History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families

Front matter

Digitized by ivi.k

S@4EAL.OQl COLLECTION so

HISTORY

Preface

Probably the idea of having a " History of Antrim " at the present time is due to George A. Cochran, Esq. In legal March meeting, the town voted to employ some one to write said history, and appropriated five hundred dollars to help meet the expenses. At the urgent request of the selectmen, I was induced to enter upon this undertaking, influenced, however, partly by my own tastes and pleasures in such work, and partly because, without any definite object in view, I had made some records of value in the same line. After more than five years, my labor now draws to a close. For these years, every hour that I could save from parish duties, I have devoted to this work; and the amount of labor I have spent upon it has been great and wearing. I have written an Introduction touching matters long prior to our limits, knowing it would be of value to many among this people who have not books of history at hand- For this volume, I have searched the records of Londonderry, Bedford, and New Boston, with great care. The records of Antrim have been constantly under my eye. The town clerks of Hancock, Francestown, Deering, and Hillsborough have gratuitously made patient investigations for me. The Antrim records concerning births, marriages, and deaths in the town, church records, and family records, I have found exceedingly meagre and irregular ; and I have been enabled to straighten them out only by comparison and patient study. Upon this part, as well as upon the Genealogies, I have written letters almost innumerable, and left no stone unturned to get at the facts. What is stated in these pages, is believed to be stated on the best evidence of its truth. The narrative is brought d-own to the day of the town's centennial celebration; a few items being given of subsequent date as they came to hand, if judged important. This part of the work I could not possibly get time to rewrite ; and hence some crude composition may be here observed.

The work has been delayed beyond all expectation, disappointing myself and all others. The amount of labor involved, and time used up on matters of detail, is the only explanation. I would not have believed it myself, but for experience of it.

I have endeavored to be absolutely impartial in all I have said. More space has been given to the history of my church than the others, because it was the church of the town during its critical and formative period, being the only one here for a long series of years, and its business being iv

PREFACE.

done in open town-meeting. I have made frequent use of Dr. Whiton's excellent History, and thankfully acknowledge my obligations thereto. In a few cases I have been obliged to dissent from him, because of indubitable documentary evidence, probably not under his eye when he wrote. I am also indebted to the diary of Dr. Whiton, and that of Mrs. Whiton, and that of Dea. Isaac Cochran. John A. Kiddle, Esq., of Manchester, formerly of Bedford, has put valuable papers in my hand, and furnished me with matters concerning this town from the diary of Matthew Patten of Bedford. E. D. Boylston, Esq., editor of the " Amherst Cabinet," has furnished me with scores of advertisements and deaths and accidents from the files of the Amherst papers back to 1796. Reed P. Saltmarsh, Clark Hopkins, Hon. George W. Nesmith, and Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., have rendered me important aid in this part of the book. For various and constant helps, both of purse and hand, I am also indebted to Dr. Morris Christie. The town clerks during these five years, Almus Fairfield and Charles B. Dodge, have been most obliging and helpful, the latter during two years past having been frequently called to suffer on my account. I have searched the records at Concord, both in person and by proxy. Am indebted to Hon.' Mr. Hammond, deputy secretary of state. Rev. William Hurlin wrote most of the history of the Baptist Church; and Rev. J. L. Felt gave me the facts concerning the Methodist Church.

The people of Antrim have shown me universal kindness and encouragement in the slow progress of this undertaking. I have visited every family in the town, and sought all possible information. To keep the book within bounds, much material kindly gi ven must be unused, or has been " boiled down." The officers of the town, and the centennial committee, have also manifested such considerate .and cordial interest as greatly to encourage me. To these, and to all, I put on record my hearty gratitude. The votes of the town and all its action concerning the history have been highly creditable.

My estimate of the fathers of Antrim, after this acquaintance with them, rises to a certain height akin to reverence. Their greatness of stature, their outspokenness, their manly bearing, their bold, open honesty, their courage, endurance, and patience, and, most of all, their unshaken faith in God, have won my intensest admiration. I shall speak somewhat of their faults ; but their virtues stand out as being of the boldest and noblest kind. There was a certain type of dignity and greatness about them, which, to say the least, is not prevalent in the world now. The Scotch-Irish race were all intense lovers of liberty; and this spirit stands out in every son and daughter of them. They were made of tough stuff for tyrants to manage. Bancroft, the historian of the United States, uses these just and significant words: " The first public voice in America for dissolving all connection with Great Britain came not from the Puritans of New England, the Dutch of New York, nor the planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians."

A large part of the volume, and by far the larger part of the time and labor, have been given to the Genealogies. This may seem a mistaken division now ; but in future years that will be the more valued part

PREFACE.

V of the work. Of this I have no doubt; and this I have had constantly in mind.

Of course it could not be expected that a history of this quiet town would be very romantic or great. We have had no Indian tragedies, no nationalbattles.no men of extensive fame, no mines of wealth, and no very remarkable record in any way. Our town has little that is brilliant; much that is solid, honorable, and good. But to those born or bred here, these pages, I think, will be full of interest.

The portraits are all steel engravings, chiefly from the hand of F. T. Stuart, 42 Court street, Boston, — an artist of high repute. The cost of all these has been borne by the parties or their friends. The several views and buildings appear in this book by the generosity of David M. Weston, Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., Mrs. Anna Woodbury, Mrs. Eliza (Weston) Williams, Benjamin P. Cheney, Mary Clark, and others.

Other faces and views I earnestly desired and sought, but they could not be obtained. The engravings of N. W. C. Jameson, N. C. Jameson, and one or two others, go into other books from the same plate: otherwise they might not have appeared in this. Dea. A. H. Dunlap of Nashua gave one hundred dollars towards the engravings of Dr. and Mrs. Whiton. Hon. William B. Dinsmore of New York puts in the face of Anna Belle Jameson, This being unknown to the family, may be taken as a happy tribute to her beautiful character, and as a sample of the generous things that gentleman is in the habit of doing.

It is believed the illustrations in this volume cannot be surpassed in neatness or style. The cost of all the illustrations is about two thousand dollars.

It is worthy of remark that a state historian can say what he pleases, and squarely speak of the faults of public men; but a town historian must be blind to many things. Nor is this to me altogether a disadvantage. I have tried to avoid hurting the feelings of any one ; and the effort has done me good. ,

And now these pages are respectfully submitted to the people of the town. That they might be better and more ably written, with fewer mistakes, and in neater form, I might well hope. That they will be 1 charitably received, my knowledge of this people leads me to expect and believe. That they may be of some use and pleasure to the present generation, and of substantial value to their children and children's children, is my ardent wish. This alone can repay my untold anxiety and pains. Better than present praise is the humblest, lowest place in the " thanks of millions yet to be."

And I hardly need add that these studies have served to endear to me the very rocks of Antrim. On her mountains and valleys and streams and forests, her meadows and lakes, her comely villages and fruitful fields, I have come to look with a lover's eyes. Take the year through, this town cannot be surpassed for scenery.

PREFACE.

Far o'er the sea the fairest town

Of all old Ulster thought hers, She christened " Antrim," — in renown

" The land upon the waters."

Such peaceful wavelets spread below,

Such hills of green above them ; The little streams went laughing so

She couldn't help but love them !

And after years of flood and flame,

To-day I find another, That has the look and bears the name

Old Ulster gave her mother.

And slopes of green and laughing streams

That marked the ancient quarters, Are here more beautiful, it seems, —

Our Antrim's hills and waters !

The spot life's hurry overlooks,

The skies that we are under, The verdure by the laughing brooks,

The heights on which I wonder; So sweet, so fair, — a jewel set

With sparkling sons and (laughters ; — Oh ! nevermore shall I forget

Our Antrim's hills and waters !

On mountains towering to the skies,

On streams of song and story, I've looked with long-enraptured eyes,

And caught their gleams of glory.

And these may fade from memory yet,

All, all she ever thought hers, But nevermore shall I forget

Our Antrim's hills and waters !

W. K. COCHRANE.

INTRODUCTORY.

At our earliest knowledge of England, it was a land of swamps and forests, rough, desolate, and of no account in the world. It was in the days when Rome was a republic, and civilization and learning were at their height in the neighborhoods of the Mediterranean. A race of savages then occupied the now thrifty, mighty little islands. They stained their faces something after the fashion of the Red Men, dressed in the skins of wild beasts, and lived together in huts on the river-banks or in the rude clearings of the forest. Their huts were made by twisting long willow sticks together, basket-like, on sides and roof, and then covering the whole with mud. An opening answered for window and chimney. It is said that such mud huts are built and occupied by some of the Irish, even to the present day. These barbarians were warriors, and had trenches about their settlements, and low mud walls for fortifications. There were probably nearly forty clans or tribes. At the time of discovery by Csesar, some tribes at least, both men and women, went for summer entirety naked. They had horses and cattle, but no agriculture. These tribes were polygamous, but, unlike the Mormons, every woman had eight or ten husbands, though we are left entirely in doubt as to how she managed her numerous superior half.

These many uncivilized tribes were united by a common religion named Druidism. Their priests were Druids. It took twenty years to learn and commit to memorj' their various forms and ballads and incantations. Everything was oral — no books, no sermons, no creeds ; but they had innumerable rites and superstitions. The Druids kept the mysteries of their faith in their haunts in the deep oak forests, and but little is really known of them. The ruins of their great temples, and stupendous altars of stone, yet remain. It was a terrible religion to which they held. Sometimes they offered human sacrifices, carrying round the victims in wicker cages and then with fearful ceremonies burning them alive ! It was the most authoritative false religion that ever existed. These barbarian tribes were subjugated by the Roman arms, and England was occupied by the authorities of Rome for more than five hundred years, — this period commencing with the conquest of Oeesar. B. C. 55, and extending to 449 A. D., though, on account of many rebellions and the wild unrest of the people, the Romans had peaceful and entire possession but a small part of these five centuries. It is during this Roman possession, and especially in the last part of it, that our attention is called to the Scots. We are often told about the inroads of the " Picts and Scots." The Picts were painted .men, and so called because the faces of their warriors were adorned, or made frightful, in this way. The Scots were native clans, and said by some to be so named from the Gaelic word sguit (like scout), a wanderer. Others derive the name from the Anglo-Saxon scot, an assessment of money, by violence or otherwise. Both of these would certainly apply, as they were without doubt often strolling down as robbers over the lowlands of England (or Briton) and making reprisals with high and fearless hand. To this day there is a phrase in the English law, " Scot and lot," meaning a contribution laid upon all subjects according to their ability; and one who escapes a payment or tax is said to be "Scot-free." The origin of these old clans of Scotland is a matter much disputed, and as yet unsettled. Nor is it within our plan to discuss the question. Our earliest reliable history finds them in the Highlands of

* The following historical items are designed to be of use to such people in town as have not authorities at hand to refer to.

b

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INTRODUCTORY.

Scotia, the bold, independent, warlike, unconquerable race which they are to-day. The Romans scorned them and hated them, but they could not subdue them; and as wealth increased in England under Roman management, the depredations of the Scotch rangers increased. They came down from the mountains, captured everything they wanted, and departed with such rapidity as to preclude pursuit and into such haunts as to render discovery impossible. Kind to the poor, helpful to the distressed, having in all their lawless depredations a certain haughty nobleness of character, they were, on the whole, an exceedingly uncomfortable race to the Romans.

As a last resort, the Roman generals built walls and dug ditches across between England and Scotland. The last and most formidable of these was called the " Wall of Severus," from the Emperor's name, was built A. D. 208, was made of stone, was eight feet thick and twelve feet high, and under the north side of the wall a ditch was dug the whole distance, thirty-six feet wide and twelve feet deep. This, for a distance of about seventy miles, was certainly an enormous work. On this wall were hundreds of castles and turrets, so arranged that if a fire were lighted in one, it could be seen in the next, and in that way extended from tower to tower and shore to shore. Such an enormous barrier, guarded by armed men, would seem enough to keep back the few Scotch tribes of the northward mountains. Yet over this great barrier oft they broke, and, flying along the southward counties like the wind, escaped with their booty over the large wall and back to their fastnesses behind the impassable cliffs. Consequently, when the Roman forces were withdrawn from the island, the Britons, long used to being defended by their Roman conquerors, and unacquainted with arms, were in no condition to meet the intrepid clansmen from beyond the wall. The Romans seem to have taken their farewell in the spring of A. D. 449. Immediately the Scots poured in upon the defenseless counties. They went where they would. Only feeble resistance was offered them. Cattle and horses and fruit and treasure fell into their hands.

They seemed to regard the land of the Britons as their proper prey. The latter in their extremity sent a deputation over the channel to the German tribes for help. And thus the Scotch, who would have controlled the whole island but for foreign interference, became the occasion of letting in the Saxons and Angles and Jutes, who afterwards governed England. Before the close of the year (449) some seven thousand warriors responded to the Britons' appeal, came across the channel, and soon put the Scots to flight. The rapidity with which they answered to this call for help has been explained by the statement that they were already meditating this very enterprise by way of "conquest, so that the petition of the Britons found them strangely willing, not only to reply in the affirmative, but to follow it up with immediate vigor. Yet no sooner had they driven back the Scotch invaders, than they began to manifest a spirit of conquest for themselves, and quietly took possession of one important place after another. Being re-enforced by five thousand additional Saxons, they soon found occasion for a quarrel, and commenced open hostilities against those who had sought their help. After a varying struggle the Britons were mostly slain, or driven to Wales or Cornwall. A few escaped into France. The Saxons obtained full control. The country was divided into seven little kingdoms, — sometimes in conflict, but generally allied together, — and in this way they held on their course for more than three centuries. But in 827, Egbert of Wessex succeeded, from various causes, chiefly from conquest, in uniting these seven kingdoms into one, which received the name of England (Angles'-land), and was nearly identical in area with that which bears the name to-day. This government under the Anglo-Saxons continued unbroken until 1013, when the Danes succeeded in getting possession of the kingdom and held it for twenty-three years, after which the government returned to the Saxons and remained with them till the conquest and ascension to the throne of William the Norman, in 1066. From this year the succession of the rulers of England were as follows : —

THE NOBMAN MONARCHS.

William I.

William II.

Henry I. .

Stephen .

INTRODUCTORY.

xi

HOUSE OF PLANT AGENET.

HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK.

Edward V 1483-1483 (murdered when a child).

HOUSE OF TUDOR.

HOUSE OF STUART.

COMMONWEALTH (SO Called).

1649-1660.

This period includes the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell from 1653 to 1658.

HOUSE OF STUART RESTORED.

HOUSES OF STUART AND NASSAU.

William III 1689-1702.

HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK.

Victoria 1 1837.

It should be added before leaving this brief outline, that Christianity was introduced among the Saxons of England in A. D. 596. They had received, or if receiving they had retained, very little, if anything, as regards the Christian faith from the Britons who retreated before them; and their whole system of belief was a mere superstition,

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INTRODUCTORY.

gross and savage in the extreme. Augustin, called the "Apostle to the English," landed in Kent that year, and preached with so much zeal and prudence, and was so favored by Providence, that in as short time the body of the people embraced Christianity.

Scotland, the land of our fathers, is a romantic little country of about twenty-six thousand square miles, a little more than twice the size of New Hampshire. It is dotted over with lakes, and curious creeks wind round among its mountains, greatly diminishing its habitable surface. The indentations of the sea about Scotland are so many and so extensive that this little country has a sea-coast of more than three thousand miles. The arms of the sea almost cut it in two agajn and again. In several places, but for a few miles one could sail across from the Atlantic to the North Sea. One arm of Argyleshire stretches into the North Channel till it reaches within about ten miles of the county of Antrim in Ireland. When you add to all this the fact that Scotland is covered with mountains; traversed in every direction by deep and beautiful valleys; marked by many rapid rivers; has birds and flowers exceeding those of England in variety; and has a climate so softened by the ocean that the thermometer rarely, if ever, falls to zero in winter, while in summer 80° is the limit of heat, — you can hardly wonder that it is a most attractive land and dear to the fathers.

Scotland was known to the Romans under the name of Caledonia, and was not called by its present title till nearly four hundred years after their departure, or about A. D. 840. The Romans speak of the inhabitants of Caledonia as consisting of many tribes, as the worst kind of idolaters, as robbers, as uncivilized and living in huts and nearly naked summer and winter, and as exceeding brave and warlike, and capable of boundless endurance. The Romans generally speak of them under the name of Picts, or painted men. These seem to have inhabited the lowlands and the eastern coast, while the old Scotch clans inhabited the highlands; certain it is there has always been a difference in language and manners between the two. Some authorities assert that Caledonia was invaded by the Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, about A. D. 500, who established a kingdom on the western coast, — gradually overpowering the Picts and getting control of the whole county about 840. But this whole idea that the original Scotch were from Ireland seems to lack proof, and appears very much like the conjecture of some historian ambitious to have a theory. It is certain that the Saxons invaded the land about the time they invaded England, that they conquered and settled the lowlands next to the latter country, and that under their chieftain Edwin they founded Edwinsburg, now Edinburg, the capital, while the Picts were driven back west and north. Probably what is spoken of as the invasion from Ireland, in that mythical period, was simply an uprising of the highlanders on the west and north of Caledonia, in which they poured down upon the Saxons and obtained full possession of the country; and as the principal clans in these victories were Scots, and the leader was a Scot, the land began to be called Scots' land, while the Picts and surviving Saxons were absorbed by the victorious tribes.

The first king that thus governed all Scotland was Kenneth Macalpin; and the Scottish kingdom, with various changes and vicissitudes, maintained its integrity till James the Sixth, who was heir of the English kingdom, quietly ascended the throne of England as successor of Elizabeth in 1603, as James the First, thus uniting the two countries under one sovereign. Previous to this event, Scotland had many excellent kings. There was a long war with the Danes, resulting in the entire expulsion of the invaders. Subsequently there were wars with England, and the borderland between the two countries was a scene of blood and devastation for many a year, until this union in James.

In the year 1290 there was a vacancy in the Scottish throne, John Baliol and Robert Bruce being aspirants therefor. The next year the question of succession was referred to Edward I. of England, and in 1292 he declared John Baliol entitled to the crown, — but not until he had exacted from the Scottish barons an oath of fealty to himself as feudal lord of Scotland. But Edward soon scraped a quarrel with this weak sovereign, overran his kingdom, and sent John as a prisoner to the Tower of London. He soon succeeded in subduing most of the fortresses of Scotland; but soon a deliverer arose in the person of William Wallace, who descended from an ancient family in the west of Scotland, and, though being of small fortune and few resources, he succeeded, by great courage

INTRODUCTORY.

xiii and endurance and wisdom, in freeing his country from foreigners. But at length Wallace was betrayed into the hands of the king, who caused him to be executed with the cruelty and shame of a culprit. This is to the everlasting disgrace of Edward and of England. Few nobler spirits than Wallace ever lived. But his death (1305) only set tighter the teeth of every Scotchman ; and the struggle was continued by young Robert Bruce, grandson of that Robert who claimed the crown in 1290. The English had abundance of men and means, and often it looked dark for Scotland ; but the unconquerable spirit of her warriors was never broken, and they kept up the unequal contest in one way or another till their land was free. In the spring of 1314 Edward II. collected an army of one hundred thousand men for the purpose of finishing up the Scottish conflict, marched into Scotland, and met little opposition till Bruce confronted him at Bannockburn. The battle of that name was June 25, 1314. The Scottish chieftain had but thirty thousand men, but they were heroes all, and were admirably managed. Full half the English army was either slain or captured. The young Scotch leader was covered with undying glory, and his land was free. He was succeeded by many sovereigns, until the crowns of England and Scotland were united in James, as named above. The latter had no further history as a separate nation, though it was more than a hundred years before the two Parliaments were united in one as at the present time. This event occurred in the autumn of 1706, and since then the two countries have been more and more blended in interest and character.

Having now taken this brief view of the history of England and Scotland for the reader's convenience, we will now, for similar reason, glance at the causes which led to the settlement of New England. Henry VIII., who ascended the throne of England in 1509, married Katherine of Arragon in the first year of his reign. After the death sof Henry in 1547, and the brief reign of Edward VI. who died at the age of nearly sixteen, Mary L, daughter of Henry VIII. and Katherine of Arragon, ascended the throne. This was in 1553. She was the most bloody and cruel and devilish of women. When her licentious father determined to get rid of Katherine, he divorced her (1532), and was set in bitter opposition to the Pope for declining to sanction the act. He declared his opposition to Rome openly; and his passion led to what has been called the " Reformation " in England. He had previously written a book against Luther, for which the Pope gave him the title ;' Defender of the Faith," a title still retained by the sovereigns of England; but now he proceeded to persecute the Papists, and many met death at his hand. Perhaps, therefore, it was to be expected that Mary, the daughter of Katherine, and a zealous Catholic, should feel herself called upon to retaliate in blood, and establish the persecuted sect. And she did her worst. The leading Protestants were condemned to the flames; many were thus burned at the stake; and scarcely in the five j^ears of her reign did the fires of martyrdom go out. Great numbers were tortured, and in the most cruel conceivable methods put to death. But i( Bloody Mary " died 1558, and her memory is covered with the abhorrence and execration of mankind.

On her death, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII. and the murdered Queen Anne Boleyn, succeeded to the throne ; and in the first year of her reign Protestantism was forever established as the religion of England. This was by act of Parliament. But for the object of putting down the Catholics, laws were passed requiring the abjuration of all foreign authority both in spiritual as well as temporal things, and the acknowledgment of the sovereign of England as the head of the church. It was made a crime to attend the religious services of any clergyman not belonging to the established church. This arbitrary enforcement of religion was the mistake and dishonor of Elizabeth's reign. It was only doing on the other side, and in a milder way, what the infamous Mary had done before her. Yet these wicked laws were in force for generations, and many suffered persecution and death at the hands of so-called Protestants, in the reign of Elizabeth, and that of her successor, James I. But many of the Protestants themselves were not satisfied with the established religion, which, though freeing them from papal tyranny, gave them no real freedom of conscience. Soon parties called " Non-conformists " arose in the kingdom; and in subsequent years there was a very determined opposition, both in England and Scotland, to all these encroachments upon the rights of the people in religion. Those who professed to follow the "Pure word of God" were called Puritans. They grew up under the reign of Bloody Mary, but do not seem to be called Puritans till about 1564.

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INTRODUCTORY.

The}' desired a wider separation from the Roman Catholics than that allowed by the established church, and willingly accepted the appellation given them in reproach. As they were opposed and ridiculed and persecuted, none joined them except such as were conscientiously devoted to Christ, so that the name Puritan came to be significant of great self-denial and excellence in religion. They were both godly and intelligent people, and were exalted by the fires they passed through. The name Puritan has been differently used at times. In later days, every one that wanted to live a decent life was called a puritan by the irreligious multitude, even though he were conformed to the established church. Under Charles I., all people opposed to his arbitrary government were called puritans. The historian Hume applies the name to three classes; the political puritans, who advanced the most radical ideas of civil liberty; the puritans in polity, who opposed the government and forms of worship in the established church; and puritans in doctrine, who strenuously insisted on the tenets of the reformers. The Puritans that settled New England certainty embraced all of these, and there never was a time when any such lines of distinction could be drawn this side the water.