History of the town of Hampton, New Hampshire, from its settlement in 1638 to the autumn of 1892. By J. Dow. Edited and published by his daughter (Lucy E. Dow)

Preface

. It is many years since my interest was first awakened to collect material for a history of the town of Hampton. In the intervals of an otherwise busy life, I have brought together, from all available sources, such information as seemed to me important to preserve and disseminate, in compact form, for future generations. I was the more inclined to do this, since the history of Hampton, in its earlier years, was in some measure, the history of the Province of New Hamp shire. Being one of the four original towns and united with the other three in many public acts ; being a half-shire town of Norfolk County when under Massachusetts jurisdiction ; being a border town between the two provinces, and so participating in the boundary disputes ; being a sea-board town, whose defenses were of vital importance to all the rest, — the record of its progress, for at least one hundred years, must be of more than local interest.

Moreover, from many of the early families have gone out branches, to people the newer towns, as they were settled, one after another; and even in remote portions of our country, are found many persons, who trace their ancestry back to this settlement by the sea. Every person, who has attempted to trace his own descent from the several families from which he has sprung, in following out any one of them for two centuries, through all the branches into which it has ramified, has found the task to be very difficult. No one can appre ciate the difficulty, except from his own experience. Written memo rials he finds to be exceedingly rare ; and living members of the fam ily, often, on this subject, very ignorant or very indifferent. In many cases, there are traditions and little besides traditions, relative to some branches.

But not unfrequently, these vary one from another, so that they are of but little value. Indeed, tradition, at best, is not a very reliable source of information. Fortunate, then, must he be considered, who, after long, patient research, has been able to approx imate his beau ideal of a complete genealogy. If such obstacles are to be encountered in tracing a single family, how much greater must be met when fifty or a hundred families are to be traced through a period of two hundred years and more. Such author's preface. IV is the work I would gladly have performed for the readers of this His tory. But to prepare a full and correct genealogy of all the families that were in Hampton at an early period is impossible. In many instances family records have been lost, and in a larger number none were ever kept.

The Town Records, indeed, afford valuable aid. Entries of births, beginning in 1652, and of marriages ancl deaths, in 1654, are perhaps as full on the Hampton Records, as on those of almost any other town. The records of the Congregational church also, the church of the town till well into the present century, are very valuable, containing entries of marriages by the ministers, after 1687 ; of baptisms, after 1696 ; and of deaths in the town, since 1734. This last record, with some private records kept in the town, gives us an almost complete list of deaths for a period of a hundred fifty-seven years. With such material, supplemented by a laborious search of wills, deeds, the old Norfolk County Records aud numerous private papers, I have prepared the genealogies embodied in this work. That they are free from errors is more than can reasonably be expected ; but a great amount of labor has been employed in their preparation, and no pains have been spared to make them correct.

To prevent mistakes in regard to certain dates, it must be remem bered that, during the whole ofjthe seventeenth and one-half of the eighteenth century, the civil and ecclesiastical year in England began March 25th, and March was called the first month; while the historical year, beginning on the first of January, was often used in narra tion. This gave rise to the system of double-dating, from January to March, till 1752, when the historical year alone came to be recognized. All dates in this work, so far as practicable, are made conformable to the historical year. By an act of Parliament, passed in 1751, to make the reckoning of time conformable to the Gregorian Calendar, so called, it was or dered that the day next after September 2, 1752, should be reckoned September 14, thus dropping eleven days.

This has been called a change of style. Dates before this change are said to be in Old Style ; later dates, in New Style. All the dates in this work, earlier than September 2, 1752, are in Old Style. To change them to New Style, add ten days to those prior to 1700, and eleven days to those after that year. I have given more space to the discussion of the boundary lines and the protective measures in regard to the beach and the public lands contiguous, than would ordinarily be allotted in a work of this com pass ; but it has seemed necessary in the one case, in order to correct a popular error, which has long prevailed, as to the original extent of author's preface. V our territory ; and in the other, to establish by the records themselves, the fact of the town's ancient aud habitual control.

In the early stages of my study, I had an efficient co-laborer in my friend ancl cousin, Josiah Page, of Hampton, who devoted himself assiduously to the task of gathering information, which, by his notes, and from the treasures of his wonderfully retentive memory, he placed in my hands. A born genealogist, Mr. Page brought to this depart ment of the work his greatest zeal, while he collected also many facts of historical importance. I have to regret that he died without seeing the work completed. The names of John Wingate Thornton, Amos Tuck, Edmund B. Dearborn and others, who have passed away, recall much valuable help rendered by these men. To all who have given access to papers, searched records or otherwise aided me in my researches; I would render grateful acknowledgements. Free reference is made, in these pages, to the worksof Belknap, Winthrop and various town historians ; to the Provincial and State papers, edited by Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D.D. ; to Adjutant General Head's Reports ; to the New Hampshire Historical Society's Collections, the New England Historic-Genealogical Register and kindred works ; while the records of town, church and county have been the main reliance for the history of local affairs. if I have succeeded in preparing a worthy memorial of my native town, in the years fast receding, I shall not have labored in vain. Joseph Dow. EDITOR'S

PREFACE.

. It is not easy for one person to enter into another's labor and carry out his plan, even though the material be ready at hand. The author of this History died December 16, 1889. Had he lived to complete it, the selection and arrangement from among his papers would doubt less have 'differed in many respects from the work as now sent forth. The editor can scarcely hope to have realized his ideal. And yet, by far the greater part of it was finished by the author's own hand ; and for the rest, having striven to carry it on with accuracy ancl discrimi nation, the editor submits it to the public, trusting that no serious mistakes have been made, and that something of value will be found to have been added to the written history of both early and later times. The task of bringing the genealogies clown to date has* been attended with much difficulty, both from lack of knowledge of what, among the author's records, he designed for this work, and what for other purposes ; and because of omissions aud inaccuracies in the Town Records.

These have doubtless been as carefully kept as the generality of town records ; but whole decades are passed over with scarcely au entry of birth or marriage ; and it must be confessed that errors have been found in the entries made. To supply deficiencies and correct dates has required much time and labor, and it cannot be claimed that all errors have been eliminated ; but much pains havino* been taken to insure accuracy, it is believed that any errors which remain will not essentially mar the verity of the record. The history is brought down to the autumn of 1892 ; and any refer ences to the present time are to be understood of that period. The editor desires to thank all those citizens and friends who have aided in completing genealogies or furnishing historical information. Special acknowledgements are due to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Shaw Charles M. Lamprey, Esq., Wm. E. Lane and J. Warren Dow, for obtaining facts that required correspondence and pains-taking search.

Other helpers are too many to mention by name, but they are grate fully remembered. (vi) CONTENTS. GENERAL AND MILITARY. Chapter. Page. I. The Settlement iu the Wilderness. 1638-1646. 1 II. Labors, Controversies and Superstitions. 1647-1662. 35 III. Town Affairs. 1658-1680. Public Lands— Public Houses — And a Troublesome Public Charge. 58 IV. Hampton under the Mason and Massachusetts Controversy. 1651-1677. 86 V. Town and Province under the Royal Government. 1677-1689. 96 VI. Under Royal Government (continued1). 1689-1730. 115 VII. The Boundary Lines. 1639-1742. 133 VIII. Town Affairs— Kingston. 1680-1707. 146 IX. Hampton Falls. 1709-1760. 162 X. Town Affairs — Natural Phenomena — Rye. 1708-1736. 173 XL North Hampton. 1719-1742. 195 XII. Regulations— Lawsuits— Casualties. 1733-1780. 202 XIII.

Indian Wars. 1675-1763. 219 XIV. In the Revolution. 1774-1783. 249 .XV. In the Early Years of Independence. 1784-1814. 276 XVI. A War— A Colonel— A Regiment. 1812-1860. 292 XVII. The Civil War. 1860-1865. 301 XVIII. Other Nineteenth Century Happenings. 1800-1892. 321 ECCLESIASTICAL. XIX. The Interwoven Pastorates : Rev. Stephen Bachiler. 1638-1641. Rev. Timothy Dalton.- 1639-1661. Rev. John Wheelwright. 1647-1656. Rev. Seaborn Cotton. 1657-1686. 343 CONTENTS. XX. Rev. John Cotton's Ministry. 1686-1710. 366 XX[. Pastors Gookin and Ward Cotton — New Parishes. 1710-1837. 377 XXII. Rev. Ward Cotton's Ministry— The North Hill Parish. 1731-1767. 395 XXIII. Rev. Ebenezer Thayer's Pastorate. 1765-1792. 406 XXIV. The Presbyterian Schism. 1792-1807. 419 XXV. Last Years of the Town Ministry. 1807-1839. 440 XXVI.

The Independent Churches. 456 EDUCATIONAL. XXVII. The Common Schools. 473 XXVIII. Hampton Academy and High School. 484 INDUSTRIAL. XXIX. Hampton Beach and Vicinity — Ownership and Uses. 502 XXX. The Public Roads. 519 XXXI. The Story of the Mills. 531 XXXII. Stores and Trades. 546 XXXIII. Last Words. , 559 TABULAR. A Tabular Record of Town Officers. 563

Appendix

. 57g GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL. 581 ILLUSTRATIONS. Map os Hampton as Originally Laid Out, . . . Cover. Portrait of the Author, ..... Frontispiece. View from the North Beach, . . . facing page 4 Plan of Hampton in 1806, 285 Portrait of Col. Christopher Toppan, ..... 296 The Old Toppan Homestead 298 Hotel Whittier, - 341 Portrait of Rev. Josiah Webster, ..... 442 Portrait of Prof. John C. Webster 452 Portrait of Rev. DeWitt C. Durgin, D.D., . ... 464 Hampton Academy, ........ 493 First Graduating Class of Hampton Academy and High School, 497 viz. : 1. George Ervin Garland. 2. Annie Elizabeth (Lamprey) Garland. 3, Howard Garland Lane. 4 Sarah Maria Hobbs. 5. Frank Elmer Leavitt. 6. Ida Pearl Williams. 7. Caroline Belle Nudd. 8 Grace Reed Williams. 9. Ernest Gowell Cole. 10 Alice Sarah Weare. 11.

Amos Towle Leavitt. 12 Eugene Frank Nudd. 13. Percy Downing Godfrey. 14 William Eastman Philbrick. Portrait of William T. Merrill, M.D 500 Mrs. Zipporali J. Jenness and her Birds, . . . 557 Portrait of Dr. Claudius B. Webster, .... 560 Portrait of Joseph F. Dearborn, Esq., ..... 668 The Dearborn Monument, ...... 670 Folio from Capt. Henry Dow's Diary, ..... 679 Portrait of Mr. John H. Fogg 714 The Original James Homestead, ...... 762 Weare Arms, Seals and Signatures, ..... 1026 Portrait of Dr. Eliphalet K. Webster, 1034 Portrait of Gen. Joseph D. Webster ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. Pages 65-85, head line, for "1676" read 1680. Pages 127, 138, for Vaughn read Vaughan. Page 130, 20th line, for "king" read King. Page 146, foot note, for "Little river" read Little Biver. Page 472, 1st line, for "austerity" read austerity.

Page 529, 40th line, for "council" read counsel. Page 548, near bottom, between "Marston" and "Perkins" insert Moulton. P.ige 564, under Moderators in Presidential Elections, for "1799, Oliver Whipple*' read 1800 [no record]. Page 582, the name of Batchelder (2) was Nathaniel. He m. Hester Mercer, audd. probably about 1630, in England or Holland. Page 615, middle of page, for "as ward" read aftenvard. Page 655, under D.ilton (6), erase "probably" before "daughter of Moses." The youngest child, "Elizabeth, b. Apr. 1, 1745," m. Stephen Mason, son of John (4). Page 682, under Dow (iS), Abraham and Phebe, of Seabrook, had nine children, of whom was Jedediah, b. 1739; m., 1st, Mary Dow; 2nd, Dorcas Neal; settled in Weare; by 2nd marriage, had a son Josiah, who settled in Portland, Me , the father of Gen. Neal Dow, b. 1804.

Page 692, under Drake (13), for "Giles swamp" read Giles' swamp. Page 694, under Drake (23), for "Fisk (3)" read Fisk (2). Page 721, under liarland (5), it was Joseph, not Jacob, who m. Jane Stickney (Dec. 30, 1736', ancl had the children mentioned Page 748, under Hobbs (4), for "(Marston?)" read Marston. Page 779, John Knowles (4) had also children, Samuel and Susanna. Page 849, under Marston (46), for "Thomas Sanborn, son of Daniel (35)" read Thomas L. Sanborn (54). Page 854, John Mason (1) had also children: Francis, d. in Ki. about 1718. Joseph, b. about 16113. Benjamin, b. 1696. Mary. Hannah. Esther. Page 869, at bottom, for "Phebe Moulton" read Phebe Palmer. Page 880, under Neal (3), for "Capt. Joseph (4)" read Capt. Joseph (2). Page 940, 4th line of text, for "Dusdale" read Dugdale; 9th line, for "Kid deminster" read Kidderminster ; last line, for "Placite" read Placita.

Page 943, under Richard (13), for "Mary" read Marie. Page 1026, under Ward well, for "Philip Towle" read./o/ui Cass. (Seep. 1039). Page 1029, Nath'l Weare (3) had also a dau. Susanna, b. July 28, 1723. Page 1031, 23rd line, for "were" read was; 2lth line, for ".recorded" read accorded. Page 1069, first line after title, for "list" read lists. Fase 682, 8th line from bottom, for "1728" read 1828. Page 760, near bottom : It is now thought that there was no Joseph Hussey. Christopher Hussey (2) was representative m 1672 (see p. 566*1. The original town record for that year is torn oft* and lost. GENERAL AND MILITARY

Chapter I. Tiie Settlement In The Wilderness

1638-1646. TOPOGRAPHY. THE ancient town of Hampton, New Hampshire, embraced a large territory, lying along the coast between Salisbury, Massachu setts, on the south, ancl Portsmouth, or the lower Piscataqua settlement on the north ; ancl extending from the Atlantic Ocean westward, about six miles to Squamscott Patent (Stratham) and Exeter, and along the southerly side of the latter town, ten or twelve miles farther ; the westerly line running thence southerly to the boundary between Salisbury (now Amesbury) and Haverhill, Massachusetts. The whole area is not less than one hundred square miles. The surface is somewhat varied, though no portion of it is very rough. In the southeast part, ancl extending beyond its limits through Salisbury to the Merrimac river, is a very large tract of marsh, or salt meadows, containing several thousand acres, as level as any prai rie of the West, and, through its whole extent, covered in summer with salt grass.

It was this feature of the place, more than any other, that attracted the notice of the government of Massachusetts, ancl led to its early settlement. The rest of the land near the coast is also remarkably level, but farther back it is more uneven, though there are no very high hills. Those of the greatest elevation, east of Kingston old line, are Great, or Hardy's Hill, and Cock Hill, in Hampton Falls, and Horse Hill, in Kensington. The largest ponds are Great Pond, in Kingston, covering about 300 acres, and Country Pond, about two-thirds as large, lying partly in the same town and partly in Newton, beyond the original limits of Hampton. The principal rivers are the Winnacunnet, or Hampton river with its tributaries, and Little river, flowing into the ocean ; the Winnicut, a tributary ofthe Piscataqua, flowing into Great Bay, and the outlets ofthe ponds named above, which are the chief sources of the Powovv river, that empties into the Merrimac between Salisbury ancl Amesbury.

The coast line of the ancient town was about eight or nine miles in extent, terminating on the north at the easterly side of Jocelyn's (afterward called Locke's) Neck, in the present town of Rye. On the coast are two noted headlands, called Great Boar's Head and Little Boar's Head. The rest of the coast is mostly a low, sandy "beach, some portions of which are greatly admired for their beauty. In several places, the beach is indented by small coves, which being some what sheltered from the wind, serve as landing places for boats, and afford facilities for carrying on the shore fishery. In a territory so extensive, almost every variety of soil was found. In some parts, it was light, sandy and porous, liable to be parched by drought ; in others, clayey and wet, or rocky and difficult to culti vate ; while, in many places, there was a rich, dark mold of great depth ancl fertility, yielding to the husbandman an ample reward for his toil.

A large portion of the land, except the salt meadows, was covered with forests where grew in great luxuriance tiie pine ancl the hemlock ; the cedar and the spruce ; the beech, the birch and the ma ple ; the ash, the elm, the hickory and the oak. Of some of these there were several varieties. Oaks, both white and red, were exten sively used by the early inhabitants in the manufacture of staves, for which a ready market was generally found, the sales bringing in a considerable portion ofthe money in circulation among them. The rivers, the brooks, and the neighboring ocean furnished the people with fish ; the woods ancl marshes afforded an abundance of game. Wild animals roamed in the forests, some of Which, particularly the wolf and the bear, were very troublesome to the inhabitants, and frequently committed depredations upon their sheep and cattle.

A little more than two centuries and a half ago, no part of this tract was inhabited by white men. Some Indians, but how many, we know not, dwelt here. In favorable localities, they built their wigwams and had their homes. They roamed through the forests and over the marshes, in search of game, which they shot with their arrows. Their trails might have been seen along the banks of the ponds, the brooks, and the rivers, where they often sauntered to draw from them their daily food. On the larger streams, they delighted to paddle their birch canoes. They had also places of burial where they deposited their dead. These they held as sacred spots. After the white men had formed a settlement, there was some friendly intercourse between the two races. The Indian pappooses, it is said THE SETTLEMENT IN THE WILDERNESS. 1638-1646. 3 would, in times of peace, often go to the log-huts of the new settlers, to play with their children.

But the ancient race soon began to dwin dle away, and, in little more than one century, were all gone. Their very names have also perished. Scarcely one is now known, and but very few authentic anecdotes concerning them have been preserved. An arrow-head of flint, occasionally picked up, and in some localities marl mixed with the soil, where they deposited the shells of clams dug for food from the river-flats, are almost the only relics that remain to remind us that this was once the home'of the red men. 'Alas ! for them, their day is o'er ! Their fires are out from hill and shore ! No more for them the wild deer bounds; The plough is on their hunting grounds ; The pale man's axe rings through their woods The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods." Such was Hampton at an early period. But its ample dimensions soon began to be curtailed.

The first extensive tract severed from it was the town of Kingston, which was granted to a number of inhabitants of Hampton, who soon after removed thither with their families ; but as no part of it had been settled at the time of its in corporation, its history will not be given in this work. Next in or der was incorporated the Parish of Hampton Falls, including, besides the town bearing that name, the present town of Kensington and a considerable part of Seabrook. A few years later, a valuable tract in the northeasterly part of Hampton was annexed to the town of Rye. Soon after, the remaining territory was divided into two por tions nearly equal, and one of them set off to form the town of North Hampton. The present town of Hampton lies on the seacoast, in the easterly part of the county of Rockingham, in latitude 42° 56' 15" N. and lon gitude 70° 50' 12" W.1 It has for its boundaries, North Hampton on the north ; Hampton Falls on the southwest and west ; and Exeter on the northwest ; while its eastern border, throughout its whole extent, is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

The town is small in extent, having an area of only a little more than 8000 acres. About one-fourth part of it is salt marsh, and sand banks along the coast. The surface is generally level or undulating, nowhere rising into high hills, and con sequently the streams of water, none of which are large, furnish but few valuable mill privileges. Winnacunnet, or Hampton river, is formed by the union of several 'Taken on the site of the Baptist church— U. S. Coast Survey Report. brooks, or rivulets, some of which, though of moderate size, are usually called rivers. The largest of these are Taylor's, Brown's, Falls and Blackwater rivers. One of the brooks early received the name of Ni lus, which it still bears. Taylor's river has its source in a pond in the town of Hampton Falls, and runs southeasterly, forming, for a considerable distance, tlie boundary between that town and Hampton, re taining its name till it reaches the salt marsh,— and perhaps, formerly to the mouth of Falls river, which flows into it from the town of Hampton Falls,— when it takes the name of Hampton river.

Passing on between the two towns nearly a mile farther, it unites with Brown's river coming in from the northeast, thus forming the main river, which flows on to the ocean, receiving in its course Blackwater river from the south. The smaller tributaries from the Hampton side are Ass brook, which comes in from Exeter; Great Swamp run, rising in " the old swamp" in the north part of the town ; and Mill brook, rising in the central part, — all of which flow into Taylor's river; and Nilus brook*, which has its source in Alder Meadow, near the boundary line between Hampton and North Hampton, and running several miles easterly and southerly, falls into the Meadow pond, ancl from that passes out southerly into the Spring marsh, where it meets the tide, and soon receives the name of Brown's river.

Dow's river, more properly called a brook, is a small stream in the easterly part of the town, flowing from Spring Heads into the Meadow pond. Hampton river is of some value for the purposes of navigation, being of sufficient depth to admit vessels[of seventy or eighty tons, though it is somewhat difficult of entrance, in consequence of sand bars and of sunken rocks that lie off its mouth. It is also productive of other benefits. The main river and some of its branches take a serpentine course through the salt marshes. These and the numerous creeks connected with them, serve both to drain ancl water the marshes, as the tide ebbs and flows, thus rendering them productive, while they also furnish facilities for taking off the hay in boats. Along the whole eastern border of the town is a fine, sandy beach, interrupted only by a projecting rocky point near the northern ex tremity, vvhich shelters from troublesome winds a fishing cove on the southerly side ; and about midway, by Great Boar's Head, which has already been mentioned.

This is a singular bluff, lifting itself between two low, sandy beaches, and extending into the sea about one-fourth of a mile, being of a triangular shape, and terminating in a point at the southeast. It rises gradually from the salt-marsh and a low ridge of upland on the west, till it attains the height of fifty or sixty feet VIEW FROM THE NORTH BEACH, GREAT BOAR'S HEAD IN THE DISTANCE. 1638-1641!. 5 above the level of the sea, which at high water washes its base. The eastern half is nearly level at the top, and the whole area is not far from twenty acres. From the summit of this bold headland the prospect is varied and extensive, embracing fine views of portions of this, and some of the neighboring towns ; of the salt-marsh stretching off to the west and southwest, almost as far as the eye can reach, and beautified by the meanderings of the river; ofthe bjue summit of Agamenticus, far off in Maine; of various points along the coast from Cape Neddock, in Maine to Cape Ann, in Massachusetts; of the Isles of Shoals; and lastly, ofthe ocean itself, apparently limitless, bearing upon its bosom the white sails of commerce, and with waves, sometimes but gentle undulations, sportively chasing each other landward and laving* the shore with a soothing murmur, and sometimes lashed into the wildest commotion by the tempest, rolling in anil breaking upon the coast with a deafening roar, that can be heard for leagues.

THE GORGES AND MASON GRANTS. In 1622, a grant was made by the Council of Plymouth to two of its most active members, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Capt. John Mason, jointly, "of all the lands between the rivers Merrimack and Sagadahock [now the Kennebec], extending back to the great lakes and river of Canada," which grant was called Laconia. The grantees, having admitted several English merchants as associates, under the style of " The Company of Laconia," soon began to make preparation to form settlements on the territory. Early the next spring, they sent out a considerable number of people, well supplied with everything needful for their undertaking, to establish a colony for the purpose of fishing, and of trading with the natives. When the emi grants arrived at the Piscataqua, they separated into two companies, one of which remained at Little Harbor, near the mouth of the river,1 and the other proceeding about eight miles up the river, settled on a point of land called by the Indians Winnichahannat,2 to which they gave the name of Northam, and subsequently, Dover.

In 1629, Mason received from the Council of Plymouth a new pat ent for all the land "from the middle of Piscataqua river, and up the same, to the farthest head thereof, and from thence northward, until sixty miles from the mouth of the harbor were finished ; also, through Merrimack river, to the farthest head thereof, and so forward up into 'The settlement was at Odiorne's Point, in the northeast part of Rye. also Wecohannet, etc. the land westward, until sixty miles were finished, and from thence to cross over land to the end of sixty miles, accounted from Piscata qua river, together with all the islands within five miles ofthe coast." This tract was called New Hampshire. These grants and the expenditure of considerable sums of money by Captain Mason, in forming and sustaining the settlements a tew years, were the grounds on which his heirs based their claim to the province, in the prosecution of which, they subjected the inhabitants to an expensive and tedious course of litigation.

It has therefore seemed important to take some notice of the grants, although the town of Hampton was settled without any reference to them, and has never, in any way, derived from them the least benefit. WINNACUNNET. The grants to Gorges ancl Mason, and to Mason alone, both in cluded the place, which the Indians called Winnacunnet. This name seems to have been used by them to designate the river, afterward called Hampton river, flowing into the Atlantic, a few miles north of the Merrimac, and a tract of land in the vicinity of the river, whose limits are not well defined, but which appears to have been extensive enough to embrace the Indian population, accustomed to resort to the river for shell-fish and game, ancl to make it, for their canoes, a thoroughfare to the ocean. This Indian name Dr. Belknap writes Winicumet. and Governor Winthrop, Wimcowett.

The name was probably written according as the sound struck the ear of the persons at tempting to give it a visible form. The orthography here adopted is the uniform spelling in the Records of the General Court of Massachusetts. The earliest town records also have unn, never um nor ow; and this is most likely to i*epresent the Indian utterance. Hon. C. E. Potter, sometime of Hillsborough, N. H., gives the meaning of the word thus : Pleasant Place of Pines, or The Beautiful Place of Pines. Rev. Edward Ballard, sometime of Bruns wick, Me., would translate it, The Beautiful Long Place. This tract, lying along the sea-shore and only a few miles distant from the lower settlement on the Piscataqua, was probably sometimes visited by persons from that settlement, some of whom may have been temporarily employed here as fishermen.