HISTORY OF MANCHESTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE
PART I
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SOURCE: History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885, 878 pgs.
MANCHESTER, N.H.
page 40B
CHAPTER I
Geographical-- Indian Occupancy-- The First Settlements-- Names of
Pioneers-- The Fisheries-- Biographical Notices of Early settlers
MANCHESTER lies in the eastern part of the county, and is bounded as
follows: On the north by Merrimack County, on the east and south by
Rockingham Councty, and on the west by Bedford and Goffstown.
This territory was originally occupied by the Amoskeag Indians, a
tribe subject to the Penacooks, who dwelt around Amoskeag Falls. The
Indians, however, did not remain here until the advent of the white
settlers. Probably forty years elapsed after the red man left his
much-loved fisheries at the falls before the white man became a
permanent resident.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT--To John GOffe Jr., Edward Lingfied and
Benjamin Kidder is ascribed the honor of having been the first white
settlers within the limits of the present town of Manchester. They
located in 1722 and erected habitations on Cohas Brook.
The excellent fisheries at this point soon attracted the attention of
other enterprising pioneers, and not many years elapsed ere the locality
witnessed a large (for that early day) influx of settlers, anxious to
rear their homes at the "fishing at Ammosceeg." Among these were
John McNeil, Archibald Stark, Benjamin Hadley, Benjamin Stevens,
Nathaniel Martin, Ephraim Hildreth, Charles Emerson, William Perham,
Benjamin Kidder, Benjamin Blodgett, John Ridell, Alexander McMurphy Jr.,
John Hall, Thomas Hall, Michael McClintock, David Dickey,
William Gamble, Robert Anderson, Barber Leslie, William Nutt.
Of these early settlers nearly all were active, enterprising men,
while some were possessed of marked ability, and subsequently became
thoroughly identified with the public enterprises of their day in this
seciton of the Merrimack Valley. Many of these early settlers were from
Londonderry, and were of Scotch-Irish extraction.
JOHN GOFFE was an influential man in the new settlement, and had a son
John, who became a distinguished officer in the French and Indian War.
BENJAMIN KIDDER doubtless came here about 1722 with his father-in-law
JOHN GOFFE, as he was a grantee of Londonderry [NH] in that year. He
probably was originally of Billerica [MA]. He entered in the company
under the famous Captain Lovewell, in the expedition against
Pequauquauke, and while on the march, in the neighborhood of Ossipee
Lake, was taken ill. It is probable that he did not long survive the
hardships and exposures of this expedition. His son, John Kidder, was
named as a legatee in the will of his grandfather, John Goffe, Esq.,
made in 1748.
EDWARD LINGFIELD--Of Edward Lingfield very little is known. He married
a daughter of John Goffe, Esq. and settled here about 1722. He was one
of the thirty-four men who marched from Ossipee Lake to Pequauquauke,
and took part in that famous battle, where he fought with great bravery.
He was one of the nine men in that battle "who received no considerable
wounds." After his return from that expedition, he recieved an ensigns
commission as a reward of his heroic conduct in the battle of
Pequauquauke.
ARCHIBALD STARK was born in Glasgow, in Scotland, in 1693. Soon after
graduating at the university he moved to Londonderry, in the north of
Ireland, becoming what was usually denoted a "Scotch-Irishman." There
he was married to a poor, but beautiful Scotch girl, by the name of
Eleanor Nichols, and emigrated to America. He at first settled in
Londonderry [NH] where he remained until some time in 1736, when,
having his house burned, he removed to that portion of land upon the
Merrimack, then known as Harrytown, upon a lot that had been granted to
Samuel Thaxter by the government of Massachusetts, and which was
situated upon the hill upon the east bank of the Merrimack, a short
distance above the falls of Namaoskeag. Here he resided until his
death. An educated man, Stark must have had a strong desire that his
children should enjoy the advantages of an education; but in a
wilderness surrounded by savages, and upon a soil not the most inviting,
the sustenance and protection of his family demanded his attention
rather more than their education. His children, however, were instructed
at the fireside in the rudiments of an English education, and such
principles were instilled into them as, accompanied with energy,
courage and decision of character, made them fit actors in the
stirring events of the period. His education fitted him rather for
the walks of civil life; but yet we find him a volunteer for the
protection of the frontier against the ravages of the Indians in 1745;
and for the protection of the people in this immediate neighborhood,
a fort was built at the outlet of Swager's or Fort Pond, which, out of
compliment to Mr. Stark's enterprise in building and garrisoning the
same, was called Stark's Fort.
Mr. Stark had seven children,--four sons and three daughters. His
four sons--William, John, Archibald, and Samuel--were noted soldiers in
the Indian and French wars, and the three oldest had distinguished
themselves as officers in the notable corps of Rangers prior to their
father's death. The second, John, became the famous partisan officer
in the Revolution, and as a brigadier won unfading laurels at the battle
of Bennington. Mr. Stark died the 25th day of June, 1758, aged
sixty-one years.
JOHN HALL came to this country probably after 1730. He tarried some
time in Londonderry [NH] and then moved upon a lot of land near the
west line of Chester, and in that part of the town afterwards set off to
form the town of Derryfield. He was an energetic business man, and for
a series of years transacted much of the public business of this
neighborhood and town. He kept a public-house until his death. The
original frame house built by him, but added to according to business
and fashion, until little of the original could be recognized, was
standing until 1852, when it was destroyed by fire. It had always been
kept as a public-house, and generally by some one of the name.
Mr. Hall was the agent of the inhabitants for obtaining the charter
of Derryfield in 1751, and was the first town clerk under that charter.
He was elected to that office fifteen years, and in one and the same
year was moderator, first selectman and town clerk.
WILLIAM GAMBLE and MICHAEL McCLINTOCK.-- William Gamble came to this
country in 1722, aged fourteen years. He and two elder brothers,
Archibald and Thomas, and a sister Mary, started together for America,
but the elder brothers were pressed into the British service upon the
point of sailing, leaving the boy William and his sister to make the
voyage alone. William was saved from the press-gang alone by the ready
exercise of "woman's wit." The Gambles had started under the protection
of Mr. and Mrs. Michael McClintock, who resided in the same neighborhood
and were about to emigrate to New England. Upon witnessing the
seizure of the elder brothers, Mrs. McClintock called to William Gamble,
"Come here, Billy, quickly," and upon Billy approaching her, she
continued, "Snuggle down here, Billy," and she hid him under the folds
of her capacious dress! There he remained safely until the gang had
searched the house for the boy in vain, and retired in high dudgeon at
their ill success.
Upon coming to this country, the McClintocks came to Londonderry [NH].
They were industrious, thriving people, and Michael and William, his
son, built the first bridge across the Cohoes, and also another across
the Little Cohoes, on the road from Amoskeag to Derry. These bridges
were built in 1738, and were probably near where bridges are now
maintained across the same streams on the "old road to Derry." The
McClintocks were voted twenty shillings a year for ten years for the
use of these bridges.
WILLIAM GAMBLE upon his arrival in Boston, went to work on the ferry
from Charlestown to Boston. Here he remained two years. During the
Indian War of 1745 he joined several "scouts," and upon the
commencement of the "Old French War," in 1755, having lost his wife,
he enlisted in the regular service, and was in most of the war,
being under Wolfe on the "Plains of Abraham."
JOHN McNEIL came to Londonderry [NH] with the first emigrants in 1719.
The McNeils of Scotland and in the north of Ireland were men of known
reputation for bravery, and Daniel mcNeil was one of the Council of
the city of Londonderry [Ireland] and has the honor, with twenty-one
others of that body, of withstanding the duplicity and treachery of
Lundy, the traitorous Governor, and affixing their signatures to a
resolution to stand by each other in defense of the city, which
resolution, placarded upon the market-house and read at the head of the
battalions in the garrison, led to the successful defense of the city.
JOHN McNEIL was a lineal descendant of this councilor. Becoming
involved in a quarrel with a person of distinction in his neighborhood,
who attacked him in the highway, McNeil knocked him from his horse, and
left him to be cared for by his retainers. This encounter, though
perfectly justifiable on the part of Mr. McNeil, as his antagonist
was the attacking party, made his tarry in Ireland unpleasant, if not
unsafe, and he emigrated to America and settled in Londonderry [NH].
Here he established a reputation not only as a man of courage but one
of great strength, and neither white or red man upon the borders dared
to risk a hand-to-hand encounter with him. Measuring six feet and a
half in height, with a corresponding frame, and stern, unbending will,
he was a fit outpost, as if it were, of civilization, and many are the
traditions of his personal encounters during a long and eventful border
life. His wife, Christian, was well mated with him, of strong frame
and great energy and courage. It is related that upon one occasion a
stranger came to the door and inquired for McNeil. Christiana told him
that her "gude mon" was not at home. Upon which the stranger expressed
much regret. Christiana inquired as to the business upon which he
came, and the stranger told her he had heard a great deal of the
strength of McNeil and his skill in wrestling, and he had come some
considerable distance to throw him. "And troth, mon," said Christiana
McNeil, "Johnny is gone, but I'm not the woman to see ye disappointed,
an' I think if ye'll try mon, I'll throw ye meself." The stranger,
not liking to be thus bantered by a woman, accepted the challenge, and,
sure enough, Christian tripped his heels and threw him upon the ground.
The stranger, upon getting up, thought he would not wait for "Johnny,"
but left without deigning to leave his name.
THE FISHERIES AT AMOSKEAG--At the time the white settlers located along
the Merrimack the fisheries at Amoskeag Falls had become famous through
the adjacent country. Here salmon, shad, the alewife and lamprey eel
were found in great abundance.
In a journal kept by Hon. Matthew Patten, of Bedford, is the following
entry:
"1759, June 8-9. Fished at Namoskeag Falls and got 120 shad and I gave
Robert McMurphy 10 of them, and I got 4 shad and 1 small salmon for my
part from the setting-place. Wm. Peters fished for me by the halves."
Says Judge Potter, in his "History of Manchester,"--
"The fishing place was of the greatest importance to the people.
Tradition has it that the Rev. Mr. McGregore was the first person of the
Londonderry settlement to visit the Falls, led thither by curiousity,
and prompted by information obtained at Andover as to their grandeur
and the abundance of fish to be found near them at certain seasons of
the year. From this fact originated the custom of presenting Mr.
McGregore and his successors the first fruits of the fishing season. The
first fish caught by any man of Londonderry, salmon, shad, alewife or
eel, was reserved as a gift to 'the minister.'
"As early as 1729 a road was laid out and built from Ninian Cochran's
house (in Londonderry) 'then keeping by or near the old path to
Amosceeg Falls.' And another road was laid out at the same time
intersecting the 'Ammosceeg road,' for the accomodation of other
sections of the town. This undertaking of building a road some ten miles
miles through the wilderness, in the infancy of that colony, shows of
how great importance the 'fishing at Ammosceeg' was considered by the
people of Londonderry; and it was natural that they should be
strenuous in maintaining their claim to the lands adjacent. Accordingly,
we find their claim to the lands and the subject of the fisheries
connected with them matters acted upon in their town-meetings at an
early date. As early as 1729 people have moved upon these lands probably
for the purpose of holding them for Massachusetts, she claiming to a
line three miles east of the Merrimack by her charter. This was a
serious matter for the people of Londonderry, and in the warrant for a
town-meeting bearing date January 8, 1730-31, there was the following
article:
"11thly: TO see whether they will allow a Lawyer to be consulted
about those persons that are settling at Ammosceeg. And at the meeting
this article was thus disposed of,--
"11thly: Voted that they are willing to leave the consulting of a
lawyer about the settlement that is carried on at Ammosceeg to the
selectmen and committee that is appointed for the defence of the
propriety.'
"It is not known what action was taken by the selectmen and committee
upon the matter; but it is to be inferred, as the records are silent
upon the subject, that no legal action was taken at that time. The
people from Massachusetts continued to occupy the lands in this
neighborhood at intervals, and it is probable that some fo them had a
continuous occupation from this time under the authority of the
government. Under such circumstances it is probable that after
'consulting a lawyer,' the people of Londonderry concluded to take quiet
possession of the land and wait the result of the hearing about to be
had in England as to the claims of Massachusetts. That the people of
Londonderry continued in control of the business here is shown by the
records of the following year, where is found the warrant, one article
of which reads thus,--
"4thly, TO see whether they will beat the expense of two canoos to
be kept at Ammosceeg for the safety of the people at the fishing.'
"On the day of the meeting, April 22, 1731, the following action was
had on the 4th article:
"4thly, That in order to the safety of our town's people at the fishing
at Ammosceeg the selectmen is empowered to allow and pay out of the
public charge or rates of the town three pounds in Bills of credit to
such person or persons as shall be obliged to make two good sufficient
canoos, the selectmen obliging the aforesaid undertakers to serve the
Inhabitants of the town the whole time fishing before any out town's
people, and shall not exceed one shill pr hundred for all the fish that
they shall ferry over from the Islands and the owner of the fish and
his attendants is to be ferried backwards and forwards at free cost."
The whites took fish with spears, scoop-nets and seines, and in large
quantities; so that people coming from the surrounding country with
their wagons and carts could get them filled sometimes for carting the
shad away, to make room for the salmon, and always for a mere trifling
price. Immense quantites of shad were taken at one haul or drag of
the seine. The "New Hampshire Gazette" of May 23, 1760, has the
following item under its editorial head:
"One day last week, was drawn by a new at one Draught, Two Thousand
Five hundred odd Shad Fish, out of the River Merrimack near Bedford,
in this Province. Thought remarkable by some people."