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KIMBALL WEBSTER
HISTORY
OF
HUDSON. N. H.
FORMERLY A PART OF DUNSTABLE, MASS.. 1673-1733
NOTTINGHAM, MASS., 1733-1741
DISTRICT OF NOTTINGHAM, 1741-1746
NOTTINGHAM WEST. N. K, 1746-1830
HUDSON, N. H., 1830-1912
BY
KIMBALL WEBSTER
EDITED BY
GEORGE WALDO BROWNE
MANCHESTER, N.H.
GRANITE STATE PUBLISHING CO.
19 13
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Price, $3.50
DEDICATION
TO THE INHABITANTS
OR FORMER INHABITANTS
OF THE TOWN OF HUDSON
ESPECIALLY ALL THOSE ANCIENT PIONEER FAMILIES THAT WERE SETTLERS
IN OLD NOTTINGHAM
WHEREVER AT PRESENT LOCATED
THIS HISTORY
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR FRIEND OR KINSMAN
THE AUTHOR
^-S^N
INTRODUCTION
It has been said that to write a good town history was the work of a lifetime. It requires, beyond question, just as other tasks exact, a great amount of patient research and careful study in order to accomplish satisfactory re- sults. The haste with which some works of this kind are prepared prove in their failure the truth of this statement.
While the writer of this History of Hudson cannot claim as much for his undertaking, yet he has been collect- ing data relating to the town, to some extent, for a great many years. At first he had no thought of attempting a work of this kind, but possessing a historical temperament he prepared such historical material as he thought would be useful to some one who might attempt to do it. These early gleanings and savings eventually reached a porportion which seemed to make the compilation of a his- tory, if not easy, at least within his grasp.
In December, 1884, while canvassing the county of Hillsborough, N. H., for a history to be compiled and pub- lished, D. Hamilton Hurd, Philadelphia, suggested that I should prepare a brief account of the town of Hudson for his work, to be published as the sketches of the other towns were to be given. He allowed me twenty pages of space, but before my article was finished I found I had material enough for more than double that number of pages. Mr. Hurd finally allowed me twenty-five pages, which were filled with solid historical matter. My part of the work in the book was almost entirely a labor of love, the compen- sation being very small.
It is possible this effort was an unconscious stimulant towards causing me to attempt a more ambitious work.
1
2 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Until that time, and for some years since, my life has been a very busy one. However I might have seen the neces- sity of a comprehensive town history of Hudson, or what- ever willingness I might have felt towards undertaking the task, I could not find the time to accomplish it. Still, an- ticipating that some one, if not myself, might in the future carry out the work, I felt it a duty I owed the citizens of Hudson, and especially to the early settlers, including sev- eral of my immediate ancestors, to treasure up and preserve all of the valuable and interesting local incidents that I was able to discover. Accordingly I made copious extracts from the early town records, including all of the births, marriages and deaths, arranging each item alphabetically, so as to be easy for reference. I copied the laying out of the highways, the tax lists, as far as could be found during the first century, and transcribed the inscriptions found in the cemeteries. I also copied the records of all the most important business transactions of all the town meetings held in town, until I had the substance of the records of Hudson in my own office. Nor did I stop here, but I thoroughly investigated all of the church records I could find and copied and arranged them for ready reference. This placed within my use all of the records of Hudson as far as it was possible.
In addition to these collections of official and personal facts, I conversed with many of the most intelligent aged people of the town, who many years since passed away. In these ways, and other opportunites that came my way, for more than thirty years I collected and arranged the material, much of which has been embodied in this work.
And yet, until recently, or within a few months, I did not expect to ever accomplish the task of the publication of a town history, but the opportunity came and I improved it. No attempt has been made to prepare genealogies of the different families, but considerable history of the older families has been given ; enough, I trust, in many cases to materially enable the descendants who wish to trace their
INTRODUCTION 6
lineage. In writing this work my chief aim has been to be accurate as far as lay within my power. That errors have crept in is inevitable, but I cannot help thinking that, as a whole, the book will compare favorably with others of its class. The book has grown to larger proportions than was really intended at the outset, but from the abundant material at hand, I did not feel like omitting any considerable portion, so it must must meet public recognition as it stands. Aware of its imperfections, I hope there will be sufficient of common interest and value found to make it an accept- able product.
My thanks are due to those who have so kindly assisted me in one way or another, and not least among these I wish to speak of Messrs. C. E. Paine and C. W. Barnes for the photographs they have so kindly furnished to embellish the work. My thanks are also due to Elwin O. Hathaway for assisting me in the preparation of the map, which lends additional value to the text.
So, not without some hesitation and a few misgivings, this history is offered to the present inhabitants of Hudson, many of whom are descendants of those early settlers who broke this wilderness, and long since passed to their re- ward. They were honest, rugged, true-hearted men and women, and it is impossible for us to know so much of them as we could wish. They labored faithfully and well for the common good, as they saw it. They builded even better than they knew. All honor to the memory of those worthy pioneers.
K. W.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Natural Features 17
Boundary — The Merrimack River — Wicasuck Island — Surface of the Town — Soil — Forests — Early Meadows — Pioneer Families — Stone Walls — Denizens of Forest and Stream — Deer Wardens — Fish Wardens — Ponds — 'Sawmills — Water Power — Agriculture.
CHAPTER H Aboriginal History 26
Tribes of Indians — Pennacook Confederacy — Character of Three Great Sachems — Farewell of Passaconnaway — Petition for Land to Gov- ernor Endicott — A Niggardly Recompense Made to the Aged Peti- tioner— Brenton's Farm.
CHAPTER HI When Hudson Was a Wilderness 35
Descendants of Passaconnaway — Wonnalancet — His Distress — Petition for Relief — Professes Religion — King Philip's War — Good Service of Wonnalancet — His Plight and Lonely Fate — Changes Wrought in the Landscape by the Woodman's Axe.
CHAPTER IV Dunstable in the Indian Wars 46
King Philip's War Followed by King William's War — Dunstable the Outpost Through Half a Century of Conflict — Queen Anne's War —
5
6 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Prayer of Cotton Mather — An Interval of Peace — Towns in Xew Hampshire Chartered — Scotch-Irish Appear on the Scene — Indian Depredations Are Renewed — Norridgewock P^xpeditions — Father Rasle Slain— Settlement of Indians at Pequawket Demand Atten- tion— Bounty on Indian Scalps Increased — Fatality of Lt. French and His Party at Nashua — Loss of Life in Old Dunstable — Love- well Deposition.
CHAPTER V Lovewell's Men 60
The Lovewell Expeditions — Names of Men in Last Scout — Journey to the Saco Valley — The Ossipee Fort — Surprise of Both Friends and Foes — Opening of the Memorable Fight — Death of Captain Lovewell, Frye and Others — Paugus Slain — Cessation of Hostili- ties— The Dreadful Retreat — Colonel Tyng Sent to Relief of Fugi- tives— Summary of the Ill-Fated Battle.
CHAPTER VI First Settlers of Hudson 74
The Hills Grant — Danforth Survey — Boundary of First and Second Tracts— " Hills Meadow"— " Burns Hill"— Joseph Hills— His Fam- ily— Disposition of his Estate — Three Sons — Their Families — Hills Garrison — Thomas Blodgett — and Descendants — Taylor Garrison • — Taylor Family — Taylor's Falls — Fletcher Garrison.
CHAPTER VH Grants and Counter Grants 88
The Boundary Dispute — Grant of Old Dunstable — Grant of London- derry— Character of Scotch-Irish — Names of First Comers — Wheel- wright Deed. — Industries of Scotch-Irish — The Londonderry Claim — Pioneers of Rival Towns — Petition of Certain Inhabitants to be Set off into a Separate Township — Charter of Nottingham — First Town Meeting — First Tax List.
TABLE OF CONTENTS " 7
CHAPTER VIII Pioneer Families 98
Settlers of "Hills Farm" — Isaac Cumniings and Descendants — Deed to Eleazer Cumniings — Cummings Farm — Gathering Turpentine — Vis- its of the Indians to Nashua River Island — Burying Ground of the Indians — Cummings Ferry — Cummings Tavern.
CHAPTER IX Pioneer Families, Continued 107
Nathan Cross Settles Next to Cummings — Deed of Land — Cross Fam- ily— William Cummings Farm — He and His Descendants^John Taylor Garrison Place — Eleazer Cummings, Jr., Homestead — Jabez Davis Farm.— Edvvrard Spalding F'arm — Spalding Family — Farm of Ebenezer Spalding — Origin of Thornton's Ferry — Josiah Cummings — Hills Ferry.
CHAPTER X Settlers of Hills Farm 118
Pollard Family — Winn Family — Winn Homestead — Thomas Colburn — Colburn Deed — Colburn Family — Maj. Zaccheus Lovewell — Love- well Farm — Ephraim Cummings — John Butler — -Thomas Cum- mings— His Family — Ens. John Snow — Site of ^His House — Lt. Joseph Snow — Snow Family — Descendants of the Pioneers.
CHAPTER XI "Hills Row" 129
Brenton's Farm — List of Proprietors Living in Nottingham — Boundary of Litchfield — Area of Nottingham — Nathaniel Hills — Ezekiel Greeley — ^His Homestead — Hills Family — Joseph Pollard — The Marsh Family — Nathaniel Hills, Jr.— Hills Deed— Tyng Land — Settlers of Hills Row.
8 HISTORY OF HUDSON
CHAPTER XII The Boundary Dispute 137
Confusion Caused by Early Surveys — Mistake in Regard to the Course of the Merrimack River — Perplexities of King and Courts — Notting- ham Becomes Involved in the Tangle — Made into a District — Dis- trict Meetings — Old Bounds — The Boundary Pine — Old Dracut Line.
CHAPTER XIII "Londonderry Claim" 147
The Boundary Dispute Becomes a Three-Cornered Fight with Nottingham — Spirit of the Times — Double Taxation — Petitions and Counter- Petitions — Annexation — Name of District made into Nottingham West to Distinguish it from Another Grant under the Title of Not- tingham— Area — List of Added Tax-Payers — New Boundary Line of Nottingham West — Population of Town at Various Dates — Adoption of Name of Hudson.
CHAPTER XIV Nottingham West and Families 159
Charter of Township — New Boundaries — Effect on Litchfield, Pelham, and Dracut — Family Sketches — Ebenezer Blodgett — Samuel Bur- bank — George Burns — Thomas Burns — John Caldwell — Joseph Caldwell — Ezekiel Chase — Roger Chase — Isaac Cummings — Eben- ezer Dakin — Charles Darrah — Arthur Darrah — Josiah Dutton — Daniel Simonds — William Taylor — Benjamin Tyng — James Wason.
CHAPTER XV The First Meeting House 183
Early Action Towards Public Worship — The First Minister — Efforts to Select a Site for a Meeting House — The Difficulty to Please All — Voted to Build on North Site — Location of First Meeting House — Pew Lots — Change in Boundary of Town Upsets Calculation of the Builders of Old First Meeting House — Disposal of Building.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS \)
CHAPTER XVI The Second Meeting House 192
Renewed Difficulties in Regard to Fixing Site for New House — The Upper Meeting House — Possibly the First in Town — Location of Hills Farm House — Site of "Second" Meeting House — ]>uilding the House — Pew Lots — Churchyard — When the Union of Town and Church Affairs Began to Cause Trouble — Rev. Nathaniel Merrill.
CHAPTER XVn The Presbyterians and North Meeting House . 202
Rival Religious Tenets — Discussions and Litigations that Arose from Church Differences — The Presbyterian House of Worship — Site of the Building — \rchitecture of the Interior — Fatality at the Raising — First Pastor — Minister's Tax Becomes a lione of Contention — Purchase of North Meeting House.
CHAPTER XVHI Some Early Church History 213
A Lull in the Rehgious War — Vote to Repair North Meeting House — Call to Rev. John Strickland Dismissed — Rev. Jabez Pond Fisher — List of Those who Opposed Him — His Friends — Letter from Mr. Fisher — Better Feelings Engendered — Crisis in Religious Matters — The South Meeting House — Baptist Society — The North Meeting House Again — Pew Holders.
CHAPTER XIX French and Indian Wars 225
Old Militia Law — Savage Warfare — Rogers' Rangers — Men from Not- tingham West in the Service, 1744 to 1760 — Resident Taxpayers, 1775— Tax List, 1779.
10 HISTORY OF HUDSON
CHAPTER XX Nottingham West in the Revolution 236
beginning of the War — Association Test — Signers — Capt. Joseph Kel- ley — The Town's Only Tory — Committee of Inspection — Conti- nental Money — Current Prices — Awards for Service to Portsmouth and Bennington Men — To the Volunteers — Other Awards — Deprecia- tion of Currency Causes Hardship — Beef Tax — Corn Rates — Bill of Rights.
CHAPTER XXI Dark Days of the Revolution 250
The Little Republics — The Lexington Alarm — Minute Men of Notting- ham West — Muster Roll of 1775 — Personal Sketches — Men at Bun- ker Hill — -Ticonderoga Alarm — Men in Expedition to Number Four — Nottingham West Soldiers at Bennington — Volunteers to Rhode Island in 1778.
CHAPTER XXH Soldiers in the Revolution and War of 1812 . . 264
List of Men and Their Service — Second W^ar with Great Britain — Mus- ter Rolls Incomplete — Nottingham West Men in the Army.
CHAPTER XXni
Hudson in the Civil and Other Wars 27g
Hudson Loyal to the Cause — Action Relative to Bounties — Soldiers' Aid Society — Beginning of Hostilities — Hudson Soldiers in the War — First New Hampshire Regiment — Third Regiment — Fourth Regiment — Sharpshooters — Company G Sharpshooters — Seventh Regiment — Eighth Regiment — Ninth Regiment — Tenth Regiment Twelfth Regiment — Thirteenth Regiment — Important Battles — First N. H. Heavy Artillery — Hudson Men Who Served Elsewhere — Amount of Bounties — Entire Enlistments — Mexican War — Spanish. American War.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 11
CHAPTER XXIV Tax Lists and Homesteads, 1793 293
Invoice of 1793 — Summary — Area of Land^Family Sketches — North End Settlers — South End Settlers.
CHAPTER XXV History of the Schools . 316
Initiatory Movements Towards Support of Schools — School Houses — Re- port of District Committee — Description of the Ten Districts — Earl) School Houses — School Report, 1847 — School Statistics, 1855-1910 — Town School System. — Smith School — Webster School — Burning of Smith School House — The Center School House.
CHAPTER XXVI Customs of the Early Settlers 331
When Neighbors Were Neighbors — Fireplaces — Oldtime Cooking — Middle Names — First Shoemakers — Homespun Clothes — Cider Mills — Lights and Lamps — Soap Making — Modes of Travel — Bean Porridge — Farm Tools — Clocks — Sheep Washing — Roots and Herbs — The Open Well — Sugar Making — Wheat Flour — Spiritu- ous Liquors — Tramps — Social Ways — Breaking Roads — Beards or Smooth Faces — Title of Mister — Justice of the Peace — Publishing the Banns — Highway Fences — Farm Methods — "Old" and "New" Tenor.
CHAPTER XXVII
Items of Interest and Local Names 362
Saw Mills, Grist Mills and Shops — Pine Tree Law — Pine Tree Riot in Weare — Dark Day of 1780— Cold Summer— Cold Friday — Sep- tember Gale — Solar Eclipse of 1806 — Old Style and New Style — Organization of Hillsborough County — Lafayette's Visit — Pounds — Tarnic Pond — Robinson Pond — Barrett's Hill — Bush Hill — Hills Row — "The Farms" — Taylor's Falls Bridge — School Districts and
12 HISTORY OF HUDSON
School Houses — Thurston's Jump — Moose Swamp — Town Com- mons — Stocks — " Potash Corner" — " Lawrence Corner" — Library Park — Warning People Out of Town — Murders
CHAPTER XXVIII Great Storms and Freshets 391
The Merrimack a Mountain Stream — Freshet of 1818 — Freshet of 1824 —Freshet of 1839— Great Freshet of 1841— Freshet of 1843— Fresh- et of 1852— Highwater of 1862— Great Freshet of 1896- Great Snow Storm of 1888.
CHAPTER XXIX Ferries and Bridges 399
Cummings Ferry — Hills Ferry — Hardy's Ferry — Taylor's Falls Bridge.
CHAPTER XXX Cemeteries and Burial Grounds 411
Hills Farms Cemetery — Ford Cemetery — Blodgett Cemetery — Old Hud- son Center Burying Ground — Senter Burying Ground — Hudson Cen- ter Cemetery — Sunnyside Cemetery — Catholic Cemetery — Ceme- tery of the Unknown.
CHAPTER XXXI Foster Fund — Surplus Revenue 423
John Foster, Jr., Legacy to the Worthy Poor — Surplus Revenue — Its Distribution.
CHAPTER XXXII Additional Church History 428
Congregational, Presbyterian Churches — Later History of Church Prog- ress— Ministers Since 1842— The Baptist Church and Society—
TABLE OF CONTENTS 13
Founders of Society in Hudson — Pastors Since Its Organization in 1805 — Centennial Anniversary. — Resume of Church Work — Metho- dist Episcopal Church and Society — Work of the Founders — Fletch- er Fund — Bequest of Mrs. Tinker — Donation of Lucinda W. Floyd- Bequest of Mrs. Electa Atwood — Woodbury Contribution — Wood- bury Parsonage — Quarter Centennial — Bequest of Mr. Tolles — Honored Names — Pastors 1839-1912 — AlvirneMemorial Chapel.
CHAPTER XXXIII Public Libraries 461
The Nottingham West Social Library — The Greeley Public Library — Lot for New Library Secured — Hills Memorial Library Building — Gift of Dr. Alfred K. Hills — Memorial Tablet to Memory of Hud- son's Soldiers and Sailors — Librarians of Hudson's Free Public Library.
CHAPTER XXXIV Secret and Fraternal Orders 473
National Grange — Grange of New Hampshire — Hudson Grange — Char- ter Members — Masters — Places of Meeting — Odd Fellowship in Hudson— Building of I. O. O. F. Hall— Echo Rebekah Lodge- Hudson Commandery.
CHAPTER XXXV Highways and Byways 483
Early Roads. — Derry Road — County Road — Province Line to Pelham — Corliss Hill — Nacook Brook — Back Lowell Road — Belknap Place — Rocky Hill Road — From County Road to Pelham — Bowman Road— Old Daniel Smith Road— Smith Road— Bridle Road— Wa- son Road — Seavey Road — Ferry Street — Lowell Road — And Many Others — State Highways.
CHAPTER XXXVI Steam and Electric Railroads 502
Steam Railroads — Electric Railways — Lowell and Nashua Line — Hud- son, Pelham and Salem Route — Rapid Transit Between Nashua and Manchester.
14 HISTORY OF HUDSON
CHAPTER XXXVII Hudson Village 509
Story of the Growth and Business of Hudson's Leading Hamlet — The Center — Resources of the Town — Hudson Water Works.
CHAPTER XXXVIII Resident Physicians 530
Dr. Ezekiel Chase — Dr. John Hall — Dr. Joseph Gray — Dr. Apolos Pratt— Dr. Paul Tenney — Dr. Nathaniel P. Marsh — Dr. Daniel Tenney — Dr. Dustin Barrett — Dr. Elijah Colburn — Dr. Zaccheus Colburn — Dr. Henry M. Hooke — Dr. James Emery — Dr. David Onslow Smith — Dr. Herbert L. Smith — Dr. Henry O. Smith.
CHAPTER XXXIX Voting Lists of Hudson 540
First Printed Check List— Check List for 1874— Check List for 1909.
CHAPTER XL Official Roster 551
Lists of Moderators of Annual Town Meetings — Selectmen — Town Clerks — Delegates to General Court and Conventions, 1775-1913 — Representatives to the General Court, 1775-1913 — Votes for Governors — Post Offices and Post Masters — Population.
CHAPTER XLI Personal Sketches 569
George G. Andrews — John Julian Baker — William Wallace Baker — Henry C. Brown — W^illis P. Cummings — Charles E. Cummings — Dea. Moses Greeley — Reuben Greeley — Alden Hills — Hiram Marsh — Walter H. Marsh — James B. Merrill — John A. Robinson — Reu- ben Spalding — Kimball Webster — Nathan Pierce Webster — Wil- lard H. Webster.
ILLUSTRATIONS
GENERAL VIEWS
OPP. PAGE
Alvirne, Summer Residence of Dr. Alfred K. Hills . 528
Alvirne Memorial Chapel 457
Baptist Meeting House, 1841 441
Congregational Church, 1842 193
Davis, Asa, or Morrison House, 1780 305
Garrison House, about 1720 80
Hills Memorial Library, 1909 465
Hudson Center 489
Hudson Center School Building, 1908 316
Hudson Shore above Bridge 17
Hudson Town House, 1857 209
Library Park, 1910 385
Library Park from the South-west 393
Map of Hudson 8
Methodist Church, 1880 513
Odd Fellows' Building, 1895 480
Old Town Pound 369
Page, Abraham, or Timothy Smith House 297
Post Office Square 509
Robinson's Pond and Barrett's Hill 24
Scene looking up the Merrimack River from the
Bridge 552
Tarnic or Otternick Pond 377
Taylor's Falls Bridge, 1827—1881 401
Taylor's Falls Bridge, 1881—1910 504
Taylor's Falls Bridge, 1910, two views 409, 545
Taylor's Falls Bridge, 1912 225
Webster School Building, 1896 328
15
16 HISTORY OF HUDSON
PORTRAITS
OPP. PAGE
Andrews, George G 569
Baker, John J 497
Baker, William W 570
Brown, Henry C 560
Cummings, Charles E 105
Cummings, Willis P 573
Greeley, Dea. Moses 169
Greeley, Mrs. Mary Derby 172
Greeley, Reuben 433
Hills, Alden 129
Hills, Alfred K., M. D 136
Hills, Mrs. Ida Creutzborg 468
Hills, Mrs. Nancy Kimball 132
Marsh, Hiram 176
Marsh, Walter H 580
Merrill, James B 185
Robinson, John A , 153
Smith, David O., M. D 444
Smith, Henry O., M. D 320
Smith, Herbert L., M. D 537
Spalding, Reuben 584
Webster, Kimball Frontispiece
Webster, Nathan P. . 520
Webster, Willard H 591
ERRATA
On page 15, next to last line, for 225 read 425.
On page 455, 14th line, after "He died," read Novem- ber 3, 1866.
On page 507, 4th line from bottom, change "Senter" to "Center."
On page 586, top line, for 1744 read 1744-5.
On page 645, 25th line, Jesse S. Webster should read Jesse S. Weston.
On page 646, after Weston, James, add Jesse S., 407, 410, 550, 557 (4), 561.
16 HISTORY OF HUDSON
PORTRAITS
OPP. PAGE
Andrews, George G 569
Baker, John J 497
Baker, William W 570
Brown, Henry C 560
Cummings, Charles E 105
Cummings, Willis P. 573
Webster, Nathan P 520
Webster, Willard H 591
HISTORY OF HUDSON
CHAPTER I
Natural Features
The beautiful town of Hudson, N. H., is situated on the east bank of the Merrimack River, and borders upon the Massachusetts Hne. It is bounded on the north by Litchfield and Londonderry, east by Windham and Pelham, south by Tyngsborough, Mass., and west by Nashua and Litchfield. One of the most delightful sections of the Merrimack River, which is here from three hundred and fifty to five hundred feet in width, marks its western boun- dary from Litchfield to the Massachusetts state line, a dis- tance of about six and one-half miles.
The extreme length of the town from north to south is a little more than eight miles; its average width is three and one-half miles. Exclusive of its area of water, Hudson contains seventeen thousand, nine hundred and fifty-one acres, as nearly as can be ascertained.
The surface of the water of the Merrimack along this part of its course has been raised by the Proprietors of the Locks and Canals dam at Pawtucket Falls, Lowell, from four to seven or eight feet above its original height. This flowage of the river extends as far north as Cromwell's F"alls, Merrimack, and displaces all the falls that formerly existed between those points.
In the days when the Merrimack followed its natural descent there were at least three rapids or waterfalls worthy of mention and of utility to the early settlers. About four
17
18 HISTORY OF HUDSON
miles above Pawtucket, where the river swept around a considerable island by the same name, was Wicasuck Falls, noted as good fishing-grounds among the Indians and the early white settlers. The island was a scene of interest and importance during the perilous years of King Philip's War, when Capt. Jonathan Tyng overlooked a party of " praying Indians" that lived on the island for about ten years, thus keeping them from mingling in the bitter strife being waged between the colonists and the red men. In consideration of this valuable service the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay colony granted the plot of land to him December 5, 1683, and it became known as Tyng's Island.
About eight miles above Wicasuck Falls, and one mile below the junction of Nashua River with the Merrimack, was a series of rapids known as Taylor's Falls, so called for an early settler. Of less consequence than Wicasuck Falls, they were about half a mile below Taylor's Falls bridge, which spans the river between Hudson and Nashua, and which received its name from that waterfall. Other minor rapids or falls marked the course of the river, but there were none that attracted the attention of the pioneers until Cromwell's Falls, already mentioned, were reached. To- day the unrufifled surface of the river gives no indication of the existence of any falls between Pawtucket and Crom- well's Falls.
The surface of the westerly part of Hudson is com- paratively level, and bordering upon the Merrimack are some fertile intervale lands, very productive and easy of cultivation. This is especially true of the northerly por- tion, where the Indians cultivated, in their primitive way, fields of maize, melons and vegetables long before the Eng- lish came hither to drive them away. There are smaller sections of land along the river that are sandy, and less productive, while tracts of light land are found in the interior.
The easterly part of the town is hilly, and the greater portion is rocky and hard to cultivate. Still the soil is
NATURAL FEATURES 19
good, if meagre, and in many of the valleys, and on the hillsides are numerous excellent farms, which are well adapted to raising grass, apples, other fruits, and for graz- ing purposes. The sandy soils and rocky hills, many of which are entirely unfit for cultivation, are prolific in the growth of wood and valuable timber, which, being conven- ient to a good market, have long been, and will probably continue to be for many years in the future, sources of profit and income to the farmers of Hudson.
By far the most profitable of all the species of timber grown in town is the white pine. This thrives best on sandy soil, but excellent pine forests are to be found grow- ing upon the rocky hillsides. The early settlers found ex- tensive tracts of white and yellow pine, which had no doubt occupied those places more than a thousand years. But these have all vanished, so that to-day only an oc- casional giant stump remains to remind us of their de- parted greatness. The stony hillsides and broken valleys are better adapted to species of hard woods, and here abound several varieties of the oak, white and silver leaf maple, white and gray birch, poplar, elm, ash and chestnut. Spruce and hackmatack grow in the swamps.
When the first settlers arrived they found an almost unbroken wilderness of pine and hard woods. Consequent- ly portions of this had to be cleared before they could pro- duce any crops from the land. Fortunately there were natural meadows and strips of land along the river bank that afforded a rank grass upon which they fed their cattle during the long winters. These meadows were originated by the work of the busy beaver, in a large measure, through building their dams across the smaller streams, so as to flow the adjacent land for a considerable distance. Event- ually these small ponds became filled with debris, over which grew the coarse grass, that proved of such benefit to the pioneers. Yet, from the best evidence we have been able to obtain, we have no doubt that those natural grasses grown upon those boggy meadows, in primeval days, were
20 HISTORY OF HUDSON
far superior in quality as well as quantity to the grasses produced upon the same unimproved meadows in later years, after having been cropped for generations with noth- ing returned to aid in sustaining or renewing the fertility of those cold, acid soils. In the territory comprising Old Dunstable and Londonderry these wildwood meadows were numerous.
As it is to-day, from forty to fifty per cent of the area of the town is covered with forest growth, more or less valuable, much of it young, and very little that has been growing more than fifty years.
The story of the clearing and removing of the primeval forests in a large degree has an almost pathetic interest, and seems like a shameful waste of good material. But beyond building his humble cabin and cattle-shed, all of which really required but little timber, the pioneer had no use for the dense primitive growth covering the land. What he needed most were plots of land to cultivate his scanty crops, grazing spots for his stock, and an opening in the great damp forest to let the sunlight in upon his home. Thus he went about his task with little care for the value or utility of the timber he sought to destroy. Giant trees that to-day would be sources of much value were felled, cut into convenient lengths, pulled together and burned as so much refuse. Other tracts were submit- ted to a slower, if not more cruel fate, by being girdled and left to death and decay. Where the land did not promise good returns, or the location for other reasons was not de- sirable, portions of the beautiful, majestic forests were suf- fered to remain, so the last of these did not disappear until about the beginning of the 19th century.
The hewers of those homes out of the primitive wil- derness were a sturdy, fearless yeomanry, and with those who followed a little later, have left enduring monuments in many forms, that meet our gaze at almost every turn. Their rugged dwellings are all gone, and while some of them have been replaced by more modern houses, we see
NATURAL FEATURES 21
?iere and there, in all parts of the town, some of them un- reached by a public road, others overgrown by an encroach- ing forest, depressions in the ground that denote the an- cient cellars marking the sites of the happy and thrifty homes of these early pioneers. Large families of frequent- ly twelve or fourteen children were born and raised, many of them going out into the world to become influential cit- izens far from the scenes of their childhood.
When we visit the ancient burial grounds — of which we have five in town — we behold the humble mounds where repose the earthly remains of those same pioneers and their families. Standing at the heads of a comparatively few of these now leveled mounds are old, antique gravestones, with their quaint, almost hideous, carvings, upon which we may, by reading the moss-covered inscriptions, learn whose ashes lie beneath.
Another landmark is to be seen in the hundreds of miles of those massive, enduring stone walls which we find inclosing fields and pastures, running up and down hill, through forests that have sprung into existence where once were cultivated lands, or winding through the valleys wherever rocks were abundant. These fences became re- ceivers of waste material as well as means of keeping with- in bounds the cattle and horses of the farmers. Some of these walls have partially fallen down, some have been re- moved by the modern farmer, but many still remain in- tact, four feet or more in height, bulwarks that have with- stood stubbornly and successfully the wars of the elements, in several instances for more than one hundred and fifty years.
The moose, deer, wolf, beaver, mink, muskrat, marten, squirrel, rabbit, wild turkey, partridge, quail, wood-cock, bear, wild duck, pigeon, and other wild creatures were found more or less plentifully in the forests, while salmon, shad, alewives, lamprey eels and other migratory fishes as- cended the Merrimack in almost countless numbers.
22 HISTORY OF HUDSON
The wildwood game afforded considerable sustenance for the early inhabitants, and very soon after the appear- ance of the first settlers, we find them making provisions for the protection of the same, especially for the deer. At a town meeting held December 25, 1739, Edv/ard Spaulding; and Jonathan Perham were chosen " to care for the preser- vation of the deer." At the annual meeting the following year, March 4, 1740^ Joseph Hamblet, Jr., and William Cummings were chosen "preservers of Deer."
March 9, 1747, Edward Spaulding and Benjamin Frost were chosen " to take care that the Deer are not destroyed out of season, as the law directs."
"Deer Keepers," as they were called, were elected at the annual town meetings, with more or less regularity, until 1784, after which time we find no record of their election.
March 2, 1752, at the annual meeting, "Voted to give £Q old tenor for every wolf that shall be caught and killed in this town the ensuing year."
December 25, 1752, "Allowed Dea. William Cummings for killing wolves in 1751. 12 — 0 — 0."
At the annual town meeting March 9, 1772, "Chose Deacon Ebenezer Cummings to take care that the fish are not obstructed in their passage up Wattannock Brook, so called, this present year."
March 4, 1774, " Chose Dea. Ebenezer Cummings & Jonathan Emerson to take care that the fish are not ob- structed in their passage up Wattannock Brook, so called, into the Pond."
March 16, 1778, " Chose Dea. Ebenezer Cummings, Page Smth, Wm. Gibson and David Tarbell to take care that the fish are not obstructed in going up Wattannock Brook."
At a meeting November 2, 1778, the following account among others was allowed : "To Abraham Page for get- ting a Bill drawn at Court in relation to fish in Watana- nick Brook 1—10—0."
NATURAL FEATURES 23
The fish that passed from the Merrimack up Watan- anick Brook, as it was then called, to the pond by the same name, now known as Otternick, were alevvives, which, in the spring of the year, migrated in great numbers. The writer has heard it said by old people, long since deceased, that the alewives passed up the brook in such quantities that the water was almost black with them, and that they could have been very easily taken from the brook in al- most any quantities desired. Barrels of them were salted and used for food by nearly every family in town.
The distance of the meanderings of this brook, from the River Merrimack to Otternick Pond is a little over one and one-fourth miles.
The obstructions to the passage of the fish up the stream feared by the people were probably dams being built across the brook for the purpose of holding back the water to furnish power for mills.
The last moose known to have been in this town was killed by Asa Davis, Esq., at Moose Swamp, situated at the easterly end of Hill's meadow, sometime about the begin- ning of the 19th century, though the exact date is not known. One of the horns of this animal has been care- fully preserved by the descendants of Mr. Davis, and may still be seen at the old Davis homestead, now owned and occupied by his great grandson, Augustus R. Morrison.
Barrett's Hill, situated in the easterly part of the town, south of Little Massabesic or Robinson's Pond, is the most conspicuous elevation. Its height is substantially five hun- dred feet above sea level, and a little more than four hun- dred feet above the Merrimack River at Taylor's Falls bridge. The elevation of the east summit of Bush Hill, not very far west of the line between Pelham and Hudson, is also very near five hundred feet.
Three ponds are within the limits of the town. Little Massabesic, or Robinson's Pond, lies in the north-east part, and, until the annexation of a portion of Londonderry in 1778, was wholly within that township. This sheet of
24 HTSTORY OF HUDSON-
water has an area of about one hundred and twenty acresF, and its outlet flows into Beaver Brook one and one-fourth miles to the east. Otternick, more commonly called "Tar- nick," lies about one mile east of the Merrimack, contains thirty-eight acres, and empties into the river by Otternick Brook about eighty rods below Taylor's Falls bridge, and one-half mile below the junction of Nashua River with the main stream.
Several mills have been erected on this brook at vari- ous times, and in several places along its course from the pond to the Merrimack.
The first saw mill in town is said to have been located at or near the outlet of Otternick Pond at an early date in its settlement, but who built this mill or at what date can- not be easily determined.
No machinery of any kind is at present operated by the waters of this brook.
The present name of Otternick, which applies to the pond and brook, was derived from the Indian name various- ly spelled in the early records as Watananoc, Wattannick, Watananock, Watananuck, Watannack, Watananick, etc.
Another small pond containing but a few acres, situ- ated in the south section of the town, is now called Mus- quash Pond. A considerable stream flows from this pond and empties into the Merrimack a short distance below the state line, in Tyngsboro, Mass. This stream has furnished power for a grist and saw mill from the days of the early settlement to recent times. These have all gone to decay, and the brook now flows unobstructed from source to out- let. The early records give the name of this stream as Nacook, which is undoubtedly of Indian origin and was probably applied to the pond also.
The water power in this town is very limited, and no extensive manufacturing interests have ever been located within its bounds. Thus the inhabitants of Hudson have always been, and still are engaged in the pursuit of agricul- ture. While perhaps it could not be classed among the
NATURAL FEATURES 25
best in the county of Hillsborough, it certainly is as good or better than the average.
The city of Nashua furnishes a very convenient mar- ket for much of the products of the town, including milk and cream, which are produced in large quantities, while Lowell, Mass., with a population of nearly one hundred thousand, is only five miles distant from its southern boun- dary.
CHAPTER 11
Aboriginal History
Not long previous to the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and the little band of iishermen at the mouth of the Pascataqua River, the most powerful Indian confederacy in New England north of the Pcquots in the southern part, were the tribes or families occupying the val- ley of the Merrimack and the adjacent territory. Like the Iroquois of the West, these red men were devoted quite largely to agriculture. They cultivated, in their primitive manner, the fertile intervales along their favorite river, caught the fish that abounded in its waters, hunted the game of this rich region, and were examples of content- ment.
The principal tribes of this association of warriors banded together in order to protect themselves from the in- cursions of the warlike Tarratines on the east and the fierce Mohawks on the west, each of which seemed to have cov- eted their abundant domain and contended with them for its possession from time immemorial, were the Agawams, the Wamesits, or Pawtuckets, Nashuays, Souhegans, Nat- ticooks, Pennacooksand Winnepesaukees. These different bodies occupied all of the country from around the mouth of the Merrimack back to its source in the mountains. The tribes living in this vicinity were the Nashuays, located along the river that bears their name, the Souhegans to their north, and the Natticooks living on the intervales of Litchfield and Merrimack. The dominant tribe was the Pennacook, which had furnished the ruling sachem for sev- eral generations. There were other tribes pledging alle- giance to the Pennacook, if not for actual friendship, in or- .der to obtain the protection of this stronger party, which
26
ABORIGINAL HISTORY 27
for many generations seems to have been controlled by wise and fearless chieftains.
These Indians inhabiting the interior were known to those living along the sea coast as Nipmucks, or fresh wa- ter Indians. The English, however, applied the general term of Pennacooks to them, and made their treaties with Passaconnaway, who was the head of this confederacy.
While this confederation, under the sagacious council of the astute Pafsaconnaway, was disposed to treat more fairly with the English than some of the other bodies of Amerinds located in New England, the Pennacooks were very much broken in spirit and reduced in numbers at the time of the appearance of the whites upon the scene. A few years before a terrible disease, the nature of which has never been clearly indicated, broke out among the tribes of Northern New England and greatly decimated their num- bers. Speaking of this depopulation, Capt. John Smith, who visited the coast in 1614 and later, wrote : "They had three plagues in three years successively near two hundred miles along the sea coast, that in some places there scarce re- mained five of a hundred. ***** It is most certain there was an exceeding great plague among them ; for where I have seen two or three hundred, within three years after remained scarce thirty." So, subdued in spirit as well as lessened in numbers, the English had far less to contend with than they might otherwise have been com- pelled to meet.
Owing to this calamity and the encroachments of the English, as early as 1685, the Pennacook was the only sur- viving tribe of this powerful confederation. The entire story is one of pathetic and mournful interest. The char- acters of Passaconnaway and his successors, Wonnalancet and Kancamagus, and the abuse they suffered at the hands of their conquerers, is told at considerable length in Potter's History of Manchester, of which the following is an extract :
28 HISTORY OF HUDSON
"The sagamores of the most note among the Penna- cooks were Passaconnaway, Wonnalancet, his son, and Kan- camagus, usually called John Hogkins, his grandson. These chiefs were successively at the head of the Pennacooks, and each in his way, was a man of mark in his time.
" Passaconnaway's name indicated his warlike charac- ter, and meant 'The child of the bear.' This name he doubtless received at mature age, according to the custom of the Indians, from his supposed resemblance in courage and bravery to that ferocious animal. We first hear of him in 1627 or 1628, and it is possible that he was met by Christopher Levett in the neighborhood of the Pascataqua in 1623."
Referring to the accounts of him by the early writers, Mr. Potter continues : " From which marvelous story we are to infer that Passaconnaway was a clever juggler as well as brave warrior. In fact he held his people in awe of him, the Indians supposing him to have supernatural powers ; to have control over their destinies ; that he could make a dry leaf turn green ; water burn and then turn to ice ; and could take the rattlesnake in his hand with impunity. With such reputed powers, his acknowledged ability as a warrior and wisdom as a sagamore, Passaconnaway became the ac- knowledged head of the most powerful confederacy east of the Mohawks, and as such received the title of Bashaba, a title of much the same import as that of Emperor. * * * *
"In the planting season Passaconnaway had a residence at Pennacook Island in the Merrimack, and another upon the island in the Merrimack a mile north of the mouth of the Souhegan ; while his principal residence was at Namas- keag. ***** Here, without a doubt, he sat in royal state, held his council fires, determined upon his warpaths, gave his royal feasts, and performed those feats that held his wondering followers as with the spell of enchantment.
"Passaconnaway early saw the superiority of the Eng- lish, and with his usual sagacity he realized the entire hope- lessness of the attempts of his people to subdue them. His
ABORIGINAL HISTORY 29
policy was to make terms of peace with them, and it was in pursuance of this policy that he disposed of his lands to Wheelwright, reserving alone his right of fishing and
hunting.
* # * * *
"In 1642, upon suspicion that a conspiracy was form- ing among the Indians to crush the English, men were sent out to arrest some of the Indian chiefs. Forty were sent to secure Passaconnaway, but aided by a storm he escaped. Wonnalancet, his son, was not as fortunate. He was taken by a party, while his squaw escaped into the woods." Not only was Wonnalancet seized and borne away as a captive, but he suffered indignities at the hands of his captors that must have aroused the proud spirit of this prince. At any rate the whites sought immediately to make some amends, and invited Passaconnaway to come and talk with them. Had the aged sagamon been in his younger years his re- ply might have been more warlike. As it was he showed something of the fire of other days, when he sent this short but decisive answer :
"Tell the English when they restore my son and his squaw, then will I talk with them, and not before."
Wonnalancet was set free soon after, but the wound rankled in the old sagamon's breast, for in 1647, when Fa- ther Eliot sought to address him among a vast number of the Indians who had collected at Pawtucket, he withdrew with two of his sons, saying " He was afraid the whites would kill them!" But the following year he seems to have relented, for we find him with a great concourse of his peo- ple listening to the words of the good man, and he became a convert to the Christian religion. During the next twelve years little is heard of Passaconnaway. He doubtless went back and forth between his favorite fishing places, Paw- tucket and Amoskeag, until in 1660 he made his last ap- pearance upon the stage of action. The word had gone forth that he was to deliver upon this occasion his farewell address, and confer his mantle upon his son Wonnalancet.
30 HISTORY OF HUDSON
This was not an unusual proceeding, but owing to the pres- tige of the aged chieftain it was looked upon with uncom- mon importance. And, as he stood there before his fol- lowers on that fair spring day, he presented the most pic- turesque figure that ever addressed an audience in New England. At first his voice was low and trembled with the emotion that filled his being, but slowly it grew plainer and louder, while he briefly related some of the leading events in his long life, and pictured the former glory of his people, until at last he came to utter these stirring and im- mortal words ;
" Hearken ! to the words of your father. I am an old oak, that has withstood the storms of more than a hundred winters. Leaves and branches have been stripped from me by the winds and frosts ; my eyes are dim ; my limbs totter ; I must soon fall ! When young and sturdy I de- lighted in war. The whoop of the Pennacooks was heard upon the Mohawk, and none louder than Passaconnaway's. The scalps upon the pole at my wigwam told the story of Mohawk suffering.
"Hearken! the English came. They found us few and weak. In vain, did I try my arm against them ; in vain, my sorcery. I, who can make the dry leaf live again; who dares the rattlesnake and defies the thunder ; who has com- muned with the Great Spirit, can read the sign in the fall- ing leaf.
''Hearken, my children, to what I say. I listen; the Great Spirit bids me say this to you : ' Peace, peace is the only hope for your race. I have given fire and thunder to the pale-faces ; I have made them plenty, as the leaves of the forest ; and still they come. Your meadows they turn with the plow ; they build their villages upon your fishing places ! '
" The Great Spirit says these words, and they must be true. We are few and helpless before them ! We must bend before the storm ! The wind blows hard ! The old oak trembles! Its branches are gone ! Its sap is frozen ! It
ABORIGINAL HISTORY 31
bends; it falls! Peace, peace with the white men, is the command of the Great Spirit, and the wish^the last wish — of Passaconnaway."
Two years later following this memorable farewell ad- dress, on the 9th of May, 1662, the venerable chieftain pre- sented the following petition to Governor John Endicott and the General Court of Massachusetts :
To the honored John Etidicot Esqr. together with the rest of the hon- ored General Court now Assembled in Boston the petition of Papisseconnewa in behalf of himself as also many other Indians who now for a longe time oW selves oW progenitors seated upon a tract of land called Naticot.
Wheras this land is now in the possession of Mr, William Brenton of Rode Island marchant; and is confirmed to the said Mr. Brenton to him his heirs and assigns according to the Laws of this Jurisdiction, by reason of which tracte of land being taken up as aforesaid, and thereby your Pore petitionr with many oth (ers) in an onsetled condition and must be forced in a short time to remove to some other place.
The Humble request of yr petitionr is that this honored Court wolde pleas to grante vnto vs a parcell of land for or comfortable cituation ; to be stated for or Injoyment ; as also for the comfort of oths after vs ; as also that this honored Court wold pleas to take in to yr serious consid- eration the condition and also the requeste of yr pore Suplicant and to apoynte two or three persons as a Committee to arrange with some one or two Indians to vew and determine of some place and to lay out the same, not further to trouble this Honored Assembly, humbly craving an expected answer this present session I shall remain yr humble Servante Wherein yu Shall Commande,
PAPISSECONEWA.
Boston: 8: 3 mo 1662.
Passaconnaway's petition was not made in vain. The court seems to have taken into consideration the valuable services the aged chieftain had done for the colonists, and performed only an act of justice when it returned the fol- lowing reply :
In answer to the petition of Papisseconneway, this Court judgeth it meete to grant to the saide Papisseconneway and his men or associates about Naticot, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile and a half on either side of Merrimack river in breadth, three miles on either side in length, provided he nor ihey do not alienate any part of this grant without leave and license from this Court, first obtained.
32 HISTORY OF HUDSON
The court appointed John Parker and Jonathan Dan- forth, surveyors, to lay out the tract of land to Passaconna- way and his associates, a territory that only a few years since had been theirs by a title as good possibly as that of the English. In a few days less than a year these survey- ors made the following report :
According to order of Honord General Court, there is laid out unto the Indians Papisseconneway and his associates the inhabitants of Nati- cott, three miles square, or so much (eather) as containes it in the figure of a romboides upon Merrimack River; beginning at the head of Mr. Brenton's Lands at Naticott, on the east side of the River, and then it joineth to his line, which line runs halfe a point North West of the east, it lyeth one mile and halfe wide on side of ye river and somewhat better, and runnes three miles up the River, the Northern line on the east side of the river is bounded by a brook (called by the Indians) Suskayquetuck, right against the falls in the river called Pokechuous, the end line on both sides of the River are parallells ; the side line on the east side of the River runes halfe a point eastward of the No : No : east and the side line on the west side of the river runes Northeast and by North all of which is sufficiently bounded and marked with I, also ther is two small islands in the River, part of which the lower end line crosses. One of them Papis- seconneway had lived upon and planted a long time, a small patch of in- tervale Land on the West side of the River anent and a little below ye islands by estimation about forty acres, which joyenth their land to Sou- hegan River, which the Indians have planted (much of it) a long time, and considering there is very little good land in that which is now laid out un- to them, the Indians do earnestly request this Honord Court to grant these two small Islands and ye patch of intervale as it is bounded by the Hills.
This land was laid out 27, 3d mo 1663.
By JOHN PARKER and JONATHAN DANFORTH
Surveyrs
this worke was done by us at our charge wholly, at the request of the Indians, who was important and as we were informed by the order of this Honord Court respecting ourselves. Hence we humbly request this Honord Generall Court (if our services are acceptable) that they would take order we may be considered Sd the same, so we shall remain yr
Humble Servants as before
The deputies approve of said return and do order the Indians pay the Surveyors what is justly due for the Laying out the same the Honora- ble Magistrates consenting thereto.
WILLIAM TORREY, Clerk,
ABORIGINAL HISTORY 33
This grant, it will be seen by examination of the boun- dary, included parts of Manchester, Londonderry and Litch- field on the east side of the river; and Bedford and Merri- mack on the west. At the northern boundary of the tract, at the mouth of Suskayquetuck Brook, as called by the In- dians, now known as Cohas, is situated a considerable fall in the river, the Indian name of which was Pokechuous, re- named by the English settlers as Goffe's Falls. While per- haps not equal to Amoskeag and Pawtucket Falls, this was a favorite fishing place with the Indians, and they were especially anxious the grant should cover these falls. They were also anxious the grant should include the islands and intervales "which he (Passaconnaway) had lived upon and planted a long time." No doubt they were keen enough to know the truth as expressed by the surveyors in their return, "and considering there is very little good land in that which is now laid out to them." Is it a wonder if an undercurrent of bitterness should pervade the reply of the great sachem, who had been a true and trusted friend of the English, in peace and in war, and who in his old age had provided for a continuance of this good faith through the efforts of his son .-'
Further down the river the grant had been made to William Brenton, of Rhode Island, for a trifling service done the government, of a tract of nearly six square miles of territory comprising the rich intervale lands on both sides of the Merrimack, while this grant to Passaconnaway and his associates of mostly worthless land was made with the reservation, "provided he nor they do not alienate any part of this grant without leave and license from this Court, first obtained." So it was not granted to them as their land in fee, but set off for their use for the time be- ing. And to add still further to the injustice and inconsist- ency of the transaction the court made the following order: "The deputies do approve of said return and do order the Indians pay the Surveyors xohat is justly due for the Laying out of the same the Honorable Magistrates con- senting thereto.'!''
34 HISTORY OF HUDSON
The italics are ours, to bring out more forcibly, if pos- ble, the underlying spirit of this whole action. Well might "the Honorable Magistrates consent thereto."
With the closing of this affair the history of Passacon- naway ends and his name does not reappear. It is cer- tain that five or six years later he was dead, but where he spent his last years of loneliness and where he was finally laid to rest, none of his race ever disclosed. It seems wrong that the name of this great and illustrious man, in his time, should not have been better perpetuated than it has been. Mr. Potter, in his history of Manchester, says :
In less than twenty years from the time Passaconnaway submitted himself to the colonists, and put himself under their protection, he and his tribe were reduced to beggary. The Bashaba of the Merrimack valley, and the rightful owner of all its broad lands, had become " a pore peti- tioner" for a plantation of pine plains, and "did earnestly request the Honered Court to grant two small islands and ye patch of intervale " to him, receiving them doubtless with all due submission, if not humility! Old age, as well as contact with civilization, must have done its work upon the spirit of this haughty sagamon for him thus to have meekly asked his usurpers to grant him what was properly his own. * * * In reflecting up- on the character of the Merrimack sagamon, the conviction forces itself upon one, that at the head of a powerful confederacy of Indians, honored and feared by his subjects, and capable of moulding their fierce passions to his will, the history of New England would have been told as another story than the triumph of our Pilgrim Fathers, had Passaconnaway taken a different view of his own destiny and that of his tribe. * * * * ♦ Prov- idence seems to have tempered the fierce savages for the reception and triumph of the Anglo-Saxon race in the New World.
CHAPTER III
When Hudson Was a Wilderness
Passaconnaway left at least four sons and two daugh- ters. The oldest son, Nanamocomuck, was sagamon of the Wachuset tribe of Indians living about the mountains by that name. This chief did not seem to have the forgiv- ing qualities of his father to that extent which enabled him to forget the wrongs thrust upon him. At one time he was seized and put in prison at Boston for a debt due one John Tinker from another Indian, and for which he had become responsible. Unable to pay the claim the chief was in a sorry predicament, when his younger brother, Wonnalancet, came to his assistance by offering to sell the home island in the Merrimack a few miles above Lowell. This was no mean sacrifice, as it was here the chieftain held his royal court, and resided with a dignity becoming his station. The court granted this permission, as if it were bestowing a great favor upon the unfortunate owner, and one PZnsign John Evered, sometimes known as Webb, purchased the tract of over sixty acres, so the imprisoned chieftain was set free.
But Nanamocomuck had incurred a fear if not a dis- like for the English, and he sought an alliance with the Ameriscoggin Indians in Maine, who had acknowledged fealty to the Pennacook confederacy in the days of its wide-spread power. Here he seems to have died about the time of his father, so that the government of the Penna- cooks fell upon the shoulders of his brother, Wonnalancet.
Passaconnaway had a daughter older than Wonnalan- cet, who became the wife of Nobhow, the sagamon of Paw- tucket, who was quite prominent in the affairs of the whites and Indians. Another daughter married Montawxampate, the sagamon of Saugus. This was prior to 1628, and it
35
36 HISTORY OF HUDSON
was around the difference that arose between this chief and his illustrious father-in-law, our poet Whittier wove his ro- mance of the unfortunate Weetamoo.
The names of the other sons were Unanunquosett and Nonatomenut, both of whom dwelt about Pawtucket, and proved friendly to the English.
Wonnalancet, the successor of Passaconnaway, was born about 1619, and it seemed fortunate that he should have succeeded to the important position that he did, else the English might have had far more trouble in overcoming their enemies. Notwithstanding the indignities that one of his proud spirit and position must have suffered at the hands of the whites, and the sacrifices that he was called upon, time and again, to make, he always maintained a friendly attitude towards them. "His name," says Mr, Potter, " is indicative of his character, meaning literally breathing pleasantly, derived from Won7ie or W-uyine-, 'pleasant,' and Nangshonat, * to breathe.' This name, after the Indian custom, he received when he arrived at the age of manhood, and he had shown to his tribe such quali- ties as deserved it ; and he ever proved himself worthy of this flattering cognomen."
He doubtless succeeded his father in 1668, as he left his fort at Pennacook about that time and appeared at Pawtucket in the spring of 1669, where he built a fort to protect his people from their dreaded enemies, the Mo- hawks. It seems likely that some of his people continued to live at Pennacook, but he evidently preferred the coun- try about Pawtucket. So he and his followers continued to plant and fish along the Merrimack between those places. Following the permission to sell Wickasauke Island and the grant of a hundred acres to the west of Chelms- ford, "because he had a great many children and no plant- ing ground," he desired to recover their favorite resort. Hence the following petition was sent to the court :
WHEN HUDSON WAS A WILDERNESS 37
To the most worship/til Richard Bellingham, Esq., Govr and to the rest of the Honord General Court.
The petition of us poore neibor Indians whose Names are hereunto subscribed, humbly sheweth that wheras Indians severall years since we yr petit's out of pity and compassion to our pore brother and Countryman to redeem him out of prison and bondage and whose name is Nanamoco- muck, the eldest son of Passaconnaway, who was Cast into prison for a •debt of another Indian unto John Tinker for which he gave his word : the redemption of whome did cost us our desirable posetions where we and ours had and did hope to enjoy our Livelihood for ourselves and our pos- terity : namely an Island on Merrimack River called by the name of wicosurke which was purchased by Mr. John Web; who hath Curtiously Given Vs leave to plant vpon ever since he hath possessed the same, we doe not know whither to Goe, nor where to place ourselves for our Lively hood in procuring vs bread: having beine very Solicitous wh Mr. Web to lett vs enjoy our said posetions againe he did condescend to our motion provided we would repay him his charges but we are pore and Canot so doe — or request is mr Web may have a grant of about 5 C acres of land in two places adjoying his owne Lands in the wilderness, which is our owne proper Lands as the aforesaid Island ever was— — 10: 8: 65
NOBHOW in behalf of my wife and children.
VNANUNQUOSETT
WANALANCETT
NONATOMENUT.
If the Court please to grant this petition then yr petitionr Wanalan- cet is willing to surrender up ye hundred acres of land yt was granted him by the Court.
The court looked with favor upon this humble peti- tion, as well it might, considering the generous offer, and the following reply was sent within a week :
In Ans. to this petition the Court grant Mr. John Evered (Webb) five hundred acres of land adjoining to his lands upon condition hee re- lease his right in an Island in the merrimacke river called wicosacke which was purchased by him of the Indian petitioners — also upon condition wonalancet do release a former grant to him of an hundred acres and the court do grant said Island to petitioner — John Parker and Jonathan Dan- forth are appointed to lay out this grant of five hundred acres to John Evered.
EDWD RAWSON, Secy. Consented to by the Deputies.
14 Oct. 166.5. (Mass. Archives, Vol. 30, p. 130.)
38 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Wonnalancet resumed the occupation of his beautiful island home at Wickasauke, which he continued to make his abode until 1675. During this period, besides such cul- tivation as he could do at his island, he planted the clear- ings at Souhegan and Pennacook, and fished at Namos- keag. He seems to have stopped at these last named plac- es only long enough to secure his harvests of crops and fish, though he did maintain a fort at Pennacook in order to defend himself and followers from any depredations of enemies.
It seems rather singular that, while his father had em- braced the Christian faith, more than a quarter of a cen- tury before, and he had lived a peaceful life, listening fre- quently to the word of God as preached by good Father Eliot, Wonnalancet should have refused to accept its teach- ings until in May, 1674. Mr. Gookin says that he and Mr. Eliot visited Pawtucket on the 5th of May, when large numbers of Indians were gathered at the place looking af- ter their fisheries. That evening Mr. Eliot preached to them in the wigwam of Wonnalancet. During the service the sagamon appeared grave and sober. The next day Mr, P^liot approached him and inquired if he did not feel like praying to God. Then Wonnalancet stood up with the grave decorum for which the red man was noted, and look- ing upon the preacher with great deliberation, finally re- plied in a slow, thoughtful manner:
"Sirs, you have been pleased for years past in your abundant love to apply yourselves particularly unto me and my people ; to exhort, press and persuade us to pray to God. I am thankful to you for your goodness. I must not deny I have all of my days been used to pass in an old ca- noe ; and now you exhort me to change and leave my old canoe and embark in a new one. I have heretofore been unwilling; now I yield myself to your advice, and enter in- to a new canoe. Hereafter I engage to pray to God."
We have every reason to believe that Wonnalancet kept the faith, though he was many times sorely tried. Gookin in 1677, in speaking of his conversion, says :
WHEN HUDSON WAS A WILDERNESS 89
** I have charity and faith to believe him to be an hon- est Christian man, being one that in his conversation walks unswervably to his knowledge. He prays in his family, and is careful of keeping the Sabbath ; loves to hear God's words ; sober in conversation."
King Philip's War broke out in 1675, and Wonnalancet found himself confronted by a serious problem. The wily Philip had sent his most trusty followers, or gone himself, to every tribe in Northern New England, hoping to form a confederacy that could crush the English. Wonnalancet firmly refused to ally himself and people in this far-reaching combination. Still past experience told him that, even if he remained neutral, he would be constantly open to sus- picion, and the work of hostile Indians would be attributed to his people. In this dilemma he quietly withdrew to Pennacook, and from thence, with some of his closest fol- lowers, retired to the St. Francis lodge in New France, now Canada.
This movement alarmed the English, and emissaries were sent to entreat him to come back. This he declined to do, though he kept well posted in regard to what was being done by the enemies of the English, and frequently warned them of impending attacks by hostile forces. In the midst of this trying situation, many of the Indians of Northern New England who had joined King Philip de- serted him and returned to their former companions, Pen- nacooks, Sokoki and Ossipees. One reason for doing this was that they expected to escape punishment for their re- cent disloyalty by being under the protection of Wonna- lancet, who had remained faithful to the whites. These Indians promised future good behavior, and as many as four hundred, under the influence of Wonnalancet, were admitted into Dover at one time under the pretence of forming a treaty with them. But the order came from Mas- sachusetts to seize all of these Indians, and in spite of the advice of Major Waldron, these red men were betrayed, and those who were not killed were taken captives, and
40 HISTORY OF HUDSON
eight of them were hung in Boston, while the rest were sold into slavery.
Wonnalancet, who had been summoned hither, and his followers were suffered to go free, and they returned tO' their home at Wickasauke. Perhaps feeling that there was reason for an outbreak among these Indians, the General Court, ever alive to suspicion if not justice, ordered Won- nalancet and his companions to be placed under the guard- ianship of Jonathan Tyng of Dunstable. This veteran frontiersman, with more faith in his princely prisoner than the men who had invested him with the power to watch him, allowed the chieftain comparative liberty. Still the proud spirit of Wonnalancet rebelled against this indigni- ty, and he felt that he could no longer trust the English.
While he had been away the English had taken posses- sion of his planting ground, so he had nowhere to raise the crops so essential to his living. Mr. Eliot in speaking of the situation, says :
He (Wonnalancet) was persuaded to come in again ; but the English having plowed and sown all of their lands, they had but little corn to sub- sist by. A party of French Indians, of whom some were of the kindred of this sachem's wife, very lately fell upon this people, being but few and unarmed, and partly by force and partly by persuasion carried them away.
Wonnalancet showed his friendship for the English by calling upon his old friend and teacher, the Rev. Mr. Fiskc, to inquire in regard to what had taken place since he had been away. Mr. Fiske replied that they had been highly favored: for which he desired "to thank God."
" Me next," declared the shrewd sagamon, who felt, and not without reason, that a share of the credit belonged to him.
In spite of the suspicious attitude of the whites against him, at least twice during the period of the war warning them of impending harm from unfriendly men of his race, Wonnaloncet remained at Wicasauke, or in the vicinity, un- til the following autumn, as if he was loath to leave the scenes of the brightest years of his troubled life. The
WHEN HUDSON WAS A WILDERNESS 41
Merrimack and its tributaries, abounding with fish, and the rich intervales along its banks easy of cultivation, had been a favorite country of his people for many generations.
Such spots, combining a rich light soil, with productive fisheries, were always chosen ; and the choice was a wise and beautiful one. The Indian was a child of Nature, and he gazed upon her charms with filial admiration, knowing the plains as their harvest land, the mountains as the abode of the Great Spirit.
Towards the last of September, 1677, he retired again to St. Francis, and again his enemies reproached him with the old story of unfaithfulness towards those for whom he had professed a life-long friendship. In spite of these charges he went quietly about his own affairs, to live them down as he had before. Major Gookin, his fast friend, gives five reasons why the sagamon should have adopted this course, any one of which was sufficient. He concludes by saying:
" The wonder of it is that Wonnalancet had not retired long before, and made common cause with the enemies of the English, as they and portions of his own tribe had re- peatedly urged him to do."
He did not re-appear at his old haunts until the close of King Philip's War, and a treaty of peace with the East- ern Indians, and not to be active then. About this time the son of his older brother, Kancamagus, came into the leadership of the Pennacooks and allied tribes. As this relative was of a more warlike nature, and was inclined to harass the English, it was natural the older sagamon should have little if any interest with him. In fact, his retirement to St. Francis was considered by the followers of the grand- son of Passaconnaway as an abdication of his rule.
Wonnalancet was beginning to feel the weight of his years — he was verging upon seventy — and finding that he would receive little further benefit from them, he resolved to sell his interest in the lands about Wamesit, Pawtucket, Nashuay and Naticook. This was the last important rec-
42 HISTORY OF HUDSON
ord that we have of him, and a sale was effected early in 1686, and Jonathan Tyng became the owner of the last of the Pennacook possessions in the valley of the Merrimack. The entire purchase money paid amounted to only twenty- four pounds ! As a result of this transaction, the pur- chasers petitioned the court under date of July 12, 1686, praying that the land bought of Wonnalancet be set apart as a new county to be called Merrimack.
Upon making this sale Wonnalancet again retired to St, Francis, where he seems to have remained for ten years, as there is nothing in the records here to show that he was in the Merrimack valley. But in his extreme old age the desire to return to the scenes of his early life seemed to direct his footsteps back to Wamesit, a poor, forlorn old man. With the handful of his followers that kept with him, he was placed under the protection of Jona- than Tyng, who lived in that part of Old Dunstable now comprised in the town of Tyngsboro. He lived with Mr. Tyng a little over a year, the province paying the latter twenty pounds for that service. And this act of charity, about the only kindly deed done him, closes the life record of that grand and good man.
In reviewing the lives of Passaconnaway and Wonna- lancet one cannot help feeling they suffered many abuses that should have been spared them. Had one or both ex- ercised the powerful influence at their command to arouse their followers instead of restraining their natural proclivi- ties, the early history of New England would have been stained with blood where their honesty and magnanimity averted the strife. In return for this good work they were most cruelly ill-treated and insulted, which to them was harder to bear than the former. Their lands were taken from them, and they were at times almost reduced to a state of starvation — obliged to plead for a little land upon which to subsist.
Nor were theirs isolated cases. King Philip and many other sagamons had similar grievances. Contrast the
WHEN HUDSON WAS A WILDERNESS 43
peaceful results of the kind and honorable treatment ac- corded to the Indians by Roger Williams, in Rhode Island ; William Penn, who settled Pennsylvania, and others, not forgetting Father Eliot.
The Indians were strangers to the higher influence of the civilized life, yet there were many great and noble men among them — men of honor, ability and principle. Passa- connaway and Wonnalancet stood well towards the head of this class.
We believe the blackest page upon American history is the record of the ill treatment of the aborigines — the poor Indian ! — which treatment began with the discovery of the western continent by Columbus, and with greater or lesser cruelty, has continued to the present time. An anonymous poet expresses the plain truth in forcible lan- guage when he makes the heart-broken chieftain say :
I will go to my tent and lie down in despair; I will paint me in black and sever my hair ; I will sit on the shore when the hurricane blows, And reveal to the God of the tempest my woes.
I will weep for a season on bitterness fed,
For my kindred have gone to the mounds of the dead ;
But they died not of hunger or wasting decay,
For the steel of the white man has swept them away!
Let us pause for a moment in retrospection, and pic- ture to our minds the condition of the region now included in the town of Hudson, as it appeared two and a half cen- turies ago— in the days when the settlements of the whites began to creep up the Merrimack Valley. Where we now behold the placid waters of the beautiful river, as they f^ovv gently along our western border, calmly seeking the bosom of the broad ocean, as if they had never witnessed any wilder scene, then the royal canoes of the powerful wildwood confederacy of Passaconnaway, passed and repassed on the way to and fro between his summer lodge to the north or his winter quarters at Pawtucket.
Here, too, peradventure, upon the shady banks be- neath the giant trees of the primeval forest, whose branches
44 HISTORY OF HUDSON
had withstood the storms and tempests of hundreds of years, he reared the conical walls of his regal wigwam, watched the talking smoke of his council fires, as it curled lazily upward, and performed his feats of necromancy that were both the wonder and the terror of his followers. From this same bank of the grand old river the Indians caught the salmon, shad, alewives and eels in almost countless numbers.
Here, upon these productive, alluvial intervales, they planted their scanty crops and under the harvest moon held their forest festival in the autumn. Or it might be, under the mighty canopy of oaks, pines and other primeval giants of that period covering almost all these hills and valleys, the Indian hunter, armed with his bow and quiver of flint- pointed arrows, his tomahawk and spear, pursued the state- ly moose, or ran down the timid deer. Here also he encoun- tered the obstinate bear, outwitted with his imitation call the cautious turkey, snared the partridge, squirrel or wild pigeon.
Since then what a change the white man has wrought. The woodman's ax, with the help of fire, long since leveled the beautiful original forest. The dams of the manufac- turers sometime since stopped the migratory flight of the finny denizens of the river. The game has mainly fled from such forests as remain ; ay, the dusky hunter himself has vanished !
Let us drop the tear of pity upon the ashes of this race whose representative welcomed the Englishmen to their wild shore, and preserved them when famine was at their door: — those sons of the forest, though savages, possessing many of the most worthy and noble traits of character — that people scattered over all this broad land, and who ac- knowledged fealty to the Great Spirit only. Could the old rocks and hills, the mountains, valleys and streams relate the scenes that they have witnessed of treachery, oppres- sion and destruction committed in their presence, in the process of building one race upon the ruins of another,
WHEN HUDSON WAS A WILDERNESS 45
possibly the weight of evidence would show that when it was all balanced the poor Indian may have been as much sinned against by his white neighbors as he was guilty ot sinning: against them.
:; CHAPTER IV
Dunstable in the Indian Wars
From the date of the landing of the Pilgrims at Ply- mouth, in 1620, soon after which Samoset, an Indian chiei belonging to the Wampanoag tribe, suddenly appeared in their midst and greeted them with the friendly exclama- tion : "Welcome, Englishmen! Welcome, Englishmen !" the colonists had little trouble with the aborigines for more than fifty years, that they did not provoke themselves. It is true there were wars and rumors of wars along the en- tire frontier, the most notable of which was the Pequot struggle in 1634-1637, when that warlike faction was prac- tically exterminated, the crisis coming with the last des- perate stand made by King Philip in 1675. Judging them from the conclusions drawn of their character by the earlier English writers, the patience and toleration with which they bore the treatment of these new-comers seems re- markable. There is little doubt that peaceful relations might have continued indefinitely had the colonists treated them fairly and honestly.
King Philip's bloody resistance against the English was a combined attempt to exterminate the colonists, and broke out with little warning in the summer of 1675. He was the grandson and successor of Massasoit, with whom the Plymouth colonists had made a treaty of peace in 1621 ■—a covenant that remained inviolate with the red men for that long period. The war was brought to a sudden close by the treachery of one of Philip's own followers, who shot him in the back as he was leading his forlorn hope. From this time the alarms of war came from the north instead of the south, and the danger rose more from small scouting parties of the Indians than from united tribes battling for a common cause.
46
DUNSTABLE IN THE INmAN WARS 47
Simultaneously with this change of scene of action a Yiew element entered into the prolonged strife. England and France were almost constantly at war for a century^ and always the bitterness of the contention was transplant- ed to the shores of the New World. Seeing in them pliant allies of destruction, the French sought and won the confi- dence and assistance of the untutored red men. The teach- ers of this system of warfare were the Jesuits, who by kind treatment and ingenious training prepared them for the war-trail against an enemy they had no slight reason to fear and to hate.
King William's war in the old country was swiftly fol- lowed by an Indian outbreak in New England, lasting from 1689 to 1698, Scarcely had the news of peace reached the colonists here than Queen Anne's war followed in 1703, continuing for ten years. The history of the frontier from east to west was a series of bloody encounters and massa- cres. And during those dark and bloody years Old Dun- stable was the outpost of the New England colonists, as her fortress had been the watch-tower during King Philip's uprising. From her homes went forth some of the bravest and strongest of the sturdy yeomanry, building for them- selves homes in the wilderness of this ravaged country.
During the brief cessations of armed hostilities the pio- neers were not wholly exempt from the attacks of a foe that never seemed to sleep. Thus a constant vigilance and watchfulness had to be maintained by the early settlers of Dunstable. Yet the censure does not wholly lie against the people who were causing this trouble. Fox, in his History of Dunstable, says truthfully, "The treatment of the Indians by our forefathers generally, and of Wonnalan- cet especially, was not Christian and scarcely human." He might have gone farther and said with equal truth that these brave families who were made to suffer most were not the originators of this unhappy situation. To find these we must seek them among the disciples of the Mathers and their associates. Speaking of the efficiency of prayer.
48 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Dr. Increase Mather, the leading minister of his time, said : *'Nor could they cease praying to the Lord against Philip until they had prayed the bullet into his heart !" The last " prayer " should have been spelled with an "e" where an "a." is usually placed. But we need not prolong this dis- cussion, if that can be called a discussion where the argu- ment is all on one side.
A decade of comparative peace succeeded Queen Anne's war, during which interval the first settlements were commenced in Hudson. But these pioneers had barely established themselves in their new homes before another alarm of war awoke them to renewed danger and warlike activity. These ten years had also seen a change in the government of New England. Queen Anne had died in 1714, and was succeeded by George I. A change of rulers at home always resulted in a change of policy in regard to the management of the affairs of the colonies of England. In the hope of averting this result, the English colonists of Massachusetts and New Hampshire petitioned to have Governor Dudley remain at the head in New Eng- land. This request was ignored, and Samuel Shute was appointed Governor of Massachusetts, while George Vaughan was made Lieutenant-Governor and virtual ruler of New Hampshire. This last became a fact, inasmuch as Governor Shute did not arrive until the other had held his office a year.
A question then arose between the two as to the ex- tent of Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan's power. He claimed that he was ruler of New Hampshire whenever the other was not in the province. As Governor Shute intended to make his home in Boston, this left him but little to do with the government of New Hampshire. The dispute waxed so bitter that Vaughan was recalled and John Wentworth, destined to act an important, and not altogether unfavora- ble, part in affairs was sent to fill his office.
So, while the colonists were active in pushing deeper and deeper into the wilderness, hewing out new homes and
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 49
establishing new townships, internecine troubles that were to have considerable bearing upon their fortunes, were re- peating themselves in the government both here and in England. It was during this period that Londonderry, Chester, Barrington, Nottingham and Rochester were chartered and incorporated, the signing of these charters in 1722 being the last official act of Governor Shute, who was succeeded in Massachusetts by Governor Dummer, while Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth became the head of the government in New Hampshire.
During this period a new element of population entered into colonial life. This factor was the Scotch-Irish, so called, immigrants from Scotland finding their way to America after being driven out of that country by the Eng- lish into the north of Ireland. They settled the township of Londonderry granted them by Governor Shute. Com- ing at this time, and scarcely in friendly communication with their neighbors, the English, they did not participate in the border warfare that was disturbing the settlers along the Merrimack and about the Pascataqua River. In fact, though brave to a fault, I have been unable to find that they acted any important part in the long series of wood- fighting that followed their arrival in America. This does not reflect upon their patriotism, as we find them active enough during the seven years of the Revolutionary War.
At no interval of this cessation of hostilities were the Indians wholly quiet, but occasional acts of violence took place, until in the summer of 1722 were begun those strug- gles that became the fiercest in all the long and sanguinary warfare of Northern New England.
At this time Sebastian Rasle, S. J., one of the most zealous of the French missionaries in New France, estab- lished his mission at Norridgewock, on the Kennebec Riv- er, near where is now the town of Farmington, Maine. The simple red men looked upon this black-robed man of God as a true father, and he in turn encouraged them to lift the hatchet against that race which he had been taught
50 HISTORY OF HUDSON
to hate since childhood. Realizing that if they could de- stroy this stronghold of the French it would be a powerful blow towards winning their own safety, the English re- solved to march against it. In the winter of 1722, Colonel Westbrook of York, Me., led an expedition up the Kenne- bec River, but was unsuccessful in his purpose. This seemed to give the French priest an excuse for greater ac- tivity, and the settlements in Maine, which then belonged to Massachusetts, were the first to suffer, Merry-Meeting Bay and Brunswick among them. Governor Dummer then declared war, a conflict which afterwards bore his name, while it has been equally as well known as Lovewell's War, for reasons to be made plain later.
As usual Dover was the first town in that section of New Hampshire to feel the dread attack of the dusky ene- mies. Then Lamprey River, now Newmarket, Oyster River (Durham), Kingston and Chester shared in this cruel warfare. In 1724 a second expedition against Norridge- wock was planned and carried into effect that summer by Captains Moulton and Harmon at the head of over two hundred men. This body was divided into four companies, and besides the leaders mentioned were Captains Bourne and Bane, or Bean according to later spelling. This party was piloted by a friendly Mohawk chief known to the whites as Christian. The raid was victorious. The In- dians were not only surprised and completely routed, but their beloved adviser. Father Rasle, was slain, the chapel burned, the plate and furniture brought away as trophies of their victory by the conquerors.* Thus perished at 68 years of age Father Rasle, in a cause to which he had de- voted over thirty years of his life with an earnestness equalled only by his zeal. If the taking of his life was to be justified or not, it is certain his teachings made a dan-
* When the mission village of Norridgewock was attacked by the New England men, the women and children were made to suffer the fate of warriors. The scholarly missionary, Kasles, author of the Abnaki Dictionary, was shot down at the foot of the cross, where he was afterwards found with his body riddled with balls, his skull crushed and scalped, his mouth and eyes filled with earth, his limbs broken, and all of his members mutilated — and this by white men. — American Ethnology, Vol. 19.
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 51
gerous element in the midst of the English settlers in New England, and neither he nor his slayers can be correctly judged under any other light than the spirit of the times.
While the glory of the valiant Canibas tribe of red men had forever flown with this rout at Norridgewock, and the survivors were compelled to seek refuge at St. Francis, in Canada, instead of striking terror to the remaining In- dians as had been expected, it awoke, if that were possible, a fiercer spirit of hatred for the race they could not help seeing was destined to become their destroyers. Thus the New England frontier from the intervales of Old Dunsta- ble to the meadows of the Madawaska rang with the war- hoop of the dusky avengers, while the torch of terror light- ed the nights of horror. Profiting by the mistakes of the past the Indians were now more cautious in their attacks and more cunning in their retreats, so they were difficult to hunt down. The English sent scoutingparty after party into the wilderness to strike a retaliating blow, and check these depredations, with only meagre success.
Where the Saco River makes a bold bend to the north- east so as to almost double on its track, after leaving the gateway of the mountains, dwelt a tribe of Indians known as the Sokoki, with another encampment lower down this stream where it is joined by the Ossipee. This place was an ideal spot for these hunters and warriors of the wilder- ness, A wide circuit of rich country afforded them rare hunting-grounds, while the river and ponds near by abound- ed with 'fish. In their canoes they could follow the devious windings of the Saco for a distance of over forty miles, and at the end of this pleasure trip find themselves but a little over a mile from their starting point, and easy portage back to their lodges.
The Sokoki had been settled at this place known to them as Pequaket* hard by the river at the foot of the
* Pequaket — Pequawket — Pigwacket— means, or is from Paqui-auk-ei, meaning "at the open land." There was an Indian town here longer than any historian has been able to tell.— Trumbull.
52 HISTORY OF HUDSON
"Pine-Tree Hill," longer than tradition attempts to tell. They were originally a numerous tribe, good fighters, and while fiery and furious when aroused, less inclined to treach- ery than some of the other families of red men. Like the Pennacooks, they had suffered fearfully at the hands of the Mohawks, and in wars with them and other tribes had dwin- dled away. Their last great sachem was the noted Squan- don ; their last great captain, Paugus.
Following the rout of the Canibas at Norridgewock, the Sokoki became unusually active against the English. It was known that the Governor of Canada had asked the King of France to furnish these Indians with arms, ammu- nition and blankets, which explains in part this unwonted activity. Fear and excitement reigned throughout the en- tire frontier settlements, and it began to look as though the whole border would be desolated.
In this plight the court of Massachusetts increased the bounty on Indian scalps from fifty to one hundred pounds each, and sought to encourage men to undertake expedi- tions against them. In extenuation of this course it was claimed, with apparent truthfulness, that the French were doing the same, and what was of even greater potency, of- fering high rewards for the possession of captives that might be made useful in a country where laborers and ser- vants were only too scarce. These facts, together with the savage barbarity shown by the dusky warriors towards the helpless whites, were sufficient excuse for the act, when, as has been remarked, the spirit of the times is taken into consideration. But it cannot condone a wrong, nor bright- en the stern countenances of those civilized men silhouetted against a background of aboriginal darkness. If the fol- lowers of Canibas and Paugus were cruel, and there is no gainsaying the fact, when they had been urged and driven to desperation, there is no excuse for their educated con- querors to practice similar cruelties. The beheading and quartering of the mutilated body of King Philip is ample evidence that it takes more than a change of scene to re-
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 5S
move the glut of vengeance from a people whose kin at home exulted in exposing to the public gaze the heads of those who had been unfaithful to the government they â– deemed tyrannical, as was done in London at Temple Bar for many years. Darker yet than these deeds perpetrated upon warlike men was the sending into bondage in faraway Bermuda the wife and little son of King Philip under sanction of the church.
Indian warfare was conducted almost wholly along the rivers of the country, and those settlements upon the banks of the different streams were thus made certain tar- gets for their enemies. Thus the old town of Dunstable, lying on both sides of the Merrimack, became the scene of some bitter hand-to-hand combats.
September 4, 1724, two men by the names of Nathan Cross and Thomas Blanchard were surprised by a party ot Indians and taken captives while at work preparing turpen- tine from pines growing on the bank of the Nashua River. As they did not return from their work as usual that even- ing, their friends became alarmed. In the morning a party consisting of ten under the direction of Lt. Ebenezer French started in search of the missing men. Upon reach- ing the scene of the operations of Cross and Blanchard it was found that the hoops of the barrels containing the tur- pentine had been cut and their contents had spread upon the ground. Certain marks upon the trees told them that their friends had been captured by the Indians, while the state of the turpentine showed that the captors had fin- ished their work only a short time before. This encouraged Lieutenant French and his companions to begin immedi- ate pursuit in the hope of overtaking them.
Josiah Farwell, a member of the rescue party, advised taking a circuitous course, lest they should fall into an am- bush laid by the red men. Lieutenant French not only scorned this prudent course but accused Farwell of cow- ardice, himself leading in the path recently taken by the Indians, his companions following in single file, Farwell in
64 HISTORY OF HUDSOPT
the rear. "Their route," says the historian of Dunstable^ Mr. C. J. Fox, "was up the Merrimack towards which they bent their course to look for their horses upon the inter- vals. At the brook * near Lutwych's (now Thornton's) Ferry they were waylaid. The Indians fired upon them and killed the larger part instantly. A few fled and were overtaken and destroyed. French was killed about a mile from the place of action under an oak tree lately standing (1840) in a field belonging to Mr. John Lund of Merrimack. Farwell, in the rear, seeing those before him fall, sprung behind a tree, discharged his piece and ran The Indians pursued him. The chase was vigorously maintained for some time, without either gaining much advantage, until Farwell passing through a thicket, the Indians lost sight of him, and probably fearing he might have loaded again, they abandoned further pursuit. He was the only one of the company that escaped."
The names of the men, besides those given, were Thomas Lund, Oliver Farwell, and Ebenezer Cummings of Dunstable ; Daniel Baldwin and John Burbank of Woburn, and a Mr. Johnson of Plainfield, Mass. Messrs. Cross and Blanchard, the captives, succeeded eventually in escaping from their enemies after being taken to Canada.
A search of their friends resulted in finding the bodies of eight of the unfortunate men, and these were conveyed to the ancient burial ground near the state line. Coffins were made for them, and with uncommon solemnity and sorrow the entire party was interred in one grave. Above this spot a monument was erected, with the following in- scription copied verbatim et literatim:
MEMENTO MORI
Here lies the body of Mr. Thomas Lund who departed this life Sept. 5th, 1724, in the 42d year of his age.
This man with seven more that lies in this grave was slew all in a day by the Indians !
* Naticook Brook, the itream which crossed the road just above Thornton's. The scene of the Ambush must have been near the present highway. — Fox
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 55
Three other grave stones stand close beside the above, tlieir inscriptions covered with moss and nearly illegible. Of these one was erected to Lt. Oliver Farwell, aged 33 years; another to Mr. Ebenezer Cummings, aged 29 years; the third to the memory of Mr. Benjamin Carter, aged 23 years.
Some of the earlier writers state that the Indians who committed this act were Mohawks, but this does not seem likely. The fact that the captives were taken to Canada would disprove it, as the Mohawks were in no manner friendly to the French from the days of Champlain to the end of the French and Indian War in 1760. This party be- longed no doubt to the Ameriscoggins, the remnants of which tribe, smarting under the blow dealt them by the English, were then hovering about the French mission on the St. Lawrence River.
The critical situation and loss of life to the inhabitants of Old Dunstable is shown in the following deposition of two of her most venerable citizens, the parents of Captain John Lovevvell, the paper having been brought to light from among the court files of New Hampshire, by Hon. Ezra S. Stearns in his researches concerning that period, where it had slumbered more than one hundred and fifty years:
Facts Concerning the Indian Depredations in Dunstable.
The deposition of John Lovewell aged ninety-three and Anna his wife aged about eighty-three years, who testify & say that in the year 1680 they were Inhabitants and residents in Dunstable & have been Inhabi- tants and residents there since and that in the said year 1680 there were 3.5 famihes settled in Dunstable beside several single men who were resi* dent there and owned Lots in said Town & further saith that in the first ten years War for one summer the Inhabitants all gathered in the garri- son and that about fifty-five years ago in the month of August in the same Town there was killed by the Indians Four of the Inhabitants and in September next following two more was killed and one wounded and about forty-eight years ago of the same Town there was one killed and two captivated and about the same time there was one killed or captivat- ed and about thirty-nine years ago in Dunstable there was eleven Persons killed and three captivated by the Indians & one House & Garrison burned down at the same Time and that about thirty-three years ago there
56 HISTORY OF HUDSON"
was one Person killed and one wounded in Dunstable and the year follow- ing in Dunstable there was one man killed and in the year following there was one more man captivated & carried to Canada and in the year 1724 there was eight persons killed one wounded and four captivated in Dunsta- ble and in the year 1725 there was of the Inhabitants of Dunstable five killed and two wounded all which Mischiefs was done by the Indians in the time of War — and in the year ICSOthe Revd. Mr. Thomas Weld preached in Dunstable and continued there until he was ordained there to the work of the ministry which was about two years after and that from the time- we first came to Ihinstable the Inhabitants has never drawn off,
bis John X Lovewei^l
mark ^
her
Anna X Loveweli, mark
Province of New Hampshire
March 16, 1744.
Then the above named John Loveweli and Anna Loveweli made sol- emn Oath to the truth of the foregoing Deposition by them signed relat- ing to an Action of Ejectment wherein one Joseph Kidder is Apellant & the Proprietors of Londonderry are Apellers to be heard and tried at the superior court of Judicature to be holden at Portsmouth in said Province on Tuesday the nineteenth day of this instant March by adjournment from the first Tuesday of February last past — the Deponents living more than five miles from Portsmouth where the case is to be tiied & the said Proprietors of Londonderry the Adverse Party being duly notified was present by one of their committee for Law suits viz : sworn before Samuel Emerson.
J, PEACE.
The foregoing deposition throws new light upon the number of persons killed by the Indians in the ancient township of Dunstable. It is an important document. The statement "about fifty-five years ago," probably refers to 1691, when Joseph Hassel, Anna his wife and Benjamin his son and Mary Marks were killed September 2, and to the killing of Christopher Temple and Obediah Perry, which occurred on the 28th of the same month.
The second statement, that about forty-eight years be- fore one person had been killed and two captured, while
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 57
later there was one killed or " captivated," is not mentioned in the traditions of the town. The death of eleven per- sons killed and three carried into captivity in 1705, as given by the Lovewells, mainly occurred in 1706, when Nathan- iel Blanchard, Lydia, his wife, and one child, and Hannah Blanchard and Elizabeth, wife of John Cummings, Jr., and Rachel Galusha were murdered by the Indians and consid- ering the number of soldiers killed the same day at the Weld garrison, there is a marked conflict in the traditions of the town.
The witnesses speak of three captives.
The wife of Captain Butterfield, Richard Samuel But- terfield and Samuel Whitney, Senior, were captured about this date.
The statement that in 1711 and the two succeeding years two were killed, one wounded and one captured is not found in other mentions, and it is perhaps that a few of the casualties generally supposed to have taken place in 1706 or immediately preceding occurred at this time.
In 1724 the deponents say eight were killed, one wounded and four captured. This statement refers to the losses near Thornton's Ferry. The witnesses do not al- lege that all of the dead were residents of Dunstable. The names of the persons killed were Ebenezer French, Thomas Lund, Oliver Farwell, Ebenezer Cummings, Benjamin
Carter, Daniel Baldwin, John Burbank, Johnson.
The first five were Dunstable men.
All of the foregoing casualties, according to the state- ments of the Lovewells, occurred in Dunstable. In the allegation that in the year 1725 there were of the inhabi- tants five killed and two wounded, there is no mention of the place where the casualties took place. The venerable witnesses, mindful of the loss of their son, referred to the Lovewell fight at Pequaket. The five Dunstable men who were slain in that memorable expedition were Capt. John Lovewell, Lt. Josiah Farwell, Lt. Jonathan Robbins, En- sign John Harwood and Robert Usher. Samuel Whiting,
58 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Jr., was one of the two Dunstable men said to have been wounded.
It is stated on good authority that during these trou- blesome times Robert Parris, his wife and one daughter were killed by the Indians, and that two daughters escaped, one of whom married a Richardson and the other became the wife of John Goffe, and was the mother of Col. John Goffe, a conspicuous character in the annals of New Hamp- shire. It is well known that John Goffe, generally distin- guished as Esquire Goffe, married Hannah Parris, some- times written Parish. Fox, in his History of Dunstable, says that the massacre of the Parris family occurred some- time in 1703, but Col. John Goffe was born in 1701, which leads to the presumption that the Parris massacre was at an earlier date than that given by Mr. Fox.
The statement that John Lovewell lived to the great age of 120 years has repeatedly appeared in print. It is one of those peculiar traditions that the curious seize upon without investigation. It is admitted that he died about 1752, and it is equally certain that his age did not exceed 102 years.
From this deposition of the Lovewells we learn that from 1696 to 1725, inclusive, the number of persons killed by the Indians was thirty-three; wounded, five; made cap- tives, eleven ; with one either killed or carried away a captive. This made a total of fifty, all inhabitants of the little settlement of Dunstable. Fox produces evidence to show that in twenty years the population decreased fully one-half, notwithstanding the additions that were made. The Dunstable settlement extended to the east side of the Merrimack River, now Hudson, probably not earlier, but soon after the close of Queen Anne's War in 1713.
Referring to the loss of lives among the colonists, it was estimated that from 1675 to 1714 the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire lost six thousand (6000) young men and male children, including those who were killed and those who were made captives without ever being
DUNSTABLE IN THE INDIAN WARS 59
recovered. Add to this the loss of men, women and chil- dren that occurred during the nearly half a century of In- dian warfare that followed, and, considering the number of inhabitants, we have an appalling number.
CHAPTER V
Lovewell's Men
This war, after having continued for nearly three years, was brought to a close by the bloody battle at Pequawket, May 8, 1725. The leaders in this sanguinary struggle were the brave Capt. John Lovewell and his intrepid men, and Chief Paugus and his band of warriors, equally as brave and fearless. This was one of the fiercest and most fatal to both sides, of all the battles fought on the old New England frontier. It was also the end of a succession of wars, which, with a few cessations, had existed for fifty years. Judge Potter, in his History of Manchester, gives the following account of this expedition and its results :
"The expedition started about the 16th of April, 1725, answering to the 27th of April, New Style. When out but a short time, Toby, a friendly Indian attached to the expe- dition, becoming lame was sent back, with great reluctance on his part.
"At Contoocook, William Cummings of Dunstable, became so lame in consequence of a wound received from the enemy sometime previous, that he was obliged to re- turn home, a kinsman, possibly Josiah Cummings, return- ing with him to assist him on his way.
" They then marched without any unusual incident to Ossipee, where one of their number, Benjamin Kidder, of Nuffield, now Londonderry, being sick, they built a small fort, as a place of refuge in case of mishap. While the fort was building a portion of the men were kept out on scout duty, and discovered the tracks of Indians.
" After a tarry of two or three days, leaving the sick man, the doctor to take charge of him, and Sergeant Na- thaniel Woods of Dunstable, with seven men to hold the fort, Lovewell and his men, now reduced in number to
60
LOVEWELL S MEN
61
thirty-four, boldly marched for Pequau twenty miles.
"The names of these thirty-four
Asten, Abiel,
Ayer, Ebenezer,
Barron, Elias,
Chamberlain, John,
Davis, Eleazer,
Davis, Josiah,
Farrah, Jacob,
Farrah, Joseph,
Farwell, Josiah, Lieut.,
Frye, Jonathan, Chap.,
Fullam, Jacob, Serg.,
Gilson, Joseph,
Harwood, Jno., Ensign,
Hassel, Benjamin, Corporal,
Jefts, John,
Johnson, Ichabod,
Johnson, Josiah,
Johnson, Noah, Serg.,
Jones, Josiah,
Kies, Solomon,
Kittredge, Jonathan,
Lakin, Isaac,
Lingfield, Edward, Corp.,
Lovewell, John, Capt.,
Melvin, Daniel,
Melvin, Eleazer,
Robbins, Jona., Ensign,
Richardson, Thomas, Corp.,
Richardson, Timothy,
Usher, Robert,
Whiting, Samuel,
Woods, Daniel,
Woods, Thomas, Ensign,
Wyman, Seth,
quauke, distant some
men were :
Haverhill
Haverhill
Groton
Groton
Concord
Concord
Concord
Concord Dunstable
Andover
Weston
Groton
Dunstable
Dunstable
Groton
Woburn
Woburn Dunstable
Concord
Billerica
Billerica Groton
Nutfield Dunstable
Concord
Concord Dunstable
Woburn
Woburn
Dunstable
Dunstable
Groton
Groton
Woburn
62 HISTORY OF HUDSON
"The company continued their march in a northerly direction, with great caution, fancying they had been dis- covered by the Indians.
"On Friday, the 7th of May, they heard a gun as they approached the Saco, but coming to the river, they met with no Indians, although they discovered their tracks. They struck the Saco, probably in the eastern part of Con- way. Taking an easterly course they passed upon the high ground down the Saco, and diverging south, struck the basin of Pequauquauke south of what is now called Stark's hill. Here they had a full view of the basin and of Saco pond, just at their feet.
"This was near night, and they cautiously descended the hill and encamped upon the shore of the pond. In the night the sentinels thought they heard the noise of In- dians about the encampment, and alarmed their compan- ions, but it was very dark and they could make no further discovery.
"It was probably the noise of some wild animal, a moose perhaps, as they were near the spot where these animals usually took to the water. This incident confirmed their suspicions that the Indians were dogging them, and these suspicions led to a fatal error, as the sequel will show.
"On the next day. May 8th, (May 19, New Style), about ten o'clock in the morning, while at prayers, they heard a gun across the pond, and Captain Lovewell dis- covered a solitary Indian upon a stony point of land run- ning out mto the pond from the east. This Indian was hunting ducks. It is possible he might have gone from the village duck-hunting, but it is quite as probable that he was one of a scout of Indians that had been down the Saco, and had been sent forward at this point to get a shot at ducks in sight. Be this as it may, Lovewell and his men, supposing they had been discovered the night previ- ous and before, at once suspected that he was sent out as a decoy, and popular tradition has kept up the suspicion, as the point on which the Indian stood is called 'Decoy Point ' to this day.
lovewell's men 63
" They accordingly held a consultation to determine whether they would proceed to attack the enemy, which they supposed was in waiting for them on the north shore of the pond, or whether they should retreat. The question being put, the men boldly answered, says Rev. Mr. Symmes, ' We came to see the enemy ; we have all along prayed God we might find them ; and we had rather trust Providence with our lives, yes, die for our country, than try to return without seeing them, if we might, and be called cowards for our pains.'
"It was determined unanimously to fight, and they commenced preparations in earnest. In order to be entire- ly disencumbered, Lovewell ordered his men to leave their packs behind, but without a guard. The spot where they left their packs was some thirty rods west of the little brook that enters into the pond southeast of the present village of Fryeburg, Me.
" Lovewell then led on his men cautiously towards the Indian, who was seen upon the point, a distance of about a mile and a half, principally, for the first half of the way, through a pitch pine wood, clear of underbrush, and the brakes but just started. The Indian got within four or six rods before they discovered him, having two guns and a brace of ducks in his hands.
" Upon discovering him Lovewell and his men squat- ted upon the ground; but as they did so, the Indian dis- covered them, and dropping his extra gun and his game, he quickly fired upon them and with fatal effect, for his gun being charged with large shot, he wounded Captain Love- well and Mr. Whiting, the former severely. Ensign Wy- man then fired upon the Indian and killed him, and Mr. Frye, the chaplain, and another scalped him.
"Tradition says that young Frye fired at the Indian and missed him, and that his misfire made him the more zealous to get his scalp. Meantime a scout of Indians, some forty in number, under Paugus and Wahowah, com- ing up the pond from a scout down the Saco, crossed the
64 HISTORY OF HUDSON
trail of Lovewell's men, and following it, discovered their packs, and finding their number less than their own, they at once determined to attack them. Accordingly, secur- ing their packs, they proceeded to the brook before de- scribed, and under its banks, formed an ambuscade for Love- well and his party.
" Passing east from this brook, you immediately come upon the highest part of the pitch pine plain, lying north of the pond. This part of the plain terminates at the pond, in a ridge or bold shore, against which are piled up boulders of rock, evidently the effect of ice. East of this point of rocks is a ridge of sand, extending parallel to the water, some fifty or sixty rods to another brook, emptying into the pond from the northeast, and now known as ' Fight Brook.'
" This sand ridge was from four to six rods wide, hav- ing upon it some scattered pines, and limited on the north the most of its length by a swamp, extending west from the aforesaid brook, and which, in the spring, is filled with water, forming of this sand ridge a long, narrow peninsula, only accessible from the plain at its western extremity, in the vicinity of the aforesaid point of rocks.
'• Lovewell and his men were leisurely returning upon their trail, and probably with less caution than usual, as they had not found the enemy they went out to meet, when coming to the bank of the little brook before named, the Indians rose from their ambush and fired upon them in front and rear, rushing upon them with shouts of defiance.
" Captain Lovewell was killed at the first shot, and our men were struck with surprise at the suddenness of the attack. But they immediately returned the fire with dead- ly effect, killing nine of the enemy upon the spot. The company then dispersed, each one getting behind a tree and firing upon the enemy as he got a chance. The firing continued brisk, but soon Captain Lovewell and eight others being killed, and Lieutenant Farwell and two others being wounded, and the Indians attempting to surround
lovewell's men 65
them, the party determined to retreat to the shore of the pond, hoping to be sheltered by the point of rocks that ran into the pond.
" Here, behind this ' ridge of land ' and barrier of rocks, they continued the fight to advantage, gradually extending themselves across upon the sand before described, and protecting themselves behind the scattered pines. Here was an excellent position for an attack, but a very bad one for a siege, and had the Indians known their advantage, they could easily have destroyed the whole company. If, instead of immediate attack, they had quietly seated them- selves at the only approach to the peninsula, hunger would have done its work, and not a man of Lovewell's gallant band could have escaped. But the Indians could not brook delay, and confident of success from superior numbers, they continued the attack, firing at any one of the little band who happened to expose a part of his body.
" Under the direction of Ensign Wyman, the firing was kept up with spirit on the part of our men, and with decided effect. The Indians kept up a continual shout, at one time howling like wolves, and again barking like dogs, or mimicking other wild beasts. And the English were nothing loth in this kind of defiance, but returned their howling with shouts and huzzas.
"Towards the mid-afternoon the Indians ceased firing, and drew off among the pines, at a little distance, to pow- wow over their success. They had got earnestly engaged in the ceremony, when the intrepid Wyman crept up be- hind the rocks and trees, and firing upon the principal actor killing him on the spot. This man may have been Waho- wah, as we hear nothing of him afterwards.
" Be this as it may, the fight was resumed with great ferocity, under the immediate direction of Paugus. Ensign Wyman continued to cheer on his men, and they fought with all their skill and energy of desperation, but with terrify- ing disadvantage, as the Indians were near twice their number, and had them completely at their will. To add to
66 HISTORY OF HUDSON
their misfortune, their chaplain, Jonathan Frye, about this time fell mortally wounded, as also Lieutenant Jonathan Robbins, who had been wounded at the first fire, and Jacob Farrar.
" Young Frye, though unable to stand, continued to pray audibly for the success of his companions, at inter- vals, during the remainder of the fight. Thus disheartened, the firing on their part became less brisk ; and the Indians, confident of their success, came forward, and holding up a rope, to show that they had them in their power and ready to be bound, offered them quarter.
"The intrepid Wyman replied that 'they would have no quarter but what they won at the point of their mus- kets.' The fight was then renewed, and towards night the enemy succeded in getting upon the peninsula or beach, some of them at least. Among this number was Paugus, their chief, who took refuge behind a pine within talking distance of John Chamberlain, one of the best shots in Lovewell's party.
"They looked at each other from behind the trees, each endeavoring to detect an exposed part in the person of the other, and at length each one thinking he had the other at an advantage, aimed his musket to fire ; each gun flashed in the pan ; and their attempts were in vain !
"Their guns had become foul from frequent firing during the day, and were useless. In this dilemma, these bold men, who were acquainted with each other, agreed to go down to the water side, and cleanse their guns, and then take their places and renew the fight. No sooner said than done, and they deliberately went down to the water and commenced washing their guns, the warriors on both sides understanding their motives and leaving them to themselves !
"In cleansing their guns and charging them, Paugus got the advantage ; his ball was so small as to roll down his barrel, while Chamberlain had to force his down with his rod. Paugus, seeing his advantage, quickly said, ' Me kill you ! ' and took up his gun to prime.
lovewell's men 67
" Chamberlain 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 !
" Chamberlain's gun being worn from long use primed itself; and the knowledge of this saved the bold hunter's life. *
"After the death of Paugus, their chief, the Indians gradually ceased firing, and soon after sunset drew off into the woods, leaving the field to our men, who remained quiet
* In embodying Judge Potter's account of Lovewell's figVit, I have asked Mr. Webster's permission to add a few words of contradiction to the description of the fate of the Sokokis chief, Paugus, though the story as given has been accepted by several writers, among them Fox, Bouton, Sanborn, Potter, and others. This version of the incident seems to have orig- inated with a very unrehable person named Ehjah Russell, seventy-four years after the bat- tle, and a long time after Chamberlain's death. Fox evidently supposed it to be a true ac- count, and singularly enough as careful a historian as the Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, in reprint- ing Rev. Thomas Symmes' sermon upon the aHair, took the Russell fabrication instead of the original by the Bradford minister, who made no mention of the Chamberlain-Paugus duel. None of the early writers credit Chamberlain with the deed, as witness four lines from one of the ballads written soon after the event:
" And yet our valiant Englishmen in fight were ne'er dismayed, But still they kept their motion, and Wyman Captain made.
" Who shot the old Chief Paugus, which did the foe defeat. And set his men in order, and brought off the retreat?"
Hill in his "Reminiscences of Old Dunstable," after reviewing several versions of the incident, says flatly, " The utter absurdity of the story is appaieiit frcni the fact that never before has it been known that in the midst of deadly battle, the combatants by mutual agree- ment have ceased to fight in order to ^o and wash out their guns, and the additional fact that their guns having flashed in the pan, there must have remained full charges of powder and ball in the barrels, which must be drawn before the washing could be done, and the ex- treme improbability that either or both of them had, in pocket or pouch, the apparatus need- ed for this operation; and the further fact, that after their guns had been washed they must be carefully wiped and dried before they could be in use again, a process requiring time that could ill be spared in the midst of such a warm and deadly contest, for ihe Cromwellian maxim ' to trust in God and keep your powder dry' was as imperative in an Indian fight as in more civilized warfare."
The Rev, Mr. Allen in his centennial address given at Merrimack in 1846, says that John Chamberlain, of Lovewell's expedition, settled in that town, and built a sawmill on the Sou- hegan. There is a stirring legend told of an Indian, a son of Paugus, who sought to surprise the slayer of liis father and avenge his death. But the doughty millman was too cunning for his foe, who fell by his unerring musket. As matters of fact this Chamberlain was not the John who fought with Lovewell, but a cousin, who married a daughter of Josiah Farwell, the only survivor of the scouting party killed by the Indians near Thornton's Ferry; the In- dians had ceased their predatory warfare in this vicinity; while the only sen of Paugus known to have escaped the Pequaket slaughter was Philip, a trusted comrade of John Stark during the Seven Years War, and a patriotic soldier in the American Revolution. — G. W. Browne.
68 HISTORY OF HUDSON
for some time, fearing their return, or that they were lying in wait for them. It was supposed and confirmed by reports afterwards, that the Indians' loss, in killed and wounded* included the entire party, except about twenty. About midnight our men, hearing no more from the Indians, as- sembled together and inquired into their respective situa- tions.
" It was found that there were twenty-three men upon the peninsula, of whom Jacob Farrar was just 'expiring by the pond,' and Lieutenant Robbins and Robert Usher were unable to travel.
"The Rev. Mr. Symmes says:
"'Lieut. Robbins desired his companions to charge his gun and leave it with him, which they did; he declaring that, 'As the Indians will come in the morning to scalp me, I will kill one or more of them, if I can.' "
"There were eleven more of the English who were badly wounded, viz.: Lieutenant Farwell, Mr. Frye, Ser- geant Johnson, Timothy Richardson, Josiah Johnson, Sam- uel Whiting, Elias Barron, John Chamberlain, Isaac Lakin, Eleazer Davis, and Josiah Jones ; but they, however, marched off the ground with the nine others who received no con- siderable wounds, viz.: Ensign Wyman, Edward Ling- field, Thomas Richardson, the two Melvins, Ebenezer Ayre, Abial Asten, Joseph Farrar and Joseph Gilson.
"These all proceeded on their return to the fort, and did not perceive that they were waylaid or pursued by the enemy, though they knew our men had no provisions, and must, therefore, be very faint. Four of the wounded men, viz.: Farwell, Frye, Davis and Jones, after they had trav- elled about a mile and a half, found themselves unable to go further, and with their own free consent, the rest kept on the march, hoping to find a recruit at the fort, and to re- turn with fresh hands to relieve them.
" As they proceeded on, they divided into three com- panies one morning, as they were passing a thick wood, for fear of making a track by which the enemy might follow
lovewell's men 69
them. One of the companies came upon three Indians, who pursued them some time ; meanwhile Elias Barron, one of the party, strayed from the others, and got over Os- sipee River, by the side of which his gun case was found, and he was not heard of afterwards.
"Eleven in another party reached the fort at Ossipee, but to their great disappointment found it deserted. The coward who fled in the beginning of the battle ran directly to the fort and gave the men posted there such a frightful account of what had happened that they all fled from the fort and made the best of their way home.
"Solomon Keyes also came to the fort. When he had fought the battle till he had received three wounds, and had become so weak from the loss of blood that he could not stand, he crawled up to Ensign Wyman in the heat of battle, and told him he was a dead man, 'but (said he), if it is possible I will get out of the way of the Indians that they may not get my scalp.' Keyes then crept to the side of the pond to where he providentially found a canoe, when he rolled himself into it, and was driven by the wind several miles towards the fort; he gained strength fast and reached the fort as soon as the eleven before mentioned; and they all arrived at Dunstable on the 13th of May at night.
" On the 15th of May, Ensign Wyman and three others arrived at Dunstable They informed that they were desti- tute of all kinds of food from a Saturday morning till the Wednesday following ; when they caught two mouse squir- rels, which they roasted whole, and found to be a sweet morsel. They afterwards killed some partridges, and other game, and were comfortably supplied until they got home.
" Eleazer Davis arrived at Berwick, and reported that he and the three that were left with him, waited some days for the return of the men from the fort, and at length despairing of their return, though their wounds were putri- fied and stank, and they were almost dead with famine, yet they travelled on several miles together, till Mr. Frye de-
70 HISTORY OF HUDSON
sired Davis and Farwell not to hinder themselves any longer on his account, for he found himself dying, and he laid himself down, telling them he should never rise more, and charged Davis, if it should please God to bring him home, to go to his father and tell him that he expected in a few hours to be in eternity, and that he was not afraid to die. They left, and this amiable and promising young gentleman, who had a journal of the march in his pocket, was not heard of again.
" Lieutenant Farwell, who was greatly and no doubt deservedly applauded and lamented, was also left by Davis within a few miles of the fort, and was not afterwards heard of. But Davis getting to the fort, and finding provisions there, tarried and refreshed himself, and recovered strength to travel to Berwick.
"Josiah Jones, another of the four wounded who were left the day after the fight but a short distance from the scene of action, traversed Saco River, and after a fatiguing ramble arrived at Saco (now Biddeford) emaciated and al- most dead from the loss of blood, the putrification of his wounds and the want of food. He had subsisted on the spontaneous vegetables of the forest and cranberries, etc., which he had eaten. He was kindly treated by the people of Saco, and recovered of his wounds.
"Lieutenant Josiah Farwell of Dunstable and EHas Barron of Groton were wounded and died by the way in attempting to reach home.
"The soldier who fled from the battlefield so inglori- ously was Benjamin Hassel, a corporal in the company. Hassel was of Dunstable, a grandson of Joseph and Ann Hassel, who were killed by the Indians at Dunstable in September, 1691. His uncle, Richard Hassel, had also been taken prisoner by the Indians. Under such circum- stances it is not surprising that Hassel should not care to fall into the hands of the Indians, So, in the earliest of the fight, seeing Captain Lovewell fall by his side, the com- pany surrounded by the Indians, and becoming separated
lovewell's men 71
from his companions in the retreat to the pond, he made the best of his way to the fort, and by his imperfect and exaggerated intelligence so wrought upon the fears of the soldiers left in charge of the same that they at once deter- mined upon a retreat. This probably was an act of pru- dence under the circumstances, although, as it turned out, it was very unfortunate.
"According to Hassel's account the entire command of Lovewell had been cut off and the Indians in overwhelm- ing numbers were in full pursuit. The fort was a mere temporary affair, with no provisions, forty miles from any white inhabitant, no prospect of relief in case of attack or siege, and the little garrison, including Hassel, Kidder the sick man, and the physician, amounted to but eleven per- sons all told. Under such circumstances retieat was the only alternative. At first some little blame was attached to Hassel, but people soon began to think that he should be excused, and only two years after, when the grant of Suncook was made to those who were in this expedition under Lovewell, Hassel was one of the grantees, without any exceptions being taken on account of his conduct in, or subsequent to the battle.
" The men who were left in the fort with Kidder were Nathaniel Woods of Dunstable, Sergeant ; Dr. William Ayer of Haverhill ; John Goffe of Londonderry, brother- in-law of Kidder ; John Gilson of Groton ; Isaac Whitney and Zachariah Whitney of Concord; Zebediah Austin of Haverhill ; and Edward Spooney and Ebenezer Halburt of Dunstable. The party probably arrived at Dunstable on the 11th, of May, 1725.
" Upon hearing of this disastrous news. Governor Dummer forthwith dispatched a company under Col. El- eazer Tyng, of Dunstable, to search for the enemy and to find and bury the slain. Colonel Tyng marched with his company on the 17th of May, and encamped at Namos- keag, now Manchester, the first night. The next day being rainy they continued at their encampment."
72 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Colonel Tyng having taken all the effective men fronj Dunstable, leaving the settlers in an exposed situation, wrote to Governor Dummer the following letter, informing him of their condition, and asking protection for them :
May it please your Honor:
This day I marched from Amoskeag, having 55 of my own men, and 32 of Capt. Whites (?)
The men are well and proceed with a great deal of life and courage.
Yesterday I was forced to lie still by reason of the rain. I would humbly offer something to your Honor in the hehalf of our people who are left very destitute and naked, that you would be pleased to consider their circumstances and order what you shall think proper for their de- fense till we return.
I am your Honors Most Ob't Servant,
ELEAZER TYNG. Amoskeag, May 19, 1725.
Governor Dummer seems to have anticipated Colonel Tyng's request, as he had already issued the following order :
To Col. Flagg.
Sir, These are to empower and direct you forthwith to detatch or impress out of the Reg't whereof you are Lieut. Coll., a sergeant and twelve effective able bodied men, well armed for his Majesties services, for the security and Reinforcement of Dunstable, until the return of Col. Tyng and his company.
They must be posted at the Garrisons of Joseph Bloghead, Nath'l Hill, John Taylour, and John Lovewell, and three Centinels in each Gar- rison, and the sergeant in that of the four that is nearest to the centre. The sergeant must be very careful to keep the men well upon their duty, so as to be a good Guard and protection to the People, and you must give him directions in writing accordingly. Let this matter be effected with all possible dispatch.
WILLIAM DUMMER. Boston, May 19, 1725.
" Col. Tyng and his party went to the place of action where they found and buried the following men, viz. : Capt. John Lovewell, Ensign Jonathan Woods, Ensign John
lovewell's men 73
Harwood and Robert Usher of Dunstable ; Jacob Fullam of Weston ; Jacob Farrar and Josiah Davis of Concord ; Thomas Woods, David Woods and John Jefts of Groton ; Ichabod Johnson of Woburn ; Jonathan Kittredge of Bil- lerica.
" Col. Tyng found where the Indians had buried three of their own men, which were dug up, and one of them was known to be the bold Paugus, who had been a great scourge to Dunstable."
Paugus was a frequent visitor at Hill's garrison before Lovewell's War, and was always treated kindly by Mrs. Ann Hills, who often ted him when hungry. These kind acts seemed to have been reciprocated by him, and he is said to have always treated her with respect — sometimes furnishing her with a delicious piece of bear meat, or doing some other kindly act.
These traditions came down through the writer's grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Cummings, whose mother, Sarah (Hills) (Severance) Hale, daughter of Nathaniel and Ann (Worm) Hills was born in the Hills garrison October 2, 1731, only six years after the memorable campaign of Cap- tain Lovewell and his men.
CHAPTER VI
First Settlers of Hudson
The first and only grant of land within the present precinct of this town, made prior to the incorporation of Dunstable, which included Hudson, as far as I have been able to learn, was five hundred acres laid out to Joseph Hills, of Maiden, Mass., and surveyed by Jonathan Dan- forth in 1661.
This survey was not satisfactory to the court by reason of its being "in three places and so much length on the river."
This grant was made, as stated by Mr. Hills in his re- quest for a second survey, "on a double consideration, for jC^S 6s 8d laid down in England, and for services to the country." A second survey was ordered by the General Court of Massachusetts, and the following return made :
According to the order of the General Court the 11th day of the 4th month, 1662, There is added to the farm of Mr. Joseph Hills, of Maiden, One Hundred Acres of land joining to the former Parcel, Backward from the River; thence the Butting and Bounding of the farm are as follows:
Laid out to Mr. Joseph Hills, of Maiden, 500 acres of Land in the Wilderness, On the Easterly side of the Merrimack River.
One Parcel of the same containing 450 Acres, Joineth to said River; Beginning at Wattiannack Right Over Against the Island which Lyeth at the mouth of Nashuay River, Running up Merrimack 450 poles by the River; thence running half a point Northard of the East 148 Poles, cut- ting Across a small Brook which Bounds it on the North, near Merri- mack ; thence Running South and by East 406 Poles unto a Pine Tree marked H ; from thence the closing line to the Merrimack is 106 Poles, all of which is sufficiently Bounded by Marked Trees, the form of which Does Better appear by a Plot Taken of the same.
Also one other Parcel of the same, about 50 Acres of Meadow, Lyeth South East of the former Parcel, about 2 Miles Distant from it. Lying under the North East end of a great hill called Discovery hill. Also Bounded by other great hills on the North West and North East; a Brook running through the Same.
74
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 75
Also there is Another Meadow added unto this Parcel. This was Laid out By
JONATHAN DANFORTH,
Surveyor.
The first tract of this land as described, containing four hundred and fifty acres, commenced at the river about twenty-five or thirty rods south of the house of Kimball Webster, and about sixty rods above Taylor's Falls bridge, and extended to the river to the small brook that crosses the road a little south of the house of Pearl T. Thomas, and included the most fertile intervale lands in town.
The second tract of fifty acres was a part of the large meadow still known as "Hills' Meadow." The fifty acres of the meadow set off to Mr. Hills was the north and west part of the same. The great hill called "Discovery Hill" is now designated "Burns' Hill." The last tract, which was not described by Mr. Danforth, was on the brook that enters Otternick Pond at the east end, formerly called Hale's Brook, but the exact boundary is unknown.
This Joseph Hills was born in the parish of Great Burstead, Billericay, Essex, England, where he was bap- tised in March, 1602. Not later than March, 1632, the family moved to Maldon, also of Essex. In 1638 he came to this country in the ship "Susan and Ellen," which ar- rived in Boston July 17th of that year. He first located in Charlestown. He soon became active in public affairs ; was selectman of the town in 1644, and in 1646 represent- ed it in the General Court. Re-elected in 1647, he was chosen Speaker of its House of Deputies.
That part of Charlestown north of the Mystic River, where he resided, was later set off as a separate township and was doubtless named by him Maiden, for his last dwel- ling place in Old England.
He was a lawyer, a leader of the militia, and held many important offices while a resident of Maiden. Later he removed to Newbury.
76 HISTORY OF HUDSON
In 1645, Joseph Hills was the first person named on a committee "to set out lots to the settlers of Nashaway plantacon."
In 1650 he was second of a committee, of which the governor was chairman, appointed to draw up instruments for Massachusetts delegates to a gathering where "the commissioners of all the colonics shall meete." He was a member of numerous other committees of equal or greater importance.
His greatest public service was that of a leading mem- ber of the committee which in 1648 reported to the General Court the first codification of the laws of the colony. Mr. D. P. Cory, one of his descendants, in a history of Maiden published in 1899, says : " He was the actual compiler of the laws, that he prepared the copy for the press and sup- ervised their printing." The colony recognized the great value of his services by money payments, and also by the grant of lands already described, and the remission of his taxes in his old age.
Rose Clark, the first wife of Joseph Hills, died at Mai- den, March 24, 1650, and he married June 24, 1651, Hannah (Smith), widow of Edward Mellows, of Charlestown, who died about 1655. In January, 1656, he married Helen, or Elline, or Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Atkinson, of Kendall, Westmoreland, England, who died between the dates of January 8, 1661, and November 10, 1662. Following the example of Governor Bellingham, who married himself in 1641, Joseph Hills, a magistrate "for the trial of small causes," performed the ceremony that made Miss Atkin- son his wife, in January, 1656, but he did not escape cen- sure, as witness the following:
The records of the court for Middlesex County show that, April 1, 1656, "Mr. Joseph Hills of Mauldon being presented by the Grand Jury for marrying of himself, con- trary to the law of this Collony page 38 in ye old Booke. Hee freely acknowledged his offense therein, and his mis- understanding the ground whereon he went which he now
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 7/
confesseth to be unwarrantable, And was admonished by the Court."
March 8, 1665, he married at Newbury, Ann, the widow of Henry Lunt, of that town, and until his death made her dwelling his home. He was totally blind the last four years of his life, which ended February 5, 1688.
The children of Joseph and Rose (Clark) Hills : Mary, baptised G. Burstead, Eng., November 13, 1625 ; died at Maiden, Mass., November 25, 1674. Elizabeth, baptised G. Burstead, October 21, 1627 ; died at Maiden. Joseph, baptised G. Burstead, August 2, 1629; died at Maiden, April 19, 1674. James, baptised G. Burstead, March 6, 1631 ; probably died young. John, baptised Maiden, March 21, 1632; died at Maiden, June 28, 1652. Rebecca, bap- tised at Maiden, April 20, 1634 ; died at Maiden, June 6, 1674. Steven, baptised at Maiden, May 1, 1636 ; died at Maiden before 1638. Sarah, baptised at Maiden, August 14, 1637; died at Maiden, August 14, 1637. Gershom, born at Charlestown, Mass., July 27, 1639 ; died at Maiden, between 1710 and 1721. Mehitable, born at Maiden, Jan- uary 1, 1641 ; died at Maiden, July, 1653.
The children of Joseph and Hannah (Smith-Mellows) Hills: Samuel, born at Maiden, July, 1652; died at New- bury, Mass., August 18, 1732. Nathaniel, born at Maiden, December 19, 1653; died in Maiden in 1664. Hannah, born at Maiden; date of death unknown.
The children of Helen (Atkinson) Hills: Deborah, born at Maiden, March — , 1657; died at Maiden, October — , 1662. Abagail, born at Maiden, October 6, 1658; died at Maiden, October 9, 1662.
Samuel Hills, son of Joseph and his second wife, Han- nah Smith, born in Maiden, in July, 1652, was sergeant in the Indian war with King Philip, and was at the Battle of Bloody Brook, September 18, and of Narragansett, Decem- ber 19, 1675. He married at Newbury, May 20, 1679, Abi- gail Wheeler, daughter of David and Sarah (Wise) Wheeler of Newbury.
78 HISTORY OF HUDSON
The children of Samuel and Abigail (Wheeler) Hills: Samuel, born in Newbury, February 16, 1680; died irj Rehoboth, Mass., July 27, 1732. Joseph, born in Newbury, July 21, 1681; died in Newbury, November 6, 1745. Na- thaniel, born in Newbury, February 9, 1683; died at Not- tingham West (Hudson), N. H., April 12, 1748. Benja- min, born in Newbury, October 16, 1684; died, Chester, N. H., November 3, 1762. Abigail, born in Newbury, Sep- tember 2, 1686; died in Newbury, August 11, 1688. Hen- ry, born in Newbury, April 23, 1688; died in Nottingham West, N. H., August 20, 1757. William, born in Newbury, October 8, 1689; died in Newbury before January 20, 1724. Josiah, born in Newbury, July 27, 1691; died in Newbury, April 26, 1724. John, born in Newbury, September 20, 1693; died after 1734. Abigail, born in Newbury, June 27, 1695. James and Hannah, twins, born in Newbury, February 25, 1697; died in Nottingham West after 1769. Daniel, born in Newbury, December 8, 1700; died in colo- nial service October 28, 1756. Smith, born at Newbury, April 10, 1706; died in Leominster, Mass., August 23, 1786.
By the lengthy and explicit will of Joseph Hills, dated September 14, 1687, less than five months previous to his death, he disposed of his "Farm" in Dunstable in the fol- lowing manner:
To his daughter Hannah, the wife of Abiel Long, he gave ninety acres of upland at the south end and ten acres of meadow.
To his son-in-law, John Waite, who married his eldest daughter Mary, who died November 25, 1674, he gave forty- five acres of upland, next to that he gave his daughter Hannah, and five acres of meadow, with the little island at the mouth of Nashua River, and his six-acre piece of meadow southeast of Otternick Pond.
To his grandchildren, Hannah and Elizabeth Blanch- ard, children of his daughter, Elizabeth (Hills) Blanchard, he gave forty-five acres of upland and five acres of meadow ground next to that he gave John Waite.
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 79
To his son Gershom he gave a like quantity of upland and meadow, joining the land of said Blanchards.
To Hannah Vinton and Samuel Green, children of his daughter Rebecca, who married Capt. Thomas Green, he gave forty-five acres of upland and five acres of meadow apiece next to that he gave his son Gershom.
To his granddaughter Elizabeth, daughter of Gershom, he gave forty-six acres of upland and five acres of meadow next to that he gave his grandchildren Vinton and Green.
All of the remainder of his "Farm " in Dunstable, both upland and meadow, he gave to his son Samuel. This tract of land lying on the river according to the measure- ment of the noted surveyor, Jonathan Danforth, contained four hundred and fifty acres.
The number of acres of this land devised, according to his will, to his children and grandchildren by Joseph Hills, with the exception of that portion given his son Samuel, contained three hundred and sixty-one acres. Provided the measurements were made correctly, the amount devised to Samuel at the north end of the "farm" was eighty-nine acres, besides ten acres of meadow. The land was proba- bly not divided by actual survey to correspond with the provisions of the will until many years later.
Three of the sons of Samuel Hills, according to tradi- tion, were the first settlers in what is now the town of Hudson. Their names were Nathaniel, Henry and James.
Samuel Hills, by his will, which was dated August 5, 1732, only thirteen days previous to his decease, gave his property to his wife and seven of his sons who survived him.
In that instrument his sons, Henry and James, are not mentioned, which omission is explained by two deeds dated August 22, 1721.
In one of these where Henry is the grantee his father recites: "The natural love and affection which I have and do bear unto my well beloved son Henry Hills * * * * and in full of his portion of my estate," as the considera-
80 HISTORY OF HUDSON
tion for the conveyance to him of "one-half part of all * * * * lands and meadow * * * in the town of Dunstable, in the county of Middlesex * * * * on the easterly side of the Merrimack River * * * which land and meadow was granted to my honored father, Mr. Joseph Hills, late of Newbury, deceased, and conveyed to, me by the late will and testament of the said Joseph Hills."
For the same consideration he gave to his "well-beloved son James Hills" the other half of the same lands. This James Hills, the younger of the three brothers, on the 11th of January, 1723, a few days subsequent to his marriage, reciting in his deed that he was a resident of the new set- tlement, sold the land he had received from his father Sam- uel, then in Dunstable, describing it as containing sixty acres, to Samuel Whiting, of Dunstable, one of Captain Lovewell's famous war-party, and who was probably killed at Pequaket, May 9, 1725, a little over two years after this purchase.
The tract of land sold to Samuel Whiting was the southerly part of the Samuel Hills land, and was later the northerly portion of the Pierce farm.
The Hills brothers, Nathaniel, Henry and James, erect- ed a garrison and settled on the land willed to their father Samuel, and conveyed by deeds to the two last named, Henry and James. The exact date of the building of this garrison is not known. Mr. Fox, in his History of the Old Township of Dunstable, page 216, says: "Hudson was not settled until after 1710, although several tracts of land within its bounds were granted before 1660,"
If these brothers did not commence the settlement here until after the land was conveyed to the two younger ones by their father Samuel, August 22, 1721, certainly tradition is in error, and they could not be credited with being the first settlers in what is now Hudson.
Nathaniel Hills, the eldest of the three brothers, born in Newbury, Mass., February 9, 1683, married (published) in Newbury, October 24, 1709, Ann Worm, Their chil-
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 81
dren were: Enoch, born March 16, 1711. Anna, born May 5, 1712. Mary, born September 23, 1713. Martha, born January 6, 1715. Nathaniel, born April 28, 1716. Thaddeus, born September 20, 1718; died in Newbury, October 12, 1718. Abner, born ; died young. Abra- ham, born ; died young. Samuel, born September
2, 1725. Oliver, born November 18, 1727. Sarah, born October 7, 1731.
All but the last three of these children were born in Newbury, Mass., and these in Dunstable, N. H.
Nathaniel Hills, Sr., died in Nottingham West, now Hudson, April 12, 1748. His wife Ann died at the same place in 1786, said to have been aged 102 years.
Henry Hills, the second of the three brothers in point of age, born in Newbury, Mass., April 23, 1688, married, Haver- hill, Essex Co., Mass., September 3, 1715, Hannah, daughter of Henry and Berthia (Emery) Bodwell, born in Methuen,
Mass., September — , 1696. He married 2d, Abigail ;
3d, in Newbury, November 11, 1736, Dorcas Thurston.
The children of Henry and Hannah (Bodwell) Hills: Ezekiel, born in Newbury, Mass., April 11, 1718. Henry, born in Newbury, October 22, 1719.
The children of Henry and Abigail Hills were: Eliza- beth, born in Dunstable, now Hudson, N. H., April 17, 1726. (.?) (Dunstable Records.) Ebenezer, born in Dunsta- ble, February 20, 1727; Jonathan, born in Dunstable, Feb- ruary 15, 1729.
Child of Henry and Dorcas (Thurston) Hills: Benja- min, born in Litchfield, N. H., in that part now Hudson, December 10, 1740. There may have been other children of this couple.
Henry Hills died August 20, 1757, aged 69 years.
James Hills, the youngest of these three brothers, and the twin of Hannah, was born in Newbury, Mass., Febru- ary 25, 1697. He came here and lived in the garrison be- fore his marriage to Abigail, daughter of Daniel and Es- ther Merrill, December 26, 1723, and then returned to Newbury.
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
81
dren were: Enoch, born March 16, ITU. Anna, born May 5, 1712. Mary, born September 23, 1713. Martha, born January 6, 1715. Nathaniel, born April 28, 1716. Thaddeus, born September 20, 1718; died in Newbury, October 12, 1718. Abner, born ; died young. Abra- ham, born ; died young. Samuel, born September
2, 1725. Oliver, born November 18, 1727. Sarah, born October 7, 1731.
All but the last three of these children were born in Newbury, Mass., and these in Dunstable, N. H.
Nathaniel Hills, Sr., died in Nottingham West, now Hudson, April 12, 1748. His wife Ann died at the same place in 1786, said to have been aged 102 years.
Henry Hills, the second of the three brothers in point of age, born in Newbury, Mass., April 23, 1688, married, Haver- hill, Essex Co., Mass., September 3, 1715, Hannah, daughter of Henry and Berthia (Emery) Bodwell, born in Methuen,
Mass., September — , 1696. He married 2d, Abigail ;
3d, in Newbury, November 11, 1736, Dorcas Thurston.
The children of Henry and Hannah (Bodwell) Hills: Ezekiel, born in Newbury, Mass., April 11, 1718. Henry, born in Newbury, October 22, 1719.
The children of Henry and Abigail Hills were: Eliza- beth, born in Dunstable, now Hudson, N. H., April 17, 1726. (.') (Dunstable Records.) Ebenezer, born in Dunsta- ble, February 20, 1727; Jonathan, born in Dunstable, Feb- ruary 15, 1729.
Child of Henry and Dorcas (Thurston) Hills: Benja- min, born in Litchfield, N. H,, in that part now Hudson, December 10, 1740. There may have been other children of this couple.
Henry Hills died August 20, 1757, aged 69 years.
James Hills, the youngest of these three brothers, and the twin of Hannah, was born in Newbury, Mass., Febru- ary 25, 1697. He came here and lived in the garrison be- fore his marriage to Abigail, daughter of Daniel and Es- ther Merrill, December 26, 1723, and then returned to Newbury.
82 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Children of James and Abigail (Merrill) Hills: Abi- gail, born September 5, 1725 ; died October 5, 1725. Jere- miah, born March 1, 1727. James, born August 10, 1728; died September 1, 1729. William, born May 23, 1730; died September 25, 1734. Hannah, born September 25, 1731 ; all of Newbury. Sarah, born July 2, 1735 ; married Joseph Winn, Jr.; died August 24, 1753. Edna, born August 3, 1736; died September 1, 1753. Elijah, born March 15, 1738.
James Hills returned from Newbury as early as 1737, and settled on a farm of about one hundred acres, which he bought of his brother Nathaniel, and which was a part of the nine hundred acres Nathaniel had bought of Jonathan Tyng. This tract of land was located between the north end of Joseph Hills* "farm" and the "Brenton Farm," which bounded it on the north, and extended east from the river more than two miles. This included all that was later known as "Hills Row." The probable reason why Samuel Hills gave all of his land in Dunstable to his two sons, Henry and James, and no part to Nathaniel, was that the latter had already bought the Tyng land.
The Hills garrison stood about twenty-five rods east of the Litchfield road, on the farm now owned by J. H. LeGallee. A granite boulder, with the following inscrip- tion, marks the location:
Site of the Hills Garrison.
The first settlement of Hudson, about 1710.
Erected by Kimball Webster, 1901.
Nathaniel Hills died April 12, 1748, aged 65. Henry Hills died August 20, 1757, aged 69.
It is possible and perhaps probable that Hills garrison was erected and the settlement commenced several years previous to the removal of the families of Nathaniel and Henry Hills, permanently, from Newbury.
Captain John Lovewell, with his company of forty- six brave soldiers spent the first night after starting upon their march to Pequawket at Hills garrison, where they were fed by Mrs. Ann Hills with rations she had prepared
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 83
for them — cooked in a large iron kettle. She was a very brave woman, and once saved the garrison from capture by a party of Indians by strategem.
Three other garrisons were built in what was later the town of Nottingham, two of which, the Joseph Blodgett, and the John Taylor garrisons, were all built in what is now Hudson, and the Fletcher garrison was a short dis- tance south of the state line, in what is nowTyngsborough, Mass. These garrisons were all built as a protection against the Indians, either before, or during the time of Lovewell's war, and it is the more probable that they were all built previous to that time. The Joseph Blodgett garri- son was located about two and one-half miles below the mouth of the Nashua River, nearly half way between the present river road and the Merrimack, on the farm now owned by Philip J. Connell, which is a part of the original Joseph Blodgett farm.
Joseph Blodgett was one of the first settlers on the east side of the river, in what was then Dunstable.
A granite boulder with a bronze tablet marks the site of the garrison. The inscription on the tablet is as follows :
Site of Blodgett Garrison —
Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett.
Their eldest son, Joseph, born here February 9, 1718, being the first white child born in this town.
Kimball Webster, 1904.
Thomas Blodgett, born 1605, the emigrant ancestor of the Blodgett Family of New England, sailed from London in the "Increase," April 18, 1635. The family consisted of "Thomas Blodgett, glover, aged 30 ; his wife, Susan, aged 37; a son, Daniel, aged 4; and a son, Samuel, aged 1 1-2 years." He settled in Cambridge, Mass., and was one of the original members of Rev. Thomas Shepard's company which founded the first church in Cambridge. He was made a freeman in 1636, and received a grant of land. He died in 1642, aged about 37. His will is dated August 10,
84 HISTORY OF HUDSON
1641, and was probated 1643. His widow, Susan, married second time, February 15, 1643-4, James Thompson of Woburn.
Samuel Blodgett, son of Thomas and Susan, born in England, settled in Woburn.
Daniel Blodgett, son of Thomas, born in England, mar- ried September 15, 1653, Mary Butterfield, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Butterfield of Woburn, and Chelmsford, Mass. He removed from Cambridge to Chelmsford, and there his children were born. His wife, the mother of seven children, died September 5, 1666; he married, second, March 10, 1669, Sarah Underwood, who was the mother of two sons. He died January 28, 1672.
Thomas Blodgett, son of Daniel ^ born in Chelmsford, June 25, 1654, lived in Chelmsford. He married June 29, 1682, Mary Parkhurst, daughter of Joseph Parkhurst; she died September 9, 1694. He married, second, July 8, 1696, Mary Druse of Groton, Mass.
Joseph Blodgett, son of Thomas ^ and Mary (Park- hurst) Blodgett, born in Chelmsford, October 10, 1689; married Dorothy Perham, daughther of Joseph Perham, born July 9, 1696. This is the same Joseph Blodgett that built the garrison, sometime previous to the beginning of Lovewell's war, and where his eldest son was born, prob- ably February 9, 1718, athough the records place it one year later. This was the first white child born in this town.
The old Dunstable records give the births of children of Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett as follows: Joseph Blodgett, born February 9, 1719; Ebenezer, born January 3, 1720; Jeremiah, born July 20, 1721; Dorothy, born Febuary 18, 1723-4; Rebecca, born February 3, 1728; Jonathan, born December 5, 1730.
We also find recorded on the Nottingham records an- other birth, James, born February 17, 1734. They prob- ably had another daughter, Abigail, who married in this town May 27, 1744, Samuel Greeley, son of Samuel and
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 85
Ra'chel Greeley, born May 11, 1721. They resided in this !tovvn until about 1767 when they removed to Wilton. After his death his widow, Abigail, returned here, where she died March 18, 181S, in the 95th year of her age. (Inscrip- tion, Blodgett Cemetery.)
The date of the birth of Joseph Blodgett, given as February 9, 1719, on the Dunstable records, is believed to be an error of one year. The inscription on his head stone in the Blodgett Cemetery gives the date of his death on August 16, 1801, in the 84th year of his age, which would place his birth as in the year 1718.
Again, the record places the birth of his brother, Eb- enezer, January 3, 1720, which would leave less than eleven months between the two births, which might be possible but not very probable.
The date upon the tablet at the site of the Blodgett garrison, for the birth of Joseph, is February 9, 1718, which is believed to be correct.
In my experience with the ancient town records I have observed very many similar errors of one or more years in the dates of births and deaths, in cases where the age is given at date of death.*
Dorothy Blodgett, born February 18, 1723-4; married first — Thompson, second Onesipherous Marsh of this town. They resided here until about 1755, when they removed to Hollis, and later to Plymouth, N. H. Rebecca Blodgett, born February 3, 1728, married Samuel Merrill, Jr., son of Samuel and Susanna Merrill of this town. He died Sep- tember 16, 1758, and is said to have been killed in the French and Indian war.
The Joseph Blodgett farm, upon which the garrison was built, extended from the Merrimack River to Hills meadow, a distance of more than one and a half miles, and contained about 200 acres, including the farm now owned by Hannah E. Connell, the summer home of Herman A.
* Kimball Webster.
86 HISTORY OF HUDSON"
Morse, a part of the farm of the heirs of Luther Pollard, and lands of Austin J. and Vinnie Blodgett and Susan C, Greeley, and possibly others.
The descendants of Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett be- came very numerous, among which have been, and at pres- ent (1912) are, many distinguished men of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and other states.
He died December 3, 1761. His wife, Dorothy, died March 6, 1778. They were buried in the Blodgett ceme- tery, where the inscriptions upon their head stones may be easily read.
Tradition says that he was a small, wiry man, and that he moved up the river to his farm in a canoe.
The John Taylor garrison was located upon that part of the Joseph Hills farm, containing forty-five acres, that was willed to Gershom Hills by his father, Joseph, which farm is now owned and occupied by Charles W. Spalding, and was situated about equal distance between the Derry road and the Litchfield road as they at present exist.
The exact location where it stood is still known, and has been pointed out to the writer. Some pieces of timber that entered into the construction of this garrison are still preserved by Mr. Spalding.
Very little is know of this John Taylor. He was as- sessed here from the date of the incorporation of Notting- ham in 1733 to 1741, inclusive. He probably removed from this town about 1742, or possibly he may have died about that time, as we find no further reference in relation to him upon the records. The Dunstable records give births of children of John and Sarah Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, born December 10, 1710, and that a son was born to them January 16, 1726; the first of which probably took place while he resided on the west side of the Merrimack, before he built the garrison.
The falls in the Merrimack, about one mile below his farm, now covered by flowage from the dam at Lowell, called Taylor's Falls, probably derived the name from this John Taylor.
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON 87
The Fletcher garrison, also in Nottingham, was situ- ated a little south of the line as established in 1741, be- tween the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was located near the River road, a short distance south of the state line, now Tyngsborough, Mass., and was occu- pied by Capt. Robert Fletcher.
Thus it will be seen that the Hills garrison was situ- ated very near the north line of Nottingham as it was in- corporated in 1733. John Taylor's garrison was situated about one-half a mile south of the Hills garrison, and the Joseph Blodgett garrison was located about three miles southerly from the Taylor garrison, and the Fletcher gar- rison was situated nearly three miles southerly from the Blodgett garrison, no one of which was more than one-half a mile from the Merrimack.
Probably during Lovewell's war there may have been a few other families residing on the east side of the river, who depended upon the garrison houses for protection in case of trouble with the Indians.
CHAPTER VI r
Grants and Counter Grants
The early histories of all the towns in lower New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts are largely taken up with the settlements of boundary disputes, arising mainly in the beginning from a misconception regarding the true course of the Merrimack River, which was supposed to be from the west, no one dreaming of the abrupt bend made by the river three miles below the present line between the states. The records of the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany, after describing the country to the south of the Merrimack, says:
And also all singular the lands and preditaments whatsoever which lie, & be within the space of three English miles to the Northward of said river Called " Monomack," alias " Merry mack," or to the northward of any and every part thereof.
Owing to this misconception dual grants were made by the rival provinces which made much trouble and cre- ated in some instances bitter feelings on the part of the colonists, many of whom were in no way responsible or to blame for the situation. Though escaping, in a measure, the rancor arising among the inhabitants of the grants up the river, the settlement of Hudson, or Nottingham, as it was first known, was influenced by this state of affairs.
The first grant affecting the condition of Hudson, how- ever, was free from this influence. This was the grant of the old township of Dunstable by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, October 16, 1673, which em- braced a very large tract of land, and included within its bounds the following towns and parts of towns: Hudson, Nashua, Hollis, portions of Amherst, Milford, Merrimack, Litchfield, Londonderry, Pelham and Brookline, in New
88
GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS 89
Hampshire; Dunstable, Tyngsborough, and portions of Pepperell and Townsend, in Massachusetts.
The first inroad made upon this extensive territory was attempted when Governor Shute of New Hampshire granted to the Scotch-Irish colony the township of Lon- donderry, and which included a part of the present town of Hudson, and which was made to John Moore and one hun- dred and seventeen others upon June 21, 1722.
These colonists were of a distinct type from any who had previously settled in New England. They were of Scottish descent, with a character founded during the stormy period of the early struggles of Scotland against the royal and ecclesiastical tyranny of England. Finally their situation becoming more and more unsatisfactory and hopeless, a considerable number of them emigrated to the northern counties of Ireland, which had been almost de- populated through the devastations of war. This was iij- 1612, and these refugees soon learned that the same op- pression was to wreak its work upon them here. Thus, after a bitter conflict lasting over a hundred years in that country, their descendants began to look towards New England as their haven of refuge. One of their number, the Rev. William Boyd, came as an advance agent, and his account was so flattering that about seventy-five, under the leadership of Rev. James McGregor, landed in Boston, August 14, 1718.
Flattering prospects were held out to induce them to settle on the Maine coast, and hither about twenty of them removed soon after their arrival. The balance remained in Boston during the fall and winter. In the meantime they had been seen by Capt. John Goffe and John Moore, who encouraged them to settle in what was known as "The Nutfield Country," from the great abundance of chestnuts, walnuts and butternuts growing there. These two men had begun negotiations for land there, and the first of April sixteen families went to Haverhill, Mass., reaching that town the second day of the month. From thence
90 HISTORY OF HUDSON
some of the men, under the guidance of Captain Goffe, pushed forward into the new country. They were so well pleased with the prospect, that they immediately began the construction of rude dwellings for themselves, and on April 11 they had removed their families hither, to begin housekeeping at once.
The names of the male members of this hardy little band of pioneers were Rev. James McGregor, Alexander McGregor, Alexander Nichols, James Nichols, James Blair, Alexander Walker, Robert Boyes, Samuel Graves, Joseph Simonds, David Cargill, David Cargill, Jr., Archibald Cien- denin, James Nesmith, James Clark, Elias Keyes, John Bar- nett, James McKeen, James Gregg, James Morrison, John Morrison, Allen Anderson, Thomas Steele and Robert Weare. The seven last named had been among those who went to Casco the fall before, but had not been satisfied with the prospect there.* To this list of twenty-three should be added the name of John Goffe, who, though of English descent, linked his fortune with the others. I only wish I had the names of the brave and equally energetic women who accompanied their husbands into this wilderness.
The following September a petition was sent to the Court of New Hampshire for the "power of government and town privileges." Anxious to secure a valid title to their possessions, in October, 1719, Mr. James McGregor and Samuel Graves were chosen to obtain a sale of the land from Col. John Wheelwright of Wells, Maine, a grand- son of Rev. John Wheelwright, who claimed to have pur- chased of the Indians a tract of land extending from the Pascataqua River to the Merrimack, and from the Massa- chusetts line thirty miles northward. This was the famous Wheelwright deed, which has caused so much discussion in regard to its being genuine or not, and upon which his-
* From the fact that these people had come here from Ireland, where they and their an- cestors had lived for over a century, they were largely known as " Irish " among the early English settlers. Later they were termed " Scotch-Irish," which name has clung to them, though opinions differ as to whether it is correct or not. — G. W. B.
GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS 91
torians are not yet agreed. It was purported to have been signed by Passaconnaway, Sagamon of the Pennacooks; Runnawit, Chief of the Pawtuckets; Wahhangnowit, Chief of the Swampscots; and Rowls, Chief of the Newichewan- nocks, and dated May 17, 1629.
The deed from John Wheelwright to the Londonderry colonists was dated October 20, 1719, and specified "Unto James McGregor, Samuel Graves, David Cargill, James McKeen, James Gregg, and one hundred more mentioned in a list, by virtue of a deed or grant made to my grand- father, a minister of the gospel, a tract of land not to ex- ceed tenn miles square, and bounded as follows," etc.
There was some delay in getting the charter, but this was granted June 21, 1722, in the name of George the First, and signed by Samuel Shute, Governor of New Hampshire. It covered a tract of land about ten miles square, incorporated under the name of Londonderry, so called from the city in Ireland from whence many of them had come.
The first comers to Londonderry settled along West- Running Brook, now Beaver Brook, and the energy with which they went to work is shown by the fact that within a year a two-story dwelling house was built for the minister; inside of two years a meeting house and four school houses were erected. In that space of time, too, they had con- structed mills, and begun the manufacture of linen, an im- portant product in that day. So they became the pioneer manufacturers in this country. In fact, before this time they had begun the manufacture of linen cloth in Boston, arousing the people to the importance of that industry, and inaugurating what was known as "the spinning craze," car- ried to such an extent that work was carried on at Boston Common, and the whirl of the wheel was heard from sunrise to sunset, while the folk went about proudly clad in gar- ments of their weaving.
Mr. Parker, in his History of Londonderry, speaking of this industry, says: "To the hand-card, foot-wheel and
92 HISTORY OF HUDSON
the loom, the common implements of manufacture in al- most every family, was the town principally indebted for its early prosperity and wealth. Of such superior quality was the linen, the thread and the fabrics manufactured in Londonderry, that they commanded not only a more ready sale, but a higher price than those produced elsewhere."
They raised their own flax, and also introduced the potato, which had been unknown in this country before. The complete lack of knowledge concerning this item of food is shown by the anecdote current at that time, and told at the expense of some of the good settlers in An- dover, Mass. A few potatoes left with a family for seed were planted according to directions, and like Mr. Finney's turnip, "they grew and they grew," but the raisers were at a loss what to do with them. Finally, as the little apples that succeeded the blossoms grew into sizable shape these were plucked and boiled, but the most ravenous could not eat them. Then some were baked, and still they proved anything but palatable. They were stewed and cooked in all the various ways the ingenious housewife could think of, and still they failed to be relished. So the little patch was left to the mercies of the weeds, and, while the potato might do well for a Scotch-Irishman, it was unsuitable to the English taste. The following spring the plow turned out some bouncing specimens which had escaped the win- ter frosts, and with a suspicion that the previous trial had been misplaced, these were cooked and eaten with great manifestations of delight.
The south-western boundary of Londonderry, as de- scribed in its charter, reached an angle about northeast from Taylor's Falls bridge, and within two miles of the Merrimack River. From thence the western boundary line ran due north by the needle eleven and one-half miles. This plan included ten thousand acres of the township of Old Dunstable, which had been incorporated forty-nine years before by the Massachusetts Bay colony. Four thou- sand six hundred acres of this territory are within the pres-
'GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS 9S
â– ent limits of Hudson, so the inhabitants of our town had a personal interest in this grant to the Scotch-Irish.
This tract became known as the •' Londonderry Claim," and a bitter controversy arose between the English settlers and the Scotch-Irish, the former holding their title from the Massachusetts courts and the latter from New Hamp- shire. This civil war continued with increasing bitterness until the boundary line was fixed between the provinces in May, 1741, when it was conceded that the charter of Lon- donderry held the debatable territory. Before this an im- portant step had been taken relative to the jurisdiction over that territory now comprising the town of Hudson.
In 1731 the inhabitants of Dunstable residing in that part of the township lying east of the Merrimack, peti- tioned the town of Dunstable to be set off as a separate township; and by a vote passed at the annual meeting of that town, March 2, 1732, the petition was granted, to take effect "when the General Court shall judge them capable."
Consent was obtained from the Assembly of Massa- chusetts, and the new township was incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts under the name of Not- tingham, January 4, 1733, as follows:
Charter of Nottingham, January 4, 1732-3.
Whereas the inhabitants of the town of Dunstable, on the easterly side of the river Merrimack, labor under great difficulties on their atten- dance on public worship of God, and therefore have addressed this court that they may be set off a separate and distinct township, that they may be vested with all powers and privileges of a town.
Be it therefore enacted by his Excellency, the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same :
That all the lands on the easterly side of the river Merrimack, be- longing to the town of Dunstable, be and hereby are set off and consti- tuted a separate township by the name of Nottingham, and that the in- habitants of the said lands be, and hereby are, accordingly endowed and vested with all the powers, privileges, immunities and advantages which other towns of this Province by law have and enjoy.
And the inhabitants of the said town of Nottingham are hereby en- joined and required, within the space of three years from the publication
94 HISTORY OF HUDSON
of this Act, to procure and settle a learned Orthodox minister of goorf conversation, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable sup- port.
Passed January 4; Published January 6, 1732-3.
By the terms of this charter the township of Notting- ham included "all the lands on the easterly side of the river Merrimack belonging to the town of Dunstable," and extended from the Dracut line on the south, up the Merri- mack, about seventeen miles, to near Reed's Ferry, and included the greater part of Litchfield, about one-third of Pelham, nearly all that part of Tyngsborough, Mass., on the east side of the Merrimack, and all the present town of Hudson, excepting the "Londonderry claim," the owner- ship of which was in dispute between the towns of Dun- stable and Londonderry.
An order from the General Court of Massachusetts, dated April 4, 1733 — three months subsequent to the date of the charter — directed to "Mr. Robert Fletcher, one of the principal inhabitants of Nottingham," authorizing him "to assemble and convene the inhabitants of said Town to choose Town officers to stand until the annual meeting in March next."
A warrant was accordingly issued by Mr. Fletcher as follows:
The general court's order directed to me Being date April ye 4, to notify and warn a Town meeting in obedience to said order. I have noti- fied ye free Holders and other Inhabitants of ye town of Nottingham To meet at ye Hous of Insign John Snow, in Nottingham one Tuesday ye first day of May 1733, at ten of ye clock in ye forenoon to choose Towi»
officers as ye Law directs.
ROBERT FLETCHER.
The inhabitants of Nottingham met and made "choys of Cpt. Robert Fletcher Moderator for this inst'"8 In ye year 1733 May ye first day, ye free Holders and other in- habitants at a general Town meeting at Insign John Snows
"Henry Baldwin Town Clerk. Henry Baldwin first Selectman, Capt. Robert Fletcher ye Second Selectman, John Taylor ye Third Selectman, Joseph Snow ye Fourth
•GilANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS 95
Selectman, John Butler ye Fifth Selectman. Joseph Ham- ^tet Constable. Insign John Snow Town Treasurer. Na- thaniel Hills Tythingma-n.
James Perham, )
Joseph Winn, V Surveyors.
Eleazer Cummings. )
Thomas Colburn, ) t- ^r-
Samuel Butler. | ^^"^ Viewers
Edward Spalding, ) i-- , , r-. â– Jonathan Perham.[^^^^^^"^^^^- Phineas Spalding, } jj r, John Hamlet. I "^^ ^^''^^'
Henry Baldwin, Town Clerk."
The first tax-list for 1733 was made up of the following names:
Captain Robert Fletcher, Ezekiel Fletcher, Daniel Fletcher, Joseph Perham,
Jeremiah Colburn, Jonathan Perham,
Zaccheus Spalding, Deacon Joseph Perham, James Perham, Captain Joseph Butterfield,
Hugh Richardson, Samuel Gould,
Ensign John Snow, Phineas Spalding,
Zaccheus Lovewell, Thomas Pollard,
Eleazer Cummings, William Cummings, Eleazer Cummmgs, Jr., Ebenezer Spalding,
Nathaniel Hills, Ephraim Cummings»
Joseph Snow, Thomas Colburn,
Joseph Blodgett, Nathan Cross,
John Taylor, Jabez Davis,
Henry Hills, Edward Spalding,
Benjamin Adams, Aquilla Underwood,
Samuel Moores, Thomas Wartels, Capt. Robert Richardson, Ebenezer Wright,
Edward Lingfield, John
John Butler, John Butler, Jr.,
Samuel Butler, Joseph Hamblet, Jr,
Josiah Winn, Henry Baldwin,
m
HISTORV OF HUDSON"
Thomas Cummings, James Walker, Jonas Proctor, Joseph Winn, William Harwood,
Joseph Wright,, Joseph Hamblety John Hamblet, Benjamin Hassel, Samuel Murdough,
Robert Walker.
This tax-list contains fifty-five names, of which the first twelve, and also Phineas Spalding and Samuel Mur- dough, were all residents of that part of the town which by the settlement of the Province line in 1741 fell into Massa- chusetts, and later became a part of the town of Tyngs- borough. The eight next following the names of Henry Hills and Edward Spalding were residents in what is now Litchfield. Nine inhabited the east part of the town that was taken into Pelham as incorporated July 6, 1746. These tax-payers were:
John Butler, John Butler, Jr.,
Samuel Butler, Joseph Hamblet, Jr.,
Josiah Winn, Joseph Hamblet,
John Hamblet, Henry Baldwin,
Joseph Wright.
Six of those assessed in 1733 were either transients or non-residents, as they were not assessed here after that year. These names were:
Thomas Cummings, James Proctor, Joseph Walker,
Robert Walker, Benjamin Hassel, William Harwood.
Thus it appears that the total number of tax-payers in 1733, residents in that part of Nottingham that is now within the present limits of Hudson, was but eighteen.
The names of those men were: Ensign John Snow, Zaccheus Lovewell,
Thomas Pollard, Ebenezer Cummings,
William Cummings, Eleazer Cummings, Jr.,
Ebenezer Spalding, Nathaniel Hills,
GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
97
Ephraim Cummings, Joseph Winn, Joseph Blodgett, John Taylor, Henry Hills,
Joseph Snow, Thomas Colburn, Nathan Cross, Jabez Davis, Edward Spalding.
The most thickly settled part of the town included what was formerly the Joseph Hills grant already men- tioned, upon which ten of the eighteen families above enu- merated were residents.
CHAPTER VIII
Pioneer Families
A brief sketch of these eighteen men, the pioneer set- tlers of Hudson, the ancestors of many of its present resi- dents, showing so far as is known the places where they settled, may not be uninteresting in this connection.
First, the settlers of "Hills Farm," beginning with Eleazer Cummings.
Isaac Cummings, the emigrant, was a resident of Watertown before 1636, where he was the owner of land. Later he became a permanent resident of Topsfield, where he was deacon of the church for many years. He died in May, 1667, aged 66 years. His children were: John'^, born
1630; Isaac^, born 1633; Elizabeth'^ born ; married
John Jewett of Rowley, April 2, 1661; Ann^ born ;
married John Pease of Salem, October 8, 1669; John Cum- mings*^, (Isaac^), born 1630; married Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Alice (French) Howlet, of Ipswich, Mass. He received by his father's will the homestead, con- sisting of 40 acres, with houses, barns, orchards and fences, and in 1680 sold the same to Edward Kneeland. About 1658 he removed to Boxford, Mass.
Both he and his wife were members of the church in Topsfield, December 7, 1685, when, they were dismissed "to the church to be shortly gathered at Dunstable." (Topsfield Church Records.)
He removed with his family to Dunstable about 1680. He died December 1, 1700. Sarah, his wife, died Decem- ber 7, 1700.
Children: — John^ born , 1657, in Boxford; Thom-
as^ born October 6, 1658; Nathaniel, born September 10, 1659; Sarah^ born January 27, 1661; married Lieut. Sam- uel French, December 28, 1682; Abraham^ born ;
98
PIONEER FAMILIES 99
*Isaac^ born ; died November 2, 1688; *Ebenezer^
born ; died November 2, 1688; tWilliam^ born August
6, 1671; died March 30, 1672; tEleazer^ born August 5, 1671; Benjamin^ born February 23, 1673; SamueP, born December 28, 1677.
John Cummings^ (John^ IsaacS) born in Boxford, 1657; married September 13, 1680; Elisabeth Kinsley, born in Braintree, November 22, 1657. She was called "Goody" Cummings. They settled on the Nathan Cutler place, on the Lowell road, about one mile north of the south line of Nashua, where "Goody" Cummings was killed by the Indians, July 3, 1706. He was also wounded, hav- ing an arm broken, but escaped to a swamp about one-half a mile south, where he remained in hiding until the next morning when he escaped to "Farwell's Block-house."
Children: John^ born July 7, 1682; Samuel*, born October 6, 1684; Elizabeth'', born January 5, 1687; married Joseph French, son of Samuel and Sarah (Cummings) French, born March 10, 1687; Hannah^ born May 20, 1690 in Groton; Ebenezer'*, born in Woburn, September 17, 1695; died September 5, 1724, killed by the Indians with seven others; Anna*, born September 14, 1798; Lydia*, born xMarch 24, 1701; died April, 1701; William*, born April 24, 1702; settled in Hudson.
Thomas Cummings", (John-, Isaac^), born in Boxford, October 6, 1658; married December 19, 1688, Priscilla, daughter of Samuel and Mercy (Swan) Warner, born Sep- tember 25, 1666. He died October 23, 1722, and was, buried in the ancient cemetery at South Nashua, where his head stone still remains.
Children: Priscilla*, born October 1, 1689; died Sep- tember 13, 1728; Mary*, born April 25, 1692; married Lieut. Oliver Farwell, born 1691, who was killed by the Indians at Natticook, September 5, 1724, aged 33; Thomas*, born
* Killed by the Indians and remained unburied until November 28. t Twins.
100 HISTORY OF HUDSON
October 24, 1694; died June 2, 1695; Sarah*, born Septem- ber 15, 1696; Ann*, born February 6, 1699; Thomas*, born April 10, 1701; Jonathan*, born July 3, 1703; settled in Merrimack, N. H. ; Ephraim*, born March 10, 1706, settled in Hudson; Samuel*, born April 12, 1708.
Nathaniel Cummings'', (John^ Isaac\)born in Boxford September 10, 1659; married April 14, 1697, Abigail Park- hurst, of Chelmsford, and settled in Dunstable. His widow was living February 23, 1729, with her son John, who gave a bond for her support.
Children: John*, born January 14,1698; Nathaniel*, born September 8, 1699; Eleazer*, born October 19, 1701; Joseph*, born May 26, 1704.
Abraham Cummings^, (John^, Isaac\) born in Boxford, removed with his father to Dunstable about 1680. He married February 28, 1687, Sarah Wright, of Woburn, where the births of his children are recorded, with the ex- ception of Josiah's, which is recorded in Dunstable.
Children: Abraham*, born October 7, 1690; Joseph*, born September 1, 1692; Sarah*, born February 10, 1694; Jacob*, born January 3, 1696; Josiah*, born July 12, 1698; Eleazer*, born April 9, 1704.
Eleazer Cummings*, (NathanieP, John^ IsaacS) born in Dunstable, October 19, 1701, settled on the southerly end of the Joseph Hills farm which was willed to Hannah Vinton and Samuel Green, containing ninety acres.
The deed dated August 1, 1728, was as follows:
To all people unto whom this Deed of sale shall come, Benjamin Long, Hannah Rogers and Thomas Rogers, Jun., Husband of i-aid Han- nah Rogers, all of ye town of Newbury, in ye County of Essex, in ye Province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England, sendeth greeting.
Know ye that for and in consideration of ye sum of two hundred and fifty Pounds money to us in hand paid, and by bond secuied to us before the signing and sealing hereof, Have given, granted, bargained, sold, and do by these presents fully, freely and absolutely give, grant, sell, alienate, confirm and make over unto Eleazer Cummings, Sen., in ye County of Middlesex in ye Province above named, A certain parcel of land lying in ye township of Dunstable, being ninety acres of upland and ten acres of
PIONEER FAMILIES 101
Meadow, being originally the land of Mr. Joseph Hills, late of Newbury, deceased, which land and meadow is at that end of said Hills farm lying next to Chelmsford, and was given to our honored mother, Hannah Long by ye last will and te«tament of her Honored father Joseph Hills.
The said ten acres of meadow is bounded as followeth. Viz. South- westward by meadow about eighteen poles, Southeasterly by upland about fifty poles and about 11 poles by meadow, bounded northeasterly by meadow about 38 poles, bounded westerly by upland in crooked lines about fifty-two poles to a white oak tree marked by a rock, thence it is bounded by upland in a crooked line about 36 poles. The Southeast and Northeast cornors are stakes, the South west and North west corner.s aie rocks and stones layed upon them.
To Have and to Hold all of the above mentioned ninety acres of up- land and ten acres of meadow together with all the pti\iltges and apper- tenances thereon or in any ways thereunto appertaining, to him the said Eleazer Cummings his heirs Executors Administrators assigns forever, to his and their proper use, benefit or behoof forever.
And we the said Benjamin Long, Hannah Rogers and Thomas Rog- ers, for ourselves our heirs executors administiators, do promise, covenant and grant to and with the above said Eleazer Cun mings, his heirs Ex- ecutors Administrators and a.ssigns, that before ye signing and sealing hereof, we are the true sole and lawful owners of all ye above bargained premises, and have ourselves good right, full power, and lawful authority to make this sale in form and manner as aforesaid. And that ye said Elea- zer Cummings, his heirs and assigns shall have, hold, use, occupy, possess and enjoy all ye above demised premises, with the appurtenances, free and clear from all former or other sales, gifts, grants, thirds dowers, wills, mortgages, or any other incumbrances whatever.
And furthermore we the above said Benjamin Long, Hannah Rogers and Thomas Rogers, for ourselves and our heirs Executors and Admin- istrators do covenant and promise to and with the above named Eleazer Cummings his heirs Executors Administrators and assigns to secure war- rantise maintain and defend all and every part of je above demised prem- ises against the lawful claims of any person or persons whatsoever.
In witness and for confirmation of all above written we the above named Benjamin Long, Hannah Rogers and Thomas Rogers have here- unto set our hands and seals, this first day of August, in ye second year of ye reign of our Sovereign Lord, George ye Second, King of Great Britain, &c. Anno Dom. 1728. signed sealed and delivered Benjami.n Long, [seal]
in presence of us Witnesses.
Hannah Rogers, [seal]
John Huse,
Thomas Rogers, Jr. [seal] Mary Rogers.
102 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Essex, Newbury the first day of August, 1728, the within nanied Ben- jamin Long and Hannah Kogers and Thomas Rogers, Junior, Personally
acknowledged this instrument, and Sarah long • gave up her right
of dower in and to the same, before me
EDWARD SARGENT
Justice of the Peace. Sarah Long above named is the wife of Benjamin Long, acknowl- edged before me
BENJAMIN SARGENT
Justice of the Peace. Cambr, July 15, 1730.
Received and entered in the Registry of Deeds for said County I ib. 31 Pa 450-1. Attest
IRA FOXCROFT. Reg.
This farm of ninety acres, and later known as the Cum- mings farm, was bounded southerly by the south line of the Joseph Hills grant, commencing at the Merrimack River about 60 rods above Taylor's Falls bridge, thence easterly to near the south-west corner of the Spruce Swamp, so called, about 106 rods. It included the farm of Aldon E. Cummings, which was the north half of the oiiginal farm, and also the greater part of the homestead of Kim- ball Webster, with the north part of the homestead of the late Mrs. Sarah H. Whittier.
Mr. Cummings invested all his capital in the purchase of his farm, and did not immediately erect a house. He was engaged quite extensively, during that part of the year suited to the business, in gathering turpentine.
This was done by "boxing" the large white pine trees with a hatchet made for that purpose, and called a "turpen- tine hatchet." These boxes, as they were called, were made by cutting a cavity into the trunks of large trees in such a way that it would hold a considerable quantity of the liquid turpentine, which would gather in them in warm weather, in the spring and summer season.
This was removed from the boxes, stored in barrels, and sold for use in the Royal Navy of England.
PIONEER FAMILIES 103
Mr. Cummings, then a single man, while engaged in the turpentine business, improving his land for a farm, and erecting a two-story dwelling house for his future residence boarded with Mr. Nathan Cross, on the farm adjoining his own upon the north.
How long this continued is not known, but probably two or three years, or until he had completed his house so far as to be habitable. After the completion of the build- ing, and until his first marriage, which may have been two, or more years, he resided in his new house alone, being his own cook and housekeeper.
At that time a band of friendly Indians resided, at least a part of the time, on the small island at the mouth of the Nashua river, which at that period, and for more than a hundred years later, was an island in fact, but v^^hich now forms the point between the Merrimack and the Nashua.
He related that many nights while alone in his house he could hear the Indians carousing all night, and on cross- ing the river in his canoe the next morning he would find nearly the whole band intoxicated.
Possibly it is now known to but very few, that a band of Indians from Maine, said to have been of the Penobscot tribe, visited the same island in 1834. They paddled their bark canoes along the coasts of Maine and New Hamp- shire, and up the Merrimack river.
There was a considerable number of men, women and children, and they remained a long time during the summer and autumn of that year. The writer, then about six years of age, distinctly recalls the fact of crossing the river in a boat with his mother, and visiting the Indian camp com- posed of quite a number of real Indian wigwams. She traded ears of green corn for small fancy baskets made by the squaws. Here, about the junction of the two rivers — the Merrimack and the Nashua — and on both sides of the Merrimack, had long been a favorite location for the Indi- ans, and fields upon these fertile alluvial intervales had been cultivated by them for many years for the production
104 HISTORY OF HUDSON
of corn and other vegetables, especially on the east side of the river.
Here also they buried their dead. The writer, in 1859, when excavating for the cellar over which his house was built, and where he now resides, 1912, soon made the discovery that he was at work in an ancient Indianburying ground. This is situated nearly opposite to, but a little be- low the mouth of the Nashua, on a sandy knoll not more than twelve or fourteen rods from the east bank of the Merrimack.
It is very true that human remains were in but few of the many graves discovered — probably not more than half a dozen. No account was taken of the number of graves opened, but I believe we dug out more than thirty in all. They were nearly all of a comparatively uniform length and depth — from two and a half to thee feet deep and from four to nearly five feet in length. There was seen a thin streak or vein of a black substance at the bottom of the graves opened, which would seem to indicate that after a grave had been opened a fire was first kindled in it before the body was placed therein. The black vein in the bottom made it very easy to discover the ancient graves, even when noth- ing else remained visible.
The material of the earth throughout the entire exca- vation was fine sand.
The legs of the bodies buried were folded back at the knees, as I have found to be true of all Indian burials that I have discovered in this section of the country. This ac- counts for the shortness of the graves.
In one grave, I found the bones almost perfect, and covered with pine bark which was in a good state of pres- ervation. When the bark was lifted the straight, black hair was plainly to be seen about the head, but after exposure it soon disappeared, or immediately turned to dust. In another grave was the skeleton of an adult almost perfect.
In several others, traces of bones were visible. Buried a few inches above such remains of bones or charcoal in
CHARLES E. CUMMINGS
PIONEER FAMILIES 105
one of the graves was found the back part of a box tortoise shell which was in perfect condition, and which may have been used as a drinking vessel by the Indians, or for some other domestic purpose. In several graves were found chips of flint and in several others round or oval, smooth stones of from one to two pounds weight, each of which was slightly nicked on four sides, as though having been slung as a war club or for some other purpose.
Probably this spot had been used by the Indians on both sides of the Merrimack as a burial place for their dead, perhaps for many generations. Only a small portion of the burying ground was dug over. How far it extended outside of that I have no means of knowing.
Many stone implements have formerly been found upon this sandy knoll, which extends north and south par- allel with the Merrimack for several hundred feet. Con- siderable quantities of pottery have been found by the writer along the bank of the river.
Mr. Cummings, finding, as he did, these corn fields all ready for the plow, had a comparatively easy task, during the first years of his settlement here, to produce corn and other vegetables sufficient to supply his needs. He mar- ried first, July 28, 1734, Mary Varnum, born in Dracut, June 28, 1706, O. S. The house erected by Mr. Cummings was located very nearly opposite the mouth of the Nashua River upon a rise about twenty rods almost directly north of the present dwelling house of Kimball Webster. The house was of solid construction, two stories high on the front or south side, and one story on the back side. It was about forty feet long and thirty feet wide, and was in- habited until 1847, and was demolished in 1848. A de- pression is still plainly visible where it stood.
Mr. Cummings very soon established a ferry across the Merrimack, which was probably the first public ferry in this town. The ferry landing on the east side of the river was almost directly opposite the point of land be- tween the two rivers at their junction, where a depression
106 HISTORY OF HUDSON
is Still noticeable in the bank. The old ferry road up the river bank on the west side, just below the mouth of the Nashua, is also very plain to be seen.
He also opened a tavern at his house, which he kept for several years.
At that time the road from the Cummings' ferry passed easterly, south of Mr. Cummings' house, and still easterly to the next rise, and then northerly to near the place where Mr. Cross' house stood, which will be described later, and then easterly across the small spring brook, thence north- erly and easterly to what is now the Derry road, a little north of the Catholic Cemetery. His wife died "Septem- ber 17, 1759, aged 53 years 2 months and ten days." "We lived together twenty and five years and 1 month and 20 days." (Copy of original record written by Eleazer Cum- mings).
They had no children.
He also recorded on the same paper: "July 12 day 1764, married to my second wife."
He married, second, Phebe, daughter of Josiah and Phebe Richardson of Litchfield, born January 19, 1728. They had two children, Eleazer^ born June 16, 1765, and Phebe^ born July 8, 1768. Mr. Cummings died December 8, 1780, aged 79 years, and his widow, Phebe, died Decem- ber 27, 1788, aged about 60 years.
They were buried in the Blodgett Cemetery, where their head stones still stand with inscriptions that are plain and easy to be read.
He was chosen one of the selectmen at the second town meeting, March, 1734, and was later chairman of the board,
Mr. Cummings, while he lived, gave his nephew, Elea- zer Cummings, son of his brother Nathaniel, whom he brought up, a farm in Londonderry; and also is said to have given another young man who had lived with him for several years — John Carkin — land for a farm, probably in Lyndeborough.
CHAPTER IX
Pioneer Families, Continued
Upon effecting their release from the Indians, through their own efforts, Messrs. Cross and Blanchard, as has been already mentioned, returned to Dunstable. On his way back, the former went to the hollow log where he had placed his musket, with his dinner, on the morning of the attack of the Indians, to find the weapon just as he had left it. This firearm was long owned by Mr. Levi S. Cross of Nashua, and has been preserved as an heirloom in the Cross family.
A few months previous to the captivity of Nathan Cross, Joseph Butterfield of Dunstable, "in consideration of the sum of four hundred and Ten Pounds of Good and Current Money of New England," conveyed to Mr. Cross that part of the Joseph Hills farm that was willed by him to his son-in-law, John Waite. This contained forty-five acres, adjoining the land bought by Eleazer Cummings, being the next farm north, with meadows and other lands. The description, copied from the original deed, is as fol- lows:
A certain Peace or Parcel of Land Scituate Lying and being in the township of Dunstable aforesd on the East side of Merrimack river Lying in a farm Commonly Called & Known by ye Name of Hillses farm being forty-five acres be the same so much more or less bounded as followeth viz Beginning on Merrimack River at an oak tree Marked B & W and from thence up sd River about fifty pole to another tree marked so from thence Running Partly North East to another tree marked so from thence southerly about forty poles to Mr. Longs Corner thence Westerly by the Land of Long to Merrimack River to the sd tree where we began or however the same is otherwise bounded or reported to be bounded, as also another Distinct Parcel of upland being an Island Lying on the west side of Merrimack River in the Mouth of Nashua River as it is Common- ly called being about four acres be the same so much more or less being bound round by water and also a certain parcel of Meadow Lying in the
107
108 HISTORV OF HUDSON
Town aforesaid on the East side of Merrimack River Containing six acres l)e the same so nuich more or less and lying near a pond called Watannanack Pond and is bound round wh Great pines marked with J and H and on all other points however otherwise bour dad as also five acres more of Meadow which Lyes in a Great Meadow Commonly called and known by the Name of H'llses Great Meadow, which is not as yet Laid out to sd Butterfield.
This deed was dated April 22, 1724, and signed by Joseph and Sarah Butterfield, witnessed by Eleazer Tyng and Moses Colburn ; acknowledged before Eleazer Tyng, Justice of the Peace, and "Entered in the Registry of Deeds for Middlesex, the 26 of May, 1725. Lib. 25, Fol. 85-6"
" Rec'd 26th April, 1748, Province of New Hampshire, Recorded Lib. 35 Fol. 231
D. PIERCE,
Register.^''
Mr. Cross settled upon his land and erected a house probably as early as 1728. This dwelling was located about forty rods west of the Derry road, upon a rise of ground, a little south-westerly and near the bank of the small spring brook in land now owned by Charles A. McAfee.
Nathan Cross was in Capt. Joseph Blanchard's com- pany, scouting on the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers, during the French and Indian war in 1754, twelve weeks and two days. He was probably twice married, as we find recorded iti the Dunstable records the births of children of Nathan and Sarah Cross:
Peter, born September 28, 1729; Sarah, born June 26, 1731; married Joseph Blodgett.
On the Nottingham records is recorded the birth of John Cross, son of Nathan and Mary Cross, born October 9, 1735.
Nathan Cross died September 8, 1766.
The farm remained in the Cross family for nearly one hundred and fifty years. The west part of the Catholic Cemetery covers a piece of what was the Cross farm, and the land of George H. Abbott was once the north side of the Nathan Cross farm.
William Cummings*, youngest son of John Cummings^ Jr., and Elizabeth (Kingsley) Cummings, born in Dun-
PIONEER FAMILIES 109
Stable, April 24, 1702, a cousin to Eleazer Cummings*, be- fore mentioned, settled on the next farm north of that of Nathan Cross. This homestead contained forty-five acres, â– which was the same devised by Joseph Hills to his grand- children, Hannah and Elizabeth Blanchard. He probably settled here after the end of Lovewell's war, and at about the same time that Nathan Cross settled on his farm ad- joining.
With his cousin, Josiah Cummings^, he is supposed to have been in the second expedition of the famous Captain John Lovewell against the Indians, that left Dunstable, January 29, 1725, and which marched triumphantly into Dover, and later into Boston, with ten scalps stretched on hoops and elevated on poles, for which a bounty of ;£'100 for each scalp was paid.
William and Josiah were both also in the party of Captain Lovewell, in his last and fatal expedition that left Dunstable about the 16th day of April, O. S. or April 27th N. S., which numbered forty-six men. After they reached Contoocook, William became lame, and returned, with Josiah to accompany him, as has been related in a former chapter.
He was Deacon of the church for many years, and was a prominent man in the affairs of the town. He was elected one of the selectmen in 1736 and in 1748, He mar- ried Sarah, daughter of William and Esther Harwood, born in Dunstable June 26, 1706. He occupied the farm until his death which occured August 29, 1766. His wife died in 1769.
The old Cummings house stood east of the Derry road, and a little north of the house of the late Lucien M. Tolles. It is probable that a temporary house may have been built by him some forty rods further west, where he at first resided.
The children of William and Sarah (Harwood) Cum- mings, as found recorded on the Dunstable records, are:
110 HISTORY OF HUDSON
Sarah, born November 10, 1728; Ebenezcr, born Jan- uary 29, 1730; John Harwood, born April 24, 1733; Dor- cas, born December 18, 1737.
And on the Nottingham records are:
Rebecca, born March 17, 1740; Joseph, born October 15, 1742; Thaddeiis, born May 17, 1745.
The next farm north and adjoining the Deacon Wil- liam Cummings farm was the John Taylor garrison place, containing forty-five acres, an account of which has already been given.
Eleazer Cummings^, Jr., as he was designated on the records, was a son of Abraham Cummings^ born in Wo- burn, April 9, 1704, and was a cousin to Eleazer and Wil- liam.
In 1733, when the first tax list was made up, he was a resident, and was occupying the south half of the ninety acres of land that Joseph Hills devised to his grand-chil- dren, Hannah Vinton and Samuel Green.
This farm was next north and adjoining the John Tay- lor garrison farm, later the Marsh farm, and now, 1912, the westerly part, and some of the easterly part, being owned by the heirs of Josiah K. Wheeler. The Elijah R. Reed house is on a part of the same farm; and a small part of his farm, and some of the land of James A. Philips, includ- ing the place where his house stands, also the land of Menzell S. French.
The Eleazer Cummings, Jr's., house was located just north of the present highway, at the foot of the hill, be- tween the house of Josiah K. Wheeler and that of Elijah R. Reed. The house was quite near the road, not far east from the present boundary line between Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Reed, and the old cellar was visible until within recent years. He married, September 4, 1729, Rachel Proctor of Londonderry. He seems to have married a second time, for at his death his widow, Mary, declined to administer on his estate, and his brother Josiah, then of Litchfield, was appointed administrator instead, November 19, 1735.
PIONEER FAMILIES 111
Daniel Proctor, of Chelmsford, brother of his deceased wife, Rachel, was appointed guardian of the two