the 
Pennacooks  and  the  Winnepissaukies. 

Their's  was  a  beautiful  country.  No  clearer  and  more  spark- 
ling rivers  could  be  found  in  the  world  than  the  Asquamchumauke 
and  Pcmigewassett ;  no  brigkter  and  more  smiling  lakes  than  the 
Newfound  and  the  Squam,  and  no  more  glorious  mountains  than 
Moosilauke  and  the  Haystacks.  By  Sawheganet  and  Livermore 
falls  were  the  best  of  fishing  places,  and  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Asquamchumauke  and  Pcmigewassett  were  the  broad  and  beau- 
tiful intervals  of  the  tribe.  No  place  more  fertile  can  be  found  in 
New  England.  Luxuriant  grasses  and  wild  flowers  growing 
with  tropical  exuberance,  clusters  of  noble  elms  with  waving 
branches,  a  dense  forest,  hills  and  wood-crowned  summits  on  the 
border,  and  lofty  mountains  in  the  distance,  often  snow-capped  at 
midsummer,  made  this  spot  a  Avild  paradise.  Eidges  where  the 
corn  was  planted,  ashes  where  the  wigwam  was  built,  mattocks 
made  from  the  bone  of  a  moose's  thigh,  rude  pestles  and  knives 
of  stone,  gouges,  and  arrow  and  spear-heads  here  found,  show 
that  this  was  the  chief  planting  place  of  the  tribe. f  Here  also 
was  frequently  the  royal  residence,  and  without  doubt  the  Indians 
had  encamped  here  for  centuries. 

There  was  really  but  one  tribe  of  Indiana  in  New  Hampshire,  the  Xipmucks,  as 
they  called  themselves.  The  dii'isio7i  of  this  tribe  into  ten  or  fifteen  small  but  distin- 
guished tribes  is  but  a  pleasant  fancy  of  great  Indian  Historians,  and  we  harebeen 
pleased  to  humor  that  fancy.  The  Nipmiicks  belonged  as  niucli  to  one  section  of  the 
State  as  to  another,  and  inliabited  all  sections,  setting  up  their  wigwams  wherever 
they  could  find  good  hunting  grounds,  tishing  waters,  and  planting  places.  Potter 
says  the  New  llampshire  Indians  were  all  Nipmucks,  and  Drake  says  the  same 
thing — and  they  have  given  the  matter  more  research  than  all  others  wlio  have 
written  upon  the  subject.  Every  town  in  Xew  Hampshire  has  had  a  portion  of  a 
tribeof  Indians  at  some  time  residing  within  its  borders,  and  that  ivas  the  Kipmuck. 

*Natlianiel  Merrill,  2d,  found  a  beautiful  Indian  freestone  bowl  at  this  place. 

t  At  the  mouth  of  JJaker  river,  in  the  town  of  Plymouth,  X.  II.,  the  Indians  had 
a  settlement,  where  have  been  found  Indian  graves,  bones,  gun-bariels,  .stone moi-- 
tars,  pestles,  and  otherutensils  in  use  among  them.— I.  Farmer  &  Moore's  Col.  128. 


CHAPTER  11. 

CONTAINING    THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE   PEMXGEWASSETTS,    WITH    A    FEW 
PROFOUND  THEORIES   VERY   INTERESTING   TO  KNOW. 

V^HEXCE  came  the  Pemigewassetts  ?     Whence  all  the 
red  men?    These  are  not  easily  answered. 

Naturally  one  would  turn  to  the  Indians  and  seek  the  informa- 
tion from  them.  The  medicine  man,  j^riest,  or  panisee,  when 
asked  the  question  would  reply,  as  he  often  has,  as  follows : 

"  The  first  pair  of  mortals  crept  from  a  hole  in  the  earth, 
climbing  up  by  a  grape-vine,"  to  inhabit  a  world  that,  as  some 
say,  had  "  grown  out  of  a  tortoise's  back,"  or  as  others,  "  the 
globe  reconstructed  from  the  earth  clutched  in  a  muskrat's  paw." 

Or  the  great  legend  man  of  another  tribe  would  say  that  man 
was  brought  to  earth  on  the  back  of  the  white-winged  bird  of 
heaven. 

The  traditions  of  another  would  have  it  that  the  land  was 
peopled  by  "a  few  wanderers  from  the  seven  caves  (if  any  one 
can  tell  where  they  are),  veiling  their  god-like  powers  of  terror 
with  hissing  rattlesnakes  fearful  only  to  others." 

Then  it  was  often  told  round  the  wigwam  fire  how  a  mam- 
moth bull  jumped  over  the  great  lakes  with  the  first  Indians  on 
his  back,  and  how  a  grape-vine  carried  a  whole  tribe  across  the 
Mississippi. 

Now  these,  and  very  many  more  like  them,  were  all  satisfac- 
tory answers  to  the  Indians  themselves,  but  did  not  at  all  clear 
up  the  mystery  of  the  origin  of  the  Indians  to  the  minds  of  the 
pious  missionaries  who  first  came  among  them,  or  the  host  of 
Indian  historians  who  have  sprung  up  in  later  years.  Conse- 
quefttly  theories  without  number  have  been  started,  a  feAV  of 


30  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

which  the  most  important  we  will  mentiou  briefly,  as  they  will  aid 
the  enquiriug  reader  greatly  in  solving  the  momentous  question. 

Christopher  Colon  —  otherwise  the  great  Columbus  —  immedi- 
ately upon  his  discovering  the  red  men  in  the  "West  Indies'  began 
to  theorise  upon  their  origin,  and  concluded  they  were  the  people 
of  the  ancient  Ophir,  from  whence  Solomon  procured  the  gold  to 
embellish  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  "imagined  that  he  saw 
the  remains  of  furnaces  of  veritable  Hebraic  construction  em- 
ployed in  refining  the  precious  ore." 

Numerous  writers,  following  the  great  discoverer,  asserted 
without  the  least  hesitation  that  the  Jews  were  the  early  settlers 
of  America,  and  many  pious  authors  rejoiced  that  they  had  found 
at  last  the  abode  of  the  ten  lost  tribes  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

Then  learned  authoi-s  arose  who  said  North  America  was 
peopled  by  a  colony  of  Norwegians,  and  a  generation  of  later 
writers  were  sure  that  the  newly  discovered  land  was  peopled  in 
remote  ages  by  the  Chinese. 

As  time  passed  on,  one  distinguished  historian  ascribed  the 
settlement  of  America  to  the  Egyptians ;  another  to  the  Scandi- 
navians ;  a  third  to  the  Gauls ;  a  fourth  to  the  Celts ;  a  fifth  to  the 
Phcenicians,  and  a  sixth  to  the  Carthagenians,  and  numerous 
others  to  as  many  different  peoples  and  nations, — each  author 
bringing  a  clovid  of  witnesses  and  numerous  tomes  of  written 
evidence  to  support  his  theory. 

In  later  times  distinguished  antiquarians,  bringing  to  bear  the 
light  of  natural  science  and  modern  geographical  discoveries, 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  America  was  not  peopled  by  the 
Norwegians,  Celts,  or  Gauls, — marching  from  Europe  by  a  pleas- 
ant route  across  frozen  rivers  and  arms  of  the  sea  through  Iceland, 
Greenland,  and  Labrador;  neither  that  they  sailed  direct  from 
Egypt,  Phoenicia,  or  Carthage,  westward  across  the  Atlantic,  or 
from  China  eastward  across  the  Pacific ;  but  that  they  came  in 
veritable  birch  canoes  from  the  northeast  corner  of  Asia,  coasting 
with  a  pleasant  breeze  along  the  Aleutian  isles,  or  sailing  in  the 
most  daring  manner  directly  across  Behring's  straits — forty-four 
miles  wide  —  Avith  three  small  islands  intervening  at  equal  dis- 
tances for  convenient  resting  places. 

Others  are  so  kind  that  they  have  constructed  in  remote  ages 


THE    ABORIGINES.  31 

an  exceedingly  strong  bridge  of  ice  across  the  above-named' strait, 
over  wliich  the  red  men  could  pass  dry  shod. 

It  is  said,  with  how  much  truth  we  know  not,  that  the  Esqui- 
maux of  Asia  and  those  of  America  are  of  the  same  origin,  as  is 
proved  by  the  atfinity  of  their  language,  and  the  latter  probably 
emigrated  from  the  former  country  —  coming  over  in  canoes  or  on 
the  convenient  bridge  of  ice.  Also  that  the  Tungusians  of  Asia* 
are  identical  with  the  red  men  of  America;  only  this  cannot  be 
proved  by  their  language,  but  by  similarity  of  features,  hair,  and 
complexion. 

Certain  it  is  there  are  manj^  who  do  not  believe  the  last  men- 
tioned theories  any  more  than  the  former,  and  assert  that  the 
Indians  had  an  Adam  and  Eve  of  their  own,  who  lived  more  than 
a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  years  ago  upon  that  strip  of  land 
seen  to  the  northward  from  the  top  of  our  PemigeAvassett's  loved 
Moosilauke,  and  which  was  once  the  only  land  in  the  whole 
world,  an  island  washed  on  every  side  by  a  boundless  and  un- 
known ocean. 

From  this  we  are  to  infer  that  Asia  was  peopled  from  Amer- 
ica, aud  not  vice  versa,  as  was  gravely  asserted  in  former  times. 

Others  there  are  who,  discarding  all  the  former  theories,  assert 
that  the  human  race  had  diverse  origins,  by  the  development  pro- 
cess, as  unfolded  by  the  great  Darwin,  in  which  he  makes  man  to 
have  descended  by  natural  selections  and  gradual  development 
from  the  —  oyster,  or  some  other  equally  distinguished  creation  of 
animal  life.  Our  noble  tribe  on  the  banks  of  the  Pemigewassett 
must  have  felt  honored  had  they  but  known  from  what  noble 
ancestors  they  descended. 

Dissenters,  who  do  not  believe  in  the  unity  of  the  human  race, 
affirm  that  the  five  species  of  men  each  had  a  different  origin — 
five  different  pairs  of  first  parents. f  But  these  are  only  an  aristo- 
cratical  sort  of  people,  who  do  not  like  to  acknowledge  themselves 

*  Captain  Ray,  of  tlie  whalesliip  Superior,  testifies  that  while  he  was  fishing  at 
Behring's  straits" he  saw  canoes  going  from  one  continent  to  tlie  other.  The  origin 
of  the  native  Americans  is  tlius  evidently  explained.  It  has  also  been  observed 
that  North  Americans  have  habits  and  manners  similar  totheTchuktchians,  Kamt- 
schatkans,  Yakoutsks,  and  Koriaks  of  Asia.  A  similarity  in  the  language  has  also 
been  discovered. —  History  of  the  Abuakis,  13. 

tThey  say  it  would  have  been  just  as  easy  for  the  Creator  to  have  made  five  or 
twenty-five  diflerent  races  of  men  as  it  was  to  have  made  one. 


32  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

to  be "  cousins  to  the  Hindus,  Hottentots,  aud  Negroes,  perhaps  to 
the  gorillas  and  orang--otangs. 

We  do  not  propose  to  go  further  in  this  antiquarian  or  anthro- 
pological expedition,  but  think  that  our  readers,  from  what  has 
been  thus  briefly  presented,  will  come  to  the  sage  conclusion  that 
the  Pemigewassetts  came  from  somewhere,  the  Lord  only  knows 
where,  and  inhabited  the  fair  valley  of  the  Asquamchumauke  for 
long-  centuries  before  the  advent  of  the  white  man. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ABOUT  ACTEON  —  POLITELY  CALLED  OLD  ACTEON  —  AND  AVHAT  HE 
AS  WELL  AS  OTHERS  SAID  OF  THE  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF 
THE   PEMIGEWASSETTS. 

In  a  little  old  legendary  manuscript  history,  where  the 
handwriting  was  decidedly  poor  and  the  spelling  none  of  the  best, 
said  to  have  been  written  by  Colonel  Obadiah  Clement  in  his 
younger  and  palmiest  days,  are  related  many  and  wonderful 
things,  reported  to  have  been  told  the  Colonel  by  an  Indian  *  who 
had  seen  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  winters,  and  who  was 
wont  to  stop  at  his  inn,  about  the  red  men  that  once  resided  on  the 
head  waters  of  the  Asquamchumauke.  We  have  made  the  most 
diligent  search  for  this  exceedingly  entertaining  work,  and  al- 
though we  found  his  few  poems  and  a  lengthy  religious  experience 
written  out,  and  numerous  other  iliteresting  papers,  yet  we  were 
never  able  to  lay  our  hands  upon  it.  But  we  have  no  doubt  that 
a  work  written  by  Colonel  Clement,  containing  divers  and  sundry 
facts,  did  once  exist,  which  like  many  another  great  production  is 
now  lost  to  the  world  forever.  In  fact,  we  have  met  with  one 
person  who  claims  to  have  read  the  identical  history,  and  from 
him  we  learned  many  a  fond  tale  which  he  said  his  grandfather's 
manuscript  recounted.  These  we  have  scrupulously  written 
down,  preferring  to  give  them  as  heard  rather  than  to  trick  them 
out  in  all  the  beautiful  adorniugs  and  gay  images  of  rhetoric. 

The  old  Indian,  Avhose  name  was  Acteon,  as  tradition  has  it, 

*  Joseph  Clement  and  James  Clement  both  vouch  for  the  Indian. 

In  ITlii  this  same  Acteon,  at  the  head  of  ten  Indians,  surprised  the  family  of 
Phillip  Durrell,  at  Kennebunk,  Me.,  burned  the  house  and  carried  away  ten  per- 
sons into  captivity.  Acteon  was  a  Xipmuck,  although  there  was  mucli  dispute 
as  to  where  he  was  born. —  Drake's  Ind.  Biogj  330. 

c 


34  HISTORY    OF    WAKREN. 

narrated  liow  that  the  Pemigewassett  tribe  were  a  jovial  set  of 
wauderiug  hunters,  going  from  one  end  of  their  hunting  grounds 
to  the  other  in  a  single  season,  and  building  for  themselves  every 
time  they  stopped  to  plant,  fish,  or  hunt  fiiiry  wigwams*  to  protect 
them  from  the  weather.  These  mountain  Indians  had  a  taste  for 
the  beautiful,  and  their  forest  halls  were  elaborately  constructed, 
splendidly  ornamented,  and  furnished  with  the  most  artistic  skill. 
A  smooth  i)lat  of  ground  was  chosen  among  the  embowering 
trees,  near  Avhich  a  bright  cold  spring  gushed  up  from  the  white 
sand,  or  by  which  a  sparkling  brook  danced  in  circling  eddies 
among  the  rocks.  Sometimes  they  chose  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and  again  the  margin  of  the  shining  lake. 

In  building  their  palaces  they  were  the  sole  architects  and 
artificers,  and,  being  able  to  do  so  many  things,  they  would  have 
been  termed  in  Yankee  land  jacks-at-all-trades. 

Yet  they  reared  no  marble  or  granite  halls.  They  planted 
numerous  sapling  poles  in  the  ground,  at  equal  distances  from  a 
given  point  called  the  centre ;  these  were  all  bent  toward  each 
other  till  they  met  and  formed  a  sharp  cone,  Avhen  they  were  there 
fastened.  Spruce  or  birch  bark  was  neatly  shingled  all  over  this 
light  framework,  save  a  small  opening  on  the  top  and  another 
about  two  feet  wide  and  three  feet  high,  on  the  southeast  side. 
The  first  was  never  closed,  no  doubt  being  left  open  that  the 
smoke  of  the  fire,  which  was  always  built  in  the  centre  of  the 
palace,  might  easily  escape, — perhaps  also  for  ventilation — while 
the  second,  which  answered  for  a  royal  enti'ance,  and  was  really 
larger  than  that  through  which  the  dirty  philosopher  Diogenes 
entered  his  tub,  was  stopped  by  the  shaggy  skin  of  a  bear.  Mats 
were  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  these  were  covered  with  rich 
furs.  Dishes  of  birch  bark,  shells,  and  gourds;  bows  and  arrow- 
filled  quivers,  tomahawks  and  scalping-knives ;  spears,  paddles, 
pipes,  and  tobacco  —  in  fine,  all  the  treasures  of  mighty  warriors, 
together  with  the  scalps  of  enemies,  were  hung,  like  trophies  in 
old  baronial  halls,  upon  the  pillars,  architraves,  cornices,  fluted 
shafts,  friezes,  and  capitals  of  the  stately  pole  and  bark  edifice. f 

*  The  men  make  the  poles  or  stakes,  hut  the  women  make  and  set  up,  take 
down,  order,  and  carry  the  household  stufl'. —  Roger  AVilliams'  Key. 

fDeer  skins,  or  those  of  some  other  animal,  were  hung  at  these  apertures  to 
tnke  the  place  oj'  doors,  and  were  pushed  aside  when  they  Avished  to  enter  or  pass 


ACTEON.  35 

The  palace  of  Versailles,  the  Kremlin  of  Moscow,  or  the  halls  of 
St.  James  have  not  half  the  beauties  these  woodland  lodges  and 
their  surroundings  possessed.  Fountains  and  baths  in  silvery 
sands,  with  flowers  smiling-  on  the  mossy  rim ;  long  aisles  amid 
the  mighty  colonnade  of  trees ;  terraces  on  the  green  slopes,  planted 
with  flowering  shrubs ;  leafy  canopies  echoing  with  the  fjiiry  notes 
of  the  light-winged  winds,  or  thrilling  with  the  sweetest  madri- 
gals of  a  thousand  birds,  with  plumage  dyed  in  the  brightest  rain- 
bow hues ;  arches  of  sky  of  the  sweetest  blue,  or  ebon  vaults 
glowing  with  diamond  stars — all  these  emparadised  the  forest 
lodges  of  the  Pemigewassetts. 

But,  said  old  Acteon,  although  we  don't  use  his  exact  lan- 
guage, let  no  one  who  has  common  sense  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  these  almost  ephemeral  wigwams  were  free  from  the  numerous 
cares  that  harass  and  perplex  humanity.  The  Pemigewassetts, 
like  other  men,  must  eat.  Their  bodies  were  sensible  to  the 
scorching  rays  of  the  summer  sun  and  also  felt  the  chilly  blast  and 
biting  frost.  Toil  might  procure  them  food,  but  from  heat  aud 
cold  their  palaces  afforded  only  a  weak  protection. 

Still  they  had  one  advantage  over  ordinary  civilized  mortals : 
No  frowns,  scowls,  or  cross  looks  on  the  lovely  faces  of  their 
squaw-queens  ever  troubled  them  on  washing  or  cleaning  days. 
In  fact,  it  required  no  great  outlay  of  elbow-grease  to  keep  their 
castles  clean,  nor  coats  of  whitewash  to  make  them  look  comely. 
If  a  dirty  mud-puddle  stank  before  the  entrance,  or  if  all  the 
chinks  and  cranies  of  the  low-arched  hall  swarmed  with  fleas 
and  lice,  as  was  frequently  the  case,  all  that  was  necessary  to  be 
done  was  to  move  out  the  treasures,  apply  the  torch,  let  the  de- 
vouring element  do  its  work — and  then  no  forest  flower  could 
grow  half  so  quick  as  a  second  royal  wigwam.* 

How  did  the  Pemigewassetts  subsist?  Old  Acteon,  in  a  story- 
out.  They  had  gourds  of  various  kinds.  The  common  gourd  they  cultivated  for 
dippers  aiid  musical  instruments,  use  and  pleastxre.  The  6070  of  "the  Pemigewas- 
set  was  usually  made  of  white  ash  or  hemlock.  The  nrrow  was  pointed  with 
stone:  sometimes  of  fine  granite,  but  ofteuer  of  quartz  and  slate.  The  spear-head 
and  knife  were  of  the  same  materials.  When  bending  the  bow  the  string  was 
drawn  with  three  fingers,  while  the  forefinger  and  thumb  held  the  arrow.  In  this 
manner  a  strong  man  could  bend  a  very  stift'  l)ow,  wliich  would  throw  an  arrow 
with  very  great  velocity.  Parfrf/es  were  "made  of  light  bass  wood  or  ash.  Pipes 
were  made  of  freestone. 

*The  wigwam  for  the  summer  was  a  frail  and  temporary  affair,  as  it  was  re- 
moved from  the  winter  encampment  to  the  fishing  place,  and  from  thence  to  the 


36  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

telling  mood,  ofteu  related  to  Colonel  Obadiah  liow  it  was, —  and 

as  they  were  just  like  all  the  rest  of  the  New  England  Indians 

their  manners  and  customs  can  also  be  learned  from  the  early 

English  Indian  historians  among  them,  and  perhaps   the  most 

entertaining  is  John  Josselyn,  Gent.,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  sign 

himself. 

Cultivating  the  laud,  fishing,  fowling,  and  hunting  occupied 

for  the  most  part  their  attention. 

The  braves  did  not  like  to  work,  and  the  Avomen  were  com- 
pelled to  strengthen  their  feeble  constitutions  by  cultivating  the 
wild  fields  with  mattocks  of  wood,  bone,  or  shell.  They  planted 
the  maize,  scared  away  the  crows,  hoed  the  beans,  and  trained  the 
flowering  vines. 

While  their  women  were  thus  employed  and  kept  out  of  mis- 
cliief  the  men  would  gamble,  tell  their  brave  exploits  in  war,  sing 
their  rude  songs,  engage  in  wild  sports,  or  eat,  smoke,  and  sleep. 
When  they  were  tired  of  this  lazy  way  of  existence  they  would 
dig  out  their  boats,  construct  their  birchen  canoes,  *  repair  the 
wigwams,  and  make  bows,  arrows,  spears,  and  tomahawks. 

When  they  wanted  moderate  excitement,  and  did  not  care  to 
fight,  they  would  engage  in  fishing,  foAvling,  and  hunting.  It  is 
said  that  in  the  first  they  used  a  spear,  a  net,  and  rude  hooks  of 
bone.f  But  Old  Acteon  said  the  Pemigewassetts  and  their  Nii)- 
muck  cousins  down  the  river  had  no  need  of  such  artificial  con- 
trivances. So  plenty  were  the  fish  in  the  Merrimack  and  its  trib- 
utaries that  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  jump  into  the  water  and 
with  their  hands  throw  out  a  hundred  dozen  or  so,  just  as  their 
delicate  appetites  happened  to  crave. 

In  the  ponds  and  rivers,  at  certain  seasons,  wild-fowl  congre- 
gated in  immense  flocks.     Then  fleets  of  birchen   canoes  would 

planting  grounds ;  then  from  one  field  to  another,  and  then  again  oftentimes  from 
one  spot  in  the  field  to  another,  to  get  rid  of  the  fleas,  which  were  numerous  in  hot 
weather,  and  which  insect  thej'  cull  Poppek  from  its  celerity  of  movement. —  Pot- 
ter's History  of  Manchester,  47. 

*  The  canoe  was  made  of  birch  hark  :  .V  suitable  tree  was  cut  down  and  the 
Ijark  peeled  off  in  one  piece.  Then  a  framework  of  spruce  was  made  and  the  bark 
fitted  or  sewed  to  it  with  spruce  or  otlier  roots.  The  holes  were  stopped  witli 
pitch.  They  M'ere  really  beaiititul  and  graceful  structures,  and  one  that  weighed 
less  than  forty  pounds  would  carry,  five  persons.  A  man  could  easily  carry  one  on 
his  shoulders" around  falls  or  from  place  to  place. 

t  Up  higher  from  the  sea,  at  the  falls  of  gi-eat  rivers,  they  used  to  take  salmon, 
shad,  and  alewives  that  used  in  gi-eat  quantities,  moi-e  tliau  cartloads,  in  the  spring 
to  pass  up  into  the  fresh  water  ponds  and  lakes  to  spawn. —  Ms.  H.  C.  iii.  s.  vol. 
V.  30. 


FISHING   AND   HUNTING.  37 

surround  thcin,  and  gradually  narrowing-  their  circle  they  would 
rapidly  huddle  them  into  some  narrow  creek  or  cove,  and  then  in 
wantonness  destroy  them  by  thousands. 

In  hunting  they  set  spring  traps*  for  deer,  snares  for  par- 
tridges and  rabbits,  and  kulheags  for  bears,  coons,  fisher-cats, 
minks,  muskrats,  and  sable.  In  early  autumn,  when  moose  and 
deer  fed  at  night  on  the  grassy  shores  of  the  lakes  and  rivers,  the 
Indian  hunter,  with  rude  lantern  brightly  flashing  in  front,  placed 
in  the  prow  of  the  canoe,  would  paddle  noiselessly  in  the  dark 
shadow  behind,  and  when  sufficiently  near  his  spell-bound  vic- 
tim would  send  his  feathered  shaft  on  its  silent  but  fatal  mission. 
Every  dark  night  of  autumn  these  spectral  fires  might  be  seen 
gliding-  like  will-o'-the-wisps  over  the  rivers,  ponds,  and  lakes  in 
the  Pemigewassett  country. 

But  the  most  exciting  and  the  most  attractive  of  all  were 
their  grand  hunting-parties.  As  they  had  no  hawks,  hounds,  nor 
horses,  and  as  it  was  difficult  for  a  single  hunter  to  capture  the 
lar<^-er  game,  these  huntings  were  necessary.  They  would  select 
some  woody  glen  or  pass  of  the  hills,  such  as  can  be  found  any- 
where in  the  East-parte  regions,  or  like  the  notch  of  the  Oliveriau, 
which  they  would  nearly  hedge  across  by  an  abattis  of  trees  placed 
in  the  form  of  the  letter  V  —  the  apex  being  left  slightly  open,  so 
that  the  game  could  pass  through.  The  skillful  spear  and  bow 
men  stationed  themselves  near  the  open  apex.  Some  of  th'e  more 
inexperienced  hunters,  together  with  the  women  and  children, 
would  go  out  on  the  hillsides,  while  others  stood  in  a  semi-circle 
across  the  valley.  Then  with  shouts,  and  yells,  and  wild  whoops, 
the  moose  and  deer,  bears  and  wolves,  were  roused  with  the 
smaller  game.    Narrowing  their  semicircle,  they  drove  the  Avild 

*  In  November,  1620,  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Mayflower,  as  Stephen  Hop- 
kins, Wilham  Bradford  and  otliers  were  walking  in  tlie'woods  they  came  to  a  tree 
wliere  a  young  sprit  was  bowed  doAvn  over  a  bow  and  some  acorns  strewed  un- 
derneath. As  Bradford  went  about  it  it  gave  a  sudden  jerk  up  and  he  was  imme- 
diately caught  up  by  his  legs  and  hung  dangling  in  the  air.— Totter's  Hist,  of  Man- 
chester, 42. 

They  hunt  by  traps  of  several  sorts.  To  which  purpose  after  they  have  ob- 
served in  spring-time  and  summer  the  haunt  of  the  deer  then  about  harvest  they 
go  ten  or  twenty  together,  and  sometimes  more,  and  witlial  if  it  be  not  Coo  I'ar, 
wives  and  children  also,  where  they  buihl  up  little  hunting  houses  of  barks  aud 
rushes,  not  comparable  to  their  dwelling-houses ;  and  so  each  man  takes  his  bounds 
of  two,  three,  or  four  miles,  where  he  sets  thirty,  forty,  or  lifty  traps,  and  baits 
them  with  that  food  tlie  deer  loves,  and  once  in  two  days  lie  walks  his  roiiud  to^ 
view  his  traps  where  they  lie  at  what  comes  at  them,  for  the  deer,  whom  they  con- 
ceive have  a  divine  power  in  them,  will  soon  smell  all  aud  be  gone.— Roger  Wil- 
liams' Key,  233. 


38  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

herd  toward  the  restricted  opening  of  the  abattis.  The  moose  and 
deer  were  shot,  as  bounding  forward  they  endeavored  to  escape. 
Bears  generally  took  to  the  trees,  but  the  bowmen  brought  them 
down,  while  the  lesser  game,  confused  and  crowded,  was  easily 
captured  by  the  shouting  drivers.* 

Such  scenes  were  yearly  witnessed  in  all  the  Nipmuck  coun- 
try, and  especially  in  the  Asquamchumauke  valley,  where  game 
was  so  plenty.  In  this  manner  they  procured  a  large  supply  of 
meat  which,  smoked,  lasted  through  the  winter,  as  well  as  an 
abundance  of  furs  and  skins  for  clothing  and  blankets. 

AYhen  the  strawberry  crimsoned  the  banks  of  the  Asquam- 
chumauke, the  wild  cherry  and  sugar  plum  tempted  the  songster 
by  Berry  brook  and  the  Mikaseota ;  when  the  raspberry  and  black- 
berry grew  by  the  wild  maize  fields,  and  the  blueberry  and  huckle- 
berry ripened  on  the  rocky  heights  of  Owl's  Head  and  Webster 
Slide  and  along  the  shores  of  the  sedgy  ponds,  rosy-cheeked  girls 
and  bright-eyed  boys  of  tlie  Pemigewassett  tribe  had  a  joyous 
time  gathering  the  luscious  store. 

But  when  the  green  corn  was  ripe  enough  to  roast,  and  the 
fishings,  or  fowlings,  or  huntings  were  over;  when  the  squaws 
had  gathered  the  silken  ears,  or  had  cooked  the  geese,  the  ducks, 
and  the  partridges,  or  the  golden-fleshed  salmon  or  ricli  fat  trout ; 
or  had  roasted  the  moose  meat  and  the  venison  and  bear  steaks, — 
then  began  the  feast  and  jubilant  festivals ;  then  the  archways  of 
their  forest  temples  echoed  with  wild  harmonious  choruses  and 
deep-resounding  music;  then  on  the  fire-lit  lawn  symmetrical 
forms  circled  in  the  mazy  green  corn  dance,  the  salmon  dance, 
and  the  hunters'  dance;  then  vows  were  plighted,  nuptials  cele- 
brated, and  the  old  men  recounted  the  legends  of  the  tribe. 

Acteon  said  that  the  Pemigewassetts  never  considered  Warren 
—  the  land  upon  the  head-waters  of  the  Asquamchumauke — as  a 
very  good  planting  ground.  Plymouth,  and  the  rich  meadows  of 
Coos,  were  much  better.  But  as  a  gooei  hunting  region,  about  the 
lofty  Moosilauke,  or  as  containing  excellent  fishing  waters,  no 
better  place  could  be  found. 

*When  they  pursue  their  game,  especially  deer  — which  is  the  general  ami 
wondcrrul  plenteous  hunting  in  the  country  —  they  pursue  in  20,  40,  50,  yea  200  or 
300  in  a  company,  as  1  have  seen  when  they  drive  the  -woods  before  them.—  Roger 
Williams'  Key,  23U. 


THEIR    RELIGION.  39 

The  Pemigewassetts  like  all  the  rest  of  the  Nipmucks  hunted, 
or  fished,  or  planted,  every  day  in  the  year.  There  was  no  Sun- 
day for  them.  Still  they  Avere  somewhat  piously  disposed  and 
observed  religious  rites  whenever  the  spirit  moved.  They  had  no 
God,  as  we  understand  Him.  Their  deities  were  infinite;  but 
some  were  superior  to  others.  Every  thing  that  showed  life  or 
motion  had  a  divinity,  and  they  saw  a  god  in  every  blade  of 
springing  grass,  in  the  waving  of  the  foi'est  trees ;  they  saw  him 
smiling  in  the  blue  river  and  heard  him  in  the  dashing  of  the 
great  lakes,  in  the  music  of  the  leaping  waterfalls,  in  the  sighing 
of  the  trickling  drops  of  the  grotto,  and  in  the  winds  .shrieking 
on  the  clifls.  To  them  there  was  a  bright  Shade  dancing  in  the 
stars,  gliding  on  the  moonbeams,  smiling  in  the  rosy  dawn  of 
morning,  and  the  last  tinges  of  the  setting  sun. 

Then  there  was  a  divinity — a  guardian  angel — for  the  trout, 
the  salmon,  and  llie  shad;  for  every  kind  of  fish,  for  the  songster 
that  sang  by  the  wigwam,  and  the  eagle  that  screamed  above  the 
mountains;  for  the  beaver,  the  bear,  the  deer,  the  moose,  and  for 
every  creeping  thing.  This  divinity,  this  "  shade,"  would  never 
die.  When  its  mission  on  earth  was  ended  it  flew  to  the  ^' happy 
hunting  grounds"  of  the  far  southwest,  along  with  the  noble 
shades  of  the  dusky  departed  Indians,  and  there  it  would  live 
forever. 

But  the  great  god,  Gitchie  Manito,  of  the  Pemigewassetts 
had  his  home  on  the  mountains,  and  they  heard  him  in  the  voices 
of  the  storm  and  the  mighty  torrent,  and  in  the  thunder  that  mut- 
tered in  the  dark  gorges  and  rumbled  low  over  the  crests.  They 
saw  him  in  the  rosy  hue  that  kindled  on  the  peaks  in  early  morn- 
ing, or  in  the  sharp  flash  of  the  lightning  that  leaped  from  the 
murky  clouds. 

His  home  they  seldom  visited,  and  the  Indian  had  a  bold 
spirit  who  dared  to  climb  the  bald  crest  of  the  mountain. 

To  him  they  sacrificed.  The  first  fruits  of  the  chase,  the  early 
green  maize,  the  golden  salmon,  the  wild  duck,  the  goose,  and  the 
partridge  were  their  ofierings.  But,  like  more  modern  Christians, 
they  believed  in  evil  spirits  as  well  as  good  ones,  and  the  former 
came  in  for  their  share  and  received  their  portion, —  the  same  as 


40  HISTORY    OF    WARREK. 

the  ancient  Greeks  were  accustomed  to  sacrifice  five  white  sheep 
to  the  good  gods  and  ten  black  ones  to  the  bad. 

Mau}^  other  things,  as  Acteon  said,  tlie  Pemigewassetts  were 
wont  to  do,  such  as  to  marry  and  be  given  in  marriage,  and  now 
and  then  obtain  a  divorce,  as  is  the  custom  in  later  days;  to  die 
and  be  buried,  to  weep  and  mourn,  and  then  to  engage  in  the 
pleasant  pastime  of  war,  as  we  shall  be  most  happy  to  narrate. 

*  AViien  they  come  to  the  grave  they  lay  the  dead  by  tlie  grave's  mouth  and  then 
all  sit  down  and  lament :  that  I  have  seen  tears  run  down  the  cheeks  of  stoutest 
captains,  as  well  as  little  children,  in  abiuidance.  And  alter  the  dead  are  laid  hi  the 
grave  and  sometimes  in  some  parts  some  goods  cast  in  with  them,  they  have  the 
second  great  lamentation.  And  upon  the  grave  is  spread  the  mat  the  "party  died 
on,  tlie  dish'  he  eat  in,  and  sometimes  a  fair  coat  of  skin  hung  upon  the  next  tree  to 
the  grave,  which  none  will  touch,  but  sufl'er  it  there  to  rot  with  the  dead.— Roger 
Williams'  Key,  238. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FIRST  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  NIPMUCKS,  OR  THE  EARLIEST  HISTORY 
OF  THE  PEMIGEWASSETTS,  AND  OF  THEIR  UNION  WITH  OTHER 
TRIBES  ;  ALSO  HOAV  A  BASHABA  WAS  KILLED,  WITH  A  DESCRIP- 
TION OF  A  VERY  POLITE  WAY  OF  TREATING  CAPTIVES,  AND  A 
FORESHADOWING   OF   SOMETHING   DREADFUL   TO    HAPPEN. 

Captain  JOHN  smith  deserves  lionorable  mention  in 
this  and  every  other  great  history.  He  was  the  bravest  man 
of  that  company  of  adventurers  Avho  founded  Jamestown,  Vir- 
ginia. He  would  have  been  leader  whether  chosen  by  the  London 
Company  or  not,  for  as  a  general  thing  the  bravest  man  in  trying 
times  takes  the  lead.  Smith  was  courageous.  There  was  a  sort  of 
a  bull-dog  crossed  with  a  rat-terrier  look  in  his  countenance.  He 
had  stamina,  gumption  —  pluck  in  abundance.  With  his  cocked 
hat,  blue  coat  and  briglit  buttons,  sword,  buff-breeches,  leggins, 
shoes  and  buckles,  he  presented  an  imposing  appearance,  which 
showed  that  he  was  the  man  for  the  times  and-  tlie  occasion.  He 
arranged  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  explored  the  country,  met  with 
his  Pocahontas  adventure,  went  twice  to  England  and  returned, 
made  a  map  of  all  the  American  coast  claimed  by  his  sovei-eign , 
King  James,  and  then  all  for  glory  went  to  fight  in  the  wars  of 
some  eastern  prince. 

This  same  Capt.  John  Smith,  many  thanks  to  him,  claimed  to 
be  something  of  an  author.  He  explored  the  coast  of  New  Eng- 
land, kept  a  journal,  and  afterv/^ards  published  an  account  of  his 
travels.  From  him  we  learn  all  about  this  beautiful  land — called 
by  some  a  rock-bound  coast — how  it  was  full  of  bays  and  inlets, 
and  how  bright  rivers  came  down  from  the  mouutains  seen  rising 
from  the  far  interior  forests. 


42  HISTOPvY    OF    WARREN. 

We  also  learn  from  him  how  many  and  what  Indians  resided 
here.  He  tells  us  of  the  cruel  Micmacs  of  Nova  Scotia,  who,  with 
the  New  Brunswick  Indians,  were  called  Tarentines.  They  were 
jolly  fighters,  and  delighted  in  blood  and  carnage.  He  also  tells 
us  of  the  Scotucks,  a  tribe  with  a  beautiful  name,  admired  by  all, 
and  of  the  Penobscots,  who  inhabited  the  Kennebec  country,  and 
Avere  celebi^ated  in  the  songs  of  the  red  men  as  a  tall  race  of  noble 
warriors.  He  says  the  Sokokis  dwelt  on  the  Saco  river  and  fished 
at  its  falls ;  that  the  Pascataquas  were  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  and 
built  handsome  wigwams  on  the  shores  of  the  beautiful  bay,  at 
Strawberry  Bank,  The  Massachusetts  lived  at  Trimountain,  the 
Pacouikicks  at  Cape  Cod,  and  west  were  the  warlike  Pequots  and 
the  bloody  Narragansetts.  In  the  interior  of  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  were  the  Nipemucks,  and  the  Noridgewolks  were 
seated  on  the  upper  Kennebec  and  Moosehead  lake. 

All  these  tribes  were  divided  into  numerous  clans,  and  the 
famous  Capt.  Smith  tells  all  their  musical,  easily  pronounced 
names,  such  as  the  Aumughcawgens,  Pauhuntanucks,  Pocopas- 
sums,  Taughtanakagnets,  Mauherosquick,  Pasanack,  and  many 
others  equally  pretty,  with  as  much  particularity  as  he  would 
mention  the  hundred  names  of  all  the  great  and  powerful  German 
states. 

This  voyage  of  exploration,  when  Smith  made  such  wonder- 
ful discoveries,  which  resulted  in  his  giving  us  the  earliest  account 
of  the  Nipmucks  extant,  happened  in  1G14.  At  this  time  the 
Mai'quas,*  or  Mohawks,  on  the  Hudson,  were  a  powerful  race  of 
warriors.  Their  wild  maurauding  parties  frequently  crossed  the 
Green  mountains  and  fell  on  the  dwellers  of  the  coast.  Then  the 
bloody  Tarentines  of  the  east  were  continually  panting  for  glory 
and  triumphs  —  not  unlike  the  Romans  —  and  the  consequence  was 
that  all  tlie  above-mentioned  tribes  were  compelled  to  join  in  a 
league  for  mutual  protection. 

The  Penobscot  Indians  were  at  the  head  of  this  league.  They 
were  a  valiant  race,  and  their  chief  was  superior  to  all  of  his 

*To  sum  up  all  concerning  tlie  Marquas  you  may  see  in  the  foregoing  discourse 
that  they  are  a  stout  though  cruel  people,  much  addicted  to  bloodshed  and  cruelty, 
yery  prone  to  vex  and  spoil  the  peaceable  Indians. —  Gookin,  Ms.  Hist.  Col.  Hi". 

The  Mohawks  were  a  powerful  tribe  and  made  frequent  incursions  among  the 
New  England  Indians.— 3  Ms.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.  iii.  21,  22. 


THE  BASHABA.  43 

time.  Of  powerful  frame,  no  Indian  could  hurl  the  tomahaAvk 
with  more  precision,  could  shoot  an  arrow  higher,  paddle  the 
canoe  faster,  or  run  swifter  than  himself.  In  the  council  he  was 
eloquent,  and  commanded  the  closest  attention ;  in  the  fight  his 
whoop  was  the  loudest  and  his  blow  the  most  deadlj^;  as  a  medi- 
cine man  he  was  unequalled,  and  as  a  sorcerer  all  the  subtle  spirits 
stood  ready  to  do  his  bidding.  Of  commanding  appearance,  with 
eagle  plumes  in  his  straight  black  hair,  with  an  eye  flashing  like 
lightning,  high  cheek  bones,  broad  nose  and  firmly  set  jaws ;  with 
necklace  of  panthers'  claws,  and  a  rattlesnake  skin  on  his  tawny 
red  arm ;  naked  to  the  waist,  a  robe  of  fox-skins  with  tails  pen- 
dant extending  to  the  knee;  bear-skin  breeches,  with  flowing- 
hair,  and  moccasins  of  moose-hide, — the  chief  of  the  Penobscots 
— the  Bashaba  of  JSTew  England — was  the  idol  of  his  braves. 

Tliis  great  Bashaba  had  numerous  chiefs  of  his  own  tribe 
under  him,  and  so  in  all  the  other  tribes.  Even  our  Pemigewas- 
setts  had  several  chiefs,  according  to  Acteon's  narrative :  a  war 
chief,  who  led  the  army  of  braves  to  battle;  chiefs  in  the  council, 
who  sat  as  head  men  of  the  deliberations, — and  every  one  of  these 
great  chiefs  acknowledged  fealty  to  the  Bashaba. 

But  this  great  man  did  not  long  survive  the  visit  of  Capt. 
Smith,  and  then  the  league  went  to  pieces.  How  it  happened  is 
very  interesting  to  know : 

The  young  warriors  of  the  Tarentines*  were  thirsting  for 
glory.  They  feasted  in  the  groves  where  the  wigwams  were 
planted ;  by  their  fire  they  sang  the  war-song  and  danced  the  war- 
dance  in  the  shadowy  night,  and  all  who  danced  enlisted.  As  the 
full  moon  waned,  a  score  of  parties,  each  numbering  from  three 
to  forty,  were  ready  for  the  march.  Their  outfit  was  simple.  A 
bow  and  quiver  of  arrows,  tomahawk,  scalping-knife,  pipe  and 
tobacco,  with  pouch  of  parched  corn  provided,  and  they  Avere 
ready  for  a  month's  campaign.  They  make  themselves  hideous 
with  black  and  red  paint,  they  sing  the  farewell  song  to  their 
women  and  children,  and  they  are.  gone. 

Eound  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  where  the  foam-crested  tide  was 
rushing,  across  the  rivers  St.  John  and  St.  Croix,  for  weeks  they 
thread  the  pathless  wilderness  towards   the  southwest.     They 

*  They  were  sometimes  called  the  Abuaki  Indians  of  the  east. 


44  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

place  no  watch  at  night.  They  pray  to  their  fetiches  and,  like  the 
panther,  lie  down  feeling  secure.  Arrived  in  the  land  of  the 
Penobscots,  for  days  together  they  hide  in  deep  ravines  and  among 
the  spruces  of  the  mountains.  When  the  moon  is  sleeping  in  the 
western  waves,  when  the  first  blush  of  morning  tinges  the  eastern 
sky,  when  sleep  is  soundest  and  sweetest,  they  rush  upon  the 
Penobscot  villages.  Like  the  tornado  they  sweep  them  away. 
The  warriors  of  the  Bashaba  are  slain.  The  Tarentine  brave 
twists  the  scalp  lock  in  his  loft  hand,  places  his  foot  on  the  neck, 
cuts  a  circular  gash  around  the  head  with  the  scalpiug  knife, 
gives  an  accompanying  dexterous  jerk,  and  the  scalp  is  his.  Even 
the  Bashaba  himself,  fighting  bravely,  finds  a  death-couch  upon  the 
bodies  of  half-a-dozen  Tarentines.  The  score  of  war  parties  have 
a  hundred  scalps.  The  richest  wampum,  the  choicest  skins,  strong 
bows,  ornamented  quivers  full  of  arrows  tipped  with  rose  quartz, 
spears  and  nets,  are  among  the  spoils.  Yet  thev  return  home 
with  few  captives. 

As  they  approached  their  own  villages  they  announced  their 
return  in  triumph  with  loud  yells  of  exultation.  To  celebrate 
their  victory  they  renew  the  feast  and  dance  the  scalp  dance.  The 
latter  was  a  unique  performance.  The  scalps  taken  in  former 
battles  are  attached  to  their  girdles.  With  heads  bent  forward 
they  hold  by  the  hair  the  fresh  scalps  in  their  teeth.  Then  they 
howl  and  stamp  around  the  fire  in  the  centre  of  their  cluster  of 
wigwams,  cutting  all  the  uncouth  antics  imaginable,  performing 
gyrations  innumerable,  and  sci-eaming  and  yelling  in  their  intense 
jollification,  "as  though,"  in  the  language  of  a  pious  writer, 
"  bedlam  had  broken  loose  and  all  hell  was  in  an  uproar." 

But  this  very  interesting  ceremony  was  only  a  gentle  prelude 
to  the  good  time  that  followed.  Let  no  one  be  shocked  at  the 
recital.  Men  are  the  creatures  of  education.  The  effeminate  and 
refined  queen  of  Spain  enjoys  a  bull-baiting  on  the  Sabbath  as 
much  as  northern  Christians  enjoy  psalm  singing  and  hosannas. 
Some  of  our  near  neighbors  take  a  peculiar  delight  in  cock-fight- 
ing, and  the  Roman  matrons  of  old  reached  the  acme  of  their 
bliss  when  they  saw  fierce  gladiators  butchering  each  other  or 
contending  with  ferocious  wild  beasts.  After  the  scalp  dance  had 
ceased  the  few  Penobscot  captives  were  brought  forward.    The 


METHOD   OF    TORTUKE.  45 

young-  Micmacs  were  enjoined  bj'  the  old  men  to  do  avcU.  A 
young  brave  from  the  west  was  to  undergo  the  ordeal.  With 
scornful  eye  and  air  of  defiance  he  presents  his  hands  to  be 
crushed  between  the  rough  stones.  His  fingers  are  torn  off  one 
by  one,  j^et  not  a  cry  escapes  him.  His  nose  is  cut  oft' —  his  tongue 
torn  out  —  and  still  he  does  not  flinch.  His  joints  are  separated; 
he  is  flayed  like  a  deer  —  and  then  the  cold  shivering  spirits  are 
driven  away  by  pushing  him  up  to  the  fire  that  he  may  enjoy  the 
hot  ones.  Yet  he  survives  this  exquisite  torture;  and  pitch 
faggots  arc  thrust  into  his  involuntary,  quivering  flesh,  and 
lighted  —  at  which  all  the  assembled  braves,  the  tawny  squaws, 
and  their  sunburnt  daughters  laugh  and  shout,  in  fiendish  glee  at 
the  sickening  misery.  At  dawn,  if  still  alive,  he  is  dragged 
beyond  the  wigwams  and  there  hacked  in  pieces.  Such  Avas  the 
practice,  not  only  of  the  Tareutines,  but  of  all  gentle  Indians.* 

Some  cunning  writers,  to  show  oft'  the  fine  points  of  their 
heroes,  draw  a  parallel  between  them  and  other  notable  characters. 
One  might  be  set  forth  in  this  manner:  Did  the  most  Holy  Pope 
of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  apply  thumbscrews  in  the  Inqui- 
sition—  the  Micmacs  had  as  pleasing  a  torture  in  putting  hands 
between  the  mashing  rocks.  Did  his  holiness  unjoint  limbs  on 
the  rack — the  more  primitive  savage  could  unjoint  them  as  well 
with  his  hands.  Did  God's  vicegerent  break  limbs  —  Indians 
could  do  the  same  with  a  stone  beetle.  Did  the  good  John  Calvin 
burn  jNIichael  Servctus  at  the  stake  —  Micmacs  could  roast  the 
flayed  victim  and  laugh  at  the  sound  of  the  quivering  flesh  cooked 
by  the  faggots.  Did  the  Puritans  scourge  the  backs,  crop  the 
ears,  cut  out  the  tongues  of  unoftending  Quakers,  and  hang 
witches  —  the '' brave  "  with  as  keen  an  avidity  could  cut  oft"  the 
nose,  tear  out  the  tongue,  and  hack  in  pieces. 

But  we  will  not  carry  this  refined  comparison  further.  There 
is  a  dark  side  to  everything.  If  we  looked  only  to  the  failings  of 
meu  we  might  run  mad  with  melancholy.  The  Indians  have  been 
strangely  venerated.    We  are  sometimes  disposed  to  admire  them. 

*For  an  acfoimt  of  their  method  of  tortuving  see  V.  Bancroft,  Chap.  2S. 

One  William  Moody  tinhappily  resijynod  himself  into  the  hands  of  some  French 
Mohawks,  wlio  most  inluimanly  tortured  him  by  fastening  him  unto  a  stake  and 
roasting  him  alive,  whose  llesh  they  afterwards  devoured.— Penhallow's  Indian 
Wars,  N.  H.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.  (Jl. 


46  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

There  is  a  disposition  from  some  cause  to  hide  their  faults,  but, 
for  the  sake  of  truth,  their  character  should  be  correctly  presented. 
Yet  after  all  we  do  not  see  as  they  are  much  worse  than  many 
others  who  have  pretended  to  vastly  better  thiugs. 

For  a  long-  time  the  Penobscot  tribe  was  ruined.  The  Bashaba 
dead  —  all  the  New  England  Indians,  iucludiug  our  Pemigewas- 
setts,  who  were  no  doubt  exceedingly  interested  in  passing  events, 
were  at  sea  without  compass  or  rudder.  The  bond  of  union  was 
broken.  Each  tribe  now  stx-uggled  for  the  supremacy.  Like  the 
earlier  times,  when  Milton's  Satan  and  his  good  angels  showed  a 
belligerent  spirit  in  Paradise,  primeval  war  raged.*  It  extended 
from  the  Hudson  river  to  the  St.  John.  How  this  very  amiable 
contest,  in  which  our  proud  Pemigewassetts  engaged  with  delight, 
was  conducted  and  ended,  we  shall  endeavor  most  faithfully  to 
narrate. 

*  After  the  death  of  the  Bashaba  the  public  business  running  to  confusion  for 
want  of  a  head,  the  rest  of  liis  great  sagamores  fell  at  variance  amongst  them- 
selves, spoiled  and  destroyed  each  other's  people  and  provision,  and  lamine  took 
hold  of  many;  which  wasseconded  by  a  great  and  general  plague,  which  so  vio- 
lently reigned  for  three  years  together  that  in  a  manner  a  greater  part  of  tne  land 
was  left  desert,  without  "any  to  disturb  or  oppose  a  free  and  peaceable  possession 
thereof. —  Sir  Ferdinaudo  Gorges'  Des.  ol  X.  E.,  vii.  Ms.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.  3  Ser,  vol. 
vi.  90. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OF  A  TERRIBLE  WAR,  PESTILENCE,  AND  FA^VONE,  THE  HEROES  OF 
WHICH  ARE  ALL  DEAD  AND  THEIR  NAMES  FORGOTTEN. 

It  is  much  to  bo  lamented  tliat  there  were  no  historians 
among  the  Indians  to  record  the  names  of  their  heroes  and  their 
victories.  But  the  wild  hordes  of  Asia,  the  highly  enlightened 
darkies  of  Africa,  who  have  had  their  bright  civilization  crushed 
out  by  powerful  European  armies,  which  so  frequently  have  rav- 
ished their  beautiful  lands  at  the  sources  of  the  Nile,  have  no  place 
in  history  and  never  had.  The  Indians  may  thank  their  lucky 
stars  that  their  European  exterminators  have  taken  so  much  pains 
to  preserve  the  remembrance  of  the  benevolent  acts  that  thrust 
them  out  of  existence  and  on  to  the  page  of  history,  where  they 
still  live.  In  this  they  have  the  advantage  of  the  Esquimaux,  the 
Negroes,  some  of  the  Asiatics,  and  their  numerous  cousins  in  the 
Pacific  isles.  The  author  of  this  excellent  history  has  had  occasion 
to  be  thankful  to  the  renowned  and  the  redoubtable  Capt.  John 
Smith  for  his  notes  on  the  Indians,  and  he  here  renews  his  thanks. 
To  take  up  the  thread  of  this  to  us  very  interesting  subject, 
we  would  say  we  ai-e  sure  there  was  a  most  fierce  fight  among  the 
Indians  on  the  death  of  the  Bashaba.  Capt.  Smith  says  so.  In 
what  tribe  it  commenced  we  never  could  learn,  but  when  begun  it 
proved  universal.  The  strong  fought  for  supremacy,  the  weak  for 
existence.  Thei*e  was  no  necessity  for  the  war-song  or  the  war- 
dance.  Every  brave  was  compelled  to  enlist  whether  he  would  or 
not.  The  signal  fire  gleam'sd  on  the  hill-top.  The  war-whoop 
was  heard  in  the  valley.  New  England,  before  nor  since,  never 
saw  such  carnage  within  her  borders.    The  French  war  and  the 


48  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Revolution  were  uotbiug  compared  to  it.  The  battles  of  the  Scot- 
tish clans,  or  those  of  the  old  Norsemen,  might  have  been  some- 
what similar,  yet  there  were  many  points  o?  difference.  In  fact, 
the  red  Indians  had  decidedly  a  style  of  their  own  —  original, 
and  one  that  could  not  well  be  imitated.  The  children  of  the 
forest  were  early  to  bed  and  earlj^  to  rise,  and  they  generally 
foixght  in  the  morning.  The  shrill  war-whoop,  the  whistling 
arrow,  the  whirr  of  the  tomahawk,  the  yells  in  the  savage  on- 
slaught, or  of  the  wounded  who  refused  to  groan  though  hurt  to 
death,  were  a  wild  matin  hymn  to  their  fierce  war-god,  who 
smiled  upon  them  in  the  blood-red  sti'eaks  of  dawn.  All  the 
tribes  on  the  seacoast  with  euphonious  names  fought  with  wild 
frenzy.  Numerous  were  the  warriors  slain,  the  captives  taken, 
the  scalp  locks  hanging  on  the  poles  of  the  wigwam.* 

But  the  fiercest  fighters  of  all  were  the  mountaineers  of  New 
Hampshire.  From  their  secret  lurking  places  in  the  dark  ravines 
they  would  steal  out  and  drop  silent  and  still  as  the  falling  dew 
into  the  pleasant  villages  of  the  coast.  Then  leaping  up  fiery  and 
fierce,  and  shouting  and  yelling  like  fiends  incarnate,  they  would 
massacre  every  inhabitant.  They  would  traverse  the  passes  of 
the  mountains,  and  fljdng  down  swift  as  the  scudding  mist,  in  a 
few  hours  they  would  secure  scalps  enough  to  astonish  their  vil- 
lage. Then  retreating  up  the  beds  of  the  torrents  they  would 
elude  all  pursuit.  Invincible  as  their  own  mountains,  and  secret 
as  the  panther  that  crouched  in  the  pathless  forest  gloom,  their 
enemies  fell  beneath  their  blows  like  frost  work  under  the 
morning  sun. 

Thus  the  war  went  on,  and  every  tribe  seemed  about  to  be 
exterminated,  when  a  foe  more  terrible  than  the  mountain  Indian 
entered  the  A'illages,  and  cut  down  alike  men,  women,  and  children. 

The  plague  f  first  appeared  on  the  coast.  But  it  soon  jour- 
neyed inland  and  preyed  on  every  tribe.  Its  ravages  were  terri- 
ble.   One  individual  of  a  village  smitten  down,  and  despair  seated 

*  Divisions  arose  as  to  the  succession  to  the  Bashaba,  of  which  the  Tarentines 
t.akiug  the  advantage  soon  overpowered  the  other  tribes  of  Maine,  and  extended  a 
Avar  of  extermination  along  the  coast  of  Massacliusetts. —  Potter's  Hist,  of  Man- 
chester, 23. 

Dralie's  Indian  Biogi-aphy,  81. 

t  Uralie's  Indian  Biography,  3. 

Not  long  bel'ore  the  English  came  into  the  country,  happened  a  great  mortality 
amongst  them,  especially  where  the  English  afterwards  planted.    The  east  and 


PESTILENCE   AND   FAMINE.  49 

itself  on  the  countenances  of  all.  Flight  was  hopeless.  One  by 
one  they  would  lie  down  and  die.  The  dead  were  unburied.  A 
terrible  stench  tainted  the  air.  Strong  warriors,  who  had  coped 
with  death  in  a  thousand  forms,  laj'  rotting  in  the  wigwams.  In- 
fants lay  on  the  breasts  of  their  dead  mothers,  striving  in  vain  to 
draw  life  from  the  bosoms  that  would  never  throb  again.  The 
strong  and  vigorous  youth,  the  beautiful  maiden,  were  alike  a 
prey  to  it.  In  a  few  weeks  whole  villages  were  depopulated,  and 
whole  tribes  ceased  to  exist. 

Inland  the  crops  were  neglected,  and  when  winter  came  the 
famine  was  as  terrible  as  the  plague.  As  the  snow  grew  deeper, 
and  the  cold  more  intense,  and  the  wind  howled  back  the  shrieks 
of  the  spectre  fjimine,  attenuated  forms  with  haggard  faces  and 
sunken  eyes  and  cheeks  would  sit  for  days  in  the  smoke  of  their 
wigwam  fires.  Then  Avith  tottering  steps  they  would  reel  into  the 
woods  for  food,  and  there,  chilled,  would  lie  down  and  die. 

Three  summers  the  plague  came,  until  on  the  seacoast  not  an 
Indian  village  remained;  and  for  many  leagues  along  the  shore 
not  five  Indians  in  a  hundred  were  alive.  When  the  Pilgrim  bark 
anchored  in  Plymouth  Bay,  "  the  hardy  feAV  found  the  country  a 
solitude." 

One  thing  has  troubled  exceedingly  in  writing  the  above 
very  minute  and  accurate  account  of  this  war,  pestilence,  and 
famine.  A  j)articalar  description  cannot  be  given.  The  names  of 
the  warriors  who  fell,  the  men,  women,  and  children  who  sickened 

uortheru  parts  were  sore  smitten  with  the  contagion,  first  by  the  plague,  afterward 
when  the  English  came  by  the  small  pox. — John  .JosselTn,  Gent.,  2  Voyages  to  N. 
K.  123. 

For  that  war  had  commenced,  the  Bashaba  and  most  of  the  great  sagamores, 
with  such  men  of  action  as  followed  tliem,  were  killed,  and  those  tliat  remained 
were  sore  afflicted  by  the  plague.  [IGlfi-lOlV.]  So  that  the  country  in  a  manner 
was  left  void  of  inhabitants.  Xotwith.<tauding  Vines  and  the  rest  witli  him  that 
lay  in  the  cabins  with  those  peov>le  tliat  died,  some  more  some  less  nighth',  (bless- 
ed be  God  for  it !)  not  one  of  them  ever  felt  their  he:uls  to  ache  while  tliey  staid 
there. —  Sir  F.  Gorges'  Description  of  New  England,  Chap.  10  Ms.  H.  C.  3  s.  v. 6,  57. 

"It  seems  God  has  provi<led  this  country  for  our  nation,  destroying  them  by 
the  ])lague,  it  not  touching  our  Phiglishnie'ii,  though  many  traded  and  conversant 
amongst  them,  for  they  had  three  i.lagues  in  three  years  successively,  neare  two 
luuidred  miles  along  the  sea-coast,  that  in  some  places  tliere  scarce  remained  live 
in  a  hundred.  *  *  *  *  But  most  certain  there  was  an  exceedingly  great 
plague  amongst  them;  for  where  I  had  seen  two  or  three  hundred,  within  three 
years  after  there  remained  scarcely  thirty. —  ]Ms.  H.  C.  vol.  iii.  3  s.  40. 

Thomas  Morton,  in  liis  "  New  England  Canaan,"  p.  23,  says  :  "But  contrary- 
wise  [the  Indians  having  said  tliey  were  so  many  that  God  could  not  kill  tlieiii, 
wlien  one  of  the  Frenchmen  rebuked  them  for  their  wickedness,  telling  them  God 
would  destroy  them]  in  a  short  time  after  the  liand  of  (iod  fell  heavily  upon  them 
with  such  a  mortal  stroke  tluit  tlicy  died  in  heaps  as  they  lay  in  their  houses,  and 

D 


50  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

and  died,  or  of  those  who  starved,  cannot  be  told.  Thucydides 
narrates  how  in  the  plague  of  Athens,  during-  the  Thirty  Years 
War,  such  and  such  a  distinguished  man  was  stricken  down.  Our 
sympathies  are  particularly  excited  at  the  death  of  the  noble  and 
renowned  Pericles  and  his  doubtful  wife,  Aspasia,  with  their  sweet 
children.  Hume,  in  his  narrative  of  the  great  plague  in  London, 
makes  his  history  decidedly  entertaining  in  giving  the  minute  par- 
ticulars, and  Moses  of  old,  likewise,  in  telling  of  the  plagues  of 
^oypt.  These  great  historians  liave  all  the  advantage  there,  and 
one  can  but  mourn  that  time  has  buried  the  names  of  all  the  old 
Indian  heroes  in  oblivion. 

the  living  that  were  able  to  shift  for  themselves  would  run  away  and  let  them  dy, 
and  let  their  karkases  l.y  above  jjTound  withoTit  buriall.  For  in  a  place  where  many 
inhabited  thei'e  hath  been  but  one  lelt  alive  lo  tell  what  became  of  the  rest.  The 
living  being  (as  it  seems)  not  able  to  bury  the  dead.  Tliey  were  left  for  crows, 
ijites,  and  vermin  to  pre}'  upon.  And  the  bones  and  skulls  upon  the  several  places 
of  their  habitations  made  such  a  spectacle,  after  my  coming  into  these  parts,  that 
as  I  travelled  in  that  forest  nere  Mass.  it  seemed  to  me  a  new-found  Golgotha." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HOW  THE  PEMIGEWASSETTS  AND  THE  REST  OF  THE  Nn>MUCKS  WEKE 
COMPELLED  TO  ENTER  A  NEW  LEAGUE  TO  PROTECT  THEMSELVES 
FROM  THE  MOHOGS,  MARQDAS,  OR  MOHAWKS,  WITH  A  SLIGHT 
SKETCH  OF   ANOTHER   GREAT   MAN  WHO   CABIE   TO   BE   BASHABA. 

The  war  is  over.  The  famine  and  the  pestilence,  mighty 
woes  in  the  land  of  the  Nipmucks,  have  passed.  Peace  comes 
again  —  and  once  more  there  is  plenty  in  the  wigwams. 

But  the  terrible  Mohawks  still  dwell  in  the  west  and  the 
bloody  Tarentine  war-whoop  still  resounds  from  beyond  the  hunt- 
ing grounds  of  the  Sokokis  and  the  Penobscots. 

,  There  is  no  safety  hut  in  union ;  and  our  Nipmucks,  whom 
we  are  pleased  to  style  Pemigewassetts,  are  compelled  to  enter 
into  another  mighty  league,  which  is  formed  among  all  the  Nip- 
muck  tribes,  with  a  new  Bashaba*  at  its  head. 

This  great  ruler,  the  second  Bashaba,  standing  as  he  does  on 
the  confines  of  civilization,  with  the  mellow  twilight  of  history 
casting  a  halo  of  romance  about  him,  seems  to  us  one  of  the  most 
prominent  characters  in  our  annals.  He  makes  his  first  appearance 
in  1623.  Acteon  well  remembered  him,  and  as  he  was  much 
beloved  by  our  Pemigewassetts  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Mpmucks, 
and  was  their  great  protector,  we  cannot  pass  him  by  without  a 
brief  notice. 

Born,  as  tradition  has  it,  about  1540,  by  his  bravery  and 
genius  he  won  at  length  his  proud  position.  Indian  legends  tell 
of  his  great  prowess,  and  of  his  sanguinary  battles  fought  and 

*  Potter's  Histoiy  of  Mancliester,  54. 
Mass.  Hist.  Col.  3  series,  vol.  viii  IIH. 


52  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

won  in  the  deep  forests  on  the  streams  and  mountains.  These 
Indian  tales,  collated  and  adorned,  might  prove  to  Indian  lovers 
as  interesting-  as  the  account  of  the  twelve  labors  of  Hercules,  or 
the  voyage  of  the  Argonautic  Jason.  But  we  cannot  loiter  in 
these  pleasant  fields.  The  demands  of  our  most  important  history 
of  a  most  important  tribe  compel  us  to  hurry  rapidly  through  these 
interesting  chapters. 

"When  the  little  province  of  Mariana,  alias  Laconia,  other- 
wise New  Hampshire,  was  tirst  settled  he  was  about  eighty  years 
old,  and  at  this  early  period  of  life,  having  been  schooled  in  all  the 
cunning-  wiles  of  the  forest,  had  won  for  himself  tlie  title  of  Pas- 
SACONAWAY*— "The  Child  of  the  Bear." 

Of  powerful  frame,  he  Avas  more  than  six  feet  tall.  He  could 
leap  like  a  catamount  across  the  streams,  and  bound  like  a  wild 
deer  through  the  pathless  woods.  No  warrior  could  bend  his 
bow,  and  his  feathered  arrows  were  lost  in  the  deep  blue  of  the 
sky.  A  cap  of  red  plumes  on  his  head,  his  quiver  at  his  back,  his 
bow  in  his  hand,  clothed  only  in  a  robe  of  the  richest  furs,  shod 
with  moccasius  of  the  toughest  moose  hide,  with  flashing  eye  and 
haughty  mien,  the  Nipmuck  Bashaba  was  the  most  noble  Indian 
that  ever  trod  the  Granite  hills. f 

But  we  must  assure  our  readers  that  we  draw  the  above  pic- 
ture by  reasoning- c^  ^j06^^erior?'.  He  was  Bashaba  —  only  such  au 
Indian  could  be  a  Bashaba — therefore  such  was  Passacouaway. 

Yet  his  appearance  is  much  changed  from  this  when  he  makes 
his  first  mythical  bow  in  1623.  Modern  painters  (who  have  seen 
him)  put  a  royal  crown  on  his  head  in  the  shape  of  a  dowdy  skull 

*His  name  is  indicative  of  his  warlike  character:  Papisseconewa,  as  vrritten 
by  himself,  meaning  the  child  of  the  bear.  Being  derived  from  poi^ocis,  a  child, 
and  Kunnnwaij,  a  bear— Potter's  Hist  of  Man.  48,  54. 

t  Laws  made  by  the  Apostle  Elliot  for  Passaconaway  and  his  people  : 

1st.  That  if  any  man  be  idle  a  week,  at  most. a  fortniglit,  liee  shall  pay  five  sliil- 
lings. 

2d.  If  any  unmarried  man  shall  lie  with  a  yonng  woman  nnmarried  liee  shall 
pay  twenty  .shillings. 

3d.  If  any  man  shall  beat  his  wife  his  liands  shall  be  tied  behind  liim  and  he  be 
carried  to  the  place  of  justice  to  be  severely  pnnished. 

■Itli.  Every  young  man,  if  not  anotlier's  servant,  and  if  unmarried,  he  shall  be 
compelled  to  set  up  a  wigwam  and  plant  for  liimself,  and  not  live  shifting  up  and 
down  to  other  wigwams. 

.)tli.  If  any  woman  shall  not  have  her  hair  tied  up,  but  hang  loose  or  be  cut  as 
men's  Iiair,  slie  sliall  pay  five  shillings. 

(itli.  If  any  woman  goe  with  naked  breasts  she  shall  pay  two  shillings  sixpence. 

7th.  All  tliose  men  that  weare  long  locks  shall  pay  live" shillings. 

8th.  If  any  shall  kill  their  lice  between  their  teeth  they  shall  pay  five  shillings. 
-Mass.  H.  C".  vol.  iv.  series  3. 


PASS  AGON  A  WAY.  53 

cap,  with  a  crooked  horn  about  four  inches  in  length  rising  from 
its  apex.  Sashes  of  furs  are  worn  on  his  slioulders,  a  pipe,  a 
pouch,  a  bear's  f^ice  —  the  Nipmuck  totem  —  are  attached  to  his 
girdle ;  his  teeth  are  gone,  his  face  is  shrunk  up,  and  his  sunken 
eyes,  shaded  by  the  high  cheek  bones  and  the  massive  forehead, 
onl\'  gleam  with  their  wonted  tire  when  fierce  excitement  fills  his 
breast. 

His  disposition  is  also  changed.  From  what  the  English  saw 
of  him  we  should  say  that  he  had  more  the  spirit  of  John  Howard 
the  philanthropist,  coupled  with  that  of  old  Potter  the  juggler, 
than  of  Julius  Cisesar  or  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  He  had  lost  the 
war  spirit  of  former  years,  and  loved  the  retirement  of  his  wig- 
wams. About  them  he  assembled  his  council  and  his  statesmen. 
To  them  the  children  of  the  forest  brought  his  tribute.  This  did 
not  always  consist  of  soft  furs,  shad  or  salmon,  venison  or  bear 
steaks,  maize,  squashes,  or  iDumpkins,  stone  axes,  arrow-heads,  or 
gouges,  canoes,  paddles,  spears  or  fish-nets  —  none  of  these.  But 
Avheu  tliey  saw  the  water  in  the  freestone  boAvl  burning  with  a 
blue  flame ;  when  they  saw  him  sailing  on  a  cake  of  ice  over  the 
shining  lake  on  the  hottest  summer  day,  or  at  night  changed  into 
a  will-o'-wisp  and  dancing  a  wild  cotillon  with  the  mighty  forest 
trees;  or  weaving  for  himself  garlands  from  snow-born  flowers, 
and  wreaths  of  honor  from  oak  leaves  growing  on  fields  of  glar- 
ing ice,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  writhing  snake,  sprung  to  life 
from  the  dead  skin,  the  badge  of  honor  on  his  left  arm — they  paid 
him  a  mighty  tribute  and  great  honor  by  opening  their  mouths  in 
right  good  earnest  to  the  fullest  extent,  while  their  eyes  involun- 
tarily started  from  their  sockets.  By  such  astounding  juggling 
feats  Passaconaw  ay  in  his  old  age  extorted  his  tribute  and  retained 
his  mighty  power. 

Another  gift  also  aided  Passaconaway  to  maintain  his  influ- 
ence. He  was  a  great  medicine  man.  He  could  beat  all  the 
renowned  homeopaths,  clairvoyants,  and  healing  mediums  of  to- 
day clear  out  of  sight.  If  one  of  his  subjects  was  sick,  he  j)laced 
him  in  a  tight  ■wigwam  or  lodge.  Vessels  of  water  were  set 
by  his  side,  and  in  them  were  put  fiery  hot  stones.  A  warm  steam 
naturally  arose  like  a  great  cloud  and  filled  the  lodge.  Passacon- 
away then  dressed  in  the  most  agreeable  manner  possible,  paint- 


54  HISTOKT    OF    WARRKN. 

ing-  himself  all  over  like  n  striped  pig.  With  his  head  covered 
with  a  porcupine  skin,  a  drum  in  his  hands,  and  tinkling  bells 
attached  to  his  legs,  he  went  howling  and  stamping  round  and 
round  the  lodge  full  a  hundred  times,  all  the  while  keeping  step 
to  the  soul-stirring  peals  of  his  drum  and  the  soft  voluptuous  notes 
of  his  tinklers.  This  was  done  to  drive  away  the  evil  spirits. 
Then  he  oped  his  mouth  and  set  his  teeth  firmly  together;  then 
gentle  twitches  spasmodically  jerked  all  the  muscles  of  his  fair 
countenance;  then  he  rolled  up  the  whites  of  his  eyes,  and  then 
slowly  rolled  them  down,  wliere  they  remained  set  like  those  of  a 
dj'ing  calf;  then  his  jaws  relaxed,  his  tongue  began  to  wag,  and 
he  pronounced  incantations  thirty-one,  all  difierent,  to  invoke  the 
healing  spirits.  For  a  full  hour  and  a  half  he  thus  performed,  like 
a  medium,  the  steaming  and  sweating  being  only  a  preliminary  of 
little  use,  while  the  aforesaid  howls,  music,  and  incantations 
effected  the  cure,  pretty  much  in  the  same  manner  as  the  homeo- 
paths' very  little  doses  from  the  smallest  possible  bottles,  with  just 
nothing-  at  all  in  them,  effect  extraordinary  cures  at  the  present 
day.* 

Passaconaway  was  an  orator. f  His  eloquence  was  great,  and 
with  it  he  could  mould  the  council  at  his  will.  Several  splendid 
speeches  which  it  is  said  he  made  are  still  extant.  These  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  by  the  politeness  of  the  historians.  The  first, 
as  given  by  Hubbard,  is  said  to  have  been  delivered  at  a  great 
public  fish-feast,  when  all  the  Indians  were  assembled  at  Pawtucket 
falls,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  I  am  now  ready  to  die,"'  said  Passaconaway,  "and  not  likely 
to  see  you  ever  meet  together  any  more.  I  will  now  leave  this 
word  of  counsel  with  you,  that  you  may  take  heed  how  you  quar- 
rel with  the  English ;  for  though  you  may  do  them  much  mischief, 
yet  assuredly  you  Avill  all  be  destroyed  and  rooted  off  the  earth  if 
you  do:  for  I  was  as  much  an  enemy  to  the  English  on  their  first 
coming  into  these  parts  as  any  one  whatsoever;  and  I  did  try  all 
ways  and  means  possible  to  have  destroyed  them,  at  least  to  have 
prevented  their  sitting  down  here ;  but  I  could  in  no  way  eflect 

*  Force's  Historical  Tracts,  vol.  ii.    New  Euglancl  Canaan,  25,  26. 
John  Josselyn,  Gent.,  2  Voyages  to  Xew  Engiand,  131. 

t  Drake's  Indian  Biograpliv,  277. 
Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  'of,  68. 


INDIAN     OKATOKY.  55 

it.  [iNIeaniiii^  by  his  iiicaiitations  and  sorceries.]  Therefore  I 
advise  you  never  to  contend  Avith  the  English  nor  make  war  with 
tliem." 

Dr.  Bouton,  a  celebrated  modern  historian,  gives  the  follow- 
ing- much  prettier  version,  as  he  had  probably  a  reporter  on  the 
spot:  "  Hearken  to  the  last  words  of  your  dying-  father.  I  shall 
meet  you  no  more.  The  white  men  are  the  sons  of  the  morning-, 
and  the  sun  shines  bright  above  them.  In  vain  I  opposed  their 
coming-;  vain.were  my  arts  to  destroy  them;  never  make  war 
with  them ;  sure  as  you  light  the  fires,  the  breath  of  heaven  will 
turu  the  flames  to  consume  you.  Listen  to  my  advice.  It  is  the 
last  I  shall  ever  give  you.     Remember  it  and  live  !"* 

Now  there  is  much  beauty  in  all  this,  as  well  as  in  many  other 
speeches  that  have  been  attributed  to  him,  and  what  is  better  a 
great  probability  that  the  old  chief  delivered  the  speech  quoted. 
Hubbard  says  it  was  done  at  Pawtucket  in  1660,  and  was  his  dying- 
speech  to  his  tribe.  Bouton  in  his  book  says  the  speech  he  gives 
is  the  identical  one  delivered  by  Passaconaway  in  1660,  and  we 
may  well  believe  it,  for  he  afiirms  that  it  was  delivered  at  the 
same  place,  to  the  same  audience,  and  at  the  same  time  as  Hub- 
bard's. We  come  to  the  probably  correct  conclusion  that  Passa- 
conaway said  something  very  pretty  and  exceedingly  eloquent 
sometime. t 

When  he  had  seen  the  snows  of  a  hundred  winters  or  so  pass 
away  he  concluded,  like  many  another  sinner,  to  join  the  church. 
To  the  apostle  Elliot,  who  had  left  friends,  home,  and  happy  coun- 

*Bouton's  History  of  Concord,  X.  II.,  30. 

tBav.'itow-  gives  the  following:  "Hearken,"  said  Passaconaway,  "to  the  last 
Mords  of  your  father  and  friend.  Thevvliite  men  are  the  sons  of  the  morning.  The 
Great  Spirit  is  their  father.  His  sun  shines  bright  about  them.  Never  make  war 
with  them.  Sure  as  you  light  the  tires  the  breath  of  heaven  will  turn  the  flames 
upon  you  and  destroy  you.  Listen  to  my  advice.  It  is  the  last  I  shall  be  allowed 
to  give  you.    liemember  it  and  live  !"—  Hist,  of  N.  H.,  68. 

Hon.  Chandler  E.  Potter  gives  this  fanciful  version  :  "  Hearken  to  the  words 
of  your  father.  I  am  an  old  oak  that  has  r  ithstood  the  storms  of  more  than  an  hun- 
dred winters.  Leaves  and  brandies  have  been  stripped  from  me  bv  the  winds  and 
frosts;  myeyes  are  dim  — mylimbs  totter  — I  must  soon  fall.  But  w!;en  voung  and 
sturdy  — when  my  bow  no  young  man  of  the  Peunacooks  could  hend  — when  my 
arrows  would  pierce  a  deer  at  a  hundred  yards,  and  I  could  bury  my  hatchet  in  a 
sapling  to  the  eye,— no  vi'igwain  had  so  nuniv  furs,  no  pole  so  manv  scalu-locks  as 
Passaconaway's.  Then  I  was  delighted  in'  war.  Tlie  whoop  of  the  Penuacook 
was  heard  on  the  Mohawk,  and  no  voice  so  loud  as  Passaconawav's.  The  scalps 
upon  the  pole  of  my  M-igwam  told  the  story  of  Mohawk  suflermg. 

"The  English  came.  They  seized  our  lands.  I  sat  me  down  at  Pennacook. 
Ihey  followed  upon  my  footsteps.  I  made  war  upon  them,  but  thev  fought  with 
tire  and  thunder;   my  young  men  were  swept  down  before  me  wheii  no  one  was 


56  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

try  to  cross  the  ocean  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  is  due  his  conversion. 
He  left  off  juggling-  and  became  a  very  good  man.  He  was  benev- 
olent, peaceful,  and  forgiving.  We  think  it  fortunate  for  the  very 
kind-hearted  and  well-disposed  colonists  who  came  to  Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hampshire  that,  like  Massasoit,  he  was  not  fight- 
ingly  disposed.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  English  trespassed 
on  his  hunting-grounds  and  stole  his  lauds.*  Yet  he  never  stole 
anything  fi-om  them.  They  killed  his  warriors — yet  he  never 
killed  a  white  man,  woman,  or  child.  They  captured  and  impris- 
oned his  sonsf  and  daughters  —  yet  he  never  led  a  captive  into 
the  wilderness.  Once  the  proudest  and  most  noble  Bashaba  of 
New  England,  he  passed  his  extreme  old  age  poor,  forsaken,  and 
i-obbed  of  all  that  was  dear  to  him,  by  those  to  whom  he  had  been 
a  firm  friend  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

Passaconaway  had  six  children  —  four  sons  and  two  daughters 
whom  we  read  of — and  perhaps  he  had  more.  The  exceedingly 
pretty  names  of  the  boy  papj)ooses  were  as  follows :  Nauamoco- 
muck,  who  first  was  sachem  or  sagamore  of  the  Wachusetts  in 
Massachusetts,  and  secondly  with  his  whole  tribe  was  changed 
into  the  great  Amariscoggin  nation,  of  which  he  continued  chief; 
Wonalancet,  a  peaceable  man,  who  trod  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
father;  Unanunquosset,  of  whom  we  know  but  little,  and  Nona- 
tomenut.  We  are  much  grieved  that  the  name  of  the  eldest 
daughter  has  not  come  down  to  us.  It  only  transpires  that  she 
was  the  squaw-queen  of  the  royal  Nobhow.    The  youngest  was 

uear  tliem.  I  tried  sorcery  agaiust  them,  but  they  still  increased  and  prevailed 
over  me  and  mine,  and  I  gave  place  and  retired  to"  my  beantilul  island  of  Nati- 
cook.  I  can  make  the  dryleal'tnrn  green  and  live  again  ;  I  can  take  the  rattlesnake 
in  my  palm  as  a  worm  without  harm.  1,  who  have  had  comnumiou  with  the  Great 
Spirit  —  dreaming  and  awake  —  I  am  powerless  before  the  pale  faces. 

"  The  oak  will  soon  break  before  the  whirlwind  —  it  shivers  and  shakes  even 
now.  Soon  its  trunk  will  be  prostrate,  the  ant  and  the  worm  will  sport  npon  it. 
Then  think,  my  children,  of  what  I  say.  I  commune  with  the  Great  Spirit.  He 
whispers  me  now :  '  Tell  your  people,  peace  !  Peace  is  the  only  hope  of  your  race. 
I  have  given  fire  and  thunder  to  the  i)ale  faces  for  weapons."  1  have  made  them 
plentier  than  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  and  still  shall  they  increase.  These  mead- 
ows shall  they  turn  with  the  plow  — these  forests  shall  "fall  by  their  axe;  the  pale 
faces  shall  live  upon  your  hunting  grounds,  and  make  their  villages  upon  your  fish- 
ing places.'  The  Gre'at  Spirit  says  this,  and  it  must  be  so.  We  are  few  and  power- 
less before  them.  AVe  must  bend  belbre  the  storm.  The  wind  blows  liard.  The 
old  oak  trembles  !  The  branches  are  gone.  Its  sap  is  frozen.  It  bends  1  It  falls  I 
Peace,  peace  with  the  white  man,  is  the  connnand  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  the  wish 
—  the  last  wish—  of  Passacoi^away.— Hist,  of  Manchester,  60. 

IV.  Mass.  H.  C.  series  3,  82. 

*  Potter's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  61. 

fWheu  the  gov't  of  Ms.  sent  forty  men  to  arrest  Passaconaway  they  did  not 
succeed,  but  captured  his  sonue  AVoua"laucet.— Winthrop's  Journal. 

Drake's  Indian  Biog.  279. 


INDIAN    ROMANCE.  57 

Wetamoo,  the  beautiful  squaw  of  Monatawampatee,  the  haugiity 
sagamore  of  Saugus.  From  the  poet  Whittier  we  learn  that  the 
marriage  of  this  l)eautiful  Indian  girl  was  celebrated  in  great 
state,  and  that  tlie  bride  Avas  escorted  to  her  lord's  wigwam  or 
palace  by  a  noble  train  of  warriors ;  that  homesick  the  Saugus 
chief  returned  her  to  visit  Passaconaway  with  like  pomp,  and  that 
in  due  time  he  demanded  her  back  with  the  same  formality.  But 
old  Passaconaway  had  got  sick  of  this  foolery  and  vain  show,  and 
would  not  take  the  trouble  to  restore  her.  "Whereupon,  tlie  poem 
states,  she  left  her  father's  wigwam  at  Peunacook — by  the  way, 
Passaconaway  never  had  a  wigwam  there  —  to  sail  down  the  Mer- 
rimack home,  but  unfortunately  perished  on  the  foaming  falls  of 
Amoskeag;  a  very  poetical  idea,  but  an  exceedingly  improbable 
tale.    Wetamoo  was  known  as  a  grass  widow  for  many  years.* 

We  give  this  somewhat  extended  account  of  Passaconaway, 
for  his  life  illustrates  some  of  the  finest  traits  of  Indian  character. 
As  Bashaba  he  was  obeyed  by  all  the  Indians  of  jSTcav  Hampshire, 
and  by  many  other  of  the  JSTew  England  tribes.  He  died  about 
1663.  In  the  deep  wood,  at  a  place  now  unknown,  the  noblest  of 
the  Nipmuck  Indians,  their  last  and  greatest  Bashaba,  was  laid  to 
rest  in  the  burial  place  of  his  ancestors. 

*Mortou's  New  England  Caiiaau. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

IN  WHICH  IS  SET  FOKTH  THE  MANNER  THE  PEMIGEAVASSETTS  SOME- 
TIMES ENJOYED  THEMSELVES  WHILE  THE  NEAV  BASHABA  LIVED, 
AND  THEN  OF  A  SLIGHT  WAR  THAT  AROSE,  WHICH  WAS  EX- 
CEEDINGLY ENTERTAINING  TO  THEM,  TOGETHER  AVITH  ITS  PIOUS 
CLOSE   AT   QUOCHECO. 

The  Pemigewassetts,  a  tribe  of  the  great  Nipmuck  iiatiou, 
belonging  to  the  widely  extended  Algonquin  race,  were  at  peace 
with  the  English  for  tifty  years  after  the  first  settlements  were 
made  at  Dover  Neck  and  Strawberry  Bank.  The  same  is  true  as 
far  as  the  thirteen  other  great  tribes  of  New  Hampshire  were  con- 
cerned. But  with  the  Marquas  or  Mohawks  —  sometimes  called 
Mohogs  —  their  relations  were  not  always  the  most  friendly.  How 
many  fierce  battles,  cunning  ambuscades,  or  gray-of-the-morning 
surprises  our  Pemigewassetts  encountered  or  inflicted  upon  them, 
cannot  now  be  told.  We  lament  this  ignorance,  but  there  is  no 
remedy,  for  their  birch-bark  histories,  if  they  ever  had  any,  are 
all  burnt  up;  their  story-telling  legend-men  are  all  dead,  while  the 
just  and  worth}"  English  settlers  had  such  a  holy  horror  and  pious 
hatred  of  red-skins  that  they  would  have  disdained  to  record  their 
great  wars,  even  if  they  had  known  anything  about  them.  In 
fact,  the  reasons  why  the  learned  historians  of  those  days  say  so 
little  and  frequently  nothing  about  our  beloved  Pemigewassetts 
are  just  these:  First,  because  they  lived  far  in  the  interior,  and 
did  not  travel  down  to  the  coast  very  often  to  report  themselves, 
and  when  they  did  they  had  somehow  changed  into  some  other 
great  tribe,  being  known  as  the  Amoskeags,  Nashuas,  or  Winne- 
cowetts,  just  as  it  happened,  the  name  depending  upon  the  place 


THEY    VISIT    THE    MOHAWKS.  59 

of  tluMr  temporary  sojourn  mid  changiug  Avith  their  removal. 
Secondly,  the  English  scarcely  ever  visited  them;  for  it  must  be 
remembered  that  ten  other  great  tribes  of  New  Hampshire  always 
intervened.  Thirdly,  the  Puritans  believed  the  Indians  to  be  the 
children  of  the  devil,  and  their  Quaker-loving,  witch-hanging 
religion  forbade  them  to  associate  with  such  low  oflspring;  and 
fourthly,  being-  religiously  inclined  to  blot  out  the  devil  and  his 
works,  they  would  take  especial  paius  to  destroy  rather  than  pre- 
serve the  history  of  our  happy  Pemigewassetts.  Still  we  know 
enough  of  that  history  to  be  assured  that  in  battle  they  did  some- 
times distinguish  and  immortalize  themselves  among  all  good 
fighting  Indians. 

Old  Acteon  used  to  tell  how  often  a  large  number  of  brave 
war-parties,  each  consisting  of  three  or  more  fierce,  glory-seeking 
soldiers,  all  painted  and  plumed,  went  majestically  forUi  to  fight 
the  Mohawks.  They  have  danced  the  war-dance,  taken  leave 
of  the  women  and  children,  and  having  gathered  around  their 
chosen  chief,  depart  from  the  shadows  of  Moosilaukc  and  the 
Haystacks.  The  Indian  story-teller  of  two  hundred  years  ago, 
listening,  might  have  beard  them  singing  as  they  crossed  the  long 
river  of  pines — the  Connecticut  — 

"  The  eagles  scream  on  liigli, 
They  whet  their  forked  beaks; 
Rai.■^e,  raise  the  battle-cry, 
'Tis  fame  our  leader  seeks." 

Or  be  might  have  heard  the  whistling  of  their  arrows,  the  whirr 
of  their  tomahawks,  and  their  savage  shouts  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers,  or  in  the  dark  glens  of  the  Green 
mountains.  We  can  well  believe  that  such  brave  mountaineers 
were  often  victorious,  and  returned  triumphant  with  rich  trophies 
of  dangling  scalps.  But  as  all  great  military  commanders  know 
that  the  fortunes  of  battle  are  fickle,  it  is  nothing  more  than  fair 
to  presume  that  the  war  chief  sometimes  came  back  Avith  a  huse 
flea  in  his  ear,  more  scalps  having  been  left  among  the  festive 
Mohawk  fighters  than  he  would  well  care  to  acknowledge. 

Thus  the  Pemigewassetts  found  the  wildest  kind  of  enjoyment, 
and  we  suppose  pretty  much  all  the  rest  of  the  New  England  In- 
dians lived  in  the  same  way,  even  to  the  time  of  the  death  of  the 
great  Basbaba,  Passaconaway. 


60  HISTORY    OF    WAKREN. 

But  in  1675  a  great  war  with  the  Englisli  arose,  in  which  many 
of  the  Nipmucks  engaged,  and  which  was  exceedingly  interesting 
to  the  Pemigewassetts  wlio  lived  among  our  hills. 

Philip  of  Mount  Hope,  sachtm  of  the  Wampanoags,  known 
in  Indian  tongue  as  the  renowned  Pometacom,  waged  the  first 
war  with  the  peaceable  Puritans.  Tlie  English  had  arrested  and 
executed  his  warriors  without  his  consent.  He  himself  with  his 
child  they  iiad  captured  and  sold  into  slavery.  The  chieftain  was 
stung  to  the  quick ;  madness  seized  upon  him ;  hatred  tormented 
him,  and  soon  his  heart  burned  for  revenge.  Besides,  the  en- 
croachments of  his  white-faced  enemy  were  driving  him  from  his 
hunting-grounds.  War  was  inaugurated.  What  Alexander  or 
Hannibal  was  to  the  ancients,  or  Bonaparte  to  the  last  genera- 
tion, was  Philip  to  the  Indians.  The  bravest  in  the  fight,  the  most 
skilled  in  diplomacy,  and  eloquent  above  all  others  in  the  council, 
the  great  sachem  enlisted  nearly  every  New  England  tribe  in  his 
cause. 

Wonalancet,  in  part  successor  to  PassaconaAvay,  true  to  the 
teachings  of  his  father  and  the  apostle  Elliot,  refused  to  join  him. 
This  Nipmuck  sachem  could  not  break  his  faith  pledged  to  the 
English,  neither  could  he  be  a  traitor  to  his  own  race  and  fight 
against  Philip.  Beset  on  one  hand  to  fight  for  the  English,  on  the 
other  Philip  endeavored  to  gain  him  as  an  ally ;  refusing  to  join 
the  first  he  was  suspected  of  treachery,  and  holding  himself  aloof 
from  the  second,  lie  was  hated  by  all  the  hostile  Indians. 

There  was  no  safety  for  him  at  home  on  the  beautiful  island  of 
Wickasauke,  where  he  had  long  resided,  and  he  fled  to  the  land  of 
the  Pennacooks.  And  here  let  us  notice  a  very  novel  idea,  once 
before  slightly  alluded  to.  Wonalancet,  by  almost  eveiy  writer  on 
the  subject,  has  been  styled  the  sachem  of  the  Pennacooks.  Yet 
all  his  life,  up  to  the  period  referred  to,  he  had  lived  amongst  the 
Pawtucket  Indians,  and  we  have  no  record  of  his  ever  residing  in 
the  Pennacook  country  until  he  was  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in 
it  at  this  time.  Yet  he  only  copies  the  historical  style  of  his  father, 
Passaconaway,  who,  likewise  called  the  Pennacook  sachem,  never 
lived  in  that  country  at  all. 

The  withdrawal  of  Wonalancet  with  his  few  followers  alarmed 
the   courageous   colonists   very   much.     Runners   were  sent  "to 


A  NEPMUCK   HEGIRA.  61 

Natacooko,  Penagooge,  or  other  people  of  those  northern  In- 
dians,-' inviting  Wonalancet  or  any  other  of  the  principal  men  to 
return.  But  Woualancet  did  not  choose  to  accept  the  polite  invi- 
tation, which  was  very  much  in  the  form  of  a  peremptory  sum- 
mons, and  Captain  Mosely,  the  noted  Indian  fighter,  was  sent  to 
disperse  the  Indian  enemy  "at  Penagooge  said  to  be  gathered 
there  for  the  purpose  of  mischief,"  But  the  valiant  captain  could 
not  find  him,  and  he  had  to  content  himself  with  burning  wig- 
wams, and  destroying  dried  fish  which  had  been  cured  for  winter 
use. 

Woualancet  was  off"  to  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains, 
"where,"  as  Major  Gookin  says,  "was  a  2:)lace  of  good  hunting 
for  moose,  deer,  bear,  and  other  such  wild  beasts." 

Late  in  the  autumn  all  the  Wamesits,  alias  the  Wauchusetts, 
alias  the  Pawtuckets,  joined  him.  They  had  been  basely  treated, 
had  been  driven  from  their  homes,  and  only  found  AYonalancet  in 
his  safe  hiding-place  after  much  toil,  privation,  and  suffering, 
Numphow,  their  sagamore,  Mystic  George,  a  teacher,  "besides 
divers  other  men,  women,  and  children  perished  by  the  way."  An 
old  legend,  told  first  perhaps  by  Acteon,  then  repeated  by  our 
grandfathers,  seated  at  evening  around  their  great  cabin  fire- 
places, says  that  the  above-mentioned  two  lie  buried  on  the  banks 
of  the  Asquamchumauke, 

Many  other  Indians  joined  Woualancet  in  his  retreat.  Among 
them  was  *Monocco,  or  one-eyed  John,  and  fShoshamin,  or  Saga- 
more Sam,  a  valiant  chief  who  had  fought  under  Philip.  Some 
of  these  refugees  even  went  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Connecticut, 
and  during  the  long  and  cold  winter  suffered  severely, 

Philip's  war  closed  in  the  summer  of  1676,  Woualancet  with 
his  people  then  returned  to  the  south  part  of  the  State,  On  the 
sixth  of  July  he  with  several  othei-s  made  a  treaty  with  the  Eng- 

*Mouocco,  so  called  by  his  countiynien,  but  by  the  English,  One-eyed-John, 
was  termed  by  an  early  writer  a  notable" I'ellow.  Wlieii  I'hilip's  war  begaii  he  lived 
near  Lancaster,  Mass.  He  had  frequently  served  in  the  wars  against  the  Mo- 
hawks. With  600  Indians  he  burned  Lancaster  and  carried  all  the  inhabitants  into 
captivity.  He  afterwards  burned  Grotou,  and  boasted  much  what  he  was  going  to 
do.  He  was  one  of  those  who  were  captured  at  Cocheco,  was  taken  to  Boston, 
marched  through  the  streets  with  a  lialter  about  his  neck,  "  and  hanged  at  the 
town's  end,  .Sept.  '2(j,  1075.''— Drake'.s  Ind.  Biog.  2(57. 

Niles'  History  of  the  Indian  and  French  Wars,  Ms.  H.  C.  .'Jd  series,  vol.  vi.  202. 

tShoshamin," alias  I'skatugun,  and  called  by  the  Knglish,  .Sagamore  Sam.  He 
was  a  high-minded,  "  magnanimous  sachem."  At  the  burning  of  Lancaster  he 
took  an  active  part.    He  was  hanged  with  Mouocco. — Drake's  Indian  Biog.  268. 


62  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

lisli.  By  it  thej'  agreed  to  live  in  peace;  that  they  Avovild  deliver 
up,  for  a  reward,  all  hostile  Indians  who  should  come  among 
them,  or  give  notice  where  they  were ;  and  that  the  English  on 
their  part  should  attend  to  their  own  business,  and  if  they  meddled 
with  the  Indians  or  their  estates  the  offenders  should  be  tried  by 
English  laws  —  and  these  by  the  way  generally  found  the  whites 
innocent  as  turtle  doves.  It  was  signed  on  the  one  part  by  Mr. 
Eichard  Waldron,  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,  Mc.  Shapleigh,  and 
Thos.  Daniel;  on  the  other  by  Wonalancet,  Sqnando,*  Doney,t 
Serogumba,^  and  others. 

This  same  Eichard  Waldron,  or  the  "  Major, ^'  as  he  was  com- 
monly termed,  had  been  engaged  in  the  above-board  business  of 
persuading  Indians  to  desert  Philip.  Three  hundred  of  these,  to- 
gether with  Wonalancet  and  a  hundred  handsome  Nipmucks, 
came  to  Quocheco  on  the  tirst  of  September,  at  the  invitation  of 
"=the  good  Major."  A  few  days  later  Captains  Syell  and  Hathorn, 
brave  trooping  men,  with  their  companies  also  arrived  in  town. 
They  were  marching  to  the  eastern  country.  Their  orders  were 
to  seize  all  Indians,  and  they  wanted  to  fall  upon  Major  Waldron's 
four  hundred  guests  at  once.  But  he  dissented.  He  was  afraid 
both  friends  and  foes  would  be  killed.  By  his  advice  a  little 
friendly  strategy  Avas  i^ut  in  practice.  A  grand  sham-fight  was 
arranged.  Tlie  English  were  on  one  side  —  the  Indians  on  the 
other.  The  latter  were  furnished  with  a  piece  of  cannon,  on 
wheels,  loaded  by  English  gunners.  As  the  unsuspecting  Indians 
manned  the  drag-ropes,  the  gun  by  the  merest  accident  ranging 
along  their  lines,  strange  to  say  it  went  off,  no  one  knew  how — 
perhaps  by  spontaneous  combustion  —  and  several  were  killed. 
The  rest,  including  wounded,  were  taken  prisoners.     A  hundred 

*Squaudo  was  also  a  sagamore  of  Saco  or  Sokokis.  He  was  one  of  the  chief 
beginners  and  cliief  actors  in  the  war,  1075-0.  He  was  ronsed  to  a  lintred  of  the 
English  by  the  rude  and  indiscreet  act  of  some  English  seamen,  who  either  for 
mischief  overset  a  canoe  in  which  was  !^quando's  wife  and  cliild,  or  to  see  if  young 
Indians  could  swim  naturally,  lilie  animals  of  the  brute  creation,  as  some  liad  re- 
ported. [John  Josselyn,  (jeiit.,  said  [liey  could  swim  like  dogs.]  The  child  went 
to  tlie  bottom,  Init  was  saved  from  drowning  by  tlie  motlier's  diving  down  and 
bringing  it  up.  Yet  within  a  wldle  after  the  said  child  died.  The  whites  did  not 
believe  the  death  of  the  child  was  owing  to  the  immersion ;  still,  we  must  allow', 
the  Indians  knew  as  well  as  they.  He  was  engaged  in  several  battles,  one  of  which 
was  the  attack  upon  Saco  in  1(575.    He  was  a  brave  Indian.— Drake's  Ind.Biog.28(j. 

fDoney  was  a  Saco  sachem.  He  signed  an  Indian  treaty  in  1(!GS.  He  once  had 
a  captive  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Baker.  AVliat  Douey's  fate  was  is  uncertain. — 
Drake's  Ind.  Biog.  308. 

X  Serogumba  was  a  sagamore. 


ENGLISH     STRATEGY.  63 

or  SO  of  them  Avcrc  haugecl.  Two  hundred  were  sold  into  slavery, 
while  the  hundred  up-country  Indians,  including-  some  of  our 
Pemigewassetts,  were  dismissed  to  their  homes.  Thither  they 
went,  exceedingly  wcll-iileased  with  their  kind  treatment,  and 
firmly  convinced  that  their  pale-faced  entertainers  were  the  most 
honest,  reliable,  and  pious  set  of  cut-throats  Avifh  whom  they  ever 
had  the  happiness  to  become  acquainted. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 


HOW  ACCORDING  TO  TRADITION  THE  PEMIGEWASSETTS  WEUE  PRES- 
ENT AT  A  GREAT  COURT  AT  QUOCHECO,  WHERE  THE  LAWS  WERE 
VERY  LEGALLY  EXECUTED  AND  JUSTICE  DONE  —  ACCORDING  TO 
THE  IDEAS  OF  CERTAIN  EXASPERATED  RED  MEN. 

-LhE  valiant  deeds  of  Major  Waldroii  and  the  brave  cap- 
tains at  Quocheco  were  well  remembered  by  the  northern  Indians, 
among  whom  were  numbered  the  Pemigewassetts.  They  believed 
that  the  pions  Quocheco  settlers  and  their  allies  had  committed  a 
great  sin.  After  thinking  the  subject  over  for  ten  years  or  more, 
and  after  having  had  their  thoughts  quickened  from  time  to  time 
by  the  Indian  slaves,  many  of  whom  had  returned,  they  came  to 
the  solemn  conclusion  that  it  was  their  duty  to  take  the  law  into 
their  own  hands  and  see  it  properly  executed.  Accordingly  they 
planned  an  expedition  to  teach  Major  Waldron  and  his  friends  a 
lesson,  if  nothing  more. 

The  leader  was  Kancamagus ;  and  as  he  often  sat  down  in  the 
Pemigewassett  country,  being  a  Pemigewassett  chief  when  there, 
we  must  give  him  a  passing  notice.  He  was  "  grant-son  '"  of  Pas- 
saconaway.  For  many  years  he  was  chief  of  the  Amariscoggins, 
sometimes  of  the  Pequawkees,  and  finally  a  Pennacook  sachem. 
At  one  time  he  was  the  firm  ally  of  the  renowned  Worombo,*  and 
with  him  maintained  a  sti'ong  fort  far  in  the  wilderness,  on  the 

*  Worombo  was  a  sachem  of  the  Amariscoggins.  He  had  a  fort  on  the  river 
bank.  It  was  captured  by  Col,  Clmrch  in  li)90,  Sept.  U.  Two  of  Worombo's  cliil- 
dren  were  taken  prisoners  and  carried  to  Plymouth.  Seven  days  after,  Kancama- 
gus and  Worombo  fell  upon  Cluirch  by  surprise  at  Casco,  Maine,  killed  seven  of 
his  men  and  wounded  twenty-four  more,  two  of  whom  died.  Tlie  Indians  were 
beaten  off  only  after  a  long  "and  desperate  fight.  He  was  a  brave  Indian.  What 
became  of  him  is  uncertain. 


ENGLISH  FRIENDSHIP.  65 

banks  of  the  Androscoggin.  He  was  a  brave  and  politic  chief,  and 
hiul  a  little  of  the  forgiving  spirit  of  his  grandfather  Passacona- 
■\vay  and  uncle  AYonalancet,  but  his  mercy  did  not  endure  forever. 
In  person  he  was  tall  and  well-proportioned;  he  possessed  great 
strength,  was  fleet  of  foot,  and  had  an  eye  like  au  eagle. 

When  the  gentle  sachem  Wonalancet  fled  away  as  he  did  to 
the  land  of  the  Arosagunticobks,  otherwise  known  as  the  St. 
Francis  Indians,  with  a  portion  of  his  tribe,  Kancamagus  took  up 
his  residence  in  the  fertile  meadows  of  the  Pennacooks.  Crantield* 
the  English  governor  at  the  time,  did  not  like  the  idea  of  his 
residing  in  the  hunting  grounds  of  his  ancestors,  and  being  a 
scrupulous  man  he  went  to  New  York  and  entered  into  an  engage- 
ment with  the  gentle  fighting  Mohawks  f  to  come  and  drive  him 
and  his  people  away.  Kancamagus  heard  of  the  design,  and 
addressed  several  letters  to  the  '^Honur  Governor  my  friend," 
and  sent  him  presents  of  beaver-skins,  but  without  much  effect. 
In  fact,  the  governor  was  firm  in  his  purpose;  the  Mohawks  sent 
word  that  they  were  coming,  and  Kancamagus  and  his  braves, 
giving  up  the  idea  of  taking  their  revenge  just  then,  fled  far  into 
the  northern  wilderness. 

But  he  did  not  remain  long  aw^av.  When  Kino-  William's 
war  broke  out  he  was  back  again  upon  the  banks  of  the  Merri- 
mack. Around  the  council  fire  they  recounted  the  treachery  at 
Quocheco;  how  their  brothers  had  some  been  butchered,  others 
sold  into  slavery;  some  hung  upon  trees  in  Boston  or  shot  down 
in  the  streets  at  noon-day;  and  how  they  had  been  burnt  in  the 
wigwams  by  the  dozen  in  time  of  peace ;  and  now,  as  the  war- 
times offered  an  excellent  opportunity,  the  old  plans  for  revenge 
were  fully  determined  upon.  Under  the  trees  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  they  danced  the  war-dance — the  war-paint  Avas  prepared 
—  and  Amai'iscoggins,  Coosucks,  Pequawkees,  Winnepissaukies, 
Amoskeags,  Pennacooks,  Pemigewassetts,  in  fine  all  the  Nipmucks 
remaining,  were  ready  to  put  their  plans  of  revenge  in  execution. 

But  Major  Waldron  and  his  friends  might  have  been  saved. 
When  the  plan  was  maturing,  friendly  Indians  communicated  it 

*IIe  was  aiithovized  as  early  as  March  22, 1683,  by  the  Council  of  Massaclm- 
setts  to  flo  this.—  Potter's  Hist,  of  Man.  83. 

tTlie  Mohawks  were  sometimes  called  Maiiqiiawogs,  i.  e.,  man-eaters. 

E 


66  HISTORY    OF    WAKREN. 

to  Captain  Thomas  Hinchnian,  of  Chelmsford,  Mass.,  and  he  im- 
mediately dispatched  a  messenger  to  the  governor.  But  the  latter 
was  careless,  heeded  it  not,  thought  nor  cared  but  little  about  it. 

June  27th,  1689,  the  woods  about  Quocheco  were  full  of  In- 
dians. Our  valiant  tribes  had  come  down.  Yet  the  inhabitants 
mistrusted  nothing;  they  felt  secure,  for  as  yet  the  governor's 
messenger  had  not  arrived  with  the  warning. 

Night  came  on,  and  two  squaws,  as  the  plan  intended,  went 
to  each  of  the  garrison  houses  and  asked  leave  to  lodge  by  the 
fire.  In  the  night,  when  the  people  Avere  asleep,  they  were  to 
open  the  doors  and  gales  and  give  the  signal  by  a  whistle,  when 
the  Indians  should  rush  in  and  take  their  long-meditated  revenge. 
These  squaws,  in  pairs,  were  admitted  into  every  garrison  but 
one,  and  the  people  at  their  request  showed  them  how  to  oj)en  the 
dooi's  in  case  thev  should  have  occasion  to  go  out  in  the  ni^ht. 
Mesandowit,  a  chieftain  under  Kancamagus,  was  a  guest  of  Major 
Waldron.  At  supper,  witli  his  usual  familiarity,  he  said :  ''  Broth- 
er Waldron,  what  would  you  do  if  the  strange  Indians  should 
come?"  The  Major  carelessly  ansAvered  that  he  could  assemble  a 
hundred  men  by  lifting  his  finger.  In  this  unsuspecting  confi- 
dence the  garrison  retired  to  rest. 

When  tlie  gates  were  opened  the  signal  was  given.  The  In- 
dians rushed  in,  and  the  butchery  commenced.  The  Major,  awak- 
ened by  the  noise,  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  though  advanced  in 
life  to  tiie  age  of  eighty  years,  he  retained  so  much  vigor  as  to  be 
able  to  drive  them  through  two  or  three  doors;  but  as  he  was  re- 
turning for  his  other  arms,  they  came  behind  and  stunned  him 
with  a  hatchet,  drew  him  into  his  hall,  and  seating  him  in  an  elbow 
chair  mounted  on  along  table,  insultingly  asked  him,  ''Who  shall 
judge  Indians  now?"  They  then  obliged  the  people  in  the  house 
to  get  them  some  supper,  and  when  they  had  done  eating  they 
cut  the  Major  across  the  breast  and  belly  Avith  linives,  each  one 
with  his  stroke  saying,  "I  cross  out  my  account!"  They  then 
cutoff  his  nose  and  ears,  forcing  them  into  his  mouth;  and  when, 
spent  with  the  loss  of  blood,  he  was  fast  falling  down  from  the 
table,  one  of  them  held  his  sword  under  him,  Avhich  quick  put  an 
end  to  his  misery.  Five  or  six  liouses,  and  all  the  mills,  were 
burned;  twenty-three  people  were  killed,  and  twenty-nine  were 


SAVAGE   GENEKOSITT.  67 

carried  away  captive.  Before  the  morning  the  Indians  were  off 
to  their  fastnesses  among  the  mountains. 

Gov.  CrantieUi's  messenger  arrived  at  Quocheco  tliat  very 
*  afternoon,  but  too  late  to  prevent  the  slaugliter. 

Au  instance  of  generous  forbearance  on  the  part  of  a  warrior 
is  related;  Mrs.  Heard  was  by  chance  fastened  outside  of  her 
husband's  gariison  house.  She  hid  herself  in  the  bushes  near  by, 
so  near  that  she  witnessed  the  wild  massacre  and  the  burning  of 
the  buildings.  A  young  Indian  came  towards  her  with  a  hatchet 
as  if  to  kill  hei",  but  when  he  looked  in  her  face  he  turned  away 
with  a  yell  and  tied.  AYhen  the  four  hundred  were  seized  in  1676, 
an  Indian  boy  took  refuge  in  her  house,  where  she  concealed  him 
until  he  was  able  to  effect  his  escape  in  safety.  The  young  warrior 
was  that  boy.  He  had  not  forgotten  her,  and  her  kindness  to  him 
saved  her  life. 

The  Nipmucks  had  taken  their  revenge — their  wrongs  were 
in  part  cancelled. 

The  colonies  were  amazed — awe-struck.  Kancamagus  wa& 
outlawed,  and  a  price  set  upon  his  head.  Captain  Noyes,  with 
soldiers,  marched  to  Pennacook,  but  the  Indians  had  fled.  Noth- 
ing Avas  found  but  some  corn,  Avhich  was  destroyed.  Other  sol- 
diers went  as  far  north  as  the  White  mountains,  and  so  much 
were  the  Indians  pressed,  as  Acteon  relates,  that  even  the  Pemi- 
gewassetts  were  compelled  to  leave  their  hunting  grounds,  and 
burr}'  away  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Coimecticut  and  across  the 
border  into  Canada. 

About  this  time  the  first  Indian  captives  wore  carried  into  onr  noi'thern  wil- 
derness. In  llilo,  Isaac  liradle}',  aged  15,  and  William  Whittaker,  aged  11,  wei-e 
taken  prisoners  and  cai  ried  to  W  mnepissiogeelake. — Ms.  H.  C.2d  sei'ies,  vol.  i,  128. 

In  lij'JT  the  celebrated  Haniiah  Duston  was  captured  at  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and 
went  up  llie  Mcrnm:icli  river  towards  our  Pemigewassett  country,  as  lar  as  the 
mouth  or  the  Contoocook  river.  Here  they  lodged  upon  an  island  for  some  time 
and  -Mrs.  Dustoa  lornied  the  plan  of  killing  tne  wuole  party.  Two  other  prisoners, 
Mrs.  Neil"  and  an  Knglish  boy,  readily  agreed  to  assist  her.  To  the  art  of  killing 
anil  scalping  she  was  a  stranger,  audthat  there  should  be  no  laiiure  in  the  busi- 
ness, -Mrs.  iJuston  instructed  tlie  boy,  who,  from  his  long  residence  with  them  had 
beconis  as  one  of  the  Indians,  to  inquire  of  one  of  the  men  how  it  was  done.  He 
did  so,  and  tlie  Indian  showed  liiin  without  mistrusting  the  origin  of  the  inquiry. 
It  was  now  March  31st,  and  in  the  dead  of  night  following,  this  bloody  tragedy  was 
enacted.  \Vhen  the  Indians  were  in  the  most  sound  sleep  these  "three  captives 
arose,  and  soltly  arming  tnemsolves  with  the  tomahaM'ks  oi  their  masters,  allotted 
the  number  eacli  should  kill;  and  so  truly  did  tliey  direct  their  blows  tliat  but  one 
escaped  whom  they  designed  ij  kill.  This  was  a  woman  whom  they  badly 
wounded.  There  was  also  a  boy,  who  for  some  reason  they  did  not  wish  to  harm, 
and  accordingly  lie  was  allowed"  to  escape  unhurt.  Mrs.  JJiiston  killed  her  master, 
and  the  boy,  i^eouardson,  killed  the  man  wiio  but  one  day  before  had  so  freely  told 
him  whereto  deal  the  deadly  blow  and  how  to  take  ofl'  a'scalp. 


68  ■  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Kancamagus  did  not  long  remain  idle.  Captain  Cliurch,  a 
noted  Indian  tighter,  liad  attaclved  Worombo's  fort,  captured  it, 
and  witli  it  the  wife  and  child  of  Kancamagus.  This  stung  the 
chieftain  to  the  quick.  ATith  Worombo  he  fought  Church  at 
Casco,  killed  seven  white  men,  and  wounded  twenty-four  more, 
two  mortally,  as  we  have  before  narrated.  His  wife  and  child 
were  then  restored  to  him. 

This  famous  Indian  died  about  1691,  and  tradition  has  it  that 
he  was  buried  in  the  land  of  the  Pemigewassetts. 

All  was  over  before  the  dawn  of  day,  and  all  things  were  got  ready  for  leaving 
this  place  of  blood.  All  the  boats  but  one  were  scuttled,  to  prevent  being  pursued, 
and  with  wiiat  arms  and  provisions  tlie  Indian  cainp  afl'ordcd,  they  embarked  upon 
tlie  Ijoat  remaining,  and  slowly  and  silently  took  the  course  of  the  Merrimack  river 
to  their  homes,  wliere  tliey  all"  soon  after  arrived  without  ac;'ident. 

Several  otiier  white  "captives  were  carried  into  the  Mew  Hampshire  woods 
about  this  time,  and  in  this  manner,  probablj',  the  flrst  white  persons  entered  the 
Asquamchumauke  valley. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

CONTAINIXG  A  SLIGHT  ATTEMPT  AT  BIOGRAPHY,  OR  THE  EARLY 
LIFE  OF  AVATERNOMEE,  OTHERWISE  WATTANUMON,*  SOMETIMES 
VULGARLY  CALLED  WALTERXUMDS,  LAST  CHIEF  OF  THE  PEMI- 
GEWASSETTS. 

In  a  wigwam  beside  tlie  Asquamchumauke,  long  years  ago, 
as  old  Acteon  said,  was  born  a  young  pappoose,  whose  history  is 
better  known  than  that  of  any  other  member  of  the  Pemigewassett 
tribe.  At  first,  lashed  to  its  cradle,  it  was  borne  about  from  place 
to  place  by  its  mother,  or  hung  upon  a  branch  of  a  tree  while  she 
was  at  work.  Then  the  boy  ran  by  the  bright  stream  in  spring- 
time, plucked  wild  flowers,  and  cliased  the  butterflies.  As  the 
young  Waternomee  grew  in  years,  he  journeyed  with  his  family 
throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  Nipmuck  terri- 
tory. When  he  arrived  at  manhood  he  became  the  chief  of  his 
individual  tribe,  and  often  went  back  to  the  old  hunting  grounds, 
the  land  of  his  birth. 

It  was  there  Acteon  first  saw  him.  He  said  he  was  well 
built,  tall,  "straight  as  a  pickerel,"  a  fine  smooth  face,  and 
with  '"ar.  eye  like  a  hawk."  He  was  a  good  hunter,  and  was 
much  given  to  farming  (hence  his  name),  and  could  use  a  spear 
better  than  any  other  man  of  his  tribe.  On  the  river  he  could 
make  his  canoe  fairly  fly,  and  he  had  marched  through  the  forest  a 
hundred  miles  in  a  day.f     He  was  the  admiration  of  his  tribe,  and 

*The  word  \y;ittaiiuinon  means  a  farmer,  or  planter. —  Potter,  25S. 

There  were  otlier  Imlians  by  the  same  name :  One  lived  at  Concord,  long  after 
the  death  of  the  Pemigewasrtett"chiel'. 

fThey  are  generally  quick  on  foot,  brought  up  from  the  breasts  to  running; 
tlieir  legs  being  also  from  the  womb  stretched  and  bouuil  up  in  a  strange  way  on 
their  cradle  backward,  as  also  anuointed.    Yet  thev  haw-  some  that  excel:    ISothat 


70  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

lie  soon  had  great  influence  in  every  other  clan  among  the  whole 
Nipmnck  people.* 

In  1G89  he  is  first  mentioned  in  English  history,  as  a  brave  but 
kind-hearted  Indian.  March  5th  of  that  year  "  Waternumon,  an 
Indian  who  lived  at  Newbury,"'  as  he  is  described  and  his  name 
spelt,  in  a  company  of  thirty  or  forty  Indians  made  an  attack  npon 
Andover  and  killed  five  persons.  Colonel  Dudley  Bradstrcct  and 
family  were  his  friends,  and  when  there  was  danger  of  their  being 
killed,  he  rushed  forward  and  preserved  them. 

The  same  year,  in  May,  he  went  northward  to  his  old  haunts, 
and  he  is  reported  by  those  who  went  to  treat  with  the  northern 
Indians  as  one  of  the  chief  captains  of  Wonalaucet. 

At  the  attack  on  Quocheco,  as  ancient  tradition  has  it,  he  was 
present  nnder  Kancamagus,  and  witnessed  one  of  the  wildest 
slaughters  that  ever  happened  on  the  New  Hampshire  frontier. 
The  part  he  took  in  it,  however,  is  noAV  unknown. 

Then  came  ten  years  of  peace,  and  the  chief  "Waternomee 
went  back  among  the  mountains  and  made  his  home  in  the  pleas- 
ant hunting-grounds  of  his  boyhood. 

There  was  a  beautiful  planting  place  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Pemigewassett  and  Asquamchumauke  rivers;  good  fishing  Avaters 
were  at  Sawheganet  and  Livermore  fiills,  and  round  about  was 
the  best  of  hunting  in  all  the  northern  woods.  Moose  and  deer 
were  in  the  valleys  and  upon  the  hills,  and  he  got  large  supplies 
of  beaver  skinsfrom  the  solitary  beaver  meadows  and  ponds,  high 
up  on  the  streams,  even  to  their  very  sources  among  the  moun- 
tains.    Waternomee  was  a  most  successful  hunter,  and  he  well 

I  have  known  many  of  tlium  run  between  fourscore  or  an  hundred  miles  in  a  daj-, 
and  back  within  two  days.  Tliey  do  also  pi'actice  running-  races,  and  commonly  lu 
the  summer  they  daliglit  to  go  without  siiocs,  although  tliey  hnve  tliem  hanging  at 
their  backs.  They  are  so  exquisitely  skilled  in  all  the  "body  and  bowels  ot  the 
country  by  reasons  of  their  huntings, "that  1  have  often  been  guided  twenty,  thirty, 
vea  sometnnes  lortv  mile-!  through  the  woods  a  straiglit  course,  out  of  any  path. — 
Roger  AVilliams'  Key,  3  Mass.  H.  C.  2Jl. 

*  Waternomee,  it  is  said,  had  as  friends,  who  lived  up  and  do^^^^  the  river, 
Tohanto,  Sagurmoy,  Werauumpes  Sagurmoy,  I'acohunte,  Quangecun,  Nascum, 
Monamusque,  amrPehaungun.  The  "bitter  was  a  well  known  warrior,  and  his 
iiame  was  indicative  of  his  cliaracter,  Pehaunf/un  meaning,  "Beware  of  Me!"  He 
was  killed  in  a  druidieii  frolic  in  17W,  at  t!ie  age  of  1-21  years,  and  was  buried  very 
carefully  — tlie  Indians  treading  the  dirt  in"  his  gra"ve,  crying  all  the  time  like 
maniacs,  "  Hs  uo  get  up,"  "  He  no  com 3  back  now."  They  feared  his  ghost  would 
return  from  the  laud  of  shadas  to  haunt  tlioni. 

Drake  more  particularly  locates  the  Xipmucks  upon  the  Nashua  river,  a 
branch  of  tlie  Merrimack.  Hi;  gives  the  following  spellings  of  the  uame  :  Xopuats, 
Nipnets,  or  Xipmuks.  — lud.  Biog.  S-1. 


THE   HOME   OF   GITCIIE   MANITO.  71 

kncAV  every  pond  and  stream,  and  flashing  waterfall  in  all  bis 
pleasant  countiy. 

Acteon  saw  his  wigwam  lire  blazing  once  by  the  mouth  of  the 
Mikaseota  or  Black  brook,  and  heard  the  crack  of  his  rifle,  as  he 
ehot  some  of  the  smaller  game  up  by  "Indian  Rock."  Then,  as 
he  once  travelled  northward  to  the  land  of  the  Coosucks,  he  en- 
camped, as  the  Indians  were  wont  to  do,  by  AVachipauka  pond, 
the  leaping  waters  of  Oak  falls  making  pleasant  music  in  his  ears. 
Tradition  avers  that  Acteon  told  the  story  how  Watornomee,  with 
a  few  other  Indians,  once  followed  the  Asquamchumauke  up  to  its 
very  source  in  the  mountains.  There  they  camped  beside  a  beaver 
pond,  Avhere  the  bcavei-,  Tummunk,  had  built  houses.  These  they 
did  not  molest,  but  set  out,  just  as  the  sun  rose,  to  go  over  Moosil- 
auke  to  the  "  Quonnecticut"  valley. 

Not  often  did  the  Indians  climb  the  mountain,  and  they  only 
did  it  now  to  save  time  and  distance.  It  was  a  hard  ascent  for 
their  moccasined  feet,  over  the  stones  and  through  the  hackma- 
tacks, as  they  called  the  dwarf  firs  and  spruces;  but  upon  the 
bald  mountain  crest  the  way  was  easier,  and  the  little  birds, 
Psukses,  were  whistling  and  singing  among  the  lichens  and  rocks. 
When  they  reached  the  summit,  the  heaven,  Kesuk,  was  cloudless, 
and  the  view  unobscnred. 

It  was  a  sight,  the  like  of  which  they  had  uever  seen  before. 
Great  mountains,  Wadchu,  were  piled  and  scattered  in  the  wild- 
est confusion  in  all  the  land:  and  silver  lakes,  Sipes,  were  spark- 
ling; and  bright  rivers,  Sepoes,  were  gleaming  from  the  forest. 

As  they  sat  upon  that  topmost  i)cak,  the  Avind  was  still, 
and  they  could  hear  the  moose  bellowing  in  the  gorges  below ; 
could  hear  the  wolf,  Muquoshim,  howling;  and  now  and  then  the 
great  war-eagle,  Keiicu,  screamed  and  hurtled  through  the  air. 
A  feeling  of  superstitious  reverence  took  possession  of  those 
Indians  as  they  drank  in  the  strange  sights  and  wild  sounds,  for 
they  believed  that  tht"  peak  was  the  home  of  Gitche  Manito,  their 
Great  Spirit.  Does  the  unlettered  Catholic  have  reverence  at  the 
altar? — much  more  was  the  untutored  savage  fliled  with  awe  as 
he  stood  in  the  very  dwelling  place  of  Ids  God,  afraid  that  the 
deity  would  be  angry  at  the  almost  sacrilegious  invasion. 

As  the  sun,  Nepauz,  was  going  down  the  western  sky,  a  light 


72  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

mist  collected  arouud  the  eastern  peaks,  and  above  all  the  I'iver 
valleys  in  the  west,  clouds,  at  first  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand, 
began  to  gather.  Soon  hanging  over  every  valley  was  a  shower — 
the  heavens  above  them  clear — the  sun  shining  brightly  upon  the 
vapor.  Qnickly  the  wind  freshened,  and  the  great  clouds,  purple 
and  gold  and  crimson  above,  black  as  ink  below,  hurried  from 
every  quarter  towards  the  crest  of  Moosilauke.  Then  thunder, 
Pahtuquohan,  began  to  bellow,  and  the  lightning,  Ukkutshaumuu, 
leaped  from  cloud  to  cloud,  and  streamed  blinding  down  to  the  hills 
beneath,  while  the  great  rain-drops  and  hailstones,  crashing  upon 
the  infinite  thick  woods,  sent  up  a  roar  loud  as  a  hundred  moun- 
tain torrents. 

"It  is  Gitche  Manito  coming  to  his  home  angry,"  muttered 
Waternomee,  as  with  his  companions  he  hurried  down  the  moun- 
tain to  the  thick  sprnce  forest,  Soshsumonk,  for  shelter.  Such 
scenes,  the  wildest  exhibitions  of  nature,  made  the  mountain  sum- 
mits to  be  dreaded,  and  he  was  a  brave  Indian  w^ho  dared  ascend 
them.* 

Through  all  his  hunting  grounds,  never  tarrying  long  in  any 
place,  he  travelled — building  his  Avigwam  now  beside  the  fishing- 
place,  then  by  the  maize-field,  and  then  where  game  was  plentiest. 
Thus  the  years  w^ent  by,  and  the  Pemigewassett  chief  with  all  his 
people  lived  happily  and  greatly  increased  in  numbers.  Their 
range  was  far  away  in  the  wilderness,  and  their  English  friends 
had  as  j^et  never  invaded  their  homes.  But  this  state  of  things 
could  not  long  continue,  for  causes  were  at  work  whereby  war 
would  be  bronght  about  in  the  old  world,  and  the  In.dians  would 
be  again  compelled  to  dig  up  the  tomahawk  in  the  new. 

*For  a  vocabulary  of  Nipmuck  words  see  Schoolcraft,  vol.  i.  291. 


CHAPTER  X 


^^c 


HOW  THE  PEMIGEAVASSETTS  ENGAGED  IN  QUEEN  ANNE'S  WAR, —  OF 
SUNDRY  EXPEDITIONS  —  AND  HOW  SEVERAL  PEMIGEWASSETTS 
WERE  SURPRISED  AND  SLAIN  BY  FIVE  TERRIBLE  IIARQUAS, 
LED   BY   THE   BRAVE   CALEB   LTMAN. 

^VhILE  the  eastci-u  continent  shook  to  the  bloody  tread  of 
the  great  Marlborough,  and  Eugene  of  Savoy,  the  primitive  ''sal- 
vage" of  the  western  world  was  placing  his  part  on  a  narrower 
though  equally  as  bloody  stage.  Did  those  loving  nations,  Eng- 
land and  France,  but  set  the  sanguinary  ball  in  motion,  and  the 
peaceable  forest  children,  instigated  by  pious  emissaries,  immedi- 
ately dug  up  the  tomahawk. 

The  New  England  colonists  had  heard  of  the  war  commenced 
in  Europe,  and  well  knowing  its  reciprocal  intiuence  and  eflect  in 
the  new  world,  they  immediately  began  to  bestir  themselves,  to 
avert  as  nnich  as  possible  the  storm  that  was  sure  to  burst.  They 
conceived  that  it  would  be  an  excellent  idea  to  make  a  solemn 
treaty  with  their  red-skinned  foes,  and  keep  peace  if  possible  in 
the  great  northern  forest,  where  with  numerous  other  tribes  the 
Pemigewassetts  resided.  Accordingly  the  good  Gov.  Dudley, 
who  at  that  time  was  ruler  over  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
sent  messengers  to  all  the  northern  and  eastern  tribes  and  invited 
their  chiefs  to  meet  him  and  his  council  on  the  peninsula  of  Fal- 
mouth, Maine,  to  make  a  treaty  of  friendship.  This  accomplished 
the  red  warriors  at  least  would  not  tight  on  the  side  of  the  French. 

On  June  20th,  1702,  they  came  together  in  great  numbers. 
Mauxis  and  Hopehood,*  from  Norridgewolk ;  Wanungunt  and 

*  Walio\v:i,  alias  Hopehood,  was  son  of  Robinlioocl.  His  career  was  a  series  of 
warlike  aiyl  bloodv  exploits.  His  attacks  upon  Berwick,  Salmon  Falls,  and  at  Fox 
Point,  are  among  his  most  celebrated  acts.     At  the  latter  place   U  whites  were 


74  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Wanadngunbuent,  from  Penobscot;  Adiwando  and  Hegan,  from 
Pennacook  and  Pigwacket;  Messambomett  and  AVexar,  from 
Aniasconty,  with  two  hundred  and  tifty  men  in  sixt5'-five  canoes, 
all  came  to  Falmouth  peninsula.  The  several  chieftains  with  their 
adherents  were  well  armed  and  mostly  painted  with  a  variety  of 
colors.  It  was  a  rude  gathei-ing  there  in  the  Avilderness  —  the 
Governor  and  his  Avhite  friends,  painted  savages,  rough  wig- 
wams, camp  fires  burning,  and  on  the  shore  a  fleet  of  birchen 
canoes.  All  were  seemingly  affable  and  kind,  although  in  some 
instances  causes  of  jealousy  and  distrust  were  not  wanting. 

But  they  did  not  proceed  immediately  to  business.  Wattan- 
umon,*  otherwise  Waternomee,  whom  Ave  so  politely  introduced 
in  our  last  entertaining  chapter,  as  a  chieftain  from  the  northwest, 
had  not  arrived,  and  the  other  chiefs  were  unwilling  to  proceed 
until  he  came.f 

After  Avaiting  several  days,  in  a  tent  which  had  been  fixed  for 
their  lodgment,  tlie  GoA'ernor  made  them  a  short  brotherly  speech, 
saying  he  desired  to  settle  every  difiiculty  Avhich  had  happened 
between  them. 

Captain  Simmo,  a  Avarrior,  replied  as  folloAVs:  "  We  thank 
you,  good  brother,  for  coming  so  far  to  talk  icith  us.  It  is  a 
great  favor.  The  clouds  fy  and  darken — but  we  still  sing  with 
love  the  songs  of  peace.  Believe  my  loords.  So  far  as  the  sun  is 
above  the  earth  are  our  thoughts  from  war  or  the  least  rupture 
between  us." 

A  belt  of  wampum  was  then  presented  to  the  Governor,  and 
they  invited  him  and  his  Avhite  friends  to  the  two  pillars  of  stone 
which  were  erected  at  a  former  treaty  and  called  by  the  significant 
name  of  the  "Two  Brothers,"  unto  which  also  both  parties  went 
and  added  a  great  number  of  stones. 

EA'ery thing  now  seemed  lovely.  Many  presents  Avcre  giA^en. 
There  Avas  singing  and  dancing.  Loud  acclamations  of  joy  Avere 
heard,  and  the  English  began  to  feel  that  Queen  Anne's  War  in 

killed,  six  captivated,  (sic)  and  several  houses  burned.  The  pious  Cotton  Mather 
savs  this  was  as  easily  done  "as  to  have  spoiled  an  ordhiary  lien-i'oo«t."  The 
same  author  says  that  shortly  al'ter  he  went  to  the  westward  with  a  design  to 
bewitch  another  crew  at  Aquadofta  into  liis  assistance.  Some  time  aftin-  he  was 
met  by  some  Canndi  Indians,  who,  t'lkniii'  him  to  lie  of  the  Iroquois  nation,  slew 
him,  with  many  of  his  companions. —  Dralce's  Ind.  Biog.  30-2. 

*He  is  mentioned  in  Peuhallow's  Indian  Wars  as  from  Pigwacket.  • 

t  Hubbard's  History  of  Maine. 


FORTY   POUNDS   FOR  A   NIP.^IUCK   SCALP.  75 

Europe  would  not  trouble  thein  mucli  in  America.  But  they  were 
destined  to  be  terribly  mistaken,  and  quickly  got  an  inkling  of 
what  might  happen.  A  parting  salnte  must  be  fired.  The  very 
polite  —  not  a  bit  jealous  —  English  wished  to  honor  the  Indians 
by  having  them  fire  first,  and  when  they  did  so  the  English  were 
greatly  alarmed  at  discoA^ering  that  the  guns  of  the  Indians  were 
loaded  with  balls,  which  rattled  terribly  among  the  leaves  and 
dry  branches  of  the  trees  overhead.  Very  greatly  alarmed  —  and 
this  notwithstanding  the  curious  fact  that  their  own  muskets  were 
likewise  fullv  charged  for  service. 

Some  of  the  Indians  furthermore  had  gently  intimated  that 
certain  French  Jesuits  had  recently  come  among  them  and  en- 
deavored to  seduce  them  from  their  allegiance  to  the  crown  of 
England,  but  without  success,  for,  as  they  said,  they  were  "  as 
firm  as  mountains,  and  should  coutiuue  so  as  long  as  the  sun  aud 
moon  endured." 

But  all  this  was  a  pleasant  kind  of  cheat.  The  gentle  salvages 
did  not  mean  a  word  they  said.  They  did  not  expect  the  warrior 
AVattanumon  —  our  AYaternomee  of  the  mountains  —  atfthe  treaty 
of  peace  at  all.  He  %ras  to  come  at  the  head  of  a  w^ar  party,  and 
Governor  Dudley  with  his  English  friends  were  to  be  swept  from 
existence.  Three  days  after  they  were  gone  back  to  Boston,  two 
hundred  more  French  and  Indians  were  sounding  their  war 
whoop  in  the  forest  where  the  Two  Brothers  were  erected.  Six 
weeks  later,  and  Queen  Anne's  war  had  broken  out  in  fury,  and 
the  whole  frontier  was  in  a  blaze.  Not  a  house  was  standing  nor 
a  garrison  uuassaulted.  AYoe  to  him  then  whose  musket  bore  no 
lead. 

AV^ar  raged  universally  in  New  England,  and  our  beloved 
Pemigewassett  tribe  of  course  took  a  hand  in  it.  So  fierce  were 
the  incursions  of  the  Northern  Indians  that  Massachusetts  was 
exceedingly  alarmed.  Her  general  assembly  Avas  convened,  and 
a  law  passed  otTcring  a  bounty  of  forty  pounds  for  every  Indian 
scalp  that  could  be  procured. 

So  tempting  an  oiler  could  not  long  be  Avithstood,  and  Capt. 
Tyng,  a  bra.ve  Indian  fighter,  Avas  the  first  to  embrace  the  tender. 
In  the  deep  mid-Avinter  of  1703,  he  Avith  his  party  Avent  on  snoAV- 
shoes  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Indians  among  the  mountains, 


76  HISTORY    OF    WAKREN. 

a7id  got  five  scalps.    Massachusetts  was  prompt,  and  paid  him  two 
hundred  pounds  for  them.* 

But  the  Indians  took  a  sweet  revenge  for  all  this,  and  Haver- 
hill, Deerfield,  and  other  settlements  in  Massachusetts  were 
attacked,  and  more  than  two  hundred  whites  were  killed  and  cap- 
tured.   Ample  reparation  for  five  Indian  scalps. 

This  would  not  do.  More  than  ever  the  colonies  were  alive 
to  the  fact  that  the  Indians  must  be  punished  and  subdued.  So 
Major  Hilton, t  with  tive  companies,  and  Captain  Stevens  with  one, 
ranged  all  the  northern  woods,  went  up  the  Pemigewasset  and  the 
Asquamchumauke  and  eastward  along  the  base  of  the  White 
mountains,  but  not  an  Indian  did  they  discover. 

Waternomee  with  his  people  were  too  careful  for  these  march- 
ing parties.  The  old  men,  women,  and  children  were  off  to  the 
fastnesses  of  the  mountains  and  the  deep,  impenetrable  swamps, 
where  pursuit  was  useless. 

But  one  man,  at  the  head  of  five  Marquas,  Mohog,  or  Mohawk 
Indians,  accomplished  more  than  the  six  great  marching  companies 
together.  'By  chance  some  of  the  Pemigewassetts  had  crossed  the 
highlands,  as  old  Acteou  reported,  and  had  set  down  to  plant  on 
the  banks  of  the  Connecticut.  The  Coosucks,  with  a  strong  fort, 
were  on  the  great  meadows  above  them,  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
stream  below  were  numerous  other  families  of  friendly  Indians. 
Thus  surrounded  they  thought  themselves  secure. 

Some  time  in  Ma}',  1704,  word  came  from  Albany  that  the 
Mohawks  had  discovered  the  fort  upon  the  Connecticut  river  and 
knew  that  the  Coosucks  were  planting  corn  there. 

June  6th,  Mr.  Caleb  Lyman,  a  brave  man,  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  five  Mohawk  warriors,  and  leaving  Northampton, 

*  Another  party  marched  directly  up  the  Merrimack  river  to  tlie  Pemigewassett 
land.  Ihe  fourth  day  from  home  they  discovered  an  Indian  settlement  a  short 
distance  from  the  river;  and  alter  carefully  recouoitering  and  finding  that  the 
number  of  tlie  Indians  was  less  than  tlieir  own,  they  advanced  to  tlie  attacli.  The 
Indians  did  not  discover  tlie  English  until  they  were  close  upon  them,  when  they 
were  accidentally  observed  by  a  young  warrior  who  cried,  "  Owanux,  Owanux  !" 
— "  Englishmen,  Englishmen  I"  This  frightened  the  other  Indians,  wlio,  rising  up 
quielily,  were  tired  upon  l)y  the  Englislnnen,  wlio  killed  eiglit  upon  the  spot.  The 
rest  immediately  fled,  andthe  company,  with  considerable  booty  and  the  scalps  of 
the  slain  Indians,  returned  home  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

fin  the  spring  of  1704  Col.  Wintliroji  Hilton  commanded  a  party  to  scour  the 
woods  to  the  lieads  of  the  Winnepisseogee  and  Pemigewassett,  and  "was  not  only 
this  summer  but  most  of  the  time,  wlien  not  engaged" in  more  important  and  dis- 
tant expetlitions,  employed  in  raugLug  the  frontier  from  Massachusetts  to  Maine. 
—1  Farmer  &  Moore's  Col.  216. 


CALEB  LYMAN'S  EXPEDITION.  77 

Massachusetts,  struck  into  the  wilderness.  They  were  soon  in  the 
enemy's  country.  They  found  his  tracks  and  heard  the  noise  of 
his  guns  in  the  woods.  For  nine  days  they  pursued  their  course 
nortlaward.  Then,  discovering-  fresh  tracks,  the.v  followed  them 
till  they  came  to  the  river.  Supposing  that  hostile  Indians  were 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  they  halted,  consulted  what  method 
was  best  to  pursue,  and  soon  concluded  to  send  out  a  spy  —  with 
green  leaves  for  a  cap  and  vest,  to  prevent  his  own  discovery,  and 
to  find  out  the  enemy. 

But  before  he  was  out  of  sight  they  saw  two  Indians  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  in  a  canoe,  and  immediately  called  him  back. 
Soon  after  they  also  heard  the  firing  of  a  gun  up  the  river,  upon 
which  they  concluded  to  keep  close  until  sunset,  and  then,  if  they 
could  make  any  further  discovery  of  the  enemy,  to  attack  if  pos- 
sible in  the  night. 

Sitting  down  concealed  upon  the  south  shore  they  looked  out 
upon  the  scene.  The  noble  river  swept  round  a  little  wood- 
crowned  height  in  the  east,  and  then  ran  straight  into  the  west, 
till,  meeting  the  low  blufl'  on  that  side  of  the  meadow,  it  turned 
short  and  flowed  awav  to  the  south.  Before  them  was  the  longf 
reach  of  sparkling  water,  reflecting  the  green  woods  upon  its 
bank ;  in  the  light  fairy  canoe,  near  wliere  the  river  came  out  of 
the  forest  in  the  east,  were  the  two  Indians  spearing  fish;  and 
looking  in  over  the  green  hills  beyond  them  was  the  round,  bald 
top  of  Moosilauke,  gemmed  with  snow  fields  not  yet  melted  in  the 
summer  sun.  Even  the  wood-thrush  —  sweetest  songster  of  the 
forest — was  here;  and  with  the  frogs  in  the  swamp,  and  the  pai-- 
tridges'  drumming,  and  the  warbling  of  the  white-throated  finch, 
made  melody  in  the  solitude. 

AVhen  the  evening  came  on  they  moved  up  the  river,  and  at 
the  distance  of  half  a  mile  saw  a  smoke  and  found  where  the  v^m- 
wams  were  built.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  everything  was 
quiet,  and  the  deadly  Marquas  with  Caleb  Lyman  were  within 
twelve  rods  of  the  slumbering  Pemigewassetts. 

Here  they  met  a  difficulty  which,  as  Mr.  Lyman  in  his  narra- 
tive relates,  nearly  ruined  their  plan.  For  the  space  of  five  rods 
the  ground  was  thickly  covered  with  dry  sticks  and  brush,  over 
which  they  could  not  pass  without  danger  of  alarming  their  enemy 


78  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

and  giving'  him  a  chance  to  escape.  But  while  they  were  contriv- 
ing how  they  might  compass  their  design,  God — as  the  pious 
Caleb*  would  have  it — in  his  good  Providence  assisted  them 
with  a  miracle.  A  very  small  cloud  arose.  It  gave  a  smart  clap 
of  thunder  and  a  sudden  shower  of  rain  descended.  The  Mo- 
hawks with  their  leader  rush  forward,  they  clear  the  thicket,  come 
unperceivcd  in  full  sight  of  the  wigwams,  and  discover  by  the 
noise  that  the  enemy  within  are  awake.  Creeping  still  nearer  on 
their  hands  and  knees,  in  a  moment  they  are  at  the  side  of  the  rude 
dwellings.  Eising,  they  pour  into  them  a  murderous  tire;  then, 
flinging  down  their  guns,  with  their  clubs  and  hatchets  they  knock 
on  the  head  every  Indian  they  meet.  Two  only  of  the  whole 
number  of  Pemigewassetts  escape,  one  mortally  wounded,  the 
other,  as  was  afterwards  learned,  unhurt. 

On  looking  over  the  ground,  seven  Indians  were  found  killed 
on  the  spot,  six  of  whom  they  scalped,  leaving  the  other  un- 
touched, the  Mohawks  patriotically  saying  they  would  give  one 
scalp  to  the  country.  Each  would  then  have  one,  which  would 
make  him  rich  enough. 

Then  they  took  their  scalps  and  plunder,  such  as  guns,  skins, 
etc.,  loaded  them  into  the  canoes  of  the  enemy,  and  started  down 
the  river.  The  stars  shone  in  the  sky  above,  and  the  gibbous 
moon,  sinking  behind  the  trees  in  the  west,  looked  red.  Owls 
hooted  in  the  forest,  the  frogs  sang  a  lullaby  in  the  grass  and  lily- 
pads,  and  the  muskrats  splashed  by  the  shore.  When  the  sun 
came  up  they  Avcre  twelve  miles  down  the  river,  and  knowing 
that  more  "strange  Indians"  were  between  them  and  home,  they 
broke  up  and  abandoned  their  canoes,  and  took  to  the  woods. 

They  were  now  a  hundred  miles  from  the  white  settlements ; 
they  had  but  one  meal  of  victuals  left,  and  as  they  soon  came  upon 
the  trail  of  thirty  Indians  they  dared  not  hunt  for  a  subsistence. 
Caleb  Lyman  says  that  for  five  long  days  they  marched,  eating 
nothing  "but  the  buds  of  trees,  grass,  and  strawberry  leaves, 
when,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  we  safely  arrived  at  IN'orth- 
ampton,  on  the  19th  or  20th  of  the  aforesaid  June." 

The  Great  and  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  being  humbly 
petitioned,  granted  thirty-one  pounds  for  these  services.     Why 

*He  was  an  eldei-  of  a  church  iu  Boston  that  sometimes  hung  witches. 


A  MIRACLE.  79 

they  did  not  get  £2JtO,  as  they  deserved,  is  more  than  we  can  tell. 
At  any  rate  they  merited  it  more  than  Captain  Tyng,  for  it  was  a 
braver  exploit. 

The  captain  of  the  Marquas,  Caleb  Lyuian,  sagely  concludes 
"That  in  consequence  of  this  action  the  enemy  were  generally 
alarmed,  and  immediately  forsook  their  fort  and  corn  at  Cowas- 
suck  and  never  roturued  to  this  day  as  we  could  hear  off  to  renew 
their  settlement  in  that  place." 

That  they  were  greatly  alarmed  there  is  no  doubt,  but  that 
the  Indians  did  not  leave  this  upper  couutry  just  then  is  a  fact 
very  well  known  to  all  great  historians.  For  several  more  years 
they  sojourned  here ;  and  during  the  war  fought  a  number  of 
great  battles,  as  Ave  shall  be  highly  pleased  to  narrate. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF  SEVERAL  THINGS  THAT  HAPPENED  DURING  THE  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  WAR,  AND  HOW  AS  ONE  OF  THE  RESULTS  THE  PEMIGE- 
WASSETT  TRIBE  WAS  DESTROYED  AND  THEIR  HUNTING  GROUND 
—  OF   WHICH   WARREN   WAS   A    PART  —  MADE   A    SOLITUDE. 

And  uovr  there  was  marching  and  hurrying  through  all 
the  wildwood.  The  Indians  came  down  like  wolves  on  the  fold. 
Hadley  and  Quabaug,*  Nashua,  and  Groton  were  attacked.  Then, 
dividing  into  small  parties,  the  red  foe  fell  upon  Amesbury.  Hav- 
erhill, and  Exeter,  and  did  much  mischief. 

Captain  Tyng  and  Captain  How  entertained  a  warm  and 
slightly  cordial  dispute  with  them,  but  came  oflf  second-best,  that 
is,  got  whipped;  and  then  company  after  company  of  English- 
men went  northward,  and  tramped  the  forest  through  and  through, 
but  had  the  poorest  kind  of  luck  in  finding  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Indians.  The  latter  were  ofl"  to  the  swamps,  the  morasses, 
and  the  strongholds  of  the  mountains. 

Among  those  who  ranged  the  woods  was  the  brave  Colonel 
Hilton.  He  came  upon  a  trail  and  killed  four  Indians.  At  the 
same  time  he  took  a  squaw  alive,  with  a  pappoose  at  her  breast, 
both  of  whom  he  preserved.  She  was  of  great  service  in  conduct- 
ing him  to  a  body  of  eighteen  Indians.  These  he  succeeded  in 
surprising,  about  break  of  day,  as  they  lay  asleep,  and  slew  all 
but  one,  whom  he  made  a  prisoner.  This  was  accounted  a  great 
feat  of  arms. 

One  Captain  Wright  also  ventured  far  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try and  fought  the  Indians  with  varying  success. f 

*Now  Brooklield,  Mass. 

fPenhaUow's  Iiuliau  Wars,  1  N.  H.  Hist.  CoL  GO. 


LIEUTENANT  BAKER'S   EXPEDITION.  81 


Then  the  Indians,  in  the  most  terrible  manner,  •would  retaliate. 
One  party  killed  Colonel  Hilton  and  another  slew  Major  Tyng.  * 
They  scalped  the  Colonel,  struck  their  hatchets  into  his  brain,  and 
left  a  lance  in  his  heart.  Major  Tyng  was  rescued  and  carried  to 
Chelmsford,  where  he  soon  expired. 

Colonel  Walton,  with  two  companies  of  men,  hastened  away 
for  revenge.  He  went  to  the  ponds  north  of  "  Winnepisseocay  " 
lake,  where  there  were  places  of  general  resort  for  fishing,  fowl- 
ing, and  hunting.  But  he  found  no  Indians ^only  a  few  deserted 
wigwams;  for,  as  Mr.  Penhallow  politely  says,  being  so  closely 
pursued  from  one  place  to  another,  they  removed  to  other  nations, 
leaving  only  a  few  cut-throats  behind,  which  kept  the  country  in 
a  constant  state  of  alarm. 

Thus,  mutually  killing  and  burning,  the  war  went  on  with 
varying  fortune,  the  English,  afterwards  called  Yankees,  having 
the  poor  luck  to  get  the  worst  of  it  as  a  general  thing,  until  near 
its  close,  when  an  expedition  was  planned  and  a  blow  struck  by 
which  our  Peniigewassetts  were  annihilated. 

In  the  year  1709,  February  27th,  Thomas  Baker  was  taken 
captive  from  Deerfield,  Massachusetts.  They  took  him  straight 
up  the  Connecticut  river,  over  the  carrying-place  to  Memphrerna- 
gog  lake,  and  from  thence  to  the  happy  land  of  Canada.  He  was 
ransomed  a  year  afterwards,  and  came  home  well  knowing  one  of 
the  routes  to  the  haunts  of  the  Indians.  He  also  learned  some- 
thing during  his  captivity  about  the  great  tribes  we  have  men- 
tioned, their  homes  and  hunting  grounds,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1712  —  the  border  war  raging  fiercer  than  ever — he  raised  a  com- 
pany of  thirty-four  men  to  fight  some  of  the  enemy,  who  lived  in  a 
beantiful  place  he  had  heard  of  while  in  Canada.  Thirty-three  of 
his  company  were  white  soldiers,  and  there  was  one  friendly 
Indian  to  guide  them  across  the  highlands. 

Lieutenant  Baker  left  Northampton,!  Mass.,  in  April,  as  soon 
as  the  snow  was  gone,  and  pursued  his  old  route  up  Connecticut 

♦Formerly  Capt.  Tyng.    He  had  been  promoted, 

t  lu  the  county  of  Ilanipsliire. 

Lieut.  Thomas  Baker  was  horn  at  Xorthamiiton,  Mass.,  May  1-t,  1<18'2.  He 
marrieil  ClirisUne  Otis,  otherwise  Marj^aret  Otis,  and  lived  once  at  iJrooklield,  and 
afterwards  at  Dover,  X.  IF.  lie  died  about  17.j:3,  of  letliargy.  Margaret  Otis  was 
once  taken  prisoner  l)y  the  Indians,  curried  to  Canada,  and  was  there  called 
Clmstme  Otis  by  the  French. 

F 


82  HISTORY    OF    WAEREN. 

river.  In  four  days  he  was  upon  the  Cowassuck  intervals.  Snow 
banks  were  still  scattered  about,  and  the  eastern  mountains  were 
white  as  winter.  The  friendly  Indian  had  told  him  of  the  old 
Indian  trail  up  the  Oliverian,  and  by  nightfall  they  had  looked  at 
the  mighty  precipice  of  Owl's  Head  mountain  and  were  camped 
on  the  shore  of  Wachipauka  pond.  , 

The  nest  morning,  passing  Oak  falls,  they  proceeded  down 
the  Mikaseota,  as  Acteon  called  it,  now  plain  Black  brook,  and 
discovering  signs  of  Indians,  who  appeared  to  have  been  in  the 
neighborhood  hunting,  they  marched  all  day  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Asquamchumauke  with  great  caution. 

At  night  Lieutenant  Baker  and  his  men  camped  without  Are, 
and  ate  a  cold  supper,  for  they  knew  they  were  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  Indians. 

In  the  morning  early  he  sent  out  scouts  to  reconnoitre.  These 
cautiously  advanced,  and  at  about  eight  o'clock  discovered  numer- 
ous Indian  wigwams  grouped  in  a  circle  upon  the  east  bank 
of  the  river.*  Some  squaws  were  at  work  near  by,  seeming  to 
be  getting  ready  to  plant  corn.  A  few  men  were  fashioning  a 
canoe  and  several  children  were  plajdug  among  the  trees  upon 
the  shore.  A  large  portion  of  the  warriors,  as  was  afterwards 
learned,  were  away  hunting.  The  scouts,  after  gazing  upon 
this  scene  a  few  moments,  returned  and  reported  their  discovery. 

The  Lieutenant,  after  a  short  consultation  with  his  men,  now 
moved  forward  with  all  possible  circumspection.  No  sound — not 
even  the  breaking  of  a  twig  or  the  snap  of  a  gun-lock  —  warned 
the  Pemigewassetts  of  their  impending  fate.  He  chose  his  posi- 
tion, and  at  a  given  signal  his  company  opened  a  tremendous  tire 
upon  the  Indians,  which  carried  death  through  their  village,  and 
was  as  sudden  to  them  as  a  clap  of  thunder.  Some  shouted 
that  the  English  were  u})on  them,  and  that  dreaded  name  echoed 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  filling  all  with  dismay.  Many  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  forest  bit  the  dust  in  death,  but  those  who  survived 
ran  to  call  in  the  hunters. 

The  companj'  immediately  crossed  the  river  in  pursuit,  but 
all  who  were  able  to  tlee  were  beyond  their  reach.     They  fired  the 

*1  Farmer  &  Moore's  N.  H.  Hist.  Col.  128. 
Whiton's  Hist,  of  N.  H.,  "0. 


DEATH  OF  WATERXOMEE.  83 

wigwams,  and  as  the  flames  streamed  upward  and  the  smoke 
rolled  aloft  on  the  air,  a  shout  from  the  Indians  came  soundinar 
down  the  valley,  informing  Lieutenant  Baker  that  the  warriors 
were  collecting  to  give  him  battle. 

While  the  wigwams  were  being  kindled,  part  of  the  company 
wei'e  searching  for  booty.  They  found  a  rich  store  of  furs 
deposited  in  holes  in  the  banks,  in  the  manner  bank-swallows  dig 
to  make  their  nests.  Having  obtained  these.  Lieutenant  Baker 
ordered  a  retreat,  knowing  that  the  Indians  would  soon  return, 
and  he  feared  in  too  great  numbers  to  be  resisted  by  his  single 
company.  As  they  moved  swiftly  down  the  river,  the  sounds  of 
the  war-whoop  greeted  their  ears.  This  served  to  accelerate  their 
speed.  Often  it  was  repeated  and  each  time  grew  nearer.  When 
they  had  reached  a  poplar  plain,*  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
BridgeAvater,  a  shrill,  maddened  yell,  and  a  volley  of  musketry  in 
their  rear,  told  Baker  that  the  Indians  were  upon  him,  and  that  he 
must  immediately  prepare  for  action.  This  they  did  by  retreating 
to  a  more  dense  wood. 

The  Indians,  commanded  by  their  chief,  Waternomee  —  called 
vulgarly  by  some  historian,  Walternumus  —  immediately  pursued, 
and,  swarming  on  all  sides,  poured  volleys  of  musketry  into  the 
woods  which  concealed  their  enemies.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
little  party,  concealing  themselves  behind  rocks  and  trees,  plied 
their  muskets  vigorously  and  with  good  eifect.  Balls  rattled  in 
showers  around,  scattering  twigs  and  branches  of  the  trees  in 
every  direction. 

While  the  battle  was  going  on,  Waternomee,  who  was  lead- 
ing the  Indians,  accidentally  encountered  Lieutenant  Baker.  They 
knew  each  other  well,  having  met  on  the  frontier  and  in  Canada. 
They  saw  eaph  other  at  the  same  moment,  and  fired  almost  simul- 
taneously. The  ball  from  the  sachem's  gun  grazed  Baker's  left 
eye-brow,  but  did  him  no  injury.  Baker's  bullet  went  through 
the  breast  of  the  chief.  Immediately  upon  being  struck,  with  a 
loud  whoop,  he  leaped  four  or  five  feet  high  and  fell  dead. 

Waternomee  was  richly  attired,  and  Baker  snatched  his  blan- 

*  iir.  Dearborn  has  visited  that  plain  and  seen  and  examined  a  number  of 
skulls  which  he  supposed  fell  in  that  engagement.  One  or  two  of  them  were  per- 
forated by  a  bullet.— Power's  Hist,  of  Coos,  171. 


84  HISTORY    OF  WARKEN. 

ket,  which  was  covered  with  silver  brooches,  his  powder-horn 
and  other  ornaments,  and  hastened  to  join  the  main  body  of  his 
men.* 

The  Indians  having  now  lost  their  chief,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  their  warriors  being  wonnded,  and  a  few  killed, 
retired. 

Lientenant  Baker  also  immediately  collected  his  men  and 
again  ordered  a  retreat,  for  he  believed  that  the  Indians,  though 
repulsed,  would  soon  rally  to  the  attack,  and  their  numbers  con- 
stantly swell  by  those  who  would  join  them.  On  he  went,  allow- 
ing his  men  no  refreshment  after  the  battle.  For  many  miles  they 
travelled  without  food,  until,  hunger  oppressing  them,  they  de- 
clared that  the}'  might  as  well  die  b}'  the  red  men's  bullets  as  by 
famine.  At  length,  upon  crossing  a  stream  in  New  Chester, 
Lieutenant  Baker,  finding  it  useless  to  try  to  proceed  further, 
ordered  a  halt,  and  the  men  prepared  to  refresh  themselves. 
While  building  the  fires  to  cook  their  food,  the  friendly  Indian 
who  had  acted  as  guide  proi^osed  a  stratagem  by  which  the  war- 
riors when  they  came  up  would  be  deceived,  in  regard  to  the 
immber  of  men  in  Lieutenant  Baker's  marching  iDarty.  He  told 
each  one  to  build  as  many  fires  as  he  possibly  could  in  a  given 
time,  and  in  roasting  the  meat  to  use  several  forks  about  the  same 
piece;  then,  when  they  were  done,  to  leave  an  equal  number 
around  each  fire.  This  advice  was  followed,  and  after  enjoying  a 
hasty  meal  they  again  moved  swiftly  on. 

The  Indian  warriors,  coming  up  shortly  after,  found  the  fires 
still  burning;  they  counted  the  array  of  forks,  and  being  alarmed 
at  the  supposed  number  of  the  English  they  whooped  a  retreat, 
and  Baker  and  his  men  were  no  more  annoyed  by  them  on  their 
return. 

* 

Without  the  loss  of  a  man.  Lieutenant  Baker  and  his  march- 
ing party  hurried  down  the  Merrimack  river  to  Dunstable,  and  on 
th3  8th  of  May,  1712,  made  application  in  Boston  for  the  bounty. 
They  brought  but  one  scalp,  }'et  claimed  pay  for  many  more,  as 
they  believed  they  had  killed  several  Indians,  but  were  unable  to 

*  These  trophies  wei-eke])t  among  Captain  Baker's  descendants  for  many  years. 
Long  al'terwai-ds  lie  used  to  sliow  theni  to  the  Indians:  they  would  shed  tears  and 
make  gestures  as  thougli  tliey  would  sometime  kill  him  when  war  once  more  arose. 
—  Genealogical  Register. 


THE    LAST    OF  THE   PEMIGEWASSETTS,  ^  85 

get  their  scalps.  The  govenior  and  couuoil  heard  this  statement 
and  allowed  them  twenty  pounds,  or  pay  for  two  scalps,  and 
wages  for  the  Lieutenant  and  company  from  the  24th  of  March, 
to  the  16th  of  May,  1712.* 

But  this  did  not  satisfy  Lieutenant  Thomas  Baker  and  his 
men.  Tliey  drew  up  a  petition  and  presented  the  evidence  of  the 
Indiajis  themselves,  and  on  A7cdnesday,  June  11th,  were  allowed 
twenty  pounds  additional  for  two  more  Indians  proved  to  have 
been  killed.  Captain  Baker,  in  addition  to  a  j)romotion  in  rank, 
also  received  another  honor.  The  stream  on  which  the  battle 
commenced,  and  called  by  the  Indians  the  "  Asquamchumauke,"t 
has  ever  since  been  known  as  Baker  river. 

On  the  retreat  of  the  Indians  they  visited  the  battle-field  and 
looked  with  sorrow  on  the  once  proud  forms  of  their  brothers. 
After  burying  their  dead,  they  went  to  the  place  of  their  formerly 
beautiful  village.  Through  fear  the  survivors  had  not  collected, 
and,  as  the  warriors  approached,  their  hearts  were  filled  with 
emotions  far  difierent  from  those  which  but  a  few  hours  before 
possessed  them.    All  was  ruin. 

"  No  ■wigwam  smoke  is  ciirliug  there, 
The  very  earth  is  scorched  and  bare: 
And  they  pause  and  listen  to  catch  a  sound 
Of  breathing  lil'e,  but  tliere  comes  not  one  — 
Save  the  fox's  bark  and  the  rabbit's  bound  — 
And  liere  and  there  on  tlie  bhickeuing  ground 
AVhite  bones  are  glistening  in  the  sun." 

Here,  too,  the  last  sad  offices  were  performed  to  departed 
shades.  This  done,  they  erected  a  few  temporary  wigwams,  and 
gradually  the  fugitives  who  had  fled  from  the  assault  of  the  Eng- 

f  *"  Resolved  that  the  sum  of  Ten  pounds  be  allowed  and  paid 
out  of  the  Public  Treasury  to  Thomas  Baker,  commander  of  a 
company  of  marching  forces  in  the  late  expedition  against  the 
enemy  to  Coos  and  from  thence  to  tlie  west  branch  of  tlie  Merri- 
mack river  and  so  to  Dunstable,  in  belialf  of  himself  and  com- 
pany, for  one  enemy  Indian,  besides  that  -which  they  scalped, 
which  seems  so  very  probable  to  be  slain. 

Consented  to,  J.  Dudley." 
f  "  Wednesday,  June  11th,  1712. 

Upon  reading  a  petition  trom  Lieut.  Thomas  Baker,  commander 
of  a  party  in  a  late  expeditioii  to  Cooa  and  over  to  Merrimack 
river,  praying  for  a  furtlier  allowance  for  more  of  the  Indian  ene- 

my  killed  b}^  them  than  they  could  recover  or  their  scalps,  as  re- 

pany    for       )  ported  by  the  enemy  themselves. 
scalps.  Concurred  with  a  resolve  passed  thereon,  viz  :    That  the  sum  of 

twenty  pounds  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  Public  Treasiiry 
to  the  petitioner  and  Companj*. 

Consented  to,  J.  Dudley." 
—  Journal  of  the  Mass.  Legislature  for  1712. 

t  Asquamchumauke   is  from  Asquam,  water,  TFarfc/tif,  mountain,  and  Auke,— 
mouuta  in-water-place . 


Allowed  to 

Thos.    Baker's 

Company. 


Additional 

allowance  to 

Lieut.Thos.Ba- 

ker  &  Com- 


86  HISTORY    ON  WAKREN. 

lish  were  gathered  together.  A  few  days  later  the  remainder  of 
their  tribe  joined  them,  and  after  a  long  council  it  was  decided  to 
unite  with  the  Arosagunticooks,  or  St.  Francis  Indians,  as  many 
other  eastern  tribes  were  doing.  It  was  hard  to  leave  their  pleas- 
ant hunting  grounds,  but  stern  necessity  compelled  them,  and  in  a 
few  days  those  dear  and  sacred  places  were  solitary  and  deserted. 
A  few  of  the  tribe  remained  about  the  shores  and  islands  of 
Squam  lake,  occasionally  visiting  Lake  AVinnepisseogee,  and  there 
dwelt,  a  passive  people,  until  the  settling  of  the  towns  around  them. 
Thus  the  Pemigewassett  country,  including  the  beautiful  valley 
of  Warren,  once  possessed  by  a  brave  people,  became  a  solitude, 
and  for  many  years  after  was  seldom  visited,  save  by  a  few  white 
hunters,  or  straggling  bands  of  hostile  St.  Francis,  on  their  way 
to  or  from  the  English  frontiers. 


\i^: 
M  \ 


-aSl 


\.- 


^^ 


■^^#f■*■ 


BOOK    IL 


TREATING  OF  INDIAN  FIGHTS  AND  MASSACRES,  EXPEDITIONS  AND 
EXPLORATIONS,  RESULTING  IN  OPENING  TO  THE  WHITE  MAN 
THE  LAND  OF  THE  PEMIGEAVASSETTS,  AND  MAKING  THE  VALLEY 
NOW  CALLED  WARREN  —  AND  ALL  THE  ADJACENT  COUNTRY  — 
A   SAFE   PLACE   TO   LIVE   IN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  TWO   WARS   AND   MORE   THAN   A   DOZEN   BATTLES. 

In  the  previous  book  we  have  shown  how  the  Indians  were 
dispossessed  of  our  beautiful  Asquamchumauke  valley.  But  the 
driving-  out  of  the  red  men  did  not  render  the  land  a  safe  place 
for  white  people.  Hunters  and  froutierraen  equally  were  liable  to 
have  their  scalps  taken  off,  or  daylight  made  to  shine  through 
them  by  a  bullet,  and  in  order  that  this' history  may  be  complete, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  relate  the  whole  series  of  remarkable  events 
tliat  opened  to  the  hardy  settlers  our  woodland  paradise.  Conse- 
quently this  second  book  must  be  one  of  general  histoiy,  applying 
alike  to  a  large  section  of  country  of  which  the  little  territory  of 
Warren  is  the  centre. 

Now,  in  the  tirst  place,  we  have  seen  how  all  the  Nipmucks 
of  New  Hampshire  had  gone  to  Canada,  except  a  few  called 
Pequawkees,  and  the  Amariscoggius,  and  that  these  Nipmuck 
braves  in  Canada  formed  a  considerable  part  of  the  great  Arosa- 
guuticook  tribe,  sometimes  knoAvn  as  the  St.  Francis  Indians. 


88  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

But  under  auotlier  name  the  Nipmucks  had  not  forgotten  the 
wrongs  which  they  fancied  the  Engiisli  had  done  them,  and  their 
priests,  the  French  Jesuits,  helped  to  keep  their  recollection  fresh 
upon  these  subjects;  for  the  Jesuits  hated  the  Protestant  English. 
So  when,  iu  1723,  King  Williams' war  was  about' to  break  out,  our 
Indians  began  to  annoy  their  English  neighbors,  "  killing  their 
cattle,  burning  their  stacks  of  hay,  and  robbing  and  insulting 
them.'' 

In  1724  two  men,  Nathan  Cross  and  Thomas  Blanchard,  wei'e 
taken  captive  at  Old  Dunstable,  now  Nashua,  and  started  towards 
Canada.  Ten  brave  men  went  out  in  pursuit,  under  the  direction 
of  Lieut.  French,  and  were  all  killed  beside  the  Merrimack  river, 
at  Thornton  Ferry,  except  Josiah  Farwell,  who  took  to  his  heels 
and  escaped. 

Everybody  was  terribly  excited  at  this,  and  the  famous 
Captain  Lovewell  raised  a  scout  of  thirty  men  and  started  north 
into  the  woods  for  revenge.  He  also  wanted  a  slight  bounty  of  a 
Imndred  pounds  per  scalp  for  every  Indian  he  could  kill.  With 
his  company  he  marched  beyond  Lake  Winnepisseogee  to  the 
Pemigewassett  country,  up  towards  the  land  to  be  called  Warren, 
and  discovered  an  Indian  wigwam  in  which  was  a  man  and  a  boy. 

December  19th,  1724,  they  killed  and  scalped  the  man,  and 
brought  the  boy  alive  to  Boston,  where  they  received  the  promised 
reward  of  two  hundred  pounds,  and  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
kindly  gave  them  a  gratuity  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence  per  man 
by  way  of  encouragement. 

By  reason  of  this  success  Captain  John  Lovewell's  party  was 
augmented  to  seventy.  They  marched  again  in  midwinter,  visited 
the  Pemigewassett  land,  found  the  dead  bod)^  of  the  Indian  they 
liad  before  scalped  still  lying  in  the  wigwam,  and  then  turned  off 
eastwardly  towards  the  country  of  the  Pequawkees.  About 
the  middle  of  February  the  Captain  discovex'ed  the  trail  of  a  party 
of  Indians,  fresh  upon  the  war-j)ath. 

February  20th,  the  tracks  becoming  fresher,  the  scout  marched 
Avith  more  wariness  some  five  miles  on,  and  came  upon  a  wig- 
wam but  lately  deserted,  and  pursuing  "  two  miles  further  discov- 
ered their  smokes."  This  was  near  sunset,  and  the  Indians  were 
encamped  lor  the  night.    LovewelPs  party  laid  in  concealment  till 


KING  William's  war.  89 

after  midnight,  when  they  advanced  and  discovered  ten  Indians 
asleep  round  a  hirge  tire  by  the  side  of  a  frozen  pond. 

Lovewell  now  determined  to  make  sure  worl:,  and  placing 
his  men  conveniently,  ordered  a  part  of  them  to  tire  —  five  at  a 
time,  as  quick  after  each  other  as  possible — and  another  part  to 
reserve  their  tire.  He  gave  the  signal  by  firing  his  own  gun  which 
killed  two  of  them ;  the  men,  firing  according  to  order,  killed  five 
more  upon  the  spot;  the  other  three  starting  up  from  their  sleep, 
two  of  them  were  immediately  shot  dead  by  the  reserve.  The 
other,  though  wounded,  attempted  to  escape  by  crossing  the  pond, 
but  was  seized  by  a  dog  and  held  ttist  till  they  killed  him.* 

Then  the  brave  company,  with  the  ten  scalps  stretched  on 
hoops  and  elevated  on  poles,  entered  Dover  in  triumph  and  pro- 
ceeded thence  to  Boston,  where  they  received  the  bounty  of  one 
hundred  pounds  for  each  out  of  the  public  treasury. 

This  success  was  hailed  with  joy  and  triumph  throughout  the 
Provinces.  Other  expeditions  were  immediately  set  on  foot. 
Captain  Samuel  Willard,  with  forty-seven  able-bodied  men,  went 
up  the  Pemigewassett  river  and  looked  up  the  Asquamchumauke. 
He  was  gone  thirty-five  days,  but  did  not  find  an  Indian.  Captain 
Jabez  Fairbanks  also  traversed  the  whole  country  south  of  the 
White  mountains,  and  went  up  the  Asquamchumauke  valley  even 
to  Coos,  but  with  no  better  luck.  Colonel  Tyng,  of  Dunstable, 
also  headed  an  expedition,  and  marched  into  the  country  betwixt 
Pemigewassett  and  Winuepisseogee,  but  after  a  month's  absence 
returned  without  taking  a  scalp. 

Lovewell  was  greatly  elated  with  his  success.  He  raised 
another  company  and  boldly  marched  through  the  southerly  jDor- 
tion  of  the  Pemigewassett  country  towards  Pequawket  to  obtain  a 
few  Pequawkee  scalps.  Paugus  was  chief  of  the  tribe,  and  his 
name  was  a  terror  to  the  frontier. 

"  'Twas  Paugus  led  the  Pequ'k't  tribe; 
As  runs  the  fox,  -woulrl  Paugus  run  : 
As  howls  the  wild  wolf  would  he  howl; 
A  huge  heur-skin  had  Paugus  on." 

On  Friday,  May  7th,  1725,  they  had  reached  the  Saco  river, 

*These  Indians  were  marching  from  Canada,  well  furnished  with  new  guns 
and  plenty  of  amunition,  they  had  also  a  large  number  of  spare  blankets,  mocka- 
scens,  and  snow  shoes  for  the  prisoners  wliom  they  expected  to  take,  ami  were 
within  two  days'  march  of  the  frontiers.  The  pond  by  which  this  exploit  was  per- 
formed has  evA-  since  borne  the  name  of  Lovewell's  j^ond.— Belknap,  -200.  209. 

Peuliallow  adds :    "  Their  arms  were  so  good  and  new  that  most  of  them  were 


90  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

aud  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  (May  19th  new  style)  Ensign  MVy- 
man  discovered  an  Indian  on  a  stony  point  of  land  running  into 
a  pond  from  the  east.  He  had  in  one  hand  some  black  ducks  he 
had  just  killed,  and  in  the  other  two  guns.  The  Indian,  seeing 
death  was  his  fiite,  as  quick  as  thought  levelled  his  gun,  fired,  and 
Lovewell  fell  badly  wounded.  Ensign  Wyman,  taking  deliberate 
aim,  shot  the  poor  hunter,  and  he  was  scalped  by  the  chaplain. 
The  latter  had  been  very  anxious  for  the  conflict,  aud  in  the  morn- 
ing thus  patriotically  prayed :  ''  We  came  out  to  meet  the  enemy ; 
we  have  all  along  prayed  God  we  might  find  them ;  we  had  rather 
trust  Providence  with  our  lives,  yea,  die  for  our  country,  than  try 
to  return  without  seeing  them,  if  we  might,  and  be  called  cowards 
for  our  pains." 

In  the  meantime  Paugus  with  eighty  Indians  was  watching 
the  English,  and  when  the  latter  marched  again  by  the  way  they 
came,  to  recover  their  packs,  he  prepared  an  ambush  to  cut  them 
off  or  take  them  prisoners,  as  fortune  should  will. 

When  these  Indians  rose  from  their  coverts  they  nearly  encir- 
cled the  English,  and  at  first  offered  to  give  the  latter  quarter. 
This  only  encouraged  Lovewell  and  his  men,  who  answered: 
''Quarter  only  at  the  muzzles  of  our  guns  !'■  and  then,  rushing 
towards  the  Indians,  fired  and  killed  several  of  them.  But  they 
soon  rallied,  forced  the  English  to  retreat,  and  killed  nine  of  them, 
Captain  Lovewell  with  the  rest. 

The  pai'ty  then  retreated  to  the  shore  of  the  pond,  where  they 
had  a  brook  on  the  right,  a  pile  of  large  boulders  on  the  left,  and 
to  the  north  and  front  of  them  a  swamp  partly  filled  with  water, 
forming  a  long,  narroAV  peninsula,  only  accessible  from  the  plain 
at  the  westerly  extremity,  over  the  pile  of  rocks.  Here  they 
fought  all  day  long.  At  one  time  the  Indians  ceased  firing  and 
drew  ofi"  among  the  pines  at  a  little  distance  to  pow-woio  over 
their  success.  They  had  got  earnestly  engaged  in  the  ceremony, 
dancing,  jumping,  howling,  and  beating  the  ground  —  in  a  word, 
pow-tooioing , — when  the  intrepid  Wyman  crept  up  behind  the 

sold  for  seven  poinds  apiece,  and  each  of  tlieni  liad  two  blankets,  with  a  great 
mauv  moccasons,  -which  were  supposed  to  be  for  the  supply  of  captives  that  tliey 
expe'cted  to  have  talcen.  The  plunder  was  but  a  few  skins  :  but  during  the  march 
our  men  were  well  entertained  with  moose,  bear,  aud  deer,  together  with  salmon 
trout,  some  of  which  were  three  feet  long,  and  Aveighed  twelve  pounds  apiece."— 
X.  H.  Hist.  Col.  vol.  i.  113. 


lovewell's  fight.  91 

rocks  and  trees  and  fired  upon  the  principal  actor,  killing  him  on 
the  spot.  This  man  was  supposed  to  be  the  celebrated  chief, 
AVahowa. 

The  fight  was  then  renewed  and  continued  with  greater 
earnestness.  Towards  night  John  Chamberlin  and  Paugus  both 
went  down  to  the  pond  at  the  same  moment  to  wash  out  their 
guns.  They  knew  each  other,  agreed  to  finish  washing,  and  to 
commence  to  load  at  the  same  time.  In  loading,  Paugus  got  the 
advantage ;  his  ball  was  so  small  as  to  roll  down  the  barrel,  while 
Chamberlin  had  to  force  his  down  with  his  rod.  Paugus,  seeing 
his  advantage,  quickly  said,  ''Me  kill  you!"  and  took  up  his  gun 
to  prime.  Chamberlin  threw  down  his  rod,  and  bringing  the 
breech  of  his  gun  a  smart  blow  upon  the  hard  sand,  brought  it  to 
his  face  and  fired.  Paugus  fell  pierced  through  the  heart.  Cham- 
berlin's  gun,  being  worn  from  long  use,  pr ivied  itself ,  and  the 
knowledge  of  this  saved  the  bold  hunter's  life. 

Then  the  battle  gradually  ceased,  and  at  midnight  all  who 
were  able  began  to  retreat.  Lovewell  went  into  the  fight  with 
thirty-four  men,  but  only  fourteen  ever  lived  to  reach  home. 
More  Indians  than  English  were  killed,  and  a  party  of  fifty,  who 
went  to  this  most  terrible  battle-field  of  Indian  wars,  found  and 
buried  Captain  Lovewell  and  many  of  his  brave  soldiers  who  had 
died  beside  him.  They  also  found  and  opened  the  grave  of 
Paugus.    After  this  the  Indians  resided  no  more  at  Pequawket. 

King  William's  war  closed  soon  after  the  opening  of  these  in- 
teresting adventures,  and  then  the  wilderness — hereafter  to  be 
called  Warren — was  solitary  enough  for  a  score  of  years,  being 
visited  only  by  hunters  and  trappers,  Englishmen  and  Indians, 
hostile  and  friendly  by  turns. 

But  in  1745  King  George's  war  broke  out,  and  then  began 
another  scries  of  interesting  adventures  and  great  Indian  cam- 
paigns, the  history  of  which  every  son  of  our  town  of  "Warren 
ought  to  know,  because  it  relates  some  of  the  great  events  which 
produced  such  happy  results. 

The  first  of  these  grand  campaigns  in  our  wild  solitudes  took 
place  in  ''lung  George's  War"  shortly  after  the  fall  of  Louisburg, 
the  Dunkirk  of  America,  in  1745,  and  when  Benning  Wentworth 
was  the  royal  governor  of  New  Hampshire.    The  French  wei*e 


92  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

liig-hly  exasperated  to  tliink  that  their  strong  fortress  had  been 
captured  by  a  few  rough  woodsmen  under  Colonel  Pepperell,  or 
as  the}^  felt,  "  Colonel  Pepper-thera-well,"  and  they  immediately 
resorted  to  their  old  method  of  warfare,  to  wit:  to  send  a  few  of 
their  very  g'entle  ''salvages,"  to  " scrape "  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  the  English  borderers,  and  to  form  a  lasting  friendship  by 
sealing  it  in  a  gentle  effusion  of  blood. 

Governor  Wentworth  and  his  wise  counsellors  had  a  sort  of  a 
presentiment,  founded,  like  most  other  presentiments,  on  very 
logical  premises,  that  such  might  be  the  case,  and  so  sent  a  garrison 
to  Captain  Jeremiah  Clough's  fort,  in  Canterbury.  But  the  In- 
dians, like  deer,  scented  the  fort  a  long  distance,  slyly  hied  down 
the  Connecticut,  and  at  the  great  meadow,  now  "Walpole,  kindly 
removed  one  William  Phipps  from  all  trouble  in  this  world,  taking 
only  his  scalp  as  a  reward  for  their  services,  and  then  proceeding 
to  upper  Ashuelot,  now  Keene,  there  feloniously  and  wilfully  and 
of  malice  aforethought  committed  the  same  outrage  upon  one 
James  Fisher. 

As  no  one  pursued  them  to  wreak  revenge,  the  courage  of  the 
Frenchman's  humane  allies,  our  Mpmucks,  greatly  increased. 
That  very  season  they  went  down  the  Merrimack  on  campaign 
number  two.  They  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  visit  the  fort  at 
Canterbury,  thinking  it  too  bad  to  disturb  the  garrison  there  of 
its  quiet  and  repose.  Near  Suncook  they  thought  to  relieve  the 
monotony  of  their  life  by  a  little  miscellaneous  practice  at  target 
shooting.  Accordingly  they  found  a  couple  of  suitable  marks  in 
the  persons  of  James  McQuade  and  John  Bnrns,  of  Bedford,  who 
had  been  to  Pennacook,  now  Concord,  to  procure  coi'n,  and  were 
returning  home.  McQuade  was  shot  dead;  but  Burns,  running 
zigzag,  and  the  Indians  not  being  able  to  shoot  round  a  corner, 
escaped.  The  Indians  were  off  to  Canada  before  this  great  battle 
was  reported. 

When  the  news  of  this  brilliant  campaign  reached  Portsmouth 
it  is  said  Governor  Wentworth  gnashed  his  teeth  and  stamped  his 
foot.  "How  dared  the  haughty  foe  to  pass  the  impregnable  for- 
tress at  Canterbury?"  But  he  would  meet  them  on  their  own 
ground,  that  is,  in  the  Avoods.  The  order  was  given,  a  company 
of  men  was  enlisted,  and  Captain  John  Goffe,  of  Harrytown,  was 


KING    GEORGE'S    WAR.  93 

detached  by  Colonel  Blauchard  to  command  the  hazardous  expedi- 
tion, liis  company  of  thirty-four  men  was  selected  from  the 
large  number  who  presented  themselves.  None  were  enrolled  but 
such  as  Avere  noted  for  courage  and  sagacity.  The  first  of  January 
they  started  up  the  Merrimack  on  a  scout.  How  far  they  went 
we  were  never  able  to  learn.  AYhether  they  proceeded  as  far  as 
Coos  is  very  doubtful.  We  cannot  tell,  though  we  wish  we  could, 
whether  they  even  went  as  far  as  the  forks  of  the  Merrimack, 
where  the  golden  salmon  in  the  springs  of  olden  time  are  said  to 
have  parted  company  with  the  shad ;  all  we  know  is  that  they 
scouted  valiantly  all  the  long  winter,  with  excellent  success  at — 
scouting;  but  not  discovering  even  so  much  as  one  of  the 
moccasin  footprints  of  the  enemy,  April  6th,  1746,  they  disbanded. 
But  the  chiefs  who  led  the  i-enowned  war  joarties  in  the  campaigns 
of  the  previous  season  were  heroes  in  the  eyes  of  their  own  little 
Arosagunticook  nation  at  home,  and  many  a  brave  fellow  who 
had  rested  on  soft  furs  in  his  smoky  wigwam  all  winter,  now 
stimulated  by  an  abundant  supply  of  "  French  pap,"  was  burning 
for  deeds  of  glory. 

DoAvn  through  the  wild  Coos,  about  which  the  snowy  moun- 
tains were  gleaming,  they  came  on  the  run.  Over  the  highlands 
and  down  the  Asquamchumauke  they  hurried,  and  on  April  26th, 
1746,  like  the  crafty  crusader,  Bohemond,  at  the  siege  of  Antioch, 
contrived  to  enter  an  open  door  of  the  garrison  house  in  New 
Hopkinton,  now  minus  the  "New,"  and  plain  Hopkinton.  They 
found  all  the  people  fast  asleep,  and  easily  took  as  prisoners  Sam- 
uel Burbank,  his  sons  Caleb  and  Jonathan,  Daniel  Word  well,  his 
wife,  and  three  children,  Benjamin,  Thomas,  and  Mary. 

This  splendid  victory  Avas  the  crowning  achievment  of  cam- 
paign number  four.  But  a  more  blood-thirsty  army,  numbering 
three  braves,  took  Timothy  Brown  and  one  Mr.  Moflatt  prisoners, 
at  Lower  Ashuelot,  killed  Seth  Putnam  at  Number-  Four,  and 
made  campaign  number  five  full  as  brilliant  as  any  other. 

New  Hampshire  was  now  in  a  terrible  state  of  alarm.  There 
was  running  and  riding  through  all  the  wild  border.  The  stout- 
est heart  beat  faster  at  the  slightest  noise  after  dark.  Women 
turned  pale  at  the  shriek  of  the  night  hawk,  or  at  the  bark  of  the 
watch  dog,  and  the  naughtiest  child  in  all  the  province,  aiirighted, 


94  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

would  cower  still  at  its  mother's  side  at  the  bare  name  of  Indian. 
Captain  Gofle,  who  was  really  a  brave  officer,  of  good  ability, 
was  ordered  to  the  frontier  with  a  company  of  tifty  men.  In  a 
sorrowful  yet  firm  letter,  written  from  Pennacook  to  GoA'ernor 
Wentworth,  he  complained  of  the  lurking  ambuscade  tactics  of 
the  Indian  enemy.  But  although  he  could  not  see  the  wisdom  of 
their  movements,  we  of  a  later  day  can  admire  the  skill  and 
bravery  of  the  Arosagunticooks  as  much  as  the  oblique  move- 
ments of  Epaminondas,  the  new  Greek  tire,  or  the  harrow-shaped 
columns  which  Napoleon  hurled  with  such  terrible  eftect  on  his 
foes. 

Captain  Goffe  marched  up  the  Merrimack,  scouted  along  the 
Pemigewa'ssett,  looked  up  the  Asquamchumauke,  visited  all  the 
great ''  camping  places  "  in  the  adjacent  country,  and  returned  by 
Lake  Winnepisseogee.  Not  an  Indian  could  he  find.  But  Gov- 
ernor "Wentworth  was  not  to  be  thus  thwarted  by  his  very  open 
enemy  that  skulked  through  the  woods.  A  very  brilliant  idea 
took  possession  of  his  head.  ''  To  train  in  the  troop  has  always 
been  considered  about  as  good  as  to  Join  the  church,"  and 
the  worthy  Governor  thought  it  very  proper  to  patronize  the 
horse  companies.  So  he  ordered  detachments  of  Captain  Odlin's 
and  Captain  Hanson's  cavalry  to  proceed  immediately  to  relieve 
the  forts  at  New  Hopkinton  and  Canterbury.  Prompt  to  respond, 
the  brave  mounted  men  went  up  the  east  bank  of  the  Merrimack. 
Like  a  sweeping  avalanche  they  rush  on.  No  common  obstacle 
could  check  their  swift,  wild  march.  Without  a  particle  of  doubt 
the  blight  sun  of  the  second  morn  would  see  them  debouch  from 
the  forest  and  with  their  glittering  trappings  rein  up  their  pranc- 
ing steeds,  champing  upon  the  impatient  bit,  before  the  massive 
gate  of  the  strong  fortress  of  Canterbury.  But  how  uncertain 
are  the  things  of  this  world.  This  brilliant  expedition  was  des- 
tined to  be  a  sad  failure.  The  gallant  troopers  slackened  their 
headlong  course  on  the  banks  of  the  broad,  deep  Suncook  river, 
the  breadth  of  which  to-day  is  about  fifty  long  feet,  and  the  dark 
depth  about  eighteen  inches.  No  bridge  spanned  the  surging 
flood,  and  to  ford  it  was  impossible.  For  hours  they  attempted  to 
overcome  this  great  barrier  of  nature,  but  in  vain,  and  they  were 
forced  to  return  on  their  trail.     At  a  meeting  of  the  Legislature 


INDIAN    INCURSIONS.  95 

the  Honorable  Governor  recommended  that  a  bridge  be  constructed 
across  the  mighty  river.  But  though  the  cavalry  companies  made 
a  glorious  return,  yet  that  the  Indians  might  be  thoroughly  con- 
quered, Captain  Samuel  Barr,  of  Londonderry,  was  also  sent 
north  with  nineteen  men.  He  was  out  nineteen  days,  and  met 
with  the  same  brilliant  success  as  the  other  bold  captains.  As 
New  Hampshire  would  in  no  manner  be  behind  her  sister  colonies, 
a  large  luimber  of  soldiers  were  raised,  to  join  a  great  expedition 
to  Canada.  In  after  years  it  was  known  as  the  Honorable  Gov. 
Shirley's  Quixotic  success.  As  the  expedition  was  a  heavy  body, 
and  slow  to  start,  the  soldiers  were  sent  into  quarters  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  AViunepisseogee,  where  they  were  to  tight  the  Indians. 
But,  instead  of  long  marches  through  the  pleasant  solitudes  they 
enjoyed  themselves  immensely,  hunting  and  tishing  on  the  shore 
of  the  beautiful  lake  —  but  not  an  Indian  w^as  seen. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  marshalling  in  battle  array,  the  St. 
Francis  braves,  now  including  the  entire  Nipmuck  nation  and 
some  other  savages,  gallantly  accomplished  campaign  number  six. 
June  27th  they  fought  a  successful  battle  at  Eochester,  with  five 
Englishmen,  who  were  at  work  in  a  field.  The  Indians  sent  out 
one  of  their  number  as  a  decoy,  who  drew  the  fire  of  the  enemy. 
They  then  charged  upon  their  white^foe  and  drove  them  with  the 
blunt  points  of  their  muskets  into  a  deserted  house.  Here  the 
white  men  long  held  them  in  check :  but  with  true  Indian  cun- 
ning they  unroofed  the  house  and  then  coolly  shot  and  killed  Joseph 
Hurd,  Joseph  Richards,  John  Wentworth,  and  Gershara  Downs. 
John  Richards,  the  only  survivor,  was  taken  prisoner.  Reclining 
for  a  short  time  upon  a  sloping  bank,  beneath  a  shady  tree,  in 
which  forest  songsters  warbled  war-pteans  in  honor  of  their  glori- 
ous triumph,  they  recover  their  exhausted  energies.  Then,  as  the 
sun  bids  good-bye  to  the  flashing  zenith,  the  brave  war-party  rush 
upon  another  company  of  laborers  in  a  field  near  by.  Again 
glorious  victory  perches  on  their  banners,  but  the  spoils  were  less. 
All  the  English  escaped  except  one  poor  lad  named  Jonathan  Door. 
Long  before  night  the  Indians,  with  scalps  and  prisoners,  returned 
to  the  fastnesses  of  the  deep  wood. 

Madam  Rumor,  with  her  thousand  tongues,  circulated  an 
account  of  this  campaign  in  double-quick  time. 


96  HISTOBT   OF    WAKREN. 

New  Hampshire  men  again  flew  to  anus,  Capt.  Nathaniel 
Drake,  of  Hampton,  was  ordered  ont,  "  with  fifteen  of  his  troopers 
to  scout  at  and  about  Nottingliam,  fitted  with  their  horses  for 
fourteen  days."  Capt.  Andrew  Todd,  of  Londonderry,  with 
twenty-three  men,  flew  to  Canterbury.  Capt.  Daniel  Ladd,  of 
Exeter,  with  a  company  of  foot,  ranged  the  woods  by  Massabesic 
lake  to  Pennacook,  and  returning  scouted  across  the  countrj-  to 
Nottingham ;  as  usual,  though  scouting  valiantly,  not  an  enemy 
was  discovered. 

By  the  fii'st  of  August,  Capt.  Drake's  brave  troopers  were  at 
home  again,  having  sweat  themselves  and  horses  terribly  doing 
nothing.  Capt.  Todd  had  returned  even  before  this,  and  Capt. 
Ladd  had  dismissed  his  men  until  August  fifth. 

August  tenth  the  Indians  came  to  Pennacook,  but  Capt.  Ladd 
at  the  same  time  came  also. 

The  Indians  were  keen  enough  to  discover  the  fact,  but  Capt. 
Ladd  did  not,  consequently  the  former  grew  very  religious,  and 
resolved  not  to  fight,  as  it  was  the  Sabbath.  In  this  they  did 
differently  from  many  other  great  military  peoples,  who  have 
improved  this  day  for  battle.  The  Indians  retired  into  a  deep 
black  wood  for  solemn  meditation. 

The  following  day,  Monday,  they  were  fresh  for  the  contest. 
They  made  a  snug  little  ambush  on  the  path  leading  from  Penna- 
cook to  Hopkiuton.  It  was  about  half  a  mile  from  the  church 
which  they  did  not  attack  the  previous  day.  When  a  portion  of 
Capt.  Ladd's  company  came  along,  rather  irregularly,  the  Indians 
gave  them  a  wai'm  welcome.  Daniel  Goodman  had  gone  forward 
to  fire  at  a  hawk,  which  sat  on  a  dry  stub  by  the  path.  Obadiah 
Peters  was  resting  under  the  rustling  leaves  of  a  poplar  tree,  while 
the  rest  of  the  party  behind  walked  leisurely  up.  With  the  war- 
whoop  ringing,  and  the  echo  of  the  musketrj'  reverberating  from 
the  distant  hills,  the  smoke  curled  slowly  away  through  the  trees, 
and  showed  five  men,  drenching  the  mossj^  hillside  with  their 
blood.  Lieut.  Jonathan  Bradley,  Samuel  Bradley,  John  Luffkin, 
John  Bean,  and  Obadiah  Peters  were  dead;  but  the  quick  eye  of 
the  Lieutenant  liad  caught  sight  of  the  Indians,  and  he  killed, 
before  he  received  his  death  wound,  the  only  Indian  that  fell 
during  this  great  war. 


MORE     INDIAN    CAMPAIGNS.  97 

With  their  dead  comrade  buried,  howling  and  yelling,  with  the 
scalps,  and  two  prisoners,  this  brave  wild  war  party  of  forty 
Arosagiinticooks  returned  to  Canada. 

In  the  language  of  one  of  the  first  historians  of  the  times,  this 
campaign  produced  ''dire  consternation  throughout  all  the  province. 
New  Hampshire  armed  herself  in  her  might."  She  was  deter- 
mined to  defend  herself.  In  the  way  she  did  it,  she  won  an  imper- 
ishable glory.  Forts  and  block  houses  sprung  up  all  along  the 
frontier,  a  garrison  was  placed  in  each,  and  at  the  head  of  Little 
Bay,  in  the  present  tOAvn  of  Sanbornton,  Fort  Atkinson  was  built 
of  rough  stone,  and  strongly  manned.  If  the  Indians  had  only 
attacked  one  of  these,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  a  most  gallant 
defence  would  have  been  made.  But  that  was  not  the  Indians' 
stjie;  they  did  not  care  a  rush  for  forts,  blockhouses,  or  garrisons. 

In  the  spring  of  17-i7,  they  opened  another  brilliant  campaign, 
the  eighth.  On  the  moi*ning  of  May  10th,  they  fell  upon  two  men 
at  Suncook ;  one  they  killed  and  scalped,  the  other  escaped.  At 
uight  they  fired  upon  four  others,  but,  much  to  their  chagrin, 
missed  them.  By  this  time  the  settlers  had  all  got  suugly  inside 
the  garrison  house,  and  the  Indians  not  believing  anything  was  to 
be  made  by  attacking  it,  very  quietly  decamped.  A  few  days 
afterwards  scouts  pursued  them,  as  usual,  and  witli  the  usual 
success. 

Campaign  the  ninth  was  disasti'ous  to  the  Indians.  They 
appi'oached  Pennacook,  and  this  time  a  scout  did  actually  discover 
them.  But  they  were  off  like  a  smoke  in  a  high  wind,  leaving  all 
their  vast  military  train,  to  wit:  things  stolen,  provision  bags, 
ropes  for  the  prisoners,  and  blankets,  in  the  possession  of  the 
English. 

Campaign  the  tenth  was  more  successful.  August  21st,  they 
took  the  house  of  Charles  McCoy,  in  Epsom,  captured  Mrs.  McCoy, 
stole  all  the  apples  off  a  single  tree  that  coiuposed  their  orchard, 
burned  the  house,  and  then  cleared  for  Canada  by  Coos  inteiwal 
and  Lake  Champlain.  Away  went  the  English  scouts  after  them, 
witli  the  same  glorious  success  as  ever. 

Campaign  eleventh  was  an  attack  on  Hinsdale.  They  killed 
several,  took  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  achieved  a  splendid  vic- 
tory, without  any  scout  to  pursue  them. 

G 


98  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Campaign  twelfth  they  grew  so  heroic,  on  account  of  previous 
success,  that  they  even  besieged  Number  Four,  and  somehow  man- 
aged to  take  several  prisoners. 

These  were  the  great  campaigns  of  1745-6-7.  In  1748  there 
was  a  little  skirmishing  with  the  enemy's  pickets.  Several  men 
were  frightened,  and  possibly  a  few  might  have  been  hurt.  But 
the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  put  an  end  to  the  war,  and  the  brave 
Arosagunticooks  buried  the  tomahawk. 

This  border  war  was  a  source  of  great  suffering  to  the  English, 
as  well  as  mortification.  Many  of  their  number  had  fallen,  and 
many  were  iiining  in  captivity.  The  Indians  had  the  advantage  in 
the  whole  contest.  But  one  of  their  number  had  been  killed,  and 
they  never  had  returned  to  Canada  but  once  without  a  scalp  or  a 
captive.  The  Arosagunticooks  knew  well  where  to  find  the  Eng- 
lish. The  latter,  brave  as  their  painted  enemy,  looked  in  vain  for 
Indians.  Like  the  Persians  advancing  on  the  Hellespont,  the  In- 
dians were  well  acquainted  with  the  country  they  had  to  pass. 
The  English  scouting  parties,  like  the  Greeks,  dare  not  venture 
across  the  great  wild  solitudes  of  our  beloved  Pemigewassett  land, 
which  stretched  between  themselves  and  the  home  of  their  enemy. 
Captain  Baker  and  Captain  John  Lovewell  had  fought  the  Indians 
valiantly  on  their  own  ground,  and  could  Captain  Goffe  have  been 
as  successful  in  finding  them  he  would  have  fought  equally  as 
well.  But  he  and  the  other  brave  captains  had  wholly  failed  of 
meeting  them,  and  consequently  could  not  fight  them,  and  they 
now  retired  to  their  farms  with  about  as  much  glory,  and  feeling 
about  as  well,  as  the  noble  lion  in  his  lair  stung  half  to  death, 
while  all  his  despicable  enemies,  the  wasps,  were  uninjured. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  SOLITUDE;  AND  HOW  THERE  WAS  AN  ATTEMPT  TO 
BUILD  TAVO  FOKTS  ABOVE  THE  PEMIGEWASSETT  COUNTRY,  AND 
WHAT  CAME   OF  IT. 

A  few  years  now  passed,  and  a  deeper  shade  filled  the 
solitudes — the  wilds  of  the  Asquamchumauke — or,  as  modern 
civilians  delight  to  term  it,  Baker  river,  once  the  laud  of  the  Pem- 
igewassett  Indians.  True  it  is  that  down  by  the  grass-grown 
intervals  of  Coos,  where  the  Connecticut  sweeps  around  the  great 
oxbow,  then  up  the  Indian  trail  by  the  wild,  roistering  Oliverian 
brook,  marauding  parties  of  the  French  and  Indians  from  St. 
Francis,  Canada,  occasionally  travelled;  but  when  they  bad  gone 
bJick  the  solitudes  grew  grimmer,  and  every  thing  would  have 
been  still  as  chaos  and  old  night,  but  for  the  lowing  of  the  antlered 
moose  and  the  howling  of  the  wolf  and  panther. 

This  land  of  the  Pemigewassetts,  which  included  the  little 
territory  of  Warren,  together  with  the  whole  upper  couutry  once 
inhabited  by  the  Coosucks,  our  solitudes,  was  now  debateable 
ground,  claimed  both  by  the  English  and  St.  Francis  Indians. 
Scouts  and  captives  who  had  been  there  said  it  was  a  delightful 
region,  and  the  old  soldiers  of  Captain  Baker  descanted  wonder- 
fully upon  its  being  a  perfect  paradise ;  and  now  that  King 
George's  war  was  over,  New  Hampshire  men  began  to  have 
extraordinary  desires  for  obtaining  it.  Besides,  it  was  a  great 
strategic  point,  worth  having  if  another  war  should  arise ;  for  the 
meadows  of  lower  Coos  had  been  a  sort  of  a  rendezvous  for  the 
Arosagunticook  Indians,  from  which,  in  the  wars  just  mentioned, 
thev  had  sallied  forth  down  cither  the  Connecticut  or  Merrimack 


100  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

rivers.  Consequently  the  public  mind  was  greatly  roused,  the 
attention  of  all  was  turned  towards  possessing  this  upper  country, 
in  the  exact  centre  of  which  was  our  little  mountain  valley,  AVar- 
ren,  and  a  pleasant  series  of  most  entertaining  adventures  was 
carried  on  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  jpurpose,  as  we  shall 
endeavor  most  taithfully  to  show. 

The  first  thing  that  happened,  as  we  have  just  intimated,  was 
an  immense  amount  of  talking.  Then  a  petition,  numerously 
signed,  was  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. It  prayed  that  a  road  might  be  surveyed  and  cut  from 
Bakerstown,  a  settlement  that  had  been  pushed  far  up  on  the 
frontier,  to  the  Coos  intervals,  and  that  two  forts  might  be  built, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  Connecticut,  for  the  benefit  of  settlers  and 
the  protection  of  the  lower  country.  The  General  Assembly  was 
deeply  interested,  and  the  Governor  and  Council  most  favorably 
disposed.  They  had  fretted  and  fumed  through  King  George's 
war,  and  now  they  were  ready  and  willing  to  do  almost  anything 
to  keep  back  the  dire  and  savage  Arosagunticooks,  and  increase 
the  number  of  settlements  and  subjects. 

Numerous  plans  for  settling  this  upper  country,  building  and 
garrisoning  forts,  Avere  presented.  Finally  in  the  winter  of  1752, 
the  following  very  nice  one  was  agreed  upon : 

A  tract  of  land  on  Connecticut  river  was  to  be  laid  out  into 
five  hundred  suitable  portions.  It  was  then  to  be  granted  to  five 
hundred  brave  men.  The  conditions  of  the  grant  were  that  they 
should  pay  a  small  quit-rent  and  should  occupy  the  lands  imme- 
diately. 

Furthermore,  two  townships  should  be  laid  out,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  river.  A  regular  garrison  should  be  built  in  each  of 
them.  The  latter  should  encompass  fifteen  or  more  acres  of  land, 
in  a  square  or  parallelogram  form.  A  line  should  be  drawn 
around  their  area,  just  as  the  ancients  marked  out  their  cities, 
and  on  it  were  to  be  built  log  houses,  at  considerable  distances 
ai^art  —  and  a  log  house  was  certainly  to  be  erected  at  each  corner. 
The  spaces  between  the  houses  were  to  be  filled  up  with  a  palisade 
of  square  timbers,  making  a  wall  so  strong  and  high  that  the 
nimble  Arosagunticooks  should  not  be  nimble  enough  to  leap  over 
it,  even  if  they  should  be  foolish  enough  to  make  the  attempt. 


BUILDING  AIR  CASTLES.  101 

In  the  centre  of  this  great  square,  and  upon  a  rising  plat  of 
ground,  if  such  could  be  found,  was  to  be  built  a  strong  and  im- 
pregnable citadel,  such  as  the  Greeks  and  Persians  were  in  the 
habit  of  building  within  their  cities.  Here  should  be  the  granary 
of  the  colony,  and  here  should  be  the  last  refuge  of  the  inhabitants, 
if  they  should  be  driven  from  the  outer  enclosure.  Within  hailing 
distance  on  each  bank  of  the  noble  river,  either  fortification  was 
to  assist  the  other,  in  case  of  an  emergency. 

As  an  addenda  to  the  above  brilliant  plan,  a  form  of  govern- 
ment was  prescribed.  Courts  were  to  be  established,  and  justice 
and  equity  were  to  be  administered  in  all  civil  causes.  That 
every  thing  might  go  smoothly,  and  that  there  might  not  be  the 
least  possible  chance  for  jar  or  discord,  the  governor-general  of 
these  already  renowned  fortresses  was  to  have  the  power  to  pro- 
claim martial  law  at  any  time,  and  to  i)ut  everj-  inhabitant  under 
strict  military  discipline.  The  above  plan  having  been  matured 
and  decided  upon,  a  committee  was  immediately  chosen  to  carry 
it  into  effect.  This  committee  was  composed  of  resolute  and  ener- 
getic men.  They  quickly  made  all  necessary  arrangments.  Part- 
ings were  hastily  taken  with  kind  friends  and  families,  for  it  was 
a  hazardous  enterprise  upon  which  they  were  entering,  and  each 
hurried  to  the  rendezvous  at  Bakerstown,  from  which  place  they 
were  to  make  the  desperate  attempt  to  penetrate  the  dark  soli- 
tudes of  the  to  them  hitherto  unexplored  north. 

It  was  a  bright  day  when  they  set  out.  Old  Winter  had  just 
taken  up  his  march  to  the  double-quick-time  tune  of  "  The  hot 
sun's  a  coming,"  and  all  nature  was  bursting  into  life.  On  the 
trees  the  young  leaves  were  expanding,  and  the  little  wild-flowers 
springing  up  among  the  gnarled  roots  lent  a  delicious  fragi"ance  to 
the  air.  The  birds  carolled  in  the  branches,  making  merry  music 
to  cheer  the  woodsmen,  or  rather  the  committee-men,  as  they 
pushed  their  canoes  up  the  Merrimack,  toted. them  round  the  falls 
of  the  Pemigewassett,  and  with  setting  poles  drove  them  up  the 
"rips"  of  the  Asquamchumauke. 

Suflace  it  to  say,  that  they  must  have  left  them  in  the  shoal 
head  waters  of  the  stream  and  then  toiled  slowly  through  the 
woods  by  the  old  Indian  trail  across  our  valley  to  the  Connecticut. 

Here  they  rested  themselves,  as  men  naturally  would,  looked 


102  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

ovei"  the  land  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  broad  streamy  and  then, 
crossing  to  the  western  shore,  ascended  the  rocky  bluff  to  obtain 
a  better  view  of  the  country.  Although  rough  woodsmen,  they 
could  not  have  been  insensible  to  the  magnificence  of  the  scene. 
At  their  feet  the  Connecticut  wound  like  a  band  of  silver  through 
a  seeming  garden.  Noble  elms  grew  upon  the  river  banks.  Be- 
neath their  shade  the  wild  deer  sported  and  with  their  mottled 
fawns  beside  them  cropped  the  luxuriant  herbage.  A  mighty 
forest  just  clothing  itself  in  young  verdure  covered  the  lesser  hills 
of  New  Hampshire,  while  far  in  the  distance  the  great  peaks  of 
the  Haystacks  shot  up  into  the  transparent  ether.  To  the  south, 
the  long,  swelling  summit  of  Moosilauke,  still  flecked  with  snow- 
fields,  lay  mirroring  itself  in  the  blue  heaven.  They  also  noted 
where  the  streams  came  down  from  the  highlands  and  entered  the 
river;  where  lay  the  broadest  and  richest  intervals,  and  where  the 
rising  plats  of  ground  afforded  the  best  sites  for  their  forts. 

Descending  from  the  eminence  that  commanded  such  an  en- 
chanting scene,  and  was  also  so  serviceable  in  showing  the  natural 
facilities  of  the  country,  they  selected  the  places  for  the  forts  and 
located  the  townships.  'This  done,  and  their  provisions  being 
uearly  spent,  they  hurried  back  to  their  canoes  and  floated  rapidly 
down  stream  through  the  woods  to  the  settlements. 

They  gave  so  flattering  an  account  of  the  beaut}^,  richness,  and 
fertility  of  the  intervals  that  four  hundred  men  were  immediately 
enlisted  to  settle  this  paradise  of  New  England.  Active  prepara- 
tions for  the  journey  to  this  upper  country  were  commenced,  and 
another  autumn  bid  ftxir  to  have  seen  two  forts  gleaming  with 
bayonets  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut. 

But  how  illusory  are  the  plans  of  men.  The  Indians  had 
watched  the  acts  of  the  committee  with  a  jealous  eye.  Like  men 
of  common  sense,  they  judged  the  loss  of  their  planting  grounds 
would  be  a  serious  evil.  To  counteract  it  and  to  preserve  their 
lands  they  commenced  what  Avas  to  themselves  an  entertaining 
series  of  hostilities — but  which  meant  death  or  captivity  for  the 
poor  whites.  We  shall  now  endeavor  to  show  how  the  migrate rj' 
would-be  English  colonists  were  for  a  time  thwarted,  and  that 
part  of  our  pleasant  land  of  the  Pemigewassetts  now  called  War- 
ren hindered  from  being  settled. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GIVING  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  A  HUNTING  PARTY  ON  THE  ASQUAMCHUM- 
AUKE,  HOW  TWO  YOUNG  MEN  WERE  CAPTIVATED  IN  THE  MOST 
CAPTIVATING  MANNER,  CONCLUDING  WITH  HOW  ONE  GOT  HIS 
BACK  TICKLED  WITH  THE  OIL  OF  BIRCH,  WHILE  THE  OTHER 
DID   NOT  —  MUCH  TO   THE   DELIGHT   OF  ALL   CONCERNED. 

The  Indian  runner  must  have  been  fleet-footed  who  bore 
the  news  of  the  committee's  acts  at  the  Coos  intervals  to  the  village 
of  the  St.  Francis.  Like  a  shower  of  toads,  an  old-fashioned, 
time-out-of-mind  war  party,  under  the  generalship  of  Acteon,* 
some  say  Francis  Titagaw,  others  the  young  chief,  Peer,  was  hop- 
ping over  the  logs  and  stealing  through  the  thickets  which  lined 
the  banks  of  the  Asquamchumauke  almost  as  soon  as  the  commit- 
tee had  gone  in  their  canoes  down  the  Merrimack, 

Now  it  so  happened  that  some  of  those  daring  spirits  who 
always  delight  to  live  upon  the  frontier,  and  are  never  contented 
unless,  like  their  red-skin  cousins,  they  were  strolling  through  the 
woods  whether  it  paid  or  not,  were  trapping  upon  the  Asquam- 
chumauke, and  along  a  little  black  mountain  stream  in  the  present 
town  of  Romuey.  They  Avere  brave  fellows  every  one  of  them, 
and  their  names,  as  is  known  to  all  who  have  read  the  oft-told 
story,  were  William  and  John  Stark,  David  Stinsou,  and  Amos 
Eastman. 

They  had  come  up  from  their  homes  at  Amoskeag  falls,  and 
had  worked  most  industriously  at  trapping.    They  had  sable, 

*  Actcon  was  a  Xipnuick  Indian,  aud  niarried  a»i  Arosagunticook  -n-oman.  He 
was  sometimes  called  Capt.  Moses.  He  was  at  one  time  an  associate  with  Wahowa , 
and  was  tlie  same  Indian  that  in  his  old  age  sometimes  made  his  home  with  Colonel 
Obadiah  Clement. 

Peer  was  a  young  chief. 


104  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

marten,  mink,  and  beaver  traps,  set  on  three  long  ranges  or 
"lines,"  one  up  Stinson  brook  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Pemige- 
wassett,  another  up  the  "South  Branch''  to  the  water  shed  of 
the  Mascoma,  and  a  third  far  up  the  Asquamchumauke  to  Moosil- 
auke  mountain.  Thej'  liad  been  very  successful  in  their  avocation, 
and  had  gathered  furs  amounting  to  more  than  five  hundred  aud 
sixty  pounds  in  value.*  But  the  long  days  had  come;  corn-fields 
and  potato-patches  must  be  improved,  and  so  they  made  ready  to 
return.  Another  circumstance  that  quickened  their  departure  was 
the  discovery  of  fresh,  moccasined  footprints  on  the  Indian  trail. 

All  day  long  they  had  worked  diligently  in  gathering  their 
traps,  and  on  the  morrow  they  were  to  break  up  their  camp.  It 
was  nearly  evening.  The  long  shadows  began  to  steal  across  the 
water,  and  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  were  streaming  full 
upon  the  face  of  craggy  Rattlesnake  mountain,  when  John  Stai-k, 
who  was  stooping  to  take  a  steel  trap  from  the  water,  was  startled 
by  a  sharp  hiss.  Jumping  up  he  saw  the  Indians,  and  the  muzzles 
of  half  a  dozen  muskets,  staring  at  him  within  three  feet  of  his 
head,  told  him  that  escape  was  hopeless. 

That  nigjit  he  lay  bound  among  his  captors,  aud  in  the  morn- 
ing was  early  roused  to  proceed  down  the  I'iver,  where  they  were 
to  lay  in  ambush  for  the  rest  of  the  hunters.  The  latter  had 
guessed  the  cause  of  Stark's  absence,  and  at  the  earliest  dawn 
packed  their  furs,  traps,  and  camp  equipage  into  their  canoe  and 
started.  Eastman  was  upon  the  shore,  while  William  Stark  and 
Stinson  guided  the  frail  craft  as  it  floated  down  in  the  rapid  cur- 
rent. The  Indians  easily  captured  the  former,  and  then  bid  Stark 
hail  those  in  the  canoe,  and  invite  them  to  come  on  shore.  Stark 
complied  so  far  as  to  tell  them  to  pull  to  the  opposite  bank  and 
then  run  for  their  lives,  as  the  Indians  had  got  him  and  would 
have  them  too  unless  they  were  quick  in  getting  away. 

Curses  and  blows  fell  thick  upon  the  head  of  the  dutiful  but 
unfrightened  hunter,  and  then  the  Indians  leveled  their  muskets 
to  fire  upon  the  retreating  men.  "Not  yet,  my  friends,"  said  the 
belaboi'ed  Stark,  as  he  struck  up  their  guns  at  the  moment  of  dis- 
charge. For  this  he  got  anotlier  shower  of  kicks  and  cufl's,  and 
when  a  second  time  they  attempted  to  fire  he  again  endeavored  to 

*  Potter's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  277. 


RUNNING     THE     GAUNTLET.  105 

stop  them,  but  not  so  successfully  as  befoi'C.  Stinson  was  killed 
in  the  act  of  leaping  upon  the  shore,  and  fell  backward,  his  blood 
staining-  the  clear  water.  The  paddle  in  the  hand  of  William 
Stark  was  shivered  with  bullets,  but  leaping  from  the  canoe  like  a 
deei-  he  took  to  the  woods  and  escaped.* 

The  Indians  in  their  usually  polite  and  gentlemanly  manner 
now  wished  for  a  slight  memorial  of  young  Stinson  to  take  to  St. 
Francis.  They  crossed  the  stream,  dragged  his  body  ashore,  dex- 
terously took  off  his  scalp,  and  after  giving  John  Stark  a  sound 
beating  for  his  daring  interference,  told  the  two  captives  to  take 
u\)  what  was  to  them  a  not  very  agreeable  march  to  the  happy  land 
of  Canada. 

The  first  night  they  camped  on  the  Coos  intervals,  close  by 
the  Connecticut.  As  he  lay  bound  between  two  of  his  captors 
John  Stark  could  hear  the  murmuring  of  the  river  and  see  its  dark 
waters  gleaming  in  the  moonlight,  as  the  full  orb  rose  slowly  up 
over  the  bow-backed  sumjaiit  of  Moosilauke  mountain. 

It  was  a  long  march  up  the  Connecticut,  across  the  highlands, 
and  down  the  sluggish  St.  Francis  river  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Meanwhile  the  Indians  determined  that  the  captives  shoiild  run 
the  gauntlet  when  they  reached  the  village,  and  so  to  beguile  the 
waj"  they  taught  Eastman  and  Stark  a  sentence  in  Indian,  which 
they  should  recite  during  that  interesting  ceremony,  the  tenor  ol 
which  Avas:     "  III  beat  all  your  young  menP'' 

On  their  arrival  two  long  lines  of  warriors  were  formed,  and 
between  them  the  captives  were  to  run.  Each  warrior  had  a  club, 
with  the  right  to  beat  the  prisoner  as  much  as  he  chose  as  he  passed 
along.  To  each  of  the  runners  the  Indians  gave  a  pole  about  six 
feet  in  length  upon  the  end  of  which  was  stretched  the  skin  of 
some  animal.  Upon  Stark's  was  a  loon  skin.  Eastman's  turn 
came  first.  "When  the  young  Indians  heard  him  cry  out,  "I'll 
beat  all  your  young  men ! "  they  cudgelled  him  most  unmercifully, 
and  he  came  out  of  the  lines  more  dead  than  alive.  But  young 
Stark  was  made  of  different  mettle.    He  marched  up  to  the  start- 

. a 

*When  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Eastman  anrl  Stark  reached  Rnmford,  a 
party  was  raised,  who  proceede<l  to  Baker  river,  found  and  buried  the  body  of 
Stinson  in  the  woods,  and  brought  home  one  of  tlie  paddles  of  tlie  canoe,  wliich 
was  luerced  vpith  several  shot  holes.  It  was  possessed  a  long  time  bj-  the  Virgin 
family. 

.Jacob  Hoyt,  Esq.,  says  that  in  this  party  were  Phineas  Vii-gin,  Joseph  Eastman 
(called  deacon),  and  Moses  Eastman.— Hist,  of  Coucoi-d,  193. 


106  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

ing  point  with  firm  step,  astonished  the  braves  with  the  cry,  "i'ZZ 
kiss  all  your  yoking  toomen!-^  and  then  bounded  into  the  lines. 
He  knocl^ed  down  the  first  Indian  he  met,  and  continued  to  lay 
about  him  with  so  much  vigor  that  the  astonished  natives  sufiered 
him  to  pass  through  with  scarcely  a  blow. 

The  old  men  were  pleased  at  the  consternation  of  their  young 
warriors,  and  so  greatly  admired  the  bravery  of  Stark  that  they 
wished  to  adopt  him  as  their  chief.  But  the  hero  of  Bennington 
had  no  notion  of  passing  his  life  in  the  wilds  of  Canada,  and 
plainly  told  them  so.  Afterwards  they  bid  him  hoe  corn.  He 
complied  so  far  as  to  cut  it  up  by  the  roots  and  then  throw  his  hoe 
into  the  river,  declaring  that  such  work  was  fit  only  for  squaws. 
This  only  heightened  their  admiration  for  him,  and  they  did  not 
ask  him  to  do  any  more  work. 

Late  in  the  autumn  Captain  Stevens,  of  Number  Four,  and 
Mr.  Wheelwright,  of  Boston,  went  to  St.  Francis  to  redeem  the 
prisoners.  For  Eastman  they  paid  a  ransom  of  sixty  dollars,  for 
Stark  one  hundred  and  three  dollars,  showing  how  much  higher 
they  prized  the  courage  of  the  latter  above  the  timidity  of  the 
former. 

They  returned  liome  by  Lake  Champlain  and  Number  Four — 
Eastman  to  lead  the  life  of  an  industrious  farmer,  Stark  to  plan 
and  execute  new  hunting  or  trapping  excursions,  to  procure  means 
to  pay  his  ransom,  or  to  serve  as  guide  through  the  wilderness 
he  had  explored,  all  of  which  disciplined  him  for  achieving  those 
immortal  deeds  in  the  old  French  war  and  the  Eevolution.  We 
hear  of  him  the  next  summer  down  in  the  wilds  of  Maine,  trap- 
ping on  the  Androscoggin ;  but  previous  to  this  he  was  pilot  for  a 
large  party  which  made  one  more  attempt  to  explore  the  noi'th 
country,  that  historical  land  containing  our  mountain  hamlet — 
Warren. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HOAV  THE  SALVAGES,  SABATIS  AND  CHRISTO,  STOLE  TAVO  NEGROES 
FROM  THE  SETTLEMENT  AT  CANTERBURY,  AND  THE  EXCITE- 
MENT IT  caused;  together  with  a  grand  RESULT  BEFORE 
HINTED   AT. 

The  capture  of  the  hunters  and  the  murder  of  Stinson  in 
the  Pemigewassett  country  caused  the  New  Hampshire  people 
considerable  alarm,  and  communicated  in  fact  a  little  palpitation 
of  the  heart  to  the  Governor  himself.  But,  like  any  other  nine 
days'  wonder,  it  soon  died  away.  Yet  quiet  only  reigned  for  a 
moment,  and  then  the  excitement  commenced  again. 

There  were  two  big,  burly  savages,  who  sometimes  resided  at 
St.  Francis,  but  more  often  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Merrimack. 
Their  names  Avere  Sabatis  and  Christo.  Like  most  of  the  Indians 
of  that  degenerate  Indian  time  they  would  get  drunk,  and  then 
would  boast  of  their  wicked  deeds  done  in  the  wars.  They  were 
a  source  of  terror  to  the  women  and  children,  and  many  a  time  it 
was  whispered  at  night  when  the  family  was  gathered  around  the 
huge  old-fashioned  fire-place,  where  the  burning  logs  were  glow- 
ing, how  these  men,  stealing  from  the  northern  solitudes,  had 
buried  their  tomahawks  in  the  settlers'  heads ;  and  how  Sabatis, 
sleeping  on  the  hearth  as  he  was  wont,  would  start  and  groan  and 
scream,  as  he  said  his  victims  did.  Yet  the  settlers  treated  them 
kindly,  and  for  some  time  they  shared  the  hospitality  of  two  men, 
Miles  and  Lindsey. 

Now  it  chanced  that  two  negroes  were  living  in  Canterbury, 
the  property  of  said  Miles  and  Lindsey,  and  our  red-skins,  not 
having  the  fear  of  the  law  before  their  eyes,  and  never  having 


108  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

heard  the  teachings  of  certain  abolitionists  who  lived  at  a  later 
day  —  how  wicked  it  was  to  hold  black  chattels  in  bondage  —  at 
once  experienced  a  strong  desire  to  aiDpropriate  said  chattels  to 
their  own  use.  Accordingly,  like  other  nien-stealers,  they  imme- 
diately began  to  form  plans  to  "captivate"  the  negroes. 

It  was  a  bright  summer  morning.  Men  were  repairing  to  the 
fields,  and  the  two  would-be  kidnappers  started  for  a  stroll  in 
the  woods.  They  met  the  negroes,  asked  them  to  show  a  path 
that  led  to  a  certain  locality,  and  the  darkies,  good  honest  souls, 
complied.  When  they  were  a  considerable  distance  in  the  forest, 
the  Indians  seized  the  negroes,  bound  their  hands,  fettered  their 
little  heels,  and  then,  instead  of  taking  them  down  south,  like 
kidnappers  of  a  later  day,  they  engineered  the  first  underground 
railroad,  and  started  their  chattels  towards  Canada. 

But  one  night,  when  they  were  far  on  the  road,  one  of  the 
negroes  managed  to  unfetter  himself,  and  in  terse  Indian  nomen- 
clature, "him  I'un  fast,"  and  escaped  to  his  "ole  massa"  again. 

But  the  other  negro  was  not  so  fortunate.  His  Indian  captoi's 
waded  him  across  the  "river  of  pines,"  the  dark  flowing  Connec- 
ticut, feasted  his  keen  ideality  on  the  wild  beauties  of  the  rolling 
Green  mountains,  and  delighted  his  vision  with  the  sight  of  the 
sparkling  Lake  Champlain.  Suffice  it  to  say,  the  kidnapped  dar- 
key saw  the  frowning  battlements  of  Crown  Point,  where  his 
humane  captors  sold  him  to  a  French  officer.  Whether  he  was 
redeemed  or  not  is  too  insignificant  a  matter  for  this  history  to 
investigate. 

But  one  great  result  grew  out  of  these  Indian  depredations. 
Petitions  were  again  circulated,  signatures  procured,  and  when 
the  great  and  dignified  Assembly  of  New  Hampshire — character- 
ized then  as  now  more  by  its  size  and  numbers  than  by  its  ability 
—  met,  it  was  memorialized.  The  petitioners  humbly  prayed  that 
a  road  might  be  mai-ked,  cut,  and  made,  fi-om  the  settlements  on 
the  Merrimack,  through  the  Pemigewassett  land  to  the  Coos 
meadows.  Then  the  forts  would  surely  be  built.  Then  bristling 
bayonets,  gleaming  over  the  bright  waters  of  the  Indian  garden- 
land,  would  keep  those  self-same  Indians  who  pretended  to  own 
the  aforesaid  garden — yearly  planted  with  pumpkins,  corn,  and 
beans  —  from  committing  their  depredations  upon  innocent,  brave 


A  HIGHWAY   DECREED.  109 

hunters,  sable  trappers,  and  white  squatters,  who  of  right  roamed 
upon  the  frontier.  In  other  words  there  should  be  a  guard  at  the 
Coos  meadows,  who,  ever  vigilant,  should  make  the  settlers  feel 
more  secure  in  their  new  homes. 

They  never  dreamed  that  the  Indians  could  leave  the  Connec- 
ticut higher  up,  and  come  down  through  the  notch  by  the  Hay- 
stacks, "Where  they  could  learn  one  lesson  of  stern  grandeur  from 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain ;  or  that  they  could  go  round  by  the 
green  hills  of  the  west  and,  crossing  the  Connecticut  below,  reach 
the  Asquarachumauke  by  Baker  ponds.  There  were  210  such  con- 
tingencies about  it  in  their  minds ;  the  forts  once  built,  they 
were  safe. 

But  New  Hampshire  then,  as  now,  was  poor.  It  would  be 
great  expense  to  cut  the  road  and  maintain  the  forts.  But  after 
considering  the  matter  for  a  long  time,  it  was  determined  that  so 
weighty  a  petition  could  not  be  disregarded ;  that  the  interests  of 
the  State  demanded  immediate  action;  and  so  they  voted  to 
assume  the  expense  of  cutting  and  making  the  road,  and  appointed 
a  committee  to  survey  and  mark  the  same.  That  committee  con- 
sisted of  Zacheus  Lovewell,  of  Dunstable,  a  relative  of  that 
Captain  Lovewell  who  fought  Paugus;  John  Tolford,  of  Chester, 
and  Caleb  Page,  of  Starkstown ;  and  they  hired  John  Stark  to 
assist  them.  The  Assembly  sat  in  the  winter  of  1752-3,  and  in  the 
spring  following  the  committee  commenced  the  work  —  looking 
toward  the  beloved  land  of  this  history. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HOW  THE  ROAD  "WAS  CUT  THROUGH  THE  WOODS,  AND  HOW  THE 
GREAT  AND  MIGHTY  NATION  OF  AROSAGUNTICOOKS  —  COMPOSED 
OF  ALL  THE  NIPMUCK  TRIBES,  INCLUDING  OUR  PEMIGEWASSETTS 
AND  SOME  OTHERS  —  SENT  A  FLAG  OF  TRUCE  TO  NUMBER 
FOUR.      CONCLUDING  WITH   A   GENERAL   BACKOUT. 

The  committee  were  uo  laggards.  The  General  Assembly 
of  New  Hampshire  made  a  wise  choice.  They  immediately  ren- 
dezvoused at  Amoskeag  falls,  the  place  where  John  Stark  lived, 
aud  where  daring  spirits  like  Waternomee,  Kancamagns,  and 
Passaconaway  congregated  in  times  long  ago.  Philosophers  say 
that  associations  form  human  character.  Tell,  amid  his  native 
mountains,  was  brave  and  daring ;  the  inhabitant  of  India  is  cow- 
ardly and  efleminate.  Consequently,  the  great  rocky  barrier  at 
Amoskeag,  the  white,  foaming  water,  ever  roaring,  the  northern 
granite  mountains  —  all  conspired  to  make  such  men  as  John 
Stark  and  his  friends. 

The  committee  hired  sixteen  men,  and  Stark  was  to  pilot 
them  through  the  Pemigewassett  country  to  the  Coos  intervals. 
Kobert  Kogers,  the  most  daring  ranger  of  the  old  French  war. 
was  one  of  the  number. 

It  was  March  10th,  1753,  when  the  surveying  party  left  Amos- 
keag. The  river  was  yet  frozen  over.  Each  man  had  a  pair  of 
snow-shoes  on  his  feet.  His  blanket,  twenty-five  days'  provision, 
and  his  cooking  utensils,  were  strapped  to  his  back.  Half  the 
party  had  guns.  Almost  all  had  axes  or  hatchets,  and  Caleb  Page 
carried  a  compass  and  other  materials  suitable  for  making  a  plan 
of  the  survey. 


THE    ROAD   BLAZED   TO   COOS.  Ill 

Thus  equipped  they  proceeded  up  the  river  on  the  ice  as  far 
as  Bakerstowu,  now  Franklin,  N.  H.  They  stopped  one  night  at 
the  most  northern  settler's  hut,  and  rested  tlieir  weary  limbs  ou 
the  floor  by  the  blazing  hearth.  On  the  bright  ensuing  morn, 
when  the  sun  gleamed  on  the  myriad  diamond  points  of  the  frozen 
snow,  and  the  red-crested  woodpecker  drummed  a  merry  tune  on 
the'  hollow  beech-tree,  they  struck  into  the  woods.  Their  route 
was  now  up  the  west  bank  of  the  Merrimack.  A  part  of  the  com- 
pany would  perform  the  day's  march  in  the  forenoon,  construct 
the  camp,  cut  the  wood  for  the  night  fire,  prepare  and  cook  the 
provisions,  and  make  everything  as  comfortable  as  possible  for  the 
tired  road  choppers  and  surveyors.  At  different  points  on  the 
route  they  left  a  portion  of  their  supplies,  to  be  used  on  their 
return.  The  snow  was  four  feet  deep;  yet  they  imshed  on  with- 
out faltering.  Not  a  man  lagged  behind.  One  day,  in  what  is 
now  our  good  town  of  Wentworth,  they  started  a  moose.  The 
whistling  balls  of  half  a  dozen  rifles,  in  sailors'  phrase,  "brought 
him  to,"  and  at  evening,  when  night's  shadows  were  creeping 
through  the  forest,  the  gleaming  knives  of  nineteen  hardy  border- 
ers flashed  before  the  campfire,  as  they  carved  out  the  choicest 
morsels  and  over  them  cracked  their  merry  jokes.  In  fifteen  days 
they  had  blazed  a  pathway  through  the  wilderness,  and  were  en- 
camped ou  the  intervals  at  Coos. 

They  occupied  six  days  in  returning,  and  when  they  disbanded 
at  Amoskeag  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  the  great  province  of  New 
Hampshire,  with  Benning  AVentworth  for  Governor,  was  indebted 
to  this  indomitable  surveying  party  in  the  sum  of  684?.  ds.  old 
tenor.  Caleb  Page  got  221,  extra  for  surveying,  and  John  Stark 
more  pay  than  his  fellows,  for  additional  work  and  services  as 
guide. 

But  our  mighty  Arosagunticook,  or  St.  Francis  tribe  of  red- 
skins, heard  of  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  New  Hamp- 
shire almost  as  soon  as  it  was  passed.  Although  they  had  no  gov- 
ernor, they  had  a  chief;  if  they  had  no  legislature,  they  could  sit 
smoking  around  the  council-fire,  and  debate  matters  concerning 
their  rude  nation  of  eighteen  hundred  souls,  in  a  manner  more 
dignified  and  grave  than  even  the  Eoman  Senate ;  if  they  had  no 
money  to  pay  the  expense  of  an  expedition  to  the  English  settle- 


112  HISTORY    OP    WAUREN. 

ments,  still,  their  resolve  once  determined  upon,  they  could  find 
daring,  painted,  tufted-headed  desperadoes  enough,  to  whom 
the  pleasureable  prospect — the  excitement  of  bxirning  buildings, 
groaning  victims,  sighing  captives,  and  dangling  scalp-locks  — 
would  be  a  sufficient  inducement  to  undertake  such  enterprise. 

With  a  little  prompting  from  the  French  the  war-council 
decided  upon  war.  But,  be  it  said  to  their  credit,  they  had  learned 
one  principle  of  christian  civilized  warfare  mentioned  in  the  books 
that  ti-eat  of  the  laws  of  nations.  That  was,  before  open  hostili- 
ties were  commenced  in  the  usual  ambuscade  fashion,  they  deter- 
mined to  notify  the  enemy.  Accordingly  in  the  winter  of  the 
passage  of  the  act,  even  before  our  noted  committee  with  its  hardy 
surveying  party  had  performed  its  labors,  six  Indians,  (for  In- 
dians in  those  days  were  as  hardy  as  white  men  )  braved  the  chill 
winds  of  'Magog  lake,  rustled  the  snow  from  the  evergreen  firs  of 
the  swamps,  and  with  a  flag  of  truce  suddenly  appeared  at  the 
fort  in  Number  Four,  now  Charleston,  N.  H. 

Captain  Stevens,  the  commander  received  them  in  true  military 
style,  even  as  did  Cyrus  the  younger  the  Queen  of  Silesia,  only  not 
quite  so  aflectionately  perhaps ;  or  the  great  Hannibal,  Scipio ;  or 
Bonaparte,  Lord  Wellington.  They  fared  sumptuously  upon  the 
good  viands  Avithin  the  log  fort,  dined  upon  hearty  moose-beef  and 
supped  upon  corn-cakes,  washed  down  with  sundry  mugs  of  flip, 
made  hissing-hot  with  the  old-fashioned  loggerhead,  which  was 
always  kept  at  a  white  heat. 

On  the  day  following  their  arrival  they  stated  their  message. 
Their  orator,  drawing  himself  up  full  height,  asserted  their  title 
to  the  corn  patches  and  pumpkin  fields  at  the  long  river  of  pines, 
which  runs  through  the  meadows,  under  the  shadow  of  the  snow}'^ 
mountain,  Moosilauke.  "  Our  fathers,''^  said  he,  ^^ gave  it  to  us. 
We  have  never  sold  it,  never  bargained  it  for  the  deadly  fire- 
water. Why  do  you  trespass  upon  it?  Why  lorongfally  seek  to 
drive  us  from  oicr  inheritance'/  Already  have  your  aryned  men 
visited  it.  Already  have  forts  been  staked  out  upon  it.  We  say 
now,  desist!  Let  not  the  English  come  to  Cowass.  If  they  flo — 
sure  as  the  heavens  above  the  mountain  j^eaks  shall  blush  in  the 
rosy  morning,  you  shall  have  war,  and  it  shall  be  a  strong  war! 
Like  a  icolf  on  your  flocks  tvewill  rush  on  your  wives  and  child- 


A   HOSTILE    FLAG    OF    TRUCE.  113 

ren;  like  a  hurricane  uprooting  the  forest,  we  will  pluck  you 
from  the  soil!" 

This  message  delivered,  the  Indians,  jolly  roisterers,  managed 
to  dispose  of  sundry  other  mugs  of  flip,  heated  in  the  before-men- 
tioned manner,  cut  numberless  antics  and  capers  around  the  rude 
fort,  and  then  whooping  a  wild  applause  after  their  own  peculiar 
st}ie,  all  of  which  signitied  that  they  liked  good  rtim,  took  tReir 
departure  for  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Captain  Stevens  bolted  and  barred  his  fortress  and  posted  a 
stronger  guard  that  night,  and  the  next  day,  finding  that  all  was 
quiet,  sent  off  a  dispatch  to  Governor  Shirley,  of  Massachusetts, 
informing  him  of  the  remonstrance  and  declaration  on  the  part  of 
the  Arosagunticooks. 

The  honorable  governor  heard  the  message  with  astonish- 
ment. Kather  than  the  ''  tufted-headed  salvages,"  should  rush 
down  upon  the  frontier  settlers,  as  the  wild  clansmen  of  Scotland 
did  upon  merrie  England,  or  as  theNipmucks  who  lived  with  their 
dear  French  friends  had  been  accustomed  to  do  for  the  past  hun- 
dred years,  the  governor  thought  they  had  better  be  allowed  to 
retain  the  garden-patch  at  ''Cowas." 

With  great  haste  he  sent  a  messenger  to  Governor  Wentworth 
with  the  news,  who,  after  considering  it  for  some  time  with  his 
council,  came  to  the  sage  conclusion  that  whereas  it  was  going  to 
cost  a  large  sum  of  money  to  make  the  road,  and  also  as  it  was 
going  to  make  the  dire  and  dreadful  "salvages"  exceedingly 
wroth,  and  furthermore  as  there  was  a  great  prospect  that  a  terri- 
ble war  Avould  shortly  break  out  between  France  and  England, 
they  concluded  to  abandon  the  very  plan  that,  in  any  event,  was 
so  necessai'y  for  their  protection. 

Thus  the  two  forts  were  not  built,  the  four  hundred  men  never 
went  to  Coos,  the  bayonets  never  gleamed  over  the  still  water,  and 
the  tramp  of  the  soldier-guard  was  never  heard.  The  happy  land 
of  "Warren  also  bid  fair  to  have  grown  greener  in  her  mountain 
solitudes,  the  white  man's  footstep  to  have  awoke  no  echo,  his 
cattle  to  have  browsed  in  no  valley,  the  bleat  of  his  flocks  to  have 
enlivened  no  liillside  for  the  next  half-century,  had  not  an  addi- 
tional train  of  circumstances,  which  we  shall  mention  in  our  next 
chapter,  just  now  commenced. 

H 


CHAPTER  VI. 

now  SABATIS  AND  PLAUSAWA  FARED  IN  THE  HANDS  OP  PETER 
BOWEN,  TOGETHER  WITH  THE  MIRACULOUS  OPENTNG  OF  THE 
JAIL,  CONCLUDING  WITH  A  CAPTIVATING  ACCOUNT  OF  A  WHOLE 
FAMILY,  AVHO  WERE  POLITELY  INVITED  TO  GO  TO  CANADA  BY 
THE   GENTLE   SALVAGES. 

EvEKY  mail  admires  courage.  Marshal  Ney,  "the  brav- 
est of  the  brave,"  was  the  envy  of  the  world;  but  even  his  daring 
feats  have  many  a  time  been  equalled.  Unfortunatel)',  the  heroes 
acting  on  a  more  obscure  stage,  unlike  the  ftivored  French,  had  no 
historians,  and  are  consequently  forgotten.  We  do  not  pretend 
that  every  savage  is  a  hero ;  but  many  an  early  pioneer  of  New 
England  can  attest  to  deeds  of  fortitude  and  bravery  that  can 
scarcely  find  a  i^arallel.  King  Philip,  ci%dlized,  would  have  stood 
beside  a  Hannibal  or  an  Alexander.  Even  our  friend  Sabatis,  who 
stole  the  negroes,  furnishes  us  with  a  notable  instance  of  physical 
daring  and  moral  heroism,  or  as  a  latter-day  Yankee  would  express 
it,  of  cheek,  of  brass,  of  impudence,  truly  astounding. 

That  kidnapper,  that  "  brave,"  who  wheedled  away  the  poor 
"  darkies,"  the  great  and  distinguished  Sabatis,  accompanied  this 
time  by  a  new  friend — Plausawa  by  name  —  without  even  a  blush 
on  his  red  face,  but  with  an  assuming  air,  dared  to  walk  into  the 
highly  peaceable  and  prosperous  settlement  of  Canterbury,  the 
very  next  June  after  stealing  the  negroes.  Hunters  and  trappers, 
farmers,  men  from  the  woods,  and  men  black  from  the  "  burnt- 
piece,"  with  their  wives  and  innocent  children,  were  alike  aston- 
ished. When  they  had  somewhat  recovered  from  their  surprise, 
they  upbraided  Sabatis  with  his  treachery. 


THE  LOGIC  OF  SABATIS.  115 

With  a  haughty  air  he  said,  "Me  not  to  blame;  St.  Francis 
Indians  no  make  treaty  with  the  English.  No  harm  to  steal  nig- 
gers ;  white  men  steal  niggers  in  Africa !  Eed  men  same  right  to 
steal  niggers  in  'Merica.-'     . 

This  was  an  irrefragible  argument,  equal  to  that  learned  from 
the  great  Socrates  by  one  Strepsiades,  and  the  white  settlers  would 
willingly  have  allowed  him  to  be  a  keen  logician  if  they  could 
only  have  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  cantering  fast  away  from 
Canterbury. 

But  Sabatis  would  not  go.  He  put  on  airs.  Like  other  men 
who  think  they  have  performed  great  feats,  he  became  insolent  in 
his  conduct,  boasted  in  bragadocia  style  of  what  he  had  done, 
threatened  to  butcher  the  inhabitants,  flourished  a  glittering  knife, 
and  like  another  Jack  Falstaff,  brave  where  was  no  danger,  bran- 
dished his  tomahawk  over  the  head  of  a  defenceless  woman. 

But  worse  than  this  —  some  keen-eyed  settler  discovered  that 
he  carried,  secreted  about  his  person,  a  collar  and  lines,  nice  con- 
trivances with  which  to  fetter  captives,  and  then  the  whole  settle- 
ment was  alive  with  the  kidnapping  aifair  again.  ''It  might  do  to 
steal  negroes,"  said  an  old  farmer,  "but  "pon  honor  it  will  never 
do  to  steal  white  folks."  Brag  was  a  game  that  two  could  play  at, 
and  some  old  soldier-citizens  of  Canterbury,  who  had  seen  service 
at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  believed  that  they  themselves  would  be 
yet  good  for  blows  and  even  bullets.  So  when  Sabatis  commenced 
his  insolence  again,  he  heard  something  that  he  had  never  heard 
before  in  that  settlement.  Gleam  of  steel  shone  on  steel,  and  the 
cry  of  "Blood  for  blood!"  greeted  the  ears  of  the  tawny  brave. 
The  frontier  hamlet  grew  too  hot  for  the  St.  Francis  men,  and  one 
July  day  they  quietly  decamped,  this  time  without  any  prisoners, 
crossed  the  bright  Merrimack  in  a  beautiful  birch  canoe,  and  took 
up  their  residence  in  Contoocook,  now  Boscawen. 

But  they  had  not  yet  learned  to  be  civil ;  they  were  just  as 
insolent  as  ever.  Plunder,  captives,  and  scalps  were  continually 
on  their  tongues,  and  the  whole  settlement  soon  grew  heartily  sick- 
of  them.  They  were  the  guests  of  two  men,  Messrs.  Morrill  and 
Bowen.  The  first  was  a  farmer,  but  Peter  BoAven  Avas  a  wild  bor- 
derer. He  knew  CA^ery  trait  of  Indian  character.  A  hunter  and 
trapper,  he  had  passed  half  his  life  in  the  woods.    He  was  Avell 


116  HISTORY    OF   WAKREN. 

acquainted  with  the  two  Indians  and  their  misdeeds,  and  knew 
that  they  were  hated  by  eveiy  settler.  For  years  it  was  reported 
how  Bo  wen  fought  them  in  self-defence — but  this  was  an  idle  tale 
got  up  for  effect.  Bowen  reasoned  in  this  wise :  "The  Indians 
have  murdered  a  great  many  white  men.  They  say  they  will 
murder  more.  Only  last  year  they  stole  the  negroes.  At  any 
moment  my  neighbor  or  myself  is  liable  to  be  killed.  Now  to 
protect  them  and  my  family,  and  to  get  a  rich  lot  of  furs — for  the 
Indians  in  question  have  two  hundred  pounds  worth — I  will  put 
the  pestilent  serpents  out  of  the  way.  Every  one  will  justify  the 
deed,  and  I  shall  be  the  gainer." 

So  when  Sabatis  and  Plausawa  were  about  to  leave  the  settle- 
ment, Bowen  invited  them  to  have  a  treat  at  his  house.  Both 
Indians  got  drunk,  and  Bowen  drew  the  charges  from  their  guns. 
TJien,  when  they  departed,  they  went  into  the  woods  towards  the 
Merrimack.  The  Indians  got  separated  some  distance  apart  and 
then  Bowen  attacked  Sabatis.  The  drunken  brave  snapped  his 
gun  at  him,  but  Bowen  sank  a  hatchet  to  the  helve  in  his  brain, 
cut  him  with  it  several  times  in  the  back,  and  plunged  a  hunting- 
knife  into  his  heart.  Plausawa  coming  up  begged  for  liis  life. 
Bowen  answered  not  a  word,  but  killed  him  on  the  spot.* 

That  night  he  left  them  by  the  path-side.  The  gibbous  moon 
looked  through  the  trees  upon  their  upturned,  ghastly  faces.  The 
wolf  howled  on  the  mountain  as  he  scented  their  blood  afar,  and 
the  solemn  owl  hooted  in  harsh,  discordant  notes  —  nature's 
requiem  over  wild  spirits  departed,  whose  earthly  delight  had 
been  human  butchery. 

On  the  morrow  BoAven  returned  with  his  son,  scooped  a  shal- 
low hole  and  threw  the  bodies  in,  slightly  covering  them  with 
earth  and  leaves.  But  Avild  animals  and  dogs  dug  them  up,  and 
for  years  afterwards  their  white  bones  bleached  by  the  road  side 
in  the  woods. 

Indian  hunters,  who  had  come  to  the  settlements  to  traffic, 
heard  of  the  murder  of  the  two  Indians,  and  bore  the  news  to  the 
St.  Francis. 

The  New  Hampshire  authorities  also  heard  the  story.  As  in 
duty  bound,  the  government  officials  clapped  a  legal  hand  upon 

*  Potter's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  281. 


PURITAN    MOB    LAAV.  117 

Morrill  and  Bo  wen.  Like  Paul  and  Silas  they  were  borne  away 
to  prison,  yet  for  a  very  unlike  cause.  They  were  incarcerated 
within  the  walls  of  the  old  jail  at  Portsmouth.  That  they  might 
not  attempt  the  role  of  Jack  Shepard,  their  limbs  were  placed  in 
iron  manacles.  They  were  indicted  for  murder,  and  were  to  have 
their  trial  March  21st,  1754. 

Telegraphic  operators  sometimes  send  messages  without  the 
aid  of  a  battery.  The  air,  overcharged  with  electricity,  produces 
an  almost  magical  effect  upon  the  wires,  and  with  hardly  an  effort 
the  thoughts  of  the  operator  leap  thousands  of  miles  away.  Al- 
tliough  there  was  no  telegraph  at  that  time,  still  a  subtle  and  mys- 
terious agency,  almost  as  wonderful,  seemed  to  be  at  work.  It 
pervaded  every  settlement.  An  almost  unexplainable  attraction 
seemed  to  impel  men,  and  on  the  cold  night  of  March  20th,  as  the 
story  is  told,  hundreds  were  threading  their  way  through  the  dark 
and  the  storm.  Down  by  Dover  Neck,  along  by  Squamscott's 
snowy  banks  they  came,  and  up  by  the  ocean  shore,  where  the 
waves  were  "  roaring  on  the  rocks." 

At  midnight  scores  of  dark  forms  crouched  under  the  walls 
of  the  jail,  and  then  simultaneously  rushed  at  the  gate,  broke  it 
in,  knocked  the  irons  from  the  limbs  of  Morrill  and  Bowen,  and 
set  them  free.  In  the  morning  a  thrill  of  excitement  ran  through 
the  community.  Law-abiding  citizens  demanded  their  recapture; 
but  the  larger  number  rejoiced  at  their  escape.  The  two  men  were 
generally  justified.  The  best  men  in  New  Hampshire  had  aided 
them.  Governor  Wentworth  offered  a  reward  for  their  recapture, 
but  no  man  troubled  himself  to  apprehend  them.  In  a  short  time 
they  went  wholly  at  large,  and  an  arrest  could  not  easily  have 
been  made.  If  it  had  been,  as  in  the  case  of  James  the  Second, 
every  body  would  have  been  displeased  with  the  captors,  and 
would  have  given  the  Indian  killers  a  chance  to  run  away  again  as 
fast  as  they  were  able. 

But  something  must  be  done  to  appease  the  Indians,  who  were 
not  so  readily  satisfied.  New  Hampshire  therefore  sent  presents 
to  the  relatives  of  Sabatis  and  Plausawa,  and  with  them  the  blood 
was  wiped  out — but  not  so  with  the  St.  Francis  people.  They 
were  enraged;  they  muttered  threats  of  vengeance.  The  retalia- 
ting blow  was  planned,  and  "  like  a  thunderbolt  it  fell  on  the 


118  HISTORY    OF    WAEREX. 

infant  settlement,  but  a  kind  Providence  pai'tly  averted  its  eflfects." 
It  -was  May  11th,  1754,  one  of  the  brightest  days  of  spring. 
A  party  of  thirty  Indians,  every  one  of  them  painted  lili;e  a  circus 
clo-u'n,  and  with  scalp-locks  dancing  in  the  wind,  had  come  down 
from  Canada.  Nathaniel  Meloou  and  William  Emery,  who  lived 
in  Stevenstown,  now  a  part  of  Franklin,  discovered  them  the  night 
before.  Emery  was  a  wide-awake  man,  and  he  immediately  took 
his  family  to  a  garrison-house  near  by.  But  Meloon  was  dilatory, 
and  like  the  Mr.  Slow  mentioned  in  Mother  GooSB's  melodies,  was 
given  to  procrastination.  His  family  were  all  at  home  in  uncon- 
scious innocence,  except  one  son,  Xathaniel,  Jr.,  who  was  at  work 
in  a  field  near  by.  They  were  taking  a  hearty  breakfast  of  bean 
porridge,  when  they  were  startled  by  the  wild  whoop  of  the 
Indians,  who  had  captured  the  elder  and  slow  Meloon,  as  he  was 
returning  from  the  garrison. 

The  capture  of  the  fi^mily  was  also  but  the  work  of  a  moment, 
and  then  the  painted  demons,  to  speak  in  the  respectful  language 
of  earlier  historians,  brandished  their  tomahawks  and  flourished 
their  scalping-knives,  as  they  proceeded  to  rip  open  feather-beds, 
for  the  sake  of  the  ticks,  and  to  steal  all  the  clothing  and  provis- 
ion they  could  lay  their  hands  upon. 

In  a  wonderfully  short  time  they  sei-ved  Emery's  house  in  the 
same  manner  and  then,  before  the  sun  was  very  high,  were  all  on 
their  way  to  Canada. 

Meloon,  junior,  who  had  seen  the  Indians  approach,  fled  five 
miles  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him,  to  Contoocook,  raised 
eight  men,  and  hurried  back  to  the  rescue.  But  he  was  too  late. 
Father,  mother,  sisters,  brother,  had  been  gone  for  hours.* 

The  people  of  Stevenstown  and  Contoocook  were  terribly 
aroused  by  the  Indian  depredations.  It  was  necessary  to  do  some- 
thing, and  so  Stephen  Gerrish  was  dispatched  to  Portsmouth.  On 
the  17th  of  May — quick  time  in  those  days  of  tote-roads  and 
bridle-paths — he  laid  a  petition  before  the  Governor  and  Council, 
signed  by  all  the  inhabitants,  praying  for  assistance. 

"Oh I  how  we  wish  the  forts  at  Coos  intervals  had  been 
built,"  said  one;  ''And  the  four  hundred  stout  men  with  mus- 

*  Meloon  and  his  family,  ■with  the  exception  of  one  child,  Sarah,  who  died  in 
Canada,  aU  got  safe  home  about  four  vears  afterwards,  having  exijerienced  numer- 
ous hardships  and  many  strange  adveutiu-es.— Potter's  Hist,  of  3Ianchester,  283. 


MORE  MOUNTED  RANGERS.  119 

kets,"  added  auother;  ''Then  our  settlers  would  have  been 
secure,"  said  all.  But  it  was  of  no  use  to  wish  that.  The  next 
best  thiug,  however,  could  be  done.  What  that  was  it  took  a  long 
time  to  determine.  But  finally,  with  great  wisdom  and  foresight 
on  the  part  of  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  and  his  council,  it  was 
ordered  that  twenty  mounted  men — good  cavalry  soldiers — should 
be  sent  to  the  woods  of  Contoocook  and  Stevenstowu,  riding 
through  underbrush  and  over  windfalls,  across  marshes,  bogs,  and 
fens,  with  what  efiectiveness  must  be  very  plain  to  every  one 
familiar  with  the  north  woods  of  Xew  Hampshire. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW  CAPTAIN  PETER  POWERS  MARCHED  GALLANTLY  THROUGH  THE 
PEMIGEWASSETT  COUNTRY  TO  THE  LAND  OF  THE  COOSUCKS,  OP 
A   BRAVE   EXPLOIT   AND   A   HEROIC  RETREAT. 

The  wild  moss-troopers — brave  cavalry  soldiers  as  they 
were — scouted  valiantly  iu  the  shaggy  woods  of  Coiitoocook  and 
Stevenstown.  For  a  month  they  galloped  up  hill  and  for  a  month 
they  galloped  down.  Not  a  red-skin  was  discovered,  for  with 
their  prisoners  and  plunder  they  had  all  gone  to  Canada.  Yet  we 
would  not  detract  a  particle  from  the  merit  of  the  brave  English 
scouts.  Captain  John  Webster  was  leader,  and  a  bold  man  was 
he.  James  Proctor  was  lieutenant  and  Christopher  Gould  was 
clerk.  But  their  month's  term  of  duty  soon  expired  and  they 
returned  home,  having  done  good  service  iu  beating  the  bush 
without  catching  the  bird. 

But  the  high  fuuctionaries  of  the  royal  province  of  New 
Hampshire,  so  loyal  to  George  the  Third — for  the  reader  must 
recollect  that  our  wortliy  ancestry  once  lived  under  a  king — 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  results  of  the  expedition.  They  had 
been  frightened  out  of  the  plan  of  building  strong  fortresses  at 
Coos,  and  now  they  believed  it  necessary  to  hold  that  territory 
with  companies  of  scouts  and  rangers.  So  another  expedition 
was  immediately  planned,  and  Captain  Peter  Powers,  of  Hollis, 
N.  H.,  was  put  in  command.  James  Stevens  was  his  lieutenant, 
and  Ephraim  Hale,  ensign.  Both  these  latter  were  from  Town- 
send,  Massachusetts. 

And  here,  by  the  way,  we  must  acknowledge  our  obligations 
to  the  first  historian  of  Coos,  the  Rev.  Grant  Powers,  in  most 


THE   EXPEDITION  OK  THE   MARCH.  121  ' 

respects  truthful,  yet  not  without  family  pride.  This  is  plainly 
exhibited  when  he  tries  to  exalt  Captain  Peter,  his  grandfather  or 
great-uncle — no  matter  which — into  a  distinguished  traveller,  like 
Marco  Polo  of  former  times,  or  a  Humboldt  of  later  days ;  or  into 
a  great  military  hero  and  explorer,  like  John  Charles  Fremont, 
who  rode  a  woolly  horse  over  a  mountain  18,000  feet  high !  But 
we  honor  the  historian  for  wringing  from  oblivion  so  many  im- 
portant facts  of  history  that  would  soon  have  been  lost  forever. 

Captain  Powers  was  an  active  man.  His  company  immedi- 
ately rendezvoused  at  Rumford,  formerly  Pennacook,  now  Con- 
cord, N.  H.  It  was  June  14th,  1754,  when  the  last  man  of  the 
party  arrived  there.  On  Saturday,  the  loth,  thej^  proceeded  to 
Contoocook,  where  they  tarried  over  the  Sabbath  and  went  to 
meeting,  as  good  Christians  should. 

Let  us  now  pause  here  for  a  moment.  It  is  no  holiday  excur- 
sion upon  which  these  stout  hearts  are  entering.  No  one  of  all 
the  gallant  heroes  who  had  formerly  headed  expeditions  against 
the  bloodthirsty  Arosagunticooks,  had  ever  penetrated  much  far- 
ther north  than  the  AYhite  mountains ;  but  now  Captain  Powers 
was  going  to  eclipse  all  the  historic  deeds  of  pi'evious  brave  Indian 
fighters,  to  plunge  further  into  the  wilderness,  and  perform  deeds 
of  glory  that  should  render  him  immortal. 

We  have  said  they  were  all  ready  for  a  brave  dash  into  the 
northern  wilderness,  and  so  on  Monday  morning,  the  17th,  at  the 
fii'st  dawn,  they  put  their  baggage  into  their^canoes.  By  nine 
o'clock  A.  M.,  a  part  on  the  shore,  a  part  in  their  light  barks,  they 
were  hurrying  up  the  Merrimack.  The  painted  salvages  were  in 
the  upper  country,  and  Captain  Powers'  men  were  eager  for  the 
fray.  They  passed  the  forks,  or  "  crotch"  of  the  river,  where  the 
*'  dark  Aquadocta"  mingles  with  the  bright  Pemigewassett,  pushed 
up  the  latter  stream,  toted  their  baggage  and  canoes  round  the 
falls  and  camped  the  first  night  at  the  head  of  ''the  hundred  rod 
carrying  place." 

Beautiful  weather  greeted  them  in  the  morning,  and  they  shot 
rapidly  up  the  winding  stream,  shut  in  by  green  woods.  The 
winds  i^iped  in  the  foliage,  and  the  wood-thrush  mingled  his 
sweetest  melody  with  the  roar  of  Sawheganet  falls.  Here  they 
saw  great  fat  salmon  shooting  up  the  rushing  waters.    They 


122  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

looked  into  the  dark  opening  from  "wlieuee  came  Squam  river, 
flowing-  from  the  most  beautiful  New  England  lake :  gazed  with 
delight  on  the  broad  intervals  of  Plymouth,  and  saw  in  the  dis- 
tance the  sharp  Haystacks,  yet  white  with  winter's  snow.* 

They  turned  up  the  Asquamchumauke,  otherwise  called  Baker 
river,  which  came  down  from  the  west,  and  paddled  their  light 
canoes  rapidly  along  its  crooked  and  sluggish  course.  The  fourth 
day,  the  setting  sui\  half  an  hour  high,  saw  them  camped  at  the 
foot  of  Rattlesnake  mountain, f  the  most  bold  and  precipitous  peak 
in  the  valley,  and  its  towering  clifts  echoed  to  the  report  of  their 
muskets,  as  they  shot  a  moose  for  their  supper.  They  left  their 
canoes  in  the  shoal  head  water  of  the  river,  thought  they  would 
try  the  west  route  to  the  Connecticut,  and  that  night  thej^  camped 
between  the  two  Baker  ponds  in  the  present  town  of  Orford. 

Storms  of  "haile"  and  ''heavy  showers  of  raine''  kept  them 
here  for  two  days.  This  detention  very  much  tried  the  j)atience 
of  the  Captain  and  his  trusty  scouts.  They  were  eager  to  cope 
with  the  brave  salvages,  whom  they  expected  to  find  at  the  head 
of  the  long  river  tow^-rds  which  they  wei'e  hastening. 

But  Captain  Powers  managed  to  while  away  the  time,  watch- 

*"  Wednesday,  June  Wth,  1654.—  We  marched  on  our  journey,  and  carried  across 
the  long  carrying  place  on  Pemigewassett  river,  two  miles  north-east,  which  land 
hath  a  good  soil,  beech  and  maple,  Mith  a  good  quantity  of  large  masts.  From  the 
place  where  we  put  in  the  canoes  we  steered  east,  noitli-east,  up  the  river  about 
one  mile,  and  tlieu  we  steered  north-east  one  mile,  and  north  six  miles,  up  to 
Sawheganet  Falls,  where  we  carried  by  aboxTt  four  rods;  and  from  the  falls  we 
steered  about  nortli-east  to  Pemigewasset  interval,  two  miles,  and  from  the  beginning 
of  the  interval  we  made  good  our  course  north  I'our  miles,  and  there  camiied  on  a 
narrow  point  of  land.    The  last  four  miles  of  the  river  was  extremely  crooked." 

"  Tliursday,  June  20th. —  \ye  steered  our  course  one  turn  with  another,  which 
were  great  turns,  west  north-west,  about  two  miles  and  a  half,  to  the  crotcli,  or 
parting  of  the  Pemigewasset  river  at  Baker  river  mouth,  thence  from  the  mouth  of 
Baker  river,  up  said  river,  uortli-west  six  miles.  This  river  is  extraordinarily 
crooked,  and  good  interval.  Thence  up  the  river  about  two  miles,  northwest,  and 
there  we  shot  a  moose,  the  sun  about  a  half  an  hour  high,  and  there  camped." 

[This  must  have  been  in  the  to'ivn  of  Romney.] 

"  Friday,  June'llst.  —  We  steered  up  the  said  Bakerriver  with  our  canoes  about 
five  miles,  as  the  river  ran,  which  was  extraordinarily  crooked.  In  the  after  jiart  of 
this  day  there  was  a  great  shower  of  '  haile  and  raine,' which  prevented  our  pro- 
ceeding further  and  here  we  camped  :  and  here  we  left  our  cauoes,  for  the  water  in 
the  river  was  so  shoal  that  we  could  not  go  with  them  any  further." 

"Saturday,  June,  •22rf.  — This  morning  was  dark  and  cloudy  weather,  but  after 
ten  of  the  clock,  it  cleared  ofl'  hot,  and  we  marched  up  the  river,  near  the  Indian 
can-ying  place,  from  Baker  river  to  Connecticut  river,  and  there  camped,  and  could 
not  go  any  further  by  reason  of  a  great  shower  of  rain,  Mdiich  held  almost  all  this 
afternoon." — Capt.  Peter  Powers'  Journal,  Hist,  of  Coos,  18. 

t  Powers  says  the  inliabitants  of  our  valley  can  without  doubt  fix  upon  Capt. 
Peter's  severareucampments  with  tolerable"  accuracy,  and  that  it  must  be  very 
interesting  to  mark  out  the  places  which  were  thus  occupied  by  swords  and  brist- 
ling bayonets  in  1754,  whilst  the  whole  country  around  remained  an  unbroken 
wilderness — History  of  Coos,  19. 


REALITY    VS.   ROMANCE.  123 

ing  the  clouds  whirling  around  the  summits  of  the  lofty  eastern 
mountains,  and  writing  in  his  journal  of  the  broad  and  fertile 
intervals,  the  beautiful  white  pine  that  grew  upon  them,  and  how 
*'  back  from  the  intreval  is  a  considerable  quantity  of  large  moun- 
tains "  which  he  looked  upon  with  much  admiration. 

Eeader,  think  of  the  forest  stretching  a  hundred  miles  away, 
unbroken  by  a  siuglfe  white  man's  clearing ;  of  the  bright  lakes, 
the  silver  rivers  winding  through  the  woods ;  of  the  wild  and 
savage  beasts  that  roamed  and  howled  aud  bellowed  therein ;  of 
the  great  shaggy  mountains,  "  daunting  terrible;''  of  the  numer- 
ous cruel  murders  committed  on  the  frontiers  by  the  Indians ;  of 
this  company  of  stalwart  hearts,  camped  in  storm  of  "  haile  and 
raiue  and  thunder,"  beside  these  exceedingly  solitary  ponds  in  the 
basin  of  the  great  mountains,  each  man  eager  with  trusty  "  Queen's 
arm  "  to  hurry  further  away  into  the  wilderness,  to  fight  what 
were  to  them  veritable  "  painted,  red  demons;  "  perchance  to  be 
slain,  to  be  scalped,  to  be  devoured  by  wolves,  or  to  rot  in  some 
cold  swamp — and  you  have  the  romance  of  Captain  Powers' 
expedition.  Truly  one  might  expect  heroic  deeds  from  such  brave 
men. 

On  Tuesday,  June  25th,  they  struck  Connecticut  river.  Pro- 
ceeding up  the  east  bank  they  crossed  the  Oliverian,  swollen  by 
the  great  rain,  and  pushed  rapidly  forward  until  they  came  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ammonoosuc.  Here  they  tarried  a  day,  built  a 
canoe  with  which  to  cross  the  latter  stream,  aud  there  dismissing 
four  of  the  men  who  were  lame,  sent  them  in  it  down  the  Connec- 
ticut to  ''Number  Four." 

From  Ammonoosuc  river  they  went  tramping  through  the 
woods  northward,  over  John's  river  and  over  Israel's  river,  to 
the  beautiful  interval  of  upper  Coos.  On  this  interval  the  brave 
Captain  left  his  soldiers  to  mend  their  shoes,  and  with  two  men 
proceeded  up  the  Connecticut  "  to  see  what  they  could  discover." 

Five  miles  on  he  met  with  an  Indian  encampment — a  sight 
that  gladdened  his  very  eyes — and  found  where  not  more  than 
two  days  before  they  had  constructed  several  canoes.  Like  every 
other  great  military  hero,  he  was  now  eager  for  the  contest;  so, 
musing  on  tins  sight  for  a  few  moments,  he  returned  to  his  men. 
They  were  soon  mustered  in  battle-array.    A  council  of  war  was 


124:  HISTORY    OF    TTARREK. 

held.  That  their  shoes  were  worn  out,  that  their  provisions  were 
nearly  gone,  that  ther  were  foot-sore  and  lame,  and  that  their  hail- 
pelted  bodies  were  rheumatic — was  all  true.  But  notwithstanding 
this,  now  was  the  time,  and  they  determined  to  make  a  vigorous 
campaign  after  the  Indians,  and  if  possible  to  eclipse  the  renown 
of  the  bold  cavalry  troopers  in  the  woods  of  Stevenstown  and 
Contoocook,  To  do  this  it  was  necessary  there  should  be  a  change 
of  base.  Strategy  must  be  used,  and  this  should  be  the  great 
plan:  They  would  advance  towards  home  on  the  double-quick; 
the  "painted  salvages*'  of  course  would  pursue  them;  the  bold 
strategists  would  then  make  a  deadlv  ambuscade,  and  there  shoot 
and  capture  the  whole  Arosagunticook  army. 

And  here  some  skeptical  reader  may  ask  us  where  we  got  our 
information.  We  can  only  reply,  if  this  was  not  the  "plan,"  what 
was  it? 

But  the  Indians,  obdurate  pagans,  did  not  pursue,  although 
Captain  Powers  advanced  homeward  most  gallantly.  We  are  sin- 
cerely sorry  they  did  not,  for  we  are  thereby  prevented  from 
recording  a  most  fierce  fight,  wherein  Captain  Peter  and  his 
men  would  have  won  immortal  renown,  and  some  hallowed  spot 
on  "  the  long  river  of  pines"  would  have  been  as  celebrated  as  the 
mouth  of  Baker  river  or  Lovewell's  ]Dond. 

The  last  we  hear  of  the  war-party  they  are  hurrying  on 
through  the  gap  of  the  eastern  mountains — the  Oliverian*  notch — 
to  their  canoes  waiting  in  the  Asquamchumauke.  No  doubt  they 
reached  home  in  safety,  for  we  never  heard  anything  to  the  con- 
trary, told  big  stories  of  their  brave  exploits  to  the  day  of  their 
death,  relating  how  they  enjoyed  themselves  killing  moose  and 
deer,  and  eating  the  same,,  how  they  saw  the  pleasant  lauds  about 
Moosilauke  and  the  head  waters  of  the  Asquamchumauke,  and 
how  they  got  well  paid  in  "  old  teuor"  money  for  these  important 
services. 

In  all  probability  the  Governor  thought  this  expedition  would 
aid  materially  in  keeping  ofl' the  Indians ;  indeed,  much  more  than 

*  Saturday,  July  6. — Marched  down  the  great  river  to  Great  Coos,  and  crossed 
the  river  below  the  great  turn  of  clear  interval,  and  there  left  the  great  river,  and 
steered  south  by  east  about  three  miles  and  there  camped. —  Powers'  Hist,  of  Coos,  3J. 

Powers  says  he  knows  no  more  of  the  homeward  march.  The  journal  ceases 
at  the  point  where  he  lelt  the  river.— Do.  32. 


A  MAN(EUVEE    IN  FLANK.  125 

the  two  forts  which  were  to  have  stood  on  the  Coos  intervals,  or 
the  four  hundred  arnaed  men  who  were  to  have  held  them,  or  than 
even  the  two  score  of  moss-troopers  at  Contoocook  and  Stevens- 
town.  But  how  great  must  have  been  his  surprise  at  the  shock- 
ing deeds  committed  by  ihe  Arosagunticook  braves  in  a  very  few 
days  after  Captain  Powers'  gallant  change  of  base,  as  will  be 
truthfully  set  forth  in  this  brief  history  of  Indian  wars,  in  which 
the  armies  marched  and  countermarched  thi'ough  our  much  loved 
territory  of  Warren. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

OF  A  GALLANT  EXPLOIT  ON  THE  NEW  HAHrPSHIEE  FRONTIER,  OF  AN 
EXCITED  CAMP  ON  THE  SHORE  OF  WACHIPAUKA  POND,  WITH 
OTHER  ENTERTAINING  AND  CURIOUS  MATTER,  VERY  INTEREST- 
ING  TO  KNOW. 

Every  child  of  New  England  has  heard  of  the  old  French 
war.  It  had  much  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  our  mountain 
hamlet,  Warren  —  almost  as  much  as  the  creation  of  the  world,  or 
the  discovery  of  America  by  Christopher  Colon.  The  narration  of 
all  its  great  and  important  events  would  be  decidedly  foreign  to 
our  purpose,  and  we  prefer  to  place  ourselves  immediately  in 
meclias  res,  and  only  describe  those  extraordinary  occuri'ences 
that  served  to  make  the  Indian  corn-fields  and  pumpkin  patches, 
fishing  waters  aud  hunting  grounds  under  the  shadows  of  bald 
Moosilauke,  so  Avell-known. 

War  was  declared  in  Europe  in  1753.  A  colonial  congress 
met  at  Albany,  Xew  York,  in  1754,  to  devise  means  of  defence. 
Canada  roused  the  Indians  to  further  hostilities,  aud  the  New 
Hampshire  frontier  bled  again. 

Like  a  wolf  skulking  about  a  sheep-fold,  or  a  thief  crawling 
down  cliimney  at  night,  thirty  brave  Indian  fellows,  armed  cap-a- 
pie,  guns  on  their  shoulders,  scalping-knives  in  their  belts,  plumes 
in  their  tufted  scalp-locks  waving  like  the  white  feather  of  Murat, 
bright  uniforms  in  the  shape  of  dirty  breech-clouts,  and  moose- 
hide  moccasins,  came  down  for  open  war. 

'Twas  the  morn  of  August  loth.  Jolly  Phoebus  had  just 
cooled  his  hissing  hot  asletrecs  in  the  cold  currents  of  the  Atlantic, 
aud  was  driving  pell-mell  up  the  eastern  sky,  when  the  above- 


MURDERS    AT  STEVENSTOWN.  127 

mentioned  war  party  boldly  marched  into  a  little  clearing  in 
Stevenstown.  A  one-story  log  cabin,  with  a  cow  pen  and  pig- 
sty near  by,  stood  on  one  side  of  the  small  field.  Mrs.  Call,  her 
danghter-iu-law,  wife  of  Philip  Call,  and  an  infant  of  the  latter, 
were  there.  Mr.  Call,  and  yonng  Call,  and  Timothy  Cook  were 
at  work  on  the  other  side  of  the  clearing.* 

The  braves  made  directly  for  the  house.  Mrs.  Call,  like  a 
Spartan  mother  or  aEoman  matron,  bravely  met  them  at  the  door. 
Without  a  word  the  foremost  Indian  with  a  blow  of  his  toma- 
hawk felled  her  to  the  earth,  and  her  warm  blood  drenched  the 
threshhold.  lucking  her  dead  body  aside  they  rushed  into  the 
house.  The  young  woman  crept  into  a  hole  behind  the  chimney, 
kept  her  child  quiet,  and  escaped. 

The  father  and  son,  and  Timothy  Cook,  attempted  to  get  into 
the  house  before  the  Indians  but  did  not  succeed.  They  heard  the 
blow  that  knocked  down  Mrs.  Call,  her  scream  and  death  groan, 
and  the  wild  Avar  whoop,  and  then,  as  the  savages  rushed  towards 
them  they  tied.  Cook,  like  Horatius  Codes,  leaped  into  the  river; 
but  unlike  that  Roman  swimmer,  did  not  reach  the  opposite  shore. 
The  Indians  shot  him  from  the  bank.  Dragging  him  from  the 
water  they  peeled  off  his  scalp,  served  Mrs.  Call's  head  in  the 
same  manner,  rifled  the  house,  and  then  took  to  the  woods. 

The  flying  Calls  notified  the  garrison  at  Contoocook,  and  a 
party  of  eight  immediately  went  in  pursuit.  The  Indians  as  yet 
had  taken  no  prisoners,  and  without  these  to  sell  to  the  French 
the  expedition  would  be  unprofitable.  So  one  Indian  got  beside 
a  stump,  another  under  a  windfall,  a  third  behind  a  greenwood 
tree,  and  whole  squads  lay  down  beneath  thick  clumps  of  bushes 
or  the  deep  green  branches  of  the  fir  copse.  In  other  words,  they 
made  a  regular  ambuscade. 

But  somehow  the  keen-eyed  settlers  discovered  them  at  a  dis- 
tance, thanks  to  their  good  fortune,  and  ran  away  as  fast  as  they 
could,  with  the  Indians  in  full  pursuit.  But  one  Enos  Bishop, 
who  was  not  very  nimble-footed,  had  the  ill  luck  to  be  captured. 
The  rest  of  the  party  escaped.  The  captured  man  was  then  com- 
pelled to  go  with  the  enemy,  and  was  that  day  marched  a  long- 
way  towards  the  captive's  happy  land,  Canada. 

♦Potter's  Hist  of  Manchester,  291. 


128  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

Now  it  chanced  that  one  Samuel  Scribner  and  one  John  Bar- 
ker— we  won't  accuse  them  of  laziness — had  left  their  haying 
and  clearing,  and  were  looking  after  beaver  meadows  near  New- 
found lake.  It  was  a  hot  afternoon  and  they  were  sitting  in  the 
shade  of  a  wide-spreading  maple,  by  the  shore  of  the  bright,  spark- 
ling water,  when  the  Indians  suddenly  came  upon  them.  They 
were  so  completely  taken  by  surprise  that  resistance  or  escape  was 
hopeless,  and  much  against  tJieir  inclination  they  were  compelled 
to  leave  the  crystal  sheen,  low  set  among  the  dark  brown  hills, 
and  grace  the  captors'  train. 

Tradition  has  it  that  the  war  party  feared  pursuit,  and  hurried 
rapidly  forward  by  the  shortest  route.*  The  second  night  they 
halted  by  a  little  lake  called  in  the  Indian  tongue,  as  we  have  be- 
fore said,  Wachipaukajf  but  by  modern  civilians,  Meader  pond. 
They  built  their  camp  and  kindled  their  lire  on  the  rocky  beach. 
On  the  opi)osite  shore  a  precipitous  peak  shot  a  thousand  feet  into 
the  clear  blue  sky.  During  the  evening  hours  the  stars  glimmered 
on  the  cool  night-air,  the  full  moon  shone  brightly  on  the  dark 
water,  and  its  rays  glinted  from  the  granite  moiTutain.  At  mid- 
night a  black  cloud  spread  across  the  sky,  darkness  grew  grimmer, 
and  a  thick  fog  from  the  Connecticut,  that  had  crept  up  the  gorge 
of  the  Oliverian,  settling  dank  and  heavy  on  the  craggy  mountain 
brow,  made  the  night  still  more  black.  At  this  moment  John' 
Barker  rose  silently  among  the  sleeping  Indians,  glided  over  them 
like  a  pale  ghost,  unbound  Bishop,  and  gently  endeavored  to  wake 
him.  Just  then  a  wolf  howled  on  the  mountain  top,  a  great  owl 
in  a  lofty  hemlock  answered  back  the  wild  cry,  and  a  sudden  gust 
of  wind  whirled  a  shower  of  sparks  into  the  dark  shadows  of  the 
woods.  An  Indian,  dreaming  perhaps  of  the  land  of  shades,  was 
startled.  He  caught  sight  of  the  dim  form  of  Barker  bending 
over  his  companions.  Leaping  to  his  feet  he  uttered  the  war 
whoop.  Across  the  lake  the  echo-god  returned  the  wald  battle- 
shout,  and  every  brave  sprang  for  his  musket  and  his  tomaliawk. 
Barker  was  seized  and  doubly  bound,  the  other  captives  were 
made  more  secure,  and  thereby  a  second  Mrs.  Duston  tragedy  was 

*  The  Indians  had  a  route-  by  the  lake,  north,  and  they  knew  the  shortest  paths 
as  well  as  tlu'  white  men. 

Acteon  olteu  told  this  story. 

t  Wachipauka  is  from  Wadchu,  mountain,  Sipes,  still  water,  and  auke. 


ESCAPE  OP  BISHOP.  129 

prevented.  There  was  uo  more  sleep  in  the  Indian  camp  that 
night,  and  at  the  earUest  dawn  they  were  threading  their  way 
down  the  wild,  roaring  Oliverian,  to  the  Connecticut. 

In  thirteen  days  they  arrived  at  St.  Francis  village.  Bishop 
and  his  good  friends  rejoiced,  for  they  were  leg-weary,  foot-sore, 
and  half-starved.  Where  Bishop  was  placed  is  not  told,  but  Scrib- 
ner  was  sold  to  a  Frenchman  at  Chamblay,  and  the  valiant  Barker 
to  a  jolly  man  of  the  same  race,  who  lived  near  the  Indian  village. 

Enos  Bishop  practiced  with  his  heels  that  year,  and  one  night 
ran  away,  as  any  other  white  man  wonld  have  done  under  similar 
circumstances.*  Bnt  he  had  a  hard  time  of  it.  After  toiling  for 
eighteen  days  through  the  wilderness,  suffering  intensely  from 
fatigue  and  hunger,  he  reached  Number  Foui-,  from  whence  he 
returned  to  his  family  at  Contoocook.  Barker  and  Scribner  were 
shortly  after  redeemed. 

Precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  when  Meloon  and  his  family 
were  captured,  the  inhabitants  on  the  frontier  were  all  terribly 
frightened.  Andrew  McClary,  of  Epsom,  a  descendant  of  the 
Scotch  covenanters,  was  deputed  Mercury.  Like  the  swift  son 
of  MaijB,  with  winged  feet  he  flew  to  Portsmouth  and  narrated 
to  the  Honorable  Governor  and  the  worthy  council  the  sad  deaths 
of  Mrs.  Call  and  Timothy  Cook,  the  probable  capture  of  the 
missing  men,  and  the  great  fight  of  the  renowned  eight,  who  went 
out  to  see  the  Indians,  while  only  seven  returned,  and  that  every 
family  on  the  frontier,  to  the  number  of  eight  all  told,  had  left 
their  fields,  corn,  hay,  flocks,  herds,  and  homes,  and  had  come 
down  to  the  lower  towns. 

His  Excellency  was  astounded.  The  council  looked  aghast. 
But  they  proved  themselves  equal  to  the  great  emergency.  The 
trumpet  was  not  immediately  sounded,  but  the  decree  went  forth. 

*  Extract  of  a  letter  from  an  officer  in  Chai-leston,  otherwise  called  Number 
Four,  in  the  pi'ovince  of  New  Hamp.shire,  dated  October  4th,  IToO : 

"This  day  arrived  liere  one  Enoch  Byshop,  an  English  captive  from  Canada, 
who  was  taken  from  Contoocook  about  two  years  since.  He  left  Canada  twenty-six 
days  ago,  in  company  witli  two  other  English  captives,  viz :  William  Hair,  entered 
into  General  Shirley's  regiment,  and  taken  at  Osewego,  (the  other  name  unknown). 
They  came  away  from  Canada,  without  guns,  hatchet  or  lire-works,  and  no  more 
than  three  loaves  of  bread  and  four  jiounds  of  pork.  As  they  sufl'ered  niucli  for 
■want  of  provisions,  his  companions  were  not  able  to  travel  any  furtlier  than  a  little 
on  this  side  of  Cowass,  wliere  he  was  obliged  to  leave  them  last  Lord's  day,  with- 
out any  sustenance  but  a  few  berries.  Six  men  were  this  evening  sent  out  to  look 
for  them,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  they  perished  in  the  wilderness."— [Copied  from 
the  Xew  York  Mercury  of  October  '25tli,  lirtij,  in  the  library  of  the  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc, 
by  John  Libbey  ]. 

I 


130  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

But  that  they  might  show  themselves  men  of  deliberation  and  firm- 
ness, they  caused  said  decree  to  be  entered  on  the  council  minutes 
as  follows:  "  Whereas,  That  the  settlers  might  be  encouraged 
to  return  to  their  habitations  and  secure  their  cattle  and  harvests, 
and  to  encourage  other  frontiers  in  that  quarter,  His  Excellency 
be  desired  to  give  immediate  orders  for  enlisting  or  impressing 
such  a  number  of  men  as  he  may  think  proper,  and  dispose  of  the 
same." 

Governor  "VYentworth  acted.  A  detachment  of  Capt,  Odlin's 
troop  of  twenty  horse,  with  an  officer  in  command,  also  a  like 
detachment  of  Capt.  Stevens'  troop,  were  ordered  to  Stevenstown 
to  guard  the  inhabitants  on  the  frontier. 

But  Governor  "VYentworth  was  no  fool.  The  idea  did  creep 
into  his  head  that  a  few  foot  soldiers,  fitted  out  in  the  Indian  style, 
would  be  about  as  efiective  in  fighting  the  painted  red-skins  as 
good  cavalry  troopers.  Whereupon  he  immediately  issued  a  fur- 
ther order  to  Colonel  Joseph  Blanchard,  that  he  forthwith  enlist 
and  impress  fifty,  or  more  men,  if  he  thought  that  number  insuffi- 
cient, that  he  put  them  under  an  able  and  brave  officer,  one  in 
whom  he  could  confide,  and  order  them  to  march  immediately  to 
Contoocook  and  Stevenstown.  Then  he  added — and  may  be  the 
framers  of  the  great  constitution  of  the  United  States  copied  this 
illustrious  example  when  they  inserted  the  clause  whereby  Con- 
gress should  vote  supplies  for  the  army, —  "I  have  convened  the- 
General  Assembly.  It  will  vote  pay  and  supplies.  The  soldiers 
shall  not  want." 

Colonel  Blanchard  was  a  brave  officer.  He  immediately  per- 
formed his  duty.  Our  brave  Captain  John  Goffe,  of  Amoskeag, 
marched  to  the  scene  of  action.  He  behaved  valiantly.  For 
many  a  hot  summer  day  he  scouted  through  all  the  wild  border, 
far  up  the  Merrimack  towards  our  beloved  land,  but  not  an  Indian 
did  he  encounter. 

And  here  a  great  historian,  a  lover  of  that  race  whose  council 
fires  have  gone  out,  whose  war  songs  are  no  longer  heard,  whose 
name  only  is  chronicled  by  their  destroyers,  exclaims  with  much 
dignity  and  self-congratulation,  that  "the  promptness  of  Governor 
Wentworth  in  this  emergency,  and  the  effective  force  detailed, 
preserved  the  inhabitants  of  the  Merrimack  valley  from  any  further 


POOR   PROTECTION.  131 

molestation,"  when  in  fact  there  was  not  an  Indian  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  place,  and  there  did  not  choose  to  be.  They 
had  accomplished  their  purpose,  and  laughing  in  their  moccasins, 
with  dangling  scalp  locks  and  groaning  captives  they  had  gone  to 
Canada. 

Men  frequently  buy  a  padlock  for  the  stable  door  after  the 
horse  is  stolen.  So  New  Hampshire  afforded  protection  after  the 
blow  was  struck. 

But  if  Governor  Wentworth  did  protect  the  Merrimack  valley 
he  did  not  the  Connecticut,  and  he  would  have  displayed  his 
promptness  to  better  advantage  if  he  had  also  sent  a ''scout"  to 
the  latter  place  for  a  "preventive,"  as  we  shall  immediately  pro- 
ceed to  show. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  MANNEK  THE  BRAVE  AROSAGUNTICOOKS  OF  ST. 
FRANCIS  PASSED  CAPTAIN  GOFFE ;  THE  CAPTURE  OF  THE  JOHN- 
SON FAMILY,  WITH  OTHER  INCIDENTS  NO  DOUBT  VERY  INTER- 
ESTING TO  THE  participants;  TOGETHER  WITH  THE  FIRST 
CAMPAIGN  OF   THE   OLD   FRENCH   WAR. 


J-HE  St.  Francis  ludians,  the  great  nation  of  the  Arosa- 
gunticooks,  were  cunning  men.  Whether,  like  the  Spartan  youth, 
their  understanding  was  cultivated  in  order  that  they  might  suc- 
cessfully practice  craft,  shrewdness,  and  honorable  deception  in 
war  is  not  recorded,  but  we  rather  suspect  it  was.  Like  the  Spar- 
tans also  they  had  a  terse  brevity  in  their  speech  that  might  well 
be  termed  laconic.  But,  unlike  the  Spartans,  they  were  fond  of 
rough  romance  and  poetry.  There  is  no  doubt  of  this.  Many  a 
wild  legend  could  their  medicine  man  recount ;  many  a  plaintive 
air  did  the  Indian  lover  sing,  as  with  palpitating  heart  he  wood  his 
dusky  mate ;  and  they  always  went  forth  to  battle  with  the  war- 
song  pealing  high.  But  the  modest  souls  would  never  sing  when 
they  came  near  the  enemy. 

Captain  Goffe  scouted  up  the  Merrimack.  He  paddled  his 
canoe  in  the  bright  Pemigewassett  and  turned  its  prow  up  the 
Asquamchumauke.  He  snufled  the  winds  laden  with  forest  sweets, 
as  over  bending  woods  and  rustling  leaves  they  came  frolicking 
on  their  way  from  the  Haystacks.  And  on  the  very  morn  of  the 
day  of  his  return,  when  Aurora  stepped  blushing  like  a  modest 
damsel  into  the  eastern  sky,  aud  the  sunbeams  were  kindling  in 
purple  and  gold  on  Moosilauke's  bald  crest,  about  thirty  mighty 
savages  were  over  the  highlands  in  the  Connecticut  vallev,  and 


BORN  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES.  133 

already  were  hurryiug  down  ''the  long  river  of  pines."  Two 
days  afterwards,  August  29th,  they  were  at  Number  Four.  Downy 
couches  on  the  bosom  of  mother  earth  did  not  woo  their  slumbers 
long.  They  were  early  risers.  They  leaped  over  the  hedge  on  the 
border  of  the  woods  before  a  white  man  was  stirring  or  a  blue 
smoke  curling  from  a  cabin  chimney.  But  a  white  family  did  stir 
quickly  in  James  Johnson's  house  two  minutes  afterwards.  John- 
son, wife,  three  children,  and  IMiriam  Williard,  Mrs.  Johnson's 
sister,  together  Avith  Peter  Larabee  and  Ebenezer  Farnsworth, 
who  were  lodging  there  that  night,  with  all  the  household  provis- 
ions and  furniture  to  which  the  ''war-hawks"  took  a  fancy,  consti- 
tuted the  spolia  optiyna.  These  captives  and  this  plunder  were 
about  as  much  as  the  war  party  could  conveniently  manage,  and 
so  they  concluded  to  instantly  decamp.  As  their  appearance  had 
been  sudden,  their  disappearance  was  more  so.  Not  a  white  set- 
tler knew  of  the  dire  catastrophe  for  a  long  time  afterwards. 

But  the  spoils  were  cumbersome,  the  children  were  young, 
and  Mrs.  Johnson  in  a  very  critical  condition,  so  they  did  not 
travel  very  far  that  day.  On  the  morrow,  in  the  deep  wilderness, 
fifteen  miles  from  her  home,  Mrs.  Johnson  gave  birth  to  a  daugh- 
ter. The  sailor  boy,  born  on  the  deep  blue  sea,  has  Neptune  beat- 
ing time  with  foamy  trident  to  his  own  deep  basso  of  thanksgiving 
and  praise  at  the  christening,  so  that  ever  after  the  boy  loves 
the  crested  waves  and  the  music  of  the  winds  piping  in  the 
shrouds.  So  Ceres,  the  earth  mother,  assisted  at  the  birth  of  the 
forest  child,  and  all  the  sylvan  nymphs  danced  for  joy,  as  they 
crowned  the  little  cherub  with  garlands  of  wild-flowers,  kissed 
dimples  into  her  rosy  cheeks  and  covered  with  nectar  her  glowing 
lips. 

The  mother  called  the  daughter  "  Captive."  But  whether  in 
after  life  she  loved  the  wild  woods,  its  cool  dells  and  shaded  grot- 
tos, its  deep  green  foliage,  its  singing  birds,  its  wild  wind  sighing 
through  the  branches,  or  its  deep  and  awful  roar  in  the  storm — 
like  the  voice  of  the  distant  ocean — we  cannot  say.  All  we  do 
know  of  her  further  is  that  she  lived  to  be  married  like  other 
women,  and  found  a  kind  husband  in  one  George  Kimball.  He 
was  a  colonel  of  foot-soldiers,  but  whether  serving  in  the  militia 
or  in  the  wars  we  were  never  informed. 


134  HISTORY    OF    TV'AKREN. 

The  Indians  may  be  called  cruel  savages  for  carrying  oflF  this 
family  and  plundering  their  dwelling;  but  this  time  they  can 
not  be  called  human  butchers.  As  our  readers  must  already  know, 
they  did  not  dash  out  little  Captive's  brains  against  the  nearest 
tree;  on  the  contrary,  they  kindly  cared  for  her.  waited  a  whole 
day  for  Mrs.  Johnson,  carried  the  unfortunate  mother  on  a  litter, 
and  afterwards  it  is  said,  though  we  somewhat  doubt  it,  furnished 
her  with  a  horse.  Like  a  man  who  would  keep  his  ox  well,  or 
like  the  master  who  would  have  fat  sleek  slaves,  this  was  not  all 
done  out  of  pure  kindness  of  heart.  On  reaching  Canada  the  In- 
dians sold  all  the  big  captives — and  little  Captive  also — to  the 
French  for  a  good  round  sum.  But  an  early  historian  of  this  sad 
tale  says  that  they  met  with  great  difficulties  and  experienced 
great  suffering  at  the  hands  of  these  polite  descendants  of  the 
noble  Franks.  After  two  long  years,  Mrs.  Johnson,  her  sister, 
and  two  daughters  returned  home.  Where  went  Larabee  and 
Farnsworth  is  not  recorded.  Mr.  Johnson  did  not  behave  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  the  hospitable  sons  of  Gaul,  and  so  for 
three  years  he  was  kindly  suffered  to  i^iue  in  a  Canadian  prison. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  he  with  his  son  had  the  good  fortune  to 
return  to  iN'umber  Four  by  way  of  Boston. 

But  the  eldest  daughter  had  a  different  fate.  Like  many 
another  giddy  damsel,  she  became  deeply  enamored  of  the  things 
of  the  new  country.  She  became  either  so  exceedingly  wise  or 
foolish,  we  can  hardly  tell  which,  that  she  fell  in  love  with  a 
shaved  head,  a  straight  gown,  a  white  veil,  a  string  of  beads,  a 
Latin  prayer-book,  and  a  chapel  bell,  and  in  a  nunnery  concluded 
to  spend  a  portion  of  her  days  in  the  enjoyment  of  "those  religious 
festivities  in  which  some  priests,  certain  shaking  quaker  elders, 
and  not  a  few  ministers,  so  much  delight  ."* 

If  a  messenger  went  to  Portsmouth  to  tell  of  this  hostile 
inroad  of  the  enemy,  we  are  not  informed  of  the  fact.  At  anj^ 
rate  no  particular  notice  was  taken  of  it.  Settlers  in  the  Connec- 
ticut valley  might  take  care  of  themselves  or  look  to  Massachusetts 
for  aid.  New  Hampshire  could  not  now  attend  to  them.  The 
times   were   pregnant  with  great  events.      Even   the   shrieking 

*Thus  wrote  certain  historians  long  ago;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  they 
hated  all  religions  except  their  own. 


THREE  ARCHES   IX  THE   FIELD.  135 

autumn  blast  portended  horrid  war.  Mars,  hot  and  fierce,  leaped 
across  the  Atlantic  on  an  angry  visit  to  the  New  World.  All  the 
gods  buckled  on  their  ai'mor  and  put  themselves  in  battle  array. 
The  mighty  deep  was  lashed  in  fury,  as  hostile  fleets  swept  over 
it ;  the  pent-up  fires  in  the  earth  beneath  blazed  anew  under  the 
tramp  of  hostile  squadrons,  and  the  aAvful  bolts  of  Jove  thundered 
at  mid- winter  in  the  heavens. 

Three  armies,  such  as  the  western  world  had  never  before 
seen,  were  put  in  rapid  motion.  General  Braddock,  accompanied 
by  Washington,  penetrated  the  southern  wilderness.  His  destina- 
tion was  Fort  Dn  Quesne,  on  the  Ohio  river.  But  he  never 
reached  it.  He  perished,  with  three-fourths  of  his  gallant  soldiers, 
in  the  dark  forests  of  the  Alleghanies.  Governer  Shirley  led  a 
second  army  against  Fort  Niagara.  With  his  cannon  he  was  to 
batter  down  its  strong  walls.  But  their  roar  never  mingled  with 
the  thunder  of  the  mighty  cataract  near  which  stood  the  forti'ess. 
The  expedition  was  a  failure.  General  Johnston  led  a  third  force 
against  Fort  Edward.  And  here  fortune  favored  the  hero.  New 
Hampshire  furnished  a  regiment  for  his  army,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Blauchard,  of  Dunstable,  now  Nashua. 

How  they  rendezvoused  at  Stevenstown,  and  marched  and 
countermarched  through  our  beloved  Pemigewassett  country,  up 
the  Asquamchumauke,  and  across  the  land  now  called  Warren 
and  so  to  the  Coos  country,  we  shall  endeavor  most  faithfully  to 
narrate. 


CHAPTER  X. 

TREATING  OF  THE  ASSEMBLING  OF  THE  REGIMENT  AND  THE  BUILD- 
ING OF  THE  LOG  FORTRESS  AT  COOS,  WITH  OTHER  INTERESTING 
ADVENTURES   IN   THE   COUNTRY   ABOUT  LAKE   CHAMPLAIN. 

i-HE  call  to  arms  was  sounded.  Mars'  messengers  went 
forth  and  New  Hampshire  was  quick  to  respond.  In  the  style  of 
the  old  Scotch  poets  it  is  related  how  from  Strawberry  Bank, 
Boar's  Head,  and  Dover  Neck,  came  a  company  of  hardy  ship 
builders,  cod  tishers,  and  fur  traders, —  men  used  to  hard  knocks, 
to  ocean's  battling  storms,  and  cunning  wiles  of  Indians.  From 
Squamscott's  winding  valley,  Newichannock's  bright  stream, 
and  Pautuckaway's  deep  indented  shores,  came  a  company  of  stal- 
wart farmers,  full  fifty  strong.  From  Massabesic's  blue  waves, 
the  twin  Uncanoonucks,  and  the  falls  of  Amoskeag,  came  Fraziers, 
McKenzies,  Campbells,  and  Grants,  Scotia's  descendants,  amount- 
ing to  Uvo  full  companies.  The  latter  were  potato-planting  men, 
linen  spinners, — besides  numei'ous  shad,  eel,  and  salmon  fishers  — 
all  good  tough  fellows,  used  to  shillalah  fights,  and  not  a  few  had 
taken  many  a  bout  in  the  woods  after  the  Indians.  From  the 
pebbly-bottomed  Nashua,  the  cloud-capped  Monadnock,  and  the 
frontier  about  bristling  Kearsarge,  came  farmers,  hunters,  trap- 
pers, and  wild  borderers.  Captain  Goffe  and  Captain  Moore,  both 
brave  Derryfielders,  men  who  never  quailed  beneath  the  Indian's 
eagle  eye  (to  put  it  grandly),  and  who  loved  the  music  of  the 
whirring  tomahawk  and  the  singing  shot,  each  commanded  a 
company. 

Captain  Robert  Rogers,  of  Starkstown,  now  Dunbarton,  whom 
the  war-cry  of  a  thousand  braves  could  not  move  a  hair,  marched 


THE  "rangers."  137 

at  the  head  of  seventy  jolly  bruisers,  who  were  accustomed  to  fish 
at  Amoskeag  falls.  Noah  Johnson  was  one  of  his  lieutenants  and 
John  Stark  was  the  other.  The  latter  was  now  along,  lank  young 
man,  with  a  frame  not  encased  in  a  coat  of  mail,  but  in  iron  muscle, 
with  a  physique  which  could  endure  without  a  moment's  sleep  a 
march  of  a  hundred  long  miles  through  the  suow  when  four  feet 
deep.  AVith  these  lieutenants,  Kogers  had  the  bravest  company  of 
the  old  French  war.  They  were  known  as  the  "Rangers."  They 
carried  but  little  baggage  and  were  lightly  armed ;  and  as  the 
French  employed  the  Indians,  so  were  these  employed  by  the  Eng- 
lish to  scour  the  woods,  to  waylay  the  enemy,  or  to  obtain  supplies. 

As  Xerxes  rendezvoused  at  Capadocian  Critella,  or  the  Greeks 
of  Cyrus  the  Younger  at  Sardis,  so  all  these  great  companies,  fully 
equipped,  with  knapsacks  on  their  backs,  canteens  and  haversacks 
at  their  sides,  and  old  queen's  arms  on  their  shoulders,  debouched 
from  the  deep  wilderness  upon  the  broad  Merrimack  intervals  at 
Bakerstown,  alias  Stevenstown,  now  Franklin,  N.  H.  Colonel 
Blanchard,  of  Dunstable,  as  we  have  before  stated,  was  the  great 
generalissimo  or  commander-in-chief. 

There  was  a  log  fortress  in  the  centre  of  the  black  stump 
clearing  at  Stevenstown.  The  said  clearing  was  afterwards  a  fine 
field,  owned  by  the  Hon.  Daniel  "Webster.  Around  the  above- 
mentioned  fortress  Colonel  Blanchard  mustered  liis  regiment, 
while  all  day  long  was  heard  the  din  of  preparation,  as  the 
sappers  and  miners  and  artisans  were  engaged  in  building  ba- 
teaux on  the  river  bank.  AVith  these  they  were  going  to  transport 
their  baggage  along  the  navigable  waters. 

Governor  Wentworth,  as  we  have  before  shown,  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly learned  man  in  the  arts  of  war.  He  had  sent  good 
cavalry  soldiers,  jolly  moss-troopers,  to  scout  through  the  wind- 
falls and  tangled  thickets.  He  was  also  a  man  of  taste  and  fond 
of  artistic  beauty.  This  was  very  commendable,  and  he  exhibited 
it  by  building  for  himself  a  beautiful  rustic  residence  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  "Winnepisseogee,  from  the  silver  surface  of  which  as  he 
glided  along  in  his  sailboat  he  could  see  the  gaged  hackmatack 
mountains  in  the  great  wild  north.  He  now  showed  himself  a 
gi-eater  geographer  than  Ptolemy  or  Christopher  Columbus  him- 
self, for  he  verily  believed  that  Albany,  the  place  to  which  he  was 


138  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

to  send  the  regiment,  lay  in  the  path  of  a  direct  line  drawn  frorij 
Stevenstowu  to  the  north  pole.  Besides,  all  his  council  and  con- 
fidential advisers  believed  the  same.  So  the  order  was  issued  to 
Colonel  Blanchard,  and  that  gallant  officer  in  turn  commanded 
Captain  Rogers  to  proceed  with  his  rangers  due  north  one  degree 
west  to  the  upper  Coos  meadows,  and  there  construct  a  fort  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  little  ai'my  when  it  should  follow. 

The  rangers  left  the  old  garrison  house  in  the  before-mentioned 
field  and  followed  the  trail  up  the  Merrimack.  With  their  trusty 
queen's  arms  on  their  shoulders,  their  hunting  knives  in  their 
belts,  their  wolf-skiu  caps,  their  bright  red  shirts,  buttoned  close 
about  their  throats,  their  short  sheep's-gray  frocks  tucked  within 
their  moose  hide  or  sheep-skin  pants,  and  with  real  Indian  moc- 
casins on  their  feet,  the  rangers  presented  even  a  more  picturesque 
appearance  than  their  painted  foe,  with  tufted  scalp-locks,  dirty 
breech  clouts,  and  long-haired  leggins. 

They  pushed  up  the  Asquamchumauke,  camped  one  night  on 
the  shore  of  the  cold  mountain  lake,  Wachipauka,  under  the  shadow 
of  precipitous  AYebster  Slide,  and  in  six  days  reached  the  upper 
meadows.  They  built  the  fort  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Connecti- 
cut, just  below  the  mouth  of  the  upi^er  Ammonoosuc  river,  in  the 
l^resent  town  of  Northumberland.  It  was  constructed  of  huge 
logs  from  the  dense  wilderness  and  the  summer  winds  now  sighed 
through  the  thick  leaved  trees  and  anon  moaned  around  the  pick- 
etted  palisades  of  the  wooden  fortress. 

After  they  had  completed  the  work  of  course  there  must  be  a 
christening.  So  each  ranger  took  a  good  swig  of  old  West  India 
from  his  canteen  —  thus  pouring  a  libation  to  the  sylvan  deities. 
Then  an  old  soldier,  mounting  the  topmost  timber,  delivered  him- 
self of  a  short  speech,  this  being  a  part  of  the  ceremony  of 
"naming  the  building,"  as  was  the  old  time-out-of-mind  custom, 
in  which  without  doubt  he  remarked  what  a  good  geographer  the 
governor  was,  and  ended  by  calling  the  stronghold.  Fort  Went- ' 
worth.  Then  the  orator  descended  from  the  rostrum,  and  the 
whole  company  joined  in  three  lusty  cheers,  which  awoke  all  the 
bats,  owls,  and  similar  drowsy  gods  for  many  a  league  around. 
They  then  sat  down  to  a  bountiful  feast  of  corn  cakes  and  fresh 


GOVERNOR  WENTWORTH'S  GEOGRAPHY.  139 

moose  meat,  of  which  last  they  had  taken  care  to  secure  an  ample 
quantity. 

On  the  morrow  a  messenger  came.  His  Excellency  had  dis- 
covered a  slight  mistake  in  his  reckoning.  He  had  come  to  the 
sage  conclusion  that  Albany  lay  nearer  a  line  drawn  due  west 
from  Stevenstown  to  China  than  that  to  the  north  pole.  Captain 
Kogers  received  a  difl'erent  order.  With  his  rangers  he  left  the 
ungarrisoued  fort  to  slowly  rot  away  under  the  shadow  of  the 
white  summits  of  Percy  peaks,  and  marched  directly  to  Number 
Four.  From  thence  with  the  rest  of  the  regiment  they  struggled 
through  the  wilderness  over  the  Green  mountains  and  joined  Gen- 
eral Lyman,  who  commanded  the  New  England  troops. 

In  the  campaigns  about  Lake  George,  Crown  Point,  and  Ticon- 
deroga,  the  whole  New  Hampshire  regiment,  by  their  endurance 
and  daring,  won  an  envi&ble  reputation.  But  Kogers — who  soon 
rose  to  the  rank  of  Major — far  exceeded  all  the  rest  with  his  bold 
rangers.  They  fought  like  heroes  every  man,  when  at  the  capitu- 
lation of  Oswego  the  savages  butchered  the  captive  English  by 
scores.  They  were  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  when  at  Fort  William 
Henry  the  butchery  of  Oswego  was  re-enacted  with  additional 
scenes  of  horror. 

The  heroes  of  Charles  the  Twelfth  never  won  brighter  renown 
than  the  New  Hampshire  contingent,  when  Kogers  with  only  one 
hundred  and  eighty  of  his  I'angers  fell  into  an  ambush  of  over 
seven  hundred  French  and  Indians.  At  midwinter,  with  the  mer- 
cury below  zero,  in  a  dense  forest,  and  with  the  snow  four  feet 
deep,  they  fought  all  day  long.  The  blood  of  many  a  poor  fellow 
stained  the  crystal  snow,  and  at  night  the  moon  gleamed  on  the 
crimson  crust.  In  the  twilight  Rogers  at  the  head  of  his  few 
comrades  charged  up  the  hill  against  the  Rue  of  the  enemy,  broke 
it,  and  escaped.  A  mile  away  over  the  ridge  they  met  John  Stark 
coming  to  their  relief. 

He  who  fought  at  Trenton,  the  hero  of  Bennington,  left  his 
blanket,  his  provision,  and  his  soldiers  to  protect  Kogers,  and  alone 
pushed  back  on  his  trail  forty  miles,through  the  wilderness  to  Fort 
Edward.  He  reached  it  a  little  past  midnight,  obtained  a  company 
of  soldiers,  also  handsleds  for  the  wounded,  returned  on  his  track, 
and  burst  in  upon  Kogers'  camp  at  a  little  past  noon.    John  Stark 


140  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

had  travelled  a  hundred  and.  tioenty  miles  in  less  than  two  days, 
tvithout  rest  and  without  a  moment's  sleep. 

But  the  crowning  achievement  of  tlie  rangers  was  their  de- 
struction of  the  St.  Francis  village  and  their  retreat  through  the 
wilderness  to  the  meadows  of  Coos,  Ij'ing  green  beneath  the 
shadows  of  lofty  Moosilauke.  As  this  was  the  effective  stroke 
that  opened  our  northern  paradise,  Warren,  to  the  white  settler, 
we  shall  endeavor  to  faithfully  narrate  all  its  most  interesting 
details. 


CHAPTER  XL 

A  LONG  MARCH  THROUGH  THE  WOODS  ;  A  TERRIBLE  ATTACK  ON  AN 
INDIAN  VHLLAGE;  A  BLOODY  BUTCHERY  —  AWFUL  TO  THE  PAR- 
TICIPANTS—  BUT   WITHAL  VERY   PLEASANT   TO   READ   ABOUT. 

Like  Robin  Hood's  forest,  like  the  villages  of  the  Norman 
freebooters,  or  in  later  times  like  Algiers,  the  rendezvous  of  the 
Algerine  pirates,  numerous  war  parties  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury had  continually  been  dispatched  from  the  little  village  of  St. 
Francis  to  harass  the  English  pioneers.  Located  at  the  confluence 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  St.  Francis  rivers,  it  was  of  easy 
access.  From  it  they  could  proceed  to  Lake  Champlain  by  the 
river  Sorrel,  or  ascend  the  river  St.  Francis,  cross  the  highlands 
to  the  Connecticut,  and  drop  down  the  latter  stream.  Then,  hang- 
ing like  a  black  cloud  over  the  border  settlements,  they  would 
hurl  their  fury  upon  the  defenceless  inhabitants,  and  fly  back  with 
scalps  and  captives,  to  receive  their  reward  from  the  French.  In 
this  manner  they  had  made  the  Pemigewassett  territory  a  danger- 
ous abiding-place,  and  kept  new  settlers  far  away  from  the  histor- 
ical land  of  "Warren. 

A  long  continued  warfare  had  enriched  the  St.  Francis  village, 
and  forty  dwellings,  thrown  together  in  a  disorderly  clump,  pre- 
sented a  strange  contrast  to  the  ancient  Indian  wigwams.  A  small 
Catholic  church  stood  in  the  midst.  In  its  steeple  hung  a  bell 
brought  from  France,  whose  clear  tones  summoned  the  villagers 
to  matin  hymns  and  holy  vespers.  Within  its  walls  waxen  can- 
dles shed  their  flickering  light  on  golden  crosses.  Pictures  of 
patron  saints  hung  on  the  dingy  columns.  In  a  niche  behind  the 
altar  stood  a  large  silver  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  while  in  the 
low  gallery  was  a  small  but  beautiful  organ  of  excellent  tone. 


142  HISTORY    OF    -BARREN. 

Their  worship  here,  as  Lord  Macaulay.has  perhaps  unjustly 
remarked,  was  what  the  Catholic  religion  ever  is  to  the  ignorant 
and  superstitions  —  an  appeal  to  the  senses  and  the  passions  rather 
than  to  the  understanding.  Pictures,  crosses,  gorgeous  altars 
and  images,  charmed  the  eye.  The  beautiful  strains  of  the  organ, 
now  soft  and  delicate  as  the  notes  of  an  a^olian  harp,  now  rushing 
and  wild  as  the  storm  on  the  mountains,  anon  deep  and  heavy  as 
the  muttering  of  distant  thunder,  enraptured  the  ear,  while  burn- 
ing incense  in  the  censer  of  the  French  friar  who  officiated,  his 
mj'stic  words  and  chant  accompanying,  and  the  tolling  of  the 
concealed  bell,  made  the  Sabbath  worship  most  impressive,  and 
cast  a  strange  spell  over  the  wild  spirits  of  the  savage  braves. 
But  the  very  pious  French  friar  of  St.  Francis  had  other  duties 
besides  ministering  to  the  religious  wants  of  the  red  men.  It  is 
said  that  he  was  the  modest,  meek,  and  holy  tool  of  the  very  hon- 
est and  peaceable  French  government.  "With  his  keen  perception 
of  human  nature,  and  his  ^' good  Jesuitical  qualities,"  he  was  to 
the  Indians  what  the  legislative  branch  is  in  a  civil  government. 
He  voted  war,  and  stirred  up  his  devout  church  members  to  fight 
the  English,  while  the  grand  sachem,  a  brave  chief — once  person- 
ated in  the  heretofore  mentioned  and  renowned  Acteon — was  the 
executive.  For  he,  like  most  good  Catholics,  implicitly  obeyed 
the  priest  and  led  the  war-parties. 

As  the  conquest  of  Canada  now  appeared  quite  probable,  it 
was  thought  good  policy  to  make  peace  with  these  Indians.  Ac- 
cordingly the  British  commander  sent  Captain  Kennedy  with  a  flag 
of  truce  to  arrange  a  treaty.  But  they  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
how  politely  Captain  Stevens  had  received  them,  and  how  they 
had  been  entertained  with  sundrj^  mugs  of  flip,  when  their  own 
flag  of  truce  was  presented  at  Number  Four.  With  a  sort  of  Punic 
faith  or  Eoman  honor,  they  seized  the  gallant  captain  and  made 
him  their  prisoner. 

This  proceeding  enraged  General  Amherst.  He  resolved  to 
chastise  them  and  teach  them  a  short  lesson  in  the  law  of  nations 
that  seemed  to  have  escaped  their  memory.  For  this  purpose  he 
issued,  September  13th,  1759,  the  following  order: 

"Maj.  Rogers:  This  night  join  the  detachment  of  two  hun- 
dred rangers  yesterday  ordered  out.    Proceed  to  Mississqui  baj'. 


DELENDA  EST  CARTHARGO.  143 

March  from  theuce  through  tlie  woods.  Attack  the  settlements  on 
tlie  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Effectually  disgrace  and 
injure  the  enemy.  Let  honor  and  success  attend  tlie  English  arms. 
Remember  barbarities  committed  by  the  enemy's  Indian  scoun- 
drels. Take  deep  revenge  —  but  spare  the  women  and  children. 
Neither  kill  nor  hurt  them.  AVheu  you  have  performed  this  ser- 
vice, join  the  army  again."* 

This  order  was  worthy  of  a  Spartan  Cleomenes  or  Agesilaus, 
and  the  way  in  which  it  was  executed  was  equal  to  a  feat  of  old 
Scotch  Mclan,  or  the  sally  of  a  horde  of  Tartars  from  their  fast- 
nesses on  the  steppes  of  Asia. 

Rogers  and  his  men  struck  camp  that  very  night.  Embarking 
in  bateaux,  for  ten  days  they  kept  directly  down  Lake  Champlain, 
The  weather  Avas  delightful.  The  hardy  )-angers  vigorously  plied 
their  oars.  "When  the  wind  was  favorable  they  rigged  a  sail  in  the 
prow.  The  stirring  strains  of  a  solitary  bugle,  echoing  from  the 
indented  shores  and  dying  away  upon  the  dimpling  waves,  cheered 
them  on.  Night  and  day  they  kept  on  their  course.  No  sleepy 
Palinarius  fell  from  the  high-pointed  stern.  Each  bark  followed 
that  of  Rogers,  and  every  man,  trusting  him  as  a  guiding  star, 
faithfully  discharged  his  duty.  But  as  they  approached  the  outlet 
they  grew  more  cautious.  At  times  they  would  hug  close  to  the 
shore,  and  then  again  would  strike  boldly  across  from  headland  to 
headland,  carefully  avoiding  the  French  cruisers  that  hovered 
about  the  foot  of  the  lake. 

At  Mississqui  bay  they  left  their  boats  and  provisions  in  charge 
of  two  trusty  Indians  and  struck  into  the  wilderness.  There  was 
no  road.  They  struggled  through  thickets,  over  fallen  trees,  and 
forded  streams  now  swollen  by  the  autumn  rains.  At  night  of  the 
second  day  the  boat  guard  overtook  them.  Four  hundred  French 
and  Indians  had  captured  their  bateaux,  and  two  hundred  were 
now  on  their  trail.  This  caused  much  uneasiness.  Their  mission 
was  before  them.  To  abandon  it  would  be  disgrace.  They  must 
escape  from  the  French  who  were  hanging  upon  their  rear  to  fall 
upon  and  chastise  the  St.  Francis  Indians.    Like  the  ten  thousand 

'  *  It  must  be  borae  in  mind  that  several  hundred  of  the  frontier  settlers  of  New 
Hampsliire  had  at  difl'ercnt  times  been  killed  bj'  the  savages,  and  the  people  of  our 
State  very  naturally  liated  this  St.  Francis  friar.  The  Puritan  writers  of  that  day 
gave  him  a  very  poor  character. 


144  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

under  Xeuophon  they  must  fly  before  one  enemy  to  fight  and  con- 
quer another. 

Lieutenant  McMullen  was  dispatched  across  the  country  for 
supplies,  and  then,  as  related  by  an  early  historian,  like  Charles 
XII  dashing  across  the  marshes  of  the  Baltic,  the  rangers  hurried 
through  the  forest.  For  nine  days  they  marched  in  a  spruce  bog. 
Many  a  mile  it  was  covered  a  foot  deep  with  water.  At  the  first 
dawn  they  would  breakfast,  and  long  before  the  sun  had  chased 
the  shadows  from  the  woods  were  far  on  their  way.  They  scarcely 
halted  for  dinner,  but  ate  as  they  marched .  When  the  twilight 
faded  and  the  stars  came  out,  they  would  stop  and  construct  a  kind 
of  hammock  to  secure  them  from  the  water,  and  lay  down  to  sleep 
in  their  pole  and  bough  beds,  rocked  by  the  winds  that  sighed  and 
soughed  through  the  evergreen  spruces. 

The  fifth  day  Captain  Williams  was  accidentally  burnt  with 
gunpowder,  and  returned  with  the  sick  and  hurt.  The  little 
party,  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  forty-two  men,  now  pushed 
on  with  vigor,  and  in  five  days  came  to  a  river  fifteen  miles  from 
the  St.  Francis.  It  was  several  rods  in  breadth,  and  flowed  with 
a  strong  swift  current.  A  raft  could  not  be  pushed  across  it,  and 
the  men  must  struggle  through  by  fording.  The  tallest  were 
placed  up  stream,  and  holding  by  each  other  that  rope  of  human 
beings,  writhing  and  swerving  in  the  I'ushing  torrent,  toiled 
across.  The  remaining  distance  was  good  marching  ground,  and 
on  the  evening  of  the  twenty-second  day,  a  scout  having  climbed 
a  large  hemlock,  discovered  the  church  spire  of  the  village  gleam- 
ing through  the  tree  tops. 

Kogers  writes  in  his  journal  that  he  ordered  the  rangers  to 
encamp  and  refresh  themselves,  and  at  eight  o'clock,  taking  with 
him  tAvo  officers,  he  reconnoitered  the  town.  He  found  the  Indians 
celebrating  a  wedding.  There  was  feasting  on  the  village  green. 
The  old  forest-arched  canopy  resounded  to  the  merry  song.  The 
sprightly  dancers  with  jokes  and  laughter  kept  time  with  nimble 
feet  to  the  wild  music  of  an  Indian  drum,  blending  with  the 
quicker  notes  of  a  half-civilized  violin.  Like  the  exultant  Trojans, 
when  they  had  drawn  the  wooden  horse  within  their  walls,  they 
seemed  to  celebrate  their  own  destruction. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  Kogers  says  he  returned  to  his 


RETRIBUTION  AT  LAST.  145 

camp,  that  he  found  it  buried  in  slumber,  aud  that  before  waking-  liis 
command  he  sat  down  a  moment  to  rest.  The  fires  of  the  village 
had  gone  out;  the  shouts  of  the  Indian  revellers  had  died  away, 
and  not  a  footftxll  disturbed  the  silence.  To  him  the  moment  was 
impressive  and  awful.  He  could  almost  hear  the  solitude  creep- 
ing down  the  St.  Francis  river,  only  broken  by  the  water  kissing 
the  pebbly  shore,  or  by  the  mournful  howling  of  the  Indian  dog 
upon  the  bank,  sending  his  monotonous  cry  after  the  cloud  shad- 
ows, as  they  flitted  like  phantoms  over  the  starlit  water. 

But  duty  forbade  delay.  Housing  his  men  at  three  A.  M.,  he 
advanced  within  five  hundred  yards  of  the  village.  Ordering  the 
rangers  to  halt  and  lighten  their  packs,  he  formed  them  for  action. 
In  the  manner  of  true  Indian  warriors  they  wait  for  the  most 
favorable  moment.  The  stars  glimmer  less  brightly  through  the 
trees,  and  the  rosy  dawn  of  morning  tinges  the  eastern  sky.  It 
was  the  time  wlien  deep  sleep  bound  the  limbs  of  the  tired  Indian 
fastest,  when  Rogers  gave  the  signal,  and  those  hundred  and  forty- 
two  men,  in  three  divisions,  rushed  forward  with  horrid  yells, 
hurled  the  blazing  fire-brands  into  the  dwellings,  and  shot  down 
alike  men,  women,  and  children. 

The  lurid  glare  of  the  blazing  habitations  showed  more  than 
six  hundred  human  scalps,  with  hair  fluttering  in  the  fire-made 
breeze,  stretched  upon  poles — savage  trophies  of  the  border  war. 
The  sight  filled  the  men  with  rage,  and  they  rushed  with  redoubled 
fury  to  the  slaughter.  Some  of  the  Indians,  leaving  their  dwel- 
lings, fled  to  the  river  and  leaped  into  their  canoes.  The  rangers 
pursued,  sank  their  frail  craft  and  shot  or  drowned  those  endeav- 
oring to  escape.  Others  concealed  themselves  in  the  cellars  aud 
lofts  of  their  dwellings  and  preferred  to  perish  in  the  flames.  Two 
of  the  strongest  rangers,  Bradley  and  Farriugton,  came  to  the 
door  of  the  wigwam  where  the  wedding  had  taken  place.  They 
threw  themselves  violently  against  it,  burst  it  from  its  hinges,  and 
Bradley  fell  headlong  among  the  sleeping  inmates.  The  Indians 
were  filled  with  consternation,  but  seizing  their  arms  fought  brave- 
ly for  a  few  moments,  when  the  rangers  pouring  in  overpowered 
and  slew  them.*    Rogers  writes  that  the  first  beams  of  the  morn- 


*  History  of  Coucord,  N.  II.,  191. 


146  HISTORY    OP   WARREN. 

ing-  sun  pierced  the  iningled  smoke  and  fog-  that  rolled  slowly  down 
the  valley  of  the  St.  Francis;  that  the  spire  of  the  blazing  church 
glistened  for  the  last  time  in  the  bright  sunlight,  then,  tottering 
for  an  instant,  fell  with  a  loud  crash,  the  bell  uttering  a  mournful 
peal — the  last  sad  requiem  over  the  doomed  village  of  St.  Francis. 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  work  was  done.  Like 
Ilium,  the  Indian  hamlet  smoked  to  the  ground.  Two  hundred 
Indians  lay  half  consumed  in  the  embers  of  their  dwellings,  or 
stained  the  noble  river  with  their  blood.  Of  all  the  inhabitants 
but  twenty  Avomen  and  children  were  alive.  Eetaiuing  live  of 
these  as  guides,  Eogers  suffered  the  remaining  fifteen  to  depart.* 

Only  one  of  his  men  had  fallen  and  but  five  or  six  were 
wounded.  Five  English  captives  who  had  been  sometime  with 
the  Indians  escaped  during  the  tight.  They  reported  that  three 
hundred  French  and  Indians  had  encamped  the  previous  night 
four  miles  down  the  river,  and  were  already  moving  to  the  scene 
of  action. 

Eogers  had  retreated  before  them  to  fall  like  a  thunderbolt 
upon  the  St.  Francis,  had  accomplished  his  purpose,  and  with  the 
enemy  more  than  double  his  number  still  following  him  like  a 
blood-hound,  must  now  plunge  into  an  unbroken  wilderness. 
Ordering  his  men  to  secure  the  small  quantity  of  corn  which  they 
found  in  three  remaining  outbuildings,  for  there  Avas  no  other 
provision,  he  began  to  retreat.  As  the  forest  closed  around  the 
rangers,  hiding  the  smoking  ruins  from  their  view,  the  shouts  of 
the  enemy  coming  rapidly  up  quickened  their  flying  footsteps. 

*  We  have  not  been  able  to  leani  with  certainty  the  fate  of  the  St.  Francis  friar. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  he  made  good  his  escape. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  RETREAT  AXD  ITS  HORRORS,  THE  CAMP  ON  THE  COOS  INTERVAL 
UNDER  THE  SHADOW  OF  MIGHTY  MOOSILAUKE,  CONCLUDING 
WITH  A  BEAUTIFUL  AND  GOLDEN  TRADITION,  THAT  HAS  BEEN 
REPEATED  AROUND  THE  FARMER'S  FIRESIDE  FOR  A  HUNDRED 
YEARS. 

M^VESHAL  JUNOT  defeated  and  dispersed  the  Turkish 
army  at  I^azareth,  and  Mount  Tabor  saw  the  Musselmen  flying- 
before  the  gallant  Kleber;  yet  famine  and  the  plague  drove 
Napoleon's  brave  soldiers  from  Palestine.  So  the  hardy  rangers, 
who  never  quailed  before  any  hnman  foe,  now  met  in  the  deep 
forest  an  enemy  more  terrible  than  the  half-blood  Frenchman  or 
the  maddened  savage.  True  it  was  that  three  hundred  of  the  lat- 
ter still  hung  like  ravenous  wolves  upon  their  trail,  joining  addi- 
tional horrors  to  ghostly  famine.  Yet  the  starving  rangers  hurried 
on  through  the  pathless  woods,  over  rugged  mountains,  with  no 
landmarks  to  guide  them,  while  the  old  forest  roared  and  rocked 
ill  the  cold  October  storm.  Xor  did  they  always  advance.  Their 
guides  were  treacherous.  For  three  days,  as  the  record  reads, 
they  wandered  about  in  an  almost  interminable  swamp.  The 
fourth  day  they  returned  on  their  retreat  so  much  that  they  struck 
the  trail  of  the  enemy  that  was  following  them. 

The  French  and  Indians  were  well  provisioned.  The  rangers 
were  worn  down;  famine  preyed  upon  their  emaciated  forms,  and 
at  any  moment  they  were  in  danger  of  falling  into  the  deadly  am- 
buscade. There  was  but  one  hope.  The  famishing  party  divided 
itself  into  nine  small  companies,  each  with  a  leader.*    It  Avas 

*  Rogers  led  one  of  the  parties;  Lieuts.  Philips,  Campbell,  Cargill,  and  Far- 
ringtou,  Ensign  Avery,  Sergeant  Evens,  and  Dunbar  and  Turner,  led  the  others. 


148  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

agreed  that  the  one  which  should  encounter  the  enemy  should,  like 
a  forlorn  hope,  fight  till  the  last  moment,  while  the  others,  warned 
by  the  contest,  might  escape.  Having  separated,  in  half  an  hour 
volley  after  volley  told  that  one  of  the  companies  was  sacrificing 
itself  for  its  companions.*  Hurrjdng  forward  to  meet  death  in  a 
niore  terrible  form,  they  left  their  brave  comrades  to  waste  away 
in  the  damp  mosses  of  the  swamp. 

Memphremagog  lake,  sparkling  like  a  gem  in  its  forest  setting, 
saw  them  boiling  and  eating  their  powder-horns  and  shot-pouches. 
When  these  failed  their  moccasins  furnished  another  tough  morsel, 
from  which  they  gathered  strength  to  drag  on  with  bleeding  feet 
through  the  wilderness. 

At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  day  one  party  struck  the  Con- 
necticut river  at  upper  Coos,  mistaking  it  for  lower  Coos.  Bradley, 
he  who  was  so  brave  in  the  fight  at  St.  Francis,  was  among  them. 
He  was  a  native  of  Concord.  He  said  if  he  was  in  full  strength 
he  should  be  in  his  father's  house  in  three  days.  He  took  a  point 
of  compass  which  at  lower  Coos  would  have  brought  him  to  the 
Merrimack,  but  in  fact  led  directly  over  the  White  mountains.  A 
ranger  and  a  mulatto  man  accompanied  him.  The  next  year  a 
Ijarty  of  hunters  found  in  one  of  the  deep  mountain  goi'ges  a  man's 
bones;  by  them  were  three  half-burned  brands  piled  together. 
Silver  brooches  and  wampum  lay  scattered  about  —  plunder  from 
the  St.  Francis  —  while  a  leatlier  ribbon,  such  as  Bradley  Avore, 
bound  the  long  black  hair  to  the  whitening  skull.  No  arms  were 
by  him  and  no  signs  of  companions.! 

The  remainder  of  the  company  made  a  hurried  march  down 
the  river,  for  the  current  was  too  wild  for  rafts.  Where  the 
Ammonoosuc,  coming  from  the  south,  and  seeming  to  beat  back 
the  dark  waters  of  the  Connecticut  as  they  surge  through  the 
^'Narrows,*'  Rogers  had  appointed  a  rendezvous.  Here  thej^  ex- 
pected to  find   relief.     General  Amherst  had  indeed  dispatched 

*It  -was  the  party  led  by  Ensign  Avery  which  was  overtaken  hy  the  enemy. 
Besides  those  killed,  "seven  oV  his  men  were  taken  ))risoners,  but"  two  of  them 
escaped.  Lieut.  George  CampbeH's  party,  and  Sergeant  Evens'  party  saved  their 
lives  by  eating  Avery's  dead  soldiers, "who  had  sacrificed  tlieniselves  that  the 
others  miglit  escape.  This  act  of  Ensign  Avery's  men,  yielding  up  their  lives  that 
tlie  others  might  live,  is  one  of  the  mos't  noble  iecorded'in  history. 

tTradition  has  it  that  Bradley  started  witli  two  or  three  men,  but  they  nevei- 
reached  home.  It  is  suijposed  they  all  i)erished  AVith  hunger  and  cold  amid  rlie 
snows  of  tiie  wilderness.— Ili.storv"  of  Concord,  1S14. 


ACT  OF  A  COWARD.  140 

Licuteuant  Stevens  with  provisions,  directing-  him  to  remain  till 
the  rang-ers  arrived,  but  reckless  of  his  duty  lie  returned  at  tlie 
end  of  two  days,  carrying  everything  witli  him.  He  had  been 
gone  but  a  short  time  when  the  first  party  came  upon  the  intei-val 
and  found  his  camp-fires  still  burning.  They  discharged  their 
muskets  to  bring  him  back.  He  heard  them,  and  thinking  it  Avas 
the  enemy,  hurried  on  the  faster.  Despairing,  they  eat  their  last 
morsel  of  food,  and  then  laid  down  in  Stevens'  deserted  camp  and 
awaited  their  fate. 

That  night  Lieutenant  Philips  brought  in  his  party.  Philips 
was  a  half-blood  Indian,  his  mother  being  a  wild  Mohawk,  The 
Earl  of  Loudon  commissioned  him  lieutenant,  and  throughout 
the  Avhole  seven  years'  war  he  was  a  gallant  leader  of  the  rangers. 
Yet  his  party  suflered  terribly.  Day  after  day,  as  the  story  is  told 
by  himself,  they  continued  to  retreat  without  a  morsel  of  food.  As 
they  reeled  through  the  woods  it  seemed  as  if  the  dry  limbs  of  the 
trees  shrieking  in  the  wind  was  the  voice  of  ghostly  famine  croak- 
ing over  them  like  the  boding  owl  of  destruction.  When  their 
emaciated  forms  seemed  just  ready  to  sink  down  they  determined 
to  kill  a  St.  Francis  prisoner  who  was  with  them.  A  draft  of 
human  blood  and  a  feast  of  human  flesh,  or  death  —  this  was  the 
dreadful  alternative.  But  that  afternoon  they  killed  a  mviskrat, 
which  they  divided  amongst  themselves,  and  human  life  was 
spared.* 

Sergeant  Evens,  another  leader,  came  in  with  his  company  on 
the  following  morning.  Their  sufferiiigs  if  possible  were  even 
more  terrible.  The  sergeant  used  to  tell  how  for  days  and  weeks 
they  wandered  through  the  woods.  Birch  bark,  gnawed  with 
ravenous  teeth,  and  roots  dug  with  long  bony  fingers,  only  kept 
away  death.  In  the  cold  swamp,  through  which  they  staggered 
delirious,  they  stumbled  upon  the  mangled  remains  of  their  slain 
companions.  Almost  ever)^  man,  as  if  he  were  a  ravenous  beast, 
gorged  himself  upon  human  flesh.  Evens'  feelings  revolted  and 
he  refused  to  eat.  But  his  soldiers  laid  in  a  supply,  and  a  few 
nights  afterwards,  when  the  chills  of  death  seemed  creeping  over 

*I'hiliiis  dill  not  remain  long  on  the  Coos  intei'vals.  He  took  the  oW  Iniliaii 
trail  n\>  l\w.  oliverian,  reached  the  Asfjuamcliuniauke,  and  followed  <lo\vn  tlie  river 
home  to  Concord,  X.  H.— Historv  of  Concord,  200. 


150  HISTORY    OF   WARREX. 

him,  he  took  a  steak  of  his  comrades'  flesh  from  the  knapsack  of  a 
sleeping  ranger,  roasted  it  upon  the  coals,  and  years  afterwards 
pronounced  it  '■'■  the  sweetest  morsel  lie  ever  tasted." 

Lieutenant  George  Campbell,  who  led  another  company,  said 
that  his  men  suflered  severely.  For  four  days  ]iot  a  particle  of 
food  passed  their  lips.  Without  a  guide  and  ignorant  of  the  coun- 
try, they  wandered  they  knew  not  whither,  like  a  ship  upon  a 
stormy  ocean,  Avithout  compass  or  star  to  direct.  The  weak  in 
mind  were  driven  mad  by  despair  and  suffering ;  the  weak  in  body 
laid  down  and  died.  Eating  leather  sti'aps  and  the  covers  of  car- 
touch  boxes,  tough  food,  did  not  appease  the  dire  hunger  that  con- 
sumed them.  At  length  their  resources  were  all  gone,  and  not  a 
ray  of  hope  gleamed  through  the  bars  of  their  forest  prison. 
Death  had  laid  his  fearful  grasp  upon  them,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
the  last  man  must  perish.  October  28th  but  half  the  party  were 
alive.  A  few  hours  more  and  these  must  die.  But  a  ghastly 
relief  came  to  them  when  they  least  expected  it.  A  ranger  cross- 
ing a  stream  slipped  from  a  log.  His  foot  disturbed  the  leafy  cov- 
ering that  had  fiillen  upon  the  water  and  he  caught  sight  of  some 
human  bodies  scalped  and  horribly  mutilated.  The  furious  hunger 
of  these  famishing  men  knew  no  restraint ;  they  did  not  even  wait 
for  a  fire  with  which  to  prepare  their  ghastly  banquet,  but  ate  like 
beasts  of  prey.  Then,  collecting  carefully  the  remnants,  they 
I)ursued  their  journey. 

At  this  time  Rogers  also  came  with  his  party.  During  the 
Avhole  retreat  he  had  shown  himself  a  hero,  and  now  when  his 
men  were  perishing  he  constructed  a  rude  raft,  and  with  Captain 
Ogden  and  an  Indian  boy  started  to  float  down  to  Number  Four 
and  obtain  supplies.  The  famishing  rangers  saw  him  disapi)ear 
around  a  long  sweeping  bend  of  the  river,  and  then  lay  down  to 
wait  ten  days,  at  the  end  of  which  he  had  promised  to  return. 
The  hours  went  slowly  by — a  week  passed  —  and  those  men  sat  in 
the  smoke  of  their  fires  and  listened  to  the  wind  sighing  about 
their  camp.  As  their  forms  grew  more  attenuated,  their  faces 
more  haggard,  and  their  eyes  and  cheeks  more  sunken,  they  would 
reel  into  the  woods  to  gather  roots  and  bark,  coarse  food  to  keep 
the  last  spark  of  life  from  going  out. 

Across  the  open  meadow  was  a  lofty  mountain,  and  tlie  early 


MOOSILAUKE.  151 

snows  of  autumn  glistened  in  the  sunlight  upon  its  summit. 
Old  settlers  tell  the  story  how  two  of  the  rangers,  one  of  them 
by  name  Robert  Pomeroy,  had  hunted  on  the  streams  beyond 
that  mountain  in  bj'gone  days.  With  their  companions  dying 
around  them  and  death  staring  them  in  the  face  they  resolved  to 
cross  it  and  go  home.  One  night,  when  the  rest  of  the  band  were 
asleep,  they  took  from  a  knapsack  a  human  head,  cut  oflF  pieces, 
roasted  them  upon  the  coals,  satisfied  their  hunger,  and  at  the 
earliest  dawn  departed.* 

Late  in  the  afternoon  they  were  standing  upon  the  summit  of 
Moosilauke  mountain.  They  stopped  to  rest  and  to  gaze  upon  the 
wildest  scene  that  ever  met  their  eyes.  Mountains  like  mole  hills 
were  scattered  through  the  great  northern  country.  To  the  east, 
peak  after  peak  shot  thousands  of  feet  into  the  clear  ether.  Look- 
ing south,  the  mountain  upon  which  they  stood  seemed  the  wild 
head  of  the  deep  wilderness.  Scattered  through  it  were  gleaming 
rivers,  flashing  ponds  and  silver  lakes,  while  at  its  foot,  a  hundred 
miles  distant,  a  bright  line  on  the  horizon  showed  where  the  blue 
sea  was  dashing.  Westward,  range  after  range  of  lofty  wooded 
mountains  stretched  far  away,  like  the  rolling  billows  of  a  tempest 
tossed  ocean.  And  then  all  the  forest  for  a  hundred  miles  around 
was  one  glorious  blaze  of  brilliant  colors.  Every  autumn  hue  and 
tint  imaginable  shone  resplendent,  as  though  the  hand  of  the 
Divine  Artist  had  woven  together  myriads  of  gorgeous  rainbows 
with  which  to  mantle  this  hitherto  unseen  solitude. 

Half  an  hour  later  they  saw  the  sun  sink  slowly  down  and 
gild  every  range  of  mountains  with  golden  rays  of  glory.  The 
clouds  that  lay  along  the  horizon  sparkled  in  roseate  tints,  while 
the  horizon  itself,  appearing  like  a  golden  plain  in  continuation 
of  the  earth,  changed  soon,  first  to  green,  and  then  to  a 'cold 
ashen  gray.  As  the  crescent  moon,  at  first  pale  but  with  growing 
brightness,  together  with  a  single  star  of  large  magnitude,  appeared 
over  the  summits  of  the  snowy  eastern  mountains,  Pomeroy,  be- 


*  David  Evens  said  that  one  night,  while  the  men  of  his  party  were  asleep  in 
the  camp,  his  own  cravings  for  food  were  so  nnsupportable  that  lie  awoke  Irom 
sleep,  and  seeing  a  large  knapsack  belonging  to  one  of  his  comrades,  opened  it  in 
hopes  to  find  sometliiiig  to  satisfy  his  hunger;  that  he  found  in  it  three  liuinan 
heads;  that  lie  cut  a  piece  from  one  of  iheni,  and  liroiled  and  ate  it,  while  the  men 
continued  to  sleep.  But  he  said  he  would  sooner  die  of  hunger  than  do  the  like 
again.  He  observed  that  when  their  distresses  were  greatest  they  hardly  deserved 
the  name  of  human  beings. — History  of  Concord,  19.5. 


152  HISTOKY   OF   WARREX. 

numbed  with  cold,  sank  down  saying  be  must  sleep.*  His  com- 
panion tried  to  rouse  bim  but  in  vain,  and  fearing  for  bis  own  life 
burried  down  tbe  mountain.  The  wolf  bowled  in  tbe  great  gorge 
that  nigbt  and  tbe  wild  ecboes  were  roused  by  tbe  pantber's  cry. 
But  tbe  ranger  heeded  them  not,  and  when  the  last  twilight  bad 
faded  from  tbe  western  sky  be  in  turn  sank  down  exhausted  at  the 
foot  of  ibe  Seven  Cascades. 

Tbe  legend  further  relates  in  a  beautiful  manner — and  surely 
this  can  be  nothing  but  a  legend — how  tbe  ranger  seemed  to  be 
dying;  and  when  the  stars  shone  bright  above  bim  and  the  moon 
looked  in  through  tbe  trees  and  lighted  up  tbe  white  foam  of  tbe 
cascades,  distant  music  coming  nearer  seemed  to  mingle  with  that 
of  the  water,  and  bis  quickened  senses  beard  fairy  harps  joined 
with  fairj^  voices,  and  saw  fairy  feet  dancing  in  the  silver  spray. 
Elfin  kings  and  fairy  queens  whirled  in  the  mazy  dance  for  a  mo- 
ment and  were  gone.  And  then  came  a  troop  of  nereids,  with 
long  dishevelled  hair  and  eyes  lustrous  as  the  stars  that  shone 
above  them,  to  bathe  in  tbe  clear  crystal  fountain.  For  an  instant 
they  seemed  to  hold  sweet  dalliance  with  the  sparkling  water  and 
then  tloated  away  in  .the  thin  mist  that  hung  over  tbe  great  wood 
and  tnrbanned  the  distant  mountain.  Day  seemed  breaking,  and 
tbe  bright  sun  looked  in  from  over  the  eastern  hills  upon  a  crowd 
of  mountain  genii,  who  chanted  their  matin  hymns  in  their  wild 
rock-hewn  temples,  and  then  mounted  up  on  viewless  steps  to  offer 
incense  on  their  rainbow  altar,  golden  in  the  flood  of  rosy  light, 
and  glistening  in  tbe  diamond  drops  of  the  waterfall. 

As  a  dark  cloud  stole  across  the  sky,  veiling  tbe  moon,  the 
scene  changed.  The  shrieks  of  tbe  dying  Indians  at  St.  Francis, 
the  mournful  peal  of  tbe  chapel  bell,  the  retreat,  the  famine,  tbe 
terrible  feast  upon  human  heads,  tbe  dying  comrade  upon  the 
mountain  top,  himself  perishing  by  tbe  torrent, —  and  then,  seen 
for  a  moment,  the  picture  of  a  dark  form  bending  OA^er  him — and 
tbe  famishing  ranger  was  unconscious. 

The  next  morning  tbe  sun,  glorious  in  bis  splendor,  gleamed 
on  the  seven  cascades  of  tbe  gorge.    There  was  no  wind,  and  tbe 

*  Robert  Pomeroy,  a  ranger  from  Derrylield,  *  *  *  perished  in  the  woods 
*  *  *  during  the  Indian  wars  *  *  *  "and  his  bones  were  found  years  after 
about  the  sources  of  the  Merrimack.  Thev  were  identitied  by  his  hair  and  some 
personal  eflects  that  had  not  decayed.— I'otter's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  336. 


THE    LONE   nUNTEK.  153 

In-ight  flasliing  waters  as  they  leaped  down  seemed  to  hymn  a  lofty 
l);ean  of  praise  in  the  solitude.  It  was  a  fai*,  wild  country,  one  in 
which  seemingiy  no  human  foot  had  ever  trod.  Yet  there  was 
one  being  even  here.  An  old  hunter  from  the  frontier  had  i)ene- 
trated  this  wilderness  to  trap  otter,  beaver,  and  sable.  He  had 
constructed  a  rude  camp  for  himself  by  the  side  of  Gorge  brook. 
Ill  I  he  great  meadow  over  the  ridge  he  set  his  steel  traps  for 
beaver,  and  built  Indian  culheags  for  sable  by  his  spotted  line  on 
the  mountain  side.  It  chanced  that  he  was  visiting  the  latter  that 
morning.  He  discovered  the  footsteps  of  the  ranger  who  had 
crossed  his  linCj  and  following  them  found  him  almost  insensible 
at  the  foot  of  the  cascades.  Bearing  him  to  the  camp  he  nursed 
him  back  to  life,  and  for  a  few  weeks  he  assisted  the  hunter  in  his 
duties.  — 

One  day,  as  the  early  settlers  relate  the  golden  tradition,  the 
ranger  stopped  to  quench  his  thirst  at  a  little  mountain  rill.  As 
he  kneeled  to  sip  the  sparkling  water  he  saw  shining  in  the  sand 
at  the  bottom  what  appeared  to  be  bi-ight  grains  of  gold.  Picking 
up  a  handful  of  these  he  tied  them  in  a  corner  of  his  handkerchief 
and  after  heaping  a  small  monument  of  stones  on  the  bank, 
departed.  The  particles  thus  collected,  on  being  shown  to  a  jew- 
eller, proved  to  be  pure  gold,  and  he  received  for  them  fifty 
dollars.  But  although  careful  search  has  since  often  been  made 
neither  the  monument  nor  the  golden  stream  has  ever  again  been 
discovered.  When  the  snow  began  to  fall  in  the  valley  the  hunter, 
accompanied  by  the  ranger,  returned  to  the  settlements. 

The  remaining  companies  of  the  rangers  came  straggling  in 
upon  the  intervals.  As  one  by  one  they  died — the  allotted  ten 
days  not  yet  passed  —  despair  seated  itself  on  the  countenances 
of  all  the  living,  and  they  prayed  once  more  that  Kogers  might 
return. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HOW  THE  SURVIVING  RANGERS  ALL  GOT  SAFELY  HOME,  AND  HOW 
THENCEFORWARD  THE  PEMIGEWASSETT  LAND,  CONTAINING  THE 
PLEASANT  LITTLE  TERRITORY  OF  WARREN,  BECAME  VERY  SAFE 
COUNTRY  IN   WHICH  TO   SOJOURN. 

Robert  EOGERS'  journal,  written  by  himself,  gives  a 
succinct  account  of  his  exploits  in  the  old  French  war.  It  relates 
how  at  his  departure  from  the  intervals  to  obtain  help  he  laid  down 
with  his  two  companions  on  their  rude  craft,  by  far  more  primeval 
than  that  on  which  sailed  Jason  and  his  mythical  companions  in 
seai'ch  of  the  golden  fleece,  and  for  hours  floated  swiftly  down  in 
the  rapid  current.  Yet  he  fails  to  narrate  the  fact  —  for  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  every  one  should  know  as  much — that  the  river  was 
swollen  by  the  autumn  rains,  and  that  the  streams  from  the  high- 
lands on  either  hand  poured  in  their  turbid  floods.  Neither  does 
he  mention  the  bright  hues  spread  over  all  the  woods ;  nor  the 
wild  geese  which,  noting  the  strange  craft  on  the  water,  cackled 
at  them  from  the  sky ;  or  that  at  night  bears  halloed  from  the  liills 
and  muskrats  swam  splashing  along  the  shores. 

Even  Ompompanoosuc,  a  western  stream,  heaving  with  its 
muddy  tide,  was  unnoticed,  and  they  were  only  roused  from  their 
lethargy  by  a  dull  but  fearful  roaring  ahead.  Starting  up  they 
saw  a  thin  mist  rising  from  the  falls  Avhicli  their  raft  Avas  rapidly 
approaching.  Their  oars  were  too  small  to  manage  their  unwieldy 
craft  in  the  now  eddying  and  boiling  current.  A  few  moments 
more  and  they  must  go  over.  Death  stared  them  in  the  face.  But 
they  had  met  it  in  a  thousand  forms  and  though  famishing  they 
would  not  yield.    Leaping  into  the  water,  after  a  hard  struggle 


AN    INDIAN    RAFT.  155 

they  gained  the  shore.  Their  raft,  pausing  a  moment  on  the 
brink,  leaped  like  a  thing  of  life  into  the  wild  vortex,  and  was 
dashed  in  pieces. 

Wet,  cold,  and  starving,  with  mnch  difficulty  they  reached 
the  foot  of  the  falls.  To  proceed  by  laud  was  impossible;  yet 
Rogers'  indomitable  spirit  never  sank.  Bidding  his  men  hunt  for 
food,  he  went  to  work  in  true  Indian  style  and  kindled  a  tire.  In 
three  days  he  had  burned  down  and  burned  off  trees  sufficient  for 
a  raft,  and  bound  them  together  with  withes.  In  the  meantime 
his  companions  had  procured  a  red  squirrel  and  a  single  partridge 
— just  sufficient  to  keep  soul  and  body  together — and  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  fourth  day  they  placed  themselves  upon  the  new  raft 
and  once  more  glided  swiftly  on.  The  genii  of  the  waterfall 
seemed  to  scream  after  them  through  the  mist,  bidding  them  make 
no  delay,  for  the  famishing  rangers  were  roasting  human  flesh  far 
back  in  the  cold  shadows  of  Moosilauke  mountain. 

White  river  was  passed,  and  in  another  hour  they  heard  the 
roaring  of  Wattoqueche  fall.  Rogers  this  time  was  on  the  watch 
for  dangers  ahead.  Paddling  their  raft  ashore,  Ogden  guided  it 
over  the  falls  with  a  long  withe-rope  of  hazel  bushes,  while 
Rogers  swam  in  and  secured  it.  This  raft  was  their  only  hope ; 
with  it  lost  their  fate  was  death.  All  night  without  food  they 
floated  down  the  sti-eam.  Morning  showed  them  a  clearing. 
Shortly  after  men  came  to  cut  timber  on  the  river  bank,  who 
discovered  and  assisted  them. 

Rogers'  first  thought  was  for  his  rangers  who  were  dying  one 
by  one  at  Coos.  Several  canoes  were  immediately  fitted  out,  and 
manned  by  strong  arms  they  shot  like  arrows  up  through  the 
forest  that  shut  in  the  Connecticut.  In  four  days  the  suffering 
rangers  saw  them  pull  round  the  headland  where  ten  days  before 
their  leader  had  disappeared.  Resting  for  a  day  only,  Rogers 
went  up  the  river  to  meet  his  men  and  again  share  their  fortunes. 
It  was  a  strange  sight,  that  silent  voyage  down  the  blue  stream ; 
those  rude  boats,  freighted  with  men  whose  matted  beards,  sunken 
eyes,  and  hollow  cheeks  told  of  the  horrors  they  had  endured. 

On  the  fifth  dav  of  November  the  last  livins:  rang-er  had 
arrived  at  Number  Four.  Gathered  around  their  leader  at  the 
fort  they  seemed  more  like  ill-dressed  corpses  than  like  human 


156  HISTORY   OF   'VVARREN. 

beings.  Delaying  a  few  days  to  recruit  their  exhausted  energies, 
Kogers  placed  himself  at  their  head  and  hurried  away  across  the 
Green  mountains  to  T^iconderoga  and  Crown  Point  to  take  part  in 
the  closing  scenes  of  the  war. 

Perhaps  some  would  like  to  know  the  subsequent  history  of 
Major  Rogers.  To  narrate  all  of  the  events  of  his  after  life  would 
be  altogether  foreign  to  our  purpose.  "When  Wolfe  defeated  Mont- 
calm on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  and  the  flag  of  old  England  was 
unfurled  above  the  battlements  of  the  strongest  fortress  in  Amer- 
ica, the  major  went  to  the  far  west.  He  scouted  sometime  in  the 
woods  about  Detroit,  searching  for  Indians,  and  then  made  an 
expedition  on  the  ice  up  Lake  Huron,  towards  Michilimackinac. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  Europe,  and  thence  to  Africa, 
where  he  fought  two  battles  under  the  Dey  of  Algiers.  For  a 
further  account  of  his  life  we  would  refer  to  "  Eogers'  Journal," 
published  by  himself,  a  very  old  and  rare  work,  the  author  of  this 
veritable  history  never  having  met  with  but  one  copy. 

Rogers  himself  and  his  rangers  never  forgot  their  memorable 
visit  to  Coos,  and  years  afterwards  many  of  them  found  a  home  in 
the  scene  of  their  sufiering. 

The  work  was  now  all  done.  There  was  no  more  fear  of  the 
Indians,  and  our  beloved  Pemigewassett  land,  including  the  town 
of  Warren,  the  history  of  which  Ave  are  trying  so  hard  to  write, 
was  now  destined  to  undergo  a  great  change.  A  more  glorious 
era  was  about  to  dawn  upon  the  great  wild  north  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

As  this  second  book  was  designed  only  to  treat  of  the  border 
wars  by  means  of  which  the  old  hunting  grounds  of  the  Pemige- 
wassetts  became  known  and  opened  up  for  settlement,  we  shall 
here  necessarily  put  an  end  to  our  narrations  of  bush-fights,  cap- 
tivities, and  explorations,  and  shall  endeavor  in  our  next  to  tell 
how  our  own  Warren  —  one  of  the  wildest  of  the  northern  ham- 
lets—  was  established  and  occupied. 


BOOK    III. 


OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  A  MOUNTAIN  HAMLET,  OR  THE  PRECISE  AND 
ACCURATE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ACTS  OF  SIXTY-SIX  DISTINGUISHED 
MEN,   OTHERWISE   KNOWN  AS   THE   PROPRIETORS   OF   AVARREN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONCERNING  A  GREAT  SHAGGY  WOOD  AND  NUMEROUS  HUNTERS 
THEREIN,  AND  THEN  OF  A  SWEET  LITTLE  FEUD  BETWEEN  THREE 
ROYAL  GOVERNORS  AND  HOW  ONE  OF  THEM  POUTELY  EUCHRED 
THE   OTHERS,   MUCH   TO   THEIR   DELIGHT. 

The  old  French  war  was  eucled.  The  Indians  were  no 
longer  feared.  Eogers  had  crushed  them.  A  vast  extent  of  forest 
country  now  lay  open  to  the  colonists.  Our  little  mountain  ham- 
let—  not  yet  called  Warren  —  Avas  in  this  mighty  wood,  in  which 
there  were  no  openings  save  those  made  by  the  hurricane,  the 
flood,  or  the  Indian's  fire.  Camel's  Hump  and  Mt.  Mansfield 
looked  down  upon  the  lesser  heights  of  the  Green  mountains ;  the 
White  hills  rose  out  of  the  woods  like  islands  in  a  sea,  and  Mts. 
Aziscoos  and  Katardin  stood  high  above  Umbagog  and  Moosehead 
lakes,  which  had  mirrored  them  for  centuries.  Otter  creek. 
Onion  river,  and  the  Lamoile,  flowed  from  the  wilderness  to  the 
west;  the  Connecticut,  the  Merrimack,  and  the  Saco  came  down 
from  the  mountains  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  Androscoggin, 
the  Kennebec  and  the  Penobscot  from  the  bright  lakes  of  the  east. 
The  Indians,  as  we  have  before  shown  in  this  most  veritable 


158  HISTORY  OF    WARREN. 

history  had  nearly  all  left  this  umbrageous  wilderness ;  but  the 
"wild  beastes,"  so  accurately  described  by  that  early,  celebrated, 
and  very  chaste  historian,  John  Josselyu,  Gent.,  such  as  bears, 
wolves,  panthers,  moose,  deer,  loupcerviers,  and  sweet-smelling 
"squnckes,"  remained. 

My  gentle  reader,  without  doubt  you  know  already  that  the 
little  tract  of  territory  at  the  head  of  the  Asquamchumauke  val- 
ley and  surrounded  by  lofty  mountains  was  in  the  very  heart  of 
this  great,  wild,  beast-filled  wilderness.  The  far-sighted  glance  of 
the  eagle,  soariug  aloft  above  the  crests  of  its  mountains,  scarce 
penetrated  to  the  distant  confines  of  civilization.  The  nearest  far 
apart  settlements  in  New  England  were  mostly  along  the  sea- 
coast  and  on  the  banks  of  the  largest  rivers.  Up  the  Merrimack 
the  clearings  had  crept  as  far  as  a  place  called  Bakerstown,  after- 
wards Stevenstown,  and  now  Franklin,  N.  H.  On  the  Connecti- 
cut river  the  most  northern  settlement  was  ai'ound  that  little  log- 
fort  which  we  have  known  in  the  book  preceding  as  Number  Four, 
at  present  the  town  of  Charleston.  For  a  hundred  and  fifty  yeai"s 
the  French  had  lived  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  and  their  settle- 
ments branched  off"  into  this  wilderness  on  the  banks  of  the 
Chaudiere,  the  St.  Francis,  and  the  Sorelle.  To  the  east,  French- 
men lived  on  the  river  St.  John,  and  westward  were  scattered 
openings  beyond  Champlain  and  by  the  great  lakes.  It  was  hun- 
dreds of  miles  across  this  forest,  east  and  west,  north  and  south. 

Yankee  men  of  that  heroic  age  were  as  fond  of  hunting  as  any 
who  live  at  the  present  day.  Even  those  not  quite  so  brave  spirits 
who  had  hitherto  been  compelled  to  stay  at  home  through  fear  of 
the  Indians,  could  now  take  up  their  march  with  j)erfect  impunity 
into  the  woods,  to  hunt  and  to  trap  all  that  wild  ferocious  game 
which  John  Josselyn,  Gent.,  has  so  particularly  described  to  us  in 
his  veracious  history. 

The  last  of  September — in  this  climate  the  most  delightful 
month  of  the  year — now  saw  hundreds  of  men,  old  and  young, 

"  The  wild-cat,  luceni,  or  luceret,  or  ounce  as  some  call  it,  is  not  inferior  to 
lamb.    Their  jrrease  is  very  sovereign  for  lameness  upon  taking  cold." 

"  The  sqHncl:e  is  almost  as  big  as  a  raccoon,  perfect  black  and  wliite,  or  pye 
bald,  ■with  a  bushtail  like  a  I'ox,  and  ofl'ensive  carrion.  The  nrine  of  tliis  creature 
is  of  so  strong  a  scent  that  if  it  light  upon  anything  there  is  no  abiding  of  it.  It 
Avill  make  a  man  smell  tliough  he  were  of  Alexander's  complexion,  and  so  sharp, 
if  he  do  but  whisk  his  busli  which  he  pisseth  upon  in  the  face  of  a  <logg  hunting  of 
him,  anil  if  any  of  it  light  in  his  eyes,  it  will  make  him  almost  mad  with  the  smart 
thereof."— John  Josselyu's  2  Voyages  to  New  England. 


THE  HUNTERS'  PARADISE.  159 

leaving  their  wives  and  sweethearts  and  journeying  to  those 
pleasant  solitudes  in  the  wooded  valleys  beside  the  sylvan  brooks, 
rivers,  and  lakes.  They  were  accustomed  to  go  in  boats  up  the 
streams  as  far  as  possible,  often  following  the  same  routes  that 
Capt.  Peter  Towers  sailed,  rowed,  and  poled  over,  or  that  Col. 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Maj.  Tolford,  and  Capt.  John  Goffe  traveled. 
We  can  imagine  them  leaving  their  canoes,  gun  in  one  hand,  axe 
in  the  other,  and  a  great  pack  made  up  of  steel  traps,  spare  shirts, 
feetiug,  and  provisions,  in  all  more  than  a  hundred  pounds  weight 
strapped  upon  their  backs,  and  toiling  through  the  woods  and 
over  the  mountains  in  search  of  beaver  meadows  and  sable  ranges. 
They  would  build  for  themselves  pleasant  little  cabins  beside  some 
musical  stream,  and  here  they  would  hunt  till  the  snowflakes  flew. 
Then,  toting  their  traps  and  rich  peltries  back  to  their  canoes,  they 
would  paddle  rapidly  down  the  swift  current  of  the  now  swollen 
streams  to  their  homes  again. 

Such  were  the  human  inhabitants  of  our  very  interesting- 
forest  just  after  the  closing  of  the  "  Seven  Years  War;"  and  such 
were  the  only  visitors  of  our  mountain  bounded  valley.  By  these 
hunters  every  stream  of  the  wilderness  was  explored,  every 
meadow  and  valley  noted,  mountain  gorges  traversed,  and  even 
the  mountains  themselves  ascended. 

Hitherto  the  propensity  of  the  Yankee  people  to  emigrate  and 
take  up  new  lands,  to  clear  farms,  build  log  cabins  to  be  succeeded 
by  pine  board  palaces,  had  been  restrained  as  we  have  already 
hinted  by  a  terror  of  the  Indians.  But  now  a  new  instinct  seemed 
to  have  taken  possession  of  the  multitude.  Like  the  mutterings 
preceding  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  an  ominous  voice  seemed 
to  say,  *'  Let  us  depart  hence,"  but  the  departure  was  for  a  very 
dilTerent  reason.  The  wild  lands  of  the  north  were  on  every 
tongue.  All  the  hunters  we  have  mentioned,  all  the  wild  border- 
ers, all  the  explorers,  and  all  the  seven  years  war  men  who  had 
marched  and  campaigned  through  that  section,  told  almost  fabulous 
stories  of  its  richness  and  fertility. 

The  world  has  seen  many  an  exodus.  But  the  flight  of  the 
Jews  from  Egypt  was  very  unlike  that  about  to  be  seen  in  south- 
ern Xew  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  The  wild  Asiatic  hordes, 
hurrying  from  the  northern  table-lands  to  the  south  and  west,  fur- 


160  BISTORT    OF    "WABREX. 

nished  hardly  a  parallel  case.  There  they  moved  as  a  vast  army, 
conqueiing-  the  lauds  they  coveted  and  making  serfs  of  the 
original  dwellers  of  the  soil.  Here,  however,  they  seemed  desir- 
ous to  go  one  by  one  into  the  wilderness :  fathers  with  their  fom- 
ilies,  and  yotmg  men  without  families,  each  for  himself,  caring  for 
nobody,  thinking  only  of  future  fields  and  meadows  full  of  black 
stumps  and  logs,  rich  pastures  with  the  same  attractive  features 
and  no  end  of  cobble-stone  pyramids  added,  out  of  all  which 
should  come  great  gains  and  much  happiness. 

But  we  would  not  detract  one  iota  from  the  merits  of  om- 
forefathers.  Let  no  one  think  they  resembled  the  squatters  of  the 
present  day,  or  that  they  occupied  the  lands  without  leave  or 
license.  They  had  great  respect  for  law,  order,  and  the  rights  of 
property.  Much  as  they  desired  rich  homes  for  themselves,  not  a 
family  would  move  into  the  wilderness  until  they  had  acquired  a 
title  to  the  lauds  they  wanted.  But  who  owned  the  lands?  T\Tio 
could  give  them  deeds?  ~\Vho  could  insure  them  a  perfect  immun- 
ity from  being  considered  trespassers,  and  protect  them  from  writs 
of  ejectment  and  perplexing  lawsuits  in  which  some  men  so  much 
delight?  These  were  very  interesting  questions,  and  upon  them  a 
great  discussion  arose.  All  the  provinces  began  to  talk  of  the 
great  discoveries  of  Christopher  Columbus,  of  the  seizure  of  the 
diflerent  portions  of  America  by  the  several  nations  of  Europe, 
of  the  portion  old  England  modestly  took,  that  of  the  Virginia 
company,  the  Dutch  "West  India  company,  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
company,  and  the  grant  of  that  famous  little  tract  of  land,  made 
by  the  last  named  company  to  John  Mason,  and  then  about  the 
entertaining  lawsuits  instituted  by  said  Mason's  heirs  against  other 
claimants  of  the  soil  of  the  province  once  known  as  Mariaua, 
otherwise  Laconia,  and  finally  Xew  Hampshire. 

At  last  the  very  wise  conclusion  obtained  possession  of  men's 
minds  that  the  land  belonged  to  the  crown,  and  to  the  crown  they 
began  to  look  for  grants.  Then  came  the  question,  "Through 
what  channels?" — and  upon  this  the  distinguished  rulers  of  Xew 
Hamijshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Xew  York  each  set  up  their  claims 
to  the  land  in  question,  and  each  announced  to  the  people  that  he 
was  the  person  to  issue  grants. 

It  is  said  that  three  proclamations  were  put  forth  by  the  riva^ 


A   QCARREL    AMONG   CITILIAlfS.  161 

governors  stating  this  fact,  and  by  this  means  all  the  people  of  the 
sevei'al  provinces  were  clearly  enlightened.  The  dilemma  waxed 
more  difficult.  The  law-abiding  citizens  became  more  and  more 
impatient,  and  like  the  ass  between  two  bundles  of  hay,  they 
might  wait  forever. 

To  relieve  the  public  mind  of  the  great  suspense  that  was  now 
hanging  over  these  mighty  pi'ovinces,  embassies  were  dispatched 
to  England  to  obtain  a  settlement  of  the  great  question.  "Who 
went  on  this  important  mission,  and  when  they  went  or  returned, 
it  is  not  for  this  veracious  history  to  chronicle.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  they  did  return  and  made  so  satisfactory  a  report  that  the 
whole  matter  seemed  more  befogged  than  ever,  and  things  did  not 
advance  a  particle. 

The  several  royal  governors  grew  more  belligerent  than  before. 
They  eyed  each  other  like  dogs  watching  a  bone,  each  jealous  of 
the  other.  So  furious  did  they  become  that  even  grim  visaged 
war  with  its  horrid  front  seemed  portending.  An  old  historian 
said  the  moon  looked  like  blood,  that  a  comet  appeared  in  the 
heavens,  and  meteors  flashed  across  the  sky.  Provinces  hitherto 
peaceful  among  themselves,  content  to  fight  only  a  common  foe, 
Indian  or  French,  now  seemed  ready  to  gird  on  their  armor  for 
internecine  strife.  Of  the  two  methods  of  settling  boundaiy  lines 
— one  by  arms,  the  other  by  compromise — it  seemed  at  one  time 
highly  probable  that  the  former  might  be  chosen. 

But  the  fates  decreed  otherwise,  and  determined  that  neither 
method  should  be  followed.  While  the  royal  governors  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  New  York  were  contending  with  high  words,  and 
seemed  almost  ready  to  come  to  blows  and  broken  heads,  New 
Hampshire's  greatest  and  best  ruler  continued  to  add  fuel  to  the 
flames  of  contention  now  brightly  burning,  and  also  si(b  roso  took 
time  by  the  forelock,  boldly  cut  the  gordian  knot  for  himself,  and 
before  a  rumor  of  what  he  was  doing  had  gone  abroad,  made  hun- 
dreds of  grants  to  actual  settlers,  leaving  his  two  dear  friends  the 
governors  nothing  to  fight  about,  and  so  ehot  far  ahead  of  them  in 
worldly  riches  and  gubernatorial  fame.  How  this  was  accom- 
plished we  shall  immediately  proceed  to  show. 


CHAPTER  11. 

OF  A  FINE  OLD  GOVERNOR  OF  YE  ANCIENT  DAYS  AND  OF  HIS  ROYAL 
SECRETARY.  HOW  THESE  TWO  WORTHIES  BDILT  GOLDEN  CAS- 
TLES  IN  THE   AIR  AND  FINALLY  GREW   QUITE  RICH. 

BeNNING  WENTWORTH,  whom  we  have  many  times 
before  mentioned,  was  the  son  of  John  Wentworth,  one  of  the 
former  royal  lieutenant-governors  of  the  province  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. He  was  installed  in  office  with  great  ceremonies  and 
rejoicings  on  the  13th  of  December,  1741.  It  is  recorded  how  a 
mighty  cavalcade  escorted  him  into  that  great  seaport  town,  Ports- 
mouth, and  how  he  was  received  amid,  the  joyful  acclamations  of 
thousands  of  people  who  assembled  to  welcome  him.  This  is 
probably  the  partly  truthful  and  the  partly  poetical  language  of 
the  distinguished  historian ;  but  we  can  well  pardon  his  veneration 
for  one  of  the  most  honorable  governors  of  his  loved  State.* 

Had  our  royal  ruler  consented  to  have  lived,  till  the  present 
time  we  might  have  presented  a  faithful  portrait  of  his  character, 
appearance,  and  habits ;  as  it  is,  we  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of 
giving  him  but  a  passing  notice. 

Governor  Wentworth  was  a  fine  gentleman,  "  all  of  ye  olden 
time,"  and  in  the  matter  of  dress  was  fastidious.  On  state  occa- 
sions he  appeared  in  powdered  wig,  three-cornered  hat,  blue  coat 
with  buff"  facings  and  bright  buttons,  breeches  rather  broad  in  the 

*Bemiing  Wentworth  was  a  descendant  of  Elder  William  Wentworth,  of  Dov- 
er. Lient.  Governor  John  Wentworth  had  fourteen  children  :  1st,  Benning,  after- 
wards governor;  '2d,  John,  Judge  of  Probate  of  Portsmouth;  3d,  Hunking;  4th, 
William;  5th,  Samuel,  father  of  Mrs.  Gov.  John;  Gth,  Mark  Hunking,  father  of 
Gov.  John;  7th,  Daniel;  Sth,  Ebenezer;  9th,  George;  10th,  Hannah,  maiTied  Sam- 
uel Plaisted  and  Theodore  Atkinson;  11th,  Sarali,"married  Archibald  McPhedris; 
12th,  Mary;  13th,  Elizabetli;  14th,  Rebecca,  married  Thomas  Packer.  Benniug 
Wentworth  was  councillor  from  1732  to  1741,  when  he  became  governor,  and  re- 
main-ed  in  office  till  May,  1767 — History  of  Chester,  54. 


BENNINO     WENTWORTH.  163 

seat  and  tight  ai'ound  the  leg,  long  stockings,  sharp-pointed  shoes, 
silver  knee  and  shoe-buckles,  an  immense  frizzle  around  the  neck, 
and  a  shirt  bosom  set  forth  with  enormous  ruflfles. 

In  education  he  was  superior  to  most  men  of  his  time,  having 
spent  several  years  at  Harvard  University  and  received  all  the 
honors  of  that  renowned  institution.  Probably  geography  was 
not  then  taught,  or  he  never  would  have  made  those  lamentable 
mistakes  in  reckoning  latitude  and  longitude,  which  as  we  have 
before  shown  in  this  most  delectable  history  cost  so  much  blood 
and  treasure. 

He  made  but  few  laws,  but  he  took  great  care  that  these 
should  be  well  understood  and  executed,  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
case  of  Peter  Bowen  and  his  friend,  when  they  went  scot  free  on 
account  of  public  opinion. 

As  a  warrior  he  was  peculiarly  great  and  fortunate,  although 
we  have  no  knowledge  that  he  ever  fought  a  battle  in  his  life.  He 
preferred  rather  to  plan  mighty  campaigns  and  trust  to  his  distin- 
guished generals  to  execute  them.  Cavalry  soldiers  were  his  fav- 
orites, and  the  desperate  charges  of  his  bold  wild  horsemen  through 
the  dark  woods  of  the  north  are  facts  well  known  in  history. 

Governor  Wentworth  I'eigned  long  and  well,  much  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  his  loyal  subjects,  and  bid  fair  to  have  held  his  posi- 
tion till  the  day  of  his  death  but  for  his  love  of  wealth  and  that  his 
great  gains  excited  the  envy  of  other  ambitious  and  avaricious 
men  of  the  province. 

The  governor  had  a  worthy  secretary,  who  had  been  a  friend 
and  acquaintance  of  his  boyhood,  they  having  attended  the  same 
school  and  hunted  birds'  nests  and  stole  apples  together  on  holi- 
days. At  a  later  day  his  honorable  secretary — the  "Right  Hon- 
orable Theodore  Atkinson,  Jr.," — had  married  Banning  "Went- 
worth's  sister,  and  the  governor  having  an  eye  for  the  advantage 
of  his  relations — like  many  another  high  in  office  before  and  since 
his  time  —  had  given  his  brother-in-law  an  appointment.  They 
Ijulled  together  kindly,  and  Secretary  Atkinson  held  his  place  till 
the  honorable  governor  was  obliged  to  retire. 

We  have  been  thus  particular  in  mentioning  these  two  men, 
high  functionaries  of  the  royal  province  of  New  Hampshire,  be- 
cause to  the  bravery  of  the  one  and  the  faithfulness  of  the  other  is 


164  HISTORY   OF   -WARREN. 

due  the  creation  of  our  little  dependant  democracy — "Warren. 
They  stood  godfathers  at  the  birth  of  our  mountain  hamlet,  and 
must  not  be  forgotten. 

Some  men  act  from  principle  and  sink  self,  the  motive  that 
actuates  them  being  piirely  philanthropic ;  but  like  angels'  visits 
they  are  few  and  far  between.  Selfishness  is  generally  the  ruling 
motive.  Thus  Governor  "Wentworth  and  his  precise  secretary  saw 
a  golden  opportunity  before  them  and  interest  whispei'ed  that  it 
must  be  improved.  Dreams  of  how  they  could  make  a  howling 
wilderness  blossom  as  the  rose ;  broad  intervals  and  rich  hillside 
pastures  covered  with  flocks  and  herds ;  nice  farm  houses,  great 
barns  filled  with  hay  and  grain,  and  an  industrious  population  ex- 
ceedingly eager  to  paj^  a  large  sum  in  quit  rents,  burst  upon  their 
vision,  and  they  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunitj'. 

"While  the  discussion  was  going  on,  and  the  governors  of  New 
York  and  Massachusetts  were  considering  the  case.  Governor 
"Wentworth,  as  we  have  already  intimated,  commenced  the  grand 
work  of  giving  titles  to  the  land.  He  secretly  gathered  together 
all  the  surveyors  of  the  surrounding  country  and  set  them  at  work 
to  survey  the  richest  portions  of  our  great  wilderness.  On  each 
side  of  the  Connecticut  river  three  tiers  of  townships  were  laid 
out,  and  before  the  worthy  rulers  of  the  neighboring  ijroviuces 
were  aware  of  it  the  sections  had  nearly  all  been  granted  to  intelli- 
gent and  enterprising  men,  who  were  making  every  effort  to  settle 
and  cultivate  the  same. 

"We  cannot  stop  to  tell  of  the  mighty  wrath  that  waxed  hot  in 
royal  bosoms  when  the  acts  of  Governor  "Wentworth  were  report- 
ed; how  Massachusetts  finally  relinquished  her  claim,  and  how 
New  York  by  fraud  established  hers ;  nor  how  the  rough  back- 
woodsmen on  the  borders  and  among  the  Green  mountains  con- 
tended with  the  avaricious  ''Yorkers,"  who  were  encouraged  by 
old  England,  for  long  years,  until  they  establislied  their  indepen- 
dence and  "Vermont  became  a  State  by  itself.  "We  leave  such 
things  to  graver  and  more  prosy  historians. 

Governor  "Wentworth,  thrice  happy,  thrice  blessed,  now  made 
himself  a  great  favorite  with  all  his  people — for  a  short  time.  All 
the  wild  moss-troopers,  all  the  heavy  infantry  that  had  served  in 


OUR  DAYS   ARE   AS  THE   GRASS.  165 

the  old  French  and  Indian  wars,  all  who  had  money  in  their  pock- 
ets wherewith  to  paj'  good  round  fees,  were  now  suddenly  enriched 
by  the  good  governor.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  draw  up  a  peti- 
tion, get  the  requisite  number  of  signers,  go  to  the  governor  with 
a  nice  bag  of  gold,  and  a  charter  was  sure. 

Our  respectable  secretary  had  a  hard  time  of  it,  writing  out 
all  the  charters  and  recording  them  in  the  book  kept  for  that  pur- 
pose, but  many  a  weary  day  he  toiled  on  for  fees  which  were  great 
and  for  reservations  which  were  greater.  Their  coffers  were  well 
filled,  their  purses  were  heavy,  and  their  broad  domains  extended 
on  every  hand.  Our  royal  governor  reserved  for  himself  five  hun- 
dred acres  of  good  land  in  every  township,  and  his  diligent  seci'e- 
tary's  name  always  appeared  in  the  list  of  grantees.  Then  there 
were  the  quit-rents  of  money  and  numerous  ears  of  corn,  stipula- 
ted to  be  paid  in  all  coming  time.  And  the  governor  and  his 
worthy  secretary  longed  for  the  day  when  they  should  revel  in 
their  palaces  on  the  shores  of  the  silver  lake  Wiunepisseogee,  and 
with  fleet  horses  and  baying  hounds  follow  the  deer,  or  with  costly 
equipage  roll  along  busy  and  prosperous  thoroughfares.  AYhat 
vistas  of  joy  and  grandeur  opened  on  their  delighted  vision. 

Wild  contentions  with  the  "Yorkers,"  and  the  envious  avarice 
of  others,  destroyed  their  bright  air  castles.  But  all  these  and 
many  other  things  were  necessary  to  bring  our  little  mountain 
hamlet  into  existence. 


CHAPTER  III. 

AVHAT  JOHN  PAGE,  ESQ.,  DID,  OR  HOW  HE  PROCURED  A  ROYAL 
CHARTER  OF  OUR  MOUNTAIN  HAMLET,  WARREN,  CONFERRING 
MANY  GLORIOUS  PRIVILEGES,  AND  ONLY  A  FEW  CONDITIONS, 
VERY   EASY  TO   BE   COMPLIED   WITH. 

'  ^OT  far  from  Portsmouth,  the  reskleuce  of  ''  Old  King- 
George's"  roj^al  g'0\{eriior,  Benning  Weutworth,  is  the  little  towu 
of  Kingston.*  One  of  the  most  prominent  persons  of  the  latter 
town  was  John  Page,  Esq.  He  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  of  ex- 
tensive acquaintance,  and  always  prompt  to  take  advantage  of  the 
times.  In  personal  appearance  he  was  nearly  six  feet  tall,  broad, 
square-shouldered,  and  would  weigh  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds.  He  had  a  square-set  face,  keen  grey  eyes,  light  hair  and 
sandy  whiskers.  His  dress  was  neat  and  he  wore  short  breeches, 
long  stockings,  and  on  Sundays  silver  shoe  and  knee  buckles. 

He  had  served  as  selectman,  had  represented  his  town  in  the 
general  court,  and  had  also  engaged  in  trade  and  speculation.  He 
was  a  man  who  would  act  when  occasion  presented  itself,  and 
now  when  speculation  in  land  was  rife  he  was  wide  awake  for  his 
share  of  the  profits.  It  was  an  easy  thing  for  him  to  draw  up  a 
petition,  and  it  did  not  bother  him  much  to  get  sixty  odd  men 
possessed  of  means  to  sign  the  same.  No  less  than  eight  men  of 
his  own  name  —  including  John  Page,  Jr.,  a  son  of  course ;  Colonel 
Jonathan  Greeley,  mine  host  who  kept  the  village  inn,  with  his 
relatives,  Jonathan  Greeley,  2d,  Andrew  Greeley  and  Joseph 
Greeley,  Esqrs.,  also  Moses  Greeley,  of  Salisbury,  Mass. ;  True- 
worthy  Ladd,  who  kept  the  countiy  store ;  the  Hon.  Dr.  Josiah 

*  Since  divided  into  Kingston  and  East  Kingston. 


THE  CHARTER  GRANTED.  167 

Bartlett,*  afterwards  a  membcv  of  the  Continental  Congress;  John 
Hazeu,  John  Parker,  George  Marsh,  and  Thomas  Pierce,  four  val- 
iant captains  who  had  commanded  companies  in  the  old  French 
war,  were  among  the  petitioners. 

Armed  with  this  petition,  and  carrying  in  his  saddle-bags  a 
little  purse,  containing  a  hundred  pounds  or  more  in  gold,  he 
mounted  his  dark  bay  horse  one  fine  morning,  just  as  many  other 
men  at  that  time  who  wanted  grants  of  land  were  doing,  and  rode 
to  Portsmouth.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  gaining  access  to  His 
Honor  the  Governor,  and  when  he  had  shown  his  petition,  signed 
by  the  best  of  the  king's  subjects  who  lived  in  Kingston,  and  had 
jingled  his  little  purse  of  gold  in  the  gubernatorial  ear,  His  Excel- 
lency_^  was  delighted  to  grant  a  charter.  He  could  not  find  it  in 
his  heart  to  refuse  such  honorable  men,  and  withal  so  brave  sol- 
diers. How"  wonderfully  does  gold  grease  the  wheels  of  all  enter- 
prises. 

"My  secretary  shall  write  you  a  charter  immediately,"  said 
His  Excellency,  and  the  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  Jr.,  was  called 
and  directed  to  proceed  with  the  work.  Theodore,  the  secretary, 
smiled  as  he  said  to  John  Page,  Esq.,  that  he  would  be  delighted 
to  place  his  own  name  among  the  list  of  the  honorable  grantees. 
Esquire  Page  could  only  reply  that  he  would  be  most  happy  to 
have  him,  and  then  the  governor  rang  the  bell  and  directed  the 
sei*vant  to  bring  three  bowls  of  rich  punch,  in  which  they  were  all 
very  much  pleased  to  drink  each  others'  health. 

In  the  meantime  the  charter  was  duly  written  out.  signed  by 
Benning  AVentworth,  the  great  seal  affixed,  handed  to  a  clerk  to 
be  recorded,  and  John  Page,  Esq.,  bidding  the  governor  and  his 
secretary  good  day,  mounted  his  horse  and  went  home. 

"Warren  then  had  a  legal  existence.  It  had  been  marked  on 
the  map  and  named  nearly  two  yeaips  previous,  and  was  then  polit- 
ically conceived.     The  lith  of  July,  1763,  was  its  bit'thday. 

John  Page,  Esq.,  told  his  friends  the  grantees  what  he  had 
done  aud  promised  them,  as  the  governor  had  him,  that  they 

*Josiah  Bartlett  was  a  physician,  born  at  Amesbury,  Mass.,  in  November, 
1729.  He  commenced  practice  in  Kingston,  N.  H.,  became  an  active  politician,  a 
member  of  the  provincial  legislature,  also  of  tlie  committee  of  safety,  in  1775,  and 
at  the  close  of  that  year  a  member  of  the  continental  congi-ess.  He  was  afterward 
a  judge  aud  then  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  aud  died  iu  May,  1795.  He  was  at 
one  time  a  Colonel. 


168  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

should  have  the  chartei*  in  a  few  days.  But  they  were  destined  to 
wait.  They  could  not  hurry  the  governor,  and  his  secretaiy, 
"  The  Et.  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  Jr.,"  had  so  much  business 
on  hand  that  neither  he  nor  his  clerks  could  possibly  find  time  to 
complete  the  work  of  recording  the  charter  of  Warren  until  the 
28th  January,  1764.  The  original  was  then  forwarded  to  John 
Page,  Esq. 

That  night  he  met  his  friends  the  associate  grantees  at  Colonel 
Jonathan  Greeley's  inn.*  He  showed  the  prize,  and  they  all 
seemed  exceedingly  well-pleased.  It  was  written  in  a  nice  round 
hand,  the  parchment  was  excellent,  a  blue  ribbon  was  attached, 
and  the  great  seal  of  the  royal  province  gave  it  regal  dignity  and 
legal  consequence. t 

*  Four  roads  meet  in  East  Kingston,  X.  H.,  one  pair  running  north  and  south, 
the  other  east  and  west.  On  the  latter,  oue-lourtli  ol'  a  mile  west  of  the  fom-  cor- 
ners was  the  Colonel's  hotel.  It  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  road.  In  front 
undulating  fields  sloped  up  to  the  top  of  the  low  wooded  hills  in  the  south,  while 
to  the  north  they  gradually  declined  a  mile  away  to  the  low  bottom  land.  For  fifty 
rods  in  front  of  the  house  the  road  is  level,  beginning  to  descend  to  the  eastern 
valley  by  the  great  rock  on  the  lell,  and  to  tlie  western  by  tlie  old  burying-place. 
On  tliis  road  our  old  proprietors  tried  the  speed  of  their  horses  alter  town  meet- 
ings. West  of  the  house  was  the  orchard.  The  house  itself  was  a  large  two-story 
building,  eaves  to  the  road,  built  in  the  style  peculiar  to  those  days.  Two  square 
rooms  in  front — the  south-east  one  the  bar  room — a  long  dining-hall  or  kitchen  in 
the  rear,  and  behind  was  a  dairy  and  cook  room.  There  was  a  long  unfinished  haU 
up  stairs,  over  the  dining  room,  filled  with  beds  for  lodgers,  and  in  front  two  fur- 
nished cliamijers.  The  bar  room  and  dining  hall  were  ceiled  with  white  pine 
boards,  but  the  parlor  and  chamber  walls  were  "  hung  with  rich  paper."  The 
house  was  built  over  about  twenty  years  ago,  but  the  same  materials  were  used, 
and  to-day  the  doors,  the  windows,  the  casmgs,  are  all  the  same  as  when  Colonel 
Greeley,  John  Page,  Dr.  Bartlett,  and  Jeremy  Webster  first  assembled  at  the  propri- 
etors' meetings.  In  the  back  room  is  an  old  chest  of  di'awers,  and  a  cupboard ;  also 
the  "  Dairy  "  used  by  (Colonel  Greeley's  family. 

t  CHARTER : 

Province  of  New  Havip shire,  George  the  Third,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  Gi-eat 
Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  <Jc. 

To  all  persons  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  gi-eeting:  Know  ye  that  we 
of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion,  for  the  due  encourage- 
ment of  settling  a  new  plantation  within  our  said  province,  by  and  with  the  advice 
of  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  Benning  Wentwoith,  Esq.,  our  governor  and  com- 
mander-in-chief of  our  said  province  of  Xew  Hampshire  in  New  England,  and  of  our 
council  of  the  said  province,  have  upon  the  conditions  and  reservations  hereinafter 
made,  given  and  gi-anted,  and  by  these  presents  for  us  our  heirs  and  successors  do 
give  and  gi-ant  in  equal  shares  unto  our  loving  sxibjects,  inhabitants  of  our  said 
province  of  New  Hampshire  and  our  other  governments,  and  to  their  heirs  and 
assigns  forever,  whose  names  are  entered  on  this  grant,  to  be  divided  to  and 
amongst  them  into  seventy-two  equal  shares  :  All  that  tract  or  parcel  of  land  situ- 
ate lying  and  being  within  our  said  province  of  New  Hampshire,  containing  by  ad- 
measurement twenty-two  thousand  acres,  which  tract  is  to  contain  almost  six  miles 
square  and  no  more;  out  of  which  an  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  highways  and 
imimproved  lands  by  rocks,  ponds,  mountains,  and  rivers,  one  thousand  and  forty 
acres  free;  according  to  a  plan  and  survey  thereof,  made  by  our  said  governor's 
order  and  returned  into  the  secretary's  office  and  hereunto  annexed,  butted  and 
bounded  as  follows,  viz :  Beginning  at  the  northwesterly  corner  of  Romney, 
thence  running  north  twenty-four  degi-ees  east  five  miles  and  tliree-quarters  of  a 
mile ;  tlience  turning  ofl'  and  running  north  fifty-eight  degrees  west,  six  miles  and 
one  hall'  mile  to  the  southeasterly  corner  of  Haverhill ;    thence  south  twenty 


THE  TEXT   OF   THE   CHARTER.  169 

111  the  milliner  of  tlie  most  standard  novelists  we  would  here 
pause  and  invite  the  gentle  reader  to  look  with  us  over  the 
shoulders  of  John  Page,  Esq.,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  and  their 
numerous  friends  the  grantees,  at  this  mighty  instrument: 

George  the   Third,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, France,  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c. 

Such  was  its  heading ;  and  we  must  remember  that  they  lived 
in  good  old  provincial  times  and  that  George  III  was  their  king. 
How  glad  they  are  that  Governor  "Wentworth  has  been  so  good  to 
them.    He  has  given  them  thirty-six  square  miles  of  territory,  and 

degrees  west  five  miles  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile;  then  turning  off  again  and 
running  south  lilty-nine  degrees  east  six  miles  to  the  corner  of  Romney  begun  at; 
and  that  the  same  be  and  hereby  is  incorporated  into  a  township  by  the  name  of 
Wauren,  and  the  inhabitants  that  do  or  shall  hereafter  inhabit  the  said  to\ynship 
are  hereby  declared  to  be  enfranchised  witli  and  entitled  to  all  and  every  privilege 
and  immunities  that  other  towns  within  our  province  by  law  exercise  and  enjoy; 
and  further,  that  the  said  town  as  soon  as  there  shall  be  fifty  families  resident  and 
settled  therein,  shall  have  the  liberty  of  holding  two  fairs,  one  of  which  shall  be 
liolden  on  the  [  ],  and  the  other  on  the  [  ],  annually;  which  fairs  are  not 

to  be  continued  longer  than  the  respective  [  ]  follo\ving"the  said  [  ] ;  and 

that  as  soon  as  the  said  to^vn  shall  consist  of  fifty  families  a  market  may  be  opened 
and  kept  one  or  more  days  in  each  week,  as  maybe  thought  most  advantageous  to 
the  inhabitants ;  also  that  the  first  meeting  for  the  choice  of  town  oflicers,  agreeable 
to  the  laws  of  our  said  province,  shall  be  held  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  Febru- 
ary next,  which  said  meeting  shall  be  notified  by  John  Page,  Esq.,  who  is  hereby 
also  appointed  the  moderator  of  the  said  first  meeting,  which  lie  is  to  notify  and 
govern,  agreeably  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  our  said  province;  and  that  the 
annual  meeting  forever  hereafter  for  the  choice  of  such  oflicers  for  said  town  shall 
be  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  March  annually  :  To  have  and  to  hold  the  said  tract 
of  land,  as  above  expressed,  together  with  all  privileges  and  appurtenances,  to 
them  and  their  respective  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  upon  the  following  conditions, 
viz: 

1st.  That  every  grantee,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  shall  plant  and  cultivate  five 
acres  of  land  withm  the  term  of  five  years  for  every  fifty  acres  contained  in  his  or 
their  share  or  proportion  of  laud  in  said  township,  and  continue  to  improve  and 
settle  the  same  by  additional  cultivation,  on  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  his  grant 
or  share  in  said  township  and  of  its  reverting  to  us  our  heirs  and  successors,  to  be 
by  ns  or  them  regranted  to  such  of  our  subjects  as  shall  effectually  settle  and  culti- 
vate the  same. 

2d.  That  all  white  or  other  pine  trees  within  the  said  township  fit  for  masting 
our  royal  navy  be  carefully  preserved  for  that  use ;  and  none  be  cut  or  felled  with- 
out our  special  license  for  "so  doing  first  had  and  obtained,  upon  penalty  of  the  for- 
feiture of  the  right  of  such  grantee  his  heirs  and  assigns  to  us  our  heirs  and  suc- 
cessors, as  well  as  being  subject  to  the  penalty  of  any  act  or  acts  of  parliament 
that  now  are  or  shall  hereafter  be  enacted.  • 

3d.  That  before  any  division  of  the  land  be  made  to  and  among  the  grantees  a 
tract  of  land  as  near  the  centre  of  said  township  as  the  land  will  admit  of  shall  be 
reserved  and  marked  out  for  town  lots,  one  of  which  shall  be  allotted  to  each  gran- 
tee, of  the  contents  of  one  acre. 

■Ith.  Yielding  and  paying  therefor  to  us  our  heirs  and  successors,  for  the  space 
of  ten  years  to  be  computed  from  the  date  hereof,  the  rent  of  one  ear  of  Indian 
corn  only,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  December  annually,  if  lawfully  demanded; 
the  first  payment  to  be  made  onthe  twenty-fifth  day  of  "December,  1763. 

5th.  Every  proprietor,  settler,  or  inhabitant  shall  yield  and  pay  unto  us  our 
heirs  and  successors  yearly,  and  for  every  year  forever  from  and  after  tlie  expira- 
tion of  ten  years  after  the  above  said  twenty-fifth  day  of  December,  namely,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day  of  December  which  will  be  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1773,  one  shil- 


170 


HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 


divided  it  into  seventy-two  equal  shares.  Tlie  number  of  acres 
is  twenty-two  thousand,  all  good  and  excellent  land.  By  the  way, 
they  have  never  seen  it  yet,  but  then  certainly  most  of  it  must  be 
good,  for  has  he  not  made  an  allowance  for  highways  and  unim- 
proved lands,  by  reason  of  rocks,  ponds,  mountains,  and  rivers, 
one  thousand  and  forty  acres  free? 

How  accurately  it  is  bounded.  Romney  is  its  southeast  cor- 
ner, and  Haverhill  its  northwest  corner ;  so  we  know  that  both 
Romney  and  Haverhill  have  been  ali'eady  located  and  surveyed. 


ling  proclamation  money,  for  every  hundred  acres  he  so  owns  settles  or  possesses 
and  so  in  proportion  lor  a  greater  or  less  tract  of  tlie  said  land,  which  money  shall 
be  paid  by  the  respective  persons  abovesaid  their  heirs  or  assigns,  in  our  council 
chamber  in  Portsmouth,  or  to  such  officer  or  officers  as  shall  be  appointed  to 
receive  the  same,  and  this  to  be  in  lieu  of  all  other  rents  and  services  whatever. 

In  testimony  u-liereof  we  have  caused  the  seal  of  our  said  province  to  be  here- 
unto affixed.  Witness  Benning  Wentworth,  Esq.,  our  governor  and  commander- 
in-chief  of  our  said  province,  the  14th  day  of  .July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  Christ 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  the  third  vear  of  our  reign. 

[L.  S.]  B.   WEKTWORTH. 

By  His  Excellency's  command,  with  advice  of  Council  — 

T.  Atkinson,  Jun.,  Secretary. 

Province  of  New  Hampshire,  Jan.  28th,  1764. 

Recorded  in  the  Booli  of  Charters,  No.  3,  pages  78,  79. 

T.  Atkinson,  Jun.,  Secretary. 


THE  NAMES  OF  THE  GRANTEES  OF  WAKREN  : 


Ebenezer  Stevens,  Esq., 
Dier  Hook, 
Philip  Tilton, 
Nathaniel  Fifield, 
Andrew  Greeley, 
Jacob  Currier, 
Samuel  Dudley, 
Joseph  Tilton, 
Francis  Batchelder, 
.Joseph  Greeley, 
John  Batchelder, 
Jacob  Gale, 
Abraham  Morrill, 
.Jeremv  Webster, 
"The  Rt.  Hon.  Theodore 
Atkinson,  Jun.,  Esq.,"* 
Nathaniel  Barrel, 
Samuel  Graves, 
John  Marsh, 

Moses  Greeley,  of  Salis- 
bury, 
Andi-ew  Wiggm,  Esq., 

to  contain  five  hundred 
acres,  as  marked  B.  WTon  the  plan,  which  is  to  be  accounted  two  of  the  with- 
in shares.  One  whole  share  for  the  incorporated  society  for  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  in  foreign  parts.  One  share  for  a  glebe  for  the  Church  of  England, 
as  by  law  established.  One  share  for  the  first  settled  minister,  and  one  share 
for  the  benefit  of  a  school  in  said  town  forever. 

Province  of  New  Hampshire,  .Tan.  2Sth,  1764. 

Recorded  in  the  Book  of  Charters,  No.  3,  page  80. 

T.  ATKINSON,  JUN.,  Secretaiy. 
*1N.H.  Hist.  Col.  282. 


John  Page,  Esq., 
Jona.  Greeley,  Esq., 
James  Graves, 
Joseph  Blanchard,  Esq 
Capt.  .Jolin  Hazen, 
Ephraim  Brown, 
Joseph  Page, 
Belcher  Dole, 
Reuben  True, 
Stephen  Websterj 
John  Darling, 
Capt.  John  Parker, 
Jona.  Greeley,  2d, 
Enoch  Chase, 
Lemuel  Stevens, 
Abel  Davis, 
Capt.  George  Marsh, 
Ebenezer  Morrill, 
Trueworthy  Ladd, 
William  Whiteher, 
Ebenezer  Collins, 
Ebenezer  Page, 
James  Nevins,  Esq., 
His  Excellency  Benning 


Samuel  Page, 
Moses  Page, 
.John  Page,  Jun., 
Ephraim  Page, 
Enoch  Page, 
Benj.  French,  Jun., 
Aaron  Clough,  Jun., 
Silas  Newel, 
David  Morrill, 
Nathaniel  Currier, 
Benjamin  Clough, 
Henry  Morrill, 
Jacob  Hook,  Esq., 
.Josiah  Bartlett, 
Joseph  Whiteher, 
Reuben  French, 
Samuel  Osgood, 
Thomas  True, 
David  Clough, 
Daniel  Page, 
Peter  Coffin,  .Tun., 
William  Parker,  Jr.,  Esq., 
Capt.  Thomas  Pierce, 

AVentwoi'th  a  tract  of  land 


MAP   OF   THE   SAID   TOWNSHIP. 


171 


The  next  fact  that  meets  the  eye  is,  "  That  the  same  be  and 
herebj'-  is  incorporated  into  a  township  by  the  name  of 

warren:" 


tfA  TWO  HTM. 


m^-^""^ 


John  Page,  Jr.,  must  here  have  asked  his  venerable  sire  whY 
it  was  so  called.  Tradition  has  it  that  John  Page,  Sr.,  replied 
that  he  had  conversed  with  the  governor  about  the  origin  of  the 
name,  and  that  His  Excellency  informed  him  that  the  surveyors 
of  the  "  King's  Woods,'"  who  had  visited  the  township  to  estab- 
lish the  lines,  reported  that  it  Avas  a  beautiful  land,  full  of  rabbits, 
Avhere  nature  had  seemingly  appropriated  a  i)iece  of  ground  to 
their  breeding  and  preservation 

Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  who  was  learned  in  Indian  as  well  as 
medical  lore,  interrupted  and  said  he  supposed  it  must  be  a  place 
granted  bv  the  Gitche  Manito,  the  Indian  god  who  had  his  home 


172  HISTORY    OP   WARREN. 

on  the  summits  of  the  lofty  mountains  round  about,  to  the  red 
sons  of  the  forest  in  which  to  keep  all  their  "  beastes,"  fowls,  and 
fish;  <'For,"  said  he,  "all  the  jolly  hunters  say  that  the  woods  are 
full  of  moose,  deer,  bear,  and  other  game,  that  wild  ducks  swim 
on  the  rivers  and  ponds,  and  that  every  stream  is  alive  with  the 
speckled  trout  and  golden  salmon." 

John  Page,  Esq.,  farther  said  that  His  Excellency  told  him 
that  he  was  also  influenced  to  bestow  the  name,  Warren,  upon  this 
tract  of  wild,  mountainous  country,  out  of  respect  for  his  fiiend, 
Admiral  Warren,  of ''  Louisburg  notoriety."  He  wished  to  honor 
the  admiral,  because  he  had  greatly  aided  the  New  Hampshire  and 
Massachusetts  troops  in  wresting  that  almost  impregnable  fortress 
from  the  French. 

Now  we  desire  to  caution  our  readers  against  putting  too 
much  faith  in  the  above  very  plausible  traditions.  We  have  a 
pretty  theory  of  our  own  in  relation  to  the  matter,  and  it  is  but 
natural  that  we  should  want  to  give  it  a  place  in  this  most  ambi- 
tious history.  It  is  this :  Old  England  has  a  borough  named 
Warren,  and  there  was  then  a  town  of  Warren  in  nearly  every 
other  royal  province,  and  it  was  and  is  extremely  fashionable  to 
bestow  tliis  beautiful  name,  signifying  a  rabbit  borough,  upon  a 
handsome  and  fertile  tract  of  country ;  therefore  His  Excellency, 
imitating  the  mother-land  and  the  royal  governors  of  other  loyal 
provinces,  named  this  beautiful  and  fertile  grant,  given  to  John 
Page,  Esq.,  and  sixty-five  others — Warren. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  subject  of  etymology  without  notic- 
ing the  opinion  of  the  learned  Deacon  Asa  McFarland,  so  long  the 
able  editor  of  the  New  Hampshire  Statesman,  and  a  member  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Historical  Society.  He  gravely  asserts  that  the 
town  is  named  for  and  after  General  Joseph  Warren,  who  fell  a 
martyr  for  his  country  at  Bunker  Hill.*  But  as  General  Warren 
was  but  a  stripling  in  1761,  and  probably  unknown  to  our  good 
governor,  aud  as  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  not  fought  until 
fourteen  years  after  Benning  Wentworth  had  retired  from  office, 
and  even  his  loyal  successor  had  taken  French  leave  of  his  most 
I'oyal  province,  we  can  but  conclude  that  our  most  wise  editor 
was  entirely  correct  in  the  matter,  aud  would  enjoin  upon  our 
*See  files  of  the  New  Hampshire  Statesman. 


THE   PLEASURES   OF    HOPE.  173 

readers  to  put  the   utmost  confidence  in  the  learned  deacon's 
opinion. 

Haying  thus  profoundly  shown  how  the  name  of  our  little 
hamlet  originated,  we  will  proceed  to  examine  with  John  Page, 
Esq.,  and  the  numerous  other  grantees,  into  the  furtlier  mysteries 
of  their  great  and  mighty  instrument,  the  charter. 

The  next  fact  learned  is  that  the  future  inhabitants  of  said 
township — once  called  in  the  charter  "a  neio  plantation"  —  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  enfranchised  with  and  entitled  to  all  and 
every  privilege  and  immunity  that  other  towns  within  "  our  prov- 
ince ''  exercise  and  enjoy. 

This  was  kind.  But  His  Excellency,  the  geographer,  was 
determined  to  do  more  for  John  Page,  Esq.,  and  his  friends  than 
was  customary.  The  .governor  loved  them  exceedingly ;  they  had 
been  so  good  as  to  bring  a  larger  bag  of  gold  than  was  usual.  He 
therefore  ordered  "The  Rt.  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  Jun.,  Esq." 
to  insert  the  provision,  "That  as  soon  as  there  shall  be  fifty  fam- 
ilies resident  and  settled  in  town  they  shall  have  the  liberty  of 
holding  tivo  fairs."    This  would  make  the  land  sell  better. 

It  was  a  glorious  privilege,  and  all  the  grantees  imagined — 
and  some  of  them  had  excellent  iijiaginations — how  like  old 
Derr\-field  or  the  fairs  of  England  and  Ireland,  or  like  the  Olym- 
pic, Pythian,  Isthmian  or  Nemean  games  of  classic  Greece,  their 
semi-annual  gatherings  should  be  held,  when  the  farmers  could 
sell  and  swap  horses,  run  horse  and  foot  I'aces,  wrestle  and  box, 
climb  slippery  poles,  and  pursue  greased  pigs ;  while  at  even-tide 
the  youths  and  maidens  should  dance  on  the  village  green,  or  wit- 
ness the  wild  acts  of  improvised  athletes,  and  listen  to  the  sweet 
songs  of  wandering  minstrels. 

That  there  might  be  no  doubt  concerning  the  governor's  sin- 
cere friendship  he  also  caused  to  be  inserted  the  authority  "That 
a  market  may  be  opened  and  kept  one  or  more  days  in  each  week, 
as  may  be  thought  most  advantageous  to  the  inhabitants." 

What  a  happy  idea  was  this:  The  village  green  should  be 
alive  with  horses,  beeves,  sheep,  and  hogs,  with  loads  of  hay  and 
grain  and  wood,  and  long  rows  of  stalls  where  marketmen  and 
marketwomen,  carrying  well  filled  baskets,  could  buy  and  sell 
poultry,  fish,  meats,  and  vegetables  of  every  sort  and  kind. 


174  HISTORY    OF    WARREN, 

But  there  must  be  a  few  conditious.  The  privileges  must  not 
be  all  on  one  side.  If  the  grantees  do  not  hasten,  the  town  will 
not  flourish  with  a  rich  and  teeming  population,  and  the  quit- 
rents,  ears  of  corn,  and  proclamation  money  will  not  come  in  fast 
enough,  and  the  royal  governor  and  his  secretary  cannot  ride  in 
their  coaches  and  build  their  palaces  on  the  shore  of  the  smiling 
lake  as  they  would  like.    So  it  was  stipulated: 

1st.  That  every  grantee  for  every  fifty  acres  he  owns  shall  with- 
in the  term  of  five  years  plant  and  cultivate  five  acres  of  land. 

2d.  That  ?i\\pine  trees  fit  for  masting  our  royal  navy  shall  be 
carefully  preserved. 

3d.  That  a  totvn  lot  one  acre  in  size  shall  be  laid  out  near  the 
centre  of  the  town  for  each  grantee. 

4th.  That  for  ten  years  each  grantee  shall  pay  the  rent  of  one 
ear  of  Indian  corn  annually. 

5th.  That  after  ten  years  each  grantee  shall  annually  pay  for 
every  hundred  acres  owned  one  shilling  proclamation  money. 

AVe  are  thus  particular  to  put  all  these  conditions  into  our 
most  important  history  because  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
governor  put  them  all  in  the  charter. 

Then  in  the  most  gracious  manner  possible  the  governor 
reserved  for  himself  only  (5ue  lot  containing  five  hundred  acres, 
and  he  was  very  particular  to  have  it  marked  on  the  little  plan  of 
the  town  accompanying  the  charter.  But  he  had  the  misfortune 
to  locate  it  in  a  very  poor  place,  owing  no  doubt  to  his  great  skill 
in  geography.  Wachipauka  pond,  the  precipitous  face  of  Web- 
ster Slide  mountain,  and  the  blueberry  patch  on  its  summit,  con- 
stituted the  good  gentleman's  reservation. 

Governor  Wentworth  was  an  excellent  man.  He  belonged  to 
the  high  church  of  England,  and  withal  was  piously  inclined.  So 
he  told  his  brother-in-law  the  honorable  secretary  to  reseiwe  one 
whole  share  ''for  the  incorporated  society  for  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  in  foreign  parts,"  "  one  share  for  a  glebe  for  the  Church 
of  England  as  by  law  established,"  and  "  one  share  for  the  first 
settled  minister." 

But  not  an  acre  did  he  give  to  the  witch-hanging,  ear-crop- 
ping, cheek-branding,  bundling  puritans,  as  he  called  them,  nor 
to  the  Scotch  covenanters.    Not  he!     He  did  not  believe  in  them. 


ONE  SHARE  FOR  EDUCATION.  175 

But  he  did  believe  in  education,  and  was  very  willing  to  do 
something  for  coming  generations,  especially  when  other  people 
paid  the  expenses;  and  so  he  ordered  in  addition  that  ''one  share 
should  be  appropriated  for  the  benefit  of  a  school  in  said  town 
forever." 

How  satisfactory  were  all  these  conditions,  provisions,  and 
reservations,  and  how  well  John  Page,  Esq.,  Colonel  Jonathan 
Greeley,  and  all  their  friends  felt  that  night.  Visions  of  broad 
acres  and  riches  without  limit,  accruing  from  great  sales  of  land 
and  from  rents,  floated  before  them.  The  entire  brood  was  reck- 
oned up  before  a  single  chicken  had  burst  the  shell,  and  with 
characteristic  liberality  drinks  and  viands  were  ordered  up. 
Bowls  of  hot  punch  and  mugs  of  good  old  fashioned  flip  circulated 
freely,  and  with  song  and  jest  and  shout  the  time  flew  fast.  The 
moon  had  gone  down  in  the  Avest  and  the  stai's  were  dimming 
when  these  future  lords  of  the  soil  separated  for  their  homes. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  EAGER  MEN  —  HOW  THEY  HELD  SEVERAL  MEETINGS  —ALSO  OF  A 
GAT  AND  FESTIVE  CORPORATION  DINNER  —  CONCLUDING  "WITH  A 
POWERFUL  EFFORT  TO  OBTAIN  A  SURVEYOR  OF  THE  "  KING'S 
WOODS." 

N^OW  there  shall  be  no  more  delay.  The  long  summer  and 
autumn  had  passed,  and  part  of  the  winter  had  gone,  since  the 
visit  of  John  Page,  Esq.,  to  Portsmouth,  and  it  did  seem  to  the 
anxious  grantees  that  the  Kt.  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  Esq.,  had 
not  the  slightest  regard  for  their  feelings  and  desire  for  gain,  else 
he  would  have  recorded  and  forwarded  the  charter  sooner.  No 
more  time  should  be  lost;  a  meeting  must  forthwith  be  called. 
At  the  gathering  at  the  inn  of  mine  host.  Colonel  Jonathan  Gree- 
ley, the  grantees  one  and  all  had  importuned  John  Page,  Esq.,  to 
make  all  possible  haste,  post  the  notices,  and  let  them,  the  eager 
grantees,  immediately  assemble. 

John  Page,  Esq.,  did  so,  agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the 
charter,  and  in  just  ten  days  after  it  was  recorded,  on  February 
8th,  1764,  Colonel  Jonathan  Greeley's  lively  inn  was  honored  by 
the  great  initiatory  meeting. 

The  proprietors  of  our  little  mountain  hamlet  assembled  in 
full  numbers.  Even  Moses  Greeley,  of  Salisbury,  was  present. 
At  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  they  wei-e  ready  for  business,  and  John  Page, 
Esq.,  as  directed  by  the  charter,  called  the  meeting  to  order. 

It  was  held  in  the  long  dining  hall  back  of  the  parlor  and  the 
tap-room.  A  bright  fii'e  was  blazing  on  the  open  hearth,  there 
were  benches  around  the  hall  on  which  the  men  were  to  sit,  while 
some  of  the  more  chilly  gathered  standing  about  the  fire.    An  old 


THE   FIRST   rROPRIETARY   MEETING.  177 

table  was  placed  upon  a  little  platform  at  one  end  of  the  hall,  and 
by  it  sat  John  Page,  Esq.  Eapping  upon  it  with  his  knuckles  he 
called  the  meeting  to  order  and  immediately  the  hum  of  conversa- 
tion ceased. 

From  the  time  of  his  return  from  Portsmouth  he  had  kept 
close  possession  of  the  charter,  and  now  drawing  it  forth  he  pro- 
ceeded to  read  it  at  length.  "When  he  had  finished  a  buzz  was 
heard  about  the  room,  as  is  usual  at  town  meetings,  but  Esquire 
Page  again  rapped  upon  the  table  and  pK)ceeded  to  remark  that 
the  tirst  business  in  order  would  be  the  choosing  of  a  toicn  clerk; 
and  the  proper  way  to  proceed  would  be  to  elect  him  by  ballot. 
He  therefore  requested  that  written  ballots  might  be  prepared  and 
forwarded.  Upon  counting  them  it  was  found  that  Jeremy  "Web- 
ster had  received  the  whole  number,  and  it  was  declared  that 
Jeremy  AVebster  was  unanimously  elected.  In  a  like  manner 
Jeremy  Webster,  Colonel  Jonathan  Greeley,  and  Lieutenant  James 
Graves  were  chosen  selectmen.  It  was  then  voted  that  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  "Warren  should  be  held  on  the  first 
Wednesday  of  March,  and  that  the  next  one  should  be  held  at  the 
inn  of  mine  host.  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  on  the  7th  of  Mai'ch, 
1764,  that  date  falling  on  the  said  first  "Wednesday.  The  meeting- 
was  then  dissolved. 

.  But  the  proprietors  did  not  disperse.  It  was  the  first  corpora- 
tion meeting  and  there  must  be  a  corporation  dinner.  John  Page, 
Esq.,  himself  says  that  two  long  tables  were  set  in  the  very  hall  in 
which  the  meeting  was  held.  The  plates,  knives,  spoons,  pewter- 
platters,  mugs,  and  service,  all  brought  from  England,  were 
arrayed  with  mathematical  exactness.  Roast  beef,  spare  ribs, 
turkeys,  aud  chickens;  chicken  pies,  plum  puddings,  mince  pies, 
apple  pies,  cakes,  sauce,  and  savory  viands  of  all  kinds,  including 
without  doubt  sundry  pots  of  baked  beans  contrasted  with  huge 
loaves  of  Indian  meal  bread,  fairly  caused  the  festive  board  to 
groan. 

John  Page,  Esq.,  also  says  that  he  himself  sat  at  the  head  of 
one  table,  and  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley  at  the  other,  and  that  each 
man  carved  for  himself,  as  was  the  fashion  in  "ye  ancient  time." 
As  beef,  pork,  and  fowl  rapidly  disappeared,  what  cheer  was 
there — what  jokes  they  cracked — how  rich  they  felt — and  how 

L 


178  HISTORY    OF   WAKREN. 

fast  fle-w  the  time.  And  then  the  hissing  hot  punch  was  brought 
in,  and  first  of  all,  every  one  standing,  they  dranlv  King  George's 
health.  Then  the  song,  the  jest,  the  laugh,  and  the  health  of  our 
good  governor  w^as  not  forgotten.  To  each  other  long  life,  hap- 
piness, and  riches  "were  drank,  and  the  short  hours  flew  swiftly  by 
until  one  by  one  our  worthy  proprietors  liad  drank  themselves 
sober  and  had  departed  their  several  ways.  The  expense  of  this 
and  all  other  meetings  was  paid  out  of  the  proprietors'  stock.* 

It  was  a  worthy  cftnipany  that  took  supper  at  Col.  Greeley's 
inn.  The  presence  of  the  Kt.  Hon.  Theodore  Atkinson,  Jun.,  the 
Hon.  Josiah  Bartlett,  afterwards  governor  of  New  Hampshire, 
Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  a  man  of  much  influence,  John  Page,  Esq., 
and  a  host  of  other  good  and  notable  men,  made  a  most  respecta- 
ble meeting. 

Of  course  not  many  plans  Avere  made,  for  according  to  the 
vote  another  meeting  was  soon  to  be  held,  at  which  a  j)rogramme 
was  to  be  fully  discussed  and  adopted. 

Consider  for  a  moment  this  first  meeting  of  our  forefathers. 
All  northern  New  Hampshire  was  then  a  wilderness.  The  little 
hamlet  of  Warren  was  clialked  on  the  map,  but  thei'e  Avas  no  road 
to  it  or  through  it ;  nothing  but  an  Indian  trail.  A  few  settlers 
had  just  set  themselves  down  by  the  Connecticut  river,  at  the 
Coos  intervals,  and  twenty  miles  aAvay  the  Hobarts  and  the  Weh- 
sters  were  building  the  first  camps  on  the  Pemigewassett.  King 
George  ruled  the  British  empire,  and  the  western  world  but  com- 
posed his  royal  provinces.  The  king's  head  ornamented  all  the 
coin  of  the  realm,  and  even  on  Jonathan  Greeley's  sign  was 
painted  the  English  coat  of  arms.  No  dreams  of  independence 
flitted  through  their  bi'ains  then;  all  were  loyal  subjects. 

Eiches  were  what  the  proprietors  wanted,  and  so  when  the 
first  "Wednesday  of  March,  ITG-t,  came  they  were  nearly  all  present 
and  eager  for  action.     How  avarice  will  spur  men  on. 

The  meeting  being  called  to  order  in  the  same  old  hall,  John 
Page,  Esq.,  was  chosen  moderator ;  Jeremy  Webster,  clerk;  Jos- 
eph Whitcher,  constable;  Capt.  Ephraim  Brown,  Col.  Jonathan 
Greeley,  and  Jeremy  AYebster,  selectmen;  Capt.  Stephen  AYebster, 
Joseph  Page,  and  Ebenezer  Stevens,  surreyors  of  highivays\  and 

*  See  Proprietors'  Records. 


SCARCITY  OF  SURVEYORS.  179 

that  there  mio-ht  bo  no  delay  they  determined  to  choose  a  com- 
mittee to  run  the  lines  round  about  the  township  and  view  the 
land.  For  this  purpose  they  chose  John  Page,  Esq.,  Lt.  James 
Graves,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  Capt.  John  Plazen,  and  Captain 
Stephen  Webster.  They  were  authorized  to  procure  a  surveyor 
and  other  necessary  assistants  and  to  proceed  immediately  to  the 
business.  Our  tirst  annual  town  meeting,  at  which  these  fourteen 
men  were  immortalized  by  being  elected  to  such  important  offices, 
was  then  adjourned.  Every  one  now  believed  that  the  worlc 
would  go  bravely  on  and  that  soon  the  land  would  be  all  sold  and 
settled  —  and  then  how  rich  they  would  be. 

Our  valorous  committee,  chosen  to  run  the  lines  and  view  the 
lands,  did  indeed  go  to  work  in  a  bold  and  enterprising  manner. 
They  made  application  to  every  trusty  and  skillful  sui'veyor  in  the 
country,  but  to  no  purpose.  They  were  all  engaged  running 
town  lines  and  lotting  lands  for  other  proprietors.  The  committee 
even  made  sundrj^  and  divers  journeys  across  the  border  to  the 
land  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  see  if  they  could  find  one,  but  with- 
out any  better  success.  The  whole  summer  went  by,  and  when 
autumn  came  they  wei'e  thoroughly  convinced  that  among  other 
requisites  a  considerable  sum  of  money  was  necessary  to  secure 
the  services  of  so  important  a  personage  as  a  surveyor  had  now 
got  to  be. 

Accordingly  a  third  meeting  was  called  and  held  on  the  17th  of 
September,  1764,  when  it  was  voted,  '"'That  a  dollar  (or  its  equiv- 
alent in  paper  currency,)  be  paid  upon  each  right  in  order  to  fur- 
nish and  jDay  the  fore-mentioned  committee  when  they  should  act 
for  running  the  lines  about  the  township."'  That  there  should  be 
no  mistake  this  time,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley  was  chosen  treasurer, 
to  collect  and  pay  out  the  money  for  that  purpose. 

But  prosperity  did  not  smile  upon  them.  Although  the  hon- 
orable committee  labored  with  all  their  might,  still  no  surveyor 
was  procured.    The  year  went  by  and  nothing  was  done. 

Consequently  when  the  selectmen,  as  iu  duty  bound,  on  the 
19th  of  February,  17(35,  warned  another  meeting  to  be  held  on  the 
6th  of  March  following,  they  inserted  an  article  in  the  Avarrant, 
'^To  vote  what  the  proprietors  will  further  do  relative  to  the  com- 
mittee chosen  last  year  and  the  business  they  were  to  transact.' ' 


o 


180  HISTORY   OF    WAKREN. 

This  was  the  mighty  question.  Everj^  grantee  considered  it 
most  thoroughly.  At  the  6th  of  March  meeting,  held  at  the  inn  of 
Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  they  voted  unanimously  "That  the  propri- 
etors' committee  run  the  lines  about  the  township  as  formerly 
determined ;  thej^  are  to  begin  the  work  about  the  first  of  June 
next,  and  to  proceed  in  the  business  as  fast  as  possible,  and  if  they 
need  assistance  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  get  it." 

Now  they  will  surely  act  —  no,  gently,  not  yet.  They  cannot 
get  a  surveyor  any  more  than  last  year,  although  the  most  strenu- 
ous efforts  are  made.  The  summer  again  goes  by  and  the  lines 
are  not  run.  Some  of  the  proprietors  who  had  paid  liberally  were 
indignant,  and  said  this  would  not  answer. 

The  last  of  August  the  rulers  of  the  proprietary,  otherwise 
the  distinguished  selectmen  for  that  year,  call  another  meeting. 
It  is  to  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  September,  1765.  The 
proprietors  were  alarmed.  They  had  contributed  to  the  little 
purse  of  gold  for  the  governor,  they  had  paid  for  corporation  din- 
ners, they  had  been  assessed  for  contingent  expenses;  these  had 
all  been  outgoes,  but  not  a  penny  had  they  received.  Besides,  the 
conditions  of  the  charter,  especially  that  one  requiring  that  the 
town  should  be  settled  in  five  years,  had  not  been  fulfilled,  and 
if  much  more  precious  time  was  wasted  all  would  be  lost.  The 
px'oprietors  met  as  directed,  this  time  at  Jacob  Currier's  inn,  in 
South  Hampton,  and  not  at  Col.  Greeley's;  but  they  did  nothing 
but  talk.  After  a  long  discussion  they  adjourned  to  meet  again  in 
one  week  at  the  same  place. 

Being  met  again  and  the  meeting  called  to  order,  John  Page, 
Esq.,  said  that  he  had  some  good  news  to  communicate.  He  then 
announced  that  by  good  fortune  the  proprietors'  committee  had 
secured  the  services  of  an  excellent  surveyor  and  assistants.  This 
piece  of  information  was  greeted  with  applause,  and  the  whole 
proprietary  felt  so  good  that  both  flip  and  punch  were  ordered  up 
and  every  one  drank  to  his  heart's  content. f 

It  was  then  voted  that  when  the  meeting  adjourn  it  be  to  meet 
on  the  third  Tuesday  of  October,  1765,  to  hear  the  further  report 
of  the  committee.     Some  one  then  suggesting  that  they  had  better 

*  See  Proprietors'  Records, 
t Proprietors'  Records. 


A  SURVEYOR  FOUND  AT  LAST.  181 

meet  at  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley's  again,  a  motion  to  that  effect  was 
passed  with  almost  an  unanimous  vote,  only  a  few  of  Jacob 
Currier's  friends  dissenting,  as  they  wanted  him  to  have  the 
profits  of  the  meetings.  But  the  majority  remembered  the  good 
things  in  Col.  Greeley's  larder  and  bar;  they  believed  also  that  the 
good  will  of  his  place  had  much  to  do  with  success.  Thus  the 
hope  of  gain  combined  with  a  longing  for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt 
succeeded. 

There  shall  be  no  more  delay.  The  committee,  no  longer  fur- 
uished  with  excuses,  must  act  at  once,  and  we  shall  now  have  the 
pleasure  of  accompanying  the  valiant  little  surveying  party  far  to 
the  north  for  a  delightful  stroll  in  the  great  wilderness  of  the 
future  town  of  Warren. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HOW  THE  LINES  WERE  RUN  ROUND  ABOUT  WARREN  —  A  CAMP  IN 
THE  FOREST  —  A  ROARING,  RAGING  EQUINOCTIAL  STORM  WORTH 
SEEING,  AND  A  REPORT  OF  THE  WHOLE  AFFAIR  BY  SURVEYOR 
LEAVITT. 

And  now  Jolui  Page,  Esq.,  aucl  his  associates  move  in 
their  work,  and  Benjamin  Leavitt,  tlie  excellent  snrveyor  whom 
they  had  hired,  together  with  his  assistants,  are  soon  ready. 

The  committee  accompany  him,  and  one  bright  morning  we 
find  the  little  surveying-  party  breaking  camp  beside  Stinson  pond, 
on  the  east  side  of  Mount  Carr,  and  wending  their  way  by  the 
blazed  line  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town  of  Romney. 

They  found  and  established  that  point  of  our  little  mountain 
hamlet.  Its  lines  had  before  been  chalked  on  the  map,  but  now 
its  bounds  were  to  be  set  up,  and  the  trees  blazed  to  show  the 
course. 

They  first  traced  the  east  line,  follovving  along  upon  the 
eastern  slope  of  Mount  Carr.  At  noon  they  halted  for  dinner  on 
the  shores  of  Glen  upper  pond.  No  clearings  were  visible.  There 
are  none  to  be  seen  to-day.  The  same  wildness,  the  same  solitude 
witnessed  by  John  Page,  Esq.,  Benj.  Leavitt,  and  their  associates, 
when  they  stood  by  that  little  circular  pond  a  hundred  years  ago, 
exists  there  now.  The  deer  and  the  bear  then  came  to  drink  of 
its  water.  The  bear  drinks  there  to-day,  and  the  mettled  fawn 
and  the  antlered  buck  now  crop  the  grass  upon  the  moist  shore 
the  same  as  then.  There  were  moose  there  then,  but  there  are 
none  there  now. 


THE   BOUXDARV   LINES   RUN.  183 

At  night  they  camped  on  the  side  of  Mt.  Kineo.    The  morrow 

saw  them  across  Cushman  monntain  to  the  northeast  corner,  saw 

them  traveling  down  the  slope  of  Mt.  AVaternomee,  on  the  north 

line,  to  the  Asquamchumauke  river.     That  night  they  camped  by 

the   roaring   torrent.     The  third   day   they  crossed   the   spur  of 

Moosehillock,   passed   the   head   waters  of  Berry   and  Oliverian 

brooks,  climbed  the  precipitous  Webster  Slide,   and   sundown 

found  them   camped   b\'  a  little   stream  that  flowed  down  into 

Tarleton  lake.     Across  the  lake  or  around  it,  down  over  Piermont 

mountain,  leaving  Eastman  ponds  to  the  east  and  including  them 

in  AVarren,  to  the  sonthwest  corner,  and  there  they  camped  the 

night  of  the  fourth  day.    Eastward  over  Sentinel  mountain,  across 

Martin  brook,  then  so  called  from  a  hunter  who  had  trapped  upon 

it,  and  over  the  spur  of  Beech  hill  to  the  Asquamchumauke  river 

again.     Here  the  quick  eye  of  Surveyor  Leavitt  noted  the  old 

Indian  trail.     It  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.     Leaving 

their  surveying  instruments  in  a  safe  place  they  followed  the  ti-ail 

up  the  river  for  two  miles,  crossed  the  mouth  of  Black  brook — 

the  Mikaseota — and  at  the  end  of  the  ridge  between  the  brook 

and  the  river  they  camped  for  the  night. 

Tradition,  that  most  trustworthy  historian,  has  it  that  while 
they  were  cooking  their  supper  John  Page,  Esq.,  followed  up 
Black  brook  a  few  rods  to  where  there  was  a  little  ivhite  fall  leap- 
ing over  the  mica  slate  rock,  and  shot  a  deer  Avhich  had  come 
there  to  drink,  the  sun  being  about  half-an  hour  high.  The  sur- 
veying party  had  an  extra  supper  that  night.  Flashing  knives 
carved  out  the  choicest  morsels,  and  by  their  campfire  that  gleamed 
through  the  woods  they  sat  for  long  hours  telling  old  legends  and 
bloody  tales  of  Indian  wars. 

The  next  morning  they  crossed  the  valley  and  climbed  the 
hill,  came  back  and  followed  the  trail  to  Runaway  pond,  then 
back  and  up  the  valley  to  Berry  brook.  At  night  they  had  re- 
turned to  their  camp  again  on  the  end  of  the  ridge.  The  land  in 
the  valley  was  good,  and  the,great  pine  trees  on  the  plain,  where 
the  common  is  now,  some  of  them  more  than  two  hundred  feet 
high,  in  whose  cones  they  heard  the  autumn  wind  sighing,  Avere 
the  objects  of  their  especial  admiration.  But  they  could  only 
admire  them.     The  surveyor  of   the  king^s  woods  had  marked 


184  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

them  with  the   broad  arrow,  and  they  could  only  be  used  for 
masting  the  royal  navy. 

They  had  goue  to  sleep,  their  camp-fire  burning-  brightly  iu 
the  darkness.  Hours  of  quiet  went  by,  when  suddenly  John 
Page,  Esq.,  started  up.  "What  was  that?  AYas  it  the  howl  of  the 
wolf,  the  cry  of  the  catamount,  or  the  well-nigh  forgotten  but 
terrible  whoop  of  the  savage?  He  listened  for  a  moment  but 
heard  nothing  save  the  murmer  of  the  brook  and  the  river,  which 
united  just  below  them.  Soon  a  flash  of  lightning  lighted  up  the 
forest,  followed  by  the  low  deep  rumble  of  thunder  behind  the 
western  mountain.  A  moment  more,  others  having  been  aroused, 
and  a  sharp  flash  blinded  their  eyes,  followed  by  another,  which 
in  turn  was  succeeded  by  a  crash  of  thunder  louder  and  more 
stunning  than  any  they  had  ever  before  heard.  Mount  Carr 
echoed  back  the  terrible  peal,  and  theu  the  rain  poured  down  in 
torrents. 

Our  little  surveying,  land-locating,  fortune-hunting  party 
were  now  all  wide  awake.  Their  fire  was  out,  their  camp  leaked, 
and  almost  in  less  than  no  time  they  were  drenching  wet.  For 
the  rest  of  the  night  they  sat  there  in  a  delightful  condition  of 
shiver.  They  thanked  their  lucky  stars  for  their  good  fortune, 
that  they  had  only  got  a  good  wetting  and  nothing  more,  and 
without  doubt  they  said  their  prayers  and  made  sundry  pious 
ejaculations  during  those  luminous  and  happy  hours.  But  they 
did  not  swear. 

"When  the  morning  dawned  they  found  that  the  wind  was 
blowing  from  the  northeast,  that  black  clouds  were  hurrying 
across  the  sky  from  Moosehillock  to  Mount  Carr,  and  that  the 
thunder  shower  was  but  the  prelude  of  the  storm.  It  was  no  use 
to  break  up  the  camp  then  —  everything  was  too  wet.  They  made 
a  fire,  dried  their  clothes,  breakfasted  on  the  remains  of  tlie  veni- 
son, longed  for  a  dish  of  delicious  punch  to  wash  it  down,  and 
then  tightening  the  camp  and  gathering  more  firewood  waited  as 
best  they  might  for  what  could  not  be  helped. 

By  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  the  wind  was  howling  in  the  woods  and 
the  rain  fell  fast.  All  day  long  they  sat  there,  managing  one  way 
and  another  to  pass  away  the  time,  while  Surveyor  Leavitt  made 
notes  in  his  journal  to  assist  him  in  writing  his  report. 


A   STORM  AMONG   THE   MOUNTAINS.  185 

When  the  suu  went  down  a  new  sound  arose.  As  the  evening 
hours  wore  on  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  storm  spirits  had  leaped  from 
the  waterfalls  in  the  ravines  of  Mount  Carr,  and  were  joining  in 
one  grand  pa?an,  loader  than  the  mightiest  roar  of  the  ocean. 
The  Indians'  god,  Gitche  Manito,  with  the  whole  host  of  lesser 
aboriginal  divinities,  assisted  by  Jupiter  Tonans,  Vulcan,  Pluto, 
and  every  other  heathen  god,  seemed  mingling  their  voices  in  one 
continuous  roll  of  thunder  through  the  huge  mountain  forests. 
John  Page  and  his  companions  had  heard  the  roar  of  the  ocean  in 
a  storm,  but  never  a  sound  like  this.  People  of  Warren  some- 
times hear  the  same  now,  when  the  equinoctial  storm  of  autumn 
comes  late,  or  when  the  winter  breaks  up  suddenly  and  the  melt- 
ing snows  and  warm  rains  turn  the  mountain  streams  to  torrents. 

In  the  morning  the  storm  was  over.  A  bright  tire  made  them 
comfortable,  the  last  of  the  venison  was  cooked  for  breakfast,  and 
when  the  white  mists  from  the  waterftills  were  climbing  out  of  the 
ravines  and  chasing  each  other  over  the  wooded  crest  of  Mount 
Carr,  and  the  wind  had  shaken  the  rain  from  the  trees  and  bushes, 
they  hurried  back  down  the  trail  to  the  spot  where  they  had  left 
their  surveying  instruments.  They  crossed  the  now  roaring 
Asquamchumauke  and  climbed  over  the  eastern  mountain.  The 
line  was  linished  that  day,  and  night  found  them  back  in  their  old 
camp  by  Stinson  pond.  Four  days  more  and  they  were  at  home 
making  up  their  report. 

On  the  third  Tuesday  of  October,  1765,  the  proprietors  met 
again.  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley's  long  hall  and  cosy  tap-room 
seemed  like  home  to  them.  The  meeting  having  been  called  to 
order,  John  Page,  Esq.,  chosen  moderator,  and  Jeremy  Webster, 
clerk,  they  passed  the  following  vote:  "That  we  receive  and 
accept  the  report  of  the  committee  we  sent  to  the  township,  and 
give  the  committee,  Jeremy  Webster,  Esq.,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley, 
and  John  Page,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  sixty-four  dollars  for  their  time 
and  expense  in  going  up  to  Warren  to  run  the  lines  about  the 
township  and  viewing  the  laud."  * 

The  report  of  the  committee  has  not  come  down  to  us  in  form, 
but  tradition  says  that  the  committee  told  the  proprietors  that  our 
beautiful  little  hamlet  was  located  among  great  mountains  "  daunt- 

*  See  Proprietors'  Records. 


186  HISTORY    OF    -WARREN. 

ing  terrible ;"  that  to  all  sound  appearances  "loud  roaring  divels" 
lived  among  said  mountains ;  that  silver  rivers  and  streams  ran 
through  it,  and  upon  the  borders  around  it  were  sparkling  lakes 
and  ponds.  Tliey  might  also  have  stated  that  on  Patch  brook  (not 
then  having  a  name)  was  an  old  beaver  meadow  where  the  grass 
grew  wild,  and  that  there  was  another  meadow  larger  and  better, 
at  the  outlet  of  Runaway  i^ond. 

Perhaps  they  might  have  further  made  mention  of  the  fact 
that  on  the  slopes  of  Beech  hill  and  Picked  hill  were  immense 
maple  groves  where  sugar  might  at  some  later  day  be  made,  but 
this  we  can  only  conjecture.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  committee 
made  an  exceedingly  interesting  report,  that  the  proprietors  were 
mightily  well-pleased  thereat,  and  immediately  took  other  and 
more  determined  steps  to  accomplish  the  settlement  of  the  town. 


CPIAPTER  VI. 

CONDITION'S  HARD  AND  TERRIBLE  —  A  ROAD  ilADE  OF  AN  INDIAN 
TRAIL — RICH  LOTS  OF  LAND  DRAWN  BY  LOT,  AND  HOAV  IMEN 
FELT  RICH   BUT   ANXIOUS. 

"  1st,  That  every  grantee  for  every  fifty  acres  of  land  he 
owns  in  Warren  township  shall  wit?iin  the  term  of  Jive  years 
plant  and  cultivate  five  acres  of  la)ul." 

Like  the  sword  suspeuded  by  a  hair  over  the  head  of  ter- 
riiied  Damocles,  so  the  above  condition  of  the  charter  was  forever 
hanging  over  our  worthy  proprietors.  The  very  first  condition  — 
it  must  be  fulfilled.  A  failure,  and  the  little  hamlet  of  Warren 
was  lost  to  them.  The  other  conditions  could  be  easily  complied 
with.  The  pine  trees  fit  for  masting  our  royal  navy  could  be  pre- 
served; the  town  lots  could  be  laid  out;  the  rent  of  one  ear  of 
Indian  corn  only  could  be  yielded ;  and  the  one  shilling  proclama- 
tion money  could  be  ''  deposited  in  our  council  chamber  at  Ports- 
mouth '■  without  difficulty.  But  in  performing  our  first  condition 
—  there  was  the  trouble. 

What  shall  be  done?  It  must  be  planted  and  cultivated  in  the 
space  of  five  years.    This  not  done  and  the  charter  is  forfeited. 

We  have  seen  how  the  lines  were  run  and  went  with  the  com- 
mittee to  view  the  lands.  It  was  necessary  to  set  up  the  bounda- 
ries so  that  the  proprietors  of  other  towns  should  not  trespass  upon 
our  woody  territory.  That  the  proprietors,  owners,  and  would-be 
settlers  might  journey  thither  without  difficulty,  a  road  must  be 
cut.  But  two  years  had  passed  already  and  one  had  not  as  yet 
been  begun.    Perhaps  the  worthy  proprietors  waited  for  those  of 


188  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

othei'  townships  ou  the  river  below  to  cut  out  their  roads,  so  that 
it  might  be  more  easy  to  get  to  the  boundary  of  Warren  to  begin 
theirs ;  perhaps  they  had  no  money  in  the  treasury  to  pay  for  the 
work ;  perhaps  they  thought  there  would  be  such  a  spontaneous 
rush  to  buy  their  lands  that  there  would  be  no  need  of  their  doing 
anything.     But  time  dispelled  the  first  and  last  of  these  illusions. 

The  year  1765  was  nearly  passed ;  almost  half  the  time  given 
for  the  settlement  was  gone,  when  at  a  proprietors'  meeting  held 
late  in  autumn  it  was  voted  to  pay  for  clearing  a  public  road 
through  the  township,  and  a  committee  was  chosen  to  attend  to 
the  same.  It  consisted  of  Col.  Ebenezer  Stevens,  Col.  Jonathan 
Greeley,  Jacob  Hook,  Esq.,  Samuel  Page,  Esq.,  Jolm  Page,  Jun., 
John  Page,  Esq.,  and  Cajit.  Ephraim  Brown.*  The  road  once 
cleared,  and  then  emigi'ants  would  flock  to  the  land  of  the  hills. 
Our  mountain  hamlet  would  certainly  be  settled,  and  the  fix'st 
requirement  of  the  charter  fulfilled. 

But  that  there  might  be  no  fiiilure  in  this  matter  of  cultivation 
and  settlement,  they  determined  to  divide  a  portion  of  the  land 
into  lots  and  distribute  them  among  the  several  grantees.  Then 
each  one  would  have  a  separate  personal  interest,  and  would  labor 
with  more  energy  for  the  settlement.  Accordingly  at  the  annual 
meeting  in  1765  it  had  been  voted  that  a  division  of  home  lots 
should  be  made  by  the  above-mentioned  road  committee,  to  con- 
tain eighty  acres  each,  resi^ect  to  be  paid  to  quality  as  well  as 
quantity. 

But  this  vote  was  all  for  nought.  The  season  went  by,  and 
late  in  autumn,  the  proprietors  being  again  met,  they  voted  to  lay 
out  a  home  lot  to  each  grantee,  containing  one  hundred  acres  to 
the  lot,  as  convenient  as  may  be.  That  there  might  be  no  repeti- 
tion of  failure  they  further  voted  to  raise  money  to  defray  the 
charges  of  laying  out  the  same,  and  also  instructed  the  road  com- 
mittee to  lay  out  said  lots.  The  vote  to  raise  the  funds  to  pay  for 
the  work  was  the  best  vote  passed.  The  work  must  now  move. 
Something  will  surely  be  accomplished. 

We  have  seen  how  difiicult  it  was  for  our  former  committee  to 
procure  a  surveyor.    The  one  headed  by  Col.  Ebenezer  Stevens 

*See  Proprietors'  Records. 

1765.    The  proprietors  voted  to  raise  money  to  defray  the  charge  of  clearing 
the  public  road  uow  about  to  be  laid  out  through  the  township  of  Warren. 


AN  INDIAN  TRAIL   MADE   USEFUL.  189 

ft 

encountered  tlie  same  obstacle.  Procure  a  surveyor  they  could 
not.  The  year  1766  passed,  and  nothing  was  done.  The  grantees 
waited  for  their  committee  to  act,  and  did  not  CA'en  call  a  proprie- 
tors' meeting.  Individually  they  exhorted  the  committee  to  work 
— but  all  to  uo  purpose. 

As  we  have  before  said,  and  as  every  wide-awake  proprietor 
knew,  the  time  for  fulfilling  the  tirst  condition  of  the  charter  was 
fast  flying,  and  their  claim  to  the  little  mountain  territory  seemed 
slipping  from  their  grasp.  The  spring  of  1767  came.  Only  one 
year  of  the  five  given  was  now  left.  The  work  must  be  done  at 
once  or  all  would  soon  be  lost.  At  this  critical  juncture  of  affairs 
John  Page,  Esq.,  rallied.  A  meeting  of  part  of  the  committee 
was  held  at  the  usual  place,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley's  inn,  at  which 
it  was  emphatically  redetermined  to  run  the  lines,  locate  the  road, 
and  lay  out  the  lots. 

To  accomplish  all  this  a  surveyor  must  be  had,  and  John  Page, 
Esq.,  said  he  was  happy  to  inform  the  committee  that  Benjamin 
Leavitt,  who  had  formerly  run  the  lines,  could  be  procured.  Sam- 
uel Greeley,  Fry  Bayley,  Abraham  Morrill,  Samuel  Page,  Joseph 
Eastman,  and  Jacob  Morrill  were  to  be  his  associates.  They  were 
to  ijerambulate  the  boundaries  and  layout  the  first  division  of  lots. 

It  was  spring  time  when  the  surveying  party  and  the  commit- 
tee chosen  to  clear  the  road  came  to  Warren.  They  established 
themselves  in  the  old  camp  on  the  end  of  the  ridge  between  the 
Mikaseota  or  Black  bi'ook  and  the  Asquamchumauke  or  Baker 
river,  and  while  Surveyor  Leavitt  went  over  the  lines  again  and 
was  layiiig  out  the  lots,  the  road  committee  attended  to  their 
duties. 

And  now  our  worthy  readers  will  naturally  inquire  what  kind 
of  a  road  they  made  and  where  it  was  located.  "\Ye  have  no  doubt 
concerning  the  truthfulness  of  the  reply  we  shall  give,  for  we  have 
the  facts  vouched  for  by  many  of  the  ancient  settlers  and  also 
recorded  by  history  itself.  Our  indefatigable  committee  did  not 
locate  any  new  road  —  they  simply  cleared  out  the  old  Indian  trail, 
and  made  it  into  a  tolerable  bridle  path. 

This  Indian  trail  was  a  very  ancient  way,  about  as  mitch  so  as 
the  old  Roman  roads.  For  centuries  back  the  Indians  had  followed 
it.     Wonalancet  and  his  friends  had  journeyed  over  it  nearly  a 


19a  HISTORY   OF   -WARREN.  ♦ 

hundred  j^ears  previous  to  the  little  improvement  undertaken  by 
our  committee.  Waternomee  knew  every  rod  of  it.  Arosagun- 
ticook  warriors  had  led  their  captives  on  it  northward  to  Canada.* 
Capt.  Baker's  ''marching  party"  had  hurried  down  it  to  tight  the 
Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the  Asquamchumauke.  Capt.  Peter 
Powers  t  made  use  of  it  in  his  glorious  retreat,  and  along  its  wind- 
ings Eobert  Eogers  had  marched  his  whole  company  of  rangers. 
It  was  the  shortest  road  to  the  sea  board,  and  those  in  a  huri'y  to 
reach  the  lov/er  country  have  always  traveled  it. 

Many  a  hunter,  trapper,  and  explorer  journeying  northward 
in  those  primitive  times  availed  themselves  of  its  facilities.  The 
Kev.  Grant  Powers,  a  most  truthful  historian,  narrates  how 
the  very  first  settlers  who  came  up  the  Merrimack  valley  to  Coos 
employed  it.  In  April,  1762,  he  says  that  Col.  Joshua  Howard, 
Jesse  Harriman,  and  Simeon  Stevens  engaged  an  old  hunter  at 
Concord  to  guide  them  through  the  wilderness.  They  came 
west  of  Newfound  lake,  in  Hebron,  followed  up  the  northwest 
branch  of  the  Asquamchumauke  or  Baker  river  into  Coventry, 
and  down  the  Oliverian  to  the  Connecticut.  They  performed  the 
journey  in  four  days  from  Concord. J 

Most  of  these  things  happened  wlien  the  Pemigewassetts,  the 
Coosucks,  or  the  Arosagunticooks  had  a  right  of  way  over  it.  But 
this  very  summer,  after  our  committee  had  so  much  improved  it,  a 
lady,  solitary  and  alone,  took  a  romantic  journey  along  its  woody 
windings.  The  story  is  this  —  a  simple  tale  —  told  in  an  ancient 
record :  Thomas  Burnside  and  Daniel  Spaulding  were  journey- 
ing with  their  families  to  settle  at  the  upper  Coos.  At  Plymouth 
one  of  Mr.  Spaulding's  children  was  so  badly  burned  as  to  be 
unable  to  proceed,  and  Mrs.  Spaulding  was  left  behind  to  attend 
to  it.  Her  husband  and  friends  having  gone  she  became  lonesome 
and  resolved  to  follow  them.  A  friend  living  at  Plymouth  had 
agreed  to  accompany  lier  through  the  woods  with  a  horse  thirty- 
four  miles  to  Haverhill,  but  he  left  her  at  a  house  in  Eomney,  the 
last  one,  nine  miles  on,  and  turned  back.   Mrs.  S.  was  not  discour- 

*Acteou's  Nan-ative. 

t  Powers'  Histoiy  of  Coos,  46. 

J  "  Some  of  the  early  settlers  of  Haverhill  and  Newbury  took  the  same  route 
to  Plymoiitli,  kept  on  tlie  north  side  of  Baker  river  into  Coventry,  and  then  down 
the  O'liverian."— Powers'  History  of  Coos,  109. 


A   AV03IAN   AXD   CHILD   IX   THE    -^^'OOD.  191 

aged:  with  her  child  in  her  arms  she  proceeded.  She  waded 
tlirongh  Baker  riA'cr,  wliich  was  low  from  drouth,  and  all  day 
long  toiled  up  the  blazed  path  to  Warren.  Across  Black  brook 
and  up  the  meadow  she  met  two  men,  Avhom  she  tried  to  avoid  by 
stepping  out  of  the  path.  They  saw  her  and  endeavored  to  per- 
suade her  to  turn  back,  and  among  other  things  told  her  that  she 
must  "  wade  through  a  part  of  Wachipauka  pond  wliere  there  was 
nothing  to  direct  her."  But  she  still  persisted.  In  the  course  of 
the  afternoon  a  heavy  thunder  shower  passed  over  and  thoroughly 
wet  both  mother  and  child.  She  continued  travelling  until  in  the 
darkness  the  track  could  be  no  longer  followed.  Then  quietly 
seating  herself  by  the  side  of  a  tree  she  leaned  against  it  with  her 
child  in  her  arms,  and  there  rested  without  sleep  till  morning.  It 
was  a  lonely  night.  The  rumble  of  Oak  tails  echoed  through  the 
leafy  wood,  the  whippoorwill  sang  in  the  alders  by  the  brook,  and 
the  bullfrogs  in  the  neighboring  pond  croaked  and  "chugged"  the 
whole  night  long. 

At  early  dawn  she  continued  her  journey  and  soon  arrived  at 
the  pond,  through  part  of  which  she  waded  waist  deep.  Fortune 
favored  her  and  she  found  the  path  on  the  opposite  shore  without 
difficulty.  She  also  waded  the  Oliverian  which,  to  use  her  own 
language, ''looked  wild  and  terrifying,"  being  probably  swollen 
on  account  of  the  shower  of  the  preceding  day.  Pushing  rapidly 
on  at  eleven  A.  M.  she  reached  the  settlements  on  the  Connecticut.* 

Where  through  Warren  did  the  Indian  trail  run  —  that  most 
ancient  way  over  which  Indian  kings  and  princes  of  mighty  tribes 
had  travelled,  and  where  Mrs.  Spaulding  took  her  romantic  jour- 
ney?  It  followed  up  the  west  bank  of  the  Asquamchumauke  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mikaseota  or  Black  brook,  cros^sed  the  latter 
stream  and  followed  up  its  east  bank,  going  some  of  the  way  just 
where  the  road  is  located  now,  to  the  neighborhood  of  Beech  hill 
bridge,  where  it  crossed  to  the  west  bank  and  continued  along  the 
same  to  its  source  in  AYachipauka  or  Meader  pond.  Crossing  the 
pond  at  the  outlet  it  continued  round  the  east  shore  to  the  head, 
over  the  little  summit,  down  the  slope  of  Webster  Slide  mountain 
to  the  Oliverian,  and  down  the  latter  stream  to  the  Connecticut. 

The  surveyor  and  his  party  did  even  better  than  our  road 
*  1st  Farmer  &  Moore's  Historical  Collections,  85. 


192  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

committee.  Beiij.  Leavitt  "with  his  assistants,  as  we  said  before, 
perambulated  the  old  lines  and  then  proceeded  to  lay  out  the  lots. 
They  began  on  the  south  side  of  the  town  and  laid  out  the  first 
division.  The  crest  of  Mount  Carr,  where  the  hackmatacks  groAV, 
they  did  not  think  worth  spending  any  time  upon,  but  Surveyor 
Leavitt  spotted  his  lines  across  Hurricane  brook,  and  washed 
down  his  dinner  one  day  by  a  draft  from  ''Diana's  bowl,"'  which 
is  carved  in  the  rock  at  the  top  of  "Wolf's  Head  falls. 

They  made  nine  ranges  in  the  first  division,  and  as  high  as 
eleven  lots  in  a  range,  as  can  be  seen  by  looking  at  any  old  plan  of 
the  town.  The  laud  was  lotted  as  far  north  as  the  ^^  Eleven  mile 
tree,''''  so  called,  which  stood  beside  the  Indian  trail,  and  is  often 
spoken  of  in  the  proprietors'  records.  This  work  accomplished 
the  whole  party,  road  clearers  and  surveyors,  retui'ued  to  the 
southei'u  country. 

Benj.  Leavitt,  Esq.,  took  his  time.  He  made  up  his  report 
carefully,  drew  an  accurate  plan  of  his  survey,  and  when  the  com- 
mittee to  notify  proprietors'  meetings  notified  said  proprietors  to 
meet  on  Tuesday,  Nov.  17,  17G7,  he  was  ready  to  hand  it  in.  The 
meeting  was  called  for  that  purpose.  Art.  2d  of  the  warning  was, 
''  To  hear  a  report  of  a  committee  returned  from  running  the  lines 
of  said  township,  and  as  they  have  laid  out  part  into  lots,  to  see  if 
the  proprietors  will  vote  to  accept  it."  At  the  meeting  held  on 
said  day  it  was  voted  to  allow  the  committee  for  their  services  in 
the  sum  of  twenty-one  i^ounds  and  four  shillings.* 

Thus  the  lots  were  laid  out,  the  report  made  and  accepted, 
and  it  now  remained  to  divide  the  land.  After  due  consideration 
it  was  voted  that  it  should  be  distributed  by  lot,  and  that  one  n?an 
should  draw  the  lots  for  the  whole  proprietary,  and  also  voted  that 
the  moderator  was  the  man  to  draw  said  lots.  The  meeting  then 
adjourned  for  half  an  hour,  the  slips  of  paper  were  prepared,  and 
being  again  met  the  lots  were  drawn. 

At  the   drawing  Thomas   True   got  the  first  lot  in  the  first 

*  1767,  Nov.  17.  Voted  that  we  allow  the  committee  above  mentioned  in  fnll  for 
their  services,  as  Ibllowetli,  viz  : 

To  Fry  Bavley,  4  days  at  5  shillings  per  day,  1^      0  0 

"  Benj.  Leavitt,  Surveyor,  li  days  at  G  shillings  per  day,  4Z      4  0 

"  Ain-aliani  Morrill,  14  days  at  a'shillings  per  day,  'Al  10  0 

"  Samuel  Page,  11  days  at  5  shillings  per  day,  'U  15  0 

"  Joseph  Eastman,  11  days  at .')  shillings  per  day,  'il  15  0 

"  Jacob  Morrill,  14  days  at  5  shillings  per  day,  3i  10  0 

"  Samuel  Ureeley,  14  days  at  5  shillings  per  day,  3?  10  0 


TEMPUS  FCGIT.  193 

range,  Ebenezer  Stevens  got  the  second  lot  in  the  first  range,  and 
so  on  until  all  were  drawn.  The  names  of  the  drawers  were  then 
entered  respectively  upon  the  original  plan  and  this  constituted 
their  title  to  the  land.  It  was  real  estate  which  did  not  come  to 
them  either  by  descent,  purchase,  escheat,  forfeiture,  execution, 
or  dii-ectly  by  grant.  The  land  was  granted  to  the  proprietors  as 
a  corporate  body,  divided  by  lot,  and  when  so  divided  each  gran- 
tee had  a  good  title,  which  he  could  alienate  either  by  deed  or 
devise.  In  the  old  proprietors'  records  are  recorded  the  drawings, 
the  divisions,  the  ranges,  the  number  of  the  lots,  and  the  names 
of  the  proprietors  by  whom  they  were  drawn.  Thus  was  the  laud 
in  our  beautiful  mountain  territory  most  equitably  divided. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting,  held  November  26th,  1767,  it  was 
voted  "that  we  will  raise  nine  shillings  on  each  I'ight  in  addition 
to  what  has  been  already  voted  to  be  raised,  to  defray  the  charges 
that  have  arisen  on  account  of  laying  out  the  lots."  Our  worthy 
proprietors,  now  severally  rich  in  lands,  were  yet  compelled  to 
pay  someAvhat  for  the  privilege  of  being  considered  rich  land 
owners.  But  the  distinguished  grantees  were  now  perfectly  cer- 
tain that  the  town  would  be  settled  and  cultivated  and  the  first 
condition  of  the  charter  fulfilled.  So  much  were  they  of  this 
opinion  that  they  passed  by  without  notice  an  article  in  the  war- 
rant of  the  meeting  to  be  held  iu  November,  1767,  which  was  to 
vote  "what  encouragement  they  will  give  to  any  person  who 
will  undertake  to  build  a  saw  mill  in  said  town  the  next  year." 
There  was  no  need  of  spending  their  money  for  such  a  thing. 
They  also  passed  by  without  action  another  article  in  the  warrant, 
as  they  did  a  similar  article  at  the  meeting  the  previous  spring, 
which  was  "  to  vote  what  encouragement  they  will  give  to  forward 
the  settlement  of  the  township."  There  was  likewise  no  need  of 
this — the  condition  would  be  fulfilled  sure. 

But  there  were  some  not  so  sanguine ;  the  time  was  almost 
out.  If  terms  could  not  be  made  with  His  Excellency  the  Gov- 
ernor, then  time,  taxes,  treats,  dinners,  and  purses  of  gold  would 
all  be  lost,  and  they  would  get  no  profit  whatever  from  their  spec- 
ulation. Something,  thought  the  wiser,  must  be  done,  and  upon 
this  thought  they  acted.  What  they  did  we  shall  proceed  to  show 
iu  our  next  chapter. 

M 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW  THE  proprietors'  PROSPECTS  GOT  DESPERATE,  SO  JIUCH  SO 
THAT  THEY  WERE  WILLING  TO  GIVE  AWAY  SOME  OF  THEIR 
lands;  HOW  PHILLIPS  WHITE  CAME  TO  THE  RESCUE  —  GOT 
THEM  OUT  OF  A  TERRIBLE  DIFFICULTY,  AND  FINALLY  PROCURED 
A  NEW  CHARTER  —  WHICH  ENDS  THIS  BOOK  AND  INTRODUCES 
US   TO   AN   ALTOGETHER  NEW  LIFE   IN  WARREN. 

« 

Long  and  faithfully  have  we  toiled  over  the  Proprietors' 
Records,  extracting  therefrom,  as  a  bee  honey  from  a  flower,  eveiy- 
thing  sweet  and  beautiful.  Our  duty  as  an  accurate  and  truthful 
histoi'ian  compelled  us  to  do  this — as  a  sample  of  which  witness 
the  disagi'eeable  passages  of  the  last  chapter — and  our  most  com- 
prehensive history  would  never  be  complete  without  such  consci- 
entious regard  for  facts. 

John  Page,  Esq.,  and  the  most  energetic  of  our  venerable 
proprietors,  were  now  very  anxious  about  the  township.  They 
must  work  or  the  charter  would  be  forfeited,  and  all  the  line-run- 
ning, lot-locating,  and  road-making  would  go  for  nothing.  Ac- 
cordingly at  a  proprietors'  meeting  held  the  2d  Tuesday  of  May, 
1767,  the  question  of  what  should  be  done  came  up,  and  among 
other  things  it  was  determined  to  send  a  committee  to  the  new 
governor  to  obtain  if  possible  a  longer  time  in  which  to  fulfill  the 
first  condition  of  the  charter.  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley  and  the 
Hon.  Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett  were  chosen  as  the  committee. 

We  have  said  they  were  to  treat  with  the  new  governor.  His 
Excellency  Benning  Wentworth  had  been  compelled  to  resign, 
and  his  nephcAV,  John  Wentworth,  had  been  commissioned  in  his 
place,  under  date  of  August  11th,  1766,  as  "  Governor  of  New 


A   NEW  GOVERNOR.  195 

Hampshire  and  Surveyor  of  the  King's  "Woods  in  Noi'th  America." 
He  had  been  installed  in  office  with  even  more  pomp  and  cere- 
mony than  Benning  Wentworth  himself.  On  the  morning  of  his 
entrance  into  Portsmouth — we  have  it  on  the  authority  of  one  of 
the  best  historians — all  the  bells  rang  a  regular  double-bob-major, 
the  cannon  of  the  forts  and  batteries  thundered  till  their  brazen 
throats  were  hoarse,  and  the  numerous  ships  anchored  iii  the 
stream  and  at  the  wharves  flung  out  all  their  bright  bunting,  flags, 
and  streamers  to  the  harbor  breeze. 

Col.  Greeley  and  Dr.  Bartlett  found  no  difficulty  in  gaining 
access  to  His  Excellency.  He  was  a  jolly  soul  and  loved  to  wel- 
come company,  especially  when  he  could  see  a  fee  in  prospect. 
The  committee  laid  their  case  before  him  in  the  prettiest  manner 
possible;  told  him  of  the  great  difficulties  which  they  had  met; 
that  there  were  no  roads,  that  it  was  far  in  the  wilderness,  and 
that  men  could  not  be  found  to  settle  all  the  towns  which  had  been 
granted. 

Governor  "Wentworth  sympathized  with  the  committee  and 
sought  to  console  them  by  ordering  up  three  bowls  of  "  creature 
comfort."  After  drinking  enough  to  i-emove  their  melancholy, 
Governor  "Wentworth  told  them  to  go  on  as  well  as  they  could, 
just  as  though  their  time  was  not  out  and  would  not  be  out,  and 
he  would  do  what  was  right  in  the  matter.  But  His  Excellency, 
like  his  uncle  Benning,  was  exceedingly  fond  of  the  root  of  all 
evil,  and  so  he  told  the  committee  that  he  thought  that  by  and  by 
they  Avould  need  a  new  charter,  gently  intimating  that  considerable 
expense  generally  attended  the  granting  of  such  new  instruments. 

Our  committee  were  exceedingly  well  pleased  with  their 
reception  by  the  young  governor.  They  went  home  and  reported 
their  success  to  the  proprietors  individually,  no  meeting  being 
called,  and  as  the  season  was  nearly  passed — the  fall  rains  had 
come  and  the  winter  was  coming  soon  —  they  concluded  they  had 
better  wait  until  the  next  annual  meeting,  and  not  try  to  do  any- 
thing that  year.  But  when  the  winter  was  gone  then  they  would 
act.  There  would  be  three  beautiful  spring  months  before  July 
14th,  1768,  and  in  that  time  they  could  accomplish  wonders.  Be- 
sides, they  would  send  the  committee  to  the  governor  again,  and 
they  had  no  doubt  but  that  they  could  get  excellent  terms  from  him. 


106  HISTORY    OF   •WARREN. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  winter  they  discussed  numerous 
plans,  and  when  the  annual  meeting  of  1768  came  they  adopted 
one  very  much  in  vogue  among  the  proprietors  of  various  other 
townships  and  were  thus  prepared  to  act  most  efficiently.  As  a 
preliminary  to  their  grand  plan  they  passed  the  following  votes: 

1st,  To  give  to  each  family,  to  the  number  of  twenty-tive, 
that  shall  settle  in  said  township  before  the  first  day  of  October 
next,  1768,  fifty  acres  of  land. 

2d.  That  the  first  settler  shall  take  his  first  choice  of  the  fifty 
acre  lots  and  so  each  in  their  order. 

3d.  That  each  family  that  shall  settle  agreeably  to  the  above 
vote  by  the  first  day  of  October  next  shall  have  six  pounds  lawful 
money. 

And  they  did  not  stop  here.  To  show  their  decided  deter- 
mination to  clear  and  cultivate  the  land,  and  not  forfeit  their  title 
as  grantees,  they  chose  another  committee  to  finish  clearing  the 
road  through  the  town.  It  was  a  strong  committee  chosen  for 
that  purpose,  and  consisted  of  Mr.  Samuel  Page,  Col.  Jonathan 
Greeley,  Lieut.  Joseph  Page,  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  Ensign  Jacob 
Gale,  Jacob  Hook,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Enoch  Page.  This  committee 
really  worked  sometime  on  the  road,  and  also  laid  out  the  land  as 
above  voted  for  the  settlers,  and  at  another  meeting  they  were 
allowed  five  shillings  a  daj^  for  their  time.* 

All  that  men  could  do  by  voting  was  now  done.  They  shall 
surely  succeed  this  time.  Everybody  is  going  to  work.  So  each 
one  thought  as  he  waited  for  his  neighbor;  but  as  is  usual  in  such 
cases,  where  each  depends  upon  the  other,  nothing  at  all  was  done. 
Our  committee  did  not  even  go  again  to  the  mountain  territory  of 
AYarreu  before  the  fatal  day  of  July  14th,  1768. f 

That  day  came  and  the  charter  was  forfeited.  All  legal  right 
was  gone.  The  only  hope  of  the  proprietors  now  lay  in  executive 
clemency.  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley  and  the  Hon.  Dr.  Josiah  Bart- 
lett  had  got  encouraging  promises  from  the  governor,  and  on  these 
they  relied. 

*  Feb.  6th,  1769.    "Voted  to  give  those  that  worked  clearing  the  road  thro' 
Warreu  five  sliillings  a  day  for  the  time  they  worked  on  said  road." 
See  Proprietors'  lleeoi'ds. 

t  But  tlic  committee  iliil  go  to  Warren,  where  tliey  worked  sometime  during 
the  sea.son  of  1708. 


TERMS   OFFERED   TO    SETTLERS.  197 

Yet  our  proprietors  had  done  as  well  as  most  of  those  of  other 
townships.  Benning  Weutworth  had  granted  towns  and  made 
himself  rich  in  so  doing.  John  "VYentworth's  great  plan  was  to 
regrant  them  and  make  himself  equally  rich. 

The  committee  saw  His  Excellency  again.  This  time  as  be- 
fore he  promised  them  fair  things,  and  again  gently  hinted  at  the 
great  expense  which  usually  attended  the  regranting  of  charters. 

Again  they  went  home  encouraged  and  determined  to  work. 
Another  proprietors'  meeting  was  soon  called.  They  paid  those 
who  had  worked  on  the  road.  They  voted  six  shillings  a  day  to 
those  who  had  been  engaged  lavino-  out  the  lots.  Thev  further 
voted  to  those  who  should  settle  in  said  town  lands  and  money. 
They  agreed  to  give  ''ten  more  settlers''  who  should  settle  in  said 
township  fifty  acres  of  laud  and  six  pounds  in  money  to  each,  or 
one  hundred  acres  of  land  without  any  money,  which  the  said  set- 
tlers shall  choose;  and  further  voted  that  said  land  ^^ shall  be  laid 
out  on  the  road  which  is  cut  through  said  toto7i."  *  At  a  subse- 
quent meeting  it  was  voted  that  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  Lieut. 
Joseph  Page,  and  Mr.  Enoch  Page  be  a  committee  to  lay  out  said 
lots  and  agree  with  settlers. 

These  several  things  were  done  as  an  eai*nest  of  their  good 
intentions,  and  they  then  voted  that  Col.  Greeley  and  Phillips 
White,  Esq.,  go  to  the  new  governor  and  treat  with  him  for  a  new 
charter. 

Phillips  White  was  not  one  of  the  original  grantees.  AVe 
first  find  his  name  in  the  Proprietors'  Records,  March  14th,  1768, 
as  having  been  chosen  one  of  a  committee  to  get  the  road  cleared 
through  our  mountain  territory.  He  had  become  possessed  of  a 
certain  portion  of  the  lands  by  heirship ;  he  had  bought  out  the 
rights  of  a  few  of  those  grantees  who  had  become  discouraged  in 
the  enterprise,  and  afterwards,  for  meritorious  services,  the  gran- 
tees themselves  gave  him  several  large  tracts  of  land  located  east 
of  the  new  reservation,  and  upon  the  side  of  Waternomee  moun- 
tain. Next  to  John  Page,  Esq.,  he  had  become  one  of  the  most 
prominent  men  among  the  grantees.  He  held  all  the  important 
oflSces  of  the  proprietary,  was  entrusted  with  all  the  funds,  served 
on  all  the  principal  committees,  and  during  his  long  life  frequently 

*  See  Proprietors'  Records. 


198  HISTORY    OP    WAKREN. 

came  to  Warreu  to  look  after  his  own  interests  and  those  of  the 
other  proprietors.  He  had  much  wealth  and  good  common  sense, 
and  therefore  much  influence.  He  was  just  the  man  to  go  to  the 
governor  with  mine  host,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley.* 

Col.  Greeley  had  learned  the  way  to  the  governor's  heart.  He 
told  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  what  must  be  done,  and  Phillips  White, 
Esq.,  was  prepared  to  do  it,  and  to  become  the  saviour  of  the  pro- 
prietors' inheritance.  How? — by  his  gold.  If  Benning  Weut- 
worth  liked  the  musical  jingle  of  the  filthy  lucre,  so  also  were  the 
ears  of  John  Wentworth  delighted  with  it. 

It  was  on  a  cool  September  day  that  our  new  committee  rode 
their  two  strong  saddle  horses  to  Portsmouth.  They  had  no  diffi- 
cvilty  in  gaining  access  to  His  Excellency,  and  the  latter  was  glad 
to  see  the  proprietors'  committee.  Well  he  might  be  —  for  he 
knew  that  when  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  came  something  was  certain 
to  be  accomplished.  The  governor  rang  his  bell  and  a  servant  ap- 
peared. He  ordered  four  bowls  of  punch  just  as  before,  and  as  was 
always  the  custom  called  in  his  secretary,  the  lit.  Hon.  Theodore 
Atkinson,  Jun.,  Esq., —  who  was  not  dead  yet  nor  out  of  oflice 
either — and  they  then  began  to  discuss  the  subject  of  a  new 
charter. 

All  the  difficulties  which  the  grantees  had  encountered  were 
enumerated;  how  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  surveying  the 
grant,  whereby  the  proprietors  of  other  towns  had  claimed  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  lands;  how  much  dilficulty  they  had 
experienced  in  cutting  roads  in  such  a  far  foreign  land,  and  how 

*  He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Coujn-ess,  1782,  ]783.  Also  a  member  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  from  Jan.  20,  1776,  to  Jan.  20,  1777,  ami  from  Deo,  27, 1781, 
to  the  autumn  of  1782. 

"In 

Memory  of  the 

Hon.  Phillips  White,  Esq., 

Who  departed  this  Life 

June   24th,    1811,    in    the 

82d  year  of  his  age." 

The  above  was  copied  from  his  gravestone,  a  plain  slate  stoue  slab,  April  20, 
1865,  in  South  Hampton,  N.  H.    The  following  is  on  the  gi-avestone  of  his  wife : 

"  Mrs.  Ruth  White, 

Comfort  of 

The  Hon.  Phillips  White, 

Died  July  9th,  1797, 
In  the  69th  year  of  her  age." 


A  NEW  CHARTER  GRANTED.  199 

mucli  trouble  they  had  found  in  getting  settlers  for  tlie  township. 
"Hundreds  of  other  towns,"  said  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  "have 
been  granted  and  all  of  the  other  proprietors  have  met  with  the 
same  difficulties  as  the  grantees  of  Warren ;  in  fact,"  said  he  to 
the  governor,  "have  we  not  succeeded  as  well  as  nine-tenths  of 
the  proprietors  of  other  townships,  and  have  you  not  given  them 
,  new  charters?    Will  you  not  treat  us  as  well  as  you  have  them?" 

The  governor  acknowledged  the  fact,  ordered  his  secretary  to 
make  a  minute  of  what  was  required,  and  then  in  the  blandest 
manner  possible  suggested  that  the  surveyor-general  would  be 
under  the  necessity  of  making  new  plans,  the  secretary  would 
have  a  great  deal  of  writing  to  perform,  and  of  course  a  small 
amount  of  funds  would  be  necessary. 

Col.  Greeley  and  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  both  had  the  same 
thought  and  assured  him  the  money  should  be  forthcoming.  The 
governor  was  much  pleased  and  said,  "You  shall  have  the  new 
charter,  and  that  sdt»n." 

His  visitors  thanked  him  and  went  home.  They  thought  they 
should  get  the  charter  in  a  few  days,  but  they  were  again  destined 
to  wait.  The  year  went  by,  the  winter  and  spring  of  1770  passed, 
and  the  summer  was  nearly  half  gone  before  they  were  notified 
that  it  was  ready  for  them. 

Phillips  White  went  to  Portsmouth  for  it.  Like  John  Page., 
Esq.,  he  cai'ried  a  bag  of  gold.  He  counted  out  the  yellow  sover- 
eigns to  the  governor,  to  Col.  Atkinson,  to  the  surveyor,  and  to 
the  survej'or-general  —  in  all  for  the  procuring  of  a  new  charter 
the  sum  of  seventy-eight  pounds  one  shilling.  It  also  cost  the 
proprietary  for  the  further  expenses  of  its  committee  the  sum  of 
seventeen  pounds  four  shillings.*    The  governor  was  happy  to 

April  29,  1773.  "  Voted  to  give  Col.  Greeley  tor  services  done  the  proprietary 
one  luiiulred  and  tweuty-tive  acres  of  land  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township 
to  begin  at  the  said  northeast  corner  and  to  run  southei'ly  on  the  line  of  said  town 
290  rods,  thence  westerly  <J9  rods,  thence  nortlierly  290  rods  to  the  northerly  line  of 
the  town,  thence  easterly  on  said  line  09  rods  to  said  northeast  corner." 

Also,  "Voted  to  give  Pliillips  White,  Esq.,  for  services  done  the  proprietary, 
400  acres  of  land  in  the  northeasterly  part  of  the  tow^nship,  to  begin  at  the  northerly 
line  of  said  town  adjoining  the  land"  voted  to  Col.  Greeley,  thence  southerly  by  said 
Greeley  land  290  rods,  thence  westerly  221  rods,  thence  nortlierly  290  to  the  north 
line  of  the  town,  thence  easterly  221  rods  to  the  bound  first  mentioned." 

See  Proprietors'  Records. 

*  For  obtaining  the  new  charter:  "Voted  to  pay,  March  25,  1771,  to  Phillips 
White,  Esq.,  7?  ISs;  to  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  liZils;  to  Josiah  Bartlett,  Esq., 
il  128.    See  Proprietors'  Records. 


200  HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 

welcome  Phillips  White,  Esq.,  a  second  time.    His  were  golden 

visits. 

This  second  charter  was  not  so  long  as  the  first.  It  recited 
the  difficulties  the  proprietors  had  met.  It  included  the  prayer 
for  more  land,  and  then  prescribed  the  bounds  of  the  township, 
stating  that  they  were  made  by  actual  survey  by  "Isaac  Rindge, 
our  surveyor-general  of  our  lands  within  the  province  of  ]^ew 
Hampshire."  But  the  great  point  gained  by  the  charter  was  that 
the  proprietors  should  have  four  years  more  in  which  to  clear  and 
settle  our  wild  mountain  hamlet.  All  the  remaining  conditions 
were  the  same  as  before,  and  the  young  and  gallant  governor  was 
very  careful  to  stipulate  that  all  the  rents  due  to  us  in  our  council 
chamber  in  Portsmouth  shall  be  paid.  The  great  seal  was  affixed, 
the  charter  signed  by  His  Excellency,  and  Phillips  White,  Esq., 
returned  with  it  to  the  proprietors. 

How  great  was  their  joy  1  They  were  saved.  Col.  Greeley's 
little  taproom  and  long  dining  hall  saw  a  mei;iy  time  on  the  night 
'Squire  White  returned  with  the  charter  from  Portsmouth.  The 
health  of  everybody  in  general,  but  of  P.  White  in  particular,  was 
drank.  Influence  and  gold  had  been  their  salvation.  Now  they 
were  sure  there  would  be  no  failure  on  their  part.  Individuals 
went  to  work  on  their  own  responsibility,  and  some  of  the  land 
was  actually  cleared  and  cultivated.  Bid  they  never  succeeded  in 
fulfilling  the  Jirst  condition  of  their  charter.  True  they  accom- 
plished much ;  but  when  four  years  more  had  passed  they  incurred 
another  forfeiture.  They  would  undoubtedly  have  again  lost  the 
township— or  have  been  compelled  to  pay  roundly  for  a  new  title 
—had  not  the  Revolutionary  war,  which  was  their  salvation  after 
the  year  1774,  providentially  occurred. 

But  we  will  here  put  an  end  to  this  third  book  and  now  pro- 
ceed to  more  congenial  themes  in  the  fouith.  To  continue 
further  the  history  of  the  proprietors,  separate  from  that  of  the 
settlers,  would  only  serve  to  involve  everything  in  inextricable 
confusion. 


BOOK    IV. 


WHICH  RELATES  HOW  OUR    WILD    MOUNTAIN    HAJILET    WAS    CULTI- 
VATED  AND   SETTLED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  DIVERS  AND  SUNDRY  SOUNDS  HEARD  ON  THE  HEAD  WATERS  OF 
THE  ASQUAMCHUMAUKE,  AND  OF  TWO  HOTELS  IN  WHICH  NOT 
A  DROP  OF  "grog"  COULD  BE  GOT,  EITHER  FOR  LOVE  OR 
MONEY. 

There  are  a  few  great  eras  in  the  history  of  all  civilized 
communities.  The  entrance  of  the  Israelites  into  a  land  flowinsr 
with  milk  and  honey,  their  deliverance  from  Babylon,  and  their 
dispersion  by  Titus,  are  some  of  the  distinguishing  epochs  of  that 
people.  The  founding  of  Rome  by  Romulus  and  Remus,  the 
sacking  of  Troy,  the  destruction  of  Carthage j — are  extraordinary 
events  in  the  history  of  other  nations.  So  the  year  1767  is  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  in  the  chronology  of  our  little  mountain 
hamlet. 

Its  position  was  chalked  on  the  map  in  1761.  It  was  granted 
to  John  Page  and  sixty-five  others  in  1763,  and  the  year  1767  is  the 
date  of  its  actual  settlement. 

The  old  year  1766  is  dying.  Let  us  pause  on  the  threshhold  of 
1767.  During  all  the  time  of  Queen  Anne's  war,  of  Lovewell's 
war,  of  King  George's  war,  of  the  Seven  Years'  war,  when  scalp- 
ing parties  hastened  along  the  Indian  trail  down  the  Asquamchum- 


202  HISTORY    OF    AVAEREN. 

auke,  aud  drafted  men  were  hurrying  through  the  woods  in  search 
of  their  red  foe,  aud  further  back  than  the  memorj'  of  man  run- 
neth, Warren  was  a  wilderness.  It  is  in  this  case  on  the  last 
night  of  1766.  There  is  no  clearing,  no  house,  no  human  being.  It 
lies  a  cold,  crisp,  terrible  solitude  in  the  heart  of  a  vast  forest. 

The  low  winter  sun,  the  last  of  the  jear,  has  gone  down  in  a 
blaze  of  glory;  the  twinkling  stars  are  glowing  in  an  ebon  sky, 
and  Venus,  just  on  the  edge  of  the  horizon,  is  hastening  down  the 
impearled  pathway  of  the  sun.  The  evening  hours  fly  swiftly  by. 
It  is  chill,  freezing  cold,  and  the  very  silence  is  oppressive.  No 
sound  comes  up  from  the  Asquamchumauke ;  it  is  ice-bound. 
Waternomee  falls,  on  Mount  Carr,  and  the  ''Seven  Cascades," 
between  the  tAvo  peaks  of  the  mountain,  are  silent.  They  are  ice- 
falls,  frozen  as  they  leaped,  and  the  moon  gleaming  on  them  makes 
them  glorious,  as  though  their  mighty  columns  were  pillars  of 
ruby,  amythyst,  jasper  and  gold.  Moosehillock  —  king  of  the 
mountains — stands  up  in  awful  silence  amid  the  lesser  peaks 
ai'ound  him. 

But  hark  I  —  the  howling  of  a  pack  of  wolves  comes  sounding 
down  the  valley,  and  no  human  ear  is  there  to  hear  it.  At  night 
they  will  feast  upon  one  of  their  own  number.  Another  sound ! 
The  moose  and  deer  in  their  yards  tremble  as  they  listen  to  it,  and 
the  old  crow  who  has  lived  for  a  century  amid  the  thick  hem- 
locks of  this  unbroken  forest  nearly  topples  from  his  roost.  It  is 
the  terrible,  almost  human  cry  of  the  catamount.  But  even  this 
lion  of  the  American  forest  is  soon  stilled, — it  is  so  cold.  There 
is  a  moaning  in  the  air.  Is  it  the  wind  sighing  in  the  leafless 
branches  of  the  forest?  Is  it  the  aurora  borealis  snapping  its  elec- 
tric streamers  and  crackling  its  flaming  pennons  athwart  the  sky? 
Is  it  a  troop  of  pale  ghosts,  shades  of  departed  Indian  warriors, 
charging  through  the  air  across  the  valley  to  the  distant  mountain 
side?  But  it  is  still  now  for  a  moment  and  you  see  only  the 
gnarled  trunks  of  the  ti'ees  standing  like  grim  sentinels  in  the 
shadows  of  the  great  mountains,  and  the  cold  snow  shroud  of 
mother  earth. 

Listen  again  —  for  it  is  never  long  silent  in  this  mighty  wood. 
Hear  the  cry  of  the  wolves  once  more,  the  terrible  voice  of  the 
catamount,  the  bark  of  the  fox  in  the  spruce  swamp,  and  then  at 


PENNY  WISE  AND  POUND    FOOLISH.  203 

intervals  again  that  strange,  unearthly  noise,  coming  from  one 
cannot  tell  where.  The  wind  perhaps? — may  be  the  sound  from 
the  polar  light,  perchance  the  troop  of  ghosts,  the  spirits  of  tlie 
departed. 

What  a  terrible  solitude  it  is;  never  broken,  an  ocean  of 
woods  full  of  dark  streams,  wild  torrents,  shaggy  hills,  and  great 
mountains.  But  there  shall  never  be  another  new  year's  night 
like  this  in  our  mountain  hamlet.  Before  1767  passes  a  change 
will  come.  Be  easj"^  for  a  moment,  most  critical  reader.  We  have 
written  the  above  that  you  might  have  some  faint  idea  what  a 
place  Warren  was  just  before  civilization  came  to  it.  But  we  will 
now  come  down  from  our  lofty  stilts  and  plod  along  at  our  usual 
pace. 

The  Indians  had  taken  French  leave  of  the  Asquamchumauke 
or  Baker  river  valley  nearly  fifty  years  before,  and  had  gone  to 
Canada.  The  era  of  border  wars  and  savage  ambuscades,  of 
scalping  knives,  war-whoops,  and  '^pow-wows"  had  passed. 
Even  hunters  and  trappers  were  not  so  numerous  as  formerly,  as 
game  became  less  and  less  plentiful.  The  time  of  proprietors, 
surveyors,  line-markers,  lot-locators,  and  road-clearers  had  ar- 
rived, and  treading  close  upon  their  heels  would  come  the  frontier 
settlers. 

Did  it  never  occur  to  our  readers  during  their  progress  through 
the  third  book  of  this  most  delectable  history  that  our  venerable 
proprietors  might  have  been  a  little  too  avaricious  for  their  own 
good?  The  first  four  years  after  the  granting  of  the  charter  by 
Governor  Wentworth  passed  rapidly  away  without  their  even  so 
much  as  making  an  ofier  of  either  lands  or  money  to  any  one  who 
would  settle  in  their  mountain  territory.  The  proprietors  of  other 
townships  were  shrewder  by  far,  and  offered  both  lands  and  money 
to  those  who  would  locate  on  and  improve  their  "grants."  The 
consequence  was  that  many  towns  further  in  the  woods  had  num- 
erous settlers,  while  our  lovely  little  hamlet  remained  a  howling 
wilderness.  Perhaps  John  Page  and  the  associate  grantees  thought 
the  land  was  so  fertile,  the  woods  so  beautiful,  the  hills  so  inviting, 
the  mountains  so  sublime,  the  game  so  plenty,  and  the  streams  and 
ponds  so  well  stocked  with  the  speckled  trout  and  golden  salmon, 
that  there  would  be  a  mighty  rush  of  settlers  eager  to  occupy  our 


204  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

woodland  paradise,  aud  that  they  should  make  an  immense  amovint 
of  money  by  the  sale  of  their  lands  even  before  they  were  lotted. 
But  they  were  most  thoroughly  disabused  of  this  idea  about  the 
time  they  lost  everything  by  forfeiting  their  charter.  They  learned 
to  their  great  cost  that  in  order  to  sell  any  portion  of  their  land 
they  must  first  give  away  some  of  it ;  and  they  also  got  another 
"cute  idea"  through  their  heads  —  that  they  would  have  to  pay  a 
good  smart  bounty  to  any  man,  to  induce  him  to  receive  a  portion 
of  the  land  even  as  a  gift,  and  engage  to  settle  on  it.  The  reason 
of  this  was  that  there  was  much  more  laud  to  be  settled  than  there 
were  settlers  in  all  New  England. 

But  experience,  that  high-priced  schoolmaster,  taught  them 
the  above  lesson,  and  in  1767  they  went  to  work  in  a  more  com- 
mon sense  manner.  At  two  consecutive  meetings  this  year  the 
subject  of  bestowing  lands  and  bounties  was  discussed,  but  it  was 
not  fully  determined  whether  they  would  give  them  or  not.  Yet 
the  rumor  of  what  might  be  expected  to  be  done  went  abroad,  and 
as  a  portion  of  the  lauds  had  already  been  laid  out  into  lots  by  the 
proprietors'  committee,  a  few  enteri^rising  young  meu  began  to 
turn  their  attention  to  them. 

But  before  proceeding  further  we  must  consider  briefly  what 
took  place  on  the  king's  great  highway  which  the  proprietors  had 
caused  to  be  cleared  through  Warren.  ^Ye  should  not  record  this 
slight  jotting  of  history,  but  that  we  consider  it  will  prove  a 
great  benefit  to  posterity,  and  so  we  piously  note  it  down. 

The  first  human  habitations  in  AYarren,  of  which  we  have  any 
correct  knowledge,  were  the  wigwams  of  the  Indians ;  the  next 
the  rude  camps  of  hunters  and  trappers,  aud  following  them  the 
camps  of  our  former  surveying  parties. 

But  when  the  spring  of  1767  came,  when  the  sun  ran  high  and 
the  warm  showers  descended,  when  the  buds  on  the  trees  expand- 
ed, aud  the  speckled  adder  tongues  pierced  up  by  the  snow  banks 
through  the  moist  mat  of  leaves  on  the  ground ;  when  millions  of 
flowers  were  developing,  and  the  delicious  yellow  dandelion  grew 
blooming  so  sweetly  on  the  grassy  river  bank, — then  it  was  that 
travelers  journeying  to  the  lovely  Coos  country  through  the  land 
of  the  Pemigewassetts,  built  beside  the  committee's  road,  or  rather 
the  Indian  trail,  two  exceedingly  fine  aud  hospitable  hotels,  even 


■WAY  STATIONS  FOR  TRAVELLERS.  205 

before  a  single  white  man  had  moved  into  the  township.  One  of 
them  was  located  beside  the  trail,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  As- 
quamchumauke,  and  the  other  upon  the  shore  of  our  little  moun- 
tain pond,  "Wachipauka.* 

They  were  only  one-story  high,  a  low  one  at  that,  and  were 
built  in  the  most  economical  manner.  Two  crotched  stakes,  each 
about  six  feet  long,  were  driven  in  the  ground  about  seven  feet 
apart;  a  pole  was  placed  horizontally  in  the  forks  for  a  "plate;" 
tAVo  others  some  twelve  feet  long  each  were  then  placed  with  one 
end  on  the  horizontal  pole  and  the  other  on  the  ground,  serving 
for  rafters ;  on  these  were  fastened  the  ribs  for  the  roof,  and  then 
the  top  and  right  angled  triangled  sides  were  covered  with  spruce 
bark.  Before  the  open  front,  which  generally  faced  the  southeast, 
the  fire  was  built. 

Although  there  was  neither  landlord  nor  landlady,  chamber- 
maid, cook,  or  waiter,  hostler  or  errand  boy  about  these  one- 
roomed  hotels,  still  they  were  most  welcome  inns  to  the  weary 
traveller.  If  he  could  not  find  provisions  in  them,  still  they 
afforded  him  comfortable  shelter,  with  a  soft  bed  of  moss  and 
hemlock  boughs,  and  the  dry  punk,  flint  and  steel,  could  always 
be  relied  upon  with  which  to  kindle  a  cheering  fii'e.  "Whether  or 
not  the  bar  was  well  stocked  with  the  good  creature  we  are  not 
succinctly  informed ;  but  we  have  no  doubt  the  guests  would  have 
raised  the  most  congenial  spirits,  provided  their  own  backs  had 
been  stouter.  Their  dispositions  wei'e  certainly  good  enough,  and 
their  stomachs  sufiiciently  strong,  to  have  brought  the  requisite 
store  of  ''old  rum"  that  distance  into  the  wilderness.  Pocket  pis- 
tols of  api^roved  construction  were  not  unknown  even  in  those 
days,  and  the  canteen  or  bottle-shaped  gourd  slung  to  the  side  of 
the  sturdy  woodsman  who  set  his  face  towards  the  mountains  con- 
tained often  a  more  potent  restorative  than  pure  spring  water. 
Who  knows  but  that  these  "first  hotels"  of  Warren  saw  many  a 
night  of  jovial  revelry  in  the  year  1766? 

*"  It  may  be  proper  for  me  to  state  iu  this  place  that  our  forefathers  liarl  taken 
the  precaution  to  build  camjis  on  tlie  route  from  Haverhill  to  Salisbury,  imc  camp 
in  every  twelve  or  litleen  miles,  and  each  was  supplied  with  lireworksand  fuel,  so 
that  a  traveller  could  soon  kindle  liim  a  Are,  and  he  had  the  boughs  of  hemlock  for 
his  bed."— Powers'  History  of  Coos,  7'2. 

They  had  two  camps  on  the  Heiglit-o'-Land,one  on  the  very  summit  and  one  by 
the  brook  running  from  Eastman  pond  into  Tarleton  lake.  Tile  camp  by  Eastman 
brook  was  in  Piermont.— Histoi-y  of  Coos,  117. 


206  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

Taverns  then  there  wei-e,  two  of  them,  by  the  old  Indian 
trail  in  those  early  times ;  but  who  cleared  the  first  land,  erected 
the  first  cabin,  and  brought  civilization  to  Warren,  we  will  tell  in 
our  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ABOUT  JOSEPH  PATCH,  THE  FIRST  WHITE  SETTLER  OF  WARREN, 
AND  HOW  HE  HAD  A  FEW  HUNGRY  VISITORS  WHICH  ATE  UP 
ALL  HIS   PROVISIONS. 

Adam  was  the  first  man,  Eve  the  first  woman ;  Noah  and 
his  sons  peopled  the  earth  after  the  flood ;  Columbns  discovered 
America;  Captain  John  Smith  explored  New  England,*  and 

JOSFPH   PATCH 

was  the  first  bona  Jide  settler  in  the  township  of  Warren. 

Some  men  are  born  great,  others  achieve  greatness,  and  some 
have  greatness  thrust  upon  f  hem ;  and  thus  it  is  the  good  luck  of 
Joseph  Patch,  by  happening  to  be  the  first  settler  of  our  mountain 
hamlet,  to  be  immortalized  in  this  delightful  history. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1767  that  he  first  came  to  Warren  to 
live.  He  had  imbibed  a  passion  for  hunting  in  his  earliest  boy- 
hood and  it  was  to  gratify  this  taste  that  he  built  for  himself  a 
hunter's  camp,  the  last  of  September,  beside  one  of  our  wildest 
mountain  torrents.  Hurricane  brook. f 

He  was  a  young  man  not  yet  twenty-one  years  old.  He  had 
brown  hair,  blue  eyes,  light  complexion,  a  pleasing  expression  of 
countenance,  and  was  very  agreeable  in  conversation.  He  was  of 
a  middle  stature,  well  formed,  muscle  hard  and  compact,  would 
weigh  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,i^and  was  capable  of 
great  endurance.    He  had  courage,  and  was  cool  and  collected  in 

*  New  England  is  that  part  of  America  which,  together  with  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, and  Nova  Scotia  were  bv  the  Indians  called  (by  one  name)  Wingadacoa.— Ill 
Series  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.  Vol.  3,  231). 

t  Jacob  Patch's  statement.    He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Patch. 


208  HISTORY  OF    -WARREN. 

the  hour  of  danger.  It  is  told  how  he  lay  sleeping  upon  his  bed 
of  spruce  boughs  one  dark  night  in  his  half-open  camp,  when  the 
low  growling  of  the  dog  at  his  side  awoke  him.  The  fire,  which 
he  had  left  burning  when  he  went  to  sleep,  had  gone  out,  and  all 
was  black  darkness  in  the  woods.  Only  the  rustle  of  the  leaves 
overhead  and  the  low  murmur  of  the  brook  on  the  smooth-worn 
stones  disturbed  the  silence.  Looking  cautiously  out  he  could  see 
nothing.  His  dog  continuing  to  growl,  he  put  his  hand  on  the 
hound's  back  and  found  that  the  hair  was  as  stifi"  as  bristles. 
Again  he  looked  out,  and  happening  to  raise  his  eyes  he  saw 
gleaming  in  the  branches  of  a  low  maple  what  seemed  two  balls 
of  fix'e.  He  knew  what  it  was;  only  the  eyes  of  a  catamount 
could  glow  like  that.  He  felt  the  cold  sweat  creeping  over  him, 
but  realizing  his  danger  he  recovered  himself,  coolly  picked  up  his 
gun,  took  deliberate  aim  and  fired.  There  was  a  wild  howl,  a 
dead  fall,  a  terrible  struggle  for  a  moment,  biting  the  earth  and 
rending  the  bark  from  the  trees,  and  the  ferocious  animal  was 
dead.  The  hunter's  courage  had  saved  his  life.  The  catamount 
was  preparing  to  spring  upou  him,  and  had  he  done  so  Patch 
would  have  been  torn  in  pieces.  He  built  a  bright  fire  for  the 
remainder  of  the  night  and  in  the  morning  had  the  pleasure  of 
skinning  the  largest  catamount  he  ever  saw.* 

In  personal  appearance  he  was  the  real  backwoodsman.  He 
had  a  cap  of  wolfskin,  the  hair  considerably  worn  ofl";  no  vest  or 
coat,  but  a  short  sheep's  gray  frock,  which  he  tucked  inside  his 
moosehide  breeches ;  a  coarse  tow  shirt,  no  neck-tie,  woollen 
stockings,  and  the  real  Indian  moccasins  on  his  feet.  His  dress 
was  stout  and  would  not  easily  be  torn  among  the  trees  and  under- 
brush through  which  he  hastened. 

Patch  was  "born  of  poor  but  respectable  parents"  in  Hollis, 
N.  H.  His  father's  name  was  Thomas  Patch.  His  early  educa- 
tion was  much  neglected,  he  having  attended  school  but  a  few 
months  in  his  life.  His  boyhood  had  been  passed  on  his  father's 
farm,  and  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  gaining  a  few  pence  in 
autumn  by  building  culheag  traps  on  the  banks  of  his  native 
streams,  to  catch  mink  and  muskrat,  and  he  was  also  skillful  in 
setting  steel  traps  for  foxes. 

*  Mrs.  Hobart  Wyatt  said  she  heard  Mr.  Patch  frequently  relate  this  adventure. 


THE   FIRST    SETTLEl^IEXT   IX   AVARREX.  209 

When  the  mania  for  occupying  northern  lands  first  came  on 
he  accompanied  the  Hobarts  and  "Websters,  his  townsmen,  into 
the  Avilderness.  He  at  first  resided  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Hobart, 
in  New  Plymouth,  of  whom  he  bought  some  land.  But  avarice 
and  cupidity  got  the  better  of  his  employer's  morality,  and  he 
cheated  Patch  out  of  it.  In  after  years  Hobart  repented  and  to 
ease  his  own  conscience  gave  our  first  settler  two  cows  in  payment.* 
Patch  afterwards  worked  for  David  Webster,  inn  keeper,  a  short 
time,  and  was  often  employed  as  a  guide  through  the  woods  to  the 
Coos  intervals. 

Just  Avest  of  the  main  carriage  road  now  running  through  the 
town,  just  east  of  the  railroad  and  on  the  south  bank  of  Hurricane 
brook,  Joseph  Patch  built  his  hunter's  camp.  Game  was  plenty. 
Great  fat  salmon  were  swimming  in  the  river,  and  trout  that 
would  weigh  several  pounds  apiece  sported  in  the  brooks.  There 
were  partridges  in  abundance,  and  thousands  of  rabbits  had  here 
a  loarren — so  that  there  need  be  no  lack  of  something  to  eat. 
One  might  hunt,  trap,  or  fish  at  pleasure.  Wolf,  bear,  moose,  or 
deer  could  be  shot,  and  beaver,  otter,  sable,  fox,  mink,  or  muskrat 
captured  for  a  rich  store  of  peltries.  These  were  the  inducements 
that  brought  Joseph  Patch  to  Warren. 

Could  you  have  stood  by  his  camp  a  hundred  years  ago  you 
would  have  felt  that  you  were  a  long  way  in  the  wilderness,  that 
you  had  somewhat  of  a  rural  house  to  stop  at,  that  there  was 
plenty  of  wood  to  burn  and  that  there  was  a  great  chance  for 
clearing  before  there  could  be  any  very  fine  farms.  You  would 
have  seen  hanging  upon  or  fastened  to  the  gTcat  pine  trees  around 
the  skins  of  all  the  vai'ious  animals  above  mentioned,  drying  with 
the  flesh  side  out,  the  many-colored  tails  pendant  presenting  a  gay 
and  attractive  appearance, 

Joseph  Patch  had  seen,  at  Plymouth,  the  proprietors'  commit- 
tee, that  came  to  Warren  the  previous  spring,  and  he  had  heard 
them  say  that  in  all  probability  land  in  Warren  would  be  given  by 
the  proprietors,  either  in  the  fall  or  the  next  spring,  to  any  one 
who  would  settle  upon  it,  and  that  the  first  settler  would  have  his 
first  choice  of  lots.  He  had  lost  what  he  had  purchased  at  Ply- 
mouth, and  one  day,  as  the  story  goes,  recollecting  what  the  com- 

*,Iacob  Patch's  statement. 

N 


210  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

mittee  had  said,  he  thouglit  it  might  be  an  excellent  idea  to  select 
the  lot  Avhere  he  had  built  his  camp.  After  thinking  of  the  sub- 
ject for  some  time  he  finally  concluded  as  he  had  possession  — 
"which  by  the  way  is  esteemed  nine  points  in  law  —  that  committee 
or  no  committee,  gift  or  no  gift,  he  would  have  it  if  possible  and 
remain  where  he  was. 

The  next  step  was  to  choose  a  spot  for  clearing,  and  the  first 
week  in  October  he  fell  an  acre  or  more  of  trees.  The  Indian 
summer  dried  them,  and  setting  them  on  fire  he  got  an  excellent 
burn.  Before  snow  fell  he  had  cleared  the  ground  ready  for 
planting  the  next  spring.  This  first  opening  in  the  forest  —  the 
initial  acre  clearing — was  just  east  of  the  ''Forks"  school-house, 
sometimes  called  Clqugh  school-house.  It  was  in  the  corner  of 
this  lot  that  he  planted  the  first  apple  tree  that  ever  grew  in  "War- 
ren. Patch  next  cleared  a  small  piece  of  laud  a  few^  rods  south- 
west of  his  camp. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  change  his  hunter's  camp  into  a 
cabin,  so  he  dug  himself  a  cellar,  stoned  it,  built  over  it  a  log 
shanty,  covered  it  with  spruce  bark  and  tightened  it  with  moss. 
A  chimney  of  flat  stones  was  built  on  one  side,  over  a  capacious 
fire-place;  his  door  was  made  of  rifted  boards,  hewed  down  with 
his  axe,  and  an  opening  in  the  wall,  closed  at  will  with  a  shutter 
made  in  the  same  manner  as  the  door,  admitted  the  light. 

On  the  toj)  of  a  great  pine  stump,  cut  smoothly  for  the  pur- 
pose, he  built  of  stones  and  earth  a  tolerable  Dutch  oven.  Thus 
furnished  he  was  ready  for  the  winter. 

The  remains  of  the  apple  tree  which  he  planted,  the  old  cellar 
fallen  in,  and  the  stump  on  which  he  built  his  oven,  are  yet  to  be 
seen.* 

In  addition  to  these  labors  he  had  good  success  in  hunting. 
He  found  several  beaver  meadows,  one  on  Black  brook,  one  on 
Berry  brook,  and  one  on  Patch  brook.  There  was  a  beautiful  pond 
on  the  latter  stream,  formed  by  a  dam  built  of  poles  and  mud,  as 
only  beavers  can  build  a  dam,  and  on  the  shores  were  numerous 

*  Jacol)  Patch's  statement,  1857. 

Jonathan  Clougli's  statement.  Mr.  C.  showed  likewise  the  apple  tree,  thecellar, 
and  the  pine  stump  on  wliich  Patch  built  his  oven.  A  ri.iler  from  the  trunk  of  the 
apple-tree  he  lirst  pkiuted  is  in  existence.  It  was  made  by  Amos  F.  Clough,  in 
1856.  The  trunk  is  neai-ly  all  gone,  but  new  sprouts  have  grown  up,  marking  the 
place  of  the  old  tree. 


PATCH  AT  HOME  IN  THE  WOODS.  211 

picturesque,  conical  little  mud  domicils,  full  of  various  apart- 
ments opening  only  into  the  Avater,  in  which  the  beavers  lived. 
It  seemed  too  bad  to  destroj^  the  habitations  of  these  almost  half- 
human  and  industrious  villagers.  But  such  thoughts  never  enter 
the  head  of  a  hunter,  and  Joseph  Patch  was  verj^  successful  and 
took  great  pleasure  in  trapping  these  diligent  animals.  His  mink 
and  sable  lines  were  also  very  productive.  Thus  he  passed  his 
time  till  the  streams  froze  up  and  the  snow  flew. 

Then  he  constructed  a  sled  and  took  a  journey  "  down 
country  *'  to  sell  the  rich  product  of  his  hunting.  Necessaries  pur- 
chased and  he  returned  to  his  cabin  in  the  wilderness. 

It  is  winter  now.  Joseph  Patch  is  alone  in  a  great  forest. 
His  nearest  neighbor  is  a  Mr.  Davis,  who  lives  in  that  notable 
tract  of  countiy,  since  inhabited  by  a  proud,  good-feeling  peojile, 
called  after  our  royal  governor,  Wentworth.  Alexander  Craig* 
lived  in  Eoniney  —  now  called  Rumney  on  account  of  the  immense 
amount  of  ''good  rum,''  said  to  be  "  excellent  for  sore  eyes,"  kept 
and  drank  by  the  jolly  roisterers  who  have  inhabited  that  fair 
region.  There  was  quite  a  settlement  at  Plymouth — not  the  Ply- 
mouth of  Cape  Cod  Bay,  where  pious  ministers  with  vinegar 
faces  preached  to  witch-hanging  congregations — but  Plymouth, 

*Ephraim  Lnnd  built  tlie  first  saw  and  grist  mill  in  Plymouth,  near  where 
Cochran's  mills  now  are.  ^Ir.  Dcarhorn  says  that  in  1765  James  Heatli,  from  Can- 
terbury, Daniel  Brainard,Esq.,  and  Alexaniler  Craig  made  settlements  in  Romney. 
Soon  after  a  Mr.  Davis  moved  into  Wentworth,  and  Joseph  Patch  into  Warren.  lie 
says  that  he  knows  that  these  were  the  first  settlers  in  these  towns,  but  will  not  be 
positive  as  to  the  year  they  made  their  entrance. — Powers'  Hist,  of  Coos,  ITi. 

"Marcli  1,  1775.  Tliis  mav  certify  that  Joseph  Patch  is  entitled  to  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  the  township  of  Warren,  by  his  settling  in  said  town,  agreeably  to 
a  vote  of  the  proprietary  of  said  township  in  the  )"ear  1773.  We  agree  tliat  he  shall 
have  lot  Xo.  19  in  the  \)th  range  in  the  seconddivision  in  said  township  for  the 
same.  P.  WHITE, 

EBEXEZER    STEVENS, 
Committee  in  the  year  1774  to  lay  lots  for  settlers." 

Jan.  18,  17S7.  "  Voted  that  Joseph  Patch  have  liberty  to  pitch  one  lot  in  lieu  of 
that  he  formerly  pitched  in  said  town  for  a  settler's  lot,  which  happens  to  be  in 
Coventry  by  the  running  the  last  lines." 

June  28,  178".  "  Voted  that  Joseph  Patch  have  lot  Xo.  14  in  the  third  range  of 
lots  laid  out  for  settlers'  lots,  and  for  lots  taken  into  other  towns  by  a  new  line ;  it 
being  in  lien  of  one  that  was  taken  into  Coventry  that  was  given  him  for  settling  m 
said  town." 

See  Proprietors'  Records. 

.TOSEPH  PATCH'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

He  married  Anna  Merrill.    She  was  born  Dec.  28, 17515. 

Daniel,  born  February,  1778.  Jacob,  born  August  13,  1786. 

Joseph,  .Jr.,  born  April,  1780,  WiUiam.    [He  was  a  lame  man  and 

David,  born  1782.  taught  school  ou  Pine  hill.] 

Anna,  born  1784,  Stephen,  born  August  2,  1796. 

Thomas. 


212  HISTORY    OF   -WARREN. 

N.  H.    Daniel  Cross  aud  Mr.  John  Mann  had  founded  the  mighty 
town  of  Orfoi'd,  sometimes  yulgarly  called  Oxford,  owing  proba- 
bly to   the  huge  oxen  raised  there.    The  Roots,  Crooks,   and 
Daley s  had  set  down  in  the  territory  named  Piermont,  which  ex- 
tends  westward  c|uite  to  the  Yarsche,  or  fresh,  or  Connecticut 
river,  as  the  Dutchmen  call  it.     There  were  numerous  families 
squatted  on  the  rich  meadows  of  the  Coosucks,  but  not  a  human 
being  lived  in   old   Coventry  —  the   land  where   blueberry  hills 
abound  —  or  in  Peeling,  or  in  Trecothick,  great  wilderness  regions 
beyond  the  eastern  mountains.     Patch  was  veritably  alone.     Yet 
the  solitude  Avas  not  so  terrible  as  it  was  a  year  before.     True  he 
heard  the  howl  of  the  wolves  every  night,  except  when  the  tem- 
pest was  so  loud  as  to  drown  it.    Catamount  tracks  were  seen  in 
the  snow,  and  he  bolted  his  door  and  fastened  his  one  shutter 
tightly  when  in  the  darkness  its  terribly  human  cry,  freezing  the 
blood,  came  sounding  through  the  forest.     There  were  yards  of 
wild  deer  on  the  hills  and  in  the  ravines  from  which  the  spring 
torrents  rushed,  and  Joseph  Patch  also  saw  yarded  by  the  Asquam- 
chumauke  great  wild  beasts,  or  moose,  which   John   Josselyn, 
Gent.,  describes  as  ''  Creatures,  or  rather  if  you  will.  Monsters  of 
supertiuity."'    "  A  full-gTOwn  moose,"  to  use  his  own  language, 
•'is  many  times  bigger  than  an  English  oxe,  their  borns,  as  I  have 
said  elsewhere,  very  big,   (and  brancht  out  in  palms),  the  tips 
whei'eof  are  sometimes  found  to  be  two   fiithoms  assunder,  (a 
fathom  is  six  feet,  from  the  tip  of  one  tinger  to  the  tip  of  the 
other,  that  is  four  eubits),  and  in  height  from  the  toe  of  the  fore- 
foot to  the  pitch  of  the  shoulder  twelve  foot,  both  of  which  has 
been  taken  by  m)^  sceptique  readers  to  be  monstrous  lyes.    If  you 
consider  the  bredth  that  the  beast  carrieth  and  the  magnitude  of 
the  horns  you  will  be  easily  induced  to  contribute  your  belief." 
One  of  these  "monsters  of  superfluity"  our  first  settler  killed  for 
the  sake  of  the  meat,  and  a  shot  now  and  then  furnished  delicious 
venison,  equal  to  any  procured  from  an  English  park.     He  buried 
the  greater  part  in  the  snow,  to  remain  frozen  for  future  use,  and 
dug  it  out  when  wanted.     One  night  his  dog,  lying  by  the  fire  on 
the  hearth,  barked.     He  listened  and  heard  out  in  the  woods  the 
howl  of  a  pack  of  wolves  coming.     They  were  famished  aud  food 
they  must  have.    They  growled  about  the  house,  snapped  at  the 


THE   WOLVES   AS   FORAGERS.  213 

closed  door,  and  mounted  bj'  the  snow  bauk  upon  the  bark  roof. 
Patch  thought  there  was  danger  they  might  come  down  the  chim- 
ney,  so  he  piled  his  morning  wood  on  the  fire,  making  the  smok- 
ing flue  a  difficult  place  of  ingress.  A\l  at  once  there  was  a  sharp 
bark,  a  howl,  then  a  hurry,  then  growling,  snapping,  snarling 
like  hungry  dogs,  and  the  man  in  the  cabin  knew  that  his  visitors 
Avere  making  most  free  with  his  moose  meat  and  venison.  He 
was  content,  for  he  was  aware  that  when  that  was  gone  he  would 
get  a  clean  riddance  of  his  ravenous  friends,  the  wolves,  and  then 
with  his  long  barreled  gun  he  could  easily  replenish  his  stock  of 
provisions.  The  next  day  however,  as  a  matter  of  precaution,  he 
strengthened  his  roof.* 

Thus  the  weeks  w^ent  by,  with  plenty  to  eat  and  nothing  to  do 
but  chop  his  firewood,  or  hunt  up  the  valley  or  on  the  mountains 
for  a  day,  accompanied  by  his  faithful  dog,  or  a  trip  to  Plymouth 
now  and  then,  to  learn  the  news  and  to  obtain  supplies,  which  he 
drew  to  camp  upon  a  hand-sled;  with  an  occasional  visit  from  his 
distant  neighbors  in  the  wild  borderin":  regfions,  or  a  call  from 
some  northern  traveller, —  thus  passed  the  winter.  The  spring- 
came  with  its  w^arm  sun,  melting  snows,  wild  mountain  torrents, 
roaring  river,  expanding  buds,  green  grass,  bright  woodland 
flowers,  and  then — road-committee,  surveying,  lot-locating  part}', 
and  last,  though  best  of  all,  cheering  neighbors,  as  the  next  chap- 
ter will  show. 

*  Samuel  Merrill's  statement;  said  he  had  lieard  Patch  tell  this  story  olten. 

Joseph  Patch  moved  to  the  north  bauk  of  Patch  brook  and  had  his  house  on 
the  east  side  of  the  old  Coos  road.  His  son,  .Joseph  Patch,  .Jr.,  built  the  house 
now  [  1870  ]  occupied  bv  Jonathan  Eaton,  and  lived  in  it  until  he  sold  it  to  Mr. 
Eaton. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOW  EIGHTEEN  FAMILIES  AND  TWO  SINGLE  GENTLEMEN  CAME  TO 
WARREN  TO  RESIDE  AND  AMUSED  THEMSELVES  BUILDING  CABINS, 
CLEARING  LAND,  HUNTING  MOOSE  AND  DEER  ON  THE  HILLS,  AND 
FISHING   IN   THE   CLEAR  RAPID   TROUT   STREAMS. 

And  now  the  solitary  places  shall  be  made  glad,  and  the 
wilderness  shall  blossom  like  a  rose.  How  it  all  happened,  who 
came  to  do  it,  the  order  of  their  coming,  and  the  time  when  they 
came,  will  constitute  the  unity  of  this  most  welcome  chapter  of 
Warren's  history. 

We  have  seen  how  our  worthy  proprietors  in  the  spring  of 
1768  began  to  put  forth  the  most  prodigious  efforts  to  save  their 
well-timbered  lands  up  among  the  hills.  We  remember  how  at 
the  annual  meeting  it  was  voted  to  give  each  individual  who 
should  settle  in  town  prior  to  October  1st,  1708,  fifty  acres  of  land 
and  six  pounds  in  money ;  how  the  road-clearing  committee  came 
up  to  Warren,  how  they  were  to  lay  out  the  twenty-five  lots  of 
land  in  such  place  as  they  thought  proper,  and  how  each  family 
who  should  settle  as  above  should  have  one  of  the  lots,  the  first 
settler  to  have  his  first  choice,  and  so  each  in  his  order. 

This  was  the  tempting  bait.    It  had  the  desired  effect.    Dan- 
ger of  losing  everything  was  why  it  was  thrown  out,  and  persons 
wishing  to  become  real  estate  holders  as  well  as  pioneers  on  the 
frontier,  eagerly  caught  at  it. 

I  have  heard  my  uncle*  say,  and  he  was  well  versed  in  such 
matters,  that  the  first  family  that  settled  in  Warren  was  from 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.    He  said  that  in  the  spring  of  1768,  before  the 

"  *Benjamiu  Little. 


THE  FIRST  F.OnLY  SETTLED.  215 

suow  was  hardly  gone,  Mr.  John  Mills,  with  his  wife  and  their 
son  John,  several  otlier  children  and  Mr.  Mills'  sister,  with  one 
horse  on  which  they  rode  by  turns  and  on  whose  back  was  borne 
a  decidedly  small  stock  of  household  furniture,  and  also  driving  a 
cow  along  with  them,  came  journeying  up  the  bridle-path  to 
Warren.  The  proprietors  had  offered  the  land  and  Phillips  White 
had  persuaded  Mr.  Mills  to  corne  on  as  a  settler. 

His  was  the  first  choice  of  lots.  He  chose  one  that  was 
bounded  west  by  the  Asquamchumauke,  and  tln-ongh  the  meadow 
on  the  east  flowed  Patch  brook.  On  the  ridge  which  once  formed 
a  part  of  the  second  of  the  three  geological  terraces  in  the  Asquam- 
chumauke valley,  just  south  of  the  river  bridge  in  the  lower  vil- 
lage, and  east  of  the  great  railroad  bridge,  he  selected  the  site  of 
his  cabin.  It  was  a  frail  habitation,  erected  on  the  very  day  of 
his  arrival,  but  it  served  as  a  shelter  during  the  summer.  Upon 
one  side  he  built  a  stone  fire-place,  and  a  chimney  of  small  sticks 
and  mud.  Household  furniture  he  had  next  to  none,  and  he  was 
under  the  necessity  of  manufacturing  some. 

He  made  a  rustic  table,  but  a  good  one  as  my  nncle  testified, 
bj^  splitting  a  lai'ge  ash  tree  into  several  thin  pieces,  smoothing 
them  with  his  axe,  and  then  pinning  them  side  by  side  to  two 
other  pieces  which  ran  in  opposite  directions  in  the  form  of  cleats. 
This  he  fastened  to  one  side  of  the  cabin,  supporting  it  bj^  small 
posts  driven  into  the  ground  for  legs.  But  he  had  a  more  novel 
method  for  making  chairs,  and  it  was  the  one  generally  practiced 
by  the  first  settlers.  The  top  of  a  spruce  or  fir  tree  was  selected, 
upon  which  several  limbs  were  growing ;  this  was  sj)lit  through 
the  middle,  the  limbs  cut  oft"  the  proper  length  for  legs,  and  after 
smoothing  to  suit  the  fancy  the  chair  was  comi^lete.  Sometimes 
the  body  of  the  tree  was  cut  nearly  oft',  and  then  quite  off  at  a  proper 
distance,  the  wood  split  down  and  quite  a  comfortable  back  left. 
These  made  durable  chairs,  and  the  instances  w^ere  rare  in  which 
it  became  necessary  to  send  them  to  the  cabinet  maker  for  repairs 
— especially  to  have  the  legs  glued  in. 

Bedsteads  were  made  by  boring  two  holes  into  the  log  walls 
of  the  cabin,  about  six  feet  apart.  In  these  were  driven  two  sap- 
ling poles,  the  ends  of  the  same  being  supported  by  posts.  For 
cords  elm  bark  was  used. 


216  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

A  little,  liard-meated,  leatheni-sided,  wiry  man,  with  gray 
eyes  and  grizzly  hair,  was  John  Mills.  His  son  John  also  was  as 
tough  as  tripe,  and  taken  both  together  they  were  just  the  men  to 
make  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness. 

Almost  the  first  thing  they  did  after  erecting  their  rude  cabin 
was  to  tear  out  the  logs  in  the  beaver  dam  and  drain  the  pond. 
Here  wild  grass  grew,  which,  together  with  a  few  turnips, 
eked  out  with  birch  and  hemlock  browse  and  such  other  rough 
fodder,  was  sufficient  to  keep  the  horse  and  cow  during  the 
winter.  All  summer  their  little  stock  pastured  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  or  browsed  in  the  woods.  Then  the  men  cleared  a  few 
acres  of  laud  to  the  south  and  east  of  their  cabin,  where  they 
planted  corn,  turnips,  and  pumpkins,  and  a  large  quantity  of  beans, 
which  served  as  the  basis  of  that  favorite  dish,  bean  porridge, 
with  Avhich  they  so  often  regaled  themselves.  The  seed  was 
almost  all  obtained  at  Plymouth  and  Haverhill. 

John  Mills  was  proud  of  his  little  farm.  His  field  was  then, 
and  is  now,  a  place  of  beautiful  springs,  of  swift  and  crystalline 
brooks.  Above  them  dances  in  the  fresh  June  breeze,  frisky  and 
festive, —  warbling,  chirping,  singing  —  the  little  black-backed, 
white-breasted,  gay  and  jolly  bob-o'-lincoln,  making  all  the  time 
music  sweet  and  loud  enough  to  burst  his  slender  throat.  In  the 
trees  that  hang  over  the  waters,  and  upon  the  banks,  the  thrush 
and  the  robin  build  their  nests,  and  send  out  over  the  green  sward 
the  merry  song,  or  at  evening  their  long  plaintive  carol,  while  in 
autumn  the  hill  and  mountain  eastward  burst  into  a  crimson  blaze 
of  beauty. 

Mr.  Mills  also  changed  work  with  Mr.  Patch,  by  helping 
the  latter  clear  and  plant,  while  our  hunter-settler,  with  a  rifle 
which  he  bought  the  last  winter,  paying  for  it  in  furs,  procured 
moose  meat  and  venison  for  his  neighbor.* 

Now  it  so  happened  that  there  was  journeying  northward  to 
find  a  home  in  the  forest  a  certain  Irishman  recently  from  tlie 
Emerald  isle,  named  James  Aiken.  With  his  wife  and  two  child- 
i-en,  one  night  in  May,  he  stopped  at  our  public  hotel  on  the  west 

*The  old  settlers  used  to  tell  how  the  wolves  howled  about  John  Mills'  house 
the  first  winter  he  lived  iu  town,  and  looked  into  liis  only  window,  putting  tlieir 
noses  against  the  window-iJune,  and  staring  at  llie  family  as  they  sat  by  the  great 
tire-iilaiie  in  tlie  evening;  l)ut  Mdls'  folks  were  not  "to  be  frightened  by  such 
visitors. 


AN  ACCIDE^^TAL  NEIGHBOK.  ^17 

bank  of  the  Asquanichumauke.  The  next  morning  the  sun  came 
up  hot  and  the  weather  was  sultry.  Nevertheless  the  family 
shouldered  their  packs  and  began  their  journey.  For  a  time  they 
got  along  well,  for  the  tall  trees  through  which  the  path  ran 
atlbrded  an  agreeable  shade,  and  the  rippling  of  the  river  and 
Black  brook — the  Mikaseota  —  made  mellow  music  in  their  ears. 
But  when  they  arrived  on  the  ridge  between  the  brook  and  the 
river  the  ti-ees  were  more  scattered,  and  the  sun,  which  had  got 
higher,  shot  his  vertical  rays  directly  upon  their  heads,  making 
the  day  intolerably  hot.  "'Bejabers,"  said  James  Aiken,  "  in 
faith  I  can't  stand  this  ; "  and  the  rest  of  the  famih'  being  some- 
what of  the  same  mind,  and  also  slightly  foot-sore,  they  came 
to  a  halt  near  the  i^reseut  site  of  Warren  depot.  The  river  looked 
pleasant  and  the  meadow  beyond  inviting,  and  our  traveller 
thought  he  might  journey  to  the  world's  end  and  not  tind  a  better 
place  or  a  more  pleasant  home.  But  the  fact  that  he  did  not  own 
a  foot  of  the  land  made  him  hesitate.  But  in  a  moment  it  was  all 
right,  "For,"  said  he,  "  an'  surely  we  shan't  be  seen  here  iu  the 
woods,  if  we  only  get  a  good  distance  from  the  path." 

Resuming  their  packs,  they  left  the  old  Indian  trail,  crossed 
the  river,  climbed  out  of  the  meadow  half  a  mile  to  the  east,  and 
on  the  second  plateau  or  terrace,  just  beside  a  clear  babbling- 
brook,  they  chose  a  spot  for  their  cabin.  It  was  built  that  A^ery 
day  of  posts  and  bark,  and  served  as  a  shelter  till  the  frosts  came 
and  the  leaves  fell,  when  they  erected  a  strong  cabin  of  hewed 
logs,  better  than  any  they  had  ever  had  in  old  Ireland.  The 
cellar  that  they  dug,  though  now  nearly  filled  up,  is  yet  to  be  seen. 
The  next  morning  Aiken  climbed  up  on  to  the  ledgy  hillside 
east  of  his  cabin,  as  my  old  uncle  *  told  me,  where  he  could  get  a 
good  prospect,  and  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  a  blue  smoke  curl- 
ing lazily  out  of  the  forest,  and  floating  away  above  the  trees  half 
a  mile  to  the  south  of  him.  "  Be  jabers  !  I  have  got  neighbors," 
said  James  Aiken,  and  being  a  genial  soul  he  was  not  long  iu 
making  their  acquaintance. 

A  foot-path  blazed  through  the  wood  to  the  proprietors'  high- 
way, and  another  to  John  Mills',  were  the  only  roads  ever  built  to 
the  Irishman's  cabin. 
*  Benjamin  Little. 


218  HISTORY   OF    AVARREN. 

James  Aiken  was  thus  the  third  settler  in  Warren ;  and  Mr. 
John  Mills  had  still  another  neighbor  just  to  the  north  of  his 
own  location. 

Joshua  Copp,  Esq.,  the  fourth  settler,  came  to  Warren  from 
Hampstead,  N.  H.,  the  last  of  May,  1768.  He  chose  a  lot  laid  out 
by  the  committee,  and  built  his  cabin  on  the  southerly  slope  of 
Bed  Oak  hill,  forty  or  fifty  rods  north  of  Martin  brook,  which 
runs  at  its  base. 

Copp  was  broad-shouldered,  square-built,  with  an  open,  intel- 
lectual countenance,  and  was  always  a  man  of  much  influence. 
He  was  energetic  and  hard-working,  and  that  summer  would  often 
come  home  to  his  dinner  of  bean-porridge,  from  the  woods  where 
he  had  been  burning  a  piece,  with  his  short  frock  and  long-legged 
breeches  crusted  with  ashes,  and  his  face  smirched  with  coals. 
His  table,  around  which  gathered  his  wife  and  five  children, 
besides  himself,  was  made  of  a  single  board,  which  he  hewed 
from  an  immense  pine  tree.  Often  there  was  but  one  dish  upon 
it,  a  large  wooden  bowl,  which  he  also  made,  and  it  would  hold 
ten  quarts.  This  was  filled  with  bean  porridge — the  best  meal  of 
victuals  in  his  shanty.  Furnished  each  with  a  wooden  spoon,  the 
whole  family  would  eat  out  of  it  at  once.* 

In  Mr.  Copp's  house  Joshua  Copp,  Jr.,  was  born,  February 
25th,  1769, —  AVarren's  first  white  sou.  But  we  never  heard  that 
Mrs.  Copp,  his  mother,  ever  received  alot  of  land  or  other  bounty, 
as  was  customary  in  those  times. f 

*  The  settlers  made  bean  porridge  1j y  boijmg  the  beans  very  soft,  thickenhig 
the  liquor,  and  adding  a  piece  of  salt  pork  to  season  it.  A  handful  of  corn  was 
sometimes  put  in.  It  is  said — I  do  not  vouch  for  its  trutli — tliat  ^vlieu  the  good  man 
was  going  away  with  his  team  tlie  woman  would  make  a  pot  porridge  and  freeze  it 
with  the  string"iu,  so  that  he  could  hang  it  on  his  .sled-.stake,  and  when  he  wanted 
to  bait  he  might  cut  oft'  a  piece  and  thaw  it. 


t  JOSHUA  AND   SALLY  (Poor)  COPP\S  FAMILY  EECOED. 

He  was  boi-u  m  Hampstead,  Mav  11, 1741.    She  was  born  in  Rowley,  Oct.  27,  1741. 

Married,  Sept.  19,  1758. 

Molly,  born  July  l.'j,  1759.  Mehitable,  born  May  15,  1773. 

Elizabeth,  born" April  14,  17G1.  George  Washington,  boru  August  26, 

Moses,  born  Feb.  'ii,  17U;i.  1776. 

Eliphalet,  born  Feb.  27,  1765.  Samuel,  born  Aug.  9,  1778. 

Sarah,  born  March  25,  1767.  Benjamin  Little,  born  Sept.  12, 1780. 

Joshua,  Feb.  25,  1769.  Xat  laniel  Peabody,  born  June  23, 1783. 

Susannah,  born  March  29, 1771.  William  Wallace, "born  April  3,  1786. 

Benj,  L.  died  November  23,  1798. 


Oct.  19,  1797.    '■  \'oted  that  Phillips   Wliite,  Esq.,  have  a  lot  marked  on  the 
plan,  '  PluUips  White,  N,'  adjoining  on  lot  No.  13,  laid  out  to  the  right  of  Belcher 


ANOTHER  BEAVER  POND  DRAINED.  219 

Esquire  Copp  drove  a  cow  into  the  wilderness.  During  the 
summer  she  could  live  well  enough,  feeding  by  the  brook  and  iu 
the  woods,  but  iu  the  winter  she  must  have  hay.  His  neighbor, 
Joseph  Patch,  told  him  there  was  a  beaver  pond  on  the  Mikaseota 
or  Black  brook,  and  around  the  sedgy  shore  wild  grass  grew  in 
gi'eat  abundance. 

It  was  a  June  day  when  he  went  to  the  valley  of  Runaway 
pond,  where  was  the  little  tarn  of  the  beavers.  He  left  the  pro- 
prietors' road,  which  ran  some  forty  rods  to  the  west,  and  pro- 
ceeding noiselessly  through  the  woods  came  to  the  water's  edge. 
A  wood  duck  with  her  brood  was  swimming  on  its  surface ;  sand- 
pipers, uttering  their  querulous  "  weet,  weet,"  ran  through  their 
reedy  haunts ;  a  blue  heron  was  watching  for  fish  at  the  outlet,, 
and  by  the  head  of  the  pond,  on  the  blasted  peak  of  a  great  pine, 
an  eagle  stood  out  against  the  sky.  He  saw  the  long  row  of 
beaver  huts  opposite,  and  a  single  beaver,  watching  him,  sank  in 
the  water  and  disappeared,  leaving  scarcely  a  ripple.  Following' 
along  the  shore  a  wild-cat  sprang  across  his  track ;  the  blue  heron 
at  the  outlet  flew  away ;  the  duck  with  her  brood  dove  and  rose 
farther  ofi"  toward  the  bead  of  the  pond,  then  dove  and  rose  again 
still  further  away,  and  the  eagle  screaming  soared  aloft  in  mighty 
circles  till  lost  iu  the  deep  blue.  For  a  moment  only  he  paused; 
then  with  lois  axe  he  cut  a  lever,  pried  out  some  of  the  logs  in  the 
dam  —  the  gurgling  water  rushing  through  assisting  him  —  and 
before  night  the  beaver  pond  was  gone  forever.  In  August  he  cut 
a  large  quantity  of  grass  upon  this  made  meadow,  stacked  it,  and 
with  the  help  of  his  neighbors  drew  away  upon  handsleds  the 
ensuing  winter  what  the  moose  and  deer  did  not  eat. 

Mr.  Ephraim  True  came  from  somewhere  down  country, 
but  from  what  town  never  could  be  learned,  even  from  the  oldest 

Dole,  with  a  gore  of  l.infl  Ij'ing  near  unto  said  lot;  and  a  lot  No.  17,  in  the  first 
range  of  lots  laid  out,  for  those  lots  whicli  were  cut  off  by  tlie  late  lines,  and  drawn 
to  the  right  of  William  Parker,  Esq.,  for  a  lot  he  the  said  White  gave  to  Joshua 
Copp,  Esq.,  for  settling  iu  the  town." 

•Joshua  Cop])  died  in  Warren  about  1S04.  He  was  buried  near  the  outlet  of 
Runaway  pond,  Ijeside  tlie  old  Indian  trail.  The  precise  spot  is  unknown.  There 
let  him  rest  in  an  unmarked  grave  "  till  tlie  last  trump  shall  call  him  back  to  life." 

William  Wallace  Copp,  youngest  son  of  'Stjuire  Joshua,  was  a  very  smart  man. 
He  became  :i  merchant  in  M'oiitreal  and  imported  liis  goods.  He  went  on  a  sailing 
vessel  to  England  and  no  tidings  were  ever  received  from  him  afterwards.  He  is 
said  to  havebeen  the  bestdooking  man  in  the  country,  had  a  fine  intellect,  and  was 
given  to  theological  discussions.  He  wrote  a  powerful  pamphlet  on  predestination 
and  free  agency.    His  death  has  always  been  a  mystery. 


220  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

inhabitants.  He  settled  a  short  distance  north  of  Mr.  Aiken,  in  a 
place  long  known  to  the  villagers  of  our  mountain  hamlet  as  "  over 
the  river."  Mr.  True  was  a  strong,  stalwart  man,  and  had  a  large 
family,  his  wife  being  much  more  prolific  than  the  red-headed 
spouse  of  his  neighbor  Aiken.  1  have  heard  m\^  grandmother  say 
that  her  mother  told  her — and  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  truthful- 
ness of  the  story,  for  my  great-grandmother  was  a  most  excellent 
woman  —  that  once  upon  a  time  she  went  to  Mr.  True's  a-visiting. 
On  her  arrival  she  found  no  one  at  home,  Mr.  True  and  his  good 
dame  being  at  work  in  the  woods  clearing.  Seating  herself  upon 
a  stool  she  soon  heard  a  slight  noise,  and  looking  carefullv  about 
she  saw  some  half  a  dozen  flaxen,  towy  heads,  peeping  from 
under  the  bed  watching  her,  but  not  one  could  she  coax  to  come 
out.  Mrs.  True  coming  in  shortly  after,  excused  herself  and  child- 
ren, saying,  ''Lor!  they  see  ]ieople  so  seldom  they  are  as  wild  as 
partridges."  One  man,  after  listening  to  this  anecdote,  was  heard 
to  say  that  the  fact  afforded  food  for  the  contemplation  of  serious 
and.  pious  persons,  as  to  whether  man,  like  the  ass,  kept  in  soli- 
tude, would  not  quickly  return  to  his  naturally  wild  state.  We 
may  add  that  these  children  afterwards  made  smart  men  and 
women. 

This  season  the  proprietors'  committee  was  in  town,  clearing 
the  road,  and  also  running  the  lines  about  the  lots.  Travellers 
journeying  to  and  from  the  northern  settlements  were  plenty,  and 
our  five  settlers  often  travelled  to  Plymouth  or  Haverhill  for  sup- 
plies, carrying  them  to  their  homes  on  their  backs.  Thus  passed 
.  the  time,  and  this  year  no  more  settlers  came. 

In  the  winter  of  1769,  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  it  will 
be  remembered  that  a  vote  w^as  passed  to  give  to  each  of  ten  set- 
tlers "who  shall  move  into  town  this  year  fifty  acres  of  land  and 
six  pounds  in  money,  or  one  hundred  acres  of  land  without  the 
money,  as  they  may  choose,"  each  making  his  selection  in  the 
order  of  his  settling.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Col.  Jonathan 
Greeley,  Lieut.  Joseph  Page,  and  Mr.  Enoch  Page,  was  chosen  to 
lay  out  the  lots  and  agree  with  settlers.  The  proprietors  also 
began  to  talk  much  about  building  a  saw-mill,  to  supply  the  inhab- 
itants with  boards,  thus  making  them  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
This  had  the  desired  eft'ect,  and  two  more  brave  men  came  to  town. 


A   SINGLE   GENTLEMAN   ARRFVES.  221 

John  Whitciier,  the  sixth  settler,  came  from  Salisbury  in  the 
spring  of  17G9.  He  was  unmarried,  and  Avas  travelling  about  the 
■world  in  search  of  his  fortune.  Some  say  that  Moses  Greeley,  of 
Salisbuiy,  persuaded  him  to  come  on  and  make  a  settlement  in 
order  that  the  most  possible  might  be  done  to  fulfil  the  first  condi- 
tion of  the  charter.  But  this  don't  matter;  all  that  we  cai*e  for  is 
the  fact  that  he  really  came.  He  was  a  red-haired  man,  with  light 
blue  eyes,  muscles  of  steel,  a  heart  as  brave  as  a  lion,  and  just  the 
fellow  to  fell  trees  and  commence  a  Avilderness  settlement.  He 
located  himself  on  Pine  hill,  built  a  cabin,  and  in  the  fall  went 
back  down  country  to  see  his  sweetheart,  Miss  Sarah  Marston.* 
The  proprietors  afterwards  gave  him  the  lot  he  chose  by  direct 
vote. 

John  Morrill  was  a  friend  of  Mr.  Whitcher,  and  he  came  to 
AYarreu  along  Avith  him.  Mr.  Morrill  had  a  family,  and  being  of 
a  speculative  disposition,  he  bought  out  'Squire  Copp.  The  latter 
had  procured  the  lot  containing  his  beaver  meadow,  and  he  imme- 
diately erected  a  cabin  there  and  moved  into  it,  being  the  first 
settler  in  the  valley  of  Eunaway  pond.  John  Mori-ill  was  a  lively 
genius,  and  was  sure  to  create  a  wide-awake  neighborhood.  In 
short  he  was  a  sturdy,  obstinate,  bustling  little  man,  and  it  was 
luck}'-  he  moA^ed  into  the  Avoods,  for  he  always  managed  to  keep 
CA'ery  one  about  him  on  the  qid  rife.  He  also  had  a  good  store  of 
worldly  goods,  which  he  contrived  to  bring  to  "Warren  by  making 
sundry  down  country  journeys.  This  property  was  Avell  taken 
care  of,  for  he  Avas  of  a  saving  turn,  as  evidenced  by  his  always 
wearing  an  old  greasy  pair  of  moosehide  breeches  for  the  sake  of 
economy.  As  we  have  before  intimated  he  was  continually  given 
to  trade,  and  before  he  had  been  in  tOAvn  a  year  he  swapped  farms 
Avith  another  settler. 

And  now  came  the  tug  of  war — the  great  struggle  of  life  and 
dealli  for  the  proprietors,  Avhether  or  not  they  should  get  a  new 

*JOHN  AND  SARAH   (Marston)  AVHITCHER'S  FAMILY  KECOED. 

He  wa^*  Ixirn  ;U  Salisbury,  Mass.,  June  19,  1749.    She  was  bom  October  14,  1748. 

Married,  Dec.  6,  1770. 

.Ios('i)li,  born  Nov.  10,  1772.  Obadiali,  born  Oct.  11,  1784. 

Reul)t'ii,  born  Dec.  30,  1773.  Batcbelder,  born  Aug.  3,  1787. 

.John,  bcn-n  Aug.  10,  177.5.  Obadiah,  2d,  born  April  23,  1789. 

Hetty,  born  Oct.  3,  1778.  .Jeremiah,  born  .Jan.  29,  1790. 

Sarah,  born,  Oct.  17,  1779.  Rebecca,  born  Dec.  19,  179.5. 
Henry  D.,  born  Oct.  30, 1782. 


222  HISTORY    OF   ■VTARREN. 

cliartei',  a?  vre  have  before  shown.  To  succeed  they  must  make 
strong,  desperate  efforts :  settlers  must  be  procured  faster  and 
other  improvements  for  a  new  settlement  must  be  pushed  rapidly 
on.  Accordingly  the  grantees  of  Warren  made  the  king's  high- 
way broader :  laid  out  a  new  road  OA'er  the  Height-o"-land  to  Hav- 
erhill Corner,  and  discontinued  the  old  route  by  Wachipauka  pond ; 
anew  division  of  lots  was  located;  large  bounties*  were  offered 
for  settlers,  and  even  to  those  who  would  only ''fall  trees'"  in 
town;  and  it  was  proposed  to  give  thirty  pounds  to  any  one  who 
would  erect  a  savr-mill  and  supply  the  inhabitants  with  boards. 
But  all  this  was  to  no  purpose,  for  the  settlers  did  not  come. 
Three  years  went  by  before  another  family  sat  down  in  "Warren. 

Obadiah  CLEjrE>"T  came  from  Sandown.  N.  H..  in  the  year 
1772,  and  settled  on  the  northwesterly  side  of  Kunaway  pond  val- 
ley. Mr.  Clement,  in  after  years  a  militia  colonel,  was  a  large, 
stout  man,  about  tive  feet  ten  inches  in  height,  would  weigh  one 
hundred  and  eighty  pounds,  and  was  as  quick-motioned  as  a  cat. 
He  was  born  at  Kingston,  X.  H.,  the  19th  day  of  February,  1743, 
O.  S.,  and  married  Sarah  Batchelder,  Aug.  27th,  1765.t     He  was 


*  March  25,  1771.  "  Toted  to  give  each  family  that  shall  settle  in  town  this  pres- 
ent Tear  sixtv  acres  of  lancl,  agi-eeablv  to  the  rote  of  last  year." 

At  the  same  meeting,  -'^'otert  to  give  to  each  person  as  shall  fall  trees  in  the 
to-wTiship  of  Warren  this  vear  half  a  dollar  per  acre.'"— See  Proprietors'  Records. 

"Voted  that  PhiUips  White  and  3Ir.  Samuel  Page  be  a  committee  to  agree  with 
settlers." — Do. 


t  OBADIAH  AXB   SARAH  ( Batchelder  J  CLEMENT'S  FAMILY    KECORD. 

He  was  bom  at  Kingston,  Feb.  10.  174:3,  ().  S.    Slie  was  bom  June  30,  1747.    Mar- 
ried Aug.  27,  17G5. 
Anna,  bora  at  Sandown,  Apr.  19, 17U7.        Obadiah.  boniin  Warren.  Feb. 28,1775. 
Job.  bom  Dec.  13. 176S.  Obadiah,  2d,  born  Feb.  10,  1776. 

Mehitable.  born  Feb.  27, 1771.  Batchelder,  born  Feb.  15,  17S2. 

Daniel,  born  March  7,  1773.  Moses  H.,  bom  Feb.  12.  1784. 

Man-ied  Sarah  Baker,  of  Suncook,  Sept.  9, 1788,  who  was  bom  Aug.  20. 1750,  O.  S. 
Sarah  B.,  bom  Sept.  9, 1789.  Joseph  B.,  born  May  8,  1794. 

Batchelder.  born  June  30,  1791.  Joseph,  bom  Oct.  25.  17(!8. 

Lovewell,  bom  April  13,  1793. 
Col.  Obadiah  died,  aged  87,  in  1829.    Sarah  Batchelder,  his  wife,  died  Jan.  1,  1786. 
Obadiah,  first  child  of  that  name,  died       Lovewell,  died  May  22, 1793. 

March  25,  1775.  Joseph  B.,  March  26,  1795. 

Batchelder,  died  Jan.  24. 1786. 


April  20, 1772.  "Voted  to  give  eveiy  man  that  moves  into  town  this  year  one 
hundred  acres  of  good  land." 

"  Voted  to  give  half  a  dollar  per  acre  for  every  acre  of  trees  that  shall  be  fell  in 
Wan-en  this  vear."' 

"Phillips  White,  Esq.,  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  and  Ebenezer  Tucker  were 
chosen  a  committee  to  agree  with  settlers." 

"  Voted  to  defend  the  proprietors  or  others  who  may  settle  under  them  in 
making  improvement  on  the  disputed  lands  in  said  town." 

Sec  Proprietors'  Records, 


THE   FIRST  HOTEL  IX  WARKEX.  223 

a  cooper  by  trade,  and  worked  at  the  business  more  or  less  during 
his  whole  life.  He  lived  for  a  short  time  in  Sandown,  N.  H.,  and 
while  there  speculated  somewhat  in  saw-mills,  as  a  sort  of  recrea- 
tion. He  bought  his  land  of  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  and  by  him 
was  induced  to  come  to  "Warren.  He  built  a  large  cabin  at  the 
forks*  of  the  bridle  paths,  where  one  ran  west  over  the  Height-o"- 
Jand  and  the  other  north  by  "Wachipauka  or  Meader  pond.  He 
took  great  pains  building  it,  hewed  the  logs  down  smooth,  made 
it  twice  as  wide  and  twice  as  long  as  any  other  cabin  in  town,  had 
two  good  large  rooms,  ^-ith  bedrooms,  cupboard  and  pantry  along- 
side, and  in  the  rear  a  shed  made  of  poles  and  bark.  The  chim- 
ney had  two  capacious,  cavernous  fire-places,  all  built  of  stone, 
■one'  in  each  room.  There  were  four  bed  rooms  in  the  garret, 
parted  off"  or  separated  from  each  other  by  a  frame-work  of  poles 
covered  with  spruce  bark.  The  house  itself  was  covered  with 
iong,  shaved  shingles.  It  had  doors  of  hewn  boards,  a  floor  of 
square  hewn  logs,  firm  and  solid,  and  each  room  on  the  ground 
floor  was  lighted  by  a  small  window,  the  five-by-seven  glass  for 
the  panes  having  been  brought  up  from  dovm  country  on  the  back 
of  a  horse.  When  the  cabin  was  finished  and  furnished  a  hotel 
was  opened,  and  Obadiah  Clement  was  Warren's  first  landlord. 

My  great-gTandfather  t  used  to  tell  what  a  mighty  fine  build- 
ing Col .  Clement's  hotel  was,  which  grew  up  so  suddenly  in  the 
wilderness.  The  old  gentleman  related  how  he  ti-avelled  up  the 
bridle-path  one  afternoon  to  see  the  landlord  and  get  some  of  the 
good  things  with  which  his  bar  was  always  well  stocked.  Enter- 
ing the  little  clearing,  which  seemed  a  sort  of  island  iu  the  woods, 

*At  first  they  only  had  a  spotted  line  over  the  Height-o'-Land  to  Haverhill 
Coi-ner,  and  CoL  Chas.  .Johnson  and  others  lost  it  one  night,  as  they  attempted  to 
follow  it  through  by  feeling  the  spots  on  the  trees,  and  had  to  lie  in  the  woods  until 
morning.  Rev.  Grant  Powers  says  :  "  It  was  not  the  expectation  of  the  people  of 
Coos  that  they  should  ever  have  .i  road  through  to  Plymouth  for  loaded  teams,  hut 
their  hopes  rested  on  Charlestown  for  heavy  articles;' and  the  first  time  an  ox-team 
went  through  it  was  effected  by  a  company  who  went  out  expressly  for  the  pui-pose 
with  .Jonathan  ^IcConnell  at  their  head.  _  The  expedition  excit'ed  much  interest 
with  the  inhabitants  at  home,  and  the  process  of  the  adventurers  was  inquired  for 
from  day  to  day;  and  when  they  were  making  HaverhiU  Corner  upon  their  return, 
the  men  went'  out  to  meet  aiid  congratidate  with  them,  and  as  they  came  m  the 
cattle  were  taken  possession  of  in  due  form,  and  conducted  to  sweet-ilowing  foun- 
tains and  well-stufl'ed  cribs  for  the  night.  Their  masters  were  served  in  the  style 
of  lords,  and  their  naiTation  of  the  feats  of  '  Old  Broad "  at  the  sloughs,  the  patient 
endurance  of  '  Okl  Berry'  at  the  heights,  and  the  stifl"  hold-back  of  '  Old  Duke'  at 
the  naiTows,  were  listened  to  bv  their  owners  witli  the  liveliest  demonstrations  of 
joy.''— History  of  Coos,  118. 

t  Joshua  Copp,  Esq. 


224  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

lie  sat  down  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  to  cool  and  rest  himself.  Even 
to  him,  a  rough  backAvoodsman,  there  Avas  much  of  beauty  in  the 
place.  The  green  fields  lying*  so  peacefully  in  the  foi'est,  which  in 
•one  place  pushed  forward  its  sc|ittered  trees,  in  another  retreated, 
here  sprinkling-  them  out  thinly,  and  there  hanging  their  masses 
of  dark  foliage  over  the  low-roofed  buildings.  The  cabin,  so 
quiet  too;  a  few  wild-flowers,  crane's-bill,  and  honeysuckle  grow- 
ing by  the  door  and  open  window ;  a  flock  of  geese  cropping  the 
grass,  and  the  cows  coming  home  out  of  the  forest  to  be  milked, 
the  bell  on  the  leader,  slung  to  her  neck  with  a  leathern  strap  and 
buckle,  sounding  so  quaint  and  woodland-like,  made  all  resemble 
some  bright  land  of  the  poets,  full  of  Arcadian  beauty.  Then 
there  was  a  ringing  of  steel-shod  hoofs,  and  as  two  travellers  on 
horseback  winding  out  of  the  woods  by  the  bridle-path  proceeded 
across  the  field,  he  looked  up  and  saw  the  low  stone  chimney  of 
the  cabin  smoking,  and  the  shadows  stretching  out  longer  from 
the  top  of  the  mountain  across  the  grain  and  the  grass  land  and 
over  the  forest.  "But  the  best  of  all,"  said  the  good  old  man, 
''Obadiah  Clement  treated  me  handsomely  that  night." 

Col.  Clement  had  the  most  fertile  farm  in  town,  and  on  his 
open  meadow,  which  gave  evidence  that  the  Indians  had  burnt  it 
over  and  planted  it  long  years  before,  he  cut  hay  enough  to  keep 
his  cow  and  yoke  of  steers.  He  got  corn  at  Haverhill,  and  salt 
and  such  other  necessaries  at  Plymouth.  These  he  brought  home 
on  his  back.  Fortune  favored  him  in  procuring  a  supply  of  meat. 
Opening  the  door  one  morning  before  the  rest  of  the  family  Avere 
stirring,  he  saAA^  a  moose  feeding  among  the  .black  stumps  of  his 
little  clearing.  He  had  a  gun,  plenty  of  poA\'der,  but  not  a  bullet 
in  the  house.  Yet  he  did  not  hesitate  long.  An  old  military  coat 
that  some  friend  hadAVorn  in  the  French  Avar  furnished  great  brass 
bell  buttons,  and  he  rammed  home  three  of  them.  Priming  the 
old  ''queen's  arm"  he  took  deliberate  aim  and  fired.  One  of  the 
buttons  pierced  the  heart  a]id  the  moose  running  a  fcAA^  rods  fell 
dead.  Col.  Clement  was  standing  in  his  door  at  the  time,  and  the 
loud  report  Avoke  up  in  great  fright  the  Avhole  family,  till  then 
sound  asleep ;  but  they  soon  ascertained  what  Avas  the  matter. 
That  morning  they  had  the  choicest  morsel,  the  under  lip,  for 
breakfast,  and  all  winter  long  they  rejoiced  over  the  happy  shot. 


NEW   ACCESSION'S.  225 

Col.  Cieraent's  younger  brothers  came  on  and  worked  for  liim 
during  the  summer,  and  the  next  year,  1773, — 

Jonathan  Clement*  came  to  Warren  as  a  settler.  It  was 
Enoch  Page,  one  of  the  proprietors,  that  furnished  him  a  home  in 
our  mountain  hamlet.  He  gave  Mr.  Clement  the  lot  of  land  lying 
between  Col.  Clement's  and  'Squire  Copp's,  and  he  built  his  cabin 
a  short  distance  northwest  of  the  spot  where  the  road  from  Pine 
hill  did  intersect  with  the  old  turnpike.  In  September  Mr.  Clem- 
ent went  down  country,  got  married,  and  moved  his  young  wife 
home.    Dolly,  his  first  child,  was  born  Nov.  -i,  177-i,  in  Warren. 

Eeuuen  Clement,  the  other  brother,  lived  with  Jonathan 
many  years.  Reuben  was  the  tallest  of  the  three,  standing  six  feet 
ill  his  stockings,  and  was  an  active,  athletic  man,  but  sometimes  a 
little  crazy.  When  the  Jit  was  on  him  he  would  stalk  through  the 
woods  from  cabin  to  cabin,  carrying  a  cane  as  high  as  his  head, 
stout  enough  for  a  lever  and  witli  the  branches  partly  left  on,  for 
all  the  world  like  the  one  borne  by  the  witch  Meg  Merillies.  On 
such  occasions  he  would  dress  himself  in  his  best,  a  suit  brought 

*J(»'A.THAX  AND  HANNAH  (Page)  CLEMENT'S  FAiULT  RECORD. 

lie  was  born  Jan.  3,  J753,  at  Sandown,  N.  11.    She  was  born  Dec. 23, 17.56.    Married 

Sept.  -24,  1773. 

Dolly,  born  Nov.  4,  1774;  died  Nov.  18,  Page,  born  Mav  1,  1787;  died  Aug.  11, 

1770.  1789. 

Jonathan,  .Jr.,  born  Aug. 23, 177(5;  died  John,  born  April  .30,  1780. 

Sept.  23,  1777.  Page,  born  Aug.  20,  1700. 

Hannah.  l)oru  Feb,  20,  1778 :  died  Oct.  Dollv  and  Eleanor,  Julv  2.'),  1702. 

30,  1770.  Sally,  born  Jnne  20,  1794. 

Jonathan,  3d,  born  Oct.  12, 1780.  John,  born  July  17,  1790. 

Hannah,  born  Jan.  27,  1783.  Benjamin,  boni  Nov.  25,  1798. 

Ephraini,  born  Feb.  12, 178,").  Daniel,  born  Dec.  3,  1801. 


"  Wentworth,  Oct.  21, 1790.  This  may  certify  that  Jonathan  Clement,  of  War- 
ren, is  entitled  to  Lot  No.  8  on  which  he  now  live.s,  for  settling  the  same,  according 
to  former  votes.    Accepted  and  allowed.  PHILLIPS  AVHITE, 

ENOCH  PAGE, 

Committee." 

Oct.  20,  1786.  "  Voted  that  Enoch  Page,  Esq.,  have  Lot  No.  2,  laying  soutli  of 
the  No.  on  whicli  Jonathan  Clement  now  lives,  in  consideration  of  a  lot  lie  drawed 
for  .-iaid  Clement  to  settle  on." 

See  Proprietors'  Records. 

April  29,  1773.  "  Voted  that  such  (trivate  ways  as  Pliilllps  White,  Esq.,  Capt. 
William  Hackett,  and  Ensign  Enoch  Page  shall  think  jiroper  to  be  cleared  this 
present  year,  shall  be  done  at  the  charge  of  the  proprietary." 

"  Voted  to  give  100  acres  of  land  to  each  of  tea  families  who  shall  actually  set- 
tle in  town  the  present  year." 

Joseph  Patch  claimed  his  land  under  the  above  vote,  as  it  was  the  best  offer 
that  had  been  made. 

"  Voted  that  the  said  committee  to  clear  out  private  ways  be  a  committee  to  lay 
out  lots  for  settlers,  and  the  family  that  lirst  moves  into  town  to  take  his  lirst  choice, 
and  so  as  they  move  in." 

See  Proprietors'  Records. 

Joseph  Patch  did  not  settle  on  and  never  lived  on  the  lot  of  land  he  got,  as  will 
be  seen  by  examining  the  Proprietors'  Records. 

o 


226  HISTORY    OF   "VVAKREX. 

from  dovrn  country.  His  glittering  knee-buckles,  which  fastened 
his  short  tight  breeches  to  his  long  stockings,  his  bright  silver  shoe 
buckles,  his  coat  slung  on  his  arm,  his  long  jacket  unbuttoned, 
the  collar  of  his  linen  shirt  loose  and  flowing,  his  long  hair  stream- 
ing in  the  wind,  and  his  bright  eye,  restless  and  flashing  under 
his  cocked  up  hat,  made  him  seem  some  weird  man  of  the  woods. 
Reuben  Clement  had  a  friend  and  familiar  companion  who  came 
to  AVarren  along  with  him. 

SniEOx  Smith  was  the  man,  — and  all  of  his  neighbors  as  long- 
as  he  lived  believed  that  he  was  an  adept  at  the  black  art.  Of  him 
it  was  alleged,  "That  some  gloomy  night,  like  those  chosen  by 
magicians  to  invoke  spirits,  he  had  called  u])  the  devil  at  the  cross 
roads  where  four  roads  met  in  his  native  town,  and  to  obtain 
superhuman  powers  had  sworn  to  be  his  liege  man,  and  had  then 
kissed  Satan's  cloven  hoof."  Wonderful  were  the  feats  he  could 
perform.  Sometimes,  from  sheer  malice,  he  vrould  saddle  and 
bridle  one  of  his  neighbors,  and  ride  and  gallop  him  all  over  the 
country  round.  Then  tur::ing  jack-o'-lantern,  with  counterfeiting 
voice  he  would  call  some  loitering  j)erson  through  woods,  around 
marshy  ponds  into  tangled  thickets,  and  leave  him  lost  in  the  cold 
damp  swamp.  The  butter  would  not  come,  and  he  was  in  the 
churn;  the  cat  mewed  and  jumped  wildly  about  the  house,  and 
he  was  tormenting  her;  the  children  behaved  strangely,  and  he 
had  bewitched  them.  Smaller  than  a  gnat,  he  could  go  through 
the  key  hole:  larger  than  a  giant,  he  was  seen  at  twilight  stalking 
through  the  forest.  He  could  travel  iu  the  thin  air,  and  mounted 
on  a  moonbeam  could  fly  swift  as  the  red  meteor  over  the  woods 
and  the  mountains. 

Without  doubt  all  this  was  pious  scandal,  worthy  of  the  old 
Puritans,  for  Simeon  Smith  was  a  good  man,  and  in  spite  of  their 
superstition  compelled  the  respect  of  his  neighbors.  He  came  to 
Warren  in  Februarv,  177:3.  bringing  his  familv  and  world!  v  eft'ects 
in  a  one-horse  vehicle,  known  among  farmers  as  a  "jumper."  He 
settled  on  Red  Oak  hill,  and  lived  for  a  time  with  that  restive 
little  backwoodsman,  Mr.  John  Morrill.  ]Mr.  Smith  was  likewise 
a  small-sized  man,  smart  to  work  and  quick-motioned.  He  had  a 
large  family,  two  or  three  boys  old  enough  to  help,  and  before 
another  winter  he  had  a  comfortable  cabin  of  his  own. 


THE   GREAT   XORTHERX    DIVER.  227 

Ephraiji  Luxd  was  the  next  settler.  He  came  from  Ply- 
mouth, X.  H.,  where  he  had  built  the  first  saw-mill  for  tlie  pro- 
prietors of  that  townsliip,  and  he  erected  a  cabin  and  cleared  a 
few  acres  on  the  south  shore  of  Tarleton  lake.  The  i)race  whei'e 
he  lived  was  long  known  as  Charleston,  but  why  it  was  so  called 
no  one  has  ever  been  able  to  tell.  It  rained  a  few  days  after  he 
first  came  to  AYarren,  succeeded  at  night  by  a  thick  fog.  A  little 
past  sunset  he  was  startled  by  the  wildest  cry  he  ever  heard.  It 
seemed  as  if  some  one  lost  in  the  woods  was  hallooing  in  despair. 
He  got  his  gun  and  starting  towards  the  lake  discharged  it  several 
times,  that  the  report  might  guide  the  lost  one  to  his  cabin — but 
no  person  came.  Who  was  it?  What  had  happened?  A  few  days 
after  he  heard  tlie  hallooing  again,  and  going  through  the  woods 
to  the  rocky  shore  he  learned  that  the  sound  that  startled  him  so 
Avas  the  cry  of  ''the  great  northern  diver."  He  had  never  heard 
or  seen  the  bird  before,  and  was  now  perfectly  satisfied  that  when 
told  that  any  one  could  ''halloo  like  a  loon"  thai  such  person's 
voice  must  be  most  loud  and  terrible,  especially  if  it  was  heard 
by  a  man  solitary  and  alone,  on  a  foggy  night,  and  in  the  dark 
woods. 

Joseph  Lund,  his  brother,  came  shortly  after,  and  settled  near 
him.  He  Avas  a  good-natured,  kind-hearted  man,  and  it  is  said 
that  he  Avas  of  middle  stature,  broad-shouldered,  rather  bandy- 
legged, brown-complexioned,  carroty-bearded,  hairy-bodied,  big- 
bellied,  and  fiery-red-nosed.  Dame  Eumor  has  it  that  he  loved 
good  milk  toddy  and  was  not  averse  to  whisky  punch.  He  Avore 
a  long,  home-made  frock,  coming  down  half-Avay  from  his  knees 
to  his  heels,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  girt  a  lialf-inch  rope,  twice 
drawn  tightly  around  him,  as  some  said  to  keep  liis  weil-filled 
belly  from  bursting.  Then  he  talked  loud  on  some  occasions,  but 
at  times  his  tongue  was  rather  thick,  and  it  bothered  people  to 
understand  him.  He  was  a  good  shot,  and  when  he  travelled  in 
the  Avoods  always  carried  his  gun  with  him. 

It  is  told  hoAV  returning  home  from  Wentworth  one  day  in  the 
fall  he  saAv  a  large  bull  moose  drinking  from  the  river,  near  the 
foot  of  Ked  Oak  hill  and  not  far  from  the  present  south  line  of  the 
toAvn.  He  immediately  fired  at  the  animal,  but  the  ball  only  stag- 
gered it.     Instantly  recoA'ering  itself  it  dashed  out  of  the  Avater, 


228  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

leaped  up  the  opposite  bank,  and  disappeared  in  the  tliick  woods. 
Mr.  Lniid  liastily  reloaded,  rushed  through  the  river,  saw  that  it 
was  stained  witli  blood,  and  following  the  easy  trail  for  a  few 
]-ods  met  the  moose,  which  had  turned  to  face  him.  Again  he 
fired  and  again  the  animal  fled.  Tliis  continued  till  he  had  lodged 
six  bullets  in  its  body,  when  he  succeeded  in  dispatching  it.  It 
was  a  prize,  and  supplied  meat  for  both  of  the  Mr.  Lunds  all 
Avinler. 

Mr.  Lund  Avas  also  an  excellent  trapper  as  well  as  hunter,  as 
the  following  strictly  historical  anecdote  will  show.  Tradition 
relates  that  he  drove  a.  few  sheep  to  Warren,  the  first  ones  ever 
kept  in  town,  but  lie  found  it  I'ather  an  unprofitable  investment, 
for  the  reason  that  the  bears  killed  so  many  of  them.  They  had  to 
be  yarded  every  night,  and  during  the  daytime  they  would  fre- 
quently come  running  to  the  house  pursued  by  these  black-coated 
gentry.  One  afternoon  he  found  the  remains  of  one  that  had  been 
killed,  and  wishing  to  take  revenge  he  gathered  and  placed  them 
by  the  end  of  a  hollow  birch  log.  Inside  the  log  he  sat  the  gun  in 
such  a  manner  that  when  the  bear  began  to  eat  the  mutton  he 
would  discharge  the  gun  and  receive  the  contents  in  his  own  head. 
]Mr.  Lund  heard  the  report  of  his  old  queen's  arm  in  the  night, 
and  rising  early  the  next  morning  he  went  to  learn  the  result. 
He  found  a  very  large  bear  lying  dead  a  short  distance  from  a  heap 
of  half-roasted  mutton,  Avhile  the  log  Avas  a  pile  of  burning  coals. 
Among  these  Avas  the  gun,  minus  the  entire  Avooden  fixtures, 
Avith  the  barrel,  lock,  and  ramrod  essentially  ruined.  This  was 
a  great  loss  to  him,  but  he  often  recounted  Avith  much  glee  the 
manner  in  Avhich  he  swapped  his  gnu  for  a  bear.*  South  from  the 
Lunds,  and  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Eastman  ponds, — 

TiiO-AiAS  Clark  t  began  a  settlement.  He  was  tall  of  stature, 
fair-complexioned,  Avith  black  hair  and  a  keen  black  eye,  his 
aspect  betAveen  mild  and  stern  ;  of  few  words,  sIoav  in  speech,  not 
easily  provoked,  and  soon  pacified.  Another  man,  just  his  oppos- 
ite in  appearance,  for  contraries  love  companionship,  came  to 
Warren  Avith  him. 

*Mr.  Stephen  Lxiiid's  slatemeut. 

tA'oted,  Oct.  19,  1797,  that  rhillips  AA'hite  have  a  gore  of  land  ninning  on  Tier- 
mont  line,  marked  on  tlie  plan  "  Phillips  White,"  in  consideration  of  his  settling 
Tliomas  Clark.— Proprietors'  Records. 


YOUXG   "WlIlTCnER   CLIMBS   MOOSEHILLOCK.  229 

Isaiah  Batciikldek  was  broad-faced,  of  a  ruddy  complexion, 
rolling  eyes,  Avitli  a  large  belly,  and  a  lover  of  fat  living.  lie 
built  a  log  hut  for  himself  south  of  Mr.  Clark's,  but  did  not  move 
into  it  with  his  family  till  the  next  season.  These  two  men 
received  their  land  from  Warren's  most  energetic  proprietoi-,  at 
that  time  living,  Mr.  Phillips  White. 

Chase  Whitcher  came  next.  He  was  born  in  Salisbury,  was 
a  relative  of  Mr.  John  Whitcher,  who  was  as  yet  our  only  settler 
on  Pine  hill,  and  although  a  mere  boy  he  took  possession  of  a  lot  of 
land  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  fell  a  few  acres  of  trees,  and 
built  himself  a  log  camp  covered  with  bark.  He  was  sent  by  the 
proprietors,  they  observing  that  he  was  a  resolute  youth,  that  they 
might  if  possible  fulfill  the  to  them  terrible  first  condition  of  the 
charter. 

Chase,  the  boy  settler,  was  a  tall,  bony,  raw-built  fellow,  with 
a  spare  face,  red  hair,  and  a  hard  head,  and  he  could  hunt  as  well 
as  the  best  of  them.  Mink,  muskrat,  and  otter  he  caught  by  the 
foamy,  roistering  Oliverian  ;*  beaver  he  trapped  at  Beaver-meadow 
ponds,  the  head  waters  of  the  wild  Ammonoosuc,  and  his  sable 
lines  ran  here  and  there  upon  the  sides  of  the  mountains.  Then 
it  is  said  he  was  fond  of  the  occupation  indicated  by  his  given 
name — that  in  autumn  he  loved  the  chase.  The  cry  of  his  old 
hound-dog  in  the  woods  was  music  to  him,  and  following  a  moose 
one  day  he  climbed  over  Moosehillock,  being  the  first  settler  that 
ever  stood  on  its  bald  summit. 

At  another  time  he  was  chasing  a  wild  buck,  which  ran 
down  on  the  rocky  crest  of  Owl's  Head  mountain.  AYhitcher 
heard  the  having  of  his  old  bloodhound  in  the  distance,  at  regular 
intervals,  each  time  coming  nearer,  and  cocking  his  rifle  got  behind 
a  rock,  thinking  to  shoot  the  stag  as  he  passed.  He  did  not  have 
to  wait  long.  The  deer  burst  out  of  the  thin  woods  fifty  rods 
away,  too  far  off  for  a  shot,  and  bounded  towards  the  edge  of  the 
precipice.  He  whistled  to  the  old  dog  following  closely  behind, 
whose  three  wild  yells  rang  out  regularly  upon  the  clear  moun- 
tain air,  but  could  not  make  him  hear.     Neither  deer  nor  hound 

*"  In  rt'franl  to  naming  Oliverian  brook  I  have  no  legal  knowledge.  Tradition 
says  that  in  early  times  a  man  named  Oliver  and  another  person  were  crossing  the 
stream,  that  thelirst  fell  in  and  the  other  gave  the  alarm  bv  crying  '  Oliver's  in.' 
Hence  the  name,  Olirerian." — Hosea  S.  Baker. 


230  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

heeded  where  they  were  going,  and  when  they  reached  the  brink 
of  the  mountain,  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment  the  hunter  held 
his  breath,  as  he  saw  the  buck  unable  to  stop,  and  the  great  black 
hound,  intent  only  ou  his  prey,  both  leap  far  out  over  the  edge  of 
the  precipice,  then  falling-  swift  as  lightning  disappear  in  the 
abyss  a  hundred  tathoms  down. 

In  an  hour  the  young  man  had  climbed  dowu  through  the 
Y/oods  by  a  roundabout  way  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  where 
he  found  the  deer  dead,  and  his  hound  with  one  leg  broken  and 
otherwise  terribly  bruised.  The  dog  had  lighted  on  the  top  of  a 
great  pine,  which  broke  the  force  of  his  fall.  In  time  he  got  well, 
but  could  never  again  be  induced  to  run  another  deer  ou  the  top 
of  Owl's  Head  mountain. 

Mr.  AYliitcher  lived  in  his  camp  but  a  portion  of  the  time. 
The  rest  he  spent  at  Mr.  John  "Wliitcher's,  and  down-countiy,  till 
1777,  when  he  married  Miss  Hannah  Morrill,*  built  him  a  nice 
cabin  of  hewn  logs,  and  moved  his  young  bride  home. 

AViLLiAM  Hkath  lived  in  town  about  this  time,  but  had  no 
particular  place  of  residence.  He  was  one  of  those  curious,  non- 
descript sort  of  persons,  to  be  found  in  every  back  settlement,  and 
there  is  no  country  village  but  has  his  prototype.  He  would  work 
out  a  few  days  here  and  a  few  somewhere  else,  and  then  Avould 
fell  trees  on  a  lot  he  had  selected,  saying  he  was  going  to  settle 
down.  He  delighted  to  hang  round  Obadiah  Clement's  bar-room, 
and  he  would  spend  a  whole  day  at  any  place  where  he  thought 
they  would  give  him  a  drink.  He  had  sharked  it  about  the  world 
picking  up  a  living  without  paying  for  it,  and  by  long  fasting  at 
times  had  become  a  tall,  lank,  hungry  looking  sort  of  fellow, 
swift  of  foot  and  long-winded.     He  had  the  wolf-skin  cap  and 

*  CHASE  AND  HAXNAII   ( MoItUI)  WHITCHEK'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

He  was  born  Oct.  6,  1753,  at  Salisbury,  Mass.    She  was  born  June  19, 1758,  at  Ames- 
bury.  Married  July  6,  1777. 
J.evi,  born  Sept.  22,  1779.  Jacob,  born  Juue  22,  1791. 
Dollv,  born  Jan.  22,  1781.  Miriam,  born  Marcli  18,  1794. 
\\'illiani,  born  May  23,  1783.  Hannali,  born  March  IG,  179G. 
Molly,  born  April'lG,  1785.  Martha,  born  .July  18,  1798. 
Chase,  .Jr.,  born  Sept.  5,  1787.  David,  born  Jan.  15, 1803. 
l^evi,  2d,  born  Aug.  31,  1789. 


William  Whitcher,  son  of  Chase  Whitcher,  was  the  lather  of  Ira  Whitcher, 
Chase  Whitcher,  Daniel  Whitcher,  and  other  sons,  all  now  living  at  North  Ben- 
ton. His  family  were  all  tall  in  stature,  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence, 
and  the  sons  active  and  iutluential  business  men.  "  There  were  more  than  a  hun- 
dred feet  of  Whitchers  in  WiUiam  AVhitcher's  family." 


"WILLIAM    HEATH   COMES   TO   GRIEF.  231 

short  frock  of  the  settler,  hut  his  belt,  Icggius,  and  moccasins, 
gave  him  an  Indian  look,  and  his  hair  hanging'  straight  in  gallows 
locks  made  him  look  more  sharky,  so  that  in  appearance  he  was 
an  ugly  customer  to  deal  with.  It  is  told  however  that  he  chanced 
one  day  to  meet  at  Col.  Clement's  tavern  our  mettlesome  little 
settler,  Mr.  John  Morrill,  and  being  well  pickled  —  or  in  plain 
English  drunk  —  he  managed  to  get  up  a  fight,  and  Mr.  Morrill 
being-  sober  gave  him  a  good  beating  as  he  deserved. 

When  AV'illiam  Heath  sobered  olf  his  chagrin  was  great  to 
think  he  had  been  vanquished,  and  he  immediately  left  the  settle- 
ment and  buried  himself  for  a  month  in  the  deep  woods.  When 
he  came  back,  to  take  off  the  edge  of  his  absence,  he  said  he  had 
been  a  hunting.  But  the  two  combatants  were  soon  friends  again. 
Thus  AVilliam  Heath  passed  his  life,  and  when  the  Revolution 
.broke  out  he  was  one  of  the  first  off  to  the  wars. 

Mr.  Stevens  Merrill  *  was  the  father-in-law  of  our  first  set- 
tler, and  before  coming-  to  Warren  lived  in  Plaistow,  N.  H.  Mr. 
Patch  had  called  at  Mr.  MerrilFs  house  when  he  had  been  down 
country  to  sell  his  furs  and  get  supplies,  had  fallen  in  love  with 
young-  Miss  Annie  Merrill,  and  when  she  was  a  trifle  more  than 
sweet  sixteen  they  Avere  married.  He  moved  his  young  wife  home 
and  she  was  the  prettiest  flower  in  all  the  wilderness.  She  had 
sparkling-  black  eyes,  rosy  cheeks,  cherry  lips,  raven  tresses  in 
abundance,  and  in  form  Avas  light  and  agile  as  a  doe. 

In  1775  Mr.  Merrill,  who  did  not  like  the  political  complexion 
of  the  country,  concluded  to  go  where  he  could  find  peace  and  quiet, 

*  STEVExs  AND  SARAH  (Chase J  meebill's  family  kecokd. 

Jonathan,  born  Dec.  13,  1752,  at  New-  Mary,  born  May  13,  1703. 

bury,  Mass.  Jot^eph,  born  Sept.  24,  17(M. 

Sarati,  born  Sept.  23, 1754.  Riitb,  born  March  0,  17(iT. 

Anna,  born  Dee.  28,  175(j.  Caleb,  born  April  4,  17G9. 

Susannah,  .June  4,  1759,  at  Plaistovi',  Betsey,  May  15,  1772. 

N.  H.  Hannah,  bo'rn  Oct.  9,  1775. 

Sarah,  the  first  yrife,  died  April  30,  1794.    Mai-y,  the  second,  died  August  24,  1604. 
Hannah,  died  Noy.  21, 1806.  Caleb,  died  .June  S,  1808. 


Nathaniel  Merrill  and  his  brotlier  .John  came  from  England  and  settled  in  New- 
bury, Mass.,  l():-!5.    Nathaniel  niarrieil  Susdinuih  (iordon. 

Nathaniel,  Jr.,  born  liirn^,  married  Joan  Kinney. 

Peter,  born  llji;7,  married  Siirah  IJ(i~:ieltoii. 

Aljel,  borii  ItJ97,  married  llutli. 

^^TEyENS,  born  June  lu.  ]7.!I,  married,  1st,  Sarah  Chase;  2il,  ^TarlJ  Xoijes. 

•Joseph,  born  Sei)t.  24,  17ii4,  mariied  Sarah  Copp. 

Susan  C.,  born  July  30,  1SU8,  married  Jesse  Little. 

Stevens  Merrill  was  born  in  Atkinson,  N.  II.,  lived  at  Newbury,  Mass.,  then  at 
Plaistow,  N.  H.,  then  settled  in  Warren  as  above. 


232  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

and  so  moved  to  our  woodland  paradise.  He  bought  the  lot  of 
laud  on  which  James  Aikin  lived,  and  built  a  log  house  on  the 
river  bank,  a  few  rods  southeast  of  the  present  depot,  and  just 
south  of  the  west  end  of  the  Bixby  bridge. 

Stevens  Merrill  was  a  straight,  medium-sized  man,  had  a  lean 
face,  a  thin  straight  nose  and  blue  eyes.  Mr.  M.  was  a  Quaker, 
did  not  believe  in  war,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  the  colonists. 
He  was  stern  of  aspect  and  slow  in  speech,  and  the  children  were 
afraid  of  him.  He  was  inflexible,  had  a  mind  and  will  of  liis  own, 
and  could  not  be  bent  from  his  purpose.  Courage  he  possessed 
to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  neither  man,  wild  beast,  nor  devil 
could  frighten  him.  His  cattle  used  to  run  in  the  woods.  One 
day  they  got  lost,  and  after  hunting  a  long  time  he  found  all  near 
Hurricane  brook,  except  one  ox  and  a  heifer.  Driving  them  up 
the  bridle-path  he  heard  the  ox  lowing  in  the  woods  on  the  right. 
He  knew  there  was  trouble.  Going  back  to  his  son-in-law's  he 
procured  a  stout  pitchfork,  then  followed  through  the  woods  till 
he  found  the  ox  in  the  meadow  near  Patch  brook,  guarding  the 
heifer,  which  a  large  bear  was  trying  to  kill.  The  heifer  was 
very  badly  scratched  and  bitten.  Assisted  by  the  ox,  Mr.  M. 
attacked  the  bear,  the  largest  one  he  ever  saw,  and  after  a  hard 
fight  succeeded  in  driving  it  away,  but  did  not  kill  it.  The  same 
bear  killed  cattle  in  Romney  and  the  towns  below,  and  was  itself 
eventually  killed  by  a  hunter. 

Jonathan  Merrill,  Esq.,  a  son  of  the  above,  came  to  "VYar- 
ren  with  him.  He  lived  for  a  time  with  his  brother-in-law,  and 
his  son  Stevens,  afterwards  the  richest  man  in  town,  was  born  in 
Mr.  Patch's  cabin.  'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill  was  one  of  the 
smartest  men  that  ever  lived  in  Warren.  He  was  six  feet  tall,  of 
a  lordly  mien,  straight  as  an  arrow,  and  had  an  eye  like  a  hawk. 
He  was  perfect  in  the  science  of  human  nature,  knew  when  to 
drive  and  when  to  coax,  and  had  a  large  stock  of  soft  soap,  Avhich 
he  generally  dealt  out  with  a  liberal  hand.  Like  his  father,  he 
was  a  Quaker  of  the  straightest  sect;  wore  a  broad-brimmed  hat, 
and  a  long  drab  coat  ornamented  with  great  wooden  buttons, 
called  by  some  "  niatheman  buttons."  As  soon  as  his  father  had 
finished  his  large  log  cabin  he  moved  home  with  him,  where  he 
lived  through  life. 


THE    BEST   DRESSED   MAN   IN   TOWN.  233 

Joshua  Mekkile.,  Esq.,*  followed  liis  friends  and  relatives 
into  the  wilderness.  He  bought  the  lot  of  land  immediateh'- 
south  of  "Squire  Copp,  and  built  his  log  hut  at  the  foot  of  Beech 
hill,  a  few  rods  north  of  the  bridge  over  Black  brook. 

He  was  small-sized,  straight,  lithe,  and  agile,  and  withal  was 
an  excellent  horseman.  "As  straight  as  Uncle  Joshua,"  was  a 
speech  common  among  the  settlers.  He  was  also  a  tough,  sturdy, 
weather-beaten,  mettlesome,  leathern-sided,  lion-hearted,  gen- 
erous-spirited little  man.  He  would  never  give  up  when  he  had 
entered  a  contest,  and  he  battled  for  five-score  years  with  Old 
Father  Time,  only  yielding  when  the  snows  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred winters  had  whitened  his  head.  He  was  the  best  dressed 
man  in  town,  and  it  would  have  done  you  good,  kind  reader, 
to  have  seen  him,  could  you  only  have  lived  in  those  times.  He 
would  frequently  dress  himself  in  his  best  on  some  week  day, 
when  nothing  particular  was  going  on,  and  then  Avould  call  round 
on  all  his  neighbors  to  show  how  pretty  he  looked.  Perhaps  he 
wanted  to  advertise  his  wares,  for  report  has  it  that  he  was  once  a 
tailor  by  trade. f  On  such  occasions  he  wore  a  very  short-waisted 
coat  of  dark  color,  with  short  tail-flaps,  a  wide-rimmed  hat  — 

JONATH.A^"  AND  SUSAXXAII  (Eaton)  MERRILL'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

Samuel,  born  Feb.  28,  1774,  at  Plais-  Siisauiiali,  boni  April  2,  1786;    died 

tow;  died  Dec.  14,  181.^.  April  28,  1813. 

Stevens,  born  Mar.  15th,  1770,  at  War-  Ruth,  born  June  4,  1788;  died  Feb.  9, 

ren  ;  died  Mav  12.  1843.  1790. 

Isaac,  born  Aug-."4, 1778.  Betsey,  born  Nov.  21,  1790. 

Hannah,  born  Mav  24,  1781.  Mehitalde,  born  Sept.  6,  1792. 

Sarah,  born  -Jan.  28,  1784.  Polly,  born  March  10,  1794. 
Susannali,  wile  of  'Squire  Jonathan,  died  Dec.  20,  1813. 

*JOSHUA  AND  MEIIITABLE  (EmerSOn)  MERRILL'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

He  was  born  Mav  27th,  1739,  in  Newburv,  Mass.    She  was  boru  Aug.  28th,  1741,  in 
Hampstead,  N.  11.    31arried  Feb.  19,  1700. 

Ruth,  born  Nov.  23,  1700,  in  Ilanip-        Ruth,  born  April  S,  1766. 

stead.  HaTinah,  born  April  28, 1771. 

Abigail,  boru  Nov.  (!,  1762.  Joshua,  born  July  17,  1770,  at  War- 

Meliitable,  born  June  1,  1704,  at  San-  ren. 

down. 
Abigail  died  April  1,  1704.    The  first  Ruth  died  June  18, 1704. 

At  a  proprietors'  meeting  held  Julv  8, 1789,  "Voted  that  Maj.  Josepli  Page  have 
a  hundred  acre  lot  of  land,  whicli  was  surveyed  by  Mr.  Josiali  Burnham  on  the 
10th  August,  1787,  in  consideration  of  ins  settling  Mr.  Joshua  Merrill  in  said  town." 
Josluui  Merrill  was  a  brother  of  Stevens  Merrill. 

fNoarlv  all  the  cloth  he  made  up  in  those  good  old  days  was  homespun.  The 
sheep  keiit'bv  tlie  settlers  were  of  a  coarse-wooled  kind.  This  wool  was  carded 
with  hand-cards,  which  was  a  verv  laborious  work  for  tlie  women.  Sometimes,  to 
make  it  more  cheerful,  thev  would  have  a  hee,  or  icool-hreakbig.  It  was  nearly  as 
much  work  to  card  as  to  spin  it,  and  a  woman's  "  stent  "  for  spinning  was  live 
skeins  a  dav,  for  which  the  usual  price  was  lilty  cents  and  board  per  week.    The 


234  HISTORY    OF    WAliKEN. 

rim  fall  ten  inches  wide  —  hip  breeches  fastened  at  the  knee  with 
buckles,  color  dark;  long  stockings,  blue  and  white,  and  fastened 
by  a  loop  to  one  of  the  breeches  buttons,  and  buskins  of  wool  or 
leather,  tied  Avith  sheep-skin  strings  over  his  thick,  double-soled 
ox-hide  shoes.  His  jacket  was  of  the  same  material  as  his  coat 
and  breeches,  with  large  ilaps  over  the  pockets,  and  for  cold 
weather  he  had  a  great  coat  with  very  long  cape  and  no  waist, 
buttoned  with  four  or  five  "matheman  buttons.-'  The  sleeves  had 
very  wide  cuffs,  eight  or  ten  inches  at  least,  and  two  great  buttons 
on  each.  When  he  had  this  suit  on,  and  was  mounted  on  his  great 
black  stallion  which  he  used  to  ride,  he  would  dash  through  the 
woods  along  the  stony  bridle-path  like  a  Avild  Arab.  He  was 
known  all  over  the  country  round,  and  everybody  would  say, 
"There  goes  Fai'mer  Joshua,  the  politest  and  best  dressed  man  in 
the  State." 

Mr.  William  Butler  was  employed  by  the  proprietors  to 
come  to  Warren  to  perform  a  piece  of  Avork  which  we  shall  be 
most  happy  to  mention  hereafter.  He  was  born  in  Brentwood, 
April  24th,  1757,  and  married  pretty  Mehitable  Mills,*  Mr.  John 
Mills'  sister.  William  Butler  was  a  handsome  man,  with  round 
features.     He  Avas  five  feet  eleA'^en  inches  tall,  straight,  well-pro- 

wool  spun,  and  it  was  woven  iu  the  old  hand-loom.  The  most  comiiion  cloth 
was  "  sheep's  gray,"  the  wool  of  a  black  sheep  and  a  white  sheep  spun  and  woven 
together.  Tlien  they  had  fulled  cloth,  dressed  by  a  clothier  down  country.  Some- 
times they  made  heavy  waled  cloth  and  dyed  it  with  bark  at  home.  The  women 
in  winter'wore  "baize,"  dyed  with  green  "or  red,  and  when  it  was  pressed  it  was 
called  pressed-cloth. 

Nearly  every  good  hoxisewile  would  have  a  blue  vat  in  the  form  of  a  "dye-pot," 
in  which,  instead  of  dissolving  the  indigo  at  once  with  sulphuric  acid,  it  was  put 
into  a  bag  and  dissolved  gradually  in  urine.  AVhat  a  beautiful  smell  when  our 
grandmothers  wrung  out  from  the  dye-pot.  Here  stockings  and  aprons  and  the 
yarn  for  blue  frockiug  was  dyed. 

Our  first  settlers  began  to  raise  flax  almost  as  soon  as  they  moved  into  town. 
After  the  llax  was  "pulled"  the  seed  was  thrashed  ofl",  then  it  was  rotted,  and 
about  the  first  of  March,  before  sugaring,  "  got  out."  First  tlie  llax  was  broken  in 
the  "flax-break,"  then  it  was  "swingled"  on  the  swiugliug-board;  a  very  smart 
man  would  swingle  forty  ijounds  a  day.  "  Combing"  came  next ;  tlie  "tow"  was 
got  out  and  tiien  the  flax  was  ready  to" put  on  the  "  distafl'."  The  buzzing  linen- 
wheel  made  music  in  the  nld  kitclfens,  and  "  two  double-skeins  "  was  a  day's  work 
for  a  smart  woman.  AVhen  the  cloth  was  woven  it  was  bucked  and  then  belted 
with  a  maple  beetle  on  a  smooth  flat  stone.  Shirts,  sheets,  pillow-cases,  and  nice 
dresses  were  made  of  the  cloth.  Small  girls  spun  the  "  swiugling-tow"  into  wrap- 
ping twine  and  with  it  bought  notions  down  country.  Older  girls  made  "  all  tow," 
"  tow-aiul-linen,"  or  "  all  linen  "  stulV  to  barter  for  their  "  fixing  out." 

Fanner  .Joshua  made  ail  the  line  clothes  our  early  settlers  had. 

*AVILLIAJ[  AND    JI KIIITABI.E  (Mills)  liUTLEU'S  FAMILY  RECCJRD. 

He  was  born  April  21,  IT.")?,  in  Brentwood.    She  was  born  .Tan. '23,  17JJ6,  in  Ports- 
mouth.    Alarried  Feb.  15,  l?7fl. 
Betsey,  born  Feb.  b),  1780,  in  Warren.        Stephen,  born  Aug.  23,  17S3. 
Marv,"born  April  1,  1782.  Sallv,  born  Alav  8,  1787. 

AVdllam,  Jr.,  born  Mav  11,  178.i.  Doliv,  born  Aug.  30,  1788. 


HINCHSON  THE   HEKMIT.  235 

portioned,  and  would  weigh  more  than  two  hundred  pounds. 
Like  Chase  Wliitcher,  he  was  very  young  when  he  came  to  War- 
ren. He  was  a  gentleman  tanner,  lived  several  years  with  Mr. 
IVIills,  did  not  like  to  work  very  hard,  preferred  to  oversee  his 
hired  help,  and  spent  much  of  his  time  buying  and  selling  cattle 
and  trading  horses.  He  was  a  good  calculator,  made  money,  and 
eventually  got  rich. 

There  was  another  man  came  to  AYarren  about  these  times, 
but  no  one  can  precisely  fix  the  year. 

JoHX  HiNCHSON  was  AVarren's  first  hermit.  He  built  a  hun- 
ter's camp  for  himself  southwest  of  Mr.  Patch  and  on  the  easterly 
bank  of  Patch  brook.  The  life  he  led  Avas  tliat  of  a  wild  Indian. 
A  hound-dog,  named  Wolf,  was  his  only  companion.  In  the  snni- 
mer  he  spent  the  time  fishing,  catching  salmon  and  tront,  with 
which  the  river  and  brooks  abounded.  One  fall  it  is  said  he  went 
over  the  mountains  hunting — catching  beaver  by  Glen  ponds,  in 
Fox  Glove  meadow,  and  on  Monlton  brook  —  and  other  seasons 
he  travelled  far  away  across  the  Pomigewassett  valley  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  streams  among  the  AYhite  mountains.  In  the  win- 
ter he  hunted  moose  and  deer,  which  atForded  an  abundance  ot 
provision.  Sometimes  he  would  be  gone  a  year  or  two,  no  one 
knew  where,  and  then  would  come  back  to  his  old  haunts  again. 

Thus  Warren  Avas  settled;  and  living  in  the  fairy  realms  of 
her  antiquity,  these  were  her  first  settlers.  Laws,  churches, 
schools  —  they  had  none;  and  from  all  restraints  or  taxation  they 
were  wholly  free.  Happy  days  Avere  theirs;  plenty  to  eat  and 
drink,  Avork  enough  to  do,  keen  appetites,  seldom  sick,  and  Avith 
neither  doctors,  lawyers,  nor  ministers  to  support.  Hoav  delight- 
ful to  dAvell  on  their  history,  abiding  in  a  Avoodland  town,  sur- 
rounded by  great  mountains,  and  beyond  them  trackless  forests, 
that  seemed  to  shut  out  all  the  cares  and  vanities  of  the  wicked 
Avorld.  But  all  this  is  too  beautiful  to  last  long.  Dame  Fortune, 
ever  bloAving  a  shifting  gale,  lively,  changing  scenes  are  soon  to 
come.  IIoAV  the  lives  of  the  settlers  checkered  up,  and  AVarren 
right  merrily,  like  bursting  flowers  dancing  into  life  to  the  music 
of  spring  birds,  changed  about  into  a  fine  old  country  town,  Avhere 
ambitious  men  lived,  is  most  interesting  to  knoAV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OP  HOW  THE  EARLY  SETTLERS  OF  OUR  MOUNTAIN  HAMLET  TOOK 
GREAT  THOUGHT  ABOUT  THE  MANNER  THEY  SHOULD  BE  SHEL- 
TERED, AND  AVHAT  THEY  SHOULD  EAT,  AND  OF  THE  BUILDING 
OF  MILLS  ;  CONCLUDING  WITH  THE  MIGHTY  LEAPS  OF  THE  SAL- 
MON AND   A   DELECTABLE   SWIM   BY   THE   BOYS. 

Our  dignified,  worth}',  and  aristocratical  body,  the  distin- 
guished proprietors,  had  done  pi-ett.v  well,  but  had  not  obtained 
the  tifty  families  as  settlers.  There  was  great  danger  of  their 
again  losing  their  charter,  but  the  political  troubles  Avith  the 
mother  country  for  a  time  removed  attention  from  themselves,  and 
as  we  have  before  remarked,  in  the  end  the  Revolution  j)roved 
their  salvation.  In  its  turmoils  they  Avere  forgotten  and  they 
saved  their  lands. 

Ill  our  mountain  hamlet  the  twenty  settlers,  constituting  the 
eighteen  families,  made  a  most  agreeable  but  a  very  rustic  neigh- 
borhood, and  they  had  a  most  rustic  style  of  living.  The  rude 
hunter's  camp,  the  log  cabin, —  often  without  glass  windows,  the 
rough  opening  that  admitted  the  light  closing  sometimes  with  a 
wooden  shutter — the  door  of  rifted  boards,  the  floor  of  rough 
poles  frequently  covered  with  bark,  the  chimney  a  cob-work  of 
sticks,  plastered  with  mud,  the  great  fire-place  built  of  stones,  and 
all  the  furniture  as  plain  and  simple  as  the  house, —  such  Avere  the 
homes  found  by  our  early  settlers  in  the  days  long  ago. 

Think  of  these  frail  tenements,  growing  up  like  Avild  flowers 
in  the  wilderness,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
There  is  no  road  north  or  south,  only  a  bridle-path,  and  that  not 
half  as  good  as  the  one  now  running  to  the  summit  of  Moosehil- 


A    SA"\V-3riLL    IS   BUILT.  237 

lock.  But  few  of  the  cabins  were  located  even  beside  the  bridle- 
route,  and  a  blazed  path  led  through  the  woods  to  them,  and  for 
years  the  forest  trees  locked  branches  above  them.  Neither  yard 
in  front,  nor  fence  nor  wall  behind,  nor  garden  gate.  The  honey- 
suckle grew  sweetly  by  the  door,  and  wild  sumach  and  blackberry 
bushes  flowering  in  their  season,  and  (he  golden-rod,  and  white 
birch  intertwining  with  the  mountain  ash,  sprang  up  by  the  open 
window.  Near  by  the  cabins  were  the  little  clearings  —  one,  two 
or  tivc  acres,  no  man  more  than  ten  acres.  Cut  few  sheep  were 
kept  then  ;  a  cow,  a  yoke  of  steers,  sometimes  a  horse,  constituted 
the  settler's  stock.  Often  bears  broke  down  and  ate  the  corn,  or 
a  moose  or  a  deer  were  seen  feeding-  on  their  little  improvements, 
and  at  night,  when  the  gibbous  moon  shone  in  the  sky  and  looked 
in  upon  the  cabin  among  the  trees,  the  early  settlers  retiring  to 
rest  would  hear  the  wolf*  howling  on  the  mountain,  and  the  sol- 
emn owl  hooting  in  harsh  discordant  notes, —  wild  music  heard  in 
the  solitudes  which  had  been  but  just  invaded. 

All  this  is  noAV  A^ery  pleasant  to  contemplate,  but  the  good 
men  of  AVarren  did  not  then  exactly  like  it.  They  longed  for 
something  better,  — something  like  what  they  had  left  in  old  Hol- 
lis,  Hampstead,  Sandown,  Atkinson,  Plaistow,  and  Salisbury,  the 
towns  from  Avhich  they  had  emigrated.  Framed  houses,  covered 
with  sawn  boards,  was  one  of  the  requisites  to  satisfy  the  heart's 
desire,  but  they  could  not  be  had  without  a  saw-mill.  The  pro- 
prietors had  ofiered  a  bounty  for  building  one,  and  Mr.  Stevens 
Merrill  was  the  man  energetic  enough  to  undertake  the  work. 

At  the  "  little  white  fall "'  on  Black  brook,  where  John  Page, 
Esq.,  once  shot  a  deer,  he  chose  his  mill  site.  The  dam  was  built 
of  great  pine  logs,  and  a  pretty  pond  of  five  or  six  acres  gleamed 
in  the  woods  at  the  foot  of  Beech  hill.  Three  great  rocks  stood 
out  of  the  water  among  the  trees  on  its  western  shore,  and  a  green 
wooded  cape  shot  far  down  towards  the  centre.  The  mill  itself 
was  simply  a  heavy  frame  of  hewed  logs,  unbearded  of  course, 
and  the  roof  was  covered  with  long  shaved  shingles.  Then  there 
was  a  pause  in  the  Avork, — the  mill  irons  must  be  brought  up  from 

*  irolves .—The  year  ITSfi  was  a  remarkable  year  for  wolves.  Tlicy  swarmed 
down  from  the  north  throiifrh  all  the  country.  Moses  H.  Clement  used  "to  tell  how 
his  mother  took  him  to  the  door  one  night  to  hear  the  wcilves  howl.  They  would 
come  round  the  barn  after  sheei)  but  could  not  get  in.    Many  were  killed. 


238  HISTORY    OF    WARREN, 

ilown  couiitrj''  and  a  saw  must  be  procured.  Col.  Obadiah  Clem- 
ent Avcnt  on  foot  to  Boscawcn  for  the  last,  and  brought  it  all  the 
way  lift)'  miles  to  AVarren  on  his  back.  He  made  the  journey 
through  the  woods  over  the  rough  bridle-path  in  three  days. 
Another  settler  brought  up  some  of  the  smaller  irons,  but  the 
crank  could  not  come  till  winter.  Mr.  Merrill,  Col.  Clement,  and 
his  brother  Reuben  went  for  it  and  drew  it  to  Warren  on  a  great 
wide-runnered,  frame-work  handsled,  made  for  that  very  purpose. 
In  the  sjiring  the  mill  was  finished,  and  the  music  of  its  wheel 
driven  by  fourteen  feet  waterfall,  the  click  of  the  cogs  on  the  log- 
frame,  and  the  clip  of  the  saw  gnawing  througli  the  pines,  which 
the  settlers  sawed  up  regardless  of  the  "broad  arrow  mark"  upon 
them,  sounded  for  the  first  time  through  the  pleasant  woods  of 
Warren. 

There  is  a  stirring  little  anecdote  connected  with  the  old  mill 
which  the  kind  reader  may  believe  or  not,  as  the  highly  veracious 
gentleman  Avho  related  it  said  lie  Avas  not  quite  sure  but  that  it 
occurred  somewhere  else  down  east  after  all.  It  is  told  by  him 
how  one  spring  'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill  Avas  at  work  sawing, 
and  every  morning  he  would  miss  the  lard  with  which  he  greased 
the  machinery,  and  sometimes  it  would  be  gone  at  noon.  One 
day  he  brought  down  a  large  quantity  of  it,  and  thinking  he  heard 
the  thief  prowling  in  the  thick  swamp  woods  that  grew  by  the 
bog  a  few  rods  east  of  the  mill,  he  placed  the  dish  on  the  long  log 
he  Avas  saAving,  hoisted  the  gates  and  started  towards  home. 
Looking  back  he  caught  sight  of  something  crossing  the  logging- 
path,  and  stealing  round  so  that  he  could  look  into  the  mill  him- 
self he  saAV  a  great  black  bear  sitting  upon  the  log,  back  to  the 
saAV,  eating  the  grease.  Presently  the  saAV  came  so  close  it 
scratched  his  back,  but  Bruin  only  groAvled  and  hunched  along. 
Again  it  bit  him,  and  this  time  smarting  Avith  i)ain  he  turned 
quickly  round,  reared  on  his  hind  feet  and  clasped  the  impudent 
iron  intruder  on  his  dinner  Avith  his  fore-paws,  to  giA'.e  it  a  death- 
hug.  But  now  he  caught  a  tartar ;  he  gnaAved  afile.  Down  came 
the  saAV,  stroke  after  stroke  in  ra])id  succession,  till  the  black- 
coated  thief  Avas  literally  sawn  in  tAVO.  It  i^  proper  to  inform  the 
reader  that  the  bear  died,  after  haAdhg  given  the  saw  blade  a  coat- 
ing of  A'cry  excellent  oil  from  his  own  greasy  carcass.     OA^er  all 


THE   PALACES   OF   OT'R   FOREFATHERS.  2:59 

•\vliifli,  like  the  boy  i)clting-  the  I'rog,  'Squire  Men-ill  shed  no  tears; 
and  whether  true  in  whole  or  in  part  the  incident  has  more  than 
once  served  to  ''point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale." 

Hiijh  ui)  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Warren  is  situated  a  pretty 
little  sheet  of  water.  As  we  have  somewhere  hinted,  the  Indians 
called  it  Wachipanka,  but  the  later  generations  of  our  mountain 
hamlet  delight  to  term  it  Meader  pond.  It  is  yet  right  in  the 
heart  of  the  woods,  and  from  its  eastern  shore  springs  a  handsome 
forest-covered  cape.  On  the  north  Webster  Slide  shoots  sharp  up  a 
thousand  feet,  its  top  crowned  by  silvery  birch  and  waving  pine; 
the  crannies  of  its  rocks  radiant  with  the  blueberry,  harebell, 
lichen,  and  other  mouutaiu  flowers.  Ou  a  Avarm  summer  day  the 
water  reflecting  the  rich  foliage  of  the  yet  undisturbed  forest,  is 
rutfled  only  by  the  great  speckled  trout  jumping  or  the  wild  duck 
swimming;  but  Avhen  the  autumn  winds  come  the  blue  water 
curling  smiles  upon  the  mountain-face  and  laughs  at  the  bald  head 
of  Moosehillock,  looking  in  from  the  distance  over  the  great 
Avood. 

Black  brook  —  the  Mikaseota  —  comes  down  from  Wachipauka 
pond.  Its  waters  turn  the  Avheel  of  our  first  saw-mill,  and  the 
logs  cut  up  furnish  the  inhabitants  Avith  lumber. 

And  now  the  great  naked  log  Avails,  the  massive,  lumbering- 
doors,  the  floor  of  logs  hewed  down,  the  rude  style  of  construct- 
ing bed  and  board  shall  disappear,  and  the  second  generation  of 
settlers'  houses  come.  One  story  high,  and  a  Ioav  one  at  that;  a 
great  stack  of  a  chimney  of  stone  —  then  afterAvards  containing 
brick  enough  to  build  a  modern  brick  house  —  right  in  the  centre; 
two  square  rooms  in  front,  a  long  kitchen  behind:  at  one  end  of 
this,  bedroom  and  entry :  at  the  otlier,  buttery,  stairAvay,  and  cellar 
Avay;  an  unfinished  attic  Avhere  the  children  slept,  parted  ofi" 
sometimes  by  blankets,  oftencr  1)}'  spruce  bark,  one  portion  for 
the  boys  the  other  for  the  girls.  These  were  the  palaces  our  fore- 
fathers Avere  anxious  to  get. 

One  of  these^stands  just  at  the  fool  of  that  steep  hill  known 
as  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  is  probably  the  oldest  framed  dwelling 
house  in  town.  I'liis  was  the  dAvelling  builr  and  occupied  by 
Joshna  Copp,  Esq.,  and  formerly  stood  a  quarter  of  a  mile  Avest 
of  its  present  location,  near  the  spot  Avhere  he  first  erected  his 


240 


HISTORY    OF    •WARREN. 


The  first  framed  dwelling',  as  we  liave  before 


liumble  cabin 

stated,  was  erected  by  Mr.  Joseph  Patch,  by  the  roadside  on  the 
northerly  banlv  of  Patch  brook.*  Latterly  the  more  aristocratic 
well  to  do  among-  onr  flxthers  built  large,  double,  two-story  houses 


*THE  OLD  HAKX  AT  THE  IIOJrAXS  I'LACE,  EUIET  BY  JOSEPH  PATCH  ABOUT  ITGS. 

of  which  the  old  red  house  built  by  Stevens  Merrill  and  now 
standing  near  the  depot  is  a  sample. 

For  this  great  enterprise,  the  building  of  a  saw-mill,  the  pro- 
prietors, Jan.  loth,  1784,  long  after,  voted  to  allow  Mr.  Merrill 
twelve  pounds,"  to  be  paid  him  as  soon  as  collected,  in  money  or 
in  certificates,  and  so  much  did  our  mountain  pioneers  rejoice  that 
for  several  years  they  excused  Mr.  M.  from  paying  taxes  on  his 
mill. 

A  tight  roof  to  cover  their  heads  was  exceedingly  nice,  but 
good  corn  cakes  and  whcaten  loaves  were  also  what  tliey  craved ; 
these  were  difficult  to  be  obtained.  It  was  hard  to  travel  to 
Haverhill  or  Plymouth  for  a  grist,  and  the  proprietors  realizing- 
that  this  Avas  an  important  thing  for  the  town,  offered  a  bounty  for 
building-  a  grist-mill.  William  Eutler  accepted  the  proposition.' 
Across  the  Asquamchumauke,  just  below  v.iiere  the  great  railroad 
bridge  now  spans  its  Avaters,  he  built  a  huge  dam.  The  mudsill  is 
still  to  be  seen,  an  object  of  wonder  to  tlie  boys  avIio  go  to  swim 
in  •'the  old  deep  hole,"  as  it  is  termed;  and  the  holes  drilled  and 

See  Proprietors'  Records. 


THE    1•■IR^ST    <n;lSTMTU..  2-41 

cut  in  the  great  rock  on  the  western  shore  sliow  where  were  tlie 
lastenings  of  the  dam.  One  at  a  time  the  rude  millstones  were 
drawn  up  from  down  country  by  AVilliam  Butler,  with  four  men 
to  assist  liini,  just  as  the  crank  of  the  saw-mill  came,  and  early  in 
1776  the  first  settlers  brought  their  grains,  loroducts  of  a  virgin 
soil,  to  be  ground,  and  waited  for  their  grists  listening  to  tin;  buzz 
of  rude  mill  stones  mingling  their  music  with  that  of  the  wheel 
which  now  for  the  first  time  vexed  Asquamchumauke's  waters. 

The  proprietors  were  well  satisfied  Avith  William  Butler's  work 
and  afterwards  voted  to  allow  him  eighteen  pounds  for  building 
the  mill,  to  be  paid  him  as  soon  as  collected.  * 

We  have  said  the  boys  go  to  swim  in  '•  the  old  deep  hole."  A 
great  historical  fact  Avould  be  lost  to  all  the  coming  countless  gene- 
rations did  we  fail  to  record  that  young  John  Mills,  Jr.,  and  Jo- 
seph Merrill,  Stevens  Merrill's  sou,  and  Moses  Copp,  son  of  'Squire 
Joshua,  and  other  boys  also  went  to  swim  in  "  the  old  deep  hole," 
now  made  doubly  deep  by  William  Butler's  mill  dam.  The  woods 
were  very  thick  all  around  it  and  not  a  house  was  visible,  so  no 
delicate  sensitive  nerves  could  be  shocked.  Jumping  out  of  their 
moosehide  breeches  and  tow  shirts  the  boys  ran  over  smooth  peb- 
bles of  mica  slate  and  shining  quartz,  green  hornblende  and  frag- 
ments of  porphyritic  trap,  little  dreaming  of  the  virgin  gold  lying- 
concealed  beneath  them  Avhich  would  only  be  discovered  a  hun- 
dred years  later,  and  plunged  into  the  clear  sparkling  water. 
John  Mills,  Jr..  could  swim  the  whole  length  of  the  pond  to  tiie 
dam.  Here  he  would  rest  himself  and  look  over  into  the  foam- 
ing pool  below,  where  the  salmon  congregated  and  out  of  which 
they  would  leap  up  through  the  falling  water,  swift  as  the  rush  of 
Indian  arrows  through  the  sky.  nine  perpendicular  feet  into  the 
pond  above.  "William  Butler  said  he  had  seen  the  salmon  shoot 
up  over  the  dam  many  a  time. 

Swimming  ashore  young  Mills  and  his  companions  would  sit 
down  in  the  shadow  of  the  great  hemlocks  and  wide  spreading 
beech  trees  and  watch  the  white  fleece-like  foam,  formed  where 
the  roaring  Asquamchumauke  lost  itself  in  the  pond.  It  was  a 
pleasant  place  to  pass  a  summer  afternoon.  The  v.'Ood  thrush  and 
the  robin  were  singing  overhead,  the  partridge  drummed  on  an 

*See  Proin-ietoi's  Records. 


2i2  HISTORY   OF    WAKREX. 

old  decaying  log  up  in  the  pines  by  Indian  rock:  a  blue  jay  was 
ducking  its  crest  and  hustling  the  water  with  its  wings;  on  the 
shore  a  sand  piper  crying  weet,  jumped  up  on  a  great  stone,,  then 
ran  fastby  the  water  under  the  bending  grass;  hoar  hound,  cranes- 
bill  and  honey  suckle  lent  a  delicious  fragrance  to  the  air  and 
bright  clouds  mirrored  in  the  clear  water  were  floating  away  and 
losing  themselves  in  the  deep  blue  beyond  old  Mount  Carr  and 
Moosehillock  mountain. 

But  these  were  only  the  beauties  of  the  pond  tit  for  the  boys  to 
look  at;  the  utility  of  the  grist  mill  joined  with  that  of  the  saw- 
mill constituted  one  of  the  mii-htv  ao'ents  which  wrou2'ht  such 
great  changes  in  our  mountain  hamlet. 


CHAPTER  V. 


NARRATING  HOW  TWO  MEN,  STEVENS  MERRILL  AND  JAMES  AIKEN. 
LOVED  EACH  OTHER, — HOW  THE  L.VAVS  WERE  EXECUTED  AND  A 
HOUSE  BURNED  UP,  CONCLUDING  WITH  A  PIOUS  INQUIRY  WOR- 
THY OF   ALL  GOOD  CHRISTIANS. 

\l  E  have  said  lively  changing  scenes  are  soon  to  come.  But 
lot  US  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  enter  upon  them.  Pause  a  moment  I 
These  are  the  halcyon  days  of  our  little  mountain  hamlet.  Eight 
beautiful  summers  have  come  and  gone  since  it  was  settled.  Our 
pioneers  are  living  all  this  time  in  the  most  rustic  simplicity. 
There  is  nought  to  disturb  them,  nought  to  make  them  afraid. 
There  were  no  doctors  to  physic  them  to  death,  no  ministers  to 
preach  war  and  bloodshed  instead  of  peace  and  love,  and  no  pet- 
tifogging lawyers  to  send  caitifFscouts,  catch-polls,  and  bum-bailifFs 
to  distrain,  to  attach,  and  to  arrest.  In  fact  there  was  not  a 
lawyer,  sheriff,  judge,  court,  or  jailor  within  sixty  miles  of  our 
little  hamlet  among-  the  hills.  Neighbor  loved  neighbor,  the 
golden  rule  was  observed,  and  peace,  happiness,  and  good  will  pre- 
vailed, and  all  was  harmony  serene.  It  was  a  place  of  which 
poets  loved  to  sing  —  of  old  woods,  clear  rushing  streams,  wild  and 
lofty  mountains,  where  even  the  gods  would  dwell. 

But  wait,  perhaps  everything  is  not  quite  so  nice  after  all. 
Men  are  human  even  here.  Either  civil  law  or  club  law  must  pre- 
vail in  every  community,  and  we  shall  soon  see  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  civil  law  they  sometimes  used  the  club  right  freely  in 
our  good  old  mountain  town. 

James  Aiken,  as  previously  described,  was  a  lusty  Celt  from 


24i  HISTORY    OF    ATARREX. 

the  Emerald  Isle,  and  Stevens  Merrill  was  a  medliun  sized  man,  a 
Quaker  of  the  straightcst  sect,  stern  in  aspect  and  slow  in  speech. 
Wc  ]javc  before  said  that  they  both  settled  on  the  same  lot  of  land  ; 
the  first  a  gentle  squatter,  the  second  had  purchased  it  of  the  lordly 
proprietors  and  had  a  good  warrantee  deed  of  the  premises.  It 
was  natural  that  one  having'  a  good  comfortable  cabin  and  a  few 
broad  acres  nicely  cleared  should  want  to  stay;  and  tiiat  the  otlier 
having  an  excellent  title  bought  vrith  his  ovrn  hard  cash  should 
want  the  first  to  leave.  Consequently  there  would  be  a  dignified 
reserve  between  the  two  lords  of  the  soil. 

When  they  first  met  the  Quaker  gently  hinted  to  the  Celt  that 
he  had  no  title  to  his  land.  He  did  not  take  the  hint.  At  the  next 
cordial  intervicAV  Mr.  M.  said,  "  Thee  must  leave."  Aiken  "  did 
not  see  it."  Next  time,  a  week  or  so  later,  Stevens  Merrill  told 
him,  "  Thee  have  got  to  go,  and  if  thee  do  not,"  said  he,  '•'  1  will 
serve  a  process  on  thee,  a  writ  of  ejectment."    At  this  Mr.  Aiken 

laughed  politely,  theu  said   decidedly,   '•  D d  if  I  will  go." 

Quaker  blood,  so  peaceful,  now  boiled  like  a  little  pot  on  hearing 
this  so  profane,  so  unchristian  reply,  and  he  inwardly  determined 
to  have  his  rights,  legally  if  he  could,  by  hook  or  crook  if  neces- 
sary. They  did  not  speak  at  the  next  meeting,  only  eyed  each 
other  askance. 

Aiken  knew  by  the  appearance  of  things  there  was  trouble 
brewing  and  so  kept  close  at  home  to  protect  himself  and  property. 

But  in  process  of  time  it  became  absolutely  necessary  for  him 
to  go  down  the  valley  to  the  neighboring  land  of  Wcntworth, 
where  his  brother  had  settled,  for  supplies.  He  went  very  quietly 
one  morning,  away  round  through  the  woods  down  on  the  east 
side  of  Patch  brook,  next  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  so  no  one  would 
see  him.  But  he  was  not  so  fortunate  as  could  be  desired.  Our 
keen  eyed  htmter,  Joseph  Patch,  was  looking  abotit  his  premises 
and  by  chance  saw  him.  He  knew  vdiathis  father-in-law  wanted, 
how  hard  he  had  tried  to  get  a  writ  of  ejectment,  but  could  not 
very  well  do  it  on  account  of  distance,  bad  roads,  and  expense,  so 
he  hurried  away  to  tell  him  that  this  Avas  the  time  for  the  strategy 
devised,  the  opportunity  to  execute  a  splendid  flaidc  movement. 

Stevens  Merrill  made  no  delay.  He  forded  the  river  and 
crossed  the  meadow.    'Twas  a  bright  autumn  day.    A  lagging 


QUAKER  VS.    CELT.  245 

wind  blew  over  the  plain,  rustling  the  beeches  and  maples.  On  the 
edge  of  the  clearing  he  stopped  to  reconnoitre;  the  cabin  stood 
in  the  centre,  a  little  brook  was  babbling  beside  it,  three  children 
were  playing  at  the  door,  and  tlie  buzz  of  a  linen  wheel  was  heard 
within. 

"  It  is  a  bad  job,"'  he  said  to  himself,  '•  but  it  will  be  worse  if 
it  is  delayed."  Entering  the  cabin  he  told  Mrs.  Aiken  she  must 
leave.  ''  An  faith  I  won't,"  said  she.  ''  But  thee  will,"  said  Mr. 
M.  "  I'll  see  about  it,"  said  she,  and  sprang  for  an  axe  that  stood 
in  the  corner.  But  Stevens  Merrill  was  too  quick  for  her.  He 
wrenched  it  from  her  grasp  and  then  aftectionately  ejected  her 
from  the  cabin.  The  children  screamed  and  Mrs.  A.  threatened 
vengeance.  But  it  was  no  use.  Mr.  M.  began  to  pitch  the  things 
out,  and  seeing  his  determination  they  picketl  up  their  extra 
clothing  and  trudged  away  down  tlie  bridle  path  to  John  Mills'  as 
fast  as  their  legs  would  carry  them. 

He  moved  all  the  rest  of  the  furniture  out  carefully,  even  the 
linen  wheel  and  the  pots  and  kettles  that  hung  on  the  stout  lug- 
pole*  in  the  great  lire  place,  carried  them  to  a  safe  distauce  and 
then  set  lire  to  the  cabin.  The  wind  freshened,  the  smoke  curled 
up  and  floated  away  over  the  woods,  the  tlames  roared  and  leaped 
about,  and  in  an  hour  the  pleasant  dwelling  was  a  mass  of  black- 
ened ruins. 

When  James  Aiken  came  back  they  told  him  the  news  at 
John  Mills".  He  was  terribly  mad  and  swore  that  he  ''  would 
have  revenge  —  that  old  Merrill  had  committed  arson  —  that  he 
should  be  locked  up  between  the  four  walls  of  a  prison  —  that  he 
was  the  devil's  own  and  the  regular  son  of  a  dog  mother,"  to 
speak  politely  what  the  Celt  said  plump  and  plain. 

Stevens  Merrill  kept  a  watch  about  his  own  cabin  every  night, 
himself,  sons,  and  son-in-law,  by  turns,   until  their  friend  had 

*  111  tho  chimney,  across  the  flue,  was  the  higpole,  made  of  jjreen  heecli  or  ma- 
ple from  two  to  four  inches  in  diameter,  anil  on  which  -were  luuiK  liooijs  and  tram- 
mels of  wroufrlit  iron,  so  constructed  as  to  be  raised  or  lowered  to  suit  the  con- 
venience of  Ilie  pots  and  kettles  suspended  thereon  for  culinary  purposes.  These 
lus"  poles  were  lial)le  to  be  burnt  by  the  fire  which  blazed  beneath  and  broken  h\ 
(he  weig'ht  suspended  on  tliem,  ami  lu  due  time  prave  place  to  the  crane  whicli  ^vas 
constructed  of  iron  and  fastened  on  one  side  to  the  cliimney  jamb,  while  tlie  end 
swung  over  the  lire  witli  tlie  books  and  trammels  on  it.— Jacob  Patch's  state- 
ment. 

Stevens  Merrill  ilrove  Aiken  i>ff  and  l)uint  liis  cabin.— Deacon  Jdiiatliau  C:ieiK- 
euts'  statement. 


24G  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

moved  his  goods  away  and  liad  gone  to  his  brother's  in  Weiit- 
worth.  Even  tlien  he  did  not  feel  quite  safe,  for  he  knew  he  had 
not  done  just  riglit  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands. 

James  Aiken  afterwards  went  back  down  country.  When 
people  came  down  he  would  ask  if  "  Stevens  Merrill  had  gone  to 
hell,  for  if  he  had  not/'  said  he,  "  hell  no  need  to  have  been 
made ;"  a  pious  remark,  showing  the  deep  love  he  had  for  his  gen- 
tle friend. 

Our  Quaker  settler  from  this  time  forward  cultivated  the 
Irishman's  field  and  took  pains  to  obliterate  his  memory.  But 
the  old  cellar,  now  almost  tilled  up,  yet  remains  to  mark  the  spot 
where  this  dire  calamity  happened,  and  the  little  brook  running 
down  on  the  second  of  the  geological  terraces  and  near  which 
stood  the  Irishman's  cabin,  bears  his  name  and  is  called  Aikeu 
brook  even  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  Vl. 

MOUNT  C ARK,  ITS  ANCIENT  INHABITANTS  ;  AND  THEN  OF  THE  GRAND 
OLD  HUNTINGS  THAT  AVERE  HAD  ABOUT  IT,  AVITII  A  BEAUTIFUL 
MOOSEHILLOCK  DESCRIPTION  THROWN  IN  FOR  VARIETY. 

Mount  C ARR  is  a  g rand  old  mountain .  It  rises  3,506  feet 
above  the  ocean,  is  covered  with  a  dense  forest  even  to  the  summit 
and  occupies  a  part  of  tlie  following  four  townships :  The  ancient 
Trecothick,  now  Ellsworth,  Romney,  now  called  Riimney,  as 
aforesaid,  Wentworth,  and  our  own  mountain  hamlet. 

It  derives  its  name  from  the  following-  circnmstance,  which 
we  prefer  to  tell  as  it  was  told  years  ago,  and  the  reader  without 
doubt  will  think  it  a  '"delectable  tale.*'  •"When  the  country 
Avas  first  settled  and  its  geography  but  little  known,  a  certain  Mr. 
Carr,  wishing  to  proceed  from  Trecothick  to  Warren,  attempted 
to  cross  the  mountain.  At  the  time  he  started  the  sky  was  free 
from  clouds,  and  every  appearance  gave  sign  of  pleasant  weather 
But  soon  after  he  entered  the  woods  there  arose  a  terrific 
shower,  common  to  mountainous  regions,  and  Avhen  it  had  rained 
a  short  time,  instead  of  clearing  away,  a  thick  fog  set  in  com- 
pletely enveloping  the  mountain. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  shower  Mr.  Carr  crept  under 
the  trunk  of  a  large  tree  that  had  fallen  across  a  knoll,  and  as  the 
rain  continued  to  fall  more  violently  he  concluded  he  would  be 
compelled  to  remain  there  over  night.  The  log  above  his  head 
was  an  immense  hemlock,  and  peeling  some  of  the  loose  bark 
from  the  trunk  he  sat  it  with  sticks  of  rotten  Avood  against  the 
sides  of  the  tree,  more  eftectually  to  shield  himself  from  the  fall- 


2-48  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

ing-  -water.  He  had  no  means  of  lighting  a  tii-e,  and  as  he  had 
gained  a  considerable  elevation  when  night  came  on.  he  felt  cold. 
He  had  only  taken  provisions  enough  for  his  dinner,  and  as  he 
sat,  hungry  and  sliivering,  the  scene  to  him  was  a  solitary  one. 
The  rain  as  it  fell  upon  the  green  leaves  or  sifted  through  the 
boughs  of  the  hemlock  and  spruce,  kept  up  a  confused  pattering, 
sifting  noise,  and  as  it  grew  dark  he  laid  down  and  tried  to  sleep, 
listening  to  its  doleful  music.  But  this  was  almost  impossible, 
for  as  a  drowse  would  steal  upon  him  some  great  owl  overhead 
would  hoot  ominously,  and  as  its  rough  music  died  away  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  forest  took  up  the  strain,  and  he  heard 
the  hoarse  howl  of  the  wolf,  and  the  long-drawn  halloo  of  the  bear 
echoing  in  the  forest. 

Thus  the  night  passed  away,  its  long  hours  seeming  like  Aveeks, 
until  at  last  the  dark  misty  light  of  morning  began  to  dawn, 
and  the  huge,  gnarled  trunks  of  the  trees  appeared  through  the 
thick  fog.  Numb  with  cold,  he  arose  and  resolved  to  make  an 
ctibrt  to  find  his  w\ay  out  of  the  woods.  He  started  up  the  moun- 
tain, and  traveled,  as  he  thouglit,  until  he-  had  reached  the  top. 
He  then  descended  until  he  arrived  at  the  foot  and  began  to  have 
hope  that  he  should  Had  the  settlement,  but  he  was  doomed  to 
disappointment,  for  he  had  traveled  but  a  short  distance  before  he 
began  to  ascend  again.  He  then  tried  to  retrace  his  steps  but  it 
Avas  of  no  avail,  and  after  wandering  about  for  a  long  time  he 
found  himself  standing  upon  the  shore  of  Glen  pond.  It  still 
rained,  and  the  descending  drops  made  strange  mu.'ic  as  they 
struck  upon  the  smooth  surface  of  the  little  mountain  lake. 

He  now  made  up  his  mind,  as  it  was  near  night,  to  remain 
here  until  the  following  day,  and  building  a  light  camp  by  the 
side  of  a  rock,  passed  a  much  more  dreary  night  than  the  first. 
Cold,  wet,  shivering,  and  sleepless  as  he  lay  by  the  side  of  that 
sheet  of  water,  he  heard  the  hoarse  croaking  of  the  frogs  ming- 
ling with  the  voices  of  his  serenaders  of  the  previous  night. 
When  the  morning  broke  it  had  ceased  raining  and  although  foggj* 
he  was  able  to  distinguish  the  position  of  the  sun  when  it  rose, 
and  thereby  learn  his  points  of  compass. 

Two  nights  had  novr  passed,  he  had  not  tasted  food,  and  hun- 
ger was   opjiressing  him.     To   satisfy  it  he  tried  to  catch  some 


A  LEGEND   OF   .AIOUNT   CARR.  249 

fisli,  but  after  a  few  ineffectual  attempts  he  gave  it  up.  As  he 
stood  looking"  at  the  water  he  saw  swimming  about  and  hopping- 
along  tlie  shore  numerous  frogs.  A  hungrs-  man  will  eat  almost 
anything.  Carr  caught  a  number  of  them,  cut  them  up  with  his 
knife,  and  made  a  hearty  meal  upon  the  raw  flesh  or  fish. 

Feeling  now  much  refreshed  he  attempted  again  to  tiud  tlie 
settlement.  Taking  a  westerly  course  he  once  more  found  him- 
self upon  the  top  of  the  mountain.  The  clouds  hung  thick  around 
making  it  impossible  to  distinguish  any  object  a  few  feet  distant. 
But  proceeding  cautiously  he  began  to  descend,  as  he  believed 
upon  the  opposite  side.  For  a  number  of  hours  he  slowly  went 
down,  crossing- in  his  course  several  streams  now  swollen  with 
the  rain  until  he  reached  the  level  country.  Here  after  wander- 
ing about  some  time  he  began  to  think  that  he  should  be  obliged 
to  spend  another  night  in  the  woods,  but  as  he  was  looking  around 
for  a  convenient  camping  place,  the  sharp_  ringing-  of  a  settler's 
axe  greeted  his  ear,  and  proceeding-  towards  what  was  to  him  the 
joyful  sound,  he  soon  emerged  iuto  a  recent  clearing.  In  the  cen- 
tre stood  a  snug  cabin  and  he  quickly  found  himself  within  its 
hospitable  walls,  where  he  was  generously  provided  for,  and  after 
somewhat  recovering  from  his  fatigue,  related  his  adventures  in 
the  woods.  Gradually  the  story  circulated  through  the  neighbor- 
ing settlements  and  the  people  gave  his  name  to  the  mountain  upon 
whicli  the  adventure  happened."* 

Dr.  Jackson  says  the  mountain  is  composed  of  granite,  which 
having  been  erupted  through  the  mica  slate  lying  upon  its  sides 
forms  a  cap  on  its  summit.  But  after  the  most  diligent  search  by 
several  very  distinguished  geologists  the  granite  is  as  yet  undiscov- 
ered. Nevertheless,  it  is  a  most  singular  formation.  A  hun- 
dred difterent  kinds  of  rock  arc  found  upon  it,  and  some  most  in- 
teresting minerals,  among  which  are  tourmaline  or  schorl,  garnets, 
quartz  crystals  of  a  lovely  hue,  amythyst.  beautiful  as  the  sum- 
mer rose,  and  last  but  not  least  are  scattered  all  over  it  small  par- 
ticles of  pure  virgin  gold. 

*Carr  -was  a  frienrt  of  Alexander  Craig  -who  settled  in  Romney  and  who  had 
relatives  living  at  the  time  in  Piermout. 

Siamnel  Knight  related  how  two  boy.s  IVom  Ellsworth  in  these  early  times  came 
over  Mount  Carr  in  the  winter,  har-^lbot,  and  eaniped  one  night  near  Batchelder 
brook,  belore  tliev  reached  llie  settlements  in  Warren. 


250  HISTORY  OF  WARREN. 

A  dozen  beautiful,  white  foamy  streams  come  rushing  down 
its  sides,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Martin  brook,  branches 
of  Stinson  brook,  Moulton  l)rook,  Batchelder  brook.  Patch  brook, 
and  that  most  beautiful  of  all  streams,  Hurricane  brook.  On  the 
latter  are  those  little,  Avhite  tumbling  waterfalls  which  for  so  many 
years  were  almost  unknown  but  are  now  so  much  admired. 

By  these  it  is  said  in  old  times  lived  the  fairies.  It  was  here 
on  the  rich  carpets  of  green  moss  they  danced  in  the  moonbeams 
and  sang  an  accompaniment  to  the  falling  waters.  The  deep, 
mossy-rimmed  basin,  set  with  gems,  and  carved  in  the  rock  high 
up  on  the  mountain  side  might  have  been  their  bathing  font,  and 
in  it  even  liobin  Goodfellow  and  Queen  Mab  might  have  per- 
formed their  ablutions.  The  Indians  had  a  beautiful  tradition  how 
the  fairies  stole  the  children  away  and  gave  them  fairy  bread  to 
eat  which  changed  them  into  fairies.  Then  said  they  there  was  joy 
forthe  little  folks  as  they  revelled  in  the  green  embowering  woods; 
and  the  elfin  king  and  the  fairy  queen  ruled  long  and  well  in  the  ' 
old  centuries.  But  the  period  when  they  existed  has  melted  into 
the  mellow  twilight  of  ages  and  all  these  joyous  revellers  are 
gone  forever. 

Now  it  is  said  there  are  some  so  skeptical  that  they  don't  be- 
lieve the  fairies  ever  lived  there  at  all,  that  the  whole  story  is  but 
a  pleasant  myth  told  to  please  the  children.  Be  this  as  it  may 
their  reputed  haunts  were  trequently  invaded  about  those  times. 
Our  rustic  pioneers  loved  fresh  meat  and  a  store  of  rich  peltries, 
and  the  woods  of  Mount  Carr  were  scoured  for  the  supply. 

When  the  autunni  came  and  the  maples,  birches,  poplars,  and 
ash  were  clothed  in  all  their  crimson  splendors  in  the  glens  and 
on  the  mountains,  the  gun  was  roused  from  its  slumber,  the  dogs 
howled  in  ecstacy  on  the  hills,  and  the  time  for  partridge  shooting, 
mink,  beaver,  and  sable  trapping,  and  deer  and  moose  hunting  had 
come.  Joseph  Patch  '■'  was  in  his  element  then."  Chase  AVhitcher 
was  on  the  hunter's  path,  Obadiah  Clement's  gun  resounded  in 
the  woods,  and  even  fat  AVilliam  Butler  joined  in  the  profitable 
pastime. 

Patch  is  a  happy  hunter.  He  is  threading  his  way  along  the 
Asquamchumanke  towards  the  Avooded  mountain.  He  steps  from 
hiuiimock  to  hummock  in  his  little  pasture,  brushes  the  blue  and 


A   SHREWD   OLD  FOX.  251 

gold  llowercd  hardhack  aside,  and  rustles  the  fallen  leaves  with  his 
heel  ill  the  woods.  He  shall  hear  the  roar  of  tlie  torrent,  the  mu- 
sic of  the  waterfall;  shall  wind  around  the  reedy  shores  of  the 
fir  skirted  Glen  ponds,  and  at  night  lie  down  to  sleep  on  his  bed  of 
soft  boughs  by  his  camp  fire.  His  youngest  son  relates  that  at  one 
time  he  came  homo  M'ith  fifty-three  mink,  sable,  fisher-cat,  and  bea- 
ver skins,  caught  in  a  single  week  in  his  Indian  culheags  and  steel 
traps.  Old  Deacon  Jonathan  Clement  said  that  Chase  AVWtcher 
caught  in  one  season  a  hundred  and  forty  dollars'  worth  of  beaver, 
on  the  head  waters  of  Black  and  Berry  brooks.  The  old  beaver 
dams  and  little  g-rass  grown  meadows  where  their  ponds  were  are 
still  to  be  seen.  Obadiah  Clement  could  shoot  more  partridges 
than  any  other  man  in  the  hamlet.  He  had  a  brisk  little  dog-  to 
scare  them  up  and  then  shot  them  on  the  wing. 

Joseph  Patch  also  had  a  good  supply  of  steel  traps  and  there 
was  not  a  man  in  the  whole  country  who  could  catch  more  foxes 
than  he.  He  baited  them  on  a  bed,  as  it  is  called,  and  late  in  the 
fall  was  sure  to  get  one  almost  every  morning.  But  once  he  found 
an  old  fox  almost  as  cunning  as  himself.  When  he  would  go  to 
his  ''bed "he  would  find  his  bait  gone,  liis  trap  sprung,  but  not  a 
fox  to  be  seen.  This  happened  many  times  even  though  his  trap 
was  set  in  the  most  careful  manner.  But  there  was  one  thing  he 
always  noticed, — his  trap  invariably  had  a  stick  in  its  jaws.  One 
day  he  set  it  very  carefully  and  then  picked  up  and  cai'ried  away 
every  stick  more  than  two  inches  long  he  could  find  in  the  vicinity. 
His  plan  proved  successful.  The  next  morning  he  found  a  hand- 
some silver  graj-  fox  caught  by  the  nose.  The  stick  with  winch  it 
attempted  to  spring  the  trap  w^as  too  short.  Reynard  seemed  to 
reaHze  his  situation.  He  looked  up  in  the  huntei"'s  face  imploringly, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "  please  let  me  go  this  time."  But  Patch  could 
not  think  of  it.  With  one  blow  he  dif  pitched  him  though  he  often 
said  afterwards  he  never  regretted  the  killing  an  animal  more  in 
Ins  life.* 

*This  irtoi y  w:is  told  the  author  by  Mr.  Davifl  Smith.    He  said  Patch  related 
it  to  him  witli  liis  own  liv)s.    BenjaminLittle's  statement  also. 

Anson  Merrill  said  that  Patch  once  saw  a  bear  in  his  corn,  near  Patch  brook: 
got  within  twenty  roils  and  then  could  not  see  his  game  well,  so  he  stoo<l  on  a  hill 
of  corn  and  raised  himself  on  tip-toe  and  lired.  The  bear  ran  but  Patch  found 
that  he  had  drawn  blood  and  following  along  beside  the  brook  lost  the  trail.  A 
week  later,  it  being  warm  weather  he  scented  him  and  found  his  game  dead  ou  the 
batiks  of  the  stream. 


252  niSTORY  OF  "v^^vRRE^^ 

John  Hiiichsou,  his  neighbor,  had  two  beantiful  fleet-footed 
deer  honnds.  One  of  them  was  named  Wolf.  Patch  prevailed 
upon  him  to  sell  him  the  latter  and  then  he  conld  rival  his  friend 
Whitchcr  in  the  chase.  My  nncle  who  remembered  the  history  of 
John  Mills  so  well,  said  that  eaiiy  settler  got  a  good  snpply  of 
venison  one  day,  the  would-be  product  of  Patch's  hunting.  He 
heard  the  sonorous  yelling  of  the  old  hound  coming  down  the 
ravine  by  Eocky  falls,  on  Patch  brook;  soon  the  antlered  buck  burst 
from  the  woods,  flew  across  the  little  clearing  and  made  for  the 
mill  pond  on  the  river.  Mills  was  ready  with  his  gun,  and  as  the 
slag  swam  rapidly  down  across  the  pond  he  lodged  a  charge  of  buck 
shot  in  its  throat  and  before  Patch  came  up  the  game  was  hid  in 
the  grist-mill,  while  the  hunter  was  left  to  infer  that  the  deer  had 
crossed  the  river  and  escaped,  John  Mills  all  the  time  maintaining 
a  pious  silence,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  Quakers. 

Pause  here,  gentle  reader !  drop  a  tear  tor  the  fate  of  Patch's 
fleet  deer  hound.  Wolf.  As  the  years  rolled  on  he  grew  old.  His 
baying  was  heard  no  more  on  the  hills,  his  feet  bounded  no  more 
through  the  woods.  Gray  with  age  he  could  only  lie  on  the  hearth 
by  the  warm  fire.  One  day  Patch  said  half  in  earnest  to  his  boys, 
"  I  guess  you  had  better  take  old  Wolf  out  and  shoot  him,  he  is  no 
use  to  any  one."  The  dog  looked  up  sorrowfully,  seeming  to  un- 
derstand what  was  said  and  tlien  slowly  left  the  house.  That  night 
they  hunted  for  him,  and  called  him  in  vain.  The  next  day  they 
found  him  in  a  deep  pool  of  Patch  brook,  drowned. 

If  Patch  suspected  his  friend  Mills  of  appropriating  the  veni- 
son he  could  easily  forgive  him  as  he  sometimes  practised  such 
things  liimself.  Strangers  from  a  distance  would  come  to  hunt  and 
Avantonly  destroy  large  quantities  of  game  much  to  the  annoyance 
of  the  good  settlers  of  the  hamlet.  These  marauding  parties,  los- 
sel  scouts,  shouting  would  often  come  rushing  down  from  the  hills 
with  guns  and  deep-mouthed  baying  hounds,  waking  every  echo  in 
the  old  wood.  It  was  then  that  the  Merrills,  William  Butler,  Mills, 
Patch  and  Hinchson,  hastemng  would  intei'cept  the  deer  or  moose, 
and  kill  and  conceal  it  before  the  fierce  intruders  could  come  up. 
Then  there  would  be  a  sharp  contention,  threats,  and  sometimes 
blows,  but  the  invariable  result  was  that  the  game  loving  invaders 
would  be  sent  fast  flving  back  across  the  border  wilh  huii'e  fleas  in 


MOOSEHILLOCK.  253 

their  ears.*  Eoiiiiicy  iiicii  and  tlio  sojouniei's  among  the  hills  of 
Trccothifk  were  thus  tauo-Jit  to  feci  a  deep  love  for  the  ''honest 
Warrenites,"  as  they  most  respectfully  termed  our  eai'ly  ])ioneers. 

Chase  Whitcher,  while  following-  a  nxoose,  was  the  first  settler 
who  visited  the  summit  of  Moosehillock.  It  is  said  that  Jose])h 
Pateh  also,  While  hunting  one  bi'ight,  clear  autumn  day  climbed  the 
mountain,  lie  had  no  companion  save  his  dog.  Stillness  and  soli- 
tude were  there,  hill  and  ravine,  sky  and  valley,  everywhere  mag- 
nificent, the  outline  everywhere  bold,  grand,  and  sublime.  No  ani- 
mal life  Avas  to  be  seen,  only  two  fearless,  strong  winged  eagles  were 
soaring  over  the  great  gorge  down  which  roars  Tunnel  brook. 
AVhite  quartz  rocks  and  gray  slates,  among  which  bloom  the  hare- 
bell and  lichen,  and  to  which  the  mosses  cling,  cropped  out  all 
around  him ;  then  there  was  the  graveyard  of  the  stunted  skeleton 
trees  killed  by  the  frost  and  the  fire  and  bleached  white ;  beyond 
was  the  rich  green  of  the  mazy,  impenetrable  hackmatacks ;  in  the 
zone  below  the  deep  brown  of  the  spruce  and  hemlock,  and  in  the 
dee])  valleys  at  the  mountain  foot,  the  bright  yellow,  the  flashing 
crimson,  the  purple  and  gold  of  the  forest,  while  above  was  the 
azure  sky,  and  in  the  far  distance  the  blue  water  of  the  ponds,  the 
lakes,  and  the  ocean.  It  was  a  wild  scene,  ''  crags,  knolls,  and 
mounds  confusedly  hurled  "  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  In  the  east 
the  highest  of  the  AYaumbecket  Methna,  the  Indian  name  for  the 
White  mountains,  gleamed  wliite  Avith  the  first  snow,  while  in  the 
west  the  sharp  peaks  of  the  Adirondacks  shone  bright  above  the 
flashing  waters  of  Lake  Champlaiu.  But  he  hurried  away  for  he 
felt  a  strange  indescribable  aAve  at  a  sight  such  as  he  had  never 
witnessed  before,  and  the  hackmatacks  were  thick  and  the  ^xiXY  over 
them  long  and  ditficult. 

But  it  was  only  in  the  winter  when  the  snow  lay  four  feet  deep 
in  the  Avoods  of  the  A^alley  and  on  the  mountains  that  the  moose 
could  be  hunted  successfully.  We  liave  it  on  the  authority  of  Ja- 
cob Patch,  son  of  Joseph  Patch,  that  our  hunter  on  snow  shoes  was 
following  the  Asquamchumauke,  otherwise  Baker  river,  liigh  up  on 
the  side  of  Moosehillock  mountain.     It  had  snowed  that  day  and 

*  Esq.  Jonathan  Blen-ill  once  whipped  a  gallant  Romney  hunter  with  his  ox 
goad,  "  mailing  liini  yell  good,''  when  said  hunter  accused  him  of  stealing  a  deer. 

StCTeus  Merrill  l)y  good  luck  got  a  moose  once  in  the  river  behind  his  house 
which  somebody's  do"g8  had  chased  down  Irom  the  mountains. 


254  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

the  way  was  slow  and  heavy.  Late  in  the  afternoon  he  discovered 
a  yard  of  moose.  Trying  his  gun  he  found  it  so  damp  he  could 
not  use  it.  This  was  a  great  disappointment  l)ut  he  was  not  to  be 
cheated  of  his  game  so  easily.  Cutting  a  long  pole  he  lashed  liis 
hunting  knife  to  one  end  of  it,  cautiously  approached  the  moose  and 
cut  the  ham  strings  of  three  of  the  best  of  them.  This  done  he 
found  no  ditiiculty  in  dispatching  them.  The  rest  escaped.  Of 
course  he  dressed  them,  hung  the  heavy  quarters  high  up  in  the 
trees,  and  then  hauled  them  home  at  his  leisure. 

But  the  most  historical  of  all  the  grand  old  huntings  that  have 
come  down  to  us  was  one  that  happened  that  very  winter  of  these 
primitive  times.  Chase  Whitchcr  had  been  across  the  mountains 
to  Glen  ponds  to  fish  for  trout  through  the  ice.  Coming  home  he 
found  a  great  yard  of  moose.  There  were  more  of  them  than  any 
one  man  wanted,  and  ha  generously  told  his  neighbors  of  the  dis- 
covery. Then  they  began  to  plan  the  way  of  capture  and  a  day  to 
put  it  in  execution  was  set  when  every  man  should  be  ready  for  the 
work. 

Simeon  Snnth,  and  Morrill  from  Red  Oak  hill,  Tlinchson,  Patch, 
Mils,  and  Bullcr,  all  the  Merrills,  Joshua  Copp,  and  Obadiah  Clem- 
ent, both  the  "Whitchers  and  others  started  for  the  yard  early  one 
bi'ight  morning.  It  was  up  the  side  of  Mount  CaiT  in  the  glen 
through  which  Patch  brook  tiows,  and  over  the  northern  mountain 
spur,  like  Bonaparte  over  the  Alps,  more  than  3,000  feet  up,  in  the 
mid  winter  snow.  There  Avas  a  hard  crust  and  the  sunlight  stream- 
ing through  the  trees  flashed  on  the  mj'riad  ic}'  particles.  A  part- 
ridge whirred  away  from  before  them  into  the  snow  covered  tirs,  a 
rabbit  that  was  eating  spruce  burrs  leaped  past,  and  both  Avere  un- 
heeded either  by  hunters  or  dogs.  It  Avas  ten  o'clock  AA'hen  they 
reached  the  yard.  The  first  jight  shoAved  them  that  it  Avas  no  or- 
dinary one.  It  was  on  the  mountain  side,  on  the  Black  hill  beyond, 
and  ran  doAvn  by  Glen  pond,  across  the  A^alley  to  the  side  of  Mt. 
Kineo.  The  Black  hill  had  been  crossed  and  recrossed  a  hundred 
times  from  base  to  summit.  A  hundred  parallels  girdled  the  hill 
around,  intersecting  the  perpendiculars,  and  all  Avere  hard  and 
deeply  trodden  paths,  so  hard  a  moose  could  not  be  tracked  in  them, 
so  narroAV  a  man  could  not  run  in  them.  It  was  a  mazj'  labyrinth 
and  to  attempt  to  thread  it  Avas  to  give  the  animals  an  opportunity 


A   GRAND   MOOSE   HUNT.  255 

to  escape.  The  moose  coukl  mu  ten  lu  lifceeu  inile.>  an  hour 
tlu-ough  tlie  devious  windings,  browsing-  and  eating  as  they  ran, 
and  neither  dogs  nor  men  could  conic  up  to  them.  Therefore  tliis 
little  army  of  Imnters,  out  on  this  grand  hunting  excursion,  imme- 
diately separated.  They  Avent  round  on  eitlier  side  each  leaving 
the  other  at  a  considerabledistance,  then  they  cautiously  entered  the 
yard;  when  a  gun  was  tired  they  let  loose  the  dogs;  their  yel- 
ling was  wild  nnisic  in  the  woods,  accompanied  by  the  noise 
of  the!  moose  pounding  away  at  a  hard  swinging  trot,  their  broad 
antlers  resounding  as  they  sometimes  liit  a  tree,  their  wide-spread 
hoofs  crackling  at  every  step  as  tliey  fled  from  tlieir  pursuers. 

And  now  all  are  on  the  tip-toe  of  expectation.  Each  man  be- 
lieves he  is  sure  of  his  game.  Captain  William  Butler  is  deter- 
mined to  bag  one.  But  when  the  mightiest  animal  he  ever  saw 
went  swinging  by  he  found  he  had  the  moose  fever,  and  instead 
of  stopping  his  game,  the  old  bull  answered  the  crack  of  his  gun 
with  a  bellow  and  bounded  out  of  sight  in  a  moment.  It  did  not 
even  leave  tlie  trace  of  blood  on  the  snow,  much  to  our  excellent 
marksman's  delight.  Simeon  Smith  halloed  with  exceeding  jo}'  at 
the  sight  of  one  and  forgot  to  fire  at  all.  Morrill  called  him  a  fool 
and  forgot  to  tire  himself,  and  Stevens  Merrill  was  so  greatly  pleased, 
or  had  the  fever  so  bad  that  he  iired  in  the  air,  probably  philosoplii- 
cally  thinking  the  ball  might  strike  one  when  it  came  down.  But 
Chase  Wlntcher  brought  down  a  moose  the  first  time  trying,  Joseph 
Patch  had  the  same  good  luck,  and  Obadiah  Clement  had  the  good 
fortune  to  slioot  two.     The  others  did  not  succeed  in  getting  a  shot. 

Four  moose  were  as  many  as  they  cared  for,  or  could  well  take 
care  of.  So  the  dogs  were  called  and  the  rest  were  suflTered  to 
escape.  The  work  of  skinning  and  dressing  was  quickly  accom- 
plished, and  the  product  loaded  on  the  light,  broad  runnered  hand- 
sleds  which  they  had  brought  with  them. 

It  was  hard  work  coming  over  the  mountain,  and  before  they 

arrived  at  the  summit  William  Butler's  rotund  body  was  too  lieaA-y 

for  his  legs,  and  he  laid  down  in  the  snow  from  exhaustion.     His 

good  friends  rubbed  him  smartly,  placed  him  upon  one  of  the  sleds, 

John  Marstou,  wlio  lived  at  the  Summit,  lirsl  house  up  High  street,  once  went 
on  one  of  these  grand  moose  liunts.  He  was  pretty  liungry  and  dranli  two  quarts 
of  moose  marrow.  Ic  made  liim  terrible  sicli,  liked  to  have  killed  liim,  and  llie 
party  had  to  build  a  lire  and  stay  in  the  woods  all  night.  The  next  day  they  drew 
him  home  on  a  hand  sled.— jSathaniel  Richardson's  statemeni. 


256  HISTOKY    OF    AVARREN. 

covered  him  warmly  with  tlieir  frocks  and  drew  him  home  too,  the 
heaviest  moose,  as  they  said,  of  the  whole  lot.  Going  dovv^u  the 
mountain  he  playfully  asked  Stevens  Merrill  if  a  moose  hved  in  the 
moon?  a  stu])id  joke  that  Mr.  M.  could  not  see. 

There  Avas  feasting  and  merry  making  in  tlie  settlement  after 
that,  and  the  grand  hunt  known  as  "the  one  when  Captain  But- 
ler's legs  gave  out,"  has  not  yet  been  forgotten. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


OF  A  PROVISION  FOR  RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  ;  GRANDILOQUENT  DESCRIP- 
TION OF  ONE  AND  HOW  IT  CLOSED  WITH  A  CUP  OF  SWEET  COM- 
FORT AND  PEACE,  AS  AVAS  THE  CUSTOM  IN  ANCIENT   TIMES. 


LiKP]  one  of  the  old  knights  of  the  middle  ages  huri-ying 
abroad  to  avenge  the  Avrongs  of  a  wicked  world,  bnt  at  times  jiaus- 
ing  under  the  cool  embowering  shades,  and  by  babbling  brooks  in 
gTeen  meadows  to  enjoy  the  delights  of  life,  so  we  hastening  to  the 
bustling  confusion  and  the  turmoil  of  the  great  events  of  our  im- 
mortal history,  are  fain  to  pause  a  few  moments  to  revel  in  the 
halcyon  sweets  in  this  the  twilight  age  of  our  mountain  hamlet, 
before  plunging  into  the  wild  scenes  of  the  coming  troublesome 
times  that  are  sure  to  follow. 

Benuing  Wentworth,  peace  to  his  aslios!  had  a  pious  respect 
for  the  Church  of  England,  a  Christian  desire  l^or  propagating  the 
gospel  in  foreign  parts,  and  a  right  good  will  for  the  support  of 
preaching.  Consequently  he  inserted  in  tlic  charter  that  a  certain 
portion  of  the  lots  among  the  hills  should  be  set  apart  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  clmrch,  preaching,  and  the  missionary  cause. 

Our  excellent  proprietors  wei'e  prompt  to  second  the  good  in- 
tentions of  the  ancient  governor.  At  the  ver\-  tirst  division  of  the 
lots,  No.  2  of  tlio  4tli  range  was  drawn  for  the  sup])ort  of  a 
minister;  Xo.  2  of  the  8th  range  for  the  society  for  propagating 
the  gospel;  and  No.  1  of  the  0th  range  as  a  glebe  for  the  Church 
of  England,  as  by  law  established.* 

*ln  the  subsequent  divisions  of  land  otber  lots  were  drawn  for  the  above 
purposes,  for  a  list  of  which  see  appendix. 

Q 


258  HISTORY   OF    ■\VARREK. 

And  the  first  settlers  on  tlie  hillsides  and  in  the  pleasant  valley 
of  the  liamlet  Avere  just  as  desirous  of  a  little  religious  food  as  the 
royal  governor  and  the  lordly  proprietors  were  to  impart  it. 
Therefore  they  began  to  cast  about  for  a  minister  to  expound  the 
scriptures  and  break  the  bread  of  life  to  them. 

It  is  told  how  the  first  religious  meeting  was  held  one  Sabbath 
out  in  the  broad  open  air,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Powers,  of  Haverhill, 
N.  H.,  preached  the  discourse.  He  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward,  of 
Plymouth,  wei'e  the  only  ministers  who  resided  in  the  wild  regions 
round  about  our  beloved  valley  for  many  years,  and  a  minister  and 
public  Sabbath  worship  were  rare  in  those  primitive  times.* 

It  was  summer  when  the  meeting  was  held.  Spring  is  gone, 
when  the  corn  was  planted  and  the  children  set  to  scare  away  the 
crows  that  came  to  pull  up  the  tender  shoots.  The  snow  drop,  the 
primrose,  the  coAvslii),  and  the  violets  are  gone ;  but  the  wild  rose 
has  come,  the  elder  is  in  blossom,  the  raspberry  is  red  in  the  hedge 
by  the  bnish  fence,  and  the  unripe  blackberry  is  turning  to  a  rich, 
luscious,  and  jetty  black.  Ha\ing  time  has  come,  the  mowers  have 
been  at  work  among  the  stumps  and  logs  cutting  the  heavy  burden 
of  grass.  The  green  swaths  have  been  spread  to  dry  by  the  merry 
boys  and  girls,  the  haycocks  have  been  heaped  high,  and  upon  the 
rude  sled  to  which  the  steers  have  been  yoked  it  is  drawn  to  the 
barn.  Ikit  the  scythes,  rakes,  and  forks  had  been  laid  aside,  the 
steers  unyoked  and  turned  away  in  the  pasture  that  Saturday  night 
and  all  made  ready  for  the  Sabbath. 

My  grandmother  said  that  Sunday  was  a  bright,  beautiful  day. 
When  the  sun  rose  over  the  great  mountains  and  the  mighty  wood, 
all  the  world  seemed  hushed  and  still.  As  the  hours  crept  on  the 
people  began  to  assemble.  The  spot  chosen  for  the  meeting  was 
on  the  ridge  of  land  that  formed  the  barrier  of  Runaway  pond,  and 
west  of  Black  brook,  the  Mikaseota.  They  came  by  the  blazed 
paths  through  the  woods  from  every  little  clearing.  Nearly  all 
walked  then;  there  were  but  few  saddle  horses  and  no  carriages. 
Some  of  the  men  and  the  boys  and  girls  are  barefoot.     They  are 

*  When  Mr.  Powers  saw  yoimg  men  felling  trees  *  *  *  he  would  call 
to  them  and  say  if  Providence  favored  him,  he  would  preach  to  them  in  that  place 
on  such  a  day  and  at  sucli  an  hour.  These  were  welcome  propositions  generally, 
and  if  there  were  other  settlements  near  they  were  informed  of  the  appointment, 
and  Mr.  Powers  at  the  hour  specilied  would  liud  his  hearers  seated  on  stumps 
and  logs  all  ready  to  receive  the  word. —  History  of  Coos.  77. 


FIKST   RELIGIOUS  MEETING.  "iori 

dressed  in  1 1  icir  everyday  garments;  Sunday  clothes  they  have  none. 
The  men  are  in  tlieu- shirt  sleeves,  their  frocks  slung  across  tlieir 
arms  in  case  it  might  rain.  You  would  particularly  notice  Stevens 
Merrill  and  his  intelligent  black  eyed  wife.  lie  was  a  man  ad- 
vanced in  years,  dressed  ditierently  from  most  of  the  rest,  for  he  had 
his  Quaker  suit  on,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  speaking  out  in  meeting 
if  the  sermon  did  not  suit  him.*  There  was  Mr.  Simeon  Smith, 
from  Red  Oak  hill,  also  somewhat  advanced  in  life.  He  was  always 
noticed  to  be  a  little  nervous  at  meeting.  His  wife  had  heated  the 
large  Dutch  oven  that  moi'ning,  and  put  in  an  iron  pot  of  beans  and 
an  earthen  dish  of  Indian  pudding,  to  bake  in  their  absence,  and 
be  ready  for  supper  when  they  returned.  His  neighbor  John  Mor- 
rill comes  along  with  him,  and  his  wife,  a  fleshy  woman,  has  on 
her  arm,  as  do  nearly  all  the  rest,  a  bag  tilled  with  nut  cakes  and 
cold  meat  for  a  luncheon.  You  Avill  see  coming  up  from  Hur- 
ricane brook,  Joseph  Patch  and  his  young  wife,  the  daughter  of 
Stevens  Merrill.  His  neighl)or,  Mr.  Hinchson,  Avho  lives  alone  in 
the  woods,  the  hunter  and  trout  and  salmon  catcher,  accompanies 
him.  AVilliam  Butler  also  comes,  the  young  man  fat  and  portly. 
His  wife,  Meliitable,  and  John  Mills,  Sr.,  and  John  Mills,  Jr.,  are 
all  on  hand,  as  the  saying  is,  'Squire  Jonathan,  as  he  was  known 
in  latter  days,  is  there  also  with  his  wife  and  children.  Ephraim 
True  comes  from  •'  over  the  river."'  He  has  waded  across  for  there 
is  no  biidge.  Along  with  him  is  his  wife  and  half  a  dozen  small 
children,  the  latter  still  shy  and  wild  just  like  young  partridges. 
Joshua  Men-ill,  who  lived  to  be  a  hundred  years  old,  who  was  a 
tailor  by  trade,  was  there  with  his  family,  from  the  foot  of  Ueech 
hill.  He  Avorc  a  three-cornered  cocked  hat  on  that  day.  small 
i'lothes.  neatly  fitting,  and  tight  stockings,  with  huge  knee  buckles 
and  silver  shoe  buckles.  He  was  an  exception,  as  we  have  said 
before,  and  was  always  the  best  dressed  man  in  town.  Joshua 
Copp,  dignitied  and  grave,  with  his  wife  and  several  children  was 
there.     Obadiah  Clement,   always   religiously  inclined,   with  his 

*Some  one  was  once  preaching  at  Jonathan  Clement's  inn.  Mr.  Clement  sat 
inside  the  V)ar  with  his  hat  on.  Tlie  minister  suddenly  chanjred  liis  discourse, 
from  preacliiug  to  the  saints,  and  besau  to  talk  to  tlie  -wicked.  Mr.  Clement  jumped 
up,  shouted  amen  !  and  said  he  thanked  tlie  I>ord  that  the  minister  M'as  preaching 
to  the  sinners.  .John  Al)botf  rose  at  once,  ami  in  i>ious  accents  advised  the  minis- 
ter not  to  dwell  long  on  that  suljject,  as  there  was  only  one  sinner  present,  and 
that  one  was  shut  up  in  I  lie  licpior  bar,  where  he  couldn't  do  any  hurt.  —  Miss 
Hannah  Knight's  statement. 


260  HISTOKY  OF    WARE  EX, 

brothers,  Jonathan  and  Reuben,*  and  their  families  was  present. 
Isaiah  Batclielder,  tlie  Clarks,  and  the  Lands,  with  their  wives  and 
children  were  down  from  Tarleton  lake,  a  long  journey  for  them. 
And  even  Mr.  Chase  "Whitcher,  from  liis  home  in  the  basin  of 
mountains  at  the  north  part  of  the  town,  had  traveled  all  the  way 
down  and  was  present  with  his  relatives  Reuben  and  John  AMiitcher, 
from  Pine  hill,  and  the  families  of  each. 

Parson  Powers  in  those  days  wore  a  black  kerseymere  coat, 
silk  breeches   and   stockings,   three-cornered  hat   and  fleece-like 
wig,  a  white  band  and  white  silk  gloves.     With  what  dignity  did 
he  walk  among  that  little  crowd  of  rough  backwoodsmen.    How 
meekly  they  stood  aside  to  let  Mm  pass,  although  Stevens  Merilll 
was'nt  much  afraid  of  him.     What  was  his  pulpit?    No  high  box 
like  those  of  ancient  days ;  but  it  might  have  been  a  large  pine 
stimip  cut  smoothly  on  the  top  for  the  purpose.     It  might  have  been 
a  platform  of  poles  placed  evenly  upon  two  logs.     Above  his  head 
was  no  pyramidal  sounding  board,  but  in  its  stead  were  mighty 
columns  of  towering  trees,  surmounted  by  capitals  of  wavy  splen- 
dor.    There  were  no  lofty  walls  supported  by  Doric  or  Corinthian 
columns  around  him ;  no  windoAvs  painted  with  images,  but  in 
their  stead  were  archivolts  of  leaves  rustling  and  sighing  in  the 
wind;  architraves  of  mighty  brandies  that  rocked   in  the  grand 
chorus  of  storms,  arches  of  l)lue  with  heavenward  opening  win- 
dows painted  with  rainbows  and  the  golden  glories  of   sunset. 
There  were  no  cushioned  pews  nor  altars  gaily  decorated  and  set 
with  precious  stones,  but  their  seats  were  cushioned  with  forest 
flowers,  their  chancel  was  of  flowering  banks  with  balustrades  of 
evergreen ;  their  altar  was  gemmed  with  pebbles  and  crystals  of 
mica  and  spangles   of  emerald  moss.     Such  was  the  temple  in 
which  the  flrst  settlers,  perhaps  blind  to  the  beautiful,  worshiped. 

Did  they  have  singing  at  their  meeting?  Of  course  they  did; 
but  who  took  the  lead  it  is  impossible  now  to  telLf  A\liether  as 
Avas  the  custom  of  the  day,  some  one  acting  as  deacon  read  the 

*  Reuben  AVhitcher  was  a  new  comer  about  these  times. 

t "  One  of  the  flrst  choristers  of  AA^arren  was  Captain  Stephen  Ricliardson.  He 
always  wore  to  meeting  short  hip  breeches,  and  long  white  stockings  Avith  silver 
shoe  and  linee  buckles.  lie  had  a  watcli  i)ocket  exactly  in  front,  in  the  waist-band 
of  his  breeches,  and  a  long  hcayy  silver  chain,  kej'  and  seal  at  the  end,  attaciied 
to  his  great  '  bull's  eye  watch,' hung  dangling  atwixt  his  legs  almost  down  to  his 
knees.    He  used  his  pitcli  pipe  freely,  beat  time  lustily  with  his  feet,  swaj^ed  back 


AX   OLD-TIME   SUNDAY   XOOX.  201 

lirst  two  lines,  and  tinothor  tooted  on  the  i)itch  pipe  and  tlien  led 
off  with  hi?!  voiee.  oi"  whether  as  in  our  prayer  meetings  now,  they 
all  joined  in  one  of  those  wild,  religious  hymns,  such  as  the  old 
Scotch  Covenanters  wei'e  wont  to  raise  in  their  mountain  fastness, 
or  the  persecuted  Christians  sang  in  the  catacombs  of  Rome,  it  is 
also  impossible  to  tell.  They  had  no  musical  instruments  then,  but 
if  they  had  listened  they  might  have  heard  tlie  Avinds  sighing  an 
accompaniment  in  the  woods,  the  murmuring  anthem  of  the  neigh- 
boring brooks  and  distant  river,  or  perhaps  if  it  were  a  hot 
summer  afternoon  the  grand  diapason  of  thunder  peeling  in  the 
gorges  of  the  mountains. 

The  noontime  of  that  Sunday  must  have  been  an  interesting- 
occasion  for  our  settlers.  Their  luncheon  eaten  and  they  sat  dow^n 
in  knots  and  groups  to  talk  over  the  events  of  the  day.  The  state 
of  the  country  was  discussed  then  the  same  as  now.  The  old 
French  war,  the  tyranny  of  King  George,  the  Stamp  Act,  the  Tea 
Party,  all  came  in  for  their  share.  Perhaps  some  of  them  went  to 
Joshua  Copp's  cabin,  for  that  was  then  the  most  central  part  of 
the  settlement,  and  there  sat  down  and  drank  of  his  nice  cool 
water  from  the  neighboring  spring.  Mrs.  Copp  Avas  a  neat  AA'oman, 
her  floor  ever  nicely  sanded,  her  peAVter  on  the  open  dresser  bright 
and  glistening.  They  talked  of  the  Aveather,  of  the  births,  of  the 
marriages,  engagements,  health,  sickness,  and  deaths,  those  among 
themselves,  and  particularh'  of  those  among  their  friends  doAAii 
country ;  the  land  from  Avhich  they  had  emigrated,  for  Avhich  they 
yearned,  and  to  wliich  they  made  frequent  pilgrimages. 

After  the  senices  Parson  Powers  Avent  home  Avith  Obadiah 
Clement  to  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  liis  house  and  si)end  the  night, 
and  he  did  it  right  merrily.  As  the  story  goes,  and  such  AVas  the 
custom  in  those  days,  a  good  glass  of  the  dear  creature  was  brought 
forward,  just  as  soon  as  he  had  crossed  the  threshold,  to  clear  the 
reverend  throat.  AVlien  night  came  he  had  a  different  kind  of  beA'- 
erage  to  make  him  sliunber  quietly  and  induce  pleasant  dreams.* 

and  forth  as  he  suns',  the  wateh  cliain  vibi-atiuij:  in  unison  with  tlie  tune,  while  all 
tlie  little  boys  and  girls  present  tittered  and  laughed  at  tlie  comical  siglit."— Miss 
Hannah  Knight's  statement. 

Colonel  Stevens  M.  Dow  said  that  he  had  sung  with  Captain  !{.,  and  that  the 
Captain  was  an  excellent  singer. 

*  Elder  Currier  who  lived  in  AVentworth  sometimes  preacheil  iuAVarren  during 
tlie  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


262  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

In  the  morning-  the  best  the  house  aftbrded  was  served  up  for 
breakfast,  then  an  excellent  glass  of  punch  was  quaffed  and  away 
rode  the  divine  of  these  wilderness  settlements  on  his  strong  little 
horse  over  the  Height-o-land,  round  Tarleton  lake,  across  which  a 
light  winged  breeze  was  blowing,  through  Piermont  woods,  to  the 
Coos  intei-vals,  as  they  were  known  in  those  times. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


AVAU !  HOAV  IT  REARED  ITS  HORRID  FRONT  AND  ITS  DIN  RESOUNDED 
EVEN  ACROSS  THE  BOUNDARIES  OF  WARREN,  TOGETHER  WITH 
WHAT  PART  OUR  EARLY   SETTLERS  TOOK  IN  IT. 


It  was  a  bright  June  day.  Joseph  Patch  was  at  work 
clearing"  a  little  pasture  on  the  ridge  that  forms  the  western  foot  of 
Picked  hill.  It  was  hot;  the  sun  hung-  high  in  heaven,  and  Patch, 
pausing-  to  rest,  sat  down  on  a  long-  hemlock  log- to  eat  his  luncheon 
and  quaft"  a  draught  of  si)ruce  beer.  Suddenly  there  was  a  strange 
sound  in  the  air — was  it  thunder  behind  tlie  western  mountains, 
the  faint  ramble  of  a  pent  up  earthquake,  or  was  it  only  a  partridge 
drumming  in  the  tliick  pine  woods?  He  listened  and  again  and 
again  heard  it.  It  was  not  the  partridge's  drum,  not  the  thunder, 
nor  the  earthquake  —  what  was  it? 

At  noon  he  s]ioke  to  his  family  about  it,  but  they  had  not  no- 
ticed it.  At  night  lie  talked  with  his  neighbors ;  John  Mills  had 
also  heard  it,  and  so  had  Stevens  Merrill,  but  none  could  tell  Avhat 
it  was. 

A  week  went  by  and  a  stranger  journej'ing  through  the  valley 
northward  told  them  that  a  great  battle  had  been  fought  at  Bunker 
Hill,  and  that  thousands  of  men  were  hurryhig  to  join  llic  rebel 
army  under  General  Washington. 

Before  night  every  settler  in  the  hamlet  had  heard  the  news. 
It  is  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  as  the  crow  flies,  to  Bunker  Hill. 
There  could  be  heard  the  bocmiing  of  cannon  all  that  distance. 
Now  in  .1   rli'ar  dav   the  "-ranite  shaft  w iiicli  connnemorates  that 


264  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

eveut  can  be  seen  from  the  bald  peak  of  Mooseliillock  mountain. 

The  settlers  had  heard  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  had  seen  a 
few  men  marcliing  south,  through  the  woods,  with  their  queen's 
arms  on  their  shoulders,  to  join  the  army  as  they  said,  but  they  had 
not  minded  much  about  it.  But  noAV  a  thousand  men  had  died  on 
the  battle  field  and  the  settlers  Avere  all  on  fire  at  the  ueAVS  and  for 
weeks  talked  of  nothing  else. 

There  were  two  parties  in  town,  one  favored  King  George,  the 
other  the  rebels.  The  latter  were  much  the  stronger,  numbering 
twice  as  many  as  the  former.  Frequent  discussions  arose.  But 
these  soon  ceased,  the  last  one  taking  place  at  Obadiali  Clement's 
bar  room,  where  mine  host  and  Stevens  Merrill  had  a  pleasant  little 
talk  about  the  Avar  Avhich  resulted  in  their  hating  each  other  cordi- 
ally ever  after. 

But  there  were  some  who  did  not  wait  for  discussion ;  William 
Heath,  as  aforesaid,  Eeuben  Clement,  Joseph  "Wliitcher,  a  new 
comer,  and  Ephraim  Lund  Avere  ready  to  sei-ve  their  country. 
They  scoured  up  their  old  hunting  pieces,  mended  their  clothes  and 
shoes  and  were  soon  prepared  to  leave.* 

They  all  went  aAvay  together  on  that  summer  morning.  There 
was  no  rail  car  in  which  to  ride,  no  jolting  stage  coach  to  carry 
them,  no  Avagon  of  any  kind.  A  long,  weary  march  on  foot  was 
before  them.  They  had  said  good-bye  to  their  tamilies  and  friends, 
and  as  they  journeyed  doAvn  the  Asquamchumauke  they  stopped 
to  take  Avhat  might  be  to  them  a  last  look.  In  their  hearts  they 
felt  that  it  Avas  ••  farcAvell  ye  great  avoocIs  and  mountains  of  Warren, 
ye  moose  and  deer,  and  ye  bright  streams  of  the  hills.  We  may 
return  no  more,  our  graves  may  be  in  other  lands."  Then  all  day 
long  they  hastened  doAvn  the  river.  The  hills  melted  aAvay  in  the 
distance  and  the  great  forest  shut  the  mountains  from  their  sight. 
A  week  later  they  were  soldiers  in  .John  Stark's  regiment,  and  a 
part  of  AVashington's  army. 

Hold!  says  some  incredulous  reader  noAV  living  in  our  moun- 
tain hamlet.  How  do  you  know  all  tliis?  Be  easy  for  a  moment. 
When  Ave  began  the  great  Avork  of  writing  this  immortal  history 
we  could  not  find  a  single  person  who  knew  anything  about  those 

*.Iohn  Hinohson  was  in  Ca]itain  .John  Parker's  company  in  1775.  He  went  to 
Canada  and  got  home  Dec.  ,31,  1775.  He  printed  his  name  thus,  ",Iohn  Hisksox." 
\'ol.  viii.  \\nac  -218.— Reconls  in  the  otVu^e  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Concord,  X.  H. 


THE   AMERICAN    REVOLUTION    BEGUN.  265 

atIio  served  in  the  -war  of  the  RevohUion.  But  in  tlie  pvoccss  of 
time  the  Avliole  subject  <»raduallj'  unfolded  itself.  One  of  the  first 
steps  was  the  finding-  the  census  of  1775.*  Then  Warren  and 
Piermont  Avere  classed  together  for  enumeration.  The  population 
of  botli  towns  wasattliat  time  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  persons, 
and  of  these,  although  the  war  had  hut  just  commenced,  fifteen 
men  were  serving  in  the  army.  Now  there  were  about  twenty 
families  in  Warren,  and  allowing  five  persons  in  a  tamily  which  is 
nearly  the  average,  one  hundred  of  the  above  population  belonged 
in  AVarren.  We  can  safelj^  say  one  half  of  it  did  and  by  the  same 
rule  can  claim  half  the  soldiers.  But  we  are  modest  and  don't 
claim  but  five  as  that  is  all  that  we  can  hear  of.  Perhaps  there 
were  more. 

And  now  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the  land ;  the  notes 
of  preparation,  tlie  din  of  arms,  the  clangor  of  the  strife  resounded 
to  our  hamlet  among  the  hills.  Speculators  and  sutlers  were  abroad, 
and  Daniel  Gilman  came  to  town  bujdng  all  the  moose  skins  he 
could  find,  which  he  manufactured  into  moosehide  breeches  and 
sold  to  the  Continental  Government  at  eighteen  shillings  a  pair.f 
The  quartermaster  was  abroad,  and  the  great  Committee  of  Safety 
appointed  for  the  whole  State  of  New  Hampshire  contracted  with 
Joshua  Copp,  Esq.,  our  settler  on  the  banks  of  Runaway  pond,  to 
notify  the  various  towns  of  Grafton  count}"  and  collect  their  quota 
of  beef  for  the  use  of  tlie  Continental  army.  J  Something  to  drink 
for  the  soldiers  was  necessary,  and  as  there  was  no  distillery  in 
AVarren,  Phillips  White,  the  good,  kind  hearted  proprietor  we  have 
mentioned  so  many  times  before,  generously  advanced  the  amount 
to  be  furnished  by  the  settlers  of  his  township,  which  was  '•  ni7ie 
garlins  and  two  quarts  of  West  Indea  rum.''**  But  the  strangest 
tiling  that  happened  tliis  year  was  the  appointment  of  John  Balch 
"  to  ridejjost'"'  through  all  the  northern  country  and  through  our 

*The  rollowins  is  the  entry  under  the  head  of  Piermont  and  AVarren,  in  the 
census  report  of  1775,  viz  :  Males  under  sixteen,  52 ;  IMales  from  sixteen  to  fifty,  28 ; 
:>ralos  above  flfty.  4:  Males  in  the  army,  15;  Females,  (iO;  Xegrroes  and  Slaves,  0. 
Total,  lUS.  Firearms  lit  for  use  1 ;  do.  wantinfr,  -il ;  pounds  public  powder,  16;  do. 
private  powder,  0.— X.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  1,  2;55. 

fThursdav  Oct.  31st,  177(>.  Agreed  with  My.  Danl  Oilman  for  100  coarse 
Moose  Hide  Breeches,  at  ISs.— X.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii.  page  G:5. 

t"  March  (i,  1783.  Ordered  the  Treas  to  pay  .Joshua  Copp,  Colt,  of  Beef, 
Grafton,  live  pounds  fourteen  sliillings.  for  time  and  Expences,  &c.,  to  notify  Towns 
of  the  time  to  receive  Beef."— X.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii.  page  317. 

**  See  Vol.  i.  Town  Clerk's  Book. 


2G6  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

mouiitaiu  hamlet  of  course.  He  was  appointed  by  the  aforesaid 
Committee  of  Safety,  and  was  to  set  out  from  Portsmouth  on 
Saturdaj^  moruing-  and  ride  to  Haverhill  bj'  way  of  Conwaj'  and 
Plj'mouth,  thence  down  the  Connecticut  river  to  Charleston  and 
Keene.  and  to  Portsmouth  again  in  fourteen  days,  and  was  to 
receive  seventy  hard  silver  dollars,  or  their  equivalent,  for  every 
thi'ee  months'  service.  For  the  whole  seven  long  years  of  the 
revolutionary  war  John  Balch  rode  post. 

We  are  tokl  how  one  night  the  storm  and  darkness  overtook 
him  in  the  woods  this  side  of  Plymouth.  All  the  long,  black  hours 
he  stopped  in  one  of  our  old  "  hotels,"  and  only  came  riding  past 
Stevens  MerrilFs  just  as  the  rising  sun  was  flashing  among  the 
waterfalls  and  sending  the  night  mists  down  the  glens.  But  most 
often  he  came  to  Warren  in  the  bright  forenoon,  when  the  woods 
were  cheerful  and  the  rough  clearings  inviting.  As  he  dashed 
along  the  stony  bridle  path  he  would  blow  a  blast  on  his  i)ost 
horn,  rousing  the  old  wood  and  waking  the  echoes.  Then  he 
would  laugh  to  see  what  a  turn  out  there  would  be  from  the  log- 
cabins  ;  the  good  man  and  his  wife,  all  the  flaxen  headed  children, 
and  even  the  cat  and  dog,  the  geese,  turkeys,  and  chickens,  and 
sometimes  the  old  horse,  cow,  and  hog,  each  seeming  eager  to 
know  why 

'■  Johnny  Balch,  bh)wiug  u  hhist  both  loud  and  shrill. 
Dashed  through  the  woods  and  galloped  down  the  hill." 

But  most  generally  the  family  wanted  to  hear  the  news  and  the 
jolly  post  rider  was  nothing  loth  to  give  it.* 

But  the  summer  went  by  and  the  autumn  came,  and  our  settlers 
learned  that  Schuyler  and  Montgomery  with  a  small  force  had 
advanced  by  lake  Champlain  against  Montreal,  and  Arnold  at  the 
head  of  a  thousand  men  had  tramped  through  the  wilderness  to 
the  St.  Lawrence.  Then  during  all  the  winter  hardly  anything 
was  heard  from  the  boys  in  the  army. 

In  the  spring  of  1776  there  was  another  call  for  troops,  and 
news  came,  after  Arnold  failed,  of  a  threatened  invasion  from 
Canada.  All  the  frontier  was  in  excitement  at  this,  and  there  was 
a  great  demand  for  arms.  The  Committee  of  Safety  endeavored 
to  furnish  a  supply,  and  they  let  Chase  Wlutcher,  our  boy  settler, 
*For  an  account  of  .John  Balch's  riding  post,  see  Vol.  vii.  N.  H.  Hist.  Coll. 


THE   WAKRIORS   OF   WAKREN.  2G7 

have  money  enough  to  buy  thirteen  guus,  for  that  number  was 
nooilod  in  the  hamlet.  He  gave  security  to  pay  for  the  same  when 
called  for.  and  then  loading-  tliem  upon  his  horse  trudged  behind 
his  faithful  beast,  and  brought  them  all  safely  to  Warren.* 

These  guns  were  ftuthfully  distributed  among  our  settlers. 
Even  Stevens  Merrill  was  offered  one,  but  he  said  he  did  not 
believe  in  war  and  would  not  tight  on  either  side  and  so  would  not 
have  it.  Jonathan  Clement  and  Joseph  Patch  also  refused  to  take 
a  gun  even  as  a  gift. 

It  is  told,  with  how  much  truth  we  cannot  say,  that  Joshua 
Copp  and  Simeon  Smith  went  away  to  the  regions  of  upper  Coos 
about  tills  tune  to  serve  Avith  Captain  Eames,  a  renowned  military 
chieftain,  said  to  have  once  resided  in  the  neighboring  province  of 
Wentworth.  Captain  Eames,  with  his  company,  had  built  a  fort 
at  Coos,  and  was  ordered  in  the  autumn  of  1776  '•  to  engage  ten 
men  throiigh  tiie  A\inter  as  scouts.""  Copp  and  Smith,  tradition  has 
it,  served  on  this  scout.  They  had  seen  the  supplies,  consisting  of 
two  barrels  of  gimpowder,  eight  hundred  pounds  of  lead  for  bullets, 
six  hundred  flints,  and  blankets  for  forty  soldiers,  and  all  other 
necessaries  sent  by  the  Conmiittee  of  Safety.  They  were  loaded  on 
the  backs  of  a  train  of  pack  horses  which  journeyed  along  the 
rough  bridle  path  northward.  "  and  were  for  the  use  of  the  troops 
on  the  western  portion  of  tliis  colony  at  Coos."  f  They  rendez- 
voused one  night  at  Obadiah  Clement"s  little  tavern,  at  the  foot  of 
Height-o-land,  and  the  next  morning  as  they  marched  away  Copp 
and  Smith  resolved  that  they  would  see  before  the  snoAv  flew  Avhat 
kind  of  service  they  would  have  in  the  Avild  upper  country. 

The  folks  at  home  had  heard  from  John  Balch,  the  post  rider, 
all  the  news  of  the  years'  cami)aigns.  The  disasters  on  Long- 
Island  and  the  losses  along  the  i  Ludson  made  everything  seem 
black  enough ;  but  in  the  mid  Avinter  word  came  of  the  great  Aictory 
of  the  battle  of  Trenton  and  the  rebels  took  heart  again  .J 

*  "  Aug.  5th,  1776.  Ordered  the  Receiver  General  To  pay  Mr.  Chace  AVitcher  of 
AA'arven,  Twenty-four  pounds  to  buy  Anns  and  Amunition,  he  Giving-  Security  to 
pay  tlie  Same  wlien  Demandeil."— N.  H.  Ili-st.  Coll.  Aol.  vii.  .J5. 

A  gun  cost  3(js. 

t  See  A'ol.  vii.  X.  H.  Hist.  Coll. 

t  In  177(),  Colonel  William  Tarletou  who  once  lived  in  AVarren,  was  a  sergeant 
in  Edward  Everett's  company. 

The  same  year,  Josepli  Lund  was  in  Captain  James  Osgood's  comiiany. —  See 
Records  in  the  ofllcp  of  Secretarv  of  State,  (.'oncord,  X.  II. 


268  "  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

The  next  year  war  came  to  our  frontier  in  earnest,  and  the 
dwellers  in  the  land  of  the  Coosucks  got  a  slight  taste  of  it.  Even 
our  pioneers  snutted  the  battle  from  afar.  Burgoyne  began  his 
invasion  from  Canada,  proceeding  by  Lake  Champlain,  and  the 
greatest  excitement  prevailed  through  all  the  wild  border.  Hith- 
erto there  had  been  only  a  Conimitteeof  Safety  for  the  whole  State, 
but  now  danger  was  so  imminent  that  a  committee  of  safety, 
inspection,  vigilance,  or  correspondence,  whatever  it  might  be 
called,  was  formed  in  nearly  every  town.  These  co-operated  with 
the  State  Committee  rendering  it  efficient  service.  The  towns  thus 
became,  in  a  measure,  separate  provinces,  or  rather  independent 
democracies,  each  contributing  all  the  aid  it  could  to  the  great 
cause. 

The  Committee  in  this  northern  country,  as  elsewhere,  met  at 
stated  intervals  and  acted  in  a  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
capacity.  The  conduct  of  all  suspicious  persons  was  inquired  into ; 
numerous  arrests  were  made,  and  imprisonments  and  banishments 
frequently  followed.  They  even  took  the  subject  of  confiscation 
in  hand  and  the  property  of  many  individuals  who  were  not 
'•truly  loyal''  escheated  to  the  State. 

We  never  could  learn  that  the  great  committee  of  Warren 
ever  did  much  in  these  matters,  but  the  committees  of  Plymouth 
and  Haverhill,  neighboring  democracies,  were  often  terribly  exer- 
cised. For  instance  we  find  it  recorded  that  the  State  Committee 
this  year  received  a  letter  from  the  committee  at  Plymouth  "in- 
forming that  several  strangers,  well  dressed,  had  been  discovered 
at  a  ver}'  unfrequented  place  in  the  wood,  whom  they  supposed 
were  engaged  in  a  bad  design."  The  State  Committee  immedi- 
ately ordered  search  to  be  made  and  the  strangers  apprehended  if 
possible.    Whether  the}"  were  arrested  or  not  we  never  learned. 

It  is  also  written  down  that  at  Haverhill,  in  the  "Cohass" 
region,  was  a  great  tory,  Mr.  Fisher  by  name,  who  was  compelled 
to  exile  himself  to  some  foreign  land.  His  farm  on  the  intervals 
the  said  committee  gently  took  into  their  possession,  cuUivated 
it  with  the  soldiers  stationed  at  the  Cohass,  and  eventually  sold  the 
land  and  devoted  the  proceeds  to  the  "  rebel  cause,'"  as  King  George 
was  ijleased  to  term  it. 

But  if  Warren's  Committee  of  Safetv  did  not  do  much  in  the 


IJOrXTIES   TO   SOLDIERS.  "ifif* 

direction  wc  have  indicated,  tliere  were  some  in  town  Avho  Avorked 
for  the  ••  patriot  cause  "  in  a  priA^ate  capacity,  and  some  who  worked 
for  the  good  of  their  own  pockets. 

In  the  journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  it  is  also  written  — 
''  Friday  July  4th,  1777.  Ordered  the  R.  G.*  to  let  John  Mills  have 
out  of  the  Treasry  £25,  to  i^ay  bounties  to  men  he  enlists,  for 
which  he  is  to  be  acctble.'"  f 

How  many  men  John  3Iills  enlisted  we  never  learned,  but 
repoi-t  has  it  that  Jonathan  Fellows,  who  had  just  come  to  town 
and  John  Mills,  Junior,  went  away  to  the  war  about  these  times, 
jierhaps  stimulated  to  patriotic  deeds  by  this  very  £25,  And  it 
would  not  be  at  all  unlikely  that  John  Mills  enlisted  men  in  the 
regions  round  about,  as  many  another  recruiting  otRcer  has  done 
at  a  later  day.  Fellows,  and  IMills,  Junior,  it  is  told,  were  at  the 
battle  of  Bennington,  the  latter  being  lirst  lieutenant  in  the  fifth 
company  of  Colonel  Mchol's  regiment. | 

But  it  is  not  written  in  the  Committee  of  Safety's  book,  and 
perhaps  that  honorable  body  never  found  out,  what  Stevens  Mer- 
rill and  his  son  Jonathan  did.  When  the  cry,  "  the  British  are 
coming,"  was  heard,  Mr.  M.  and  his  son,  who  were  always  true  to 
the  royal  government,  scented  gold  from  afar  and  prepared  to  put 
a  fair  proportion  of  it  in  their  own  pockets.  They  ciuietly  went 
to  work  and  bought  up  a  considerable  number  of  beef  cattle  of 
the  settlers  and  obtained  others  from  the  wooded  pastures  in  the 
neighboring  lands,  and  then  when  they  had  learned  from  the  Avell 
dressed  strangers  "  discovered  in  the  A^ery  unfrequented  place  in 
the  wood,"  at  what  time  a  British  guard  Avould  be  at  the  rendez- 
vous, over  beyond  the  Connecticut  riA'er  among  the  Green  moun- 
tains, they  set  ofi"  one  bright  night  with  the  whole  herd.  They 
droA'e  the  beeA^es  to  Haverhill  by  the  old  Indian  trail,  now  an 
unfrequented  way,  a  path  in  Avhich  there  Avasno  danger  of  meeting 
any  one,  and  when  the  gray  of  the  morning  came  on,  halted  in  a 
secluded  glen  two  miles  or  so  from  the  mouth  of  the  OliA'erian. 

*R.  G.  means  Receiver  General. 

t  See  N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii.  10+. 

j  John  Mills  was  first  a  '2(1  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Timothy  Beders  regiment, 
fourth  company,  in  1776.  This  regiment  was  marched  to  Canada,  and  at  a  fort 
called  "The  Cedars"  was  di-^gracefully  surrendered;  then  in  1777  lie  was  1st  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  fifth  comiKiny,  in  Colonel  Moses  NichoFs  regiment,  and  was  present 
with  his  company  at  the  battle  of  Bennington,  and  last  was  Captain  of  the  fourth 
company,  in  Colonel  Daniel  Reynold's  regiment,  in  1781.— See  Records  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Concord,  N.  H. 


■-^1'  HISTORY    OF   AVARRKN. 

All  daj^  lono-  they  kept  the  drove  together  and  on  the  second  night, 
with  some  assistance,  swam  tliera  across  the  Connecticut.  Morning 
found  them  in  the  yards  of  the  rendezvous.  Fat  cattle  were  valu- 
al)le  then,  and  on  the  fourth  day  our  loyal  settlers  were  safe  at 
home  again,  with  their  pockets  well  lined  with  British  gold. 
Obadiah  Clement  and  others  wondered  what  became  of  the  cattle, 
but  years  went  by  before  they  learned  of  the  protitable  and  some- 
what Avild  adventures  in  Avhich  their  neighbors  were  engaged. 

Some  folks  are  ready  now  to  cry  out;  Cowboys!  Tories! 
Traitors!  Devils!  they  ought  to  have  been  hung!  and  a  good 
many  other  like  pious  ejaculations.  Be  easy  for  a  moment ;  Stevens 
Merrill,  from  the  manner  in  which  he  viewed  the  great  questions 
of  that  day.  from  his  own  stand  point,  was  a  true  patriot.  He 
believed  the  colonists  were  wrong,  that  King  George  was  right, 
and  that  the  war  would  ruin  the  country.  He  himself  loved  his 
native  land,  and  was  loyal  to  his  king.  He  firmly  believed  his 
opinions  were  correct,  his  conscience  pointed  out  the  patli  of  duty, 
and  then  as  always  through  life  he  endeavored  to  follow  it.  Had 
the  result  of  the  contest  been  different  the  rebels  would  haA'C  been 
in  the  wrong,  deserving  the  halter,  and  himself  the  true  patriot. 
Success  makes  the  hero,  failure  the  traitor. 

But  if  our  tory  friends  performed  a  night  march  to  the  Con- 
necticut, at  the  head  or  tail  of  a  horned  cavalcade,  many  another 
body  proceeded  through  the  woods  to  the  same  destination,  but 
for  a  far  dift'erent  o])ject.  There  was  hurrying  to  and  fro  through- 
out all  the  country,  and  a  large  number  went  marching  to  the  land 
of  Coos.  Captain  Eames  took  up  squads  of  men,  l>ut  Captain 
Bedel  marched  at  the  head  of  a  Avhole  company  along  the  rough 
bridle  path.*  He  had  a  fife  and  drimi,  and  the  musicians  made 
exceedingly  pleasant  music,  sweet  to  liear  among  the  woods  of 
Warren.  Then  he  had  a  continental  flag,  carried  sometimes  In  the 
centre  of  the  t-olumn,  which  fluttered  most  beautifully  in  the  leafy 
forest.  All  the  men  as  a  general  thing  camped  near  Obadiah 
Clement's  inn.  marching  the  whole  distance  from  Plymouth  in  a 
single  day,  and  the  ti'ain  of  pack  horses  used  to  carry  sui^plies  and 
ammunition,  almost  eat  our  poor  landloixl  out  of  house  and  home. 
Sometimes  he  got  his  pay,  but  ofteuer  he  did  not,  and  when  he  did 

*  See  N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii. 


SACRIFICES   OF    THE    SETTLERS.  271 

it  was  the  old  Continental  currency,  that  eventually  proved  wortli- 
less.  But  he  kept  good  natured  and  ahvays  rejoiced  at  the  success 
of  the  colonies.* 

Captain  Eames  and  Bedel  did  good  service  ouarding  the  rich 
meadows  on  the  "  long  river  of  pines/'  otherwise  Dutchman's 
Varshe,  or  frcsli  river.  But  they  never  had  a  tight;  not  a  redcoat 
came  to  disturl)  tliem.  Still  they  kept  the  toAvn  quiet,  and  made 
friends  with  the  Coosuck-  Indians,  as  they  were  instructed  by  the 
great  Committee  of  Safety. 

All  this  happened  right  at  home,  but  our  hardy  mountaineers 
were  exceedingly  anxious  all  this  season,  1777,  to  hear  the  news 
from  the  army.  When  they  learned  of  the  battle  of  Benning- 
ton, Stark,  to  them,  was  the  greatest  man  living,  and  joy  was  un- 
bounded. There  were  some  who  did  not  like  the  news,  but  they 
were  shrewd,  and  said  nothing.  Again  Avlien  word  came  of  the 
surrender  of  Burgoyne,  most  of  the  good  settlers  almost  went  into 
ecstasies ;  our  silent  friends  were  inwardly  as  mad  as  March  hares. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  the  prospects  of  the  colonists  were 
not  so  good.  Another  winter  passed,  the  winter  of  Valley  Forge; 
the  spring  came,  and  with  it  the  darkest  year  of  the  war.  News 
from  the  army  was  scarce ;  what  they  did  hear  was  bad,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  AYarren  seemed  divided  and  estranged. 

And  now  in  the  colonists'  darkest  hour  happened  the  greatest 
event  of  the  war — to  the  Warrcnites.  Hostility  came  to  the  dwel- 
lers of  the  hamlet.  It  transpired  in  this  wise.  The  soldiers  who 
guarded  the  ''Cohass"  frontier  were  enlisted  for  short  periods. 
Consequently  discharges  followed  rapidly,  the  A^eteraus  returned 
home,  and  raw  recruits  hurried  to  the  log  forts,  stockades,  and 
block  houses,  so  valorously  guarded  by  Captains  Eames  and  Bedel. 
There  was  a  continual  passing  of  troops,  and  as  these  soldiers,  as 
before  mentioned,  never  found  a  foe  in  the  front,  being  anxious  to 
achieve  some  deed  of  greatness,  looked  sharp  for  one  in  the  rear. 

Some  folks  never  can  mind  their  own  business,  and  no  man, 
who  is  a  man,  is  without  his  enemies.  Joseph  Patch,  our  first  set- 
tler had  his,  and  to  the  Aalorous  soldiers,  who  marched  and  counter- 
marched along  the  bridle  path,  they  reported  that  Patch  was  a  tory. 
"When  he  Avas  at  home  no  passer  by  dared  meddle  with  him.     But 

*. James  Clement's  statement. 


'272  HISTORY    OF   AA'ARREX. 

work  inu^t  l)e  done,  and  in  autumn  lie  was  otlon  away  hunting. 
At  such  times  Mrs.  Patch  with  her  children  would  go  for  a  day  or 
two  to  her  father's,  Mr.  Stevens  Merrill's.  On  one  occasiou  when 
her  husband  was  looking  after  his  sable  traps  and  exploring  for 
beaver  meadows  over  Mount  Carr,  Mrs.  P.  saw  two  or  three 
soldiers  hurry  across  her  father's  clearing,  and  disappear  in  the 
woods  towards  her  owu  dwelling.  Their  appearance  made  a 
strong  impression  upon  her  mind,  so  much  so,  that  half  an  hour 
afterwards  she  went  out,  and  looking  towards  her  own  liome,  saw 
a  dense  black  smoke  rising  like  a  cloud  above  it.  Screaming,  she 
gave  the  alarm,  then  hurried  down  the  bridle  path.  But  she  was 
too  late.  The  fire  had  burst  from  the  roof;  the  flames  leaped  up 
hot  and  fierce,  aud  the  smoke,  a  great  black  column,  towered  hun- 
dreds of  feet  above  and  then  floated  away  over  the  great  forest  and 
disappeared  beyond  the  mountain.  Twenty  minutes  later  and  the 
house,  wliich  was  the  best  one  in  town,  was  almost  wholly  con- 
sumed. One  of  the  soldier  boys  had  set  fire  to  it  with  his  pipe,  as 
was  afterwards  learned,  and  then  they  valorously  marched  on. 
Mr.  Patch  had  a  large  quantity  of  pro\isions,  including  several 
barrels  of  moose  meat,  also  a  considerable  store  of  rich  peltries,  all 
Avhich  were  totally  destroyed.  Nothing  was  saved  from  the  house 
except  "rt  h'tfle  iron  2'>ickin(j  ■pan,'^  partly  melted  by  the  fire, 
which  the  family  kept  for  many  years  as  a  memento  of  one  of  the 
great  events  of  the  war.* 

Lumber  and  materials  were  plenty,  there  were  willing  hands 
to  aid  in  the  work,  and  before  winter  set  in  another  house  rose  like 
the  phcenix  from  the  ashes.  The  barn  with  its  contents  did  not 
burn  and  Patch  was  nearly  as  comfortable  as  before. 

NoAV  many  people  will  cyy  shame.  But  we  would  say  as  be- 
fore, wait  a  moment.  Don't  blame  the  soldiers.  Such  things 
must  be  exjjected  in  time  of  war.  They  always  happen  —  and 
for  our  own  sake  and  your  pleasure,  Christian  reader,  avc  are 
almost  glad  that  they  do.  AMtliout  such  a  dire  catastrophe  we 
should  not  have  had  this  brilliant  episode  for  our  most  entertaining 
history. 

But  we  must  pause  here.  A  new  era  dawns  upon  our  moun- 
tain hamlet.  Hitherto  the  lordly  proprietors  had  cut  all  the  roads, 
*. Jacob  Patch's  statement. 


THE  DAWN   OF   A   NEW   ERA.  273 

fought  out  all  the  boundary  feuds,  had  sent  men  to  build  mills,  had 
made  appropriations  for  preaching,  and  had  looked  arfter  all  the 
interests  of  onr  little  State  just  as  a  parent  watches  his  child.  Not 
a  farthing  for  taxes,  not  a  day's  labor  on  the  highways,  hardly  any- 
thing paid  for  the  broad  acres  iu  the  valley  and  on  the  hill-side, 
not  a  soldiei*  furnished  for  the  war  we  have  been  describing,  except 
such  as  went  from  pure  patriotism  with  poor  pay,  and  most  often 
no  bounty;  the  early  settlers  were  free  as  the  wind. 

But  our  little  town  was  fast  expanding  into  strength  and 
beauty ;  and  the  former  royal  province,  at  present  the  Kepublic  of 
New  Hampshire,  which  as  yet  had  paid  no  attention  to  the  smiling 
hamlet,  now  believing  that  a  good  revenue  might  be  derived  with- 
out much  trouble,  like  a  fond  lover  began  to  pay  court  and  com- 
mence suit  to  the  bright  and  happy  township  among  the  hills. 

How  our  pioneer  settlement  thus  suddenly  became  an  ample 
democracy  in  which  the  citizens  made  sundry  laws  and  appointed 
the  judicial  and  executive  otRcers,  but  still  acknowledged  a  slight 
allegiance  to  the  State,  composed  like  the  Amphictyonic  council  of 
the  great  association  of  democracies,  will  be  told  in  the  most 
entei'taining  manner  in  our  next. 


R 


liRKAKI.NG    AND    SWINGLING    FLAX. 


BOOK    Y. 


CONCERNING    THE    MIGHTY   M.VRCH   OF   EVENTS   IN   THE   GREAT   CIVIL 
HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  HAJILET.  AND  HOAV  CERTAIN  MEN 
ACHIEVED  I>D[ORTAL  (iLORY  BY  (4ETTING  ELECTED  TO  TOWN 
OFFICE. 

AVlIEX  in  the  course  of  human  events  one  certain  body 
feels  a  regard  for  anotlier,  there  immediately  begins  to  be  made 
sundry  strong  efforts  to  inform  the  regarded  party  of  the  remarka- 
ble feelings  experienced.  Smiles,  sighs,  tender  glances,  and  little 
gentle  pressures  of  the  hands  are  given  if  the  parties  are  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  each  other.  But  if  distance  intervenes 
or  extreme  modesty  prevails,  then  fond  missives  are  indited  and 
borne  by  the  fleet  post,  communicating  the  heavenly  passion, —  all 
which  is  intensely  interesting  to  the  immediate  parties  but  decid- 
edly ridiculous  to  outsiders. 

The  latter  method — the  tender  missive — was  the  one  adopted 
by  our  young  and  vigorous  republic ;  but  not  from  any  feeling  of 
modesty.  It  was  distance  that  forced  the  sending  of  a  tender 
epistle  to  our  coy  Httle  hamlet  that  hitherto  had  nestled  so  quietly 
and  almost  unnoticed  among  the  hills.  A  go-between  in  the 
person  of  the  great  Committee  of  Safety,  and  a  few  other  patriotic 


276  HISTORY   OF    WARREN, 

agents*  had  ■whispered  the  information  that  the  young  hamlet  was 
beautiful  and  fertile,  and  gi'owing  in  wealth,  and  thus  the  interest 
was  excited. 

What  was  the  tenor  of  the  exquisite  billet-doux  forwarded? 
''  To  the  right  about  face,  forward  march — wake  up,  quick-step  — 
take  your  place  iu  the  great  family  of  small  States."  Short  and 
sweet  1  But  such  was  love's  language  in  the  war  times  of  which 
we  wi'ite.  Every  tiling  then  had  to  bend  and  every  nerve  be 
strained,  that  the  great  Committee  of  Safety  might  have  money 
and  the  soldiers  be  armed,  equipped,  and  fed.  Warren  must  do 
her  part,  must  show  her  love  for  the  young  repubUc,  although  she 
might  be  a  little  shy  and  backward,  by  contributing  her  mite  to 
the  patriotic  cause. 

Representations,  therefore,  were  made  to  the  Gi'eat  and  Gen- 
eral Court  of  New  Hampshire,  that  it  was  their  duty  to  attend  to 
the  matter,  in  order  that  a  generous  revenue  might  be  forth- 
coming. 

That  honorable  body  acted.  The  macliinery  of  legislation  was 
immediately  put  in  operation  and  a  statute  manufactured.  It  is 
very  interesting,  and  reads  somewhat  like  a  romance ;  thus — 

"  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-nine.''^ 

''  An  Act  to  ascei'tain  the  proportion  of  public  taxes  upon  several 
towns  and  to  enable  them  to  collect  the  same." 

Thus  it  opens  in  a  heroic  strain.  Then  follow  the  several 
whereases,  to  wit: 

"  Bath,  Canaan,  Wentworth,  and  Warren,  have  not  paid  their 
proportion  of  taxes. 

"  This  has  been  represented  by  agents. 

"  It  is  owing,  1st,  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country;  and, 
2d,  that  some  of  the  towns  have  no  town  officers. 

"  Therefore  that  it  may  never  happen  again, — 

''be  it  enacted. 

''  1st.  That  the  State  Treasurer  issue  his  warrant  for  the  whole 
tax,  State  and  Continental. 

*  Obadiah  Clement  was  the  principal  of  these. 


♦  THE  FmsT  toav:n  meeting.  277 

''  2d.  That  it  be  assessed  the  same  as  on  the  first  daj^  of  April 
last. 

"  3d.  That  the  town  of  AVarren  pay  twenty  shillings  for  each 
£1,000  raised  in  the  State. 

"  Mh.  That  Samuel  Emerson,  of  Plymouth,  is  commanded  to 
call  a  town  meetiug  in  Warreu,  and  preside  until  a  moderator 
shall  be  chosen." 

This  bill  was  passed  to  be  engrossed,  June  22d,  1779.  It  was 
signed  by  John  Langdon,  Speaker  of  the  House:  Meshech  Weare, 
President,  approved  it,  and  it  was  examined  by  Ebenezer  Thomp- 
son, Secretary  of  State. 

Samuel  Emerson,  who  dwelt  npon  the  east  bank  of  the 
Asquamchnmanke,  where  it  runs  a  slow  and  lordly  river,  felt 
highly  complimented  when  he  heard  of  the  great  honors  thrust 
upon  him,  and  he  promptly  began  his  duties. 

July  12th,  1779,  he  posted  a  notice  warning  the  inhabitants  of 
our  pleasant  township  to  assemble  ;*  and  on  the  28th  of  the  same 
month,  the  true  men  of  Warren  were  on  hand  at  the  inn  of  mine 
host,  Obadiah  Clement,  ready  for  business.  Our  toiy  friends  did 
not  attend;  they  forgot  that  the  meeting  was  to  be  held  that  day. 

But  steady  here — with  great  dignity  and  profound  gravity! 
The  mighty  events  of  history  should  not  be  hurried  over.  How 
important  is  the  first  assembly  of  the  hamlet.  It  is  an  auspi- 
cious moment,  a  new  birth  for  the  town ;  an  entrance  upon  a 
higher  life.  A  web  of  circumstances  is  to  be  woven  about  the 
citizens  that  shall  change  the  whole  course  of  their  aspirations  and 
ambitions ;  that  shall  furnish  a  field  on  which  thej^  may  achieve 
distinction,  as  legislators,  executive  otficers,  and  judges. 

Did  the  wise  men  as  they  went  to  that  meeting  from  their 

♦Names  of  the  Legal  Voters  of  Warrex  for  the  Year  1780. 

Isaiah  Batchelder.  JoseiJli  Kimball.  Joseph  Patch. 

William  Butler.  Epliraim  Limcl.  Simeon  Smith. 

Dauiel  Clark.  .Josepli  Lund.  Ephraim  True. 

Thomas  Clark.  .Tolin  Marston.  Mo.ses  True. 

Jonathan  Clement.  .Jonathan  Merrill.  Chase  Whitcher. 

Obadiah  Clement.  Joshua  Merrill.  John  Whitcher. 

Reuben  Clement,  Stevens  Merrill.  Reuben  Whitcher.  (1) 

Joshua  Copp.  John  ^lorrill. 

Gardner  Dustin.  Nathaniel  Niles. 

(1)  July  8,  17S7.—  Voted,  That  Mr.  :\roses  Page  have  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
laying  northerly  on  Josiah  IJartlett's  Esq.,  in  the  sixth  range,  lirst  <livision  to  be 
laid  out  in  the  same  fonn  as  other  lots  in  said  range,  in  consideration  of  his  set- 
tling Mr.  Reuben  Whitcher  in  said  town.— Proprietor's  Records. 


278  HISTOEY    OF    WARREN. 

fields  where  they  had  been  hajiuy  among  the  charred  stumps  and 
logs,  realize  its  importance?  Did  they  know  as  they  assembled 
in  Obadiah  Clement's  old  log  bar-room,  where  the  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution  hastening  to  the  camp  or  journeying  home  from  the 
war.  were  wont  to  stop;  where  good  milk-toddy,  whiskey-punch, 
flip,  and  egg-nog,  could  always  be  had,  and  where  in  winter  the 
old  fashioned  loggerhead  was  always  kept  at  a  white  heat,  that 
this  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  series  of  meetings  that  should 
continue  even  down  to  our  time?  Did  they  think  that  in  that 
identical  bar-room,  varnished  and  painted  by  the  smoke  of  pitch 
knots  and  tobacco  pipes,  would  arise  those  celebrated  political 
parties  —  the  Patch  party,  the  Merrill  party,  and  the  Clement 
party  —  which  always  existed  in  town,  down  to  the  era  of  the 
'•  Know  Nothings;"  that  it  would  be  here  that  they  would  learn 
to  love  office,  its  honors  and  emoluments,  to  spout  and  talk  and 
wrangle  about  the  laying  out  of  roads,  the  constructing  of  bridges, 
the  clearing  of  training  fields,  the  locating  of  school  houses,  and 
the  building  of  meeting  houses?  Perhaps  they  realized  it.  and 
perhaps  they  did  not. 

But  certain  it  is.  that  when  the  hour  of  ten  was  shown  by  the 
sun-dial  which  Obadiah  Clement  had  fixed  by  his  door,  'Squire 
Emerson  in  the  most  dignified  manner,  called  the  meeting  to 
order.  He  knew  his  business,  and  he  thought  he  knew  himself. 
A  moderator,  as  commanded  by  the  statute,  was  first  to  be  chosen. 
"  Please  forAvard  your  ballots,  gentlemen,"'  said  he.  But  not  a  man 
moved.  They  hadn't  a  ballot.  Then  the  'Squire  explained  and 
some  one  asked  Col.  Clement  for  paper  and  a  pen.  He  had  the 
pen,  but  said  he  did  not  think  there  was  any  paper  in  the  house. 
Some  one  suggested  there  was  birch  bark  by  the  fire-place,  and  ye 
dignified  chairman  said  that  would  do.  It  was  cut  in  little  slips, 
the  names  written,  and  the  ballots  forwarded.  It  did  not  take 
long  to  count  them,  and  the  chairman  declared  Joshua  Copp  unani- 
mously elected.  'Squire  Emerson,  after  administering  the  oath  of 
office,  whispered  in  Mr.  Copp's  ear  that  a  clerk  was  necessary,  and 
'Squire  Joshua,  in  the  style  of  his  gi-eat  predecessor,  said, ''  Please 
forward  your  ballots,  gentlemen,  for  town  clerk."  This  time  they 
knew  how  to  do  it,  and  Obadiah  Clement  having  every  one,  was 
also  declared  unanimously  elected. 


IIKST    DEMOCRATIC   COIKT.  279 

Then  ihere  was  a  pause ;  no  oue  knew  exactly  what  was 
Avanted,  ov  who  avouIcI  be  suitable  for  the  offices;  aucl  after  a  little 
general  discussion,  and  considerable  private  talk,  they  concluded 
to  adjourn  to  the  twelfth  of  August  next,  as  the  day  to  finish  the 
business  of  the  meeting,  and  obey  the  requirements  of  the  great 
statute  so  kindly  passed  for  their  benefit. 

The  morn  of  August  12th  came.  The  patriots  of  "Warren 
assembled,  and  even  a  few  of  those  loyal  to  Iviug  George,  who 
were  not  in  the  habit  of  sajang  much,  looked  in  upon  the  meeting. 
But  every  thing  Avas  cut  and  dried  beforehand,  as  is  often  the  case 
for  town  meetings  of  later  years,  and  it  took  but  very  feAV  minutes 
to  elect  Obadiah  Clement,  Joshua  Copp,  and  Israel  Stevens, 
another  new  comer,  selectmen:  Simeon  Smith,  constable;  and 
"William  Butler,  Reuben  Clement,  and  Thomas  Clark,  surveyors  of 
highways.  Then,  as  this  was  all  the  business  that  could  legally 
come  before  the  meeting,  they  adjourned  Avithout  day.* 

Another  thing  might  also  be  established,  and  as  it  was  imme- 
diately done,  it  is  proper  to  mention  it  here.  It  was  the  opening 
of  a  Court.  In  it  Judge  Joshua  Copp  f  presided  for  a  long  time 
Avith  dignity,  and  dispensed  exact  justice.  As  he  grew  in  years 
Judge  Jonathan  Merrill  succeeded  liim,  and  was  noted  for  firm- 
ness and  the  energy  AA^th  which  he  enforced  his  decisions.  This  is 
Avell  illustrated  in  the  celebrated  case,  Isaac  Cliflbrd  versus  John 
Morrill.  Cliftbrd  sued  Morrill  for  the  value  of  a  hog  which  he  had 
sold  him,  and  the  case  was  returned  before  his  honor  Judge 
Merrill.  Each  had  a  lawyer  from  some  distant  land,  and  after  a 
full  hearing,  the  case  was  decided  for  the  defendant.  The  first 
time  afterAvards  the  Judge  met  Mr.  C.  the  latter  Avould  not  speak, 
but  gTunted  like  a  hog  at  his  honor.  The  same  tiring  happened 
the  next  time  they  met ;  Avhereupon  Judge  M.J  turned  short  about. 

*  See  V^ol.  i.  Town  Clerk's  Records. 

f  First  Marrifif/e  in  Warren. — Esquire  .Joshua  Copp  performed  nearly  all  the 
marriage  ceremonies  while  he  held  office.  He  married  .lolin  Marstoii,  the  first 
marriage  in  town.  The  latter  had  no  money  and  Avas  to  pay  a  Ijusliel  of  l>eans  in 
advance.  He  only  carried  halt' a  bnsliel,  got  married  and  trusted  too  for  the  other 
half;  and  would  not  pay  because  he  said  his  wife  liicked  him  out  of  lied,  and  he 
had  to  lie  underneath.  Marston  moved  to  Konine}-  and  was  a  drunken  man. 
AVeld,  wlio  kept  store,  paid  liim  in  rum  to  run  nakeil  tln-ough  the  street.  Weld's 
wife  liorsewliipped  Marston,  making  the  fur  lly  good,  and  tlicn  whipped  her  hus- 
band too. 

t  Esquire  .Jonathan  was  a  man  w!io  couM  sliake  folks,  if  lie  was  smiling  and 
smooth  as  oil.     Wlicn  lie  and  his  father  with  llieir  families  were  moving  to  AVar- 


280  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

seized  uucle  Isaac  by  the  collar,  shook  him  nearly  out  of  his  boots, 
got  an  apolog^^  out  of  him  in  double  quick  time,  and  only  released 
him  when  he  had  promised  to  behave  well  in  the  future.* 

But  more  often  when  the  parties  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
decisions  of  our  distinguished  jurists,  they  took  an  appeal  and 
carried  the  case  to  a  court  of  higher  powers  and  broader  jurisdic- 
tion, established  by  the  great  Republic  of  New  Hampshire,  in 
some  place  far  across  Warren's  borders. f 

But  the  highest  of  all  the  rights  and  ]Drivileges  that  could  now 
be  exercised,  was  that  of  sending  a  minister,  ambassador,  or  pleni- 
potentiary extraordinary,  commonly  termed  the  representative,  to 
the  Great  and  General  Court  we  have  mentioned,  which  like  the 
aforesaid  renowned  Amphictyonic  council,  made  the  general  laws 
which  were  for  the  govermnent  of  the  numerous  proud  little 
democracies  of  the  republic.  By  so  doing  they  secured  the  high 
honors  thus  conferred,  and  had  a  voice  in  equalizing  the  light  bur- 
dens of  taxation  imposed. 

Thus  the  work  was  done.  The  assemblies,  otherwise  called 
toivn  meetings,  were  short  but  they  answered  the  purpose,  and  our 
grand  little  hamlet  was  organized  a  healthful  State.  It  was  to  pay 
a  light  tribute,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  shape  of  State  and  Conti- 
nental taxes,  for  protection,  to  the  gi'eat  Republic  that  had  such  a 
kind  regard  for  it,  but  in  other  respects  was  wholly  fi-ee. 

Still  there  was  no  danger,  even  if  it  had  not  been  compelled 
to  pay  a  farthing.  Its  mountain  boundaries  were  a  safeguard  and 
a  barrier  against  neighboring  territories,  and  the  wild  mountain- 

ren,  they  met  a  man  who  wouldn't  turn  out.  High  words  ensued,  and  then  the 
'Squire  and  the  stranger  tooli  oil'  their  coats  and  went  at  it.  The  stranger  got  a 
thrashing,  and  Stevens  Merrill  whose  religion  forbade  him  to  fight,  turned  the 
stranger's  liorse  out  of  the  road,  and  they  went  on  their  way  rejoicing. 

*  Isaac  Clifl'ord  of  Wentworth,  was  in  Col.  David  Hobart's  regiment  from  Dec. 
7,  1776,  to  March  1777.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Clifford  of  Kingston,  N.  H.,  who 
married  Sarah  Healy  and  then  moved  to  Romney.  Isaac  Clifford,  of  Romney,  was 
the  ancestor  of  all  the  Cliffords  in  the  Asquamchumauke  valley.  Hon.  Nathan 
Clifford,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  is  one  of  the 
family. — See  Hist,  of  Chester,  p.  493. 

t  Whipping  Posts  and  Stocks. — Warren  never  had  these  useful  machines  for 
preserving  the  peace  and  inculcating  good  order.  But  our  friends  down  at  Plym- 
outh did.  At  the  latter  place.  Col.  \Villiam  Webster,  "  the  old  man  of  all,"  had 
charge  of  them,  and  it  is  said  he  could  laj'  on  twenty  lashes  as  handsomely  as  any 
man  that  ever  lived.  By  an  act  passed  in  1701,  a  peiialty  was  inflicted  for  profane 
swearing,  of  sitting  in  the  stocks  not  exceeding  two  hours,  and  for  a  second 
offence,  not  exceeding  tliree  hours:  for  drunkenness,  to  sit  in  the  stocks  three 
hours.  Theft  might  in  some  cases  be  punished  by  whipping,  not  exceeding  twenty 
stripes.  Tlie  stocks  and  whipping  were  legal  penalties,  by  an  act  passed  in  1791 
and  in  force  in  1815. 


THE   LITTLE  BRIEF   AUTHORITIES.  281 

cevs  of  old  Peeling,  and  the  laud  of  Trecothick  and  the  other 
surrounding  regions,  seldom  durst  venture  across  them. 

Yet  it  was  a  liigh  honor  as  we  intimated  before  —  worth  a 
thousand  times  the  small  pittance  rendered  —  to  have  all  the 
niachinery  of  State  running  within  its  territoiy.  As  in  old  Rome 
the  consuls,  so  in  our  mountain  town  the  selectmen  were  the  high 
functionaries  and  rulers,  taking  precedence  of  each  other  in  the 
order  of  their  election.  And  then,  aftenvards  elected  or  appointed 
the  judges  who  presided  in  the  courts,  the  gi'eat  ambassador  or 
representative,  the  treasurer'  who  kept  the  money  in  a  ponderous 
"safe"  —  his  pocket, —  the  custodian  of  the  peace,  the  mighty 
constable,  the  superintendents  of  the  great  public  roads,  the  high- 
way siirveyors.  the  conservators  of  the  royal  game,  called  deer 
keepers,  the  tythingman  who  kept  order  on  the  Sabbath,  the 
gatherer  of  the  revenue  or  tribute,  styled  the  tax  collector,  the 
hog  constables,  politely  termed  hogreeves,*  who  put  yokes  upon  the 
necks,  and  rings  in  the  noses  of  swine  —  each  well  filled  his  sub- 
ordinate place  and  helped  continue  the  State. 

Of  course  now  the  citizens  of  our  beautiful  hamlet,  especially 
those  loyal  to  King  George,  fondly  appreciated  the  efforts  of  the 
kind  go-between,  the  great  Committee  of  Safety,  and  the  other 
patriotic  agents,  who  had  contributed  so  much  to  bring  about  this 
healthful  organization,  and  gently  reciprocating  the  fond  affection 
of  the  young  and  vigorous  Republic  of  New  Hampshire,  exerted 
every  energy  to  become  a  great  and  powerful  democracy,  much  to 
the  benefit  of  themselves  and  their  neighbors  round  about. 

* Hofjreeves. — Charles  Bowles  was  the  first  hogreeve  in  Warren.  By  an  act  of 
George  1, 1719,  it  was  enacted  that  no  yoke  shall  be  accounted  sufficient  that  shall 
not  be  the  depth  of  the  swine's  neck,  and  half  so  much  below,  and  the  sole  or 
bottom  three  times  as  long  as  the  thickness  of  the  swine's  neck.  The  ringing  was 
to  insert  a  piece  of  iron  wire  through  the  hog's  nose,  bring  the  ends  together,  and 
twist  them  so  that  it  should  project  about  an  inch  above  the  nose,  which  would 
prevent  rooting. 


CHAPTER  11. 

HOW  THE  REVENUE  WAS  KAISED  TO  CAREY  ON  THE  WAR  MUCH 
TO  THE  DELIGHT  OF  SEVERAL  RATRIOTIC  GENTLEMEN  CALLED 
TORIES,  AND  WHAT  SOLDIERS  WERE  FURNISHED  TO  FILL  WAR- 
REN'S  quota;  and  other  very  interesting  and  ENTER- 
TAINING JMATTER. 

The  young'  Eepublic  wanted  money ;  the  good  citizens  of 
Warren  knew  it ;  Samuel  Emerson,  of  Plymouth,  had  instructed 
them  how  it  must  be  raised ;  the  selectmen  wanted  to  try  the  new 
democratic  machine,  and  they  immediately  called  a  town  meeting 
for  that  purpose.  August  28,  1779,  it  was  held.  Gardner  Dustin 
ha\ing  been  chosen  moderator  they  refused  by  vote  to  accept  a 
plan  of  government  sent  them  by  the  Continental  Congress  and 
then  voted  to  raise  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  lay  out  on 
highways  and  one  hundred  pounds  to  defray  town  charges.* 

And  now  the  selectmen,  as  assessors,  went  to  work  imme- 
diately. They  traveled  from  clearing  to  clearing,  the  little  islands 
in  the  woods,  for  the  forest  was  the  rule  and  the  openings  the 
exceptions  in  these  bright  primitive  days ;  they  counted  the  horses 
and  neat  cattle,  and  estimated  the  l)road  ai-res  of  arable,  mowing 
and  pasture  lands,  and  then  carefully  calculated  each  man's  pro- 
portion. The  lists  made  out,  they  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Simeon  Smith,  constable,  for  collection,  he  filling  the  office  of  tax 
collector  as  well.f 

Simeon  Smith  was  a  man  of  perseverence,  but  he  found  liis 

*  This  was  depreciated  currency  —  the  okl  Contineutal  niouey. 
t  For  the  flrst  inventories  of  Warren,  and  tax  list,  see  Appendix. 


283 

task  a  diliicuU  one.  Some  paid  willingly,  and  some  resolutely 
declared  they  Avould  not  pay  at  all.  He  coaxed  and  flattered,  but 
all  to  no  avail.  Tlien  he  determined  to  try  what  ^drtue  there  was 
inlaw.  In  right  good  earnest  he  went  to  work.  He  took  the 
hardest  cases  tirst.  Stevens  Merrill,  the  stern,  silent  man,  was  the 
toughest  customer.  His  whole  tax  was  291  15s  lid,  and  he 
declannl  iie  would  not  pay  it.  So  Simeou  Smith  took  his  cow  by 
distraint,  and  advertised  it  for  sale  by  posting  a  notice  in  Obadiah 
Clement's  bar-room.    It  read  as  folloAvs: — 

''  TO   BE   SOLD   AT   A 

PUBLIC     VANDUE 

at  the  liighest  bidder,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Obadiah  Clement,  au 
innholder  in  Warren,  the  21st  day  of  December,  at  six  o'clock,  P. 
M.,  One  Cow.  Artical  of  sale  to  be  seen  at  time  and  place  by  me 
the  subscriber. 

SIMEON  SMITH,  Constable. 
Warren,  Dec.  IS.  177!)." 

Then  the  conditions  are  set  out  at  length,  something  as 
follows: — *••  A  cow  to  be  sold;  no  man  to  bid  less  than  a  pound; 
if  two  persons  bid  at  tlie  same  time,  then  the  cow  to  be  set  up 
again;  cash  or  money  to  be  all  paid  down:  if  the  buyer  won't  pay, 
then  he  shall  forfeit  the  cost  of  the  vandue.  Obadiah  Clement 
apintecl  vaudue  master  and  dark  of  the  sail.'' 

But  Simeon  Smith  had  to  look  sharp  or  be  would  not  be  able 
to  keep  that  cow  to  sell.  Stevens  Merrill  was  on  the  watch  to 
retake  her.  Three  nights  the  constable  had  her  in  possession,  and 
each  night  he  had  to  post  a  guard  over  her.  The  tirst  night  two 
men  at  the  price  often  shillings  each,  stood  sentry;  next,  one  man 
l)erformcd  tlie  duty  through  all  the  dark  hours  for  the  same 
amount,  and  the  third  night  two  strong  men  mounted  guard,  and 
also  had  a  large  force  at  convenient  distance,  who  would  come  at 
call  to  assist  them  if  necessary.  There  was  great  danger,  and 
people  were  afraid  of  Stevens  Merrill,  for  he  was  brave  as  a  lion, 
and  his  sou  Jonathan  as  cunning  as  a  fox.  In  the  still  hours  of 
nio-ht  thev  might  come  and  steal  the  cow  aM'av.     And  so  thev 


284  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

watched,  but  the  "  tei-ror  "  of  the  mouutaiu  hamlet  did  not  come.* 

December  21,  1779,  the  cow  was  sold,  being-  struck  off  to 
"Reubeu  Whitcher,  the  "hiest"  bidder,  for  ninety  pounds.  Mr. 
M.  received  all  the  money  except  what  was  necessary  to  pay  taxes, 
costs,  and  charges. 

Jonathan  Clement  was  as  obdurate  as  Mr.  Merrill.  He  was 
determined  not  to  pay,  and  there  was  also  a  special  "  vandue  "  for 
the  sale  of  some  of  his  property. 

All  the  rest  of  the  few  contrary  citizens  now  saw  that  oitr 
constable  was  in  earnest,  and  so  paid  up.  But  such  things  often 
happened  afterwards.  The  very  next  year  Jonathan  Merrill  and 
Joshua  Merrill  had  some  of  their  ewe  sheep  sold,  and  a  little  after, 
Joseph  Patch  had  '•  so  much  of  his  good  inglish  hay  sold  as  would 
pay  Ms  taxes,"  and  somebody  else  had  the  exquisite  pleasure  of 
seeing  their  two  "  puter  platters  "  auctioned  off  for  their  rates. f 

The  next  year  Col.  Clement  was  himself  constable,  having 
taken  the  place  of  Joshua  Men-ill,  who  backed  out  of  the  honor. 
Col.  C.  collected  and  paid  over  an  immense  sum  of  money  to  Maj. 
Child,  for  supplying  the  troops  to  the  westward,  and  also  furnished 
a  large  sum  to  the  Committee  of  Safety.^    Thus  the  sinews  of  war 

*  SIMEON  SMITH'S  ACCOUNT. 

£    s.    d.f. 

The  acompt  of  my  feeas  for  distraining 0    10    0    0 

To  two  keepers  one  kuiglit 1000 

To  one  keeper  one  knight 0    10    0    0 

To  two  keepers  one  night 1000 

To  one  knight 0    10    0    0 

one  keeper  one  kniglit 0    10    0    0 

To  evidences  to  tendering  the  Overplus  money  that  is  due  to  the  said 

Merrill 1    16    0    0 

To  exi^enses  of  the  cow  &  under  charges  and  expenses  for  keeping     .  18    10    0    0 

24      6    0    0 

^^^ i  14    17  11    2 

t  For  acconnt  of  these  sales,  see  Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  311  to  314. 

X  "  Thursday  March  8th  1781.  Ordered  the  Treasr  to  Discount  with  Ohadiah 
Clemens,  Constable  for  Warren,  One  thousand  and  five  hundred  pounds,  old 
Emission,  being  so  much  paid  to  Major  Child  by  order  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
agreeable  to  his  Receipt  of  the  10th  of  Octo  1780  for  surplying  the  Troops  at  the 
Westward,  £1500."— N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii.  252. 

Cold    Winter. 
The  winter  of  1780  was  terrible  cold.    There  were  forty  days,  thirty-one  in 
March,  that  it  never  thawed  on  the  south  side  of  the  house. 

Dark    Day. 
May  19, 1780,  was  the  dark  day.    Tlie  sun  was  seen  at  rising,  but  it  was  soon 
obscured  by  clouds  and  smoke,  and  it  became  so  dark  that  fowls  went  to  roost  and 
candles  were  lighted. 


HOW  THET  OPERATED  THE   *'  DRAFT."  285 

were  procured  and  the  Continental  Congress  and  the  young 
republic  satisfied. 

But  sometliing  else  beside  money  must  be  had.  Men  to  fill  up 
the  army  were  absolutely  necessary.  We  have  seen  what  a  num- 
ber, considering  the  whole  population,  had  gone  voluutarily,  but 
now,  though  the  will  was  good,  the  country  was  weary  and  drafts 
must  be  made.  The  soldiers  had  got  to  come,  and  the  citizens  in 
their  democratic  capacity  were  ready  to  furnish  them. 

The  selectmen  also  called  a  town  meeting  for  this  purpose.  It 
was  held  July  10,  1780.  They  all  felt  very  patriotic  in  Obadiah 
Clement's  old  bar-room.  The  good  "  old  west  endea  rum  "  made 
them  stomachful  and  brave,  and  they  voted  withoiit  a  dissenting 
voice  '•'  that  the  soldiers  shall  be  raised  by  a  rate  for  that  present 
time."  Also  voted  Obadiah  Clement,  Joshua  Copp  to  be  a  com- 
mittee to  jwovide  soldiers  for  the  town,  "and  to  exemp  those 

THAT  HAVE  DONE  TURNS  IN  THE  WAR,  TILL  OTHERS  HAVE  EQUILL 
TO  THEM." 

This  was  done  in  the  selectmeuship  of  Joshua  Copp,  Thomas 
Clark,  and  John  "VVTiitcher,  and  our  committee  assured  by  these 
high  rulers  that  all  their  expenses  should  be  promptly  paid  labored 
bravely  to  hire  a  soldier,  for  only  one  was  wanted  then  from  the 
town.  They  succeeded  and  Caleb  Young*  went  as  Warren's  levy 
into  the  Continental  army.  He  was  but  a  youth  who  happened  to 
tarry  a  few  days  at  Obadiah  Clement's  inn ,  and  a  few  pounds  for 
a  bounty  and  several  mugs  of  flip,  in  which  the  hissing  logger- 
head had  been  thrust,  made  the  young  man  exceeding  brave  and 
caused  him  to  greatly  desire  "  to  hear  drums  and  see  a  battle." 

Next  year  the  town  had  to  furnish  another  man.  March  7, 
1781, t  "  Voted,  that  the  selectmen  be  a  committee  to  provide  one 
soldier  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war.''  This  time  the  task 
was  more  difficult,  but  Col.  Clement  who  was  now  the  first  "  in 
the  triune  of  mighty  governors  "  yearly  chosen,  called  selectmen, 
bent  all  his  enei-gies  to  the  work  and  accomplished  it. 

Charles  Bowles,  a  young  stalwart  man,  of  dark  complexion, 

*  Caleb  Young  enlisted  July  11, 1780. 

t  The  new  voters  in  the  year  17S1,  were — 

Charles  Bowles.  Amos  Heath.  Henry  Sunbxiry. 

.Tonathan  Foster.  John  Ilinchson.  William  Tarleton. 

Joseph  French.  Peter  Stevens.  William  Whiteman. 


286  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

having  some  of  the  blood  of  Ham  flowing  in  his  veins,  and  his 
hair  slightly -'kinky,"  had  jnst  settled  on  the  top  of  that  fertile 
ridge  over  which  wound  the  Height  o'  land  road  towards  Tarletou 
lake.  He  had  also  made  another  opening  in  the  woods  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town,  near  the  line  of  old  Coventry.  He  was  a 
good  man,  religiously  inclined,  somewhat  given  to  preaching,  and 
when  his  patriotism  was  roused,  as  only  Obadiah  Clement  knew 
how  to  rouse  it  in  those  days,  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  war. 
In  the  time  of  the  town's  sorest  need,  he  came  to  the  rescue,  i)ock- 
eted  a  good  ftit  bounty,  as  is  the  custom  in  all  times  when  it  is  to 
be  had,  and  as  many  another  had  done,  shouldered  his  musket  and 
Avent  marching  away  to  the  wars. 

When  the  contest  was  over,  he  came  back,  got  married,  set- 
tled down,  labored  hard  week  days,  preached  with  unction  on  the 
Sabbath  and  raised  up  a  large  and  respectable  family  of  children. 
It  was  his  boast  through  life  that  he  fought  his  country's  battles 
bravely.* 

*  Charles  Bowles  was  at  the  battle  of  Benniugton,  iu  Col.  David  Hobari's 
Regt.  His  Captain  was  Jeremiah  Post.  He  enlisted  July  24,  1777,  and  was  dis- 
cliarged  .Sept.  -Zb,  1777,  having  served  two  months  and  three  days.  He  received  in 
all  i»  pounds  and  i)  sinllings,  and  traveled  to  Xo.4,  72  miles,  and  from  tlieuce  to 
Bemiington,  142. 

Col.  David  Hobart  was  from  Plymouth.— See  Sec.  State's  Records. 

CHARLES  BOWLES'  CERTIFICATE. 

"in  the  year  1781  i,  diaries  bowles,  made  a  pitch  of  one  hundred  aker  lot  of 
land  l>y  order  of  the  Committee  of  Coventry  wliich  lot  was  Savaidby  .Josiah  Burn- 
ham  by  order  ot  said  Committee  in  the  aforesaid  eighty  one  i  went  to  work  and  fall 
trees  and  made  me  a  house  on  said  lot— then  i  was  called  into  the  army  in  178;J  i 
went  to  work  with  some  hands  with  me  and  cleared  and  soed  one  bushel  and  half 
of  grain  and  in  October  1780  i  moved  my  I'amily  thare  whare  i  have  made  ray  home 
ever  since  till  i  sold  my  enterest  to  ©badiah  Clement  and  said  Lot  hath  never  been 
claimed  by  any  other  person  till  this  day  as  I  have  ever  heard 

CHARLES   BOWLES." 

Charles  Bowles  was  claimed  by  the  town  of  Andover,  N.  H.,  as  a  part  of  theii- 
quota,  May  8,  1782,  but  that  town  did  not  get  him. — Sec.  of  State's  Records. 

FAMILY  RECORD  OF  CHARLES  AND  MOLLY  (CoWiSS)  BOWLES. 

He  was  born  Oct.  20,  17()0,  at  Hanover,  Mass. 

She  was  born  Mch.  3, 17G8,  at  Salem,  N.  H. 

:Married  Apr.  14.  1784. 

James,  born  Dec.  H),  1784,  at  Warren,  X.  IL 

Molly,  born  Dec.  12,  1787  at  W.arren,  N.  H. 

Charles,  born  .Ian.  24,  1789,  at  Warren,  N.  PI. 

Elenor  M.,  born  May  18,  17i>2,  at  Warren,  X.  H. 

-lease,  born  Fel).  26,  179."),  at  AVarren,  X.  II. 

Euna,  born  Mav  17,  1797,  at  Warren,  X.  H. 

Hannah,  born  Mch.  3,  1799,  at  Warren,  X.  H. 

Jonathan,  born  Jan.  12,  1801,  at  Warren,  X.  H.    Died  Aug.  2.3,  1803. 

Sarah,  born  May  20,  1803. 
Charles  Bowles  afterwards  became  a  Free-will  Baptist  minister,  and  is  now 
one  of  the  saints  of  that  church.    A  volume  of  some  300  pages  ])rinted  matter  has 
been  published,  gi\  ing  a  history  of  his  wonderful  powers  and  elo(iueuce  as  a  min- 
ister.   He  was  a  mulatto. 


ADDITIOXAT.    SETTLERS,  287 

111  1782  *  tho  same  lliiii<i'  liappeiicd  to  the  tOAvn  auaiii.  and 
IIenky  .Sii.vA\'.t  a  iicAV  comer  who  paid  the  great  tax  in  town  tliat 
very  year,  of  three  shillings  and  nine  pence,  also  went  to  the  war 
from  our  hamlet.  He  got  a  snug  little  bounty  of  sixty-nine  pounds 
fifteen  shillings,  lawful  money,  for  enlisting.  AVhat  l)ecanie  of 
him  we  arc  not  informed ;  but  it  is  certain  he  never  returned  to 
"Warren. 

Now  this  Avas  all  on  account  of  the  organization  —  Miiat  the 
town  was  obliged  to  do  according  to  law.  But  a  hundred  other 
things  were  done  about  these  times,  many  of  which  are  exceed- 
ingly interesting  to  us.  who  live  in  "this  latter  and  degenerate 
age."" 

Moses  Copp,t  son  of  'Squire  Joshua  Copp,  though  a  mere  boy, 
had  been  in  the  army  a  great  deal,  and  was  noted  for  his  daring 
and  bravery.  He  was  at  West  Point  when  Arnold  sold  liimself  to 
the  British.  David  Merrill,  a  strong  muscular  man,  who  mar- 
ried "Squire  Joshua's  daughter,  but  did  not  then  live  in  town, 
assisted  in  rowing  Arnold  to  the  hostile  man-of-war  that  received 
hiin.  He  was  paid  a  large  sum  of  gold  for  his  sen-ices, —  not  very 
meritorious  ones  as  most  folks  think  at  the  present  day. 

The  great  Committee  of  Safety  admired  AVilliam  Heath,  our 
lank  rawney  hunter  of  fighting  proclivities,  and  paid  him  £18  for 
depreciation.** 

*  The  new  settlers  in  1782,  w'ere, — 

.Jonathan  Harbord.  Gordon  Hutehins.  Heniy  Shaw. 

Barnabas  Holmes.  Closes  Xo^-es.  Nicholas  Whiteman. 

WARKEX,  August  if),  yr.  1782. 

t  "  IlEXRY  Shaw.  Received  of  the  selectmen  of  wan-en  Sixty  Nine  pound  fifteen 
shillings  Lawful  money  as  a  Bounty  for  inlisting  to  serve  in  the  Continental  army 
three  year  for  the  town  of  Warren  from  the  time  he  pass  muster  I  say  received  per 

me 

his 
test     Joshua  Merrill  HENRY  l<^   SHAW 

JoSHf  A  Copp  mark 

A  true  copv  Exmd 

Attest  .Tosnt'A  Copp,  )  Selectmen 

William  Butler,  >        of 

Stephen  Richardson,  )  Warren." 

Henrv  Shaw.  VTarren,  1782,  Aug.  28th. 

1787  Reed  an  order  on  the  Treasurer  for  twentv  pounds. 

.JOSEPH   PATCH. 
—See  Sec.  of  State's  Records. 

X  Moses  Copp  niaiTied  a  d.iughter  of  .John  Mills,  and  after  the  war,  moved 
.away  to  Canada.  He  had  several  sons.  One  settled  in  Iowa.  (Burlington,)  and  at 
liis  death  left  a  property  of  more  than  one  liundred  thousand  dollars.  Moses  Copp 
was  entitled  to  a  pension,  but  never  got  it  because  he  lived  in  Canada.  He  was 
accustomed  to  scold  about  it. 

**  See  N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii. 


288  HISTORY    OP  WARREN. 

Eight  at  home  Mrs.  Joseph  Patch  had  another  pleasant  adven- 
ture in  which  she  exhibited  the  pluck  of  her  father,  and  the 
shrewdness  of  her  sharp  brother  Jonathan,  One  day  when  her 
husband  was  away,  an  old  soldier  called  at  the  house  and  walked 
in  without  ceremony.  Mrs.  P.  and  her  cliildren  were  at  dinner, 
and  the  stranger  helped  himself.  Then  he  became  saucy  and 
impudent,  and  when  he  was  proceeding  to  offer  her  some  personal 
indignity,  sajdng  he  would  burn  the  house  if  she  resisted,  she 
drew  herself  up  tirmly  and  said  to  her  little  boy,  '*  Go  to  the  barn 
and  tell  your  father  to  come  in  instantly.  I'll  see  if  I  am  to  be 
abused  in  my  own  house."  The  ruse  worked  admirably.  The  son 
started  on  his  errand,  and  the  old  straggler,  who  had  heard  of 
Patch  and  did  not  care  to  meet  him,  rushed  out  of  the  house  and 
disappeared  in  the  thick  woods  in  the  shortest  time  possible. 

But  the  saddest  thing  was  the  death  of  Ejphraim  Lund.  He 
had  served  three  years  and  then  re-enlisted  durmg  the  war.  It  was 
in  a  battle  in  the  south,  shortly  before  Cornwallis'  surrender,  that 
he  met  his  death.  He  died  bravely ;  a  comrade  placed  the  green 
turf  above  him,  and  dropped  a  tear  on  the  new  made  grave.  The 
spot  where  he  is  lying  is  unmarked  and  forgotten ;  and  his  little 
clearing  whei'e  he  lived,  the  gi'een  woods  upon  Mt.  Mist,  and  on 
the  shore  of  Tarleton  lake,  know  him  no  more  forever. 

Many  other  men  who  came  to  Warren  shortly  after  the  contest 
closed,  also  sei-ved  in  the  war.  Of  these,  Joseph  French  and 
Samuel  Ivnight,  who  were  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  are  per- 
haps the  best  remembered.* 

"VYhile  the  town  was  thus  gallantly  raising  men  for  the  army, 
other  great  events  were  transpiring  in  the  wild  but  pleasant  regions 
beyond  the  western  mountains.  When  Burgoyne  had  marched 
down  by  Lake  Champlain,  the  inhabitants  on  the  long  river  of 
pines,  the  Connecticut,  had  been  terribly  frightened,  and  leaving 
homes,  crops,  and  cattle,  had  hurried  away  into  the  eastern  inte- 

*  other  revolutionary  soldiers  -who  lived  in  WaiTen,  are  Asa  Low,  Jacob  Low, 
LiLke  Libbey,  tlie  latter  served  seven  years  and  six  months,  was  taken  prisoner, 
carried  to  England  and  kept  there  fourteen  months.  John  Abbott,  he  served  seven 
years  and  was  a  drum-major,  and  Reuben  Batcheldcr.  Mr.  Batchelder  never  got 
a  pension.  He  would  tell  in  his  old  age  how  he  sufl'ercd  in  the  war,  and  then  ci-y 
about  it.  He  was  a  piisoner,  and  came  so  near  starving  that  he  had  to  eat  the  very 
leather  breeches  which  he  wore.  Heni-j'  Sunbury  who  lived  on  the  Height-o'land, 
was  a  Hessian  in  the  British  army,  ana  was  talien  prisoner  at  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne. 


THE   HAMPSHIRE   GRANTS.  ^80 

rior,  where  buried  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  and  in  the 
deep  woods,  they  felt  that  they  were  safe.  But  in  the  closing  days 
of  the  war  when  many  of  the  Green-mountain  boys  were  awa\' 
lighting'  bravely  under  Washington  and  Greene,  frights  came 
oftener  to  the  dwellers  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  as  they 
were  known  in  those  days.  To  understand  these  terrors  fully  it 
Avill  be  necessary  for  us  to  write  a  few  dignified  pages. 

New  Hampsliire,  Massachusetts,  and  New  York  as  we  told  in 
the  history  of  the  old  proprietors,  each  laid  claim  to  the  Vermont 
territory.  The  people  of  that  hilly  country  wanted  to  be  admitted 
into  the  confederation,  and  the  Continental  Congress  did  not  dare 
do  it  for  fear  of  offending  these  other  important  States.  The 
would  be  State  of  Vermont  was  slightly  discontented  at  this ;  the 
British  government  knew  it,  and  now  when  the  prospect  of  fail- 
ing in  subjugating  the  rebels  was  every  day  becoming  more 
apparent,  it  was  thought  to  coax  her  away  along  with  the  ''Ca- 
nuck" country  and  the  land  of  the  "Blue-noses,"  and  continue  her 
a  pleasant  British  province. 

For  this  purpose  agents  with  British  gold  in  plenty  in  their 
pockets,  travelled  the  whole  country  through.  The  few  who  were 
venal,  they  bought,  but  the  most  were  faithful  to  the  rebel  cause. 
To  capture  the  leaders  of  the  latter  class  and  to  give  the  tories  who 
were  frequently  rather  roughly  handled,  revenge,  marauding  par- 
ties consisting  of  French,  Indians,  and  loyalists,  hurried  to  the 
Connecticut  valley.  Then  there  were  the  wildest  kind  of  panics, 
and  men,  women,  and  children,  ran  away.  Nearly  all  would  go, 
and  at  times  the  Coos  country  would  be  nearly  deserted. 

The  Committee  of  Safety  made  every  effort  to  render  assistance. 
A  large  number  of  soldiers  were  raised  to  defend  the  land  of  the 
Coosucks,  and  Captain  Absalom  Peters*  who  chose  the  neighbor- 

*  Cayitaiu  Absalom  Peters  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  iu  1780.  His  health 
failed  him  and  he  settled  on  a  farm  iu  Wentworth,  X.  H.  lu  Oct.  1780,  a  gi-eat 
alarm  Avas  occasioned  hv  the  destrnction  of  Royalton,  Vt.,  and  from  a  report  that 
4,000  British  troops  had  crossed  Lake  Champlain  with  the  intention  of  proceeding 
to  the  Connecticut  river.  At  tliis  time  Captain  Peters  marched  at  the  liead  of  six 
companies  from  the  nortlieru  part  of  New  Hampshire  to  NewVuiry,  Vt.,  the  place 
appointed  for  the  rendezvous,  and  on  his  arrival  Mas  aid  to  Maj.den.  Bailey  which 
he  sustained  till  tlie  close  of  tlie  war.— N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  iii.  245. 

Captain  Peters  lived  in  Warren  in  ^7ii;i,  and  liad  at  that  time  living  with  him  a 
"little  nigger  bov"  named  Prime.  One  very  rainy  day  he  told  Prime  to  get  the 
cows;  but  "young  sooty"  wouldn't,  and  unbeknown  to  Captain  Peters,  hid  under 
the  barn.  About  dark  the  Captain  went  afler  them  himself  and  liallooed  for  Prime 
all  over  the  pasture.  He  drove  them  up  and  hallooed  "little  nig "  in  the  barn-yard, 
but  got  no  answer.    While  milkmg,  Captain  P.  happened  to  turn  his  head  and  saw 

s 


290  HISTORY   OF    AVARREN. 

ing-  land  of  Went  worth  for  his  home,  went  marching  through  our 
hamlet  to  the  rescue,  at  the  head  of  six  companies.  Hundreds  of 
pounds  of  powder  and  balls,  a  thousand  tiints  and  more,  tin  ket- 
tles, borax,  New  England  rum,  tiles,  and  a  screw-plate,  were 
forwarded  to  •'  Cowass,"  to  the  care  of  Col.  Charles  Johnson  and 
Maj.  B.  Whitcomb.  Thev  put  all  these  munitions  of  war  and  men 
to  good  use,  and  did  guard  duty  most  valorously. 

But  they  could  not  do  every  thing;  they  could  not  prevent  a 
panic,  and  to  provide  for  that,  our  township  of  Warren  went  to 
work  bravely.  The  citizens  enlarged  their  houses,  increased  the 
number  of  their  beds,  raised  more  provisions,  cut  more  hay  to  put 
in  their  barns,  and  then  last  of  all  called  a  town  meeting  to  provide 
for  emergencies  in  case  of  ''great  alarums." 

Without  a  dissenting  voice  they  determined  March  22,  1780,  in 
order  to  receive  their  neighbors  properly,  who  generally  came 
pretty  much  out  of  breath,  "  to  lay  up  a  stock  of  jn'ovisioiis  to  be 
delt  out  as  it  appears  to  he  wanted.'''  "  Voted  to  raise  two  hun- 
dred wait  of  flour  and  tioo  hundred  wait  of  beef  for  this  present 
year,  to  be  dealt  out  in  case  of  alarum."'  ••  Chose  Joshua  Copp 
and  Obadiah  Clement  a  Committee  to  provide  the  towns  stock  of 
provisions."* 

Having  thus  handsomely  provided  for  their  friends,  then,  if 
the  terrible  foe  should  pursue  across  the  highlands  by  Tarleton 
lake  or  up  the  wild  roistering  Oliverian,  our  mountaineers  were 
also  prepared  to  receive  him  in  a  manner  which  would  not  be 
quite  so  agreeable.  They  procured  a  good  stock  of  lead,  powder, 
and  flints,  scoured  up  their  muskets,  and  bloodshed  would  have 
followed  had  the  Britishers  only  ventured  within  the  border.  The 
Coos  neighbors  often  came  to  Warren;  but  King  George's  troops 
and  allies,  never. 

And  now  Warren  had  a  different  kind  of  warlike  excitement. 

Prime's  white  eyes  and  teeth  looking-  out  from  tinder  the  barn.  Peters  was  mad. 
He  took  Pi-inie  into  the  house,  stood  liini  on  a  case  ol'  'Irawors  and  told  liim  to 
answer  in  tlie  same  tone  lie  used.  First,  I'eters  whispered  tlie  word  "  Prime,"  and 
Prime  answered  back  in  a  wliisper.  Tlien  lie  raised  his  pitch  until  he  shouted  so 
that  he  could  be  heard  halt'  a  mile,  and  "little  sooty"  strained  himsell'  so  much 
trying  to  answer,  that  he  looked  wliite  in  tlie  face  and  was  well  iiuuished.  The 
neighbors  who  heard  were  greatly  amused,  and  it  is  said  that  Prime  was  a  good 
boy  and  never  hid  under  the  barii  again. 

Captain  Peters  generally  went  barefoot.  When  elected  to  the  legislature  by 
the  town  of  Wentworlh,  he'wore  shoes ;  but  he  said  it  made  his  feet  so  tender  it 
took  more  than  six  mouths  to  toughen  them. 

*  Town  Clerk's  Itecords,  \o\.  i.  7. 


COLONEL  OKEELEY  ARRESTED.  201 

AVhcn  tlie  tido  of  battle  was  rolliiifi'  tlirouoh  the  south  and  Gen. 
Greene  was  wiiuiing'  glory,  fighting  with  Cornwallis,  John  Balch, 
who  still  rode  post,  brought  the  news  that  our  groat  Gonmiittee  of 
Safety  were  trying  Col.  Jonathan  Greeley,  one  of  the  old  proprie- 
tors "  for  practices  inimical  to  the  United  States."  Our  citizens 
were  greatly  roused  by  the  intelligence,  for  Col.  Greeley  had  been 
one  of  their  best  patrons.  But  when  they  learned  that  he  had  been 
found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  give  a  bond  for  his  behaAdor  to  Gen. 
Folsora,  and  was  confined  to  his  own  house  and  a  certain  portion 
of  the  liighway,  eighty  rods  or  so  in  length,  limited  by  the  flag- 
staff on  the  east  and  the  old  burying  ground  on  the  west,  they 
were  almost  as  much  excited  as  when  they  heard  of  Gen.  Stark's 
great  victorj'  at  Beimington.  But  Col.  Greeley  did  not  long- 
remain  in  confinement.  He  had  good  friends  on  the  committee 
and  they  well  remembered  what  a  fine  fellow  he  was  as  mine  host 
in  old  East  Kingston,  and  they  soon  let  him  off  easy.* 

But  in  nine  days  this  affair  was  an  old  story,  so  fast  did  events 
liasten  in  these  troublesome  times.  Something  new  came  almost 
every  day  and  when  the  fortune  of  war  hung  trembling  in  the 
balance  and  victory  inclined  first  to  one  side  and  then  the  other, 
away  up  in  this  northern  country,  in  the  wild  forests  of  the  New 
Hampshire  (xrants,  discontent  was  fomentin'g,  treason  to  the  young 
republic  of  New  Hampshire  was  hatching,  and  a  power  in  the 
west,  almost  like  Satan  in  Heaven,  was  trying  to  draw  oft'  one- 
third  of  New  Hampshii-e"s  beautiful  towns,  Wari'en  among  them, 
lying  in  the  vicinity  of  Connecticut  river.  Who  did  it?  It  was 
the  delightful-would-be-Green-mountain  State :  that  could  not  get 
admitted  to  the  Union,  that  was  determined  not  to  go  with  old 
England,  and  so  was  planning  how  a  free  and  independent  i-epub- 
lic  she  might  set  up  for  herself. 

All  the  territory  and  the  greatest  population  possible  was 
essential  in  the  highest  degree,  and  so,  as  has  been  softly  insin- 
uated, in  imitation  of  the  fond  mother  country,  agents  from  west 
of  the  Connecticut  crossed  that  bright  stream  and  labored  in  all 
the  bordering  eastern  towns.  Their  logic  was  powerful,  and  their 
tongues  persuasive,  and  a  scoi'e  of  young  democracies  were  almost 
influenced  to  cast  their  lot  with  that  of  the  young  empire  to  the 

*N.  H.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  vii. 


292  HISTORY    OF    WAKKEN. 

west.  So  much  progress  was  made  that  a  convention  was  called 
to  meet  at  Charleston,  X.  H.,  and  the  townships  agreed  to  send 
delegates. 

Warren  was  A^dde  awake.  Still  business  must  be  performed 
in  a  manner  that  should  comi^ort  with  the  solemnity  and  dignity 
of  the  occasion.  A  town  meeting  Avas  called.  It  was  held  Jan. 
od,  1781,  and  was  "  to  see  if  the  town  will  send  one  man  to  attend 
on  the  convention  to  he  held  at  Charlestoivn  on  the  third  Tuesday 
of  January,  inst.,  at  one  o'clock  afternune,  according  to  anenno- 
tification  sent  from  the  county  of  Chester.'''* 

After  a  long  discussion  chose  Obadiah  Clement  to  attend  the 
convention  at  "  Charlestown,  No,  4,"  and  as  it  was  very  important 
whether  they  should  belong  to  the  great  ''  Amphict^^onic  council," 
of  the  east  or  to  that  of  the  west,  a  committee  consisting  of  the 
most  dignified  and  influential  men  of  the  hamlet,  was  chosen  to 
instruct  the  delegate  elect  how  he  should  act.  It  consisted  of 
Joshua  Copp,  William  Butler,  John  Whitcher,  Thomas  Clark,  and 
Isaiah  Batchelder. 

They  performed  their  duty  faithfully,  and  in  mid  winter  Col. 
Clement  mounted  on  his  strong  black  stallion,  rode  away  through 
the  woods,  over  the  mountains,  down  the  Connecticut  to  ''  Charles- 
town,  No.  4." 

Col.  Clement  attended  the  Convention  thoroughly.  What 
transpired  has  never  been  fully  written  in  any  history.  Like  the 
transactions  of  the  old  Hartford  Convention,  or  the  mighty  mys- 
tery of  the  Ii'onMask,  its  acts  will  never  be  known. 

SuflBce  it  to  say,  our  delegate  heard  all  that  was  to  be  said, 
pondered  upon  it  deeph',  and  then  came  home.  He  was  not 
Ijleased,  and  plainly  said  so.  To  cross  the  mountainous  Height- 
o'-land,  to  ford  the  Connecticut,  to  climb  the  Green  mountains 
that  they  might  reach  the  future  capital  of  the  would  be  empire, 
was  not  so  easy  as  to  ride  down  the  banks  of  the  delightful 
Asquamchumauke  and  Merrimack,  to  the  bright  lands  from  which 
they  had  emigrated,  to  the  homes  and  pleasant  associations  of 
childhood,  and  the  happy  intercourse  of  those  with  whom  they 
had  done  business  for  years,  and  with  whom  by  far  they  had 
rather  be  united  as  members  of  a  great  Amphictyonic  Council. 
*  Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  S. 


THE    KIKST   REPRESENTATIVE.  293 

So    our   grand  little  hamlet  among   the  hills  gave   her  weslcrn 
friends  the  go-by  and  determined  to  remain  as  she  was. 

But  Col.  C.  did  not  feel  quite  right  in  relation  to  the  "  Charles- 
town  No.  4."  Convention.  He  felt  he  was  not  aiding  the  cause  in 
the  least  which  of  all  others  was  most  dear  to  him.  So,  to  ease 
his  conscience,  he  went  to  work,  like  a  true  lover  of  office,  to  get 
elected  Representative  to  the  Great  and  General  Court  of  New 
Hampshire.  AVarren,  Weutworth,  and  Coventry,  Avere  then  classed 
together,  and  Dec.  11,  1782,  the  free  and  independent  voters  of 
these  several  towns  being  met  at  the  house  of  our  friend  Joshua 
Merrill,  familliarly  called  farmer  Joshua,  Obadiah  Clement  was 
chosen  Representative.  That  night  •'  he  felt  complete."  He  was 
the  first  man  in  Warren  to  enjoy  this  high  and  immortal  honor. 

The  Great  and  General  Court  met  at  Exeter,  N.  H.,  in  those 
days,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  Col.  C.  was  as  usual 
promptly  on  hand  to  attend  to  his  duty.  And  he  did  it  faithfully. 
The  war  of  the.  re  volution,  although  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close, 
was  not  as  yet  finished;  much  remained  to  be  done,  and  our  pat- 
riotic Representative  was  not  behind  hand  in  voting  men  and 
money.  He  was  for  pushing  on  until  independence  was  fully 
secured.  His  constituents  sustained  him  in  this,  and  afterwards 
gave  him  a  triumphant  re-election. 

And  now  what  a  proud  satisfaction  our  citizens  possessed  if 
they  could  only  see  it.  They  had  done  their  duty,  and  were  more 
than  ever  prepai-ed  to  move  on  in  the  grand  march  of  democracies, 
well  knowing  that  the  taxes  were  all  raised  promptly,  the  men  for 
the  army  all  furnished  and  more  too,  supplies  of  provisions, 
moose-hide  breeches,  ammunition,  and  West  India  rum,  always 
forthcoming,  and  herself  and  representatives  loyal  to  the  core,  and 
as  true  to  the  New  Hampshire  republic,  her  lover,  as  the  needle  to 
the  pole. 

Soldiers  in  the  Revolution. —  The  I'ollowiiig  men  sei'vedin  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution, jroiug  from  Warren  at  or  about  the  date  given  : 

William  Heath,  1775;  Keuhen  (lenient,  1775:  Joseph  Whitcher,  1775 :  Ephraim 
Lund,  1775;  .Josliua  Coi)|i,  1775;  Simeon  Smith,  1775;  ("hase  Whitclier,  1770;  John 
Marston,  177<!;  (1)  John  llinclisun,  177<'«;  Josei)li  Lund,  177(;;  .Jonathan  Fellows,  1777; 
John  Mills,  Jr..  177(;,  1777,  and  1781;  Mo.ses  Copp.  1779;  David  Merrill,  1779;  Caleb 
Young,  17S0;  Charles  Bowles,  17S1;  Henry  Shaw,  1782;  William  Tarleton,  17S2.  (2) 

(1)  John  ^larstou  was  in  Captain  Joshua  Hay  ward's  Conii)any  in  177G.  He 
settled  in  Warren  before  1780.    Ale.x.  Craig  was  Lieut,  of  a  Company. 

(2)  William  Tarleton  was  Captain  of  the  8th  Company  of  Col.  Timothy  Jiedcl's 
regiment,  raised  in  1778,  and  doing  iluty  on  the  northern  iVoutier. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE     FIRST    FUNERAL    OF    A     WHITE     MAN     IN     WARREN;       OK     HOW 
JOHN    MILLS   DIED    AND    WAS    BURIED. 


Joshua  COPP.  Jr.  was  the  first  white  cliild  born  in 
AVarreu.  ,Iohn  Marston  was  the  first  man  married;  but  eleven 
years  went  by  after  the  settlement,  before  old  tather'Tiine  on  spec- 
tral wings,  with  houi-glass  and  scythe,  lighted  down  in  our 
Asqnamchumauke  valley,  and  claimed  a  victim. 

It  happened  thus :  JohnMills,  the  first  settler,  who  brought  his 
family  to  Warren,  was  engaged  "'  falling  a  piece"'  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river  by  Indian  Rock,  near  old  Coos  road.  He  was  a  very 
smart  chopper,  and  his  son,  Captain  John  Mills,  who  was  at  home 
from  the  war  on  a  furlough,  Avas  helping  him.  They  had  notched 
or  partly  cut  more  than  two  acres  of  trees,  Init  had  not  brought 
one  to  the  ground.  Theii  they  fell  a  great  pine  upon  a  clump  of 
spruces;  this  broke  them  down,  and  they  falling  broke  down  their 
neighbors,  and  so,  like  boys  setting  up  bricks  the  whole  forest 
that  had  been  notched  was  driven  to  the  ground.  This  was  called 
"  driving  a  piece,"  and  two  smart  men  would  fell  several  acres  a 
day. 

But  unfortunately  a  large  pine  had  not  been  sufiiciently 
notched,  and  it  stopped  the  drive.  John  Mills,  Senior,  ventured 
under  to  cut  the  inne;  it  fell  before  he  could  escai)e,  a  limb  struck 
him  on  the  head,  and  instantly  he  was  dead. 

Tii(!  son  bore  his  father  home  on  his  shoulders,  laid  him  upon 
the  bed  and  summoned  the  neighbors.     They  came  and  tried  to 


THE   FIRST   DEATH   IN   WARREN.  29.5 

console  the  gTief-stricken  family.  lUit  tlicv  almost  refused  to  be 
(comforted.  There  was  sorrow  and  sadness,  and  wretchedness, 
and  tears  in  that  humble  log  cabin,  and  they  felt  that  now  the 
father  was  dead,  the  world  was  hardly  worth  li'\ang  for,  and  that 
they  too,  might  as  well  die.  Captain  John  Mills,  Jr.,  had  seen  a 
thousand  men  dead  on  battle-tields,  but  never  had  death  come 
home  to  him  so  terribly  before. 

The  third  day  was  the  funeral.  How  long  and  lonely  and 
terrible  were  the  hours  of  waiting.  But  the  time  came  at  last,  and 
all  the  neighbors  began  to  assemble.  There  was  no  minister  in 
town,  no  church,  no  tolling  bell;  but  'Squire  Joshua  Copp  read  a 
chapter  in  the  Bible,  a  hymn  was  sung,  and  then  he  ottered  a 
prayer. 

The  cotRn  was  brought  out  and  placed  on  a  bier  under  the 
trees.  Sunlight  and  shadow,  tit  emblems  of  the  hour,  flickered 
over  the  scene,  not  more  breathless,  hushed,  and  solemn,  than 
were  the  voice,  step,  and  heart  of  those  sympathizing  neighbors. 

The  rough  coffin  lid  was  turned  back  and  they  approached  one 
by  one  to  take  a  last  look  of  the  remains ;  then  sunk  away  into 
the  silently  revohdng  circle.  The  mourners  presently  came  out 
and  indulged  a  tearful,  momentary,  final  vision,  and  the  lid  was 
closed.  Col.  Obadiah  Clement  took  the  charge.  The  bier,  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  four  men,  was  followed  by  the  relatives,  and 
then  the  friends  —  every  family  in  town  were  friends  then  —  came 
two  and  two  abreast. 

There  was  no  graveyard  in  our  hamlet,  and  they  carried  John 
Mills  down  the  bridle-path,  the  road  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Asquamchumauke  then,  to  the  cluster  of  hard  pines  on  the  river 
bank.*  Here  beneath  the  deep  shade,  the  first  grave  of  a  wlilte 
man  in  AVarren  had  been  dug,  and  here  was  the  first  burying 
ground  of  the  settlers.  There  was  no  fence,  no  tomb  stones,  nor 
turfy  mounds,  no  choir,  no  singing  at  the  burial,  but  the  wind 
sighing  in  the  scattered  pines,  and  the  voice  of  the  murmuring 
river  seemed  a  requiem  to  the  departed. 

*  The  little  woods  where  .John  Mills  was  buried  was  used  for  a  graveyard  lor 
more  thau  twenty  years.  Tlien  Pine  liill  buryin,^:  jfroTind  was  laid  out,  and  the 
place  where  .John  Mills  and  his  kindred  lie  sleeping:,  tell  into  vandal  liands.  To- 
day, lew  persons  know  or  dream  titat  the  unsifjlitly  spot  on  the  river  bank,  where 
wild  brakes  and  l)ushes  are  growin;^-,  and  jrravel  is  dug  lor  the  roads,  is  tlie  last 
resting  place  of  Warren's  second  settler.  The  graveyai-d  was  on  the  east  bank  or 
the  river,  about  tliirtj'  rods  below  the  old  deep  hole. 


296  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

As  they  apiDvoached,  the  nieu  took  off  their  hats,  the  four  bier- 
men  lowered  the  coffin  by  leathei-n  straps,  and  tlien  all  looked  in. 
'Squire  Copp,  as  the  last  obsequiel  act,  in  the  name  of  the  bereaved 
family,  thanked  the  people  for  their  kindness  and  attention  to  the 
dead  and  the  living,  and  the  procession  returned  to  the  house. 

Mrs.  Stevens  Merrill,  Mrs.  Joseph  Patch,  and  other  women, 
had  cooked  a  plain  dinner  of  pork  and  beans  and  Indian  pudding 
for  all.  The  mourners  had  a  little  spirit  to  take,  but  Stevens  Mer- 
rill went  to  the  well  for  pure  water  for  the  others  to  drink.  They 
had  no  pumps  then,  and  he  found  the  long  sweep  piercing  the 
skies;  the  bucket  swinging  to  and  fro  in  the  wind.  He  reached 
up  and  caught  it,  and  gTasping  the  pole  drew  it  down  hand  over 
hand  until  the  iron  bound  vessel  almost  touched  the  limpid  water. 
He  paused ;  the  mouth  of  the  well  was  shaded  and  narrowed  with 
green  mosses  and  slender  ferns,  wliich  bore  on  every  leaf  and 
point  a  drop  of  water  from  the  waste  of  the  bucket.  Below  the 
calm  surface  of  the  water  appeared  a  reversed  shaft,  having  its 
sides  begemed  with  the  moss-borne  drops  which  with  a  singular 
effect  of  darkened  brilliancy,  shone  like  diamonds  in  a  cave. 
Through  a  small  green  subterranean  orifice  he  could  look  into  the 
nethermost,  luminous,  boundless  space,  a  mysterious,  etherial 
abyss,  an  unknown  reahn  of  j)urity  and  peace  below  the  earth,  the 
mirror  ftiintly  revealing  the  bright  heaven  above,  the  place  to 
which,  as  he  believed,  the  pure  spirit  of  John  IVlills  had  gone. 
Then  he  drew  up  a  bucket  full  of  clear  water,  spattering  on  all 
the  rocks,  and  returned  to  the  house  where  dinner  was  waiting. 

The  meal  over,  each  friend  tried  to  say  a  comforting  word 
and  then  went  mournfully  home,  fully  realizing  that  there  was  no 
spot  on  earth  where  men  could  live  forever,  and  that  death  swift 
and  sudden,  had  stricken  down  one  of  their  number  in  Warren. 
How  solitary  and  dreary  was  that  house  of  mourning  when  all  the 
fiiends  had  gone  away  home  from  the  funeral. 

A  week  later  and  Captain  John  Mills"  furlough  was  out,  and 
he  went  away  again  to  the  wars.  Captain  William  Butler  had 
married  a  sister  of  the  deceased  man,  and  henceforth  he  was  the 
head  of  the  familv. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ABOUT  A  GREAT  ARMY  IX  AVARREX ;  HOAV  IT  3IARCHED  AXD  COUX- 
TER-MARCHED;  of  the  pretty  XAMES  it  was  CALLED,  AND 
HO"\V   IT   WAS   SUBSISTED. 


In  these  troublous  times  when  all  was  dire  consteruatiou 
along-  the  border,  and  the  sounds  of  war  came  from  every  quarter, 
it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a  powerful  military  force  througliout 
the  country.  Measures,  therefore,  were  immediately  taken  to 
organize  the  whole  people  into  companies,  regiments,  and  divisions, 
and  the  citizens  of  Warren  must  become  soldiers,  of  course. 

The  scenes  and  experiences  of  the  old  French  war  and  the 
Revolution  gave  a  martial  turn  of  mind,  and  when  the  order  came 
to  form  a  military  company  in  our  mountain  hamlet,  they  went  at 
the  work  with  alacrity. 

February  8,  1780,  Obadiah  Clement  was  commissioned  Cap- 
tain of  the  9th  Company  of  the  12tli  Eegiment  of  militia,  at  this 
time  commanded  by  Col.  Israel  Morey.  No  sooner  was  the  docu- 
ment placed  in  his  hands  than  he  immediately  began  witli  his 
usual  energy  to  oi'ganize  his  company.  lie  quickly  procured 
commissions  for  Lieut.  William  Butler  and  Ensign  Ephraim  True, 
and  then  when  the  time  arrived  he  warned  the  good  inhabitants 
of  Warren,  who  had  much  increased  in  numbers,  to  meet  for  May 
training,  armed  and  equipped  as  the  law  directs. 

The  place  where  they  were  ordered  to  assemble  was  in  the 
dry  little  field  situated  about  half  way  between  Farmer  Joshua's 
and  'Squire  Copp's;  and  on  that  third  Tuesday  of  INIay,  familiarly 


298  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

known  as  "  Little  Training  Day,"  every  man,  woman,  and  child, 
almost,  came  together  to  execute  and  witness  the  mighty  military 
evolutions  that  were  to  be  performed. 

It  was   one   of  the  brightest  of  May  mornings,  a  sunshiny 
breezy  day,  balmy  in  hollows  and  dells,  and  on  southern  uplands, 
but  fresh  blowing  on  the  ridges  and  along  the  northern  mountain 
slopes.     There  was  music  in  the  air,  for  the  robins  sang  in  the 
maples,  and  the  blackbird  and  the  wood  thrush  warbled  the  sweet- 
est melody  in  the  white  flowering  sugar  plum  and  the  wild  cherry 
trees.     Then  the  red  squirrel  chattered  in  the  spruces,  and  the 
hairy  woodpecker  rat-tap-tapped  on  the  hollow  beech  tree,  or  on 
Farmer  Joshua's    sap-buckets,    not    yet  gathered:  the  partridges 
drummed  on  the  hill-side,  and  the  little  chipmonk  —  the  striped 
squirrel  —  sunning  itself  by  its  burrough,  startled  by  the  children, 
uttered  the  sharpest  notes.     Overhead  the  swallows,  on  twittering 
wings,  skimmed  along  the  blue  sky,  or  diving  down  with  arrowy 
rush,  laved  for  an  instant  their  wings  in  the  cool  water  of  Black 
brook  —  the  Mikaseota  —  and  flew  aAvay  to  their  nests  in  the  log 
barns  of  the  settlers.     There  were  flowers  opening  by  the  path, 
violets  springing  up  by  the  hedges,  dandelions  growing  on  grassy 
banks,  moosemissa,   white   and  odorous,  skunk   cabbage,  adder- 
tongues  putting  out  in  the  shadows  of  the  trees,  making  the  air  so 
fresh  and  sweet  smelling,  while  the  children,  shouting  and  laugh- 
ing, chased  the  first  golden  butterfly,  hunted  birds'  nests  and  snail 
shells,  and  turning  over  stones  and  old  logs,  explored  the  haunts 
of  thousands  of  ants,  just  thawed  out  into  life.     Then  they  found 
the  blue-tailed  skink,  the  salmon  colored  salamander  and  the  crim- 
son-spotted triton,  along  the  high,  warm  banks  of  httle  runnels, 
and  by  the  loud  rill  that  comes  down  from  Beech  hill  woods. 

r>uthark!  the  drum-beat  is  heard  in  the  little  training  field, 
and  the  shrill  notes  of  the  fife  go  piercing  through  the  forest. 
Cajitain  Obadiah  Clement  is  giving  the  note  of  command  in  clear 
ringing  voice,  and  every  loiterer  is  hurr\  ing  to  see  the  company 
drill. 

ft  is  a  beautiful  training  field,  full  of  charred  stumps,  and  here 
and  there  a  great  black  log  heap  not  yet  wholly  burned  up.  But 
Captain  Clement  managed  to  find  a  clear  space  to  draw  up  his 
whole  company  in  single  file,  and  then  the  work  commenced  in 


THE   OLD   TIME   MILITIA.  299 

good  earnest.  The  lieutenant  and  the  ensign  took  their  places,  the 
sergeants  and  the  corporals  were  properly  posted,  care  being  taken 
not  to  select  too  many,  as  it  was  necessary  to  have  some  privates 
as  well  as  officers ;  for  the  whole  company  did  not  number  more 
than  forty  men,  though  every  man  and  boy  old  enough  to  do  mili- 
tary duty  Avas  present,  except  those  who  were  away  in  the  army, 
and  Stevens  Merrill  and  Jonathan  Clement,  who  declared  "  they 
would  not  train  in  such  a  string-bean,  slam-bang,  flood-wood,  light 
infantry  company  as  Col.  Clement  had;  they  would  ]iay  a  tine 
first."* 

Captain  Clement  told  his  grandson,  Jim  Clement,  all  about 
what  beautiful  uniforms  they  wore.  Some  had  cocked  hats,  and 
some  woodchuck  and  wolf  skin  caps,  with  the  fur  well  worn  off; 
one  or  two  had  nice  straw  braided  hats  which  their  wives  and 
mothers  had  made  them.  And  then  there  were  all  kinds  of  coats ; 
some  of  which  had  been  in  the  army ;  many  had  short  frocks  of 
every  day  wear,  and  some  did  not  have  anything  over  their  rough 
tow  shirts.  Their  breeches  were  almost  invariably  of  one  kind, — 
moosehide,  home  tanned, —  a  kind  not  easily  worn  out,  untorn  and 
no  holes  in  the  seat.  Moccasins  were  worn  on  the  feet,  but  some 
of  the  men,  as  it  was  a  warm  day,  were  barefoot;  their  tough 
soles  being  less  liable  to  be  hurt  than  the  moccasins  themselves. 
They  h;id  bolts  of  every  sort  and  kind,  canteens  of  various  pat- 
terns, ])riming  wires  and  brushes,  and  well  worn  cartridge  boxes 
that  had  seen  service  in  the  old  P'rench  and  Indian  wars,  and  some 
in  the  devolution  now  going  on.  Their  guns  were  of  almost  every 
pattern,  muskets,  fowling  pieces,  one  or  two  old  match  locks, 
queen's  arms,  and  some  were  the  very  guns  also  that  Chase 
Whitcher  had  procured  from  the  Committee  of  Safety. 

Captain  Clement  said  he  was  better  dressed  than  the  rest.  He 
had  prepared  himself  for  the  occasion.  His  hair  was  not  ])ow- 
dered,  and  he  liad  no  wig  on  his  head.  But  a  white  cockade 
glistened  on  his  three-cornered  cocked  hat,  silver  epaulettes 
rounded  off  liis  shoulders,  his  coat  was  faced  with  blue,  a  scarlet 
sash  ornamented  his  waist,  and  his  yellow  buckskin  breeches  were 

*  A  poor  excu.'ie  was  better  than  none.  It  was  not  safe  for  them  at  that  time 
to  say  they  woulrl  not  train  witli  r(>bel  soldiers,  and  so  they  failed  the  company  all 
manner  oi'  names,  and  said  it  was  so  mean  they  would  not  be  seen  in  it. 


300  HISTORY  OF   WARREN. 

graced  with  silver  lacings.     He  made  a  fine  appearance,  and  as  his 
said  grandson,  "  Jim,"  well  expressed  it,  '■'  He  felt  complete." 

"  To  the  right  face,"  was  one  of  the  first  commands,  and  the 
men  looked  "every  which  way."  "Eyes  right,"  the  Captain  sung 
out.  and  they  all  looked  at  him.  "  Shoulder  arms," — the  accoutre- 
ments rattled  and  jingled,  and  up  went  musket,  i-ifle,  fowling- 
piece,  match  lock,  old  queen's  arm,  and  the  three  or  four  bayonets, 
gleaming  "  like  rotten  mackerel  by  moonlight,"  flashed  in  the  bright 
spring  sun.  ''  Shoulder  arms,"  he  shouted  again  in  a  sharp  tone, 
for  some  had  hold  of  the  breech,  some  by  the  small  part  of  the 
stock  and  some  by  the  lock ;  but  every  man  looked  blank,  and  did 
not  shoulder  arms.  Then  he  showed  each  man  how  to  do  it,  and 
soon  they  could  carry  arms  and  present  arms,  ground  arms  and 
arms  aport,  without  the  least  difiiculty. 

"Music!"  ordered  the  captain,  and  the  drums  beat  again  and 
the  fife  flourished  wonderfully.  "Mark  time!"  and  their  feet 
moved  up  and  down  in  the  most  remarkable  manner.  "  To  the 
right  f^xce  "— "  To  the  left  face  "— "  Forward,"— "  File  in  platoons," 
"  Into  sections,"  "  Into  divisions  !*"  And  then  they  marched  and 
countermarched  in  single  file  and  double  file,  and  four  abreast  in 
qviick  time,  in  slow  time  and  in  no  time  at  all.  Then  they  wheeled 
round  the  log  heaps,  and  flanked  the  stumps,  and  circled  round 
the  edge  of  the  clearing  next  to  the  woods,  where  stood  the 
trunks  of  the  old  trees  that  had  been  killed  by  the  fire.  For  four 
long  hours  they  thus  maureuvered.  until  all  were  convinced  they 
understood  the  whole  thing  perfectly,  and  could  go  through  every 
sort  of  tactics  ever  thought  of  since  by  Scott  or  Hardee. 

Oh !  how  brave  and  valorous  they  all  were !  Captain  Clement 
was  lord  of  all  he  sui-veyed.  The  mighty  rulers  of  the  town,  the 
selectmen,  in  their  official  capacity,  had  nothing  to  do  with  this 
training.  Even  Simeon  Smith,  the  great  constable  from  Red  Oak 
Mil  could  not  interfere,  and  Judge  Joshua  Copp  was  a  sergeant  in 
the  ranks.  The  men  from  Trecothick  and  the  neighboring  regions 
of  Romney,  Wentworth,  and  "  Pearmount,"  said  to  be  present  as 
visitors,  had  nothing  to  do  about  it.  Only  the  great  Committee  of 
Safety,  and  Col.  Israel  Morey,  the  superior  officer,  could  command 
our  brave  and  valiant  captain  in  any  manner  whatever. 

And  now  it  was  high  noon  and  ver}'  warm ;  and  the  company 


A   VALOROUS  FEAT   OF   ARMS.  301 

being  tired,  they  were  dismissed  for  dinner.  This  consisted  of 
corn-cakes,  boiled  moose  meat,  nut-cakes  and  such  other  fixings  in 
great  store,  which  wives,  sisters,  and  sweethearts,  had  brought. 
Tlie  Inige  repast  tinished  with  a  rehsh,  and  washed  down  witli  a 
"  Uttle  good  west  endea,''  they  sat  down  to  rest  and  became  spec- 
tators themselves.  The  women  gathered  in  knots  and  groups 
under  the  trees,  chatted  and  gossipped  as  only  women  can,  and 
the  boys  and  girls,  enjoying  themselves,  played  ''  goal  "  and  "  tag," 
and  '•  pizen,"  and  "hide  and  seek,"  and  "blind  man's  buftV  and 
"  'igh  spy,"  and  "  wolf."  and  shouted,  and  yelled  till  the  woods 
rang  with  echoes. 

The  music  struck  up  again,  the  drum-call  was  beat,  and  each 
man  sprang  to  arms.  Once  more  all  the  evolutions  were  gone 
through  with,  and  then  they  thought  they  would  see  how  they 
liked  the  smell  of  powder.  The  guns  were  loaded,  the  command 
was  heard,  "  Make  ready,  aim,  fire!"  and  bang  went  the  whole  of 
them.  Again  they  loaded,  and  again  they  fired,  greatly  to  the  joy 
of  themselves  and  all  the  rest  of  the  people  assembled. 

Captain  Clement  would  tell  the  pleasant  story  how  young 
Moses  True,  a  new  comer,  and  some  relation  to  Ensign  Ephraim, 
who  lived  •' over  the  river,"  inspired  by  extra  potations  of  good 
gi'Og,  was  filled  with  exceeding  valor  and  wanted  to  show  what  he 
could  do.  So  the  company  halted  and  he  loaded  up  his  great  mus- 
ket with  a  mighty  blank  cartridge.  Turning  away  his  head,  he 
fired  most  intrepidly  into  the  air;  but  the  blundering  weapon 
recoiled  and  gave  the  valiant  Moses  an  ignominious  kick  which 
laid  him  prostrate  with  uplifted  heels  on  the  laj)  of  mother  earth. 
The  company  seeing  that  he  was  not  much  hurt,  applauded  him 
with  the  most  uproarious  laughter,  much  to  his  great  delight,  [of 
course.  But  the  discharge  made  an  immense  noise;  great  echoes 
came  back  from  all  the  wooded  hills  arovxnd,  and  even  the  green 
heads  of  Mooseliillock  and  Mount  Carr,  and  the  other  neighboring 
mountains,  looked  in  with  wonderment  on  the  scene. 

When  the  shadows  were  lengthening,  and  the  old  trees  on  the 
edge  of  the  clearing  began  to  seem  distant,  withered,  and  dark, 
with  not  a  leaf  to  shake  in  the  breeze.  Captain  C.  halted  his  com- 
pany again,  and  in  a  short  speech  invited  them  up  to  his  house  for 
refreshments.    They  accepted  his  invitation  with  a  loud  cheer,  and 


302  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

"  single  file,  forward,  march,"  was  a  pleasing  command.  Cap- 
tain Clement  with  drawn  sword  takes  the  lead;  the  music  fol- 
lows ;  the  fifer  first,  the  tenor  drummer  second,  and  the  bass  drum- 
mer next,  all  playing  as  loud  as  they  can.  Then  Ensign  Eplu-aim 
True  marches  by  the  colors,  a  red  silk  bandana  handkerchief  upon . 
a  pole  improvised  for  the  occasion,  near  the  centre,  while  fat  Lieut, 
William  Butler  brings  up  the  rear ;  the  children  running  before 
shouting  as  usual ;  the  women  and  visitors  following  behind.  Up 
the  bridle  path  by  Joshua  Copp's,  across  Ore-hill  brook,  and  up 
Black  brook,  in  half  an  liour  they  are  at  Warren's  little  hotel, 
Captain  C.'s  inn. 

The  Captain's  entertainment  was  plenty  of  pudding,  pork  and 
beans,  with  an  abundance  of  the  good  creature  to  wash  them 
down.  Pails  of  toddy  were  i^assed  about.  Old  and  young  men 
and  the  middle  aged  all  drank  that  day,  for  it  was  the  fashion,  and 
even  some  of  the  boys  tugging  at  the  slops  got  fuddled  and  tight. 

As  they  went  in,  their  spirits  got  elevated,  and  they  made  bar- 
room speeches  and  sang  patriotic  songs,  which  were  greeted  with 
shouts  of  applause.  Then  their  courage  increased  and  their 
strength  came  and  they  "  ]Ditched  quoits '"  and  tossed  great  logs, 
and  lifted  at  "  stiff"  heels."  Lieut.  Butler  was  the  strongest  man, 
and  he  picked  up  every  person  who  would  lay  down.  A  ring  was 
formed  and  they  wrestled  "'to  backs,"  at  ''side  holts,"  and  at 
'•  arms  length."  Joseph  Patch,  our  first  settler,  was  the  spryest, 
smartest  man.  They  could  not  kick  his  shins  nor  tread  on  his  toes, 
and  he  succeeded  in  laying  every  one  who  dared  step  into  the  ring 
squarely  on  his  back ;  making  both  shoulders  touch  the  ground  at 
the  same  time.  He  was  great  at  "the  cross  buttock  play"  as  it 
was  called. 

When  they  had  ate  all  they  possibly  could,  and  drank  all  the 
punch  they  could  carry.  Captain  Clement  formed  them  in  line 
again,  thanked  them  for  their  excellent  behavior  as  soldiers,  and 
then  they  broke  ranks  in  the  common  form,  which  is  well  under- 
stood by  military  men. 

At  home  safe,  they  were  all  much  pleased,  with  their  captain 
especially,  also  with  the  other  officers,  said  they  had  had  an  excel- 
lent time,  and  wished  ''  little  training  day  "  might  come  eveiy 
mouth  in  the  year. 


A   DOUBTFUL    COMPLIMENT.  303 

So  iiiucli  were  they  rejoiced  that  at  the  very  next  town  meet- 
ing, held  -Tilly  10,  1780,  they  determined  to  put  a  merited  compli- 
ment on  record,  wliirli  stands  even  to  tlie  ])resent  time,  and  is  as 
follows : — 

'•'  Voted,  That  when  the  officers  of  the  mility  belonging  to  the 
town  are  called  uj)  on  that  thay  bee  paid  eqnill  from  the  town. 
In  tliare  rank  as  soldiers  highered  by  the  town  for  that  year."* 

An  excellent  vote,  exceedingly  grammatical  and  well  spelled. 

*  Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  7. 


CHAPTER  y. 


THANKSGIVING   DAY ;    OR   HOW   THERE   WAS  FEASTING,  DANCING   AND 
IVIERRYMAKING   IN   OUR   HAMLET   AMONG   THE   HILLS. 


-A.ND  now  the  war  is  over,  and  the  piping  times  of  peace 
have  come.*  How  glad  all  the  people  are !  From  the  poorest  man 
that  trapped  in  the  woods  and  fished  in  the  streams,  farmers,  me- 
chanics, merchants,  ministers,  doctors,  lawyers,  Committee  of 
Safety,  and  even  President  Meshech  "VVeare  himself,  all  rejoiced 
exceedingly.  Snch  an  occasion  nmst  not  be  passed  by  without 
appropriate  celebration,  and  President  Weare  appointed  a  thanks- 
giving day  to  be  obsei'ved  in  all  the  little  democracies  of  the  State. 
The  proclamationf  went  forth ;  copies  were  sent  to  every  town 
and  the  one  that  came  to  Warren  was  posted  in  Obadiah  Clement's 
little  bar-room,  so  that  all  could  read  it.  Thanksgi\ing  days  had 
come  befoi'e ;  but  the  occasion  had  never  been  so  great  as  now, 
even  since  the  first  one,  which  took  place  June  18,  1632,  and  the 
good  people  of  our  mountain  hamlet,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  coun- 
try, I'esolved  to  celebrate  it  with  the  utmost  eclat.  The  Warren 
folks  did  not  nor  never  have  kept  Christmas  or  Good  Friday  or 
Easter,  and  they  had  no  '•  goodings  nor  candles,  clog,  carol,  box  or 
hobby  horse,"  neither  did  they  ornament  their  jjlaces  of  worship, 

*  The  final  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between  the  mother  country  and  colonies 
was  signed  Sept.  3, 1783,  at  Paris. 

t  Thanksgiving  day  was  on  the  2d  Thursday  of  December,  1783.— See  Proc.  in 
Sec.  of  State's  office. 


THANKSGIVING   DAY   IN   YE   OLDEN  TIME.  305 

for  they  thought  ;ill  such  things  to  be  ''  Heathenrie,  T3evih-ie, 
Dronkeusie  and  Pride."  Yet  they  must  have  some  sort  of  festival, 
when  they  could  celebrate  in  the  most  festive  manner;  they  must 
pay  some  fealty  to  the  universal  gala  sentiment. 

The  morn  of  that  day  was  waited  with  expectation,  and  the 
o-reatest  eagerness.  Wh-dt  mirth  and  hilaritv  should  prevail! 
Col.  Clement  sent  a  rude  ox  team  clear  down  country  for  supplies, 
and  a  stock  of  the  good  creature  for  the  occasion.  Capt.  WilliauT 
Butler  was  determined  to  have  a  grand  turkey  shoot  and  a  raffle, 
and  the  young  men  and  maidens  of  the  hamlet  planned  to  have 
something  else  that  should  i:)lease  them  as  well. 

Everv  thino-  was  iust  so  through  all  the  towns  in  the  State  and 
even  the  clerk  of  the  weather,  as  the  old  tale  runs,  grew  amiable 
and  determined  to  introduce  a  novelty  for  the  occasion ;  accord- 
ingly long  before  the  dawn  of  the  happy  day,  he  marshaled  the 
snow  makers  who  live,  it  is  said,  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Greenland,  and  set  them  about  their  business.  From  midnight 
till  morning  they  were  actively  engaged  in  sifting  a  delicious 
whiteness  upon  the  gray  autumnal  bosom  of  our  mother  earth. 
They  whitened  the  trees  and  the  iields;  they  covered  the  long 
shingled  roofs ;  they  sprinkled  it  like  feathers  upon  the  log  walls 
of  the  cabins  and  against  the  foui--by-six  panes  of  glass,  introduced 
just  about  this  time  into  the  settlement.  In  fact  they  worked  like 
heroes  all  night  to  make  everything  look  bright  and  beautiful  as 
possible  for  the  morning.  Everybody  felt  when  they  woke  up  in 
happy  surprise  that, 

"  The  fairies  all  bright 
Came  out  that  night, 
As  of  a  season  long  ago  : 
And  their  feet  on  the  gronnd, 
Had  a  tinkling  sound, 
As  they  scattered  the  mUk-white  snow." 

The  little  boys  and  girls  clapped  their  hands  with  delight,  and 
marshaled  out  on  the  hill-side  for  a  grand  snow-ball  and  coasting 
frolic.  In  the  woods  the  tracks  of  the  wild  game  were  beautifulh 
distinct  and  the  delighted  sportsman  hurrie^  away  in  the  early 
morning  to  get  his  share  of  the  partridges,  joyfully  listening  to 
the  "  deep-mouthed  blood  hounds'  heavy  bay,  resounding  "  in  the 
distance,  and  the  echoes  of  the  fowling  pieces  as  they  brought 
down  the  birds  on  the  wing,  to  make  partridge  pies  for  dinner, 

T 


306  HISTORY    OF    ■VYARREN. 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  all  the  men  and  boys  were 
hurrjing  away  to  William  Butler's  turkey  shoot.  It  was  ont  in 
the  little  field  that  John  Mills  and  son  cleared,  by  the  Inibbling 
sand-vimnied  springs  northeast  from  his  house.  The  captain  had 
a  fine  lot  of  turkeys  reared  with  great  care,  to  keep  them  from  the 
foxes,  and  he  set  them  up  twent3^-five  rods  away  for  shot  guns,  and 
forty  rods  for  rifles.  The  hunters  of  that  time  were  better  marks- 
men than  those  of  the  present  day.  A  sixpence  a  shot,  payable  in 
silver  or  its  equivalent  —  a  high  price  —  was  what  each  had  to  pay. 
If  he  had  not  asked  it  he  would  not  have  made  much,  for  Chase 
Whitcher,  Joseph  Patch,  and  Obadiah  Clement  were  there,  and 
they  seldom  flred  without  bringing  down  a  bird.  They  did  not 
have  to  lie  down  and  sight  slowly  over  a  rest,  but  brought  their 
guns  rapidly  up  to  their  eyes  and  fired. 

Simeon  Smith  was  there  also,  making  dry  remarks,  and  Reu- 
ben Clement,  the  weird  man.  now  rather  taciturn,  was  seated  on 
the  top  of  a  great  stump  watching  the  scene.  Before  him  was  the 
crowd,  a  jargon  of  voices,  and  an  occasional  shout.  There  was 
the  report  of  rifles,  the  running  to  and  fro  of  men  and  boys,  dis- 
putes about  shots,  wrangling  and  wrestling,  the  smell  of  gun- 
powder, and  the  blue  smoke  curling  away  among  the  trees.  He 
saw  the  brooks  which  rippled  and  murmured  as  they  ran  from  the 
springs  through  their  white  and  shining  snow-covered  banks,  and 
the  river  that  tossed  and  heaved  as  it  hurried  on  among  its  snow- 
capped boulders  and  sent  a  dull  sullen  roar  to  the  neighboring 
liills.  On  his  right,  blue  forest-covered  Mount  Carr  shone  white 
and  glistening  under  the  morning  sun  as  a  frosted  cake,  while  in 
the  north,  above  the  huge  trees  of  the  almost  interminable  forest, 
old  Moosehillock  in  snow  rears  his  rugged  forehead.  Every  one 
before  him  seemed  to  feel  well,  and  many  a  man  who  could  not 
shoot  a  turkey,  carried  one  away  which  he  had  won  at  the  ratfle. 

At  home  the  wives  and  comely  buxom  daughters  wei'e  making 
mighty  preparations  for  the  feast.  The  door-yards  had  been 
picked  up  and  set  in  order,  the  house  had  been  cleaned,  the  floors 
scrubbed  white,  the  beautifully  ceiled  walls  were  of  spotless 
purity,  and  the  newly  scoured  pewter  on  the  open  dresser  gleamed 
and  rtaslied  in  the  bright  light  of  the  great  Idtchen  fire-place. 
•     The  turkeys  and  other  barn-yard  fowls  were  killed  and  pulled 


THANKSGIVIXG     COOKERY.  307 

yesterday :  the  partridges  brought  in  this  moiniing  are  made  ready. 
iVnd  then,  Avhat  a  mixing  of  puddings  of  the  richest  composition ; 
Avliat  pios  are  made;  ])umpkin.  custard,  apple,  aud  mince,  minus 
tlic  raisins,  but  plenty  of  sweetening,  for  they  made  maple  sugar 
then  as  now  in  great  abundance  ;  the  chicken  and  partridge  pies, 
the  best  of  all.  AVliat  cakes  of  transcendent  brilliance,  and  bread 
of  the  most  exquisite  tineness,  from  flour  ground  at  William  But- 
ler's mill.  The  oven  door  o^iens  and  shuts,  well  stuffed  turkeys, 
and  pies,  and  cakes,  and  bread,  go  in.  and  odors  most  delicious 
and  mouth-melting,  inexpressible,  fill  the  house.  What  glowing 
looks  were  there.  What  speculations,  contrivances,  and  anticipa- 
tions in  those  milk-and-honey  flowing  kitchens.  They  have  found 
the  richest  cheese  in  the  whole  cheese-room  by  tasting,  and  the 
pui-est  and  sweetest  butter  is  moulded  in  small  cakes,  and  im- 
planted with  patterns  of  the  most  elegant  figure.  In  fine,  what 
efforts  are  made  that  all  should  experience  the  wondei-s  and 
delights  of  this  our  delicious  little  mountain  Canaan. 

It  is  told  how  on  that  day  there  was  visiting  and  merry-making, 
that  Joseph  Patch  went  home  to  his  father-in-law's,  Mr.  Stevens 
Merrill's  and  that  Joshua  Copp  and  Joshua  Merrill,  also  went 
down  there  to  eat  thanksgiving  suppev.  Then  all  the  Clements 
assembled  at  Col.  Obadiah's,  all  the  Whitchers  at  John's  on  Pine 
hill:  Simeon  Smith  and  his  friends  were  social  on  Red  Oak  hill, 
and  the  Clarks  and  the  Luuds  had  a  merry-making  over  at  Charles- 
ton,* and  down  by  Eastman  ponds. 

The  good  man  and  his  wife  went  to  these  hilarious  meetings  of 
families,  parents  and  children,  grand-parents  and  grand-children, 
uncles  and  cousins,  I'iding  double  on  the  good  old  horse  that  ha;d 
done  them  so  much  service  in  the  woods;  often  carrAdng  the 
youngest  children  in  their  arms,  while  the  elder  children  trudged 
along  the  rough  bridle-paths  on  foot.  What  a  welcome  they  got ; 
what  lively  salutations.  The  horse  went  to  the  barn, — '•  Come  in !'' 
—  olf   came  hats,  caps,  bonnets,  shawls,  and  great-coats, — ''Sit 

*  Choi-leston.—'Mr.  Nathaniel  Libber,  on  vearlinp:  the  advance  iSheets  of  this 
work,  saiil  he  knew  why  Charleston  was  so  called,  tliat  it  was  named  after  Charles 
Bowles,  who  once  liveil"  in  that  delectable  region.  Bowles  only  stopped  there  a 
short  time,  and  said  he  was  frightened  away  by  the  immense  bnll-frogs  which 
inliabited  Tarletou  lake ;  that  every  night  lie  could  hear  them  singing  out.  '•  Charles 
BoMles!  Charles  Bowles  !  We  are  a  coming,  we  are  a  coming!  Don't  rnn.  don't 
run!" — and  that  he  would  not  stay  there  for  the  whole  district.  His  friends 
Laughed  at  liim  and  called  the  place  Charles'  town — Charleston. 


308  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

down!"  —  chattiug"  and  talking  and  asking  after  the  health  of  tliis 
one  and  that  one  all  the  time. 

The  men  go  out  for  an  hour  while  the  table  is  being  set ;  they 
go  about  the  little  clearings  —  the  arable  land,  the  mo-o-ing  and 
pasture  are  shown,  and  the  questions,  how  much  they  can  raise ; 
how  many  trees  they  shall  fall  next  year ;  how  the  young  ajjple 
and  plum  trees  flourish;  and  whether  or  not  the  climate  is  too  cold 
for  them;  what  huntings  they  would  have  this  winter;  what  fine 
steel  traps  and  gnns  and  smart  powder  they  had  got,  and  a  host 
of  others  were  all  freely  discussed. 

In  the  house  the  hostess  shows  the  women  folks  round  —  to 
the  cheese  and  butter  room ;  to  the  weave  room  where  such  nice 
cloth  is  made,  and  then  they  talk  about  fattening  cah'-es  and  rear- 
ing poultry;  the  growing  of  vegetables,  of  fruit,  and  flowers,  and 
of  the  nice  things  they  would  get  from  down  country,  when  their 
husbands  went  down  to  Portsmouth  and  Newburyport  with  the  ox 
teams,  carrying  the  butter,  cheese,  and  wheat,  the  sheep's  pelts, 
moose  and  deer  skins,  and  all  the  rich  pelti'ies,  the  product  of  their 
husbands"  hunting  in  the  woods. 

In  an  hour  the  settlers,  (joking  that  they  are  afraid  of  their 
wives'  tongues  if  they  did  not  come  back  in  season  ;  that  they  did 
not  want  ain-  dinner,  not  a  bit;  they  were  only  afi'aid  of  getting  a 
scolding,)  make  their  appearance . 

And  now  all  are  seated  around  the  table.  What  a  dinner! 
The  great  mealy  i^otatoes  are  smoking  hot,  the  fat  turkey  carved 
in  the  most  admirable  manner,  the  rich  gravy  steaming  beside  it, 
and  the  venison  on  Stevens  Merrill's  board,  furnished  by  Joseph 
Patch,  a  most  tempting  dish.  How  excellent  is  the  stuffing,  what 
cool  crystalline  Avater  to  drink,  and  what  good  "  old  west  endea," 
out  of  the  stone  bottles  furnished  by  Col.  Clement,  so  exhilerating 
to  set  them  all  aglow. 

How  much  they  eat ;  how  fast  the  bounteous  store  disappears ! 
One  would  think  no  respect  could  be  paid  to  the  chicken  and  par- 
tridge ine,  the  plum  pluddings,  sweet  cakes,  pies  of  all  kinds,  most 
delicious  sauces,  maple  honey,  butter  and  cheese,  the  nicest  and 
richest.  But  he  would  be  greatly  mistaken.  They  share  the  same 
fate  as  the  first  course,  disapi:)earing  amid  the  most  liearty  laugh- 
ter, sharp  jokes,  and  '"mother  wit  of  the  keenest  kind."' 


EVENING    UECREATIONS.  309 

Supper  over,  tlie  hours  fly  swift,  passed  with  pleasantries  and 
glowing  conversation.  By  sunset  they  are  all  safe  at  home  again. 
Every  body  in  the  township  has  enjoyed  this  thanksgiving;  all 
have  feasted  to  their  heart's  content;  there  is  not  a  poverty 
stricken  cabin  in  the  hamlet. 

In  the  evening  the  young  boys  and  girls  of  neighboring  fam- 
ilies get  together  and  pass  a  pleasant  hour,  playing  ''blind  man's 
butF,"  "■run  round  the  chimney,"  and  •'button,  button,  who  has 
got  tlie  button?" 

But  the  older  youths  and  blushing  maidens,  and  the  young 
men  and  their  wives,  as  we  said  before,  had  determined  to  spend 
the  evening  in  anotlaer  way.  It  was  dark  when  they  began  to 
assemble  in  Obadiali  Clement's  great  kitchen  and  little  bar-room, 
the  only  inn  in  the  hamlet.  The  windows  were  all  bright-lighted, 
as  they  came  out  of  the  woods  in  the  little  clearing.  Entering 
they  found  a  great  tire  burning  in  the  cavernous  lire-place.  A 
huge  green  back-log,  five  feet  long,  a  great  forestick  of  half  the 
size,  and  a '•  high  cob-work  of  refuse  and  knotty  wood,"  blazed 
and  roared,  and  crackled,  sending  up  a  bright  and  golden  flame, — 
the  black  smoke  hurrying  away  out  doors  all  the  time  through  the 
great  flue  of  the  immense  stone  chimnev.  Thev  sit  down  to 
warm  themselves.  The  wood  sings,  the  sap  drops  on  the  hot 
stones  hissing  and  crackling  and  great  red  coals  roll  out  on  the 
hearth,  glimmering,  sparkling,  glistening. 

Moses  Copp  and  his  handsome  sister,  Sarah,  with  several 
other  brothers  and  sistei's,  came  flrst;  and  Joseph  Merrill  and 
some  of  his  sisters,  Captain  Butler  and  wife,  and  pretty  Anna 
Mills  who  lived  with  them,  Joseph  Patch  and  wife,  two  sons  of 
Simeon  Smith,  and  others  from  that  neighborhood;  some  of 
Ephraim  True's  grown  up  cliildren,  who  used  to  be  as  wild  as 
partridges.  Chase  Whitcher  and  his  wife,  from  the  Summit, 
and  numerous  others  came,  for  unity  and  harmony  once  more  pre- 
vailed now  the  war  was  over. 

Reuben  Clement,  who  could  not  keep  away  from  the  turkey 
shoot,  must  also  attend  the  ball:  but  all  the  evening  stubbornly 
refused  to  dance,  for  he  was  an  odd  genius,  as  we  have  gently 
intimated  before. 

The  hall  was  the  long  unflnished  kitchen,  having  its  naked 


310  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

timbers  overhead  ornamented  with  bonghs  of  siiruce  and  hemlock 
and  festoons  and  wreaths  of  evergreen.  Tallow  candles  in  wooden 
blocks  were  placed  in  the  distant  corners,  that  every  part  might 
be  well  illuminated. 

How  pretty  they  were  all  dressed !  What  a  variety  there  was 
too.  There  were  styles  that  had  come  into  being  in  the  backwoods, 
aud  old  styles,  and  new  styles,  and  no  stjies  at  all.  There  were 
flashy  prints,  bought  down  country,  good  blue  woolen  dresses, 
and  tow  and  linen  skirts  of  beautiful  colors,  and  striped  and 
checked  linen  waists.  All  had  necklaces  of  gold,  glass,  or  waxen 
beads.  Their  head-dresses  were  simple  and  plain,  oftenest  their 
hair  neatly  arranged  without  ornament.  Their  shoes  were  of  the 
best  pattern,  sometimes  striped  with  a  white  welt. 

.  The  belles  of  the  evening  were  Anna  Mills  and  Sarah  Coi^p. 
The  latter  wore  a  bright  blue  woolen  dress,  a  little  short  with  a 
red  border  at  the  bottom,  a  white  linen  apron,  with  flowers 
elaborately  wrought  Avith  her  own  needle  on  the  lower  corners, 
pure  white  Avoolen  stockings,  a  pair  of  neatly  fitting  moccasins, 
tight  laced  about  the  small,  well  turned,  delicate  ankles ;  her 
plump  arms  bare,  a  golden  clasped  bracelet  on  one  of  them ;  on 
her  neck,  a  string  of  gold  beads ;  her  dark  and  shining  hair 
close  braided  aud  only  ornamented  with  a  sprig  of  evergreen 
tAviued  in  one  of  the  heavj^  plaits.  Her  complexion  was  clear, 
bright  blue  eyes  that  sparkled,  white  regular  teeth,  Ups  of  cherry 
red,  aud  plump  rosy  cheeks.  Anna  Mills  was  also  plainly  but 
neatly  dressed.  She  was  light  and  agile  in  form,  as  the  wild  doe ; 
had  flashing  black  eyes,  and  a  wealth  of  raven  tresses.  Both  were 
much  sought  after,  and  they  never  lacked  a  partner  for  the  dance. 
The  young  gentlemen  of  the  settlement  were  also  dressed  in 
the  most  remarkable  manner  for  a  ball.  Moses  Copp  had  on  a 
portion  of  his  old  Continental  uniform.  Col.  Clement,  mine  host, 
wore  his  military  coat,  and  Jonathan  Clement  kept  on  his  hat,  an 
immense  one,  through  the  whole  occasion.*   Then  the  short  frocks 

*  Wearing  a  Hat. — Jonathan  Clement  almost  literally  atirays  wore  his  hat.  He 
kept  it  on  at  meal  times,  at  town  meetiugs,  in  religious  "meetings,  and  in  presence 
of  every  one  he  met,  high  or  low.  It  was  tlie  first  article  of  clothing  he  put  on  in 
the  morning,  aud  the  last  he  took  ofl'  at  night.  X.  Libbey  went  to  Mr.  C.'s  tavern 
at  midnight  for  a  pint  of  rum,  rapjjed  at  tlie  door,  and  when  said  landlord  came, 
tlie  only  article  of  dress  he  had  put  on  was  his  hat.  But  the  sheriff  knocked  it  off 
for  hiu'i  in  high  Court  one  day,  to  his  infinite  disgust,  aud  Mr.  C.  had  a  fearftU 
hatred  of  courts  ever  after.— -Nathaniel  Libbey's  statement. 


THE  OLD   FASHIONED   r.VLL.  311 

were  present,  tucked  out  of  the  way  inside  of  the  moosehide  and 
buckskin  breeclies.  There  were  long  stockings  and  many  a  pair  of 
silver  shoe  and  knee  buckles,  and  the  tough  moosehide  moccasins 
were  the  easiest  things  in  the  world  to  dance  in.  Their  hair  was 
not  powdered,  they  had  no  wigs;  our  settlers  did  not  take  to  such 
things ;  but  Col.  Clement,  as  did  some  other  elderly  men  at  the 
time,  wore  a  queue,  handsomely  tied  with  an  eel  skin. 

But  they  were  a  happy  company  if  they  were  rather  oddly 
dressed.  There  were  smiles  and  jokes,  and  bright  sayings,  and 
when  Moses  True,  the  youth  who  made  such  a  heroic  noise  on 
••  little  training  day,"  took  his  seat  upon  a  high  bench  in  the  back 
entry-way,  at  the  farther  end  of  the  kitchen,  violin  in  hand,  the 
whole  party  leaped  up  at  the  wagging  of  his  fiddle-stick,  and  took 
their  places  on  the  floor.  Then  soft  music  arose  in  Obadiah  Clem- 
ent's old  kitchen,  and  happy  hearts  and  nimble  feet  kept  time  to 
the  merry  strain. 

By-and-by  they  had  a  slight  refreshment,  and  the  •'  milk  toddy  " 
and  ••  egg-nog,-'  mild  drinks,  were  passed  round  and  disappeared 
in  vast  quantities.  On  this  their  spirits  rose.  The  young  men 
shuffled  and  kicked  most  vigorously,  and  now  and  then  gave  a 
hearty  smack,  in  all  honesty  of  soul,  to  their  buxom  partners. 
Then  they  used  the  step  called  -'shuffle  and  turn  "  and  "'double 
trouble,"  and  cut  many  a  lively  fantasy  as  the  short  hours  wore 
rapidly  away. 

Late  in  the  night  some  of  the  dancers  got  tired  and  two  young 
♦'•entlemen,  Jonathan  Harbord  and  Nicholas  Whiteman,  who  had 
recently  come  to  town,  laid  down  by  the  bar-room  fire  to  rest 
themselves.  Eeuben  Clement,  who  had  watched  them  all  the 
evening,  said  in  a  quiet  way  that  he  *'  knew  they  must  be  fatigued, 
exceedingly  weary,  they  could  not  be  tight,  nothing  of  the  kind, 
for  they  had  not  drank  more  than  a  quart  of  good  rum,  each." 

The  cock  croAved  in  the  barn ;  the  shrill  cry  was  answered 
from  the  nearest  farm-yard,  down  at  Jonathan  Clement's,  and  then 
the  dancing  ceased,  for  Moses  True,  the  good  fiddler,  was  more 
tired  than  all  the  rest. 

Sotae  who  resided  farthest  away,  resolved  to  stay  all  night 
and  go  home  by  daylight.  But  those  who  lived  down  the  valley 
towards   Red  Oak   hill,  were   ofi'  in  the   shortest  time  possible. 


312  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Some  I'ode  on  horseback,  but  the  most  walked ;  and  Joseph  Mer- 
rill waited  upon  Sarah  Copp,  aud  Moses  Copp  went  home  with 
Anna  Mills.  Now  aud  then  they  were  startled  by  the  cries  of  the 
wild  denizens  of  this  new  country.  An  owl  hooted  from  a  great 
hemlock  by  the  path,  there  was  a  wild-cat  crying-  over  by  Black 
brook,  the  Mikaseota,  aud  a  wolf  howled  in  Beech  hill  woods. 
Yet  it  was  only  Nature's  music  to  the  settlers.  They  did  not  fear; 
they  loved  the  beautiful  night,  for  the  crescent  moon  was  not  yet 
set  behind  Sentinel  mountain  in  the  west ;  the  dark  vault  above 
them  was  powdered  with  stars,  and  they  saw  Aldebaran,  Lyra, 
Orion,  and  the  Pleiades,  holding  their  silent  course  through  the 
heavens. 

There  was  not  much  labor  performed  in  the  settlement  next 
day,  for  nobody  got  up  very  early  that  morning.  Yet  every  one 
was  content,  and  always  maintained  that  tliis  was  the  happiest 
Thanksgiving  ever  known  in  Warren. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE   FIRST   SCHOOLS   OF   WARREN;    OR    HOW   THE    YOUNG    HJEA   WAS* 
TAUGHT   TO   SHOOT;    AND   OF   A   CERTAIN   OIL   MUCH    USED   IN   YE 
ANCIENT   DAYS. 

T^ENERABLE  and  niucli  to  be  respected  are  ye  worthy 
men  of  ancient  times,  wlio  had  the  public  good,  the  prosperity  of 
the  State  at  heart.  Benuing  Weutworth  and  the  honorable  pro- 
prietors of  our  mountain  hamlet,  next  to  the  cause  of  religion,  as 
we  have  before  mentioned,  believed  in  public  education.  So  in 
addition  to  the  other  reservations  in  the  charter  for  great  and  good 
purposes,  the  excellent  governor  provided  that  one  share  in  the 
township  of  "Warren  should  be  reserved  "  for  the  benefit  of  a 
school  in  said  town  forever." 

The  proprietors,  as  before,  seconded  the  governor's  good  inten- 
tion, and  in  the  drawing  of  the  lots,  No,  3  in  the  9th  Range,  1st 
Division,  and  No.  15,  in  the  7th  Range,  2d  Division,  were  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  education.* 

Yet  it  was  many  years  before  any  revenue  could  be  deriyed 
from  the  lauds  thus  appropriated,  and  the  children  of  the  hamlet 
would  have  grown  up  in  the  most  lamentable  ignorance  if  they 
had  waited  for  an  education  till  the  lots  got  productive. 

Our  sturdy  settlers,  before  whose  strokes  the  forest  bowed, 
could  all  read  and  write,  as  is  well  attested  by  the  old  documents 
that  have  come  down  to  us.  and  they  could  not  bear  the  thoughts 
that  their  darling  oftspring  should  be  deprived  of  a  good  educa- 
tion. 

*  Other  lands  were  set  iiviart  for  school  piu'poses,  for  account  of  which  see 
Appendix . 


314 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


Yet  they  went  at  the  work  in  rather  of  a  negligent  and  dila- 
tory manner;  now  and  then  supporting  a  private  school  in  some 
settler's  cabin,  and  then  letting  whole  years  go  by  without  any 
school  at  all.  But  now  the  town  being  so  well  organized,  they 
began  to  agitate  the  subject  of  opening  a  public  school.  But  it 
was  only  agitation  at  first,  and  then  an  attempt  which  was  a  fail- 
ure. At  the  annual  assembly  of  tlie  citizens,  otherwise  called  the 
toAvn  meeting,  for  1781,  held  March  22,  it  was  •'  put  to  vote  to  see 
if  the  town  would  raise  money  to  higher  schooling,  and  it  passed 
to  the  contrary.'- *  The  same  thing  happened  at  the  town  meeting 
held  March  6,  1782.  The  inhabitants  felt  as  though  the  burdens  of 
taxation  were  heavy,  and  they  could  not  afford  to  raise  money  in 
addition  to  what  they  had  to  pay  to  bui]d  roads,  to  furnish  soldiers, 
to  raise  town  supplies,  and  pay  the  State  and  Continental  taxes. 
Some  said  —  and  there  are  always  a  few  of  thatsort  in  every  enter- 
prise—  "■  O,  Avhy  can't  we  have  private  schools?  We  have  always 
got  along  well  enough  so  far  with  those.'" 

But  next  year,  when  they  could  see  the  war  drawing  to  a 
close  and  peace  beginning  to  dawn,  they  voted  almost  unanimously 
to  raise  six  pounds  sterling  '•  to  higher  schooling  this  year."  At 
a  subsequent  meeting  held  May  o,  1783,  "  voted  to  lay  out  this 
money  that  is  raised  this  present  year,  in  hiring  a  woman  school;" 
also  '•  voted  to  begin  said  school  the  twentyeth  of  May  enstant." 
And  finally,  "  voted  to  keep  said  school  at  Stevens  Men-ill's  for  this 
present  j-ear." 

In  those  times  the  selectmen  were  charged  ^vith  the  duty  of 
hiring  a  schoolmarm  and  providing  her  a  suitable  boarding  place. 
They  immediately  commenced  their  labor.  First  they  looked  over 
the  liamlet,  but  found  no  one  qualified  whom  they  could  engage. 
They  then  journeyed  in  the  neighboring  lands  — to  Wentworth— 
where  they  met  with  no  better  success,  and  thence  on  horseback  to 
the  region  called  Oxford,  now  Orford.  There  they  hired  Miss 
Abigail  Arling,  and  she  promised  to  be  on  hand  at  the  appointed 
time.  May  20.  Keturning  home,  they  fitted  up  the  school  room  in 
the  most  substantial  manner.  It  was  in  one  end  of  Mr.  Merrill's 
barn, —  a  rough  school  house  but  good  enough  for  the  hot  summer. 


*  Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i. 


THE  FIRST    PUBLIC   SCHOOL.  316 

A  rude  table  aud  chair  for  the  schoohnairn  was  set  on  one  side  by 
an  open  place  where  a  window  should  be.  There  were  no  desks 
for  tlie  scholars,  and  the  seats  w^ere  planks  placed  ujion  rough  logs. 

First  day  of  school  in  the  country  —  who  does  not  recollect  it? 
The  scholars  are  up  bright  and  early  iu  the  mormng,  faces  washed, 
htur  combed,  dinners  and  books  packed  up  ready  to  be  otF  the 
moment  they  can  get  permission,  so  as  to  get  the  first  choice  of 
seats.  It  is  so  now;  it  was  so  then;  and  from  the  Height  o'land, 
Pine  hill.  Runaway  pond,  and  the  Summit,  the  children  that  morn- 
ing trudged  merrily  along  the  bridle  paths  aud  tote  road.  They 
did  not  think  so  much  of  traveling  a  short  distance  then,  as  now, 
aud  they  could  walk  by  the  paths  easier  than  the  settlers  in  the 
land  of  Trecothick,  now  Ellsworth,  could  come  up  by  Glen  ponds 
and  over  Mount  Carr,  as  they  often  did,  visiting.  What  if  a  moose 
was  killed  that  very  summer  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mikaseota,  and 
Joshua  Merrill  shot  a  wolf  by  Cold  brook,  that  came  howling  along 
down  from  Blue  ridge,  and  they  themselves  tracked  bears  in  the 
muddy  path :  they  did  not  mind  it  much,  for  they  were  used  to 
such  things.  They  were  born  in  the  woods;  the  hills  and  the 
valleys,  the  wild  flowers  of  summer,  the  mottled  fawns  and  young 
rabbits  that  lived  among  the  evergreens,  and  the  swift  water-  of 
the  glens  were  their  live-long-day  companions,  and  they  went 
happily  home  to  their  bean-porridge  supper  and  a  bed  as  simple  as 
their  garments.  The  young  Copps,  the  Clarks,  and  the  Limds, 
the  Whitchers,  Trues,  Patches,  Clements,  and  Merrills,  made  a 
numerous  school,  and  they  liked  the  schoolmarm,  for  she  was 
gentle  and  good  and  did  not  anoint  their  backs  much  with  the  oil 
of  birch,  to  sharpen  their  wits. 

They  did  not  have  many  \asitors  nor  any  superintending  or 
prudential  committee ;  but  one  day  when  the  golden  rays  of  the 
sun  streamed  through  the  great  cracks  of  the  barn,  reflecting  the 
myriad  of  particles  ever  floating  like  things  of  life  in  the  air,  and 
the  swallows  were  twittering  in  their  nests  on  the  ribs  of  the  roof, 
Stevens  Mei'rill,  who  had  been  swingling  flax  in  a  shed  near  by, 
followed  by  his  dog,  looked  in.  An  involuntary  murmur  of  sur- 
prise and  gladness  Avent  round  the  school-room,  for  the  children 
could  see  through  the  netted  tow  and  whiteish  down  that  covered 
his  hat,  clothes,  and  face,  Uke  a  thin  veil,  a  happy  smile  of  ap- 


ol6  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

proval,  wliicli  they  did  not  always  get  from  Mm.  Their  studies 
were  as  simple  as  their  school-room.  It  did  not  require  "  much 
hook  larning'"  to  teach  school  in  those  days.  The  Psalter  and 
Primer  were  the  only  books  used,  and  "  readin'^,  ritin',  and  "rith- 
metic,"  the  latter  learned  by  rote,  were  the  only  accomplishments 
required. 

Abigail  Arling  received  three  pounds  for  teaching  that  school 
twelve  weeks.  William  Butler  was  paid  two  pounds  fourteen 
shillings  for  boarding  the  schoolmarm,  and  Stevens  Merrill  got  six 
shillings  rent  for  his  school-room.* 

Once  begun  our  settlers  did  not  falter  in  the  work.  The  next 
year  they  formed  themselves  into  a  union  district,  voted  to  build 
them  a  school-house  in  which  to  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot, 
chose  a  building  committee  who  called  upon  each  man  for  labor 
and  lumber  as  fast  as  wanted,  and  in  less  than  six  months  the 
house  was  finished  and  furnished. 

It  was  a  framed  building  with  rough  benches  and  desks  for  the 
scholars.  A  huge  stone  fire-place  occupied  one  end,  and  the  walls 
were  sealed  with  white  pine  boards,  instead  of  being  plastered. 
It  was  located  by  the  tote  road,  a  little  above  the  present  railroad 
crossing,  north  of  the  depot,  and  was  right  in  the  heart  of  the 
wilderness. t 

Nathaniel  Knight  taught  the  first  school  in  it ;  and  to  him  three 
families  sent  twenty-five  scholars.  He  was  an  excellent  teacher,  a 
splendid  penman,  and  the  most  authentic  tradition  has  it  that  he 
applied  the  birch  in  the  most  magnificent  manner,  as  was  common 
in  old  times.  Yet  he  had  a  pleasant  winning  way  mth  him,  and 
the  scholars  liked  his  school  and  its  surroundinos. 

He  commenced  in  the  autumn;  but  befoi-e  the  term  closed 
the  snow  came,  and  then  the  boys  took  their  sleds  of  broad  run- 
nered,  frame  work  pattern,  along  with  them,  often  giving  their 

*  Aug.  28, 1783.    Paid  to  Abigail  Arling,  three  pouuds  for  twelve  weeks' 

schooling 300 

Paid  to  William  Butler,  two  pouuds  fourteen  shillings  tune  for  boarding 

school  mistress 2  14  0 

.JOSHUA   MERRILL,  )  ^„,„„.,„„„ 
WILLIAM  BUTLER,  i  selectmen. 

David  Craig  once  got  three  shillings  room  rent  for  a  school.— Selectmen's 
Records,  Vol.  i. 

t  The  windows  were  of  mica  or  isinglass,  which  was  obtained,  as  tradition  has 
it,  on  Beech  hill.    Good  isinglass  or  mica  is  noM"  worth  $12,000  per  ton. 


NATHANIEL    KNIGHT'S   SCHOLAHr^    KNJOY  THEMSELVES.  317 

little  sisters  a  ride,  aud  at  noon-time,  just  as  the  boys  go  to  Beech 
hill  now,  they  Avent  out  on  the  hill-sides.— the  sharp  pitch  down  to 
the  moat*  or  to  the  long  declivity  down  to  the  bank  of  Black 
brook,  for  a  coasting  frolic. 

When  the  crust  was  hard  and  sparkled  in  the  winter's  sun. 
then  boys  and  girls  together  enjoyed  the  exciting  sport.  Up  hill 
nimbly  climbing;  down  hill  flying  swift  as  an  arrow,  scranching 
and  goring  the  frozen  snow.  The  wind  whistles  by  their  ears, 
their  hair  streams  tar  back  as  they  come  down  on  their  light- 
winged  sleds,  and  the  fine  grail  craunched  and  scored  by  the  run- 
ners, glances  up  in  their  faces  and  furzes  their  clothes  and  hair. 
They  leap  the  hollows  and  mount  the  swelling  ridges,  gliding  on 
swifter,  faster,  surer,  than  the  snug  trimmed  yacht  before  a  spank- 
ing breeze  flies  through  the  troughs  and  over  the  crests  at  sea. 

Nathaniel  Knight  also  taught  the  following  summer,  and  the 
children  loved  besides  the  school  the  pleasant  woods  full  of  sweet 
sounds,   and   dancing  brooks,   and   cold   crystalline   springs,   all 

about. 

It  is  very  Interesting  for  young  persons  to  know  —  elderly  peo- 
ple need  not  read  this — that  in  these  ancient  times,  just  the  same 
as  now.  the  scholars  often  went  up  at  the  nooning  to  the  foot  of 
Mt.  Helen,  sometimes  called  Keyes  ledge.  Here  they  traveled 
beside  Cold  brook,  which  made  music  with  the  mossy  rocks  in  its 
bed;  and  they  crossed  by  the  tree  bridge,  from  under  which  a 
pewee  flew,  chirping  as  it  left  its  nest.  They  saw  flies  and  spiders 
and  long  legged  creepers  dancing  and  jumping  on  the  surface  as 
thouffh  their  feet  were  cold  in  tlie  chill  water,  and  down  near  the 
In-iglit  sandy  bottom  were  half  a  dozen  shy,  speckled  trout,  their 
bright  eyes  glancing  as  they  lay  almost  motionless  in  the  current. 
Tall  birches  grew  on  the  banks,  aud  poplars  and  maples,  and  here 
and  there  great  pines  shot  out,  like  tall  sentinels,  a  hundred  feet 
above  them. 

The  scholars  came  up  here  to  get  the  young  checkerberry,  its 
red  plums  and  flowers.  It  was  a  cool  nice  place  for  a  summer 
noon,  full  of  birds*.     A  wood  thrush  sang  sweetest  by  the  edge  of 

*  The  moat  is  a  cold  spring  situated  down  tlip  bank,  and  a  little  south  and  east 
from  tlie  town  house.  James  Dow  named  it  th(^  moat,  aud  for  many  years  got  liis 
water  to  drink  there.  Owiug  to  recent  freshets  which  have  changed  the  river's 
course  the  spring  is  now  iu  tlie  river  bed. 


'^18  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

the  clearing;  clinging  to  the  breezy  top  of  a  white  birch,  a  robin 
chanted  its  sweetest  madrigal :  a  little  yellow  poll,  perched  on  a 
rustling  beech  tree,  whistled,  and  chattered,  and  chanked,  as 
though  it  Avould  burst  its  throat;  a  blue  jay  in  a  cluster  of  sapling 
pines  screamed  sharp  and  shrill,  then  itself  flew  away  up  the  steep 
hill-side,  as  au  old  owl,  disturbed  in  the  shadows,  hallooed  and 
whooped  in  aftright. 

They  got  great  handsfull  of  checkerberry,  tied  up  with  a  little 
root  of  the  gold-thread,  a  pocket  full  of  red  berries  and  bunch 
plums  that  grew  under  the  pines.  They  also  found  partridge 
berries  on  evergreen  vines,  and  unripe  blueberries.  Then  they 
made  a  nice  bouquet  for  the  teacher,  gathering  the  beautiful  pur- 
ple cranesbill  from  where  the  fire  had  newly  burned  in  the  woods, 
bright  purple  t^vin  flowers  and  star  of  Bethlehem  from  a  cool 
grass}^  recess  in  the  forest,  and  from  Joseph  Merrill's  new  field 
red  clover,  yellow  buttercups,  white  daisies,  and  deep  blue  violets. 
Then  they  wove  in  blue-eyed  grass,  mosses  that  grew  together 
family  like,  star  grass  and  brown  sorrel. 

One  day.  as  the  story  goes, —  and  it  is  an  important  bit  of  his- 
tory that  should  not  be  forgotten, —  the  larger  boys  and  girls 
started  for  the  summit  of  Mt.  Helen.  They  wound  slowly  along 
among  the  stately  three-leaved  ferns  that  overhung  the  flowers 
like  elm  trees,  through  blueberry  bushes  and  beds  of  yellow 
brakes,  a  music  box  where  numbei-less  crickets  and  grasshoppers 
keep  u])  a  perpetual  lulling  murmur,  following  sort  of  a  path  trod 
by  hedgehogs,  wild  deer,  and  bears,  till  they  came  to  the  open 
ledge  upon  the  summit.  Around  tliem  were  scattered  red  oaks,  a 
few  hemlocks,  great  pines,  and  among  the  rocks,  blueberries,  this- 
tles, and  bind  weed  were  growing. 

The  woods  shut  out  the  view  of  the  mountains  to  the  uorth- 
ward;  but  east  and  Avest  the  sky  seems  resting  on  the  loftj'  crests, 
and  adown  the  valley  where  Black  brook,  the  Mikaseota,  flashes  in 
the  sunlight,  and  Baker  river  winds  like  a  silver  line  through  the 
forest,  far  in  the  south  is  seen  the  I'ound,  bald  top  of  old  Mt.  Car- 
digan. Tlie  clouds  floated  away  in  the  mellow  sky  above  it ;  and  it 
is  here  through  the  rifts  the  sun  first  shines,  and  the  first  bit  of  blue 
sky  appears  after  a  storm. 

Farmer  Joshua  had  a  pasture  then,  cleared  at  the  foot  of  the 


KEYES   LEDGE   OTHER-WISE    MT.   HELEX.  319 

Steep  precipice  on  the  right,  and  from  it  came  the  music  of  the 
well  remembered  oow-bell,  mingling-  with  the  lowing-  of    cattle, 
and  the  bleating  of  sheep.     Then  there  was  the  cawing  of  crows 
in  a  clump  of  hemlocks,  where  they  had  their  nests,  the  whimper- 
ing of  hawks  overhead,  and  their  sharp  shrill  scream  at  intervals; 
by  them  swarms  of  flies  wheeling-  in  circular  squadrons  buzzed  a 
lullaby ;  the  tree-toads  and  hylodes  chimed  in  with  trilling  chirnp ; 
the  locusts  made  melody  in  the  branches,  and  the  flying  gi-asshop- 
pers  with  trapsing,  quivering  wings,  gave  out  a  pleasant  note  like 
mowers   sharpening  their  scythes  in  haying  time.     A  robin  by 
tiny  Cold  brook,  sent  up  to  them  "  his  long,  sweet,  many-toned 
carol.'*     From   the  warm  swamp  near  by,  came   the   chubbiug, 
grumining,  croaking,  crooling,  trilling  melody  of  the  frogs,  and 
through  the  woods,  just  audible  from  the  farthest  distance,  the 
voice  of  Asquamchumauke's  waters.     And  then  all  the  time  odors 
sweet  smelling,  and   perfumes   magnificent,  from   the   blooming- 
swamps,  the  flowering  trees,  the  brakes  and  the  ferns,  the  millions 
of  wild  flowers  and  grasses  in  the  pastures  and  fields  came  floating 
up  on  the  gentle  breeze  to  regale  and  delight  the  senses.    Amidst 
all  these  charms  of  nature,  perhaps  unnoticed  but  felt,  the  scholars 
made  a  sort  of  pic-nic,  eating  their  dinner  Under  the  shade  of  the 
wide-spreading  beech  trees,  and  quenching  their  thirst  from  a  pail 
of  pure  sparkling  water  brought  up  from  Cold  brook. 

One  of  the  numerous  other  -visits  which  has  been  made  to  the 
ledge  since  that  olden  time,  deserves  especial  mention  in  this  his- 
tory, for  it  then  got  a  new  name  which  seems  most  likely  to  clino- 
to  it.  The  scholars  begged  an  afternoon  as  a  holiday,  and  then  all 
marching  two  and  two,  wound  their  waj'  to  the  summit.  Here 
th(\v  gathered  flowers  in  the  woods,  sang  songs,  told  stories,  and 
played  plays.  On  the  large  flat  rock  the  older  boys  and  girls 
formed  for  one  of  the  simple  country  dances,  and  to  the  merrv 
music  of  their  voices  kept  time  with  nimble  feet.  When  they 
were  tired  of  this,  as  some  tell  the  story,  they  feasted  on  the  abund- 
ant collation  which  they  had  brought.  Then  a  rude  stone  altar 
was  erected;  the  fragments  gathered  up  and  placed  upon  it,  a  rus- 
tic throne  built,  and  on  it  was  seated  the  most  beautiful  girl  of  the 
party,  named  Helen,  crowned  as  queen,  with  a  garland  of  ever- 
green and  -\vikl  roses.    All  the  youths  and  maidens  joined  hands 


320 


HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 


in  a  circle  around  her ;  the  master  of  the  ceremonies  lighted  the 
tire,  the  flames  leaped  up  devouring  the  otFering,  a  libation  of  pure 
Cold  brook  water  was  poured  and  then  all  dancing  around  in  the 
circle  sang: — 

'■  The  hill  shall  be  called  Mt.  Helen, 
The  hill  shall  be  called  Mt.  Helen, 
The  hill  shall  be  called  Mt.  Helen, 
Henceforth  and  forever  more," 

until  the  offering  was  consumed,  the  tire  went  out  and  the  blue 
smoke  from  the  wliite  down-like  embers  and  ashes  no  longer 
curled  away  in  the  summer  breeze 

Long  years  passed  before  a  new  school-house  was  built  to 
take  the  place  of  this  first  one,  and  then  another  was  erected  only 
because  number  one  was  too  small.  James  Dow  moved  Warren's 
oldest  school-house  away  to  Pine  hill,  where  it  did  good  sei-vice  for 
a  whole  generation. 

From  this  first  union  district,  the  germ  sometimes  called  the 
"  Centre  District,-^  sometimes  the  "  Village  school  on  the  Gfreen,^^ 
have  sprung  &vst  Hunaway  pond  district,*  otherwise  known  as  the 
Weeks  district,  in  the  school  house  of  which  for  many  years  the 
town  meetings  were  held ;  and  then  in  their  order  came  the  now- 
defunct  Charleston  district, -f  Beech  hill  district,  Pine  hill  district, 
the  Summit,  Height  o'  land,  East-parte,  The  Forks,  sometimes 
called  Clough  district  in  ''  Patchbreuckland,'"  Streamy  valley  or 
Sawtelle  distyHct,  and  Moosehillock  district  on  the  south-western 
mountain  spur. J 

*  "Uper  schoU  house,"  fli-st  mentioned  in  1792,  in  Town  Clerk's  Records  Vol.  i. 

t  Nathaniel  Merrill  taught  .school  in  Charleston  in  1795,  at  old  Mr.  Lund's. 
Nathaniel  Merrill  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  Merrill,  and  settled  on  Beech 
hill.— Selectmen's  Records,  Vol.  i. 

X  School  Dist7-icts.—"  Voted,  March  '2(),  1793,  to  have  two  districts.  Voted  at 
same  meeting  to  begin  the  public  school  the  tirst  of  Aug.  next." 

June  2,  1794.—"  Voted  that  all  to  tlie  east  and  south  of  Mr.  Batchelder's  'Squire 
Copp's  and  Col.  Clement's  shall  belong  to  the  loer  school  house,  &  the  rest  to  the 
uper  one,  as  far  as  it  did  extend  last  year." 

"  Voted  to  begin  the  public  school  the  first  of  September,  at  the  upper  school 
house,  &  tlie  first  of  August  at  the  Loer  school-house  in  said  town." 

School  districts  were  as  follows  in  I80l>:—"  J'oted,  Tlie  first  district  begin  at 
Wentwortli  line,  tlience  north  as  far  as  outlet  of  Runawaj'  pond,  thence  on  Pine 
hill  road  as  far  as  Mr.  Batchelder's,  and  on  East-parte  road  far  enough  to  include 
Mr.  Knight,  Mr.  Ramsey,  and  Timothy  Cliflord.  The  second  district  to  take  all  on 
Beech  liill.  The  third  to  take  all  ui)ou  the  main  road  to  Fiermont  line,  including 
Mr.  Batchelder.  The  fourth  district  to  take  all  Charleston.  The  filth  district  to 
take  I'rom  Mr.  Batchelder's  on  Pine  hill  to  Coventry  line.  The  sixth  district  to 
take  all  the  inhabitants  on  Kast-parte  road  east  of  Mr.  Ramsey's.  The  inhabitants 
of  this  town  are  divided  and  defined  accordingly.'' 

1812.— Paid  James  Williams  for  building  a  school  house  in  the  East-parte , 
$91,00. 


EAELY     SCHOOLMASTERS. 


321 


III  iIh'sc  primitive  school-houses,  Nathaniel  Knight,  before 
uuiihm].  Xatlianiel  MeiTill.  David  Badger,  a  wandering-  pedag-ogue, 
Josiali  Uiinihani,*  (sad  was  his  fate  for  he  was  hung  at  Haverhill 
Jail,)  and  master  Abbott,  not  yet  quite  forgotten,  all  knights  of 
qnill  pons  and  the  birch  and  ferule,  to  make  the  young  idea  shoot 
(jnick,  taught  with  marked  success.  Then  came  Lemuel  and 
Joseph,  Benjamin  and  Moses,  Nathauiel  2d  and  Robert  E.Merrill, 
Jesse  and  Jonathan  Little,  and  David  Smith,  keen  witted,  shrewd, 
and  long  headed,  and  each  did  honor  to  the  profession.! 

From  these  scliools, —  and  may  they  continue  forever  —  have 
gone  out  some  who  were  brilliant,  and  some  who  were  dull,  of 
course;  yet  none  but  who  could  read,  write,  and  cipher,  and  all 
sliai'p  and  keen  enough  to  compete  with  the  best  and  smartest  of 
this  whole  shrewd,  swapijing,  peddling,  jockeying,  guessing 
vankee  race. 


*  .losiah  Bumham  took  his  pay  for  teaching  in  produce. 
Tlii*  untbrtuuate  gentleman  was  not  bom  in  Warren. 


He  taught  in  179.5. 


Thomas  Whipple. 
Robert  Burns. 
Luke  Aiken. 
George  W.  Copp. 
Master  Newell . 
Anson  Merrill. 
Levi  B.  Foot. 
.Jacob  Patch. 
Win.  15.  Patcli. 
.Stephen  Batclielder. 
John  L.  Merrill. 


t  Sclioohnasters. 

Ezekiel  Dow. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 
Job  E.  aierrill. 
Isaac  Merrill. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 
William  Merrill. 
Moses  Davis. 
.Toseph  Fellows. 
Reuben  B.  Freucli. 
David  C.  French. 


.John  French. 
Calvin  Sweat. 
Michael  1'.  Merrill. 
Russell  K.  Clement. 
James  M.  Williams. 
Horatio  Heath. 
Ira  Merrill. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
Albe  C.  Weeks. 
William  Jlerrill. 


u 


CHAPTER  YII. 


HOAV  SAR.AJl  WHITOHER  WAS  LOST  FN  THE  WOODS;  WHAT  HAP- 
PENED AND  HOW  THEY  HUNTED  FOR  HER,  TOGETHER  WITH  A 
REMARKABLE  DREAM,  AND  HOW  A  BUSHEL  OF  BEANS  SUD- 
DENLY DISAPPEARED. 


It  was  the  most  beautiful  Sabbath  of  June,  1783.  Quiet 
pervaded  the  haunts  of  men.  The  clatter  of  the  mills  had  ceased, 
no  rude  cart  rumbled  along  the  stony  path,  the  voice  of  the 
ploughman  was  not  heard,  and  the  woodman's  axe  was  hushed 
and  still.  A  mellow  softness  pervaded  the  air,  the  woods,  and  the 
waters,  and  a  thin  haze  of  the  most  delicious  and  tender  blue, 
rested  upon  the  mountains.  All  nature  seemed  in  worship.  The 
leaves  murmured  melody  in  the  light  breeze,  the  brooks  sent  up 
the  gentlest  music  from  the  mosses  of  their  stony  beds,  the  clouds 
like  silent  nuns  in  white  veils  worshipped  in  the  sunbeams,  and 
the  birds  sang  psalms. 

And  yet  there  was  no  religious  meeting  in  our  mountain 
hamlet.  The  settlers  with  their  families  sat  down  in  their  homes 
or  reclined  in  the  shade  of  the  trees  about  their  dwellings,  reading 
their  bibles  or  engaged  in  silent  meditation. 

On  Pine  hill,  Mr.  John  Whitcher  dreamed  the  morning  hours 
away,  and  then  suggested  to  his  wife  that  they  pay  a  visit  to  Chase 
Whitcher,  their  relative,  who  lived  by  the  wild  roistering  Oliverian 
at  the  Summit.  The  idea  was  agreeable  to  Mrs.  W.,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  they  were  ready  for  the  pleasant  walk  along  the  bridle- 
path through  the  woods. 


A   LITTLE   r,IT?l.    r.OST.  o2.» 

Their  little  girl,  Sarah,  not  yet  four  years  old,  lispiiifrly  asked 
lit-r  iiiDther  if  she  could  go,  but  Avas  told  she  must  stop  at  homo 
with  the  other  children,  and  they  would  bring  her  something  nice 
on  thoir  return. 

And  then  they  walked  rapidly  away  across  the  ridge,  and 
down  toward  babbling  Berry  brook,  admiring  not  a  bit  the  dewy 
wild  flowers  in  the  path,  and  hardly  noticing  their  delicious  per- 
fumes as  they  crushed  them  beneath  their  feet.  In  an  hour  they 
were  at  Chase  Whitcher's  by  the  Oliverian. 

The  day  was  spent  most  agreeably.  The  new  fields  of  full 
i)l(>wn  clover  and  honeysuckle,  and  on  the  borders  of  which  the 
bright  purple  cranesbill  was  just  blooming,  were  alive  with  the 
music  of  the  vireo,  blackbirds,  and  the  wood-thrush,  and  the  mild 
tairy-like  hum  of  the  myriads  of  wild  bees  sipping  their  uectar 
from  the  delicious  flowers.  Among  the  grasses  they  found  the 
sweetest  wild  strawberries,  and  they  passed  the  hours  talking  of 
the  wonders  of  the  deep  forests  where  they  would  go  hunting  iu 
autumn,  speculating  how  high  was  the  mighty  precipice  of  Owl's 
head,  and  what  an  abundance  of  blueberries  were  growing  on  its 
summit. 

It  was  only  when  the  sun  was  sinking  behind  Webster-slide 
mountain  in  the  west,  that  they  said  good  bj',  asked  Chase  Whitcher 
and  wife  to  come  and  see  them  and  then  hurried  for  liome. 

It  had  hazed  up  in  the  afternoon,  and  as  they  climbed  the  gen- 
tle slope  of  Pine  hill  night  overtook  them,  and  the  few  stars  that 
shone  out  struggled  through  the  rifts  of  the  raiuy  clouds  and  the 
moon  was  scarce  seen  at  all.  But  the  bright  light  that  streamed 
from  their  cabin  window^  was  cheerful  and  made  their  home  doubly 
inviting. 

'^  AVhat  made  you  leave  Sarali  up  at  the  Summit?"  said  one  of 
the  older  children  almost  as  soon  as  they  entered. 

^'  We  did  not  leave  her,"*  instantly  replied  the  father,  aston-. 
ished. 

"  She  is  certainly  not  at  home.  Where  cau  she  be?  "  each  one 
exclaimed,  and  then  the  dread  reality  burst  upon  them  in  a  mo- 
ment.    Lost!  lost!     Sarah  is  lost  in  the  woods ! 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Richardson  tells  that  the  ruddy  face  of  Mr. 
Whitcher  turned  pale,  but  he  said, ''  Trust  in  the  Lord;"  that  Mrs, 


324  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Whitchers  coiinteuance  lighted  up  with  afright,  and  the  other 
children  gathered  closer  to  them,  not  knowing  what  to  do.  Reu- 
ben Whitcher  who  was  present,  seized  the  dinner-horn  and  started 
instantly  for  the  woods.  Mrs.  Whitcher  followed  him,  then  came 
back  and  with  the  older  children  went  to  Mr.  Stephen  Richardson's 
to  spread  the  alarm.  The  father  seemed  as  if  smitten  down,  then 
agitated  paced  to  and  fro  in  front  of  the  house,  then  hurried  away 
in  the  woods  alone.  The  nearest  neighbors  came,  shouting  and 
hallooing  in  the  forest ;  then  built  great  fires  that  gleamed  through 
the  trees.     Thus  passed  the  night. 

When  her  pai*ents  were  gone  httle  Sarah  followed  after  them, 
then  missed  the  path  and  wandered  away  in  the  woods. 

As  she — "Mrs.  Dick  French" — told  the  story  in  after  years, 
it  was  a  new  world  for  her;  the  giant  forest  extended  itself  inter- 
minably, and  the  huge  old  trees  looked  as  if  they  grew  up  to  the 
skies.  Among  their  roots  was  the  young  wood  sorrel,  its  beautiful 
white  tlowers  with  lirown  spots  about  the  stamens ;  then  she  gath- 
ered handsfnl  of  wild  peony  Tvlth  deep  red  tlowers',  with  leaves 
that  curled  over  the  purple  and  yellow  fiowei'S  of  the  adder 
tongues,  like  Corinthian  capitals.  In  the  branches  above  Avere 
strange  birds  that  she  had  never  seen  before.  The  Canada  jay, 
called  sometimes  carion  bird,  because  it  robs  the  hunter's  ti'aps 
almost  before  his  back  is  turned,  with  slate  colored  back  and  white 
breast,  sent  its  strange  wild  note  deep  in  the  forest.  Large  owls 
in  hooded  velvety  sweep,  flew  by  her.  Squirrels  chattered  and 
scolded  one  another,  and  their  companions  the  partridges  clucked 
before  her,  or  flew  awa}'  with  heavy,  rumbling  flight.  Once  an 
eagle  screamed  above  her;  and  she  started  back  attrighted  as  a 
wild  cat  sprang  past. 

All  day  long  she  wandered  on;  her  little  hands  full  of  flowei'S, 
her  mind  filled  with  a  strange  indefiniteness,  hoping  continually  to 
find  her  father  and  mother.  But  she  did  not  meet  them,  and  no 
cart  tracks,  no  cow  paths,  no  spots  or  blazes  on  the  trees  were  to 
be  seen. 

Despaii-ing,  at  last  exhausted,  her  feet  scratched  and  bleeding 
by  the  underbrush,  she  sank  down  on  the  thick  moss  by  the  great 
rock  that  stands  by  the  old  beaver  meadow,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cas- 
cades  on   Berrv  brook.      "It  is  night  now.     Darkness  has  come 


^o 


A   STKAXGE   BEDFELLf)W.  325 

down  ou  the  woods.  She  is  alone.  The  wind  is  heard  ou  the 
nionntaiu.  The  torrent  pours  down  the  rocks.  No  hut  receives 
Ikh-  from  the  rain,  alone  in  tlu'  tliick  woods  of  the  valley.  Rise 
•moon  from  beliind  thy  clouds.  Stars  of  the  night  arise.  Give  light 
to  her,  sitting-  alone  by  the  rock  of  the  mossy  stream." 

Something  is  coming.  She  hears  a  strange  sound;  the  under- 
brush is  crackling-,  a  black  form  appears  in  the  darkness.  Fright- 
ened the  tears  roll  down  her  cheeks.  It  is  a  gi-eat  shaggy  black 
bear.  He  came  close  to  her,  smelt  of  her  face  and  hands,  and 
licked  the  blood  from  her  feet.  She  was  no  more  afraid  of  liim 
than  of  lier  own  great  dog  at  home,  and  dared  to  stroke  his  long, 
brown  nose,  and  put  her  arm  about  his  neck.  Then  he  lay  down 
beside  her,  she  placed  her  head  upon  his  shoulder  and  alone  in  the 
thick  woods,  with  the  dark  clouds  of  the  sky  for  a  covering,  she 
was  quickly  asleep.* 

Two  days  afterwards  the  foot  prints  of  the  child  and  the  bear 
were  found  in  the  sand  and  mud  of  the  brook. 

None  slept  in  John  Whitcher's  house  during  the  long  hours  of 
that  terrible  night.  The  father  was  out  in  the  woods,  the  cliildreu 
sat  down  with  woe  pictured  on  their  faces,  while  the  mother 
would  not  suffer  a  door  or  a  window  to  be  closed,  but  listened  to 
every  sound,  and  started  at  every  leaf. 

In  the  morning,  the  exciting-  rumor  of  '•  John  Whitcher's 
child  lost  and  supposed  to  have  peiished  in  the  woods,*"  seemed  to 
speed  itself,  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  sounding-  along  the  borders 
of  Beech  hill,  startling-  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  East-parte  region, 
arousing-  the  rugged  yeomanr}'  of  the  Heiglit-o'-land,  the  brave 
boys  of  Runaway  pond  and  Patchbreucklaud,  charging  them  all 
to  pack  up  their  dinners  and  hurry  away  to  the  search  in  the 
woods. 

In  an  incredible  short  time  all  the  dwellers  in  the  hamlet  were 
moving  towards  Pine  hill.  Col.  Obadiah  Clement  left  his  oxen 
yoked,  mounted  his  horse  and  galloped  swift  away  up  the  bridle 
path,  passing  Jonathan  Clement  and  'Squire  Copp,  with  their  sons, 
who,  leaA-ing-  their  hoeing,  were  hastening  in  the  same  direction 
with  tin  dinner  horns  in  their  hands.  Joshua  Merrill,  Joseph  Mer- 
rill, Stevens  Merrill,  and  "Squire  Jonathan,  seized  their  axes  and 

*  Sarah  ^^^lit(;hel-'s.  otherwise  JErs.  Dick  French's,  own  statement. 


326  HISTOKr  OF    WAllKKX. 

ran.  Joseph  Patch,  with  his  long  barrelled  gnu,  and  his  ueigh- 
bors,  caino  up  at  a  rapid  pace,  and  a  little  later  in  the  day,  Luuds, 
Clarks,  and  Tarletons  came  over  the  nioiintain. 

All  day  long  they  hunted.  Col.  Clement  and  Ms  friends  went 
down  through  the  maples  to  Black  brook,  and  Kelly  pond,  then 
climbed  up  by  Oak  falls,  and  beat  the  woods  as  far  as  Wachipauka 
pond  under  Webster  slide.  'Squire  Copp  blew  a  loud  blast  with 
his  horn  on  the  shore.  "  No  response  came  from  the  far  glimmer- 
ing passionate  sound  but  its  own  empty  echo,"  hurled  back  from 
the  mountain  face. 

Stevens  Merrill  and  others,  with  Joseph  Patch  crossed  Berry 
brook  and  went  through  the  darkest  forest  to  the  very  foot  of 
Moosehillock  mountain. 

Chase  AVhitcher,  Stepiien  Richardson,  and  a  host  of  others 
hunted  along  the  bridle  path,  and  then  explored  the  Oliverian  up 
what  is  at  present  High  street,  as  far  as  the  dark  passes  on  either 
side  of  Black  mountain.  The  women  and  children  hunted  for  long 
hours,  but  in  vain. 

The  night  came,  and  one  after  another  the  parties  retu^rned 
empty  from  the  search.  Despair  seemed  to  have  taken  po^essiou 
of  the  grief-stricken  parents,  and  a  feeling  of  sadness  pen^aded  the 
whole  settlement. 

On  Tuesday  morning  the  entire  town  renewed  the  search.  As 
the  day  w^ore  away,  people  began  to  arrive  from  the  neighboring 
lands.  They  came  ti-om  Wentworth  and  Romney,  from  Orford, 
Piermont,  Haverhill,  and  Newbury.  At  night,  one  of  the  last 
men  to  come  in,  reported  that  he  had  found  the  track  of  a  child 
and  of  a  bear  on  Berry  brook.  "  She  is  torn  in  pieces !"  ''  She  is 
eaten  up!''  every  one  said,  and  Mrs.  Whitcher  was  nearly  frantic. 

The  next  day  they  searched  on  the  Summit,  going  over  the 
ground  thoroughly ;  but  night  brought  no  success.  "  She  is  hope- 
lessly lost."  "  She  will  never  be  found."  Yet  at  the  earnest 
request  of  the  agonized  mother  they  jiromised  to  continue  the 
search  one  day  more. 

Thursday  the  woods  were  alive  with  the  people  hunting.  The 
long  hours  slowly  wore  away,  when  about  noon  a  Mr.  Heath  who 
had  walked  the  whole  distance  from  Plymouth,  came  to  the  house. 
Mrs.  Stephen  Richardson  who  was  cooking  a  bushel  of  beans  for 


TIIK   LOST    rOrXO — A  SIXGULAR    DREAM.  327 

the  people's  supper,  and  Mrs.  Obatliah  Clement,  were  alone  at 
John  Whitcher's.     Mrs.  AYhitcher  was  still  searching  in  the  woods. 

''  Give  me  some  dinner,"  said  Mr.  Heath,  "  then  show  me  the 
bvidle-path  to  the  north,  and  I  will  find  the  child."  AYhile  he  was 
I'atiny,  he  stated  how  he  heard  last  evening  that  little  Sarah 
AVhitcher  was  lost,  and  that  three  times  in  the  night,  he  dreamed 
that  he  found  her  lying  under  a  great  pine  top,  a  few  rods  to  the 
south-east  of  the  spot  where  the  path  crossed  Berry  brook, 
guarded  by  a  bear.* 

The  women  smiled,  but  partly  believed  it  might  be  so,  for 
people  had  diflereut  notions  then  from  what  they  entertain  now. 
Some  believed  in  witches,  ghosts,  and  goblins,  and  all  had  a 
certain  kind  of  faith  in  dreams ;  at  any  rate  the  women  wished  his 
dream  might  prove  true ;  tliey  felt  so  sad  at  the  loss  of  the  child; 
they  wished  so  much  it  might  be  found. 

Just  then  Joseph  Patch  came  into  the  clearing,  heard  INIr. 
Heath's  story,  and  said  he  would  accompany  him. 

An  hour  Avent  by ;  the  sun  was  going  down  ou  the  last  after- 
noon of  the  search,  which  would  be  given  up  that  night,  and  every 
one  felt  that  little  Sarah  was  lost  forever. 

Suddenly  a  gun  was  heard :  every  soul  iu  the  clearings  and 
the  woods  Ustened.  Another  report,  then  anothei-.  It  is  the 
agreed  signal  of  success.  "  Thank  God !  the  child  is  found."  "  Is 
it  dead  or  alive?" 

They  found  her  just  where  Mr.  Heath  said  they  would:  but 
no  bear  was  to  be  seen.  AVheu  she  woke  up,  she  said,  "  I  want  to 
SfO  to  mother.  Oan-y  me  to  mother."  When  asked  if  she  had 
seen  any  one,  she  said  ''  a  great  black  dog  stopped  with  her  every 
uighl."t 

Joseph  Patch  took  up  the  half  famished  cliild  in  his  arms  and 
carried  her  home.  On  the  bridle-path  they  met  many  people,  and 
they  ran  before,  hurrahing,  waving  their  hats  and  green  boughs  to 
tell  the  good  news,  how  all  on  account  of  a  wonderful  dream  the 
child  was  found  alive.    Some  said  the  bear  guided  her  to  the  path. 

*  Samuel  ]\reiTill,  who  vesided  at  theEast-parte,  and  lived  to  be  84  years  old, 
oltcn  told  about  the  lost  child,  lie  liclioved  in  Mr.  Heath's  dream  as  much  as  in 
his  own  exi.stenee.  Tliere  were  hundreds  of  people  in  Warren  of  the  last  genera- 
tion wlio  believed  implieitly  in  Mr.  Heath's  dream. 

t  Nathaniel  Richardson's  statement. 


328  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

Mrs.  Wliitcher  was  so  overjoyed  that  she  faiuted.  Mr.  Whitcher 
could  not  say  a  word,  but  smoked  his  pipe  as  hard  as  he  could,  to 
keep  his  feelings  down,  and  the  rest  of  the  children  were  so  glad 
that  they  cried  and  laughed  by  turns. 

Tradition  has  it  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Powers  was  present  and 
offered  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving,  and  then  all  the  people  sang  Old 
Hundred.  However  that  may  be,  we  know  that  they  ate  all  the 
baked  beans  *  that  Mrs.  Eichardson  had  prepared,  and  everytliing 
else  they  could  find  cooked  on  Pine  hill.  Then  they  blew  their  tin 
horns  as  though  the  4th  of  July  had  come ;  shouted  and  hurrahed 
again  and  again,  while  those  who  had  guns  fired  vollej^  after  volley 
till  all  the  powder  in  the  settlement  was  burned,  so  much  did  they 
rejoice  that  the  lost  child  was  found. 

*  Nathaniel  Richarclson,  son  of  Stephen  Richardson,  also  gave  many  incidents 
about  the  search,  and  told  of  the  beans. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


OF  A  MIGHTY  BATTLE  FOUGHT  BETAV^EEN  TWO  AMBITIOUS  OFFICE 
SEEKERS,  AND  HOAV  EACH  GAINED  THE  VICTORY  MUCH  TO  HIS 
GREAT  DELIGHT. 


At  the  organization  of  ovir  little  democracy,  Warren,  Col. 
Obacliali  Clement,  being  in  sympathy  with  the  government,  imme- 
diately took  the  lead  in  town  affairs,  and  held  it  for  several  years. 
But  when  the  war  was  over,  others  began  to  aspire  for  the  honors 
of  place  and  position,  and  naturally  envied  the  Colonel.  The  most 
prominent  of  the  aspirants  was  'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill.  For  live 
years  he  had  sought  office,  but  in  vain,  for  Obadiah  Clement  knew 
well  how  to  kill  him  oft' —  only  having  to  tell  what  a  tory  he  was 
in  war  times,  to  sink  him  out  of  sight  in  every  election. 

But  this  would  not  last  always,  and  "Squire  Jonathan,  who  as 
we  said  before,  was  as  cunning  as  a  fox,  went  shrewdly  to  work 
to  beat  the  Colonel  and  gain  the  honors  of  office.  ''  I'll  fix  him," 
said  he.  "  I'll  make  him  hate  the  town,  and  the  town  will  then 
hate  liim."    This  is  the  way  he  did  it: 

Colonel  Clement  had  a  bill  against  the  hamlet  for  sei"vices.  It 
was  for  a  journey  to  Exeter  to  get  the  tOAvn  incorporated;  for 
drafting  and  notifying  ''Grand  Jurors,"  and  for  recording  iu  the 
town  books.  In  all  it  amounted  to  nine  pounds  eleven  shillings 
and  three  pence. 

"Squire  Jonathan  heard  of  it  and  slyly  whispered  round  telUng 
every  body  in  a  confidential  way  that  it  was  too  large ;  that  the 


:^30  HISTORY   OF   AVARREN. 

town  was  too  poor  to  pay  it.     In  other  words,  he   appealed  to  the 
avarice  of  the  people  most  eftectually. 

Col.  C.  was  first  in  the  mighty  triumvirate  of  town  governors 
for  thiit  political  year,  1785-'6,  and  it  was  the  third  year  of  Ms 
selectmenship.*  Likewise  he  Avas  and  had  been  for  the  last  six 
years,  the  great  scribe  or  mighty  town  clerk,  and  having  been 
ambassador  or  Representative  to  the  Great  and  General  Court,  and 
also  a  liigh  commander  in  the  military  forces,  he  naturally  felt 
himself  to  be  the  most  important  man  in  the  hamlet. 

•  'Squii-e  Jonathan  labored  with  Col.  Clement's  associates  in 
power,  and  they  being  near  relatives  to  the  'Squire,  the  first  the 
father,  and  the  second  the  brother-in-law.  he  succeeded  mosi  effec- 
tually in  making  them  think  the  same  as  he  did  about  the  bill. 

So  when  the  day  of  settlement  of  town  matters  came,  they 
refused  to  allow  the  Colonel's  account.  The  latter  labored  with 
his  associates  sometime,  but  with  no  effect,  for  he  had  two  stub- 
born men  to  deal  with;  and  then  when  he  could  not  succeed, 
parted  from  them  in  a  huff";  in  other  words  he  was  exceedingly 
wroth.  •"  Pay,  you  must,"  said  he.  "•  Pay,  we  won't,"  said  they; 
and  so  the  matter  waxed  worse  and  worse. 

This  was  what  the  cunning  'Squire  wanted.  He  was  pleased, 
and  openly  expressed  his  delight.  Col.  C.  heard  of  his  adversary's 
remarks,  and  his  anger  was  fiercer  than  ever. 

One  more  effort  was  made,  one  moi'e  meeting  was  held,  but 
Avith  no  better  success  than  before. 

The  Colonel  had  all  the  town  books,  both  the  selectmen's  and 
the  clerk's,  and  he  was  determined  to  hold  them  until  he  should 
get  his  pay.  If  he  could  not  have  his  rights,  he  would  make  a 
storm  in  the  political  sky.  He  would  hold  on  to  all  the  records  and 
prevent  an  assembly  of  the  people.  If  he  could  not  rule,  no  one 
else  should. 

'Squire  Jonathan  made  a  few  more  aggravating  remarks,  and 
the  storm  burst.  AVlien  asked  to  call  a  meeting  on  the  Ides  of 
March,  Col.  C.  raged,  stamped  his  foot,  and  then  Avith  a  look  of 
fierce  determination,  cried,  ''  Pause  !"  and  there  Avas  a  pause.  The 
wheels  of  government  in  our  mountain  hamlet  stopped.  The 
I)roud  ship  of  State  no  longer  sailed  on.     She  Avas  foundered  on 

*  Stevens  Merrill  and  Joseph  J'litfh  were  the  other  Selectmen. 


AN    INTERREdNl'M.  331 

the  rocks  of  that  discord  to  which  'Squire  Merrill  had  so  cumiingly 
directed  her.  The  waves  of  destruction  beat  over  her,  threatening 
to  rend  her  in  pieces. 

And  now  occui'red  an  interregnum*  similar  to  those  which  hap- 
pened in  the  early  days  of  the  mighty  lioman  Empire.  There 
were  no  powerful  rulers,  no  great  scribe,  no  superintendent  of 
the  public  roads,  no  gatherer  of  the  revenue,  and  no  taxes.  Every 
thing  seemed  to  have  returned  as  it  was  at  the  time  when  the 
revolutionary  war  was  raging. 

"What  should  be  done?  It  was  a  great  question,  powerfully 
discussed  by  those  interested,  but  months  went  b}-  and  no  action 
was  taken. 

At  last  the  matter  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Great 
and  General  Court,  and  the  Legislature  took  the  question  in  hand. 

The  great  mother  of  towns  could  not  see  any  of  her  children 
commit  suicide.  So  after  a  long  time  spent  in  solemn  considera- 
tion, a  resolution  was  framed  and  passed,  going  through  both 
houses  of  the  legislatui'e  the  same  day,  June  24:th.  1786,  whereby 
Absalom  Peters,  the  barefooted  military  captain  who  marched  at 
the  head  of  six  companies,  to  the  Coos  intervals,  was  empowered 
to  call  an  assembly  in  Warren,  for  the  choice  of  town  officers,  and 
preside  therein  during  the  whole  election,  f 

But  the  wise  legislature  forgot  one  thing,  taxes,  and  had  to 
pass  another  resolve,  Sept.  24,  in  order  that  the  State  might  get 
her  share  of  the  revenue. 

A.  Peters  called  the  meeting,  and  presided  therein  in  the  most 
proper  manner. f  But  the  spii-it  of  the  citizens  ran  high.  They 
marshaled  around  their  leaders,  and  fought  for  victory.  Each  side 
marched  up  to  the  ballot  box  in  solid  column.  On  counting  the 
votes,  it  was  found  that  Obadiah  Clement  and  his  friends  had  won 
every  time;  electing  Joshua  Copp.  Stephen  Pichardson,  and  Wil- 
liam Butler,  great  rulers  or  selectmen,  Joshua  Copp,  scribe  or 
clerk,  and  Jonathan  Clement,  conservator  of  the  peace  or  consta- 
ble.    'Squire  Jonathan   and  his  friends   felt   cheap  enough,  and 

*  It  happened  in  1786. 

t  Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  31. 

t  The  meeting  was  held  July  19,  1786. 


332  HISTOIIY    OF    AVAKREN. 

silently  went  home.*  But  Jonathan  Men-ill  did  not  give  up  even 
in  the  hour  of  his  seeming  defeat.  He  went  to  work  twice  as  hard 
as  eA-er.  So  persistently  did  he  talk  upon  the  subject  of  Col.  Clem- 
ent's bill,  that  even  the  new  selectmen,  the  Colonel's  friends,  did 
not  dare  to  pay  it,  for  fear  they  should  be  indicted  for  mis-spend- 
ing the  people's  money,  and  the  Colonel  was  more  enraged  than 
ever. 

This  was  just  what  the  'Squire  wanted,  and  although  he  was 
defeated  again  at  the  annual  election  in  1787,  still  he  managed  to 
have  a  meeting  called  July  27th  of  that  year,  and  succeeded  in 
getting  himself,  with  Joshua  Merrill  and  Lieut.  Ephraim  True, 
appointed  a  committee  to  settle  with  ]Mi'.  Clement,  and  procure 
from  him  all  the  town  records.  That  every  thing  might  seem  fair, 
it  was  ''  Voted,  that  a  settlement  might  be  made,  if  it  could  be 
done  consistently  with  justice.''  The  meeting  was  then  adjourned 
to  August  6,  to  hear  the  report  of  the  committee. 

'Squire  Jonathan  went  to  work  as  slick  as  "ile."  But  he  did 
not  get  a  settlement;  he  did  not  want  to. 

At  the  adjom-ned  meeting  he  reported  as  follows :  First,  not 
to  allow  anything  for  going  down  to  get  the  town  incorporated ; 
and  — 

Second,  to  pay  eighteen  pence  for  legally  drafting  and  notify- 
ing jurors. 

But  they  knew  Col.  C.  would  not  accept  this,  and  so  they 
chose  Stevens  Merrill  and  Lieut.  Ephraim  True  a  coimuittee  to 
settle  with  him,  or  to  follow  suit  or  suits  at  law,  if  he  commence 
one  or  more  against  the  town,  to  final  end  and  execution.  "  Now 
we  will  teach  him  how  it  is  done,"  said  'Squire  Jonathan.  Col.  C. 
heard  of  the  remark,  and  how  mad  he  was. 

By  chance  they  met.  One  to  have  seen  them  would  have  said 
''  surely  they  do  love  each  other."  Determination  seated  itself  on 
their  countenances.  Rage  flashed  from  their  eyes.  "  You  miser- 
able tory,"  growled  Col.  C.  "  You  old  thief  and  extortioner," 
hissed  'Squu-e  M.  through  his  teeth.  Then  Col.  C.  shook  his  cane 
threateningly.  'Squire  M.  doubled  his  fists  belligerently.  And 
now  grim  visaged  war  smiled  ai^provingly,  and  Saultenbattery, 

*  Old  men  used  to  say  that  it  was  the  toughest  flght  they  ever  saw  at  town 
meeting. 


AN   KVIPENDING   CONFLICT.  o33 

one  of  the  ancient  goddesses,  grinned  witli  malignant  satisfaction. 

Blows  Avould  have  fallen  swift,  and  the  battle  waxed  hot  had 
not  Stevens  Merrill,  the  man  of  iron  lirmness,  and  Joshua  Copp, 
who  had  been  watching  the  impending  conflict,  interfered  and  said, 
"  Gentlemen,  thee  mu.st  stop,  thee  can't  tight  in  this  town." 

This  rencountre  only  made  matters  Avorse.  But  the  Colonel 
did  not  plunge  heels  over  head  into  lawsuits.  He  had  more 
shrewdness  than  that ;  he  quietly  went  to  work  and  induced  some 
one  else  to  get  up  some  jileasant  little  suits  against  the  town ;  to 
wit,  he  got  all  the  public  highways  indicted,  and  thus  raised  the 
d — 1  generally.* 

With  so  much  avidity  did  the  Colonel  prosecute  his  schemes, 
so  many  suits  did  he  institute,  that  the  town  was  perfectly  sick, 
and  was  glad  to  cry,  hold,  enough.  At  a  regular  town  meeting,  it 
was  ••  Voted  to  dismiss  the  committee  appointed  to  fight  Col.  C, 
and  that  Captain  AVilliam  Butler  and  Joshua  Copp,  friends  of  the 
Colonel,  take  the  certificate  that  is  in  the  selectmen's  hands,  and 
lay  it  out  discretionary  if  wanted  in  carrying  on  the  lawsuits  com- 
menced against  said  town  for  the  repairing  of  roads,  and  to  pay 
Col.  Clement's  demands  on  said  town."  Thus  they  were  going  to 
come  a  flank  movement  on  road  suits,  by  making  friends  with  the 
prime  mover  of  them.f 

This  ended  the  war,  and  Col.  Obadiah,  in  one  sense,  gained 
the  victory.  But  it  accomplished  all  that  'Squire  Jonathan  desired. 
It  made  Mr.  Clement  exceedingly  unpopular,  and  he  never  could 
get  elected  to  any  office  of  consequence  again;  the  onlj-  one  he  ever 
held  afterwards  being  that  of  moderator  at  some  special  meeting. 

*  Nov.  27,  1790.—"  Voted  to  pass  over  the  4th  article  in  tlie  warning,  Mhich  was 
to  see  what  the  town  will  do  on  account  ol"  being  jiresented.'' — Town  Clerks'  Ke- 
cords.  Vol.  i.  i'S. 

t  Allowed  constable  Copp  fltteeu  pounds  sixteen  .shillings,  new  emission,  it 
being  for  three  pounds  nineteen  sliillings  silver  money,  which  .said  Copp  paid  Oba- 
diah Clement  that  was  due  to  him  from  the  towu. 

JOSITUA  MERRILL,;  coi^.f 
WILLIAM  butler;  \  Selectmen. 
— .Selectmen's  Records,  A'ol.  i. 
"May  10,  1791.— Voted  that  Capt.  William  Butler  and  Joshua  Copp  should  take 
the  certiticate  that  is  in  the  selectmen's  hands,  and  lay  it  out  discretionary  if  want- 
ing in  carrying  on  the  lawsuits  commenced  against  said  town,  and  to  pay  Obadiah 
Clement's  demand  on  said  town." — Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  4.5. 

Names  of  the  legal  voters  who  had  come  into  to^^^l  from  1782  to  1788,  inclusive : 
Nathaniel  Clongh.  Samuel  Knight.  .John  .Stone. 

Caleb  Homan.  Levi  I^ufkin.  Elislia  .Swett. 

Enoch  Ilonian.  Steplien  Lund.  Aaron  Welch. 

Nathaniel  Kiiight.  Stephen  Richardson. 


334  HISTOKV    OF     AVARKEX. 

Yet  tliis  contest  "was  pvolitic  of  mighty  results.  From  it 
sprang  two  great  parties,  the  Clement  party,  and  the  Merrill  party, 
that  fought  each  other  with  powei'fu!  tenacity  for  more  than  two 
generations.  When  the  sons  of  Joseph  Patch  became  voters,  a 
third  party  sprung  up  that  achieved  some  success,  and  was  called 
the  Patch  party.     It  frequently  held  the  balance  of  power. 

'Squire  Jonathan  was  now  able  to  succeed,  and  by  striving,  in 
the  course  of  years,  held  all  the  imj)ortant  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
people,  although  Col.  Clement  at  the  head  of  the  Clement  party 
often  said  that  he  frequently  had  the  pleasure  of  giA'ing  the  'Squire 
and  his  friends  a  sound  drubbing  at  the  polls. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CONCEKXIXG    A    (.REAT   BOUNDARY   FEUD,    AND   WHAT   CA^VIE   OF   IT. 


jtLND  now  when  the  wilderness  blossoms  like  a  rose  and  good 
settling  lands  begin  to  be  of  some  consequence,  the  proprietors  of 
the  grants  made  in  Provincial  times  under  Gov.  Benning  Went- 
worth.  having  many  of  them  survived  the  Revolution,  commenced 
to  bestir  themselves  and  look  sharp  after  their  interests.  Mighty 
boundary  feuds  began  to  arise,  for  neighboring  j)eoples  set  on  by 
their  patrons  the  proprietors,  did  not  always  observe  the  old  max- 
im of  ••  cursed  be  he  who  remove th  his  neighbors'  land-marks," 
and  the  citizens  of  Warren  found  that  tlieir  friends  across  the  fron- 
tiers began  to  show  an  inclination  to  trespass  on  their  fertile  pos- 
sessions. 

In  fact  they  had  some  excuse  for  so  doing,  for  in  lajdng  out 
the  townships,  in  1760  and  in  1761,  "  the  sui-veyor  of  the  Iviug's 
woods,"  employed  by  the  Governor,  had  not  been  very  careful  to 
make  the  Unes  of  townships  correspond.  Consequently  settlers 
upon  them  did  not  know  exactly  where  the  lines  were,  nor  in  what 
town  they  lived,  and  so  did  not  scruple  to  conduct  themselves  in 
rather  a  lawless  manner. 

In  a  short  time,  great  complaints  began  to  arise,  and  the  town 
of  Warren  thus  finding  herself  encroached  upon,  by  means  of  the 
selectmen,  mighty  rulers,  and  the  lordly  proprietors,  who  of  course 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  matter,  immediately  entered  into 
negotiations  with  the  neigliborlng  powers  round  about.  It  is  a 
tradition  often  related  that  by  dint  of  numerous  diplomatic  mis- 


336 


HISTOliV     OF    WAKKEN. 


sioiis  a  meeting-  of  iiiiuiy  of  the  town  proprietors  and  numerous 
boards  of  selectmen  was  lield  at  Plymouth,  about  1778. 

It  was  a  jolly  old  meeting.  They  treated  themselves  on  grog, 
and  swallowed  all  the  various  kinds  of  liquors  mixed  in  those  days, 
and  then,  when  pretty  well  fired  up,  proceeded  to  business.  A 
chairman  and  clerk  were  chosen,  and  then  charters,  surveys,  and 


IT  WORTH 


OLD    BOUNDARY   LINES. 

plans  of  townships,  were  produced.  Each  delegation  had  a 
speaker  of  its  own  and  wanted  to  be  heard  first,  and  cried  out,  our 
lines  run  so  and  so,  our  charter  says  so  and  so,  our  lots  ai'e  located 
so  and^so,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum.  The  chairman  called  to  order, 
but: it  was  no  use.  Confusion,  a  goddess,  got  confused.  Babel 
seemed  to  have  arrived,  and  when  all  was  clatter-and-bang,  the 
meeting  broke  up  in  the  most  dignified  and  wonderful  manner. 


THE   LEGISLATURE   INTERFERES.  337 

But  it  is  a  historical  fact,  on  record,  that  the  delegates  went 
home  and  considered.  Some  of  the  -wiser  ones  drew  np  a  petition 
to  the  legislature,  to  have  a  committee  appointed  to  settle  the 
boundaries,  and  circulated  it.  It  was  extensively  signed,  and  when 
presented  to  the  Great  and  General  Court,  that  body  immediately 
acted,  and  appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose.* 

Said  committee  were  nearly  four  years  performing  their  duties, 
and  they  had  numerous  meetings  at  which  many  boards  of  select- 
men and  proprietors'  committees  appeared.  They  also  employed 
several  sui-veyors  to  run  the  lines  and  set  up  the  bounds,  and  only 
made  their  report  to  the  Legislature,  Sept.  24,  1784,  which  report 
was  approved  and  the  bounds  thus  established. f 

Strange  work  the  Com-t's  committee  as  they  were  called,  made 
with  our  young  and  vigorous  townsliip.  They  actually  pushed  it 
up  a  considerable  distance  to  the  north  and  east.  Think  of  it.  A 
whole  township  moved.  Piermont  and  AVent worth  on  the  west 
and  south,  got  large  slices  of  territory.  But  Warren  got  more  — 
clipping  of  large  portions  of  old  Coventry,  Peeling,  and  Treco- 
thick.  But  TVarren  gained  no  settlers.  Wentworth  and  Piermont 
did.  Warren  lost  on  the  west,  Isaiah  Batchelder  and  Thomas 
Clark,  and  on  the  south,  Simeon  Smith,  Peter  Stevens,  Joseph 
Kimball,  and  Lemuel  Keezer.  Besides  it  lost  of  unsettled  land 
four  lots  into  Coventry,  eight  into  AVentworth,  and  fifteen  into 
Piermont.  The  four  taken  by  Coventry  were  on  the  nolth-west 
corner ;  but  AVarren  got  far  more  land  from  Coventiy  on  the  north- 
east boundary  than  it  lost. 

And  now  that  the  lines  Avere  changed,  the  losses  and  gains 
must  be  settled.  This  was  not  easily  done,  and  a  war  about  pay- 
ments arose  hot  and  earnest.    Blows  did  not  come  for  they  feared 

*  The  Committee  was  appointed  bv  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  Oct.  23, 
1780,  and  it  consisted  of  El)enezer  Tl"iompson,  Joseph  Badger,  Ebenezer  Smith, 
Levi  Dearborn,  and  Jolin  Sniitli,  Esquires,  and  they,  or  the  major  part  of  tliem, 
were  autliorized  to  survcj'  Komuey,  Wentwortli,  Warren,  riymouth,  Campion, 
Piermont,  and  Orford. 

tKOUXDS  OF  WARKEX. 

"  irnrrcH.— Beginning  at  a  bass  tree,  being  the  north-west  corner  bound  of 
Romnev,  thence  north,  il  degrees  east  five  and  three-fourths  miles  to  a  maple 
tree;  tliencc  north  about  71  degrees  west,  eight  miles  to  a  beecii  tree,  Ijeing  the 
south-east  corner  of  Haverhill;  thence  5.^  degrees  west,  five  and  one-half  miles  to 
a  beech  tree,  tlie  north-east  corner  of  Orford,  thence  on  a  straight  line  to  the  bound 
began  at." 

These  are  supposed  to  be  the  present  boundaries  of  Warren, 

y 


338  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

the  great  central  power,  the  mother  of  towns;  but  litigation,  such 
as  the  old  Greeks  loved  so  well,  was  rife.  Warren  did  not  resort 
to  it,  but  entei-ed  into  negotiations  with  the  far  lands  of  Went- 
worth,  Piermont,  and  Orford. 

Meeting  after  meeting  was  held  bj^  the  proprietors  to  settle  np 
the  difficulties.     Committees  without  number  tried  their  hand  at 
the  matter.     The  tirst  chosen  June  17,  1785,  consisted  of  Enoch 
Page,  from  down  country,  and  our  citizen,  Captain  William  But- 
ler ;  but  they  did  not  accomplish  anything.     Then  Major  Joseph 
Page,  another  down  country  gentleman,  was  associated  with  Capt. 
Butler.     They  went  into  a  minute  investigation  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter, and  made  a  full  i-eport,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  proprie- 
tors.  Oct.  20, 1786,  Capt.  WilHam  Hackett  was  chosen  a  committee 
to  settle  with  Gen.  Moulton.  agent  for  the  Proprietors  of  Piermont, 
on  account  of  land  given  to  Messrs.  Batchelder  and  Clark.     But 
he  did  not  succeed,  and  afterward  Major  Joseph  Page,  by  order  of 
Warren  Proj^rietors,  laid  out  two  hundred  acres  on  Green  moun- 
tain, now  called  Sentinel  mountain,  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  our 
western  power.* 

Then  other  settlements  had  to  be  made.  The  town  of  Went- 
worth  got  more  than  four  hundred  acres  in  AYarren,  on  account  of 
what  AYarren's  Proprietors  had  given  of  Wentworth  lands  to  set- 
tlers. A  goodly  lot  in  Warren  had  to  be  given  to  Orford,  on 
account  of  the  pretty  quadrilateral  on  the  south-east  corner,  which 
the  proprietors  had  also  given  away  to  a  settler,  but  which  belonged 
to  Orford  town.  Perhaps  some  may  maliciously  think  Warren 
was  more  to  blame  about  boundary  feuds  than  her  neighbors,  but 
we  must  positiA'ely  assure  them  that  it  was  not  so. 

In  the  matter  with  Coventry,  now  Benton,  the  conclusion  was 
arrived  at  that  the  changes  or  swojis  were  about  equal,  although 
there  was  some  difficulty  in  relation  to  the  Bowles  lot,  so  called 
ft'om  Charles  Bowles,  who  served  in  the  war  and  afterwards  was 
a  celebrated  revivalist,  that  Coventry's  Proprietoi'S  had  given  away , 
but  which  actually  belonged  to  Warren. 

JSTow  that  the  boundaries  are  set  uy>  with  stability,  the  proprie- 

(v»i  •*"  June -28,  17S7.— Voted,  That  Capt.  William  Hackett  give  Gen.  Moulton, 
agent  for  Piermont,  immediate  notice  to  malie  liis  iiitch  of  200  acres  of  land  in 
Warren,  in  consideration  of  that  quantity  taken  into  Piermont,  settled  by  Thos. 
Clark  and  Isaiali  Batchelder,  by  the  10th  "of  October  next,  and  that  if  he  doth  not 


.TOSIAH    BURNHAM'S    SURVEY.  339 

tors  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  new  survey  of  the  -w^hole  teni- 
tory  was  actually  needed.  The  Leavitt  survey,  running  as  far 
north  as  the  eleven  mile  tree,  the  Cummings  survey,  the  Rindge 
survey,  Avonld  not  answer  at  all.  and  they  immediately  contracted 
A\'ith  Josiah  Burnham.  school-master,  to  make  an  accui'ate  plan  of 
the  town.  He  entered  upon  the  work,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before 
he  finished  it.  He  re-run  the  lots,  established  the  range  lines  and 
surveyed  the  divisions,  making  everything  harmonize  as  much  as 
possible  with  the  old  surveys,  the  proprietors'  drawing  of  lots  and 
the  former  sales  by  deed. 

But  he  did  not  lay  down  the  I'oads  and  brooks,  nor  trace  the 
course  of  the  river;  neither  did  he  indicate  the  locality  of  the 
ponds,  and  the  mountains.     He  had  no  taste  for  such  things. 

But  he  was  accurate  as  far  as  he  went,  and  his  plan  has  been 
the  foundation  of  every  map  of  the  hamlet  made  since.  May  4, 
1795,  the  proprietors  accepted  his  Avork  and  paid  him  a  vast  sum 
for  doing  it. 

Thus  the  lines  were  settled  and  peace  prevailed  once  more 
along  the  borders.  It  continued  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and  was 
only  disturbed  by  old  Peeling  and  Trecothick,  who  grew  jealous 
of  our  vigorous  democracy,  and  raised  another  boundary  feud,  as 
will  be  related  in  a  subsequent  book  of  this  history. 

make  said  pitch  by  said  time,  thenCapt.  Haekett  to  lay  200  acres  of  equal  goodness 
as  ueni'  the  line  of  Piermont  as  conveniently  may  be,  and  make  return  thereof  at 
the  adjournment  ot  this  meeting."— Proprietors' Records. 

*  See  Proprietors'  Records  for  full  notes  about  lands  taken  into  other  towns. 


CHAPTER  X. 


OF  THE  IvnOHTT  REQUISITES  NECESSARY  TO  MAKE  A  PERFECT  DE- 
MOCRACY ;  ALL  GRAPHICALLY  PORTRAYED  IN  THE  MOST  ATTRAC- 
TIVE  MANNER. 


Does  any  one  wish  to  know  what  ai*e  the  requisites  to 
make  a  perfect  community,  a  complete  town  organization,  then 
let  him  in  addition  to  what  we  have  already  stated,  read  this  chap- 
ter of  our  no  less  great  than  modest  history,  and  a  tolerable  idea 
can  be  obtained. 

And  first  of  all,  after  houses,  mills,  and  cleared  lands,  good 
roads  were  greatly  needed  and  our  valiant  citizens  went  braveh^  to 
work  to  build  them.  The  old  proprietors'  highway,  partly  follow- 
ing the  route  of  the  Indian  trail,  did  not  suit  them,  and  so  they 
surveyed  a  new  road  oyer  Eed  Oak  hill,  through  "  Patchbreuck- 
land,"  across  the  Asquamchumauke  or  Baker  river,  through  the 
centre  district,  over  the  Mikaseota  or  Black  brook,  along  the  basin 
of  Runaway  pond,  and  winding  away  over  the  Height-o'-land  by 
Tarleton  lake  to  Piermont.  It  was  four  rods  wide,  and  afterwards 
was  a  great  thoroughfare,  the  first  ox  teams  from  Coos  passing 
over  it  soon  after  it  was  built,  to  the  sea-board,  a  circumstance 
most  pleasingly  narrated  by  Rev.  Grant  Powers,  the  distinguished 
historian  of  the  ''  Cowass  country." 

And  then  a  road,  now  discontinued,  was  laid  out  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Asquamchumauke,  following  the  old  Indian  trail  and 
the  proprietors'  first  highway  from  Wentworth  line  to  the  mouth 


THE   OLD    HIGHWAYS.  .  341 

of  Black  brook,  for  the  accommodation  of  Nathaniel  Clough,  who 
had  just  settled  on  that  side  of  the  river. 

From  Black  brook  bridge  over  Beech  hill  to  Wentworth  Line 
another  was  cut  for  the  benefit  of  'Squire  Abel  Merrill,*  a  new 
settler  on  tlie  lull  among  the  beeches  and  maples. 

Leading  from  the  last  at  a  point  where  now  stands  Beech  hill 
school-house,  a  fourth  road  ran  away  to  the  west  high  up  on  the 
side  of  Sriitiiu'l  mountain,  to  accommodate  Mr.  Amos  Little, f 
who  was  at  this  time  clearing  a  beautiful  and  fertile  spot  in  the 
woods,  a  delightful  breezy  sunshiny  nest  on  the  hill,  from  which 
he  could  overlook  the  valley  and  out  upon  the  panorama  of  great 
eastern  mountains. 

The  selectmen  also  hurried  to  lay  out  a  road  over  Pine  liill 
from  Chase  Whitcher's  by  John  AVliitcher's  down  to  the  "  Society 
school-house, "J  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  in  the  Centre  district. 
For  several  years  Aaron  "Welch,**  who  lived  near  where  the  ceme- 

*  ABEL  AND  TAJIAR  {Kimball)  JIERRILL'S  FA5IILT  RECORD. 

Benjamin,  born  Oct.  19, 1784.  Joseph,  born  Feb.  16, 1798. 

•John,  born  Mrli.  4,  178fi.  William,  born  Apr.  10,  1800. 

Daniel,  born  Mch.  24,  1788.  Ira,  born  July  17,  1803. 

Sallv,  born  Mch.  9,  1790.  Tamar,  born  Mch.  9,  1805. 

PoUy,  born  Mch.  28, 1792.  Hannah,  born  Apr.  3,  1807. 

Betsey,  born  June  9,  1794.  John  L.  born  May  8,  1810. 

Samuel  L.  born  Apr.  10,  1796. 
Names  of  those  voters  who  moved  into  town  in  1789 : — 

John  Abbott.  Ebeuezer  Hidden.  Abel  Merrill. 

John  Badger.  (1)  John  Hidden.  Richard  Pillsbury. 

Samuel  Fellows.  Amos  Little. 

Jonathan  Fellows.  Silas  Lund. 

(1)  .John  Badger  was  a  curious  genius.    He  once  ran  away  to  avoid  his  credi- 
tors, and  they  went  after  him  and   brought  him  back.    Then  he  acquired  considera- 
ble property,  ran  away  again,  but  liis  debtors  did  not  got  go  after  him  to  bring  him 
back.    He  scolded  and  said  he  thought  it  was  a  poor  rule  that  would  not  work  both  ' 
ways. 

fAMOS  AXD  BETSEY  (Kimball)   LITTLE'S  FA^HLY  RECORD. 

Sally,  born  May  31,  1787,  at  Plaistow.  William,  born  June  19,  1802. 

Tamar,  born  Aug.  25, 1789,  at  Warren.  Jonathan,  born  June  8,  1804. 

James,  born  Sept.  6,  1791.  John,  born  Mch.  7,  1S06. 

Benjamin,  born  Sept.  22, 1793.  Judith  and  Dolly,  twins,  boru  Feb. 

Betty,  born  Aug.  31, 1795.  25,  1810. 

Amos, born  Dec.  15,  1797.  Kimball,  born  Jan.  8,  1815. 

Jesse,  born  July  4,  1800. 

\  I.  "  Voted  to  allow  Stevens  Men-ill  £0-4-6,  Capt.  Wm.  Butler  5  shillings,  and 
Ensign  Copp  3  shillings,  for  their  services  as  a  committee,  laying  out  a  road  from 
Coventi-y  line  to  the  Society  school-hoiise,  on  Coos  road." 

"Voted  to  lay  out  the  road  through  Mr.  Aaron  Welch's  land,  near  the  bank  of 
the  river,  direct  as  is  convenient  from  his  house  to  the  Society  school-house." 

**  AAROX  AND  BETTY  WELCH'S  FA3ULY  RECORD. 

Moses,  born  Dec.  10,  1788,  at  Warren.  Oliver,  born  April  15,  179i). 

Aaron,  Ijoni  Sept.  8,  1791.  Thomas,  born  Aug.  18,  1801. 

Ju<lith,  born  Mav  19,  1793.  Lois,  bom  Mav  19,  1804. 

Betsey,  born  Apr.  18,  1795.  Sally,  bom  Feb.  20, 1807. 
Samuel,  born  May  15, 1797. 


342  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

tery  is  now,  by  vote  in  public  assembly,  was  allowed  to  have  two 
gates  upon  it. 

Then  one  was  laid  out  for  Christian  William  Wliiteman  round 
the  east  side  of  Tarleton  lake ;  another  from  Height-o'-land  road 
across  Runaway  pond  valley  to  Pine  hill  road,  and  yet  another 
from  said  Pine  hill  road  across  Berry  brook,  through  Streamy 
valley,  far  into  the  East-parte  regions.  Samuel  Knight,  who  had 
seiwed  in  the  wars,  built  his  cabin  beside  it.*  It  was  a  frail  dwell- 
ing, and  through  the  crevices  of  its  roof  blew  the  summer  winds, 
and  the  stars  shone  in  at  night.  Knight  was  a  man  of  pleasant 
adventures,  and  a  narrator  of  wild  and  startling  traditions.  He 
found  where  the  Indians  lived  in  the  valley  and  turned  up  their 
stone  arrow-heads  with  his  plow.  He  had  been  a  brave  man  in 
his  country's  battles,  and  exhibited  nerve  in  his  encounters  in  the 
woods. 

These  were  the  principal  highways,  but  as  the  years  went  by, 
roads  were  laid  out  up  into  Moosehillock  district,  to  accommodate 
James  and  Moses  Williams,  Caleb  Homan.f  and  Samuel  Merrill, 
who  had  settled  in  that  section ;  up  Patch  hill,  towards  Glen  ponds, 
for  the  beneiit  of  Mr.  Reuben  Batchelder  and  Capt.  Stephen  Flan- 
ders, who  had  settled  in  the  East-parte  country ;  round  the  foot  of 
Moosehillock  to  the  Summit;  up  High  street,  through  the  North 
woods;  from  Pine  hill  road,  up  towards  Webster-slide  Mt.  by 
Wachipauka  pond,  to  convene  Mr.  Paul  Meader,  a  new  settler  in 
this  part  of  the  hamlet ;  down  Height-o"-land  road  by  Eastman 

*  SAMUEL  AND  SAKAH  {Bradley)  KNIGHT'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

He  was  born  in  Plaisto\Y,  Feb.  21, 1757.  Sarah  Bradley,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Plais- 

tow,  Aug.  23,  1700.  Married  Aug.  20,  1778. 

Susannah,  born  Mav  2.'5,  1779.  Abigail,  born  Apr.  Ifi,  1790. 

Abigail,  born  Ajjr.  7,  17S2.  Pollv,  born  Oct.  21,  1792. 

Married  Mary  Merrill,  Aug.  2G,  1784.  Betty,  born  Apr.  30,  1795. 

Nathaniel,  born  Apr.  29,  1785.  Ruth",  born  -July  17,  1798. 

Stevens,  born  May  9,  1786.  Hannah  B.,  born  .July  16, 1801. 
Sarah,  born  Feb.  3,  1788. 

New  voters  in  1790  : — 

Amos  Clark.  James  Little.  Thomas  Pillsbury. 

Jolm  Gardner.  Daniel  Pike.  C.  William  Whitemau. 

t  CALEB  AND  RUTH   (Merrill)  HOMAS'S  FAJIILV  RECORD. 

Married,  .Jan.  18  1789.  Joseph,  born  Oct.  11,  1797. 

Sallv,  born  Aug.  10,  1789.  Marv,  born  Julv  14,  1800. 

Joseph,  born  Apr.  23, 1792.    Died  .June  Ruth,  born  Feb.  26,  1803. 

29,  1794.  Mary,  born  June  6,  1806. 
Susanna,  bora  Apr.  29, 1795. 

New  voters  in  1791 : — 

David  Badger.  Enoch  Page. 

Joseph  Knight.  Dr.  Joseph  Peters. 


A  WILD-CAT  OVERCOME   WITH   A   COADSTICK.  ;343 

ponds  to  Pievmout,  and  up  Patch  brook  on  to  Picked  hill,  where  a 
sou  of  Joseph  Patcli  had  l)iiiU  a  cabin  and  commenced  a  clearing. 

These  roads  were  gems  in  themselves,  being  so  much  better 
than  none  at  all ;  but  however  good,  they  were  often  presented  to 
the  grand  jury  by  indignant  men,  who  jolting  over  them  thought 
they  ought  to  be  indicted  and  thereby  made  better. 

Then  an  attempt  was  made  to  lay  out  a  road  to  old  Trecothick, 
now  Ellsworth,  across  the  depression  between  Carr  and  Kineo 
mountains,  and  by  Glen  ponds ;  but  it  was  never  accomplished, 
much  to  the  detriment  of  fishermen  who  wish  to  visit  those  beau- 
tiful sheets  of  water.* 

On  these  roads  have  happened  many  a  strange  adventure 
worthy  of  record  in  this  I'emarkable  histor^^  Ox  teams,  as  we 
have  said  before,  drawing  ponderous  freights  to  and  from  the 
Cowass  country;  great  canvass  covered  teams,  drawn  by  eight 
horses,  coming  all  the  way  down  from  the  traditionary  land  of 
Canada;  riders  npon  horseback,  like  Jolmy  Balch,  who  carried  the 
mail  and  blew  a  hoi-n  in  tlie  woods,  and  long  trains  of  pungs  and 
two  horse  sleds  with  jingling  *•  coifee  bells  "  and  shouting  drivers, 
coming  from  the  high  north  country  in  winter,  used  them. 

Once  Mr.  Samuel  Flanders  slew  an  enormous  wild  cat  that 
was  devouring  a  goose  on  the  Height-o'-land  road  by  Tarleton 
lake.  The  hungiy  beast  was  too  fond  of  iioiiltry  to  have  a  prudent 
regard  for  its  own  safety,  and  Mr.  F.  not  having  a  thought  of 
danger,  with  a  large  goad  stick  attacked  the  cat  and  With  a  single 
blow  killed  it. 

Kaces  have  been  run  upon  them,  when  they  were  not  in  so 
good  a  condition  as  they  now  are.    When  the  East-parte  routef 

*  Paid  Abel  Merrill  and  .Joseph  Patch  §1,00  each  for  meeting  selectmen  of 
Ellsworth  and  examining  a  route  for  a  road.— See  Selectmen's  first  book. 

Xeic  Voters.— In  17&2,  Uriah  Cross,  .Josiah  Magoon.  Inl703,  Abram  Alexander, 
Thomas  Boyntou,  John  Chase,  David  S.  Craig,  Daniel  Welch.  In  1~94,  Stephen 
Badger.    In  1795,  Stephen  Flanders,  Barnabas  Niles. 

t.Tohn  Low  lived  on  the  East-parte  road.  He  was  a  very  neat  farmer,  and 
wonid  follow  the  man  wiio  reai)ed  for  him  and  cut  up  the  stray  stalks  of  grain 
which  the  reaper  would  leave  about  the  stumps  and  rock  heap's,  with  his  jack- 
knife. 

He  had  the  vei-y  economical  habit  of  laying  in  bed  all  day,  winter  times,  and  at 
dark  would  yoke  up  his  team  and  go  into  the  forest  after  a  load  of  wood.  He 
would  often  work  all  night  at  his  t)usmess.  My  uncle  Anson  one  bitter  cold  night 
saw  liim  starting  out  with  liis  cattle  at  9  P.  M.,  for  a  load  of  wood. 

John  Low,  one  winter,  found  two  bushels  of  swallows  in  a  hollow  birch  tree. 
They  were  torpid  wlieu  found,  but  were  lively  enough  after  they  had  laid  before 
the  lire  a  short  time.  Jolin  Libbey  and  Nathaniel  Merrill  saw  these  swallows.(?) 
'Squire  George  Libbey  affirmed  that  he  saw  these  swallow3.(  ?) 


344  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

was  first  cleared,  Mrs.  Samuel  Knight,  IVIi's.  Caleb  Homan,  accom- 
panied by  several  other  women,  and  a  young  man  by  the  name  of 
Webster,  who  was  from  LandafF,  went  to  Mr.  Stephen  Flanders'  to 
pay  the  family  a  visit.  On  their  return  home  when  they  arrived  near 
the  bridg-e  over  what  is  sometimes  called  Moosehillock  falls  near 
East-parte  school-house,  Mistresses  Knight  and  Honian  challenged 
young-  Webster,  who  was  mounted  on  a  very  fleet  horse,  to  a  race. 
At  first  he  did  not  like  to  consent,  but  they  strongly  urged  him 
and  he  acquiesced.  Whipping-  up,  they  went  over  the  rough  road 
for  the  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half,  at  almost  lightning-  speed, 
when  Webster  who  had  the  fastest  horse  proved  the  winner,  much 
to  the  chagrin  of  the  racing-  ladies.  Mr.  W.,  when  an  old  man, 
remarked  in  telling-  the  story  that  he  had  rode  over  that  piece  of 
road  many  times  since,  but  never  a  quarter  so  fast  as  then. 

Soldiers  have  marched  over  them.  Many  a  time  on  little  train- 
ing day,  flood-wood,  slam-bang  and  string-bean  companies,  and 
others  that  were  entitled  to  more  respect,  have  right-wheeled  and 
left-wheeled  upon  them.  Col.  Moses  H.  Clement,*  son  of  Col. 
Obadiah,  marched  a  whole  regiment  along  the  Height-o'-land,  or 
old  Coos  road,  the  first  one  that  ever  mustered  in  Warren. 

Battles  have  been  waged  upon  them.  The  fiercest  one  was 
fought  one  night  when  it  was  "  dark  as  pitch,"  by  Samuel  Knight 
and  a  terrible  foe.  It  had  lightened,  thundered,  rained,  and 
hailed,  "  like  great  guns,"  and  Mr.  K.  who  was  dripping-  wet  in 
his  camp  by  Silver  rill,  resolved  to  go  home  to  his  boarding  place 
at  Joseph  Merrill's  inn.  At  the  foot  of  the  lull,  near  Berry  brook 
bridge,  something-  stopped  him.  There  was  a  low  deep  growl  and 
directly  before  him,  seemingly,  two  balls  of  fire  flashed  in  the 
blackness.  He  shouted,  and  the  bear,  for  such  was  his  enemy, 
leaped  upon  him  grasping  him  with  its  fore  paws  and  scratched 
him  fearfully.  It  was  a  critical  moment,  but  Knight's  right  arm 
was  free,  and  quick  as  thought  he  pulled  a  knife  from  his  pocket, 
opened  it  with  his  teeth,  and  thrust  it  with  desperate  force  into  the 

MOSES  H.  AND  TAMAR  (Little)  CLEMENT'S  FAjnLY  KECOED. 

Russell  K.,  boru  Apr.  li),  ISOi).  Sarah,  boru  Dec.  29,  1822. 

Hazen,  born  Dec.  14,  ISU.  AVilliam,  boru  Jau.  2IJ,  1825. 
Elizabeth,  born  Feb.  -28,  18U.    Died        Daniel  Q.,  boru  May  31,  182S. 

Jan.  27,  1815.  Eliza,  boru  Jau.  20,  isas. 

James,  boru  Nov.  10, 1815.  John,  born  Aug.  12,  1830. 

Joseph,  bom  Apr.  3,  1818.  Tamar  J.,  bom  Dec.  4,  1832. 
Amos  Little,  born  Dec.  12,  18'20. 


A  BEAR  KILLED   WITH   A    JACK-KNIFE.  345 

side  of  the  bear.  Luckily  it  pierced  its  heart,  and  instantly  relax- 
ing its  holtl,  it  IVU  upon  the  ground  and  expired.  Knight  was 
severely  torn  by  the  claws  of  the  bear,  and  sitting  down  by  Ms 
dead  enemy  concluded  to  remain  there  during  the  night.  But  the 
clouds  shortly  broke  away,  the  stars  came  out,  the  moon  shone 
brightly,  and  changing  his  mind,  he  hurried  home. 

Returning  the  next  morning  with  his  friends,  he  found  a  bear 
of  the  largest  class  which  gave  evident  tokens  that  she  was 
engaged  rearing  her  young.  This  probably  induced  her  to  attack 
Mr.  K.,  something  she  would  not  have  done  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances. 

Men  have  died  on  them.  Eichard  Pillsbury,  who  lived  in 
Wentworth,  had  been  to  Haverhill  on  foot  one  cold  stormy  winter 
da  J'.  Climbing  Red-oak  hill  at  night,  on  his  return,  he  became 
chilled  through,  lay  down  in  the  road  and  died.  In  the  morning 
his  dog  came  to  the  door  of  his  home  and  howled,  then  seemed  to 
look  towards  the  road  on  the  hill.  They  followed  and  found  him 
there.  Friends  and  neighbors  carried  him  home,  then  buried  him 
in  the  grave  yard  by  the  mossy  stream, — ••  down  on  the  east  side." 
To-day  he  is  almost  forgotten,  and  soon  would  be  lost  to  the 
memory  of  men  forever,  did  we  not  here  record  his  death. 

In  order  to  make  these  roads  really  serviceable,  bridges  were 
wanted  and  must  be  had  over  the  little  meadow  streams,  across 
the  mountain  torrents,  and  spanning  the  river.  Most  of  these  were 
easily  built ;  but  the  great  work  of  that  time  was  the  building  of 
the  large  bridge  over  the  Asquamchumauke,  near  the  mouth  of 
Black  brook,  the  Mikaseota.  The  citizens  of  Warren  had  sent  a 
letter  to  the  proprietors,  praying  for  aid,  and  the  godfathers  of  the 
hamlet  generously  voted  nineteen  pounds  ten  shillings  and  seven 
pence  to  build  the  bridge.  On  the  tlnrd  of  March,  1784,  at  a  pub- 
lic meeting,  Jonathan  Merrill,  Joshua  Copp,  and  Joseph  Patch, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  perform  the  Avork,  and  authorized 
to  proceed  as  far  as  the  money  would  go.  They  commenced  the 
work  at  once.  They  labored  themselves,  they  paid  Stevens  Mer- 
rill three  pounds  for  plank  to  put  on  it,  and  Obadiah  Clement  two 
pounds  seventeen  shillings  and  one  penny,  for  labor,  besides  vast 
sums  i^aid  to  other  individuals. 

That  the  work  might  go  on  braveh',  they  purchased  at  the 


346 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


price  of  sixteen  shillings,  a  little  old  rum  ''  to  wet  their  whistles 
and  streugtheu  their  muscles."  Moses  True,  it  is  said,  once  carried 
the  great  stone  jug-  to  Stevens  Merrill's,  who  kept  the  pure  "  west 
endea,''  to  get  it  filled.  Mr.  M.  was  away,  and  he  went  into  the 
kitchen.  It  was  a  sight  that  met  his  eyes  not  often  seen  in  these 
degenerate  days.  Mrs.  Merrill  was  mounted  on  the  loom,  which 
stood  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  smoking  and  weaving  with  all 
her  might,  the  fumes  of  her  tobacco  pipe  mingHng  with  the  whiz 
of  the  shuttle,  the  jarring  of  the  lathe  and  the  clattering  of  the 
ti-eadles,  while  buzz,  buzz,  went  the  rapid  wheel,  and  creak,  creak, 
the  windle  from  which  run  the  yarn  that  her  grandchild,  daughter 
of  'Squire  Jonathan,  was  quilling. 

But  Moses  True  was  a  dauntless  youth.  "  Come  down,  "  said 
he,  showing  the  jug.  At  tu-st  she  was  not  inclined  to  accommo- 
date liim ;  but  he  persisted,  and  she  put  up  a  gallou  of  the  good 
creature  that  was  so  much  needed  in  those  days.* 

How  they  worked  when  they  got  the  exhilerating  drams  of 
good  grog.  How  the  axes  flew  in  the  great  pine  timbers,  how  the 
mallets  resounded  as  the  mortices  were  made,  how  the  augurs  bit 
as  they  gnawed  through  the  wood,  turned  by  strong  arms,  and 
how  the  shovels  went  as  they  dug  great  trenches  in  the  bottom  of 
the  stream  in  which  to  place  the  mud  sills  on  wliich  the  bridge 
would  stand. 

They  drank  better  rum  in  those  days  than  now.  There  was 
not  so  much  strychnine  in  it.  Besides,  there  were  no  temperance 
societies  then  ;   the  ministers  drank  themselves. 

But  when  the  bridge  was  raised  they  drank  lots  of  the  good 
creature.    The  great  rulers  of  the  town,  the  selectmen,  paid  Joshua 


*  1784.— Paid  Stevens  Merrill  for  plank  to  build  the  bridge  over  Baker  river, 

tliree  pounds. 
Paid  Stevens  Merrill  for  rum  to  raise  the  bridge,  eiglit  shillings. 
"      Obadiah  Clements,  two  pounds  seventeen  shillings  one  penny,  in  full  pay 
for  vi'ork  done  on  the  bridge  over  Baker  river. 
Ordered  Constable  Butler  to  pay  Ephraim  True  eight  shillings,  it  being  for 
rum  that  he  found  to  build  the  bridge,  which  sum  is  to  be  taken  out  of  liis  note  that 
he  gave  to  the  town. 

OBADIAH  CLEMEXT,  )   ggiectmen 
SAMUEL  KNIGHT,        (   selectmen. 

Paid  to  Joshua  Merrill  sixteen  shillings,  it  being  for  two  gallons  of  rum  that  he 
louud  lor  the  town  to  be  spent  in  raising  the  river  bridge,  which  is  to  be  allowed  to 
him  on  the  former  account. 

March  27,  178C.— Paid  Obadiah  Clement  two  pounds  two  shillings  and  eleven 
pence,  it  being  due  to  hini  for  work  done  on  the  bridare  over  Baker  river. 

JOSEPH  PATCH,         ;   c^,„  , 
WILLIAM  BUTLER,     Selectmen. 


HOW  PATCH    BROOK   W^S   BRHiGED.  347 

Merrill  sixteen  shillings  for  two  gallons  that  he  iurnishcd,  and 
eight  shillings  to  Ephraim  True  for  one  gallon  found  by  him ;  all 
for  the  purpose  of  raising.  Three  gallons !  Wonderful  to  relate, 
with  this  powerful  assistance,  they  got  the  bridge  up  without  diffi- 
culty, and  then  the  work  stopped ;  the  funds  were  all  spent. 

July  C,  at  a  town  meeting,  the  report  of  the  distinguished  com- 
mittee was  accepted,  and  then,  that  the  enterprise  might  go  on, 
voted  to  finish  the  bridge  at  the  town's  expense.  That  the  work 
might  be  done  at  reasonable  rates,  "Voted  to  let  the  finishing  of 
the  bridge  to  the  lowest  bidder,"  and  Col.  Clement  having  bid  five 
pounds,  it  was  struck  off  to  him.  There  was  some  planking  and 
considerable  grading  to  be  done,  but  before  the  summer  was  over 
the  great  work  was  complete. 

But  the  building  the  bridge  over  Patch  brook  was  a  greater 
work  than  the  one  over  the  Asquamchumauke.  A  mighty  freshet 
happened  about  these  times;  somebody  said  "a  cloud  broke  on 
Moosehillock,"  the  river  overflowed  its  banks  and  spread  out  across 
all  the  intei-vals.  Of  course  a  portion  of  the  river  water  ran  do  wu 
tlie  valley  of  Patch  brook,  and  the  shrewd  citizens  thought  a 
bridge  would  certainly  be  needed  from  high  bank  to  high  bank, 
and  they  proceeded  to  erect  one  immediately.  It  reached  from  the 
Forks  school-house  twenty  rods  away  to  the  spot  where  the  little 
bridge  now  spans  the  rill  at  the  foot  of  the  northern  bank.  Twenty 
pounds  sterling  the  town  appropriated  March  18,  1790,  to  com- 
mence the  work,  and  chose  Joseph  Patch,  Stephen  Eichardson, 
Stevens  Merrill,  and  Joshua  Copp,  a  committee  to  lay  it  out. 

It  only  made  a  beginning.  Next  year  in  meeting  assembled 
the  citizens  enacted,  after  the  manner  of  other  great  legislative 
bodies,  that  they  would  appropriate  ''  as  much  of  that  money  as 
was  raised  to  lay  out  on  the  highways  as  will  finish  the  bridge  near 
Joseph  Patch's  house." 

Then  the  work  glowed  and  the  mighty  stiaicture  advanced ; 
the  money  was  all  laid  out.  There  came  a  halt,  and  the  bridge 
was  not  finished.  The  year  1792  came.  Not  a  drop  of  river  water 
had  flowed  down  Patch  brook  valley  for  three  years.  The  waiTant 
for  the  assembling  of  the  democracv  that  vear  contained  the  fol- 
lowing  article: — "To  see  what  method  the  town  T\ill  take  to 
finish  the  bridge." 


348  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

At  the  meeting  when  the  article  came  up  to  be  acted  upon, 
some  shrewd  citizen  who  was  given  to  doubting  suggested  that  he 
doubted  very  much  if  the  bridge  was  needed  at  all ;  that  he  guessed 
the  ground  where  the  water  did  not  run  ''  was  safer  to  travel  upou 
than  planks,  and  a  mighty  sight  cheaper."  He  was  heard  by  the 
assembled  wisdom  in  silence,  and  the  projectors  of  the  long  bridge 
looked  grave  and  wise  as  owls.  Some  one  suggested  that  the  mat- 
ter better  be  postponed  to  a  future  day,  and  thus  it  was  disposed  of. 

The  half  completed  bridge  stood  all  summer  a  silent  monu- 
ment of  the  great  freshet  and  the  sageness  of  men.  Next  year  it 
is  recorded  that  "•  Long  Patch  bridge  "  is  yet  unsettled  for,  but  no 
action  was  taken  in  the  matter.  By  some  mishap,  while  the  citi- 
zens were  deliberating  what  to  do  with  it,  in  the  hot  summer  a 
spark  of  fire  fell  upon  the  work ;  the  tiames  leaped  up  devouiing 
sills,  posts,  stringers,  and  planks,  and  the  noble  work  was  gone 
forever. 

Two  short  bridges  were  afterwards  erected  in  its  place  wliich 
are  continued  to  this  day.* 

And  now,  roads  and  bridges  complete,  travel  through  our  ham- 
let much  increased  as  was  hinted  before,  and  the  bu.siness  of  tav- 
erning  grew  to  be  the  best  in  towu.  Lemuel  Keezer,t  who  lived 
on  the  southern  border,  immediately  opened  a  hotel  and  kept  it  for 
a  long  time.  Stevens  Meriill  had  accommodations  for  man  and 
beast;  liis  sou,  Joseph  Merrill,  opened  a  hostelrie  on  the  plain 

*The  river  flowed  under  Patch  brook  bridge  again  in  1858;  also  iu  ISGO  and  in 
1869. 

t  Lemuel  Keezer's  tavern  sign  had  a  dove  painted  on  one  side  and  a  serpent 
on  the  otlier.  AVlien  aslied  why  he  liad  sucli  a  sign,  lie  replied  that  it  represented 
himself;  that  sometimes  he  was  a  serpent,  but  more  often  he  was  a  heavenly  dove. 

Keezer  was  a  most  remarkable  man,  and  very  keen  withal,  as  our  readers  will 
learn  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  history.  He  ouce  had  two  of  liis  relatives  stop 
with  him  over  night.  They  had  a  gay  time,  and  wlien  they  harnessed  up  in  the 
morning  they  thanked  him'for  liis  hosjiitality,  but  he  neverminded  them  and  said 
we  wilTsettle  the  bills  at  tlie  bar,  gentlemeu.  They  were  surprised  and  said  they 
thought  they  were  cousins.  Keezer's  eyes  twinkled,  and  he  said  just  pay  the 
money,  gentlemen,  and  then  we  will  be  cousins. 

Keezer  set  scythes  in  his  orchard  to  cut  the  boys  who  stole  his  fruit.  One 
Amos  Clark,  a  cunning  youth,  found  "  the  man  trap  "  on  a  moon-shiny  night,  and 
drove  it  to  the  heel  into'the  ground,  Keezer  piously  forgave  the  trespasser,  and 
spent  two  hours  digging  the  scythe  out. 

Keezer  hired  Peter  Martin  and  Alljert  Hogan  to  fall  trees  for  him.  He  took 
Martin  aside,  gave  him  a  bottle  of  rum,  and  told  him  Hogan  was  going  to  sweat 
him.  Then  he  took  Hogan  aside,  gave  him  a  bottle  of  rum  and  told  him  the  same 
stoiy.  Martin  mistrusted,  but  Hogan  put  in  terribly  all  tlie  forenoon.  In  the 
afternoon  Martin  explained  Keezer's  little  game,  and  then  the  men  drank  their 
rum  together,  and  had  a  sweet  time,  much  to  the  landlord's  delight. 


THE  OLD  POLITICAL   POT-HOUSES.  349 

where  the  common  i?  now ;  Jonathan  Clement  kept  an  inn  at  Run- 
away pond :  Obadiah  Clement  continued  in  the  same  business  just 
above  him,  and  Col.  Tarleton  kept  an  excellent  house  high  up  on 
the  western  marche  by  the  shore  of  Tarleton  lake. 

These  taverns  flourished  Avondcrfully,  and  the  proprietors  all 
arrived  at  considerable  wealth.  The  landlords  had  comely  daugh- 
ters for  waiting-  maids ;  strong  armed  sons  to  attend  the  great  ox 
teams  that  stopi^ed  to  bait  or  rest  over  night,  or  to  gi'oom  the  sad- 
dle horses  of  gentlemen  who  patronized  them. 

Then  the  bar-room,  furnished  with  the  best  of  diinks,  milk- 
toddy  and  egg-nog,  and  numerous  other  Idnds,  with  its  great  wood 
fire  and  loggerhead  at  wliite  heat,  was  an  excellent  loafing  place 
for  tlie  nearest  neighbors.  They  assembled  here  to  learn  the  news 
from  travellers,  hear  the  gossixi  of  the  country  round  and  discuss 
•politics.  The  Merrill  party  and  the  Clement  party  had  each  hotels 
of  their  own,  and  there  they  held  their  caucuses. 

These  inns  of  those  old  days  were  good  ones,  the  table  was 
always  well  set,  the  cream  the  sweetest  and  richest,  the  butter  and 
eggs  always  fresh,  vegetables  and  everything  else  nice,  clean  Avhite 
beds,  snowy  linen  sheets,  well  swept  floors,  all  was  bright  and 
neat  as  strong  hands  could  make  it.* 

,  With  good  roads,  bridges,  and  hotels,  population  began  to 
increase,  and  a  hundred  clearings  shone  bright  in  the  woods. 
Beech  hill,  Height-o'-land,  the  Summit  and  East-parte,  were  ahve 
"with  settlers. 

Better  mills  were  other  most  important  requisites,  wanted  to 
accommodate  the  inhabitants.  And  Moses  H.  Clement,  son  of 
Col.  Obadiah,  bought  out  Stevens  Merrill  and  Wilham  Butler,  and 
moved  the  gidst-mill  where  the  sons  of  Joshua  Copp  long  had 
tended,  up  to  the  mouth  of  Black  brook  where  Stevens  Merrill 
first  built  a  dam.  He  also  had  a  saw -mill,  and  afterwards  put  in  a 
wool  carding  machine.  That  he  might  have  a  good  supply  of 
water,  by  leave  of  the  town  he  cut  a  canal  from  Baker  river  to 
Black  brook,  and  built  a  stone  dam  across  the  foi'mer  stream.  His 
canal  went  under  the  highway  just  at  the  railroad  crossing  above 
the  depot. 

*  Some  of  the  teamsters,  especially  the  Scotch  from  Vt.,  would  carry  their  own 
victuals  ami  driuk,  aud  eat  by  the  bar-room  lire,  much  to  the  disgust  of  Che  land- 
lord. 


350  HISTORY   OF    ■\YARREN. 

The  new  comers  wanted  town  aflairs  well  conducted ;  they 
considered  it  a  great  requisite.  So  they  bought  new  town  books, 
Ephraim  True  purchasing  some  for  the  selectmen,  j)aying  there- 
for tive  pounds  and  two  sliillings ;  and  Obadiah  Clement  bought  a 
town  clei'k's  book  in  which  he  made  the  tirst  records.  He  gave  for 
it  two  poitnds  ten  shillings  "  lawful  money." 

Then  that  justice  might  be  done  and  no  mistake,  they  pur- 
chased a  "  law  book  "  as  a  legal  requisite.  Horrid  thing,  many  a 
defeated  client  has  said  after  having  become  satisfied  that  a  little 
law,  as  well  as  a  little  learning,  is  a  dangerous  thing. 

Out  of  the  law  book  and  from  ancient  tradition,  common  law, 
they  learned  that  for  troublesome  estrays  and  trespassing  cattle,  a 
Pound  was  an  excellent  institution,  a  very  requisite  thing;  and 
straightway  they  went  to  work  to  obtain  one.  For  the  first  few 
years  they  used  the  best  barn  yards  of  the  settlers,  voting  to  have 
it  first  in  one  and  then  in  another,  until  at  last  they  were  tired  of 
that  style  and  were  determined  to  build  a  real  genuine  Pound.  And 
first  a  plan  was  necessary,  and  an  admirable  one  was  soon  fur- 
nished. It  is  included  in  the  following  '' enactment"  of  the 
democracy.  *^ Voted  to  build  a  Pound  on  the  'Parade^  near 
Joseph  Merrill's  inn,  of  good  suitable  pine  logs  locked  together, 
thirty  feet  square  within  walls,  eight  feet  high,  the  upper  logs 
hcAved  triangular,  underpined  with  stone  six  inches  high,  with  a  . 
good,  suitable  door,  hanging  with  iron  hinges  with  a  staple,  hasp, 
and  padlock,  and  furnished  to  the  exception  of  the  selectmen." 
Said  Pound  was  bid  off"  to  Joseph  E.  Marston,  at  $19,50.  But 
strange  to  say,  it  was  never  built.  The  whole  thing  flashed  in  the 
lian,  and  in  despite  of  good  intentions,  law-book  and  all,  the  citi- 
zens have  gone  on  as  they  begun,  using  somebody's  barn-yard  for 
a  Pound  every  year  since. 

That  every  body  might  be  honest,  and  that  there  might  be  no 
cheating  in  weights  and  measures,  which  by  the  way  is  the  mean- 
est kind  of  cheating,  our  little  State  among  the  hills,  deeming  it. 
necessary  to  make  a  perfect  State,  voted  to  purchase  a  standard  of 
weights  and  measures,  a  very  necessary  requisite.  We  are  accu- 
rately informed  that  one  dollar  and  twenty  cents  was  paid  for  the 
measures,  and  thirty  dollars  for  the  weights. 

Also  that  the  roads  might  be  well  cleaned  out,  paid  one  dollar 


ARRIVAL  or   A   YOl'XG   PAUPER.  351 

and  fifty  cents  for  a  set  of  drills.    With  these  a  little  blasting  was 
frequently  done. 

Then  for  the  sake  of  some  heraldry,  pomp,  and  ceremony,  a 
stamp,  seal,  or  device,  was  procured  as  an  absolute  and  grand 
requisite  for  the  good  of  the  State.  But  it  was  as  plain  as 
Democratic  institutions  generally  are,  a  simple 
With   this,   eveiT  thing    belonging  to  the   town 


W> 


should  be  accurately  marked  as  well  as  known  ;  besides,  the  sealer 
of  weights  and  measures  should  stamp  it  upon  every  thing  he 
inspected,  that  people  might  know  they  were  exactly  correct,  and 
that  he  had  done  his  duty. 

In  the  town  were  some  gamesome  fellows,  as  we  have  often 
hinted  in  these  interesting  pages,  and  in  our  most  historic  times 
they  were  greatly  afraid  that  all  the  game  would  be  destroyed. 
So  that  they  might  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  hunting  in  after  years  the 
same  as  foi-merly,  they  deemed  it  an  absolute  requisite  to  choose 
in  1791  Joseph  Patch  and  Jonathan  Clement  "  deer  keepers."* 

Tradition  has  it  that  for  long  years  they  did  their  duty  faith- 
fully, keeping  the  game  all  to  themselves,  and  outside  hunters  far 
away  from  the  goodly  land  of  AVarren. 

With  the   abundance   of  inhabitants   came   some   who  were 
wretchedly  poor.     But  the  first  pauper  in  Warren  was  not  a  very 
aged  person.    Every  body  said  this  was  not  a  requisite  to  make  a 
perfect  community ;  that  it  was  very  unnecessary ;  but  they  could 
not  help  themselves.     In  fact  a  certain  young,  marriageable  dam- 
sel, worshiping  the  goddess  of  love,  without  the  aid  of  a  shower 
of  gold,  or  the  machinations  of  a  river  god,  all  of  a  sudden  saw 
fit  to  eniich  the  world  with  a  bantling,  whom  no  fast  young  man 
was  willing  to  father.    It  created  an  immense  sight  of  talk  all  over 
town.     The  knowing  young  folks  tittered  when  they  heard  of  it; 
the  old  ones  looked  grave  and  indignant.     '^  "WHio  is  the  father  of 
it?    Who  will  support  it?    What  will  become  of  it?  "     Such  were 
the  remarks  heard  every  day. 

The  child  was  born ;  the  mother  called  on  the  town  for  help. 


*  Deer  Keepers. — By  an  act  of  14th  of  George  II.,  it  is  enacted  that  no  deer  shall 
be  killed  from  the  last  day  of  December  to  the  first  day  of  August,  annually,  under 
the  penaltv  of  ten  pounds ;  and  in  case  of,  inability  to"  pay,  to  work  forty  days  for 
the  first  offence,  and  fifty  days  lor  subsequent  ofl'ences.  Ajiy  venison  or  skin  newly 
killed  was  evidence  of  guilt. 

In  1758,  towns  were  authorized  or  required  to  choose  two  suitable  persons 


352  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

"What  in  the  world  shall  we  do?"  said  the  selectmen.  "  Call  a 
town  meeting-,-'  said  'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill ;  and  one  was  called 
to  consider  this  momentous  subject. 

The  following  articles  were  in  the  warrant  for  the  meeting, 
posted  up  Nov.  10,  1788,  at  Jonathan  Clement's  inn : — 

"  Secondly,  to  see  what  measures  shall  be  taken  for  the  main- 
tainance  of  the  child  which  is  cast  on  the  town's  charge." 

"  Thirdly,  to  see  what  measures  best  to  be  taken  to  prevent 
others  from  being  chargeable  to  said  town." 

At  the  meeting  the  subject  was  gravely  discussed  by  the 
elderly  gentlemen  present,  much  to  the  delight  of  Moses  True  and 
a  few  other  young  bucks,  and  then  they  voted  to  choose  a  commit- 
tee to  see  whose  right  it  is  to  support  the  child  which  is  become  a 
town  charge.  This  was  followed  by  the  follo-^ving  extraordinary 
vote,  viz:—"  Voted  that  William  Butler,  Stevens  Merrill,  and  Mas- 
ter Nathaniel  Knight,  (he  was  a  school  master,)  for  a  committee  to 
take  care  of  the  child  above  mentioned  till  they  peruse  the  law  and 
make  a  return  to  the  town  —  at  the  adjournment  of  this  meeting — 
whose  right  it  is  to  support  the  child." 

The  committee  did  "peruse  the  law,"  and  at  the  adjourned 
meeting  reported  that  after  enquiry  found  the  grand-parents'  right 
to  support  the  child. 

Then  there  was  a  pause.  'Squire  Joshua  Copp  took  the  floor 
and  after  a  few  grave  and  pertinent  remarks  moved  that  the  whole 
matter  be  postponed  fourteen  days,  and  it  was  postponed.  AMiether 
or  not  it  was  ever  taken  up  again,  or  what  became  of  "  the  stray 
child  pauper,"  neither  record  nor  tradition  has  told  us. 

But  certain  it  is  that  nearly  two  years  after,  the  following 
action  was  taken  that  may  throw  some  light  on  the  matter.  March 
18,  1790.—"  Voted  to  allow  Constable  Whitcher's  account  for  con- 
veying Dorathy  Clifford  through  town,  wliich  is  £0-13-10,  five 
shillings  of  which  sum  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Clement  for  expense  at  his 
house,  and  four  shillings  and  two  pence  to  Ensign  Moses  Copp  for 
his  trouble  with  said  Dorathy  Clifford." 

Oh !  the  charming  fair  young  Dorathy !     How  gi'and  you  must 


annually,  whose  peculiar  office  it  shall  be  to  prevent  as  much  as  may  he  the  breach 
of  this  act.  They  shaU  have  full  power  of  searcli,  and  may  break  locks  or  doors  of 
any  place  where'they  may  suspect  game  is  concealed.— History  ot  Chester,  448. 


IIO"\V   PAUPERS   -WERE   CARED   FOR.  353 

have  felt,  being  conveyed  •' thro' town'' by  Constable  Wliitchei"! 
"Who  was  there  to  see !  Did  yon,  peerless  one,  ride  on  a  gaily 
caparisoned  charger,  or  were  you  conveyed  in  a  lordly,  diguifled 
ox  cart,  the  only  vehicle  in  the  hamlet?  This  latter  fact  has  also 
passed  from  the  memory  of  man. 

But  the  citizens  of  Warren  were  not  to  be  served  in  this  man- 
ner again.  They  acted  upon  the  third  article  in  the  warrant.  At 
the  first  meeting  they  voted  to  warn  out  —  which  was  the  fashion 
in  those  daj-s  —  such  persons  as  appear  liable  to  become  a  town 
charge,  and  that  there  might  be  no  danger  voted  to  warn  out  Eeu- 
ben  AYhitcherif  he  appears  likely  to  become  an  inhabitant.  At  the 
adjourned  meeting,  "  Voted  to  warn  out  the  widow  INIills'  two  chil- 
dren, now  resident  at  Ensign  Moses  Copp's." 

This  had  an  admirable  efiect  for  several  years :  but  in  process 
of  time  another  pauper  came,  and  poor  Betty  Whittier  had  to  be 
maintained  by  the  }ouug  democracy.  Mr.  Enoch  Davis,  who  lived 
by  Davis  brook,  in  the  East-parte  regions,  influenced  by  the  nice 
little  sum  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  silver  dollars,  generously 
took  her  home,  and  gave  his  bond  to  the  selectmen  to  maintain  her 
as  long  as  she  lived.* 

Warren  as  an  independent  State  has  ever  treated  her  poor  in 
the  kindest  manner,  getting  the  best  of  homes  for  them  by  hu- 
manely setting  them  up  at  auction,  and  striking  them  off  to  any 
one  that  would  keep  them  cheapest,  and  at  the  least  expense  to  the 
town. 

That  they  might  not  seem  barbarous  and  heathen,  they  felt 
that  one  of  the  solemn  requisites  of  civilized  life  was  a  proper 
observance  of  the  forms  of  paying  respect  to  the  dead.  That  their 
funerals  might  be  conducted  with  the  highest  degree  of  propi'iety, 
they  determined  in  a  public  assembly  of  the  citizens  to  purchase  a 
pall  or  grave  cloth. 

The  rulers  of  the  town  were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  ob- 
taining it.  They  procured  a  very  nice  one  for  sixteen  dollars  and 
fifty  cents,  silver  money .f   Obadiah  Clement,  ever  public  spirited, 

*  1805. — "  Voted  to  choose  .1  committee  of  two  persons  to  settle  with  Mrs.  Stone 
[widow  Joshua  Copp,]  about  the  maiutainauce  ot  Betsey  Whittier,  or))rosecutc  as 
they  .shall  think  best  lor  the  town.  Chose  Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett  and  Lieut.  Abel  Merrill 
for  the  above  committee." — Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  Kir. 

t  March  17,  180:5.—"  X.  B.  JohnxVbbott  is  not  to  be  taxed  for  said  pall."— Town 
Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  l.U. 

w 


354  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

with  the  aid  of  his  brother  Jonathan,  had  anticipated  the  action  of 
the  people  by  buying  a  small  burjdng  cloth  or  pall  for  their  friends 
and  neighbors,  and  the  next  year  the  town  purchased  theirs  also, 
at  an  expense  of  tive  dollars.  For  several  j^ears  these  emblems  of 
funereal  pageantry  were  kept  at  the  inn  of  Mr.  Joseph  Merrill. 

But  that  the  pall  might  not  often  be  wanted,  and  funerals  be 
rare,  the  good  citizens  of  Warren  thinking  it  of  the  greatest  neces- 
sity, induced  Dr.  Joseph  Peters,  a  relative  of  Captain  Absalom 
Peters,  to  move  into  town  and  have  a  care  after  the  physical  health 
of  the  people.  Warren's  tirst  physician  came  to  town  in  1791,  and 
took  up  his  residence  with  Mr.  Stevens  Memll.  He  was  a  well 
educated  man,  of  genial  temperament,  and  was  much  beloved  by 
almost  every  body,  particularly  the  women.  But  being  also  of  a 
roving  disposition  he  did  not  abide  long  in  the  valley  among  the 
hills.  Whence  came  Dr.  Peters  the  Lord  only  knows  ;  where  he 
went,  the  men  said,  "  j)erhaps  the  d — 1  can  tell." 

He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Levi  Root,  another  eminent  practi- 
tioner, who  remained  in  town  about  three  years,  from  1795  to  1798. 

Then  Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett*  came,  and  being  a  college  bred  young 
■  gentleman,  of  great  promise  as  a  physician,  and  withal  a  son  of 
Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  one  of  the  old  proprietors,  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  he  easily  rooted  out  Dr.  Root,  and  had  the  whole  town- 
sliip,  with  all  the  country  round,  as  a  field  for  practice.  He  settled 
on  the  fertile  uplands  of  Beech  hill,  just  to  the  southward  of  Amos 
Little. 

*FAMILT  RECCED   OF  EZRA  AND  HAXNAH   (  Gale)  BARTLETT. 

Laura,  born  Oct.  20,  1799,  at  Warren.  Hannah,  born  .Jan.  7,  1805. 

Josiah,  born  Oct. 25, 1801.    Died  Sept.  Levi,  born  Oct.  i,  1S06. 

25,  1802.  Mary,  born  Aug.  22,  1808. 

Josiah,  born  May  3,  1803.  Sarah,  born  Apr.  23,  1810. 

New  voters  in  1790  :— 

Nathan  Barlier.  .Joseph  Jones.  Johu  Weeks. 

.Tames  Harran.  William  Kelley. 

Olney  Hawkins.  Dr.  Levi  Root. 

New  voters  in  1797  : — 

Benjamin  Kelley.  .Jesse  Niles.  .Joseph  Orn. 

New  voters  in  1798 : — 

Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett.  Asa  Low.  Abial  Smith. 

.James  Dow. 

New  voters  iu  1799 : — 

Benjamin  Brown.  Benjamin  Gale.  .James  Williams. 

New  voters  in  ISOO. 

Daniel  Davis.  Samuel  .Jackson.  .Jacob  Low. 

.Job  Iilaton.  Luke  Libbey.  Abel  Willard. 


EARLY   PHYSICIANS.  365 

Dr.  Ezra  Bartlctt  was  a  disting^uii^hed  man  in  his  day,  often 
representing  the  towns  of  Warren  and  Coventry  in  the  Legislatnre. 
He  was  a  side  justice  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  a  Senator  in 
the  New  Hampshire  Senate,  and  a  member  of  the  Governor's 
council.  No  man  for  fifty  miles  away  could  compete  with  him  as 
a  physician,  and  he  was  an  excellent  surgeon,  as  Avell. 

The  children  loved  him,  but  they  looked  upon  his  house  with 
a  sort  of  dread,  for  they  had  heard  the  strange  story  how  he  had 
the  body  of  Josiah  Burnham,  who  was  hung  at  Haverhill  jail,  there 
preserved  in  alcohol  in  a  glass  case.  It  was  said  by  the  knowing 
ones  that  he  bargained  with  Burnham  for  his  body,  giving  him  for 
it  all  the  liquor  he  could  drink  before  the  day  of  execution.  Be 
that  as  it  may.  Dr.  Bartlett  always  had  medical  students,  for  he 
had  excellent  facilities  for  study,  and  some  of  them  afterwards 
ranked  high  in  professional  life.  Two  of  them.  Dr.  Thomas  Whip- 
ple and  Dr.  Robert  Burns,  were  members  of  Congress,  the  first 
holding  the  office  for  eight  years. 

The  doctor  gave  a  mighty  impetus  to  town  aflfairs,  showing 
what  were  the  necessary  requisites  for  a  perfect  democratic  com- 
munity; the  roads  were  better;  the  schools  were  better,  the  farms 
were  better ;  and  he  set  a  good  example  by  building  a  nice  house  for 
himself,  after  which  every  man  in  town  aspired  to  pattern.  So 
much  was  he  admired  that  many  children  born  at  this  period  were 
called  Ezra  Bartlett. 

Dr.  Bartlett  also  considered  that  it  was  one  of  the  much 
desired  requisites  that  there  should  be  no  boundary  feuds  among 
the  good  citizens  of  Warren,  and  perplexing  lawsuits  arising 
therefrom.  That  they  might  not  be  harrassed  with  these  evils,  he 
determined  that  the  bounds  should  be  well  kept  up,  and  shrewdly 
went  to  work  to  accomplish  it,  and  obtain  a  plan  of  lots  for  the 
town.  The  proprietors,  as  already  related,  had  one.  How  much 
good  a  man  of  refined  tastes  and  education  can  do  in  any  commu- 
nity. He  quietly  went  to  work  and  got  an  article  inserted  in  the 
warrant  for  town  meeting,  to  see  what  the  citizens  would  do  about 
procuring  a  plan.  At  the  annual  assembly  of  the  people  it  was 
determined  to  elect  a  committee  to  provide  one,  and  chose  Joseph 
Patch,  Nathaniel  C lough,  and  Samuel  Knight  for  that  purpose. 

Under  his  guidance  they  immediately  went  to  work  and  ob- 


356  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

tained  copies  of  all  the  old  surveys  and  plans,  (particularly  that  of 
Josiah  Buruham,)  which  were  so  admirably  made  during  the  time 
of  the  old  proprietors'  boundar)-  war.  With  this  material  for  a 
basis,  Dr.  Bartlett  lent  himself  to  the  task,  and  produced  the  beau- 
tiful and  excellent  plan  of  Warren  that  now  stands  as  the  frontis- 
j)iece  in  the  Proprietors'  Records.  He  worked  a  week  making  it, 
and  then, —  what  do  you  think! — he  only  charged  the  town  one 
dollar  for  his  services.  Cheap  enough  most  people  would  say; 
but  then  some  grumbled  about  it  even  at  that,  as  is  always  the 
case.  The  committee  received  twenty-eight  dollars  and  thirty- 
eight  cents  for  their  services. 

To  accomplish  all  these  necessary  requisites  and  make  Warren 
a  flourishing  democracy,  required  money,  and  as  we  have  gently 
intimated,  the  town  contrived  each  year  to  raise  a  fair  amount, 
easily  from  the  most,  by  process  from  a  few. 

Sometimes  it  was  paid  with  paper  bills,  the  old  continental  cur- 
I'ency,  once  or  twice  in  new  emission  money  —  a  sort  of  promissory 
notes  founded  on  real  estate  and  loaned  on  interest ;  but  these  run 
down  and  became'  worthless  sooner  than  the  old  continental  cur- 
rency,—  and  fvequently  in  produce ;  the  citizens  in  the  selectmen- 
ship  of  Joshua  Copp,  EphraimTrue,  and  Nathaniel  Knight,  voting 
that  the  town  charges  be  paid  in  wheat  at  Jii'e,  rye  at  four,  and 
corn  at  three  shillings  per  bushel.  The  selectmen  were  likewise 
paid  in  this  way  for  their  services,  and  it  was  the  commonest  of 
things  to  purchase  their  English  and  West  India  goods,  by  barter- 
ing their  produce. 

For  the  first  three  years  of  the  town  organization  taxes  were 
reckoned  in  depreciated  currency,  raising  £500  in  1781.  then  they 
were  com^mted  on  a  specie  basis,  assessing  in  1782  but  £-4  1-2 
silver  money,  to  pay  town  chai'ges,  and  in  1797  taxes  were  made 
up  in  dollars  and  cents.* 

Simeon  Smith  Avas  the  first  collector,  as  we  have  said  before, 
and  then  they  had  a  different  one  almost  every  year,  and  all  con- 
ducted in  the  most  faithful  manner.  But  Daniel  Patch  did  not  do 
quite  so  well.     He  was  fond  of  fine  clothes  and  fast  horses,  and 

*  Aug.  2o,  1794. — "Voted  to  let  the  certificate  mouey  lay  ou  interest,  unless  it 
will  turn  lor  fourteen  or  Hfteeu  shillings  in  specie  ou  the  pound. "—Town  Clerk's 
Records,  Vol.  i.  oS. 


ABSCONDING  TAX   GATHERERS.  357 

■wh  cn  he  got  the  town's  money  he  was  uot  very  careful  to  keep  it 
separate  from  his  own.  When  j)ay-day  came  he  found  liimself  in 
hot  water.  He  tried  to  borrow  and  could  not;  he  was  afraid  they 
would  call  on  his  bondsmen;  that  liis  own  property  would  be 
attached ;  that  he  would  be  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  and  mulcted 
in  damages  or  imprisoned. 

He  did  not  want  any  of  these  things  to  happen ;  but  he  could 
not  see  how  to  escape.  The  days  went  by  and  the  clouds  were 
thickening,  and  the  storm  howled  in  his  political  sky. 

There  was  but  one  way;  he  must  fly  before  the  sarcasm,  the 
jeers,  the  maledictions,  anathemas,  and  curses  —  the  people's  wliirl- 
Aviud. 

At  the  winter's  sunset,  Patch  harnessed  his  team.  "  He  drives 
two  thiu-maned,  high-headed,  strong-hoofed,  fleet-boundiug  horses 
of  our  hills.  Harnessed  to  the  sleigh,  they  champ  the  iron  bits,  and 
the  tight  checks  bend  on  their  arching  necks.  They  fly  like  the 
wreaths  of  mist  over  the  streamy  vale.  The  wildness  of  deer 
was  in  their  course ;  the  strength  of  eagles  descending-  on  their 
prey."    A  day  —  and  they  are  a  hundred  miles  away. 

A  long-  time  afterwards  the  citizens  learned  that  Daniel  Patch 
was  seen  late  the  next  afternoon  driving  through  the  streets  of  old 
Haverhill,  Mass.     That  was  all  the  tidings  of  him. 

But  his  bondsmen  had  to  pay  up,  much  to  their  great  dehght, 
what  the  faithful  collector  had  spent,  and  then  they  levied  on  his 
goods  and  chattels,  and  got  their  own  pay.  After  this,  Mr.  P.'s 
friends  settled  up  the  whole  affair,  and  he  returned,  paid  every 
dollar  like  an  honest  man,  and  became  one  of  the  best  of  citizens.* 

Such  things  never  come  single,  and  Abel  Willard,  another 
collector,  following  the  above  illustrious  example,  absconded  with 
the  town's  money.  He  went  to  the  west  of  the  Green  mountains, 
and  the  town  did  not  succeed  in  getting  it  back  from  liim  qviite  so 
well  as  from  Daniel  Patch. 

That  there  might  be  tranquility  with  all  the  world  without, 

*  Daniel  Patch  Avas  a  man  of  line  intellect,  was  agreeable  in  conversation, 
though  somewhat  given  to  metaphysics. 

DANIEL  AND  BETSEY  {Hall)  PATCH'S  FAMILY  EECOUD. 
Joseph,  II.  born  IMav  27,  1809.  Louisa  M.  born  Nov.  1.5   1819. 

Daniel,  B.  born  Jan." 20,  1813.  Marinda  F.  born  June  8,  1822. 

ISct^ey,  W.  born  Jan.  29,  1816.  WilliamD.  Mc.Q.  bornMarchSl,  1825. 

Mahaia,  born  Aug.  23,  1817. 


358  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

and  peace  witliiu  our  mountain  hamlet,  our  young  democracy  took 
a  lively  interest  in  political  atiairs.  They  voted  for  Gen.  Wash- 
ingion  for  President,  for  members  of  Congress,  and  all  the  other 
foreign  officers,  helping  to  maintain  a  republic  without  as  well  as 
a  democracy  at  home. 

But  that  which  interested  them  most,  creating  profound  dis- 
cussions and  calling  for  the  exercise  of  the  discreetest  statesman- 
sliip,  was  the  adoption  of,  first,  the  articles  of  confederation,  then 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  frequently  afterwards  of  whether 
or  not  it  should  be  amended. 

Warren's  citizens,  on  mature  deliberation  of  these  momentous 
subjects,  generally  voted  nearly  unanimously  either  one  way  or 
the  other,  always  believing  that  the  destiny  of  the  whole  country 
hung  upon  their  action.  They  were  thus  called  upon  to  save  their 
country  some  twenty  times  in  the  course  of  a  few  years. 

But  we  cannot  close  the  tinal  chapter  of  this  book,  and  let 
down  the  curtain  upon  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
without  recording  as  a  faithful  historian  what  our  good  citizens  of 
Warren  thought  to  be  the  highest  and  gi'andest  requisite  to  make  a 
perfect  democratic  community. 

They  early  made  great  efforts  to  accomphsh  it.  In  the  select- 
menship  of  Jonathan  Merrill,  Thomas  Boynton,  and  Aaron  AVelch, 
they  chose  a  committee  consisting  of  Joshua  Copp,  Reuben  Batch- 
elder,  Joseph  Patch,  Thomas  Boynton,  and  John  Whitcher,  to 
report  where  it  would  be  convenient  to  set  a  meeting  house,  and 
what  measures  were  best  to  be  taken  to  erect  the  same  and  procure 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  But  the  committee,  hviug  in  diSereut 
parts  of  the  town,  could  not  exactl}!-  agi-ee  where  the  best  place 
was.  It  took  them  so  long  to  find  a  spot  that  they  spent  all  their 
energies  upon  that  part  of  the  subject,  and  the  whole  thing  fell 
through. 

But  such  a  subject  could  not  slumber  long,  and  as  a  result  of 
deep  thought,  'Squire  Joshua  Copp,  in  March,  1798,  made  a  liberal 
proposition  to  the  town.  The  citizens  were  much  pleased,  and 
voted  to  accept  a  piece  of  land  from  him,  situated  on  the  easterly 
side  of  his  farm,  and  on  the  north  side  of  the  highway  leading 
to  Haverhill,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  meeting-house  thereon, 
which  was  to  be  of  the  same  size  as  the  one  in  the  neighboring 


A   MEETING-HOUSE   IN   PROSPECT.  359 

province  of  Romuey,  and  for  a  burying'  ground  and  training  field.* 

Chose  Joshua  Copp,  Esq.,  Joseph  Patch,  Stephen  Richardson, 
Obadiah  Clement,  and  Levi  Lufkin,  a  committee  to  provide  timber 
for  the  meeting-house,  to  be  drawn  the  ensuing  winter.  Each 
individual  was  to  pay  for  the  house  according  to  his  proportion  of 
taxes,  and  all  should  hold  themselves  ready  to  work  on  the  build- 
ing after  three  days'  notice  from  the  committee. 

And  now  the  very  town  sweat  with  the  work  in  prospectu. 
"What  a  splendid  house  we  shall  have;  soon  it  will  be  all  complete. 

But  too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth.  Things  did  not  go  on 
any  better  this  time  than  before.  There  was  a  hitch.  The  com- 
mittee did  not  work  well  together.  Another  town  assembly  was 
called.  The  citizens  assembled.  A  great  discussion  arose.  It 
waxed  warm.  The  meeting  broke  up,  nothing  was  done  save  to 
dismiss  the  subject,  and  the  tire  of  religious  enthusiasm  seemed  to 
go  out. 

But  it  did  not ;  it  only  slumbered.  How  it  kindled  afresh  and 
burned  with  a  steady  flame  until  all  were  tried  and  purified,  or 
ought  to  have  been,  and  the  mighty  work  accomplished,  we  will 
show  in  the  first  chapters  of  our  next  great  book. 

*  This  was  the  same  spot  where  the  first  little  training  was  held. 


OUR  GKANDMOTHEKS'  PASTIIIE. 


BOOK    VI. 


IN   WHICH   THE   MIGHTY   MARCH    MENTIONED    AT   THE   BEGINNING   OF 
BOOK   V.  IS   CONTINUED. 


CHAPTER  I. 


HOW  SEVERAL  RELIGIONS  CAME  TO  WARREN,  OF  TYTHINGMEN  WHO 
FINED  MEN  FOR  TRAVELING  SUNDAY,  THEREBY  MAKING  THEM 
EXCEEDINGLY  HAPPY,  CONCLUDING  WITH  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  A 
CAMP-MEETING  WHERE  SEVERAL  PIOUS  YOUTH  SOUNDED  A 
HORN  IN  THE  NIGHT,  AND  DISTURBED  THE  SLU3IBERS  OF  THE 
GODLY'. 


-A-NOTHER  century  has  come.  One  generation  of  white 
men,  the  Indians'  successors  in  the  Asquainchumauke  valley,  has 
passed  away.  A  second  is  stepping  upon  the  stage.  Many  things 
are  being  left  behind,  and  new  fashions  and  ideas  are  making  their 
way  to  our  settlement  among  the  hills.  A  different  pattern  of 
dress  has  been  adopted,  the  style  of  cooking  and  living  has  some- 
what changed,  new  houses  have  been  consti'ucted,  and  the  blazed 
path,  bridle  path  and  tote  road  have  given  place  to  the  broad,  beaten 
way,  as  we  wrote  in  the  last  book,  upon  which  rumble  the  wheels 
of  Obadiah  Clement's  little  Dutch  vehicle,  the  first  four  wheeled 
wagon  that  had  ever  come  to  town. 


3G2  HISTOKY    OF    WARREN. 

Something  else  is  coming.  We  liinted  at  it  in  the  last  chapter. 
It  is  told  as  follows:— 

One  day  in  July,  1799,  a  solitary  horseman  was  seen  riding  up 
the  road.  He  stopped  at  Joseph  Merrill's  inn.  baited  his  horse, 
and  while  he  was  eating  his  own  dinner  casually  dropped  a  few 
words  upon  religious  matters.  They  seemed  to  make  Init  little 
impression,  and  saying  something  about  stony  ground  and  hard- 
ness of  heart,  he  rode  away  over  Pine  hill  to  the  Summit.  That 
horseman  was  the  Rev.  Elijah  R.  Sabin,  a  missionary  of  Method- 
ism. Hundreds  of  them  were  riding  the  country  through,  preach- 
ing in  the  houses,  the  barns,  in  the  forests  or  out  in  the  broad  open 
ah',  anywhere  they  could  get  a  congregation  to  hear  them,  bring- 
ing new  religious  ideas  to  the  people. 

That  night  he  stopped  with  Mr.  Chase  Whitcher  by  the  wild 
roistering  Oliverian.  The  morrow  was  the  Sabbath,  and  after  the 
morning  meal  a  meeting  was  suggested.  Mr.  Whitcher  was 
pleased  with  the  idea.  A  messenger  went  to  the  settlers  on  Pine 
hill ;  down  on  old  Coventry  meadows,  and  to  Mr.  Eastman's,  the 
first  settler  of  High  street. 

B}^  ten  o'clock,  quite  a  congregation  had  assembled,  and  under 
the  maples  —  they  grow  there  now  —  by  the  laughing  stream,  the 
first  religious  meeting  was  held  on  the  Summit.  They  had  no 
choir ;  but  the  reverend  man  sang  in  clear  sweet  voice,  one  of  those 
wild  revival  hymns  of  John  Wesley,  which  were  then  waking 
men's  souls  through  all  the  land.*  His  discourse  took  powerful 
hold  on  his  little  congTegation,  and  before  he  left  this  valley,  hol- 
lowed between  five  peaks  of  the  mountains,  he  had  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  a  society,  and  formed  a  class  consisting  of  three  mem- 
bers—  Chase  Whitcher,  Dolly  AVhitcher,  afterwards  the  widow 
Atwell,  and  Sarah  Barker.  When  he  was  gone  his  words  were 
not  forgotten.  Many  believed  his  doctrine  was  true  and  before 
the  year  j)assed  more  than  thirty  persons  had  joined  the  class. 

Out  of  this  mountain  valley,  over  the  hills,  spread  the  reli- 
gious enthusiasm,  great  numbers  getting  converted.    It  even  went 

*  Singing. — The  singing  of  tlie  early  Methodists  was  glorious,  heavenly.  Then 
the  music  vras  adapted  to  the  words,  and  every  word  could  be  distinctly  imder- 
stood,  and  the  ideas  came  home  to  tlie  listener  witli  spiritual  power.  Xow-days 
the  words  are  stretched  and  strained  to  fit  the  music ;  not  one  of  them  can  be 
understood;  the  ideas  are  lost,  and  the  whole,  as  a  general  thing,  is  a  senseless 
jargon  painful  to  hear. 


"  BEHOLD   A  MIRACLE."  363 

over  the  Height-o"-laud,  and  a  large  class  was  formed  in  Charles- 
ton, near  Tarleton  lake.  So  firmly  was  Methodism  planted  that  it 
has  survived  in  Warren  three-fourths  of  a  century. 

During  tlie  summer  season  for  many  years  the  Methodist 
meetings  were  lield  in  a  barn  belonging  to  Mr.  Aaron  Welch,  and 
in  the  winter  in  his  house  or  in  the  houses  of  the  neighbors  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.* 

It  was  at  Aaron  TVelch'sf  barn  people  loved  to  assemble ;  not 
to  show  their  fine  clothes  so  much  as  now,  for  they  then  dressed 
in  homespun,  but  the  most  to  worship.  Sometimes  the  boys  went 
to  see  the  girls ;  but  the  girls  never  to  see  boys.  A  few  went  for 
fun,  and  a  very  few  for  mischief.  One  time  they  had  a  quarterly 
meeting  there.  Old  John  Broadhead,  a  powerful  preacher,  and 
Rev.  Messrs.  Felch  and  Hedding  were  present.  Eev.  Mr.  Felch 
was  preaching;  somebody  had  been  ''  cutting  up  sliines,"  and  Mr. 
r.  was  mad.  He  began  telling  how  mean  the  people  were,  how 
some  were  fornicators,  and  some  thieves  and  drunkards,  and  how 
one  was  so  mean  as  to  even  steal  the  snapper  of  his,  the  reverend's 
whip.  Capt.  Wm.  Butler  immediately  interrupted  and  said,  "  he 
wanted  to  hear  him  preach,  and  not  blackguard."  Another  man 
sarcastically  remarked  that  ''he,  Felch,  no  business  to  be  a  horse- 
jockey,  and  have  a  fine  whip,  if  he  didn't  want  the  snapper 
stolen," — a  mean  remark,  as  all  good  christians  can  testify.  At 
any  rate  Rev.  Mr.  Felch  heeded  Capt.  Butler,  immediately  changed 
the  subject  of  his  discourse,  and  preached  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
with  such  excellent  effect  that  several  were  converted  that  very 

*The  Deinl's  Doings.— One  winter  they  had  preaching  in  Deacon  Welch's  house. 
Quite  a  lot  of  folks  were  sitting  on  the  trap-door,  and  they  got  to  shouting,  Glory  ! 
Hallelujah!  Amen!  Good!  Just  then  the  Devil  broke  the  trap-door,  and  half  a 
dozen  men  and  women  fell  into  tlie  cellar.  Mrs.  Samuel  Kniglit  went  into  a  flt, 
and  several  of  the  sisters  rolled  on  the  floor  in  the  most  wonderful  manner.  Some 
wicked  youth  present  smiled,  the  Devil  was  pleased,  and  the  minister  preached  no 
more  that  day.— Miss  Hannah  Knight's  statement. 

A  Miracle. — There  was  a  meeting  at  farmer  .Joshua  Merrill's  in  the  early  times, 
and  Mr.  Isaac  Merrill,  son  of  'Squire  Jonathan,  crawled  up  the  stairs  and  sat  over 
the  heads  of  some  of  the  congregation.  The  preaching  was  so  powerful  he  got  to 
sleep,  and  while  dozing  lost  his  balance  and  fell  down  amongst  the  people.  He 
struck  plump  on  liis  head,  his  feet  in  the  air:  then  in  about  a  minute  be  pitched 
over,  jumped  up  (puckly  and  ran  out  of  the  house  uninjured,  all  the  folks  follow- 
ing lii'm.  Every  one  believed  it  was  a  miracle,  and  so  great  was  the  awe  that  they 
had  no  more  preaching  till  next  Sunday,  when  a  new  and  more  powerful  minister 
arrived  in  the  settlement. — Miss  H.  Knight's  statement. 

t  Mr.  Welch  lived  near  the  present  village  cemeterv,  where  Mr.  Saiftuel  Mer- 
till,  Capt.  .Joseph  Merrill,  and  Robert  E.  Merrill,  have  all  lived.  Said  house  was 
once  occupied  by  the  town's  poor. 


364  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

day.  Ministers  of  the  present  time  would  do  well  to  imitate  — 
preach  religion  i-ather  than  politics  —  and  seek  to  plant  more  of  a 
christian  spirit  in  the  community. 

But  there  were  some  who  would  not  join  the  Methodists. 
Opposition  is  a  good  thing  for  any  enterprise,  if  there  is  not  too 
much  of  it.  Certainly  it  helps  a  church  along  and  always  exists 
where  men  are  left  free  to  think  for  themselves.  "We  almost  be- 
lieve opposition  is  a  divine  institution,  and  Stevens  Merrill,  the 
man  who  did  not  believe  in  the  revolutionary  war,  was  now  the 
person  to  exercise  it  in  AVarreu.  He  was  a  Quaker,  and  had  no 
faith  in  those  whining,  canting  Methodists,  as  he  impiously 
termed  them.  He '■' shouldn't  jine  no  how  !^'  But  still  he  loved 
preaching  when  it  suited  him,  which  was  not  often  the  case.  He 
was  blunter  than  Capt.  Butler.  ''You  lie,  Nat!"  ''What  is  the 
use  of  your  lying  that  way  ?''  were  exclamations  that  once  greeted 
his  own  brother,  Nathaniel,  a  CongregationaUst,  who  was  preach- 
ing to  the  people  that  had  assembled  in  the  bar-room  and  kitchen 
of  Mr.  Merrill's  tavern.  The  Rev.  Nathaniel  was  as  determined 
as  his  brother,  and  such  exclamations  did  not  disturb  him. 

In  the  year  1802  a  minister  came  to  town  of  a  difierent  faith, 
and  by  chance  he  stopped  at  Stevens  Merrill's.  He  was  a  mission- 
ary of  a  new  religious  order;  the  Free-will  Baptists,  one  of  the 
products  of  the  western  world.  Sunday  following,  he  preached  in 
the  house  of  his  host,  to  the  great  delight  of  Mr.  M.  He  was 
highlj'  pleased  with  Mr.  Boody  and  his  doctrine,  and  as  he  was  an 
aged  man,  and  thinking  he  might  die  when  Mr.  Boody  was  far 
away,  he  resolved  to  have  his  funeral  sermon  preached  before  Mr. 
B.'s  departure.  Accordingly  he  signified  his  intention  to  the  Rev. 
gentleman,  who,  complying,  a  day  was  appointed,  and  the  sermon 
preached  from  2  Timothy,  -ith  chapter,  6th,  7th,  8th  verses:  "  For 
I  am  now  ready  to  be  oflered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at 
hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Loi'd,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me 
at  that  day;  and  not  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  that  love  his 
appearing."  From  this  text  it  is  said  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boody  preached 
an  excellent  discourse,  and  Mr.  Merrill  and  his  friends  were  well 
jjleased.    It  is  handed  down  that  Mr.  M.  smacked  his  lips  with 


THE    TYTHINGMEN   AT   T^^ORK.  365 

delight  several  times  as  the  reverend  gentleman  drew  a  vivid  pic- 
ture of  his  host  entering  the  portals  of  heaven  and  taking  a  seat 
among  the  blest,  and  after  the  services  were  over,  as  they  did  not 
have  any  corpse  or  cofldu,  he  treated  his  minister  and  the  whole 
congregation  to  the  very  best  his  house  aflbrded,  not  even  omitting 
to  furnish  good  flip,  punch,  and  egg-nog ;  a  generous  custom  in 
those  days,  which  laid  many  a  man  low.  Mr.  Merrill  died  two 
years  after,  in  1804,  aged  seventy-seven  years.* 

No  religious  society  of  the  Free-will  Baptist  order  was  formed 
at  this  time ;  but  Rev.  Joseph  Boody  and  other  ministers  of  like 
faith  continued  to  visit  Warren,  and  about  1810  a  society  was 
organized  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  James  Spencer.  The  first 
members  consisted  of  Samuel  Merrill  and  wife,  of  the  East-parte, 
James  Dow  and  wife,  Caleb  Hfoman  and  wife,  Aaron  Welch  and 
wife,  True  Stevens  and  wife,  Mrs  Betsey  Ramsey,  and  Mrs.  James 
AVilliams.    Elder  Spencer  labored  with  the  society  for  many  years. 

And  now  religious  enthusiasm  tilled  the  town  and  all  the 
regions  round  about.  Stricter  laws  were  passed  for  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  tythingmenf  were  appointed  in  almost  every 
hamlet  to  compel  the  people  to  keep  the  Sabbath  holy.  Many 
were  the  instances  when  pious  hands  were  laid  upon  wicked  trav- 
elers. Old  Deacon  Jonathan  Clement  had  been  traveling  down 
country ;  returning,  the  tythingman  of  Boscawen  arrested  him 
traveling  on  the  Sabbath,  and  tined  him  Monday  morning,  costs 

*  .James  Dow  and  Samuel  MeiTill,  both  heard  Stevens  JleiTill's  funeral  dis- 
course. 

t  By  an  act  passed  in  1715,  it  was  enacted  that  no  taverner  or  retailer  should 
suffer  any  apprentice,  servant  or  negro,  to  drink  in  his  house;  nor  any  inliabitaut 
alter  ten  o'clock  at  uiglit,  nor  more  than  two  hours;  nor  suffer  any  person  to  drink 
to  drunkenness,  nor  others  than  strangers  to  remain  in  his  house  on  the  Lord's 
day;  uuder  a  tine  of  live  sliillings. 

The  second  section  provided  that  the  selectmen  should  see  that  at  least  two 
tythiugmeu  should  be  annually  chosen,  whose  duty  it  was  to  inspect  all  licensed, 
houses,  and  inform  of  all  disorders  to  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  also  inform  of  all 
who  sell  without  license,  and  of  all  cursers  and  swearers.  Each  tvtliingman  was 
to  have  a  black  staff  two  feet  long,  with  about  three  inches  of  one  end  tii)ped  with 
brass  or  pewter,  as  a  badge  of  olUce.  The  penalty  for  not  serving  when  chosen 
was  forty  shillings,  and  in  default  of  payment  or  want  of  property  was  imprison- 
ment. 

By  an  act  passed  Dec.  24, 1799,  for  the  better  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  and 
repealing  all  other  acts  for  that  purpose,  all  labor  and  recreation,  traveling,  and 
rudeness  at  ijhices  of  public  worsliij)  on  tlie  Lord's  day,  are  forbidden.  Tavern- 
ers  are  forbidden  to  entertain  inhabitants  of  the  town.  Tlie  tytliingnien  had  power 
to  connnand  assistance,  and  forcibly  htoji  and  detain  all  travelers,  unh^'^s  they 
could  give  sullicient  reason.  The  tythingmen  were  required  to  inform  of  ail 
breeches  of  the  act,  and  their  oath  Mas  suflicieut  evidence  unless  invalidated. — 
History  ot  Chester,  450. 


366  HISTORY    OF   TV^ARREN. 

and  all.  eleven  dollars.  He  came  home  with  religions  enthnslasm 
tiugling  on  eveiy  nerve  of  his  bod}'.  Some  malicionsly  said  he 
was  madder  than  a  March  hare.  James  Dow,  then  a  yonug  and 
vigorous  man.  for  manj'  years  was  chosen  tythingman  of  AYarren. 
Old  Mr.  Page,  of  Haverhill,  was  desecrating  the  Sabbath  by  driv- 
ing his  horse  and  wagon  through  the  town,  and  said  Dow  gently 
laid  his  hand  upon  him  and  stopped,  seized,  and  detained  him,  and 
prevented  him  from  traveling,  as  aforesaid.  Monday,  Page  was 
fined,  and  he  went  home  feeling  complete. 

John  Varnum  was  chosen  to  this  high  office,  and  he*  arrested 
some  Scotchmen,  teamsters  from  Vermont,  and  had  them  fined, 
and  then  all  the  tavern  keepers  were  mad,  for  it  hurt  their  busi- 
ness to  have  travelers  thus  waylaid.  Tavern  keepers  with  nice 
bars  had  influence,  and  henceforth  only  those  who  lived  in  the 
most  remote  parts  of  the  town,  were  chosen  ''  grab-men,"  as  they 
were  facetiously  termed. 

One  year  ''  Old  Potter,"  who  lived  by  the  road  leading  to 
"VVachipauka  pond,  was  chosen ;  but  the  town  clerk,  Mr.  Anson 
MeiTill,  tried  to  cheat  him  out  of  his  high  honor,  b}^  neglecting  to 
make  a  record  of  his  election.  Many  men  were  indignant  on 
account  of  Merrill's  official  malfeasance.* 

With  two  rival  societies  in  the  full  tide  of  success,  and  the 
tythingmen  well  preserving  the  peace,  meetings  without  number 
were  held.  In  Merrie  England,  and  on  the  low  lands  of  Holland, 
and  along  the  bnuks  of  the  Rhine,  it  had  been  the  practice  for  cen- 
turies to  hold  meetings  in  the  suburbs  of  old  cities,  by  neglected 
grave-yards  and  among  shady  mountains.  This  j)ractice  must 
needs  be  revived  in  America,  and  the  Methodist  brethren  estab- 
lished "  Camp-meetings."  One  must  be  held  in  Warren,  and  the 
pleasant  pine  woods  near  Pine  hill  school-house  was  selected  for 
the  occasion.  Inspiring  woods!  They  thought  they  could  wor- 
ship better  there.  There,  Adam  and  Eve  enjoyed  their  pastime 
and  sought  repose;  there,  the  Amorites  and  Assyrians  learned  to 
pray;  there,  Hertha  the  Goddess  of  the  Angles,  had  her  lovely 
residence;  there,  the  Druids  thought  ever\i:hing  sent  from  heaven 
that  grew  on  the  oak ;  there,  Pan  piped  and  satyrs  danced ;    the 

*  Potter  was  for  many  years  a  town  pauper,  and  Mi-.  Merrill  only  tried  to  pre- 
vent liini  from  gaining  a  residence. 


THE   PINE   WOODS   CAMP-MEETING.  367 

fawns  browsed,  Sylvaniis  loved,  Diana  hunted,  and  Fevonia 
watched;  there,  the  stately  castle  of  the  feudal  lord  reared  its 
head,  the  lonely  anchorite  sang  his  evening-  hjmn,  and  the  sound 
of  the  convent  bell  was  heard ;  there,  Robin  Hood  and  his  merry 
men  did  their  exploits,  and  King  Kufus  was  slain ;  there,  the  ward 
of  di-yads,  the  scene  of  fairy  revels  and  Puck's  pranks,  the  haunt 
of  witches,  spirits,  elves,  hags,  dwarfs,  the  Sporn,  the  man  in  the 
oak.  the  will-o'-the-wisp,  the  opera  house  of  birds,  and  the  shelter 
of  beasts.  The  green,  sweet-smelling,  suggestive,  musical,  sombre, 
superstitious,  devotional,  mystic,  trauquiliziug  woods,  was  the 
place  of  all  others  for  the  camp-meeting. 

It  was  early  in  the  cool  September  that  it  was  held ;  delega- 
tions came  from  nearly  ever}^  society  in  the  whole  conference,  and 
white  tents  in  good  numbers  spi'ang  up  beneath  the  pine  trees. 
There  were  booths  outside  the  circle  of  tents  for  the  sale  of  candy, 
gingerbread,  more  substantial  eatables,  and  withal,  in  sundry  jugs, 
kegs,  and  spiggots,  was  a  good  deal  of  '•  the  good  creature,''  to 
keep  out  the  cold  from  the  hearts  of  the  lukewarm,  and  to  raise 
the  spirits  generally.  On  a  smooth  plat  of  ground  were  long 
rows  of  seats  made  of  boards,  plank,  and  slabs,  placed  on  pins 
di'iven  into  the  ground,  for  the  congregation,  and  on  a  little  knoll 
in  front,  was  a  raised  platform,  with  a  box  around  it,  for  a  pulpit. 
Above  this  were  the  thick,  dense  bi'anches  of  several  large  pine 
trees,  which  served  as  a  canopy  to  keep  off  the  sun  and  rain.  At 
mght,  in  front  of  the  tents,  great  tires  were  kindled  for  cooking 
and  to  keep  the  worshipers  warm. 

More  sinners  than  saints  came  to  these  meetings,  and  one  of 
the  great  objects  was  to  convert  the  ungodly  class.  The  more  con- 
verted, the  greater  the  success  of  the  meeting.  In  the  morning 
came  early  prayer-meeting,  then  breakfast,  then  two  sermons  in 
the  forenoon,  dinner,  two  sermons  in  the  afternoon,  supper,  then 
evening  prayer  meeting  and  to  bed.  Joseph  Boynton  led  the  sing- 
ing. He  sometimes  gave  out  the  tune,  read  two  lines,  the  choir 
and  congregation  sung  them,  then  two  lines  more  were  deaconed 
off,  aud  so  on  through  the  hymn.  Sometimes  the  choir  sung  by 
itself.  Boynton,  who  was  class  leader  for  many  years,  a  great  man 
in  the  church,  and  liA^ed  on  the  turnpike,  first  house  up  the  hill 
beyond  the  Cold  brook,  had  a  pitch-pipe  made  of  wood,  an  inch  or 


368  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

two  wide,  something  like  a  boy's  whistle,  with  which  he  pitched 
the  tunes,  much  to  the  delight  of  all  who  heard.  The  presiding 
elder  summoned  the  brethren  to  each  exercise  by  a  loud  blast  on  an 
old  fashioned  tin  horn.  One  night  some  "  wicked  "  youth,  among 
whom,  it  is  said,  though  we  do  not  vouch  for  it,  were  Robert 
Burns,  Thomas  Whipple,  Nathan  Clifford,  Joshua  Merrill,  Anson 
Merrill,  and  Jacob  Patch,  besides  numerous  others,  stole  the  horn 
and  went  sounding  it  through  all  the  woods,  first  on  the  north, 
then  on  the  south,  then  east,  then  west,  while  for  long  hours  the 
presiding  elder,  several  ministers  and  a  whole  host  of  deacons 
went  chasing  through  the  forest,  trying  to  find  the  vile  thieves,  as 
the}'  piously  termed  them,  who  were  distu.rbing  the  slumbers  of 
the  godl}\     But  they  did  not  catch  them. 

One  day  elder  John  Broadhead  had  preached.  He  was  a  pow- 
erful man  of  more  than  ordinary  eloquence.  Then  there  was  a 
call  to  come  forward  for  prayers.  The  choir  sang  one  of  their 
sweetest  hymns,  then  i^aused.  Just  at  that  instant  a  flock  of  black- 
cap titmice  with  their  white  sides  glowing  in  the  sun,  alighted  in 
the  green  pines  overhead,  and  appearing  to  take  up  the  strain,  sang 
so  sweetly  that  they  seemed  bright  messengers  from  heaven.  The 
electric  current  was  complete,  excitement  filled  every  breast. 
Glory  to  God!  said  elder  Broadhead.  Amen!  shouted  the  whole 
congregation.  The  hymn  was  taken  up  again,  and  when  it  ceased 
a  hundred  rose  for  prayers.  And  then  there  was  praying  and 
shouting,  and  singing,  such  as  never  was  heard  in  the  woods  .of 
WaiTcn  before.  One  young  female  Avas  so  wrought  upon  that  she 
fell  down  and  rolled  upon  the  ground,  kicking  up  her  heels 
towards  the  blue  sky.     Some  said   she  was  in   a  trance   seeing 

Accident.— Jjemuel  Keezer,  innkeeper,  went  to  this  first  camp-meeting  on  horse- 
back. Wlien  lie  had  nearly  got  there,  his  horse  threw  him  ofl"  and  hurt  his  shoulder 
badly.  At  the  meeting,  one  ol'  the  ministers  asked  Keezer  if  lie  wanted  to  see 
God,  and  he  only  answered  that  his  shoulder  pained  him  badly.  The  minister 
repeated  the  question  the  second  and  third  time,  and  got  precisely  the  same  an- 
swer; but  when  he  put  the  cpiestion  the  lonrth  time,  Keezer  got  mad  and  very 
imprudently  and  impiously  replied  that  he  "  didn't  know  the  gentleman,  and  didn't 
care  a  d — iii  either." 

One  day  Captain  Daniel  invited  Elder  Wood,  a  minister,  to  share  the  hospitali- 
ties of  his  house,  and  introduced  him  to  Mr.  Keezer.  "  Elder  Wood,  Elder  Wood," 
exclaimed  Mr.  K.,  snuffing  his  nose,  "  that  is  the  stinkiiigest  wood  I  ever  saw;" 
much  to  Captain  Daniel's  delight,  for  he  was  very  pious  and  had  great  respect  for 
his  minister. 

Keezer  was  gifted  in  praj-er.  'When  the  minister  put  u]!  v,ith  him,  he  woiild 
pray  at  night  and  the  minister  in  the  morning,  or  vice  rersff,  and  when  the  reverend 
was  gone  he  would  ask  the  women  folks  if  he  didn't  beat  the  minister  at  praying? 
K.  was  i)roud  of  his  gift  and  liked  to  be  praised. 


THE   MroiBER?    (JREATLY   REFRESHED.  369 

iK-axni:  l>iit  youno-  Dr.  Whipple  wickedly  held  hartshorn  to  her 
nose  to  her  i^reat  delight,  and  quietly  said  she  was  only  a  little 
••  hysterica." 

Thus  the  meeting  went  on  for  a  week,  more  than  two  hundred 
were  converted,  and  when  it  broke  up  each  went  to  his  home 
thankino-  the  Lord  that  he  had  prospered  him  so  much.  Several 
other  camii-meetings  have  been  held  in  Warren  since,  the  last 
being  in  the  young  maple  woods  on  the  river  island  just  east  of 
the  (lei)ot. 


CHAPTER  11. 


OF  GRAXD  HUNTINGS,  FOWLINGS,  AND  FISHINGS,  CO|^CLUDING  WITH 
HOW  A  "squire,  a  doctor,  AND  A  MINISTER,  WERE  PERFECTLY 
DELIGHTED  TRYING  TO  CATCH  EVERY  FISH  IN  WACHIPAUKA 
POND. 


The  learned  PufFeudorf  says  all  animals  were  wild ;  Gro- 
tins  says  all  were  tame.  Common  law  takes  middle  ground,  and 
leaves  it  to  the  judgment  to  say  what  were  wild  and  what  were 
tame.  Certain  it  is  that  all  the  animals,  birds,  and  fishes  of  War- 
ren were  wild  enough  before  the  advent  of  the  white  settlers,  and 
many  were  the  exciting  times  had  capturing  and  destroying  them, 
as  we  have  before  remarked. 

The  most  formidable  of  all  these  animals  was  the  panther, 
otherwise  called  painter,  and  sometimes  catamount,  whose  cry 
would  make  the  Indians'  blood  feel  cold ;  the  wolf  and  bear  came 
next,  then  the  two  wild  cats  known  as  the  loup-cervier  and  the 
bay  lynx.  Of  deer,  as  John  Josselyn,  Gent.,  would  say.  there 
was  the  stately  moose,  the  caribou,  —  hard  to  catch, —  and  the 
common  red  deer.  Others,  and  they  are  all  interesting,  are 
the  raccoon,  wolverine,  otter,  sable,  mink,  muskrat,  fisher-cat 
ermine  or  weasel,  black  or  silver-gray  fox,  red  fox,  beaver, 
hedgehog,  woodchuck,  gray,  black,  red,  striped  and  flying  squir- 
rels, rabbit,  rat,  mouse, —  several  kinds  —  four  varieties  of  mole, 
bat,  and  last  and  sweetest  of  all,  the  skunk. 

The  panther  was  a  rare  animal,  only  one  ever  having  been 
killed  in  town,  and  that  by  Joseph  Patch  one  night  as  he  lay  in 


MOLNT     CUSUMAN.  ^^71 

his  oamp  by  Hurricane  brook.  Wolves  were  for  years  more  plenty. 
Our  flrst  settler  once  started  one  in  Stephen  Eichardson'S  tield  on 
Pine  hill,  and  folloAved  it  down  near  Patch  brook,  where  he  killed  it. 
Old  "Squire  Burns,  of  Romney,  caixght  the  mate  to  it  in  a  trap. 
This  pair  had  killed  many  sheep. 

But  years  before  the  town  was  settled,  an  adventure  with  the 
wolves  took  place  in  the  East-parte  regions  of  a  far  more  startling- 
kind.  Long  before  the  country  was  settled,  a  hunter  by  the  name 
of  Cushman  was  trapping  upon  one  of  the  eastern  mountains. 
One  day,  after  being-  busily  engaged  in  his  labor,  he  entered  his 
camp,  and  night  had  scarcely  begun  to  come  over  him,  when  the 
melancholy  howl  of  the  wolves  struck  on  his  ear,  the  mournful 
echoes  of  which  were  repeated  through  every  part  of  the  forest. 
Every  moment  they  seemed  to  approach  nearer,  and  soon  his  camp 
was  surrounded  by  a  pack  of  the  hungry  creatures.  Snatching 
Ms  g'un,  he  scrambled  up  a  small  sapling  near  by,  just  in  time  to 
save  himself  fi'om  their  jaws.  Being  disappointed  of  their  prey, 
they  howled  and  leaped  about  in  mad  fury.  Cushman  now 
thought  he  would  treat  them  with  a  little  cold  lead,  and  aiming  at 
the  leader  of  the  pack,  fired.  The  wolf  gave  a  wild  howl,  and 
leaping  several  feet  into  the  air,  fell  to  the  ground  and  was  torn  in 
pieces  by  his  hungry  companions.  Loading  his  gun,  he  fired  at 
another  winch  shared  the  same  fate.  Again  he  fired  and  killed  a 
third,  when  the  wolves  seeing  their  numbers  decreasing,  and  hav- 
ing satisfied  their  appetites  upon  one  of  their  own  species,  fled, 
and  Cuslunan  was  no  more  annoyed  by  them  that  night.  The 
•mountain  upon  which  this  happened  took  the  hunter's  name,  and 
is  called  Mt.  Cushman  to  the  present  time. 

Bears  were  more  plenty  than  wolves,  and  for  thirty  years  after 
the  settlement  of  Warren,  they  were  seen  almost  every  day. 
Stephen  Richardson  had  a  fine  flock  of  sheep,  but  he  had  to  yard 
them  every  night.  Yet  tliis  did  not  always  save  them.  Once  in 
early  evening  a  large  bear,  known  as  "  old  white  face,"  carried 
away  two  sheep,  leaping  with  them  over  a  wall  five  feet  high. 
"  Old  wlute  face"  was  the  terror  of  the  whole  country  and  trav- 
eled up  and  down  the  valley  oftener  than  any  hunter  or  fisherman 
has  ever  done.  John  Gould,  who  lived  in  the  East-parte,  had  been 
out  to  "  the  road,"  as  it  was  called.    Coming-  home  in  the  early 


372  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

evening,  at  the  mouth  of  Batchelder  brook,  in  Sawtelle  district,  he 
thovight  he  met  this  bear.  He  was  terribly  frightened,  threw  his 
little  white  dog  at  the  ferocious  creature,  and  with  his  teeth  chat- 
tering, ran  back  to  Mr.  Samuel  Knight's  as  fast  as  his  legs  would 
carry  him.  Here  he  stopped  all  night,  slept  on  the  floor  by  the 
fire,  and  in  the  morning  in  comjpany  with  Mr.  Knigiit,  went  to  the 
spot.  They  found  on  the  place  where  he  said  he  saw  the  bear, 
only  a  great  hemlock  stump.  Knight  laughed  at  him;  Gould  felt 
exceedingly  fine.  But  two  daj^s  after.  Knight  and  a  man  named 
Eamsey  killed  a  bear,  and  Gould  claimed  that  as  the  one  he  saw. 

Daniel  Patch,  son  of  Joseph,  had  been  down  to  deacon  Ste- 
vens' blacksmith  shop,  on  Eed-oak  liill,  to  get  a  three-year  old  colt 
shod.  Coming  back  at  evening  down  the  hill,  the  bear  called ''  old 
white  face,"'  jumped  into  the  road  behind  him  and  gave  chase. 
The  colt  scented  him,  pricked  up  liis  ears,  and,  frightened,  ran. 
Young  Daniel  clung  to  the  colt's  mane  and  there  was  a  wild  race 
on  Red-oak  hill  road.  The  steel  shoes  of  the  colt  rang  on  the 
rocks,  the  sparks  of  fire  flashed  in  the  darkness  and  it  was  onlj^ 
when  the  boy  passed  Hurricane  brook  bridge  and  came  into  War- 
ren's first  clearing,  that  the  bear  gave  up  the  chase.  When  Daniel 
Patch  got  home  it  was  hard  for  the  father  to  tell  which  was  the 
most  frightened,  the  boy  or  the  colt.* 

About  this  time  occurred  the  last  moose  hunts  in  AVarren.  A 
Mr.  Webster,  who  lived  OA-er  the  Height-o'-land,  one  autumn  was 
out  hunting  for  moose.  He  started  one  in  Piermont,  and  followed 
him  by  Tarleton  lake  into  Warren.  Here  he  took  an  easterly 
course,  evidently  designing  to  cross  OA^er  the  lower  ranges  of 
mountains  and  make  for  Moosehillock.  When  he  reached  the 
summit  of  Webster  slide  the  dogs  came  up  with  him  and  pressed 
him  so  hard  that  he  took  a  southerly  course  upon  the  top  of 
the  mountain  till  he  arrived  upon  the  edge  of  the  j)recipice.  The 
dogs  were  close  upon  him,  and  as  he  turned  they  made  the  attack. 

*  Bears. — Mr.  George  Bixby  once  killed  a  bear  on  Beech  hill,  with  a  good  stout 
cane.  It  had  been  an  e.xcelk'nt  season  for  berries  of  all  kinds,  and  the  bear  was 
so  fat  that  it  could  hardly  walk. 

A  bear  followed  Mr.  Samuel  Knight  and  his  wife  as  they  were  going  home. 
There  was  a  figui-e-four  traj)  near  where  is  now  Levi  F.  Jewel's  mill.  The  bear 
looked  into  it  and  got  caught,  Mr.  K.  and  wife  being  not  six  rods  away  at  the  time. 

Bears,  more  or  le.'^s,  are  caught  every  year  in  Warren,  even  at  the  present 
time.  Tlie  principal  bear  catchers  now  living  in  Warren  are  Joseph  Whitcher,  E. 
Bartlett  Libby,  Amos  L.  Merrill  and  Isaac  Fifield. 


TtiE    LAST   OF  THE   :\roosE.  373 

It  was  a  hard  tiyht.  As  they  leaped  at  him,  the  autlered  monarch 
of  tlie  New  England  forest  tossed  one  upon  his  horns,  and  when 
lie  fell  it  was  over  the  precipice.  Another  dog  caught  the  moose 
by  the  throat,  and  a  third  seized  him  on  the  flank.  Round  and 
round  they  went,  the  noble  animal  in  vain  trying  to  shake  them  oti". 
They  neared  the  very  edge  of  the  precipice.  The  I'ock  on  the 
brink  was  slippery,  and  the  hoofs  would  not  cling  to  it.  Back! 
Back!  A  hoarse  panting,  a  dire  swinging  to  and  fro,  and  then  the 
rock  was  standing  naked  against  the  sky;  no  living  thing  was 
there,  and  moose  and  hounds  lay  shattered  far  below. 

Webster  followed  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice  and  saw  the 
place  of  encounter.  He  was  not  long  in  determining  the  result, 
and  half  an  hour  later  he  found  them  all  dead  at  the  foot  among- 
,the  boulders  and  debris.  From  this  circumstance  the  huffe  cliff 
rising  sharp  from  AYachipauka  pond  received  its  name  — Webster 
slide.* 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1803  the  last  of  these  animals  ever 
known  in  this  section  was  killed.  Joseph  Patch's  supply  of  moose 
beef  had  run  short,  and  he  tried  his  grown  up  sons,  Joseph  and 
Daniel,  to  go  with  him  after  more :  but  as  they  refused,  he  took  his 
sou  Jacob,  then  about  seventeen  years  old,  who  wanted  to  go.  At 
the  East-parte  Stephen  Flanders  joined  them,  and  the  three  on 
snow  shoes,  for  the  snow  was  four  feet  deep,  proceeded  through 
the  forest,  up  the  Asquamchumauke  on  the  north  bank.  They 
crossed  the  Big  brook  near  where  the  bridle-path  up  Moosehillock 
crosses  it  laow,  and  half  a  mile  beyond  on  the  plain  through  which 
rushes  Gorge  brook,  they  found  whei-e  moose  had  browsed.  Fol- 
lowing the  trail  they  crossed  the  latter  stream,  now  buried  in  snow, 
and  Patch  sent  his  son  and  Captain  Flanders  around  the  spur  of 
the  mountainf  after  more  browse,  and  following  on  they  all  came 
together  on  the  crest  where  they  found   ••  floats." 

It  Avas  now  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  little  party  stopped 
to  consult.  They  were  far  in  the  woods,  and  young  Jacob  thought 
it  was  a  lonesome  place  to  spend  the  night.  Looking  about  he  saw 
rabbit  tracks  in  the  snow;  he  heard  black-cap  titmice  sing  '•  chick- 


*  Mr.  George  Libby  says  that  the  above  story  is  not  exactlv  correct,  that  ^fr. 
Webster  came  very  near  lailiiiiT  down  the  mountu'in  face  liiniself,  and  atterwards 
gave  a  gallon  of  rum  to  have  tlie  mountain  named  for  him. 

t  Sometimes  called  Black  liill. 


374  •  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

adee  "  iu  the  leafless  branches,  the  sweet  note  of  the  brown  creeper, 
as  spirally  he  climbed  the  huge  trunks  of  the  great  spruces,  and  a 
hair)'  woodpecker  rattling-  on  an  old  dead  hemlock.  Just  then  a 
flock  of  pileated  woodpeckers  flew  bj-,  screaming  as  their  scarlet 
red  heads  flashed  over  the  snow,  and  then  it  was  still  for  a 
moment. 

From  the  appearance  of  the  "  floats,"  Joseph  Patch  knew  that 
they  wei'e  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  moose,  and  for  fear  of 
frightening  them  they  did  not  dare  to  build  a  camp  nor  light  a  fire. 
So  they  made  a  large  bed  of  evergreen  boughs,  thick  and  warm, 
and  when  night  came  on,  the)^  wrapped  their  blankets  about  them 
and  with  their  dogs  lay  down  to  sleep.  Nice  bed,  beautiful  place, 
and  splendid  night.  What  if  it  had  happened  to  snow  or  a  souths 
ern  rain  come  on?  But  it  did  not,  and  the  hunters  lay  on  their 
sweet  smelling  couch,  and  listened  to  the  wind  singing  through 
the  leafless  branches  and  the  evergreens  and  saw  the  northern 
lights  flash  blue  and  red  up  to  the  zenith,  pouring  their  crimson 
dyes  upon  the  frozen  snow.  As  the  night  wore  away  the  north 
star  looked  down  upon  them,  and  Andromeda,  Cassiopea,  and  the 
Great  Bear,  wheeling  around  the  pole,  shone  bright  through  the 
crisp,  frost}''  air.  Jacob  Patch  said  in  his  old  age  that  he  never 
enjoyed  a  night's  rest  better  in  his  whole  life  than  that  one  in  the 
winter  snow,  and  that  he  ate  his  breakfast  from  their  almost  frozen 
provisions  with  as  keen  a  relish  as  he  ever  knew. 

At  the  earliest  dawn  they  started  on  the  trail,  keeping  their 
dogs  quiet  behind  them,  and  travehng  two  miles  thej^  found  the 
moose  in  a  lai-ge  yard  beside  a  little  mountain  stream.  There  were 
three  of  them,  a  bull,  a  cow  and  a  calf.  Patch  shot  the  calf,  Flan- 
ders fired  at  the  bull  and  missed,  when  Patch  fired  again  and 
killed  him.  The  cow  started  off  at  a  last  trot  down  Baker  river. 
The  dogs  followed,  a  bull  dog  and  a  hound,*  yelping,  yelling,  and 
baj'ing,  till  the  woods  rang  with  echoes,  and  the  men  running  after 

*  They  used  to  have  good  dogs  iu  those  days.  Esq.  Abel  Merrill  once  had  a 
dog  and  a"  pup,  aud  wanted  to  sell  one  of  them.  A  man  came  to  buy,  and  Abel 
said  the  old  dog,  Bose,  was  as  good  a  dog  as  ever  was  in  the  worlil.  Then  said  the 
man,  I  will  take  the  puppy.  "But,  but,"  said  'Squire  Abel,  •'  the  puppy  is  a  little 
mite  better." 

"  Bose  is  the  best  doy  in  the  world,  hut  the  puppy  is  a  little  mite  better, ^^  was  a  by- 
word in  Warreu  for  a  long  time  after. — Ausou  Merrill's  statement. 


THE    AMEKICAN   CAKIIJOU.  375 

as  fast  as  they  could.     A  mile  away,  aud  the  old  moose  turned  to 
fight  the  dogs  and  Patch  coming  up  first,  shot  her. 

As  they  were  dressing  them,  three  other  men,  who  b}'  a  sin- 
gular coincidence  were  hunting  in  the  valley,  came  up  and  claimed 
the  moose.  Patch  was  a  little  covetous,  and  as  hi,s  neighborly 
hunters  from  over  the  mountain  were  exceedingly  saucy,  he  would 
not  give  them  a  bit  of  the  meat.  r>ut  our  hunter  and  Captain  F. 
had  to  stay  and  watch  their  captured  game  wliile  youug  Jacob 
went  for  sleds  and  help  with  which  they  brought  home  the  pi-o- 
duct  of  their  morning  work.  Thus  perished  the  last  of  that  race 
of  animals  in  our  mountain  valley,  so  many  of  which  at  one  time 
lived  about  Mooseliillock  mountain. 

In  old  times  it  was  a  common  thing  for  the  best  hunters  to 
station  themselves  behind  a  tree  or  rock  by  Rocky  falls  on  Patch 
brook  or  Waternomee  falls  on  Hurricane  brook.  Then  they  would 
send  men  with  their  dogs  sweeping  across  the  sides  of  Mt.  Carr  to 
start  wild  animals,  and  often  deer  and  moose  would  come  flying- 
down  the  beds  of  the  streams,  when  the  hunter  in  ambush  would 
shoot  them. 

Chase  Whitcher  once  got  behind  the  great  rock  at  the  foot  of 
AVaternomee  falls,  aud  sent  John  Marston  with  a  hound  on  to  the 
mountain.  The  latter,  on  snow  shoes,  climbed  iip  near  the  very 
top  of  Mt.  Carr,  and  there  started  his  game.  But  it  was  only  for 
a  moment  that  he  saw  it, —  a  giant  deer,  beautiful  beyond  anything 
he  had  ever  seen  before. 

That  deer  was  of  the  variety  called  the  American  Caribou,* 
the  fiercest,  fleetest,  wildest,  shyest,  and  most  untameable  of  the 
deer  tribe  in  the  whole  world,  and  are  only  shot  by  white  hunters 
through  casual  good  fortune.  The  hound  bayed  and  followed; 
but  it  was  a  useless  chase,  for  the  Caribou's  feet  were  like  snow 
shoes,  and  he  ran  as  no  other  animal  could.  One  might  as  well 
think  to  pursue  the  hurricane  as  to  follow  him.  Pie  seemed  like 
the  ship  of  the  winter  wilderness  outspeeding  the  winds  among 
his  native  pines  and  firs. 

Whitcher  heard  the  baying  of  the  hound  far  up  the  mountain, 

*  Tlie  Caribou  averages  from  fourteen  and  a  half  to  fifteen  hands  high,  is  taller 
than  ordinary  liorses,  and  is  more  tliau  a  match  for  a  wolf  or  a  panther  in  a 
fight.  (?) 


376  HISTORY    OF    WARKEN. 

then  crouched  close  behind  his  rock.  As  he  waited  the  sun  shone 
out  clear,  lighting  up  the  frosting  of  ice  on  the  great  rocks,  and 
making  the  fantastic  icicles  hanging  pendant  on  the  birch  and 
spruce  to  throw  forth  a  thousand  brilliant  shades  and  hues,  and  to 
sparkle  like  gems. 

Soon  he'  heard  the  mighty  beast  flying  down  the  bed  of  the 
ton-ent,  and  he  involuntarily  cocked  his  gun,  and  a  moment  after 
held  his  breath  as  he  saw  the  great  antlers  of  the  bull  flash  through 
the  trees. 

The  Caribou  paused  on  the  clifi",  hesitating  to  jump;  then 
catching  the  fresh  scent,  snuffed  the  air,  dilated  his  flashing  eyes, 
shook  his  branching  horns,  and  gathered  himself  up  to  bound 
away  on  the  right. 

It  was  too  late,  the  sharp  crack  of  "Wliitcher's  rifle  awoke  the 
echoes,  and  the  Caribou  shot  foi'ward  far  over  the  brink,  and  fell 
dead  at  the  foot  of  the  falls. 

AVliitcher  had  seen  tracks  of  this  fleetest,  wildest  deer,  on  other 
occasions,  but  never  before  or  since  has  a  white  hunter  shot  a 
Caribou  in  AVarren. 

Deer  have  always  been  more  or  less  plenty  in  Warren,  and 
hardly  a  winter  passes,  but  that  a  few  are  caught.  In  early  times 
they  were  seen  in  the  fields  almost  every  day.  Joseph  Patchf 
used  to  relate  how  as  he  was  coming  home  from  the  East-parte 
soon  after  the  road  was  built,  a  deer  stood  drinking  by  Silver  rill 
at  twilight,  a  will-o'-the-wisp  playing  around  his  branching  horns. 
Patch  gave  a  low  whistle,  the  buck  snuffed  the  air  for  a  moment 
then  bounded  away  in  the  darkness. 

Of  the  other  four-footed  beasts  that  have  lived  in  the  Asquam- 
chumauke  valley,  many  have  been  hunted  for  their  furs.  The  fox 
has  generally  been  esteemed  the  best ;  and  the  music  of  baying 
hounds  has  been  the  delight  of  many  a  hunter's  heart.  Trappers 
in  the  forest  have  built  culheags  and  set  steel  traps  for  sable,  otter, 
mink,  martin,  ermine,  and  muskrat,  and  old  Mr.  Vowell  Leathers, 
a  gipsy  descendant,  who  lived  on  Beech  hill,  used  to  catch  skunks 

t  Joseph  Patch,  when  advanced  in  years,  followed. a  deer  on  snow  shoes,  all 
one  day,  as  last  as  he  could,  tlien  at  nigrht  laid  down  on  the  snow  without  a  fire, 
and  got  cold.  It  settled  in  his  hips,  and  our  luinter  was  lame  ever  attei-.  He  could 
stand  lip  and  swingle  flax  all  day  long.  He  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and 
was  good  at  it;  but  he  never  could  run  on  snow  shoes  in  the  woods  afterwards. 
Yet  he  was  good  at  "  stiU  hunting  "  as  long  as  he  lived. 


BIRDS   OF   WARREN.  377 

to  obtain  their  pleasant  odor,  lie  thought  it  decidedly  superior  to 
musk,  cologne,  or  otto  of  roses,  and  he  ouce  placed  one  of  these 
sweet  smelling  creatures  under  a  certain  lady  town  pauper's  bed, 
kindly  remarking  that  it  smelt  far  better  than  she  did,  and  was 
much  to  be  preferred  by  all  refined  people, —  a  remark  highly  com- 
plimentary to  the  lady. 

Of  all  the  birds  that  abound  in  Warren,  the  black-cap  titmouse, 
sometimes  called  chickadee,  is  desei-vedly  the  greatest  favorite. 
Why?  Because  he  has  a  beautiful  song,  does  a  great  deal  of  good 
and  no  harm,  is  very  plenty,  and  stops  with  its  all  the  year  round. 
His  feathers  are  as  warm  as  wool,  are  immensely  thick  as  com- 
pared with  his  whole  body,  and  he  is  so  sprightly  that  he  could  not 
bo  cold,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  weather.  A  whole  flock, 
clinging,  backs  down  like  pirouetting  fairies  to  the  breezy  tops  of 
the  pine  trees,  swinging  in  the  wind  on  the  outermost  end  of  the 
slenderest  boughs  of  the  birch,  singing  all  the  time,  chickadee, 
chickadedee,  in  the  sweetest  notes,  making  a  lively  party,  and  music 
that  causes  us  to  love  the  bright  days  of  winter. 

"W^len  the  low  southern  sun  is  hid  in  murky  leaden  clouds,  and 
the  snow  flakes  begin  to  spin  round  in  the  freshening  gale  and  the 
storm  spirit  is  roaring  on  the  mountains,  then  the  white  flashing 
bodies  of  the  snow-buntings,  who  were  hatched  on  the  snowy 
isles  of  the  frozen  ocean,  in  nests  of  reindeers'  hair,  lined  with  soft 
down  of  sea  ducks  and  the  warm  fur  of  the  white  foxes,  hurrying 
before  the  storm,  bring  a  weird  feeling  and  a  sort  of  a  supersti- 
tious awe  to  the  chillv  traveller.  Along  with  them  come  the  g'os- 
hawk,  light  winged,  from  Greenland;  the  snow  owl  and  the 
Acadian  owl,  his  companions,  and  the  Bohemian  chatterer,  that 
incessantly  sings  when  the  sun  shines  on  his  home,  the  eternal 
snows  and  glaciei-s  about  the  pole.  On  mild  winter  days,  in  our 
hamlet,  the  shrike,  cross-bills,  mealy  red  polls,  lesser  red  polls, 
pine  grosbeaks,  Arctic  woodpeckers,  brown  creepers,  nut  hatches, 
make  busy  parties  in  the  spruce  swamps,  while  on  the  borders  of 
the  fields,  and  about  the  barns,  is  heard  the  screaming  of  jays  and 
the  cawing  of  crows. 

Spring  brings  a  host  of  eagles,  hawks,  owls,  woodpeckers, 
cuckoos,  thrushes,  wrens,  kingfishers,  humming  birds,  warblers, 
swallows,   orioles,   blackbirds,  sparrows,   finches,  buntings,  and 


378 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


mauy  others,  among  whom  is  the  red-eyed  vireo,  one  of  the  most 
welcome  of  the  summer  singers,  for  he  sings  all  day  long,  no  mat- 
ter how  dark  the  weather  or  hot  the  sun. 

For  the  sportsman,  the  beautiful  wood  duck,  the  black  duck  and 
sheldrakes  swim  in  tlie  ponds  and  river,  and  in  autumn  the  wild 
goose  crying  "  hawnk-honck-e-honck,"  as  he  flies  through  the  sky, 
often  lights  in  Tarleton  lake.  But  never  yet  has  sportsman  lived 
in  Warren  who  knew  how  to  hunt  upland  plover,  or  the  woodcock 
that  breed  every  year  in  the  meadows  of  Runaway  pond,  and 
along  the  shores  of  some  of  the  sedgy  streams.  That  kind  of 
shooting  belongs  to  another  gcMcratiou. 

Among  the  dark  tirs  and  thick  hackmatacks  of  the  mountains  is 
found  the  spruce  grouse,  sometimes  called  the  Canadian  grouse. 
They  have  a  beautiful  plumage,  but  are  not  considered  good  eating. 
They  are  very  remarkable  for  their  manner  of  drumming.  They 
leap  up  from  the  earth  and  beating  their  wings  rapidly  against 
their  sides,  rise  spirally  some  flfteen  or  twenty  feet  into  the  air, 
then  slowly  descending  in  the  same  manner,  they  all  the  time  j)ro- 
duce  by  the  rajDid  motion  of  their  wings  a  low  rumbling  sound 
like  distant  thunder  which  in  a  still  day  can  be  heard  nearly  a  mile 
away. 

The  ruffed  grouse  is  a  larger  bird,  much  more  plenty,  is  more 
sought  after,  and  affords  the  most  savory  dish  for  the  table.  This 
bird  is  generally  known  as  the  partridge,  is  very  numerous,  and  in 
fact  cannot  be  exterminated.  Their  drumming,  which  every  one 
has  heard,  is  the  call  of  the  male  bird  to  his  harem  of  attendant 
wives,  and  is  beautifully  done.  Standing  up  proudly  on  an  old 
prosti'ate  log,  or  flat  rock  in  a  spruce  copse,  he  lowers  his  wings, 
erects  his  expanded  tail,  contracts  his  throat,  elevates  the  two  tufts 
of  feathers  on  the  neck,  and  inflates  his  whole  body,  something  in 
the  manner  of  a  turkey-cock,  strutting  and  wheeling  about  in  great 
stateliness.  After  a  few  manoeuvres  of  this  kind,  he  begins  to 
strike  his  stiffened  wings  in  short  and  quick  strokes,  which  become 
more  and  more  rapid  until  tliey  run  into  each  other,  resembling 
the  rumbling  sound  of  very  distant  thunder,  dying  away  gradually 
on  the  ear.  Morning  and  evening  in  the  spring  of  the  year  is  their 
favorite  drunnning  time.  Warren  has  had  a  host  of  good  par- 
tridge hunters,  from  Obadiah  Clement  down  to  Benjamin  Little, 


KISHINii 


379 


Russell  MciTill,  Beuj.  K.  Little,  and  Amos  L.  Mcrnll,  Avho  lives  in 
the  East-pavte  region. 

Some  years  wild  pigeons  arc  very  ])lenty,  and  at  the  com- 
menconient  of  the  present  century  tlocks  miles  in  length  and 
breadth,  darkening  the  sun,  would  fly  for  days  over  our  valley.  In 
autumn  when  beech-nuts  abounded,  our  hunters  and  their  friends 
feasted  on  wild  pigeons.* 

Warren's  streams  and  ponds  abound  in  tish.  and  fishermen 
have  always  been  more  ])leuty  than  hunters,  trappers,  or  fowlers. 
Minnows,  dace,  eels,  suckers,  pout,  pickerel,  and  trout,  swarm  the 
Avaters  in  great  numbers:  liut  pickerel  and  trout  are  the  most 
sousfht  after.     The  latter  were  much  larger  formerlv  than  now. 

Mr.  Samuel  Merrill,  familliarly  known  as  "  Uncle  Sammy,"  a 
man  beloved  by  every  body,  was  one  of  the  first  fishermen  in  the 
head  waters  of  the  Asquamchumanke.  He  had  settled  high  up  on 
the  side  of  Moosehillock  mountain.  The  woods  were  thick  about 
his  clearing,  shutting  out  the  view  back'of  his  cabin ;  but  Moose- 
hillock  looked  in  upon  him  from  the  north,  and  east,  the  crests 
of  the  mountains  swept  round  him  in  a  circle  to  the  south-west. 
Morning  and  evening  he  could  hear  the  roar  of  the  river  in  the 
gorge  just  beyond  the  eastern  edge  of  the  clearing. 

He  used  to  tell  how  a  July  night  of  those  early  times  had  been 
showery,  and  in  the  morning,  rising  early,  he  saw  a  faint  blue  line 
of  mist  which  hovered  over  the  bed  of  the  long  rocky  ravine, 
floating  about  like  the  steam  of  a  seething  cauldron,  and  rising  here 
and  there  into  tall  smoke  like  columns,  probably  where  some 
steeper  cataract  of  the  mountain  stream  sent  its  foam  skyward. 
As  the  sun  came  up  the  mists  rapidly  dispersed  from  the  lower 
regions,  were  suspended  for  a  short  time  in  the  middle  air  in 
broad,  fleecy  masses,  then  melted  quickly  away  in  the  increasing 
brightness  of  the  day. 

"  The  fish  will  bite  this  forenoon,  and  I  will  see  the  river,"  he 
said,  ''  and  the  laud  beyond."     He  had  bought  his  hooks  down 

*  Anson  Merrill  said  he  saw  pigeons,  year  after  year,  so  thick  flying  over  War- 
ren that  they  looked  like  a  black  cloud. 

Fowling  AiiPcdote.— Joseph  aud  Orlando,  sons  of  Joseph  Boynton,  wlio  lived 
on  therid^'e  aljovc  Cold  brook,  once  found  a  partridge  sitting  on  her  nest.  Orlando 
got  tile  gun  and  he  and  .Josepli  went  out  to  shoot  the  bird;  but  tlieii-  fatlier  think- 
ing It  too  l)ad  to  >hoot  a  sitting  bird,  run  ahead  ami  scareil  the  partridge  up.  Or- 
lando saw  liini  alid  lieard  tlie  heavy  lliglit.  He  wa.-,  mad  and  hallooed  to  Josepli 
what  his  father  had  done.    Joseph",  he  was  madder  still,  aud  with  the  most  fllial 


380  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

country,  his  wife  liacl  spun  liim  a  linen  line,  and  he  had  buckshot  for 
a  sinker.  Digging  some  worms  by  the  path  that  led  to  his  house, 
he  traveled  away  over  the  brook  to  the  northeast,  through  the 
thick  hemlock  woods,  a  mile  and  more,  to  the  river  bank.  At  the 
base  of  this  descent,  four  hundred  feet  perhaps  below,  flowed  the 
dark  arrowy  stream  —  a  wild  perilous  water.  As  clear  as  crystal, 
yet  as  dark  as  the  brown  lichens,  it  came  pouring  down  among  the 
broken  rocks,  with  a  rapidity  and  force  which  showed  what  must 
be  its  fury  when  swollen  by  a  storm  among  the  mountains ;  here 
breaking  into  a  wreath  of  rippUng  foam,  Avhere  some  unseen  ledge 
chafed  the  current,  there  roaring  and  surging  white  as  December's 
snow  among  the  great  round  headed  boulders,  and  there  again 
wheeling  in  sullen  eddies,  dark  and  deceitful,  round  and  round 
some  deep  rock-rimmed  basin. 

Going  down  the  bank  two  beautiful  spruce  grouse,  their  scarlet 
feathers  gleaming  in  the  morning  sun,  clucked,  clucked,  chur-r-red, 
and  then  disappeared  in  heavy  flight  down  among  the  great  trees 
of  the  ravine: 

At  the  water  edge  he  cut  a  beautiful  birchen  pole,  fastened  his 
line  upon  the  end  and  adjusted  a  worm  upon  his  hook.  Delicately, 
deftly  the  bait  danced  in  the  clear  water  across  the  foamy,  crystal 
eddy  to  the  hither  bank,  then  again,  obedient  to  the  pliant  wrist  it 
circled  half  round  the  limpid  basin,  then  stopped  for  a  moment  in 
a  little  mimic  whirlpool,  where  it  spun  round  and  round  just  to 
the  leeward  of  a  gray  granite  boulder.  It  was  only  for  a  moment, 
and  the  gay  tail  of  a  trout  flashed  in  the  sunshine,  then  a  swirl  on 
the  surface,  a  quick  turn  of  the  wrist,  the  barbed  hook  was  fixed 
and  the  most  beautiful  fish  of  the  northern  waters  spun  round  and 
round  for  a  moment  in  the  air,  then  quickly  unhooked  was  strung 
on  the  forked  birch  twig  cut  for  the  purpose.  The  hook  was 
rebaited,  another  and  another  were  caught,  then  down  sti'eam  leap- 
ing on  the  great  round  boulders,  he  stopped  again  at  a  second 
edying  basin,  adjusted  his  bait,  and  hurrying  now  in  the  wild 
excitement,  caught  brace  after  brace,  taking  no  note  of  time  till 
the  shadows  crept  out  over  the  deep  gorge  and  a  heavy  rumble  up 

affeotion,  and  in  the  most  pious  manner,  slioutert  out,  "  Shoot,  shoot  the  d — d  old  cuss." 
His  tatlier  lieanl  liim  and  mildly  said,  "  Orlando,  if  you  do  I'll  take  your  hide  off;" 
and  Orlando  didn't  shoot. — Russell  K.  Clement's  story. 


FIFTY   MILES   OF   TKOI'T   AVATER,  381 

in  the  great  basin  of  the  mountains  told  that  a  thunder  shower  was 
coming-  on. 

A  hedgehog  had  come  doAvn  by  the  stream  to  drink,  but  he 
heeded  him  not.  A  winter  wren,  darting  quick  as  a  mouse  in  and 
out  among  the  roots  of  a  faUen  tree,  had  warbled  a  trilling  fairy 
song  to  him ;  a  white  throated  finch  had  sung  soft  and  sweet  from 
the  top  of  a  bpautiful  green  spruce  that  shot  up  like  a  cone  at  the 
head  of  a  little  island  where  the  stream  divided  and  rushed  rap- 
idly down  on  either  side,  and  just  then  a  gi-eat  shaggy  black  bear 
came  from  the  woods  and  laying  down  in  the  cold  water  lapped 
his  fill,  and  sozzled  and  tossed  the  clear  crystal  fluid  to  his  heart's 
content.  Merrill  never  disturbed  him;  but  with  fish,  as  many  as 
he  could  conveniently  carry,  scrambled  up  the  steep  bank  and 
hurried  away  home.  In  his  old  age  he  would  tell  what  a  wetting- 
he  got  going  home  from  his  first  fishing  excursion  in  the  Asquam- 
chumauke. 

Fish  have  been  caught  in  Glen  aud  Wachi])auka  ponds,  and 
Tarleton  lake,  that  would  weigh  over  four  pounds  each,*  and  I 
have  seen  them  myself,  caught  from  the  Joseph  Merrill  pond,  that 
would  weigh  three  pounds.  Who  does  not  like  to  fish?  In  my 
youth  I  fished  in  the  dear  old  mill-pond  and  tiny  Cold  brook ;  but 
in  after  years  in  the  wild  mountain  stream  and  on  the  sylvan 
lake. 

There  are  more  than  fifty  miles  of  trout  streams  in  our  moun- 
tain hamlet, t  any  mile  of  which  can  be  reached  and  well  fished 
any  day,  in  the  season,  from  Warren  common.  Patch  brook.  Hur- 
ricane brook,  Batchelder  brook,  Davis  brook,  Libby  brook.  East- 
branch  brook,  the  Asquamchumauke,  Gorge  brook,  Big  brook, 
Merrill  brook,  Berry  brook,  Black  brook,  (the  Mikaseota,)  Ore  hill 
brook,  and  Martin  brook,  also  the  Oliverian,  afford  more  than  fifty 
thousand  genuine  red-spotted  ti'out  with  pink  sides  and  silver  belly 
and  tri-colored  fins,  white,  black,  and  red,  each  year.  Who  does 
not  love  to  follow  the  clear  streams  running  over  sandy  bottoms 


that  weighed  over  four  ijounrls.    A  tish  hawk  sat  on  a  neighbonnir  tree  looking  at 
hiin  and  evidently  had  been  watching  the  same  game.    When  Mr.'Fisk  bagged  the 


beauty  the  hawk  Hew  away  with  a  scream,  seemmg  mucli  disappointed. 

t  Cyrus  ('.  Kimliall,  in  his  day,  fished  a  portion  of  the  Asquamchumauke  so 
much  that  the  lisli  were  spring  poor  all  the  vear  round.  He  amused  himself 
chasing  them  over  the  rocks  when  they  wouldn't  bite. 


382  HISTORY    OF    WAKUKN. 

where  they  abound.  Your  trout  delights  in  cascades,  tumbling 
bays  and  weirs.  (Te]icrally  he  has  his  hole  under  roots  of  over- 
hanging trees,  and  beneath  hollow  banks  and  great  boulders  in  the 
deepest  parts  of  the  stream.  The  junction  of  little  rapids,  formed 
by  water  passing  round  an  obstruction  in  the  midst  of  the  general 
current  is  a  likely  point  at  which  to  raise  ati^out;  also  at  the  roots 
of  trees,  or  beside  gTeat  rocks,  or  in  other  places  where  the  froth 
of  the  stream  collects.  All  such  places  are  favorable  for  sport,  as 
insects  follow  the  same  course  ais  the  bubbles,  and  are  there  sought 
by  the  tish.  Generally  they  lie  head  lip  stream,  not  even  wagging 
the  tail  or  moving  a  tin.  Thousands  of  pounds  of  tish  are  also 
taken  from  our  ponds  each  year,  yet  they  never  seem  to  grow 
scarce,  and  each  season  brings  its  accustomed  product. 

"Warren  has  known  some  pot  fishers,  real  murderers  of  the 
tinny  tribe ;  and  once  upon  a  time,  as  the  fairy  stories  begin,  sev- 
eral lovers  of  fat  trout  resolved  to  capture  every  one  in  Wachi- 
pauka  pond.  Dr.  Alphouzo  G.  French,  Rev.  A.  W.  Eastman,  and 
Absalom  Cliflord,  Esq.,  were  the  principal  actors.  But  they 
invited  their  friends  John  3.  Batchelder,  Newell  Barry,  Newell  8. 
Martin,  and  several  other  less  important  personages,  to  go  with 
them  and  share  in  the  spoils.  Accordingly,  armed  with  wash- 
tubs,  mackerel  kits,  and  syrup  holders,  one  bright  summer  morn- 
ing they  all  repaired  to  the  pond. 

The  iilan  was  to  fill  a  large  stone  jug  with  powder,  attach  a 
fuse  and  sink  it  in  the  water:  one  of  the  number  on  a  raft  should 
light  the  fuse,  and  the  others  with  a  rope,  should  pull  him  ashore. 
The  explosion  would  kill  everj^  fish  in  the  pond ;  thej^  would  float 
on  the  surface  and  the  gi'eedy  fishermen  could  pick  them  up  at 
their  leisure.  Absalom  Cliftbrd  was  to  touch  oft'  the  fuse,  and  Dr. 
French  and  Rev.  Mr.  Eastman  were  to  land  him  before  the  explo- 
sion.    The  others  would  get  behind  great  trees  in  the  woods. 

The  plan  is  perfected ;  the  raft  is  floating  on  the  still  water 
and  the  rope  extends  to  the  shore. 

Absalom  Cliftbrd  touched  oft';  a  light  smoke  curled  up  from 
the  burning  fuse. 

Pull,  shouted  the  man  on  the  raft,  and  the  doctor  and  the  min- 
ister pulled.  '•'  Pull !  Pull !  or  I  shall  be  blowed  up,"  screamed  the 
fuse  lighter,  and  the  man  of  physic  and  the  man  of  the  gospel 


AN   EXTRAORDINARY   FISHINof ADVENTURE.  383 

pulled. —  pulled  with  all  their  might.  But  alas  the  rope  broke;  a 
terrible  explosion  was  soon  to  follow,  they  could  not  die  there, 
and  the  doctor  and  the  reverend  fled  far  into  the  deep  woods. 

A.  Clillbrd  knew  his  danger,  there  was  no  escape,  and  taking 
one  last  lingering  look  of  mountains  and  green  woods  around,  lay 
down  on  his  raft,  closed  his  eyes  and  resigned  himself  to  his 
fate. 

Soon  the  powder  burned;  but  there  was  no  terrible  explosion, 
only  a  few  buljbles  on  the  surface  and  then  all  was  calm  and 
still. 

A  long  time  after,  the  doctor,  the  minister,  the  hotel  keeper, 
and  the  farmers,  came  creeping  back.  Absalom  sat  bolt  upright 
on  his  ]'aft.  He  was  now  as  bi'ave  as  a  lion,  and  spoke  many 
gentle  words  to  the  bold  rope  pullers  who  had  left  him  to  die 
alone. 

They  felt  "  cute  enough." 

Absalom,  with  a  piece  of  board  paddled  himself  ashore,  and 
the  party  gathering  up  all  their  tubs,  kits,  and  holders,  and  cover- 
ing them  with  green  boughs  in  their  wagons,  wended  their  way 
to  their  homes,  exceedingly  delighted  with  the  many  congratula- 
tions of  their  friends  over  their  success,  and  the  almost  miraculous 
escape  of  A.  Cliiford. 


CHAPTER  III. 


HOW    THE     TURNPIKE    WAS     BUILT,     ANIJ     OF     DIVERS     THINGS     THAT 
HAPPENED   THEREBY. 


^EAV  things  came  fiist  to  our  hamlet  among-  the  hills,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  In  the  last  chapter  of  the 
preceding  book,  we  enumerated  many  of  them,  and  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present,  told  of  the  new  religions  that  came  to 
town.  In  the  land  of  the  Coosucks,  far  to  the  northward,  the 
people  were  similarly  blessed,  and  having  a  great  desire  for  a 
further  supply  of  useful  commodities,  began  to  make  effbrts  for 
the  building  of  better  roads  on  which  they  might  come. 

About  this  time  a  mania  had  arisen  for  turnpikes,  throughout 
the  whole  land ;  people  believed  they  would  be  profitable  invest- 
ments, and  every  body  knew  they  would  help  develop  the  country. 
Nearly  twenty  of  the  roads  had  been  chartered  and  built  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  December  19,  1805,  a  charter  of  the  old  Coos 
turnpike  was  obtained.  The  enterprising  people  of  Haverliill 
Corner  —  they  don't  live  there  now  —  were  mainly  instrumental 
in  procui'ing  it,  and  the  corporation*  the  ensuing  spring,  engaged 
the  sei"vices  of  Gen.  John  McDuffee,  a  distinguished  engineer  of 
those  times,  and  the  survey  was  immediately  commenced. 

*  The  turnpike  corporation  consisted  of  Moses  Dow,  Absalom  Peters,  .Joseph 
Bliss,  Davirt  Webster,  .Jr.,  Asa  Boynton,  Charles  Johnston,  Alden  Sprague,  Moody 
Bedell,  William  Tarleton,  John  Page,  and  Stephen  P.  Webster.  The  flrst  meeting 
was  called  by  Col.  William  Tarleton  and  Stephen  P.  Webster,  l)y  publishing  a  no- 
tice in  the  Dartmouth  Gazette. 

The  ■'  Coventry  turnpike"  was  chartered  December  29,  1803,  but  it  was  never 
built. 


THE   COOS   TURNPIKE   SURVEYED.  385 

There  were  two  points  at  wliich  it  must  terminate.  Havei'hill 
Corner  on  the  west,  and  Baker  river,  the  Asquamchnmauke,  ''near 
Merrill's  mill  "  on  the  east,  and  it  must  bo  the  strai^j'htest  and  short- 
est line,  if  it  did  run  plump  over  the  mountain  long  kuown  as  the 
Height-o*-land.  Surveyor  McDufTee  looked  over  the  route  first,  and 
then  commencino-  at  Haverhill  Corner,  ran  southeasterly  towards 
the  Asquamchumauke  in  Warren.  He  was  all  sunnner  perform- 
ing the  work,  getting  the  bearings,  estimating  the  grade,  driving 
the  stakes,  and  cutting  bushes.  Thomas  Pillsbury  of  AYarren  was 
one  of  the  surveying  party,  and  helped  carry  the  chain.  Then  the 
general  made  up  his  plan,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1806  advertise- 
ments were  posted  for  pi-oposals  to  build  sections  of  one  hundred 
rods  each,  on  the  whole  line. 

Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  and  his  brothers,  contracted  for  and  built 
from  the  commencement  at  the  narrow  point  between  Baker  river 
and  the  Mikaseota  or  Black  brook  up  to  the  Blue  ridge.  Joseph 
Merrill  took  the  job  cutting  through  the  high  embankment  of  Run- 
away pond.  It  required  a  great  amount  of  labor  and  much  time, 
and  before  it  was  finished  the  people  thought  it  was  a  blue  job  for 
Mr.  Merrill,  hence  the  name  Blue  ridge.  ^^Imos  Little  built  the 
hundred  rods  above  Blue  ridge,  over  the  Mikaseota,  and  one  of 
the  Clements  the  section  above  that.  Captain  William  Butler  also 
built  a  section. 

In  1808,  the  turnpike  approaching  completion,  a  toll-gate  was 
constructed  and  located  where  the  road  crosses  the  outlet  of  Tarle- 
ton  lake.  Here  was  a  narrow  ravine  and  there  was  no  way  to 
proceed  except  through  the  gate.  Nine  pence  was  the  toll  for  a 
horse  and  rider,  one  shilling  for  a  horse  and  wagon,  one  and  six 
pence  for  a  two  horse  wagon  or  sleigh,  and  three  shillings  for  large 

teams.* 

The  people  who  lived  beside  it  were  permitted  to  ti-avel  upon 
it  at  a  small  cost ;  they  woi-king  out  their  highway  taxes  upon  it  in 
part  payment. t  Joseph  Merrill  was  superintendent  of  repairs  for 
the  south  division.  Several  roads  not  being  longer  needed  were 
now  thrown  up.t 

♦For  an  exteuded  table  of  tolls,  see  charter  in  office  of  Secretary  of  State. 

t  Each  man  had  to  work  a  day  and  a  half  on  the  turnpike  to  pay  for  what  he 
used  it.— Gen.  M.  P.  Merrill's  statement. 

tVoted  to  discontinue  from  Bowles'  to  the  old  Potasli,  (so  called,)  near  Mr, 
Weeks'  so  long  as  the  public  can  pass  on  the  turnpike,  free  from  '•  towl." 


886  HISTORY    OF    -WARREN. 

And  now,  when  the  I'oad  was  opened,  how  the  people  rejoiced ! 
It  would  bring-  new  life  to  the  town  !  Their  jDroperty  would  be  of 
higher  value,  and  the  world  at  their  doors. 

These  bright  expectations  were  fully  realized;  travel  greatly 
increased.  Great  teams,  as  they  were  called,  canvass  covered 
wagons,  drawn  by  eight  or  ten  horses,  went  rumbling  by  every 
day  in  long  trains,  almost  like  caravans  in  the  East.  Going  north 
they  invariably  hired  all  the  horses  and  oxen  at  the  foot  of  the 
Height-o'-land  that  could  be  found,  to  help  them  up.  My  uncle, 
Anson  Merrill,  said  that  when  a  boy,  he  had  been  to  the  top  of  the 
Height  a  hundred  times  or  more  to  take  back  the  oxen  or  horses. 
Four  shillings  or  four-and-six-pence  was  the  price  of  a  yoke  of 
cattle  or  a  span  of  hoi'ses  over  the  mountain.  The  highest  point 
on  the  road  where  they  dismissed  the  boy,  was  about  two  thousand 
feet  above  sea  level,  and  a  barn  now  standing  on  the  turnpike  sum- 
mit is  a  real  water-shed,  the  rain  and  meltiug  snow  runuing  from 
one  roof  flowing  into  the  Connecticut,  that  from  the  other  roof 
into  the  Merrimack.  In  winter  two-horse  puugs,  with  jingling 
bells  and  shouting  drivers,  came  from  the  fertile  hill-sides  of  Ver- 
mont, and  made  trains  miles  in  length  on  the  winter  road.  Num- 
erous pod  teams,  or  one-horse  sleighs,  also  joined  the  great 
caravan  to  the  seaboard. 

It  was  a  I'omautic  trip  these  pungs  had  to  Dover,  Portsmouth, 
and  Newburj'port.  Mr.  Samuel  Merrill,*  ''Uncle  Sammy,"  who 
lived  in  the  East-parte  regions,  used  to  narrate  his  adventures 
"  going  down  by  the  sea."'  When  the  deep  snow  had  come  and  the 
weather  was  cold,  he  loaded  up  his  great  steel-shod,  —  shoes  of 
steel  more  than  an  inch  thick, —  market  pung.  Whole  hogs, 
frozen  stiff",  apple-sauce,  butter,  cheese,  poultry,  feetiiigs,  mink, 
fox,  sable,  fisher-cat,  and  bear  skins,  caught  by  his  boys,  sheep's, 
pelts,  and  all  the  various  articles  of  country  j)i-oduce,  make  a  heavy 
load.     Then  he  would  take  a  whole  trunk  full  of  pies,  cakes,  cold 


Voted  to  discontinue  the  old  road  from  the  uortli  side  of  Coventry  road  to  the 
turnpike  above  Mr.  Swett's  as  above. 

Voted  to  discontinue  from  .Joseph  Merrill's  to  the  savr-mill  as  above. 

Voted  to  discontinue  IVoin  Captain  Craige's  liouse  to  Jonathan  Clement's  inn. 
Captain  Craige  lived  in  .Joshua  Merrill's  lioiise  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mikaseota. 
—Town  Clerk's  Records,  Vol.  i.  190. 

*  Samuel  ilerrill  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  Merrdl,  a  very  able  Congi-ega- 
tional  minister.  Nathaniel  was  a  brother  of  Joshua  and  Stevens  Merrill,  early 
settlers  m  ^^'alTen. 


FREIGHT  AXD  TRAVEL  TO  THE  SEABOARD.         387 

meat,  cold  fowl,  and  cheese,  for  himself,  and  several  bnshels  of 
oats  for  his  horses.  He  did  not  like  to  pay  much  money  to  the 
thousand  and  one  landlords  who  kept  hotels  and  furniphod  drinka- 
bles all  alonii'  the  road  to  the  markets,  which  were  known  as  places 
down  country.  Just  think  of  the  little  man  mounting  the  semi- 
circular step  behind  the  sleigh  for  the  start,  amid  the  tender  good- 
bys  and  kind  wishes  of  those  who  were  to  stay  behind,  and  who 
must  now  pass  days  and  perhaps  weeks,  if  drifting  snow  or  a 
'•'  January  thaAv"  should  inteiwene,  before  the  old  mare  and  her 
four  year  old  colt  should  make  their  appearance,  coming  up  the 
hill  home  again.  ''Out  to  the  road,"  and  he  joined  the  throng 
coming  down  the  turnpike,  and  was  lost  in  the  hurrying  caravan. 
At  the  market  towns  he  bought  salt,  spices  of  all  kinds,  steel  traps, 
powder,  shot,  tishing  tackle,  and  a  host  of  coveted  luxuries,  and 
then  he  was  off  for  his  home  again.  The  old  mare  and  the  four 
year  old  colt  turned  out  of  the  throng  and  off  the  turnpike  road 
instinctively,  and  was  there  not  joy  in  the  household  that  night 
when  he  unloaded  his  treasures.  James  "VYilliams,  his  neighbor, 
had  a  two-horse  market  sleigh,  as  did  Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  Captain 
Butler,  Obadiah  Clement,  and  several  others.  There  were  like- 
wise numerous  pod  teams  owned  in  town,  that  made  annual  pil- 
grimages down  country  with  the  rest. 

Freighting  and  travel  to  the  seaboard  so  much  increased,  on 
account  of  the  turnpike,  that  one  or  two  new  taverns  were  opened 
in  town.  Mr.  Nathaniel  Clough*  had  one  near  the  south  line  of 
"Warren,  Captain  Butler  and  Jonathan  Clement  each  kept  one  in 
the  valley  of  Runaway  pond,  and  Col.  Tarleton.  Joseph  Merrill, 
'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill,  and  Lemuel  Keezer,t  still  continued  their 
hostelries  and  bought  hay  and  grain  of  all  the  farmers  in  the  country 
round. 

The  old  turnpike  road  had  a  lively  liistory  for  a  quarter  of  a 

*  FAMILY  KECORD  OF  XATHANIEL  AXD  BETTY  (Keezer)   CLOCGH. 

.Jonathan,  born  Dec.  2S,  1790,  at  War-  Anins,  born  May  1'2,  1797. 

reu.  Sallv,  born  Apr.  -28,  1799. 

Natlianiel,  born  Aug.  17,  1792.  Betsey,  born  Feb.  15,  1803. 

William,  born  Sept.  5,  1791,  Jnliana,  born  Oct.  0,  1813. 

t  Lemnel  Keezer  in  his  old  ape  got  Captain  Daniel  Merrill  to  live  with  him  and 
take  care  o!  him.  Captain  Daniel  amonfr  other  tilings  agreed  to  fnrni.^h  Mr.  Kee- 
zer a  pint  of  good  nun  a  day  iluring  hi.s  natural  lite.  Captain  Daniel  was  also  a 
deacon,  and  Keezer  used  to  say  of  him,  "  Now  then  Daniel  always  hangs  up  his 
deaconshiji  on  a  peg  at  home,  when  he  goes  out  buying  cattle,  aiid  don't  take  it 
(JovFu  again  till  Saturday  at  4  p.  m. 


388  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

century,  and  on  it  has  happened  many  a  fond  adventure.  The 
Height-o'-landers  were  hi  old  times  a  jolly,  jovial,  hilarious  set  of 
roisterers.  The  Days,  es]3ecially,  who  once  lived  there,  vs^ere  fond 
lovyers  of  good  grog,  and  many  a  break-neck  ride  they  took  with 
bottle  and  bag.  a  stone  in  one  end  of  the  bag  to  balance  the  bottle,  to 
the  hotels  in  the  valley  of  Runaway  pond,  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  Asquamchumauke,  to  obtain  the  "  good  creature."  It  is  told  by 
superstitious  people  that  they  used  to  see  ghosts  on  the  road  going 
home  o'  nights. 

But  the  wildest  adventure,  a  terrible  ride,  happened  on  the 

turnpike  about  the  year  1812,  soon  after  the  road  was  first  opened. 

A  teamster  of  short  and  stout  frame  from  northern  Vermont,  used 

to  drive  four  powerful  black  hoi'ses,   freighting  to  the  seaboard. 

In  the  hot  summer  he  would  travel  nights  and  rest  daytimes.     He 

left  Tarleton's  hotel  by  Tai'leton  lake  one  evening  to  go  over  to  the 

Asquamchumauke  valley.  He  came  through  the  Tamarack  swamp 

by  the  pond,  climbed  the  highest  summit  and  went  down  to  the 

top  of  the  sharp  pitch  where  commence  the  cascades  of  Ore-hill 

brook.     Here  he  chained  his  wheel,  mounted  his  load  and  started 

down.    He  had  not  pi'oceeded  a  rod  when  the  chain  broke.    The 

horses  could  not  hold  the  heavy  load  and  it  forced  them  into  a  run 

down  the  hill.     It  was  dark  as  pitch,  he  could  not  see  to  rein  his 

team,  he  could  not  hold  them,  and  their  speed  accelerated  every 

moment.     The  sparks   flew  from  the  steel-shod  hoofs,  and  long 

trails  of  hght  flashed  back  in  the  darkness  as  the  wheels  rumbled 

over  the  rocks.     As  the  speed  increased,  ghosts  seemed  to  shriek 

out  to  him  from  the  murky  air,  and  he  could  almost  see  their  eyes 

flashing  like  meteors, —  in  fact  he  did  see  stars,  although  the  whole 

sky  was  covered  with  thick  clouds,  for  just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 

where  the  road  turns  to  the  right  before  crossing  the  stream,  the 

wagon  struck  a  rock,  breaking  nearly  every  timber  in  it.     The 

leaders  cleared  themselves  and  ran,  the  hind  horses  were  thrown 

down  and  one  of  them  killed,  while  the  driver  was  thrown  from 

the  load  against  a  stone,  and  one  of  his  legs  was  broken  in  three 

places. 

He  shouted  for  help,  but  there  was  no  house  within  a  mile  of 
the  spot,  and  no  one  came  to  his  assistance.  To  stay  there  was  to 
die  in  agony,  and  to  move  did  not  increase  his  pain.   On  his  hands 


A   TERRIBLE   RmE.  389 

and  knee  he  cvawled  to  his  team,  cut  the  harness  of  the  living 
horse  and  got  him  up.  Mounting  him  lie  rode  to  Jonathan  Clem- 
ent's inn.  a  mile  and  a  lialf  away,  roused  the  family,  and  was 
assisted  into  the  liouse.  "When  a  light  was  brought,  his  hair,  dark 
before,  was  found  to  be  white  as  snow. 

The  horses  that  ran  were  found  standing  quietly  under  the 
tavern  shed.  Dr.  Bartlett  set  the  teamster's  broken  limb,  and 
every  thing  possible  was  done  for  the  unfortunate  man,  but  it  was 
four  months  before  he  was  able  to  walk  a  step.* 

For  a  whole  generation  the  turnpike  corporation  flourished 
and  paid  good  dividends  to  the  stockholders.  Then  the  feeling- 
became  prevalent  that  a  road  should  be  built  by  which  the  steep 
hills  and  mountains  might  be  shunned.  After  a  long  contest  one 
was  built  and  travel  ceased  over  the  Height-o'-land .  The  tavern- 
keepers  in  the  valley  of  Runaway  pond  and  on  the  shore  of  Tarle- 
ton  lakef  then  took  down  their  signs,  and  the  places  once  bustling 
with  the  activity  of  teamsters,  stage-drivers,  and  travelers,  became 
almost  solitudes. 

Still  the  old  turnpike  did  good  sei-vice  for  the  dwellers  beside 
it  of  a  second  generation ;  but  to-day.  riding  over  it,  it  seems 
like  a  monument  of  a  people  past  and  gone.  Especially  did  it 
seem  so  when  in  the  spring  of  1868,  in  company  with  my  esteemed 
friend,  Mr.  James  Clement,  we  came  down  from  Cross'  iron 
mine,  through  the  Tamarack  woods  by  Tarleton  lake.  It  was  a 
cloudy,  wet  evening  the  last  of  May ;  the  lonely  farm  house  be- 
side the  road  was  deserted,  not  a  human  being  was  to  be  seen, 
but  from  the  swamp  and  dripping  wood  came  the  warbling  melody 
of  the  winter  wren,  the  sweet  song  of  the  white-throated  spar- 
row, and  trilling  sweeter,  richer,  and  far  more  beautiful  than 
all  the  rest,  the  mellow,  flute-like  notes  of  the  wood  thrush. 

Reader,  riding  over  the  old  turnpike,  remember  that  once  this 
solitude  was  the  busiest  and  most  traveled  thoroughfare  in  all 
northern  New  Hampshire. 

*  Dr.  .lesse  Little's  statement. 

t  The  nlrl  sijru  of  Colonel  Win.  Tarleton,  that  creaked  for  more  than  half  a 
century  in  Ihe  winds  that  ))le\v  over  Tarleton  lake,  is  still  (18::;))  in  existence.  When 
taken  down  it  was  nailed  njion  an  inside  stable  door,  where  the  writer  saw  it  iu 
ISM).  It  was  made  of  a  l)i-o;id  oaken  board  and  was  beautifullv  painted  On  the 
top  of  the  visible  side  is  tlie  name  of  William  Tarletmi,  and  the  date  1774  at  the 
bottom.  Between  the  name  and  the  date  is  au  excellent  likeness  of  Gen.  Wolfe 
with  drawn  sword  and  full  uniform.  Wolfe  was  the  hero  at  that  time,  and  Wash- 
ington and  his  generals  were  hardlv  known. 


392  HISTORY  OP   WARREN. 

and  that  it  would  be  more  houorable  to  the  company  for  the  requi- 
site number  to  volunteer.  Then  the  tenor  drum  played  for  volun- 
teers, and  eight  men  immediately  stepped-  forward.  Two  others 
were  soon  obtained  by  the  ofleriiig  of  small  bounties,  and  George 
Libbey,  Richard  Whiteman,  Nathaniel  Libbey,  Nathaniel  Richard- 
son, Ephraim  Lund,  Daniel  Pillsbury,  Joseph  Pillsbury,  Jacob 
Whitcher,  Obadiah  AYhitcher.  and  Jonathan  Weeks,  were  the  ten 
men  who  constituted  Warren's  quota.* 

Addison  Patch,  Anson  Merrill  and  several  other  boys,  sat  on 
the  hay-mow  that  day,  listening  to  the  music  of  the  comj)any  band 
mingled  with  that  of  the  rain  rattling  on  the  long  shingles  of  the 
roof,  and  witnessed  the  volunteering. 

Captain  Ephraim  H.'Mahurin  of  Stratford,  N.  H.,  commanded 
the  company,  John  Page,  Jr.,  was  Lieutenant.  Perkins  Fellows 
was  ensign,  and  George  Libbey  of  AVarren  was  one  of  the  ser- 
geants, while  Richard  Whiteman  who  lived  and  died  at  WaiTen 
summit,  was  first  corporal.  The  whole  company  was  raised  from 
the  old  13th  regiment,  which  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  was  commanded  by  Lieut.  Col.  John  Montgomery,  John 
Kimball  of  Haverhill,  Major  of  the  first  battalion,  and  Daniel 
Patch  of  Warren,  Major  of  the  second  battalion. 

The  company  immediately  proceeded  to  its  rendezvous  by 
Indian  stream,  in  Stewartstown.  But  as  good  fortune  would  have 
it,  they  saw  no  bloody  fight,  and  achieved  no  high  lionors  on  the 
battle-field.  Yet  they  had  lively  times  building  block-houses  and 
chasing  after  smugglers,  whom  they  never  caught.  Part  of  the 
company  under  Lieut.  John  Page,  who  was  afterwards  governor 
of  New  Hampshire,  went  down  through  Dixville  notch  to  Errol 
dam,  ostensibly  to  protect  the  settlers  of  that  locality  from  the 
Indians,  of  whom  old  Metalic  was  chief  and  the  whole  tribe,  but 
in  fact  to  prevent  a  few  enterprising  Maine  men  from  dri\dng  cat- 
tle up  the  Megalloway  river  to  Canada,  and  there  selling  them  to 
the  British  forces. 

The  party  had  exciting  times  performing  their  dnties,  and  the 

*  .John  Abbott  weut  for  Haverhill  as  a  drummer,  and  Perkins  Fellows, 
calling  himself  from  Piermont,  weut  witli  Warren's  volunteers.  Perkins  Fellows 
married  a  daughter  of  .Jonathan  Clemeut,  inn-keeper. 

"  Let  Richard  Whiteman  have  when  he  weut  as  a  soldier,  $5.00."— See  Select- 
men's Records,  Vol.  i, 


A    SECOND    DRAFT.  393 

brave  commander,  Lieut.  John  Page,  got  so  terrifically  lame,  Sept. 
12,  1812,  chasing-  Maine  cow-boys  through  the  woods,  that  he  did 
not  o-et  well  during  the  remainder  of  his  term  of  enlistment.  But 
Sergeant  George  Libbey  said  he  had  the  best  time  catching  the 
great  five  pound  trout  on  the  falls  of  the  Androscoggin  river,  and 
shooting  wild  fowl  that  congregated  in  great  numbers  on  the  clear 
waters  of  Umbagog  lake.  Jan.  27,  1813,  the  time  of  their  enlist- 
ment was  up  and  AVarren's  men,  if  they  did  enlist  on  a  terribly 
rainy  day.  all  came  home  safe  and  sound,  well  pleased  with  their 
exploits  on  the  northern  frontier. 

Warren  had  some  ambitious  men.  Tristram  Pillsbury  went 
into  the  western  army,  John  Abbott  went  away,  joined  some  regi- 
ment and  died  while  in  the  service.*  Major  Daniel  Patch  was  a 
private  and  fought  at  the  battle  of  Bridgewater,  where  he  was 
wounded.  But  David  Patch  gained  more  distinction  as  a  soldier 
than  any  other  native  of  Warren.  He  enlisted  in  some  other  State, 
got  a  commission,  fought  in  several  battles,  got  promoted  for 
bravery,  and  commanded  a  regiment  as  a  colonel,  at  the  battle  of 
Sackett's  harbor. f  Here  he  was  taken  prisoner,  carried  to  Halifax, 
and  was  so  badly  treated  that  he  was  attacked  by  consumption. 
A\nien  peace  was  declared,  he  came  home,  and  shortly  after  died. 
To-day,  he  is  lying  in  an  unmarked  and  almost  forgotten  grave  in 
the  village  burying  ground. 

In  1814,  numerous  British  men-of-war  appeared  off  the  coast 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  so  great  was  the  panic  they  created,  that 
Governor  Gilman  ordered  the  entire  body  of  the  New  Hampshire 
militia,  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  ''to  hold  themselves  in 
readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning. "J  Many  companies 
were  Immediately  ordered  to  Portsmouth,  and  a  draft  Avas  once 
more  to  be  had  in  Warren.  Four  men  was  the  quota  of  our  little 
hamlet  this  time,  and  the  mighty  rulers  who  were  elected  this  year 
in  our  little  democracy,  Jonathan  Merrill,  Abel  Merrill,  and  Joseph 
Patch,  Jr.,  were  ordered  to  see  that  the  men  were  forthcoming. 

Again  the  company  which  bore  such  euphonious  names  as  the 
slam-bang  company,  the  string-bean  company,  and  the  old  flood- 

*  John  Abbott  died  of  scarlet  fever,  April  13,  1613,  at  Concord,  N.  H. 
t  David  Patch  was  woiuided  at  the  battle  of  Sackett's  harbor.    It  is  doubtful 
about  his  ever  having  held  a  commission  as  colonel. 
t  Adjutant  General's  Report,  1868,  part  2d,  p.  130. 


394  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

wood  company,  was  warned  to  appear  on  the  pai-ade  in  front  of 
Joseph  Merrill's  inn.  It  was  a  bright  day  this  time,  Sept.  27, 1814, 
when  they  assembled,  and  the  men  were  drawn  up  before  the 
tavern  door.  Once  more  there  was  a  harangue  for  volunteers, 
once  more  the  drum  rolled  out  a  patriotic  strain,  and  when  it 
ceased,  four  men,  Moses  Ellsworth,  Stephen  AYhiteman,*  Cotton 
Batchelder,  and  another, f  all  ''  little  runts  of  men,"  a  little  over 
four  feet  tall,  stood  valiantly  forth,  each  anxious  to  be  one  of  his 
country's  defenders. 

'Squire  Jonathan  and  his  companions  in  otfice  were  indignant. 
"  To  send  such  soldiers  will  be  a  disgrace  to  the  town,"  said  they; 
''They  shall  not  go,  the  draft  shall  x^roceed."  Accordingly  the 
name  of  each  man  on  a  slip  of  paper  was  placed  in  a  hat,  and  when 
well  shaken  up,  Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  drew  forth  four  of  them. 
Stephen  "Whiteman  was  in  luck.  He,  "svitli  John  Copp,  William 
Merrill,  and  Obadiah  Whitcher,  were  drafted  to  go.  But  William 
Merrill,  son  of  Joseph  Merrill,  inn  keeper,  would  not  be  a  soldier, 
and  Daniel  Pillsbury  went  as  Ms  substitute. 

Perkins  Fellows,  who  lived  over  the  Height-o'-land,  was  also 
on  hand  again  and  went  with  the  quota  of  Warren.  They  helped 
to  make  up  a  company  which  was  commanded  by  Captain  John 
D.  Harty,  of  Dover.  Perkins  Fellows  was  first  Lieutenant,  and 
by  his  influence  Daniel  Pillsbury  was  first  corporal,  and  Obadiah 
Wliitcher  third  corporal.  These  men  had  gay  times  down  at 
Portsmouth,  by  the  side  of  the  "  deep  blue  sea,"  where  they  went 
fishing,  catching  sheep's  heads  and  cuttle-fish,  and  the  only  hazar- 
dous service  they  saw  was  when  some  shiuey  nights  they  made 
raids  upon  pig-styes  and  hen  roosts.  John  Copp  and  Stephen 
Whiteman  were  great  on  a  raid.  At  the  end  of  sixty  days  they 
were  all  discharged  and  came  safe  home. 

When  peace  had  been  declared,  and  the  war  was  over,  there 

*  FAMILY  RECCED  OF  WILLIAM  AND  MEHITABLE  {Merrill)  AVIIITEMAN. 

Stephen,  born  Auff.  12,  1784.  Betsev,  born  May  24, 1792. 

Richard,  born  .)nne  24,  1786,  Hannah,  born  June  17,  1794. 

Levi,  born  Apr.  8,  1789. 

Mr.s.  Whiteman  died  March  29,  1798.    She  was  a  daughter  of  Farmer  .Joshua. 

AVilliam  Whiteman  wa.s  a  Dutchman. 

t.Iohn  Copp  was  the  fourth  little  man  who  volunteered.— Stephen  Whiteman's 
statement. 

Mr.  Whiteman  said  .John  Copp  was  not  so  tall  as  lie  was.  .Jesse  Eastman  wlio 
lived  a  long  time  in  the  East-parte  regions,  went  from  Coventry  and  carried  his 
own  gun. 


THE   OLD-FASHIONED   MUSTER.  395 

was  great  Joy  iu  all  the  laud,  but  the  military  spirit  did  uot  die  out. 
Little  training  day  iu  May,  and  muster  day  were  more  anxiously 
expected  than  ever,  and  great  was  the  enthusiasm  ou  such  occa- 
sions. 

The  old  13th  regiment,  composed  of  the  companies  of  Warren, 
Benton,  Haverhill,  Piermont,  and  Orford,  was  now  in  all  its  glory. 
Moses  H.  Clement,  of  Warren,  was  Colonel,  James  Rogers,  Lieut. 
Colonel,  and  James  R.  Page,  Major.  Col.  Clement  had  been  a 
captain  of  infiintry,  a  captain  of  cavalry  or  troop,  as  it  was  gener- 
ally called,  and  now  he  had  got  to  be  a  colonel  of  a  whole  regiment. 
What  a  high  honor,  thought  he,  and  Warren  shall  share  it.  So 
when  the  annual  muster-day  came,  all  the  troops  were  commanded 
to  meet  on  the  "  parade,"  in  front  of  Joseph  Merrill's  inn,  in  our 
little  democracy. 

"WTio  of  those  who  lived  in  the  last  generation,  does  not 
remember  what  a  time  they  had  going  to  muster.  It  was  the  great 
day  of  the  year.  Every  body  was  up  by  one  o'clock  a.  m.,  ou  that 
morning.  All  the  country  round  was  alive;  men,  women,  and 
children,  hurrying  away  by  thousands  over  the  hills  and  through 
the  valleys  in  the  morning  dawn,  to  muster.  What  shouting, 
what  running  of  horses,  what  a  caravan  of  peddlers,  traveling 
through  the  country,  going  through  a  whole  brigade  of  musters. 

Eveiy  one  must  be  on  the  ground  at  sunrise  at  the  beating  of 
the  reveille,  when  the  companies  would  be  formed.  All  around 
the  parade,  booths,  victualing  tents,  and  showmen's  tents  had 
sprung  up  in  the  night  like  Jonah's  gourd.  These  would  reap  a 
harvest  ou  that  eventful  day.  The  whole  field  north  of  the  parade 
was  thrown  open  for  the  muster,  and  the  line  was  always  formed 
where  the  railroad  embankment  is  now.  What  rivalry  was  there 
to  be  the  color  company,  to  be  the  escort  company.  How  gay  was 
the  troop,  and  what  splendid  uniforms  some  of  the  infantry  com- 
panies had. 

The  whole  regiment  with  colors  flying  marched  that  day  with 
its  dashing  colonel  at  its  head,  along  the  broad  turnpike  road. 
Two  dozen  drums  were  beating  all  at  once,  a  dozen  fifes  were 
shrilly  playing,  the  brass  band  joined  its  inspiriting  strains  and  the 
two  cannon  of  the  artillery  company  on  the  field,  helped  make  mu- 
sic for  the  regimental  march.     The  forests  awoke  in  echoes,  all  the 


396  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

hills  gave  back  the  sound,  and  the  TTOoded  mountain  crests  taking- 
up  the  melody  of  war,  bore  it  far  across  the  borders  to  the  dwell- 
ers beyond  Glen  jionds  in  the  ancient  lands  of  Trecothick  and  of 
old  Peeling,  along  the  banks  of  the  Pemigewassett.  Those  kind 
neighbors  of  oui-s  over  the  mountains,  who  come  to  Warren  about 
as  often  as  the  Chinese,  never  forgot  the  music  of  the  regimental 
muster,  and  even  now  on  winter  evenings,  tell  their  grandchildren 
of  it. 

Col.  Obadiah  Clement,  father  of  Col.  Moses,  looked  on  with 
ambitious  eyes,  and  a  tiitherly  pride,  and  said  it  reminded  him  of 
the  time  when  they  had  the  first  little  training  on  Blue  ridge,  by 
the  bank  of  the  Mikaseota,  now  called  Black  brook.  Besides  many 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  were  also  there;  Col.  Stone,  an 
old  pensioner  who  had  married  the  widow  of  Joshua  Copp,  and 
was  engaged  making  a  perpetual  motion,  Samuel  Knight,  Jacob 
Low,  and  Asa  Low,  and  many  others,  together  with  the  soldiers 
of  the  1812  war,  all  said  it  was  the  finest  muster  they  ever  saw.* 
Especially  were  they  pleased  when  at  the  review  and  inspection 
the  General  of  the  Brigade  came  upon  the  field,  and  every  soldier 
stood  up  straight  and  did  his  prettiest. 

In  the  afternoon  they  had  a  sham  fight,  and  the  side  that  had 
the  artillery  company  won  the  victory,  and  then  even  Moosehil- 
lock's  bald  head  echoed  back  the  fray.  There  were  also  several 
smaller  fights  where  there  was  not  much  noise,  but  a  few  broken 
heads  and  black  eyes,  all  induced  by  good  whisky ;  but  we  won't 
say  much  about  these  as  the  actors  did  not  want  any  record  made 
of  their  glorious  achievements. 

Thus  passed  the  day.  The  children  and  spectators  eat  ginger- 
bread, nuts,  candy,  honey,  and  drank  new  cider  and  something- 
stronger,  bought  wares  of  the  peddlers,  watched  the  march. 
reviews,  and  drills,  and  looked  at  the  shows. 

At  night  they  went  home,  and  all  the  peddlers  who  had  sold 
at  auction,  and  hallooed  and  yelled  till  their  throats  were  sore,  all 

*  .Jacob  Low  woulfl  twit  his  hrotlier  Asa  Low  of  stealing  his  money,  and 
when  he  would  ask  for  it  to  buy  tobacco,  the  latter  would  say,  "Chaw  tow,"  Jake, 
chaw  tow."  Jacob  would  tlien  piously  call  Asa  a  d— d  traitor, "and  said  he  no  busi- 
ness to  draw  a  pension,  if  lie  did  go  to  the  war.  Asa  had  property  and  could  not 
get  his  ])ension  for  many  years.  Jacob  Low  was  at  tlie  battle  ol'  Bunker  hill,  and 
helped  Are  a  cannon  thirteen  times  at  the  Britisli,  ami  tlien  run  witli  the  rest.  He 
said  he,  himself  alone,  moved  the  cannon  back  and  forth  behind  the  breast  work 
with  a  "  handspike"  as  he  called  it.    He  was  once  a  member  of  Gen.  Lfee's  body- 


THE  PARADE   IS   DISMISSED.  397 

the  ishow-mcn  and  victuallers,  had  pulled  up  stakes  and  were  off 
to  the  muster  that  would  be  held  sonicAvhere  down  the  river  next 
day. 

The  soldiers  too.  all  hurried  away  as  soon  as  they  got  their 
silver  lialf  dollar,  and  the  drums  and  tlie  tifes,  and  the  bugle  of  the 
troop  was  heard  no  more  for  several  yeai's  in  Warren.* 

One  man  was  certainly  happy  on  the  night  of  the  muster, — 
Joseph  Merrill,  inn-keeper,  for  he  had  made  $200  clear  profit  that 
day,  a  large  sum  for  those  times. 

Many  musters  have  been  held  since  in  Warren,  but  none  better 
or  more  successful  than  the  one  when  Moses  H.  Clement  was 
Colonel. 

guarcl.  lu  Wai-rea  he  lived  with  Araos  Little  several  years,  but  died  at  Jo.  Boyn- 
tou's,  just  above  the  Cold  brook  on  the  old  turnpike.  Gen.  .Tosepli  Low  of  Con- 
cord, ouv-e  Adjutant  General  of  X.  I-I.,  was  a  nepliew  of  Jacob  Low. 

Jacob  said  Asa  deserted  once,  then  got  ashamed  of  himself  and  came  skullsing 
back. 

*  Paid  Abel  Merrill  for  what  he  expended  for  the  soldiers  on  regimental  mus- 
ter day,  with  adding  twenty-live  cents  for  eaeli  soldier  belonging  to  the  cavalry 
and  artillery  companies,  $r2. 10.— Selectmen's  Records,  Vol.  i. 


t^a^c^^A^^     c/^!^-^^.^:^^^^: 


THE   FIRST   MAIL   ^VAftOX   IX   TOWN  399 

carry  sniall  bundle?  and  distribute  them  all  through  the  country, 
where  he  went.  For  the  agreeable  part  of  these  small  jobs,  the 
pay,  he  blew  his  clear,  ringing  horn  as  he  passed  every  dwelling. 
Twice  a  week  the  inhabitants  saw  him  climbing  up  the  turnpike, 
twice  a  week  they  saw  him  disappearing  down  the  valley  of  the 
Asquamchumauke . 

Once  he  got  snowed  in  at  Warren,  and  was  obliged  to  stop  at 
Joseph  Merrill's  inn  over  the  Sabbath.  Let  us  stop  thei-ewith  him. 
'Twas  a  neat  bar-room,  Joseph  Merrill's.  The  floor  was  white, 
the  old  clock  ticked  in  the  corner,  and  the  very  attractive  bar  stood 
in  the  north  end,  its  long  row  of  decanters  on  the  shelf  behind, 
clean  tumblers  and  mugs,  nice  toddy-sticks,  and  bright  di-ainer. 
But  the  crowning  glory  of  that  bar-room  is  not  the  white  floor, 
not  the  neat  bar  with  its  attractive  contents,  nor  yet  the  clock  tick- 
ing so  musically  in  the  corner:  but  it  is  the  old-fashioned  tii-e- 
place  with  its  blazing  embers,  huge  back-log,  and  iron  fire-dogs, 
that  shed  glory  over  the  whole  room,  gilds  the  plain  and  homely 
furniture  with  its  light  and  renders  the  place  a  true  type  of  New 
England  in  ''  ye  olden  times."  Joseph  Merrill's  boys,  and  he  had 
many  of  them,  roasted  apples,  which  swung  round  and  round 
upon  strings  before  the  bright  fire  of  that  Saturday  evening.  Po- 
tatoes so  rich  and  mealy,  buried  deep,  were  drawn  from  the  ashes 
on  the  hearth  for  the  colonel's  supper,  and  Sunday  afternoon  the 
wife  of  our  host  turned  the  spit  before  the  golden  hue  of  the  blaz- 
ing embers,  on  which  the  turkey  roasted,  filling  the  room  with 
delicious  odors  so  suggestive  of  a  daintj-  repast.  Other  farmers 
all  over  town  had  a  kitchen  fire  just  as  beautiful. 

There  was  no  meeting-house  in  town  then,  no  meeting  that 
snowy  Sunday.  For  a  long  hour  Col.  May  sat  gazing  in  silence 
into  the  fire,  and  conjuring  up  all  sorts  of  grotesque,  fanciful  ima- 
ges from  among  the  burning  coals.  No  fabled  genii,  with  magic 
lamp  of  enchantment  could  build  such  gorgeous  palaces  or  create 
such  gems  as  one  could  discover  amid  the  blazing  embers  of  the 
old  fashioned  tire-place.  How  pure  was  the  air  of  that  bar-room! 
The  huge  fire-place  with  its  brisk  draught,  carried  off  all  the  im- 
purities of  the  atmosphere  and  left  it  life-giving  and  healthful,  not 
such  as  we  breathe  now  as  we  huddle  around  the  air-tight  stoves. 

When  the  colonel  got  tired  of  this,  he  got  up,  walked  about, 


400 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


then  went  to  the  Httle  crypt  hke  hole  in  tlie  wall,  just  to  tlie  right 
of  the  blazing  hearth,  where  he  found  some  half-dozen  books,— 
the  Bible,  Baxter's  Saint's  Everlasting  Best,  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
Robinson  Crusoe,  and  Gulliver's  Travels,  well  read  books  of  the 
last  century;  but  how  entertaining  on  a  snowy  day.  These  served 
to  while  away  the  long  liours,  and  make  his  stay  pleasant. 

It  was  hard  climbing  the  Height-o'-land  Monday,  and  Col.  May 
got  through  to  Haverhill,  only  after  great  ox-teams  had  tirst  broke 
the  road. 

But  carrying  the  mail  in  a  one-horse  Dutch  wagon  was  not 
what  the  people  in  this  northern  country  wanted.  They  had  heard 
of  something  better,  and  they  longed  for  the  rumbling  old  thor- 
oughbraced  coach,  such  as  Merrie  England  had  possessed  for  a 
hundred  years,  such  as  were  becoming  the  fashion  down  country. 
In  all  the  towns  from  Concord  to  Haverhill,  the  matter  was  talked 
about,  and  in  the  spring  of  1814,  Robert  Morse,  of  Romney,  led  off 
in  the  enterprise.  In  each  town  a  subscription  paper  was  circu- 
lated, and  a  considerable  sum  having  been  raised,  a  coach  and 
horses  for  the  route  were  bought.* 

A  change  of  horses  were  stationed  at  Franklin  lower  village, 
another  at  Newfound  lake,  and  another  at  Morse's  village,  in 
Romney. t  When  all  was  arranged  the  coach,  four  horses  attached, 


*  First  Stage.— One  was  put  on  in  1811,  but  it  only  run  a  short  time,  and  then 
"l)iist  np."  Lemnel  Keezer,  Benjamin  Merrill,  Abel  Merrill,  Amos  Little  and 
Colonel  William  Tarleton,  took  stock  in  (his  tirst  enterprise.  J'hilip  Smart  drove 
the  stage.  Caleb  Merrill  got  in  debt  to  the  line,  $1.'2(>,  for  carrying  bnndles  from 
Warren  to  Plymontli.  Tins  stage  was  "to  rnu  from  Haverliill'to  Concord  via 
■Plymouth  Court  House." 

t  Lemuel  Keezer  once  kept  the  stage  horses  at  his  tavern.  To  save  work,  he 
had  some  wooden  harrows  made  and  would  put  them  under  the  horses  at  night, 
teeth  up,  so  that  they  could  not  lie  down  and  get  dirty.  This  .saved  a  gi-eat  deal  ol' 
work,  and  withal  was  very  kind  to  the  horses— so  Keezer  told  his  hostler. 

Keezer  once  luid  the  toothache— very  painful.  It  made  him  "  holler."  He  went 
to  old  Doctor  Thos.  Whipjile  to  have  it  pulled.  Dr.  Whipple  commenced  to  cut 
round  it.  With  the  terrible  aching  and  the  pain  of  cutting,  Keezer  could  not  re- 
strain himself,  and  he  shut  his  teeth  down  on  the  doctor's  lingers  till  the  blood  run. 
The  doctor  with  a  struggle  got  free,  and  then  ajiplled  his  oht  fashioned  cant-liook 
tooth-puller.  With  a  turn  of  the  wrist  he  held  Keezer's  head  for  a  minute  so  tight 
he  could  not  move,  looked  him  square  in  the  face  and  exclaimed,  "  Xow  Keezer 
bite  I  d— m  ye,  bite!" 

Keezer  used  to  compliment  Captain  Daniel  Men-ill  with  whom  he  lived,— said 
the  captain  was  born  in  the  afternoon,  that  he  never  got  round  with  his  work  till 
afternoon;  that  lie  never  got  to  meetuig  till  afternoon,  and  that  he  wouldn't  go  to 
heaven  till  afternoon.  He  also  said  Cajitain  D.  was  the  best  farmer  in  town,  for  in 
the  fall  he  always  left  the  plow  in  the  furrow,  ready  to  hitch  right  on  to  in  the 
spring. 

Captain  Daniel  used  to  plague  Keezer  about  going  to  see  the  widow  Pudney  as 
he  called  her.  Keezer  didn't  like  it,  and  said  he  would  come  it  on  tlie  captain.'  So 
one  day  he  came  running  into  the  house  all  out  of  breath,  and  told  him  that  his 
son  John,  who  was  up  in  the  woods  after  a  load,  was  tight  between  two  trees. 


THE   FIRST   STAGE   COACH.  401 

left  Concord  for  Haverhill.  Robert  Morse,  the  father  of  this  enter- 
prise was  on  board,  and  also  some  of  his  friends,  as  invited  guests. 

It  was  a  romantic  ride  for  those  passengers  who  first  '•  dead- 
headed'' it  free,  through  this  upper  country.  The  intervals  in 
Salisbury,  now  Franklin,  where  Daniel  Webster  spent  his  early 
years,  were  delightful.  The  Pemigewassett  roai'ed  through  the 
deep  ravines  of  Bristol,  Newfound  lake  shone  bright  as  when 
Sanuiel  Scribner  and  John  Barker,  hunting  beside  it,  were  carried 
away  by  the  Indians,  and  the  Asquamchumauke  wound  calm  and 
clear,  kissing- the  pebbles  on  its  sh(n-e,  around  the  foot  of  Rattle- 
snake mountain,  as  when  Captain  Tolford's  men  or  Captain  Pow- 
ers' men  killed  moose  on  its  banks. 

But  where  the  mountains,  their  lofty  peaks  lost  in  the  cloiids, 
sloped  down  to  the  very  riv^er,  which  had  now  become  a  wild  and 
foamy  stream,  where  the  green  woods  covered  all  the  hills,  and 
the  clearings  in  the  valley  grew  rare,  there  the  beauties  of  the  ride 
were  fully  appreciated. 

Col.  Silas  May  was  a  gi-eat  horse  man.  His  coach  rattled  over 
the  bridge  on  the  southern  border  of  Warren,  and  when  he  crossed 
Hurricane  brook  and  hurried  over  Patch  brook,  he  came  by 
Joseph  Patch's,  reining  his  mettlesome  team  with  one  hand,  wliile 
with  the  other  he  held  the  bugle  on  which  he  played  strains  so  wild 
and  exhilerating  that  all  the  echo  gods  in  the  ravines  of  the  hills 
and  mountains,  woke  up  and  answered  back  the  music.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  in  town  turned  out  to  see  the  strange 
sight  of  a  covered  coach,  for  it  was  something  new :  perhaps  they 
would  have  turned  out  any  way,  for  all  loved  the  beautiful  airs 
played  by  Silas  May.  All  the  way  up  over  the  Asquamchumauke 
again,  past  where  the  depot  is  now,  it  was  a  fine  young  apple- 
orchard  then,  he  i)layed  martial  airs ;  Napoleon  over  the  Alps,  and 
Washington's  March,  till  he  reined  in  his  horses  before  Joseph 
Merrill's  inn.  The  latter  was  greatly  pleased  to  see  the  stage;  he 
had  worked  hard  for  the  enterprise. 

Again  on  the  way,  they  passed  the  Blue  ridge,  crossed  the 

Daniel  witli  a  bottle  of  rum,  jumped  on  to  liis  horse  bare  back,  and  run  liim  all  the 
wav  up  there;  found  .John  all  riyht,  and  went  baek  mad  enough,  and  a.'-ked  Kee- 
zei"  wliat  he  meant  Ivin.s  so.  Keezer  said  he  didn't  lie;  wuiked  his  eye  and  asked 
Daniel  wliere  John  could  be  in  the  woods,  if  he  wasn't  between  two  trees.  As  the 
captain  went  out  Keezer  meekly  said,  "  Hoxo  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Pudriey." 

Z 


402 


HISTORY    OF    WAKREX. 


Mikaseota,  or  Black  brook,  and  climbiug  the  Height-o'-land  by 
flasluug  Ore  hill  stream,  our  driver  enlivened  the  broad  and  beau- 
tiful turnpike  road  with  Lady  Washington's  reel,  Money-musk, 
and  Bine  Bonnets  over  the  Border.  The  Summit  passed,  they  saw 
a  light  winged  wind  blowing  across  Tarleton  lake,  and  heard  the 
roar  of  the  brook  at  the  outlet.  When  wathin  half  a  mile  of  Hav- 
erhill, by  some  accident  a  linch-pin  was  lost  from  the  end  of  one 
of  the  wooden  axles ;  but  as  the  wheel  did  not  come  off,  owing  to 
May's  skill  in  driving,  they  succeeded  in  reaching  HaA'erhill  Corner 
without  replacing  it. 

Another  stage  route  had  been  established  from  Concord  to 
Haverhill,  via  Lebanon,  this  same  season;  but  the  route  through 
Warren  was  so  much  shorter  that  Col.  May  could  easily  reach 
Haverhill  Corner  three  hours  earlier  than  the  other  stage. 

Numerous  drivers  have  since  been  employed  on  this  route,  all 
genial  good  fellows  wiiom  the  whole  community  liked.  The  names 
most  familiar  and  not  yet  forgotten  by  the  old  men  of  Warren  are, 
Caleb  Smart,  Archibald  McMurphy,  George  S.  Putnam,  Peter 
Dudley,  Sanborn  Jones,  Thomas  P.  Cliftbrd,  Jabez  Burnham, 
Eleazer  Smith,  William  Wright,  Peabody  Morse,  John  Sanborn, 
James  Langdon,  Samuel  Walker,  AYm.  Wash.  Simpson,  Seth 
Greenleaf,  and  IL  B.  Marden.  Twice  a  week  each  way  the  stage 
run  at  first,  then  three  times  up  and  three  times  dowji,  and  finally 
up  and  down  every  day,  and  sometimes  two  or  three  stages  both 
w  ays  a  day,  when  there  was  a  rush  of  travel. 

A7ith  the  stage  a  love  of  news  increased,  and  the  people 
desired  a  post-oflice  and  a  post-master  of  their  own.  For  a  long 
time  they  had  to  send  to  Plymouth  to  mail  a  letter;  then  the  peo- 
ple of  Wentworth  had  a  post-office,  and  our  fathers  went  there  for 
their  mail  matter.  But  this  was  a  great  inconvenience,  letters 
frequently  laying  in  the  Wentworth  post-office  a  wdiole  month  at  a 
time  before  the  owners  got  them.  But  now  the  stage  ran  so  reg- 
ularly tliere  was  no  reason  why  the  desire  for  a  post-office  should 
not  be  gratified.  So  a  petition  numerously  signed  was  forwarded 
to  the  postmaster-general  at  Washington.  The  prayer  of  the  citi- 
zens was  granted  at  once,  and  our  little  democracy  became  a  post 
town. 

Amos  Burton,  who  had  a  store  near  the  southern  termination 


FIRST  POSTMASTER. 


403 


of  the  turnpike,  was  the  first  post-master  in  Wan-en.  Anson  Mer- 
rill i^uccceded  him,  and  then  Dr.  Jesse  Little  held  the  office  of  post- 
master nine  years.  Dr.  DaAdd  C.  French,  Levi  C.  Whitcher,  Asa 
Thurston,  George  ^Y.  Prescott,  Charles  C.  Durant,  and  numerous 
othors  liavo  held  the  office. 

With  the  stage  an  easy  means  of  travel,  the  mail  with  its  let- 
ters and  newspapers  coming  and  going  everyday,  our  little  de- 
mocracy among  the  hills  felt  as  though  it  had  got  out  among  folks. 
At  any  rate  it  grew  rapidly  and  became  a  State  of  great  import- 
ance, particularly  in  its  own  estimation, — a  condition  especially  to 
be  commended,  for  if  a  person  don't  think  well  of  himself,  he  may 
be  pretty  sure  no  one  else  will. 


CHAPTER  VL 


THE   BLACK  PLAGUE,   OTHERWISE   CALLED    THE     SPOTTED   FEVER  OR 
THE   GREATEST  HORROR  WARREN  PEOPLE   EVER  HAD. 


It  was  a  cold  year,  1815.  Winter  lingered  in  the  lap  of 
spring-.  The  summer  was  damp,  cloudy,  and  cheerless,  and  the 
siin's  rays  seemed  sickly.  For  two  years  pestilence  had  been 
abroad  in  the  land,  although  not  as  yet  had  it  come  to  Warren. 

But  now  old  people  said  everything  appeared  to  bode  some- 
thing wrong.  Strange  sounds  hurtled  in  the  air,  the  owl  hooted 
hoarse  at  midnight,  a  portentous  red  meteor  fell  down  with  a  long 
trail  of  blood  in  the  great  gorge  of  Moosehillock,  and  the  frogs 
croaked  ominously ;  the  whip-poor-will  sang  a  mournful  strain  in 
the  dusk  of  evening,  and  comets  flashed  like  troops  of  ghosts 
through  the  sky. 

Silently  came  the  pestilence.  Whence,  no  one  could  tell.  But 
its  first  victim  Avas  found  in  the  family  of  Mr.  George  Bixby,  on 
Beech  hill.*  A  young  son  of  Mr.  B.  was  suddenly  taken  alarm- 
ingly ill.  A  physician  was  sent  for,  he  came,  and  not  discovering 
the  nature  of  the  disease,  gave  as  he  thought  a  simple  remedy,  and 
took  his  departure.  In  a  few  hours  the  young  man  was  dead. 
The  corpse  w^as  laid  out  and  two  sons  of  Amos  Little  came  to 

*  FAMILY  RECCED  OF  GEORGE  AXD   SARAH  (  AninS  )  BIXI5T. 

George,  Jr.  born  Oct.  14,  1788.  Elizabeth,  born  Dec.  9,  1802. 

Benjamin,  l)()rn  Apr.  (i,  ITBO.  Diullev,  born  Dec.  0, 1804.    Died  Aug. 

Anna,  born  Feb.  8,  17i2.  •24,'']808. 

.Joseph,  born  Mar.  '2,  1794.  Asa,  born  Feb.  7, 1807.    Died  Nov.  13, 

Sanuiel,  born  Mar.  l;5,  1796.  1808. 

Sarah,  born  May  28,  17iJ8.  Hannah  B.  bora  Feb  7,  1809. 


TgE   SPOTTED   FEVER.  406 

watch  by  it  the  succeeding-  night.  The  next  day  one  of  them,  James 
LiUlo,  was  taken  siclv  and  live  hours  after  Avas  a  corpse.  Amos 
Little,  Jr.,  the  other  watcher,  also  died.*    Tlicu  Dolly  Little,  a 

sister  of  James  and  Amos,  Jr.,  died. 

» 

The  disease  came  down  from  Beech  hill,  spread  rapidly  and 
soon  all  was  consternation.  There  was  no  physician  in  town  and 
the  inhabitants  Averc  obliged  to  send  to  Piermont  and  other  places 
for  one.  Dr.  Weilman  came,  also  Dr.  Whipple  of  Wentworth, 
and  Dr.  David  Gipsou  of  Romney.  They  visited  a  patient  and 
while  they  were  consulting,  he  died  under  their  eyes.  Cold, 
feverish,  spotted,  they  said  it  was  the  spotted  fever.  A  few  hours 
after  death  the  corpse  turned  black,  hence  in  other  countries  the 
disease  was  known  as  the  black  plague.  It  has  been  more  dreaded 
than  the  cholera  or  the  yellow  fever,  because  it  comes  without 
warning,  lighting  down  on  noisome  pestilential  wings,  like  a  foul 
bird  of  prey  for  its  victims. 

That  night  the  three  physicians  were  discussing  the  disease  in 
a  sort  of  undertone  at  Joseph  Merrill's  inn.  Suddenly  Dr.  Well- 
man  felt  cold,  chilly.  Dr.  Whipplef  and  Dr.  Gipson  gave  him 
some  stimulating  medicine  and  went  home  down  the  valley.  Jo- 
seph French  nursed  Dr.  Wellman,  but  at  night,  twenty-four  hours 
after,  the  doctor  was  dead.  They  buried  him  in  the  grave  yard  on 
Pine  hill  road,  and  only  carried  his  corpse  to  Piermont  when  the 
frosts  of  winter  came.  Dr.  AVhipple  had  the  plague,  and  Dr.  Gip- 
son would  not  come  to  AVarreu  again. 

Families  soon  got  so  reduced  they  could  not  get  a  physician. 
Physicians  in  neighboring  towns  were  so  frightened  that  they 
would  not  come.  The  selectmen,  Jonathan  Merrill,  Abel  Merrill, 
and  Moses  U.  Clement,  came  together  and  called  an  informal 
meeting  of  the  citizens.  It  was  agreed  that  the  town  should  pi"0- 
cure  physicians.  Dr.  Robert  Burnsf  had  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Bartlett  on  Beech  hill.  He  was  attending  the  medical  school 
at  Hanover,  and  the  town  in  its  distress  sent  for  him.  Daniel 
Pillsbury  went  on  horseback  to  Hanover  for  Dr.  B.     But  he  could 

*  Amos  Little,  .Jr.,  died  in  three  hniirs  after  he  ■was  taken  sick. 

t  Dr.  Wliipple  wlien  he  lived  in  Warren,  resided  llvst  opposite  the  Abel  Merrill 
house  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mikaseota,  and  afterwards  in  the  house  built  by 
Joshua  Merrill,  Jr.,  now  occupied  by  Ezra  AV.  Keyes. 

J  Dr.  Bums  lived  in  the  Ezra  W.  Keyes  house. 


406  HISTORY  OF    WAKREN. 

not  attend  to  all  the  sick,  and  Jonathan  Cloug-h  immediately  went 
to  Hanover  for  Dr.  Amasa  Scott.  Jonathan  Merrill  boarded  Dr. 
Scott,  and  the  latter  had  excellent  success  treating  cases  of  spotted 
fever.*  Som^  got  well  under  his  care,  but  the  plague  did  not 
abate. 

At  first  they  had  funerals,  then  they  hurried  the  corpse  away 
to  the  grave  before  it  was  hardly  cold  in  the  house.  Many  were 
buried  in  the  night,  no  mourners,  and  the  village  cemetery  saw 
in  the  darkness  two  or  three  men  digging  a  grave,  the  sickly  moon 
looking  down  upon  them,  saw  the  coffin  made  of  rough  boards 
hastily  lowered,  and  heard  the  falling  of  the  cold  clods  upon  it  as 
the  grave  was  hurriedly  filled  up.  Then  they  would  drive  away 
as  though  ghosts  were  screaming  after  them,  and  the  graves  were 
soon  forgotten.  Men  found  weeks  afterwards  that  their  nearest 
friends  were  dead  and  buried,  no  one  knew  where,  whom  they 
thought  alive  and  well.  The  sexton  often  digs  up  those  rough 
coffins  even  at  this  late  day.f 

Some  had  gi-eat  courage  and  lived  even  in  spite  of  the  plagaie. 
Joseph  Merrill  the  innkeeper,  went  wherever  he  was  asked,  to  the 
sick  bed,  to  the  coffining  the  black  and  loathsome  corpse,  to  the 
graveyard — and  never  got  sick.  His  wife  had  the  plague,  but  she 
got  well.  On  the  contrary,  Mr. Samuel  Merrill  who  lived  next  house 
to  the  burying  ground  would  shut  all  his  doors  and  windows  when 
they  came  to  bury  the  dead.  When  they  brought  Tristram  Low 
dead,  from  the  East-parte,  he  was  particularly  careful ;  but  it  was 
no  use.  The  grim  spectre  death  was  after  him,  and  in  two  days 
they  carried  him  out  upon  the  hill-side  and  buried  him  without 
a  psalm  or  a  jjrayer.J 

*  Pillsbmy  was  paid  $1.34  for  going  to  Hanovei"  after  Dr.  Burns. 
Clougli  received  $1. SO  for  going  after  Dr.  Scott. 
Dr.  Scott  was  paid  for  his  services  $182.59. 

Jonathan  Merrill  received  for  boarding  Dr.  S.  and  horse,  $10.75. 
Dr.  Burns  received  $2  00  for  carrying  money  to  Dr.  Scott. 

Paid  Col.  Clement  for  his  wagon  to  Hanover,  §'2.20,— probably  the  little  Dutch 
one.— Selectmen's  Records,  Vol.  i. 

t 'Squire  George  Libbey  says  he  dug  twenty-eight  graves  in  one  month  during 
the  spotted  fever  time,  and  did  iiot  dig  them  all  either.  He  also  worked  for  a  month 
taking  care  of  the  sick. 

t  Samuel  Merrill  was  taken  sick  in  the  morning,  and  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  was 
dearl. 

Lemuel  Keezer,  .Jr.,  father  of  Ferdinand  and  Fayette,  kept  store  in  Warren  in 
1815.  He  was  afraid  of  the  spotted  fever,  very.  Oneday  the  fire  M'ent  ont  and  he 
went  to  .Joseph  Merrill's  for  live  coals.  Dr.  Wellman  was  sick  there  tlien,  and  Kee- 
zer would  not  go  in,  but  sent  a  man  in  after  them.  Four  days  after,  Keezer  was 
dead,  died  of  spotted  fever. 


THE   PLAGUE   ABATES.  407 

Tlie  town  suft'ored  terribly  from  spotted  fever.  One  third  of 
the  inhabitants  on  Beech  liill  died.  Some  families  in  the  valley, 
like  that  of  Mr.  P'rederick  Brown,  almost  all  died.  Half  a  dozen 
members  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Clement's  family  died  of  spotted  fever, 
and  are  lying  in  the  almost  forgotten  grave-yard  of  Runaway 
pond.  On  the  Height-oMand,  by  the  ponds  near  Piermont  line, 
on  Pine  hill,  the  Summit,  in  the  East-parte  district,  and  the  Forks 
district  —  all  parts  of  the  town  suffered.* 

"\Yhen  cold  weather  came  on,  the  disease  grew  less  malignant, 
and  gradually  disappeared.  Those  who  recovered  were  almost 
iuA'ariably  deaf,  and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  loud  talk  in  town 
for  years  after. 

Since  1815  but  very  few  cases  of  spotted  fever  have  been 
known  in  AVarren.  But  the  neighboring  land  of  Piermont  was 
since  sorely  afficted  with  it  —  nearly  half  the  inhabitants  in  East- 
man pond  district  dying  iii  a  few  months. 

May  the  like  never  visit  our  hamlet  among  the  hills  again,  for  the 
mind  shudders  at  uncoffined  burials,  at  funerals  without  a  prayer, 
at  midnight  grave-digging,  at  persons  buried  in  nameless  graves, 
unbeknown  to  their  friends.  Let  the  memory  of  the  woes  of  1815 
never  be  foi'gotten.  They  will  serve  to  chasten  us  and  teach  us 
that  in  life  we  are  in  the  midst  of  death,  and  that  time  with  his 
scythe  may  cut  us  down  when  we  least  expect  it. 

*  Abram,  Elsie,  and  Emily  BvoTrn,  Cliildren  of  Frederick  Bi-own,  died;  also 
Ruth  Knight,  two  children  of  Cliarles  Bowles,  two  of  Luke  Libbey,  and  Sir.  Thom- 
as Patch,  died.    Three  of  .Josepli  French's  children  died. 


CHAPTER  YII. 


HOW  ALMOST  A  FAMINE,  THEN  A  HURRICANE  CAME,  AND  THEN  A 
HISTORY  OF  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  PLEASANT  YEARS  WARREN  EVER 
EXPERIENCED. 


The  war  came  first,  that  of  1812,  then  the  pestilence,  the 
black  plague,  then  in  1816  famine  almost  looked  into  our  valley 
among  the  hills.  A  venerable  writer  of  that  time  says  that  the 
whole  face  of  nature  appeared  shrouded  in  gloom.  The  lamps  of 
heaven  kept  their  orbits,  but  their  light  was  cheerless.  The  bosom 
of  the  earth  in  a  midsummer's  day  was  covered  with  a  wintry 
mantle,  and  man  and  beast  and  bird  sickened  at  the  prospect.  For 
several  days  in  summer  the  people  had  good  sleighing,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  order  of  the  seasons  was  being  reversed.  On  the 
sixth  of  June,  the  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Great  and  General 
Court  of  New  Hampshire,  the  snow  fell  several  inches  deep,  fol- 
lowed by  a  cold  and  frosty  night,  and  on  the  two  following  days 
snow  fell  and  frost  continued ;  also  July  the  9th,  there  was  a  deep 
and  deadly  frost  that  killed  or  palsied  most  vegetables.* 

Then  one  August  day  in  "Warren,  the  sky  was  lurid  in  the  west. 

*  DIAKT  OF  WEATHER  IN  1816. 

May  16,  froze  hard  enough  on  ploughed  land  to  hear  a  man. 

Juiie  6,  snow  squalls. 

June  8,  snow  squalls. 

June  10,  Irost  last  night. 

.June  11,  frost  last  night,  heavy,  killed  corn  and  five-sixths  of  the  apples. 

•June  22,  ice  formed  on  water." 

July  10,  frost  on  low  ground. 

August  20,  heavy  snow  on  mountains.    Hurricane. 

August  22,  heavy  frost. 


THE   OKEAT   IILKKICANE.  409 

The  clouds  tluckened  fast,  hailstones  rattled  on  the  forest,  and  the 
wind  shook  the  tops  of  the  trees.  Suddenly  it  grew  dark,  then  in 
the  twinkliny  of  an  eye  the  hurricane  leaped  like  a  maniac  from 
the  skies,  and  howling,  crashing,  dizzying,  it  came.  It  lighted 
down  on  Mt.  Mst  at  first,  and  then  with  a  breadth  of  twenty  rods, 
the  whole  forest  seemed  to  give  way ;  to  have  been  felled  by  the 
stroke  of  some  Demiurgic  fury,  or  to  have  prostrated  itself  as  the 
Almighty  passed  by. 

Eastward  towards  Mt.  Kineo.  it  shot  like  a  flash  of  lightning. 
Across  Pine  hill  it  left  the  woods  and  entered  the  settlement. 
Nothing  could  withstand  its  fury.  Stephen  Eichardson's  barn  was 
blown  down,  and  the  long  shingles  of  its  roof  borne  across  Berry 
1)rook  valley,  across  the  Asquamchumauke,  three  thousand  feet 
above  it,  to  Amos  Little's  back  pasture,  two  miles  away  on  the 
side  of  Mt.  Kineo.  Nathaniel  Libbey's  house  was  unroofed  and 
the  furniture  was.  scattered  over  the  whole  farm.  A  looking-glass 
was  blown  thirty  rods  and  deposited  by  the  wind  on  a  stone,  with- 
out breaking  it.*  The  tornado  cut  a  swath  through  Nathaniel 
Richardson's  oats  three  rods  wide,  as  sinooth  as  if  mown  by  a 
scythe.  Fences  were  prostrated,  cows  lifted  from  their  feet  and 
sheep  were  killed.  In  bush  and  settlement,  upland  and  interval, 
was  its  havoc  alike  fearful. 

Thus  passed  the  season.  Autumn  returns,  alas !  not  to  fill  the 
arm  with  the  generous  sheaf,  but  the  eye  with  the  tear  of  dis- 
appointment. Winter  came,  and  with  it  would  have  come  starva- 
tion had  it  not  been  for  the  tolerably  good  ci-op  of  rye,  the  only 
crop  that  matured,  which  supplied  the  inhabitants  with  bread.  So 
terrible  was  the  year  1816,  that  the  people  grew  disheartened,  and 
many  sold  out  and  went  south  and  west. 

But  in  1817  a  change  came.  Everything  was  lovely,  and  when 
the  year  closed  people  said  it  was  the  happiest  one  they  had  ever 
known.  Let  us  follow  it  through  and  see  how  the  citizens  spent 
each  season, — ^how  they  worked,  played,  and  enjoyed  themselves. 

As  the  winter  Avore  away,  a  warm  wind  blew  from  the  south- 
west, and  the  snow  begun  to  melt  earl^^  What  joy  was  there 
when  the  spring  breathed  under  sheltering  rocks  the  sweet  arbu- 

*  Nathaniel  Eichardson's  statement. 


410  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

tus  into  bloom,  aud  sky  born  blue-birds  came  down  on  the  air  of 
wondrous  morning-  with  throats  full  of  fresh  and  fragrant  melody. 

As  the  days  grew  still  and  lono-  in  the  yards  of  the  quiet 
dwellings,  the  sturdy  chopper's  axe  was  swung  all  day  long  above 
the  winter  gathered  piles.  Dogs  basked  for  hours  on  southern 
door-steps,  and  cattle,  turned  out  from  dark  stables,  tried  horns 
and  heads  with  each  other. 

In  the  maple  groves  of  Warren,  and  on  all  the  hill-sides  around 
the  quiet  valley,  sugar  tires  were  smoking,  for  it  was  charming 
sugar  weather ;  bland  and  sunny  overhead,  frosty  under  foot,  the 
sap  racing  up  from  the  roots  every  morning  and  running  back  at 
night  for  fear  of  a  freeze. 

There  had  been  a  scalding  and  soaking  of  sap-buckets,  a 
tramping  through  maple  woods,  augur  in  one  hand  and  sap  spouts 
in  the  other,  a  repairing  of  arches  or  the  hanging  of  great  five-pail 
kettles ;  sap  pails  and  sap  yokes  to  bring  the  sap,  all  in  order ;  a 
crackling  of  dry  beech  limbs,  a  roaring  fire,  then  a  simmering  and 
seething  of  the  sweet  maple  sap  in  the  kettles  before  it  leaped  up 
in  white  dancing  foam  only  to  be  kept  from  overflowing  by  being 
wallopped  with  a  stick  having  a  piece  of  pork  on  its  end.* 

Amos  Little  had  a  glorious  sugar  place  on  Beech  hill,  and  his 
boys  and  girls, —  for  lie  had  a  large  fluuily. —  were  determined  to 
have  a  sugar  party.  Young  folks,  Merrills,  Clements,  Bixbys, 
Knights,  and  numerous  others  came  to  the  beautiful  farm  where 
George  E.  Leonard  lives  now.  They  had  fun  and  frolic;  rosy 
cheeked  girls  laughing  as  they  stamp  the  mud  from  their  tliick 
boots,  charming  forms  carried  in  stout  arms  across  the  little  rill 
which  now  swollen  leaps  laughing  down  to  the  Mikaseota,  some- 
times called  Black  brook. 

The  great  sugaring-off  kettle  is  hung  on  a  pole  placed  on  two 
forked  stakes,  by  itself.  The  syrup,  enougii  for  all,  is  turned  in, 
the  fire  lighted,  and  then  there  is  a  rustic  jubilee  over  the  brown- 
ing cauldron,  as  the  fragrant  steam  grows  richer  and  the  color 
deepens  from  hue  to  hue  of  russet,  till  the  sp-up  clings  in  double 
drops  on  the  edge  of  the  skimmer,  aud  the  hot  fluid  changes  to 
delicious  gum  when  poured  over  the   melting  ice  cake.     There 


*The  fanners  in  WaiTen  often  ii.se  the  last  runs  of  sap  to  make  spruce  beer  — 
an  excellent  and  very  common  drink  in  Warren. 


SL'GAKING   OFF.  411 

were  prettv  lips  closing  over  beecli  patldle  sticks,  and  young  John 
L.  Merrill  and  Russell  K.  Clemeut  blistered  their  tongues  and  got 
laughed  at  for  they  could  not  wait  for  the  delicious  sweet  to  cool. 

Their  hearts  were  all  happy,  and  what  sweet  songs  were  sung 
in  the  dusk  of  nightfall,  as  the  earliest  frog  peeped  from  the  swamp 
in  the  valley  below.  The  sweet  songs  of  that  day,  alas !  what 
were  they?  They  are  gone,  they  are  forgotten,  like  the  smiles  and 
the  roses  of  those  who  sang  them,  like  the  hopes  and  the  affections 
of  the  youths  who  listened  to  them.  The  triumphs  of  the  singers 
of  those  days  and  the  popularity  of  the  songs,  where  are  they? 
It  is  a  lesson  for  us;  but  let  us  chase  it  out  of  mind.  Be  happy 
wliile  ye  may.  AVe  love  the  month  of  March,  for  in  Warren  it  is 
the  liveliest  and  most  romantic  mouth  of  the  year.  No  tree  does 
so  much  for  happiness  as  the  sugar  maple.  It  brings  more  good 
cheer,  more  joy  and  fi'olic,  more  money  into  the  pocket  and  more 
sweetness  upon  the  table  than  all  the  rest  of  the  forest  trees  put 
together. 

As  the  sun  run  higher  and  the  air  grew  warmer,  there  was  a 
sound  in  the  earth,  as  if  myriads  of  fairies  were  at  work  preparing 
juices  for  the  grass  and  fruits  and  flowers, —  a  sound  of  tiny  foot- 
steps, multitudinous  bells  deep  down  iu  caverns  and  dingles,  and 
here  and  there  a  bank  smiled  back  in  dowuv  green  the  sun's  radiant 
favors.  And  then  the  leaves  come  out,  at  first  no  larger  than  a 
mouse's  ear,  and  thousands  of  birds  are  singing  in  all  the  fields 
and  woods.  Up  narrow  roads,  the  one  to  Red-oak  hill,  and  those 
to  Rock}'  falls.  Beech  hill,  Pine  hill,  and  the  East-parte,  between 
high,  mossy  banks  where  the  little  runnels  come  rushing  and 
chiming  along,  through  the  wild,  still,  shady  woods  of  Warren,  and 
in  fields  deep  wuth  the  greenest  grass  and  bright  with  the  sun- 
shine and  glory  of  spring ;  all  these  birds  are  at  work  building 
their  nests,  each  iu  its  own  peculiar  fashion ;  the  song  sparrow,  the 
vesper  spar  row",  the  grass  finch  and  Wilson's  thrush,  on  the  groimd 
and  under  warm  hummocks ;  the  robin  on  nearly  every  tree,  black 
birds  and  cat-birds  in  the  hedges ;  bob-o'-links  in  the  meadows  of 
Runaway  pond  and  the  swaley  fields  by  Moosehillock  road ;  vireos 
and  orioles  in  the  ever  waving  boughs  of  the  elms  in  the  valleys, 
and  the  maples  on  all  the  hills;  w^arblers  among  the  emerald  green 
leaves  of  the  wild  rose-brier,  to  say  notliiug  of  the  blue-bird  in  an 


412  History  of  warren. 

old  knot  hole  of  ia  fence  j)ost ;  swallows  in  the  bai-n,  Jennie  wren 
in  a  box  in  the  apple  tree,  and  martins  in  the  house  on  the  top  of 
a  i)ole. 

The  men  are  out  in  the  fields  aud  gardens,  the  cottage  dames 
and  the  rosy  daughters  are  engaged  in  the  renewal  of  flower 
borders,  in  the  sowing  of  seeds  and  the  planting  of  shrubs;  old 
men  sit  watching  them  on  the  steps  or  wooden  benches,  on  the 
warm  side  of  the  house,  while  groups  of  children  are  scattered 
here  and  there  over  the  happy  fields,  tracing  the  fence  sides  or  the 
bright  streams  or  running  to  secure  the  first  dandelions,  their  clear 
voices  all  the  while  ringing  out  from  the  distant  steeps  and  hill-tops. 
There  they  find  the  sugar  plum,  the  Avild-bird  cherry  aud  the 
moosemissa  in  bloom,  their  flowers  hanging  on  the  waving  boughs 
or  fluttering  on  the  earth,  a  profusion  of  beauty  in  which  the  per- 
ceptions are  almost  lost. 

Men  went  to  work  with  good  courage  in  the  spring  of  1817. 
They  seemed  to  feel  that  good  times  were  coming  back.  How  did 
they  work?  How  did  they  live?  The  farmer  of  that  period  was 
up  in  the  morning  by  half  past  four,  stoutly  dressed  in  his  leather 
pants  and  sheeps-gray  frock.  At  five  he  gets  up  his  help.  His 
wife  hurries  the  girls  out  of  bed,  crying,  "  Up  sleepy  heads,  the 
sun  will  burn  your  eyes  out  if  you  lay  there."  The  house  is  swept, 
the  cows  are  milked,  the  hogs  are  fed.  Man  and  boys  go  to  work, 
fodder  stock,  clean  out  barn,  prepare  for  the  day's  work. 

Then  comes  jjreakfast.  How  some  of  the  old  settlers  could 
eat.  In  olden  times  huge  basins  of  bean-porridge  and  loaves  as 
big  as  bee  hives  and  pretty  much  of  the  same  shape,  and  as  brown 
as  the  backs  of  their  own  hands,  delighted  and  refreshed  our 
ancestors.  To  this  fare  they  would  betake  themselves  with  a 
capacity  that  only  pure  air  and  hard  labor  can  give.  A  settler 
would  eat  as  much  of  these  as  would  answer  for  a  round  family 
now  at  breakfast,  and  then  he  would  only  be  ready  for  his  dish  of 
pork  and  beans ;  pounds  of  pork  six  inches  thick  set  on  the  top  of 
a  peck  of  baked  beans.  What  a  pile  he  takes  on  liis  plate,  how 
sharp  is  the  vinegar  he  pours  on  them,  how  keen  the  pepper,  and 
then  they  vanish  as  rapidly  as  if  thej^  did  not  follow  that  mess  of 
porridge  and  those  huge  hunches  of  bread.  Christian  AVilliam 
Whiteman,  who  lived  on  the  top  of  the  Height-o'-land,  said  he 


ENORMOUS   EATKRS.  418 

"  could  eat  three  quarts  of  baked  beans  and  also  Indian  pudding 
and  other  ^  fixings  '  suitable  to  accompany  them,  at  his  morning 
meal.*'  Mr.  Pixly.  a  tall  gaunt  man  who  once  resided  in  Charles- 
ton by  Tarlcton  lake,  said  that  "  many  a  time  he  had  eaten  a  six 
quart  pan  full  of  pork  and  beans  and  vinegar,  at  a  single  sitting 
and  then  could  make  a  famine  among  the  pies  and  cakes  and  cheese 
ou  the  table.''  Mr.  Nathaniel  Richardson,  who  has  had  his  home 
on  the  East-parte  road  for  more  than  half  a  century,  has  been 
known  to  eat  two  fnll  grown  chickens,  seventeen  large,  mealy 
potatoes,  and  plum-pudding  in  abundance  along  with  them,  and 
he  said  he  could  always  top  out  such  a  slender  repast  Avith  twenty- 
five  cents  worth  of  cracker  toast,  when  he  stopped  at  a  hotel.  Yet 
Mr.  Richardson  never  was  sick  in  his  life,  only  a  little  spleeny  by 
spells,  aud  now  at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty  years  he  is  tough  as 
an  ox.* 

And  then  what  mugs  of  cider  those  old  settlers  could  drink. 
A  Mr.  Lund  could  swallow  a  pint  at  a  draught,  without  stopping 
to  breathe,  and  Dr.  Ezra  B.  Libbey,  in  his  day,  could  easily  pei-- 
form  the  same  feat,  while  Mr.  Obadiah  Libbey,  who  lived  in  War- 
ren long  ago,  has  often  been  known  to  proudly  drink  a  quart  and 
a  half  of  hard  old  cider  without  once  taking  his  lips  from  the  mug. 
JSfi-.  Samuel  Jewell,  who  lived  on  Pine  hill  road,  often  said  he 
*'  wished  his  throat  was  as  long  as  a  pine  mast,  that  he  might  more 
fully  enjoy  the  good  taste  of  the  fluid  as  it  trickled  down."  These 
are  only  a  few  uotftble  cases  where  hundreds  could  be  cited,  and 
we  can  but  envy  the  keen  appetites  and  great  capacity  of  our  early 
settlers.  Breakfast  eaten  and. at  ten  they  would  take  a  hearty 
luncheon  of  bread,  nut-cakes,  aud  cheese,  to  set  their  appetites 
right  for  dinner. f 

There  is  plowing  in  the  field,  there  is  manure  to  be  carted  out, 
there  is  harrowing,  and  sowing,  and  harrowing  again,  there  is 
furrowing  and  dropping  potatoes  and  corn,  aud  covering  the  hills ; 

*  .Josiah  Biniihani,  surveyor,  had  an  enviable  capacily  aud  appetite.  He  could 
eat  eight  quarts  of  hasty  pudding  and  milk,  at  a  silting.— Anson  Merrill's  state- 
ment. 

Rev.  Charles  Bowles  could  freciuently  do  something  in  the  way  ol"  eating.  He 
once  eat  a  wlmle  (|uaiter  of  1:  nib  ;md  neai  ly  evciything  else  on  the"  table,  at  'Squire 
Jonathan  Merrill's,  thereby  depriving  the  '.Squireand  liis  family  of  their  moining 
meal.  ilrs.  Mei-rill  had  to'do  another  cooking  that  morning.— Moses  P.  Kimball's 
statement. 

t  Mr.  .James  Clement's  stories. 


414  HISTOKY    OF    WARREN. 

there  is  picking  stones,  lading  wall,  and  mending  fences  to  keep 
the  cattle  in  the  pastures.  Then  there  is  washing  of  sheep  at  the 
pool  in  the  riA^er,  and  the  shearing  of  sheep  in  all  the  barns.* 

At  home  the  wife  and  girls  boil  potatoes  for  the  hogs,  take 
turns  at  the  churn,  gown  sleeves  rolled  up  to  the  shoulder,  kneel- 
ing to  press  the  sweet  curd  to  the  bottom  of  the  "  hoop,"  to  salt 
and  turn  cheese,  and  watch  progress  of  diflereut  stages  fr(^m  new- 
ness and  white  softness,  to  their  investment  with  the  uuctuous 
coating  of  a  goodly  age.  They  also  see  that  the  calves,  geese,  tur- 
keys, and  barn-yard  fowls  are  properly  fed,  that  the  door-yard  is 
nicel}^  picked  up  and  swept.  Some  had  a  taste  for  beauty  and 
were  most  zealous  and  successful  florists.  To  select  rich  and  suit- 
able soils,  to  sow  and  plant,  to  nurse,  and  shade,  and  water,  to 
watch  the  growth  and  expansion  of  flowers  of  great  promise  was 
an  occupation  affording  much  enjoyment  to  our  grandmothers. 
They  had  the  polyanthus,  auricular,  hyacinth,  carnation,  tulip,  and 
ranunculus.  Then  there  were  pinks,  and  poppies,  and  sweet  Wil- 
liams, and  peonies,  and  lilacs,  and  a  host  of  others;  but  the  splen- 
did dahlias  and  pansies  of  to-day  were  unknown  to  them.  Mrs. 
Enoch  Noyes  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Prescott,  daughter  of  Mr.  Isaac 
Merrill,  could  boast  of  having  the  nicest  flower  gardens. 

At  night  the  farmer  sits  down  Avith  his  men  and  boys  by  the 
fire,  and  they  talk^.over  the  work  of  the  morrow,  how  to  plant, 
hoe  and  sow,  and  where.  His  wife  has  a  little  work-table  set  near, 
where  she  makes  and  mends ;  the  girls  knit,  darn  stockings,  and 
tix  caps  for  Sunday. 

Now  days  there  is  a  complaint  that  the  farmer  has  been  spoiled 
by  the  growth  of  luxurious  habits  and  efieminacj^  in  the  nation. 


*  Sheep  Marks. — lu  those  primitive  times,  wlieii  fences  were  rare,  aud  sheep 
were  nimble,  it  was  found  necessary  to  record  the  marks  by  which  one's  sheep 
might  be  iiuown  or  recognized.  Accordingly  we  are  certitied  tliat  Obadiah  Clement's 
sheep  are  marked  by  one-half  crop  on  the  upx)er  side  of  the  riglit  ear,  and  one-half 
crop  on  the  under  side  of  the  left  ear.  Stevens  Merrill's  a  fork  like  a  swallow's 
tail  on  the  end  of  the  left  ear.  Joseph  Merrill's,  a  crop  of  the  left  ear.  Jonathan 
Merrill's,  a  crop  of  the  left  ear  and  a  slit  on  the  nnder  side  of  the  same.  Caleb 
Homan's,  a  fork  like  a  swallow's  tail  on  the  end  of  the  left  ear,  and  a  crop  from  off 
the  right  ear.  Amos  Little's,  a  slit  on  the  end  of  the  right  ear.  Joshua  Copp's,  a 
fork  like  a  swallow's  tail  on  the  right  ear,  and  a  crop  on  the  left.  JoshuaMerrilFs, 
a  crop  from  off  each  ear.  This  mark  is  now  taken  by  John  ^Vhitcher,  May  iT,  1814. 
X.  B.— Joshua  Merrill  has  removed  from  this  town.  (1) 

(1)  Col.  Moses  H.  Clement's  ram  once  troubled  ^fr.  Keezer  aud  his  sheep. 
Keezer  took  the  ram  in  the  night,  led  him  to  Mr.  Clement's  house  and  tied  him  to 
the  door-latch.  When  Mr.  C.  opened  the  door  next  morning  it  yanked  his  ramship, 
and,  indignant,  the  brute  with  a  bound  and  a  bunt  knocked  Col.  C.  "flatter  than  a 
flounder." 


THE   FARMER    AT   HOME.  415 

Old  furniture  has  been  cast  out  of  the  liouses,  and  carpets,  sofas, 
and  pianos,  are  to  be  found  Avhere  once  were  wooden  benches  and 
the  spinning-wheel :  that  daughtei's  are  sent  to  boarding-  schools, 
instead  of  to  market,  and  the  sous,  instead  of  growing  up  sturdy 
husbandmen  like  their  fathers,  are  made  clerks,  shop-tenders,  or 
some  such  skimmy  dish  things.  There  is  some  truth  in  this.  But 
never  mind ;  the  farmer  should  be  a  rural  king,  sowing  his  grain 
and  reaping  his  harvest  with  a  glad  heart,  and  he  can  do  this  by 
being  educated. 

How  much  better  the  farmer  enjoys  himself  than  the  merchant. 
The  latter  coops  himself  up  in  a  small  shop,  and  there  day  after 
day,  month  after  month,  year  after  year,  he  is  to  be  found  like  a 
bat  in  a  hole  of  the  wall,  or  a  toad  in  the  heart  of  a  stone  or  of  an 
oak  tree.  Spring,  and  summer,  and  autumn  go  round,  sunshine 
and  flowers  spread  over  the  world,  the  birds  sing,  the  sweetest 
flowers  blow,  the  sweetest  waters  murmur  along  the  vales,  but 
they  are  all  lost  upon  him :  he  is  the  doleful  prisoner  of  Mammon, 
and  so  he  lives  and  dies.  The  farmer  would  not  take  the  wealth  of 
the  world  on  such  terms.  The  bright  sun,  the  pure  air,  the  gi-een 
meadows,  the  clear  streams,  the  growing  crojjs,  the  flocks  and 
herds  in  the  pastures,  the  keen  appetite  and  good  health  are  far 
to  be  preferred. 

There  were  no  frosts,  no  snows,  no  cold  and  chilling  winds  in 
the  summer  of  1817.  All  over  town  there  was  bustling  life  and 
even  over  to  Charleston  district,  by  Tarleton  lake,  where  times 
had  been  the  hardest,  the  hearts  of  men  took  courage.  Corn  gTew 
again,  the  potatoes  were  luxuriant,  and  deep  grass  overhung  the 
banks  of  all  the  little  streams,  and  many  a  flower  nodded  above 
the  clear  water.  Upon  the  fields  was  a  rich  mosaic  of  colors,  and 
on  the  edge  by  the  wood  were  seen  the  wild  sun-flower,  ox-eye 
daisies,  tiger  lilies,  and  the  purple  and  gold  of  the  hard-hack. 
Among  the  crimson  headed  clover  were  honey  suckles,  butter- 
cups, golden  rod,  and  white  top,  scenting  all  the  air.  The  oats 
were  so  heavy  the  farmer  was  afraid  they  would  lodge :  the  rye 
was  as  tall  as  a  man's  head,  while  shadows  fly  over  the  yellow 
barley,  and  tumbling  waA^es  chase  each  other  on  the  acres  of  wheat. 
Horses  stand  under  the  great  maples  by  the  road,  brushing  flies 
with  their  tails,  the  sheep  are  grazing  on  the  hill-sides,  cows  are 


416  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

feeding  where  the  grass  is  sliortest  and  sweetest,  while  Thomas 
Pillsbury's  spotted  bull  lows  in  Mt.  Mist's  echoing  pastures. 

They  were  a  happy  people  over  at  Charleston.  Amos  Tarleton, 
Thomas  Pillsbury,  Ephraim  Potter,  Eichard  Pillsbury,  Stephen 
Lund,*  Daniel  Day,  Hosea  Lund,  Benj.  Bixby,  and  others,  lived 
there.  David  Smith  was  born  there.  He  was  a  good  school-master, 
was  selectman,  tax  collector,  town  treasurer,  and  county  treasurer ; 
cool,  shrewd,  long-headed,  he  was  one  of  Warren's  smartest  men. 
They  had  a  Methodist  societv,  a  class.  Sabbath  school  and  regular 
preaching,  a  good  school-house,  which  also  answered  for  a  church ; 
many  have  taught  school  in  it,  and  a  grave  yard  was  by  it,  where 
the  early  settlers  were  sleeping.  Their  buildings  were  good,  their 
great  barns  were  always  well  filled  with  hay,  and  their  sugar 
'  places  were  the  best  in  town. 

But  alas!  all  this  is  changed.  The  dwellers  in  the  district  by 
the  lake  are  all  dead,  the  houses  and  the  barns  have  mouldered 
away,  the  spot  where  they  stood  can  hardly  be  found,  and  the 
fields  and  the  pastures  are  grown  with  forest  trees.  Even  the  old 
school-house,  the  church  in  Charleston,  is  gone.  Nothing  but  the 
foundation  remains.  The  burying  ground  by  it  is  overgrown; 
the  thistle  shakes  its  lonely  head  by  the  tombstone,  the  gray  moss 
whistles  to  the  wind,  the  fox  looks  out  of  its  hole  by  the  sunken 
graves,  and  the  Avood-brakes  and  the  birches  wave  above  them. 

Whence  came  this  desolation?  The  great  west  takes  away  the 
young  men  of  Warren;  they  are  gone  to  cities,  the  gold  mines  of 
California  invited  some  of  them;  some  died  on  the  battle-field. 
A  hundred  years  may  go  by  before  Charleston  district  shall  have 
such  a  thriA'ing,  happy  population  again. 

The  sugar  and  the  wool  crop  made,  the  hay  crop  was  the  next 
to  be  harvested.  The  farmers  of  Warren  have  always  raised  their 
full  supply  of  hay,  never  ha/\dng  been  obliged  to  import  any,  and 
grazing  and  stock-raising  has  been  one  of  their  most  profitable 
employments.  Who  does  not  love  haying  time.  True,  it  may  be 
"  hot  as  blazes,"  but  what  a  softness  clothes  those  gi-een  mountains ; 
what  a  depth  of  shadow  fills  the  hollows ;  how  sweet  the  voice  of 

*  Stephen  Lund  liveil  to  be  over  ninety  years  old.  He  was  a  cooper,  and  a  red 
headed  man,  bony  and  rawny.  He  shot  "a  trout  that  weighed  four  pounds.  He 
iised  to  catch  large  quantities  of  trout  from  Tarleton  lake  and  carry  them  to  Hav- 
erhill and  sell  them,  court  time. 


OUT    DOOK    LIFK    IX   THE   rOtXTRY.  417 

the  waters  rises  on  tlie  hushed  landscape.  Maii'nHieent  arcades  of 
trees  stretch  up  tlie  sides  of  the  fair  sti-eains,  their  hixuriant  masses 
of  foliajje  shadinji"  tiie  limpid  coolness  below. 

AVhat  a  luxury  to  follow  some  rapid  stream,  or  sitting-  down 
on  a  green  bank,  deep  in  grass  and  flowers,  to  pull  out  the  spotted 
troitt  from  the  bubbling  eddy  below  the  boulders  or  from  his  lurk- 
ing i)lace  beneath  the  broad  stump  and  tlie  spreading  roots  of  the 
alder.  A  summer  day  spent  beside  Patch  brook  as  it  runs  through 
the  meadows,  up  Hurricane  brook  to  the  cool  cascades  in  the  deep 
woods  of  Mount  Carr,  by  the  Mikaseota.  or  Black  brook,  by  Ore 
hill's  foamy  stream,  by  Berry  brook.  l)y  the  roistering  Oliverian.  by 
Merrill  brook,*  or  East  branch,  or  along  the  roaring,  foaming- 
Asquamchumauke,  with  the  glorious  hills  and  the  deep,  rich 
foliag-e  clad  mountains  around  you  is  most  delightful — is  grand. 
The  power  and  passion  and  deep  feHcity  that  c5me  breathing 
from  the  mountains,  forests,  and  waterfalls,  from  clouds  that  sail 
above,  and  storms  bhtstering  and  growling  in  the  wind,  from  all 
the  mighty  magnificence,  solitude,  and  antiquity  of  nature,  cannot 
be  unfolded. 

Sit  down  by  the  pond  wliere  tiny  Cold  brook  comes  in.  There 
the  wild  rose  is  putting  out  and  the  elder  is  in  flower.  The  lilies 
are  as  lovely  as  ever,  the  butter-cups  as  yellow;  harebells,  violets, 
and  a  thousand  other  kinds  of  flowers  listen  to  the  tinkling  music 
of  the  stream. 

The  May  flies  in  thousands  come  forth  to  their  day-life,  flying 
up  and  down.  There  are  horse  flies  and  red  flies  pestering  the 
cattle  on  the  hill-side  opposite :  but  the  king-bird,  laughing  from 
the  brcez}'  maple  top,  is  after  them.  Over  the  water  midges  are 
celebrating  their  airy  labyrinthine  dances  with  amazing  adroitness 
looking  almost  like  columns  of  smoke  as  they  shine  in  new  life 
and  new  beauty.  Dragon  flies  of  all  sizes  and  colors, —  boys  call 
them  devil's  darning  needles,  and  say,  "  Look  out  or  they  will  sew 
your  eyes  up,''  —  are  hovering  and  skimming,  and  settling  among 
the  water  plants  or  on  some  twig,  evidently  full  of  enjoyment. 
The  great  azure  bodied  one  with  its  fllmy  wings  darts  past  with 
reckless  speed,  and  slender  ones,  blue,  and  purple,  and  dun,  and 

*  Joseph  Patch  userl  to  kill  moose  near  the  heart  of  ^Merrill  brook. 

A* 


418  HISTOKY    OF    WARBEK. 

black,  and  jointed  bodies,  made  as  of  shining  silk  and  animated 
for  a  week  or  two  of  summer  sunshine  b.v  some  frolic  spell,  now 
pursue  each  other  and  now  rest  in  sleep. 

The  bob-o'-link  in  the  meadow  up  the  brook,  flies  up  and  down 
on  balancing  wings  uttering  its  many  toned  joyous  songs,  tittering 
as  if  in  high  glee:  swallows  are  skimming  along  the  tields  and 
over  the  waters  catching  flies  :  the  song  sparrow  sings  so  sweet  in 
the  flowers  and  grasses,  the  white  throated  fluch  warbles  tender 
and  plaintive  in  the  fir  copse  up  by  Amos  Little's  field :  the 
Maryland  yellow  throat  in  the  alders  over  the  water  says  "  sit- 
u-see,  sit-u-see,"'  in  such  a  winsome  way;  water-wag-tail  repeats 
its  ''  crake,  crake,"  from  the  grass  in  the  swamp  :  the  spotted  sand- 
piper saj's,  "  weet,  weet,"'  from  the  old  log  and  muddy  bank; 
crows  ai'e  cawing  in  the  woods  across  the  pond,  and  the  "sx;ater 
itself  ripples  on,  clear  and  musical,  and  checkered  from  many  a 
leaf  and  bent  and  moving  bough.  We  lift  up  our  heads  and  in  the 
west  above  Stephen  Lund's  where  farmer  Joshua  lived  once,  what 
a  ruby  sun,  what  a  gorgeous  assemblage  of  sunset  clouds. 

The  oats,  rye.  barley,  and  wheat,  were  good  this  j-ear,  l<si7, 
and  when  they  were  gathered,  autumn  with  its  rich  corn  harvest, 
and  all  its  happy  human  groups,  and  bright  days -of  calm, 
steady  splendor  came.  After  the  first  frosts,  the  Indian  summer 
began,  and  a  soft  haze  pervaded  the  atmosphere  and  settled  like  a 
thin  gray  cloud  on  the  horizon,  bringing  a  delicious,  sweet,  sleep- 
like feeling,  which  seemed  to  fill  the  valley.  On  all  sides  the  sky 
appeared  resting  upon  a  wealth  of  colors,  orange  and  yellow,  pui'- 
ple  and  crimson,  blue  and  green,  and  red.  and  every  shade  and 
hue  that  mantled  the  forests  of  the  mountains.  In  the  woods  on 
the  edge  of  the  clearings,  fields  and  pastures,  red  squirrels  chased 
one  another  over  crisp  leaves  on  the  ground  and  along  the  limpid 
branches  of  tlie  trees,  yelping  and  chattering  like  king-fishers. 
Fox-colored  sparrows,  nut-hatches  and  great  golden-winged  wood- 
peckers vied  in  their  notes  and  seemed  resolved  on  merriment 
while  the  season  lasted.  The  white-crowned  sparrow  came  down 
from  Labrador  where  it  had  spent  the  summer  rearing  its  young 
and  singing  all  the  day  long,  and  stopped  a  day  oi-  so  by  the  banks 
of  the  Asquamchumauke,  before  it  hastened  on  its  journey  to  its 
winter  home  in  Florida  and  the  West  Indies,     Wild  geese  with 


THE  FALL  OF  THK  YEAR.  419 

thoir  woird  linwnk-lionk-o-hoiik,  were  seen  tcarinij  tlie  yielding 
air  Avitli  Aviiigs  lioive  and  strong,  as  in  harrow-like  form  they  hur- 
ried down  the  valley,  and  now  and  then  the  farmer  in  his  field 
would  lic;ir  a  strange,  wild  rry,  coming  seemingly  from  mid 
heaven,  as  a  Hook  of  swans,  flying  more  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  cloA^e  the  air  thousands  of  feet  above  the 
mountains.  As  the  davs  Avent  bv.  the  leaves  of  the  trees  merging 
from  their  bright  dappled  colors  into  a  dull  uniform  brown,  dropped 
to  the  earth  and  were  swept  by  the  Avinds  into  dusty,  crackling 
torrents,  and  borne  to  unknown  resting  places  on  the  bosom  of 
every  tinkling  rill.  The  turnips  Avere  dug,  potatoes  garnered  in 
the  cellar,  apples  carried  to  the  cider-mill  and  the  corn  was  stacked 
for  husking. 

The  cider  mill  I  \Vho  does  not  have  one  in  recollection.  They 
made  cider  at  Mr.  Xathaniel  Clouglrs  in  those  days.  Mr.  Samuel 
Merrill  built  the  first  and  only  one  in  the  East-parte ;  then  old  Mr. 
Batchelder  and  Mr.  Foote  each  had  one  on  Pine  hill,  and  ('apt. 
Joseph  Merrill  one  by  the  A'illage  burying  ground.  What  pleasant 
memories  of  bins  of  russet,  red.  and  golden  apples,  of  the  great 
cog-Avheels.  of  the  horse  going  round  and  round  attached  to  the 
creaking  crane,  the  crushed  apples  in  the  great  trough,  the  large 
wooden  screws  that  compressed  the  cheese  that  was  put  on  so 
neatly  in  fresh  yellow  straw,  the  gushing  juice  that  flowed  so 
freely  at  every  turn  of  the  levers,  into  the  great  holder  beneath, 
and  us  boys  with  oaten  straws  sucking  onr  fill  from  the  little 
brooklet  running  down,  better  pleased  and  happier  than  kings.  . 
May  the  picture  of  the  old  cider-mill  never  fade  away. 

Husking  bees  were  common  then  in  onr  hamlet  among  the 
hills,  they  are  common  in  Warren  now.  Generally  they  were  on 
pleasant  evenings  in  the  early  part  of  October.  They  had  one  at 
Joseph  Merrill's  this  season,  the  grandest  one  of  the  year.  The 
people  collected  from  nearly  every  district  in  town,  my  fathei-  and 
his  numerous  brothers,  tlie  Clough  boys,  the  Patches,  the  Clements, 
consisting  of  scA'eral  families. —  old  Obadiah  would  not  go. —  the 
iVferriirs.  and  they  were  numerous,  the  Batchelders,  Kichardsons, 
Lunds,  Pillsburys,  Dows,  and  many  others,  were  there.  The  corn 
was  piled  in  the  centre  of  the  capacious  kitchen,  and  aronnd  the 
heap  squatted  the  buskers.     The  room  was  abundantly  as  well  as 


i:iO  HisxoKV  or  warken. 

spectrallj'  lighted  from  the  immense  fire-place  briskly  glowiug  with 
pitch  knots  and  clumps  of  bark.  Boys  and  girls,  young  men  and 
their  wives,  and  some  old  people  listened  to  songs  and  varied  their 
labors  with  such  pleasantry  as  was  natural  to  the  occasion.  Great 
ardor  was  evinced  in  pursuit  of  the  red  ear,  for  which  piece  of  for- 
tune the  discoverer  had  the  privilege  of  a  kiss  from  any  lady  he 
should  nominate.  Stevens  Knight  was  the  lucky  finder,  and  peo- 
ple who  remember  him  can  well  imagine  how  he  stammered  and 
blushed,  and  refused  to  kiss  any  girl,  and  how  one  of  'Squire 
Abel's  daughters  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  gave  him  a 
good  smack  amidst  the  shouts  and  laughter  of  the  whole  party. 
Nobody  accused  Stevens  Knight  of  bringing  the  red  ear  in  his 
pocket. 

The  pile  was  finished  and  the  hard  glossy  ears  were  stored 
away  under  the  eaves  of  the  garret.  Then  new  cider  and  old  was 
passed  around,  and  some  had  something  stronger.  All  now 
repaired  to  the  hall  over  the  bar-room ;  the  violin  sounded  and 
the  young  folks  formed  for  a  dance.  Enoch  R.  AYeeks  danced  with 
Sally  Little,  Col.  Benj.  Clement  with  Miss  Dolly  Gove,  Nathaniel 
Copp  with  Miss  Mary  Pillsbury,  and  so  on :  we  have  forgotten 
the  names  of  the  others.  Billy  Brock  the  fiddler  was  a  grand 
musician  and  his  very  soul  seemed  breathing  in  his  music*  xVll 
gloom  disappeared  and  fun  and  frolic  saw  them  into  the  small 
hours. 

For  variety  came  the  supper.  There  were  great  dishes  of 
beans  and  Indian  pudding,  pumpkin  pies,  pewter  platters  full  of 
dough-nuts,  sweet  cakes,  fruit  and  cheese,  cider,  bottles  of  native 
wine  and  spirits  washing  it  down.  And  then  they  danced  again. 
We  won't  go  home  till  morning,  was  the  way  they  did  at  this  happy 
husking. 

.    Who  can  blame  them  I     Peace,  plenty,  and  health  had  come, 

*  Billy  Brock  was  of  Rvegate,  Vt.,  and  was  the  best  iuldler  in  all  the  conutry 
round,  lie  would  lialancL'  a  tumbler  of  ^^•hisky  on  his  heail,  dance  'with  it,  lie 
down  on  the  floor  with  it  and  all  the  lime  be  playing  the  violin  for  others  to  dance. 

Nathaniel  Copp  tried  to  tiddle  for  a  party,  could  only  ))lay  one  tune,  broke  the 
fiddle  strings  trying  to  play  another,  and  the  part.v  broke  up  in  a  hull'.  They  sent 
over  the  Height-o'-land  to  "get  the  fiddle  for  him. 

Mrs.  .Jonathan  Clongh,  then  INIiss  Pillsbury,  danced  with  .Joseph  I^atch,  Jr. 
Mary  Pillsbury  with  Joshua  Copp,  Jr.  .Sally"  I>ittle  and  Tamai-  l^ittle  danced. 
The  "Patches  Mere  all  dancers.  .Joshua  Copp,"  3d,  danced.  Bttsey,  who  married 
Joseph  Farnham,  Sally,  who  man-ied  'Squire  Weeks,  Mary, who  married  Mr.  Clark 


A  PUOSPEUOUS  SEASON.  421 

and  Avhy  should  not  the  people  of  our  great  history  be  happy  at 
the  close  of  so  fruitful  and  prosperous  a  year  as  1817. 

of  Landaff,  'S(iuire  Abel's  daughters,  all  ilancerl.  Dolly  Gove  and  Betsey  Gove, 
Sallv  White  luid  Hiitli  While,  Col.  Cole,  fatlier  of  I).  (Juincy  Cole,  all  of  Wentworth  , 
U!-ed  to  come  to  Wancu  to  dauce.  Also  Misf<  Dully  Page.  -Joiiatliaii  Clement's 
girls,— one  ol' t,heni  married  unele  Tom  Pillsbiiry,  anil  the  other  Lt.  I'erkins  Fel- 
lows,—  danced.  Col.  Hen.  Clement  is  the  son  of  Jonathan  Clement,  innkeeper.— 
Anson  ^lirriU's  statement. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


WHAT  A  WOMAN  CAN  L>0  AND  HOW  SHE  DID  IT;  OR  THE  ACCOM- 
PLTSH.MEXT  OF  ONE  OF  THE  GREATEST  "'REQUISITES"  OF  THE 
LAST   CENTURY,    VIZ:    THE   BUILDING   OF    A   3IEETING   HOUSE. 


Rev.  peter  POAYERS  preached  the  lirst  sermon  in 
Warren,  Rev.  EHjah  R.  Sabin  brought  the  doctrines  of  Joliu 
Wesley,  Metliodisni,  to  our  hamlet  among-  the  hills,  and  Rev.  Jo- 
seph Boody  founded  a  society  of  Freewill  Baptists  in  the  valley. 
These  and  their  associates  preached  sometimes  out  in  the  open 
air,  sometimes  in  the  houses  or  barns  of  the  settlers,  and  some- 
times in  the  school-houses;  for  as  yet  tliere  was  no  meeting-house 
in  Warren.  The  first  generation  of  Warren's  settlers  had  tried 
hard  to  build  one  during-  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  ceuturj^, 
but  had  failed  in  the  attempt  and  then  the  enterprise  slumbered.* 

'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill's  wife  had  died.  He  found  another 
lady-love,  the  widow  Cliellis,  down  country,  and  eventually  mar- 
ried and  brought  her  to  live  in  AYarren.f  She  told  the  'Squire  that 
it  was  a  shame  for  so  smart  a  town  as  AVarren  to  be  without  a 

*  ISOG. — "  Voted  to  choose  a  committee  of  six  persons  lor  tlie  purpose  of  ap- 
pointing iinotlier  committee  ot  tliree  inditferent  persons  living  out  ol'  town,  for  the 
purpose  of  estiiblisliing  a  suitable  place  in  tins  town  for  erecting  a  house  lor  pub- 
lic meetings.  Chose  Col.  Oljadiah  Clement,  William  Butler,  Mr.Jonatlian  Fellows, 
Capt.  Joseph  Patch,  Lieut.  Stephen  Flanders,  and  Mr.  Aaron  Welch,  for  the  above 
mentioned  committee." 

Dec.  17, 183) — "  Voted  not  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  tlie  town  way,  but  that 
we  are  willing  it  should  be  done  by  subscription." 

Paid  ^Villiam  Butler  for  money  he  paid  the  committee  for  appointing  a  place  to 
set  a  meeting-house,  $15  00.  For  expenses  at  Clement's,  TOc— Selectmen's  Records, 
Vol.  i. 

t  The  widow  Chellis  was  from  Aniesbury,  Mass. 


THE   MEETIXG   HOUSE    FKAMED.  423 

meeting-house.  She  told  it  lo  liiiii  twice,  and  she  gave  him  curtain 
lectures  on  the  subject;  in  sliort  she  gave  liini  no  peace  till  he 
came  to  think  as  she  did  about  it,  and  until  he  had  stirred  ni)  the 
whole  town  about  the  matter  and  made  them  all  feel  that  it  was 
an  "  abominable  shame  "  for  the  town  to  be  without  a  meeting- 
house. 

So  in  the  selectmenship  of  Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  Moses  H.  Clem- 
ent, and  Stephen  Flanders,  1818,  the  citizens  of  our  little  democ- 
racy in  General  Assembly  voted  to  build  a  meeting-house,  the 
size  to  be  forty  feet  b\'  iifty  feet  within  joint.  Chose  Jonathan 
Merrill ,  Nathaniel  Clough,  Abel  Merrill,  and  James  Williams  a 
committee  to  superintend  its  building,  and  for  that  purpose  was 
appropriated  all  the  money  due  the  towu  on  the  leases,  including 
the  present  year,  and  also  the  avails  of  the  wild  land  belonging  to 
the  town.     What  can't  a  woman  do? 

To-  the  building  bf  the  house  the  committee  proceeded  in  right 
g"Ood  earnest.  The  frame,  that  good  old  oaken  one,  which  is  yet  as 
good  as  new,  was  hauled  from  many  a  dark  recess  of  the  old  woods, 
the  inhabitants  ready  to  assist,  giving  many  a  long  day's  work. 
In  the  neighborhood  of  >Yachipauka  pond  where  the  Indians  used 
to  camp  the  oaks  were  cut,  and  the  long  timbers  for  the  ceiling 
ovel'  head ;  and  the  masts  in  the  steeple,  uearly  a  hundred  feet  high, 
came  down  from  Pine  hill,  the  first  selectman,  Joseph  Patch,  Jr., 
having  taken  the  job  to  puf  them  upon  the  ground.  Reuben  Clif- 
ford was  the  master  workman;  he  could  handle  abroad  axe  better 
than  any  man  in  town,  and  he  could  hew  almost  as  smooth  as  one 
could  plane.  Amos  Little  and  James  Dow  helped  hew.  James 
Williams  took  a  job  of  boring,  and  Samuel  Kniglit  made  pins. 
People  loved  to  come  and  look  on,  and  the  master  workman  would 
good  uaturedly  say,  "  You  must  bring  something  to  treat  with  if 
you  want  to  stbp  about  here.''  The  people  were  so  well  pleased 
with  his  work  and  the  enterprise,  that  he  got  man\'  bottles  of  old 
rum  to  drink. 

By  the  first  of  July  the  frame  was  ready  for  erection,  and  the 
'' Fourth"  Avas  decided  to  be  the  time  when  the  raising  should 
take  place.  AVhat  preparations  were  made  for  that  day!  They 
must  have  a  grand  collation  and  so  the  building  committee  had  a 
table  constructed,  and  rude  benches  on  each  side  of  it  across  the 


424  HISTORY    OF   WAKREN. 

entire  common.  All  day  long  the  third  of  July  the  farmers'  wives 
and  their  daughters  had  done  their  very  best  cooking  for  the  colla- 
tion. How  anxious  they  were  when  they  went  to  bed  the  night 
before  the  raising. 

The  morning  of  that  expected  day  at  last  dawned  ;  but  before 
the  sun  had  kindled  a  rosy  light  on  the  bald  top  of  Moosehillock, 
or  on  the  green  wooded  summit  of  Mount  Carr,  the  workmen  were 
on  their  way.  Few  indeed  were  the  sleepy  jDersons  found  that 
morning,  for  a  raising-  Avas  a  raising  in  those  days,  and  every  body 
was  delighted  to  attend ;  but  the  raising-  of  a  meeting-house  was  a 
sight  seldom  witnessed  but  once  in  a  life-time. 

From  every  quarter  they  came;  the  good  man  and  his  buxom 
dame,  and  their  rosy  daughters  who  had  spent  a  long  hour  more  at 
the  toilet  that  morning  than  usual.  All  were  there,  and  by  the 
presence  of  those  fair  faces  many  a  young  man  Avas  stimulated  to 
perform  herculean  feats  of  lifting  and  mounting  giddy  heights, 
every  way  worthy  of  his  ancestors.  All  about  the  destined  spot 
lay  strewn  the  heavy  timbers.  The  old  men  with  shining  broad 
axes  were  shaping  pins,  or  smoothing  the  end  of  many  a  tenon, 
while  the  master  builder,  Reuben  Cliflbrd,  with  rule  under  his 
arm,  and  feeling  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon  him,  was 
moving  hither  and  thither,  now  giving  directions  to  one  party  and 
then  to  another,  whom  drolly  enough  he  had  designated  his  oxen, 
his  steers,  and  his  bulls,  in  order  that  they  n'light  more  readily  come 
at  the  word.  These  were  tugging,  lifting,  and  straining  themselves 
into  very  red  faces  as  they  carried  the  heavy  timbers  over  the  nu- 
merous blocks  and  chips.  The  building  committee  were  there  also 
giving  instructions  to  each  other,  the  master  builder,  and  every 
one  else. 

And  now  one  huge  broadside  is  ready.  The  rugged  yeomanry 
of  Warren  range  themselves  side  by  side ;  the  master  builder  gives 
the  word,  ''AH  ready,  heave-er-up!"  shouting  in  the  most  won- 
derful manner;  and  creaking  and  groaning,  that  old  oaken  broad- 
side slowly  rises.  A  pause  —  the  stout  following- poles  hold:  and 
now  long  pike  poles  are  applied,  guided  firmly  by  strong  arms,  and 
again  that  broadside  goes  up.  as  a  hush  conies  over  the  anxious 
crowd,  eagerly  watching,  but  who  soon  breathe  more  freely  as  the 
huge  timbers  erect  settle  tirmiy  into  their  resting  places.     j\nd 


THE    MEETING   HOUSI'.    If AISET>.  425 

now  with  no  layjiard  liands  tlie  rciiuiiiiiiii^'  broadside  and  the 
cross-timbers  arc  put  in  liieir  phices,  and  loni;-  vw  the  rays  of  the 
setting-  sun  had  departed.  llir  roof,  witli  it-  crow  ning  steeple  tow- 
ering above,  was  in  its  proper  position. 

Hei'e  succeeding  generations  must  lament  the  loss  of  that 
speech  called  naming  the  house,  every  w^ay  worthy  of  the  occasion, 
which  Col.  Benjamin  Clement  delivered  from  the  ridge-pole.  The 
gentle  breezes  of  that  summer  day  wafted  it  far  over  the  green 
foliage  of  the;  wood  to  the  distant  liill-sides,  where  it  was  recorded 
in  their  beautifully  shaded  dells:  but  no  man  can  read  their 
phonography.* 

Then  True  StcA^eus  exhibited  a  mighty  feat  of  jumping  ten 
feet  at  a  leap  on  the  plates  and  cross-timbers,  thirty  feet  above  the 
ground,  the  whole  length  of  the  frame,  and  Samuel  Knight  stood 
on  his  head  upon  the  ridge-pole  and  made  flourishes  with  his  feet 
up  into  the  clear  sky,  much  to  the  delight  of  the  assembled  multi- 
tude wdio  held  their  breath  at  the  sight. 

The  oration  and  the  gymnastic  feats  Avere  each  greeted  with  a 
great  shout,  and  then  all  the  cider  possible  was  drank  and  they 
hurried  to  partake  of  the  grand  collation  so  bountifully  prepared 
for  them.  Mrs.  James  Williams,  from  the  East-parte,  took  charge 
of  setting  the  tables,  and  Aunt  Ruth  Homan  and  her  beautiful 
daughters,  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Ramsey  acted  on  the  committee  with 
her.  Mr.  James  Williams  and  Mr.  Samuel  Merrill  brought  out 
whole  wagon  loads  of  the  ver\^  best  eatables,  and  the  Beech  hill- 
ites  and  the  dwellers  of  Runaway  pond  and  those  from  the  Height- 
o'-land,  Pine  hill,  the  Summit,  and  the  Foi'ks,  also  brought  a  great 
abundance.  There  was  an  immense  crowd,  many  from  the  neigh- 
boring towns  ;t   and  how  they  ate,  for  it  was  a  free  collation  ;  and 

*  It  was  customary  to  name  all  buildings.  Jack  Tennant  got  off  ttiis,  Jesse 
Little  having  composeVl  it  for  him,  on  a  building  Gov.  Samuel  Flauders  framed  for 
Gov.  Stevens  Merrill  :— 

"  Here  is  a  frame  deserves  a  name, 
Here  is  a  frame  deserves  a  name. 
It  is  made  of  sjjruce  and  sapling  pine — 
It  was  taken  down  old  and  jnit  up  new, 
And  you  all  can  see  what  two  Governors  can  do." 
Tliey  were  called  Governors  because  each  had  had  a  few  votes  for  governor  at 
some  town  meeting. 

Tlien  tliere  was  a  shout,  and  they  had  all  tlie  cider  they  could  drink. 

t  Uice  Howard  and  Mr.  Samuel  Bennett,  botli  of  H:iverhill,  noted  gamblers, 
who  attended  all  musters  and  public  gatherings,  were  present.  Jt  was  wonderful 
what  sums  of  money  they  wnuld  lleece  out  of  tlie  simple  country  people.  The 
u\imerou<  anecdotes  of  their  (■\ploit^  wonlil  till  a  volume. 


i26  HISTOKY    OF    WARKEX. 

how  h;ip[)y  tliey  were  when  they  went  home  that  uight,  thiukiug 
they  would  now  have  such  a  nice  meeting-house. 

Captain  John  Gove,  the  witch  killer  of  Wentworth,  and  his 
two  sons,  Edward  and  AVinthrop,  all  excellent  carpenters,  fin- 
ished off  the  house.  Captain  Gove  hired  a  room  at  the  store  Capt. 
Benjamin  Merrill  built,  and  Ms  daughters,  Dolly  and  Betsey, 
cooked  for  and  boarded  them  during  the  time.  Messrs.  Tucker  & 
French,  from  Haverhill,  ])ainted  the  outside  and  inside  of  the  meet- 
ing-house, steeple  and  all,  and  boaixled  at  Joseph  Merrill's  inn 
while  doing  the  work.  Anson  Merrill,  a  boy  then,  raised  the 
money  by  subscription  to  paint  the  inside;  but  it  was  not  all 
finished  that  year.* 

George  W.  Copp,  son  of  'Squire  Joshua  Copp,  went  over  the 
Height-o'-land  and  got  the  underpinning  near  Tarleton  lake.  He 
hammered  and  set  it  very  nicely. 

The  work  progressed  steadily,  and  early  in  the  fall,  though  it 
was  not  fully  finished,  the  meeting-house  was  dedicated.  The 
widow  Chellis,  "Squire  Jonathan's  second  wife,  was  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  and  of  course  no  luinister  but  a  Congregationalist  was  fit 
to  preach  the  dedicatory  sermon.  Rev.  Edward  Evens  lived  at 
Wentworth.  He  was  a  talented  man,  preached  half  the  time  in 
that  pious  town,  was  a  missionary  tlie  other  half,  and  during  week 
days  attended  to  the  duties  of  Judge  of  Probate  for  Grafton 
County,  which  olfice  he  held.  He  was  the  one  'Squire  Jonathan's 
wife  selected  to  preach,  and  of  course  he  did  it. 

But  all  the  people  must  be  pleased,  so  Rev.  James  Spencer,  a 
Freewill  Baptist  preacher,  assisted,  making  the  prayer  and  reading 
the  hymns. 

The  choir  of  Warren  was  anxious  that  day ;  but  its  members 
did  their  best.  Joseph  Boyntonf  was  leader,  and  an  excellent 
singer  was  he.  Betsey  Knight,  daughter  of  Samuel,  sung  air, 
Mrs.  Joseph  Boynton, —  Sally  Knight  once, —  sang  counter  or  alto, 
while  Betsey  Little,  Jesse  Little,  Benj.  Little  and  others  assisted. 
The  critics  of  those  days  said  the  choir  did  exceedingly  well. 

*  Nathaniel  Richarrlson  sliaved  the  shingles  put  on  the  oldnieeting-hoiise. 

t  Fun crttl.— J OiHiph  and  Orlando,  sous  ol  Joseph  Boynton,  once  had  a  funeral 
ovei-  a  irras:sliop|)er.  Tliey  dn.i>-  a  urave,  preaclied  and  sans,  and  then  jjrayed  that 
"  the  L(n-d  nii.sht  be  nieri'iVnl  to  the  leastest  auil  lastest  remains  of  .\  e  poor  grass- 
hopper." Orlando,  it  is  said,  shed  tears,  and  a  wl>ole  generation  remembered  that 
prayer.    lantha,  a  sister  of  .Joseph  and  Orlando,  was  chiel'  n)ouruer. 


Uc^c^^ 


i'-^^  HISTORY    OF     WARREN. 

od.  The  other  parts  of  the  house  to  be  for  the  use  of  the  town 
upon  the  following  conditions,  viz:  That  the  town  pay  over  to  the 
committee  all  the  money  and  land  they  agreed  to  give  to  encour- 
age a  committee  to  undertake  to  build  said  meeting-house,  which 
was  three  hundred  dollars  or  thereabouts. 

4th.  The  committee  respectfully  request  the  town  to  unite 
with  them  and  adopt  the  best  measures  or  means  to  liuish  paint- 
ing the  house  and  erect  door-steps. 

JONATHAN  MERRILL,     ^ 

NATHANIEL   CLOUGH,*   I  ., 

ABEL  MERRILL,  K.ommittee. 

JAJSIES   WILLIAMS4  J 

N.  B. — There  are  demands  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee 
arising  from  the  sale  of  two  pews,  viz:  number  forty-one  and 
forty-two,  to  the  amount  of  fifty  dollars  or  more,  besides  what  we 
have  laid  out  painting  said  meeting-house. t 

Reader,  the  first  time  I  ever  went  to  meeting  it  was  in  this 
old  meeting-house,  and  I  sat  in  number  forty-one.  It  was  on  the 
right  of  the  pulpit  in  the  body  of  the  house,  and  Avas ,  like  all  the 
rest,  a  very  large  pew,  twelve  feet  long  and  eight  feet  wide.  There 
were  banisters  in  the  pew  walls,  seats  on  two  sides  that  turned  up 
during  prayer  and  often  fell  down  ''slam."  My  mother  used  to 
stand  me  on  the  seat  when  they  sang,  and  I  often  amused  myself 
turning  one  of  the  loose  banisters  to  make  it,  squeak  during  ser- 
mon. What  an  object  of  wonder  was  the  sounding  board  over 
the  minister's  head.  Once  I  asked  what  it  was  for,  and  they  told 
me  "  that  it  was  placed  there  so  that  if  the  minister  told  a  lie  it 
would  M\  on  his  head  and  kill  him.''  The  pulpit  was  a  little  castle 
high  up.     With  what  veneration  I  first  entered  it.     In  it  was  a 


*  Nathaniel  Clough  came  from  Hampstead,  N.  H. 

f. Tames  Williams  came  from  Haverhill,  Mass.,  aucl  was  a  desceudant  of  Han- 
nah Dustiu  of  Indian  fame.  He  had  one  of  her  pe^vter  plates  which  was  marked 
"H.  D."    A  Mrs.  Crook  has  the  plate  now. 

X  Loci:  on  ^^('efinr/-ITouse  Z)oo?'.— Jacob  Wliitclier  moved  awavup  country  about 
this  time.  It  was  maliciously  .said  of  him  that  he.  like  some  otlier  folks,  would  lie 
when  the  truth  would  do  a  go^od  deal  better.  He  would  tell  his  neisrhbors  wluit  a 
powerful  lock  tliey  put  on  the  meeting-house  door  in  Warien.  He  said  it  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  locks  ever  made  in  modern  times :  tliat  it  was  so  large  that  it 
required  a  "hand-speke"  to  turn  the  kev:  that  when  tlie  bolt  snapped  back  it 
made  so  loud  a  noise  that  it  could  be  heard  a  mile. 

He  would  tell  the  story  in  such  an  honest  manner  Ihat  his  friends  thought  it 
was  true,  and  wlien  they  came  down  marketins  in  the  winter  thev  would  call  at 
.Joseph  Merrill's  inn  near  the  meeting-house,  and  ask  to  be  shown  the  wonderful 
lock. 


THF.     lYTIIINGMAN    ASTOXTSTTKT).  t-".' 

crickot  for  shoi'i  ininistei'S  to  stand  ui)i)n.  and  The  wiiidmv  boiiind 
with  its  circular  ^Inss  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  arcliitectiirc.  In 
the  north  porch  \va>;  tlie  black  table  and  pall  used  in  buryiny  the 
dead.     IIoav  T  dreaded  the  north  i)orch.  how  shunned  il. 

At  tirst  they  liad  no  tires  in  the  meeting-house  and  in  winter 
the  minister  used  to  ])reach  with  woolen  mittens  on  his  hands  and 
our  nioiliers  would  carry  the  old  fashioned  foot  stoves,  which  they 
would  replenish  noon  times  at  Joseph  Merrill's  inn,  to  keep  them- 
selves warm  during  service.  Stoves  were  ])ut  into  the  meeting- 
house in  18o(). 

Mr.  James  Dow  was  the  tythingman  in  tlic  new  church.  lie 
sat  to  the  left  of  the  minister,  under  the  edge  of  the  long  gallery 
that  extended  on  three  sides  of  the  house.  One  Sabbath,  while 
the  minister  was  preaching,  a  large  yellow  dog  started  from  the 
right  and  traveled  round  the  Avhole  edge  of  the  gallery  till  he  came 
to  the  point  over  Uncle  Dow's  head.  Addison  AY.  Gerald  from 
the  East-parte  sat  there,  and  the  Devil  whisi)ered  in  Mr.  (TerakVs 
ear,  '•  Push  the  yellow  cur  oft'."  No  sooner  said  than  it  was  done. 
The  poor  beast  falling  fifteen  feet,  struck  on  Uncle  Dow's  bald 
head;  it  hurt:  and  the  ■•  purp  *"  he  yelled  and  he  yowled.  Uncle 
Dow,  who  was  dozing,  sprang  to  his  feet,  stamped  furiously  and 
at  the  same  instant  sung  out  in  a  voice  like  thunder,  ''Aliem! 
Ahem!  I  hope  the  owner  will  keep  that  dog  to  home  and  stay  to 
home  himself."  Of  course  the  choir  never  smiled  nor  the  audience 
either.  The  minister  also  preserved  his  dignity ;  but  one  thing  is 
certain,  he  closed  the  services  in  very  short  metre.* 

Oue  Sabbath  at  meeting.  I  distinctly  remember  hearing  my 
father  who  always  sat  in  the  singing  seats  above,  he  was  town  clerk 
too,  cry  out,  '•  Hear  ye,  hear  ye !  notice  is  hereby  given  that  Russell 
K.  Clement  and  Betsey  Eames  intend  marriage."  There  was  a 
grand  sensation,  for  they  all  thought  Kussell  was  a  confirmed  old 
bachelor:  but  perhaps  no  more  sensation  than  was  customary  on 
publishing  the  '*  bans." 

In  the  long  I'ow  of  meeting-house  sheds  we  school  boys  iised  to 
play  '••!  spy."  ■•  hide  and  seek,"  '"  tag,"  and  "  goal.'"  and  sometimes 
plagued  the  wrens  that  had  their  nests  in  the  braces,  or  Avatched 
the  swallows  which  alwa\s  built  in  the  old  belfry. 
*  Gen.  Michael  P.JVIerrill's  statement. 


430  HISTORY   OF    WAKRKN. 

Our  fathers'  meetiiig-hoiipe  Avas  used  for  forty  years,  then  it 
became  too  unfashionable  for  a  more  fashionable  generation.  In 
1859  it  was  moved  back  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  common, 
altered  to  a  more  modern  style,  and  now  witliiii  the  same  walls 
and  under  the  same  roof  that  Eeuben  Clifford,  Amos  Little,  and 
James  Dow  hewed  and  framed,  the  dwellers  of  Warren  worship. 

In  is-2f)  the  town  rai^;e<l  fifty-seven  dollars  inid  sixty-three  cents  in  lieu  of  the 
avails  of  tlie  wild  land  voted  to  the  committee  appointed  to  build  the  meeting- 
house in  ItilS. — See  Town  Book. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 


A    GAY    LITTLE   CHAPTER    ABOUT    WITCHES. 


"We  should  not  perform  our  whole  duty  as  a  faithful  histo- 
rian unless  we  should  depict  the  thong-hts,  beliefs,  and  opinions  of 
this  second  generation  of  Warren's  citizens.  We  feel  oui-selves 
more  especially  called  upon  to  be  faithful  to  this  period,  because  a 
few  inventions,  of  no  great  wonder  now,  were  to  make  a  radical 
change  in  society.  We  refer  to  the  steam-ship,  i-ail-car,  telegraph, 
friction  matches,  and  the  like. 

Tn  those  good  old  times  Avhen  they  had  none  of  these,  divers 
superstitions  were  rife,  and  our  ancestors  devoutly  believed  that  if 
a  dog  howled  in  the  night  some  one  in  the  neighborhood  was 
going  to  die  sure:  that  if  the  scissors,  knife,  or  any  sharp  thing 
fell  to  the  floor  and  stood  up  straight,  some  visitor  was  coming: 
that  if  a  looking-glass  was  broken,  the  person  breaking  it  or  some 
relative  would  die  before  tlie  year  was  out ;  that  if  a  knife  or  pair 
of  scissors  was  given  to  a  friend  without  making  him  give  a  penny 
or  some  amount  of  money  for  it,  love  between  them  would  cer- 
tainly be  cui :  Ihat  if  there  were  tea  grounds  or  bubbles  swim- 
ming on  the  tea,  as  many  strangers  as  grounds  or  bubbles  were 
coming;  that  if  one  stubbed  the  left  foot  they  were  not  wanted 
where  they  were  going,  but  if  it  was  the  right  they  would  be 
welcome:  that  to  spill  the  salt  ^pls  a  bad  omen;  and  the  ticking  of 
a  little  bug  in  the  Avail  was  a  sure  sign  of  death,  and  also  forty  or 
more  other  like  superstitions. 

But  they  also  believed  many  other  things   much  more  serious, 


432  Iir-iTORY    OF   WARREN. 

and  amono-  them  in  witches  and  ghosts.  Every  town  lias  liad  its 
witch  or  wizard ;  but  if  tradition  is  correct.  Warren  has  had  more 
than  its  share.  It  is  told  that  in  olden  times,  when  there  were  but 
few  clearinos  in  town,  a  young  man,  Jonathan  Merrill,  went  to 
see  his  lady-love.  While  there  the  happy  moments  tlew  swift  and 
time  had  crept  far  into  the  small  hours  before  he  thought  of  taking 
his  leave.  On  his  way  home  he  had  to  cross  a  stream  on  the  trunk 
of  a  fallen  tree;  and  when  he  arrived  at  this  point,  as  he  was  step- 
ping upon  the  log  that  was  shaded  by  thick  foliage,  and  through 
which  a  few  straggling  rays  of  the  moon  struggled,  he  saw  stand- 
ing on  the  other  end  a  white,  airy  tigurc  which  looked  to  him  any- 
thing but  earthly.  He  gazed  uj^on  it  for  a  few  moments  and  then 
stepped  from  the  log.  As  he  did  so  the  tigure  followed  his  exam- 
ple, and  he  saw  it  standing  on  the  water.  He  now  thought  he 
would  venture  across,  but  the  moment  he  was  on  the  log  again. 
that  light  form  was  there  also.  Filled  with  terror,  he  gave  one 
more  look,  beheld  as  he  thought,  a  ghastly  visage,  then  tlirned 
quick  about  and  run  with  all  his  might  to  the  house  where  he  had 
so  agreeably  spent  the  evening.  Here  he  waited  till  day-light  be- 
fore returning  home.  Young  Merrill  always  believed  he  saw  a 
witch  that  night. 

Some  folks  have  told  the  writer  that  the\'  did  not  believe  this 
story  at  all,  and  one  estimable  lady,  daughter  of  Caleb  Homan, 
said  it  happened  down  country  when  'Squire  Jonathan  was  court- 
ing his  wife.  The  same  lady  said  witches*  used  to  be  plenty  down 
at  old  Plaistow;  and  then  she  told  how  Nat  Tucker,  one  of  Uncle 
Jim  Dow's  relatives,  once  sold  some  walnuts  in  old  Haverhill, 
much  to  the  displeasurei  of  a  certain  elderly  lady.  That  night 
Tucker  and  his  wife  could  not  sleep;  all  night  long  there  was  a 
rattling  of  walnuts  on  the  kitchen  hearth.  Most  wonderful  to 
narrate,  the  next  morning  when  they  arose  there  was  every  iden- 
tical walnut  piled  up  like  cannon  balls  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid 
on  the  hearth-stone.  The  old  woman,  the  witch,  had  brought 
them  all  back.  But  stranger  yet,  the  silk  handkerchief  that  Mrs. 
T.  had  used  as  a  night-cap.  when  she  went  to  take  it  from  her 
head,  fell  to  the  tioor  cut  in  a  thousand  pieces. 

Foolish  and  superstitious  folks  scandalously  said  that  the  wife 

*  Old  Mrs.  Ely  was  one  of  the  great  witches  of  Plaistow. 


SUPERSTITION    COXCERMTNG    WITCHES.  433 

of  Stephen  Richardson  was  a  witch.  Her  son  Stephen  was  a  lit- 
tle ont  of  his  head,  and  he  said  she  bewitched  him.  ^Mien  his 
friends  tried  to  reason  with  liiin.  lie  would  say,  "  Good  Lord,  if 
you  had  seen  her  coming-  over  the  I'idgepole  of  the  house  in  the 
air  as  many  times  as  I  have,  in  the  shape  of  a  hog,  you  would 
believe  she  was  a  Avitch."  Moses  Ellsworth's  wife,  Susan,  took  her 
mother's  part,  and  Stephen  Richardson,  Jr.,  used  to  wish  that  he 
had  them  both  harnessed  so  Nathan  Willey  could  drive  them  with 
a  good  stout  stage  whip  hauling  hay  out  of  his  swamp. 

Stillman  Barker's  wife,  who  was  a  sister  of  Lemuel  Keezer, 
was  wrongfully  and  maliciously  accused  of  being  a  witch  and  we 
are  very  glad  to  here  have  an  opportunity  of  vindicating  her  good 
name.  It  is  said,  among  other  things,  she  bewitched  a  calf  and  it 
happened  in  this  wise.  Joseph  Merrill,  inn-keeper,  was  a  super- 
intendent of  the  turnpike,  and  one  spring  day  when  the  bird 
cherry-trees  were  in  blossom,  was  cleaning  out  a  ditch.  When 
he  came  down  from  the  Height-o"-land  lie  found  that  old  Mr.  Bai*- 
ker  had  altered  the  ditch  so  that  the  water  overflowed  and  ran 
across  the  road.  Merrill  called  Barker  out  and  reproved  Mm 
prett}^  sharply.     Mrs.  Barker  was  mad  about  it.* 

A  day  or  two  after  Mr.  M.  turned  his  calves  out  to  pasture 
where  the  meeting-house  stands  now,  and  the  next  morning  went 
out  to  see  how  they  were  getting  along.  He  found  one  of  them 
lying  on  the  ground  in  a  terrible  tremor,  Avith  its  eyes  rolling  and 
flasliing  towards  the  sky  as  though  it  could  see  a  hundred  old 
witches  there  riding  on  a  hundred  broom-sticks.  Merrill  was  con- 
fident Mrs.  B.  had  bewitched  it,  and  with  his  knife  he  cut  the  calf's 
ear  oft",  carried  it  to  the  house  and  threw  it  on  the  fire.  "  I'll  fix 
her,"  said  he.  The  calf  from  that  moment  began  to  mend;  but  it 
went  on  its  knees  for  a  while  as  if  doing  penance,  and  only  got  up 

*  A  Scotch  teamster,  long  ago,  stopped  at  the  Moosilauke  house  one  ■winter 
night,  sitting  around  tlie  lire  with  others,  he  said  he  was  never  in  Warren  but 
once  Ijetbre,  and  then  it  was  when  lie  was  changed  into  a  horse  and  ridden  there 
by  a  witch.  He  told  liow  tliey  liitclied  liim  with  other  liorses  at  a  post  by  the  first 
house  on  tlie  riglit  coming  up  I'rom  the  Xoye.s  Bridge.  The  wliole  party  of  witches 
went  into  tlie  house,  and  from  where  he  stood  he  could  see  all  they  did  tliere;  that 
they  drinked  up  some  wine,  ate  all  the  bread,  butter,  preserves",  tarts,  and  pies, 
and  even  devoured  some  sweet,  good-tasting  medicine  that  sat  on  the  shelf.  Be- 
fore they  left  they  cracked  the  sugar  bowl. 

These  things"down  at  Mr.  Xoyes'did  actually  happen,  and  Mrs.  Noyes,  who  was 
away  from  home  at  the  time,  was"  very  mad  at  Miss  .Sallie  Barker  who  worked  for 
her,  for  allowing  sucli  capers  to  be  cut  up  in  her  absence.  Miss  Sallie  woi.ild  always 
have  been  presumed  guilty  had  it  not  been  for  the  confession  of  the  Scotch  team- 
ster in  after  years. 


434  HISTORY   OF    AVARREN. 

smart  when  haying  was  over  and  the  witch  on  the  Hcig-ht-o'-land 
had  undergone  a  fit  of  sickness.  Experienced  witch  killers  say 
that  if  lie  had  scalded  the  calf  it  would  liavc  done  just  as  well. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Zachariah  Cliiford,  who  was  a  sister  of  Sim- 
eon Smith,  was  scandalized  in  a  like  manner  as  Mrs.  Barker.  She 
lived  on  Red-oak  hill,  and  it  was  perfectly  wonderful  what  awful 
things  she  could  do.  If  you  stuck  a  needle  down  in  a  witch's 
track,  it  was  said  she  would  stop  and  look  round;  if  one  was  put 
in  her  shoe  she  could  not  go  at  all.  A  shoemaker  down  at  "Went- 
worth  made  her  a  pair  of  shoes,  carried  them  home  to  her  and 
when  she  tried  them  on  she  said  one  of  them  was  good  for  nothing, 
that  she  could  not  wear  it  and  that  he  must  make  her  another.  He 
had  broke  otf  his  awl  in  the  sole,  but  he  did  not  tell  her  anytliing 
about  it.  He  carried  the  shoe  home  quietly,  took  out  the  piece  of 
the  awl  and  when  he  returned  it  she  said  it  was  a  grand  fit  and  the 
best  shoe  she  ever  had  in  her  life. 

John  Cliftord  courted  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Zack.  Clifford,  then 
jilted  her  and  Avent  courting  a  Gove  girl.  Mrs.  C.  was  awful  mad 
about  it,  said  she  would  fix  him,  and  when  John  went  courting 
after  that  she  would  go  too  as  a  witch  and  sit  in  a  spare  rocking- 
chair  and  rock  all  night.  The  young  couple  were  terribly  afl[licted 
but  finally  got  married.  Dr.  Horatio  Heath,  who  kept  school 
down  on  the  "  East  side,"  said  he  knew  all  about  Mrs.  C.'s  pranks 
and  that  the  stories  about  her  were  as  true  as  the  gospel, —  a  verj^ 
misguided  and  mistaken  youth. 

But  gossiping  slanderers  of  that  day  said  that  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Benjamin  Weeks,  Mrs.  Sarah  Weeks,  had  ten  times  the  power  that 
the  above  meutioned  ladies  possessed.  Invisible  on  her  good  steed, 
a  broom-stick,  she  rode  all  the  country  round  and  was  a  sort  of 
revenging  angel  for  her  husband. 

One  day,  it  is  said,  Joseph  Merrill,  son  of 'Squire  Abel,  started 
about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  to  come  home  from  Haverhill. 
Mr.  Weeks  was  there  and  wanted  to  ride  to  Warren  with  him. 
Merrill  said  there  was  another  man  to  ride  ;  that  he  had  as  much 
load  as  he  could  carry,  and  that  he  t-ould  not  take  him.  Weeks 
said  if  \ou  don't  take  me  you  will  be  sorry  for  it,  and  you  won't 
get  home  to-night.  Merrill  harnessed  up  and  drove  out  as  far  as 
the  toll-gate,  when  his  horse,  which  hitherto  had  been  perfectly 


ci:rrknt  avitch  stories.  435 

kind,  kicked  up  and  absolutely  refused  to  go.  Monlll  coaxed, 
whipped,  and  then  coaxed  ;i,i:;»in  ;  tlie  horse  laid  down  and  would 
not  budge  an  inch.  After  an  hour  spent  in  vain  clTort  and  night 
coming  on,  Merrill  put  his  horse  in  a  barn  and  walked  back  to  the 
Corner,  where  he  spent  the  night.  The  next  morning  the  horse 
went  home  in  splendid  manner,  and  ever  after  Avas  as  kind  as  need 
be.  Mr.  M.  was  perfectly  certain  that  Mrs.  W.  had  bewitched  the 
animal. 

One  day  this  lady  of  excellent  reputation  was  sick  and  sent 
her  husband  to  Capt.  Ben.  Merrill's  store  for  a  pint  of  rum.* 

Capt.  Ben.  and  wife  were  away,  Miriam  Pillsbury,  afterwards 
Mrs.  Aaron  Goodwin,  was  keeping  house,  Levi  B.  Foot  was 
boarding  there  and  studying,  and  Capt.  Samuel  L.  Merrill  •'  tended" 
store.  Weeks  asked  for  his  rum  on  trust.  Captain  Sam.  said  his 
orders  were  not  to  let  him  have  any  on  tick.  Weeks  was  mad  and 
said  "  If  you  don't  let  me  have  it  you  will  be  sorry  for  it,""  and 
then  he  went  directly  away  to  his  Height-o'-land  home. 

The  night  was  cloudy  and  dark,  and  when  the  twilight  had  all 
gone  they  heard  something  going  over  the  roof  Avhich  sounded  like 
a  team  hitched  to  a  load  of  slabs  dragging  along. 

All  three  were  terribly  frightened  although  they  afterwards 
stoutly  maintained  that  they  were  not.  The  noise  continued  at 
inteiwals  for  more  than  half  an  hour,  then  subsided.  Captain  Ben. 
always  kept  a  fine  stallion  and  it  was  in  the  barn  at  that  time.  All 
at  once  there  was  a  tremendous  noise  at  the  stable.  It  was  fearful! 
Sam.  L.  oMernll.  then  quite  young,  belonged  to  the  troop,  and  he 
went  and  got  his  sword  and  buckled  it  on  and  loaded  his  great 
horse  pistols.  Just  then  a  cat  jumped  up  on  to  the  windoAV  stool, 
and  he  cocked  his  pistol  to  tire  but  the  cat  jumped  down  too  quick 
for  him.  Who  shall  go  to  the  barn  to  see  the  hoivse?  No  one  dared 
to  go  alone  and  no  one  dared  to  stay  in  the  house  alone,  and  so 
they  all  went  to  the  barn  together.  They  found  the  horse  all  right, 
not  a  particle  of  trouble,  and  they  all  returned  together.  Shortly 
after  the  same  terrible  noise  began  again  and  along  in  the  night 
there  was  also  screeching  in  the  air.  and  two  or  three  times  sharp 
flashes  of  li.ght,  like  the  flashing  of  a  witch's  eyes,  gleamed  through 


*  It  is  .said  Mrs.  Weeti.s  Ijowitchcd  Mr.-^.  Eunice  Pill.<buiv,  ;ilso  Mrs.  Arcrimnell 
of  PierniDnt.  Mr.'i.  McConnell  scalded  Mrs.  Weeks  bv  sciddiiig  a  call'  tliat  Mrs. 
W.  bad  bewitclied. 


436  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

the  darkness.  All  this  continued  until  the  tirst  cock  crew  and 
then  instantly  there  was  silence.  Elderly  men  and  women  telling 
the  story  in  an  undertone,  always  believed  that  Mrs.  Weeks  with 
a  crowd  of  old  crones,  her  chums,  were  thnmpiug  and  crashing 
with  their  broom-sticks  on  the  roofs  that  night. 

Mrs.  Weeks,  with  her  husband,  once  went  down  to  Mr.  Na- 
thaniel Clough's  after  some  flax,  but  was  unable  to  procure  it. 
She  was  mad  as  usual,  and  went  to  the  backside  of  the  room,  laid 
her  head  upon  the  table  and  closed  her  eyes.  Immediately  there 
was  a  terrible  noise  at  the  barn.  The  men  folks  rushed  out  and 
found  that  a  two  years  old  colt  had  reached  over  into  the  sheep 
pen  and  lifted  two  lambs  out  with  his  teeth  and  killed  them.  He 
was  now  working  hard  to  catch  a  third  sheep.  Weeks  Avent  back 
to  the  house  on  the  run,  shoved  his  wife  on  to  the  flooi",  then  told 
her  to  behave  herself.  To  the  credit  of  the  colt  it  is  told  that  he 
quieted  right  down  and  never  injured  a  sheep  afterwards.  All  the 
old  ladies  said  that  Mrs.  Weeks  was  raising  the  d — 1  for  revenge. 

Uncle  Tom.  Pillsbury.  as  he  was  familliarly  called,  got  Mrs. 
.Weeks  to  make  three  shirts  for  him.  There  was  some  trouble 
about  the  pay.  He  went  down  country  to  work*  and  when  the 
first  one  was  washed  and  hung  out,  it  was  mysteriously  spirited 
away.  The  same  happened  to  the  other  two,  not  another  thing 
being  lost  from  the  line.  Mr.  Pillsbury  said  he  knew  Mrs. 
Weeks  had  them  all  in  Warren. 

But  Simeon  Smith,  as  we  have  intimated  in  another  book  of 
this  history,  was  the  great  wizard  of  this  mountain  valley.  His 
fame  preceded  him,  and  it  is  said  he  acquired  his  powers  down 
country.  AVhen  the  revolutionary  war  was  going  on  he  was  in 
meeting  one  Sabbath,  but  all  at  once  he  left  the  house.  Out  of 
doors  he  said  he  could  not  stop  at  meeting  for  a  great  battle,  was 


*  "  Rule  and  Tie." — It  was  customary  in  old  times  for  yoimg  men  in  all  this 
upper  region  to  go  down  country  to  work  during  the  season.  They  nearly  always 
"tooted  it,"  often  a  dozen  or  twenty  in  a  parly,  aw:iy  to  Xewhnryport,  Saleni,  and 
Beaton,  and  would  come  home  again  late  in  tlie  fall  with  money  in  tlieir  pockets. 
Sometimes  two  young  men  would  buy  a  horse  and  they  would"  ride  and  tie,"  as 
it  was  calked.  One  would  ri'ie  aliead  a  few  miles  then  tie  the  horse  beside  ihe 
road  and  pii.sh  on  aloot,  wlien  the  other  coming  up,  would  mount  the  horse,  pass 
his  companion,  get  a  mile  or  two  ahead,  then  tie  the  horse  again  and  walk  on. 
Thus  they  would  walk  and  ride,  acconiplishing  the  journey  in  a  very  short  time, 
and  when  they  had  arrived  at  their  destination  ^voukl  sell  the  horse  for  a  good 
price. 


DEAF  Caleb's   performances.  437 

being  fought  that  day.     This  statement  was  afterwards  found  to  be 
true  and  Simeon  Smith  was  looked  upon  as  a  wonderful  man. 

One  day  lie  mounted  his  horse  to  go  up  town,  and  before  he 
proceeded  a  rod  got  lost  in  one  of  his  second  sights.  He  seemed 
to  notice  nothing  around  him  but  sat  in  the  .-aildle  in  a  strange 
fit  of  abstraction  as  if  gazing  upon  the  revels  of  fiends  incarnate 
in  some  far  oil'  world.  The  horse  seemed  to  behold  the  same 
scene  also ;  and  great  drops  of  sweat  trickled  from  everj^  part  of 
its  body.  At  last  Mr.  S.  roused  himself  and  stroA'e  by  every  means 
in  his  power  to  make  the  horse  proceed,  but  in  vain;  and  finally 
weary  in  the  attempt,  he  turned  the  animal  into  the  pasture  and 
relinquished  the  journey,  much  to  the  surprise  of  several  persons 
who  witnessed  the  scene.* 

Simeon  Smith  was  a  great  rebel,  ardently  espousing  the  cause 
of  the  colonists,  and  hated  the  British.  Stevens  Merrill  was  slightly 
inclined  to  favor  King  George,  and  was  strongly  opposed  to  pay- 
ing taxes  to  carry  on  the  war  for  independence.  Simeon  Smith 
was  constable  and  tax  collector,  and  compelled  Mr.  Merrill  to  pay 
as  we  have  before  narrated.  From  that  time  there  was  a  slight 
enmity  between  the  two  families. 

Mr.  Merrill  had  a  deaf  boy  Caleb,  and  one  time  after  the  war 
was  over  he  began  to  act  strangely.  He  was  hoeing  in  the  meadow 
one  day,  over  the  river,  when  suddenly  thei'e  was  a  terrible  noise 
as  of  the  wings  of  a  mighty  bird,  then  an  awful  screecliing. 
Joseph  Merrill,  his  brother,  who  was  with  him,  although  he  looked 
everywhere,  could  see  nothing,  and  deaf  Caleb  of  course  could 
hear  nothing :  but  he  dropped  his  hoe  and  ran  for  home  in  a  terri- 
ble fright.  When  interrogated,  he  replied  by  signs  that  Simeon 
Smith  was  after  him.  The  enmity  between  the  two  families 
slightly  increased.! 

A  few  days  after  deaf  Caleb  began  to  act  in  the  strangest 

*  Siinein  Smith  once  said  lie  wished  he  possessed  the  power  that  his  mother 
and  sister  Xab  had ;  that  he  had  seen  tliem  boch  on  the  lug  pole  in  the  fire-place 
over  tlie  fire,  spinning  linen,  many  a  time. 

t 'Squii-e  Jonathan,  .Tnsepli,  and  deaf  Caleb,  all  sons  of  Stevens  Merrill,  had 
been  ovei-  the  viver  digging  potatoes.  Tiiere  was  no  bridge  then,  and  coming  home 
with  a  load  they  had  lo  ford  the  river,  which  was  shoal.  The  three  youni.-men  and 
two  winuMi  \v,Te  on  the  cart,  and  Avhen  they  came  to  the  water  ed'.;e  deaf  Caleb 
told  tlu^m  by  signs  that  Simeon  Smitli  would  tip  up  the  cart  and  dump  tliem  all 
into  the  stream  belbre  tliey  got  across.  To  prevent  this  they  sat  on  the  front  end  so 
that  it  could  not  lip  up;  but,  strange  to  relate,  before  theygot  half  way  across  up 
it  went,  and  potatoes,  men,,  and  women  all  fell  into  the  water. 


440  HISTORY    OF  WAKREN. 

The  learned  Baxter,  who  lived  in  the  seventeenth  century,  consid- 
ered all  persons  as  obdurate  Sadducees  who  did  not  believe  in  it, 
and  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Eng- 
lish bar,  tried  and  convicted  several  persons  for  the  crime  of 
witchcraft.  Even  Blackstone.  the  profound  commentator  of  English 
common  law,  swallowed  and  believed  impUcith^  this  great  hum- 
bug of  the  church. 

But  the  hallucinations  of  other  generations  are  passing  away 
and  few  are  the  persons  at  the  present  time  who  indulge  in  the 
belief  of  goblins,  ghosts,  and  witches.  True  it  is  that  the  me- 
diums, clairvoyants,  and  cabinet  gentlemen  bring  to  mind  the  diab- 
lerie of  old  Salem,  when  our  fathers,  the  good  puritans,  made  fools 
of  themselves  and  hung  thirty  old  women  as  witches ;  but  such 
things  don't  go  for  much  except  as  a  means  of  speculation  in 
money  matters.     They  are  first  rate  for  that. 

The  dwellers  in  a  new  settlement,  far  away  from  the  older 
towns,  were  just  the  ones  to  indulge  in  the  belief  of  the  supernat- 
ural. Around  them  were  thousands  of  old  solitudes;  and  as  the 
deepening  shades  of  night  cast  her  sombre  mantle  over  the  forest, 
it  required  no  active  imagination  to  picture  the  forms  of  huge 
giants  stalking  away  among  the  trees ;  to  see  numerous  jack-o'- 
lanterns  gliding  noislessly  along  to  guide  the  lone  traveler  onward 
until  he  Avas  lost  in  the  dark  intricate  windings  of  some  dismal  old 
swamp ;  to  hear  the  infernal  music  of  old  crones  as  they  charged 
in  huge  battalions  through  the  tops  of  the  loft}^  trees  mounted 
upon  their  never  tiring  steeds, —  broom-sticks.  But  they  are  all 
gone.  No  more  do  we  see  the  individuals  who  indulge  in  such 
fancies,  and  although  there  were  such,  and  tliey  still  live  in  histoiy, 
we  have  little  right  to  laugh  at  them.  If  our  ancestors  did  indulge 
in  them,  still  they  had  exalted  notions  of  piety,  and  did  thousands 
of  good  deeds  which  latter  it  would  be  well  if  we  would  imitate. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    FIKST    STORE    IN    WARREN    AND     ITS     SUCCESSORS,     AND     OF     A 
ROARING,   RAGING   CANAL  THAT   NEVER   WAS   BUILT. 


The  first  store  iu  AYarren  was  built  uear  Joshua  Merriir 


sometime  iu  the  last  century.  It  was  kept  by  Samuel  Fellows,* 
and  after  trading  a  short  time  in  English  and  West  India  goods  he 
was  taken  crazy.  He  would  sometimes  leave  home  and  wander  to 
the  neighboring  towns:  and  whesi  his  friends  went  for  him  it 
would  be  extremely  difficult  to  influence  him  to  return.  At  one 
time  he  went  to  Haverhill  and  a  young  man  was  sent  after  him. 
He  found  him  at  the  tavern,  and  to  make  good  friends,  asked  liim 
if  he  would  have  flip  or  brandy  before  going  home.  Fellows 
looked  up  shariily  and  said  he  guessed  he  would  have  brandy 
while  the  flip  was  making. 

To  him  succeeded  first  Charles  Bowles,  then  George  W.  Copp, 
who  traded  for  seA'eral  years  just  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Col.  Obadiah  Clement  at  this  period,  1825,  a  very  old 
man,  used  to  relate  what  he  saw  in  this  store.  He  said  it  was  a 
long  building  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  Coos  road,  not  the  turn- 
pike, just  at  the  foot  of  the  Beech-hill  and  fifly  rods  south  of  the 
summit  of  the  Blue  ridge.  It  had  large  windows  with  shutters, 
and  door  wide  enough  to  roll  a  hogshead  of  molasses  through : 
door  and  shutters  always  used  as  advertising  boards  for  our  mer- 
chant himself  and  the  public  generally.  Here,  in  winter,  the  peo- 
ple would  congregate,  and  with  them  he  would  sit  by  the  old 
fashioned  fire  and  talk  over  the  news  and  pass  away  the  hours. 
*  Samuel  Fellows  came  to  Warren  in  1789. 


442  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

He  said  lie  was  there  all  one  da}'  when  it  snowed  so  hard  that  look- 
ing- ont  ilie  back  window  he  conld  hardly  see  Mt.  Helen,  much 
less  the  eastern  mountains.  First  the  flakes  came  down  slowly 
like  feathers  shading  and  mottling  the  sky.  Then  the  storm  in- 
creased, the  wind  blazed  and  racketed  through  the  narrow  space 
between  the  house  and  the  hill  and  catching  up  the  falling  snow 
sent  it  twirling  and  pitching  skimble-skamble,  and  anon  slowly 
and  more  regularly  as  in  a  minuet,  and  as  they  came  nearer  the 
earth  they  wei'e  borne  by  the  current  in  a  horizontal  line  like  long 
quick  spun  silver  threads  far  adown  the  landscape.  As  he  watched 
he  saw  a  flock  of  snow  buntings,  their  whife  sides  flashing  before 
the  eyes,  hurried  on  by  the  wind.  They  had  come  down  to  avoid 
the  dark  night  of  the  Arctic  continent,  the  place  where  they  were 
hatched.  Black  brook,  the  Mikaseota,  was  ice-bound,  covered 
with  snow,  and  scarce  a  murmur  was  heard  from  beneath  its  white 
mantle. 

The  post-rider  was  snowed  up  that  day;  he  had  not  got 
through  from  Plymouth  yet,  and  'Squire  Abel  Merrill  was  without 
the  little  seven-by-nine  paper  which  he  took,  and  the  visitors  at 
the  store  lacked  their  customary  news,  which  was  always  mouths 
old  before  they  got  it. 

But  late  in  the  afternoon  it  cleared  oflf,  the  sun  shone  out,  and 
in  the  thick  woods  beyond  the  Mikaseota  he  saw  a  pair  of  nut- 
hatches, several  golden  crested  kinglets,  a  downy  wood-pecker, 
two  or  three  brown  creepers,  and  half  a  dozen  chickadees,  birds 
that  bide  the  New  England  winter.  What  pleasant  music  they 
make !  For  a  wonder,  from  the  cluster  of  great  hemlocks  high  up 
on  the  side  of  Mt.  Helen,  came  the  cawing  of  crows  as  if  they 
were  glad  to  see  the  sunshine,  and  that  the  winds  had  gone  down. 
While  it  snowed  that  day  Col.  Clement  and  his  friends  amused 
themselves  reading  the  notices  posted  on  the  doors  and  shutters ; 
one  was  a  sale  on  execution,  another  informed  them  that  beeswax, 
flax,  skins,  bristles,  and  old  pewter,  would  be  taken  in  exchange 
for  goods ;  and  another  read  as  follows : — 

"  Warren.  Mav  18th.  1799. 
Sir:— 

.1  send  you  the  following  description  of  a  dark  brown  gelding 
horse,  taken  up  by  me,  damage  feasant,  he  appears  to  be  about  six 


THK   OLD   COUNTKY    STORE.  443 

years  old,  is  a  natural  pacer,  mane  hangs  on  the  near  side,  well 
shod,  and  is  about  fourteen  Iiands  high — the  oner  is  desired  to 
prove  property,  pay  charges  and  take  him  away. 

AMOS   LITTLE. 
A  true  copy  :     Attest. 

Jonathan  Mekrill, 

Toivn  Clerk.''' 

Sitting-  by  the  tire,  he  saw  a  motley  array  of  dry  and  fancy 
goods,  crockery,  hardware,  and  groceries.  On  the  right  were  rolls 
of  kerseymeres,  calimancoes,  fustians,  shalloons,  antiloons,  and 
serges,  of  all  colors,  purple  and  blue  calicoes,  a  few  ribbons,  tick- 
lenburgs.  and  buckrams.  On  the  left  were  cuttoes,  Barlow  knives, 
iron  candlesticks,  jewshaips,  black-ball,  and  bladders  of  snuflf. 
On  naked  beams  above  were  suspended  weavers'  skans,  wheel 
heads,  and  on  a  high  shelf  running  quite  around  the  walls  was  cot- 
ton warp  of  all  numbers.  The  back  portionof  the  building  showed 
to  him  a  traffic  far  more  fashionable  and  universal  in  New  England 
than  it  is  now;  and  the  row  of  pipes,  hogsheads  and  barrels  indi- 
cated its  extent.  Above  these  hung  a  tap-borer,  faucets,  and  inter- 
spersed on  the  wall  wei'e  bunches  of  chalk  scores  in  perpendicular 
and  transverse  lines.  Near  by  was  a  small  counter  covered  with 
tumblers,  toddy  sticks,  and  sugar  bowl,  and  a  few  ragged  will-gill 
looking  men,  either  from  old  Coventry,  ''  Pearmount,"  or  the  land 
of  AVentworth,  (of  course  Warren  men  didn't  drink,  they  never 
have,)  were  standing  there  mixing  and  bolting  down  liquors. 

The  colonel  said  that  a  favorite  and  conunon  drink  at  that 
period  wiis  tlip,  which  was  made  in  this  wise:  a  mug  was  nearly 
tilled  with  malt  beer,  sweetened  with  sugar,  then  a  heated  iron 
called  a  loggerhead  was  thrust  into  it,  which  produced  a  rapid 
foam.  Instantly  a  quantity  of  the  "  ardent," — a  half  pint  of  rum 
was  allowed  for  a  quart  mug, —  was  dashed  in,  a  little  nutmeg  was 
grated  on  the  top,  and  the  whole  was  quaffed  of!"  by  two  men  or 
more,  as  they  could  bear  it,  which  had  the  efiect  often  to  set  them 
at  loggerheads.     Price,  twenty-five  cents  a  mug. 

Another  drink  was  toddy,  which  Avas  made  of  rum  and  water 
well  sweetened.     A  stick  six  or  eight  inches  long  was  used  to  stir 


444  HISTORY  OF    WARREN. 

up  the  delightful  beverage,  called  a  toddy-stick.    Price,  six  cents  a 
glass. 

Another  favorite  drink  was  egg-uog,  which  was  coinposed  of 
an  egg  beaten  and  stirred  together  with  sugar.  The  stick  used  for 
this  purpose  was  split  at  tlie  end  and  a  transverse  piece  of  wood 
inserted,  which  was  rapidly  whirled  around  backward  and  forward 
between  the  palms  of  the  hands.  Skillful  men  made  graceful 
flourishes  with  toddy  and  egg-nog  sticks,  in  those  days.  Price, 
a  sixpence  a  mug.* 

In  the  farther  end  was  the  counting-room  with  another  large 
fire-place  in  one  corner,  a  high  desk,  round  backed  arm  chairs  and 
a  little  good  wine  in  a  keg. 

But  good-bye  to  Col.  Obadiah  and  to  the  old  first  store,  which  is 
a  sample,  contents,  drinks  and  all,  of  all  the  others  down  to  the 
time  of  Avliich  we  write,  viz:  the  close  of  Warren's  second  genera- 
tion; for  Geo.  W.  Copp  sold  out  to  Abel  Merrill,  who  traded  in 
1804,  and  then  the  building  was  converted  into  a  dwelling-house. 

Trade  in  Warren  by  no  means  stopped  on  account  of  this 
sale.  Benjamin  MeiTill,  sou  of  "Squire  Abel,  built  another  store  at 
the  forks  of  the  road  where  one  ran  away  north,  to  Coventry,  and 
the  other  over  the  Height-o"-land.  Although  many  families  have 
lived  in  this  second  store,  and. under  its  roof  your  humble  historian 
drew  his  first  breath,  it  is  still  occupied  for  trade,  and  stands  nearly 
in  the  same  place.  In  it  Benj.  Merrill  traded  till  about  1812, f 
although  it  was  much  disturbed  by  witches  as  we  have  already 
narrated,  when  he  sold  it  out  to  Lemuel  Keezer,  Jr.  Mr.  Keezer, 
father  of  Ferdinand  and  Fayette,  died  of  the  spotted  fever,  and 
the  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  Michael  Preston,  who  traded 
about  three   years.     Preston  having  married  Mary  Merrill,  was 

*  Sling  was  sugar,  warm  water,  and  whisky,  mixed.  Sometimes  half  a 
cracker  was  toasted  and  put  witli  it.  Tliis  was  called  a  toad.  Price  for  the  whole 
6J  cents. 

t  Captain  Ben.  Merrill  started  to  go  home  one  night,  after  closing  up,  with  a 
large ft(/;M  in  his  hand  lor  family  use.  Before  lie  left  the  yard  lie  found  lie  liad  for- 
got something,  laid  down  the  liam  in  a  feed-box  for  horses,  and  went  back.  He 
was  gone  sometime,  and  wlieii  he  returned  tlie  liani  was  missing.  He  never  said  a 
word,  Avas  as  silent  as  tlie  grave,  for  iie  tliouglit  the  tliief  would  show  liimself  in 
time.  One  day,  six  montlis  afterwards,  aneighlior  said  to  him  standing  in  tlie  store 
door,  "  Captain,  did  you  ever  lind  out  who  stole  tliat  liam  from  you  r"  "  Yes,"  said 
Cai)t.  r>en.,  "  I  kiiowwlio  it  was,  you  are  tlie  very  fellow;  walk  in  and  paj'  I'orit,  or 
you'll  catch  it."  It  is  needless  tosay  that  the  money  was  forthcoming  at  once,  and 
tlie  culprit  acknowledged  that  he  could  not  keep  his  mouth  quite  as  cl.ose  as  the 
captain. 


OLD    TIJIE   TRADERS.  445 

anxious  to  move  away  to  Canada,  and  sold  out  to  Amos  Burton. 
The  latter  haviiif;-  liigh  ideas  of  livincr,  changed  the  Benj,  Merrill 
store  into'a  dwelling-  house,  and  built  another  store  directly  opi)o- 
site  where  is  now  a  peg-factory  and  wheelwright  shop  by  the  pond. 
Others  who  traded  in  the  latter  place  are,  respectively,  Samuel  L. 
Merrill.  William  ^Merrill,  Anson  Merrill,  and  William  Wells,  who 
was  famous  for  building  up  rousing  fires,  raising  the  windows  and 
plaj-ing-  lively  airs  on  his  fiddle  for  the  amusement  of  Mr.  Asa 
Thurston  and  George  W.  Prescott,  who  were  making  music  about 
this  time  hammering  away  in  the  cooper's  shop  that  stood  where 
the  old  first  school-house  was  located  on  the  river  bank  opposite. 
Wells  was  succeeded  by  John  T.  Sanborn,  who  traded  at  or  about 
the  time  of  the  chronological  order  of  this  chapter.  Others  who  have 
traded  in  town   we  will  mention  in  the  Appendix,  a  very  necessary 
thing-  for  this  histoiy,  for  what  would  it  be  good  for  without  one? 
Mercantile  business  was  good  about  this  time,  for  the  toAvn 
was  growing,  and  it  cost  so  much  for  freight  that  our  traders,  and 
in  fact  all  the  others  in  the  regions  round  about,  began  seriously  to 
consider  how  they  could  get  their  goods  brought  to  their  door  at  a 
cheaper  rate.     Considering- culminated  in  acting;  a  petition  was 
circulated  and  signed  by  our  merchants  and  many  citizens  and  nu- 
merous signatures  were  also  obtained  down  the  valley.     It  was 
then  i)resented  to  the  legislature  asking-  that  a  roaring-  and  raging- 
canal  might  be  iucoi-porated.     The  General  Court  could  not  refuse 
so  respectable  a  request  and  two  canals  through  the  central  portion 
of  New  Hampshire  were  immediately   chartered.     One   was   to 
commence  at  Dover,  thence  by  way  of  Lake  Winnepisseogee  to  the 
Pemigewassett  at  Bridgewater :  the  other  followed  up  the  INIerri- 
mack  to  Bridgewater,  and  uniting  with  the  first,  followed  up  the 
Asquamchumauke  to  Warren  Summit,  and  from  there  down  the 
Oliverian  to   the   Connecticut.     It  was  fashionable  to  construct 
canals  in  those  days,  and  the  great  canals  of  New  York,  of  the 
West,  and  of  southern  New  England,  were  then  in  the  course  of 
being  built.     The  United  States  government  also  assisted  and  sent 
distinguished  engineers  to  all  parts  of  the  country  where  they  were 
needed. 

Gen.  McDuffee,  who  laid  out  the  turnpike,  now  surveyed  the 
canal  through  our  valley,  and  spent  weeks  in  W'arren  trying  to 


446  HISTORY    OF    WARKEN. 

overcome  the  obstructions  that  the  Summit  presented.  Capt.  Gra- 
ham of  the  United  States  army  assisted  him,  and  the  general,  the 
captain  and  liis  hidy,  Avith  their  assistants,  boarded  a  long  time  at 
Joseph  Merrill's  inn. 

The  chief  difflculty  which  they  found  in  the  building  of  the 
canal  was  the  inadequate  supply  of  water  upon  the  Summit.  Two 
routes  were  surveyed  through  Warren,  one  up  Black  brook,  the 
Mikaseota,  and  the  other  u])  Berry  brook.  If  the  Black  brook 
route  was  adopted,  water  was  to  be  taken  from  Tarleton  lake  and 
made  to  run  winding  round  the  hills  to  the  place  required.  This 
Avould  be  a  costly  job.  if  the  route  up  Berry  brook  was  preferred, 
the  Asquaniclmmauke  river  was  to  be  tapped  near  the  East-parte 
school-house  and  canalled  round  Knight  hill  to  the  Summit,  thus 
affording  an  adequate  supply  of  water  for  the  nuraei'ous  locks 
needed.  Gen.  McDuffee  reported  that  with  sufficient  money  all 
the  difficulties  could  be  overcome,  and  that  either  route  was  feasi- 
ble.    Which  he  preferred  we  never  could  learn. 

And  now  the  canal  would  surely  be  built,  goods,  wares,  and 
merchandise  Avould  come  cheap,  population  would  greatly  increase, 
and  prosperity  would  bless  the  land.  Alas !  the  bright  dream  was 
never  realized.  Money  was  hard  to  be  got,  a  sufficient  amount  of 
stock  could  not  be  disposed  of,  and  we  are  sorry  to  tell  what  every 
body  knows,  the  canals  were  never  built  and  Warren's  traders 
were  doomed  to  disappointment. 

But  before  we  close  this  entertainino^  book  and  sav  good-bve  to 
Warren's  second  generation,  we  must  briefly  mention  one  impor- 
tant event  which  partly  grew  out  of  a  desire  to  trade  in  Warren 
and  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  great  canal.  The  people  residing  in 
the  south  portion  of  old  Coventry,  now  Benton,  having  said  desire 
and  being  very  poorly  accommodated  in  town  affiiirs,  were  anxious 
to  be  annexed  to  Warren  and  made  application  to  our  free  and 
independent  democracy  for  that  purpose. 

This  happened  intlie  sclectraenship  of  Enoch  U.  Weeks,  Mo- 
ses H.  Clement,  and  Samuel  L.  Merrill.  These  rulers  called  an 
assembly  of  the  people,  otherwise  a  town  meeting,  and  the  ques- 
tion was  discussed  and  voted  upon.  Maj.  Daniel  Patch  modestly 
presented  the  claims  of  the  dwellers  of  the  Summit,  and  of  High 


ANNEXATION    PROPOSAI.S    IMCJECTKI).  4^47 

street.*  Moses  H.  Clement,  one  of  tliut  year's  tiiiunviri,  was  the 
chief  opposition  speaker.  He  maintained  that -tlie  legal  voters  of 
Warren  were  now  nearly  strong-  enou<;'li  to  send  a  representative 
themselves,  (they  had  previously  been  joined  to  riermont  and 
Coventry  for  that  purpose,)  that  tin-  land  to  !)(■  annexed  was  very 
poor,  tliat  the  [jeople  were  poverty  strieken  and  inclined  to  whisky 
drinking,  and  that  Warrt'u  would  not  he  benetited. 

His  counsels  prevailed,  although  we  wish  they  had  not,  and 
AVarreu  lost,  perhaps  forever,  the  right  of  jurisdiction  over  the 
fine  and  luscious  blueberry  fields  of  Owl's^  head,  the  millions 
of  feet  of  excellent  timber  growing  upon  Mt.  Black,  and  the  noble 
and  majestic  sumnnt  of  the  lofty  Moosehillock,  to  which  so  many 
I)ilgrims  annually  journey. 

*  Tliis  section  of  Benton  should  be  joined  to  Warren,  tlie  Benton  Flats  should 
partly  go  to  Haverhill,  wliile  North  Beriton  and  East  Landati' would  make  a  beauti- 
ful toun  of  Benton  witli  its  centre  at  '■  Danville." 

East  Pierniont  sliould  also  be  joined  tn  Warreu,  where  it  would  be  so  much 
better  acconimodaled. 


MAP  OF  MOUBKN  WAREEN. 


BOOK   YII. 


WHICH  BOOK  IS  BUT  A  CONTINUATION  OF  BOOKS  V.  AND  VI.  AND 
CONTAINS  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  THIRD  GENERATION  OF  AVAR- 
REN'S   WHITE   INHABITANTS. 


CHAPTER  1. 


HOW  GOLD,  SILVER,  AND  DIAMONDS  AVERE  DISCOA^ERED  IN  WARREN, 
AND  OF  SEVERAL  INDIVIDUALS  AVHO  GOT  IM3IENSELY  RICH  MIN- 
ING,  ESPECIALLY  IN  THEIR  IMAGINATIONS. 


As  the  third  generation  of  Warren's  white  citizens  are  step- 
ping upon  the  stage,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  period  when 
this  last  book  of  our  great  history  opens,  a  discovery  of  mighty 
importance  was  made  in  our  hamlet.  Mr.  True  Merrill,  who  lived 
upon  the  Height-o'-land,  found  upon  the  north  bank  of  Ore-hill 
brook,  what  was  tirst  knoAvn  as  the  "  Copper  mine,"  then  as  the 
''  Warren  silver-lead  mine,"  and  latterly  as  the  ^'  AVarren  zinc 
mine." 

It  was  a  rich  deposit  of  minerals.  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson,  a 
great  geologist  from  Boston,  came  on  and  examined  it,  made  a 
report  such  as  all  well  paid  geologists  know  how  to  make,  namely 
a  favorable  one,  and  a  company  Avas  formed,  stock  sold,  and  the 
buyers  of  the  stock  it  is  said  Avere  sold  too. 

Mr.  H.  Bradford  was  the  head  and  front  of  said  compauy. 

C* 


450  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

They  worked  for  a  time,  made  a  great  hole  in  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain ;  but  not  a  cent  to  put  in  tlieir  pockets,  and  eventually  failed 
up  ;  the  usual  fate  of  most  great  mining  companies. 

Then  as  time  rolled  on  for  a  decade  of  years  several  small  but 
terribly  enterprising  companies  wrought  the  mine  on  Ore  hill.  At 
intervals  visions  of  riches,  silvery  and  golden,  would  Hash  before 
the  eyes  of  individual  speculators  and  operators,  only  to  vanish 
like  a  phantom,  and  as  a  result  every  one  of  the  little  companies 
failed. 

About  1840  this  vein  of  ore  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  certain 
Mr.  Brooks.  We  never  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance;,  but 
Warren  miners  say  that  they  knew  him,  that  he  was  like  the  dog 
in  the  manger;  that  he  would  neither  work  the  mine  nor  let  any 
one  else  ;  and  that  he  believed  that  tlie  property  was  richer  than  the 
silver  mines  of  Mexico  or  Sonth  America. 

But  after  a  great  deal  of  diplomacy  a  heavy  company,  headed 
by  Mr.  Baldwin  of  Boston,  got  possession  of  this  wonderful  deposit 
of  minerals  and  ores.  They  went  to  work  and  Ore  hill  glowed 
and  sweat. 

They  built  half  a  dozen  dwelling-houses  —  a  little  village  — 
a  mill,  put  in  stamps  for  crushing  ore,  set  up  a  steam  engine,  pro- 
cured a  large  number  of  separators,  erected  a  whim  house,  sunk 
the  shaft  in  the  copper  mine  a  hundred  feet  deep,  drifted  north 
from  the  foot  of  the  shaft  into  the  mountain  a  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  further  in  the  black  blende  and  galena,  raised  hundreds  of 
tons  of  ore,  crushed,  separated,  and  sent  it  to  market,  and  then 
failed.  Too  bad!  Mr.  H.  H.  Sheldon*  was  the  superintendent, 
and  Captain  Samuel  Truscott,  a  Cornwall  miner,  was  the  overseer 
in  the  shaft.  They  worked  the  mine  for  silver,  copper,  and  lead, 
but  it  paid  not  a  cent. 

Ore  hill  slumbered  then  for  a  time,  and  the  well  wishers  of 
the  mine  were  sad. 

Captain  Edgar  came  next.  He  drove  an  adit  from  the  new 
highway  a  hundred  feet  into  the  hill,  then  abandoned  it  and  the 
mine  too,  after  sending  a  hundred  tons  or  so  of  ore  to  England  to 
see  whether  or  not  it  was  good  for  anything. 

*  When  H.  H.  slieldon,  Esq  ,  hart  charge  of  the  mine,  the  town  built  the  road 
from  the  ohl  turnpike,  at  tlie  forks  of  Ore  hill  stream  up  to  the  works.  It  made  a 
great  saving  in  distance  and  freightage. 


MIXING   OPERATIONS.  4:51 

Then  the  mill  and  the  eiioine  were  sold  at  auction,  the  shaft 
and  the  drift  fillod  up  with  Avatcr;  there  Avas  no  more  clicking  of 
hammers  nor  riiiyiiig  of  drills,  and  the  fires  of  the  forge  went  out. 

Al)Out  live  years  after.  Captain  Edgar  came  back  and  com- 
menced work  again,  this  time  for  zinc.  He  set  up  a  small  station- 
ary engine  to  pump  the  mine  and  raise  the  ore,  and  put  his  men  to 
work  in  the  large  cliamber  at  the  cud  of  the  drift.  The  ore  raised 
was  made  into  a  kiln  and  set  on  fire  by  burning  a  large  pile  of 
wood  underneath  to  desulphurize  it.  This  was  done  to  save  weight 
in  freight  as  from  every  thirty  tons  of  ore  about  ten  tons  of  sul- 
phur was  expelled.  After  cooling  it  Avas  put  up  in  bags  and  sent 
to  Pennsylvania  to  be  worked  into  metallic  zinc.  Captain  Edgar 
suspended  Avork,  and  the  mine  is  noAV  silent  and  deserted  again.* 
More  than^- a  hundred  thousand  dollars  have  been  expended  upon 
it.  AYe  hope  a  hundred  thousand  more  will  be  spent,  and  that 
somebody  will  make  an  immense  fortune  there. 

One  good  thing  has  happened  by  reason  of  mining  on  Oi'e 
hill.  A  large  and  beautiful  cavern  has  been  formed,  the  most 
extensiA^e  in  the  State,  and  hundreds  of  persons  visit  it  when  the 
depth  of  Avater  Avill  permit. 

From  Mr.  True  Merrill's  wonderful  discovery  flowed  another 
result;  a  mining  and  mineral  fever  immediately  began  to  prevail 
and  diflferent  individuals  discovered  first  a  small  vein  of  copper 
pyrites,  distant  forty  rods  south  Avest  from  the  discovery  of  True 
Merrill,  then  tAvo  and  one-half  miles  north  east,  copper  and  pyrites 
in  small  veins ;  and  one  hundred  yards  north  of  the  first  mine  an 
extensive  vein  of  black  blende,  zinc  ore,  mixed  AA'ith  copper 
pyrites  and  galena.  A  few  years  after,  copper,  beryls,  and  epidote 
in  large  masses,  were  found  upon  Warren  Summit.  Subsequently 
James  Clement  discoA^ered  copper,  iron  pyrites,  nickel,  antimony, 
arsenic,  and  beautiful  garnets  by  Martin  brook  on  the  south  east 
slope  of  Sentinel  mountain,  and  Albert  M.  Barber  found  gold  in 
Hurricane  brook  that  comes  down  from  Mount  Carr.  Also  James 
Clement  found  gold  in  Martin  brook  near  the  spot  where  the  gar- 
nets are  located.  And  afterwards  the  same  gentleman  found  that 
the   Asquamchumauke,   the   stream  by  which   the   Indian   chief. 


*  Capt.  .>a!iips  Edgar  resumed  work  in  the  fall  of  1869  aud  suspended  business  in 
the  winter  of  1870.    Now  at  the  end  of  1S70  he  has  commenced  work  again. 


452  HISTORY    OF    "WARREN." 

"Waternomee,  and  Captain  Baker  fought,  and  on   which  Stinson 
died,  was  far  richer  than  either  in  golden  sands. 

Besides  these  discoveries  others  have  been  made  in  a  most 
wonderfnl  manner.  It  is  told  how  a  party  of  tourists  from  New 
York,  visited  Moosehillock  mountain.  There  they  fell  in  with  a 
spiritualist  Avho  went  into  a  fit,  and  looking  with  shut  eyes  towards 
Sentinel  mountain  saw  fourteen  different  mines  upon  that  green 
wooded  eminence,  the  best  of  which  was  located  at  a  certain 
clump  of  spruces.  Tlie  oracle  was  believed,  a  company  was  organ- 
ized, and  they  actually  worked  a  year  and  a  half  at  the  spot  indi- 
cated.* They  indeed  found  iron  and  some  other  minerals,  but 
nothing  that  would  pay,  and  the  undertaking  was  abandoned 
after  a  useless  expenditure  of  fi'om  five  to  six  thousand  dollars. 
Another  individual,  probably  a  cousin  to  the  tourists,  paid  one 
thousand  dollars  for  a  worthless  piece  of  land  upon  which  some 
"  golden  specimens  '"  had  been  deposited.  It  was  a  i-egularly 
"  salted  claim,"  and  the  buyer  was  out  and  swindled  to  the  extent 
of  his  investment. 

So  successful  have  been  the  gold  prospectors  and  the  men 
with  divining  rods  that  a  large  number  of  other  minerals  and  pre- 
cious stones  have  been  found  in  Warren;  the  most  interesting  of 
wliich  are  rutile,  plumbago,  molybdenum,  cadmium,  scapolite, 
tremolite,  talc,  tourmaline,  beryl,  apatite,  garnet,  idocrase,  epidote, 
brown  hematite,  hyalite,  cinnamon  stone,  quartz  crystals  in  great 
variety,  besides  others  of  less  importance  and  all  the  rocks  common 
to  New  Hampshire.  It  is  already  known  that  forty-one  different 
kinds  of  specimens  aie  bedded  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sentinel 
mountain  ;t  l)ut  not  content  with  these,  several  enthusiastic  min- 
eralogists, with  a  wise  look  and  a  sly  manner,  aver  that  platinum, 
mercury,  tin,  and  rmigh  diamonds  likewise  abound,  although  as 
yet  they  fail  to  produce  the  samples. 

Some  also  tliere  are  who  in  an  undertone  will  tell  you  how 
they  know  of  a  mine  up  in  the  mimntains  where  they  can  cut  out 
pure  lead  with  a  jackknife  or  axe  just  light  to  run  into  bullets  — 
Obadiah  Clement  and  Joseph   Patch  got  lead  of  tliat  kind  there 

*  They  drove  a  shaft  a  hundred  feet  iuto  the  mountain.    Capt.  Truscott  had 
charge  oi  this  job. 

t  For  a  list  of  these  see  Appendix. 


WONDERFUL   MINEHAL   DEPOSITS.  453 

when  they  were  Imnting-  —  how  tliey  can  fiiul  mica  in  sheets  a  foot 
sqnai'e,  wortli  its  weig'ht  in  toi)azcs,  sapphires,  and  rubies,  and 
liow  they  know  the  very  mountain  stream  and  the  stone  monument 
beside  it,  wliere  Roger's  ranger  piclced  up  nuggets  of  pure  gold  as 
large  as  robins"  e^gs.  Yet  tliey  will  not  show  the  places  for  fear 
they  cannot  buy  the  land,  or  that  they  will  in  some  way  be  robbed 
of  all  their  hidden  treasures.  But  we  will  uot  vouch  for  their 
statements,  and  it  is  only  safe  for  this  history  to  say  that  no  other 
spot  on  earth  contains  so  great  a  variety  of  minerals,  in  so  limited 
an  area,  as  our  town  of  Warren. 

But  if  all  the  mines  in  Warren  have  failed  as  yet,  still  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  one  person  has  made  a  profit  out  of  the  minerals. 
Mr,  James  Clement  keeps  an  abuiulance  of  them  to  sell,  and  hun- 
dreds of  people  have  derived  real  pleasure  in  buying  and  examin- 
ing them.  "  Jim ""  enjoys  himself  and  improves  his  health,  he 
says,  when  with  basket,  cold  chisel,  and  miner's  hammer  slung  on 
his  shoulder,  he  takes  a  tramj)  through  the  valley  and  over  the  hills 
seeking  to  find  all  the  metals,  minerals,  and  precious  stones  known 
in  the  books,  in  this,  as  he  alleges,  *'  the  most  ■wonderful  mineral 
deposit  on  earth J'^ 


CHAPTER  II. 


HOW  THE  BEKRY  BROOK  ROAD  WAS  BUILT  AND  A  PATH  OX  TO 
MOOSEHILLOCK  WAS  CUT,  WITH  A  PLEASANT  ACCOUNT  OF  SEV- 
ERAL INDIVIDUALS  WHO  NICKNAMED  EACH  OTHER  IN  THE 
HAPPIEST   MANNER. 


IHE  people  in  all  this  uorthevn  country  were  disappointed 
in  the  failure  to  build  the  canal.     They  wanted  an  easy  route  to 

7> 


the  seaboard.  The  old  Coos  road  "  was  a  hard  road  to  travel 
and  the  turnpike  Avliich  superseded  it,  although  nearly  straight 
and  very  well  made,  being  over  hills  and  lofty  mountains,  all 
known  as  the  Height-o'-land,  was  a  very  ditiicult  highway  on 
which  to  transport  heavy  freight. 

Gen.  McDaffee's  survey  had  one  important  result,  it  informed 
the  Avorld  that  there  was  an  easier  route  than  the  turnpike  and  that 
was  the  one  through  the  Oliverian  notch.  Individuals  from  >Yells 
River  and  northern  Vermont,  came  down  and  examined  this  pass 
through  the  hills  and  went  back  with  a  glowing  report  of  the  ease 
with  which  a  road  could  be  built  through  it.  They  sent  messen- 
gers and  letters  to  Warren  urging  the  inhabitants  to  build  it;  but 
our  little  democracy  was  violently  opposed  to  the  enterprise  for 
the  reason  that  it  would  subject  them  to  much  expense,  and  as  it 
passed  through  an  uninhabited  section  it  would  cost  a  large  sura 
each  year  to  keep  it  in  repair.  Besides,  the  landlords  upon  the 
turnpike  knew  it  would  kill  them,  and  thej^  worked  against  it  with 
all  their  might. 

But  something  must  be  done  for  the  clamor  came  down  even 


THE  BERRY  BROOK  ROAD.  455 

from  the  bouudanes  of  Canada  saying,  "  Build  the  Berry  brook 
road.''  So  an  assembly  of  the  people  was  held  in  theseleotmenship 
of  Moses  H.  Clement,  Samuel  L.  Merrill,  and  Samuel  Merrill,  July 
22d,  1834,  and  Xathaniel  Clough,  Salomon  Cotton,  and  Samuel 
Bixb}'  were  chosen  a  committee  to  examine  and  explore  all  routes 
thought  proper  for  a  highway  through  the  town. 

The  committee  acted.  They  went  up  the  banks  of  the  Mikas- 
eota  or  Black  brook,  and  down  Berry  brook  valley.  Whether  or 
not  they  went  over  the  low  pass  between  Waternomee  and  Cush- 
man  mountains  to  Woodstock,  or  climbed  the  old  route  surveyed 
by  Abel  Merrill  and  Joseph  Patch  by  Glen  ponds  to  Trecothick, 
we  are  unable  to  say,  for  the  committee  made  no  report  and  never 
intended  to ;  the  only  object  Avas  delay. 

The  people  of  the  upper  country  waited,  then  became  impa- 
tient, finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  our  little  democracy  did 
not  intend  to  do  anything,  and  getting  mad  went  before  the  grand 
jury  at  Haverhill,  and  got  Warren's  public  highways  indicted,  as 
Col.  Obadiah  Clement  did  once  before,  and  the  court  ordered  a 
large  fine  to  be  imposed  upon  our  modest  town,  to  be  paid  in  work 
upon  her  bad  roads.  The  citizens  were  disgusted  and  indignant, 
but  they  worked  out  the  fine. 

The  subject  of  a  new  road  was  also  presented  to  the  court. 
After  a  patient  hearing  of  the  matter  that  august  tribunal  decided 
that  the  road  should  be  built  through  Berry  brook  valley,  and 
appointed  a  committee  to  lay  it  out.  They  immediately  proceeded 
with  their  work,  bushing  it  through  and  setting  the  stakes  upon 
the  west  bank.  Then  the  court  ordered  the  town  of  Warren  to 
build  it. 

When  it  was  evident  that  the  work  must  be  performed,  and 
that  they  could  no  longer  avoid  it,  an  assembly  of  the  citizens  was 
held  on  the  8th  of  December,  1834,  and  it  was  voted  that  the  road 
should  be  built.  They  Avould  not  fight  the  court  in  the  matter.  So 
they  chose  Solomon  Cotton,  Samuel  L.  Merrill,  and  Joseph  Bixby 
a  committee  to  carry  the  Avork  through,  and  authorized  them  to 
raise  five  hundred  dollars  to  commence  Avith.  But  this  sum  hard- 
ly made  a  commencement,  only  cntthig  the  trees  and  digging 
the  stumps,  nothing  more.  Then  it  aa'us  let  out  in  difiorent  sec- 
tions to  several  individuals,  Maj.  Daniel  Patch  and  liis  sou  Joseph 


456  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

building  the  oue  upon  the  Summit.  Carlos  D.  Woodward, 
Henry  No}-es,  Roper  Noj'os,  John  Buswell,  Stevens  Merrill,  Win- 
throp  and  Roswell  Elliott,  and  Ebenezer  Calef,  built  the  sections 
south.  Stephen  AVhiteman  said  he  was  a  sub-contractor  and  cut 
bushes,  and  that  Rev.  Horace  Webber  did  the  same  thing. 

Before  it  was  finished  two  years  of  time  had  passed,  more 
than  three  thousand  dollars  expended,  and  the  town  was  heavily 
in  debt.  December  22,  1835,  the  town  voted  that  although  the 
Berry  brook  road  was  not  completed,  the  selectmen  should  post  up 
notices  at  each  end  of  said  highway,  that  people  might  travel  over 
it  at  their  own  expense  and  their  own  risk. 

The  debt!  It  looked  like  a  mountain.  Warren  hitherto  had 
been  an  economical  town.  They  were  not  used  to  paying  big  bills. 
How  could  they  now?  The  citizens  were  almost  discouraged. 
But  kind  Providence,  as  some  of  the  more  pious  ones  will  have  it, 
came  to  their  relief.    It  happened  thus : — 

For  manv  vears  a  large  amount  of  monev  had  been  accruins: 
in  the  United  States  bank.  When  Gen.  Jackson,  who  was  very 
hostile  to  the  bank,  was  elected  president,  that  institution  was  dis- 
solved, and  government  after  paying  the  debts  of  the  nation  passed 
a  resolve  that  the  surplus  should  be  divided  among  the  different 
States,  and  then  distributed  to  the  towns  of  which  they  were  com- 
posed. By  a  vote  passed  at  the  regular  annual  meeting,  the  select- 
men Avere  empowei-ed  to  go  to  Concord  and  receive  the  "  Surplus 
Revenue."  They  brought  home  with  them  eighteen  hundred  dol- 
lars. At  first  they  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  it ;  but  at  a  town 
meeting  held  for  the  purpose,  voted  that  the  selectmen  put  the 
money  out  at  usury,  not  letting  any  one  individual  have  more  than 
two  hundred  dollars.  Then  in  1838,  the  town  voted  that  the  select- 
men call  in  enough  of  the  surplus  revenue  to  pay  up  for  the  build- 
ing of  the  Berry  brook  road, —  a  very  sensible  vote  —  but  they 
coupled  on  the  following  rather  ambiguous  clause,  "  That  Solomon 
Cotton  be  an  agent  to  take  charge  of  the  money,  and  that  the 
selectmen  hire  it  of  him,  giving  their  notes  for  the  same  and  pay 
the  town  debt  with  it."  What  became  of  the  notes  we  are  wholly 
unable  to  say.     The  town  certainly  never  paid  them. 

With  the  new  road  through  Berry  brook  valley  built,  a  hotel 
must  be  erected  on  the  Summit.    Moses  Abbott,  the  fat  mau,  kept 


A   PATH  CUT   DP    MOOSEHILLOCK.  457 

it  at  first,  and  then  it  passed  in^o  tlie  hand?;  of  Benjamin  Little, 
and  he  was  mine  host  in  that  section  for  many  years.* 

Travelers  who  stopped  at  Mr.  Little's  inn,  frequently  sno- 
gested  that  they  would  like  to  climb  to  the  bald  crest  of  Moosohil- 
lock.  To  gratify  the  wish,  one  summer  day  he  raised  all  High 
street  by  giving-  them  what  grog"  they  could  drink  and  they  bushed 
out  a  path  right  up  the  side  of  the  mountain  to  the  topinost  peak. 

It  was  a  beautiful  day  when  the  party  of  road  makCTs  came 
out  upon  the  bald  crest.  The  wiud  was  blowing  strong  from  the 
north  west,  and  the  little  flowers  growing  upon  Moosehillock's 
bare  peak  shook  their  white  heads  in  the  breeze. 

Onr  landlord  is  standing  upon  the  north  peak.  His  friends 
and  their  dogs,  wild  dwellers  of  the  Summit  and  of  High  street, 
are  in  a  group  around  him.  Nathan  Willey,  playfully  called  "  Mr. 
Nutter;"  Moses  Ellsworth,  who  had  the  title  of  "  Fortyfoot,"  on 
account  of  the  shortness  of  his  stature;  L^aac  Fitield,  a  tall  man, 
gifted  in  prayer  in  time  of  revivals,  whom  the  Summit  boys  face- 
tiously called  '*  Aunt  Isaac," — "  Fortyfoot"  had  "  Aunt  Isaac's  " 
prayer  learned  by  heart,  and  could  repeat  it  with  unction  on  occa- 
sions when  he  had  put  himself  outside  of  two  or  three  beverages  ;t 
Sir  Richard  Whiteman  ;  Stephen  Whiteman,  with  the  pious  title  of 
"  Elder  Binx ;"  John  French,  the  school-master,  an  early  riser,  who 
had  the  economical  habit  of  lying  in  bed  with  his  wife  till  the 
clock  struck  three  in  the  afternoon,  in  winter,  to  save  tire-wood ; 
"Welches,  father  and  two  sons,  Silas  and  Bartlett ;  Stephen  Mai'tin, 
Calvin  Bailey,  Samuel  Whitcher,  James  Harriman,  husband  of 
Mrs.  Harriman,  and  others,  and  Joseph  AYhitcher,  the  bear-catcher, 
wolf-killer,  and  story-teller,  were  there  —  all  good  men,  who  thus 
good  naturedly  nicknamed  each  other. J  Their  beards  were  un- 
shaven, and  their  long  hair  streamed  out  in  the  pure  air  that  was 
blowing  so  steady  over  the  mountain. 

Tlie  blue  sky  is  above  them;  no  smoke,  no  haze,  no  clouds  are 
there.    Silver  lakes  and  flashing  rivers  lay  beneath  them.  A  thou- 

*  In  early  times  Chase  Wliitelier  kept  entertainment  for  man  and  beast  on  the 
Summit,  Maj".  Daniel  Patch  also,  but  neither  of  them  kept  tavern. 

t  We  once  saw  .lim  Clement  burst  every  button  ofl'his  vestlaugrhingat  "Forty- 
foot,"  when  lie  was  repeating  "  Aunt  Isaac's  "  prayer,  to  "  Aunt  I."  himself,  and  a 
crowd  of  listeners. 

J:  Some  well  bred  people  have  said  that  it  was  mean  business  for  the  above 
gentlemen  to  call  each  other  names. 


458  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

sand  mountain  peaks  bathing'  tlieir  heads  in  the  bright  sunshine  are 
around  tliem.  There  are  peaks  sharp  and  angular,  wavy  wooded 
mountain  crests,  great  cones  standing  alone,  dome  shaped  moun- 
tains dark  and  sombre. 

Mr.  Nathan  Willey  wanted  to  know  what  that  great  sheet  of 
water  in  the  south  was,  and  John  French,  the  school-master,  said 
it  must  be  the  Smile  of  the  Great  Spirit,  the  beautiful  lake  Winne- 
pisseogee.     Mr.  Stephen  Whiteman  asked  what  that  ragged  look- 
ing mountain  over  there  to  the  north-east  was,  and  the  school- 
master told  how  he  had  heard  Dick  French,  the  hunter,  tell  about 
the  great  Haystacks  that  had  white  furi'ows  down  their  sides,  and 
that  they  were   terrible  hard   mountains   to  climb,     Capt.  Benj. 
Little  pointed  out  the  long  river  down  in  the  west  as  the  Connecti- 
cut and  Richard  AVhiteman  said   he  could  see  Black  mountain, 
Owl's-head,    Webster   slide,   and  Wachipauka  pond, — he  knew 
them.     Stephen  Whiteman  stuck  to  it  that  he  could  see  Boston; 
and  said  it  was  not  a  great  distance  either,  only  a  hundred  and 
forty  miles  by  the  road;  and  that  Maj.  True  Stevens  had  walked 
it   in   less  than    two    days  Avhen  he    came  back  from  Brighton, 
where  he  had  been  with  a  drove.*    Capt.  Ben.  Little  said  he  could 
beat  that,  and  then  he  told  how  Col.  Moses  H.  Clement  went  down 
to  Brighton  wuth  a  tiock  of  sheep,  and  had  a  little  brindle  dog 
Bose  to  help  drive  them,  that  just  at  dark  in  Brighton  he  lost  the 
dog,  and  that  before  night  the  next  day,  Bose  whined  and  barked 
at  the  door  in  Warren,  and  Mrs.  Clement  let  him  in,  terribly  tired 
and  footsore.     The  dog  had  run  a  hundred  and  forty  miles  in  less 
than  twenty-four  hours.     Joseph  "Whitcher  said  he  didn't  care  any- 
thing about  such  stories,  and  then  he  went  on  to  tell  that  he  had 
been  all  over  the  mountain  a  good  many  times  before,  hunting 
wolves.     Said  he,  "'  I  caught  one  down  there  in  the  Tunnel  where 
you  can  hear  Tunnel  brook  roaring.     Once  I  followed  one  down 
Moosehillock  river  that  rises  over  there  in  that  dark  fir  woods  .and 
runs  down  into  the  Pemigewassett,  but  did  not  get  him." 

"  "Where  does  Tunnel  brook  go  to?"  said  Stephen  "Whiteman. 
AVhitcher  said  it  ran  down  into  the  Swiflwater,  and  the  latter 
stream  emptied  into  the  Ammonoosuc.    Then  the  bear  catcher  said 

*  John  Libbey  once  did  the  same  thing.  He  walked  from  Boston  to  Warren  in 
two  days.  He  got  up  to  Concord  the  first  day  the  sun  an  hour  high. — Anson  Mer- 
rill's statement. 


THE   SUMMIT   OK   MOOSEHILLOCK.  459 

he  got  two  deer  once  in  the  meadow  where  was  the  little  poud 
which  was  the  head  of  Baker  river,  and  that  once  he  fished  clear 
down  to  the  East-parte  and  got  more  trout  than  he  could  lug',  and 
Mr.  Fitield  said  he  didn't  believe  a  word  of  it.  But  Joseph 
AVhiteher  did  not  care  a  copper  whether  he  believed  it  or  not,  and 
went  on  to  say  that  he  had  a  sable  line  every  year  on  the  Oliverian, 
and  that  every  one  of  these  streams,  Tunnel  brook,  Swiftwaler, 
Moosehillock  river.  Baker  river,  and  the  Oliverian,  had  its  source 
within  a  rod  of  the  mountain  summit  where  they  stood,  Moses 
Ellsworth  said  he  knew  this  was  a  lie  for  he  hadn't  had  a  drop  of 
anything  for  an  hour  to  wet  his  whistle  with,  and  he  was  most 
choked  to  death  and  would  like  to  see  the  springs  from  which  the 
streams  started. 

Justthen  three  eagles  rose  out  of  the  gi'eat  Tunnel  where  the 
brook  was  roaring,  and  came  hovering  over  the  grassy  mountain 
crest,  hunting- for  small  birds  and  mice.  "See  there !"  said  Mr. 
Willey.  The  dogs  snuffed  the  air,  erected  the  hair  on  their  backs, 
and  their  ears  stood  straight.  One  of  them  barked.  The  eagles, 
one  with  white  breast  and  tail,  the  others  gray,  caught  sight  and 
sound.  Wheeling  in  the  air,  seemingly  without  moving  feather  or 
wing,  around  and  around  in  great  circles,  each  time  higher  up, 
they  soared  thousands  of  feet  above  the  mountain  peak,  until  they 
were  almost  lost  in  the  deep  blue.  Then,  a  speck  in  the  sky,  they 
sailed  slowly  aAvay  eastward  over  the  great  Pemigewassett  valley. 
Stephen  Whiteman  said  he  would  like  to  know  how  those  birds 
could  get  up  so  high  without  "  floppin  ''  their  wings  once. 

But  it  was  getting  cold,  the  men  were  dry,  and  away  they  went 
through  the  matted  hackmatacks  down  the  mountain.  When  they 
were  gone,  as  great  novelists  would  tell  it,  the  wind  still  sighed  on 
the  rocks,  the  little  birds  sang  their  vesper  hymns  in  the  dark  firs, 
the  eagles  screamed  again  and  a  wolf  howled  down  in  one  of  the 
great  gorges;  but  no  human  ear  was  there  to  listen.  The  moun- 
tain peak  was  left  alone,  a  niiglity  solitude  in  the  great  waste  of 
mountains,  just  as  it  had  been  for  ages.  As  the  men  went  liome 
Isaac  Fificld  said  that  "  the  rain  might  descend,  the  winds  blow, 
the  frosts  come,  and  the  snow  fall  and  no  human  being  for  years 
would  again  gaze  upon  this  wild  magnificence."    But  Mr.  Fifield's 


460  HISTORY    OF   AVARREN. 

reflections  did  not  prove  true,  and  scattering  A'isitors  from  that 
day  fortli  began  to  climb  Mooseliillock  mountain.* 

Tiiis  last  road  cost  Warren  nothing;  the  burden  of  the  first 
the  surplus  revenue  removed.  Both  brought  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness, one  by  attracting  visitors  with  its  mighty  grandeur,  the 
other  by  turning  a  still  larger  tide  of  travel  through  our  pleasant 
hamlet  valley. 

*  Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett.  Samxiel  Knight  and  others  went  on  to  Moosehillock  about 
the  year  18UJ.  They  did  not  succeed  in  ligliting  a  fire,  and  it  was  so  cold  they  had 
to  leave  tlie  summit  at  niglit.  They  went  down  on  tlie  north  east  side  over  the" great 
ledges  in  the  ravine  where  they  had  to  let  tlieniselves  down  witli  a  pole.  There 
was  snow  on  the  mountain  at  the  time. — Miss  Hannah  B.  Knight's  statement. 

Explanatory  Note. — The  substance  of  the  story  about  cutting  the  Moosehillock 
path  is  ti  ue.  Uut  our  authorities  said  they  would  not  vouch  lor  all  the  minute 
particulars. 


CHAPTER  III. 


OF  A  GREAT  LAWSUIT  ABOUT  MRS.  SARAH  WEEKS,  WHOM  FOOLISH 
PEOPLE  CALLED  A  WITCH,  CONCLUDING  WITH  PLEASANT  REC- 
OLLECTIONS OF  A  PARING  BEE  AND  A  "  SHIN-DIG,"  IF  ANY- 
BODY  KNOWS   WHAT   THAT   IS. 


>T  AEEEN  in  olden  times  had  waged  fierce  lawsuits.  Col. 
Obadiah  Clement,  fighting  for  victorj^,  indignant  teamsters  and 
stage  drivei's  getting  numerous  indictments  to  cure  bad  roads,  liad 
cost  the  town  many  a  hard  battle.  But  these  old  fights  buried 
under  nearly  half  a  century  were  almost  forgotten,  liviug  only  in 
the  memory  of  the  most  aged  inhabitants.  Even  the  recollection 
of  the  would  be  lawsuit  Stevens  Merrill  might  have  had  with 
James  Aiken,  had  he  not  taken  the  law  into  his  own  hands  and  a 
house  been  burned  up,  had  almost  faded  away  forever. 

But  now  when  the  third  generation  of  Warren's  white  inhabi- 
tants were  on  the  stage  the  slumbering  volcano  of  litigating  wrath 
once  more  burst  forth  and  our  iieaceful  hamlet  among  the  hills  was 
tossed  from  centre  to  circumference.*     It  happened  in  this  wise. 

*  Death  by  Friffht.— 'Warren  never  has  had  many  lawyers,  but  has  been  blessed 
with  plenty  ot'  law.  .Joseph  Patch,  .7r.,  lor  a  while  was  deputy  sheriff,  and  he  once 
went  on  to  Pine-Iiill  to  an  est  one  Goodwin  on  a  civil  process.  Goodwin  stood 
looking  at  him  till  the  slierifl  got  witliin  a  rod  of  him.  and  then  fell  dead  in  his 
tracks.    It  was  said  l)y  some  that  liis  imagination  killed  him. 

Serimis  Laic  r«.se.— Capt.  Samuel  L.  Men-ill  once  kept  store  on  the  turnpike, 
near  the  Blue  riflge.  Some  one  hitched  his  horse  and  sleigh  in  the  store  shed  one 
day  and  went  in  to  purchase  goods.  While  tliere  a  jjerson  supposed  to  be  tipsy, 
went  up  ijeinnd  the  <dd  fasliioned,  liigh-l)ackcd,  Idue-jiainted  sleigh,  to  answer  to 
one  of  the  calls  of  nature.  Tlie  sleigli  back  was  live  ieet  liigh  to  keep  ll.e  wind  off 
the  driver,  and  there  was  a  crack  near  the  top  of  it.  The  copious  Hood  pouied  lorth 
by  tlie  tipsy  man  ran  tlirough  the  crack,  down  on  tlie  inside  and  wet  the  owner's 


4G2  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Mrs.  Sarah  "W^ceks.  of  whom  we  have  spoken  before,  and  who  had 
the  very  enviable  reputation  of  being  a  witch,  Avife  of  Benjamin 
Weeks,  Jr.,  had  become  chargeable  to  the  town  of  Wentworth  for 
support  as  a  pauper.  She  had  once  lived  iu  Warren  on  the  Height- 
o"-laiid,  and  Wcntwortii  thought  our  good  town  should  support 
her.  AYentworth  requested  Warren  to  do  so.  Warren  refused. 
Wentworth  was  indignant  —  mad  —  and  said  she  should.  AVarren 
was  stubborn  and  a  suit  was  brought. 

Our  neighbor  across  the  southern  border  employed  distin- 
guished counsel, — Hon.  John  P.  Hale,  U.  S.  Senator,  and  after- 
wards minister  to  Spain,  and  Plon.  Josiah  Quincy.  Our  beloved 
hamlet  engaged  the  services  of  Hon.  Franklin  Pierce,  afterwards 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  Thomas  J>  AVhijiple,  Esq.,  to 
assist  him.  The  case  was  in  the  Eastern  Judicial  rnstrict  of  Graf- 
ton county,  and  Avas  tried  at  Plymouth.  It  turned  upon  this  point: 
Did  Benjamin  Weeks,  Jr.,  have  a  residence  in  AVarren?  He  had 
never  paid  taxes  there  seven  years  iu  succession;  but  on  the  books 
Avas  this  record:  •' 1817,  Benj.  Weeks  elected  hogreeve."  There 
was  no  record  of  his  taking"  the  oath  of  office,  and  unless  he  had 
done  so,  he  would  not  have  gained  a  residence.  There  Avas  great 
excitement  about  the  case  in  both  towns,  and  it  greatly  increased 
when  the  AA'itnesses  were  summoned.  On  the  part  of  AV^entAvorth, 
the  following  were  cited  to  appear: 

Kichard  AA'hiteman  and  Stephen  AYhiteman.  of  AVarren.  AVil- 
liam  AAHiiteman,  of  Canada.  Joshua  Copp,  Jr.,  of  Northumberland, 
N.  n.,  AA^illiam  Kelley,  and  Anson  Merrill.* 

dinner,  tlsereliy  spoiling  it.  It  was  a  case  of  trespass;  the  owner  was  mad,  and 
swore  lie  would  liave  satisfaction.  Jloses  Ellswoitli,  sometimes  called  Fort.vfoot, 
was  jtreseiit,  tipsy,  and  lie  Avas  at  once  suspeited  as  tlie  culprit,  and  taken  into 
custody.  Tliere  was  no  judge  present,  so  a  "  reference  "  was  apjiointed  and  they 
immediately  proceeded  with  the  investigation.  Fortyloot  plead  "not  guilty,'' 
whereupona  two  foot  rule  was  procured  and  the  culprit's  legs  were  measured. 
They  were  lound  to  be  only  two  feet  four  inches  long,  witde  the  crack  in  the  back 
of  tiie  sleigh  was  three  feet  six  inches  from  the  ground,  consequently  the  reference 
after  great  deliberation,  brought  in  that  Foityfoot  could  not  have  possibly  done 
the  dirty  deed,  and  he  was  ac(iuitted.  It  is  said  that  tlie  accused  weiit  tears"  of  joy 
over  the  result  of  the  trial,  and  that  the  court,  counsel,  and  spectators,  all  took  a 
sinile  at  the  bar  of  justice  inside  the  store. 

Aloses  Abljott  and  Josepli  Whitcher  once  bet  on  an  election.  Each  staked  his 
hog  against  the  other.  Abl)ott  lo.st  Init  would  not  give  up  his  hog.  Alter  a  good 
deal  of  iliscussion  they  lett  it  out  to  A\'illiani  Ponieroy,  Enoch  K.  AVeeks,  and  Ste- 
vens M.  Uow,  who  broiight  in  that  Whitcher  should  have  Abbott's  hog;  a  very  proper 
decision  according  to  the  betting  code,  but  decidedly  illegal.  This  case"  created 
immense  excitement  on  the  Sunnnit. 

*  ANSON   AXD  MAIIALA  {Jilirns)  MERniLL'S  FAMIIA'   EKCOHD. 

Alarried  Oct.  1831.  He  was  boi-n  Dec.  4,  1804.  She  was  born  Aug.  15,  1815. 
Their  children  are  Elizabeth,  Van,  an  iufaut,  Ada  A.  and  Elleu  L. 


.;> 


^WUct^    (^/f^.. 


c^r 


/ 


/ 


A   GREAT    LAWSUIT.  463 

On  the  part  of  Warren,  Moses  H.  Clement,  Jesse  Little,*  Page 
Clement,  son  of  old  JonuMian  Clement,  innkeeper,  David  Fellows, 
and  Nathaniel  Ciongh.  were  summoned. 

"William  D.  ^IcQiio.-ition  was  agent  for  Went  worth;  Enoch  R. 
Weeks  was  agent  for  Warren. 

And  now  the  battle  began.  Wentworth's  witnesses  testified 
that  Benjamin  AVeeks,  Jr..  was  chosen  hogreeve;  but  they  could  not 
swear  that  he  was  sworn  in.  Warren's  witnesses  testified  that  he 
was  chosen,  but  that  he  was  not  sworn  in.  The  lawyers  on  the  trial 
were  very  smart  as  might  be  expected,  and  fought  tenaciously. 
They  wanted  to  show  their  present  and  future  clients  what  great 
ability  they  had. 

The  evidence  was  all  in ;  they  were  about  to  commence  the 
ai'guments ;  silence  reigned  in  the  court  room.  There  was  a  pause. 
Then  Richard  Whiteman,  sometimes  called  Sir  Richard  of  Tama- 
I'ack  swamp,  again  took  the  stand.  His  countenance  shone,  his 
recollection  was  refreslied,  and  he  testified  as  brave  as  a  lion  that 
Benjamin  Weeks,  Jr.,  was  elected,  that  he  was  sworn  in,  aud  that 
he,  Whiteman,  had  helped  him  on  several  occasions  both  yoke  aud 
ring  hogs.    Most  satisfactory  evidence ! 

The  arguments  were  made,  the  Judge  delivered  his  charge, 
the  jury  retired,  and  returning  in  a  few  minutes,  gave  a  verdict  for 
Wentworth.  Warren's  agent  and  his  witnesses  went  home  feeling 
cheap  enough. 

That  night  AVentworth  had  a  jollification.  Their  old  cannon 
was  brouifht  out.  It  was  double  charged  every  time,  and  a^inn 
and  again  it  sent  the  notes  of  victory  up  the  Asquamchumauke 
valley,  over  every  hill  of  our  hamlet,  even  to  AVarren  Summit.   Of 

t  JESSE  AND  SUSAN  COPP  (Merrill)  LITTLE'S  FAMILY  EECORD. 

He  ^as  born  .Tuly  4,  1800.  William,  born  Jlar.  -20,  1833. 

She  wa.-i  born  July,  30,  180S.  Thomas  B.  born  Sept.  7,  1838. 

Married  Nov.  18, 18-29.  George  A.  born  May  23,  1847. 
.Joseph,  born  Oct; '28,  1830. 

GENEALOGY  OF  TUE   LITTLE  FAMILY  IX   WAKREN. 

George  LiTTLE,  a  tailor  by  trarle,  came  from  T'nicoiii  street,  London,  Eng- 
land, to  Newbury.  .Mass.,  in  IWO.     He  married  Alice  Poor. 

Moses,  4th  child  ot'  (ieorj^e,  born  .Alareh  11,  lii57,  married  Lvdia  Coffin. 
Tristram,  -2(1  child  ol  Moses,  born  Dec  it,  1(>81,  niarrit'd  .Sarah  Dole. 
Samuel,  3d  child  ol'  Tristram,  l)orn  Feb.  18,  1713,  married  Dorothy  Noyes. 
.James,  1st  chihl  of  Samuel,  boin  Feb.  18,  1737,  married  Tamar  U'obeits. 
Amos,  3d  child  ol'  .James,  born  Feb.  28,  17()!),  mairied  Betsey  Jvindjall. 
.lesse, 5th  child  of  Amos,  born  July  4,  Is'UO,  married  Susan  C.  Merrill. 


464  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

course  the  citizens  of  Warren  were  perfectly  delighted  with  the 
gentle  music. 

Wentworth's  celebration  had  a  wonderful  eflFect.  It  waked  up 
the  musty  recollection  of  every  old  man  in  Warren.  They  began 
to  remember  how  the  case  was.  Old  Mr.  Nathaniel  Clough  was 
the  first  man  to  recall  it.  The  facts  were  something  as  follows: 
There  were  in  town  two  men,  father  and  son,  by  the  name  of  Ben- 
jamin Weeks,  Benjamin,  Sen.,  and  Benjamin,  Jr.  The  son  was 
chosen  hogreeve,  but  as  he  was  not  in  the  meeting  at  the  time,  to 
take  the  oath,  his  father,  Benjamin  Weeks,  stepped  forward  at 
once  and  said,  ''  Choose  me  and  I  will  serve.''  He  was  immedi- 
ately chosen,  took  the  oath,  and  the  record  on  the  town  book, 
"  1817,  Benj.  Weeks  elected  hogreeve,"  was  correct;  but  it  had  no 
relation  to  Benj.  Weeks,  Jr.  Many  other  men  now  remembered 
the  fact  and  the  town  could  not  give  the  case  up  so. 

Accordingly  at  a  meeting  called  and  held  Nov.  22,  1843,  the 
following  vote  was  passed:  "  That  the  agent  chosen  to  carry  on 
the  case  between  Warren  and  Wentworth,  have  it  tried  where  they 
think  proper;  that  the  agent  ascertain  whether  the  review  destroys 
the  decision  of  the  former  trial,  if  it  does  destroy  it,  then  the 
agents  are  to  settle  with  Wentworth,  by  that  town  paying  the  legal 
cost  the  town  of  AVarren  would  recover  bj'  law,  and  they  also 
support  Sarah  Weeks;  if  they  will  not  settle  upon  these  conditions, 
then  the  agent  is  to  proceed  with  the  case." 

The  facts  and  the  action  of  the  town  came  to  the  ears  of  th'- 
agent  of  Wentworth.  At  first  he  was  incredulous,  then  he  made 
inquiries,  then  went  to  the  old  men  of  AYarren  and  learned  how 
they  wonld  testify,  and  finally  after  the  winter  and  spring  passed, 
and  the  summer  was  far  along,  he  came  to  AA^arren,  backed  down, 
and  paid  u]).  Thus  ended  AA^arren's  greatest  lawsuit;  all  the  citi- 
zens felt  good  and  the  victory  must  be  celebrated.  Tliis  was  not 
done  by  firing  cannon  after  the  manner  of  AYeiit worth;  but  par- 
ties, junketings,  and  apple  bees  were  rife,  and  the  people  that 
'  autumn  had  a  most  hilarious  time  of  it. 

The  young  friends  of  your  humble  historian,  who  was  a  boy 
then,  went  with  him  to  two  paring  bees  tliat  fall,  according  to  his 
recollection.  Once  we  came  down  by  the  Forks  school-house, 
where  Hurricane  brook,  a  silver  stream,  falls  into  Patch  brook. 


CELEBRATING    THE    VICTORY.  465 

after  leaping  and  laughing  its  way  from  the  summit  of  Mount 
^■^r,  3,000  feet  above  us,  to  Mr.  William  Clough's.  "What  a  pile 
of  apples  was  worked  up  that  night.  Four  brave  young  men  were 
mounted  on  four  old  fashioned  paring  machines,  all  of  different 
patterns,  and  with  what  a  buzz  they  took  the  skins  off  the  beauti- 
ful and  many  hued  apples.  A  lot  of  us  small  boys  did  nothing 
but  quarter  the  peeled  fruit :  the  beautiful  young  ladies  and  the 
careful  mothers  cored  them  ever  so  nicely,  and  a  bevy  of  girls  and 
old  Mr.  Clough  strung  hundreds  of  "  strings  "  and  hung  them  in 
wreaths  and  wavy  festoons,  oi'uamcnts  like,  on  pegs  about  the 
room  to  dry. 

Ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  the  woi'k  was  done.  Wliat  a 
supper  we  had,  fit  for  a  king,  and  enough  for  a  small  regiment. 
How  good  it  tasted.  And  the  games  after  supper  was  over! 
"  Blind  man's  buff''  was  glorious,  "  Button,  button,"  was  nice,  and 
"  Turn  the  plate  "  was  so  fine.  And  then  the  pawns  paid  and  the 
kisses  given.  How  rosy  the  lips  that  gave  them.  How  I  envied 
the  boys  that  got  them.  A  little  of  superstition  must  come  in; 
apple  peelings  were  thrown  over  fine  heads  to  make  initial  letters 
of  their  lovers'  names,  and  several  went  dowu  cellar  backwards 
holding  a  mirror  in  their  hands  to  see  their  future  husband's  or 
wife's  face.  Then  we  played  '•  Chase  the  squirrel,"  and  "  Pass  the 
handkerchief,"  and  ''  Simon  says  thumbs  up,"  and  sombody  sang 
songs  ever  so  beautiful,  and  it  was  after  midnight  when  we  were 
going  home  again  by  the  "  Forks  school-house,"  in  Patchbreuck- 
land. 

We  had  never  been  out  so  late  before,  and  there  was  a  grave- 
yard with  white  tombstones  by  the  "  Forks  school-house."  But 
we  went  bravely  past  it,  and  going  up  by  the  Patch  place  where 
Jonathan  Eaton  lived,  the  stars  shone  above  us,  and  the  crescent 
moon  was  hurrying  down  the  western  sky.  Just  then  there  was 
a  strange  cry.  We  listened  —  heard  it  again.  The  older  boys  said 
it  was  a  Avild  hound  dog  on  the  eastern  mountains.  Some  said  he 
belonged  in  AYoodstock.  Hoav  plain  I  heard  him  myself  on  that 
moonlight  night  in  autumn.  Baying  at  intervals,  his  three  almost 
unearthly  yells  would  come  ringing  out  through  the  darkness. 
Wliat  was  he  pursuing?  Was  it  the  bounding  deer,  the  black  fox, 
running  straight  away  for  miles,  or  a  shadowy  ghost  leading  will- 


4G6  mSTORT    OF    WARREN. 

o'-tlie-wisp  like  through  dark  ravines  and  wild  gorges.  Others 
said  they  had  heard  the  old  hound  in  the  storm  when  his  baying 
mingled  with  the  voice  of  the  wind  and  the  roar  of  the  mountain 
streams. 

There  were  dozens  of  paring  bees  that  fall,  and  the  numerous 
parties  and  festivities  provoked  by  the  great  lawsuit  victory  only 
ended,  if  we  remember  right,  by  a  grand  ball,  where  Jim  Clement 
danced  his  flat-footed  doublc-shutfle  so  remarkably,  and  a  turkey- 
supper,  that  came  off  about  Christmas  time,  at  the  present  Moosil- 
auke  house,  one  of  the  neat  hotels  of  the  hamlet. 

May  Warren  never  be  perplexed  by  another  lawsuit  like  the 
one  about  Mrs.  Sarah  Weeks  or  any  other  kind;  but  if  she  should, 
may  it  have  a  like  successful  and  happy  termination. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


A    CHAPTER   OX   FIRES. 


vVe  introduce  it  here,  because  the  greatest  happened  about 
this  time,  and  all  the  others  seem  to  centre  around  it.  It  is  worthy 
of  record  that  the.v  had  grand  ones  when  the  farms  were  cleared ; 
but  the  tirst  dwelling-  house  burned  in  Warren,  as  we  all  well 
remember,  was  James  Aiken's  cabin  that  stood  half  a  mile  east  of 
the  depot.  Then  Joseph  Patch's  buildings  were  fired  by  a  brave 
sojer  boy  journeying  home  from  tlie  wars,  and  for  more  than  half 
a  century  after  not  a  lionse  was  burned  in  "Warren. 

Thou  about  the  year  18;10,  Richard  Wliiteman's  house  on  the 
Summit  went  down,  followed  by  the  Pine  hill  school-house,  which 
burned  up  in  the  daytime,  and  shortly  after  that,  the  a' illagc  school- 
house  flashed  bright  one  night  and  was  gone.  This  was  the 
prelude. 

One  bright  spi'ing  day  in  1845,  the  old  homestead  of  Amos 
Little,  on  Beech  hill,  accidentally  took  fire.  All  the  male  mem- 
bers of  the  family  had  gone  aAvay,  while  Mrs.  Kimball  Little,  who 
was  unwell,  had  retired  to  her  cliamber.  There  was  a  barrel 
standing  in  the  shed  adjoining  the  house,  in  which  some  meat  had 
been  placed  to  smoke,  and  as  the  ft^mily  had  smoked  their  meat 
here  tlie  preceding  spring,  and  no  accident  having  occurred,  it 
was  considered  safe. 

From  this  tiie  fire  took.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  no  wind.  An 
individual  standing  near  the  church  on  the  common,  happening  to 
look  in  the  direction  of  the  house,  saw  curling  slowly  up  a  thin 


•468  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

columii  of  blue  smoke.  One  moment  more  and  the  ciy  of  fii*e 
rung  out  rousing  every  neighbor.  Tlie  inmates  of  the  school- 
house  near  by  were  dismissed,  and  the  young  urchins  dispatched  in 
all  directions  to  give  the  alai'm. 

When  the  tirst  individual,  a  peddler,  arrived  at  the  house,  with 
another  person  to  assist  him  he  could  have  stopped  the  tire;  but 
in  five  minutes  the  roof  of  the  shed  was  in  flames. 

Mrs.  Little  awakened,  almost  swooned  in  fright,  then  with  the 
rest  commenced  to  carry  the  furniture  from  the  house.  In  a  veiy 
short  time  nearly  all  the  villagers  arrived.  Some  tried  to  tear 
down  the  shed  connecting  tlie  house  with  the  three  large  barns; 
but  before  it  was  half  demolished  the  flames  and  blinding  smoke 
drove  them  from  the  undertaking.  Every  one  now  worked  to 
save  what  they  could  from  the  burning  buildings.  But  as  is  cus- 
tomary at  all  fires,  where  they  seldom  occur,  people  generally  lost 
their  wits,  and  haste,  hurrj',  and  excitement  prevailed;  windows 
were  thrown  from  the  second  story  to  the  ground;  looking-glasses 
and  other  furniture  easily  demolished,  shared  the  same  fate,  and 
there  was  a  delightful  scene  of  confusion. 

Tiie  fire  advanced  rapidly,  and  it  was  soon  evident  the  build- 
ing must  be  abandoned;  but  one  mnn,  Mr.  Miranda  Whitcher, 
wishing  to  save  some  article  of  furniture  wliicli  Avas  in  a  room  on 
the  east  side  of  the  house,  went  thither.  He  had  scarcely  entered 
it  before  the  flames  sprung  up  behind,  and  firing  an  unplastered 
wall  made  a  retreat  almost  impossible.  A  dense  volume  of  smoke 
now  filled  the  room,  choking  and  blinding  him;  but  Mr.  AYhitcher 
with  a  bound  shot  through  the  fire,  trod  quickly  along  the  totter- 
ing floor  and  made  for  a  distant  window.  The  people  below  saw 
him  and  loudly  shouted  to  him  to  jump  out  upon  the  ground;  but 
he  seemed  possessed  of  a  strange  fatality,  and  did  not  notice  them. 
The  flames  creeping  rapidly  along  the  floor  behind,  scorched  the 
poor  man,  when  grasping  the  window  sill  he  slowly  let  himself 
down,  but  did  not  relinquish  his  hold.  The  fire  at  that  instant 
bursting  from  the  Avindow  below  circled  up  and  around  him.  In- 
dividuals entreated  him  to  let  go;  but  he  heeded  them  not,  until 
at  last  exhausted,  his  hands  slowly  relaxed,  and  he  fell.  Two  per- 
sons enveloped  in  Avet  blankets  succeeded  in  reaching  him,  and  he 
was  removed  to  the  little  field  on  the  Avest  side  of  the  road. 


BURNED  TO   DEATH.  469 

The  large  buildings  were  now  complefely  enveloped  in  fire 
crowned  by  an  immense  column  of  black  smoke.  Nearly  every 
person  had  gathered  about  the  dying  man,  whose  groans  mingling 
with  the  crackling  flames  and  the  roar  of  the  burning  buildings, 
made  an  impressive  scene.  In  a  few  moments  more,  after  one 
convulsive  quiver,  the  fine  old  house  fell  a  mass  of  burning  ruins. 
Ml'.  Whiteher  was  thcu  conveyed  to  his  home,  suffered  for  an  hour 
and  died. 

A  whole  generation  had  lived  in  "Warren  without  a  fire  of  any 
magnitude,  and  uoav  such  a  conflagration,  with  Whitcher's  death, 
following  so  close  upon  the  heels  of'  the  terrible  Parker  murder," 
which  had  fllled  the  whole  State  with  horror,  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  and  hardly  anything  else 
was  talked  of  for  a  whole  month.  The  citizens  of  Warren  did 
what  was  customary  in  olden  times  in  New  Hampshire;  they  made 
a  "  bee;"  a  hundred  men  or  so  went  into  the  woods  with  bi'oad 
axes  and  narrow  axes,  and  squares,  and  chalk-lines,  and  in  a 
week's  time  almost  a  frame  was  raised  over  the  old  ruins.  Before 
autumn  Kimball  Little,  youngest  son  of  Amos  Little,  had  moved 
into  the  new  house  and  was  upon  the  old  farm  again. 

For  the  benefit  of  our  readers  who  are  interested  in  casualties 
of  this  kind,  we  will  state  that  the  next  fire  occurred  early  in  the 
summer  of  1849.  Vowell  Leathers'  house  was  burned,  and  in  it 
burned  his  wife.  It  was  a  beautiful  summer  Sabbath.  Mr.  Leath- 
ers was  away  at  Romney,*  attending  meeting.  His  son  John, — 
manv  vet  remember  him, — was  in  the  woods  listening  to  the  songs 
of  birds  and  gathering  broom-stuff,  while  Mrs.  Leathers,  who  was 
old  and  blind,  but  an  excellent  woman  for  all  that,  could  not  help 
herself  in  any  manner. 

About  eleven"  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  Isaac  Sawtelle,  who 
lived  by  Sawtelle  school-house,  three  miles  away,  saw  the  smoke 
curling  up  from  the  dwelling,  high  up  on  the  side  of  Sentinel 
mountain.  He  came  to  the  village  on  the  run,  rushed  into  the 
meeting-house,  and  without  ceremony  gave  the  alarm,  and  with 
the  whole  congregation  hurried  away  up  Beech  hill.  The  house 
was  all  in  flames  when  Sawtelle  arrived  there,  and  a  thin  smoke 

*  It  is  said  that  the  Hon.  Josiah  Qiiincy  knows  how  to  spell  Romney  correctly; 
that  instead  of  R-u-m  rnm,  otherwise  '•  rot-gut,"  he  spells  the  word,  K-o-m-n-e-y 
Romney,  a  noble  name  from  a  royal  English  house,  that  of  the  Earl  of  Romney. 


470  HISTORY  OF   -WARREN. 

was  curling-  tlirongh  the  roof  of  the  barn.  Hurrying  in  and  on  to 
the  hay-mow,  lie  found  it  proceeded  from  a  slow  match  made  with 
great  care,  and  that  the  hay  was  not  yet  burning.  He  removed 
the  match  and  the  barn  was  saved.  Hardly  anything  was  taken 
out  of  the  house,  and  Mrs.  Leathers  was  burned  to  death. 

The  next  day  Dr.  Little  climbed  Beech  hill,  picked  up  the 
charred  remains  of  the  poor  woman,  placed  them  in  a  rude  box 
and  carrying  them  to  the  grave-yard,  on  Pine-hill  road,  they  were 
buried. 

There  was  a  terrible  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  people.  "Who 
set  the  lire?  No  one  has  ever  told,  and  it  will  probably  forever 
remain  a  mystery.  Still  Uncle  Leathers,  as  he  is  familiarly  called, 
never  was  considered  a  bad  man,  though  he  descended  from  the 
Gipsy  race  and  has  many  eccentricities,  among  which  is  the  erect- 
ing of  tomb-stones  with  names  thereon,  for  himself  and  some  of 
his  family  before  their  death,  and  his  fondness  for  perfumes ;  he 
being  the  man,  as  we  have  before  stated,  who  persisted  in  killing, 
cooking,  and  eating  such  sweet  smelling  animals  as  skunks,  at  the 
town  farm,  much  to  the  delight  of  the  lady  paupers  and  other  per- 
sons living  there.  It  is  said  that  he  once  put  a  skunk,  fresh  smell- 
ing from  the  dewy  tields,  under  Mi-s.  Brown's  bed,  thereby  tilling 
the  soul  of  that  chaste  and  pious  lady  with  great  happiness. 
Uncle  Leathers  at  the  close  of  Warren's  first  century  is  still  Uving, 
a  hale  and  hearty  old  man. 

During  the  winter  of  1854,  the  buildings  of  Mr.  Amos  Clement, 
together  with  nearly  all  their  contents,  including  thiity-three  val- 
uable sheep  which  they  could  not  drive  from  the  fire,  a  hog  and  a 
yearling  steer,  were  destroyed. 

Since  then  a  tavern  stand  built  by  Mr.  Ephraim  Clement  near 
the  depot,  together  with  Mr.  Isaac  Merrill's  buildings  near  by, 
have  burned.  Moses  Ellsworth's  little  red  house  on  Warren  Sum- 
mit burned  up  one  night.  Hazen  Clement's  house  and  barn  on 
the  side  of  Mount  Carr  was  consumed  one  day  when  all  the  family 
were  away.  Ephraim  Clement's  house  on  Pine  hill,  where  Isaiah 
Batchelder  once  lived,  went  down  in  a  night.  John  Marstou's 
whecl-wright  shop  blazed  like  a  rocket  and  was  gone;  and  last, 
Daniel  Marston's  house,  at  the  foot  of  the  Height-o'-land,  burned 
up.    "We  had  ahaost  forgot  to  state  that  George  W.  Jackson  was 


FIRES   UPON   THE  MOUNTAINS.  471 

moving  a  house  from  the  top  of  the  Ileight-o'-land  one  summer. 
It  got  stuck  in  the  road  and  stood  there  a  fortnight.  One  night 
some  bad  person  touclied  a  match  to  it,  and  tlie  old  house  never 
came  down  fn  Warren  vill;ige.* 

But  the  grandest  fires  we  liave  ever  seen,  were  the  fires  upon 
Warren's  mountains.  Webster  slide  has  blazed  like  a  volcano. 
Owl's  head  has  burned  for  months,  lighting  up  the  heavens  at 
night;  Moosehillock  has  been  wrapped  in  sheets  of  flame  com- 
pletely enveloping  its  twin  peaks,  and  Mount  Carr,  twice  within 
the  memory  of  the  pi'esent  generation,  has  flashed  from  base  to 
summit.  It  Ava?  in  the  summer  of  185i  that  the  tire  roared  on 
iMount  Carr.  Then  a  million  trees  burned  to  the  Avind.  Then  a 
sound  came  like  the  rushing  of  a  tempest;  like  the  mighty 
voice  of  the  ocean.  Its  roaring  was  heard  six  miles  away,  and 
one  could  see  to  read  fine  print  at  midnight.  It  was  a  sight  never 
to  be  forgotten. 

*  Friday,  Sept.  Ki,  1870,  tliere  was  a  gi-eat  fire  in  Wairen.  Russell  Merrill's 
hotel,  the  old  Joseph  Merrill  inu,  and  Henry  AV.  Week's  liou#e  burned.  The  lire 
occurred  about  two  o'clock  iu  the  moruiug. "  Loss  $15,000,  insured  for  $10,000. 


/ 


CHAPTER  V. 


HOW  AND  WHEN  THE  RAILROAD  WAS  BUILT,  WPHCH  WILL  BE  A 
WONDER  TO  FUTURE  GENERATIONS,  BUT  IS  QUITE  A  COMMON 
THING   NOW. 


i  HE  first  railroad  steam  engine  and  railway,  if  we  remem- 
ber right,  were  built  in  England.  The  first  railroad  in  this  country 
was  the  short  line  from  the  stone  quarries  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  to  the 
wharf"  down  by  the  sea,"  to  transport  stone.  Then  in  New  Eng- 
land, the  Boston  and  Providence,  the  Boston  and  Worcester,  and 
the  Boston  and  Lowell  railroads  followed  in  quick  succession,  and 
after  these  were  built,  railroads  began  to  multiply  wonderfully  all 
through  the  country. 

From  Lowell  the  iron  horse  crept  up  the  Merrimack  gradually 
to  Concord,  N.  H.  Here  it  paused  a  short  time,  but  not  long. 
The  Northern  railroad  from  Concord  to  Lebanon,  was  soon  com- 
menced, and  then  after  the  most  fierce  opposition  from  the  North- 
ern and  Pasumpsic  i-ailroads  at  the  June  session  of  the  Legislature 
in  1844,  the  Boston,  Concord  and  Montreal  was  chartered. 

The  company  immediately  organized,  Josiah    Quincy,*    of 

*  OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOSTON,  CONCOED  AND  MONTREAL  RAILROAD. 

Presidents .- — 

Josiah  Quincy,  elected  April  8,  1845. 

John  E.  Lyon,  elected  May  29,  1860,  still  in  oflace. 

Superintendents .- — 

Peter  Clark,  chosen  May  15,  1840. 

James  N.  Elkins,  chosen  Dee.  2,  1847.    Died  June  20,  1853. 
James  M.  Whiton,  chosen  June  20,  1853.    Died  June  20,  1857. 
John  T.  Coffin,  chosen  June,  1857,  as  agent  of  Trustees. 


A   RAILROAD    OPENED    TO   WARREN.  473 

Ronniey,  being  President,  and  the  people  along  the  route  freely 
paid  their  money  for  a  survey,  which  was  made  this  season  by  Mr. 
Crocker,  throiighout  the  whole  line.  Stock  books  were  also  imme- 
diately opened,  a  considerable  amount  was  subscribed,  the  grading 
of  the  road  was  commenced  upon  its  lower  sections,  and  in  about 
one  year  was  completed  eighteen  miles,  from  Concord  to  Tilton. 

Then  a  year  more  and  the  cars  ran  to  Laconia,  and  another 
year  and  they  got  up  to  Meredith  village.  Here  they  stopped 
a  while,  for  the  route  by  the  beautiful  ponds  of  Centre  Harbor 
and  over  New  Hampton  summit  was  a  hard  one;  but  late  in  the 
autumn  of  1849  the  cars  ran  into  Plymouth. 

But  the  voad  was  not  to  stop  here:  it  ])ad  already  been  com- 
menced above  on  the  banks  of  the  Asquamchumauke,  and  Thomas 
Piersons  was  set  stoutly  to  work  to  tind  a  feasible  route  over 
TVarren  Summit.  The  first  line  surveyed  by  Crocker,  came  up 
the  west  bank  of  the  Asquamchumauke,  up  Black  brook,  the 
Mikaseota,  the  same  side  to  the  Blue  ridge,  thence  crossing  the 
valley  at  the  outlet  of  Runaway  pond  it  passed  up  the  east  shore 
of  the  latter  basin,  up  Black  brook,  over  the  Summit  and  down  the 
Oliverian.  Thos.  Piersons  took  the  east  side  of  the  valley  through 
Warren,  crossed  the  Asquamchumauke,  with  a  "fill"  for  half  a 
mile  seventy-five  feet  deep,  to  the  side  of  Knight  hill,  and  thence 
up  Berry  brook  to  the  Summit.  Then  he  tried  up  the  road  to 
Noyes  Bridge,  kept  under  the  bank  on  the  east  side  of  the  lower 
village,  thence  across  the  plain  by  the  place  where  James  Aiken 
got  burned  out,  and  up  his  old  route  by  Berry  brook.  He  made 
his  report  and  "  the  directors  considered." 

Two  years  they  considered;  and  then  another  engineer  was 
procured,  T.  J.  Carter,  and  he  surveyed  and  located  the  present 
i-ailroad  route  through  Warren.    He  did  his  work  best  of  all,  for 

Joseph  A.  Dodge,  chosen  Aug.  9,  1858,  still  in  office. 
•    Clerh  .— 

Charles  Lane,  chosen  April  8,  1845,  stiU  in  office. 
Station  Ayents  at  Warren: — 

David  Atwood  and  Mr.  Chase. 

Ricliard  \Vigghi. 

JJareus  M.  Lawrence. 

Edwin  C  Wentworth. 

Morrdl  .1.  Sanborn. 

J.  M.  Park.*,  at  Summit. 
—Col.  Charles  Lane's  statement. 


474  HISTORY    OF    WAREEN. 

uo  wliere  else  in  town  could  the  depot  have  been  so  satisfactorily 
located. 

Tiie  road  was  already  nearly  graded  to  the  south  line  of  War- 
ren, and  a  contract  was  made  in  the  summer  of  1850  with  Warren 
H.  Smith,  an  entei-prising  gentleman  residing  at  Tilton,  to  com- 
plete it  to  Warren  village.  Mr.  Smith  commenced  work  the  ensu- 
ing October,  and  then  Warren  glowed  with  life. 

As  many  men  as  possible  were  put  into  the  Cliftbrd  cut  on 
the  southern  boundary,  and  there  were  a  lot  of  shanties  built  at 
the  east  end  of  the  bridge  over  the  I'iver  near  by,  for  the  Irish 
shovelers  to  live  in.  Well  do  we  remember  the  pleasant  little 
anecdote  told  of  tliose  transient  residents  here.  Que  of  the  shanty 
families  sent  to  Ireland  for  a  friend  of  theirs.  He  landed  in  Bos- 
ton and  then  came  immediately  to  Warren.  The  next  Sabbath  as 
alone  he  was  walking  out  for  his  health  and  a  little  pious  medita- 
tion, ho  chanced  to  tind  as  he  thought  a  spotted  cat  by  the  wall. 
Catching  it  up  in  his  arms  he  began  to  stroke  its  back  saying,  "  Poor 
pussy,"  when  suddenly  dropping  it  he  grasped  his  nose  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Howly  Mither,  what  has  the  crathure  been  aiten!"-  Not 
being  particuhirly  fond  of  sweet  perfumes,  he  quickly  returned  to 
the  shanty  and  with  religious  fervor  related  his  adventures  with 
the  cat,  mnch  to  the  delight  of  all  his  friends. 

The  Redington  boys,  brothers,  finished  the  Clifford  cut.  Mr. 
Gipson  was  "  boss  "  in  the  "  side-hilf  cut,"  near  the  old  Nathaniel 
Clough  place.  It  took  all  Avinter  to  dig  this  out.  William  Clem- 
ent, of  AVarren,  son  of  Col.  Ben.,  oversaw  a  gang  of  Irishmen  near 
the  long  covered  railroad  bridge,  making  the  till  above  the  bridge 
and  the  cut  through  the  John  Mills  burying-ground,  down  by  the 
Patch  place  to  Patch  brook.  Old  "  St.  Bovven"  graded  up  about 
the  depot,  running  his  "dump  carts"  all  winter  down  throngh 
the  village  over  the  Noyes  bridge  to  the  mound  just  below  on  the 
east  side  of  the  road.  Pity  he  hauled  sand  from  there,  for  he  left 
an  unsightly  cut.  All  of  Clement's  and  Mr.  Bowen's  men  lived  in 
shanties  over  b}^  Patch  brook  where  it  leaps  down  Rocky  falls. 
Batchelder  of  Lake  village  made  the  rock  cut  just  west  of  the 
Moosilauke  house,  and  the  hutments,  and  the  great  bridge,  were 
built  during  the  winter. 

Before  the  first  of  April,  1851,  the  grading  and  bridges  on  the 


THE  GREAT  EVENT  CELEBRATED.  475 

whole  line  IVoui  i'lymoutli  to  Warren  village  were  nearly  com- 
pleted. As  soon  as  the  ground  was  sufficiently  settled,  Mr.  Smith 
commenced  to  lay  the  track,  and  on  the  24th  of  May  the  first 
steam  engine  ran  into  AYarren.  and  on  the  2Jth  its  bell  was  rung 
at  "Warren  depot. 

May  2b,  1851,  was  a  great  day  for  Warren.  It  should  not  be 
forgotten.  AVith  that  day  came  a  new  life.  The  great  teams  and 
covered  wagons,  the  pungs  of  Avinter,  driven  by  the  Vermont 
farmers;  the  stages,  the  mighty  droves  of  beef  cattle  tramping 
along  the  road;  the  flocks  of  sheep,  thousands  together;  herds  of 
swine  more  numerous  than  the  one  the  devils  of  Marj^  Magdalene 
drove  into  the  sea,  going  to  market, — all  these  shall  now  disappear 
from  the  highways  of  AA'arrcn  forever.  In  their  place  shall  come 
thundering  cars,  the  iron  horse  with  ribs  of  steel  and  heart  of  fire, 
screaming  with  its  steam  whistle  loud  enough  to  be  heard  far  away 
beyond  Glen  ponds  and  Woodstock,  passenger  trains  and  freight 
trains,  and  telegrai)h. 

The  people  of  AA'arren  did  appreciate  the  day  and  celebrated  it. 
Mr.  Smith  gave  a  bountiful  and  excellent  supper  at  the  Moosilauke 
house,  then  kept  by  Levi  C.  AA'hitcher,  and  mirth,  hilarity,  music, 
and  dancing  prevailed. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  June,  1851,  the  cars  began  to  run  regu- 
larly from  AA^arren,  no  longer  a  quiet,  pleasant  hamlet,  but  now  a 
smart,  bustling  little  town  among  the  mountains.* 

At  the  railroad  company's  annual  meeting,  held  at  Went  worth 
on  the  last  Tuesday  of  May,  it  was  voted  to  prefer  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars  of  stock,  Avith  which  to  construct  the  road  from 
Warren  to  AA'oodsville ;  and  early  in  the  fall  the  grading  was  con- 
ti'acted.  for  by  Mr.  AVarren  H.  Smith,  and  rajjidly  commenced. 
Owen  ^McCarthy  made  the  great  fill  across  the  plain  from  Mt. 
Helen  down  to  the  common,  Mr,  Dolloff  cut  the  ledge  near  the 
basin  of  Runaway  i)ond,  called  the  Dollotf  cut;  ''St,  Bowen  " 
made  great  cuts  and  fills  around  Pine  hill,  and  the  Redington  boys 
had  the  deep  excavation  near  Kelly  pond.  But  the  cutting  through 

*  Wlien  t'ley  were  surveying;  tlie  railroad,  >rr  Xatliaiiiel  Cloiigli,  S'i  years  old, 
who  was  increduliMis  about  the  eiitei  prise,  said  that  lie  did  not  want  to  live  any 
Innjrer  than  to  -ee  tlie  cai'S  run  into  Warren.  He  was  sick  at  the  time  the  first  reg- 
ul  ir  train  passed  Ills  house  uud  the}-  sat  him  up  in  bed  to  look  at  it.  Two  weeks 
after  he  was  dead. 


476  HISTOKY   OF    WARREN. 

the  ledge  on  Warren  Snmmit  was  the  great  work,  and  it  involved 
an  immense  amount  of  labor.  For  a  year  and  a  half  a  liundred 
and  fifty  men,  superintended  by  two  brothers  by  the  name  of 
Keyes,  from  Romney,  seventeen  horses,  with  a  number  of  yokes 
of  cattle,  were  employed.  Tons  of  powder  were  burned,  a  man 
was  killed,  and  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
expended  before  a  steam  engine  ran  over  the  Summit.* 

The  cut  at  this,  the  highest  point  of  our  railroad,  is  nearly 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  in  some  places  sixty  feet 
deep.  Near  the  nortli  end  a  little  rill  of  pure,  clear  water  comes 
dashing  down  over  the  huge  rocks,  and  at  the  bottom,  divides 
itself  into  two  streams;  the  waters  of  the  one  running  north  emp- 
tying themselves  into  the  Connecticut  eventually  fi]id  their  way 
into  the  ocean,  through  Long  Island  Sound;  while  those  running 
south  unite  with  the  Merrimack  river  which  discharges  itself  into 
the  ocean  nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Con- 
necticut. 

The  cars  commenced  running  over  this  last  section  in  the  fall 
of  1852,  as  far  as  East  Haverhill,  and  early  the  ensuing  spring  the 
road  was  finished  to  Woodsville,  where  it  connects  with  the  Pas- 
sumpsic  railroad  and  the  White  mountain  railroad. 

Green  were  the  hills  of  Warren.  The  mighty  spruces  and 
hemlocks  still  stood  untouched  i;pon  the  mountains,  and  amongst 
them  the  wood-cho])per's  axe  had  not  as  yet  been  heard.  The  rea- 
son of  all  this  was  the  inconvenience  of  getting  the  timber  to 
market,  and  the  consequent  unprofitableness  of  the  business.  But 
now,  through  the  medium  which  the  railroad  afforded,  a  rapid  and 
convenient  communication  was  opened  with  the  large  towns  down 
the  Merrimack,  and  thereby  the  business  of  lumbering  was  much 
more  profitable. 

Wood  also  became  an  object  of  impoi'tance,  and  the  once 
heavy  forests  fust  began  to  disappear.  Upon  the  side  of  Mount 
Carr,  high  up  in  the  valley  of  Patch  brook,  a  large  company  of 
French  Canadians,  honest  men  every  one,  made  a  rural  settlement 
and  chopped  wood,  under  the  superintendence  of  Col.  Charles 
Lane.     This  individual,  more  easily  to  facilitate  its  transportation 

*  C.  H.  Latham  had  charge  of  the  engineering.  Jonathan  Little  kejjt  the  hotel 
on  thu  Summit,  and  niaile  money  wliile  the  railroad  was  building;  but  the  tavern 
waa  good  for  nothing  after  the  cars  began  to  run. 


OTHER   nrPORTANT   ENTERPRISES.  477 

from  tlie  mountain  side,  constructed  a  sluice  nearly  two  and  one- 
fourth  miles  in  length,  extending  to  the  valley  near  the  railroad. 
The  sluice  was  twenty  inches  in  width  and  sixteen  inches  in 
height.  In  it  lie  turned  the  waters  of  Patch  brook,  the  wild 
mountain  stream,  audplacing  the  wood  in  this,  it  rapidly  descended 
in  its  serpentine  course,  now  crossing  some  deep  gully,  then  span- 
ning the  torrent,  and  then  creeping  rapidly  along  on  the  side  of 
some  steep  bank  till  at  last  it  reached  the  valley,  falling  over  a 
thousand  feet. 

Mr.  Lane  also  constructed  a  large  canal,  half  a  mile  long, 
through  which  he  turned  the  water  of  Baker  river  into  the  large 
mill-pond  on  Black  brook.  The  cost  of  the  woi-k  was  about  two 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  tinishcd  late  in  the  fall,  and  the  water 
lirst  let  in  on  November  28,  1858. 

This  made  an  excellent  mill-privilege  and  a  great  saw-mill 
went  up  in  AVarrcn  village.  Millions -of  feet  of  lumber  have  been 
manufactured  here  and  sent  to  market.  East-parte  also  waked  up 
and  a  mighty  mill  was  erected  there.  Warren  Summit  also  got 
enterprising;  numerous  mills  have  been  built,  and  the  timber 
comes  down  from  Black  mountain,  Owl's  head,  Webster  slide, 
and  Wyatt  hill. 

What  was  the  consequence  of  all  this  enterprise?  Warren 
village  doubled  in  size,  and  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  town 
much  increased. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A  BRIEF   ACCOUNT  OF   TWO   MURDERS. 


This  is  a  chapter  we  tvouIcI  gladly  omit,  but  we  should 
not  be  deemed  a  faithful  historian  if  we  did  not  write  it.  AVithin 
a  year  and  a  half  of  each  other,  it  roas  alleged,  two  men  were  mnr- 
dered  in  Warren.  Antony  McCarter  and  Vanness  Wyatt  were 
the  alleged  mnrdered  men, — Patrick  Sweeney  and  James  M.  Wil- 
liams were  the  alleged  murderers. 

The  first  tragedy  haj^pcned  in  1859,  and  it  was  a  snowy  day  in 
March  when  Antony  McCarter  was  last  seen  in  Warren.  He  had 
led  a  secluded  life  for  years;  but  that  winter  had  taken  up  his  resi- 
dence with  Sweeny,  an  Irishman,  who  had  his  shanty  in  the /fir 
woods  by  the  brick-kiln,  on  the  East-parte  road.  He  had  quar- 
relled with  Sweeny's  wife  that  morning,  and  she  had  inflicted  a 
deep  gash  in  his  face  with  an  iron  poker.  No  one  saw  him  after 
that  day. 

Sweeny  sold  McCarter's  stove,  his  clothes,  axe,  and  jack-knife. 
He  told  many  different  stories  about  where  he  had  gone,  and  when 
hints  of  foul  play  were  thrown  out,  Sweenj^  left  town  suddenly  in 
the  night  and  went  to  Vermont. 

Enquiries  were  made  for  the  murdered  man  in  all  the  neigh- 
boring towns,  and  even  letters  were  sent  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Green  mountains  by  the  river  Lamoile,  where  he  used  to  live;  but 
nothing  could  be  heard  from  him. 

The  people  grew  anxious,  excited;  the  summer  went  by  and 
still  nothing  was  discovered.    Wild  stories  were  told,  how  some 


TIETUEN  OP  THE  MISSING    MAN.  479 

boys  passed  him  in  tho  woods  where  he  was  just  covered  in  a  shal- 
low grave ;  how  a  fisherman  hooked  up  one  of  Iris  ribs  Trom  tlie 
great  pot  liole  in  tlie  river;  and  how  will-o'the-wisps  were  seen 
hovering  at  niglit  over  the  old  collar  of  the  shanty. 

So  intense  was  the  excitement  that  in  January  people  begau 
to  search  for  McCarter.  The  collar  was  dug  deeper,  the  woods 
were  searched  where  the  boys  said  they  discovered  him,  and  the 
great  basin  in  the  rocks  was  dipped  out  by  more  than  twenty  per- 
sons; but  no  dead  man  could  be  found.  AYhere  was  he?  All  be- 
lieved him  murdered.     Where  was  Sweeny? 

Mm-e  than  two  years  afterwards,  an  old  man  with  a  pack  on 
his  back  was  seen  traveling  through  the  village  towards  the  East- 
partc.  To  the  surprise  of  every  one,  it  was  McCarter.  He  went 
back  to  the  old  shanty  again,  fitted  it  up,  and  to-day,  with  his  hens, 
his  dog,  and  his  cat.  he  lives  alone  in  the  fir  woods.* 

Tlie  second  occurred  in  1860,  and  it  was  fixv  more  serious  than 
the  Sweeny-McCarter  affair,  and  the  dead  man  never  came  back  to 
life  again, 

James  M.  Williams  was  a  nervous,  thin-haired  man.  Yanness 
Wyatt  was  stout  and  strong;  but  was  loose  in  his  conversation, 
and  did  not  weigh  well  his  words.  Mr.  Williams  was  a  man  of 
considerable  property.  Mr.  Wyatt  was  poor.  Mr.  Williams  had 
become  very  unpopular,  owing  to  an  alleged  improper  intimacy 
between  Iiimself  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Chamberlain.  Said  intimacy 
was  stoutly  denied  by  Mrs.  Chamberlain,  Mr.  Williams,  and  all 
their  friends,  and  the  persons  who  circulated  the  stories  were  pros- 
ecuted for  slander.  Mr.  Wyatt  was  a  good  natured  fellow,  and 
was  generally  liked:  but  persons  who  said  they  were  disgusted 
with  the  alleged  conduct  of  Mr.  AYilliams  with  Mrs.  Chamberlin 
put  Wyatt  up  to  "  haze  "  Williams. 

But  this  was  the  real  cause  of  the  quarrel  between  the  two 
men.  AYyatt's  father  owed  Williams  a  debt;  the  latter  sued  the 
father  and  attached  and  sold  some  peg  wood  and  bark  whicli  the 
son,  Mr.  Wyatt,  claimed  to  own,     Mr,  Wyatt  was  mad,  made  an 

*  McCarter  was  born  in  Canada,  of  Irish  parents.  He  served  in  the  1812  war, 
was  in  s(>vei-:iLb:ittles,  and  at  Sackett's  harbor  was  severely  wounded.  He  belonged 
to  the  Uritish  army. 

Patrick  Sweeny  in  ISfU  lived  in  Manchester,  X.  H.  He  is  a  thick  set,  light 
complexioued  man,  somewhat  given  to  drunkenness  and  telling  loolish  lies. 


480  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

assault  upon  Mr.  Williams,  although  he  did  him  no  injur}',  and 
used  very  threatening  language  towards  him.  He  was  somewhat 
encouraged  to  do  this  by  those  persons  who  disliked  Mr.  Williams. 
The  friends  of  the  latter  advised  him  to  arm  himself.  He  did  so 
with  a  revolver.  Should  not  the  parties  who  encouraged  this  bad 
blood  on  both  sides  feel  a  little  guilty?  If  any  one  should  ask  us 
to  express  our  opinion  privately,  we  should  say  that  the  persons 
who  advised  Mr.  AVilliams  were  vastly  more  to  blame  than  him- 
self for  what  he  did ;  also,  that  if  those  who  set  on  Mr.  Wyatt  had 
minded  their  own  business  they  would  have  done  far  better. 

The  killing  took  place  on  the  morning  of  July  27,  1860.  AVil- 
liams  had  been  to  Samuel  Bixby's,  who  lived  over  the  river  from 
the  depot,  to  milk  his  cow.  Wyatt  was  at  work  loading  bark  near 
the  railroad  track.  Coming  home  in  company  with  William  Clem- 
ent, Mr.  Williams  saw  Mr.  Wyatt  approaching  liim  with  a  small 
stick  in  his  hand.  When  near  the  south-east  corner  of  the  house 
Stevens  Merrill  built  sixty  odd  years  before,  Williams  spoke  and 
said,  "Van.  is  after  us."  Clement  said,  "I  guess  not."  They 
passed  along  a  few  steps,  when  Williams  turned  again,  drew  up 
his  pistol  and  said  to  AVyatt,  "  Step  another  step  and  I  will  blow 
you  through,"  and  fired  at  the  same  time.  Ho  then  passed  along 
on  the  sidewalk  about  six  feet,  and  by  the  corner  of  the  fence 
made  a  short  halt,  and  as  Wyatt  came  near  where  Clement  stood  , 
Williams  started  across  the  street. 

William  Clement  under  oath  says  in  continuation:  —  ''He 
(Wyatt)  then  said,  '  I  have  not  touched  you  Mr.  Williams,  and 
wasn't  a  going  to,'  and  Mr.  AVilliams  had  got  out  a  little  ways  in  the 
road  and  said  •  I  know  you  havn't,  but  you  followed  me  with  a 
stick,'  and  then  he  passed  along  across  the  road.  Wyatt  then 
looked  up  and  said,  '  Bill,  he  has  killed  me.'  I  saw  he  was  pale,  and 
saw  a  red  spot  on  his  shirt,  and  he  was  tottering;  went  towards 
the  fence  and  I  sat  part  down  and  caught  him.  After  I  got  hold 
of  him  I  looked  around  for  help, but  could  see  no  one;  but  turned 
and  saw  Williams  across  the  street,  and  called  to  him  to  help  carry 
in  that  man  or  take  care  of  him,  don't  remember  which,  and  then 
I  looked  back  up  street  and  saw  Boynton  coming  out- of  his  door, 
and  called  to  him  and  he  came,  and  we  carried  Wyatt  to  Kna^jp's 
hotel.    Wyatt  lived  from  five  to  ten  minutes,  and  then  died." 


ARREST   AND   TRIAL   OF   "WILLIAMS.  481 

They  had  a  post-movtem  examination  of  the  murdered  man, 
and  the  following  doctors  were  present:  David  (J.  French.  A.  G. 
French,  Jesse  Little,  Peter  L.  Hoyt,  and  A.  A.  Whipple.  They 
found  that  Vaniiess  was  shot  in  the  left  breast,  the  ball  passing 
through  between  the  fourth  and  fifth  I'ibs,  above  tlie  centre  of  the 
breast,  through  the  covering  over  the  heart,  through  the  heart — and 
it  lodged  in  the  right  lung.  Dr.  Alphonzo  G.  French  took  out  the 
ball. 

There  was  a  terrible  excitement  in  Warren  that  day ;  men 
turned  pale  when  they  heard  the  news,  and  almost  every  person 
in  town  came  to  the  village.  They  wanted  to  see  the  murdered 
man,  and  they  wanted  to  see  the  murderer  too,  as  they  called  him. 
One  political  partj'^  was  almost  wholly  against  AVilliams.  The 
other  party  with  equal  unanimity  immediately  began  to  stand  up 
for  him. 

Hazen  Libbey,  the  constable,  arrested  Mr.  Williams.  Chas. 
H.  Bartlett,  Esq.,  an  attorney  at  Wentworth,  came  to  advise  with 
him.  Hon.  Thomas  J.  Smith  came  to  advise  with  the  citizens. 
He  counselled  moderation,  and  had  a  coroner's  jnry  smnmoned. 
It  consisted  of  Samuel  L.  Merrill,  George  E.  Leonard,  and  Samuel 
Bixby ;  and  after  hearing  the  evidence  they  brought  in  the  follow- 
ing verdict:  ''  He  came  to  his  death  by  a  bullet  shot  from  a  pistol 
by  the  hand  of  James  M.  Williams."  Then  Mr.  Williams  was 
brought  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Col.  Isaac  Merrill,  waived 
an  examination,  and  was  committed  to  Havei'hill  jail.  At  the 
August  term  of  court  he  was  admitted  to  bail,  and  at  the  January 
term  at  Plymouth  he  had  his  trial. 

Justices  Bellows  and  Nesmith  held  the  court;  Hon.  John  Sul- 
livan, the  Attorney  General,  and  Henry  W.  Blair,  county  solicitor, 
•were  counsel  for  the  State.  Hons.  Josiah  Quincy  and  Harry  Hib- 
bard  were  assigned  as  counsel  for  the  respondent,  he  representing 
himself  as  poor.  The  jury  consisted  of  nine  of  one  political  party 
and  thi-ee  of  the  other.*  The  respondent  plead,  ••  Not  guilty," 
and  set  up  that  the  act  was  committed  in  self-defence. 

Many  witnesses  were  calledf  and  the  case  occupied  several 

*  It  was  alleged,  but  perhaps  wrongfully,  that  Jlr.  Williams'  irienils.  tliose  who 
advised  him  to  get  a  pistol,  were  about  the"  court  working  lor  him,  and  that  thej- 
log-rolled  the  jury,  &c. 

t  The  State  called  the  following  persons  as  witnesses :    William  Clement,  Wil- 

E* 


482  HISTORY    OF   A^ARREN. 

days ;  the  jury  were  out  thirty-six. hours,  could  not  agree  and  were 
discharged.  It  was  understood  that  the  jury  divided  politically; 
the  three  of  one  party  being  for  the  State,  and  the  nine  of  the 
other  party  for  the  respondent.  The  case  was  continued  along  for 
a  year  or  more,  and  then  a  nolle  prosequi  was  entered. 

It  is  but  justice  to  Mr.  AYilliams  to  add  that  no  juryman  found 
him  guilty  of  murder.  The  three  who  were  for  convicting  him 
only  wished  to  bring  in  a  verdict  for  •'  manslaughter  in  the  second 
degree.'" 

Afterwards  Mr.  Williams  had  a  short  history  of  the  trial  pub- 
lished in  pamplilet  form  in  vindication  of  liimself.  If  any  should 
think  our  brief  chapter  does  not  do  him  justice,  we  would  advise 
them  to  procure  the  pamphlet  and  read  and  judge  for  themselves. 

Vanness  Wj'att  was  buried  in  the  village  grave-yard,  and  on 
his  tombstone  is  the  following  inscription : — 

"VANNESS    WYATT, 

DIED 

July  27,  1860, 

M.  28. 

He  came  to  his  death  from  a  pistol  shot  by  the  hand  of  James  M.  Williams, 
in  the  street  at  Warren  village,  at  five  and  one-half  o'clock,  A.  M." 

liam  Caswell,  Dan.  Y.  Boynton,  Aljihonzo  G.  French,  Hazen  Libbey,  Henry  A. 
Colley,  Isaac  JIerrill,.J.  B.  S.  Otterson,  Hobart  Wyatt,  Veranns  P.  Drew,  George 
H.  Jlonlton,  Ezra  Li bljey,  George  W.  Merrill, .Isaac  ^anb(n■n,  Benjamin  Clement, 
Damon  Y.Kastman.  and'several  others  wlmwere  not  put  upon  the  stand.  Tlie  de- 
fence called  Arthur  Knap|i,  Darius  Swain,  Otis  Chamberliu,  Joseph  Bi.xby,  Adoni- 
ram  Whitchei',  Caleb  il.  Noyes,  Mowill  J.  .Sanborn,  George  Libbey,  Harve}-  Cham- 
berliu, N.  P.  Folsoni.  Ezra  B.  Eaton,  .Vddison  Itobiusou,  Ferdinand  C.Keezer,  Jas. 
P.Webster,  >iathauiel  Merrill,  Salmon  Gleason,  Joseph  Chamborlin,  and  put  in 
the  allidavits  of  George  W .  Prescott  and  Mary  G.  Noyes. 

Warren  has  had  two  or  three  other  very  mean  and  as  some  say  very  dirty  cases; 
but  we  can't  stomach  to  put  them  iu  this  our  modest,  pleasant,  and  urbane  history. 
The  writiug  the  above  chapter  was  ;ibont  the  wor^t  do.se  ot  literature  we  ever  took. 
For  a  history  of  said  cases  we  would  reler  the  historian  ot  a  Imndred  years  hence 
to  the  N.  H.  Law  Reports. — Attthor's  Note. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CONCERNING  A  GREAT  RIVALRY  HETAA^EEN  CHARITABLE  RELIGIOUS 
SOCIETIES,  AVHICH  RESULTED  IN  AIOVINCJ  AND  REMODELLING  THE 
OLD  MEETING-HOUSE,  IN  A  TOAA^N-HOUSE,  A  NEAV  SCHOOL- 
HOUSE,  A  BEAUTIFUL  COMMON,  AND  IN  IMPR0A'IN(4  THE  GRAVE- 
YARD, ALL  AYHICH  IS  AN  HONOR  TO  THE  TOAVN  AND  THE  PRIDE 
OF   THE   INHABITANTS. 


About  the  year  1830.  and  perhaps  at  an  earlier  date, 
different  clergymen  of  the  Universalist  denomination  preached 
occasionally  to  the  belieA^ers  in  a  A\^orkVs  sah^ation  from  sin  and 
snffering;  but  the  first  society  AAas  organized  in  the  year  1838, 
under  the  ministry  of  llev.  John  E.  Palmer. 

The  Methodist  at  this  time  Avas  the  most  prominent  society  in 
tOAvn,  in  fact  the  Congregationalists  liad  nearly  all  disappeared,* 
and  the  FreeAv^ill  Baptists  Avere  but  a  AA^eak  handful  of  brethren. 
Consequently  it  Avas  natural  that  the  folloAvers  of  John  Wesley, 

*  The  Congregatioualists  often  tried  to  make  inroads  upon  the  Methodists,  but 
•without  much  success.  Priest  Davis,  (I.  S.  Davis,)  of  Wcntworth,  was  instrumen- 
tal m  getting  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Daniel  Alcnill  converted,  and  wanted  her  to  join 
his  cluirch.  Capt.  Daniel's  folks  were  Alethodists,  but  they  all  went  down  to 
the  congregational  cluirch  one  Sunday.  Davis  was  a  cunning  man  and  he  preached 
a  good  Methodist  discourse  to  please  them.  Aunt  Daniel  heard  liim  through,  and 
alter  meeting  she  siioke.  Said  she,  "  Mr.  D.'s  preaching  reminds  me  of  Farmer 
Joshua  Merrill  up  at  Warren  ;  when  he  goes  out  to  catch  his  old  mare,  he  shakes  a 
nice  pan  full  of  oats  and  calls,  'ker-joh,  ker-joh,  ker-joh,'  holding  the  bridle  all  the 
time  behind  him  out  of  sight.  Just  so  Willi  the  priest;  he  halloos  '  ker-joh,'  and 
shakes  a  nice  pan-lull  of  Alethodism  ;  but  when  he  gets 'em  caught,  he'll  put  on  the 
orthodox  bridle  with  a  vengeance."  "  The  daughter  didn't  jine  that  society  no 
how." 

Capt.  Daniel  Alerrill  once  did  something  tliat  pleased  or  displeased  his  wife 
vei-y  much.  To  i-eeomi)ense  him,  she  made  uji  liis  new  pants  wrong  side  out,  seam 
like  a  welt  on  the  outside,  and  the  Captain  hi.irhly  delighted  wore  them  to  meetiag 
several  times,  in  that  fashion.— R.  K.  Clement's  story. 


484  mSTORT    OF    WARREN. 

wishing  to  retain  the  supremac}',  shonld  regard  this  new  sect  with 
suspicion  and  much  jealousy,  especially  as  its  members,  disciples 
of  John  Murray,  did  not  believe  in  an  endless  hell  at  all. 

At  first  the  Universalist  society  had  their  meetings  in  the 
school-house,  the  one  with  four  roofs  that  stood  in  the  fork  of  the 
turnpike  and  Beech  hill  roads,  and  once  in  a  while  they  would'  get 
possession  of  the  meeting-house  ou  the  common.  Then  the  Meth- 
odists would  be  filled  Avith  righteous  indignation  at  the  sacrilege, 
as  it  seemed  to  them. 

But  the  Methodist  society  still  increased  much  the  fastest,  and 
finally  having  been  disconnected  from  the  Wentworth  and  Orford 
circuit,  it  obtained  what  it  had  not  before  had,  preaching  every 
Sabbath ;  yet  as  they  had  no  right  to  occupy  the  old  meeting-house 
all  the  time,  although  they  wanted  to,  they  were  compelled  to  use 
the  school-house  as  often  as  one  Sabbath  a  month,  while  the  Uni- 
versalist minister  held  forth  in  the  pulpit  under  the  great  sounding 
board.  This  seemed  too  bad,  and  the  Methodist  brethren  would 
steal  the  Bible  away  from  the  pulpit  sometimes,  and  carry  it  to  the 
school-house  with  them.  David  Smith,  Esq.,  a  leader  in  the  new 
society,  and  withal  a  good  disputationist,  often  remonstrated  with 
the  Methodist  brethren,  but  to  no  purpose,  and  much  ill  feeling 
was  engendered. 

At  last  the  feud  culminated.  The  believers  in  eternal  torment 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  would  not  worship  under  the 
same  roof  with  that  "  damned  society,"  that  did  not  believe  in 
*'  damnation ''  at  all ;  that  they  would  give  up  the  old  meeting- 
house entirely  for  a  season,  and  under  .the  ministry  of  Eev.  Sulli- 
van Ilolman  a  new  and  beautiful  chapel  was  built.  Much  taste 
and  piety  was  evinced  in  selecting  the  locality  for  the  new  house. 
It  was  located  a  short  distance  from  the  front  door  of  the  old 
church.  Then  a  school-house  committee,  from  the  same  good 
society,  with  excellent  taste,  located  a  new  school-house  nearly  in 
front  of  the  old  meeting-house;  building  a  nice  scliool-house  privy 
close  up  to  tiie  old  sanctuary.  And  now  the  Universalist  society 
could  have  as  much  preaching  in  the  old  house  as  they  wished; 
and  some  wicked  outsider  who  sympathized  with  the  Methodists 
said,  "  They  could  be  damned  into  the  bargain  if  they  pleased." 

The  two  societies  being  thus  now  in  full  blast,  aud  the  Free- 


RELIGIOUS   ENTHUSIASM.  485 

will  Baptists  wide  awake,  there  was  a  great  rivalry  amon^j  them, 
and  as  a  result  the  whole  town  went  to  meetingwith  all  its  might. 
In  winter  they  came  in  sleighs  from  Beech  hill,  Ileight-o'-land, 
Pine  hill.  Runaway  pond,  the  Summit,  East-parto  and  the  Fo'rlcs, 
many  of  the  women  bringing  their  mother's  old  foot  stoves  to 
keep  their  feet  warm,  and  hitched  tlieir  horses  during  the  services 
under  the  new  chapel  sheds,  a  long  row  that  the  Methodists 
had  prondly  stretched  more  than  half  way  through  the  very  centre 
of  the  old  common.  In  the  summer  time,  no  matter  if  it  lightened, 
thundered,  rained,  and  hailed,  or  the  sun  poured  down  its  rays 
with  torrid  heat,  they  all  turned  out  to  meeting  just  the  same. 
The  ladies  on  such  occasions  carried  fans'  and  parasols  to  keep  cool, 
and  most  every  one  brought  bouquets  or  bunches  of  tiowers,  and 
alecost,  thyme,  and  southernwood,  the  pungent  qualities  of  which 
they  found  very  useful  stimulents  to  keep  them  awake  during 
drowsy  sermon  time.  The  choirs  also  sang  better  than  ever  before, 
and  they  had  some  glorious  awakenings  and  revivals.  Everything 
was  lovely  and  nobody  seemed  to  care  a  copper  how  the  village, 
churches  or  common  looked,  provided  only  the  societies  flourished. 
Opposition,  excitement,  and  rivalry  are  grand  things  in  church 
affiiirs.  For  as  many  as  ten  years  ecclesiastical  matters  thus  went 
on,  and  then  the  fever  heat  began  to  cool  down  a  little. 

The  eyes  of  the  citizens  opened  slightly,  and  they  could  see 
that  the  old  meeting-house  of  1818  was  out  of  repair  and  fjist 
going  to  decay;  and  that  the  paint  was  worn  off  the  new  Metho- 
dist chapel ;  also  the  once  beautiful  parade  in  front  of  Joseph  Mer- 
rill's inn  was  fondly  in  the  recollection  of  some  of  the  oldest  in- 
habitants, and  the  school-house  and  the  new  chapel-sheds  seemed 
out  of  place  and  unsightly.  In  short,  the  whole  village  looked  bad 
and  was  an  object  of  remark  in  the  neighboring  towns. 

Soon  a  general  discontent  arose  against  this  order  of  things 
%n  the  common.  Sundry  individuals  began  to  move  in  the  matter. 
Plan  after  plan  was  devised  and  abandoned ;  but  at  last  a  town 
meeting  was  held  at  which  it  was  voted,  the  Universalists  acqui- 
escing, to  sell  the  old  meeting-house  to  the  Methodist  society  and 
that  the  town  should  buy  the  Methodist  chapel  at  an  expense  of 
five  hundred  dollars,  for  a  town-house.  The  village  school  district 
No.  2  had  a  meeting,  or  several  of  them,  and  voted  that  the  dis- 


486  HISTORY   OF    WARREN. 

trict  would  exchange  its  lot  of  land  for  one  to  the  north,  and  then 
it  was  generally  agreed  that  all  three  of  the  buildings  should  be 
moved  and  the  common  cleared. 

There  was  much  opposition  and  a  great  fight  about  the  mov- 
ing and  where  the  houses  should  be  placed;  but  they  finally  settled 
down  into  their  present  locations  and  eveiybody  was  delighted. 

Ira  Merrill  gave  the  lot  of  land  for  the  town-house ;  money 
was  raised  by  subscription  to  buy  of  Albe  C.  "Weeks  the  lots  for 
the  meeting-house  and  school-house.  Henry  ^Y.  Weeks  and  Levi 
C.  Whitcher  paid  the  most  liberally,  and  Capt.  Samuel  L.  Mer- 
rill, more  generous  than  any  of  the  rest,  gave  most  of  the  laud 
where  the  common  is  now. 

Ephraim  S.  Colley  moved  the  meeting-house  and  town-house, 
and  Janes  Glazier  the  school-house.  John  M.  "Whiton  managed 
the  remodeling  of  the  old  1818  meeting-house.  Columbus  Clough, 
George  Clough,  Amos  F.  Clough,  and  Ezra  W.  Keyes,  did  the 
work.  Considerable  additions  were  made,  but  the  body  of  the 
old  house  remained  the  same,  posts,  timbers,  walls,  and  roof,  and 
even  the  plastering  overhead  is  the  very  same  put  on  in  1818,  bet- 
ter than  any  that  can  be  spread  at  the  present  day. 

Thus  the  common  was  cleared  and  the  looks  of  the  village 
improved.  Our  good  Methodist  society  also,  after  twenty  years  of 
eff"ort,  had  now  obtained  what  they  had  always  longed  for,  the  full 
control  of  our  fathers'  old  meeting-house :  and  that  they  might 
be  a  little  more  popular,  under  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  L.  L. 
Eastman  they  had  purchased  the  beautiful  toned  bell  that  has  so 
often  enlivened  our  hills  and  valleys.  At  first  they  had  it  rung 
every  day  at  noon,  and  several  times  each  Sabbath;  but  the  week- 
day ringing  shortly  fell  into  disuse  except  on  funeral  occasions,  and 
when  it  tolls  at  the  deaths  of  the  inhabitants.* 

Jared  S.  Blodgett  has  always  had  charge  of  the  bell,  and  the 
moment  it  is  heard  to  toll  all  know  that  he  is  in  the  church  tower 
and  every  individual  is  all  attention,  hushed,  standing  in  the  atu- 
tude  of  profound  listeners.  The  bell,  by  some  signal  which  all 
understand,  proclaims  the  sex,  the  married  or  single  state  of  the 

*  Tolling  the  Bell. — A  man  dead  and  the  bell  strikes  one;  a  •woman  and  it  strikes 
two;  a  pause — then  if  the  person  is  single  the  bell  strikes  three  times  slowly;  if 
married,  four  times  slowly,  then  the  age  is  counted  out. 


•»;* 


*t- 


;vt«^.^^^;« 


IJIPIIOVEMENT   OF   AVARKEN   CO3I1I0N.  487 

deceased,  and  then  counts  out  his  or  her  age.  Flaying'  ascertained 
these  particuhirs,  the  people  begin  to  speculate,  for  they  already 
know  every  one  that  is  ill  in  town,  and  thus  generally  discover 
pretty  certainly  before  any  other  intelligence  reaches  them,  Avhose 
bell  it  is.  That  bell  is  a  suflScient  text  for  the  discourses  of  the 
day.  The}-  run  all  over  the  biography  of  the  individual  and  bring 
up  many  an  anecdote  of  him  and  his  contemporaries  which  had 
long  slept  in  their  minds. 

After  the  meeting  houses,  sheds,  and  school-house  were  moved , 
what  an  amount  of  Avork  Avas  done  on  the  common !  The  stumps 
of  the  dark  old  pines  two  hundred  feet  high,  that  once  sighed  in 
the  wind  and  shaded  the  Indian  beneath,  were  dug  out ;  hundreds 
of  tons  of  stones  were  removed,  and  ploughs  and  harrows  were 
used  day  after  day.  One  spring,  Henry  W.  Weeks,  Charles  Leon- 
ard, and  others,  planted  elms  and  maples  all  arotind  it,  and  the 
good  citizens  have  now  in  part  the  village  green  that  Gov.  Went- 
Avorth  Avished  they  should  Avhen  he  so  kindly  gave  the  town  char- 
ter in  1763.  It  is  the  pleasantest  place  in  town.  The  wide  spreading 
trees  cast  a  refreshing  ahade  there.  Caravans  with  elephants,  lions, 
and  tigers, —  and  circuses  —  pitch  their  tents  upon  the  greensAvard, 
and  the  gTcat  mountains,  bright  and  refreshing,  look  in  upon  the 
gatherings  of  happy  citizens.  May  the  common  be  forcA^er  pre- 
serA'cd. 

With  a  new  meeting-house  and  bell,  town-house  and  common, 
thevillage  cemetery  must  be  improved.  Col.  Isaac  Merrill  was 
the  leading  spii-it  in  this  enterprise,  and  the  Avail  w^as  re-built, 
good  fences  erected,  and  some  trees  set  out,  and  to-day  Warren 
has  as  beautiful  a  burying  ground  as  almost  any  country  town.* 

Fx'om  our  grave-yard  a  green  vale  extends  far  away  to  the 
south.  Great  hills  lift  their  heads  around  and  stretch  their  old 
trees  to  the  Avind.     Warren's  tirst  settler,  Joseph  Patch,  lies  here 

*  The  first  gi-ave-yard  in  Warren  was  located  a  sliort  distance  below  the  village 
on  land  near  the  great  radroad  bridge.  It  was  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the 
road  at  tlie  top  of  a  little  liill  which  was  once  the  bank  of  the  river.  In  this  yard 
about  twenty  were  buried,  among  the  first  of  wlioni  were  .Jolin  INIills  ai  d  his  son, 
eaily  settlers.  AVhen  excavations  were  made  for  the  railroad,  tlie  remains  of  sev- 
eral bodies  were  exjiumed ;  luit  tlie  overseer  of  the  work  dug  the  graves  deeper, 
and  in  them  again  deposited  llie  remains. 

There  were  also  three  other  burying  grounds  which  have  become  almost  uu- 
kno\Mi.  One  of  these  was  located  "near  the  present  site  of  the  railroad  deijots. 
Anotlier  is  on  Blue  ridge,  where  .loshua  C'opp  was  buried.  It  was  the  piece  of 
land  which  the  town  voted  to  accept  of  him  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  meeting 


488  HISTORY    OF    WARREN, 

without  a  tombstone.  His  grave  is  beside  a  rustling  tree.  The 
breezes  are  sighing  there.  A  little  streamlet  murmurs  near  and 
sends  its  waters  to  the  Asquamchumauke.  A  great  mountain  to 
the  northward,  Moosilauke,  looks  in  on  the  turfy  mound.  "  O  lay 
me,  ye  that  see  the  light,  near  some  rock  of  my  hills !  Let  the 
thick  hazels  be  around.  Let  the  sound  of  the  distant  ton-eut  be 
heard." 

Obadiah  Clement  also  lies  sleeping  in  an  unmarked  grave,  and 
Stevens  Merrill  and  Jonathan  Merrill  are  resting  near  by.  Joshua 
Copp  is  buried  on  the  Blue  ridge  by  the  banks  of  the  Mikaseota. 
Simeon  Smith  has  his  grave  under  the  great  apple  tree  by  Red-oak 
hill  road,  and  John  IVlills  is  sleeping  on  the  river  bank  where  the 
"  roaring  rips  are  ever  sounding."'     Who  can  tell  of  the  others? 

"Warren's  old  settlers  are  all  dead  now.  A  life  interspersed 
with  joys  and  soitows  was  theirs. 

"  Oft  did  the  harvest  to  theii-  sickle  yield ; 

Their  furrow  oft  the  stubljorn  glebe  has  broke; 
How  jocund  did  they  drive  their  team  afleld, 

How  bowed  the  woods  beneath  their  sturdy  stroke. 

But  now — 


Each  in  his  naiTow  cell  forever  laid, 
The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep. 

The  breezy  call  of  incense  breathing  morn, 
The  swallow  twittering  from  her  straw  built  shed; 

The  cock's  shrill  clarion  or  the  echoing  horn. 
No  more  shall  rouse  them  from  their  lowly  bed. 

For  them  no  more  the  blazing  hearth  shall  bum. 

Or  busy  housewife  ply  her  evening  care: 
No  children  run  to  lisp  their  sire's  return. 

Or  climb  his  knee  the  envied  kiss  to  share." 

How  different  in  effect  is  the  city  from  the  country  funeral. 
lx\  the  city  a  strange  corpse  passes  along  amid  thousands  of  stran- 
gers, and  human  nature  seems  shorn  of  that  interest  which  it  ought, 

house,  and  occupying  as  a  burying-yard  and  training  field.  The  third  is  in  the 
basin  of  Runaway  pond.  In  this  yard  about  thirty  were  buried,  the  last  being 
children  of  .Jonathan  Clement,  innkeeijer,  who  died"  in  1815  of  spotted  fever.  In 
the  pond  liasin  was  also  the  old  Indian  burying  gi-ound. 

The  old  burying  ground  at  Charleston  should  not  be  forgotten. 

Besides  theVillage  cemetery  on  the  Pine  hill  road,  there  are  used  at  the  pres- 
ent lime,  the  Clough  grave-yard,  by  the  Forks  school-house  in  Patchbreuckland  ; 
tlie  East-parte  grave-yard,  as  you  turn  up  the  Moosehillock  road  ;  and  the  Summit 
grave-yard,  as  you  go  up  High  street  road.  The  Whitchers  also  had  a  grave-yard 
of  thefr  own  on  Pine  hill. 


PRESENT  RELIGIOUS   STATUS.  489 

especially  in  its  last  stage,  to  possess.  In  the  country,  eveiy  man, 
woman,  and  child,  goes  down  to  tlie  dust  amid  those  who  have 
known  them  from  their  youth,  and  all  miss  them  from  their  place. 
Nature  seems  in  its  silence  to  sympathize  with  the  mourners.  The 
green  mound  of  the  rural  grave-yard  opens  to  receive  the  slumborer 
to  a  i)caceful  resting  place  and  the  maples  and  the  elms  which  he 
climbed  when  a  boy  in  pursuit  of  bird's  nests,  moths  or  butterflies, 
overshadow  as  it  were  with  a  kindred  feeling  his  gi-ave. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  let  us  say  that  the  Methodists  and 
Universalists  have  had  no  fights  since ;  the  former  having  the  whole 
control  of  the  old  meeting-house,  and  the  latter  using  the  town- 
house  when  they  want  preaching.  The  FreeAvill  Baptists  have 
preaching  at  either  place  just  as  they  can  get  accommodated. 
Sometimes  the  Second  Adventists,  a  new  sect  that  has  seen  the 
world  destroyed  a  half  dozen  times  or  more,  occupy  the  town-house 
much  to  their  great  delight.  And  now  at  the  close  of  Warren's 
first  century  entire  harmony  among  the  diflferent  religious  societies 
prevails. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


OF    A     DELECTABLE    VISIT    TO     MOOSEHILLOCK,    AND    WHAT    CAN   BE 
SEEN   THERE  —  THE   WEATHER   PERHITTING. 


Reader,  let  us  go  on  to  Moosehillock.  The  Indians 
called  it  Jloosilaitke  from  mosi,  bald,  and  auke,  a  place, — "  Bald- 
place."  There  are  three  paths  leading  to  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
one  from  North  Benton,  one  from  Warren  Summit,  and  one  from 
the  East-par te  region.  The  last  one  will  answer  our  purpose 
best. 

Let  us  start  eai'ly  on  the  East-parte  road.  There  has  been  a 
great  storm,  but  it  has  cleared  ofi' now;  the  moon  is  on  the  full, 
and  the  air  is  clear  as  a  bell.  AVe  cross  Beriy  brook  where  Samuel 
Knight  had  a  fight  with  a  bear,  keep  Silver  rill  upon  our  left,  and 
come  to  the  Sawtelle  school-house.  Crossing  the  bridge  over  the 
Asquamchumauke  or  Baker  river,  we  pass  a  remarkable  flume  in 
the  rocks  which  the  waters  for  ages  have  been  wearing  out,  leave 
the  "  pot  holes  "  where  McCarter  was  said  to  be  hid  when  he  was 
murdered,  to  our  left,  and  listening  to  the  white  thoated  finch,  our 
mountain  whistler,  as  he  sings  the  prelude  to  the  "  Wrecker's 
daughter,"  in  the  fir  woods,  we  reach  East-parte  school-house  by 
Moosilauke  falls  on  the  Asquamchumauke. 

It  is  a  modest  little  school-house  by  the  roadside,  but  it  has  a 
history  such  as  few  others  can  boast.  Within  thirtj'  years,  nearly 
a  score  of  boys  have  been  to  school  there,  who  have  made  pi'each- 
ers  of  the  gospel.  Heber  C.  Kimball,  the  celebrated  Mormon,  and 
Moses  H.  Bixby,  an  eloquent  divine,  are  the  most  noted.     Four 


*'  3I00SILAUICE."  491 

doctors  and  two  lawyers  also  got  their  early  education  there. 
Perhaps  the  great  wooded  mountains  around,  the  mighty  chasms 
worn  in  the  solid  rocks,  with  pot  holes,  some  of  them  forty  feet 
deep,  and  the  music  of  falling  waters,  had  something  to  do  with 
forming  the  character  of  the  pupils  who  have  attended  school 
there. 

We  go  up  through  Moosehillock  district,  climbing  the  hill  all 
the  time,  past  a  swaley  meadow-field  on  the  right,  where  a  hun- 
dred bob-o'-links  titter,  and  laugh,  and  sing  all  through  the  month 
of  June,  past  another  school-house  and  over  Merrill  brook,  and 
we  arrive  at  Nathaniel  Merrill's,  the  last  house  high  up  on  the 
northern  marche  or  boundary  of  "Warren. 

What  a  magnificent  place  is  Mr.  Merrill's ;  green  fields  up  to 
his  A'ery  door;  rustling  maples,  the  hum  of  millions  of  bees,  the 
primitive  cheese-press  and  an  old  loom  in  the  shed,  and  pure  water 
to  drink.  Cattle  and  sheej)  are  in  the  rich  pastures,  there  are 
waving  fields  of  ripening  grain,  the  orchard  is  filled  with  apples, 
cherries,  and  Canada  plums,  and  the  murmuring  of  brooks  and 
the  roar  of  the  distant  torrent  is  heard.  Around  are  the  lofty 
wooded  crests  of  the  great  mountains,  Waternomee,  Cushman, 
Kineo,  and  Mount  Carr,  sweeping  away  in  a  circle  to  the  south- 
west. 

We  will  get  saddle  horses  here  and  go  up  the  mountain  slowly 
that  we  may  enjoy  the  trip  all  the  better.  We  open  the  heavy  gate, 
cross  the  little  rill  that  comes  down  from  the  great  sugar  oi'chard 
where  the  song  thrush  is  singing,  and  going  up  through  the  pas- 
ture, startle  a  grass  finch  that  skippering  to  the  top  of  a  low  wav- 
ing maple,  warbles  two  soft  half  plaintive  notes,  followed  by  a 
sweet  silverj"^  giggle,  as  though  the  bird  exceedingly  pleased,  was 
laughing  at  its  own  rich  melody. 

As  we  enter  the  woods  we  see  the  mountain  summit  rising 
4,000  feet  above  us ;  the  river  is  roaring  in  the  ravine  500  feet  deep, 
on  our  right;  the  red-eyed  vireo  and  winter  wren  are  perpetually 
singing  in  the  thick  forest,  and  when  we  cross  on  rustic  bridges 
two  mossy  streams,  where  a  pair  of  solitary  sand  pipers  ai'e  feed- 
ing, we  begin-the  sharp  ascent  of  the  mountain. 

The  forest  is  deep  and  dark.  Deer  yard  in  these  woods  every 
winter ;  bears  prowl  in  them  all  summer  long,  there  are  sable-traps 


492  HISTORY    OP    WARREN. 

beside  the  path,  traps  in  which  wild  cats  are  caught;  and  it  was 
near  here  that  Joseph  Patch,  his  son,  and  Captain  Flanders  killed 
the  last  moose  that  were  ever  found  in  this  region.  Yet  no  one 
was  ever  hurt  by  these  "  wild  beastes/''  so  terrible,  onlj^  Jared  S. 
Blodgett  once  was  greatly  frightened  by  a  bear  by  the  path,  and 
many  a  traveler  has  seen  a  hedgehog  rapidly  disappearing  in  the 
thick  bushes.  Hear  that  great  owl  hooting  aAvay  across  the  table 
land  by  Gorge  brook.  What  a  dreadful  voice  he  has ;  but  it  never 
injured  one  yet.  There  are  red  squirrels  chattering  by  the  road- 
side,—  a  pleasant  sound. 

Climbing,  zigzaging  up  the  mountain,  the  forest  changes,  the 
ash,  beech,  and  maple  disappear,  and  the  spruce,  fir,  and  silver 
birch  take  their  places.  MVo  have  reached  a  different  zone,  and  the 
birds  change, —  the  soft,  sweet  love  note  of  the  purple  finch  is 
heard  up  among  the  cones,  the  ivory  billed  snow  bird  is  startled 
from  its  nest  by  the  path,  Canada  jays  scream  out  from  the  fir 
shade,  and  sometimes  cross-bills,  yellow  rumped  warblers,  pine 
grosbeaks  and  lesser  red  polls,  birds  that  breed  in  Labrador,  are 
found.  The  Canada  grouse,  with  their  brood  of  chicks,  lain  from 
the  path.  Then  there  are  nut  hatches,  kinglets,  ruby  crojvhed 
wrens,  oven  birds  and  olive  backed  thrushes  far  in  these  woods. 

The  trees  grow  smaller  and  smaller,  so  short  and  thick  and 
scraggy  that  one  can  almost  walk  on  top  of  thqpi.  Blueberries 
and  raspberries,  that  are  ripening  in  the  valley  below,  are  just 
beginning  to  flower  here ;  the  bunch  plum  is  white  by  the  path, 
and  a  dozen  kinds  of  flowers,  new  and  strange,  flora  of  Green- 
land, appear. 

"VVe  will  stop  at  the  cold  spring  just  under  the  southern  peak, 
to  drink.  It  is  the  coldest  water  we  ever  drank;  our  teeth  ache 
and  chatter,  and  we  say  with  all  the  rest  that  surely  there  is  an 
ice  bank  near  by. 

Soon  we  are  out  on  the  bald  mountain  ridge  that  connects  the 
two  peaks;  on  either  hand  are  wild  and  hideous  gorges,  three 
thousand  feet  down  into  the  depths  below.  Beyond  to  the  west  is 
the  bright  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  garden  land,  with  silver 
river;  to  the  east  the  dark  ravine  of  the  Asquamchumauke  filled 
with  the  old  primitive  woods,  where  the  trees  for  thousands  of 
years,  like  the  generations  of  men,  have  grown,  ripened  and  died. 


•«v 


?-i«r;>  ~ 


THE   PROSPECT   HOUSE.  493 

Half  a  inilc  fuvtlici-  on  and  wo  arc  at  the  Prospect  House  on 
the  bald  summit  of  the  mountain.  The  most  sensible  thing  that 
we  can  do  is  to  hitc-li  our  horses  under  the  lcd<^e  on  the  eastern 
side,  out  of  the  way  of  the  wind,  and  go  in  and  get  a  good  cup  of 
tea,  or  something  of  the  sort.  The  house  is  a  rude  structure,  built 
of  stone.  Darius  Swain  and  James  Clement  built  it  in  18G0.* 
Samuel  Hoit  was  master  workman  and  John  Whitcher,  Nathan 
Willey,  and  numerous  others,  worked  there.  They  had  two  yoke 
of  oxen  up  on  the  mountain  for  a  whole  mouth,  and  the  men 
all  camped  over  by  the  cold  spring. f 

We  are  out  now  on  top  of  the  mountain,  well  wrapped  up  in 
shawls  and  quilts.  It  is  a  glorious  day,  but  a  little  colder  than 
when  the  Indian  chief,  AYaternomee,  sat  on  this  summit,  yet  not 
so  cold  as  when  a  century  ago  one  of  Robert  Rogers'  rangers  died 
here.  Chase  Whitcher,  the  first  white  settler  who  came  up  here, 
thought  it  a  cold  place.  But  Mrs.  Daniel  Patch,  the  first  white 
woman  who  ever  stood  upon  this  summit,  thought  it  quite  pleasant. 
She  brought  her  tea-pot  with  her,  and  made  herself  a  good  cup  of 
tea  over  a  fire  kindled  from  the  hackmatacks,  bleached  white,  so 
many  of  which  you  see  standing  like  skeletons  down  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  mountain,  just  as  though  a  great  grave-yard  had  been 
shaken  open  by  an  earthquake.     Mrs.  Susan  C.  Little,  wife  of  Dr. 

*  The  persons  who  workerl  on  the  mountain  :— .James  Clement,  Darius  Swain, 
John  Hoit,  Samuel  Hoit,  John  Whitcher,  witli  yolie  ot'caltle;  Nathan  Willej',  drove 
cattle;  Vanness  Wyatt,  Burgess  A.  Clement,  Jesse  Eastman,  James  S.  Merrill, . J. 
F.  Merrill,  Horatio  Willouglil)y,  with  eattle;  El)en  Swain,  Chas.  Carpenter,  Joseph 
Whitflier,  llazen  Libljey,  Benjamin  Eastman,  Daniel  Willis. 

The  Prcspect  House  was  opened  July  4,  18'JO,  and  the  day  was  celebrated  on 
the  mountain.  Jlore  than  a  thousand  people  were  present;  the  Newbury  biass 
band  lurnished  the  music.  Col  Stevens  JI.  Dow  marshaled  the  citizens,  a  whole 
regiment  ot  them,  marchmg  and  counter-marching  upon  the  mountain  top,  and 
Hon.  Thomas  J.  Smith  delivered  an  excellent  and  patriotic  oiatiou. 

On  this  occasion  Daniel  Q.  Clement  drove  two  horses  attached  to  a  large  pleas- 
ure wagon  on  to  the  mountain ;  and  the  celebration  concluded  with  a  show  bv  a 
party  of  Indian  performers,  genuine  Indians,  who  danced,  sang,  and  sounded  the 
war-whoop. 

t  Nathaniel  Richardson  and  Nath.  K.  Richardson  made  the  shingles  high  up  on 
the  mountain  side. 

"  18i;0,  Aug.  20.— Philip  Hadley.  90  years  old.  came  up  to  the  Prospect  House. 
He  lives  at  Bradford,  VJ.,  and  he  walked  all  the  wav  from  that  place  to  the  top  of 
the  mountain."— Register  of  Prospect  House,  IStiO." 

James  Gutting,  8.5  years  of  age,  rode  horseback  from  his  home  in  Haverhill,  to 
the  top  of  Mooshillock,  and  back  the  same  day,  Aug.  24,  18(;9. 

Immediately  after  oi)ening  the  Prospect  House,  several  citizens  of  Warren 
commenced  to  keeii  summer  boaiders;  Kussel  Jleirill  was  the  first  to  0])en  the 
business;  and  after  him,  II.  H.  Sheklon  ;  the  Jloosilauke  House,  now  kept  by  D.  G. 
Marsh,  and  Nathaniel  Merrill,  2d,  have  followed  tlie  business. 


494  HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 

Jesse  Little,  was  the  first  "woman  "wlio  rode  a  horse  on  to  the  moun- 
tain, and  that  was  in  1859. 

William  Little  was  the  first  landlord  of  the  Prospect  House, 
then  Ezekiel  A.  Clement  kept  it  for  one  season,  and  afterwards 
James  Clement,  for  years  and  years,  was  mine  host  on  Moosehil- 
lock.  He  was  really  the  old  man  of  the  mountain.  Many  a  night 
he  has  stopped  alone  up  here  among  the  clouds  and  the  eagles. 
The  housewife  rocking  her  cradle  of  a  stormy  night,  below,  would 
mutter  as  a  gust  of  storm  thundered  over  the  roof,  ^'  O  then  it  is 
poor  Jim  that  has  enough  of  fresh  air  about  his  head  up  there  this 
night,  the  creature!" 

One  summer  they  had,  as  visitors  at  the  Prospect  House,  a 
deer,  three  eagles,  a  bear,  and  a  wild  cat.  Jim  said  he  saw  the 
deer  cropping  the  harebells  on  the  mountain  top ;  that  the  bear  lay 
in  the  grass  at  the  foot  of  the  falls ;  the  wild-cat  screamed  from 
the  hackmatacks  at  the  moon,  and  the  eagles  looked  in  at  the  win- 
dow as  he  was  building  the  moi-ning  fire.  Jim  was  a  great  hand 
at  telling  stories  of  his  adventures  in  the  woods,  and  what  he  had 
witnessed  on  the  mountain.  He  said  he  had  seen  the  fog  so  thick 
that  he  could  bag  it  up  like  corn ;  that  he  had  seen  it  so  cold  that 
it  turned  into  icicles  and  sailed  round  like  birds ;  that  the  wind 
would  blow  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  an  hour;  that  once  a 
whirlwind  lifted  a  pair  of  cart-Avheels  fifty  feet  into  the  air,  spun 
them  round  for  a  minute  and  then  let  them  down  again  uninjured ; 
that  he  had  heard  a  bear  in  the  night,  hallooing  over  on  the  south 
peak  so  loud  that  it  waked  the  whole  family  up ;  that  there  was  an 
earthquake  that  shook  the  crockery  on  the  shelves;  that  once  a 
column  of  smoke  and  fire  issued  from  the  easterly  ridge,  belching 
up  like  a  volcano ;  that  the  aurora  borealis  came  down  on  the 
mountain  so  thick  and  so  splendid  that  it  seemed  like  a  shower  of 
silver  and  gold ;  and  that  every  year,  there  was  one  night,  about 
the  full  of  the  moon  in  August,  when  "witches,  and  ghosts,  and 
spirits,  and  fairies  danced,  and  yelled,  and  san;^  over  the  mountain 
peaks  by  the  million.  When  remonstrated  with  for  telling  large 
stories,  he  would  reply,  "  What  is  the  use  of  telling  a  story  at  all 
unless  you  can  tell  one  that  will  call  the  mind  into  activity." 

Let  us  get  up  on  the  deck  of  the  roof.  It  is  the  best  "view  of 
all  from  here ;  the  grandest  and  most  sublime,  far  surpassing  that 


o 


A   PANORAMA    OF   MOUNTAINS.  495 

from  any  other  peak  in  New  England,  because  of  its  isolated  posi- 
tion, and  of  its  great  height,  and  no  other  mountains  near  to  hide 
the  prospect,  as  is  the  case  at  the  White  mountains.  Then  stand- 
ing alone  it  does  not  attract  the  clouds  as  the  White  mountains  do, 
and  for  a  whole  month  in  the  season  it  shoots  up  into  the  clear 
heaven  when  all  the  eastern  peaks  are  cloud  capped. 

Just  around  us,  the  mountain  is  green  with  mosses  and  lichens, 
thirty  kinds  of  mosses ;  and  harebells  and  mountain  cranberries, 
with  their  millions  of  flowers,  make  it  seem  like  a  garden,  with  a 
green  border  of  firs  and  spruces  and  birches  below.  Purple 
finches,  snow  birds,  and  the  mountain  Avhistler  are  singing  in  this 
garden. 

The  sun  is  going  down  and  it  is  cold  you  say.  Let  us  travel 
with  our  eyes  round  the  whole  horizon. 

Look  away  to  the  south  first.  How  the  ruby  light  is  gleaming 
on  Lake  Winnepisseogee, ''  The  Smile  of  the  Great  Spirit ;"  see  that 
tall  shaft  just  on  the  horizon  beyond.  It  is  Bunker  hill  monument 
standing  "  dow^i  by  the  sea."  Cai-ry  your  eye  round  to  the  west; 
Mt.  Belknap  is  first,  then  AYachusett  in  Massachusetts,  the  Unca- 
noonucks,  and  to  the  right  of  them,  Jo  English,  Kearsarge,  Mt. 
Cardigan,  Monadnock,  and  Croydon  mountains.  Close  by  is  Wa- 
ternomee,  Cushman,  Kineo,  Mount  Carr,  Stinson  mountain  in  Eom- 
ney.  Smart's  mountain  in  Dorchester,  Mt.  Cube  in  Orford,  Senti- 
nel mountain  in  Warren,  and  Piermont  mountain. 

Across  the  Connecticut  river  to  tlie  southwest  is  Ascutney,  and 
beyond  it,  farther  down,  is  Saddle  mountain,  Graylock,  and  Berk- 
shire hills,  in  Massachusetts.  Then  wheeling  round  towards  the 
north  are  Killington  peaks,  sharp  and  needle  like,  shooting  up 
above  the  neighboring  hills;  farther  north  and  directly  west,  is 
Camel's  Hump,  unmistakable  in  its  appearance;  then  Mt.  Mans- 
field, towering  above  tlie  thousand  other  summits  of  the  Green 
mountains. 

Above  and  beyond  them,  in  the  farthest  distance,  ai-e  counted 
nine  sharp  peaks  of  the  Adirondacks  in  New  York,  Mt.  Marcy 
higher  than  all  the  rest.  To-morrow  morning  at  sunrise  you  will 
see  the  fog  floating  up  from  Lake  Champlain  this  side  of  them. 

In  the  northwest  is  Jay  peak  on  Canada  line,  and  to  the  right 
of  it  you  see  a  hundred  summits  rising  from  the  table  lands  of 


496  HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 

Canada.    Then  there  is  the  notch  at  Memphremagog  lake,  Owl's 
head  by  Willonghby  lake,  and  Monadnock  In  northern  Vermont. 

Close  down  is  Black  mountain;  Owl's  head  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Blueberry,  Hogback  and  Sugarloaf  mountains.  Then 
north  is  Cobble  hill  in  Landaff ;  Gardner  mountain  in  Lyman,  and 
Stark  peaks  away  up  in  northern  Coos. 

To  the  right,  and  stretching  away  to  the  northeast  in  Maine, 
you  see  a  long  rolling  range  of  hills,  the  Avater-shed  between  the 
Atlantic  ocean  and  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  said  by  Agassiz  to  be 
the  oldest  land  in  the  world.  East  of  these  is  the  white  summit  of 
the  Aziscoos,  by  Umbagog  lake. 

Nearest  and  to  the  north-east  is  Mt.  Kinsman,  the  Profile 
mountain;  and  above  and  over  them  Mt.  Lafayette,  its  sides 
scarred  and  jagged  where  a  hundred  torrents  pour  down  in  spring, 
its  peaks  splintered  by  lightning.  South  of  this,  and  nearby,  are 
the  Haystacks.  Over  and  beyond  the  latter  are  the  Twins,  more 
than  five  thousand  feet  high ;  and  just  to  the  right  of  them  Mt. 
Washington,  dome  shaped  and  higher  than  all  the  rest.  Around 
this  monarch  of  mountains,  as  if  attendant  upon  him,  are  Mts. 
Adams  and  Jefterson,  sharp  peaks  on  the  left,  and  Mt.  Moriah,  the 
Imp,  Mts.  Madison  and  Monroe,  Mt.  Webster,  the  Willey  notch 
precipice.  Double  head,  and  a  hundred  other  great  mountains 
standing  to  the  right  and  front. 

A  little  to  the  south  is  Carrigan,  4,800  feet  high,  black  and 
sombre,  most  attractive  and  most  dreaded,  not  a  white  spot  nor  a 
scar  upon  it ;  covered  with  dark  woods  like  a  black  pall,  symmetrical 
and  beautiful,  the  eye  turns  away  to  return  to  it  again  and  again. 
Mt.  Pigwacket  in  Conway,  its  neighbor,  always  seems  gray  in  the 
hazy  distance,  Ciiocorua  rises  farther  south,  and  Welch  mountain, 
Osceola,  Whiteface,  Ossipee,  Agamenticus,  on  the  sea  coast;  Mt. 
Prospect  and  Red  hill  fill  up  the  circle. 

This  view  to  the  north  and  east  is  the  most  magnificent  moun- 
tain view  to  be  had  on  this  side  of  the  continent.  The  most  indif- 
ferent observer  cannot  look  upon  it  without  feeling  its  grandeur 
and  sublimity. 

Forty  ponds  and  lakes  are  sparkling  under  the  setting  sun. 
Two  in  Woodstock,  the  little  tarn  in  the  meadow  where  the  As- 
quamchumauke  rises ;  Stinson  pond  in  Ilomuey,  Lake  Winnepis- 


MAGNIFICENT  PROSPECT.  497 

seogee,  AViiincsquam,  Long  bay,  Smitlvs  pond,  Squam  lake,  Mas- 
coma  lake,  two  ponds  in  Dorcliester,  Baker  ponds  in  Oiford, 
Indi.in  pond,  Fairlee  pond,  and  luiniLn'ous  others  in  Vermont; 
Tarleton  lakes,  AVacliipanka  jxind,  by  \Ahicli  Rogers  and  his  ran- 
gers camped,  Kelley,  and  llorse-shoe  ponds;  two  others  in  Hav- 
erliill,  Beaver  meadow  ponds  in  Benton,  and  many  more  with 
names  unkno^vn;  how  they  all  gleam  and  glisten,  and  look  like 
silver  sheens. 

The  Peinigewassott,  the  Asquamchumauke,  the  Ammonoosuc, 
and  the  Connecticut,  from  their  wooded  valleys  are  flashing  in  the 
setting  sun. 

The  villages  with  their  churrh  spires  are  gleaming.  See  Brad- 
ford,  Haverhill  Corner,  East  and  North  Haverhill,  Newbury,  AVoods- 
ville  and  Wells  River,  down  there  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  A 
hundred  spires  are  shining  on  the  hills  of  Vermont.  LandatTand 
Bath  are  lighted  up.  and  Warren,  "Wentworth,  Campton,  Franco- 
nia,  Lake  Village,  and  Lacouia  all  come  distinctly  out  as  the  sun 
goes  down. 

Now  see  the  sun  just  touching  the  x^dirondacks  beyond  Late 
Champlain  in  the  w^est.  There  is  a  rosy  blush  on  the  White  moun- 
tains, the  Green  mountains  are  golden,  while  all  the  peaks  behind 
whicli  the  sun  is  going  down  are  bathed  in  a  sea  of  glorious  light. 
How  it  changes!  Darkness  creeps  over  the  eastern  peaks,  the 
Green  mountains  are  going  into  shadows,  the  vermillion,  pink, 
ruby,  and  g-old  of  the  Adirondacks,  is  fading  away,  and  the  stars 
are  coming  out. 

But  look!  there  is  a  silver  line  on  the  eastern  horizon.  'Tis 
the  moon  rising.  But  Luna  don't  come  from  behind  the  hills. 
Her  upper  limb  as  she  creeps  up  is  distant  twice  her  diameter 
from  the  land  horizon.     That  bright  band  twixtmoou  and  earth  is 

The  view  is  the  grand  tiling  of  3Ioosehillnck.  But  if  it  shoiilrl  happen  to  be 
«lou(ly,  as  is  tVeijiiently  the  case,  tliere  is  much  of  interest  about  tlie  top  of  the 
mountain.  Ganicts  aii  im-li  in  diameter,  with  perfect  faces,  ar(v  found  l)y  the  car- 
riage road,  forty  lods  from  the  house.  Tae  best  tnui'm  ilines  in  New  Hampsliire 
are  also  oblaiued  in  tlie  same  locality.  Down  in  the  Tunnel  are  magniticeut  quartz 
crystals.  On  the  soutli  peak  is  a  au)st  curunis  lurrow.  Mr.  .James  Clement  says 
it  was  uucloubtetUy  plowed  l)y  an  iceberg  drilling  Irom  the  north-east  to  tlie  south- 
west, when  New  liampsliire  mouuiaius  were  under  ihe  ocean.  No  person  can  fail 
to  notice  it.  "  .lobildunc"  ravine  wliere  tlie  Asquamchumauke  leaps  down  a 
thousand  feet  at  an  angle  of  SO  degrees,  is  much  visited.  The  Seven  Cascades 
between  the  two  peaks  of  the  mountain  on  (Jorge  brook,  are  also  uell  woitli  a  visit. 
The  stream  descends  at  a  shari)  angle  eight  hundred  feet  over  a  series  of  steps, 
and  after  a  great  rain  is  a  most  luaguiliceut  sight. 

F* 


4:98  HISTORY   OF   WARREN, 

the  ocean.   It  is  a  sight  seldom  seen  from  New  Hampshire's  moun- 
tains. 

As  we  come  down  fi-oni  the  roof,  tlie  mountain  whistler,  well 
called  the  nortliern  nightingale,  chants  its  sweet  notes  in  the  hack- 
matacks, an  owl  hoots  over  by  the  old  camp  at  the  Cold  spring, 
the  wind  is  soughing  mournfully  on  the  mosses  of  the  rocks,  and 
the  deep  voice  of  the  torrents  comes  up  from  the,  dark  ravines 
below.  Let  us  go  in,  get  supper,  listen  to  Uncle  Jim's  yarns  tor  a 
while,  go  to  bed  and  sleep  till  the  sunrise,  which  is  scarcely  less 
glorious  than  the  sunset. 


CHAPTER  TX. 


nOVr   SEVERAL   INDIVIDUALS   GOT   RrCH   MANrrFACTURIxr;,    OR   OUOHT 
TO,    AVITH   THE   GLORIOUS    RESULTS    OF    IT. 


nVaRREN  has  always  been  esteemed  an  agricultural  town. 
Some  mining  has  also  been  carried  on,  but  we  do  not  now  propose 
to  consider  cither  of  said  branches  of  industry ;  but  to  give  a  brief 
history  of  manufacturing  in  our  little  democracy. 

Saw  Mills. — In  the  earliest  days  of  our  hamlet  the  manufacture 
of  himber  was  the  most  important  of  this  branch  of  indnstrj'. 
Stevens  Merrill,  as  we  have  said  before,  built  the  first  saw-mill  at 
the  ''white  little  falls"  on  the  Mikaseota,  Black  brook,  where 
once  John  Page  shot  .a  deer. 

Joshua  Copp  built  the  next  saw-mill  near  the  outlet  of  Runa- 
way pond.  AThat  an  excellent  mill  privilege  might  be  made  there 
now  by  constructing-  a  short  dam  fifty  feet  long  and  forty-feet  high 
and  flowing  all  Runaway  pond  basin  again.  The  pond  would  be 
a  mile  wide,  two  miles  long  and  thirty  feet  deep.  What  a  grand 
reservoir!  Then  Kelley  pond  could  be  flowed  so  as  to  make  a 
reservoir  of  eighty  acres,  twelve  feet  deep,  and  Wachipauka  could 
be  raised  some  eight  feet  by  a  short  dam.  If  it  was  raised  higher 
than  that  its  water  would  flow  down  the  Oliverian  to  the  Con- 
necticut. 

After  Mr.  Copp,  Natlianicl  Clough  built  two  saw  mills,  the 
first  on  the  Asquamchumauke  near  the  southern  boundary,  and  the 
second  on  that  musical  stream,  Hurricane  brook.    Joseph  Clement 


500  HISTOKY   OF    AVAKREN. 

i-epaired  the   latter   and  tlieu   sold  it  to  John  L.   Stevens,  who 
moved  it  away  to  High  street. 

M\'  grandfather  Joseph  Merrill,  Jonathan  Merrill,  and  Benja- 
min Merrill,  then  built  the  great  saw-mill  just  at  the  depot  cross- 
ing. 

Ruel  Bela  Cliflbrd  bnilt  on  Moosehillock  falls  the  mill  stand- 
ing near  the  East-parte  school-house,  and  later,  Adoniram  Whitcher 
built  the  old  mill  jiow  gone  to  decay,  on  Berry  brook,  far  up  the 
"New  Road." 

William  Kelley  built  the  saw-mill  at  Kclley  pond. 
Joseph  II.  Stevens,  the  mill  on  Oak  falls;*  hardly  a  vestige  of 
it  now  remains. 

Mrs.  James  Harriman,  lirst  a  mill  up  High  street  on  the  Oli- 
verian,  and  second  another  mill  lower  down  on  Warren  Summit. 
Sylvester  Merrill  and  Capt.  Daniel  Merrill,  a  flourishing  mill 
high  up  in  the  East-parte  regions. 

Levi  F.  Jewell,  two  mills  on  Berry  brook,  and  Isaac  Sawtelle, 
a  mill  in  Streamy  valley  district,  near  the  month  of  Batchelder 
brook. t 

What  a  host  of  different  persons  have  owned  some  of  these 
mills.  Stevens  Merrill  sold  his  to  Moses  H.  Clement,  and  the 
subsequent  owners  are  Ebenezer  Cushman,  F.  A.  &  M.  E.  Cush- 
man,  Philo  Baldwin,  Hazelton  &  Eaton,  and  AYhitcher,  Merrill  & 
Clark. 

Joseph  Merrill  bought  out  Jonathan  and  Benjamin  Merrill,  and 
then  sold  to  Anson  Merrill.  He  sold  to  James  Dow;  and  subse- 
quent owners  are  Col.  Charles  Lane,  Albe  C.  Weeks,  Whitcher  & 
Weeks,  L.  C.  AYhitcher,  J.  M.  Whiton.  and  last,  H.  W.  Weeks. 

At  first  all  the  lumber  was  manufactured  for  home  consump- 
tion; but  since  the  railroad  was  built  millions  offset  are  annually 
sent  to  market,  bringing  thousands  of  dollars  back  to  the  lumber- 
men  and  farmers  of  W'arren. 

Grist  Jlills.— The  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  grain  into  meal 
and  flour  is  one  of  great  importance,  yet  but  two  grist  mills  of 

*  Mr.  Paul  iUearler  wis  killerl  here,  Nov.  8,  1835.  A  log  rolled  over  him  crush- 
ing his  head  to  a  jelly.    He  was  77  year.s  old. 

t  Shice  the  advent  of  the '2d  century  Col  John  S.  Bryant  built  another  mill  on 
the  Oliverian,  at  tlie  .Summit,  aud  Charles  Thompson,  a  large  steam  mill  by  the 
depot  ou  the  Summit. 


MILLS    AND   MILLERS .  501 

any  caiisequenoe  have  ever  boon  establislied  in  Warren;  Bailor's 
mill  at  tlie  old  deep  hole,  and  Clement's  mill  at  the  mouth  of  Black 
brook.  For  nearl}^  twenty-five  years  tlie  Butler  mill  stood  on  the 
Asqiiamchumauke,  and  sous  of  Joshua  Copp  "tended  it."'  Then 
it  went  to  decay.  The  Clement  mill  has  since  done  nearly  all  the 
"  grinding."  Col.  Obadiali  Clement  was  the  first  miller'^  at  the 
white  little  falls  on  Black  brook,  and  old  men  and  women  tell  how 
when  they  were  boys  and  girls  they  went  there  "to  mill"  and 
waiting- for  their  "grist"  whiled  away  the  time  listening  to  the 
buzz  of  the  old  Col.'s  rude  mill  stones,  the  splash  of  tlie  water- 
wheel  and  the  rattling  music  of  the  kingfisher,  equally  familiar, 
that  every  year  had  its  uest  down  the  stream  in  the  river  bank. f 

Carding  Mill,  &c. — Col.  Moses  H.  Clement  established  a  card- 
ing mill  for  the  manufacture  of  rolls,  which  the  farmers'  wives  and 
their  daughters  s]nin  into  yarn,  and  wove  into  cloth.  It  was  built 
beside  his  grist  mill,  and  he  had  in  connection  with  it  a  fnlling 
mill  and  dye  house.  Ebenezer  Cushmau  continued  the  business 
and  employed  Moses  W.  Pillsbury  for  many  years  to  work  for  him. 
Philo  Baldwin  followed  Mr.  Cushman,  and  after  him  Haselton  & 
Eaton.     Ilobart  AYyatt  used  to  do  the  dyeing  for  them. 

Clapboard  and  Shingle  3fills. — Moses  H.  Clement  also  had  a 
shingle  mill.  Ebenezer  Cushmau  in  Mr,  Clement's  mill,  and  Sal- 
mon Glcason  at  the  East-parte,  have  sawed  an  immense  quantity  of 
shingles.  Shingles  have  ako  been  made  at  the  Sawtelle  mill,  the 
Joseph  Merrill  mill.  Kelley  mill,  and  at  AYarreu  Summit.  But 
very  few  are  now  made  in  town. 

Col.  Isaac  Merrill  had  the  fii-st  clapboard  mill  in  "Warren.  It 
was  located  on  Patch  brook,  just  below  Rocky  falls.  Then  Hasel- 
ton &  Eaton  had  one  at  the  Stevens  Merrill  mill,  and  both  together 
they  cut  out  and  sent  to  market  millions  of  clapboards.  Not  a 
clapboard  is  made  in  Warren  now. 

*  Others  who  have  tenrlerl  mill  there  are  Mnse?  H.  Clement,  .Joshua  Copp,  Jr., 
James  Mills, (1)  the  perpetuiil  motion  maker,  Ebenezer  Cnslmian.  Page  Kimball, 
Ribert  B.  Stjveas,  John  Haselton,  E.  B.  Eaton,  Ira  Merrill,  and  George  Prescott, 
miller. 

(1)  Mills  worked  on  "  perpetual  motion  "  all  his  life,  but  did  not  make  it  go. 

t  Some  grinding  has  been  done  where  the  peg  nvll  i.s  now.  Salmon  Glenson 
once  had  a  cirn  mill  ;it  the  E:ist-p'>rte.  Levi  F.  .Jewel!  now  grind*  corn,  and  long 
ago  the  Curriers  bad  a  giist  ni'll  in  the  edge  of  J'enton  on  Warren  Summit. 
Ti-ue  Stevens  '•  named"  Moses  H.  Clement's  grist  m'U.  He  said,  '■  What  came  by 
Hazen's  industry  was  Tamar's  delight,"  and  many  other  things  of  the  same  sort. 


502  HISTORY    OF   WARKEN. 

Pegs. — Barker  «&  French  commenced  the  manufacture  of  shoe 
pegs,  near  the  close  of  Warren's  tliird  generation.  They  made 
thousands  of  barrels  of  them,  the  very  best  sent  to  market,  and 
employed  many  boys  and  girls  in  the  manufacture.  They  carried 
on  business  just  at  the  end  of  the  old  Coos  Turnpike  near  the 
Joseph  Merrill  mill,  and  had  both  steam  and  water  power.  John 
M.  Whiton  succeeded  them  and  had  a  small  pond  on  Cold  brook 
north  east  of  the  railroad,  in  which  to  keep  his  peg  timber  soaked. 

Tanning. — AValter  Whipple,  brother  to  Dr.  Thomas  Whipple 
who  went  to  congress  so  many  years,  built  a  tannery  on  the  Mi- 
kaseota,  just  below  the  Blue  ridge,  and  a  dwelling-house  near  by. 
The  house  was  for  mauy  years  the  old  parsonage,  and  Anson  Pills- 
bury  lives  in  it  now.  Joseph  Bo\'nton,  the  great  Methodist  class 
leader,  succeeded  Whipple  in  the  business,  and  Joshua  Merrill  fol- 
lowed him.  Col.  Isaac  Merrill  had  a  tannery  on  Qj-e-hill  brook, 
and  William  Pomeroy  bought  him  out  and  carried  on  the  business 
for  many  years. 

Window  Shades. — Haselton  &  Eaton  commenced  the  manu- 
facture of  window  shades,  and  carried  it  on  extensively  at  the  old 
Stevens  Merrill  mill.  The  material  is  got  out  here,  but  almost 
every  woman  in  town  has  a  loom  and  weaves  window  shades. 
Merrill  &  Clark  still  continue  the  business. 

Starch. — F.  A.  &  M.  E.  Cushman  built  a  starch  factory  at  the 
Stevens  Merrill  mill.  They  made  the  starch  from  potatoes. 
Shortly  after,  Russell  K.  Clement  built  another  starch  factory  by 
Rocky  falls  on  Patch  brook,  where  he  manufactured  potato  starch 
for  a  few  years.  He  then  moved  his  mill  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mi- 
kaseota,  where  in  company  with  Daniel  Q.  Clement  he  has  con- 
tinued the  trade,  and  they  have  both  acquired  considerable 
property. 

Bobbins. — Levi  F.  Jewell  built  a  bobbin  mill  at  the  mouth  of 
Berry  brook  and  has  made  money  making  bobbins.  He  uses  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  feet  of  hard-wood  lumber  annually,  and 
has  usually  sold  in  Nashua.  Mr.  Jewell  made  wash-boards  for  a 
few  years.  Nathaniel  K.  Richardson  made  bobbins  a  short  time  at 
the  Sawtelle  mill. 

Coopers. — A  cooper  came  to  town  long  years  ago,  Mr.  Asa 
Thurston.     His  shop  stood  exactly  on  the  spot  where  the   first 


^C/etu  ^u/u  nGUi<)) 


»  '  '  * 


< '  i 


J. 


OTHER  OCCUPATIONS.  503 

school-house  in  ^V:llTeu  was  built.  Mr.  Thurston  employed  George 
"W.  Prescott,  trader,  and  John  Lord,  to  work  for  him.  Afterwards 
George  Bixby,  Sen.,  and  Samuel  Bixby  and  Samuel  Goodwin  made 
buckets,  kits,  and  barx'els,  andLeavitt,on  the  Height-o'-land,  made 
"  leach-tubs"  for  Anson  Merrill. 

Shaved  Shingles. — Old  Antony  McCarler,  the  hermit,  made 
•tihingles  by  hand,  and  Samuel  Osborn,  Stephen  Richardson,  Isaac 
Clitlbrd,  on  Red-oak  hill,  William  Stearns,*  by  Kelley  pond,  Na- 
thaniel Richardson,  Daniel  Bailey,  James  Dow,  and  Stevens  Mer- 
rill, son  of  'Squire  Jonathan  Merrill,  Tappan  Craige,  Stephen 
Craige,  and  numerous  others  in  town,  have  followed  the  same 
business.  Natlianiel  Richardson  and  his  son  Nathaniel,  high  up 
on  the  side  of  Moosehillock  mountain,  made  the  long  shingle  for 
the  Prospect  House.  They  camped  out  in  the  woods  while  thus 
engaged.  Persons  who  shaved  shingles  were  called  "  shingle 
weavers." 

Pearlash. — Capt.  Benjamin  Merrill,  son  of 'Squire  Abel,  made 
salts  and  pearlash.  His  potash  stood  down  the  bank  from  the  old 
first  school-house  and  Thurston's  cooper  shop.  Ashes  were  plenty 
then  and  Thomas  Pillsbury  and  Col.  Ben.  Clement  worked  night 
and  day  for  him,  leaching,  boiling,  and  pearling.  AYhat  hot  fires 
they  kept!  Preston  &  Keezer  bought  out  Col.  Ben.  Merrill  and 
continued  the  business. 

Auson  Merrill  built  a  potash  just  west  of  the  depot  "  crossing  " 
and  did  a  large  business.  He  always  made  A  No.  1  pearlash,  and 
got  the  highest  price  for  it.  William  AYells  worked  for  him  awhile 
and  then  he  employed  Hobart  Wyatt,  Daniel  Day,  Col.  Ben.  Clem- 
ent, "  Biger"  Wright,  Nathan  Willey,  Thomas  Pillsbury,  Stephen 
Whiteman  and  others  in  the  business.  Old  settlers  say  "  lots  of 
rum  used  to  be  drank  in  the  potash  premises;"  but  this  must  be  a 
mistake,  for  although  all  the  ministers  in  those  times  invariably 
drank  what  liquor  they  could  get,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  all  or 
nearly  all  the  above  worthies  were,  or  ought  to  have  been,  good 
temperance  men. 

*  Stearns  once  stopped  at  Glines'  hotel  at  East  Haverhill.  He  had  in  a  few 
glasses  and  felt  good.  Ha  called  l'.)r  supper;  Glines  asked  if  he  had  any  money. 
iStearns  said  "yes  "  Glines  mule  him  show  it,  then  liad  a  good  supper  prepared. 
When  it  w.is  ready  he  wanted  Stearns  to  walli  in.  Tlie  latter  did  so,  went  twice 
around  the  table,  walkc  I  out  into  tlie  bar-room  and  told  (ilines  tliat  he  liad  seen 
tne  money,  and  the  supper  liad  been  seen,  and  now  lie^  guessed  they  were  even. 
Stearns  then  walked  ofl',  leaving  Glines  in  a  very  pleasant  mood. 


504  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Uncle  Eben  Cnshmau  built  a  potash  at  the  lower  village  and 
worked  it  a  long  time.  Then  Hobart  Wyatt*  got  exclusive  control 
of  these  important  manufactories,  and  with  his  son  Vanness,t 
was  the  last  who  ever  carried  on  the  pearlash  business  in  Warren. 

Bride. — Brick  making  has  never  been  very  extensive  in  our 
town.  Long  ago  clay  was  dug  in  tlie  bottom  of  Runaway  pond, 
and  brick  made  from  it  just  below  Beech  hill  bridge  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Mikaseota ;  but  who  did  it  the  oldest  inhabitants  of 
the  present  day  have  forgotten.  Three-fourths  of  a  century  ago  a 
kiln  was  burned  at  the  forks  of  Ore-hill  stream  where  the  road 
turns  off  to  the  mine,  from  the  turnpike,  and  Dr.  French  burned 
several  kilns  in  the  East-parte  region. J 

Oils  and  Essences. — Every  one  has  heard  of  Stephen  White- 
man's  large  essence  manufactory,  by  Berry  brook  on  the  Summit. 
He  made  peppermint  essence,  checkerberry  essence,  hemlock 
oil,  fir  oil,  spruce  oil,  pipsissiwa,  and  others,  at  his  renowned 
distillery.  Mr.  Whitemau  says  Ellsworth  and  Woodstock  will 
soon  be  grand  places  to  make  spruce  oil,  for  the  lazy  farmers  of 
those  towns  are  letting  their  farms  all  grow  np  to  spruce  bushes. 
Once  Dr.  David  C.  French  had  a  large  fir  oil  manufactory  on  the 
East-parte  road  near  where  old  McCarter  was  nol  murdered. 

BlacTtsmithing .  —  The  following  persons:  Joseph  Kimball, 
Samuel  Knight,  Samuel  Gilman,  Joseph  Rollins,  Stephen  White- 
man,  (he  served  seven  years  to  learn  the  trade,)  Deacon  Peter 
Stevens,  on  Red-oak  hill,  David  Colby,  Enoch  R.  AVeeks,  Moses 
H.  Clement,**  James  Clement,  Joseph  Clement,  George  Libbey,  at 

*  Hobart  Wyatt  once  got  mad  at  Moses  Ellsworth  and  chased  him  all  round 
Joseph  Merrill's  bar-room  trying  to  kick  him ;  Ijut  Jloses  was  too  spry  for  him  and 
kept  (Hit  of  tlie  way.  Both  were  "  balmy."  Tlie  next  day  Ellsworth  "was  '■  tight  " 
and  went  into  the  potash  to  wliip  Wyatt.  He  "hit  him  bnt:e,"  when  Wyatt,  who 
was  a  veiy  strong  man,  seized  "Furtytoot"  by  the  nape  of  tlie  nerk  and  the 
sent  of  tlu'  "breeches  and  ducked  him  in  a  lye  tub.  "  Yon  are  wetting  me,"  sung  out 
Ell-worth.  "Then  I'll  dry  ye,"  said  Wyatt:  and  he  held  him  at  arms  length  be- 
fore t'le  lire.  "  You  are  hiiniing  me,"  screamed  "  Fortyfoot."  "  Then  I'll  cool  ye," 
said  Wyatt,  and  he  soused  him  in  the  lye  tub  again.  Just  then  somebody  came  in 
and  stopped  the  pleasant  fun,  mnch  to  the  disgust  of  both  parties. 

t  Van  Wyatt  went  to  a  revival  one  evening  after  having  c<dlected  ashes  all  day. 
He  was  sleepy.  One  of  the  ministers  approaelied  and  asked  him  if  he  was  lnokirig 
for  religion  Vanness  raised  his  eyes  meekly  and  replied  in  tlie  most  honest  man- 
ner imaginable,  "  .\o  sir,  I  am  looking  for  ashes."  The  minister  laughed  in  spite  of 
himself,  and  passed  along. 

X  They  made  a  kiln  ot  brick  in  1801,  near  Aaron  'Welch's  on  Pine  hill  road. 

**  Eemuel  Keezer  once  agreed  to  pay  Col.  iNIoses  H.  Clement  in  mutton  for 
blacksniitliing.  One  morning  the  colonel  "found  two  shee])  tied  in  the  slid)),  one 
very  fat  and  the  other  awful  poor.  Col.  Clement,  the  next  time  he  saw  Keezer, 
asked  him  what  he  meant  by  such  work.  Keezer  said  that  some  of  the  blacksmith- 
ing  was  good,  but  some  mighty  poor,  and  the  bad  mutton  was  for  that. 


MINOR   MANUFACTUUKS.  505 

the  East-parte,  liazcii  Libbey,  AValter  Libbey,  Moses  Abbott,  Ha- 
zen  Abbott,  Paul  White,  George  ^Y.  Jackson,  Moses  W.  Pillsbury, 
Emerson  Pillsbury,  Anson  Pillsbury,  James  Ilarriman,  and  others 
have  made  horse  shoes,  axes,  hoes,  and  nails,  aud  shod  oxen  and 
horses,  and  ironed  wagons,  sleighs  and  sleds. 

ShoemaK-ers. — In  later  times  George  AV.  Jackson,  Jared  8. 
Blodgett,  John  Merrill,  son  of  Capt.  Daniel,  Ezra  B.  Libbey,  Wil- 
liam AVceks,  Enos  Iluckins,  Nathaniel  Libbey,  Coleridge  Marston, 
have  worked  at  making  shoes  aud  boots.  Long  ago  Caleb  Noj'es, 
(Noyes  bridge  was  so  called  for  him)  Joseph  Patch,  Benjamin 
Brown,  Frederick  Brown,  Tristram  Brown,  John  Abbott,  Chase 
Whitcher,  aud  Luther  Gove,  made  boots  and  shoes  and  mended 
the  same  for  our  ancestors.  These  good  men,  knights  of  St.  Cris- 
pin, often  went  about  the  town  "  whipping  the  cat,"  as  it  was 
called.  The  farmer  with  his  ox  cart  would  go  for  the  shoemaker, 
load  in  his  bench,  lasts,  leather,  and  all  the  rest  of  his  "  kit, "'  and 
drive  him  jolting  home.  A  gallon  of  rum  generally  went  with 
him.  Old  men  tell  us  how  in  one  corner  of  the  room  the  shoe- 
maker sat,  in  a  red  flannel  shirt  and  a  leather  apron,  at  work  on 
the  kit  mending  and  making  shoes.  With  what  long  and  patient 
vibration  and  equipoise  he  draws  the  thi'eads  and  interludes  his 
hammer  strokes  upon  leather  and  lap-stone  and  pegs,  with  snatches 
of  songs,  banter,  and  laughter.  The  next  farmer  who  wanted  his 
services  came  and  carried  him  away,  when  his  job  was  done,  and 
thus  he  "  whipped  the  cat"  all  over  town. 

Tailoresses. — Warren  has  had  many  of  them.  They  used  to 
go  all  about,  just  like  the  shoemakers,  making  clothes  for  the 
farmers  and  their  families.  Hitty  Smith,  daughter  of  Simeon 
Smith,  was  the  first  one.  She  was  an  excellent  workM'^oman,  and 
after  long  years  of  service,  married  a  Mr.  Clark,  of  Dorchester. 
After  her,  in  order,  came  Jane  Parkinson,  who  married  Adams 
Preston,  of  Bradford:  Nancy  Marsh,  Sally  Barker,  who  married 
Jesse  Eastman  ;  Nancy  Barker,  who  married  Col.  Isaac  Merrill,  and 
Sarah  Clement,  who  married  George  Noyes.  There  were  numer- 
ous others,  but  these  are  best  remembered. 

Among  the  minor  manufactures  we  shoxild  not  omit  to  men- 
tion that  Richard  Whiteman,  sometimes  called  "Sir  Richard," 
made  kitchen  chairs;  that  Jacob  Whitcher  and  George  Libbev 


506  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

made  baskets;  that  Frank  Cuslmian  made  whetstones  and  "  scythe 
rijlss;"'  that  A.  L.  Noyes  made  jewelry ;  that  J.  M.  Spauldiiig  and 
John  C.  Sinclair  made  harnesses-^  that  Amos  Clement,  J.  M.  Wil- 
liams, Morrill  J.  Sanborn,  and  nutnerous  others  made  soft  coal; 
that  Riiel  Bela  Clitlord  made  rakes;  that  Hazen  Kimball,  Charles 
Chandler,  James  M.  Hartwell,  Damon  Y.  Eastman,  Addison  W. 
Eastman,  Joseph  M.  Little,  and  Henry  N.  Merrill  made  carriages 
and  sleighs;  that  Amos  F-Clough  was  a  photographer*  and  Chas. 
A.  Fisice,  a  painter;  and  both  made  beautifnl  j-Jic^wres.  Mr.  Fiske 
came  to  Warren  about  1863,  and  afterwards  built  "  Green  Lane 
Studio,"  with  a  trout  pond  by  it,  the  pleasant  pine  woods  near, 
where  the  Asquamchumauke  bends  away  to  the  East-parte. 

If  the  making'  of  maple  sugar  is  a  manufacture,  then  certainly 
it  is  the  sweetest  and  largest,  and  more  profitable  than  all  the  rest, 
and  every  farmer  in  town  is  or  ought  to  be  engaged  in  it  as  Ave 
have  before  mentioned.  Don't!  don't  cut  down  the  sugar  places. 
AYarren  has  doue  a  great  deal  moi'e  than  the  average  of  country 
towns  in  manufacturing,  and  could  the  reservoirs  we  have  men- 
tioned be  built,  and  the  surplus  w^ater  of  Berry  brook  and  the 
Oliverian  be  carried  down  into  them,  as  could  easily  be  done  by  a 
skillful  engineer,  a  large  manufacturing  village  could  be  built  up. 
Two  good  mill  privileges  on  the  Blue  ridge,  the  Joseph  Merrill 
pond,  the  fall  at  the  depot,  the  Stevens  Merrill  pond,  the  fall  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mikaseota,  and  the  old  deep-hole  fall*  would  fur- 
nish a  series  of  mill  sites,  such  as  few  towns  possess,  and  Avater 
enough  the  year  round. 

Progress  in  manufacturing  has  made  mighty  changes  in  War- 
ren during  its  first  century,  as  well  as  everywhere  else.  No  more 
do  we  have  the  rude  camp  and  log  cabin,  except  in  the  French 
settlements,  stone  chimney  and  Dutch  oven  outside,  and  ill  fitting 
windows  through  Avhich  the  wintry  winds  come  whistling;  but 
our  modern  house  is  a  snug  and  silken  nest  of  delight,  rising  in 
some  lovely  spot  light  and  airy,  with  heavy  carpets,  rich  curtains, 
and  elegant  beds.  The  rude  fashion  of  furniture  and  vessels  for 
the  table,  pewter  ware,  wooden  knives,  forks,  and  spoons,  and 
noggins,  and  the  rude  style  of  cooking,  bean  porridge  hot  and 

*  Charles  F.  Bi-aoey  was  also  a  photographer  iu  AVarren. 


CONTRAST — TUEN   AND   NOW.  507 

cold,  has  departed.  Now  we  have  a  superior  grace  in  fashion  of 
furniture  and  all  household  utensils, — silver  and  gold,  brass  and 
steel,  porcelain  and  glass,  wrought  into  beautiful  shapes,  and  for 
the  morning  meal  China  and  the  Indies  send  their  cofiee,  tea,  sugar, 
chocolate,  and  preserved  fruits ;  the  West  its  flour,  and  our  own 
farms  an  abundance  of  rural  dainties. 

No  longer  do  we  have  a  dearth  of  books  and  pictui'cs,  with  a 
life  of  story  telling  around  the  hearth,  little  intercourse  Avith  the 
outer  world,  roads  almost  impassable,  and  hunting  and  carousing 
for  the  chief  pleasures  and  amusements;  but  to-day  on  our  tables 
are  daily  papers  from  Boston  and  New  York,  bringing  news  from 
the  whole  Avorld.  There  is  nothing  going  on  in  the  Legislature, 
in  Congress,  in  the  courts  of  law,  in  public  meetings,  religious, 
political,  or  musical,  in  any  town  in  t^c  country;  no  birth,  mar- 
riage, death,  or  any  occurrence  of  importance;  nothing  in  the  mer- 
cantile, the  literar\',  or  the  scientitic  world,  but  they  are  all  laid 
before  us.  We  sit  in  the  midst  of  our  woods  and  groves  in  the 
quietness  of  the  country,  a  hundred  miles  from  the  capital,  and  are 
as  well  acquainted  with  the  movements  and  incidents  of  society 
as  though  we  were  almost  omnipresent. 

So  much  for  the  advancement  of  one  century.  Will  the  next 
show  as  much  ? 


CHAPTER  X. 


OF   SEVERAL   THINGS   THAT     HAPPENED;    CONCLUDING    THIS    HISTORY 
WITH    SINCERE   THANKS   AND   MANY   lUND   WISHES. 


VV^ ARREN'S  wars  have  seemed  to  repeat  themselves  once 
in  a  hundred  years. 

King  Pliilip's  war  in  whicli  our  Indian  cliief  Waternomee, 
sometimes  called  Wattanuinmon,  took  his  first  lesson,  occurred  in 
1G75,  and  a  hundred  years  after  came  the  revolution,  in  which  the 
first  settlers  of  our  hamlet  distinguished  themselves. 

Then  came  Queen  Ann's  war  of  1712,  and  Capt.  Baker's  fight, 
one  of  its  battles,  in  which  Waternomee  was  slain,  and  a  hundred 
years  after  was  the  war  of  1812,  with  the  British,  during  which  in 
our  hamlet  there  was  such  lively  volunteering. 

King  George's  war  came  in  1743,  with  its  memorable  expedi- 
tions through  and  about  our  mountain  valley,  with  the  captui'e  of 
Louisburg,  and  a  hundred  years  after  came  the  Mexican  war,  when 
Henry  Albert  went  in  Captain  Daniel  Batchelder's  company  to 
Mexico.  , 

The  next  great  conflict  was  the  old  French  and  Indian  war,  the 
result  of  which,  with  Robert  Rogers'  great  fight, —  his  rangers 
against  the  St.  Francis  Indians, —  made  Warren  a  safe  place  for 
white  men  to  live  in.  This  struggle  ended  in  1760,  and  a  hundred 
years  later  happened  the  war  of  the  great  rebellion,  just  at  the 
close  of  Warren's  first  century,  and  of  this  great  history. 

Our  citizens  took  a  lively  interest  in  this  last  conflict.  A  ma- 
jority of  them  said  it  was  all  about  the  negro,  as  some  of  the  win- 


THE   •'  GREAT   REBELLION."  509 

ning  party  now  boast,  got  up  to  free  their  man  and  brother  from 
slavery,  and  that  it  uas  fought  under  cover  of  a  lie;  the  aboli- 
tionists loudly  proclainiiiig  that  it  was  to  preserve  the  Union  and 
the  Constitution,  and  to  maintain  the  flag,  when  in  fact  it  was 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  negro  crusade.  Now  it  is  over  they 
good  naturcdly  suppose  it  is  all  right,  although  some  of  them  think 
that  the  result  will  be  very  fatal  to  the  "  poor  daiky." 

The  citizens  of  Warren,  many  of  them,  did  not  believe  in  the 
war,  thought  there  was  no  need  of  it;  but  they  had  to  sustain  it  as 
some  said  "  at  the  poiut  of  the  bayonet." 

At  first  quite  a  number  of  Warren's  sons  volunteered,  some  of 
them  from  patriotic  motives,  and  some  thinking  the  war  w^ould 
not  last  long,  and  they  would  have  sort  of  a  holiday  excursion ; 
but  the  latter  soon  got  disabused  of  that  idea,  and  when  a  new 
quota  was  called  for  the  town  was  compelled  to  ofler  bounties. 
One  hundred  dollars  to  a  man  was  fii:st  offered,  the  State  and  the 
United  States  each  also  paying  the  same  men  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  a  few  young  men  inspired  by  patriotism,  took  the  bounty  and 
went.  Tiien  when  another  call  for  troops  Avas  made,  the  towu  voted 
to  pay  a  bounty  of  one  thousand  dollars  in  addition  to  the  State 
and  United  States  bounty,  to  each  man,  and  a  few  more  got  exceed- 
ingly patriotic  and  went  away  to  the  war. 

Afterwards  when  a  quota  was  demanded  from  Warren,  like 
every  other  town  in  the  State,  her  selectmen  paid  three  hundred 
dollars  for  her  part,  filled  it  up  with  Canuck  substitutes  and  other 
foreigners,  and  these  bounty  jumpers  '"skedaddled"  or  deserted 
the  very  first  opportunity,  as  can  be  seen  by  any  one  who  will 
take  the  pains  to  look  at  the  Adjutant  General's  Reports  for  Kew 
Hampshire.  Nearly  all  the  persons  from  Warren  in  the  4th,  5th, 
6th,  7th,  and  part  of  the  8th  regiments  were  bounty  jumpers  and 
desertei'S. 

The  following  list  of  soldiers  from  Warren,  was  kimlly  fnrnished  by  George 
BartleU  Noyes.    It  was  taken  from  the  reports  of  AdjutiintGeueral  Natt  Head : — 
First  lief/hiwnt : —  Eiyhtli  Uerjiment : — 

Ward  C.  Batchelder.  John  S.  Hennessy. 

John  Uyan,  caiitured  at  Sabine  Cross 
Second  Uef/iment :—  Roads,  La  ,  April  8,  1S64. 

Lieut.  Andrew  G.  Bracey.  James  Ragau. 

William  Clitford.  "  .Jolin  Sullivan. 

Osco  H.  French.  John  O.  Sullivan,— deserted. 

Aaron  Goodwin.  Walter  Veasey. 

Lieut.  Thomas  B.  Little. 


5-10 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


Thus  the  war  went  on  past  1863,  the  year  Warren  was  one 
hundred  years  old,  and  ended  in  April.  1865;  a  little  more  than 
four  years  from  its  commencement.  Every  body  rejoiced  when 
the  war  was  over,  and  every  bell  in  the  whole  North  rang  a  jubi- 
lee when  peace  came. 

Some  of  Warren's  sons  behaved  with  much  gallantry  and 
gained  credit  onthe  battletield.  Others  did  not  do  so  well.  Their 
names  and  their  records  are  all  truthfully  preserved  in  the  Adju- 
tant General's  Report.     Gen.  Natt  Head*  did  his  work  well,  "  and 


Fourth  Regiment .- — 

Olivei'R.  Counter. 

James  Dougherty. 

.Joseph  Hartnian. 

.'John  Ivelioe, — deserted. 

Jlicliael  King,— deserted. 

Daniel  Savers. 

Henry  C.  Scott. 

.Jas.  Welch —wounded  Aug.  16, 1864. 

Fifth  Ilegiment: — 

Alphonzo  Brocliat,— wounded  Apr.  7, 

1835. 
.John  Cochran. 
Chus.W.  Cowen,— promoted  to  sergt. 

April  1,  ISJo. 
Edward  .Jones,— de.'«rted. 
Perkins  H.  Mott,— promoted  to  corp. 

then  deserted. 
.Jolui  JlcCarter. 
Antoni  Kobba,— deserted. 
Benjaniiu  Varney,— wounded  April 

7, '1855. 


Sixth  Regiment:— 

Andrew  Ballman,— wounded  May  12, 

18M. 
Charles  M.  Hosmer,— deserted. 
Thomas  .Jones, — deserted. 
P^lw.  Nero,— wounded  .June  22,  18r>4. 
Edward  Saliske,— deserted. 
.Jolin  .Saunders,- deserted. 
John  Smith. 
Joseph  Tarbell,— wounded  .June  28, 

18'i4. 
Samuel  AVilson, — wounded   May   12, 

ISiJi,  died  of  wounds  .June  21,"l8i;-t. 


Tivelfth  Regiment ; — 

.Joseph  M.  Bixby. 

Charles  H.  Caswell. 

Rufus  L.  Colbv,— died  at  Falmouth, 
Va.,  Feb.  7,  185:5. 

Reuben  Gale,— killed  at  the  battle  of 
Chancellorsville,  Va.,  May  3,  186.3. 

Horace  W.  Gleason. 

Charles  H.  Huiman,  corporal. 

.Jonathan  Iv.  Kelsea,— died  at  Wash- 
ington, I).  C,  Jan.  21,  1851. 

Ezra  Walton  Libljey,  musician. 

George  W.  Merrill,  musician. 

.James  M.  Xoyes, — wounded  ^lay  3, 
1863;  promoted  sergt.;  wounded 
severely  J[ay  U,  1851. 

Lieut.  Charles  H.  Sheldon, — wound- 
ed .Jnne  3.  18J4;  died  of  wounds, 
June  27,  1864. 

Fourteenth  Regiment .- — 

Fernando  Hobbs,— died  May  17, 1863. 
.John  S.  Varney, — wounded  Sept.  19, 

1854. 
Richard    Varney,  — died   in    1864    of 

wounds  received  at  Winchester,  Va. 

Iviiled  there. 

Fifteenth  Regiment: — 

John  Jvimball,— died  May  28, 1863. 


First  Regiment  xV.  II.  Cavalry .- — 
Edward  I.  Robie. 

First  Regiment  Heavy  Artillery: — 
Leonard  Colburn. 
Edwin  Fitleld. 
Osco  H.  French,  corporal. 
I'roctorli.  Harris. 
Heniy  T.  I^atham,  corporal. 
George  M.  Little. 
Henry  D.  Xoyes. 
Darius  O.  Swain,  wounded. 
Dr.  John  F.  Willey. 

*  Gen.  Xatt  Head  is  the  grandson  of  Nathaniel  Head,  of  Hooksett,  who  was  a 
captain  in  the  Revolution.  He  was  Adjutant  General  during  the  whole  war,  and 
had  great  pride  in  New  Hampshire  soliliers,  and  did  more  than  any  other  man  to 
preserve  their  record.  Through  his  efl'orts  we  are  able  to  give  so  complete  a  list  of 
the  soldiers  from  Warren. 


Seventh  Regiment  .■ — 

Samuel  Allen, — deserted. 


'^rt74/^  eax/^ 


"^ 


RKSULTP   OF   THK   WAR. 


oil 


pity  'tis  "  that  our  ancestors,  soldiers  of  the  revolution,  could  not 
have  had  the  memory  of  tlicir  deeds  as  well  preserved.  Warren 
can  be  proud  of  her  sons. 

As  one  of  the  results  of  the  war  our  town  is  staggering  under 
the  burden  of  an  enormous  debt:  and  the  millions  owed  by  the 
State  and  the  nation  make  taxes  high,  and  the  poor  to  be 
oppressed.  The  bondholders  are  now  iu  the  hey-day  of  their 
glory. 

One  of  the  grand  things  that  happened  while  the  war  was 
going  on  was  the  telegraph  put  up  in  AVari'en  in  1862.  Arthur 
Knapp  erected  the  poles  from  Plymouth  to  Littleton.  The  opera- 
tor tirst  had  his  office  in  W.  S.  Doggetfs  store,  and  then  in  Jewett 
&  Eaton's,  at  the  railroad  crossing.. 

About  tliis  lime,  although  not  exactly  in  chi'onological  order, 
happened  a  great  boundary  feud,  like  those  of  ancient  time,  be- 
tween our  flourishing  democracy  and  old  Peeling,  now  called 
Woodstock.  It  occurred  in  the  selectmenship  of  Jesse  Little,  Ira 
M.  "Weeks,  and  David  Smith.  The  pi'cceding  year,  and  in  fact  for 
several  successive  years  before,  the  dwellers  in  the  East-parte 
regions  would  see  the  smoke  of  strange  fires  curling  out  of  the 
woods  on  Mts.  Kineo,  Cushman,  and  Wateruomee;  but  no  one 
could  tell  what  they  were.  Some  said  they  were  fishermen,  some 
that  they  were  deer  stalkers ;  and  others  that  they  were  diamond 
hunters  camping  there ;  but  this  year  it  came  out  that  they  were 
parties  of  land  surveyors  from  Woodstock. 

Soon  the  selectmen  got  a  notice  that  a  hearing  would  be  had 
at  the  Moosilauke  House.  It  came  off  in  the  summer,  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Warren  then  learned  what  Woodstock  claimed.  By  its 
charter,  AVoodstock  was  granted  as  nearly  a  square  township,  cut- 


The  following  persons  from  Warren  served  in  regiments  out  of  this  State,  in 
some  capacity : — 


Capt.  Dudley  C.  Bixby. 
Anson  Cliaudler. 
ConiniixUnc  Cliflord. 
Kev.  Aildi#(iii  \V.  Eastman. 
Martin  \ .  Libbey. 
Joseph  Noycs.  ..  i^j 
Delano  Prescott. 
Charles  iMerrill. 
Albe  W.  Merrill. 
George  Miller. 
Hazeu  Libbey. 
Newell  S.  Martin. 


Andrew  Jackson. 

Jlerrill  S.  Lund,— died  in  the  army. 

Harvey   Eanies,— died  in  the  army,- 

brought  to  Warren  for  burial. 
Thomas  Jliles. 
rhailes  X.  Harris. 
George  E.  Swain. 
Daniel  Freuch,— died  in  the  army,- 

brouglit  to  Warren  for  burial. 
C'hailes  F.  Bracey. 
John  T.  iJailev.     ■ 
Thomas  .1.  Clifford. 


512  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

ting  a  square  of  about  six  huudred  acres  out  of  the  north  east 
corner  of  Warren.  Our  democracy  was  chartered  iu  the  same 
manner,  nearly  square,  and  cutting  about  the  same  amount  of 
laud  out  of  the  south  west  cornel'  of  Woodstock.  Warren  was 
chartered  first,  but  Woodstock  had  her  charter  on  record  first,  and 
hence  the  controversy  —  which  town  should  own  that  six  hundred 
aci'es  of  land. 

Woodstock's  selectmen,  agents,  and  surveyors  who  had  built 
the  strange  camp-fires  in  the  woods,  and  interested  citizens,  came 
over  the  low  pass  between  Watcniomee  and  Mt.  Cushman,  to  that 
meeting;  and  our  selectmen,  Col.  Isaac  Merrill,  Dr.  David  C. 
French,  and  otiier  citizens,  met  them  at  tlie  village  hotel.  They 
had  a  long  good  natured  talk  wliich  amounted  to  uotliing  only  that 
each  party  got  considerably  enlightened  about  the  history  of  town 
charters,  and  all  were  firmly  convinced  tiiat  they  had  got  to  go  to 
court  to  settle  the  matter.  Then  Woodstock's  officers,  surveyors, 
and  citizens  went  home  by  the  route  they  came. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  November  7,  the  representative  of 
Warren  to  the  Legislature  was  instructed  to  procure  a  copy  of 
the  charter  of  Peeling,  now  Woodstock,  and  at  the  fall  term  of 
court  at  Plymouth,  after  an  extended  hearing,  a  commission  con- 
sisting of  David  C.  Churchill,  of  L3'me,  and  Nathaniel  S.  Berry,  of 
Hebron,  the  side  judges,  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  vrhole 
matter.* 

The  committee  came  to  Warren  and  looked  at  the  line,  exam- 
ined the  charters,  looked  over  the  "doings"  of  the  old  court's 
committee,  and  finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  as  the  Legisla- 
ture in  178i  had  established  by  an  act  for  that  purpose  the  boun- 
dary lines  of  Warren  and  the  towns  around  it,  those  boundary 
lines  must  stand ;  and  the  case  was  decided  iu  favor  of  Warren. 
The  court  affirmed  the  report  of  the  commissioners,  and  Isaac 
Sawtelle  was  ordered  to  re-mark  the  old  line  between  our  two 
towns,  putting  on  every  blazed  spot  of  the  trees  the  cross  mark 
of  the  court's  committee,  that  tlie  boundary  might  never  more 
be  forgotten.    Thus  Warren's  last  boundary  question  w^as  settled. 

Had  Woodstock  prevailed,  all  that  section  of  the  East-parte 
regions  known  as  the  reservation,  together  with  a  part  of  tlie  last 

*  Col.  Isaac  Merrill's  statement. 


A  TEMPERANCE   5IEETING.  513 

farm  up  the  mountain  road  to  Moosehillock,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Asquamchuniauke,  now  owned  by  Nathaniel  Merrill,  2d,  would 
have  been  lost  to  Warren,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  compelled 
to  go  over  the  mountain  on  the  suiweyors'  path  to  Woodstock  to  do 
town  business. 

When  the  temperance  reform  sprang-  up  in  the  country-,  of 
I'ourse  it  came  to  Warren.  It  was  conducive  of  great  good,  and 
appealed  to  the  understanding  and  moral  nature.  They  had  a 
great  many  temperance  meetings  in  town ;  but  the  one  best  remem- 
bered was  held  about  the  close  of  Warren's  first  century,  by  Al- 
fred Dustin,  painter.  William  Weeks,  shoemaker,  presided,  and 
he  had  a  great  bulls-eye  watch  and  copper  chain  attached  to  time 
the  speaker.  James  Clement  and  Francis  A.  Cushman  were  dea- 
cons, and  sat  by  the  speaker's  stand.  Uncle  Ebenezer  Cushman 
and  Aunt  Ebeu,  his  wife,  were  present.  Cotton  Foot  was  there 
also,  and  he  fui'uished  applause  with  his  droll  and  magical  laugh. 

IVIi*.  Dustin  made  a  good  speech,  full  of  fun,  pathos,  and  elo- 
quence ;  but  as  there  was  no  short  band  reporter  present  little  of  it 
is  remembered.  He  commenced  by  sajing  that  the  terrible  effect 
of  drinking  intoxicating  liquors  could  be  seen  in  Ms  own  case. 
That  he  was  a  living  example  of  the  ruin  rum  could  make.  Then 
he  showed  that  in  rum-drinking  nearly  all  the  Vices  and  crimes  of 
society  originated ;  that  it  filler;!  the  poor-houses,  work-houses,  jails, 
prisons,  and  furnished  victims  for  the  gallows.  Dispense  with  rum- 
drinking  and  crime  would  be  banished.  Rum-drinking,  said  Mr. 
Dustin,  is  the  meanest  business  on  earth;  and  the  man  or  woman, 
the  boy  or  girl,  who  engages  in  it,  might  as  well  be  damned, —  is 
damned  now  and  eternally. 

Rum-selling,  said  he,  is  a  hellish,  damnable  traffic.  Law  don't 
stop  it.  It  is  a  traffic  that  gets  the  orphans'  and  -widows'  curse, 
and  the  deepest  execrations  of  the  wife  and  mother.  Devils  laugh 
and  gloat  over  it,  and  hell  yawns  for  the  men  who  engage  in  it. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Dustin's  address,  Mr.  Weeks,  the 
chairman,  said  he  was  fully  convinced,  and  that  he  should  not 
make  a  swill-tub  of  his  bowels  any  longer.  Said  ^Mi-.  Weeks, 
"  God  help  the  poor  rum-drinker!  The  Devil  will  get  the  rum- 
seller,  for  he  commits  a  dastardly  crime  vtdth  his  eyes  wide  open." 


514  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

Poor  men !    They  talked  well ;  but  like  a  great  many  other 
people  they  could  not  practice  what  they  preached . 

We  remember  well  how  about  this  time  four  young  men, 
Bcnj.  K.  Little,  Amos  F.  Clough,  Joseph  Noyes,  and  another, 
went  over  Mount  Carr  to  Glen  ponds  fishing.  On  their  way  they 
passed  through  Fox-glove  meadow  and  came  to  the  most  northern 
pond  first.  Standing  on  the  western  shore,  it  appears  almost  in 
the  form  of  the  letter  Q,  very  deep  in  the  middle,  and  grassy  on  the 
beaches,  with  some  large  stones  rising  out  of  the  water  by  the  out- 
let. South,  one-foiirth  of  a  mile,  is  pond  number  two,  three  times 
as  long  as  wide,  very  shoal,  and  containing  about  ten  acres ;  and  east 
of  this  half  a  mile  is  the  third  pond,  almost  circular,  very  deep, 
and  about  half  as  large  as  the  second. 

The  little  party  built  their  camp  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
middle  water  where  the  forest  was  dark  and  sombre,  standing  just 
as  it  has  stood  for  centuries.  The  valley  of  the  i^onds  is  like  a  great 
horse-shoe  basin;  three  lofty  mountains  on  the  east,  north,  and 
west,  while  to  the  sovith  an  extended  vista  over  the  woods  is  ter- 
minated by  Mt.  Stinsou.     It  is  four  miles  from  the  pond  through 
the  woods  over  the  mountain  to  Warren,  and  further  than  that  to 
a  farmer's  house  in  the  ancient  land  of  Trecothick.     From  their 
camp  our   party  saw  no  clearing,  no  lumberman's  habitation,  no 
sign  of  civilization,  no  more  than  when  hundreds  of  years  ago  a 
party  of  Indians  camped  on  the  shore,  (Indian  arrow  heads  have 
been  found  among  the  pebbles  of  the  beach)  ;  or  when  in  the  last 
century  John  Page  and  Surveyor  Leavitt  ran  the  first  lines  about 
the  township ;  or  Mr.  Carr  fjtood  listening  to  the  rain  pattering  on 
the  water  and  like  a  Frenchman  dined  on  frogs ;  or  the  party  of 
hunters  from  Warren  ci'ossed  the  ice  and  then  went  after  moose  in 
the  great  yard  over  and  around  Black  hill.     The  same  great  inter- 
minable wood  was  seen,  and  the  same  sounds  were  heard  that 
Moses  Abbott  the  fat  man  and  Capt.  Marston  saw  and  heard  when 
they  stopped  here  weeks  at  a  time,  and  lived  on  the  trout  they 
caught  from  these  ponds. 

A  bright  fire  was  built,  then  two  of  the  party  went  on  a  raft 
fishing.  The  other  two  sat  on  a  log  and  watched  and  listened.  As 
the  sun  went  down  an  osprey  was  seen  flying  over  the  water,  and 
a  great  hen-hawk  sat  on  a  stub  by  the  shore.     Then  the  laughter 


EXCURSION  TO  GLEN  PONDS.  515 

of  kingfishers  and  red  squirrels  was  heard,  and  white  throated 
finches,  ruby-crowned  wrens,  golden-crested  kinglets  and  snow 
birds,  sang  as  the  melloAv  twiliglit  faded  away.  Suddenly  a  flock 
of  black  ducks  whistled  through  the  tree-tops  and  lighted  down  in 
the  shoal  water  where  the  reeds  and  lilies  were  growing.  They 
had  come  from  the  little  meadows  at  tlie  head  of  Moulton  l)rook, 
where  they  were  hatched,  to  stop  on  the  pond  all  night. 

The  fishermen  came  back  on  their  raft  at  dark ;  more  wood 
was  cut,  the  fire  was  replenished,  and  the  flames  ci-ackled  and 
flashed,  and  shone  through  the  trees.  One  of  the  party  went  to 
the  grassy  shore  for  a  drink  of  water.  He  saw  something  across 
the  pond,  and  he  never  forgot  the  sight  —  three  wild  deer  were 
standing  on  the  rocky  beach.  They  had  come  down  to  the  pond 
to  feed.  How  still  they  are — not  a  motion;  and  their  eyes,  how 
they  glisten  as  they  stand  there  almost  spell-bound,  gazing  through 
the  darkness  at  the  camp-fire  of  the  fishermen. 

Another  indi\adual  used  to  tell  Avhat  a  grand  hand  Amos 
F.  Clough  was  to  keep  the  fire  burning  all  night  long,  and  how  B. 
K.  Little  nudged  somebody  and  whispered,  "Hear  them!  hear 
them !  "  Half  a  dozen  great  owls  attracted  by  the  blaze  had  gath- 
ered in  the  hemlocks,  and  were  giving  the  grandest  concert  ever 
listened  to.  "Hark!  hear  that!"  he  whispered  again.  It  was 
the  long  di'awn  halloo  of  an  old  bear  far  up  the  side  of  Mount 
Carr.  Hear  it  again  and  again.  It  was  enough  to  make  one's  hair 
stand  on  end.  But  it  is  soon  over  and  the  party  go  to  sleep 
once  more,  listening  to  the  frogs  singing  in  the  pond,  and  the 
splash  of  the  muski'ats  among  the  reeds. 

Hundreds  of  men  have  seen  and  heard  these  same  sights 
and  sounds ;  but  never  as  yet  has  a  white  woman  stood  on  the 
shores  of  Glen  ijonds. 

The  fish  bite  well  in  the  morning  and  when  the  sun  goes 
down.  What  beauties  the}'  are !  Some  of  them  will  weigh  a 
pound.  One  of  those  fat  fellows  with  a  piece  of  pork  inside 
cooked  on  a  forked  stick  held  over  the  fire,  is  the  daintiest  morsel 
in  the  world.  As  the  sun  gets  high,  the  fish  cease  to  bite,  the 
"traps  "are  packed  up  and  the  party  is  off  over  tbe  mountain 
home,  having  had  a  pleasant  experience,  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Thousands  of  pounds  of  trout  are  caught  out  of  these  three 


516  HISTOBY    OF   WABREN. 

dark  little  tarns  every  year.  It  is  said  that  pot  fishers  sometimes 
go  there  and  catch  bushels  of  trout  with  a  net;  that  they  snare 
large  but  poor  fish  on  the  spawning  beds,  aiid  lime  the  waters. 
We  hoi)e  that  all  such  persons  may  get  choked  to  death  with  fish 
bones. 

Glen  ponds,  it  is  alleged,  are  filling  up,  and  that  the  next  cen- 
tury wiU  see  them  in  the  same  condition  as  Foxglove  meadow  a 
mile  to  the  north  of  them.  It  would  be  a  shame  for  such  a  thing  to 
happen.  There  is  no  spot  on  earth  where  trout  grow  faster  or  better. 
If  the  fishermen  of  Warren,  Wentworth,  Romuey,  and  old  Tre- 
cothick  would  but  club  together  and  build  short  earth  dams  at  the 
outlets  of  each,  they  could  be  made  six  feet  deeper,  many  acres 
more  of  now  useless  laud  would  be  flowed,  and  Glen  ponds  with 
all  their  wildness,  solitude,  and  piscatorial  beauties,  would  last 
forever. 

Warren  people,  like  other  liighly  civilized  communities,  have 
always  been  fond  of  amusements,  more  especially  of  the  higher 
order  of  the  drama.     Many  of  her  sons  have  cultivated  the  histri- 
onic art,  and  arrived  at  a  good  degree  of  perfection.     The  first 
exhibition  we  ever  attended  was  in  the  old  school  house  at  the 
forks  of  the  turnpike  and  Beech-hill  road.     This  was  followed  by 
a  theatrical  entertainment  at  the  old  meeting  house.     A  stage  was 
erected  about  the  pulioit,  without  scenery  and  without  curtains. 
Mr.  James  Clement  was  one  of  the  principal  actors,  and  we  recol- 
lect him  in  a  single  act  piece,  entitled  "  I  tlunk  I  have  been  eating 
suntliin."    Jim  had  padded  himself  out  with  pillows  till  he  had  a 
belly  larger  than  Jack  Falstafi''s  and  looked  comical  enough.    Col. 
Thos.  J.  AYhipple  had  been  assigned  the  post  of  honor,  namely: 
a  seat  in  the  pulpit.     As  Jim  proceeded  to  tell  what  he  had  eat  the 
colonel  was  convulsed  with  laughter,  and  Jim's  story  and  funny 
look,  together  with  Col.  W.  behind  him  stretching  his  mouth  from 
ear  to  ear,  with  his  loud  haw-haw,  made  a  broad  farce,  and  the 
whole  meeting-house  roared.    The  scene  produced  made  such  a 
strong  impression  upon   the  writer's  mind,  that   although  very 
young  he  never  forgot  it. 

The  next  exhibition  was  managed  by  Col.  Isaac  Merrill,  and 
Addison  W.  Eastman  was  one  of  the  star  actors.  JMiss  Tamar 
J.  Clement  also  took  a  prominent  part.    We  remember  very  little 


EXHIBITIONS  —  SPELLIN(i   SCHOOLS. 

about  it,  only  it  was  considered  a  decided  success,  and  was  the 
principal  subject  of  conversation  in  town  for  weeks  after. 

Then  tliere  was  a  grand  combination  of  performers  in  AVarren 
one  winter:  A.  W.  Eastman  being  the  leading  star.  Forest  was 
outroared  and  outdone,  and  AYarreu  shone  with  brilliancy.  All 
the  surrounding  regions  came  to  see  the  plays  that  season. 

Since,  there  have  been  school  exhibitions,  religious  exhibitions, 
and  various  other  lands,  all  successful,  and  more  recently  a  sort  of 
stock  comi^any  that  gave  entertainments  for  a  pecuniary  consider- 
ation, in  addition  to  the  glory  they  might  achieve;  and  this  collec- 
tion of  stars  was  perhaps  the  most  successful  of  all. 

In  addition  to  these  exhibitions  by  our  home  talent,  traveling 
performers  have  somethues  entertained  our  citizens.  What  a 
wonder  was  Potter,  the  juggler  and  ventriloquist.  How  he  made 
the  eyes  of  the  Warren  youth  stick  out  when  he  fried  eggs  in  a 
gentleman's  hat,  and  returned  the  hat  uninjured :  when  he  smashed 
a  beautiful  gold  watch  -'  all  to  flinders,"  and  burned  a  lady's  hand- 
kerchief to  ashes,  and  then  restored  the  same  whole  and  entire ; 
also  when  he  suflfered  himself  to  be  shot  at,  and  cut  a  man's  head 
off  without  hurting  him.  Old  Glynn  was  nearlj^  as  wonderful  as 
Potter;  and  the  above  named  A.  W.  Eastman  was  one  of  his 
grandest  performers.  A  people's  civilization  can  be  judged  by  the 
character  of  their  amusements. 

In  addition  to  having  good  schools,  Warren  has  been  cele- 
brated for  her  spelling  schools.  They  were  held  in  winter  time  in 
all  the  districts,  and  there  was  a  great  rivalry  to  see  who  could 
spell  down  the  whole  town.  One  in  Runaway  pond  or  Weeks  dis- 
trict, that  came  off  about  this  time,  is  well  remembered.  John 
French  was  keeping  the  school,  and  the  little  red  school-house  was 
packed  with  youths  and  maidens.  Young  Joseph  Bixby,  a 
naughty  youth,  was  present,  and  some  wicked  person  pushed  him 
over  the  roaring,  red  hot  stove,  knocking  it  down.  The  school- 
master, Mr.  John  French,  rushed  forward,  feeling  that  his  dignity 
was  injured,  stamped  his  foot,  and  with  stentorian  lungs  shouted, 
^'CassiusI  May  Brutus  and  all  the  other  heathen  gods  preserve 
and  defend  us."  And  then  there  was  a  roar  of  laughter,  much  to 
the  school-master's  delight,  the  flames  belching  out  and  the  smoke 
rolling  up.    But  some  resolute  boys  at  once  procured  two  stout 


518  HISTOKY    OF    WARREN. 

levers,  carried  the  stove  out  into  the  snow,  cooled  it,  set  it  up 
agaiu,  aired  the  house,  aud  theu  the  spelling-school  went  on. 

Two  of  the  best  scholars  chose  sides,  taking  care  to  seat  the 
boj's  aud  girls  who  were  fund  of  each  other  together,  aud  choos- 
ing the  poorest  spellers  last,  each  chooser  trying  to  get  the  best, 
that  his  or  her  side  might  miss  the  least  words  and  thereby  win. 
Theu  after  spelling  a  while  the  tally  keepers  auuouuced  the  result 
and  they  had  a  recess ;  such  a  grand  time.  Wheu  it  was  over  they 
"  chose  "  again,  spelt  round  a  few  times  and  then  spelt  down.  Misses 
Elsie  Ann  Bixby  and  Caroline  French  could  beat  the  whole 
town  in  their  day.  After  the  spelling  exercises  they  propounded 
conundrums,  put  out  hard  words,  and  spoke  funny  pieces. 

Then  the  school-master  made  a  speech.  How  well  it  is  re- 
membered. Some  believed  it.  He  began  by  telling  the  advanta- 
ges of  the  common  schools,  how  they  had  made  New  England 
what  she  is ;  how,  educated  in  them,  the  sons  of  New  Hampshire 
v/ere  the  representatives  and  senators  in  congress,  the  judges  in 
the  courts,  and  one  of  them  an  honored  President.  That  where 
the  common  school  system  did  not  exist,  there  ignorance,  supersti- 
tion and  priest-craft  prevailed,  aud  the  peo^jle  were  the  slaves  of 
despots.  That  there  was  a  class  springing  up  in  the  country  that 
was  opposed  to  our  system ;  would  have  none  of  it ;  would  break  it 
up.  This  should  not  be  allowed.  The  school  system  should  be  pre- 
served. We  should  stick  to  it,  cling  to  it.  We  might  as  well  let 
our  fields  and  pastures  grow  up  to  bushes,  burn  up  our  houses  and 
factories,  let  our  ships  rot  at  the  whai-ves,  and  destroy  our  railroads, 
as  to  give  up  our  school  system,  and  the  libei-ty  and  the  glory  it 
brings  with  it. 

Then  some  of  the  citizens  in  a  few  words  agreed  with  the 
speaker,  made  complimentary  remarks,  and  the  exercises  closed. 

When  dismissed,  the  boys  waited  upon  the  girls  home,  which 
was  the  grandest  j)art  of  the  whole  performance.  No  wonder, 
when  the  families  were  large,  (what  a  shame  they  are  not  so 
now,)  aud  district  schools  were  crowded,  spelling  schools  were  in 
high  esteem. 

The  last  great  occurrence  at  the  close  of  Wan-en's  first  century 

About  these  days  the  citizens  procured  a  hearse,  and  the  town  voted  to  build 
a  Iiearse-house  near  the  grave-yard.  ]Mrs.  Mercy  J.  Kuapp,  wile  of  Arthur 
Knapp,  lieaded  the  subscription  list,  raised  the  money  ana  bought  the  hearse.  Can- 
not some  lady  do  as  much  towards  building  a  I'eceivmg  tomb  ? 


CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION.  519 

of  white  settlers,  and  with  its  narration  we  shall  end  oui-  enter- 
taining- history,  was  Warren's-  Centennial  Celebration.  At  the 
annnal  tOA\  n  nieetino;  it  Avas  Aoted  to  have  a  celebration  on  the 
14th  day  of  July,  I8G0,  just  a  hundred  y  ars  after  the  day  the  town 
was  chartered. 

ENOCH   11.    WEEKS 

was  chosen  President. 

The  following  men  over  seventy  years  of  age,  wei'e  chosen 
Vice  Presidents,  viz. : — 

BENJAMIN  BIXBY. 
JOHN  CLARK. 
WILLIAM   CLEASBY. 
JONATHAN  CLOUGH. 
JONATHAN  EATON. 
DR.  DAVID   C.  FRENCH. 
A8A  HEATH. 
VOWELL   LEATHERS. 
GEORGE   LIBBEY. 
SA3IUEL  MERRILL. 
NATHANIEL   RICHARDSON. 
JOSIAII   SWAIN. 
STEPHEN  WHITEMAN. 
All  men  over  sixty  years  old  were  chosen  as  a  committee  of 
arrangements.     They  were  as  follows: — 

Joseph  Bixby. 

Samuel  Blsbv. 

Benjamin  Clement. 

Jesse  Eastman. 

Joseph  B.  Farnham. 
,    Samuel  Goodwin. 

James  Harriman. 

Ezra  B.  Libbet. 

John  Libbet. 

Nathaniel  Libbey. 

Benjamin  Little. 

Dr.  Jesse  Little. 

Calvin  Mat. 

Samuel  L.  Merrill. 

Antony  McCarter. 

Nathan  Willey. 


620  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

The  14th  day  of  July,  1863,  was  rainy;  but  the  people  in 
goodly  numbers  assembled  in  the  town  house  on  Warren  Common. 
Charles  Leonard,  when  the  hour  arrived,  rang  the  bell,  and  his 
father,  George  E.  Leonar  1,  acted  for  the  committee  of  arrange- 
ments. Enoch  R,  "Weeks,  faithful  to  his  duties,  presided,  and  the 
following  was  the  order  of  exercises : — 

I.  Reading  the  Scriptures,  —  Isaiah  xxxv. 

II.  Music,  —  America,  by  the  choir. 

III.  Prayer,  — Rev.  Josiah  Hooper. 

IV.  Music,  — Auld  Lang  Syne.       ' 
V.  Address,  —  by  William  Little. 

VI.    Music,  —  Old  Hundred. 
VII.    Benediction. 

Rev.  Josiah  Hooper  made  an  excellent  prayer.  The  choir, 
consistiug  of  Messrs.  Amos  Clement  and  Wesley  C.  Batchelder, 
Mrs.  George  E.  Leonard,  Mrs.  Russel  Merrill,  Mrs.  Susan  C.  Lit- 
tle, and  Misses  Sarah  J.  Leonard,  Ellen  J.  Bixby,  Sarah  J.  Merrill 
and  Amelia  S.  Clifford,  sang  in  their  best  style,  and  the  addi-ess 
was  afterwards  published.  Any  one  can  expi'ess  his  opinion  of 
that  after  he  has  read  it.  Capt.  Daniel  Batchelder  and  others,  of 
Haverhill,  were  present,  and  many  came  from  Wentworth  and 
Romney.  In  the  evening  they  had  a  ball  at  the  Moosilauke  House 
and  the  young  folks  enjoyed  themselves.  Thus  ended  Warren's 
first  century.  May  the  next  be  as  prosperous,  and  have  a  like 
happy  end. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-three !  A  hundred  years  have 
passed  since  Warren  became  a  town,  and  we  close  our  history 
here.  We  are  happy  we  have  written  it,  and  happy  should  be  the 
great  historian  of  Warren  of  the  next  hundred  years,  for  we 
believe  we  have  made  a  good  beginning  for  him.  Thrice  happy 
should  be  our  citizens  that  they  have  this  good  history. 

We  trust  all  will  be  pleased,  for  we  have  set  down  naught  in 
malice.  Everything  has  been  written  in  the  most  perfect  good 
nature,  and  with  the  best  intentions.  We  have  even  taken  pains 
to  make  some  of  our  friends  show  off  in  good  style.  We  have 
also  given  every  citizen  a  chance  to  appear  in  our  book,  to  immortal- 
ize himself  by  enrolling  his  name  in  our  subscription  list.    Many 


CONCLUSION.  521 

have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity,  aud  to  such  we  return 
our  heartiest  aud  most  sincere  thanks. 

If  by  our  eftbrts  we  shall  cause  any  of  our  friends  to  feel  a  tithe 
of  the  pleasure  in  reading  the  preceding  pages  that  we  have  in 
writing  them,  they  will  be  very  happy  indeed  aud  we  shall  be 
amply  compensated. 

In  closing,  we  sincerely  wish  that  as  long  as  any  trout  shall 
swim  in  the  Kiver  Baker,  otherwise  the  Asquamchnmauke,  and  all 
its  silvery,  musical  tributaries,  as  long  as  partridges  shall  drum  in 
the  forests  on  the  mountains,  as  long  as  any  blueberries  shall  ripen 
on  the  ci'ests  of  AVebster  slide  aud  Owl's  head ,  as  long  as  the  Mi- 
kaseota  shall  come  down  from  Wachipauka  pond,  as  long  as  silver 
and  gold  shall  be  found  on  Sentinel  mountain,  as  long  as  the 
sparkling  waterfalls  shall  gleam  on  Mount  Carr,  and  as  long  as 
the  bald  head  of  Moosehillock  shall  whiten  with  winter  snows,  so 
long  may  our  friends  and  their  cliildren  live  aud  enjoy  themselves 
in  our  town  of  Warren. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTES. 


PAGE  57.— Wetamoo. 

The  bride  of  *'  Montowampate."  Her  real  name  was  "  Wenuchus." — Hist,  of 
Concord,  p.  32. 

PAGE  134.— Capture  of  the  Johnson  Fajuly. 

The  Indians  did  furnish  a  horse  for  Mrs.  Johnson  to  ride.  The  horse  was 
afterwards  killed  and  eaten  to  prevent  the  party  from  starving.  The  oldest  daugh- 
ter, who  was  educated  by  the  French,  concluded  to  return  home.  Roswell  H. 
Hassam,  of  Manchester,  furnished  us  an  interesting  account  of  the  capture  of  the 
Johnson  family,  which  we  would  be  glad  to  see  published. 

PAGE  152.— Robert  Pomeroy. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Chase  Whitcher  and  Joseph  Patch  both  told  of  find- 
ing a  human  skeleton  on  Moosilauke,  and  without  doubt  it  was  Pomeroy,  one  of 
.Rogers'  rangers. 

PAGE  208.— James  Dow. 

James  Dow,  tythingman,  contributed  most  of  the  descriptions  of  dress  and 
appearance  of  the  early  settlers. 


NATURAL     HISTORY. 


ANIMALS  WHICH  NOW,  OR  FORMERLY,  LIVED    IN  WARREN. 


Bat.  . 

Shrew  Mole. 
Star  Nose  Mole. 
Say's  Least  Shrew  Mole. 
Brewer's  Shrew  Mole. 

White  Weasel,  or  Stoat,  or  Ermiue. 
Little  Nimble  Weasel. 
Tawny  Weasel. 
SmaU'Weasel. 

Sable,  or  Pine  Marten. 
Pennant's  Marten  or  Fisher  Cat. 

Otter. 

Mink. 

Mountain  Brook  Mink. 


MAMMALIA. 
Order  I.— Carnivoka. 

Skunk. 
Wolverine. 


Cougar,  or  Panther,  or  Painter,  or 

Catamount. 
Canada  Lynx,  or  Loupcervier. 
Bay  Lynx,  or  Wild  Cat. 

Wolf. 

Red  Fox. 

Black  or  Silver  Gray  Fox. 

Black  Bear. 

Raccoon. 


Order  II.— Hodentia. 

Grav  Squirrel.  Black  Rat, 

Black  S<iuirrel.  Norway  Rat. 
Chickaree,  or  Red  Squirrel. 

Chip,  or  Chipmonk,  or  Striped  Squir-  Beaver. 

rel.  Musquash. 
Flying  Squirrel. 


Wilson's  Meadow  Mouse. 
American  White  Footed  Mouse. 
House  Mouse. 

Leconte's  Pine  or  Field  Mouse. 
Jumping  Mouse. 

Order  III.— Ruminantia. 


Porcupine  or  Hedgehog. 

Woodchuck. 

Rabbit,  or  Northern  Hare. 


Moose. 

Caribou,  or  American  Reindeer. 


Common  or  Fallow  Deer. 


BIRDS. 

[c  means  common ;  r,  rare;  m,  spring  and  fall  migi-ants.] 

Order  I.— Raptores— Robbers. 


Bald  Eagle,  r. 
Golden  Eagle,  r. 


Broad  winged  Hawk,  c . 
Marsh  Hawk,  c. 


APPENDIX. 


527 


Black  Hawk,  r. 

Fish  (or  Ospivy)  Hawk,  c. 

Goshawk,  r. 

Pigeon  Hawk,  c. 

Red  tailed,  or  Hen  Hawk,  c 

Shai'i)  shinned  Hawk.  c. 

Sparrow  Hawk,  c. 

Cooper's  Hawk,  c. 


Great  horned  Owl,  c. 
Long  cared  Owl,  r. 
Short  eareil  Owl,  r. 
Screech  Owl,  c. 
Snowy  Owl,  ni. 
Acadian  Owl,  ni. 
Barred  (Jwl,  m. 
Hawk  Owl,  m. 


Ordeh  II.— Scansokes— Climbeks. 


Black  billed  Cnckoo,  c. 
YeUow  billed  Cuckoo,  c. 

Downv  Woodpecker,  c. 

Three  "toed  Banded   Woodpecker,  r. 

(ioldcn  winged  Woodpecker,  c. 


Black  backed  3  toed  Woodpecker, 
Hairy  Woodpecker,  c. 
Pileated  Woodpecker,  r. 
lied  headed  Woodpecker,  r. 
Yellow  bellied  Woodpecker,  r. 


Order  III.— Insessores— Perchers. 


Kuby  throated  Humming  Bird,  c. 

Chimney  Swallow,  c. 

Whip-poor-will,  r. 
Jsight-Hawk,  c. 

Belted  Kingfisher,  c. 

Kingbird,  c. 

Pewee,  or  Phebe  Bird,  c. 
Olive-sided  Fly-catcher,  c. 
M'ood  Pewee,  c. 
Cliebec,  c. 

Wood  Thrush,  c. 
Olive  packed  Thrash,  c. 
Hermit  Thrush,  c. 
Wilson's  Thrush,  c. 
Robin,  c. 

Brown  Thrasher,  r. 
Cat-bird,  c. 

Bluebird,  c. 

Ruby  crowned  Wren,  c. 
Golden  crested  Wren,  c. 
Chickadee  or  Black  cap  Tit- 
mouse, c. 
White  bellied  Nuthatch,  c. 
Red  bellied  Nuthatch,  c. 
American  Creeper,  c. 
House  Wren,  c. 
Winter  Wren,  c. 

Black  and  White  Creeper,  c. 
Blue,  Yellow  backed  warbler,  r. 
Maryland  Yellow  throat  warbler,  c. 
Golden  winged  warbler,  c. 
Nashville  warbler,  r. 
Oven-l)ird  warbler,  c. 
Water  Thrush  wiu'bler,  c. 
Black  throated  Green  warbler,  c. 
Black  throated  Blue  warbler,  m. 
YeUow  runiped  warbler,  c. 
Blackburnian  warbler,  m. 
Pine-creeping  warlder,  c. 
Chestnut-sided  warlder,  c. 
Black  Poll  warbler,  r. 
Y'eUow  warbler,  c. 
Black  and  Yellow  warbler,  c. 
Y'ellow  Red-poll  warbler,  c. 


Canada  Flycatcher  warbler,  m. 
Red  Startj'c. 
Scarlet  Tanager,  c. 

Barn  Swallow,  c. 
Eave  Swallow,  c. 
White  bellied  Swallow,  c. 
Bank  Swallow,  c. 
Purple  Martin,  c. 

Cedar,  or  Cherry  Bird,  c. 
Boiiemian  Chatterer,  m. 
Shrike,  or  Butcher  Bird,  m. 
Yellow  throated  Vireo,  r. 
Solitary  Vireo,  r. 
Red-eyed  Vireo,  c. 

Pine  Grosbeak,  m. 

Purple  Finch,  c. 

Goldfinch  or  YeUow  Bird,  c. 

Piuefinch,  m. 

Bed  Crossbill,  m. 

White  winged  Cros.?bill,  m. 

Mealy  Red  poll.m. 

Lesser  Red  poll,  m. 

Snow  Bunting,  m. 

Lapland  Longspur,  rand  m. 

Savannah  Sparrow,;  r. 

Grassflnch  or  Bay  winged  Bunting,  c. 

Wliite  crowned  SparroM",  m. 

AVhite  throated  Sparrow,  c. 

■Snowbird,  c. 

Tree  Sparrow,  m. 

Field  Sparrow,  c. 

Chipping  Sparrow,  c. 

Song  Sparrow,  or  Ground  Bird,  c. 

Swamp  Sparrow,  r. 

Fox  colored  Sparrow,  m. 

Rose  breasted  Grosbeak,  r. 

Indigo  Bird,  c. 

Groimd  Robin,— Chewink,  r. 

Bobolink,  c. 

Cow  Blackbird,  c. 

Red  winged  Blackbird,  c. 

Meadow  Lark,  r. 

Baltimore  Oriole,  c. 

Rusty  Blackbird,  r. 

Crow  Blackbird,  or  Purple  Grakle,  r. 

Crow,  c. 
Blue  Jaj',  c. 
Canada  Jay,,c. 


528 


HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 


Order  IV.— Rasores— Scratchers. 


Wild  Pigeon,  c. 
Carolina  Dove,  r. 


Canada  Grouse,  c 
Ruflfed  Grouse,  c. 


Order  v.— Grallatores— Waders. 


Great  Blue  Heron,  or  Crane,  c. 
Bittern,  or  Stake  Driver,  c. 
Green  Heron,  r. 
Night  Heron,  r. 

Woodcock,  c. 


Snipe,  m. 

Solitary  Sandpiper,  c. 
Spotted  Sandpiper,  c. 

Upland  Plover,  r. 


Order  VI.— Natatores— Swimmers. 


Canada  Goose,  m. 
Brant  Goose, m. 

Black  Duck,  c. 
Blue  winged  Teal,  r. 
Green  winged  Teal,  r. 


Wood  Duck,  c. 
Sheldrake,  c. 

Gull,  r. 

Great  Norther  Diver,  or  Loon,  c. 


REPTILIA,  OR  REPTILES. 


Snapping  Turtle,  or  Tortoise. 

Painted  Tortoise. 

Spotted  Tortoise. 

Wood  Ten-apin,  or  Tortoise. 

Mud  Turtle  or  Musk  Tortoise. 

Box  Tortoise. 

Blandiug's  Box  Tortoise. 

Striped  Snake. 

Ribbon  Snake. 

Water  Snake. 

House  Adder. 

Red  Snake. 

Green,  or  Grass  Snake. 

Ring-necked  Snake. 

Blue  tailed  Skink  or  Lizard. 

Yellow  bellied  Salamander. 
Violet  colored  Salamander. 
Red  Backed  Salamander. 
Painted  Salamander. 
Salmon  colored  Salamander. 


Blotched  Salamander. 

Red  Salamander. 

Blue  spotted  Salamander. 

Granulated  Salamander. 

Tiger  Triton  Salamander. 

Crimson  spotted  Triton  Salamander, 

or  Evet. 
Dusky  Triton  Salamander. 

Toad. 

BuU-frog. 

Large  Northern  Bull-frog. 

Spring  Frog. 

Marsh  or  Tiger  Frog. 

Shad  Frog. 

Wood  Frog. 

Tree  Toad. 

I'ickering's  Hylodes. 
Cricket  Hylodes. 


FISHES. 


Trout. 

Troutlet. 

Pickerel. 


Pout. 

Roach. 

Dace. 


Shiner. 
Sucker. 
Eel. 


SPIDERS. 
One  hundred  and  twenty-six  kinds,  some  with  six  eyes  and  some  with  eight 


eyes. 


APPENDIX. 


529 


INSECTS. 


Beetles : 

Tiger. 

Long-horned  Water. 

Rover. 

Flat  Uoring. 

Death-watch  or  ticking. 

Bone. 

Carrion. 

Short  horned  Water. 

Weevils. 

Capricorn. 

Cockroaches. 

Crickets. 

Nocturnal  Grasshoppers. 

Diurnal  Grasshoppers. 

Squash  Bug. 
Bedbug. 

Common  Harvest  Fly  or  Locust. 
Bark  Louse. 

Oyster-shaped  Bark  Louse. 
Dragon  Flies,  or  Devil's  Needles. 
White  Ants,  or  Wood  Lice. 

Saw  Flies. 


Ants. 
Stinging  Ants. 

Wasps. 
Hornets. 

Wood-cutter  Bee. 
Lealcutter  Bee. 
Humblebee. 
Honey  Bee. 
Butterfly. 
Skipper  Butterfly. 
Humming  Bird,  or  Hawk  Moth. 
Locust-tree  Cossus. 
Caterpiller. 

Autumnal  Web  Caterpillar. 
Cut  Worm. 
Apple  WoiTii. 
Bee  Moth. 
Clothes  Moth. 
Mosquito. 
Gnat. 
Horsefly. 
Flesh  Fly. 
Bot  Fly. 
Common  Flea. 

Louse  and  many  other  kinds,  together 
with  several  species  of  worms. 


White  Pine. 
Hard  Pine. 
Noi'way  Pine. 
Black  "Spruce. 
Spruce. 
Red  Hemlock. 
White  Hemlock. 
Fir. 

Tamarack. 
Cedar. 
Red  Oak. 
White  Oak. 
White  Maple. 
Birds-eye  Maple. 
Rock  5Iaple. 
Red  Maple. 
Swamp  Maple. 
Elm. 

Slipperv  Elm. 
White  i?irch. 
Yellow  Birch. 
Black  Birch. 
Red  Birch. 
Silver-gray  Birch. 
Bass. 


TREES. 

Red  Beech. 
White  Beech. 
White  Ash. 
Swamp  Ash. 
Black  Ash. 
Mountain  Ash. 
Pricklv  Ash, 
Red  Ash. 
Butternut. 
Poplar. 

Lombardy  Poplar. 
Horn  Beam. 
Leverwood. 
Balm  Gilead. 
Choke  Cherry. 
Black  Chen-y. 
Bird  Cherry". 
Tame  Cherry. 
Canada  Plum. 
Witch  Hazel. 
Hazel. 
Red  Alder. 
Black  Alder. 
Thorn. 
Willow. 


Bog  Willow. 

Weeping  Willow. 

Elder. 

Ground  Hemlock. 

Moosewood. 

Moosemissa. 

Wild  Gooseberry. 

Currant. 

Skunk  Currant. 

Rose-Bush. 

Lilac. 

Sumach. 

High  Blueberry. 

Blueberry. 

Whortleberry. 

Dogwood. 

Sweet  Fern. 

Apple. 

Wheat  Plum. 
Damson. 
Sugar  Plum. 
Withe-wood. 


Wild  Sarsaparilla. 

Parsnip. 

Lovage. 

Sweet  Sicily. 

Bane  Berry. 

Columbine". 

Cowslip. 

Gold  Thread. 

Liverwort. 


PLANTS. 

Yellow  Wood  Sorrel. 
Violet. 
Chick-weed. 
Pig-weed. 
Poke-weed. 
.Joint-weed. 
Bind  Knot- weed. 
Knot  Grass. 
Field  Son-el. 


Mullen. 

Vervein. 

Pennyroyal. 

Hoariiound. 

Horsemint. 

Peppermint. 

Spearmint. 

Catmint. 

Scullcap. 

H* 


530 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


Buttercup . 
Crowfoot. 
White  Pond  Lily. 
Yellow  Water  Lily, 
Horse  Radish. 
Mustard. 
Strawben-y. 
Sweet-brier. 
Black  Raspberry. 
Red  Raspberry. 
Blackberry. 
Hard  Hack. 
Thorn  Bush. 
Field  Clover. 
Red  Clover. 
White  Clover. 
Nettles. 

White  Mulberry. 
Red  Mulberry. 
Grape. 
Poison  Ivy. 
Wood  Sorrel. 


Dock. 

Honey-suckle. 

Trailing  Arbutus, 

Partridge  Berry. 

Cranberi-y. 

Wintergreeu. 

Harebell. 

Wormwood. 

Burdock. 

Marygold. 

Canada  Thistle. 

Common  Thistle. 

Artichoke. 

Dandelion. 

Fire-weed. 

Golden  Rod. 

Colts  Foot. 

Tansy. 

Checkerben-y. 

Twin-flower. 

Milk-weed. 

Fox-glore. 


Forget-me-not. 
Mouse-ear. 
Plantain. 

Yellow-eyed  Grass. 
Star  Grass. 
Blue  Flag. 
Blue-eyed  Grass. 
Ladies'  Slipper. 
Indian  Poke. 
Solomou's  Seal. 
BeU-wort. 
Cat-tail. 
Sweet-flag. 
Skunk  Cabbage. 
Hair  Grass. 
Meadow  Grass. 
Beard  Grass. 
Timothy  Grass. 
Sedge  Grass. 
Bay  Rush. 


FLOWERLESS  PLANTS. 


Horse-tail. 
Maiden  Hair. 
Brake  Fern. 
Adder  Tongue  Fern. 
Common  Brake. 


Rock  Brake. 
Ground  Pine. 
Liverwort. 
Shield  Lichen. 
Lichen. 


Pufl'-ball. 
Smelt. 
Frog  Spittle. 


ROCKS   AND   MINERALS. 


Gold. 

Silver. 

Iron. 

Zinc. 

Lead. 

Copper. 

Nickel. 

Cadmium. 

Antimony. 

Plumbago. 

Iron  Pyrites. 

Iron  Pyrites  Black. 

Molybdenum. 

Arsenic. 

Brown  Hematite. 


Garnets. 

Epidote. 

Idocrase. 

Tremolite. 

Tourmaline. 

Beryl. 

Apsitite. 

Cinnamon  Stone. 

Massive  Garnet. 

Rose  Quartz. 

Smoky  Quartz. 

Hyalite. 

Quartz. 

Calcspar. 

Porphyritic  Trap. 


Trap. 

GraniticIGnciss. 
Feldspar. 
Granite. 
Mica  Slate. 
Talcose. 
Hornblende. 
Scapolite  (with  the  Apa- 
tite) Crystals. 
Limestone. 
Argillaceous  Slate. 
Clay. 

Feriiginous  Sand. 
Alluvial  Sand. 


TOWN  OFFICERS. 


1779. 
Obadiah  Clement. 
Joshua  Copp. 
Israel  Stevens. 

1780. 
Joshua  Copp. 
Thomas  Clark. 
John  AS'hitcher. 


SELECTMEN. 

1782.' 
Joshua  Copp. 
Ephraim  True. 
Simeon  Smith. 
Joshua  Merrill. 

1783. 
Obadiah  Clement. 
.Joshua  Merrill. 
William  Butler. 


1785. 
Obadiah  Clement. 
Stevens  Merrill. 
Joseph  Patch. 

1786. 
Joshua  Copp. 
Stephen  Richardson. 
William  Butler. 


1781. 
Obadiah  Clement. 
William  Butler. 
Isaiah  Batchelder. 


1784. 
Obadiah  Clement. 
Stevens  Merrill. 
Samuel  Kniglit. 


1787. 
William  Butler. 
.Joshua  Copp. 
Stephen  Richardson. 


APPENDIX. 


531 


1788. 
.Toshua  Copp. 
Ephraiin  True. 
Xatliauiel  Knight. 

1789. 
Nathaniel  Knight. 
Samuel  Knight. 
Moses  Copp. 

ITiK). 
Nathaniel  Kuight. 
.lonathan  Merrill. 
Steplien  Kicliardson. 
Abel  .Merrill. 

1791. 
Joshua  Coi)p. 
William  IJutler. 
Stephen  Richardson. 

1792. 
P^phraim  True. 
Joseph  French. 
Samuel  Knight. 

1793. 
Jonathan  Men-ill. 
Joseph  French. 
Jonathan  Clement. 

1794. 
Jonathan  Merrill. 
Thomas  Boynton. 
.\aron  Welch. 

1795. 
Jonathan  Men-ill. 
Thomas  Boynton. 
Joseph  French. 

179(i. 
Jonathan  Jlerrill. 
Abel  Merrill. 
Elisha  Swett. 

1797. 
William  Butler. 
Jonathan  .Merrill. 
Joseph  French. 


1804. 
Ezra  Bartlett. 
Abel  Merrill. 
Klisha  Swett. 

1805. 
.Vbel  Merrill. 
William  Butler. 
Daniel  Patch. 

1806. 
.Jonathan  Merrill. 
Daniel  Patch. 
.Tonathati  Fellows. 


1807. 
Abel  Merrill. 
.Joseph  Patch, 
Elisha  Swett. 

1808. 
.Joseph  Patch,  .Jr., 
Aaron  Welch. 
Ebenezer  Barker. 

1809. 
Jonathan  Men-ill. 
Joseph  Patch,  Jr. 
Jonathan  Fellows. 

1810. 
.Jonathan  Jlerrill. 
Abel  Merrill. 
Amos  Tarleton. 

1811. 
Abel  Men-ill. 
Joseph  Patch,  .Jr. 
Amos  Tarleton. 

181-2. 
Jonathan  Men-iU. 
Benjamin  Merrill. 
.Joseph  Merrill. 

1813. 
Joseph  Patch. 
Thomas  Whipple. 
Stephen  Flanders. 


1820. 
Joseph  Patch,  Jr. 
Nathaniel  Clough. 
.Jacob  Patch. 

1821. 
Nathaniel  Clough. 
Jacob  Patch. 
Amos  Tarleton. 

18-22. 
.Jacob  Patch. 
.A.mos  Tarleton.' 
George  Libbey. 


18-23. 
Abel  Merrill. 
.Joseph  Patch,  Jr. 
.Joseph  Bixby. 

18-24. 
Jacob  Patch. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
William  Clough. 

1825. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
.Jacob  Patch. 
William  Clough. 

1826. 
Jacob  Patch. 
William  Clough. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 

1827. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 
Stevens  Men-ill. 

1828. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 
Samuel  Men-ill. 

1829. 
William  Clough. 
.  Samuel  Merrill. 
George  Libbey. 


1798-'99. 
Jonathan  .Aferrill. 
Abel  Merrill. 
Elisha  Swett. 


1814. 
Jonathan  Merrill. 
Abel  Merrill. 
.Joseph  Patch,  .Jr. 


18.30. 
-Jacob  J'atch. 
Benjamin  Little. 
Samuel  Merrill. 


1800 
.Jonathan  .Merrill. 
Ezra  Bai-tlett, 
William  Butler. 


181.5-'16. 
.Jonathan  Merrill. 
Abel  Men-ill. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 


1831 -'32. 
.Jacob  Patch. 
Benjamin  Little. 
Anson  Merrill. 


1801. 
.Jonathan  Merrill. 
Ezra  Bartlett. 
Abel  .Alerrill. 


1817. 
Jonathan  Merrill. 
Abel  Men-ill. 
James  Williams. 


1833. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 


1802-'3. 
Jonathan  Merrill. 
Abel  Merrill. 
Elisha  Swett. 


1818-'19. 
Joseph  Patch,  .Jr. 
Moses  II.  Clement. 
Stephen  Flanders. 


1834. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
Samuel  Merrill. 


532 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


1835. 
Jacob  Patch. 
Isaac  Merrill,  2d. 
Solomon  Cotton. 

1836. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
Solomon  Cotton. 
George  Libbey. 

1837. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
George  Libbey. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 

1838. 
William  Clough. 
William  Poraeroy. 
Jonathan  Little. 

1839. 
William  Pomeroy. 
.lonatlian  Little. 
Joseph  Bixby. 

1810. 
Jonathan  Little. 
Joseph  Bixby. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 

1841-'42'. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 
Solomon  Cotton. 
Nathaniel  Merrill,  2d. 

1843. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 
William  Pomeroy. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 

1S44. 
Isaac  Men-ill. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 

1845. 
Isaac  Merrill. 
RusseU  F.  Clifford. 
James  S.  Merrill. 

1846. 
Samuel  L.  Jlerrill. 
James  S.  Merrill. 
James  Clement. 


1847. 
Jesse  Little. 
Solomon  Cotton. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 

1848. 
•lesse  Little. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
David  Smith. 

1849. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
David  Smith. 
Thomas  P.  Huckins. 

1850. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
Thomas  P.  Huckins.* 
Albe  C.  Weeks. 

1851. 
Samuel  L.  McitUI. 
Albe  C.  Weeks. 
Michael  P.  Merrill. 

1852. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
IVUchael  P.  Merrill. 
Joseph  Clement. 

1853. 
David  Smith. 
Joseph  Clement. 
.Jonathan  Little. 

1854. 
William  Pomeroy. 
Ezra  W.  Cleasby. 
.James  Clement. 

1855. 
William  Pomeroy. 
Ira  Merrill. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks,  Jr. 

1856. 
Ira  Merrill. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks,  Jr> 
Darius  Swain. 

1857. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
Darius  Swain. 
Stephen  M.  Boynton. 


1858. 
Isaac  Merrill. 
Stephen  M.  Boynton. 
Nathaniel  Men-ill,  2d. 

1859. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 
Nathaniel  MerriU,  2d. 
Ezra  Libbey. 

1860. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 
Ezra  Libbey. 
Nathaniel  MeiTill,  2d. 

1861. 
Ira  MerriU. 
Nathaniel  Merrill.  2d. 
Caleb  I.  Heath. 

1862. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
Caleb  I.  Heath. 
George  E.  Leonard. 

1863. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 
George  E.  Leonard. 
James  S.  Merrill. 

1864-'65. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
Levi  C.  Whitcher. 
Adoniram  Whitcher. 

18GG-'67. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks,  .Jr. 
George  E.  Leonard. 
Calvin  W.  Cummings 

1868. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 
Walter  Libbey. 
Amos  Clement. 

1869. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
Walter  Libbey. 
Amos  Clement. 

1870. 
IraM.  Weeks. 
Arthur  Knapp.   • 
James  M.  Bixby. 


TOWN  CLERKS. 


1779— Obadiah  Clement,  6 
1786 — Joshua  Copp,  1 

1787— Joshua  Merrill,  1 
1788— Nathaniel  Knight,  2 
1790— Joshua  Copp,  2 

1793— Jonathan  Merrill,  10 
180;]— p]zra  Bartlett,  2 

1805— Abel  Merrill,  1 

1806— Jonathan  Merrill,   1 


yrs. 

"  ii 


1818— Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  2 
1820— Moses  H.  Clement,  7 
1827— Enoch  R.  Weeks,  1 
1828— Anson  Merrill,  4 
1831— Jesse  Little,  7 

1838— R.  K.  Clement,  6 
1844— Isaac  Merrill,  2 

1846— R.  K.  Clement,  13 
1859— Albe  C.  Weeks,      2 


yvs. 


A1»PEN1)IX. 


533 


1807— Abel  Merrill, 
1809— Toii;itli:ni  :\IerriU, 
1811— BiMijaiuiu  :\[erri!l, 
18i;5— Tlioiuiis  Wiiipple. 
1815 — JonatUaii  Merrill, 
1816 — Joseph  Piitch,  Jr., 
1817 — Robert  Barns, 


yrs. 


1861— Daniel Q.  Clement,  3  yrs. 
1SG4— R.  K.  Clement,  1  " 
18(;5— William  Poincrov,  2  " 
1867— Samuel  B.  Page,'  1  " 
1868— James  B.  Eastman,  2  " 
1870— Nathan  Plarris,        1    " 


REPRESENTATIVES. 


1784 — Obadiah  Clement, 
1789— William  Tarleton, 
1793 — Jonathan  Merrill, 
1797— William  Butler, 
1800— William  Tarleton, 
1801— Abel  Merrill, 
1805— Ezra  Bartlett, 
1808— Abel  Merrill, 
1811—    "  " 

1814 — Joseph  Patch,  Jr., 
1817—    ••  •• 

1822— Amos  Tarleton, 
1825^ Abel  Merrill, 
1828— Jacob  Patch, 
1830— Moses  H.  Clement,  1 
-1831— Enoch  R,  Weeks,  2 
1833— Jacob  Patch,  1 

1834— Moses  H.  Clement,  1 
1835— Jacob  Patch,  1 


yrs 


1836 — Moses  H.Clement,  1  yrs. 

1838—    "  ''  1  " 

1839— Enoch  R.  Weeks,    1  " 

1340— Jesse  Little,  2  " 

1842— William  Clough,     2  " 

1844— Russell  K.Clement  2  " 

1846— Jonathan  Little,     2  " 

1848— R.  K.  Clement,        1  " 

1849— Levi  C.  AVhitcher,  2  '' 

1851— William  Pomeroy,  2  '' 

1853— Isaac  Merrill,      "    1  " 

1854— R.  K.  Clement,       1  " 

1855 — Isaac  Merrill,  3  " 

1858 — James  Clement,      2  " 

1860— Ira  M.  Weeks,        2  " 

1862— James  M.  Bixby     2  '' 

1864— Samuel  B.  Page,     6  " 

1870— George  F.  Putnam,  1  " 


MODERATORS. 


Joshua  Copp,  1779,  '82,  '98,  '99. 

Thomas  Clark,  1780,  '81. 

William  Butler,  178S,  '84,  '87,  '88,  '91,  94,  1801. 

Stevens  Merrill,  1785,  '89,  '90. 

Absalom  Peters,  1786. 

Ephraim  True,  1792. 

Thomas  Bovnton,  1793,  '95. 

Al)el  Merrill,  1776,  1802,    '3,  '5,  '7,  '10,  '12,  "13  '14,  "15,  '17,  '18, 

'19,  '20, '25. 
Anson  Welch,  1797. 
Ezra  Bartlett,  1800,  '8,  '11. 
Obadiah  Clement,  1804. 
Jonathan  Merrill,  1806,  '9. 
Daniel  Patch,  1816,  '21,  '22,  "23,  '24. 
George  Libbev,  1826,  '36,  '37,  '38,  "39,  '40,  '42. 
Jacob  Patch,  1827,  '28,  '29,  '30,  '31,  '32,  '33,  '34. 
Anson  Merrill,  1835. 
Isaac  Merrill,  1841,  '43,  '48,  '52,  '58.- 


634 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


William  Pomeroy,  1844,  '45,  '47. 

Francis  A.  Cushmaii,  1846. 

Michael  P.  Merrill,  1849,  '50,  '51,  '54,  "55,  56,  ".57. 

William  Little,  1858,  '59,  '60. 

Euoch  R.  Weeks,  Jr.,  1861,  '62,  '64,  '65,  '67. 

Samuel  B.  Page,  1863,  '66,  '68,  '69. 

George  F.  Putnam,  1870. 

SCHOOL  COMMITTEE. 


1829. 
David  C.  French. 
Horatio  W.  Heath. 
Eobert  E  Merrill. 


1844. 
Michael  P.  Merrill. 
David  Smith. 
James  M.  Williams. 


1852. 
Michael  P.  Merrill. 


1830. 
Jacob  Patch. 
Anson  Merrill. 
Jonathan  Little. 


1845. 
David  Smith. 
Michael  P.  Merrill. 
James  M.  Williams. 


1853. 
James  M.  Williams. 
Ira  Merrill. 


1831. 
Isaac  Merrill,  2d. 
Job  E.  Merrill. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 

1832. 
Jonathan  Little. 
John  L.  Merrill. 
Nath'l  Merrill,  2d. 

1833. 
Job  E.  Merrill. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 


1846. 
Michael  P.  Merrill. 
Dudley  B.  Cotton. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 

1847. 
David  Smith. 
Dudley  B.  Cotton. 
Ira  M.' Weeks. 

1848-'49. 
Dudley  B.  Cotton. 
Ira  Merrill. 


1854,  '55, '56,  '69, '70. 
Ira  Merrill. 

1857. 
Dudley  B.  Cotton. 

1858,  '59. 
Russell  F.  Clifford. 

I860. 
William  Little. 

1861. 


Russell  K.  Clement.     James  M.  Williams.     Alphonzo G.French 


1835. 
Job  E.  Merrill. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 
Anson  Merrill. 

1837. 
Jesse  Little. 
Moses  Merrill. 
Russell  K.  Clement. 


1850. 
William  Merrill. 
Albe  C.  Weeks. 
Joseph  B.  Cotton, 

1851. 
William  Merrill. 
Joseph  B.  Cotton^ 
James  M.  AYilliams. 


1862, '65, '66, '67, '68. 
Samuel  B.  Page. 

1863. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 

1864. 
Josiah  Hooper. 


POPULATION  AT   DIFFERENT   PERIODS 


1780— (about)  125  1820— 

1790—                206  1830— 

1800—                386  1840— 

1810—                506  1850— 


544 
702 
938 

872 


1860— 
1870— 


1,1.52 
960 


APPENDIX. 


535 


MONEY  TAX. 


1779— 

£100 

1810— 

$0.00 

1841— 

$400.00 

1780— 

150 

1811— 

0.00 

1842— 

800.00 

1781— 

500 

1812— 

300.00 

1843— 

1,000.00 

1782— 

*4  1-2 

1813— 

100.00 

1844— 

1,200.00 

1783— 

6 

1814— 

245.00 

1845— 

650.00 

1784— 

5 

1815— 

0.00 

.  1846— 

525.00 

1785— 

0 

1816— 

30.00 

1847— 

425.00 

1786— 

5 

1817— 

GO. 00 

1848— 

1,000.00 

1787— 

0 

1818— 

30.00 

1849— 

900.00 

1788— 

3 

1819— 

75.00 

1850— 

700.00 

1789— 

6 

1820— 

•50.00 

1851— 

800.00 

1790— 

9 

1821— 

30.00 

1852— 

600.00 

1791— 

6 

1822— 

40.00 

1853— 

500.00 

1792— 

0 

1823— 

50.00 

1854— 

550.00 

1793 

4  1-2 

1824— 

75.00 

1855— 

800.00 

1794— 

G 

1825— 

60.00 

1856— 

1,200.00 

1795— 

3 

1826— 

75.00 

1857— 

1.200.00 

179G 

0 

1827— 

150.00 

1858— 

1,200.00 

1797— 

$13.33 

1828— 

200  .DO 

1859— 

1,600.00 

1798— 

10.00 

1829— 

300:00 

1860 

1,600.00 

1799— 

0.00 

1830— 

200.00 

1861— 

1,600.00 

1800— 

13.00 

1831— 

200.00 

1862— 

1,600.00 

1801— 

0.00 

1832— 

200.00 

1863— 

1,600.00 

1802— 

15.00 

1833— 

150.00 

1864— 

4,000.00 

1803— 

30.00 

1834— 

150.00 

1865— 

4,000.00 

1804— 

70.00 

1835— 

400.00 

1866— 

4.000.00 

1805— 

160.00 

1836 

250.00 

1867— 

4,000.00 

180G— 

40.00 

1837— 

250.00 

1868— 

4,000.00 

1807— 

40.00 

1838— 

300.00 

1869— 

4,000.00 

1808— 

75.00 

1839— 

400.00 

1870 

4,000.00 

1809— 

80.00 

1840— 

600.00 

*  Silver  money. 

• 

LAWYERS. 

The  following-  persons  have  practiced  law  iu  Warren : — 

Joseph  B.  Hill — 1855  to  1857. 

Joseph  W.  Armingtox  — 1861,  a. short  time. 

Samuel  B.  Page  —  from  1861  to  1869.  Mr.  Page  was  born 
at  Littleton,  N.  H.,  June  23,  1838.  He  was  educated  at  Pliillips, 
Kingston,  and  Lyndon  academies:  studied  law  with  Hon.  Harry 
Bingham,  of  Littleton,  and  graduated  at  the  Albany  Law  School 
in  1861.     In  1861  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law  at  Warren. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  six  years-  he  held  the  offices  of  mod- 


536  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

erator,  town  clerk,  and  school  committee,  and  also  represented  the 
town  for  seven  consecntive  sessions  in  the  Legislature. 

As  a  representative  he  was  diligent,  worked  hard,  and  was 
always  in  his  place.  During  the  last  two  years  he  was  the  leader 
of  the  House,  and  as  a  debater  and  tactician  had  no  equals. 

Mi\  Page  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege in  18G8. 

He  mamed  JNIiss  Martha  C.  Lang  in  1860.  They  have  had 
three  children,  Child  L.,  William  H.,  and  Elizabeth  Berkley  Page. 

In  1869  he  removed  to  Concord,  N.  H.,  where  he  had  already 
formed  a  law  partnership  with  Hon.  Ira  A.  Eastman  and  John  H. 
Albin,  with  the  firm  name  of  Eastman.  Page  &  Albin,  which 
still  continues. 

George  F.  Putnam — 1869  to — .  Mr.  Putnam,  the  son  of  John 
and  Almira  (French)  Putnam,  was  born  at  Croydon,  N.  H.,  Nov. 
6,  1841,  and  is  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  eiglit  children.  He 
fitted  for  college  at  Thetford  Academy,  Thetford,  Vt.,  and  gradua- 
ted at  Norwich  University  in  1863.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he 
commenced  the  study  of  law  with  N.  B.  Felton,  Esq.,  at  Haverhill, 
N.  H.,  where  he  remained  till  the  summer  of  1866,  when  he  went 
into  the  office  of  Judge  C.  R.  Morrison,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Manchester,  Jau.  1,  1867.  Mr.  P.  commenced  the  practice 
of  law  at  Haverhill,  in  the  summer  of  1867,  and  remained  there 
until  the  summer  of  1869,  when  he  removed  to  Warren. 

In  1866  and  '67  he  was  superintendent  of  schools  in  Haverhill, 
and  in  1868  and  1869  represented  that  town  in  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Legislature.  In  1870  he  represented  the  town  of  Warren  in 
the  Legislature. 

Mr.  Putnam  married  Mary  R.  Reding,  daughter  of  Sylvester 
and  Ellen  D.  Reding,  Dec.  22,  1868,  at  Haverhill. 

Mr.  P.  is  a  young  man  of  fine  ability,  of  genial  and  courteous 
manners,  and  without  doubt  will  make  his  mark  as  a  good  lawyer. 

PHYSICIANS. 

The  following  persons  have  practiced  medicine  in  Warren : — 

Dr.  Joseph  Peters  was  the  first.  Ho  came  in  1791,  and 
lived  in  town  about  two  vears. 


APPENDIX.  537 

Dr.  Levi  Root  —  from  1795,  three  years. 

Dr.  Ezra  Baktlett  —  from  1798  to  1812.  Dr.  Bartlett  was 
the  son  of  Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  one  of  the  governors  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  came  to  Warren  in  1798.  For  a  short  sketch  of 
him  see  page  354. 

Dr.  Thomas  Whipple  practiced  in  town  from  1811  to  1814  . 
Dr.  Whipple  was  born  at  Lebanon,  N.  IL,  in  1787.  He  attended 
the  common  school  of  his  district,  and  went  to  an  academy  for  a 
few  weeks  only.  In  Warren,  on  Beech  hill,  he  studied  Latin  by 
the  light  of  Dr.  Bartlett's  great  fire-place,  and  also  medicine  with 
Dr.  B.  for  about  two  years.  He  completed  his  medical  studies 
with  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  at  Hanover,  N.  H.  Attended  lectures  at 
the  Dartmouth  Medical  College,  and  received  his  diploma  Aug.  4, 
1810. 

Dr.  Whipple  practiced  medicine  a  sliort  time  at  Bradford,  Vt., 
and  moved  to  Warren  in  1811.  While  at  Warren  he  held  the  office 
of  town  clerk  and  selectman.  In  1814  he  removed  to  Wentworth, 
where  he  Uved  till  his  death. 

Dr.  Whipple  possessed  great  ability,  had  excellent  success  in 
his  practice,  and  living  but  a  short  distance  from  Warren  practiced 
iu  our  town  all  his  life.  His  fiice  was  just  as  familliar  to  our  citi- 
zens as  though  he  was  one  of  their  own  townsmen.  He  was  free 
and  easy  iu  his  manners,  and  the  people  Avere  always  pleased  to 
see  him.  His  argumentative  powers  were  good,  and  he  was  very 
keen  at  a  joke.  Only  one  mau  in  Warren  dared  meet  him  in  argu- 
ment or  wit,  and  that  was  Stevens  Merrill,  son  of  "Squire  Jona- 
than MerriU.  Stevens  Merrill  was  "  enough  for  the  doctor,"  and 
the  latter  was  often  glad  to  shun  our  keen,  witty  farmer.  The 
doctor  had  a  powerful  memory  and  could  recite  nearly  the  whole 
of  Virgil  and  Milton,  and  much  of  Shakspeare.  Besides  his  prac- 
tice in  Warren  and  Wentworth  he  visited  patients  in  all  parts  of 
the  county  of  Gi'aftou  and  in  neighboring  towns  in  Vermont. 

At  Wentworth  Dr.  Whipple  held  nearly  every  town  ofiice  in 
the  gift  of  the  people,  and  for  many  years  represented  that  town 
in  the  Legislature.  His  greatest  triumph  was  the  passage  of  the 
"  Toleration  Act,"  in  1819.  By  it  all  denominations  in  New 
Hampshire  were  placed  upon  an  equality,  and  eveiy  man  could 


538  HISTORY    OF   WARREN. 

support  preaching-  or  not,  as  he  felt  disposed.  In  the  discussion  of 
the  act  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  Dr.  Whipple  exhibited 
talents  as  a  debater,  equal  if  not  superior  to  any  man  in  the  State. 

In  1821,  he  was  elected  Representative  to  Congress,  and  was 
re-elected  in  1823,  1825,  and  1827.  He  was  a  prominent,  hard- 
working niember,  and  as  a  debater  on  the  floor  of  the  House  had 
few  equals.     He  married  Phebe  Tabor  of  Bradford,  Vt. 

Secondly,  he  married  Piicilla  Pierce  of  Royalton,  Vt.,  and 
their  cliildren  were  Pricilla  P.,  who  married  Dr.  Boney;  Phebe 
T.,  who  married  Ben  Ayer,  of  Manchester,  now  of  Chicago,  111.  ; 
and  Celia,  who  married  Mr.  Wallace,  of  Chicago.  The  latter  is  a 
talented  lady  and  a  writer  of  considerable  ability. 

Dr.  Whipple  died  Jan.  23,  1835,  aged  forty-eight  years,  and 
was  buried  at  Wentworth. 

His  son.  Dr.  A.  A.  Whipple,  born  in  Warren,  is  now  practic- 
ing medicine  at  Wentworth.  He  is  a  man  of  fine  ability.  Col. 
Thomas  J.  Whipple,  his  second  son,  "is  a  lawyer  of  extensive  prac- 
tice, and  resides  at  Laconia. 

DR.  THOMAS  AND  PHEBE  {Tahor)  WHIPPLE'S  FAMILY  RECORD. 

Alouzo  A.,  bora  Feb.  27,  1811.  Walter  G.,  bom  Nov.  — ,  1818. 

Thomas  J .,  bora  Jau.  30,  ISIO.  Caroline  B.,  boru  Apr.  J,  18-20. 

Dr.  Robert  Burns  practiced  from  1816  to  1818,  when  he 
moved  to  Hebron,  and  from  thence  to  Plymouth.  He  was  a  Rep- 
resentative in  Congress  four  years. 

Dr.  John  Broadhead  —  from  1818,  one  year.  He  was  the 
son  of  Rev.  John  Broadhead,  Methodist  minister. 

Dr.  Laban  Ladd  —  from  1820,  two  years.  He  was  a  native 
of  Haverhill,  and  died  there  shortly  after  he  left  Warren. 

Dr.  David  C.  French  —  from  1821  to  1870.  He  was  a  son 
of  Joseph  French,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  AVarren,  was  born 
in  town,  and  now  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  is  still  in  active  prac- 
tice. 

Dr.  Jesse  Little  —  from  1830  to  1865.  He  was  the  son  of 
Amos  Little,  who  came  to  Warren  in  1789.  Dr.  Little  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  Thomas  Whipple,  and  graduated  at  the  Dart- 
mouth Medical  College,  Hanover,  N.  IL,  in  1828.     He   practiced 


APPENDIX.  539 

first  at  Landafi".  and  moved  to  WaiToii  in  1830.  He  held  every 
office  in  the  gift  of  his  townsmen,  and  represented  the  town  in  the 
Legislature  in  1840  and  1S41.     Tie  died  at  Warren,  July  29,  180f>. 

Du.  Jamks  Emery  —  from  1845,  one  year. 

Dk.  Moody  D.  Page  —  in  1849.  He  lived  at  the  old  Homans 
place.  East-par te. 

Dk.  a.  Buswell  —  from  1852  to  1854. 

Du.  Alpuonzo  G.  French  —  from  lSo;3  to  1862.  He  was  a 
son  of  Dr.  David  C.  French,  graduated  at  the  Medical  School  at 
Hanover,  in  1853,  and  died  in  California,  in  1865. 

Dr.  Moses  C.  Eaton  — from  1864  to  1869. 

Dr.  John  F.  Willey,  (eclectic)— from  1860  to  1865.  He  is 
a  sou  of  Nathan  AVilley,  and  a  nephew  of  Dr.  D.  C.  French.  Dr. 
Willey  returned  to  Warren  in  .1870. 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Manning,  (eclectic)  —  from  1868. 

Dr.  Robert  E.  Merkill  —  from  1869.  He  was  the  son  of 
Samuel  Merrill,  and  was  born  in  the East-parte  district;  graduated 
at  the  Medical  School  at  Hanover,  and  after  practicing  many  years 
at  Meredith,  Pembroke,  and  Laconia,  moved  to  Warren. 

COLLEGE   GRADUATES. 

Joseph  Merrill,  eldest  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  {Copp) 
Merrill,  was  born  Oct.  19,  1788.  He  in  a  great  measure  fitted 
himself  for  college,  and  graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  1814 ;  being 
the  first  person  born  in  Warren  who  received  college  honors.  He 
then  engaged  a  year  and  a  half  in  teaching  in  Haverhill,  at  the 
same  time  diligently  pursuing  the  study  of  law.  Thence  he  re- 
moved to  Marblehead,  Mass.,  still  successfully  occupying  himself 
in  teaching.  Here  his  theological  views  and  religious  character 
took  definite  shape,  and  having  made  a  public  profession  iu  1818, 
he  entered  upon  the  study  of  theology,  under  Rev.  Samuel  Dana. 
In  June,  1820.  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  was  ordained  Nov. 
15,  of  the  same  year,  pastor  of  the  Evangelical  Congregational 
Church  in  the  East  Paiish  of  Dracut.   There  he  remained  thirteen 


540  HISTORY  OF   WARREN. 

yeai's.  He  took  great  interest  in  the  public  schools,  and  special 
mention  is  also  made  of  his  services  to  the  people  of  Lowell,  in  the 
infancy  of  that  city.  As  the  nearest  Congregational  pastor  he  was 
in  constant  request  for  pastoral  duties  befoi'e  any  minister  was 
settled  there.  His  church  in  Dracut  was  blessed  during  his  min- 
istry with  three  distinct  periods  of  special  revival. 

Oct.  16,  1833, 'he  removed  to  Acworth,  N.  H.,  where  he  was 
settled  about  five  years.  While  here  it  is  said  that  ''  he  was  fa- 
vored with  the  confidence  and  affection  of  Ms  people ;  that  he  was 
erect  and  dignified  in  person,  genial  and  affiible  in  liis  manners, 
and  sound  and  interesting  as  a  preacher."  With  the  assistance  of 
the  great  revivalist,  Burchard,  ninety-five  persons  were  converted 
and  added  to  his  church  in  1835. 

In  1838  he  removed  to  Wellfleet,  Mass.,  and  for  a  considerable 
time  was  engaged  as  a  revivalist  in  different  places,  with  great 
success.  In  1840  he  returned  to  Dracut  and  was  pastor  of  the 
church  in  the  West  Parish  for  eight  years.  He  was  then  elected 
for  two  years  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and 
afterwards  resided  in  Lowell. 

Mr.  Merrill  married  Eleanor  Haynes,  of  Romuey,  in  1812. 
Their  children  were  : — 

George  Anson,  born  April  14,  1813.  Sarah  H.,  born  Feb.  23, 1822. 

Died  May  3,  1835.  •  Mary,  born  .Jan.  22, 1824. 

Harriet  W.,  born  April  15, 1815.  Ellizabeth,  born  March  7,  182C. 

Eleanor  H.,  born  Jan.  7, 1818.  Martha,  born  Dec.  7,  1830. 
.Joseph  A.,  born  Sept.  13,  1819. 

Rev.  Mr.  Merrill  died  at  Lowell,  Nov.  21,  1856,  aged  68  years. 
In  theology  Mr.  M.  was  a  decided  though  not  an  ultra  Calvinist. 
He  left  behind  him  nearly  fourteen  hundred  written  sermons,  a 
X^art  only  of  those  which  he  prepared  and  preached,  and  a  memo- 
randum in  his  hand  writing  records  that  he  preached  3,077  times 
during  thirty  years  of  his  ministiy,  from  manuscript,  besides  all 
his  unwritten  sermons,  lectures,  and  addresses. 

William  Little,  son  of  Jesse  and  Susan  Copp  {Jlerrill) 
Little,  born  March  20,  1833;  graduated  at  Dartmouth,  1859; 
studied  law  and  practiced  at  Manchester,  N.  H. 

George  Leroy  Gleason,  son  of  Rev.  Salmon  and  Jerusha 
(Willard)  Gleason,  was  born  Feb.  25,  1835;  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth, 1861;  studied  at  the  Andover,  Mass.,  Theological  School, 


APPENDIX. 


541 


and  preached  at  Eutland,  Vt,,  and  at  Manchester,  Mass.  He  was 
ordained  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  Bristol,  Vt.,  Feb. 
1,  1865. 

John  Merrill,  son  of  Abel  and  Tamar  (Kimball)  Merrill ; 
born  March  4,  1780;  entered  Dartmouth  1806.  He  died  while  a 
member  of  the  sophomore  class.  The  following  lines  are  to  be 
found  on  his  tombstone : — 

Behold  the  blooming  youth  is  gone; 

The  much  loved  object 's  fled : 
Entered  his  long  eternal  home, 

And  tiumberecl  with  the  dead. 

But  he  shall  live  and  rise  again 

Enrobed  in  bright  array ; 
Shall  take  his  part  in  heavenly  strains, 

In  Everlasting  day. 

Lemuel  Merrill,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  (Copjj)  Merrill; 
born  Nov.  8,  1793;  entered  Dartmouth  College  in  1814,  but  did 
not  graduate.  He  studied  law  and  practiced  with  good  success, 
acquiring  a  large  property,  at  Tuskega,  Ala.    He  died  about  1862. 

George  Alfred  Little,  son  of  Jesse  and  Susan  Copp 
(Merrill)  Little,  born  May  23,  1847,  and  entered  Dartmouth  in 
1867. 

The  following  have  received  college  honors : — 

Moses  H.  Bixby  —  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  in  1868,  at  Dartmouth. 

Sahiuel  B.  Page  —  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  in  1868,  at  Dartmouth.' 


George  F.  Putnah 
mouth. 


the  degree  of  A,  M.,  in  1870,  at  Dart- 


The  following  Methodist  ministers  have  preached  in  town  :- 


Rev.  Elijah  R.  Sabin. 
Thomas  Skeel. 
Joel  Winch. 
Jacob  Sanborn. 
John  Lord. 
Wm.  Plumbly. 
John  Davis. 
Walter  Sleeper. 
Newell  Culver. 
Charles  Baker. 
Nathan  Howe. 
Damon  Young. 
Caleb  Dustin. 
J.  H.  Hardy. 


Rev.  N.W.Aspinwall 
C.  R.  Harding. 
J.  W.  Morey. 
Phineas  Peck. 
S.  A.  Cushing. 
Enos  Wells. 
R.  Dearborn. 
Moses  Merrill. 
J.  W^.  Sanborn. 
Salmon  Gleason, 
B.  R.  Hoyt. 
Kimball  Hadlev 
L.  D.  Blodgett!! 
Samuel  Baker. 


Rev.  James  Martin. 
J.  A.  Sweatland. 
Silas  G.  Kellogg. 
S.  Holman. 
J.  A.  Scarritt. 
L.  L.  Eastman. 
Rufus  Tilton. 
O.  H.  Call. 
James  Adams. 
Charles  Smith. 
Josiah  Hooper. 
W.  H.  Jones. 


542  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

The  following  Free-will  Baptist  ministers  have  preached  in 
town : — 

Rev.  Joseph  Boody.     Rev.  James  Spencer.  Rev.  G.  W.  Cogswell. 
Jos.  Boody,  Jr.  Joseph  Qaimby.  J.  Monlton. 

Lewis  Harriman.         Amasa  Messer.  Sargeant. 

Thomas  Perkins.         Aaron  Buzwell.  Horace  Webber. 

J.  Marks.                       S.  Doane.  J.  D.  Cross. 

John  Wallace.  Leavitt. 

The  following  Universalist  ministers  have  preached  in  town : — 

Rev.  JohnE.  Palmer,  ls3S  to  1S41  Rev.  Chas.  C.  Clark,1852to  1853 

S.  A.  Johnson,    1841  •'  1845  S.  W.  Squire,    1853  "  1859 

Alson  Scott,         1845  "  1849  T.  Barron,         1858  "  1861 
MaceyB.Newell,1849  "  1851 

CHORISTERS. 

Samuel  Knight.  Capt.  Benj.  Little.  Gen.  M.  P.  Merrill. 

Samuel  Merrill.  Joseph  Boynton.  Capt.  Ira  M.  Weeks. 

James  Dow.  Dr-.  Jesse  Little.  William  Merrill. 

PaulTaber.*  Col.  S.  M.  Dow.  Albert  Bixby. 

*  Taber  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Thomas  Whipple. 

POSTMASTERS. 

Amos  Burton.  Asa  Thurston. 

Anson  Memll.  George  W.  Prescott. 

Dr.  Jesse  Little.  Charles  C.  Durant. 

Dr.  David  C.  French.  Russell  K.  Clement. 

Levi  C.  Whitcher.  Ezra  Bartlett  Eaton. 

The  following  are  persons  born  in  Warren  who  afterwards 
became  lawyers : — 

Lemuel  Merrill,  practiced  at  Tuskega,  Alabama. 
Joseph  F.  Merrill,  practiced  in  Port  Huron,  IVIichigan. 
Benjamin  Bixby,  practiced  in  Ohio. 
William  Little,  practiced  in  Manchester,  N.  H. 

The  following  are  persons  once  living  in  Warren,  who  after- 
wards became  ministers  of  the  gospel : — 

Rev.  Joseph  Merrill,  Congregationalist.  (See  biography, 
page  539.) 

Rev.  Frederick  Clark,  ordained  in  Warren  in  1817,  in  the 
barn  at  the  forks  of  the  turnpike  and  Coventry  road. 


APPENDIX.  543 

Kea'.  Horace  Webber,  Free-will  Baptist,  ordained  in  "War- 
ren in  18:36.  Col.  Moses  H.  Clement  objected  to  his  being  ordained 
in  AVarren,  unless  he  would  sign  acquittance  to  the  minister  lands, 
wliich  Mr.  AVebber  did. 

Rev.  Charles  Bowles,  Free-will  Bai)tist.  (See  sketch  on 
page  286.) 

Rev.  Moses  Merrill,  Methodist.  He  was  born  on  Beech 
hill,  in  "Warren,  June  26,  1802,  and  is  the  son  of  Nathaniel  Merrill, 
and  grandson  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  Merrill,  of  Boscawen,  who  was 
the  brother  of  Stevens  and  Joshua  Merrill,  early  settlers  of  AVar- 
ren. Mr.  Merrill  was  an  excellent  school  teacher  as  well  as  minis- 
ter, and  tlie  writer  of  this  owes  much  to  his  teaching  and  encour- 
agement. 

Rev.  Ezekiel  Doav,  Congregationalist.  He  is  the  son  of 
James  Dow,  and  was  born  on  Pine  hill  in  AVarren,  April  9^  1807. 

Rev.  Charles  Bowles,  Jr.,  Congregationalist.  He  was  or- 
dained as  minister  at  Bridgewater,  N.  H.,  in  1825,  and  preached 
there  three  and  one-half  years. — Hist,  of  N.  H.  Churches,  515. 

Rev.  Heber  Kimball,  Mormon.  He  was  a  great  high  priest 
in  his  church,  and  next  to  Brigham  Young  in  authority.  At  his 
death  he  left  an  estate  valued  at  $80,000,  and  forty-one  children,  ■ 
thirty  sons  and  eleven  daughters,  to  share  it.  AA^henin  AVarren  he 
used  to  tend  bar  for  Mr.  Anson  Merrill,  and  sell  rum  to  the  cus- 
tomers. 

Rev.  Addison  Patch,  Methodist.  He  was  the  son  of  Joseph 
Patch,  Jr. 

Rev.  AA'illiam  Bexby,  Methodist. 

Benjamin  Bixby,  Methodist. 

George  AA'.  Bixby,  Cal\in  Baptist. 

Rev.  Moses   H.   Bixby,  Calvin   Baptist.    Rev.  Mr.  Bixby, 

the  son  of  Benjamin  and  (Cleasby)  Bixby,  was  born  in 

AVarren,  August  21,  1827.     At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  expe- 
rienced religion,  and  having  a  strong  conviction  that  he  would  at 


544  HISTORY   OF  WARREN. 

sometime  preach  the  gospel,  he  entered  at  ouce  on  a  course  of 
preparation. 

He  began  his  studies  at  the  Literarj'  and  Theological  Seminary 
at  Newbury,  Vt.,  then  attended  the  seminary  at  Derby,  Vt.,  two 
years,  and  finished  his  course  at  the  Baptist  College,  in  the  city  of 
Montreal,  where  he  enjoyed  decided  advantages,  being  instructed 
by  Rev.  J.  M.  Cramp,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Davis,  of  Loudon. 

Mr.  Bixby  was  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  in  1849,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  yeai's,  at  Williston,  Vt.,  and  was  married  that 
year  to  Miss  Susan  C.  Dow,  daughter  of  Deacon  Gilman  Dow,  of 
Hardwick,  Vt. 

After  four  years  of  pastoral  work  in  this  country  he  received 
an  appointment  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  as  a 
missionary  to  Burmah. 

For  four  years  he  labored  ardently  and  successfully  in  that 
country,  when  Mrs.  Bixby's  health  failed,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
return  home,     His  wife  shortly  after  died  at  Burlington,  Vt. 

He  soon  after  settled  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  as  pastor  of  the 
Friendship  Street  Church,  and  afterwards  Qiarried  Miss  Laura  A. 
Gage,  who  was  then  and  had  been  for  several  years  principal  of 
the  New  Hampton  Female  Seminary. 

In  1860  the  Missionary  Union  gave  him  an  appointment  as 
missionary  to  open  a  new  mission  in  Burmah,  for  the  Shaus. 

With  his  family  he  spent  eight  years  at  that  station,  and 
labored  with  signal  success,  when  failing  health  compelled  him  to 
return  to  America. 

Mr.  Bixby  is  now  settled  as  the  pastor  of  the  Cranston  Street 
Baptist  Church,  Pro\idence,  R.  I.  He  has  beeu  a  missionary  in 
Eastern  Asia  twelve  years,  and  a  pastor  in  this  couutr}'^  eight 
years.  He  has  preached  the  gospel  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America,  with  a  good  degree  of  success;  and  the  denomination  to 
which  he  belongs  holds  him  in  high  esteem.  The  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Dartmouth  College, 
while  he  was  absent  from  the  country. 

Mr.  B.  has  eight  brothers,  live  of  whom  have  been  ministers 
of  the  gospel.  Their  names  are  found  in  the  accompanying  list  of 
ministers.  His  father  and  mother  are  still  living  at  Wan-en,  ag'cd 
respectively  eighty  and  seventy-five  years.    His  grandfather,  Wm. 


APPENDIX.  646 

Cleasby,  died  in  ^^';u•l•ell,  ;it  the  age  of  niiiety-flve  years.  We  give 
this  extended  account  of  Mr.  B.  for  we  regard  him  as  one  of  the 
most  able  and  eloquent  of  "Warren's  sons. 

JiKv.  Dudley  C.  Bixbv,  Calvin  Baptist. 
WiLLiAJr  Merrill,  Methodist, 
Addison  W.  Eastman,  Methodist. 
GiiORGE  Leroy  Gleasox,  Congregationalist. 
Charles  AY.  Ccshman,  Methodist. 
George  C.  Notes,  Methodist. 
JA3IES  M.  Copp,  Methodist. 
Lafayette  W.  Parker,  Methodist. 
Timothy  Clifford,  Methodist. 
John  French,  Spiritualist. 

The  following  are  persons  once  living  in  AYarren  who  after- 
wards became  doctors : — 

Dr.  Eliphalet  Copp.  He  was  the  son  of  Joshua  Copp,  and 
practiced  in  New  Jersey. 

Du.  David  C.  French. 

Jesse  Little. 

Alonzo  a.  Whipple. 

Le\t  B.  Foot. 

Dr.  William  Merrill.  He  was  the  son  of  Abel  Merrill, 
graduated  at  the  Dartmouth  Medical  School,  Hanover,  and  after 
practicing  a  short  time  at  Lisbon,  died. 

Dr.  Levi  Bartlett,  son  of  Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett. 

JosiAH  Bartlett,  son  of  Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett. 

Robert  E.  Merrill. 

Horatio  Heath. 

I* 


546  HISTORY  OF  AVAKKEN. 

Dr.  Tristram  Haynes.  He  removed  to  Vermout,  opened  a 
great  watei--cui"e  establishment  and  home  for  invalids :  amassed  a 
larg-e  fortune,  and  died  leaving  an  estate  of  over  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 

Dr.  Worcester  Eaton  Boyxtox.  Dr.  Boynton,  the  son  of 
Samuel  II.  and  Mehitable  (ClarJt;)  Boynton,  was  born  on  Beech 
hill,  Warren,  March  26,  1824.  His  early  education  was  acquired 
at  the  common  schools,  and  at  Xewbury,  Yt.,  Seminary.  He  re- 
ceived a  diploma  from  the  Medical  University  of  New  York,  and 
also  another  diploma  from  the  Mass.  Medical  College,  and  com- 
menced the  i^ractice  of  medicine  at  East  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  in 
1851.  He  has  since  practiced  in  Concord,  Nashua,  Dover,  and 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  at  which  latter  place  he  is  now  located.  He  is 
the  inventor  of  the  "  Electric  Med.  Lung  Flannels,  '■  for  which  he 
was  awarded  a  diploma;  and  of  a  ''  Lung  Barometer"  of  acknowl- 
edged merit.  He  is  also  the  author  of  several  medical  works,  of 
which  his  treatise  on  the  "  Human  Eye,"  the  "Medicallnstructor,"' 
and  the  "  Private  Medical  Lectures,"  are  the  most  important. 
These  works  were  all  well  received  by  the  public.  Dr.  Boynton 
has  had  excellent  success  in  his  practice.  He  is  the  proprietor  of 
several  kinds  of  medicine  which  find  a  ready  sale  in  different  parts 
of  the  world.  One  brother,  David  M.  Boynton,  and  his  only  sis- 
ter, Mrs.  Bixby,  also  reside  in  Lawrence.  Dr.  B.  married  Miss 
Ada  A.  Lane,  of  Nashua,  N,  H.,  in  1857. 

Dr.  Alphoxzo  G.  French. 

Dr.  John  F.  Willey. 

Dr.  Francis  L.  Gerald.  He  graduated  at  the  Medical  School 
in  Philadelphia,  and  is  a  young  physician  of  much  promise.  He 
is  now  located  at  Nashua,  N.  H, 

MILITARY   OFFICERS. 

The  following  persons  Avho  have  lived  in  Warren  have  held 
military  positions. 

Gen.  Michael  P.  Merrill. 

Gen.  Absalom  Peters,  He  was  a  Captain  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. 


APPENDIX. 


547 


Col.  Obadiah  Clement. 

ATilliam  Tarleton.  He  was  a  Captain  in  the  Revolution. 
Benjamin  Stone.    He  was  a  Captain  in  the  Revolution 

and  drew  a  pension  of  $216  a  year.) 
David  Patch.  He  commanded  as  Captain  in  the  1812  war. 
Moses  H.  Clement. 
Benjamin  Clement. 
Isaac  Merrill. 
Stevens  M.  Dow. 

Maj,  Daniel  Patch.    He  was  also  a  Quartermaster  in  the  1812 
war. 
True  Stevens. 
Simeon  S.  Clitford. 
Ira  Libbev. 


Capt.  William  Butler. 

Stephen  Flanders. 

James  ^Uken.    He  was  a 

Capt.  in  the  Revolution. 
John  Mills.  He  was  a  Cap- 
tain in  the  Revolution. 
David  S.  Craige. 
Joseph  Patch,  Jr. 
Jonathan  Ramsey. 
Daniel  Merrill. 
Benjamin  Merrill. 
Samuel  L.  Merrill. 
Perkins  Fellows.   He  was 

a  Lieut,  in  1812  war. 
Stepllen  Richardson. 
Joseph  Rollins. 
William  Clough. 
Enoch  R.  Weeks. 


Capt.  Jonathan  Clough. 
George  Libbey. 
Benjamin  Little. 
John  Low. 
Hosea  Lund. 
Russell  K.  Clement. 
Moses  H.  Clement,  Jr, 
John  L.  Merrill. 
Joseph  Merrill. 
Ira  Merrill. 
Stephen  Marston. 
Ira  M.  Weeks. 
Isaac  Sawtelle. 
Dudley  B.  Cotton. 
David  Harris. 
Nathan  Harris. 
Nathaniel  Merrill. 


548 


HISTORY  OF  WARREX. 


Hie  following  is  the  record  of  the  Divisions  of  Lots  in  the  town- 
ship of  Warren,  as  they  tvere  drawn  to  their  several  original 
rights,  and  entered  on  the  original  plan,  viz: — 


FIRST  DIVISION  OF  LOTS. 


Names  of  Pkoprietoks. 


Thomas  True 
Ebeuezer  Stevens,  Es 
John  Batchelder  . 
Nathaniel  Barrell,  Esq 
Lemuel  Stevens   . 
John  Page,  Esq.  . 
Samuel  Osgood     . 
Belcher  Dole 
Peter  Coffin  . 
Daniel  Page  . 
Capt.  Ephraim  BroM'n 
Joseph  Whitcher . 
Joseph  Blancharil,  Esq 
Enocli  Page  . 
Stephen  Webster 
Ebenezer  Page     . 
Silas  Nowell . 
Joseph  Greeley    . 
Minister ... 
Jeremy  Wehsler,  Esq 
James  Nevin,  Esq. 
Andrew  (ireeley  . 
Nathaniel  Filiel'd  . 
Capt.  George  March 
Epliraim  Page 
Abel  Davis    . 
Theodore  Atkinson,  .Jr 
Moses  Page  . 
Wm.  Whitcher      . 
Abraham  Morrill . 
David  Clough 
Joseph  Page 
Samuel  Dudley     . 
Joseph  Tilton 


No. 

of 
lot. 


Names  of  Propkietors. 


Capt.  Henry  Pierce   . 

Moses  Greeley    . 

Josiah  Bartlett   . 

Ebenezer  Morrill 

Phillip  Tilton      . 

Ebenezer  Collins 

Aaron  Clough 

Capt.  John  Hazen 

Reuben  True 

Jacob  Currier 

Henry  Morrill 

James  Graves     . 

Jacob  Hook,  Esq. 

-John  Marsli 

Andrew  Wiggin,  Esq. 

Jonathan  Greeley,  Esq. 

Truewortliy  Ladd 

Capt.  .John  Parker     . 

Beuj.  French,  Jr. 

Tiie  Society  for  Propagating 

the  Gospel 
Nathaniel  Currier 
Jonathan  Greeley 
Benjamin  Clougli. 
Francis  Batchelder    . 
Enoch  Chase       .     '  . 
Samuel  Graves   . 
Dyer  Hook  . 
.Jacob  Gale  . 
Glebe  for  the  Church 
David  Morrill 
School  lot    . 
John  Darling 
Reuben  True 


No. 

of 

lot. 


10 
11 
1 
2 
3 
4 
.5 
(J 
7 
8 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
1 

2 
3 
4 
.5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 


Samuel  Page,  John  Page,  Jr.,  and  Wm.  Parker,  .Jr.,  their  lots  being  taken  into 
Wentworth,  have  each  two  lots  in  the  second  division. 


APPENDIX. 


/■)49 


THE  SECOND  DIVISION  OF  HUNDRED  ACRE  LOTS. 
[Drawn  March  25,  1771.] 


Names  of  Proprietors. 


David  :\roiTiIl 

.Tosiah  I5arlk-tt,  Esq.   . 

Capt.  .Joliii  Ilazeu        . 

Aaron  Clonjrli,  Jr. 

Enoch  Chase 

Ephraini  Pa.ije 

William  Parker.  Jr.    . 

Nathaniel  Filield  . 

Joseph  Tilton 

Capt.  .John  Parker 

Phillips  Tilton 

David  Clongh 

Stephen  Webster 

Hon.  Nathaniel  JJarrell 

Lenuiel  Stevens    . 

jAIinister  lot   . 

John  Marsh  . 

Trueworthy  Ladd 

Moses  Page  . 

Ebcnezer  Page 

Jaeob  Gale    . 

Ebenezer  Morrill . 

.Samnel  Page . 

Samnel  Osgood     . 

Capt.  Thos.  Pierce 

Benjamin  French 

Jacob  Cnrrier 

Jonathan  Greeley 

Jacob  Hook  . 

Joseph  Page . 

Francis  Batchelder 

John  Darling 

Samnel  Graves 

Beuj.  Clough . 

Capt.  George  March    . 

Soc.  for  Propagating  the  Gospel 

Wm.  Parker,  Jr.  . 


o 

No. 

a 

of 

C3 

lot. 

2 

4 

5 

(! 

7 

8 

9 

10 

U 

12 

13 

2 

1 

2 

2 

2 

3 

2 

4 

2 

.5 

2 

0 

3 

1 

a 

2 

3 

3 

3 

4 

3 

5 

3 

fi 

4 

1 

4 

2 

4 

3 

4 

4 

4 

0 

4 

fi 

4 

7 

4 

8 

4 

9 

4 

10 

4 

11 

4 

12 

5 

1 

0 

2 

Names  of  Proprietors. 


Ebenezer  Collins 
John  Page,  . 
Joseph  Blanchard 
Moses  Greeley,  . 
Ephraini  BroVvn  . 
P.  \\'hite,  lor  two  settlers 
Enoch  Page 
Dyer  Hook   . 
Samnel  Dudley  . 
Silas  Newell 
Theo.  Atkinson,. Jr. 
Nathaniel  Cnrrier 
Henry  .Alorrill     . 
Jonathan  Greeley 
Joseph  Wliitcher 
Daniel  Page 
Hon.  James  Nevius 
Belcher  Dole 
William  Whittier 
Reuben  French  . 
Jeremy  Webster 
Church  of  England 
John  Batchelder 
John  Page,  Jr.     . 
Samuel  Page 
School  lot    . 
.Tohn  Page,  Jr.     . 
Peter  Collin 
Abraham  Morrill 
Andrew  Greeley 
James  Graves 
Reuben  True 
Andrew  Wiggin  . 
Abel  Davis  . 
.Joseph  Greeley, . 
Thomas  True  "    . 


No. 

of 

lot. 


3 
4 
5 
ti 
I 

8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
10 
17 
18 
19 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 


Those  that  have  two  lots  drawn  in  this  division  is  to  make  up  for  their  first 
division  lots  that  were  taken ^nto  Wentworth. 

July  Ttli,  ITS!),  Joseph  Page  reported  that  they  had  laid  out  the  Goveraor's  500 
acre  lot,  and  also  27  lots  on  tlie  line  of  Piei-mont. 

Voted  to  draw  said  lots,  and  they  were  drawn  as  follows  : — 


o 

No 

(U 

No. 

Najies  of  Proprietors. 

bo 

of 
lot. 

NA5IES  OF  Proprietors. 

p 
a 
C3 

of 

lot. 

Thomas  True       .... 

12 

Moses  Page 

3 

12 

David  Jlorrill 

13 

John  Marsh 

3 

13 

Stevens  Webster  . 

14 

Joseph  Greeley  . 

3 

14 

Samuel  Osgood    . 

15 

Minister  lot 

3 

16 

Aaron  Clough 

10 

Andrew  (ireolev 

4 

13 

William  Parker    . 

17 

Trueworthv  Ladd 

4 

14 

Col.  Stevens  . 

18 

Samuel  Osgood  . 

4 

15 

Lemuel  Stevens  . 

2 

12 

School  lot    . 

4 

16 

Jacob  Gale    . 

2 

13 

.John  Hazen 

4 

17 

Gospel  lot 

2 

14 

John  Page,  Jr.,  . 

4 

18 

Samuel  Page 

2 

15 

Belcher  Dole 

'o 

lb 

Ebenezer  Morrill 

2 

16 

Josiah  Bartlett  . 

."> 

17 

Thomas  True 

2 

17 

Ebenezer  Page   . 

15 

18 

David  Clough 

2 

18 

550 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


At  a  meeting  held  Oct.  20,  1790,  at  Lemuel  Keezer's  luu  in  Wentworth,  (formerly 
in  Warren)  the  following  lots  were  pitched  in  the 

THIRD  DIVISION, 


Names  of  Proprietors. 


No. 
of 
lot. 


Names  of  Proprietors, 


No. 
of 
lot. 


William  Parker,  Jr. 

John  Darling 

Jacob  Currier 

Benjamin  Clough 

Thomas  True 

Jonathan  Greeley 

Daniel  Page  . 

John  March  . 

Josepli  Whitcher 

Francis  Batchelder 

School    . 

Jacob  Hook  . 

Joseph  Tilton 

Kbenezer  Blorrill 

Reuben  True 

Minister 

Aaron  Oougli,  Jr. 

Peter  Coffln,  Jr.   . 

Moses  Greeley,  of  Salisbury 

Silas  Nowell,  marked  O'.i  on  trees 

John  Page     . 

Samuel  Page 

Abraham  Morrill 

Josiah  Partlett     . 

Reuben  French    . 

Nathaniel  Barrell 

Ebenezer  Collms  . 

Henry  Morrill 

John  "Batchelder  . 

Dj-er  Hook    . 

Jonathan  Greeley 

Capt.  George  March 

Stephen  Webster,  (pitch  $40) 

Ebenezer  Page,  (pitch  $42) 


3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

■J 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
l-> 
Ki 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
2(J 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 

34 


Nathaniel  Currier 
Andrew  Greeley 
Samuel  Graves  . 
Truewortliy  Ladd 
.Jeremy  Webster 
Ephraim  Page    . 
Capt.  Thomas  Pierce 
Andrew  Wiggiu 
David  Clough     . 
James  Nevins,  (pitch 
Joseph  Greeley  . 
Jolui  Page,  .Tr!   . 
Nathaniel  Filiold 
.Jacob  Gale . 
William  Whitclier 
Samuel  Osgood  . 
James  Graves    . 
Ephraim  Brown 
Enocli  Chase 
Capt.  .John  Hazen 
Phillips  Tilton  . 
Moses  Page 
Lemuel  Stevens . 
Samuel  Dudley  . 
.Josepli  Page 
Enoch  Page 
Ebenezer  Stevens 
Joseph  Blanchard 
Abel  Davis 
Theodore  Atkinson, 
Belcher  Dole 
Benjamin  P''rench,  .Jr 
David  Morrill     . 
Capt.  John  Parker 


$40) 


Jr. 


3.5 
36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

4r» 

46 

47 

48 

49 

.50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

6S 


T^iXES  OF  THE  CITIZEXS  OF  WARREX  FOR  1780. 
[state  and  continental  taxes.] 


Names. 

Firs 

>>• 

Second. 

Third. 

Fourth. 

Town 
Tax. 

Beef 
Tax. 

£  s. 

d. 

£  .S-. 

d. 

£  n. 

d. 

£ 

s. 

d. 

£  s. 

d. 

£ 

S.     (/. 

Thomas  Clark 

2  13 

0 

1    G 

G 

2  13 

0 

1 

(> 

0 

C  12 

0 

5 

6    0 

Isaiah  P.atchelder 

5  18 

4 

2  19 

2 

5  18 

4 

2 

19 

2 

5  10 

0 

7 

16    8 

Reuben  AVhitcher 

4  14 

0 

2    7 

0 

4  14 

0 

2 

7 

0 

3    4 

0 

2 

8    0 

Ephraini  True 

11     3 

S 

r>  11 

4 

11    2 

8 

.5 

11 

4 

«    0 

0 

22 

5    4 

William  IJutler     . 

14     1 

0 

7    0 

6 

14    1 

0 

7 

0 

6 

8    8 

0 

28 

2    0 

Simeon  Smith 

S    7 

4    .'i 

9 

8    7 

7 

4 

3 

9 

13     1 

4 

18 

15    2 

John  Morrill. 

3    G 

5 

1    3 

3 

2    6 

5 

1 

".i 

3 

1  14 

8 

4 

12  10 

Stevens  Merrill    . 

21  15 

9 

10  17 

9 

21  1.5 

9 

10 

17 

9 

12  14 

8 

43 

10    6 

Jonathan  :Merrill 

1    2 

8 

0  11 

4 

1    2 

8 

0 

11 

4 

6  16 

0 

2 

5    4 

Joshua  Merrill     . 

4    3 

7 

2    4 

9 

4    3 

7 

2 

4 

9 

8  n 

4 

8 

19    2 

•Joshua  Copp 

8  1-t  11 

4    7 

."i 

8  14  11 

4 

7 

5 

15  13 

4 

17 

9  10 

.Jonathan  Clement 

4  17 

1 

2    8 

7 

4  17 

1 

2 

8 

7 

11  10 

8 

9 

14    2 

Obadiah  Clement 

7  17 

7 

3  18 

10 

7  17 

7 

3  18 

10 

13  17 

8 

15 

15    2 

Reuben  Clement  . 

0    n 

7 

3    1 

10 

G    3 

7 

3 

1 

10 

7  17 

8 

12 

7    2 

John  Whiti-her     . 

(i    2  11 

3    1 

G 

6    2 

11 

3 

1 

0 

7  16 

4 

12 

5  11 

.Joseph  Patch 

4    8 

3 

2    4 

1 

4    8 

3 

2 

4 

1 

10  13 

4 

8 

10    6 

Daniel  Clark. 

4  IG 

0 

2    8«0 

4  16 

0 

o 

8 

0 

10  16 

0 

9 

12    0 

Chase  Wliitcher   . 

7  11 

8 

3  l.'j  10 

7  11 

8 

3 

15 

10 

5  IG 

6 

15 

3    4 

Joseph  Kimball   . 

4    4 

8 

2    2 

4 

4    4 

8 

2 

2 

4 

0    0 

S 

- 

-    - 

Nathaniel  Xiles    . 

0  13 

4 

0    6 

8 

0  13 

4 

0 

6 

8 

4    2 

0 

1 

6    8 

Kiiliraini  Jjund      . 

0  16 

0 

0    8 

0 

0  IG 

0 

0 

8 

0 

4  16 

0 

1 

12     0 

.Joseph  Lund 

0  16 

0 

0    8 

0 

0  16 

0 

0 

8 

0 

4  16 

0 

1 

12    0 

Moses  True   . 

0    4 

() 

0    2 

0 

0    4 

(i 

0 

o 

0 

1    4 

0 

0 

8    6 

John  Marston 

0  13 

4 

0    6 

8 

0  13 

4 

0 

G 

8- 

0    4 

0 

1 

0    8 

Gardner  Dustiu    . 

1    0 

0 

0  10 

0 

1    0 

0 

0 

10 

0 

.   0  10 

0 

— 

_        — 

INVENTORY  OF  WARREN  FOR  1781j 


Names. 

o 
6 

6 

a 
o 

a 
B 

a 
m 

O 

§ 
O 

to 

o 

33 

t:  o 

cS 

a  o 

o 

Unimproved 
land. 

Tax  in  sil- 
ver. 

Peter  Stevens 
Simeon  Smith 
John  Jlorrill   . 
.Joseph  Patch  . 
AVilliam  Putler 
Jonathan  Merrill 
Stevens  Men-ill 
Joshua  Merrill 
Joshua  Copp 
.Jonathan  Clement 
Obadiah  Clement 
Reuben  Clement 
Thomas  Clark 
Isaiah  Batchelder 
.Jonathan  Foster 
Daniel  Clark  . 
Reuben  Wliiteher 
John  Whitcher 
Amos  Heath 
Chase  Whitcher 
Ei)hraim  True 
John  ^Marston 
.John  True 
Aaron  True    . 
Henry  Sunbury 
W  i  1 1  i  a  m  \V  h  i  t  (Mil  a  n 
.Joseph  French 
Charles  P.owles 
William  Tarleton 
Joha  Hiukson 

1 

2 
1 

•  i 

4- 

'> 

3 
3 
3 

1 
1 

2 
1 
3 

2 
3 

S 

2 

5 
2 

10 
8 

12 
8 

12 
3 
5 

8 
6 
4 

2 
4 

8 
12 

4 
4 
2 

4 

1 

2 
4 

1 
1 

1 

1 

2 
1 
1 

1 

1 
1 

~ 

1 

2 
2 
2 

2 

•.^ 
2 

2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
2 
3 
1 
2 

1 

3 
2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 
4 

2 
3 

2 

i 

1 
1 

1 
1 

171 
47 
77 

616 

.386 
86 

333 
87 

300 

150 
45 
95 
50 
90 
93 

141 

190 

^40 

100 
100 
100 
100 

50 

£   s.   d. 
0    1  10 
0    5    3i 
0    1  11 
0    3    ok 
0  10    93 
0    1    Oi 
0    7    93 
0    3  11 
0    8    3i 
0    2    9ii 
0    6    9.3 
0    2  10 
0    2    7* 
0    17 

0   3  in 

0    3    Ik 
0    3    Ik 
0    3  lOj 
0    1     41 
0    3  lOj 
0    5    6i 
0    0  m 
0    1  Hi 
0    1  lU 
0    1  lU 
0    1  lU 
0    0  Uh 
0    0  Hi 
0    0  llj 
0    1    75 

552 


HISTORY  OF  WARREK. 


LONGEVITY. 

The  two  following  tables  were  most  of  them  taken  from  a 
recoi-d  by  Mrs.  Levi  C.  "VVhitcher: — 


1808— Anna  Bixby  died  aged    84  1853- 

1810— Mrs.  Rebecca  Clough.  82  1851- 

1811— Thomas  Richardson,  92  1856- 

1811— Phebe  Richardson,  92  1856- 

1826— Jesse  Brown,  102  1856- 

1826— Reuben  Batchelder.  85  1856- 

1829— Obadiah  Clement. '  87  1859- 

1810— Joshua  Merrill,  100  1859- 

1842— Mrs.  Jonathan  Clement,  80  1860- 

1843— Phebe  Abbott,  '  87  1862- 

1843— Joseph  Lund,  92-  1863- 

1843— Joseph  French.  84  1863- 

1844— Mrs.  George  Bixby.  80  1864- 

1846— Samuel  Knight,  86  1865- 

1846— Mrs.  John  Whitcher,  80  1865- 

1847— Elizabeth  Merrill,  80  1865- 

1849— Mrs.  Abbott,  81  1866- 

1851— Mrs.  Pollv  Knowlton,  82  1867- 

1851— Nathaniel  Clough,  86  1868- 

1852— Mrs.  Joseph  French,  83  1869- 

1852— Joseph  Lund,  85 


-Mrs.  John  Farnham,     85 
-Mrs.  Ingraham,  85 

-James  Dow,  81 

-John  Farnham,  90 

-Mrs.  Samuel  Merrill,   81 
-Mrs.  Hoyt,  '    84 

-Moses  Kimball,  80 

-Mrs.  Cross,  82 

-Nathan  Willey,  83 

-Mrs.  Clark.     '  83 

-Samuel  Merrill,  84 

-Mrs.  Nathan  Willey,    87 
-Mrs.  Stephen  Boyuton,  84 
-William  Cleasby, 
-Chase  Marstou, 
-Mrs.  R.  Whiteman, 
-Mrs.  Stevens  Merrill, 
-Enoch  R.  Weeks, 
-Mrs.  Moses  Kimball, 
-Bijah  Wright, 


95 
80 
81 
86 
80 
82 
95 


DEATHS  m  WARREN. 


1841—  8  died. 

1842—18. 

1843—29. 

1844—  9. 

1845—  4. 
1846—15. 
1847—10. 
1848—  3. 
1849—18. 
1850—14. 


1851—13  died. 

1852—20. 

1853—14. 

1854^15. 

1855—16. 

1856—23. 

1857—  6. 

1858—18. 

1859—15. 

1860—14. 


1861—15  died. 

1862—19. 

1863—40. 

1864—16. 

1865—27. 

1866—10. 

1867—12. 

1868—16. 

1869—  9. 

1870—12. 


The  following  persons  were  living  in  AVarren,  A.  D.  1870, 
over  seventy  years  of  age : — 


Abbott,  Anna. 

82 

Carleton,  Rodne,v   . 

71 

Clement,  Benjamin 

71 

Barker,  Charles 

82 

Clement,  Tamar 

81 

Barker,  Mary, 

79 

Clough,  L.  Mercy  . 

76 

Batchelder,  Abigail, 

81 

Clough,  Sallv  . 

75 

Bixby,  Benjamin,   . 

80 

Colby,  David  . 

74 

Bixby,  Betsey 

76 

Cotton,  Eliza  .' 

76 

Bixby,  Joseph 

76 

Bixby,  Mary, 

76 

Davis,  Ruth    . 

85 

Bixby,  Samuel  B.   . 

74 

APPENDIX. 


553 


Eaton,  Betsey. 
Eaton,  Joiuitliau 

Farnham,  Betsey 
Farnliam,  Joseph  B 
French,  David  C. 

Gale.  Lydia     . 
Glover,  Benjamin 
Goodwin,  Samuel 

Haines,  Susan 
Heath,  Asa 

Kenney,  Elizabeth 
Keuney,  Hugh 

Leathers,  Vowell 
Libbey,  George 
Libbey,  John  . 
Libbey,  Nancy 
Libbey,  Nathaniel 
Libbev.  Sallv 
Little'  Sallv 


80 
76 

76 
73 
80 

80 
83 
70 

70 

80 

74 
75 

87 

77 

—  ct 

I  o 

75 
75 
7G 
73 


Martin,  Stephen 
Marsh.  ]\Iary,  . 
McCart(>r.  Antonv  . 
Merrill,  Sally  .     "    . 

Noyes,  Orra    . 

Osboru,  Samuel 

Patch,  Betsey . 
Perry,  Perc}'    . 
Pomeroy,  Durocsy  . 
Pope,  Naomi  . 

Kichardson,  Nathaniel 
llichardsou,  Sarah  , 

Swaiu,  Josiah 

Warren,  Lucy  B.     . 
Weeks,  Sallv  , 
AVhitcher,  Euth       . 
AVhiteman,  Stephen 
Willev  Nathan 


70 
73 

77 
70 

71 

70 

86 
80 
71 
87 

77 
70 

80 

7G 
80 
88 

87 
74 


GENEALOGIES. 


We  insert  the  following,  being  nearly  all  we  could  find  in 
the  town  books.  Pity  'tis  that  families  do  not  have  their  family 
records  recorded  on  the  town  books,  the  same  as  they  did  in  old 
times :  and  a  thousand  times  more  pity  'tis  that  families  have  no 
children  of  any  consequence  to  record.  Oh !  it  is  the  meanest  of  all 
mean  things  to  let  our  race  "play  out  "by  being  too  mean,  too 
stingy,  too  lazy  to  have  children. 

Abbott,  Johx.  Ch.,  Sallv,  b.  Oct.  1.  1793;  Nancv,  Jan.  31,  1795; 
Pollv,  June  30,  1796;  Betsev,  Oct.  15,  1797':  Susanna,  Feb' 
7,  1799;  Ruth,  Oct.  6,  1800;  Hannah,  Jan.  18,  1802;  Euth, 
Aug.  21,  1803;  Cotton,  Aug.  12,  1805;  Enoch  M.,  Aug.  13, 
1807. 

Barker,  Ebexezer,  m.  Anna  Clement.  Julv  28, 1800.  Ch.,  Sally, 
b.  Dec.  30,  1801;  Abigail,  Feb.  1,  1804;'  Nancy,  Dec.  9, 1808. 

Batchelder,  Eeuben,  m.  Hannah  Merrill,  June  22,  1794.  Ch., 
AVard  Cotton,  b.  March  25,  1795;  Eeuben,  Dec.  6,  1790,  died 
Nov.  17,  1797;  Eeuben,  Julv  14.  1798;  Nathaniel,  Auii".  25. 
1800;  Betsey,  Oct.  17.  1802. 


554  HISTOKY    OF    AVARKEN. 

BoYNTOX,  Samuel  H.,  m.  Mehitable  Clark.  Ch,  Louisa,  b.  Jan. 
14,  1818;  David,  Xov.  2,  1819;  Maria,  May  2'J,  1821;  Worces- 
ter E.,  Mar.  26,  1824. 

BoYNTOx,  Nathaniel,  son  of  Sir  Mattliew  Boynton,  of  Salem, 
Mass.  Ch.,  Nathaniel,  lost  at  sea;  Daniel,  Richard.  Asa,  kept 
hotel  at  Haverhill  Corner ;  Thomas,  he  was  grandfather  of  Dr. 
W.  E.  Boynton:  Eunice,  Polly,  Louis.  Sir  Matthew  Boynton, 
of  Old  Salem,  was  a  man  of  estate;  owned  much  land,  horses, 
cows,  sheep,  goats,  swine,  &c.  He  held  important  offices  of 
trust,  and  discharged  his  duties  with  fidelity. 

Boynton,  Thomas,  sou  of  JSTathauiel,  and  grandson  of  Sir  Matthew 
Boynton,  m.  Elizabeth  Keezer,  1775.  Ch.,  Betsev,  b.  Sept.  2, 
1777;  Elizabeth,  Oct.  8,  1778;  Stephen,  Dec.  21.  1780;  Thom- 
as, Jan.  18,  1783;  Sally,  Dec.  2!),  1784;  Abigail,  Dec.  30,  1787; 
Samuel  H.,  father  of  Dr.  Worcester  Eaton  Bovntou,  Nov.  25, 
1790;  Mary,  Dec.  21.  1792;  Joseph,  June  10,  1795;  Timothy. 
Aug.  — ,  1797  ;  Nathaniel,  May  — ,  1800. 

Clark,  Thomas,  b.  at  Hampstead,  N.  H.,  m.  Hannah  Foster,  of 
Hopkinton,  N.  H..  granddaughter  of  Hannah  Eastman,  who 
was  captured  by  the  Indians  at  Haverhill,  and  carried  by  them 
to  upper  Coos.  Ch.,  Amos,  Hezekiah,  Joseph,  Betsey,  Han- 
nah, Sarah,  and  Mehitable,  who  was  the  mother  of  Dr.  W.  E. 
Bojnton. 

Clifford,  Timothy.  Ch.,  Dolly,  b.  May  9,  1799 ;  Eussell  Freeman, 
Feb.  9,  1802;  Polly,  Sept.  21,  1803;  Rutii,  Oct.  24,  1805;  Tim- 
othy, Jr.,  Sept.  24,  1807;  Mehitable,  July  30,  1810;  Absalom, 
May  15,  1812;  Simeon  Smith.  Sept.  9,  1814;  John  C,  Nov.  9, 

1817. 

Clough,  Amos,  son  of  Nathaniel,  b.  May  12,  1797;  m.  Orra  Jew- 
ett.  She  was  b.  Jan.  5,  1799,  at  Rowley,  Mass.  Ch.,  Aaron 
J.,  b.  March  31,  1821;  Columbus,  May  19,  1825;  George  M., 
Jan.  13,  1827;  Orra  A.,  July  17,  1830;  Amos  F.,  Feb.  24, 1833. 
Amos  Clough  died  Jan.  7,  1833. 

Dow,  James,  m.  Ruth  Williams.  Ch.,  Susanna,  b.  June  21, 179G; 
Sally,  Dec.  24, 1798 ;  Ruth,  Aug.  24,  1800.  Ruth  Williams  Dow 
died  Aucf.  28,  1800.  James  Dow  m.  Hannah  Merrill.  Ch., 
Betsey,  b.  Dec.  5,  1801;  Stevens  M.,  Nov.  29,  1804;  Ezekiel, 
Apr.  i),  1807;  Jonathan  Merrill,  Feb.  2,  1809;  Lorenzo,  Sept. 
12,  1811. 

French,  Joseph,  m.  Polly  or  Molly  Batchelder.  Ch.,  Da^id  C, 
b.  April  21,1791;  Hannah,  Mar.  1,  1793;  Joseph,  Nov.  16, 
1794;  Polly,  Apr.  9,  1797;  Mehitable,  June  30.  1799;  Daniel, 
Nov.  7,  1801;  Reuben  B.,  May  12.  1804;  John,  Nov.  24,  1806: 
Beuj,  M.,  July  6,  1809;  Sallv  A.,  Aug.  5,  1811. 


APPENDIX.  555 

Jewell,  Samuel,  m.  Sallv  Foot,  Noa\  25,  1802.  Ch.,  Betsey  F., 
Nov.  7,  1802;  David,  "Dec.  13,  1804;  Loviiia,  Julv  30,  1807; 
Faunv  D.,  Mar.  15,  1809;  David  M.,  June  4,  1811;  DollvF., 
Apr.  27,  18U;  Samuel,  Mar.  15,  181(5;  Levi  F.,  July  4,  1818; 
Jacob, ;  Alouzo, . 

LiBBEY,  Geokge,  m.  Sallv  Abbott.  Ch..  Hazeii.  b.  June  10,  1815; 
Anna,  Nov.  3,  181G;  John,  Feb.  9.  1819:  ZSIarv  II..  June  21. 
1821;  Johu,Nov.l2,  1823;  Walter,  Julv  29,  1826;  Marv,  Oct. 
2G,  1831. 

LiBBEY,  LlivE,  m.  Anna  .     Ch.,  George,  b.  Aug.  22,  1792; 

Nathaniel  P.,  Mar.  2,  1795;  John  ^Y.,  June  19,  1797;  Stephen 
AY.,  Oct.  20,  1799;  Ezra  Bartlett,  Aug.  24.  1801;  Anna  Patch, 
Feb.  20,  1804;  Jonathan  M.,  Mar.  8,  180G ;  Obadiah  Clement, 
Dec.  15,  1807. 

Little,  George,  came  from  L'uicorn  St.,  London,  Eng.,  to  New- 
burv,  Mass.,  in  1640,  m.  Alice  Poor,  Ch.,  Sarah,  b.  Mav  8, 
1652,  d.  Nov.  19,  1652;  Joseph.  Sept.  22,  1653;  John,  July  28, 
1655.  d.  Julv  20,  1672;  Moses,  Mar.  11,  1657;  Sarah.  Nov.  24, 
1661.  His  wife,  Alice,  d.  Dec.  1, 1680.  Married  Eleanor  Bar- 
nard, of  Amcsbnry,  July  19,  1681.  He  d.  about  Nov.  27,  1694, 
as  the  Amesbury  records  say:  "  Widow  Eleanor  Little  d.Nov. 
27,  1694."  He  lived  a  few  rods  from  the  house  now  occupied 
by  Silas  Little.  He  was  remarkable  for  strength  of  mind  as 
well  as  strength  of  body,  but  was  not  an  educated  man.  The 
farms  which  he  selected  in  Newbury  contain  some  of  the  best 
land  in  that  town,  and  are  still  owned  and  occupied  by  his  de- 
scendants, at  Oldtown  and  Turkey  hill,  where  the  houses 
which  he  built  are  in'  part  standing.  The  farms  have  been 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  Little  family  for  230  years. 

Merrill,  Isaac,  was  b.  Aug.  4,  1778,  m.  Auna  Blodgett,  Feb.  13, 
1806.  Ch.,  Beniamin  Franklin,  b.  Dec.  13,  1806;  Job  Eaton, 
Nov.  12,  1808;  Arvin.  Dec.  13,  1810;  Mahala,  Jan.  25,  1813, 
d.  Nov.  12,  1815,  of  spotted  fever;  Esther,  Apr.  4,  1817. 

Merrill,  Joseph,  son  of  Stevens,  m.  Sarah,  daughter  of  Joshua 
Copp.  Ch.,  Jonathan,  b.  Nov.  24,  1786  ;  Joseph,  Oct.  29, 1788 ; 
Stevens,  Apr.  24,  1790;  Joshua,  Jan,  ^o,  1792;  Lemuel,  Nov. 
8,1793;  Caleb,  June  7,  1795;  William,  Feb.  28,  1797;  Marv, 
Dec.  4,  1798;  Ezra,  Sept.  6,  1800;  Sally,  Dec.  9,1802;  Ansoii, 
Dec.  4,  1804;  Hannah,  July  25,  1806;  Susanna,  July  30,  1808. 

Merrill,  Nathaniel,  m.  Betsev  Favour.  He  was  b.  in  Boscaw^en, 
Apr.  10,  1769;  she  in  New  Chester,  Feb.  10,  1773.  Ch..  Da- 
vid B.,  b.Dec.  11,  1791;  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  Nov.  6,  1793;  Sabina. 
Mav  27,  1796;  Pollv,  Aug.  7,  1798;  Judith,  Mav  18,  1800: 
Moses,  Juno  26.  1802, 


556  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

Merrill,  Stevens,  in.  Haunali  Clifford,  Dec.  31,  1802.  Cli.,  Isaac 
Merrill,  b.  Nov.  17, 1803 ;  Stevens,  Jr.,  Mar.  4, 180G ;  Nathaniel, 
Apr.  28.  1808;  Ruth,  Mar.  4,  1811;  Susannah,  Mar.  28,  1813; 
Mary,  Oct.  26,  1815 ;  2d,  m.  widow  Colby.  Ch..  Michael  P.,  b. 
Dec.  26,  1818. 

PiLLSBURY,  Richard,  m.  Miriam .   He  was  b.  Feb.  5,  1763; 

she  Feb.  25,  1768.  Ch..  Tristram,  b.  Mar.  19,  1787;  John, 
Nov.  11,  1788;  Thomas,  Mar.  23,  1791;  Daniel,  Feb.  28,  1793; 
Polly,  Mar.  5,  1795;  Miriam,  Mav  7,  1797;  Pollv,  May  12, 
1799. 

Richardson,  Steppien,  m.  Susanna .    Ch.,  Stephen,  b.  Nov. 

29,  1779;  Anna,  Nov.  21,  1784;  Phebe,  Apr.  24,  1787;  Sarah, 
Apr.  7,  1789;  Dorcas,  Feb.  25, 1791;  Nathaniel,  Mav  30,  1793; 
Susanna,  May  17.  1797;  Joanna,  Feb.  ,".,  1705. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
Joseph  Patch. 

"Walden,  Vt.,  Dec.  25,  1869. 
My  Dear  Sister  Hannah: — 

You  ask  for  information  about  fathei-  and  mother  Patch. 
About  that  I  am  not  so  clear.  Father  Patch  died  in  1822,  I  think 
in  August;  any  way  it  was  in  the  time  of  making  hay.  It  was 
before  I  united  with  the  family.  I  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain 
his  age.  However,  I  think  he  must  have  been  as  old  as  seventy- 
four  or  tive.  He  came  to  his  death  passing  from  the  once  Meader 
farm  to  where  he  then  resided,  with  his  son  Daniel,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Meader  pond.  All  who  remember  the  circumstances 
know  how  he  was  overtaken  and  carried  home  dead.  Mother 
Patch  was  born  Dec.  28,  1756.  She  died  March  4,  1835,  in  her 
79th  year,  on  the  Summit,  where  Chase  AVhitcher,  Jr.,  once  kept  a 
house  of  entertainment.  They  were  both  buried  in  the  village 
graveyard  on  Pine  hill  road,  near  the  height  of  the  ground.  David, 
their  son,  died  first,  in  August,  and  was  buried  at  the  left  hand  as 
you  stand  at  the  head  of  the  graves  looking  towards  the  road ; 
then  Thomas  at  the  right  of  him ;  his  grave  was  marked  with  the 
common  stones  for  the  times;  then  Anna,  then  William,  then 
mother  Patch  and  father  Patch  on  the  right  of  all.  If  I  were  there 
I  think  I  should  not  be  puzzled  to  go  right  to  the  spot ;  but  it  is 
not  at  all  probable  I  shall  ever  stand  on  AYarren  soil  anymore. 


APl'ENDIX.  557 

Since  the  death  of  my  sou  ni}"  health  has  been  very  poor.  I  liopo 
you  arc  now  better.  You  asked  whether  Mr.  Hunt's  family  had 
moved  away ;  they  have  moved  to  his  father's. 

Now  fare  you  well,  my  sister  adieu ; 
It'  1  no  more  your  face  cau  view, 
O  may  we  hasten  to  tlie  shore, 
Wliere  we  shall  meet  to  part  no  more. 

Youi'S  affectionately, 

MES.  BETSEY   PATCH. 
To  Miss  Hannah  B.  Knight. 

PAGE  302.— Wrestlers. 

"Warren  has  always  been  celebrated  for  her  smart  wrestlers. 
They  would  practice  the  art  at  trainings,  musters,  town  meetings, 
raisings,  huskings,  piling  bees,  at  all  public  gatherings,  and  with 
the  Vermont  teamsters  that  for  fifty  and  more  years  passed  down 
through  "Warren  to  the  seaboard.  Among-  those  best  remembered 
after  Joseph  Patch,  are  Samuel  Knight,  True  Stevens,  Ezra  B. 
Libbey,  Joseph  Merrill,  and  Samuel  L.  Merrill,  (one  of  the  best,) 
sons  of  'Squire  Abel,  Joshua  Merrill  and  Anson  Merrill,  sons  of 
Joseph  Merrill,  inn  keeper;  Joseph  Pillsbury,  Joseph  Patch,  Jr., 
Eeuben  B.  French,  Beniah  AYyatt,  Hobart  "Wyatt,  "Walter  AYyatt, 
Col.  Benj.  Clement,  Alonzo  Gale,  Hazen  Libbey,  Ezra  Libbey, 
Robert  E.  Merrill,  (now  in  California.)  Moses  Page,  Darius  Swain, 
Reuben  Gale,  Freeman  Gale,  Hiram  Gale,  and  E.  Walton  Libbey. 
The  latter  was  a  member  of  the  12th  N.  H.  Regt.,  in  the  war  of 
1861,  and  was  the  champion  wrestler  of  the  whole  brigade  to 
which  his  regiment  belonged.  He  often  won  as  much  as  $25 
'•  Avrestling  in  the  ring." 


'o ' 


TOWN  MEETINGS. 

From  1779  to  1799,  the  annual  town  meetings  were  held  on 
the  first  Wednesday  of  March,  each  year.  Then  by' act  of  the 
Legislature,  passed  Dec.  20,  1799,  the  annual  meeting  was  held  on 
the  third  Thursday  of  March.  In  1804  the  annual  meeting  was 
held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  March,  which  custom  still  continues. 

HEALTH. 

No  person  born  and  living  in  Wan-en,  has  died  of  consump- 
tion for  the  last  twentv-five  vears.    The  children  are  free  from  it. 


558  HISTORY    OF  WARREN. 

But  few  cases  were  ever  kiiOAvn  in  town,  and  those  Avere  persons 
who  inherited  it  and  then  came  to  Warren  and  died,  or  the  chil- 
dren of  such  persons.  The  elevation  of  tlie  land  and  the  purity  of 
the  air  exempts  our  citizens  from  tliis  dread  disease. 

SUICIDE. 

No  one  has  ever  yet  committed  suicide  in  AVarren.  *'Thc 
people  are  not  such  fools."  Pure  air,  pure  water,  and  lofty  moun- 
tainous scenery  keep  them  from  having. the  blues.  Dwellers  in 
the  region  of  Wentworth  and  the  laud  of  ''  Pearmouut,"  some- 
times do  the  foolish  thino-. 


'O' 


LOST. 

Maky  Ann  Gerald,  daughter  of  Addison  W.  and  Mary 
{Merrill)  Gerald,  was  lost  in  1852.  They  lived  in  the  East-parte. 
The  little  girl  was  gone  for  two  days.  It  rained  pouring  one  night. 
The  Avhole  town  hunted  for  her,  and  they  found  her  drenching  wet 
in  the  woods  near  where  Seth  Jewett  Brown  once  resided. 

Daniel  Welch,  who  was  crazy  by  spells,  started  about  182.5 
to  go  from  Mr.  Daniel  Ramsey's  by  Silver  rill,  to  Joseph  French's 
east  of  Knight  hill,  where  Stephen  Noyes  once  lived,  He  never 
reached  the  place  and  was  never  seen  again.  The  old  story  runs 
that  straying  away  through  the  woods  far  up  the  side  of  Moosehil- 
lock,  he  perished  in  the  great  gorge,  south  of  the  lower  mountain 
peak,  and  that  his  spirit  still  crazed  wanders  there  yet.  Old  hun- 
ters who  took  their  last  journeys  in  the  forest  about  this  time  used 
to  tell  how  no  one  ever  stopped  in  that  gorge  at  night  Avithout 
experiencing  a  haunted  and  weird  like  feeling,  and  some  said  they 
had  heard  the  lost  man  just  at  niglitfall  calling  for  help  from  -the 
shadowy  gorge,  and  had  seen  his  white  ghost  gliding  noiselessly 
through  the  stunted  spruces  aud  dark  firs.* 

*  Welch  gave  the  town  much  trouble  as  will  be  seen  by  the  followhig  from  the 
toM"n  records : — 

1831.— Due  Xatlumiel  Clough  $3.04  lor  advertising  Dauie!  AVeleh. 
"        raid  Joseph  Kimball  tor  going  alter  him  $7.32. 

PAGE  425.— Stint. 

Gov.  Samuel  Flanders  once  took  his  stint  of  Capt.  David  S. 
Craige,  who  lived  by  Blue  Ridge.    It  was  to  dig  so  mauy  potatoes. 


ArPKXDix.  559 

and  he  had  three  days  to  do  it  in.  The  lirst  day  he  looked  at  it, 
said  he  knew  he  could  do  it  in  two  days,  and  so  lie  put  on  his 
boots  with  red  nvorocco  tops  and  silk  tassels  and  went  a  visiting. 
The  next  morning  he  looked  at  the  stint  again,  said  he  had  no 
doubt  but  that  he  could  do  it  in  one  day,  aud  so  went  visiting  once 
more.  The  third  morning  he  looked  at  it,  said  he  couldn't  do  it 
without  killing  himself;  that  he  wouldn't  try ;  that  he  might  as 
well  die  for  an  old  sheep  as  a  lamb,  aud  he  went  visiting  again. 
That  night  he  set  his  boots  on  a  red  silk  handkerchief  so  they 
wouldn't  get  soiled.  Such  was  the  Governor's  style  through  life, 
and  he  was  always  poorer  than  Job's  turkey. 

LIBRARY. 

A  Circulating  Library  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  was 
established  in  Warren  about  1808.  The  books  were  kept  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Xathauiel  Clough.  By  vote  they  were  distributed 
among  the  library  members  a  few  years  ago. 

The  ladies  of  Warren  established  another  libraiy  in  1851.  It 
contains  240  volumes  of  an  interesting  and  useful  character,  Avhich 
are  much  read. 

SALMON. 

This  tish  ceased  to  come  to  Warren  after  tlic  dam  at  Went- 
worth  was  built.  In  1866,  Joseph  Clement  hatched  a  large  quan- 
tity of  salmon  eggh,  brought  from  ^Nliramachi  river,  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, in  Patch  brook.  The  young  fish  did  well  and  went  away 
to  the  ocean.  But  as  the  fish-way  Avas  "  constructed  with  a  great 
deal  of  i)ig-hcadedness  "  over  the  Lawrence  dam,  the  fish  never 
came  back  to  AVarren  again. 

DEATHS   BY   CASUALTY. 

John  Alills  killed  by  a  falling  tree,  1779. 

Amos  Eaton,  killed  "         '-'      1780. 

Capt.  John  Mills,  Jr.,       "  ■'•'      1784. 

Richard  Pillsbury,  killed  at  a  raising,  1800. 

Reuben  Batchelder,  '•         "       "  1802. 

Joshua  Copp,  Jr.'s  child  drowned  in  a  wash-tub,  1808. 


560  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

Caleb  Merrill,  deaf  and  dumb,  killed  by  a  falling  tree,  June  8, 
1800. 

Joseph  Patch,  first  settler,  killed  by  a  fall,  18:^2. 

AVilliam  Kelley,  Jr.'s  child  drowned  in  Ivelley  j)ond,  1833. 

Paul  Header,  killed  by  a  log  rolling  over  him,  1835. 

AYard  C.  Batchelder,  killed  by  a  falling  tree,  1836. 

Mr.  Merrill,  killed  by  a  pitchfork  falling  on  him.  1840. 

Miranda  Whitcher,  burned  to  death,  1845. 

Abigail  Weed,  killed  by  falling  on  pitchfork,  1846, 

Calvin  Cummings,  killed  at  a  raising,  1848. 

Mrs.  Vowell  Leathers,  burned  to  death,  1849. 

David  Antrine,  drowned  in  Meader  pond,  1841). 

Calvin  May's  adopted  son,  accidentally  killed  by  manure-fork, 
1850. 

An  Irishman  killed  at  work  on  railroad,  by  falling  tree,  1852. 

Mr.  Anderson  burned  to  death  at  a  coal  pit  over  to  Charles- 
ton-, 1852. 

Bartholemew  Welton's  child  drowned  in  Lower  Village  pond 
in  1860. 

Vanness  Wyatt,  shot  by  J.  M.  AVilliams,  1860. 

Cornelius  Flynn's  child  drowned  in  canal  east  of  common 
in  1861. 

Daniel  S.  Hoit,  killed  by  the  cars  in  1862. 

No  person  was  ever  yet  killed  in  AVarren  by  lightning. 

UNITED  STATES,  STATE,  AND  COUNTY  OFP'ICERS  AYHO 
HAVE  LIVED  IN  AYAEREN. 

Dr.  Thomas  AVhipple,  Repi'esentative  to  Congress. 

Robert  Burns.  ''  '' 

AVilliam  Tarleton,  Councillor. 
Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett,         '' 
Abel  Merrill,  State  Senator. 
Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett,  State  Senator. 
Benjamin  Merrill,  County  Treasurer. 
David  Smith,  "  " 

Samuel  L.  Merrill,     '•  '' 

E.  R.  AA^eeks,  Jr.,       "  " 

Abel  Merrill,  County  Judge. 


APPKNDIX.  561 

Dr.  Ezra  Bartlett,  County  Judge. 
Isaac  Merrill,  County  Commissioner. 
William  Tarleton.  High  Shcritr. 
Joseph  Patch,  Jr.,  Deputy  Sherill'. 
Stevens  Merrill,*        •'  " 

Benjamin  ]\rerrill,       "  '• 

*  Stevens  J[eiTill  \v;is  the  sou  of  .Josepli  Merrill,  innkeeper,  of  Warren.  Hiis 
son.  Hon.  (ieorjic  .V.  .Mi>rrill.  of  Kiillanil,  \'l.,  was  for  many  years  Supt.  of  tlie  I'as- 
.snmpsic  Railroad,  is  at  present  Supt.  of  the  Vermont  Valley  Railroad,  and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Vemiout  State  Senate. 

PAGE  441.— Tk.vders  in  Warren. 

Samuel  Fellows,  store  on  old  Coos  road  in  1789. 

Charles  Bowles,       "  "  "  179.5. 

George  AV.  Copp.    "         "  "  ISOO. 

Abel  .Merrill,  "         "  "  1804. 

Capt.  Benjamin  Merrill,  store  at  fork  of  Coventry  road  and  turnpike  in  180.i. 

Lemuel  Keezer,  "  "  "  "  "  1814. 

Jliohael  Preston,  "  "  •'  "  "  1816. 

Amos  Burton,  store  at  end  of  turnpike. 

Samuel  L.  Merrill,  store  at  end  of  turnpike  and  on  Blue  ridRe. 

Wilham  Merrill, 

Anson  Merrill,  "  "  " 

William  Wells.  "  "  "  • 

.John  T.  Sanborn,  "  "  " 

Asa  Tiiurston,  store  at  end  of  tui-npike,  and  on  road  to  giist  mill. 

D.  Quincy  Cole,        "  "  "  "  " 

Francis  A.  Cushman,  store  at  end  of  turnpike,  and  by  Xoyes  bridge. 

George  W.  Prest-ott,  store  at  end  of  turnpike,  and  near  depot. 

William  A.  Merrdl,- 

Stevens  Me'rnll  &  Tristram  Cross,  store  in  valley  of  Runaway  pond. 

F.  A.  &  M.  E.  Cushman,  .store  by  Noyes  bridge,  184^!. 

James  &  Joseph  Clement,  store  "on  road  to  grist  mill,  1848. 

E.  C.  Durant,  "  »'  " 
C.  C.  &  H.  n.  Durant,                  "              "           " 
J.  &  C.  C.  Durant,                         "               "  " 
Walter  Pike  &  William  Swain,  "               "           "      in  18.5.5. 
Daniel  Q.  Clement  &  Omar  Little,            "           "  18.5t;. 
Russell  K.  t'lement,  store  on                      "           "  18.57. 
James  M.  Williams,  store  near  depot  in  1847. 

E.  F.  &  C.  F.  Withington,  "  "  1862. 

William  C.  Webster,         "  "  18G3. 

Charles  Thurston,  "  "  18ri4. 

William  S.  Doggett,  "  "  18!)t». 

Moses  W.  Pillsbury,  store  opposite  Moosilaukc  House  in  18.5.5. 

George  W.  Jackson,  "  "  "  18.54. 

Calvin  (ietchel,  store  opposite  depot,  in  1860. 

M  P.  "\Ierrill  &  Levi  C.  Whitclier,  store  near  railroad  ci-ossing  in  18.53. 

kenrv  W.  Weeks, 

J.  M."Twombly,  " 

H.  H.  Sheldon, 

Ira  Merrill, 

J.  S.Jewett,  "  "  "      inl868. 

E.B.Eaton,  "  "  "      .   ISRS- 

.rohn  M.  Wliiton  &  H.  W.  Weeks,  store  of  Capt.  Ben.  ^ferrill  m  1S(>8. 

Enoch  K.  Weeks  &  L.  C.  Whitcher,      "  "  "  186i». 

Ezra  l>il)bev,  stM'e  on  Summit  in  1853. 

Jonallian  siickney,  "  "  18;53. 

Warren  II.  Smith,     " 

W.  R.  Parks,  store  on  Sunnnit  in  depot  in  1870. 

Joseph  H.  Xoyes,  store  by  East-parte  road  in  1870. 

A.  L.Noves,  store,  jewelry. 

Joseph  Chamberlain,  store  at  East-parte  in  1860. 

Russel  Merrill,  store  near  Town  House  in  1847. 

True  M.  Stevens,  store  bv  Jloosilauke  House. 

J* 


562  HISTORY   OF   WARREX. 

AVATERNOMEE  FALLS 

On  Hnrncane  brook  are  so  called  from  the  ludian  chief,  Wa- 
ternomee.  Chase  Whitcher  shot  a  caiibou  here,  sometime  in  the 
last  centiuy.  Chas.  A.  Fiske,  painter,  from  New  York  city,  has 
spent  whole  summers  by  these  ''falling  waters."  The  hottest 
days  ai'B  cool  and  comfortable  here. 

hurricaKe  falls 

Are  on  Hurricane  brook,  above  Waternomee  falls.  Mr.  Wil- 
lard  Hamilton,  of  Woi'cester,  Mass.,  in  1870,  fell  down  this  fall,  a 
distance  of  a  hundred  feet,  where  he  caught  upon  a  tree  that  had 
blown  down  and  was  saved  from  instant  death ;  as  it  was,  lie  was 
very  severely  bruised  and  injured.  The  water  jumps  down  a 
series  of  steps  more  than  two  hundred  perpendicular  feet,  at  this 
falls. 

wolf"S-head  falls. 

They  are  just  above  Hnrricane  falls.  Amos  F.  Clough  once 
made  one  of  the  most  beautiful  stereoscopic  views  of  these  falls 
that  we  ever  saw. 

DIANA'S  BOWL 

Is  a  beautiful  basin  worn  in  the  rocks  at  the  top  of  Wolf's-head 
falls.  It  is  situated  some  2,600  feet  up  the  side  of  Mount  Carr. 
The  first  mention  Ave  have  of  this  spot  is  by  Surveyor  Leavitt. 
He  ate  his  dinner  there  one  day  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago. 

MIDDLE   CASCADES 

Are  between  Waternomee  falls  and  Hurricane  falls.     The  water 
jumps  down  sixty  feet  in  the  distance  of  a  few  rods. 

INDIAN  ROCK. 

The  marks  on  the  rock  are  undoubtedly  of  Indian  oi'igin. 
They  are  the  most  remarkable  monument  of  the  Indians  now 
existing  in  Asquamchumauke  valley. 


I 


APPENDIX.  563 

HEIGHTS  OF  MOtTNTAINS  ABOUT  WARREN. 

The  result  of  calculations  by 

Profs.  Hitchcock  axd  IIuNTixciTON,  State  Geologists. 

Moosehillock,— feet  above  the  sea,  4,941  Owl's  Head,— feet  above  the  sea,  3,357 

Mt.  Black,  "  "  3,701  Mt.  Waternomee, "  "        3,152 

Mount  Can-,  "  "  3,652  Mt.  Mist,  "  "        2,373 

Mt.  Kineo,  "  "  3,557  Webster  Slide,       "  "        2,.320 

Mt.  Cushmau,  "  ,     "  3,456  Mt.  Sentinel,  '•  "        2,209 

THE  MOOSILAUKE   MOUNTAIN  ROAD   COMPANY. 

This  road  company  was  incorporated  at  the  June  session  of 
the  Legislature,  1870.  John  E.  Lyon,  Joseph  A.  Dodge,  Daniel 
Q.  Clement,  Samuel  B.  Page,  David  G.  Marsh,  G.  F.  Putnam,  and 
James  Clement  were  made  the  "  body  politic."  The  corporation 
immediately  proceeded  to  build  the  road,  and  the  work  thus  far 
has  been  under  the  superintendence  of  D.  Q.  and  James  Clement. 
They  have  pushed  the  enterprise  with  a  great  deal  of  energy  and 
the  road  is  nearly  completed. — (For  charter  in  full  see  Pamphlet 
Laws  1870.  page  452.) 

DISTANCES  ON^THE  MOOSILAUKE  ROAD, 

Measured  by 

Nathaniel    Merrill,    2d,  and   Amos  L.  Merrill. 

From  N.  Merrill,  2d's  to  Benton  line  on  west  bank  of  Big  brook,  1  mile  25  rods. 

Half-way  Spring.* 2    "      13      " 

"  "  "      Half-way  Monument 2    "      62|    " 

"  "      Cold  Spring 3    "    121      " 

"  "  "      Prospect  House 4    "    125      " 


*  It  is  said  by  thirsty  people  that  Half-way  Spring  dries  up  in  summertime 
when  it  rains. 


564 


HISTORY   OP   "VYARREN. 


THE  POETS  OF  WARREN. 

The  first  great  poet  of  our  town  lived  on  Pine  hill.     Only  one 
of  his  productions  has  come  down  to  us.     It  is  entitled — 

MOTHER  CLUCK— A  SCARCASTIC  POEM. 


I 

i 


BY  JOHN  ABBOTT,  FIFER. 

The  poet  was  a  fifer  in  two  wars,  and  a  schoolmaster  in  time 
of  peace.  He  blew  a  tife  through  the  whole  Revolution.  Two 
families  on  Pine  hill  had  a  hot  feud  about  a  stolen  drag.  Abbott 
immortalized  the  great  family  fight  by  writing  the  following  beau- 
tiful stanzas : — 


Come  all  ye  false  prolessors, 
Who  say  you  love  the  Lord, 

You  always  have  a  hell  at  liome 
And  strive  lor  one  abroad. 

But  when  the  d — 1  comes  for  them, 

Tht'y  will  no  longer  brag. 
For  he  will  tote  them  all  away 

Upon  the  stolen  drag. 

Come  listen  to  my  ditty, 

The  truth  I  will  reveal ; 
You  tattle,  lie,  get  dntnk. 

And  from  your  neighbors  steal. 

K  you  want  to  know  the  names 
Of  those  who  stole  the  drag, 

They  are  Scotch  bastard,  burnt 

And  Cajitain  Rennett  bag. 

When  the  drag  begins  to  move, 
They  will  all  begin  to  teeter. 

Like  motlier  Cluck  with  her  budget 
Of  lies  astride  of  Hipen  Peter. 

When  she  had  stole  the  buckle 
And  the  knife  which  she  surely  took. 

She  said  tluit  she  had  found  them 
Down  by  the  alder  brook. 


You  make  a  noise  about  a  squirrel, 

Y^our  neighbors  to  abuse, 
And  then  you  go  to  meeting 

With  yoiir  blackened  Sunday  shoes. 

You  kill  your  neighbors'  ganders. 
About  the  chickens  you  make  a  tonse, 

And  then  you  crop  the  pigs'  ears, 
j\jid  iay  them  up  for  souse. 

You  thought  your  store  was  rather  small, 

Tliat  it  might  quickly  fail — 
You  turned  your  knife'  the  other  way 

And  cut  oif  a  pig's  tail. 

When  these  folks  go  to  meeting. 

They  are  for  singing,  red  hot; 
And  if  they  can't  get  singing 

They  will  rattle  the— —  pot. 
♦ 
Now  I  will  conclude  my  dittj' — 

No  longer  will  I  sing, 
Though  tliey  accuse  innocent  boys 

Of in  the  spring. 

They  said  they  were  good  judges  of , 

Aiid  that  you  can't  deny. 
For  one  would a  kernel  of  wheat 

And  another  a  kernel  of  rve. 


THE  MOOGENS. 


AN   ELEOY. 

The  Moogens  were  a  strange,  nondescript  race  that  lived  on  the 
Summit  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  They  then  mysteriously  disap- 
peared and  none  live  at  the  Summit  now.  A  wild  sort  of  tradi- 
tion alleges  that  they  were  last  seen  going  through  the  notch 
between  Black    mountain    and    Moosehillotk,   down  by  Beaver 


APPENDIX.  565 

meadow  ponds,  and  Uiat  they  were  all  lost  in  the  dark  gorge 
known  as  the  tunnel  of  the  mountain.  It  is  told  that,  like  Hen- 
drick  Hudson  and  his  men  iu  the  Catskill  mouutains,  their  ghosts 
hold  high  carnival  there  every  ten  years;  and  the  writer  of  this 
caH  solemnly  affirm  that  in  1860,  at  the  time  when  he  spent  two 
months  on  the  mountain  top  he  once  heard  terrible  and  awful 
sounds  coming  up  from  far  down  in  the  dark  depths  of  the  tunnel 
as  though  all  the  lost  Moogens  were  having  a  grand  carousal,  or  iu 
other  words  were  raising  h — 1  and  turning  up  jack. 

Reuben  B.  French,  of  the  East-parte,  wrote  a  mournful  elegy 
on  this  lost  race.  Ouly  one  stanza,  the  following,  has  come  down 
to  us:  — 

Wheu  God  made  man  they  paid  the  cost — 
The  remnants  he  considered  dross; 
He  threw  this  out  among  the  dung, 
And  from  it  the  Moogens  sprung. 

It  is  much  to  be  rearretted  that  all  the  other  stanzas  are  lost. 


SENTIMENTAL   ACROSTIC. 

BY   OBADIAH   CLEMENT. 

The  following  verses  wei-e  written  by  Col.  C.  on  the  death  of 

his  first  wife,  Sarah  Batchelder: — 

Oh  me !  unhappiest  of  all  creatures, 
Unto  you  I  Avill  relate, 
I  am  unhappy  in  every  feature, 
I've  parted  with  my  loving  mate. 

,  But  since  to  Gfld  I  must  submit. 

And  fall  upon  my  bending  knees. 
For  to  his  creatures  he  has  a  right. 
To  call  them  home  when  e're  he  please. 

A  thousand  thoughts  run  through  my  head, 
While  I  do  ponder  all  alone. 
To  think,  alas,  my  wife  is  dead, 
And  gone  into  the  silent  tomb. 

Dreadful  hard  it  is  to  part, 

With  one  that  has  been  always  kind. 
Sometimes  I  think  t'will  break  my  heart, 
Or  at  least  will  wreck  my  mind. 

I  hope  that  I  shall  learn  submission, 

And  let  my  thoughts  be  cool  and  calm. 
And  never  run  into  distraction, 
Altliough  my  heart  seems  overwhelmed. 

Alas  the  pains  tliat  pierce  my  lieart, 
It  seems  as  thougli  it  will  nie  kill. 
But  I  must  learn  with  friends  to  pai't, 
And  to  obev  God's  holv  will. 


666  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


How  desolate  I  now  must  be, 

While  I  am  here  upon  the  stage, 
And  from  my  troubles  never  free. 
While  I  am  in  my  pilgrimage. 

Come  people  all,  both  great  and  small, 
Why  are  you  hardened  in  j'our  sins  ? 
Come,  and  obey  God's  precious  call. 
And  be  attentive  unto  him. 

Look  back  into  that  Holy  Book, 

And  there  you'll  see  "that  all  have  died, 
But  only  two,  and  God  them  took. 
We  never  read  death  on  them  tried. 

Elijah  he  was  carried  up 

Into  the  air  upon  tlie  wind, 
Elisha  he  looked  after  him, 
'Till  he  dropped  his  mantle  down  behind. 

Many  sepulchres  we  read  were  used. 
Our  Saviour  lie  was  laid  in  one, 
By  ancient  jieople  of  the  .Jews, 
And  at  the  door  they  rolled  a  stone. 

Equal  with  God,  he  then  arose. 

And  took  his  seat  at  his  right  hand. 
Ten  thousand  angels,  as  we  suppose. 
Ready  to  obey  the  Lord's  command. 

Now  let  our  love  to  God  abound. 
For  at  the  best  we  are  but  clay. 
Soon  as  the  dying  trumpets  sound. 
Oh,  then  we  can  no  longer  stay. 

Then  imder  ground  we  all  must  rot, 
Beneath  the  cold  and  frozen  sod, 
Our  names  and  memory  soon  forgot, 
All  to  fulfil  the  will  of  God. 

And  now  my  name  can  here  be  read, 
I  think  I've  spelled  it  very  plain. 
And  if  you  read  it  when  I'm  dead, 
Pray  do  not  read  it  with  disdain. 


THESBIAN  LYRIC. 

BY   "  SCHUTE." 

"  Scliute  "  aud  a  party  of  friends  prepared  to  visit  the  summit 
of  the  lofty  Moosilauke.  He  invited  Eva  to  accompany  him.  Her 
mother  objected— would  uot  let  her  go— on  the  ground  that  it 
would  be  too  much  of  a  task.  "  Schute"  sorrowfully  wrote  the 
following  lines : — 

TO   EVA. 

Believe  it  or  believe  it  not,— 
Dear  Eva,  on  tlie  mountain-top 

I  found  a  little  toad; 
And  it  mav  puzzle  you  and  I 
To  know  how  he  could  climb  so  high 

And  o'er  so  rough  a  road. 


APPENDIX.  567 


His  little  legs  you  know  are  short, 
And  consequently  he  is  thought 

To  l>e  ;l  chunsy  climber. 
But  lie  has  l)eaten  longer  legs, 
**An(l  sti'onger  IVames  ami  wiser  heads. 

And  some  wlio  are  diviner. 

I  will  not  .<ay  lie's  beaten  you. 
Dear  Eva,— that  may  not  be  true, 

But  he  has  beaten'others, 
Tlic  fault  may  not  be  thoir.s,  1  know; 
Like  you,  dear  Eva,  they  may  owe 

Obedieuce  to  their  mo'ihers'. 

To  mothers,  too,  who  may  have  seen 
Some  of  the  evil  ways  of  men. 

And  hence  gave  timel)'  warning. 
They  know*  too  well  a  tarnished  fame 
Must  end  in  grief  and  pain. 
And  that  a  pure,  unsullied  name 

Is  woman's  best  adoruing. 

Aud  your  fond  mother,  knowing  this, 
DearEva,  thoxight  it  not  amiss 

To  keep  you  nearer  home, 
Nor  trust  lier  darling  out  of  sight 
Upon  Moosilauke's  towering  height 
With  men  whose  motives  might  be  right. 

Yet  still  to  her  unknown. 

But  Eva,  may  I  dare  to  hope 
The  hai)py  day  is  not  remote 
When  you  will  venture  up  the  slope 

Witlii  some  one  whom  you'll  know  ; 
Aud  may  the  one  who  siiares  with  you 
The  toilsome  jaunt,  th«  glorious  view, 
Not  only  be  a  friend  to  you, 

But  niay  he  be  your  beau. 

And  Eva,  whether  high  or  low, 
Or  up  or  down  life's  path  you  go, 
With  husbaud,  friend,  or  lover : 

Whatever  be  your  lot  below, — 
Remember  youwill  ever  owe 

AJlegiance  to  your  mother. 


THE  SERPENT. 

A   SLEIGHING   SONG,   BY  MERRILL   BIXBY. 

The  village  school  once  got  up  an  immense  omnibus  and  made 
a  visit  to  the  East-pavte  school  by  Moosehillock  falls.  The  East- 
pai'te  boys  painted  up  a  great  fpuv  horse  sleigh  in  the  most  fantas- 
tic manner,  and  labelled  it  the  •'  Serpent."  In  this  sleigh  all  the 
East-parte  scliolars  visited  the  village  school  and  sang  this  song 
both  on  their  arrival  and  departure,  greatly  delighting  themselves 
aud  everybody  else: — 

Did  you  ever  see  a  serpent  crawling  on  the  snow  ? 
Did  you  ever  see  the  folks  laugh  to  see  the  serpent  go  ? 
Why  'tis  nothing  but  a  carryall  to  carry  us  along — 
And  now  if  vou  are  willing"  we'll  sing  vou  a  song. 


568  HISTORY   OF  WARREN. 


We  are  a  little  company  of  jolly  girls  and  boys, 
We've  just  begun  to  read  and  spell  and  make  a  little  noise. 
The  times  are  hard,  our  parents  poor,  our  chance  is  very  small; 
But  for  our  own  exertions  we  could  not  read  at  all. 

We'll  continue  our  exertions,  the  hill  of  science  climb — 
We'll  improve  upon  our  talents  and  not  mis-spend  our  time, 
When  we  have  gained  the  eminence  and  buffeted  the  storm, 
We'll  double  our  exertions  tor  a  common  school  reform. 

Now  don't  mistake  our  motive  in  giving  you  this  call. 

Our  feelings  ai-e  quite  generous,  although  our  talent's  small; 

We  will  tender  you  our  thauks,  and  will  show  to  you  our  love. 

Though  we  are  not  as  wise  as  serpents  we'U  be  harmless  as  the  dove. 

We  respect  and  love  our  teacher,  for  he  is  very  kind 
To  impart  to  us  instruction  to  cultivate  the  miiid. 
His  task  is  very  hard,  his  time  is  very  brief. 
But  the  motto  of  the  serpent  shall  be  to  him  relief. 

'Tis  "  labor  vincit  omnia," 

The  motto  of  our  crew, 
By  this  we  can  accomplish  much, 

"Although  our  number's  few, 

'Tis  now  we  bid  adieu  to  you, 
And  hope  again  to  meet. 
That  the  Warren  Centre  omnibus 
May  the  infant  Serpent  greet. 

To  return  we  are  now  ready 

To  our  homes  in  the  east, 
For  the  child  is  not  a  man. 

And  the  serpent  not  a  beast; 
For  the  children  they-  may  cry. 

And  the  serpent  he  may  hiss, 
But  of  all  the  childish  concerts 

There  is  none  can  equal  this. 


EAST-PARTE  SONG. 

A   BALLARD   BY   MERRILL   BIXBY. 

It  is  said,  tliough  some  doubt  the  ti-iitb  of  it,  that  the  poet  sang 
this  song,  accompanying  himself  on  a  harp.  We  give  only  two 
stanzas,  the  others  are  fill  supposed  to  be  lost: — 

Ye  WaiTcnites  that  live  in  town, 
Think  this  not  done  to  gain  renown, 
'Tis  but  a  glance  that  you  may  see. 
What  simple  fools  some  folkscau  be  . 

Think  not  I  censure  every  one. 
But  those  who  mischief  much  have  done, 
I  mean  those  rakes  out  in  the  east. 
Who  out  of  slander  make  a  feast. 


APPENDIX.  569 

AMOS  F.  CLOUGH'S  DIAllY. 

KEPT   OX   MOOSEIIILLOCK   IN   AVINTEK  OF 

1870. 

1869,  Dec.  31. — To-day  I  got  my  '"ti-aps"  to  make  stereo- 
graphs ill  order  and  started  for  the  mountain.  D.  G.  Marsh 
brought  me  out  to  Merrill's,  where  Prof.  J.  II.  Huntington,  of  the 
(Geological  Sui'vey.  was  Avaiting  for  me.  We  started  at  11  a.  m., 
''  traps"  on  a  handslcd,  rope  to  draw  by;  a  string'  team,  Hunting- 
ton on  the  lead.  We  made  good  progress  to  where  he  left  his  sled; 
snow  was  hard  and  the  walking  good.  Here  we  divided  up,  took 
on  some  lugg:age,  and  then  began  the  ascent  iu  earnest.  It  was 
warm  and  we  had  to  rest  quite  often.  My  loac4  became  heavy  and 
at  the  steep  part  I  left  off  the  valise,  which  had  nothing  to  freeze 
in  it. 

When  we  came  on  to  the  x'idge  the  scene  Avas  the  grandest  I 
ever  saw.  Large,  massiA^e  clouds  were  floating  along-  the  base  of  the 
highest  mountains,  and  sweeping-  across  the  tops  of  the  lesser  ones. 
The  White  mountains,  snow  white,  were  all  above  the  clouds, 
piercing  the  blue  sky.  The  Green  mountains  were  dark  and 
frowning.  Lake  Winnepisseogee  was  a  field  of  glaring  ice.  The 
mountains  of  Maine,  of  Canada,  and  the  Adirondacks  flashed  daz- 
zling in  the  setting  sun. 

The  wind  blew  strong  as  we  neared  the  Prospect  House,  and 
we  were  glad  to  go  in  and  get  some  "  grub,''  and  prepare  for  the 
night.  We  have  made  a  good  fire,  and  fixed  up  our  room.  A 
cloud  has  settled  down  upon  the  mountain  top,  it  is  as  dark  as 
Egypt  without,  and  here  alone,  away  from  friends  and  social  life, 
we  feel  as  isolated  as  though  Ave  were  in  Greenland. 

1870,  Jan.  1. — Happy  new  year  "  to  people  down  on  earth." 
It  is  a  glorious  morning  up  here.  The  scene  is  one  of  wild  mag- 
nificence. A  vast  ocean  of  clouds  is  below  us.  Polling  masses, 
Avhite  crested,  stretch  to  the  south  and  east  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
see;  high  mountains  pierce  through  them  like  islands.  The  White 
mountains  resemble  huge  icebergs  in  mid  ocean,  so  Avliite  and  daz- 
zling is  their  lustre.  As  the  sun  rose  higher,  breaks  began  to 
occur  in  the  cloudy  mass,  revealing  the  Avorld  below,  which  seemed 
a  dark  yawning  abyss. 

Went  down  after  my  luggage  and  brought  it  up.     A  fox  had 


570  HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

the  curiositj^  to  follow  lis  up  the  mountain  yesterday.  He  came  to 
the  Prospect  House,  but  never  asked  to  come  in.  He  probably 
thought  it  was  an  erratic  notion  of  ours  to  come  up  on  this  bleak 
peak  at  tliis  season  of  the  year.  I  found  rabbit  tracks  plenty" 
among  the  tirs.  A  Canada  grouse  had  ci'ossed  and  re-crossed  my 
path  before  I  returned.  White  winged  cross-bills  were  at  work 
among  the  cones.  Black  capped  titmice  were  as  merry  as  crickets, 
singing  all  the  time  and  rattling  off  loose  pieces  of  bark  in  search 
of  insects,  while,  Canada  jays  fluttered  before  me,  now  cackling  like 
wild  geese,  then  whistling  like  a  hawk,  then  barking  like  a  small 
dog,  often  uttering  a  Aveird  and  querulous  note,  and  tiually  drop- 
ping Avith  motionless  wings  soft  and  silent  as  a  falling  snow-flake, 
out  of  sight  in  the  dark  firs.  These  are  all  hardy  birds  and  endure 
the  rigors  of  our  coldest  winters. 

Fixed  uj)  bed-room  at  end  of  dining  hall,  as  it  presents  more 
chances  for  comfort  than  any  other  room.  Shall  paper  it  through- 
out, top  and  bottom.  The  wind  is  blowing  strong  from  the  south- 
east. '' A  storm  may  noAV  be  expected,"  as  the  almanac  makers 
say.  Well,  I  can't.help  it,  so  "  let-er-rip.'"  Huntington  is  going 
to  make  meteorological  obseiwatious.  I  am  going  to  make  j)ictures. 
Jan.  2. — I  was  awake  nearly  all  night.  Wind  blew  hard  and 
it  began  to  snow.  It  makes  the  old  stone  house  shake.  It  blows 
a  perfect  gale,  not  in  gusts,  but  a  steady  pull  and  a  pull  altogether. 
At  9  o'clock  A.  M.  I  took  the  anemometer,  stood  out  and  held  it 
five  minutes.  It  registered  75  miles  an  hour.  It  was  all  I  could 
do  to  stand  up  against  the  tempest.  The  wind  increased,  and  at 
noon  I  went  out  again.  The  wind  caught  me  and  swept  me  sev- 
eral yards  before  I  could  make  a  stand,  and  then  oiilj'  by  bracing 
against  a  rock.  I  could  not  hear  Mr.  Huntington,  so  had  to  watch 
to  see  when  the  five  minutes  Avas  up.  He  gaA^e  the  signal  and  I 
started  to  come  in.  The  wind  threw  me  down  five  times  be- 
fore I  reached  the  door.  I  clung  to  the  rocks,  then  crept  on  my 
hands  and  knees,  and  when  I  entered  the  house,  my  clothing, 
though  of  the  heaviest  kind,  was  saturated  with  the  rain.  I  Avas 
completely  out  of  breath,  and  trembled  all  over  Avith  the  exertion. 
We  found  that  the  wind  was  blowing  at  the  rate  of  97  1-2  miles 
per  hour — a  hurricane —  tlie  strongest,  fiercest  wind  ever  i-ecorded 
in  tlie  United  States. 


APPENDIX.  571 

Well,  if  it  blows  much  harder,  there  is  a  chance  that  they  will 
have  a  first  class  hotel  over  at  North  Beuton.  If  we  go  it  will  be 
by  wind,  house  and  all.  We  can  go  well  enough,  but  how  the 
devil  shall  we  light.  Blow  and  be  hanged.  I  have  my  boots, 
coat  and  hat  on,  ready  for  a  start.  Huntington  looks  as  if  he  was 
ready.  How  it  blows!  The  wind  moans,  whines,  shrieks,  and 
yells,^like  a  thousand  ghosts,  the  house  trembles  and  rocks  though 
the  walls  are  of  stone  three  feet  thick,  and  the  roar  is  deafening. 
The  rain  comes  iu  through  every  crack  and  crevice.  So  fierce  is 
the  draft  of  the  stove  that  the  wind  has  literally  sucked  the  fire 
out  aud  we  have  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  re-kindling  it. 
Crash!  every  glass  in  our  window  is  broken,  the  fire  is  sucked  out 
of  the  stove  again,  the  light  iu  our  hurricane  lantern  is  extin- 
guished. I  speak,  but  no  one  answers ;  I  call  louder,  but  there  is 
no  response ;  I  shout,  but  no  answer  comes ;  I  shiver  with  cold, 
and  wet.  and  tempest.     Darkness,  if  not  terror,  reigns. 

Well,  we  have  got  the  windoAV  fastened  up.  I  held  the  boards 
and  Huntington  nailed  them.  Then  we  nailed  blankets  over  the 
crevices  to  keep  the  wind  out.  After  9  p.  m.  the  wind  lulled ;  at 
midnight  it  was  over  aud  we  went  to  sleep. 

Jan.  3. — The  storm  has  passed  by.  The  Avind  has  changed, 
but  the  clouds  still  wrap  .the  mountain  top.  H.  went  down  to 
Nathaniel  MeiTill's,  and  I  have  been  busj'  fixing  up  our  domicil. 
Snow  has  nearly  all  gone  from  the  tojj;  icy  and  slippery.  Heard 
a  flock  of  cross-bills  near  the  house. 

4. — The  clouds  rise  up  occasionally,  giving  us  a  glimpse  of  the 
lower  world.    We  hung  out  a  red  light  to-night. 

5. — Some  snow  has  fallen.  Wind  strong.  Oui-  life  is  very 
quiet — hermit  like  I 

6. — Snowed  all  this  day.     Wind  S.  W.     Am  reading  geology. 

7. — Cold.    Thermometer  3  degrees  below.    Wind  N.  W. 

8. — AVeather  milder.  Clouds  have  blown  awaj'.  Snow  drift 
as  high  as  the  house,  and  over  our  window.  We  had  to  shovel  a 
hole  through  it  before  we  got  any  daylight. 

9. — Cold.  Wind  N.  W.  Heavy  clouds  driving  across  the 
mountain.  Came  down  after  a  barometer.  Had  tough  time  get- 
ting over  the  ridge  where  it  was  drifted.  Snow  a  foot  deep  in 
woods — five  inches  at  Mr.  Merrill's. 

10.— At  Mr.  Merrill's. 


572  HISTORY    OF    AVARREN. 

11.— Left  Mr.  M.'s  at  10:20  a,  m.  with  a  haversack  well 
filled — barometer,  gun,  and  snow-shoes — a  heavy  load,  for  the 
Prospect  House.  Snow  grew  deeper  as  I  went  up  the  mountain. 
Could  not  use  the  snow-shoes  they  ''  loaded"  up  so.  Had  to  take 
them  off  and  wallow  up  to  my  knees.  Shot  at  two  birds;  did  not 
get  either  of  them.  At  last  I  gained  the  ridge  where  tlie  snow 
was  blown  olf :  it  was  like  taking  the  fetters  from  one's  feet  to  be 
able  to  walk  without  wallowing.  Never  was  a  breeze  more  reviv- 
ing in  a  hot  sultry  day  in  midsummer,  than  the  one  on  the  ridge, 
though  it  was  far  below  the  freezing  point.  It  infused  new  vigor 
into  my  weary  limbs,  and  I  pushed  rapidly  forward  to  the  Pros- 
pect House;  arrived  at  2:30  r.  m.  having  been  a  little  over  four 
hours  from  Mr.  Merrill's.  As  I  came  along  the  ridge,  saw  rabbit 
tracks  where  it  had  leaped  along  the  path.  There  were  also  the 
tracks  of  a  stoat  or  ermiue,  evidently  in  pursuit ;  but  I  lost  sight 
of  them  where  the  snow  was  blown  away. 

12. — Rains.     Wind  S.  W.     No  fiiir  weather  since  Jan.  1. 

13. — Snowed  neai'ly  all  day.  Shoveled  out  our  window.  H. 
went  down  and  got  the  snow-shoes  I  left.  The  storm  has  broken 
up  this  p.  M.,  and  massive  clouds  roll  along  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain. Snow  squalls  are  to  be  seen  here  and  there  over  the  country. 
Still  and  calm,  more  so  than  usual  up  here.  House  is  well  chinked 
and  daubed  with  frost. 

14:. — A  remarkably  fiue  day.  We  are  up  in  a  clear,  beauti- 
fully transparent  atmosphere.  All  below  is  covered  with  clouds ; 
a  vast  ocean  of  clouds  dotted  with  islands  to  the  east  and  north- 
east, the  mountains  rising  throiigh  the  dense  vapor. 

T  have  made  some  glorious  stereoscopic  views ;  frost  views 
and  cloud  views,  and  mountains  in  the  distance.  How  T  have 
enjoyed  this  day ! 

15. — A  hard  storm,  snow  and  rain.  Terrible  long  days  and 
nights  up  here ! 

16. — H.>  went  down  to-day.  Got  back  at  4.30  p.  m. — brought 
lots  of  letters.  Played  boy  to-night  and  went  sliding  down  the 
side  of  the  mountain  on  a  sled. 

17. — Hard  storm.     Rain  and  snow.     Wind  S.  E. 

18. — Wind  shifted  to  N.  W.,  and  blowed  hard  enough  to  knock 
the  storm  all  to  shreds.     Clear  as  a  bell  this  a.  m.    The  mountains 


APPENDIX.  '  573 

are  gray,  snow  mostly  gone,  only  large  drifts  left  in  the  ravines 
and  gorges.  Dug  out  the  spring  to-day — don't  fancy  snow  water 
much. 

19. — Pleasant.  Went  over  to  ''  Jobildunk"'  ravine.  The  fells 
are  ice  crags, — splendid!  Shall  make  some  views  there.  Cross- 
bills and  chickadees  were  plenty  in  the  hackmatacks.  As  we  came 
up  over  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  saw  what  I  took  to  be  a  smoke 
and  thought  the  house  had  burned.  I  went  a  few  rods  pretty 
quick;  it  proved  to  be  a  thin  cloud,  so  I  was  sold  cheap. 

20. — Pleasant.  Got  breakfast,  took  my  gun  and  started  down 
the  mountain.  Shot  some  cross-bills ;  heai'd  a  bird  whisthng  away ; 
mocked  him,  he  lighted  on  a  stump  to  investigate ;  I  fired  and  he 
flew  "  like  thunder."'  Luck v  fellow!  he  was  about  two  thirds  as 
large  as  a  robin.  Shot  at  a  large  pileated  wood-pecker,  but  did 
not  hit  him.  Saw  an  abundance  of  chickadees.  Got  to  Mr.  Mer- 
rill's at  noon.  No  letters,  no  papers,  "  no  nothin," — a  big  joke! 
Sent  the  birds  to  a  taxidermist.  Got  dinner,  talked  with  a  minis- 
ter of  much  I'elig'ion  and  but  little  sense ;  started,  struck  a  two- 
forty  gait,  and  came  up  to  the  Prospect  House  on  time. 

21. — Cold.  Five  men  and  a  "  spotted  dorg  "  came  up  to  see  ns 
from  North  Benton. 

22. — Made  some  pictures — good  ones.  Cross-bills  were  plenty 
about  the  house  to-day.  An  ermine  crossed  the  mountain  last 
night,  about  half-way  between  the  house  and  the  spring.  They 
are  hardy  fellows  and  pursue  their  game  with  a  great  deal  of 
tenacity.    H.  is  getting  lonesome. 

23. — Rained.  H.  went  down — brought  up  two  letters.  Shov- 
eled snow  to  keep  out  the  wind. 

21. — Made  picture  of  frost  feathers  to-day.  Glorious!  Also 
cloud  view  over-Lake  Winnepisseogee, — grand  and  sublime !  The 
Adirondacks  were  lighted  up  to-day,  their  sharp  peaks  gleaming 
in  snow  with  dark  clouds  for  a  back-ground — never  saw  them  so 
magnificent  before. 
25. — Stormy. 

26. — Storm  has  abated,  but  dark  heavy  clouds  drive  across  the 
mountain,  making  it  almost  as  black  as  night.  The  bushes  in  the 
sheltered  spots  are  covered  with  great  balls  of  ice  of  a  tea  green 
color.    On  these  form  the  "frost  feathers."    What  is  very  pecu- 


■''74  HISTORY    OP   WARHEX, 

liar,  these  feathers  form  or  build  up  against  the  wind,  while  the 
side  opposite  is  left  bare.  The  same  effect  is  produced  on  the 
rocks,  presenting-  a  complete  covering-  of  pure  white  snow  featli- 
ers.     Went  down  towards  the  ravine. 

27.— Mounted  my  snow  shoes,  took  an  axe  and  an  old  iron  tea- 
kettle, and  started  for  Jobildunk  ravine.     Splendid  view  there; 
ice  columns  a  hundred  feet  high.     AVhat  a  time  I  had  getting-  down 
to  the  foot!     First,  I  sent  the  axe  down  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
and  to  bush  out  a  path.     How  it  leaped  and  slid  and  plunged  as  it 
went  down  to  the  woods  a  thousand  feet  below  I     Next  went  the 
snow-shoes;  but  the  kettle  would  be  smashed  and  I  kept  it  along- 
with  me.     Then  I  slid  a  little  way  clinging-  by  the  bushes,  and 
holding  to  a  birch 'got  down  a  perpendicular  descent  some  ten  feet. 
From  this  I  could  not  get  back  at  all  nor  down  except  by  jumping. 
Then  I  sent  the  tea-kettle  ahead — it  went  leaping  and  whirling 
twenty  feet  at  a  bound,  smashed  in  pieces  and  was  lost  in  the  firs. 
I  never  saw  it  again.     I  looked  over  the  precipice.     There  was  a 
shelf  of  the  rock  twenty  feet  below  and  a  snow  bank  on  it.     It 
was  the  only  way.     I  jumped  and  settled  to  my  knees  in  it.     The 
rest  of  the  way  was  easier,  and  sliding  and  jumping.  I  was  at  the 
foot  in  almost  no  time,     It  was  a  wild,  -grand  scene,  ice  precipices 
rising  one  above  the  other  a  thousand  feet,  till  the  tops  are  lost  in 
the  clouds.     Spotted  my  views,  and  was  two  hours  climbing  home 
through  the  woods.     The  ravine  is  one  of  the  wildest  places  in 
New  Hampshire,  especially  in  winter.     The  Asquamchumauke 
comes  down  througli  it. 

28.— Cold.  Made  some  pictures  of  frost  work,  and  one  mag- 
nificent cloud  view.  H.  went  down  to  Mr.  Merrill's  and  broueht 
up  letters  and  papers.  I  am  pleased.  Two  white-wiuged  cross- 
bills came  into  the  house  to-day  as  I  left  the  door  open.  They 
were  lively  and  are  the  only  living  things  that  visit  us  except  a 
few  mice  who  have  taken  lodgings  on  the  outside  of  our  room, 
where  they  can  get  some  heat  from  the  stove.  A  man  by  the 
name  of  Adams  started  to  come  to  the  house,  got  lost  and  stopped 
out  on  the  mountain  all  night.  He  got  back,  haviug  only  frozen 
his  feet.     Wonderful  that  he  did  not  perish. 

29. — Storms.     Terrible  lonesome  here  to-day. 

30. — Wind  fifty  miles  per  hour.     Snow  flies.     Dug  out  the 


APPENDIX.  575 

Window  three  times  to  let  in  daylight.  The  house  is  snowed  up 
very  tight — very  monotonous.  .  Clouds  and  storm,  storm  and 
clouds.    Not  so  cold  here  as  I  thought  it  would  be. 

31. — Cool  but  pleasant.  Thcr.  stands  at  0.  Made  the  best 
pictures  of  the  White  mountains  that  I  have  ever  got.  The  moun- 
tains are  clear  and  white,  and  seem  brought  forwaixl. 

HeaA'^'  banks  of  clouds  have  been  hanging  on  the  horizon, 
south  and  east,  all  daj'.  About  3  p.  m.  they  began  to  come  inland 
like  a  huge  sea,  enveloping  the  hills  and  valleys.  Then  the  vapor 
rose  up  over  the  high  mountains  farming  dai'k  domes  in  the  sun- 
light, and  at  5  r.  :\r.  we  were  enveloped  with  so  thick  and  black  a  ' 
cloud  that  we  could  scarce  see  three  rods.  Such  is  life  on  a  moun- 
tain. 

One  month  has  gone  since  we  came  up  here.  It  has  slipped 
quickly  and  quietly  away,  and  I  have  had  about  all  of  this  that  I 
want,  but  shall  stay  a  while  longer  if  nothing  happens. 

Feb.  1. — Went  down  on  earth.  Huntington  stops  at  Merrill's, 
and  is  to  walk  up  and  down  the  mountain  to  get  the  record  of  the 
thermometer  and  barometer. 

15. — Well,  after  two  weeks  of  sojourn  below,  I  am  here  in  the 
region  of  bleakness  and  storms  once  more.  A  dense  fog  envelops 
the  mountain,  shutting  out  all  distance. 

16. — Cold;  wind  N.  W.  Clouds  drove  over  our  mountain 
peak  till  about  noon,  then  cleared  off  clear  as  crystal, — clearer 
than  T  ever  saw  it  before.  We  can  see  the  ocean  plain  as  the  nose 
on  a  man's  face.  It  is  through  the  notches  of  the  hills  beyond 
Lake  Winnepisseogee,  a  long  bright  line  of  blue. 

It  is  growing  cold,  thermometer  16  degrees  below.  Hope  it 
will  be  cold  as  Dante's  hell,  for  it  gives  us  a  glorious  view. 

17. — Cold.  Made  a  few  pictures,  then  started  for  Mr.  Merrill's. 
Slid  on  sled  half  a  mile  down  to  the  ridge.  AYas  one  and  a  half 
hours  getting  to  Mr.  M.'s.  Got  letters,  papers,  pail  of  sugar,  and 
gun,  and  am  now  on  the  road  back,  snow-shoeing  it  up  the  bridle 
path — am  stopping  on  the  ridge  now.  Can  see  the  ocean  distinctly. 
Heavy  clouds  are  coming  from  it.  5  p.  ji. — Am  at  the  Prospect 
House,  and  the  clouds  are  here  too.  They  were  just  one  hour  com- 
ing from  the  ocean  to  Moosehillock.  My  boots  froze  stiff  coming 
up.     Storms  to  night. 


576  HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 

IS. — Storms.  Well,  I  like  a  storm:  it  rouses  peculiar  feelings ; 
excitement,  when  it  goes  in  strong,  and  it  does  that  to-day,  sure. 
One  incessant  roar  all  day;  driving  sleet  and  rain.  The  house 
shakes  and  trembles,  though  one  side  is  buried  in  a  snow  drift  to 
the  top  of  the  roof,  nearly,  with  five  inches  of  snow  and  ice  on  the 
I'oof  and  walls. 

10  A.  M. — Went  out  with  the  anemometer.  We  had  a  barrel 
set  for  the  purpose,  but  the  snow  and  ice  had  filled  it  up.  Sol 
held  the  machine  for  ten  minutes.  Sat  down  back  to  the  wind  as- 
tride of  the  barrel.  Tt  was  no  boy's  play.  Machine  won't  weigh 
five  pounds,  but  it  tired  me  terribly.  The  wind  would  ease  a  tri- 
fle, then  come  with  a  rush  and  a  roar  louder  than  thunder,  that 
made  me  cling  legs  and  arms  to  the  barrel.  The  roar  was  deafen- 
iug^I  could  not  hear.  Huntington  gave  signal  with  his  hand  and 
I  made  for  the  house.  Was  thrown  flat  down  by  the  wind,  then 
crept  in.  How  queer  I  felt.  I  reeled  and  staggered  like  a  drunk- 
en maiu  My  head  was  gidcTy,  my  eyes  on  fire,  a  thrill  like  elec- 
tricity shot  through  my  whole  body,  making  me  wild  and  I'eckless. 
How  it  woiild  have  operated  had  T  stopped  longer,  T  cannot  say. 
I  should  be  careless  of  my  life  to  try  it  again.  The  wind  is  blow- 
ing a  hundred  miles  an  hour — the  sleet  cuts  like  a  knife — and  my 
skin  smarts  wherever  it  was  struck. 

Blows  like  great  guns  this  p.  m.  Rain  comes  down  a  perfect 
shower.  Runs  in  streams  about  our  window.  We  have  got  pails, 
buckets,  kettles,  &c.,  to  catch  it  and  keep  from  being  drowned 
out.  Tliis  is  worse  than  the  storm  of  Jan.  2;  but  we  are  better 
prepared  to  meet  it. 

8  p.  M. — No  abatement  in  the  storm  yet.  Blow!  blow!  I  like 
it.     It  is  like  a  roar  of  thunder  all  the  time. 

10:80  p.  M. — Still  continues.  Wind  howls  now  like  ten  thou- 
sand fiends  let  loose  from  the  infernal  regions. 

19. — Well,  the  stoi-m  has  spent  its  fury  at  last.  ,  The  wild  deaf- . 
ning  roar  has  died  away,  but  occasional  gusts  sweep  along,  sigh- 
ing with  a  low  moan,  the  last  dying  throes  of  the  wild,  terrifying 
hurricane.  It  began  to  abate  last  midnight..  Would  like  to  have 
the  clouds  lift  a  few  minutes  to  see  how  it  served  people  down  on 
earth.     H.  has  gone  down  and  when  he  comes  back  he  will  report. 

It  takes  a  blow  from  S.  E.  to  get  up  a  storm  and  keep  it  agoing. 


APPENDIX.  677 

It  also  takes  a  blow  from  the  N.  ^Y.,  up  in  this  altitude,  a  mile 
above  the  ocean,  to  clear  it  oil".    It  is  cold  to-day. 

This  r.  M.  we  got  frost  clouds,  "  clouds  made  up  of  minute 
particles  of  ice,  said  to  bring  death  to  any  one  caught  in  them." 
That  story  is  a  myth.  We  found  them  as  harmless  as  a  summer 
vapor. 

20. — Ther.  14  degrees  below.  Clear  and  pleasant.  Looked 
away  to  the  south-east  and  saw  the  ocean.  Walked  down  to  the 
ravine.  Got  a  fall  and  slid  down  a  hundred  feet — brought  up  in  a 
snow  bank;  was  frightened,  but  not  hurt  a  bit.  Hackmatacks  are 
buried  in  snow.  Wind  has  changed  to  south-east  again.  Another 
storm  is  on  the  stocks. 

2  p.  jr. — It  is  blowing  a£;ain.  It  roars  ag'ain — it  howls  again. 
I  thought  the  wind  had  blown  as  hard  as  it  could,  but  it  is  now 
worse  than  ever  before.  I  shall  not  wet  myself  to  the  skin  agai^ 
to  hold  up  that  anemometer.  I  know  it  blows  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  an  hour.  How  it  roars.  But '"'  roar  "  don't 
express  the  noise.  Bellow  is  too  tame  by  half.  In  a  thunder 
storm  the  lightning  flashes,  blinding  the  sight.  Then  comes  a 
sharp  report  which  immediately  gives  way  to  deep,  reverberatory 
rumbUng  that  shakes  and  makes  everything  vibrate  with  its  power, 
then  rolls  away  and  is  lost.  Now  just  imagine,  if  you  can,  a  con- 
tinual roll  of  the  first  reverberations,  after  the  sharp  report  is  over, 
and  you  will  have  some  faint  idea  of  what  we  have  this  day, — a 
continual  thunder,  making  everything  shake,  for  hours  together. 

Have  storms  like  this  swept  over  these  mountains  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  perhaps  millions  of  years,  or  is  this  a  special  storm 
for  the  benefit  of  us  two  poor  mortals  who  have  invaded  this  bleak 
and  lofty  region ?    Can't  tell! 

21. — Snows,  and  there  is  a  drift  fifteen  feet  high  on  the  south 
side  of  our  house.  Had  to  shovel  out  our  window  to  let  in  day- 
light. 1  p.  M. — I  am  writing  by  lamplight ;  the  house  is  completely 
snOAved  up, 

22. — Ther.  17  degTees  below.  House  still  snowed  up — time 
drags  I 


K* 


578  HISTORY    OF    "WARREN. 

23. — Have  worked  Avith  the  Theodolite  this  day.     The  follow- 
ing are  some  of  the  principal  points  which  we  have  sighted: — 

POINTS   FROM   MOOSEHILLOCK   MOUNTAIN. 

Mt.  Washington North  "0  degi-ees  East. 

Mt.  Carrigan •        .        .        .        .  "  88  "  •  " 

Mt.  Pigwacket Soiith  86  "           " 

The  Ocean  seen "  28  "           " 

Lake  Winnepisseogee "  26  "           " 

Mt.  Belknap "  U  " 

Manchester,  N.  H a  4  <<           » 

Mt.  Kearsarge "  14  "  West. 

Mount  Can- "  16  "           " 

Mt.  MouadnoL'k "  19  "           " 

Mt.  Ascutuev "  51  "           " 

Mt.  Cul)e "  54  "            " 

Mt.  Gravlock "  59  "           " 

Killmgton  Peaks "  61  "           " 

Mt.  Marcy,  X.  Y North  71  " 

Camels  Hump "  60  "           " 

Lake  Champlain "  52  "           " 

Mt.  Manslielil "  42  "           " 

Jay  Peak             "  11  "           " 

VPercy  or  Stark  Peaks "  17  "  East. 

Mt.  Lafayette "  .'iS  "           " 

24. — Cold.  Packed  nyj  and  have  taken  part  of  our  things 
down  below  the  Cold  spring.  The  snow  is  very  deep  there,  yet 
the  spring  runs  musical,  the  same  as  ever.  Cross-bills  and  other 
winter  birds  are  very  plenty.  Coming  back,  saw  where  a  wolf 
had  crossed  the  mountain  last  night.  He  made  a  track  as  large  as 
a  dog.  Prof.  H.  froze  his  feet  getting  up  to  the  Prospect  House 
yesterday,  and  thawed  them  out  in  snow. 

25. — Here  it  is  noon,  and  I  am  writing  by  lamplight,  for  we 
have  not  courage  enough  to  go  out  and  shovel  the  snow  away  from 
our  window.  Ther.  15  degrees  below.  Wind  blows  hard  and  we 
cannot  get  off  this  mountain  to-day.  Just  went  out  in  the  other 
room  aud  saw  a  stoat,  or  ermine,  or  weasel.  He  is  about  eight 
inches  long,  small  head,  full  eyes,  body  pure  white,  tail  five  inches 
long  tipped  with  black.  He  jumped  out  of  the  window  where 
there  is  a  broken  light  of  glass,  then  turned  round  and  looked 
back.  I  made  a  noise  like  a  mouse,  and  he  went  to  looking  for 
that  animal.  They  are  courageous,  very  spry  and  active,  aud  will 
kill  rabbits  and  hens  ten  times  their  weight.     No  hens  up  here ! 

26. — It  is  stormful,  and  clouds  rush  wildly  along  over  the 
mountain.  We  have  packed  up.  Our  sleds  are  loaded.  ^Ve 
are  going  to  leave  the  Prospect  House, — leave  Moosehillock  — 
are  going  down  on  earth.     What  an  experience  for  nearly  two 


APPENDIX.  679 

months  we  h^ve  had  up  here.  Storms,  hail,  rain,  sleet,  snow; 
house  rocking,  dizzyinj^- ;  wind  roaring,  yelling,  howling,  screech- 
ing, screaming,  moaning,  winning,  crying ;  then  thundering,  one 
continuous  roll  so  loud  that  the  most  powerful  voice  could  not  be 
heard  three  feet  away.  And  then  what  sunshine !  How  grand 
the  thousand  snowy  mountain  peaks  around  us!  The  rivers  and 
the  lakes,  glaring  ice,  flashing  in  a  flood  of  glorious  sunlight!  The 
ocean!  how  sublime  and  how  distinctly  seen,  ninety  miles  away ! 
No  mortals  since  the  world  began  ever  had  such  an  experience  on 
North  American  mountain  top  as  we  have  had. 


CHRONOLOGY. 

Indians  in  Warren  from  time  imnieuiorial — year 1 

Wonalancet  in  Warren 1GT5 

Waternomee  ascends  Moosilauke— Acteon's  statement — about        .        .        .  1685 

Kancamagiis  in  Warren 1690 

Captives  ("irried  through  Warren 1695 

Expeditions  up  towards  Warren  alter  Indians 1703 

Caleb  Lyman  kills  Pemigewassetts •,      .        .        .  1704 

Lieut.  Thus.  Baker  marches  through  Warren       .       * 1712 

Waternomee  killed 1712 

Capt.  .John  Lovewell  kills  Indians  near  Warren 1724 

Ca|3t.  Sam'l  ^Villard,  Jabez  Fairbanks,  and  Col.  Tyng,  m'ch  toward  Warren  1724 

Capt.  John  Goffe  marches  toward  \V^arreu    .        ." 1746 

Court's  Committee  pass  through  Warreu 1752 

Acteon  Captures  John  Stark 1752 

.John  Toll'ord  comes  to  Warren 1753 

Capt.  Peter  Powers  mai'ches  through  Wan-en 1754 

Indians  with  their  captives  camp  by  Waehipauka  pond 1756 

Capt.  .lohn  Goffe  boating  on  the  Asquamehumauke 1756 

Maj.  Robert  Rogers  and  liis  rangers  camp  by  Waehipauka  pond    .        .        .  17.56 

Rogers'  Rangers,  some  of  them,  pass  through  AVarren 1759 

Hunters  in  Warren 1760 

Warreu  mapi)ed  and  named 1761 

Warren  granted  to  John  Page  and  others,  July  14 1763 

Warren  surveyed " 1765 

Warren  settled 1767 

Road  cleared • 1767 

First  religious  meeting — Cougregational— about 1775 

Revolutiim 1775 

First  mill 1776 

AVarren  incorporated 1779 

First  town  meeting 1779 

Fir.st  training 1780 

First  public  school 1783 

Boundary  lines  settled 1784 

The  Era  "of  Requisites,  about 1795 

Jlethodisin  lirst  in  AA^arreu 1799 

Turnpike  built 1808 

Second  war  with  England 1813 

First  Permanent  Stage 1814 

Spotted  Fever 1815 

First  Aleeting-house  built 1818 

Daniel  Welch  perished  ou  Moosehillock lf*25 

Mine  discovered 1830 

Berrv  brook  road  opened 1836 

Great  lawsuit 1843 

Railroad  built 1851 

AVarren  Common  cleared 1859 

Prospect  House  built  and  road  cut  on  to  Moosehillock I860 

Centennial  Celebration,  July  14 1863 


SUBSCRIBERS 


ALBANY,  X.  Y. 

J.  Munsell      .        .  3 

ANDOVER. 

John  M.  Shirley     .  1 

AXTRnr. 

W.  R.  Cochrane     .  I 

AUBURN. 

Benj.  Chase   .        .  1 

BENTON. 

Chase  Whitchev     .  1 

IraAYhitcher.         .  1 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Guy  A.  Clifford     .  1 

John -F.  Colby        .  1 

Mrs.  H.  E.  Bryer  .  1 

Samuel  G.  Drake  .  1 

Mrs.  Susan  Frost  .  1 

Benj.  K.  Little       .  1 

Omar  Little    .         .  1 

William  Little       .  1 

Public  Library       .  1 

John  E.  Lyon        .  1 

Wm.  Parsons  Lunt  5 

G.  H.  Tucker         .  1 

BRIDGEPORT,  CT. 

W.  C.  Batchelder  .  1 

BROOKE YNN,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  Kate  Lee       .  1 

CANAAN. 

Caleb  N.  Ploman   ;  1 

CLAREMONT. 

H.  W,  Parker        .  1 

CONCORD. 

Nathaniel  Bouton  .  1 

Sam'l  C.  Eastman  .  1 

Asa  Fowler   .        .  1 


FOR    THE 

HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 

John  H.  George  .  1 

3    H.  H.  Kimball    .  1 

Thos.  B.  Little  .  1 

A.  S.  Marshall    .  1 

1     S.  B.  Page  .        .  2 

DOVER. 

.     I     S.  M.  Wheeler   .  1 

EXETER. 

1     Chas.  H.  Bell     .  2 

John  J.  Bell        ,  1 


FRANKLIN. 

Daniel  Barnard  .  1 
Austin  F.  Pike   .     1 

GREENLAND. 

C.  W.  Pickering     1 

HANOVER. 

E.  D.  Sanborn    .     1 

HARTFORD,  CT. 

Geo.  E.  Merrill  .     2 

HAVERHILL,  MASS. 

J.  H.  Patch  .  1 
William  Patch    .     1 

HILLSBOROUGH. 

J.  F.  Briggs        .     1 

HUNTINGTON,  MASS. 

Ezekiel  Dow      .     1 

LACONIA. 

E. A.  Hibbard  .  1 
Mrs.E.M.Jewett  1 
T.  J.  Whipple    .     1 

LANCASTER. 

H.  O.  Kent         .     1 

LANDAFF. 

Mrs.  Mary  Clark     1 


John  Poor  .         .  1 

Daniel  Whitcher  1 

LAWRENCE,  MASS. 

D.  M.  Bovnton  .  1 

W.  E.  Boynton  .  1 

Alonzo  Jewell    .  1 

M.  P.  Merrill      .  1 


LEBANON. 

S.  N,  Homan 


1 


LISBON. 

Mrs.  S.  Kimball  1 

Kimball  Little    .  1 

A.  B.  VYoodworth  1 

LITTLETON. 

J.  G.  Sinclair     .  1 

LONDONDERRY. 

R.  C.  Mack         .  1 

LOWELL,  MASS. 

Mrs.  L.  Carleton  1 

E.  A.  Clement    .  1 

R.  T.  Clifford      .  1 

MANCHESTER. 

A.  W.  Bartlett  .  1 
C.  H.  Bartlett  .  1 
Sam'l  N.  Bell  .  2 
H.  E.  Buriiham  .  1 
Andrew  Bunton  1 
G.  B.  Chandler  .  1 
J.  S.  Cheney       .  1 

B.  P.  Cillev  .  1 
Jos.  B.  Clark  .  1 
L.  W.  Clark        .  1 

C.  W.  Clough  .  1 
L.  B.  Clough  .  1 
W.  W.  Colburn  .  1 
Geo.  W.  Colby  .  1 
Thos.  Corcorau  .  1 
David  Cross        .  1 


APPENDIX. 


581 


Moody  Currier 
Jesse  Eastman 
Jos.  G.  Edji'erlv 
M.  V.  B.  Eilgei-lv 
J.  E  Everett 
X.  G.  Fairbanks 
Jos.  W.  Fellows 
Jolm  Feriiiison 
J.  0.  French  . 
Sacalexis  Glossian 
Charles  GooUl 
E.  W.  Harrington 
Jolni  Harrington 
E.  D.  Hadley 
Stephen  Honiau 
Jacob  F.  Jewell 
Abbie  A.  Johnson 
J.  B.  Jones     . 
Joseph  Kidder 
E.  W.  Libbey 
Nancv  J.  Libbev 
H.  D".  Lord    . 
Mary  M.  Melendy 
Anson  Merrill 
John  T.  Moore 
Chas.  R.  Morrison 
Geo.  W.  Morrison 
Rodnia  Nutt  . 
A.  C.  Osg'ood 
Wm.  R.  Patten 
David  L.  Perkins 
H.  A.  Prescott 

D.  W.  Reynolds 
Isaac  W.  Smith 
Mos3s  E.  Smith 
Frederick  Smyth 
Justin  Spear  . 
C.  W.  Stanley 
Horace  Stetson 
Dan'lL.  Stevens 

E.  H.  Stowe  . 
E.  A.  Straw  . 
Cvrus  A.  Sullowav 
William  J.  Tuckei 
Samuel  Upton 
James  A.  Weston 
Darius  Wilson 
Frank  L.  Wilson 

MAKLBOROO.II,  MASS. 

Albe  C.  Weeks      .    1 


MEUKI.MACK. 

L.  W.  Parker 


PROVIDENCE,  U.  I. 


1 


MILl^OKD. 

B.  Wadleigh,  one  for 
self  and  one  for 
R.  B.  Hatch,  per 
order  clerk  of  the 
court        .         .     2 

NASHUA. 

H.  B.  Atherton  .  1 

William  Barrett  1 

W.  W.  Bailev     .  1 

H.  C.  Batchelder  1 

Joseph  M.  Copp  1 

Dr.  F.  L.  Gerald  1 

G.  A.   Ramsdell  1 

Sawyer  Junior   .  1 

Gilman  Scripture  1 

NEW  BOSTON. 

C.  B.  Cochraue  .     1 

NEW  DURHAM. 

C.  H.  Boodv       .     1 


I.  H.  Silsby        .  1 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

C.  A.  Fiske        .  1 

Mercantile  Lib'rv  1 

N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc'  1 

Geo.  H.  Moore  .  1 

ONEIDA,   ILL. 

E.  D.  Aiken       .  1 

C.  E.  Clement    .  1 

PETERBOROUGH. 

Charles  Scott      .  1 

PLYMOUTH. 

H.  W.  Blair        .  1 

J.  A.  Dodge       .  1 

J.  W.  Wluteman  1 

PORT   HURON,  MICH. 

J.F.Merrill       .  1 

PORTLAND,  ME. 

H.  C.  Peabody   .  1 


M.  H.  Bixby 

.    5 

RINDGE. 

E.  S.  Stearns 

.     1 

RUTLAND,  VT. 

G.  A.  Merrill     .  1 

C.  K.  Williams  .  1 

SALEM,   MASS.  '"' 

Henry  Bixby      .  1 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

W.  Clogston       .  1 

Columbus  Cloiig-h  1 

M.  H.G.Gilmore  1 

Curtis  B.  Newell  1 

James  Parker     .  1 

TILTON. 

J.  H.  Goodale     .  1 

VERSHIRE,  VT. 

A.  J-.  Clough      .  1 

WILTON. 

C.  H.  Burns        .  1 

WOBURN,    MASS. 

A.  A.  Clement  .  1 

A.  E.  Clement    .  1 

Mrs.  J.  B.  Flagg  1 

Mrs.  J.  Wendell  1 

WORCESTER,  MASS. 

C.  W.  Hamilton  1 
W.  Hamilton  .  1 
A.  E.  Noyes  .  1 
R.  Woodward    .  1 

WARREN. 

A.  M.  Barber     .  1 

J.  W.  Batchelder  1 

R.  Batchelder     .  1 

D.  E.  Bixbv  .  1 
Rev.  D.C.  Bixby  1 
James  M.  Bixby  1 
Sam"l  B.  Bixby  .  1 
Luther  Blake  .  1 
J.  S.  Blodgett  .  1 
C.  F.  Bracey  .  1 
John  L.  Clark  .  1 
S.  K.  Clark        .  1 


582 


HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 


Amos  Clement 
Benjamin  Clement 
Benj.  Clement,  Jr. 
D.  Q.  Clement 
Geo.  B.  Clement    . 
James  Clement 
Jas.  A.  Clement     . 
John  Clement 
Joseph  Clement     . 
R.  K.  Clement 
"W.  Clement  . 
Geo.  C.  Clifford     . 
Z.  L.  Clifford 
A.  F.  Clough 

C.  W.  Clouo-h 
Olcott  Colbv  . 

D.  B.  Cotton  . 

C.  W.  Cummings  . 
F.  C.  Cummings  . 
J.  T.  Cummings  . 
Gilman  C.  Davis  . 
John  E.  Davis 

W.  S.  Doggett 
Jonathan  Dow 
Stevens  M.  Dow    . 
Benj.  F.  Eastman  . 

D.  Y.  Eastman 
J.  B.  Eastman 
Jesse  Eastman 
Ezra  B.Eaton 
H.  A.  Eaton  . 
James  Edgar 
CO.  French 
D.  A.  French 
Osco  H.  French     . 
A.J.  Foote    . 

A.  F.  Gale     . 
O.S.  Gleason 


1  T.  Haines  .         .  1 

1  Mrs.  J.  Harriman  1 

1  N.  Harris    .         .  1 

1  Mrs.  S.  M.  Heath  1 

1  John  Hoit  .         .  1 

1  H.  C.  Howland  .  1 

1  A.  M.  Jackson    .  1 

1  G.  W.  Jackson  .  1 

1  Levi  F.  Jewell   .  1 

2  J.  S.  Jewett  .  1 
1  Ezra  W.  Keyes  .  1 
1  M.  P.  Kimball  .  1 
1  Mercy  J.  Knapp  1 
1  C.  K.  Leonard  .  1 
1  G.  E.  Leonard  .  1 
1  E.  B.  Libbey  .  1 
1  Geo.  Libbey  .  1 
1  Hazen  Libbey  .  1 
1  Ira  Libbey  .  1 
1  John  Libbey  .  1 
1  Nancy  J.  Libbey  1 
1  Nath.  Libbev  .  1 
1  AV^alter  Libbey  .  1 
1  G.  A.  Little  .  1 
1  Jonathan  Little  .  1 
1  J.  M.  Little  .  1 
1  vSasan  C.  Little  .  1 
1  H.  B.  Low  .  1 
1  G.  W.  Lund  .  .1 
1  James  P.  Lund  .  1 
1  J.  D.  Marston  .  1 
1  D.  G.  Marsh  .  1 
1  Asa  Merrill  .  1 
1  G.  W.  Merrill  .  1 
1  Enocli  Merrill  .  1 
1  H.  N.  Merrill  .  1 
1  Ira  Merrill .  .  1 
1 


James  F.  Merrill  1 

James  S.  Merrill  1 

Jesse  Merrill       .  1 

N.  Merrill  2d.  .  1 
Russell  Merrill    .  '1 

Sarah  C.  Merrill  1 

George  B.Noyes  1 

J.  H.  Noyes       .  1 

S.  M.  Noyes        .  1 

Amos  T.  Page    .  1 

Reuben  Page       .  1 

A.  M.  Pill&^bury  1 

E.  Pillsburv  .  1 
M.  W.  Pillsbury  1 
Geo.  F.  Putnam  1 
Nath.  Richardson  1 
M.  J.  Sanborn  .  1 
Jos.  Sherburne  .  1 
Darius  O.  Swain  1 

F.  J.  Swain  .  1 
Geo.  E.  Swain  .  1 
S.  E.  Swain  .  1 
Frank  hn  Towle  1 
S.  Truscott  .  1 
Jas.  O.  Tuttle  .  1 
Russell  L'pton  .  1 
E.  R.  Weeks  .  1 
H.  W.  Weeks  .  3 
Ira  M.  Weeks  .  1 
Wm.  H.  Weeks  .  1 
James  Welton  .  1 
H.  A.  Whiteman  1 
J.  M.  AVhiteman  1 
N.  Whiteman  .  1 
Levi  C.  Whitcher  1 
Sam.  Wliitcher  .  1 
J.  M.  Whiton     .  1 


INDEX 


The  table  of  proprietors,  page  170,  is  not  indexed,  neither  are  the  lists  of 
voters,  town  officers,  subscribers,  or  tables  of  names  in  the  Appendix.  Indian 
names  are  in  small  capitals. 


A. 

Abbott,  .Tohn        259,  288,  321  n,  393  «,  504 

Moses 456 

ACTEOX,  33  n,  35,  43,  51.  61,  69,  71, 103, 142 

Adiroudacks 253 

Ailceu  brook 246 

James        .        216-218,232,243-246 

Albert,  Henry 508 

Algonquin'  Indians  ....  23 
AmariscoGGIX  Indians       25  n,  64,  68, 74 

AraVmscade 96,  127 

Amoskeag  Iiulians  .  .  .  24  jj,  50 
Animals         158,  219,  229,  237,  248,  251,  318 

370-377,  r>2n 

Annexation 447 

Apple  trees 210 

Arlins,  Abigail  ....  314-316 
Arosagunticooks    .  93-99,  111-113, 132 

Arrows n.  35 

ASQCAMCHUJIAUKE  river        .    18-20,  33 

85,  104,  105,  122  »,  190,345 

Atkinson,  Theodore,  Jr.  163-164,  167, 168 

173,  176,  178,  199 

Auctions 283 

Autumn         .        .        151,2,50,251,418-420 

B. 

Badger,  David 321 

John 341 

Baker,  Capt.  Thomas         .        81-86,  190 

Ponds       ....     109,  122 

River.    (See  Asquamchumauke.) 

Balch,  John  .        .      265-257, 343, 398 

Bald  hill 19 

Balls 309-312 

Barber,  Albert  >I 451 

Barker,  John        ....     128,129 
Sarah       ....     362,433 

Stillman 433 

Barn,  the  first  one  .  .  .  .240 
Barr,  Capt.  Samuel  .  .  .  .95 
Barter 386 


404, 


Bayley  Fry   . 

Bean  porridge 

Bears  228,232,  237,  238,  251 

Beavers 

meadow  pond 

meadows 
Bedell,  Capt.  Timothy 
Bedsteads     . 
Beech  hill 

District 
Beef  cattle  sold  to  British  , 
Bell         .... 
Berry  brook  . 

brook  road 
Bills  paid  in  produce 
Birds      .... 
Bishop,  Enos 
Bixbv,  Benj. 

Dudley  C. 

George     ,        .  372, 

James  31. 

Joseph 

Moses  H. 

Samuel  B. 
Black  brook,  (seeMikaseota.) 

hill 254 

mt IS,  19,  563 

Blacksmiths 504 

Blanchard,  Col.  Joseph    93,  130,  137,  138 

Blazed  paths HI 

Blind  man's  buff.        .        .        .     301,309 
Blodsett,  Jared  S.       .        .        .     486,492 

Blue'Ridgc 239,385 

Block  Houses 100 

Blowing  a  horn 368 

Boating  ou  tlie  Asquamchumauke  .    101 

Bobbins ^02 

Boody,  Rev.  Josepli    .        .     364,  365,  422 

Books WO 

Law     .        •        .        .        .     350,352 

Town 350 

Boundary  lines    .        .        .        .        n,  337 
feuds  .  n.  222,  335,  339,  511-51S 


.     189 
.    218 
n,  325,  371 ,  372 
210. 251 
.    229 
186,  210,  219 
270,  27 : 
.    215 
20,  325 
.     320 
269,  270 
.    486 
19,  20 
454-460 
.     356 
377, 527 
127-129 
404,  416 
511,  545 
M.439,  503 
.    532 
.    455 
490,  541 ,  543 
455,  480-482,  503 


584 


HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 


Bartlett,  Chas.  H 481 

Dr.  Ezra         354  /(,  355-356,  389 

405,  4<J0,  537 

Dr.  .Josiah     167  n,  171,  178,  IOC 

277,  354 

Bashaba       .        .        .        .       43, 4B  n,  51 

Baskets l    506 

Batchelder  brook  ....  19 
Cotton  .  .  .  ,394 
Capt.  Daniel  .  .  .  .508 
Isaiah  229,  260,  277,  292,  337 
338,  419 


John  S.     . 

.    382 

Reuben    . 

288 

320 

343,  358 

Stephen    . 

.    321 

Ward  C.  . 

.    509 

Battles   .... 

230 

231,  332 

Bennington 

.   2(;9 

Bunker  hill 

, 

.    2S)3 

for  office  . 

329,  334 

Indian      .         44 

62, 

«G, 

>7,  S3,  91 

Knight  with  a  be 

ar 

. 

.    344 

by  Rogers'  rangers 

.     139 

of  St.  Francis 

, 

, 

.     145 

Bounties  for  falling  tree 

5     . 

, 

.    222 

for  grist-mill 

. 

, 

.    241 

for  killing  ludi 

ilUS 

.      75 

for  killing  wild  animal 

3     .    371 

for  saw-mill 

237,  240 

for  settlers  . 

, 

196 

197,  225 

for  soldiers  . 

269 

285,  287 

Bowen,  Peter. 

, 

. 

115,  117 

Bowles,  Charles  .      285, 

286 

307 

413,  441 

Lot  . 

, 

. 

.    286 

Bows,  Indian 

, 

n.  35 

Boyuton,  Joseph 

, 

367,  426 

Thomas 

, 

. 

.    358 

Dr.  Worcester  E. 

546,  554 

Bradstreet,  Col.  Dudley 

, 

.      70 

Bracey,  Chas.  F. 

506,  511 

Brainard,  Daniel 

, 

n.  211 

Brick      .        .        . 

, 

.    504 

Bridges 

, 

345-348 

Bridle  paths 

, 

189,  245 

Broad  arrow  mark 

184,  238 

Broadhead,  Rev.  John 

363,  368 

Brock,  Billy  . 

, 

.    420 

Brooks   .... 

2.50, 

381,  417 

Brown,  Frederick 

, 

.    407 

Jesse 

, 

.    552 

Burnham,  Josiah 

321 

339,  413 

Burning  a  piece  • 

.    218 

Burning  of  James  Aiken 

's  house    .    245 

Burns,  Dr.  Robert        321,  355,  n 

405,  538 

Burnside,  Thomas 

, 

, 

.     190 

Burials  .... 

, 

w.  40 

Burying  cloth 

, 

, 

.    353 

ground  . 

27, 

295, 

.359,  487 

Burton,  Amos 

, 

402,  445 

Butler,  Capt.  Wra.     234, 

240, 

241, 

277,  279 

295,  302,  331,  338,  n.  341,  352,  363,  385,  38; 
Button  or  play .309 


c. 


Call,  Phillip  . 
Camp-meeting 
Canal     .... 
Canoes   .... 
Captains 

Captives  67,  88-98,  105,  lOS,  118,'  127,  133 
treatment  of  by  Indians  .      45 


.    127 

.     366-369 

349,  415-447 

n.  36 

297,  391,  547 


Cardigan  Mountain      ....    318 

Cartiing  mill         ....     349,  501 

wool        .        .        .        «..233, 360 

Caribou 375'-376 

Carr  Mt.  18-20, 182, 247-251, 254-256, 375, 563 

Cascades  on  Berry  brook  .        .        .    .324 

on  Ore  hUl  brook       .        .    .388 

Casualties 559 

Catamount    .        .        •        .        .     208, 370 
Cemeteries    ....     295,  359,  487 

Census n.  265,  534 

Centennial 167, 519 

Centre  district 320 

Certificate  money        .        .        n.  .333,  .356 

Chaii-s 215,505 

Charter  ....      168, 196.  199,  200 

Charleston  Convention      .        .     292-293 

district      ....    320 

Choristers, 260, 542 

Christo 107 

Chi-onology 579 

Churches       .        .        .       362-365,481-489 

Cider  mill 419 

Clapboard  and  shingle  mill       .        .    501 

Clark  Amos .348 

Daniel n.  277 

Stephen  K 500-502 

Thomas    228,  277,  279,  285,  292,  337 

n.  338 

Clearing,  first  one        .        .        .        .210 

first  road     .        .        .     188, 220 

Clement  Amos 506 

Col.  Benjamin  420,  425,  503 

Daniel  Q.  .  .  n.  493, 502,  563 
Ephraim         .        .        .        .470 

Hill 19 

James     .  33,  451-453,  49.3-498, 516 

Dea.  Jona.     .      245,  251,  365,  366 

Jonathan       225,  259,  284,  349,  387 

Joseph    .        .       33, 499, 504,  559 

Moses  H.        2.37,  311,  n.  349,  395 

-397,  405,  ft.  427,  446,  455-458,  501 

Obadiah      .33,    222,   2:38,  267,  279 

n.  284,  293, 297-303, 329, 334, 345 

-348,  398,  441-446,  565 

party       .        .        .      278,  334,  .349 

Reuben  .        .      225,  264,  279,  293 

Russell  K.        .321,  n.  380,  429,  483 

MMlliam  ....     480^82 

Clerk,  proprietors        .        .        .        .178 

Town  ....     278,5.32 

Clifl'ord,  Absalom        .        .        .        .382 

Dorathy         .        .        .     .351-353 

Isaa(;      ....     279, 280 

Hon.  Nathan        .        .        ji.  280 

Reuben ....     423,  424 

Ruel  Bela      ....    500 

Russell  F 321 

Timothy  .  .  n.  320, 554 
William  ....  509 
Mrs.  Zachariah    .        .        .    434 

Climate 20 

Clough,  Amos 554 

Amos  F.  210,486,506,514,562,669 
Columbus,  .  .  .  .  486 
Capt.  Jeremiah     ...     92 

District .320 

Jonatlian  .  .  .  210, 406 
Nathaniel  .355,  n.  387,  419,  n.  428 
436,  464,  475,  n.  499 
School-house.  .  .  .  2)0 
William 465 


INDEX. 


685 


Coal 50(i 

Coasting 316,  317 

Cold  brook 317,  417 

.Spring  ....      492,  r)(!3 

Winter         ....     284,442 

Collectors  of  taxes     .       179,  281,  282-2S4 

College  graduates       ....    539 

Colonels 395, 547 

Committee  of  Safety  266-269,  275,  284-287 

^  to  explore  Coos       .       .    109 

to  run  lines       .        .     179,  337 

to  buikl  bridges      .      345-348 

to  build  a  meeting  house    358 

359,  423-428 

to  clear  roads  .     188,  19(> 

to  lay  out  lots  .      189,  220 

to  take  care  of  pauper  .    352 

to  agree  with  settlers    196, 220 

n.  222 

Common 485,  487 

Conditions   of  Charter    169,   174, 187,  200 

Constables 279,  281 

Constitution 358 

Continental  Money  .  .  .  .  282 
Converts        .        ."       .        .        .        .368 

Convention 292 

Cook,  Timothv 127 

Cooking         ."       .        .        .     306,307,399 

Coopers 502 

COOSICK  Indians  .  .  n.  24.  25,  99 
Coos  Turnpike  ....  384-389 
Copp,  George  W.         .         «.  321,  426,  441 

John  . 394 

Joshua  218,  « .  265,  267, 285,  292,  331 
352,  358,  499 
Joshua,  Jr.  .  .  .  218, 294 
Moses  218,  241,287,  293,  352,  .353 
Sarah  -  -   - 


Copper  mine 
Corporation  dinner     . 
Cotton,  Dudley  B., 

Solomon  . 
Courts    .        .        .        . 
Coventiy 

Craige,  Alexander 
David  S.  . 
Cross,  Daniel 

Iron  mine  . 

Uriah 

CtJLHEAG  TRAP     . 

Cummings  survey 

Currency 

Cushmau,  Ebenezer    . 

Francis  A. 

Mt. 


D. 


310-312 

.    449 

177,  178 

.    534 

455-457 

•.     279 

212 

W.211 

.    386 

212 

'.     389 

.     343 

,  208,  376 

.    339 

.    356 

500-504,  513 

500-506,  513 

18,371,563 


Dances   . 

■       44, 

309-312,  420 

Dark  day 

.    284 

Davis  brook  . 

.    353 

Enoch 

.    353 

Dav,  Daniel 

.    416 

Death  bv  casualty 

,        ^ 

.    559 

bv  fright    . 

.     461 

in  Warren 

• 

.     552 

Dedication    . 

. 

.    426 

Deer 

183, 229 

230,2.37,376 

Deer  Keepers 

. 

281,  n.  .351 

Devil's  Doings     . 

,        ^ 

.     363 

Diana'a  bowl 

. 

192,  562 

Diary,  Amos  F.  Clough's  . 

of  weather       .       .       .       n. 

Dishes 

Distances  on  Moosilauke  road 

Dodge,  Joseph  A 

Dogs n. 

Doggett,  W.  S 

Dow,  Ezekiel        .        .        .        .321, 
James  317,320,365,366,429,439, 

Jonathan    

Col.  Stevens  M.  261,  321,  n.  493, 

Drafts 285, 391- 

Drawing  of  lots    ...        .        .     192, 

Dreams 

Dresses  of  olden  times   208,  231,  233, 

310, 

Drinks    .        .      261,278,302,311,413, 

Drills      .... 

Drovers 

Ducked  .... 

Dudley,  Gov.  J.   . 

Dustiri,  Gardner  . 

Mrs.  Hannah 

Dutch  wagon 
oven  . 

Dying 234, 


.  73-75 

.     277, 

67,  68,  n. 

.     361, 


569 
408 
218 
563 
473 
374 
511 
543 
525 
.582 
547 
393 
548 
327 
260 
311 
443 
351 
269 
504 
,85 
28-2 
428 
398 
210 
501 


Eagles  .... 
Eames.  Capt.  Jeremiah 
Early  settlers 
East' Branch 
Eastman,  Addison  W. 
Damon  Y. 
Jesse    . 
Jesse    . 
East-parte  district 
regions 
song  . 
Eating   . 

human  llesh 
Eaton,  Ezra  B.    . 


Ecclesiastical 


253,  459,  494 
.     267,  270 
.      207-235 
.      19 
382,  516,  .545 
.506 
.     362 
394 
320,  342,  567 
.    325 
.    568 
.     307,  412 
.     148,  151 
.      500,  511 
257-262,   361-369,   422-430 
541-544 
450,  451 
313-321 
.    444 
.      55 
178,  278,  329-334 
.     192,339 
.     247 
433, 462,  K.  470 
.    277 
.     184 
.    566 
.      426-428 
.      149-151 
516 


394 


Edgar,  James 
Education     . 
Egg-nogg       . 
Elliott  the  apostle 
Elections 
Eleven  mile  tree 
Ellsworth 

Moses  . 
Emerson ,  Samuel 
Equinoctial  storm 
Eva 

Evens,  Rev.  Edward 

Sergt.  David 

Exhibitions  . 

Expeditions  against  Indians    75-79, 80-86 

88-91,  93,  96,  118 

to  Wan-en    101,   110,  121-125 

138, 182-186 

Express  business        ....    398 

F. 

Fairbanks,  Capt.  Jabez      ...      89 

Fairs 173 

Fairies 152,250 

Falling  trees         ....     222,  294 
Family  Record,  (see  Genealogy.) 


586 


HISTOKY   OF   WAKREN. 


Famine  .... 

.    408 

among  Indians 

n.  49 

among  Kangers 

•      147-156 

Farm  work    . 

.     412, 420 

Fashions  in  olden  times 

233,260,310 

Federal  Constitution  . 

.     358 

Currency 

.     356 

Feasts    .... 

38,  177,  256,  307 

Fellows,  Jonathan       .  269 

,293,341.  ?i.422 

Joseph  . 

.      '.    321 

Perkins 

H.  392.  394 

Samuel  . 

n.  341,  441 

Filield,  Isaac 

.    372 

Fire-place 

.     309 

Fires       .... 

.      245, 467-471 

First  land  in  the  world 

.       31 

Fishes    .... 

.    528 

Fisliing .        .        .        .  36, : 

235,379-383,417 

Fiske,  Chas.  A.    . 

.     506, 562 

Fisk.  Wm.  H. 

.    381 

Flanders,  Samuel 

343,  425,  558 

Capt.  Stephen  3 

42, 373-375,  422 

Flax       .... 

.    234 

Fli))         .... 

.     443 

Floats     .... 

.     373 

Floodwood  company  . 

.     299,  393 

Flowers 

.       242, 318-324 

Foote,  Cotton 

.    513 

Foote,  Elias  . 

.     370 

Levi  B.      . 

.     321, 435 

Forks  district 

.     210,  320 

Forts  at  Coos 

100,  113,  118 

Wentworth    . 

.     138 

Foster,  Jona. 

n.  285 

Fowling 

36,  378,  n.  379 

Foxglove  meadow 

.     235,  516 

Foxes     .... 

251,  370,  376 

Freewill  Baptists 

364,  483-489 

French,  Dr.  Alphonzo  G. 

.     382,  481,  539 

David  A. 

.     538,  581 

Dr.  David  C.  321, ■! 

03.481,504,512 

538,  545 

John 

.     321,  545 

Josepli    . 

288,  4U5,  407 

Mrs.  Dick 

.     324 

Osco  H.  . 

.     509 

Reuben  B. 

.     321,565 

War 

.      126-1.56 

Freshets 

347,  n.  391 

Froas      ....  249, 

«.. 307, 319,  528 

Frost      .... 

.     408 

Clouds 

.     .577 

Feathers 

.     573 

Funeral 

n.  426 

first  one  . 

.    294 

Sermon   . 

.     365 

Furniture 

.    215 

G. 

Game     .       .       .       .       ■' 

56,209,251,370 

Games    .... 

.     301,309 

Gardening     . 

.        .    414 

Gardner,  John 

.    342 

Geese     .... 

.    378 

Genealogies  :— 

Abbott 

.     553 

Barker 

.    553 

Bartlett 

.    354 

Batchelder  . 

.    553 

Bixby  .        .        .        . 

.     404 

Bovnton 

.     554 

Genealogies  ;— 

Bowles 

Butler  . 

Clark    . 

Clement 

Cliflbrd 

Clough 

Copp     . 

Dow     . 

French 

Homau 

Jewell 

Knight . 

Libbev 

Little"  . 

Merrill 

Patch   . 

Pillsbury 

Richardson 

AA'elch  . 

Wliitcher 

W'hitenian 
Ghosts   . 
Gilman,  Daniel 
(jITCHF.  Manito 
Glen  ponds    19,  182, 
Ciods,  Heathen    . 
Gofle,  Capt.  John 
Golden  tradition 
Gookin,  Maj. 
Gospel    . 
Gould,  John  . 
Gove,  Capt.  John 
Graduates 
Grantees  of  Warren 
Grave-yai'ds 
Greeley,  Col.  Jona. 
his  Inn 
Grist-mill 
Guns      .        .        . 

H. 


.    286 

.234 

554 

222,  224,  344 

.    554 

.     387, 554 

.    218 

.    554 

«  .        .     .554 

.    312 

.    555 

.    342 

555 

341,  463,  555 

231,233,341,5.55,556 

211,  357 

.    556 

.    556 

.    341 

221,  230 

.    394 

388,  n.  439 

.    265 

39,71,  171,  185 

235,  248,  254,  4.55,  514 

.     185, 366 

92,  94,  130,  136 

.     153 

.      61 

.     174 

.    372 

.     426 

539-541 

.     170 

487-489 

166-200,  220,  2:.'3,  291 

II.  168,176,291 

240-242,  349,  500 

.     265, 267 


Hackett,  Capt.  Wm.  .  .  n.  225,  n.  339 
Handsleds  ....  238,241,255 
Harboard,  Jona.  .        .        .        .311 

Harnesses 506 

Harriman,  Mrs.  James       .        .        .    500 

Hartv,  Capt.  John  D 394 

Haying 219,  258,  416 

Hawkins,  Onley 354 

Hazen,  Capt.  John      .        .        .     167,  179 

Head,  Gen.  Natt 510 

Hearse «.  518 

Heath,  Dr.  Horatio      .        .        .     321,434 

William     .        .     230, 264,  287,  293 

Heights  of  mountains        .       .        .    563 

Hermits 235,478 

Hidden,  Ebenezer       .        .        .        .341 

John 341 

High  Street 362 

Height-o'-land,  .  .  .  20,325,386 
Heiarht-o'-landers  .  .  .  .388 
Height-o'land  district  .  .  .320 
Highways,  (see  Roads.) 
Highwav  survevors  .  .  .  279,  281 
Hilton,  Col.  Wihthrop  .  .  76, 80 
Hinchson,  John     235,  252-256,  259,  71.  264 

293 
Hobart,  Col.  David  .  .  .  280, 286 
Hogreeves,  or  Hog  constables  .  281 
Hogs 386 


INDKX. 


587 


Tlolman,  Rev.  Sullivan 
li    .mcs,  Barnabas 
li  <mau,  Caleb 

Mrs.  Caleb  . 
Horses  .... 
Hotels     .        .        .  201, 

House  burnt  by  rebel 
Houses  .... 
Howard.  Col.  Joshua 

Biee 

Hunters  .       153, 1 

Hunters'  camp     . 

on  Moosehillock 
Hunting  by  Indians    . 

party     . 
Hunting 
Hurricane 

i brook   . 
falls     . 
Husking  bees 
Hutchins,  Gordon 


.    484 

.     287 

342,365,  M.  414 

.     344, 425 

.     357 

11.  206,  348,  387 

.    271 

.     240 

.     19n 

.     425 

.58, 235,  250-256 

.     159,  230 

.     229,  253 

II.  37 

103,  203,  2.55 

.      250-256 

409,571,576 

.     250,  562 

.     562 

.     419 

.     287 


X 

Indians 

Burials 

Camp  . 

Captives 

Captured 

Fights   92,9.5-98 

Friendly 

Gods    . 

Killed  . 

Laws    . 

League 

Legends 

Marriages 

Massacres 

Xames 

Oratory 

Religion 

Revels 

Rock     . 

Trail     .  20, 

Trilies  . 

War      . 

in  \\'arren 
Indictments  . 
Infantiy 

Inns,  (see  Taverns.) 
Insects  . 
Interregnum 
Introductorj- 
Inventories". 
Iron  mine 

J. 

Jackson,  Dr.  Chas.  T 

Geo.  W 
Jail  broken   . 
Jewell,  Samuel 
Levi  F. 
Jewelry 
Jewett^  .f .  S. 
Jobildunc  ravine 
Johnson,  James 
Jones,  Joseph 
Josselyn,  John,  Gent 
Judges  . 
Jugglery 
Jumper" 
Jurors,  Grand 


.      24 

.  n.  40 

.     128 

.     1.33 

.      62 

118. 127-128, 14.5-148 

81-84 

.      39 

.    116 

.  n.  52 

42,  51 

.      29 

.      40 

.      92 

25 

54-56,74,  112 

.      39 

.      44 

26,71,242,294,562 

149,  183,  189-191,340 

.      42 

.  46,  59,  75 

26,27,33,224,562 

.     333, 343 

297-303,  390-397 


417,  529 
.  331 
.      17 

282,  .551 
.     389 


.    349 

.     470, 505 

.     117 

.     413,  .5.55 

372,  500,  .502 

.    506 

.     511 

.    497 

.      1.33, 525 

.    354 

.36,  158 

279-281,560 

53,  .54,  517 

.     226 

.     329 


K. 

Kancamacu'.s      ....       64,  no 

Kelley  pond  ...        19,  ,326,  499 

VVilliani     ....     427,  .500 

Keyes,  Ezr.i  W.   .        .        .        ;/.  405,  486 

Keyes  Ledge,  or  Mt.IIcIen, 20,27, 317-.320 

Keezer,  Lemuel    .'(.37,  348,  /).  368,  «.  387 

II.  400,  n.  414,  /(.  427,  )(.  4.33,  n.  .504 

Lemuel,  Jr.   .        .        .     406, 444 

Kimball,  Cyrus  C 381 

Heber    ....     490,  543 
Joseph.         .         .         .     277,337 

KiNEO,  Mt 18,  2.54,  563 

King  Gef)rgc's  war      ,        .        .        91-98 

Phillip's  war       .        .        .         60-62 

William's  Avar    ....      88 

King's  Woods       .        .        .        .171,  183 

Kuapp,  Arthur 5i] 

Knight,  Betsey 426 

Hannah  B.  .  259,  363,  n.  556 
Hill.  .  ...  19 
Nathaniel  .  .  .  316, 352 
Samuel  .  .  249,  288,  n.  342,  439 
Mrs.  Samuel  .  .  344,  n.  363 
Stevens 420 


L. 

Ladd,  Capt.  Daniel     ....      96 
Trueworthv      ....     166 
Land  given  to  settlers  211, -220,  222,  225 
given  1.0  Col.  Greelev      .        .199 
given  to  Phillips  Wliite  .     ;99 

given  to  Schools      .        .        .    313 

Lane,  Col.  Chas 473,500 

Law  book 350.  352 

Lawsuits  .  243,  279,  33> ,  461-464,  482 
Lawyers        .        .        .      462, 481,  .535, 542 

Lead  mine 44c ,  452 

Leathers,  Vowell         .        .        .     376^  469 

Learitt,  Benj.       .        .        .      182,  189,  192 

Leonard,  Charles         .        .        .     487,520 

George  E.    .        .     410,481,520 

Libbey,  EzrsuWalton  .        .     510,557 

Dr.  Ezra  B.    .         .        .     413,  505 

George  313,  373,  392,  406,  505, 555 

Hazen     .        .        .        .     481, 490 

John        .        .        .      343,  458.  555 

Luke        .        .        .      288,  407,  555 

Nathaniel       .     307,  310,  392.  409 

Obadiah         ....    413 

Walter 505 

Librai-j- 559 

Lifting'at  stiff  heels  .  .  .  !  302 
Linen  wheel  ....  2.34,  245 
Lines  settled  ....  337'  511 
Little,  Amos  341,385,  404,410,423,4-27,443 

Benj 214,  217,457 

Ben.j.  K 379,514 

George  .  .  .  n.  463. 555 
George  A. .  .  .  463,  n.  541 
Dr.  Jesse  h.  231.  321.  403.  n.  463 
511,  53S,  545 
Jonathan  .        .        .        321,  n.  476 

Joseph  M 5C6 

Thos.  B.    .        .        .        u.  463,  5(9 

Lock 428 

Log  forts 138 

Log  houses   .        .        .       210.21.5-224,2,36 

Loggerhead 278 

Longevity 552 


588 


HISTORY    OF    WARREN. 


Loous     .... 

.     227 

Lost        .... 

.     558 

Lots  drawn   . 

192, 

222,  548,  550 

lost 

.    337 

for  ministers 

.    257 

run 

.     192 

I'or  settler.s    . 

.    196 

for  scliools    . 

n.  170,  313 

Lovewell,  Capt.  John 

.    88-91,  98 

fight     . 

.      89 

Low,  Asa 

288,  n.  .396 

Jacob  . 

288,  n.  396 

John 

.    343 

Lower  school-house    . 

u.  320 

Luflcin,  Levi 

.    359 

Lug-pole 

u.  245 

Lnnsber  trade 

.      476-477 

Luud,  Ephraim    .  u.  211 

227 

264,288,293 

Ephraim    . 

.     277,  392 

Hosea 

.     416, 505 

Joseph 

227 

,260,277,293 

Stephen 

.    416 

Stephen 

.    418 

Stevens  Merrill 

.    511 

Lymau  Caleb 

76,  79 

Lyon,  John  E. 

n.  472,  563 

M. 

Malmrin,  Capt.  Ephraim  H.      .        .    392 

Mail 265, 398-403 

Mann,  John 212 

Manufactures       .        .        .  499-507 

Masitou,  (see  Gitche  Manito.) 
Map  of  Warren    .        16,  171,  336,  355,  448 
...    186,  410 
.    173 
.      142-1.56 
.    279 
n.  493,  569 
20-28 
255,  279,  293 
.    470 
.    350 
.    221 
.     183.  451 
398-401 


Maple  sugar 

Markets         .... 
March  of  Rogers'  Rangers 
Marriage,  the  first 
Marsh,  David  G.  . 
Marston  Hill 
John 
John  D. 
Joseph  E. 
Sarali     . 
Martin  brook        .        .      '. 
May,  Col.  Silas     . 

Mav  trainings 297 

McOarter,  Antony       .        .      478-479, 503 

McDeuflfe,  Gen.  John        384.  445-447,  454 

Meader,  Paul        .        .  .342,  n.  500.  560 

Header  Pond,  (see  Wachipauka  pond.) 

Meeting-house      260,  358,  422-430,  484-489 

Meeting  at  Plvmouth  .        .        .    3-36 

of  I'roprietors       .        .     176, 3.35 

religious         ....    2-58 

town        .        .        .  277-279,      351 

Merrill,  Abel        .         u.  341,  374.  423,  442 

AmosL.         .         .        .     372,379 

Anson  321,366,  386, 426,445,  n.  462 

503 
Benjamin  (390,  426,  435,  444,  n.445 

500 
brook  .  .  .  .  19,  n.  417 
Deaf  Caleb  .  .  .  .437 
Capt.  Daniel  .  368,  n.  387,  n.  400 
427,  483.  500 
David  ....  287,293 
Ira  ....  321,486,500 
Col.  Isaac  321,  470,  481,  487,  502, 
512,  516 
Isaac       .       .        .        363,  n.  414 


Merrill,  Jonathan  232.  238,  269,  279,  284 
329-334,  390, 393,  405, 422-428,  500. 
Joseph  231,  344,  348,  385-390,  400 
406,  436,  437,  500,  555 
Capt.  Joseph  .  .  363,  419 
Rev.  Joseph  .  .  .  321,  539 
Joshua  n.  233,  2.52-256,  284,  n.386 
Lemuel  .  .  .  321,  n.  439,  541 
Gen.  Michael  P.  321,  u.  385,  n.429 

546 
Rev.  Nathaniel  u.  321,  364,  386 
Nathaniel,  2d  28,  321,491,  n.  493 
party  .  .  .  278,334,349 
Robert  E.  .  .  .  n.  363 
Russel  .  .  .  n.471,n.  493 
Samuel  .  213,  327,  342,  379,  386 
Samuel  .  .  .  .  n.  363,406 
Samuel  L.  435,  445.  n.  461,481,486 
Stevens  231,  233,  237,  240-246,  252 
-264,  267,  269,  283,  2;i6,  315,  346 
364,  437-439 
Stevens,  2d  .  .  232,  456,  537 
True  ....  449-453 
William  .     "  .        .        .     394, 445 

Meteors 404 

Methodists    .        .        362-368, 483-489,  541 

Mica n.  316,  453 

Middle  cascades  ....    562 

MIKASEOTA  brook  .  .  19,20,239,258 
MUitary  company  .  .  .  297-303 
officers  .  ,  .  .  ■  546-547 
drills  .  193,  220-222,  237-240,  349,  506 
Mills,  Anna  .        .        .        .        .     310-312 

James n.  501 

John  215,  245,  252-256,  259,  263,  287 

294-296 
John,  Jr.  215,  241,  259,  2S9,  293,  294 

-296 

Widow 353 

Millers 501 

Minerals        .        .  20,  241,  249, 449-453,  530 

Mines 449-453 

Ministers,  Free-wiU  Baptist  286,  364,  365 

542 

3Iethodist  362,  363,  367,  368,  408 

489,  541 

Universalist       .       .     483,542 

Miracles 78,  n.  363 

Mist  Mt 18, 563 

Moat n.317 

Moderators  ....  278,282,533 
Mohawk  Indians       .        .     42, 65, 76-79 

Monev 356 

MONTAWAMPATEE        ...        57,  525 

Montgomery,  Gen.  John  .  .  390,  392 
Morey,  Col.  Israel  .  .  .  .297 
Morse,  Robert  ....  400, 401 
Moose  111,  122,  212,  224,  227,  253-256,  372 

-375. n.  417 

Moose  yard 253-255 

Moosehide  breeches    .        .        221,  n.  265 

Moosehillock  district .        .        .     320,342 

falls        .        .        .        .344 

Mt.  18-,  71,  151,  229,  253,  457 

-460,490-498,563,569 

Mt.  road        .        .        .563 

Moosemeat  .        .        .        .        .        .    272 


Moosilauke  house 
Morrill,  Abraham 

John 
Mosely,  Capt. 
Mother  Cluck 


.  466,  475,  n.  493 
.    189 

.  221,231,279 
.  61 
.    564 


INDEX. 


dm 


Moiiltou  brook     ....     235, 515 
Mount  Carr,  (see  Cuvr  nioimtain.) 
Jluiuitaius    ....      495-i98, 563 
Mt.  Helen,  (see  Keves  Ledge.) 
Music    .        .        .  ■    .  300. 395, 401 

Muster  day .39.5-397 

Mytholoffv 366,  367 


Name  of  Warren 

Naming  buildings        .        .        .        n. 

Nashua  Indians,        .       .       .   n.  24 

Necessaries  brouglit  from  Plymouth 

Negroes,  stealing        .... 

New  emission  of  monev    . 

New  Hampsliire  Grants    159-161,  164, 

Newichaxxock  Indians  .  .n 

Night 

Niles,  Jesse 

Nathaniel 

NIPMUCK  Indians  24,  26,  28,  42,   n.  70 

-92,  99, 
Northern  Indians 
Lights  . 
Noyes'  Bridge 

Enoch 

Joseph 
Number  Four 


202, 
n. 


112, 


171 
425 
,  -'5 
224 
108 
356 
289 
.24 
312 
354 
277 
,87 
113 
61 
374 
433 
414 
514 
155 


o. 

Oak  foils 

Ocean    .... 

Officers  B.  C.  &  M.  R.  R.   . 

military  .... 

Proprietors    .        . 

Town       .... 

D.  S.,  State  and  County 
Oils  and  essences 
Old  fashioned  rtre-place 

Old  well 

Old  Wliite  Face    .... 
Oliverian  brook  18,  20,  82,  129 


Notch    . 
Omens    .       .       ,       .       . 

Oratory 

Ore  hill 

Ore  hill  brook 

Origin  of  the  Pemigewassetts 

Orn,  Joseph  .        .        .        . 

Osgood,  Capt.  James 

OssiPEi:  Indians 

Owl's  Head  Mt.   . 

Ox  Teams    .... 


82,  191,  .326,  500 

.     498, 575 

n.  472 

.    296 

.    177 

278,  530 

.    560 

.    504 

.    309 

.    296 

.     371,  .372 

149,  n.  190 

n.  229 

20,  124 

.    431 

54,112 

449, 453 

27  388 

.      29 

.    354 

n.  267 

n .  25 

18.  563 

305,  308 


P. 


Paddles 
Page,  Enoch 

Gov.  John 

John  . 

John,  Jr. 

Joseph 


n.  35 

196,  220,  225,  338 

392 

166-185,  203,  237 

.      166-171,  188 

178,196,220,233,  3.38 

Samuel  B.  462,  533,534,  535,541, 563 

Pall 353 

Palmer,  Rev.  John  E.        .       .       .    483 

Panics 289 

Panthers        ....     208,  370,  529 

Parade 350 

Paring  bees  .....    464-466 


Parker,  Rev.  L.  \V. 
Parties  . 
Partridges    . 
Pascataquaukes 
Passaconaway  . 
Patch  brook 

bridge 
Patchbroucklaud 
Patch,  Daniel 

David 

hill     . 


545 

.'      278, 329-334 

220,  251,378.379 

.     .1.24,42 

.  51-.57,110 

19,477 

.     347,  348 

.      320,  325,  465 

356,  392, 446,  ir,r, 

n.  393 

19,  342 


.Jacob  207,  209,  210,  245,253,321,372 

-375 

Joseph  207-213, 225, 231, 240, 25C-256 

263,  271,  284,  351,  372,  n.  376,  556 

Joseph.  Jr.        213,  n   .385,  393,  423 

n.  461 
Mrs.  Joseph     .        .        .     272, 288 


party 
PAirdiTs 
Paupers 

Pawtucket  Indians 
Pearlash 
Peddlers 
Peg  factory  . 
Peeling 
Peer     .... 

PEHAtrXGUN 

Pemigewassett  Indians 

land 
Penhallow's  Indian  Wars 
Pexxacook  Indians 
Pensions 
People  bewitched 
Peqcawkee  Indians 
Perusing  the  law 
Pestilence 
Peters,  Absalom  .         289, 
Peters,  Dr.  Joseph 
Philip,  King 
Phillips,  Lt.  WiUiam 
Photographers 
Physicians    . 
Picked  hill    , 
Picnics  . 
Pierce,  Franklin  . 
Pine  hill 

District  . 
PiUsbury,  Moses  W. 
Richard 
Richard 
Thomas 

Pitching  quoits    . 

Pitch-pipe 

Pizen 
Plague   . 

Plan  of  the  town 

of  Forts  at  Coos 

Plantation     . 

Plants    . 

Plausawa  . 

Plays      . 

Pod  teams    . 

Poets  of  Warren 

Politics 

Pomeroy,  Robert 
William 

Ponds    . 

Population    . 

Postmasters 

Post-office     . 

Potash  •. 


21 


23-29 


331, 


278,334,349 
89-91 
351-353 
.   25 
.  503 
395-397 
.  502 
337,  339 
.  103 
n.  70 
,49,58,99 
28,  61 
80,89 
24,60 
.  287 
.  435 
25,  S9-91 
.  352 
.   49 
354, n.  384 
.  354,  536 
.   60 
n.  149 
.  506 
354,  536-539 
19 
319 
462 
20 
320 
501,505,561 
.  416 
345,  416,  556 
385,  416,  436 
.  302 
.  367 
.  301 
47-50,  404 
339,  355 
.  100 
.  173 
318,  529 
114-116 
301,  309,  465 
.  386 
.  564 
.  357 
151,  525 
.  502 
19,  499 
.  535 
403,  542 
402,  403 
.  603 


590 


HISTORY   OF   WARREN. 


Potter,  Ephraini  . 

.     366, 416 

Hon.  C.  K.      . 

n.  55 

Poniirl 

.     350 

Poultry 

.     303 

Powder  and  ball 

265,  n.  290 

Powers,  Re\^  (iraiit    . 

120,  190,  310 

Capt.  Peter  .       12^ 

-125,  190,  401 

Rev.  Peter    258,260 

-262,  328,  422 

Pow-wow       .... 

.      90 

Preachers     .... 

n.  427.  511 

Preachiug     .... 

.     258,  363 

pay  for 

n.  427 

Prescott,  George  W.  . 

403,  414,  445 

Presented     .... 

.    333 

Prime 

.     289 

Proclamations 

.     160 

money 

.     174 

Produce        .... 

.     308, 386 

Proprietors  .... 

21,  170,  338 

Camp 

.      183,  189 

Meetings  168,  178 

,  ISO,  185,188 

192 

Records     . 

.      177,  194 

Taxes 

179,  188,  193 

Prospect  House  . 

.      493-498 

Pulling  tcetli 

n.  400 

Punch    

.     167, 443 

Pungs     

.    386 

Puter  platters 

.     284 

Putnam,  Geo.  F. 

.     .536, 541 

Q- 

Queen  Anne's  War     . 

73-79 

Quilting  bees 

.    462 

Quincy,  lion.  Josiah  . 

469, n.  481 

Quit  rents      .... 

.     165 

QUOCHECO    .... 

66-68 

R. 

Rabbits 

.     171 

Races 

.     343 

Rait  on  the  Connecticut     . 

.     154 

Railroad        ."      . 

.     472-477 

Raising  bees 

.     424 

Ramsey,  ^[rs.  Betsey 

.     365,  425 

Daniel   . 

.     320,  .372 

Ransom  money    . 

.     106 

Rattlesnake  Mt.   . 

.     122, 401 

Rebels 

.    264 

Red-oak  hill  .... 

18,  436.438 

Regiments,  old  13th    . 

.     392,  .395 

12th    . 

.    297 

Religion         .... 

.     174 

of  the  Indians 

.39 

Religious  meetings 

.      257-262 

Report  of  Surveyor  Leavitt 

.     185 

Representatives  . 

280,  293,  533 

Reptiles        .... 

.     528 

Requisites     .... 

.      340-359 

Reservation  .        .        .      165, 

174,  197,  512 

Retrent  of  Rogers'  rangers 

.      147-1.56 

Revolution    .... 

200,  263-293 

Richardson,  Nathaniel 

.     392,  413 

Capt.  Stephen 

260,  409,  433 

Ride  and  tie  . 

.     436 

Riding  post   .... 

.     265 

Rindge,  Isaac 

.     200 

Roads    .         20, 109,  188, 191, 

222,  333,  340 

345 

Rocks     

.    530 

Rocky  falls  .... 

.     252 

Rogers' Rangers  .  •  .  .  137-156 
Maj.  Robert  .  110, 136-156, 190 
Romney  .  .  .  .  211,  n.  469 
Roots,  Crooks,  and  Daisys  .  .  212 
Root,  Dr.  Levi     .        .     '  .        .     354, 537 

Rum 265,  346,  388 

Runaway  pond  ....  186, 219 
Running  the  gauntlet  .  .  .  105 
Running  town  lines     .        .        .     182, 220 

S.- 


Sabbatis 

107,  114-116 

Sabin,  Rev.  Elijah  R. 

.     362, 422 

Sable      .... 

.     209, 370 

Salamanders 

.     298, 528 

Sale  of  property  to  pay 

taxes  .       .283 

Salmon  .... 

209.241,-559 

Sanborn.  Morrill  J.     , 

473, n.  506 

Sawheganet  falls     . 

.     122 

Sawtello  district  . 

.    320 

Saw-mills 

193 

,  220,  237,  499 

Scalping  David  Stinson 

.     105 

Scalps    .... 

.       95, 105 

Schools  .... 

175 

,313-321,517 

books 

.    316 

committee   .    . 

.    534 

districts   .    '   . 

.    320 

houses 

.      310-321 

teachers   . 

.     314. 321 

Scouts    .... 

.      77 

Seal  of  Warren    . 

.    351 

Selectmen     .        .      279 

281 

339  390,  530 

Sentimental  Acrostic 

.     565 

Sentinel  Mt. 

18,  338,  563 

Settlements  . 

.    207 

Settlers  .... 

.    212 

Set  of  drills  . 

.    351 

Set  of  measures 

.    350 

Seven  Cascades    . 

152,  202,  497 

Seven  years  war  . 

.      126-156 

Sham-tight    . 

.        76,  396 

Sliaw,  Henry 

.     293 

Sheep  marks 

.     414 

Sheldon,  Lieut.  Charles 

.    510 

Henry  H.     . 

.    561 

Shingle-niiil  . 

.     501, 503 

Shoemakers  . 

.     505 

Shooting  match    . 

.    306 

Silver  niine   . 

.    449 

rill       . 

.    344 

Singing  .... 

260,  n.  362 

Signs       .... 

348, n.  389 

Smith,  David         .     251 

321 

416.511,534 

Capt.  -Tohu 

41.47 

Simeon 

226, 

267,  282,  337 

Snakes  .... 

.    528 

Society,  School-house 

n.  341 

Soldiers  from  Warren  264, 

285,  293,  390 

509 

Solitude 

99,  145,  203 

Sorcery  .... 

.      53 

SouHEGAN  Indians     . 

n.  24 

Spaulding.  Daniel 

.     190 

Spelling  schools  . 

.     517 

Spiders  .... 

.     528 

Spinning  flax  and  wool 

.    360 

Spotted  fever 

.      404-407 

Spring    .... 

101, 

298,409,410 

Squamscott  Indians 

n.  24 

INDEX. 

old 

stage      .... 

398-41)0,  n.  4(11  | 

Townships  laid  (uit     . 

.     164 

drivers 

.     400,  402 

Tradeers 

441-448,  561 

horses 

.     400 

Training  dav,  first  one 

.      297-303 

Starch  factories   . 

.     502 

field 

.    359 

Stark,  Gen.  Joliii 

103, 

109,  139, 264 

Trapiiing 

159,  LOS 

tstars      .... 

.     312,  .374 

Treasurer,  county 

.    560 

Stevens  Capt. 

76, 

112,  1,31),  142 

proprietors 

.     179 

Maj.  True      . 

3ei.-),  4-J 

"),4.")8,u.  .^Ol 

town 

.     281 

St. Francis  Indians, see 

.Vrosagunticooks.  | 

Trocothick    . 

212 

Stinson,  Davitl     . 

.      103-105 

Trees      .... 

.     .^29 

Stint       .... 

.     558 

Trout      .        .        ,        , 

317,  .381 

Stock  of  provision 

.     290 

True,  Eph.    . 

219,  297 

Stocks    .... 

.     2S0 

Truscott,  Samuel 

.    4.50 

Stone,  Col.     . 

.     396 

Tunnel  brook 

.    253 

Stores     .... 

441-448,  561 

Turkey  .shoot 

.     306 

Storm     .... 

185.391,570 

Turnpike,  Coos    . 

384-389 

Straggler 

.    288 

Coventrv    . 

.    384 

Strangers,  well  (Ires.sed 

.    268 

Turtles  .        .        ."      . 

.    528 

Streamy  Valley  disti-ict 

.     320 

Two  Brothers  monument 

.      74 

String  bean  company 

.     299,  393 

Tvthingmau          .         281 

,n. 

365,  366,  429 

Sugaring 

.     410 

Tyng,  Capt.  . 

80,  89 

Suicide  .... 

.     .558 

Summer 

.     258, 32i 

u. 

Summit 

.     323,  476 

District     . 

.    320 

Uniforms 

. 

.     299 

Superintending  .School  Committee  .    534 

Universalists 

. 

483-489,  542 

Surplus  llevenue 

.'  4.56 

ITtensils  of  Indians     . 

.      34 

Surveyors 

179 

189,339,384 

Upper  school-house    . 

. 

n.  320 

of  liighwaj" 

5 

.     279 

Swain,  Darius 

.    493 

V. 

Darius  0. 

.     510 

Swallows 

.    343 

A'anium,  John 

.    366 

Swingling  flax 

.    274,  315 

Vendue  .... 
Village  school 

.    283 
.    320 

T. 

. 

Volunteers  for  the  army 

, 

264,  392,  394 

Table     .... 

.    215,  218 

Votei'S  .        .        .        277, 

285, 

333,341,354 

Tailors   . 

.    233,  505 

Tanning 

.    502 

w. 

Tarleton  Lake    .. 

18,  262  389 

Tarrenti.ne  Indians 

42-52 

WACHiPArivA  pond     18, 

128 

138,  239,  382 

Taverns 

168 

223,  348,  387 

Wagon,  first  n\  town  . 

.    361,  398 

keepers   . 

.     223, 348 

Waldrou,  Richard 

.   62,  61-68 

Tax  collectors 

.  ■  281-284 

Wars      .... 

, 

.201,508,511 

Taxes     . 

.     3.56,  551 

Mexican 

.    508 

of  proprietors 

.     179.  188 

of  1812 

.      391-394 

paid  in  produce 

.     356 

Of  Revolution    . 

.      263-293 

Teams  to  market 

.     343.  .386 

Warning  out  of  town 

. 

.     353 

Teamsters    . 

343,  349,  386 

Warren  Admiral 

17, 172 

Telegraph     . 

.     511 

Wan-en  .        .        .      102, 

158 

168,171,-76 

Temperance 

.    513 

Waternomee  69-72.  75, 

83, 

110,  190,  493 

Tempest 

1K4 

391,  571,  576 

508 

The  serpent  . 

.     567 

falls     . 

, 

.202,375,562 

Thesbian  Lyric    . 

.     .566 

iMt.       . 

18 

197,  512,  563 

Thurston,  Asa 

403,  445,  502 

Water  shed  . 

.    386,  476 

TiTAGAW,  Francis 

.     103 

Weare,  Meshech 

.        .    277 

Todd,  Capt.  Andrew 

.      96 

Wearing  a  hat 

. 

.     310 

Toddy    . 

.    443 

Weaving 

. 

.     316 

TQlford,  Capt.  John 

.     109 

Webster,  Jereniv 

. 

.     177,  185 

Toll-gate 

.     385 

Slide  Sit.     . 

18,  372,  563 

Tolling  the  bell    . 

.    486 

Weeks  district 

. 

.    320 

Tomahawks-. 

.      34 

Enoch  R. 

420,  446,  463 

Tories    . 

.  ,264.  268 

Enoch  R.,  Jr.  . 

.     560 

Tornado 

.    409 

Henry  W.        ,  4' 

■l,u 

.  486,. 500,  561 

Torture  . 

44,  45 

Ira  M.       . 

.    321,  511 

Town  books  . 

.    330,  3.50 

Mrs,  Sarah 

.    434,  462 

Clerks 

.    278,  532 

Weights  and  measures 

.    350 

House 

.    486 

Welch,  Aaron 

.     341 

lines    . 

.     168,  337 

Daniel 

.    558 

lots      . 

.      192,518 

Wentworth,  Gov.  B.    91 

129 

,  162, 167,  194 

map    . 

ie 

171,. 336,  418 

Gov. John 

194,197,  too 

meetings    . 

277,282.5.57 

Wetamoo     . 

.       57,  525 

ofRcers 

278 

,281,530-534 

Wheelwi-ights 

. 

.    506 

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