History of the town of Hampton, New Hampshire. From its settlement in 1638, to the autumn of 1892.

Author's 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 presei-ve 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 Piovince of New Hampshire. Being one of the four original towns and united with tlie other three in many public acts ; being a lialf-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. ■S f

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 appreciate the difficulty, except from his own experience. Written memorials he finds to be exceedingly rare ; and living members of the family, 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 approximate his hmu ideal of a complete genealogy.

If such obstacles are to be encountered in tracing a single family, how much greater must be met when Jifty or a hundred families are to be traced through a period of two hundred years and more. Such

(iii)

iv author's preface.

is the work T would gladly have performed for the readers of this History. 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 and 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 tlie 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 ahnost 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 and 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 remembered 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 narration. This gave rise to the system of double-dating, from January to INIarch, till 1752, when the historical year alone came to be recognized. All dates in this work, so far as practicable, are made couforinable 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 ordered 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 1 700, and eleven daj's 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 ordinaril}' be allotted in a work of this compass ; but it lias 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 TREFACE. V

our territory ; and in the other, to establish by the records themselves, the fact of the town's ancient and habitual control.

In the early stages of my study, I had an efHcieut co-laborer in my friend and 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 department 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, 1 would render grateful acknowledgements.

Free reference is made, in these pages, to the works of Relknap, Winthrop and various town historians ; to the Provincial and State papers, edited by Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D.D. ; to Adjutant General Head's Reporl s ; to the New Hampshire Historical Society's Collections, the New England Historic-Genealogical Register and kindred worlds ; 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 iinotlicr's labor and carr}' out bis plan, even though the material be ready at Iiand. The author of this History died December IG, 1889. Had he lived to complete it, the selection and arrangement from among his papers would doubtless 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 and discrimination, 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 down to date has been attended witii 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 and 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 an 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 having 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 references 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 gratefully remembered, (vi)

Contents

GENERAL AND MILITARY.

Ch.ipter. Page.

I. The Settlement in the Wilderness. 1638-1646. 1

Chapter I

THE SETTLEMENT IN THE WILDEKNESS. 1G38-1G-16. TOPOGRAPHY.

THE ancient town of Hampton, New Hampshire, embraced a large territory, lying along the coast between Salisbury, Massachusetts, on the south, and Portsmouth, or tlie lower Piscataqua settlement on the north ; and 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 w'esterly 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, and extending beyond its limits through Salisbury to the Merriinac river, is a very large tract of marsh, or salt meadows, containing several thousand acres, as level as any prairie 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, and 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 parti}- 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 of the Piscataqua, flowing into Great Bay, and tlie outlets of the ponds named above, which are the chief sources of the Powow river, tiiat empties into the Merrimac between Salisbury and Amesbiir}-.

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. Li several places, the beach is indented by small coves, which being somewhat 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 porons, liable to be parched by drought ; in others, clayey and wet, or rocky and difficult to cultivate ; while, in man}' places, there was a rich, dark mold of great depth and fertility, yielding to the -husbandman an ample reward for his toll. A large portion of the land, except the salt meadows, was covered with forests where grew in great luxnriance tiie i)ine and the hemlock ; the cedar and the spruce ; the beech, the birch find the maple ; the ash, the elm, the hickory and the oak. Of some of these there were several varieties. Oaks, both white and red, were extensively used by the early inhabitants in the manufacture of staves, for wliich a read}^ market was generally found, the sales bringing in a considerable portion of the money in circulation among them.

The rivers, the brooks, and the neighboring ocean furnished the people with fish ; the woods and marshes afforded an abundance of game. Wild animals roamed in the forests, some of Vvhich, particularly the wolf and the bear, were ver}' troublesome to the inhabitants, and frequently committed depredations upon their sheep and cattle.

A little more than two centuries and a half ago, no jiart of this tract was inhabited by white men. Some Lidians, 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 ImWan pcqypooses, it is said, would, in times of peace, often go to the log-huts of the new settlers, to pUij' with tiieir children. But the ancient race soon began to dwindle awa}', 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, tlieir day is o'er !

Their ifires are out from liill and sliore ! No more for them tlie 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 incorporation, its history will not be given in this work. Next in order was incorporated the Paris/i 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 portions 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 longitude 70° 50' 12" W.i It has for its boundaries, North Hampton on the north ; Hampton Falls on the southwest and west ; and P^xeter 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 consequently 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

iTaken on the site of the Baptist cluiixh— U. S. Coast Survey Report.

brooks, or rivulets, some of which, tliough 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 Nilus, which it still bears. Taylor's river has its source in a i)ond in the town of Hampton Falls, and runs southeasterly, forming, for a considerable distance, the boundary between that town and Hampton, retaining 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 fro^i the south.

The smaller tributaries from the Hampton side are Ass brook, which comes in from F^xeter ; 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, and 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 suflicient depth to admit vessels^of sevent}? or eighty tons, though it is somewhat difficult of entrance, in consequence of sand bars and of sunken rocks that lie oflT 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 and 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 extremit}', which shelters from troublesome winds a fishing cove on the southerly side; and about midwa}-, 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, l)eing of a triangular shape, and terminating in a i)oint at the southeast. It rises gradually fioni the salt-marsh and a low ridge of upland on the west, till it attains the height of fifty or sixty feet 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 tliis 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 beautilied by the raeanderings of the river ; of the blue summit of Againenticus, 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, of the 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 and 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 b}' 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 emigrants arrived at the Piscataqua, they separated into two companies, one of which remained at Little Harbor, near the mouth of the river,' and the other proceeding about eight miles up the river, settled on a point of land called by the Indians Winnichahannat,- to which they gave the name Df Northam, and subsequently, Dover.

In 1629, Mason received from the Council of Plymouth a new patent 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

iThe setUement was at Odiorne's Point, in tlie northeast part of Rye. =Spelled also Wecoliannet, etc.

6 HISTORY OF ha:\ipton.

the land westward, until sixty miles were finished, and from thence to cross over land to the end of sixty miles, accounted from Piscataqua river, togetlier with all tlie islands within five miles of the coast." This tract was ctdled Nkw Hampshiue.

These grants and the expenditure of considerable sums of money by Captain Mason, in forming and sustaining the settlements a few years, were the grounds on whicli his heirs based their claim to tiie province, in the [)rosecution of which, they subjected the inhal)itants to an expensive and tedious course of litigation. It has therefore seemed im|>ortant to take some notice of the grants, although the town of Hampton was settled without any reference to them, and has never, in any wa}', derived fi'om them the least benefit.

WINNACUNNKT.

The grants to Gorges and Mason, and to Mason alone, both included the place, which the Indians called Winnaainnet. Tliis name seems to have been used b}- them to designate the river, afterward called Hampton river, tlowing 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, and to make it, for their canoes, a thoroughfare to the ocean.

This Indian name Dr. Belknap writes Winicumet. and Governor Wintlirop, Winicowett. Tlie name was probably written according as the sound struck tlie ear of the persons attempting to give it a visible form. The orthograpliy here adopted is the uniform spelling in tlie Records of tlie Ueneral Court of Massachusetts. The earliest town records also have unn, never um nor oiv; and this is most likely to represent the Indian utterance. Hon. O. E. Potter, sometime of Hillsborough, N. H., gives the meaning of the word thus : Pleasant Place or Pines, or The Beautiful Place of Pines. Rev. Edward Ballard, sometime of Brunswick, 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. But nothing of this kind appears from history. The earliest notice of the place that we have found, is in the Records of the General Court of Massachusetts, where, under date of March 3, 1636, is found the following order:

"That there shalbe a plantacon settled at Winnacunnet & that M'' Dumer & M'" John Spencer shall have power to presse men to builde a house forthw'^'', in some convenient place, & what money they lay out aboute it, shalbe repaide them againe out of the tresury, or by those that come to inhabit there."

TfiE SETTLEMENT IN THE WILDERNESS. 1638-1646. 7

Agreeably to this order, a, house was built for the purpose of securing Winnacunnet to Massachusetts, though, by a fair construction of its charter, the place was evidentl}- beyond its jurisdiction. Tlie house tlius I)uilt was afterward known as the Bound Ilouse^ though it seems to have been intended by the General Court, as a mark of possession, rather than of limit.

It is not known with certainty where the Bound House stood, and it is hardly [)robable that any future researches will serve to identify the spot. That was a disputed point more than a century ago. Some then located it on, or near, the Meeting House Green ; some on Easton's Point, and others on Sargent's Island. There are reasons for believing that no one of these opinions is correct. That the house was not at either of the two places last named, appears probable from Governor Winthrop's History of New England, in which it is incidentally mentioned as being on the way, or path, from Newbury to the Piscataqua settlement. Other circumstances lead to the belief that it was farther south than the Meeting House Green. Rev. John Wheelwright, in his testimony taken by the commissioners of Charles II, in 1665, and embodied in their report to the King, stated tliat it was "erected three large miles from the Merrimac." This statement favors the opinion held by some, that the Bound House was somewhere within the limits of the present town of Seabrook ; but it fails to settle the question, for it does not a[)pear what distance is meant by a large mile, and in the same report it is stated that Mr. Wheelwright, when banished from Massachusetts, "settled just beyond the Bound House," wheieas Exeter, the place of his settlement, is more than six miles from the Merrimac.

It is probable that the Bound House was occupied soon after it was built, but by whom, history fails to inform us; nor do we know how long it remained standing, unless by inference from Mr. Wheelwright's testimony, that it "was for seventeen years called and known to be the bounds of Massachusetts."

About two years after the settlement of the town of Newbury had been commenced near the river Parker, the inhabitants, for some reason "haveing been moved to leave their plantation," received from the General Court, November 2, 1637, a conditional grant of Winnacunnet, and such as should "remove w^'^in one yeare" w^ere to "have three years imunity" from the first day of March, 1638.

About this time, April 3, 1638, Rev. John Wheelwright and others bought of the Indians a tract of land around Squamscott Falls, included in the following boundaries, viz. : "Within three miles on the northerne side of y'^ river Meremake extending thirty miles along by the river from llie seaside and from the sayd river side to Piscataqua Patents thirty miles up into the countrey northwest, and so from tlie ffalls of Piscataqua to Oyster river thirty miles square ever}- wa^'." This purchase included Winnacunnet, and thus was "obtained a right to tlie soil from the original proprietors, more valuable in a moral view than tlie grants of any European prince could coiive}"."^

Early in 1638, two persons, at least, were at Winnacunnet, where they had already built, or were then building houses for themselves. Whether they tliought tliemselves authorized to proceed tluis by the grant to the people of Newbury the autumn before, — for one of tliem, and perhaps both, had been living in that town, — or whether they supposed themselves be^'ond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, is uncertain. One of them, Nicholas Easton, had, with many others, remonstrated against the harsh treatment shown to Mr. AVheelwright, and had in consequence been disarmed by an order of the General Court made November 20, 1637. This order, Mr. Easton probably considered arbitrary and unjust, and it may have led him to resolve to leave the colony. Still, it could not have been unknown to him that Winnacunnet was claimed to be within tlie jurisdiction of INIassachusetts, and tiiat the Bound House had been built to denote that claim. It has even been said that Mr. Easton was tlie architect employed to build the house. If so, he might thus have become acquainted with the advantages that Winnacunnet possessed as a place for settlement. 'But tliis is very doubtful. The Bound House had been built under authority to "presse" men for the purpose, and, tliougli it might not require much architectural skill to build a log-house, yet the persons authorized by the court to see to the execution of their order, would have been more likely to impress a carpenter than a tanner ; and Mr. Easton was a tanner.

But whatever may have been the motives of Mr. Easton ; whatever his opinion relative to the northern limit of Massachusetts, we find him and a Mr. Geoffre}^ at Winnacunnet early in the year 1638. But they did not long remain unmolested. The former, at least, was obnoxious to the government, and both were here without authority from the General Court. They must therefore be removed. To effect their removal, the following order was passed, Maj' 17, 1638: "That the magistrates of Ipswich shall have power to discharge Mr. Eason & Mr. GeofTry fro"' building at Winnacunnet, and if they will not take warning, to cleare the place of y'"." It does' not appear whether they did "take warning," and go away peaceably, or whether the magistrates were obliged "to cleare the place of y"' ;" nor is it certain to