History of the Town of Hampton, NH - Chapters 14-15



CHAPTER XIV. IN THE REVOLUTION, 1774-1783

PATRIOTIC RESOLVES

The period which forms the subject of this chapter is an eventful one in
the history of our country -- that of the American Revolution. For ten
years, the oppressions of Great Britain had tightened about her colonies,
till nothing was left for them but to wrench themselves clear altogether.
The people of Hampton early caught the spirit of liberty, as is evident
from their proceedings at a meeting held January 17, 1774, and, by
adjournment, February 7, "for the purpose of considering the unreasonable
and unconstitutional power and claims which the Parliament of Great
Britain have assumed over the rights and properties of His Majesty's loyal
subjects in America;" and to consult how best to counteract "every bold
and wicked attempt of the enemies of the British Constitution to enforce
their unjust usurpations."

Jonathan Moulton, Esq., was chosen moderator.

The sentiment of the town was very strongly expressed, that it must be
evident "to Every one that is not Lost to Virtue, nor devoid of Common
Sense," that if these usurpations are submitted to, they "will be totally
Destructive to our natural and Constitutional Rights & Liberties, & have a
direct Tendency to Reduce the Americans to a state of actual Slavery:"
Therefore, "feeling that Concern & Indignation, which should animate Every
honest Breast, we look upon it as our Indispensable Duty, as men, as
Christians, and as Americans, Publickly to express our Sentiments &
Determinations at this important & alarming Crisis."

A committee was accordingly chosen, to prepare fitting Resolves, and
report at an adjourned meeting: which, being done, and the Resolves
"having been distinctly Read, & with Due Deliberation considered, it was
put to vote whether they should be accepted as the opinion & Determination
of this Town, which passed by a very grate majority in the affirmative."

The resolves are as follows:

"Revolved, 1st, That it is Inseparably essential to the Freedom of a
People, & the Inherent Right of Englishmen, in Every part of the British
Dominions, that no Tax be imposed on them without the consent of
themselves or their Representatives; that the local Circumstances of the
People in America cannot admit of their being Represented in the
Parliament of Great Britain, & therefore they are Exempt from
Parliamentary Taxation.

2nd, That no Taxes can be Constitutionally imposed on the People in the
Colonies but by their Respective Legislatures, & that the sole Right of
imposing Taxes on the Inhabitants of this, his Majesty's Province of New
Hampshire, in particular, is now, & ever hath been Legally &
Constitutionally vested in the House of Assembly, Lawfully convened, with
Consent of Council & his Majesty, or his Representative, the Governor, for
the time being.

3d, That the Act of the British Parliament, imposing a Duty on Teas
payable in America upon being Landed, is a Tax imposed on the Americans
without their consent; & the Express Purpose for which that Tax is Levied
has a Direct tendency to subvert our Constitution, Render our Assemblies
useless, & Introduce that plan of arbitrary government which -- to Every
attentive person appears -- the ministry of Great Britain are artfully
endeavouring to Establish over the Americans.

4th, That a virtuous & steady opposition to Every artful measure to
enforce said Act, is the most Likely method, under God, to obtain a Repeal
of the same; & that it is, therefore the Duty of Every American to concur
in advancing & supporting that Glorious Design.

5th, That we will, to the utmost of our Power, in Every Reasonable &
Constitutional way, Endeavour to promote & Defend the Happiness & Security
of America, and, if Ever necessity Requires it, we will be ready in
conjunction with our oppressed American Brethren, to Risque our Lives &
Interest in support of those Rights, Liberties & Privileges which our
supreme Law Giver & our happy Constitution has [have] entitled us to."

At the same meeting, Philip Towle, Capt. Josiah Moulton, Amos Coffin,
Esq., William Lane & Josiah Moulton 3d were chosen a committee, "to
correspond with other committees in this and the neighboring governments
as they may see occasion."


EXETER CONVENTIONS

The next May, a committee of correspondence was appointed by the popular
branch of the General Assembly. This measure was displeasing to Governor
Wentworth, and he first adjourned, and soon after dissolved the assembly.
But he could not thus smother the rising flame of liberty. At the call of
the committee, the representatives again met, and, though the governor,
through the sheriff of Rockingham, ordered them to disperse, they
proceeded with their business. They wrote to all the towns in the
province, requesting them to send delegates to a convention to be holden
at Exeter, for the purpose of choosing delegates to a General Congress of
the American colonies.

The town of Hampton responded to the call, and on the 18th of May chose
Col. Jonathan Moulton, Col. Christopher Toppan, Capt. Josiah Moulton and
Josiah Moulton 3d to attend the convention at Exeter. They were empowered
to act in behalf of the town, on all questions that might arise.

The convention, consisting of eighty-five deputies, met at Exeter on the
following Thursday, May 21. The sum of two hundred pounds, to defray the
expenses of the two delegates chosen to the Congress, that was to meet at
Philadelphia in September, was raised by the towns. The proportion for
Hampton was three pounds thirteen shillings.

In January, 1775, the town chose deputies to another convention, to be
holden at Exeter, and invested them with such powers as the purposes of
the convention seemed to require. On this occasion, nine deputies were
chosen, viz: the four who had served in the former convention, and with
them, Capt. Jeremiah Sanborn, Anthony Emery and Amos Coffin, Esquires, Mr.
William Moulton and Lieut. John Fogg. The sum appropriated for the
expenses of the delegates to the next Continental Congress, chosen at this
convention, was two hundred fifty pounds, of which Hampton paid six pounds
ten shillings sixpence, having raised the same by a tax. The convention
chose a committee of correspondence, authorized to call another convention
when necessary, and adopted such measures for the general safety as seemed
imperative. And none too soon: in less than three months the guns of
Lexington echoed throughout the country.


THE SEABOARD EXPOSED

The people of Hampton had fifteen months before proclaimed their
opposition to British aggression, and their determination to resist it by
force of arms, if necessary; and it may well be supposed, that the wanton
slaughter of their countrymen at Lexington and Concord would not diminish
their opposition, nor cool their resolution. But their situation, and that
of a few other towns in this vicinity, was peculiar. These towns lay upon
the seaboard, and the enemy might at any time annoy them by landing on the
beach with boats; or effect a wider destruction, by sending a naval force
into the Piscataqua. Rumors were already afloat, that the British were
coming, but at what particular point they would most probably appear, none
could tell. Under these circumstances, it might have been thought that
patriotism did not require, nor prudence permit the men of these towns to
leave the seaboard unguarded, and their own families at the mercy of the
foe; but that their first duty was to provide for the defense of the sea-
coast by an adequate force. Still, an order was given at Hampton, the next
day after the Lexington and Concord fights, for the soldiers to proceed
immediately to Boston. They accordingly set out the same day, but at
Ipswich, a counter-order was received, and they returned home, where they
arrived on the 22nd. They were probably sent back to aid in the defense of
the coast.

A new assembly having been summoned by Governor Wentworth, the General
Court commenced a session on the 4th of May, about two weeks after the
battle of Lexington. The governor, entertaining hopes that the
difficulties between England and the colonies might yet be settled, and
harmony restored, opened the session with a speech, entreating the members
of the court to adopt a pacific policy. At the request of the House, he
then adjourned them to the 12th of June, to give them an opportunity to
consult their constituents.

A few days afterward, the town of Hampton chose Capt. Josiah Moulton and
Josiah Moulton 3d -- who were also members of the assembly -- to represent
the town in a convention soon to be holden at Exeter, and voted, that said
delegates, when met, should be empowered and authorized to adopt and
pursue such measures as might be judged most expedient to preserve and
restore the rights of this and the other colonies, and to act in behalf of
themselves and their constituents, for six months, if they should judge
the same necessary, and to adjourn as occasion might require.

To this convention, which met on the 17th of May, the representatives
applied for instructions. The state of the country was such as to demand
promptness of action on the part of the convention. They at once resolved
to raise two thousand men in the province, to be formed into three
regiments, and to be placed under the command of Colonels Stark, Reed and
Poor. Those men, who had already gone as volunteers to the theater of war,
were to form two of these regiments, and the third was to be enlisted
immediately. The whole were to serve till the close of the year, unless
sooner discharged.

At this time the fears that the enemy would land on the coast had
increased, and about the close of the month, the danger appeared imminent.
It became known that the British had sent out from Boston a considerable
number of "cutters," having their decks filled with boats, the whole
movement indicating some such design as had before been suspected. At this
juncture, General Ward sent a letter by express to the different towns
along the coast, warning them of their danger, and urging them to be ready
for action. He wrote as follows:

"Head Quarters, Cambridge, 29th May, 1775.

Sr, By Information just receiv'd from Boston, I apprehend the Enemy intend
to make an attack somewhere this night; therefore would have your people
in readiness to act on the shortest notice, if there should be occasion.

I am &c.
Artemas Ward."

This letter was sent to the committee of correspondence of Salem, by whom
it was forwarded, with further particulars, to Manchester, and so on from
town to town along the coast. It reached Newburyport at half past four
o'clock in the afternoon, and was immediately forwarded to Hampton.

A memorial was promptly drawn up, and presented to the convention,
rehearsing the advice from General Ward, and setting forth the absolute
necessity of guarding the sea-coast and the expediency of employing for
this purpose, forces to be raised in this part of the province, rather
than that these forces should be sent to Massachusetts, and others called
from a distance to defend the sea-board.

The exigency of the case admitting no delay, the memorial was put into the
hands of the member from Hampton Falls, without signatures, and he
presented it as the next meeting of the convention, accompanied by the
following note:

"To the President of the Provincial Congress.
At the request of many persons who represent to me that the general mind
of the people in the towns near the coast is as above represented, and
that much uneasiness is in their minds until some provision be made for
their defense, I subscribe in their behalf, to save the time of collecting
great numbers of subscribers.
Meshech Weare."

The memorial appears to have been referred to the Committee of Safety, for
at their meeting the first day of June it was determined that two
companies should be mustered and equipped, and sent to guard the seacoast
for the present, and that the companies that should first be in readiness,
should be thus employed. People of Hampton, according to tradition,
performed this service on their own coast; whence it happened that but
few, if any of them were present at the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was
fought while they were thus engaged.


THE END OF ROYAL GOVERNMENT

The General Assembly met June 12, according to adjournment, and the
governor again urged upon the members a conciliatory course; but, though
"a man of sound understanding, refined taste, enlarged views and dignified
spirit," being a loyalist, he had ceased to have much influence with the
majority. At the end of a month, he again adjourned the assembly; but they
never transacted any more business; and Governor Wentworth soon after left
the province.


CAPTAIN HENRY ELKINS' COMPANY

The company of Infantry, in Hampton, was at this time under the command of
Capt. Henry Elkins. The Committee of Safety, on the 15th of June,
addressed to him the following order:

"Sir,
You are directed to man two whale-boats out of your company, & keep them
constantly cruising off & on the coast, & direct them to acquaint all
vessels bound to Piscataqua, having provisions, salt or molasses on board,
that the man-of-war there has orders to seize them; & advise them to get
into York, Newburyport, Hampton or Rye, as they judge expedient."

Near the close of the month, Captain Elkins was directed "to order his
boatmen to put into the Shoals, & bring to Hampton any cannon-shot they
may find there, if the people at the Shoals will allow it to be done."

On the 6th of July, Capt. Josiah Moulton was appointed paymaster of
Captain Elkins' company, and the Receiver General was ordered to pay to
him £139 16s. lawful money, for their pay for one month; and £97 10s. to
pay for billeting the company. The order for the payment of the latter sum
was given on the 1st of August, and the same day it was ordered, that
Captain Elkins should march his company immediately to join the army at
Medford.

It is difficult to ascertain precisely what force was stationed along the
sea-board. It undoubtedly varied somewhat according to the apprehension of
danger at different times. After the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of
June, the fears that had agitated the people for a few weeks previous,
appear to have subsided. Still it was not prudent to leave the coast
entirely unguarded, though, as we have seen, the company that had been
stationed there, was withdrawn on the 1st of August.

At a town meeting six days afterward, it was voted to have four men on
guard at the beach every night. Lieut. James Philbrick was appointed to
make a list of the names of all the persons in the town, liable to perform
this service, and empowered to order the guard by turns. His list, still
to be seen, contains 168 names, and 153 checks to denote the performance
of guard duty.


COMMITTEE OF SAFETY

The convention at Exeter having recommended that a committee of safety
should be chosen in each town in the province, this town voted to comply
with the recommendation, and chose for their committee: Dr. Anthony Emery,
Col. Jonathan Moulton, Capt. Josiah Moulton, Amos Coffin, Esq., Lieut.
Cotton Ward, Mr. Josiah Moulton 3d, Lieut. John Dearborn, William Lane,
Cornet Simon Nudd, Ens. Philip Towle, John Lamprey, Ens. Jonathan Garland,
and Lieut. Josiah Dearborn.

The British having burned a part of Falmouth [now Portland], in Maine, and
it being feared that they would also attempt to destroy Portsmouth,
General Sullivan was dispatched from Cambridge, in October, to take the
command of the militia and defend the harbor of the Piscataqua. Thirteen
soldiers were sent from Hampton; but all of them were discharged after a
few days. A month later, the convention at Exeter voted that eight hundred
men, offices included, divided into eight companies, should be enlisted at
once for the defense of the harbor of Piscataqua and the fortress there.
Capt. Henry Elkins, of Hampton, was to command one of the companies.

The royal government in New Hampshire having virtually ceased, the chief
authority now acknowledged was that of the convention sitting at Exeter.
In that convention were one hundred thirty-three members, representing one
hundred two towns. As it would have been very inconvenient for so large a
body to attend to all the details of business, they appointed, besides
other committees for specific objects, a committee, styled "The Committee
of Safety," to whom they gave this general instruction and authority: "To
take under consideration all matters in which the welfare of the Province
in the security of their rights is concerned; and to take the utmost care,
that the public sustain no damage." Special instructions were also, on
some occasions, given to them. They at all times exercised executive
powers, and when the convention was not in session, "their orders and
recommendations had the same effect as the acts and resolves of that whole
body." Capt. Josiah Mouton was the only member of this committee,
belonging to Hampton. He was first appointed May 24, 1775, and held the
position till January 31, 1781, when he also ceased to be a member of the
House of Representatives, the town having chosen another person in his
place at the election in December, 1780.


A PROVINCIAL CONGRESS

As the delegates to this convention had been chosen for only six months,
their authority would cease in November. They, therefore, applied to the
Continental Congress for advice respecting the government of the province
after that time. Congress advised "to call a full and free representation
of the people; that these representatives, if they should think it
necessary, might establish a temporary form of government, till peace
should be restored."

The convention having considered this advice and matured their plan, sent
to the several towns a circular containing the plan, and then adjourned
sine die, November 16.

According to this plan, the number of representatives was to be
considerably less than that of delegates in the convention. Hampton,
having between one and two hundred families, was entitled to only one
representative, and never since has a larger number been allowed.

The towns generally responded to the call thus made by the convention, and
appointed delegates, or representatives to a provincial congress, giving
them such powers as were deemed necessary to accomplish the objects
proposed. Capt. Josiah Moulton was chosen for Hampton and held the office,
by annual election, six years.

About this time, the Committee of Safety received a letter sent by express
from General Sullivan, informing them of the withdrawal of the Connecticut
troops from the lines at Cambridge, and asking them to send troops from
New Hampshire to supply their places. The committee held a special meeting
at Portsmouth, December 2, 1775, to act upon the request. They gave orders
to sixteen "gentlemen, each to enlist a company of sixty-one able bodied
men, including 3 sergeants & 3 corporals, well provided with arms &
blankets, to serve in th Continental Army, under the command of General
Washington, until the 15th Jany next unless sooner discharged, & as soon
as enlisted to march them immediately to join General Sullivan's Brigade."
Blank orders were also entrusted to several judicious persons, to put into
the hands of men whom they considered suitable for raising other
companies. The whole number of companies mustered into the service under
this call, was thirty-one. One of the sixteen men, to whom these orders
were given, was Capt. Henry Elkins, of Hampton, and he appears to have
acted promptly, for his company was styled the "First Company."

When the new form of government went into operation, Hon. Meshech Weare,
having been chosen as one of the council, was elected president of that
body. He was soon after appointed chief justice of the Superior Court of
Judicature, "thus being invested at the same time with the highest
offices, legislative, executive and judicial. No stronger testimony could
be given, of the confidence reposed in his integrity and ability."

About the same time Josiah Moulton, Esq., was appointed one of the
justices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Rockingham county.

On the 11th of March, the House of Representatives voted, "to raise three
companies of one hundred men each, including officers, out of each of the
following regiments, viz.: Portsmouth, Dover & Hampton, to be on the lines
at Portsmouth immediately with arms & ammunition complete, and there to
continue till further orders; to be paid from the time of marching, the
same as the Provincials of the preceding year were paid."


DEFENSE OF PORTSMOUTH

An act was passed the next day for a regiment of three hundred men, to be
raised speedily and stationed at or near Portsmouth, till December 31, if
there should be occasion for keeping them there so long. These were to be
taken as equally as might be, from the three counties of Rockingham,
Strafford and Hillsborough, and to be paid as officers and soldiers in the
service of the colony received the last year. Several colonels, including
Colonel Moulton, of Hampton, were directed to warn all the militia under
their command to hold themselves in readiness to march at a minute's
warning, properly equipped, and with three days' provisions, which
militia, in case of their going into actual service, were to be paid as
other troops. It was also ordered that sentries should be stationed at New
Castle and Hampton, to give the speediest notice of the appearance of the
enemy's fleet; and that persons should be agreed with to hold themselves
in readiness, when ordered by the proper authority, to notify General
Washington, and alarm the country, in case of the enemy's appearance.
A week later this town voted "to pay all those men that went to Ipswich or
Portsmouth in the time of the alarms, that have not been paid." To what
particular occasion allusion is here made, on which men "went to Ipwich,"
is uncertain, but it was probably that already mentioned, when soldiers
having gone thus far on their way to Boston, had been ordered to return.

At the same meeting, the selectmen were instructed to build a Guard House
at the sea shore, "and to do it in the cheapest manner possible." A guard
house was accordingly built -- or an old one removed and repaired -- and
placed on the bank a little to the eastward of the site now occupied by
the Rockingham House [on Great Boar's Head], where it remained till near
the close of the war. The cost, £5 14s. 2d. was paid by the Committee of
Safety.


TEST PAPERS

In the spring and summer of 1776, efforts were made to ascertain, as
nearly as possible, who were friendly to the American cause and who still
adhered to the British. The former about this time began to be called
WHIGS, and the latter, TORIES -- names that had been in use in England
nearly a century, to denote the country party and the court party. One
means now employed was to offer to the people for their signatures, TEST
PAPERS, as they were called, the nature and design of which are shown by
the Resolves of Congress, and the orders issued to the selectmen of the
several towns in New Hampshire, by the Committee of Safety, which are here
introduced. Many of these papers are still preserved in the office of the
Secretary of State at Concord. The one from Hampton contains the names of
one hundred seventy-four signers -- only two persons having refused to
sign. As it is an interesting and important document, it is her given in
full, with no other change than a transposition of the names so as to
arrange them in alphabetical order as a matter of convenience.


COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In Committee of Safety, April 12, 1776.
In order to carry the underwritten RESOLVE of the Hon'ble Continental
CONGRESS into Execution, You are requested to desire all Males above
Twenty-one years of age (Lunaticks, Idiots, and Negroes excepted) to sign
to the DECLARATION on this Paper; and when so done, to make Return hereof,
together with the Name of Names of all who shall refuse to sign the same,
to the General-Assembly, or Committee of Safety of this Colony.

M. Weare, Chairman.

In Congress, March 14, 1776.
Resolved: That it be recommended to the several Assemblies, Conventions,
and Councils, or Committees of Safety of the United Colonies, immediately
to cause all Persons to be disarmed, within their Respective Colonies, who
are notoriously disaffected to the Cause of AMERICA, or who have not
associated, and refuse to associate, to defend by ARMS, the United
Colonies, against the Hostile Attempts of the British Fleets and Armies.

Extracts from the Minutes.
Charles Thompson, Sec'ry.

In consequence of the above Resolution of the Hon. Continental CONGRESS,
and to show our Determination in joining our American Brethren, in
defending the Lives, Liberties and Properties of the Inhabitants of the
UNITED COLONIES;

WE the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will, to
the utmost of our Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with
ARMS, oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies,
against the United American COLONIES.

John Allarman
Jeremiah Ballard
Benjamin Batchelder
Carter Batchelder
Jeremiah Batchelder
Nathaniel Batchelder
Jethro Blake
Jonathan Blake
Nathan Blake
Samuel Blake
Wm Branscombe
Moses Brown
Nathan Brown
Samuel Brown
Samuel, jun.
Zechariah Brown
Amos Coffin
John Crosbie
John Dearborn
Josiah Dearborn
Nathaniel Dearborn
John Dow
Joseph Dow
Samuel Dow
Simon Dow
Jonathan Dowst
John Drake
John Drake, jun.
Robert Drake
Robert Drake, jun.
Samuel Drake
Samuel Drake, jun.
Henry Elkins
Jonathan Elkins
Moses Elkins
Anthony Emery
Henry Fifield
Stephen Fifield
John Fogg
George Freese
Joseph Freese
Jonathan Garland
Jonathan Garland, jun.
Joseph Garland
Jonathan Godfrey
James Hobbs
Morris Hobbs
Joshua James
Richard Jenness
Thomas Jenness
Elisha Johnson
James Johnson
John Johnson
Joseph Johnson
Nathaniel Johnson
Amos Knowles
Amos Knowles, jun.
Jeremiah Knowles
Daniel Lamprey
John Lamprey
John Lamprey, jun.
Nathaniel Lamprey
Reuben Lamprey
Ebenezer Lane
Jeremiah Lane
John Lane
Joshua Lane
Josiah Lane
Oliver Wellington Lane
Simon Lane
Ward Lane
William Lane
William Lane, jun.
Jonathan Leavitt
Thomas Leavitt
Jonathan Locke
Samuel Locke
Andrew Mace
Elisha Marston
Ephraim Marston
Jeremiah Marston, jun.
John Marston
Jonathan Marston
Jonathan Marston, jun.
Philip Marston
Samuel Marston
 Simon Marston
Benjamin Mason
Edmund Mason
Josiah Mason
Micajah Morrill
Benjamin Moulton
Elisha Moulton
Ephraim Moulton
Ezekiel Moulton
John Moulton
John Moulton, jun.
John Moulton, 3d
John Moulton, 4th
John Moulton, 5th
John Moulton, 6th
Jonathan Moulton
Jonathan Moulton, jun.
Josiah Moulton
Josiah Moulton, jun.
Josiah Moulton, 3d
Nathan Moulton
Robert Moulton
Small Moulton
William Moulton
John Nay
Joseph Nay
Samuel Nay
Simon Nudd
Thomas Nudd
Abner Page
Benjamin Page
Samuel Page
Shubael Page
Stephen Page
Thomas Page
Jacob Palmer
James Perkins
Daniel Philbrick, jun.
James Philbrick
John Philbrick
Joseph Philbrick
Samuel Philbrick
John Randall
John Redman
Abner Sanborn
Jeremiah Sanborn
John Sanborn
Jonathan Sanborn
Nathan Sanborn
Simon Sanborn
Winthrop Sanborn
Benjamin Brown Shaw
Edward Shaw
Gideon Shaw
Jeremiah Shaw
Jonathan Shaw
Joshua Shaw
Samuel Shaw
Henry D. Taylor
John Taylor
John Taylor, jun.
Ebenezer Thayer
Christopher Toppan
Abraham P. Towle
Amos Towle
Amos Towle (tanner)
Elisha Towle
James Towle
John Towle
Jonathan Towle
Joseph Towle, jun.
Joshua Towle
Joshua Towle, jun.
Josiah Towle
Nathaniel Towle
Philip Towle
Philip Towle, jun.
Samuel Towle
Samuel Towle,(jun.?)
Simon Towle
Benjamin Tuck
John Tuck
Jonathan Tuck
Jonathan Tuck, jun.
Cotton Ward
Thomas Woodman

Colony of New Hampshire. Pursuant to the within Request, we the
subscribers, Selectmen of Hampton, have Desired all males within said
Hampton, above twenty-on years of age (Lunatics, Idiots, and Negroes
excepted) to sign to the Declaration on this paper; and there are that
have Refused to sign the same, viz.: Capt. Jeremiah Marston & Daniel
Philbrick.

Given under our hands & Dated
at Hampton aforesaid
June ye 4th, 1776
William Lane }
Joseph Dow } Selectmen
Josiah Dearborn }of
Jonathan Garland }Hampton
Cotton Ward }

To the Honorle Committee of Safety of said Colony of New Hampshire.


BOUNTIES AND ENLISTMENTS

At a town meeting holden in the latter part of July, 1776, it was voted,
"To give to each man who has enlisted to make up our proportion of men for
this town, and who is gone under Capt. Samuel Nay, to join our brethren of
the Northern Army, the sum of four pounds two shillings Lawful money, as
an additional bounty both bounty granted by the colony."Also voted, that
the selectmen raise the money by a tax and pay it to the soldiers upon
their return; and in case any of them should not return, then their
friends to be entitled to the same.

In the spring of 1777, the town voted "To give each man that shall enlist,
fourteen pounds, over and above what is allowed by the continental and
State bounty; and that the selectmen be hereby impowered to assist the
commissioned officers in enlisting the men."

At an adjourned meeting, April 3, Joshua James and Lieut. Josiah Dearborn
were chosen as a committee to be sent out, to hire men to fill up the
quota of the town in the continental army.

Four days after, it was voted "to allow those persons that have done
service in the war, so far as a committee shall judge proper to allow
them." The committee chosen to make such allowance consisted of the
following person: Lieut. Cotton Ward, Mr. Josiah Moulton, Ens. Philip
Towle, Joseph Dow, and Morris Hobbs. Voted, "to give each man that shall
enlist, thirty pounds, Lawful money, as an addition to the State and
continental bounty." Lieut. Jonathan Garland and Lieut. John Taylor were
chosen a committee to hire men to enlist.

A few weeks afterward the bounty offered was somewhat modified, and Lieut.
Jonathan Garland, Lieut. John Fogg and Capt. Samuel Nay were appointed to
enlist soldiers. At the same meeting the selectmen were impowered to raise
two thousand one hundred dollars for the purpose of hiring soldiers.

Early in May, another town meeting was holden, in relation to counties and
enlistments. It was found very difficult to procure seasonably as many men
as the town was called upon to furnish for the war. The term offered to
those enlisting into the service were altered from time to time, as their
varying circumstances seemed to require.

At this meeting, it was voted, "to give to each solder that should enlist
into the continental service in behalf of the town, for, and during the
term of eight months, the sum of £17 6s. 8d., lawful money, including the
continental and State bounty, if any should be allowed." Capt. Samuel Nay,
Lieut. John Fogg and Mr. Micajah Morrill were chosen and empowered as a
committee, to enlist soldiers in behalf of the town, for the term of three
years, one year, or eight months, as might be agreed upon; but they were
to do it at the cheapest rate they could possibly procure them.

Col. Jonathan Moulton and Capt. John Moulton were chosen to make
application to the General Court, or the Committee of Safety of the state
to have the town allowed for the soldiers enlisted into the continental
army in behalf of the town, for the term of one year, or eight months,
"the proportion of continental & state bounty, & other emoluments, for
either of said terms, as are allowed to soldiers enlisting for three
years."

The same day, the Committee of Safety wrote to Colonel Moulton "to keep a
Guard at the Boar's Head, of two persons constantly night & day."


STAMPEDE OF THE CHILDREN

It was probably a little earlier than this, perhaps in the first year of
the war, that the stampede of the children occurred.

The people, as has been said, were in constant fear of an invasion of the
British by way of the sea; and, there is little doubt that false alarms
were sometimes given. This time the cry, "The regulars are coming!" was
made just as the children were dismissed from school. Panic-stricken, they
fled, not to their homes, but back towards the country, ---- anywhere,
away from the sea and the terrible red-coats. On they sped for three or
four miles, as far as the "'Hio meeting House" [A nickname for the new
meeting-house at Hampton Falls -- where the Unitarian church now stands.
The origin of the term is lost, but it still clung to that locality well
into the present century, when Salisbury teamsters, hauling timber thence
to Newburyport for ship-building, were accustomed to speak of their trips
as "going to 'Hio" (Ohio), and made frequent mention of "'Hio meeting-
house."] (as one of them related years afterwards), till overtaken by
friends and brought back, with the assurance that it was not, after all,
"the regulars," but some fishermen clad in red flannel shirts, that had
caused the alarm.

Committees were appointed, to request the presence of Hon. Meshech Weare
and Josiah Moulton, Esq., member of the Committee of Safety.

A committee was chosen, to wait on the Committee of Safety, with a
petition, setting forth the exposed condition of the seaboard, and praying
that a thousand men or more be raised at once, for its defense; and also,
that some field pieces, firearms, ammunition and other military stores be
sent with all speed. If the Committee of Safety did not feel authorized to
act upon this petition, then that body was desired to call together the
General Court as soon as possible, for that purpose.

The committee thus chosen at this meeting appear to have acted very
promptly, for in the Journal of the Committee of Safety for the Monday
following -- this meeting was on Saturday -- is the following entry:

"Recd a petition preferred by the Selectmen & Committee of Hampton,
Greenland, &c., &c., to raise a Regiment to be Stationed on the Sea
Coast."

Two days later the Committee of Safety "agreed to raise 3 companies, to
consist of 80 men each, officers included, for one month, to guard the Sea
Coast of this State." They issued their orders to General Folsom
accordingly.

At their meeting on the 12th, they "ordered Gen. Folsom to deliver the
Selectmen of Hampton two barrels of Gunpowder, & to the Selectmen of North
Hampton, one barrel, they to be accountble therefor."


DEPRECIATION OF THE CURRENCY

At the end of the first month of the year 1777, £100 of the continental
money,paper currency, was equal to £100 silver. Soon after, it began to
depreciate in value, and in six months it had depreciated 20 per cent. A
little before that time, July 14, there was a town meeting in Hampton, at
which it was voted "to choose a committee to affix and settle the prices
of all kinds of goods and articles enumerated in an act of the State,"
that had recently been passed. There had been for some time a gradual rise
in the prices of many articles needed in every family, and it was a
prevalent opinion that the persons selling those articles had raised their
prices so that they might grow rich at the expense of others. It was
thought that this course should b checked by law. Hence the origin of the
act by virtue of which the town voted as is above stated.

The committee chosen to determine at what prices the articles enumerated
should be sold, consisted of the following persons: Lieut. Josiah
Dearborn, Mr. Josiah Moulton, Jun., Lieut. Cotton Ward, Lieut. Jonathan
Garland, Benjamin Batchelder and Capt. Morris Hobbs.

The meeting was adjourned, to meet again in one week.

At the adjourned meeting, the following preamble and resolution were
presented:

"Whereas it is represented that there are some persons in this town, who
have behaved very disorderly, and that their conduct tends greatly to
injure our endeavors to maintain the American Cause: -- Therefore
Resolved, That it is our earnest desire that such persons should be
brought to their proper duty, or otherwise dealt with according to the law
of Resolves of the State or General Congress; and that we will aid and
assist all officers,s both civil and military, in carrying the same into
execution."

This Resolution was adopted by the town, but no evidence is found, that
any persons were molested in consequence of this act.

At a town meeting, January 19, 1778, Lieut. John Fogg, Lieut. Josiah
Dearborn, Lieut. Cotton Ward and Col. Jonathan Moulton were chosen a
committee to procure the men that were wanting of the town's quota, to
fill up the continental army.


CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AT CONCORD

In the summer of 1778, a convention met in Concord [N.H.], to form a new
constitution for the state. The whole number of delegates was seventy-
three, two of them from Hampton -- Capt. Josiah Moulton and Col. Jonathan
Moulton. A bill of Rights and Plan of Government were drawn up and greed
upon and the convention closed its labors in June of the following year.
The proposed constitution was submitted to the people in the course of the
summer, and wholly rejected. In this town, however, only two votes were
given against it, while there were forty-three for it adoption.


EFFORTS TO REGULATE PRICES

One of the chief sources of embarrassment during the war, was the
disordered state of the currency. Soon after the commencement of
hostilities, Bills of Credit began to be issued, with no other fund than
taxation for their redemption. For a while these bills passed very
currently; but when counterfeits were found to be in circulation -- to
what amount none could tell -- and when it became doubtful whether even
the genuine bills would ever be redeemed, it is not strange that gold and
silver were preferred to bills of credit, and that the latter were
received with reluctance. Their value then began to depreciate. Attempts
were made by individuals and by government, to check the depreciation. In
New Hampshire, they were made a legal tender, even for debts previously
incurred; and any creditor refusing to take them lost the whole debt.
Dishonest persons took advantage of this law to swindle their creditors,
offering paper money which was nearly worthless, in payment of debts
contracted in good faith, to be paid in specie or its equivalent.

Instances of this kind were not wanting in Hampton. In one case, if
tradition can be relied on, the depreciated paper was tendered at its
nominal value, in payment of a note given for valuable real estate -- the
sum named in the note being the cash value of the estate. In another
instance, a man who had hired money and given his note for the same at its
just value, went, after the passage of this law, to the person to whom the
note had been given, for the purpose of tendering depreciated paper in
payment, taking with him another man as witness of the tender. But the
holder of the note was too shrewd for him. Suspecting the purpose of his
visitor, he did not wait for him to make known his business, but
immediately said to him: "You know that the note which you gave me, was a
negotiable one; you must, therefore, find the note before you tender
payment for it." The bills were not tendered.

As the value of the paper money depreciated, there was an increase in the
price of labor, and of articles of merchandise. Another expedient to
prevent a further depreciation was to fix the prices of various articles,
and to make it a penal offense to take a higher price. Associations were
also formed, the members engaging to see goods and produce, and to perform
labor at stipulated prices. Town meetings were holden and votes passed for
the same purpose.

In the latter part of June, 1779, there was a meeting of the merchants and
traders of Portsmouth, at which they agreed, for the space of one month to
sell no articles, by wholesale or retail, at a higher price than such
articles were then selling at -- the prices of some important articles
being enumerated [Here is a specimen of prices: Molasses, £5 per gallon;
Brown Sugar, 20 shillings per pound; Coffee, 22 shillings and Tea, £9.] --
and at the close of the month, and of each successive month to reduce
their prices, on condition that similar measures should be adopted in the
other towns in the state, respecting merchandise and produce. They also
resolved that they would not directly nor indirectly sell any kind of
merchandise or any property whatever, for hard money, because the direct
tendency of selling goods for hard money would be to destroy the credit of
the paper currency.

The town of Portsmouth ratified the action of its merchants, and circulars
containing their resolves were sent to all the towns in the state.

On the 9th of August a town meeting was holden in Hampton, at which it was
voted --

"That we will adopt measures siliar to those agreed to by the merchants in
Philadelphia, Boston and Portsmouth, in regard to reducing the prices of
the necessaries of life, and for supporting the credit of our currency."

But whatever the expedients resorted to, they all failed to provide a
remedy. The state of the currency grew worse and worse. In August, 1779,
£100 silver were equal in value to £1630 of the paper currency, and in
September, to £1800.

August 16, 1779, the town voted that the selectmen should make up to John
Lane one hundred dollars per month, including his wages, for enlisting
into the service at Portsmouth. On the 25th of July, Lane had been drafted
to serve as a soldier for two months, unless sooner discharged. His
compensation was, in appearance, very large; but 100 dollars -- £30 -- of
the depreciated currency were of less value than £2, silver. A year later,
Joshua James and Jonathan Marston, Jr., received twelve hundred ninety-
five dollars, in the currency of the time, for services as constables.

About the middle of August, the town voted, "to join the other towns and
parishes in the State to hold a convention at Concord on the 22nd of
September for the purpose of carrying into effect the several interesting
and important measures recommended by Congress to the inhabitants of the
United States, in their late wise, seasonable and animating
address."[Among the towns invited was Andover, which at the date of the
convention, had been only two months incorporated, under its new name. It
was originally New Breton, named in honor of the captors of Cape Breton,
in 1745; most of the grantees having been in that expedition. Of the
grantees, Dr. Anthony Emery, John Marston, Simon Marston, Joshua Towle,
Daniel Marston, John Leavitt, Jonathan Leavitt and Nathaniel Batchelder
were Hampton men.] Capt. Josiah Moulton and Mr. Josiah Moulton were chosen
delegates, and both or either of them empowered to act in behalf of the
town, in accomplishing the objects for which the convention had been
called.

The war was still in progress, but after the battles of Saratoga and
Stillwater, and the surrender of General Burgoyne, military operations had
been chiefly confined to the middle and southern states. In the latter,
they were carried on with considerable activity till the surrender of
Cornwallis, in October, 1781. This act virtually closed the war. But the
return of peace did not bring to the country all the blessings that had
been anticipated. Danger from a foreign foe had ceased, but this very
danger, as long as the war continued, had been one of the strongest cords
to bind the people together. That bond was now severed.


CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AT EXETER

The plan of government, adopted in New Hampshire in the early part of the
Revolution, had served a good purpose, though it was far from being
perfect, and several attempts had been made to alter it, or to establish a
new system. The convention of 1778, having failed to form a plan
acceptable to the people, delegates to another convention were chosen by
the towns, three years afterward.

They met at Exeter in the early part of the summer of 1781, and continued
more than two years. In September, 1781, having matured a plan of
government, they sent it forth to the people, by whom it was rejected. The
action of Hampton in the matter was set forth in an address of some
length, signed "Christopher Toppan, Moderator, on behalf of the town," in
which the following reasons are given for rejection: First, that so small
a part of the state had a voice in it, there being but few of the towns
that sent delegates; Second, that the existing war agitated people's minds
and rendered them unfit to frame a suitable form of government; Third,
that the disaffection of Cheshire and Grafton counties threw them out of
the convention, and it would be better to wait till they should return to
their allegiance.

After the rejection by the towns, the convention revised their work; but
before they were ready to send it out again, the Treaty of Paris was
concluded, and the existing form of government, adopted for the period of
the war, expired by limitation. By vote of the towns it was continued for
one year longer; and within that time the new plan of the convention was
ratified, and became the constitution of the state, going into operation
on the 2nd of June, 1784.


HAMPTON MEN IN THE WAR

Such fragmentary information as can be obtained concerning the service
rendered by Hampton men during the war, is here appended:

In Congress at Exeter, Aug. 24, 1775:
"Voted -- That Coll Jonathan Moulton be colonel of the Third Regiment of
Militia in this colony & Christopher Toppan Esq. his Lieutt Colol & John
Lane Esq. his first Major." Colonel Toppan declined.

In 1775, there were, belonging to Hampton, of
Males, under 16 years, ..................190
Males, from 16 to 50 yrs., not soldiers, 147
Males, over 50 years, ................... 62
Males, in the army, ..................... 20
Females, ................................440
Negroes & slaves for life, ..............  3
Total, ..................................862

Firearms, fit for use, ..................192
Powder, priv., 943/4; pub. stock, 50, -- 1443/4lbs.

"After the battle of the 17th of June (1775), Col. Poor's regiment was
ordered to the seat of war. Capt. Elkins' company -- the last to leave --
being on duty at Hampton was not ordered off until Aug. 1."

Soldiers who went to Portsmouth in October, 1775.

Lieut. John Dearborn ... 2 days
Lieut. Cotton Ward ... 2 days
Abner Page ... 2 days
Benjn. Page ... 2 days
Robt. Drake ... 10 days
Jethro Blake ... 2 days
Noah Lane ... 2 days
Moses Brown ... 2 days
Jonath. Moulton ... 2 days
Jacob Palmer ... 5 days
John Dow ... 5 days
Daniel Tilton ... 5 days
Corpl. Joshua Towle, 19 days & 3 mos. at Peekskill.

In 1775, "Joshua Wingate, of Stratham, was appointed Colonel of forces in
the harbor" (Piscataqua), and "Jonathan Moulton, of Hampton, was appointed
Colonel of the troops for guarding the seacoast."

In Colonel Wingate's regiment were Hampton officers: Henry Elkins, a
captain; Thomas Leavitt and James Perkins, lieutenants; stationed at
Pierce's Island.

March 23, 1776:
"Voted, to choose a committee to agree with Coll Toppan for the Purchase
of Seven Cannon belonging to him, now at our Batterys at Piscataqua
Harbour, not to Exceed Twenty pounds for each cannon, and that Mr.
Sherburne and Coll Evans be the Committee for that purpose to make report
to the Commtee of Safety."

In Committee of Safety, April 11, 1776:
"Ordered the Receiver General to pay Christopher Toppan Esqr one Hundred
and Ninety Pounds for 8 six Pounders at £20 and for Two Ditto at £15."

A list of men that went to Ticonderoga in July, 1776:

Samuel Nay, Captain
David Moulton
John Moulton
Samuel Lamprey, 5 mos.
John M. Moulton
John Murphy
Josiah Moulton, 3rd
Samuel Marston
Micajah Morrel, Junr.
Simon Philbrick
Edmund Philbrick
Jonathan Palmer
Zaccheus Brown
John Drake, Junr.
James Hobbs

In an account of the payment to these soldiers, there are also the names
of Paul Long, Caesar Small and Bradbury Green. Jonathan Palmer died at
Ticonderoga in 1776, after serving 5 months; 18 years old.

Additional at Ticonderoga:

Capt. John Moulton, 5 mos. & 15 days at Portsmouth.
Paid Coll. Toppan £3 12s.
Paid Daniel and Reuben Lamprey, £4 10s.
Paid John Shaw, £1 10s.
Paid Simon Sanborn £4 10s.

At Peekskill:

Sergt. John Drake, £1 16s. in 1776 "towards hiring to go to Peekskill the
first time."
Abraham P. Towle, £1 16s. ditto.
James Leavitt, 3 months.

Sept. 13, 1776. "Lieut. Coll Abrahm Drake of Col. Moulton's Regt is appd
to take the command of the Regt made up by detachments from Coll
Wentworth, Col Moulton's & Coll Bartlett's."

In Colonel Drake's regiments, Nathaniel Batchelder was adjutant and Thomas
Leavitt, quartermaster.

Sept. 25, 1776, a regiment was organized of the companies at Portsmsouth
(then reenforced), and placed in command of Colonel Long. Hampton
officers: Nathan Brown, captain; Benjamin Batchelder, ensign. This
regiment was stationed at Newcastle; and in Nov., 1777, marched, under
orders, to Ticonderoga.

In Sept. '76, to additional regiments were raised for the continental army
in New York, in which Nathan Sanborn was a captain.

In Dec. '76, still another regiment for New York -- Josiah Dearborn, a
lieutenant.

May 28, 1776. The Committee of Safety "ordered Coll Moulton to dismiss the
Guard of four men placed at the Boars head."

Dec. 14, same year, "ordered the Receiver Genl to pay Coll Jona Moulton
£23 12s. 8d. to discharge the Roll of a Guard kept on the Sea Coast."
The state paid the selectmen of Hampton £4 8s. 9d. in the year 1776, for
the defense of the coast.

Benjamin Tuck, Jr., died in the army Oct. 20, 1776.

In a detachment of twenty-six men out of the 3d N. H. Regiment of militia,
for service in New York, eight were from Hampton, as is shown by the
muster and pay roll, signed by Col. Jonathan Moulton, muster-and-pay-
master, and dated Dec. 18, 1776. Travel to New York is reckoned at £2 10s.
for each man. One month's pay in advance, as follows:

Josiah Dearborn, Lieut., £5 8s.
Simon Sanborn, Sergt., £3 8s.
Jonathan Leavitt, Sergt., £3 8s.
Josiah Moulton, Fifer, £3 4s.
Samuel Drake, £3
John Marston, £3
Thomas Woodman, £3
John Sanborn, £3

May 6, 1777. "Appointed Nathaniel Leavitt of Hampton, Ensign in Capt.
Weare's company."

[Committee of Safety.]

June, 1777. -- Simon Marston was a captain, and Jonathan Leavitt, an
ensign in Col. Senter's battalion, for the defense of Rhode Island.
In the summer of '78, Captain Marston and Lieutenant Leavitt were in
Colonel Peabody's regiment in Rhode Island.

Served in Capt. Moses Leavitt's company from Sept. 8 to Dec. 16, 1777:

Jeremiah Batchelder, 2nd Lieut.
Daniel Philbrick
John Taylor
Jonathan Towle

Hampton men who went as volunteers to Saratoga with Coll. Moulton,
October, 1777:

Adju. Josiah Moulton, Jr.
Capt. John Dearborn
Lieut. John Taylor
Clerk, Josiah Lane
Sergt. John Sandborn
Sergt. Moses Elkins
Corpl. Abner Page
Corpl. Joshua Towle
Corpl. Nathan Brown
Jonathan Philbrick
Batchelder Brown
Abner Sanborn
Jona. Marston
Samuel Marston
Jabez Towle
Benja. Page
Samuel Drake
Jacob Palmer
Jacob Moulton
Noah Lane
John M. Moulton
Jabez James
Joseph Nay
Josiah Mason
James Lane
Jonathan Godfree
Jethro Blake, 2/3 time.
Jereh. Ballard, 1/3 do.

Jan. 22, 1778. "Ordered the Receiver General to pay the Roll of Col. Jona
Moulton, for a guard at the beach, amounting to £53.

Also, to pay the Roll of sd Moulton for his company of Volunteers that
marched to Saratoga to Reinforce Genl Gates last fall, amounting to £533
15s. 8d."

Aug. 6, 1778. Each of the following named men acknowledged the receipt of
£10 lawful money from the town of Hampton, and engaged to go to
Providence, under command of General Sullivan:

Jona. Garland, Ens.
John Garland
Thomas Moore
Josiah Dearborn
Joseph Freese
John Marston
Jona. Marston, 3d
James Sanborn
Simon Ward Jabez James
Josiah Towle
John Drake
Samuel Marston
John Batchelder
James Hobbs
Eliphalet Towle
Jeremiah Tuck
Amos Garland

May 29, 1779. -- £180 to the selectmen of Hampton for 18 volunteers in the
Rhode Island Expedition in 1778.


July 17, 1779. -- To Lieut. Jona. Leavitt, £33 6s. for one month's advance
pay for the R. Island service.

"State of }
New Hampshire }
North Hampton,
July 25th, 1779.

Sir; I have received Orders from the Honourd Committee of Safety to Raise
six Able Bodied effective Men in this Regiment for the Defence of the
Forts at Portsmouth. You are therefore without loss of time to raise or
draught one Able Bodied Man out of your Company for said service for Two
Months (unless sooner discharged) from his joyning the Company now there
under the command of Colo Dame and you are to make return and send the Man
to Collonl Moulton (if he is at Home, if not, to me), to be musterd. These
Soldiers are to have thirteen Pound Ten shillings pr Month and two
shillings pr Mile Travel from there Homes to Portsmouth to be made up in
the Role.

N. B. He need not cary his arms or accoutrements as there is sufficient in
the Forts.

Abraham Drake, Lieutt Collonl
To Capt. John Dearborn, Hampton."
[A copy from the original.] John Lane was drafted.

March 27, 1780, the town voted "To give the back rates of all those young
men that went to sea and were taken with Capt. Moses Brown."

April 13, 1780. "Ordered the Naval Officer of the Port of Piscataqua to
permit Ezra Johnson to Export for New Meadows [Topsfield] in the State of
Massachusetts Bay forty Bushels of Indian Corn &c. &c."

July 13, 1780. The selectmen paid an order of £270 lawful money to Samuel
Drake, Jun. drawn on them by

in part payment              Samuel Marston
of their bounty to serve     John Marston
three months in the army     Zaccheus Brown
for Hampton.                 Batchelder Brown
                             Simon Ward
                             Joseph Freese Dearborn
                             John Dearborn and
                             Amos Brown.

At Cambridge:

Capt. John Moulton, 2 months.
Josiah Mason, ---- 41/2 months.
Nathan Smith Moulton, 41/2 months.
Theodore Brown, ---- 11/2 months and 18 das., at Portsmouth.
David Moulton, 41/2 months.
Jeremiah Tuck, 3 months in 1775 and 4 months at the island in 1776.
James Hobbs, 41/2 months.
James Tuck, 7 months in 1775 and 4 months at the island in 1776.
Simon Philbrick, 41/2 months.
Jabez Towle, 7 months in 1775.
Zaccheus Brown, 41/2 months.
Jonathan Marston, 7 months in 1775.
Simon Moulton, 41/2 months.
Capt. Henry Elkins, 7 months' service at Cambridge.

The town charged the state with 13,008 pounds of beef, delivered to
Captain Giddings in 1780, between July 19 and November 3.

Jan. 11, 1781 -- A resolve to raise 1354 able-bodied men to serve in the
army during the war or for three years, including those already in said
service from this state -- Hampton, 16.

July 4, 1781 -- 650 men besides officers &c. -- to be held in readiness to
march in a week after they shall be called for by the commander-in-chief,
for the defense of the United States. Out of Colonel Moulton's 3d
regiment, 35 men.

Proportion for £1000 -- Hampton, £10 9s. 2d. -- Apr. 17, 1784.

A considerable number of soldiers' receipts, on the town records, give the
names and wages of Hampton men, or men serving for Hampton. Some of them
show the depreciation of the currency. At different dates, from 1778 to
1783, receipts are given, as follows:

By Amos Brown ---- £46 4s for 7 months' service.
By John Taylor, 3d - £46 4s. for 6 months' service.
By John Alman ---- £46 4s. for 7 months' service.
By Daniel Taylor of Exeter, -- $8500, for 6 months' service.
By James Kelley of Kingston, -- 40 silver dollars and 3500 paper dollars
for 6 months' service.
By Dole Pearson of Kingston, -- 40 silver dollars and 1615 paper dollars
for 6 mos. service.
By Jeremiah Rollings ---- £2400 ---- for 6 months' service.
By John Jack -- June, 1780, $605. in part; July, 1780, $600. in part, for
6 mos. service.
By Jonathan Eaton, of Exeter -- 18s. 8d. on account of being a soldier for
Hampton.
By John Russell, of Exeter -- £16 7s. 6d. in money & Clothing and a note
of hand for £28 12s. 6d. in full for three years.
By Samuel Batchelder }
By Tristram Godfrey } -- £18 each for 6 months, in defense of Rhode Island.
By William Moulton }
By John Lane, May 4, 1779, -- $80. in part for service in Rhode Island at
£30 per month:
By John Lane, -- Dec. 6, 1779, £9 in full for 2 mos. at Portsmouth.

"Hampton, March 20th, 1781.
"Then Recd of the Select men of Hampton, two Hundred and Seventy Pounds
Lawful money in full for a Suit of Cloths said town promised my son
Jeremiah Tuck for twelve Months Service in the year 1777. Recd by me.
John Tuck."

Rec'd £6 11s. 4d. -- also note for £7 10s. -- "being in full Satisfaction
for money the Parish of Seabrook paid Jonathan Eaton as a Continental
Soilder, who is now Deemed a Soilder for the Town of Hampton by the
Committee of Safety During the war.
Elisha Brown
Winthrop Gove."

There being some dispute to what towns certain soldiers belonged, it was
decided that the following belonged to Hampton, viz.: Wm Moulton, James
Allard, Jona Eaton.

Names of soldiers hired by Hampton:

Benjn Dockham,
James Allard,
Jona Eaton,
Wm Moulton,
Chas. Branscomb, April 13, 1781.
John Mann, 6 mos.
Jos. French, 6 mo.
Saml George, 3 mo.
Moses Morril, 3 mo.
John Page, 3 mo.
John Russell, 1782.
Nathl. Smart, July 19, 1782

By Elisha Towle -- £15 in part for wages and bounty at £30 per month.
By Simon Towle -- £15 in part for wages and bounty at £30 per month.
By Thomas More -- £15 in part for wages and bounty at £30 per month.
By Isaac Godfrey -- £15 in part for wages and bounty at £30 per month.
By Levi Francis -- 70 silver dollars and note for 60 silver dollars.
By Elisha Towle -- £3, in full for service as soldier in Portsmouth.
By Simon Towle -- £3 in full for service as soldier in Portsmouth.
By Charles Branscomb -- 250 silver dollars in full for 3 yrs. service.
By Caleb Kimball -- 50 silver dollars.

By Amos Garland }
By Thomas Churchill }
By Zadock Sanborn }
By William Batchelder }
By Josiah Dearborn, Jun. }
By Simon Dow, Jun. }
By Isaac Godfrey}
joint receipt of note to each for twenty-five bushels Indian Corn per
month, "which when paid is in full for 3 months' service in the army."
July 16, 1781.

"In Committee for }
settling depreciation. }
Exeter, April 8, 1783.

By the Books it appears that Hampton hired in May, 1777 Seven Soldiers to
serve in the New Hampshire Line, Continental Army and gave them Twenty six
Pounds each. -- And four Men to serve eight months and gave them Eighteen
Pounds each. -- And Two Men in June, 1777, to serve eight Months, and paid
them Twenty four Pounds each. -- And in March, 1778, Three men for Two
years, viz.: paid Isaac Mitchel one Hundred & Twenty Pounds --; paid
Eleazer Ferginson Ninety Pounds -- in Novr 1779 Forty Pounds, and five
pounds three shillings & sixpence in Sundries at the regulated prices --
paid Joseph Burley in Mar. 1778 Ninety Pounds.

The Honble Court have not allowed any depreciation to the above Soldiers,
and the Town has no credit for the above Sums.

Attest Josiah Gilman Jun. (one of the Comtee)

N.B.
1777, April, Hampton hired James Allarad for 3 years and gave him Thirty
Pounds.
1778, May, John Spring for Three Years and paid him Thirty Pounds."

(From the Original, in Town Clerk's office.)

At the adjourned annual town meeting, March 21, 1791, "Voted: to allow
Lieut. Nathaniel Leavitt thirty-one pounds in full, on account of a bounty
he paid Asa Crosson as a Soldier for sd town, but afterward was taken away
by claime of Richmond."

CENSUS OF HAMPTON, OCT., 24, 1783. BY THE SELECTMEN:

Inhabitants, 866,
Blacks, 5,
Houses, 137.
Barns and other Buildings, 146.
Acres of Land, 6857.

* * * * *

Supplement
Service of Hampton Men in the Revolutionary War

The following record is gathered from New Hampshire Stare Papers --
Revolutionary Rolls, I, II, III. A few names of men outside the present
limits of the town, whose families were and in some cases still are of
Hampton, are recorded (as in Chap. XIV); and as residences are not all
given in the authority cited, it is quite possible that we have mistaken
the identity of a few men of other towns, bearing Hampton names. Probably
the full part this town bore in the Revolution will never be known;
certainly our rolls are not yet nearly complete, as is shown by the single
record (Vol. 1; p. 556), that in March, 1777, of the men to be raised to
fill up the Third regiment, Jonathan Moulton, Esqr., Colonel, Hampton's
quota was one hundred sixty-seven.

The names following are of men enlisted at different times, under Captains
Henry Elkins, Samuel Nay, Richard Weare (of H. F.), Moses Leavitt (of No.
H.), Winthrop Rowe (of K.) and others, for service at Portsmouth and as
coast guards, and at various points in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New
York:

Josiah Barker, Jr.
Christopher Gould
Edward Brown Moulton
Samuel Barker, Serg't
James Johnson
Jeremiah Moulton
Henry Batchelder, Fifer
Nathaniel Johnson
Thomas Moulton
John Batchelder
Amos Knowles
Coffin Page
Nathan Batchelder
Jonathan Knowles
Daniel Page
Jonathan Blake
Levi Lamprey
Benjamin Palmer
Levi Blake, Corp'l
Simon Lane
Jonathan Perkins
Philemon Blake, Serg't
Joseph Leach
Moses Perkins
John Brown
Simon Leavitt, Drum'r
John Philbrick
Joseph Brown
Richard Mace
Joseph Philbrick
Simon Brown, Serg't
Caleb Marston
James Sanborn, Jr.
Philip Burns
David Marston
Nathaniel Sanborn
Joseph Dearborn, Corp'l
David Marston, Jr.
Benjamin Shaw
Jeremiah Dow
Ephraim Marston
Ichabod Shaw
Nathaniel Emery
Jeremiah Marston
Josiah Shaw
James Fogg
Josiah Marston
Simeon Shaw
Jeremiah Fogg
Levi Marston
Samuel Smith, Serg't
Jonathan Fogg
Matthias Marston
Levi Stickney
Joseph Garland
Thomas Marston
Amos Towle
Jonathan Godfrey, 3d
Benjamin Mason
Daniel Weare

Of, or for Hampton:

Isaac Adams
Josiah George
James Moulton
Samuel Ayres
Samuel T. Gilman
Simeon Moulton
Ebenezer Blaisdell
Aretas Leavitt
Jonathan Seavey
Roberts Bushly
Nathaniel Leavitt
Levi Seavey
Caesar Clough
George Long
John Smith
Samuel Conner
Nathaniel Marston
Jacob Taylor
John Coombs
Cato Moulton
Edmund Wade



CHAPTER XV. IN THE EARLY YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE; 1784-1814

CLAMOR FOR PAPER MONEY

The new Constitution was now safely launched, but troubles consequent upon
the war were not over. The country and the several states were deeply in
debt, and the people were called upon, both by Congress and by the state
governments for means of liquidating these debts. Being heavily burdened,
some of them conferred together that they might find means of redress.
Various schemes were proposed for lightening their burdens; some of them
wild and agrarian, proposing the canceling of debts, and an equal
distribution of property among the people; others more rational, seeking
only to ease the burdens which they could not wholly remove. A favorite
plan with many was, that the government should order a new emission of
paper money, funded on real estate, and loaned on interest. Petitions for
this object were sent to the General Court. Competent persons, after a
careful examination of the subject were confident that no relief could be
gained by such a course; but many people clamored for it adoption. The
state endeavored to apply a remedy, by issuing certificates to be received
for taxes at par, in lieu of silver and gold; but nothing short of
unlimited paper money would satisfy the malcontents. The insurrection in
Massachusetts encouraged like proceedings in New Hampshire.

In September, 1786, a mob, consisting of about two hundred men,
principally from the towns in the western part of Rockingham county,
marched into Exeter, armed with muskets, swords and clubs, and endeavored
to overawe the Legislature then in session there, so as to procure the
enactment of laws in accordance with their views and wishes. That body,
though held prisoners by the mob, that stationed sentinels with fixed
bayonets at each of the doors of the meeting-house, in which they were
convened, far from being intimidated, refused to legislate, under such
circumstances, on the subjects which the insurgents desired, and
proceeded, calmly and coolly to transact other business. In the dark
evening which followed, a drum was heard at some distance from the meeting-
house, and a shout-"Hurra for government!"-strong and hearty, as from many
voices. The mob, alarmed, beat a hasty retreat. The Legislature, being
thus released from durance, desired President Sullivan to issue a
proclamation, calling for the power of the state to suppress the
insurrection.

Orders were issued at eleven in the evening; and by sunrise the next
morning, strains of martial music heralded the incoming of the militia.
All the generals in the state, except one, who lived remote from Exeter,
were assembled early in the morning, and a formidable force was soon
collected to march against the insurgents, who were now drawn up in order,
about a mile from the meeting-house. The opposing forces met, expecting
battle, when suddenly Major-General Cilley charged on the insurgents,
seized the leader and bore him back to the lines, a prisoner. His party of
horsemen, following his example, captured each a man in like manner. The
rest fled. The rebellion was quelled without bloodshed. Through the
clemency of the government, all the prisoners taken, about forty in
number, including the principal officers of the mob, were pardoned, except
the ringleaders, who were tried and punished, as rioters.

The people generally were now more enthusiastic than before for the
support of government. Two thousand men under arms had stamped out
rebellion in New Hampshire. Three thousand unarmed citizens had witnessed
and applauded the deed. The loyalty of the state was demonstrated; the
dignity of the government, sustained.

It is safe to assume that the streets of Hampton were deserted that day.
Col. Christopher Toppan, our representative in the beleaguered
Legislature, was no laggard. Strong, resolute, accustomed to meet
emergencies promptly, it is reasonably certain that he lost no time after
the order was given; but, vaulting into his saddle, sped home through the
darkness and aroused the soldiers with the too familiar signal, to arms!
It was in the midst of the marsh haying, and the farmers had retired for a
few hours' sleep, awaiting the night tide, to float them down to their
work. Lights still glimmered here and there, as careful housewives spread
the midnight lunch and packed the freshly-cooked food for to-morrow's fare
on the marsh.

Hark! the alarm breaks upon the still night air. Instantly all is tremor
and excitement. Men hastily don their uniforms scarcely yet tarnished from
disuse; while women substitute the best of to-morrow's store for the cold
lunch on the tables. No boats float down the river. At dawn, soldiers and
civilians alike are ten miles away from Hampton marshes.

Anxious wives and mothers listen in painful suspense through the long
hours of the day, for the booming of cannon which may write them widowed,
childless. The unexpected silence becomes ominous, as neither sound nor
smoke reveals the happenings at Exeter. Imagine, then, the revulsion of
feeling, when another evening brings back the men, with cheers and peals
of laughter, as they recount the ludicrous scenes.


GENERAL MOULTON

Gen. Jonathan Moulton was an active participant in that bloodless fight.
Foregoing the comforts of his easy competence, he had spent many long
years of Indian warfare and the Revolution in the defense of his country;
and now, his native New Hampshire on the threshold of a new and glorious
career, could he stand tamely by and see her very life threatened by a
contemptible mob of two hundred?

We have met General Moulton often in these pages; but here let us pause
and take our leave of him, for we shall meet him no more. Though he knows
it not, the first anniversary of this time shall be his burial day. We
have seen him a prominent business man at home, energetic and public-
spirited. We have seen him honored year after year to represent his
townsmen in the Legislature. We have seen him the intrepid commander, in
responsible positions, amid the perils of war. We have never seen him
false to his trust or incompetent in its execution. A certain reticence
and lofty bearing in the mast ship affair once aroused the displeasure of
fellow-citizens; and perhaps the same qualities, with his general
characteristics as a man in advance of his age, and shrewd in business may
have held the envy and dislike of many through life. It is said that news
of his death was carried to the hay-makers, on the marsh; and the cry:
"General Moulton is dead!" was passed along from mouth to mouth for miles
in no regretful tones. And yet one cannot believe he would have been so
honored and trusted through a most critical period of our history, had he
been unworthy. Let us rescue his memory from the opprobrium with which
tradition has invested it.

General Moulton was rich in lands. In a descriptive circular, dated
"Hampton, in the State of New Hampshire, one of the United States of
America, Jan. 24, 1785," he announced "his advertisement of lands
published in Ireland, of this date," said lands "consisting of about 80000
Acres, half of which are now offered for sale;" and set forth inducements
for purchase and settlement. Eight towns, he said, contained the principal
part of his land-Moultonborough, New Hampton (the "small gore," adjoining
his township of Moultonborough, which he had modestly asked of Governor
Wentworth, after presenting him a fat ox), Tamworth, Eaton, Burton,
Chatham, Orford and Piermont. Especially was he desirous of forming a new
town, Center Harbor, from parts of the two first mentioned. "Should any
gentleman or Company be induced from the foregoing proposals to embark for
America," everything needed would be supplied on reasonable terms.

The circular is ancient in typographic appearance, but very modern in
brag.


TOWN RECORDS AT SALEM

February 4, 1788.-Under this date is a singular entry in the town records,
not to be explained by any known act of the town previously: "Christopher
Toppan Esq. Is appointed in behalf of this town to apply for & receive
[the Records] from the town Clerk of Salem or any other persons who may
have the ancient Records belonging to this town in keeping in order that
they may be Deposited with the Clerk of this town." A hundred years
earlier, the records were carried away for a time, for safe keeping; but
why they were now out of the state, is not evident.

At the same meeting, Christopher Toppan was also chosen delegate " to sit
in convention to be holden at Exeter the second Wednesday of February
instant."


THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

This was the convention of delegates from the various towns, called to
consider and act upon the adoption of the Federal Constitution, which had
already been ratified by eight states, and required the concurrence of one
more. The decision of New Hampshire was therefore awaited with much
solicitude.

After a ten days' session in Exeter, the convention adjourned to meet at
Concord in June. Debate was then continued till the 21st, when the
decisive vote was taken. The painful silence of intense anxiety prevailed
during the count; but the vote had passed-the Constitution was safe.


RETROSPECT

Here, then, we find the new life of the nation fairly inaugurated; and on
the hill-top we rest for a moment, to glance backward over the changes
since the Winnacunnet wilderness first resounded with the axe of the
pioneer, just a hundred fifty years ago. Strangely enough, though the face
of the country is altered beyond recognition, the faces of men and women
on every hand are familiar; for the lineaments of Batchelder, Moulton,
Page and the rest of 1638 are strongly marked in many of the ancestral
homes in 1788. The dusky forms that once glided stealthily through the
forests are seen no more. Practically, they ceased to be a factor after
the treaty of Paris, in 1763. Civilization has crowded them out.

The forests themselves have crept backward, step by step, at the point of
the all-conquering plow. Populous villages and productive farms cover the
ancient territory. Hampton-built vessels ply the seas; mill wheels whirr;
stability is written everywhere.

Hampton has long since ceased to exert the influence formerly wielded.
From her proud position as one-fourth of the province, she has become only
one of 167 towns; but on the other hand, out of her territory have sprung
six flourishing towns and parts of three more. The balance may, after all,
be in her favor. By the state census ordered in 1786, returns from 138
towns gave a population of 95,801. Kingston was one of those that failed
to report. Reckoning her population the same as in 1775, and making no
deduction for the district south of the Shapley line, we find the growth
of old Hampton in the following figures:

Population of:
Hampton....................864
Kingston, (census of 1775) 961
East Kingston..............420
Hawke (Danville)...........301
Sandown....................     521
Hampton Falls..............569
Kensington.................798
Seabrook...................     668
North Hampton..............659
Rye........................     653
Totals................... 4572 1842

How large a number to add to the four and a half thousand out of Sandown,
Seabrook and Rye, it is impossible to tell; probably but few from the
first; the most thickly settled part of Seabrook; and no inconsiderable
population along the beach and on the fertile soil of Rye.

The "silent city," laid out in "the Ring," about 1653, has also become
populous, and a new enclosure will soon be needed; while many, who used to
walk these streets and bear their part in the affairs of town and
province, lie in unmarked graves on battle fields, or beneath the ocean
waves.

The province has become the state. The seat of government, first at
Portsmouth, on several occasions in Hampton, latterly at Exeter, is now
permanently removed to Concord; and, though financial distress is still
apparent, the towns have repudiated the paper currency scheme, and, by an
hones policy, laid the foundation for future prosperity.

To crown all, the British flag no longer waves over the land; the colonies
have burst their fetters, and have become a nation.


WASHINGTON'S TOUR OF NEW ENGLAND

From the Revolution on, to the close of the century, the town records are
singularly devoid of information concerning the progress of affairs other
than ecclesiastical, the annual election of town officers, the care of the
public lands, an occasional lawsuit, proprietary meetings and such war
measures and public acts as have been already noted. We find enough,
however, to be assured that the people of Hampton were keeping pace with
the times, while taking sedulous care of all local and private interests.
The most notable public event of 1789 was Washington's tour of New
England, in October. Minute accounts are given of his entry into
Portsmouth and his four days' stay there, coming by way of Salisbury and
Hampton. We know something of his later progress through North Hampton to
Exeter; but to the imagination, mainly, it is left to depict his reception
here. Loyal and enthusiastic it surely was, though we are only told with
certainty, that the people gathered at Toppan's corner to see him pass,
and that he bowed pleasantly to right and left. And so the brilliant
cavalcade was a vision and a memory, and the loved face of Washington, a
benediction.

Once before, he came into the neighborhood, riding on horseback from
Cambridge to Hampton Falls sometime during the war, on a personal visit to
President Weare. The Weare mansion still stands, unaltered except by time,
and the room in which Washington slept is pointed out. It is now owned by
the heirs of Zebulun Dow.


CONTINENTAL SECURITIES

At the adjourned annual town meeting, March 31, 1790, it was voted "that
the Committee who were chosen to Dispose of Land belonging to this Town &
purchase Continental Securities for the town, be & hereby are fully
authorized and Impowered if Congress should fund the Continental Debt, to
take out New Securities in Lieu of those now in their hands, or that they
may hereafter purchase, and to transact every other matter Relating
thereto in such manner as they may think will by most for the interest of
the town." Congress did fund the continental debt, and the above vote was
carried into effect.


CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1791

In 1791, seven years after the adoption of the state constitution, a
convention was called to meet at Concord on the first Wednesday in
September, for the purpose of revising it. Col. Christopher Toppan was the
delegate from Hampton, one of many able men who composed the convention.
In due time, their work was submitted to the people, and the convention
then adjourned, to meet again in May, 1792. On the 7th of May, a town
meeting was held in Hampton, and a committee of fifteen chosen, to examine
the constitution, with the proposed amendments, and report at an
adjournment, whether, in their opinion, they ought to be adopted. The
committee reported on the 21st of the same month, and the town voted
strongly against the amendments.

On the reassembling of the convention, a committee was appointed, to
examine the returns, ascertain what amendments had been adopted, and
embody them in the constitution, which was again sent out to the people.
In this town, it was "put to vote, to see if the town will receive the
Constitution with the amendments." Only twenty-five votes were cast, but
they were all in the negative. The amended constitution, however, was
ratified by a majority of the people, and declared, September 5, 1792.


DR. HALL JACKSON

On the 28th of September, 1797, occurred in Portsmouth the sudden death of
an eminent son of Hampton, Dr. Hall Jackson. His father, Dr. Clement
Jackson, a native of that part of Portsmouth, now Greenland, came to
Hampton, and settled on the original John Sanborn estate, now known as the
Alvin Emery place. He married, in 1731, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Leavitt,
and resided here many years, but eventually removed to Portsmouth. Of his
seven children born in Hampton, Hall, the eldest son, was the third. The
seventh was born in 1747, so that Hall, though probably young, could not
have been less than eight years old at the time of their removal, as he
was born November 11, 1739. He studied medicine with his father, and
afterward went to London, to attend lectures in the hospitals there and
perfect himself in surgery. On his return to Portsmouth, he soon acquired
a large practice and became famous, both as physician and surgeon. He was
especially skillful in the treatment of small-pox and the malignant throat
distemper, which, in those early days of their ravages, had baffled
ordinary skill. No important surgical operation was performed in this
region without consulting Dr. Jackson. Harvard College conferred upon him
the degree of M.D., and the Massachusetts Medical Society made him an
honorary member. At the time of his death, he was Grand Master of the
order of Free Masons in New Hampshire.

For some cause, on which our records are silent, Dr. Jackson, in 1771,
brought a suit against the town of Hampton. February 3, 1772, Capt. Josiah
Moulton and Capt. Jeremiah Marston were chosen agents, to defend the town
in the case. Soon after, however, the agents were authorized to settle
with the Doctor, on such terms as they might think proper.

During the Revolutionary war, Dr. Jackson was not only a true patriot as
army surgeon, but a facile workman in various departments. The Congress at
Exeter desired him to procure some suitable person to mount some field
pieces on his return to Portsmouth. Failing to find any one, he employed
himself, from sunrise to sunset every day for some time in mounting brass
field pieces. Again, he devoted himself to laying out fortifications at
Kittery and New Castle, in making cartridges, cannisters and Port fires
for the field pieces, and in attending to the "innumerable complaints of
the soldiers in regard to their health." He raised a company of artillery
and exercised them in the use of brass field ordnance; and he wrote
Colonel Lee: "Could it be thought advisable for us to leave the seaports,
I should long before this have been with you at the head of a company as
good as ever twanged a bow, inferior in military discipline to none…….You
well know that the art military has been my hobby-horse for a long time
past."

After the war, Dr. Jackson devoted himself to his profession. His death
was caused by the upsetting of his carriage, while making professional
visits. Several ribs were fractured; fever resulted; and thus terminated a
brilliant career.

The beginning of the nineteenth century saw the country plunged in grief
for the recent loss of its Father. There was not a corner so obscure that
the shadow did not darken and sadden it; and if no record remains of any
public demonstration in this town, we are none the less sure that the
loyal hearts of our people mourned their personal loss, the universal
loss. Thenceforth, the name of Washington was set among the stars.

The same month that Washington died, the home of Samuel Palmer was
gladdened by the birth of his son, Jonathan. The next spring the happy
event was celebrated by the planting of a willow tree, which grew, and to-
day stretches wide branches over the home where Jonathan Palmer's great
grandchildren are being reared.

The winter of 1801-2, till near its close, was unusually mild; but in the
latter part of February, 1802, there occurred one of the most remarkable
and long-continued snow storms, known for twenty years. Into the midst of
the ecclesiastical strife, then disturbing the peace of our town, was
thrown this war of the elements, like a frown upon the face of Nature.


FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

The town accounts seem to have gotten into a tangle; for, at the annual
town meeting in 1803, five auditors were chosen to examine the selectmen's
accounts for "four years back," while the selectmen were chosen to examine
the town treasurer's "back accompts." The next year it was voted, "to make
an addition to the old committee for examining selectmen's accounts;" and
Joseph Towle, Josiah Shaw, John Dearborn and John Dow were chosen. It was
also voted, "to raise no sum of money until the selectmen's accounts are
settled for the last year."

The invested funds of the town were discussed at both these meetings, and
subsequently. In 1803, voted, "That Major Benjamin Shaw be impowered to
receive of Mr. Gardner, Commissioner of Loans for the state of New
Hampshire, the dividend of interest and principal of the stock standing in
the name of the town of Hampton, on the book of the said Commissioner,
that is now due, or that may become due hereafter, until this order be
revoked." In 1804, voted, "That all the two per cents, which are already
received, and the interest due thereon, which belong equally between the
town and the Congregational Society, be let out by the selectmen, and that
two bondsman be required for all money loaned, and that interest be paid
yearly." Voted, "To choose a committee, to see if the town will adopt any
method with regard to the two per cents which have been received at the
Loan Office by the town of Hampton, and interest due thereon, that may
make it more productive than the present mode of loaning the money." Major
Shaw, Elisha S. Moulton and James Moulton were chosen. Their report, which
is not on record, was rejected, the vote being so close that a poll was
demanded, when there were found to be forty-two nays to forty-one yeas. In
1816, voted, "That the treasurer be authorized to receive the treasury
notes that may be offered him at the Loan Office, that are now due, or to
become due the present year." And again, in 1817, the treasurer was
instructed "to receive the dividend of interest and principal, due from
the Loan Office, and the interest due from the Exeter bank the present
year."


THE CEMETERIES

A new burying-ground was laid out in 1797, westerly of the present
homestead of Nathaniel Johnson. The first internment was that of Joshua
Towle, who died September 13th of that year. In 1802, the selectmen were
instructed to have the ground "fenced with a stone wall. . . . .to be done
within eighteen months, with one good gate." It is difficult to understand
the meaning of a vote, passed seven years later; "that Abner Page have the
use of the old burying-yard so long as he will keep the fences and gate in
repair," and "that John Batchelder have the new burying-yard"-unless it is
to be explained by another vote, after the lapse of a dozen more years,
"that the use of the old burying-ground be put up to the highest bidder,
with this restriction, that no creature except sheep and calves shall go
therein." John Towle, the highest bidder, at one dollar and fifty cents.
If we seek for justification of a course so repugnant to our sense of
fitness, as turning the hallowed ground into a pasture, let us find it in
the close-cropped grass and absence of weeds, that might have made the
deserted enclosure that dreariest of all places, a neglected cemetery.


CARRIGAIN'S MAP

By an act of the General Court, of December 30, 1803, surveys and plans of
all New Hampshire towns were required to be sent to the Secretary's
office, in order that they might be used in making a map of the state. It
was in obedience to this decree that Thomas Leavitt, Esq., of Hampton
Falls, made a survey and plan of Hampton in 1806, a copy of which is given
in this work. The state map, made by Philip Carrigain, and called by his
mane, was published in 1816, and a copy sent to each town.


PAUPERS

"The poor ye have always with you." Scattered through the town records
year after year, continually, we find provisions for their support.
Near the close of the year 1806, there was some discussion as to the
method of supporting those who needed assistance from the town. As some of
the citizens were in favor of providing a house, where all needing aid
might be taken care of, it was thought advisable to have the matter
discussed in open town meeting. A meeting was accordingly held on the 19th
of January, 1807, "to see if the town will by of the mind to build a work-
house" for the above purpose, and if so, "then to determine what method
the town will take to build it."" It was voted, to build a work-house,
forty by thirty-two feet, one story high, and to cut the timber for said
house on the parsonage land in the town-the timber to be cut under the
direction of Jeremiah Hobbs, Samuel Brown, Jr. and Jonathan Philbrick. It
was also voted, that the boards purchased for the building be sawed under
the direction of Edmund James. At an adjourned meeting, on the 9th of
February, a building committee was chosen, consisting of the three men
chosen to cut the timber, together with Josiah Shaw, Jonathan Marston,
Jr., Moses Perkins and Josiah Dow. They were directed to select a site for
the house and to build it at the cheapest rate practicable. The meeting
was then adjourned to the 10th day of March, at 12 o'clock. This was the
annual town-meeting day. "Met according to adjournment and voted, to
dissolve the meeting." And so, after all this preparation, the plan fell
through.

It was then voted, "not to choose overseers of the poor for the present
year, but that the poor be let out, as usual." This method of caring for
them, designated on the records and in common speech by the heartless-
seeming phrase, putting them up at auction, was pursued for many years,
and indeed, with some exceptions, until by act of the General Court, the
count assumed the support of all paupers, and removed all but a few aged
and infirm to a county farm, at Brentwood, purchased in 1868. By this
method, the care of the poor was given to those who would receive them
into their homes for the smallest weekly payment. It was, in fact, an
auction, generally at the annual town meeting, but sometimes, at the
discretion of the selectmen; but it was heartless only in mane. People
rendered dependent by reason of age, disease or misfortune, were more
comfortably housed and kindly cared for in private families than they
could have been in any other way. Sympathy for the unfortunate
characterizes this people in a high degree; and some of these poor being
once received, were kept for years, and even through life, and tenderly
laid to rest. A few, not wholly dependent, had little homes of their own,
with such assistance from the town as their needs required.

In 1809, John Dow, James Leavitt and Jonathan Marston, Jr., were chosen a
committee, to take the whole matter of the condition and support of the
poor into consideration. They reported at some length on individual cases,
one of which is as follows: "As it respects Mrs. Burdoo, considering her
advanced age and her exposedness to take cold, if she continue in her
house, and the expense of hauling her wood, we think it best to put her in
a family, where she can be taken proper care of till spring. Mr. Josiah
Dearborn has offered to take her at four shillings per week. She has been
at Mr. Dearborn's house about a fortnight."

This Mrs. Burdoo was Dinah, widow of Philip Burdoo, among the last of the
old-time negroes in this town. Dinah Small, perhaps widow or sister of
Cæsar, who died from exposure in the army, in 1777, was married, on the
9th of January, 1783, to Philip Burdoo, of Moultonbourough. It has been
asserted that they were slaves of Gen. Jonathan Moulton, which may have
been true of Philip, who came from one of the townships granted to the
General; but Dinah, certainly, was a slave of William Godfrey, of North
Hampton, whose granddaughter, Mrs. Fanny Lane, now above ninety years of
age, knows of her service there. Philip was afterwards employed at
Dearborn's tavern. He died January 6, 1806. Dinah had a little house a few
rods east of the centre school-house, where she spun and knit and lived
contentedly. When she became enfeebled by age, she was cared for by the
town, and died at Dea. John Lamprey's, January 11, 1825, aged ninety-two
years.


SOME NEGRO AND INDIAN SLAVES

August 11, 1716, Captain Moody, in a conference with twenty-two Indians,
informed them of an Indian girl, in captivity in Hampton, who was taken to
"Piscataqua," to be delivered to her kinsmen; but no one coming for her in
the space of a month, "she was returned back to her master again."

Shirk, the negro of Stephen Hussey, found dead-inquest March 17, 1672.

"Jack, an Indian man," sold to Edward Shaw, by Dr. Edmund Toppan,
September 30, 1731.

A "Negro woman of Mrs. Freese's" died, January 15, 1736, aged 30 years.

A "Negro girl, her daughter," died January 16, 1736, aged 6 years.

"Cæsar, ye Negro of Widow Godfrey," baptized March 7, 1736.

"Prince, a Negro boy of Mr. Griffith's," died February 4, 1738, aged 10
years.

"Simon, ye Negro boy of Dr. Jackson," baptized April 23, 1738.

A negro boy of Mrs. Toppans died March 11, 1740, aged 2 years. - "fitts."

"Flora, a Negro girl of Widow Toppan's," baptized June 7, 1741.

"Jenny, a Negro girl of Ward & Joanna Cotton's," baptized June 7, 1741.
Jenny died April 5, 1751, aged 40 years.

"Jock, ye Negro Servant of Doctor Sargent," baptized June 14, 1741.

"Fortunatus, a Negro lad of Abner Fogg's," baptized October 11, 1741.

"Flora, a Negro girl of Dr. Emery," died March 27, 1756. "Cæsar, a Negro
man of Capt. Jeremiah Marston," died of old age, April 10, 1766.

Cæsar Small, a mulatto, died April 21, 1777, aged 50 or 60 - "camp
disorder."

Neb Miller, a negro slave of Col. Christopher Toppan.

Ben Thompson, slave of Capt. Jonathan Marston. It is said that Capt.
Marston's father (Elisha) gave each of his children a slave.

"Phillis White, colored, widow of Archelaus, died August 14, 1830." The
graves of Phillis White and three other negroes, probably her family, are
in a field belonging to Mr. Aiken S. Coffin.


THE RIOT OF 1808

In the summer of 1808, some of the people of the town went to Portsmouth
to hear Elias Smith, who was then preaching, in the main, the doctrines
afterward professed by the sect styled Christians. Mr. Smith was also
invited to hold meetings at Hampton. A few individuals here adopted his
views, and disclaiming all denominational distinctions, called themselves
Christians. Their sentiments were, however, afterward greatly modified,
and the church originating with them became the Free Baptist church.

A general meeting of the elders and brethren of the Christian persuasion
was appointed to be held in this town, on the 8th of September, 1808, on
the Meeting-house Green. This occasioned considerable excitement among the
people. They had known something of Elder Smith's preaching, and they
distrusted his doctrines. But this circumstance alone would not probably
have led them to disturb the meeting. A more powerful reason urged them to
action. Their own pastor, Rev. Josiah Webster, who had been installed only
three months, had previously been settled at Chebacco parish, in Ipswich.
His situation there had been rendered uncomfortable through the agency of
certain men who claimed to be Christians, and reformers. One of these, it
was understood, would be present on this occasion. It was a foolish
bravado of this man that was principally instrumental in exciting
opposition to the meeting. He was reported to have said that he had driven
Mr. Webster from Chebacco and he would now drive him from Hampton. In
perfect keeping with this threat was the holding of the meeting on the
common in front of the parsonage, where Mr. Webster resided, and so near
that from his study he could hear what might be said against "the black
coats and the standing order."

The day of the meeting arrived. A great number of people assembled on the
Green. Presently a company of men appeared with muskets. Some of them were
advanced in life and had belonged to the Alarm List in the time of the
Revolution. With them were joined others, considerably younger. All were
determined to protect their minister from insult at his own door. Such
were their feeling, however ill-judged or disorderly may have been their
method of expressing them.

The elders who controlled the meeting thought it prudent to retire from
the Green, to a field, at some distance, which the owner had offered for
the purpose. This was the field at Lane's corner, opposite the late Cotton
Brown's house. Elder Smith, in his account of the transaction says: "As
soon as the rioters found the people had gone to the field, they followed
them, and when they were opposite the field, they began with hooting,
firing guns, etc. After proceeding a few rods they marched back and began
their pow-wow, firing their guns again. . . . .Just after passing the
assembly, they broke their ranks and rushed into that and the adjoining
field, firing their guns, throwing potatoes and dirt at the preachers."
Pulling the sword-pin from the ox-cart, which served as a pulpit, they
tipped them all out. One of the elders then mounted a stump, and began
preaching, but was soon pulled to the ground.

Elder Smith says the rioters were fifty or sixty in number; that is was
supposed that more than a hundred guns were fired; and that the men
claimed to be peaceable people, but declared that they meant to defend
their religion and their minister. That they did intend to defend their
minister, is certain; that they appeared upon the scene in the name of
religion, is not so clear.

The meeting was broken up. Elder Smith left the field first, and the other
elders, about an hour after the disturbance began. Mr. Smith's narrative
goes on: "Soon after this, they came up to the house where I was (Mr.
Joshua Lane's), and stood before it. My horse was harnessed at the back
door, and I went down the back stairs, out at the back side of the house,
got into my carriage with a brother, and rode away before they knew I was
gone, glad to escape through the back door; and through the good hand of
God upon me, arrived safe at Portsmouth. Notwithstanding all the tumult,
no one was injured in the least, though some had their clothes scorched
with the powder."

The narrative quoted above, a prejudiced recital by one of the principal
actors in the drama, was sown broadcast over the land, carrying
exaggerated impressions of riotous behavior and persecution. There was
undoubtedly wrong on both sides. It was not a dictate of piety to attempt
to break up a connection which had just been harmoniously formed between
pastor and people, by meeting before his own door to rail against him. It
was not a mark of wisdom for a professed preacher of the gospel to
proclaim his intention to drive this minister from his parish. It was
foolhardy, to come into the parish, among the friends of the pastor, to
execute his threat. Had they not been, indeed, "a peaceable people," the
attempt could hardly have been made, and "no one injured in the least."
But the proceedings of these armed men were armed men were disorderly and
in violation of law. Had they been content with their victory on the
Meeting-House Green, and allowed the elders undisturbed possession of the
potato-field and the empty cart, all would have been well; but the
temptation to enact a comedy was too strong for the young blood in that
mixed company to resist. Some of the leaders were prosecuted, but were
discharged, on making a slight acknowledgment of their fault, which, after
the excitement of the occasion had passed away, they could not fail to
perceive.


THE COLD FRIDAY

The 19th of January, 1810, was one of the most memorable cold days of the
present century. "From a mild state of temperature, the weather suddenly
became cold, the mercury descending to thirteen degrees below zero in less
than sixteen hours. The change was accompanied with high wind, cold and
piercing in the extreme, and of such force as to prostrate many trees and
buildings." [Hist. Soc. Col. v: 77.] This is the general description for a
wide extent of territory. In Hampton, the morning was so mild, several
farmers set out for Newburyport, with ox-loads of potatoes, beguiling with
neighborly chat the tedium of the slow progress. On the return, the cold
became so intense and the wind so violent, all suffered extremely, and one
man who had rashly left his overcoat at home was only saved from
perishing, by wrapping himself in the blankets that had covered the
potatoes. The next day it was announced in Hampton that, in the midst of
all this severity, a son had been born to the beloved pastor. He was named
John Calvin.

At the annual town meeting, in 1814, it was voted "that in future, the
annual meeting shall be opened by prayer, by the minister of the town,
after the moderator is chosen." This was no new thing, as the custom had
prevailed from early times, but perhaps there had latterly been some
laxity in that regard. The good old custom of opening the town meeting
with prayer still holds.