Rockingham-Hillsborough County NH Archives Biographies.....Worthen, Major Ezekiel May 18, 1710 - September 17, 1783
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Janet E. Worthen janwrites39@gmx.com October 15, 2011, 10:14 am

Source: DAR, Washington DC&NH, J Dow,  Rev Roland Sawyer, Nellie Chase 1948, J.Bailey Moore, Ray Raphael, NH Vital Records, Chamber of Com.Cape Breton Island, CN,
Author: J. W. Worthen


 Major Ezekiel Worthen 
A New Hampshire Patriot 
1710 - 1783 
The Revolutionary War 
The French Indian War 
King George’s War 
including 
“The Siege of Louisburg” 
by J. E. Worthen

PROLOGUE 
Major Ezekiel Worthen 
Ezekiel Worthen, (I 763) patron, Revolutioary War, son of Ezekiel and Abigail
Carter Worthen was born March 18, 1710 at Amesbury, MA, and died September 17,
1783 at Kensington, NH. About 1732 he married Hannah Currier who was born
January 26, 1711 at Amesbury, being the daughter of William  and Rachel Sargent
Currier of that town. (She died in 1746). His 
parents had too, been Quakers.

A few years after his marriage he moved to Kensington, NH, where he lived the
rest of his life, a period of nearly half a century. At an early date he was a
leader in the affairs of the church and was frequently elected to town offices,
such as selectman and moderator at the town meetings 
as well as representative to the Legislative or Provincial Congress and 
delegated to many conventions held for various purposes. He is best known
however, as a military man as he enjoyed the unusual honor of  serving with
distinction in THREE wars. They were: King George’s  War, (including the Seige
at Louisburg), the French Indian War, and 
the Revolutionary War. The chief event of King George’s War was the Siege of
Louisburg in 
which a force of farmers, fisherman, commanded by a merchant, General William
Pepperell, of Kittery, ME, took the strongest French fortress in America without
the aid of regular troops. This was an exploit for which Pepperell was knighted.
Ezekiel Worthen served at Louisburg with the 
rank of Ensign and Later First Lieutenant. He gained some repute as an engineer,
through his work restoring the fortifications after the capture of the town to
guard against a counter attack by the French. 

In the French and Indian War, some ten years later, Ezekiel was a Captain
commanding a company of “New Hampshire Rangers”. In 1757 his company of Rogers
Rangers, (started and commanded by General John Stark) as part of the garrison
of Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George in New York State. The fort was
compelled to surrender to General M. Moncalm, who had attacked it with a force
consisting of French regulars, Canadian militia, and a large number of Indians.
The garrison after they had given up their army and started out under a French
escort, had been attacked.
The Indians began to kill and scalp some of the prisoners, especially those
in the rear of the column where Ezekiel’s company was established. A
member of savages rushed at Ezekiel and were about to tomahawk him, but, while
they were quarreling over a red waistcoat, which he wore he seized a gun from
one of them and ran, full speed into the woods. When out of their sight, he
threw himself flat on the ground beside a large log and squeezed up under the
edge of it, pawing leaves and bark over him-
self. The Indians jumped the log and Ezekiel, and passed on into the forest.
After nightfall, he crawled out of his hiding place and went on to Fort Edward
in safety. The gun, above mentioned, which he brought back with him to
Kensington, was given by one of his decedents to
the Bunker Hill Monument Association and may be seen in the building
at the foot of the monument. 

When the Revolution broke out Ezekiel was 65 years old, (1775) and
a member of the Provencial Congress of NH. He served as military
advisor to the committee appointed to fortify Portsmouth and erected
Fort Washington, Fort Sullivan at the Narrows to guard the entrance to
the Piscataqua Harbor. For a time he was Commander of the troops
assigned to the defense of Portsmouth and held the rank of Major.
He saw no active service after the first two years of the War, but,
continued to serve on committees and as a delegate to conventions and
to manifest an interest in the struggle for independence. He spent his
last years in retirement at Kensington, NH, enjoying the esteem and
respect of his fellow citizens. He was the foremost representative of
the Worthen’s in which he lived, Ezekiel and Hanna had three sons,
Samuel Worthen, who was born April 21, 1748 at Kensington, NH,
who our line was descended from. He later married Sarah Clifford in
1769. She died about 1782 in Candia, NH. They lived on North Rd.
in Candia. Another son of Ezekiel was Major Jacob Worthen, and Major
Ezekiel Jr. There was no evidence this son Samuel, served in the Revolutionary
War. Still another 4th son, was Lt. Enoch Worthen, whose home he built across the
street from his father, which survived. He also had a 15 year old
grandson who was a private in the land forces of the Revolutionary
War. The Exeter Chapter of the DAR placed a marker on Major 
Ezekiel Worthen’s grave in Kensington. 

THE REVOLUTION 
In November of 1747 the people of Boston rose up with great anger. The problem
started when some fifty British sailors, seeking a better life in the New World,
deserted from the HMS Lark. Commodore Charles Knowles responded by ordering a
predawn sweep of the waterfront. to find the deserters and, failing that, to
impress other warm bodies into service on the Lark. Later that morning according
to an eyewitness, a “body of men arose I believe with no other motive than to
rescue if possible the captivated…and to protest this form of barbarous abusage.” 
This was not the first time impressments gangs swept through the wharves and
taverns of Boston, and every time they did, they met resistance. In 1742 a crowd
attacked the commanding officer of the Astrea and destroyed a barge belonging to
the Royal Navy. In 1745 
protestors beat up the commander of HMS Shirley and battered a 
deputy sheriff unconscious; later that year they rioted again when a 
press gang killed two seaman. Governor Shirley called out the militia, but only
the officers showed up – the rest of the militiamen, it seems were part of the
crowd. Commodore Knowles then announced he would bombard Boston from his
warships, but his threat was empty: 
the greatest damage would no doubt accrue to the property of the rich, not the
rioters. The laboring classes of Boston remained firmly in control of their city
for three days until Governor Shirley negotiated the release of most of the
impressed seamen. 

American colonists took to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the
British taxation which followed the French and Indian War. On  August 14, 1765,
in response to the imposition of a stamp tax on all  legal documents, a Boston
crowd numbering in the thousands beheaded an effigy of Andrew Oliver, the
Massachusetts stamp distributor. After witnessing the destruction of his
personal property, Oliver announced he would resign. 
The long war with France had exhausted the British treasury, and various schemes
were devised by the ministry and parliament to replenish it. Among these
resulted in the taxing of the American 
Colonies, by greatly increasing the duties on tea, sugar, molasses, coffee, and
other goods imported from the West Indies and other countries. The Stamp Act was
then passed by Parliament in 1765, providing that no deeds, wills or other legal
papers should be valid 
unless they bore government stamps, which were brought from  England and sold at
stipulated prices; another exercise of tyrannical power. The intelligence of the
passage of this act caused great excitement and indignation throughout the
colonies, as it had been constantly asserted and maintained that taxation
without representation was tyranny. The duty on tea was the most obnoxious tax,
not because of the amount per pound, but because of the claim of the British
Government that it had a right to tax their American colonies at all; and the
people very 
generally entered into an agreement that they would not import or use tea while
it was subject to duty. As a consequence, the importation of  tea was greatly
limited, and the attempt to derive a revenue from this source was a complete
failure. The British Government there upon took off the duty, and the East India
company was allowed to ship their teas to America, and to pay the Government
three pence per pound on its being landed. The three pence per pound was of
course added to the cost of the tea to the consumers. The colonists were not so
stupid as to be caught by so transparent a trick and their resistance to the tax
became more determined than ever. Public meetings were held in many of the towns
in the colonies, and it was resolved that “whoever directly or indirectly aided
or assisted in the importation of any of the East Indies company’s teas, or any
teas whatever, should be deemed an enemy of America.” 

The British Government, finding that the colonists would not submit to their
acts of tyranny, resolved to overawe them by making a display of its power. As
Boston was the central point of the resistance to the demands of the King and
Parliament, a force of 3,000 men, under the 
command of General Gage was sent to Boston and quartered among the people of
that town. Trade and businesses of all kinds were  suspended, in consequence,
the people suffered from want of food and other necessities of life. People from
adjacent towns sent them food 
and support. At the same time, it became known that troops were about to be sent
from Boston to disarm Fort William and Mary at the mouth of the Piscataqua
river. The information was immediately conveyed to Portsmouth by Paul Revere,
whereupon the Committee of Safety of that town collected together three or four
hundred men, who belonged  to Portsmouth and the surrounding towns, for the
purpose of capturing  the powder and stores from the fort. The enterprise was
successful in every particular, and ninety-seven barrels of powder, sixty stand
of arms and sixteen pieces of cannon were taken and removed to a place of safety. 
The blow aimed at the people of the Province of Massachusetts, the principal
place to offer open resistance, to the attempt to deprive them of their rights,
was also directed towards the people of all the British 
colonies in America, and the people of New York, Pennsylvania, New 
Hampshire, Virginia and the other colonies, at once prepared to cooperate with
their brethren of New England in the work of defending the rights of all. In
May, 1774, a Congress, consisting of delegates from ALL the colonies, assembled
at Philadelphia for the purpose of forming a confederation of colonies in
opposing the attempts to strip them of  their rights and liberties. 
New Hampshire joined in this movement with alacrity, and a Provincial Convention
of delegates was called to meet at Exeter on January 225, of that year, to
choose delegates to attend the First 
Philadelphia Convention or Continental Congress, as it was called. At a special
town meeting held in Candia, July 11, Abraham Fitts was chosen a delegate to the
General Congress at Exeter. The Provincial  Congress at Exeter elected Nathanial
Folsorn and John Sullivan 
delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The Continental Congress
in an address to the people, counseled them to maintain peace, harmony and union
among themselves, to practice economy, to promote manufactories, avoid lawsuits,
improve themselves in such military arts as would best fit them for real action
in engagements. 

In response to the address, the military companies in Candia and other towns
were frequently drilled in the use of arms. At a town meeting held January 3,
1775, Moses Baker was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Convention to be held
at Exeter, January 25, and it was voted that the selectmen should buy a barrel
of powder, flints and lead, answerable thereto as a parish stock. At the same
meeting Walter Robie, Nathaniel Emerson, Samuel Mooers, Benjamin Cass and 
Jacob Worthen (son of Ezekiel) were chosen a committee to inspect all persons,
to ascertain their views in regard to the affairs of the present day. The
Revolution stirred up the idea of equality, but, not in today’s terms. Who were
these new “Masters” ? Men lording over women? 
Upperclass leaders continuing to rule the lower classes? Regardless of intent it
could be construed either way. In the mid 1780’s there were still many Americans
male and female, who felt bypassed  by the “mighty gains” celebrated on the
Fourth of July. And yet, although many people were left out, we commit the
fallacy of hindsight if we judge the achievements of the Revolutionary Era
according to modern standards of justice. “All men are created equal”, 
at the time, was certainly not intended to include women, slaves, or Indians. It
was a radical concept for its day, regardless of its limited scope. But there is
danger in these musings, even if true. What good  was some “blueprint” to the
people who were alive back then? We 
do not have to condemn the patriots for failing to transcend the prevailing
ethic of their day, but we do have to acknowledge that only a minority of the
people of that time – males of European decent, were in a position to benefit
politically or socially from the American 
Revolution, (and black slaves that fought were given their freedom). 
We should not forget to pay some attention to the numerous contemporaries who
did not live to see a personal advantage accruing to the notions of “liberty “
and “equality”. 
There is another danger in treating the idea of “equality” to modern 
terms. Today, “equality” is generally interpreted to include protection 
for the rights of minorities; during the Revolution, “the body of the people”
referred EXCLUSIVELY TO THE MAJORITY. “The hardships of particulars are not to
be considered,” wrote Christopher Gadsden, “when the good of the whole is the
object in view.” “The 
people that is the patriots, enforced their own standards. 

Later on in our history, when women marched for the right to vote, when workers
sat down in their factories and for the right to form unions, when African
Americans engaged in mass demonstrations to terminate Jim Crow in the South -
these extensions of democracy also 
reflected our beginnings, mirroring the Yankees who paraded “with 
staves and musick” during the closers of 1774. Our Revolutionary 
heritage, works both ways. “The body of the people,” the dominant 
force during the 1770’s has empowered, while it deprived. But, no 
matter what its’ faults, our democracy the Declaration of Independence, General 
George Washington, Jefferson, Adams….their vision and insight…The democracy 
fought for is still the best in the world, and our Constitution, as our framers
conceived, 
needs to be taught, revered, valued, and never taken for granted. War has a 
price…every war we in America have ever been in, had a price. 
Freedom isn’t cheap. And that is something in our complacency 
we seem to take for granted. I am proud of my ancestor’s history 
and what they contributed for me, my children, my grandchildren 
and the legacy that follows. In God we trust.  

Sources: “A People’s History of the American Revolution” by 
Ray Raphael, and “History of the Town of Candia, Rockingham 
County, NH from its First Settlement to the Present Time” J. Bailey 
Moore, Manchester, NH 1893.

MAJOR EZEKIEL WORTHEN 
AND THE SIEGE OF LOUISBURG 
Source: From an Essay just found by Nellie Chase, written in 
1948 and a DAR member of Concord, NH’s , Chapter (deceased) 
“The Life and achievements of Major Ezekiel Worthen and the 
Siege of Louisburg on Cape Breton Island”.. carrying through this 
assignment several other important and interesting persons and places appear in
the picture, namely Col. William Pepperell of Kittery, Maine,  who led the
expedition to Louisburg, William Vaughn of New Hampshire, who spent a great deal
of time in the interests of the 
colonies, Commodore Warren of England, who commanded the English fleet, located
at the time in the waters around the West Indies, Governor Shirley of
Massachusetts, Governor Wentworth of New  Hampshire and George Whitefield (The
Great Awakening) a disciple 
of John Wesley who founded Methodism. Whitefield was directly 
responsible for Pepperell’s decision to command the expeditions. 
Since I am specifically concerned with the Siege of Louisburg 1745 and one
Ezekiel Worthen of Kensington and Kensington itself, it will be the task to
depict Kensington in by-gone days, bringing Ezekiel  Worthen to the center of
the historical stage, show how Louisburg, 
Cape Breton Island was fortified, and taken and lost. it was re-taken 
ten years later and dismantled. Whereby, histories, old magazines, 
stories, family data and tradition, travel, and up-to-the-minute, present 
day (written in 1948 remember) descriptions by the Nova Scotia Chamber of Commerce.


To open the recital of this great siege of Louisburg, and it truly was 
very daring indeed, to tell you of the contribution to posterity of 
Ezekiel Worthen of Kensington, New Hampshire, I have to settle the 
town, born to the man, depict the siege; augmenting these tasks with 
Colonial data as to homes, dangers and mode of living and fighting. I 
certainly wish to pay high tribute to the women; a few yards of cloth 
entailed caring for lambs, feeding and watching them, carding the wool, spinning
it, dyeing it, weaving it into cloth, then fashioning it into a garment, boiling
sap, making sugar, cheese, boil cider, curing hams, freezing fowl to pack into
barrels, and collecting herbs to be 
used in sickness, dipping candles, making soap, acting as nurse, midwife, and oh
goodness, I forgot the small chore of having a baby every year. We do complain
today, do we not? Perhaps we better think it over. To cover this multiple
subject, I have had recourse to many historical volumes, and to them I owe the
information I shall  use. 
In writing this account, I am reminded that possible I may be rewarded, 
by the hope that persons who would never trouble themselves, may 
read this sketch of the war, the times, the people of the era and the opinions
deducted there from and learn to appreciate the great contributions the
ancestors of all of us in general and our own in particular gave this nation.
Daniel Webster said, “The man who feels 
no sentiment for the memory of his forefathers, who has no regard for 
his ancestors or his kindred, is himself unworthy of kindred regard or 
remembrance.” 

As I have searched for material to prime my mind, to telegraph my arm, to write
with a pen what my memory retains, I find my task difficult. I am thoroughly
convinced that since I began studying for this paper that the patriotic
societies do the nation a great service… 
it is they who are responsible for gleaming facts about persons and 
locations, the happenings and achievements of yesteryear. The  corralling of
facts and data is at best a dry, dragged along procedure, the persons who do the
research, leave posterity an illuminating story  not possible to acquire from
one or even ten different books. Praise must be given to these societies who
prevail upon members to give the time to attain the results noticeable in most
instances. What is common talk and current events today becomes history
tomorrow; new events follow up and while we wait yesterday is forgotten. As a
matter of fact, cemetery memorials are informative to the public for about two
generations, after that, to the average 
townsmen strolling about on Memorial Day, the names on headstones are
meaningless. As time marches on, even important people gradually fade from
memory…if they are very outstanding, the bare framework of personality remains;
only their achievements are lasting, for possibly 
three generations, by that time you will need a trip to the Historical  Library
for information no one else can tell you. I wanted to prove this statement. I
read a history published in 1825 – 75 years after Louisburg; it gave quite an
account of the Siege. I read one published in 1900 - about 150 years after
Louisburg. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, who promoted the Siege was not
mentioned. Col. Pepperell, the great man of the era, was alluded to as a merchant, 
commanding the expedition, or crusade as it was then termed. A 1948 History
currently used in high schools today speaks of Queen Ann’s War and a New England
expedition to Louisburg led by William Pepperell of Massachusetts. (This cold
short statement about a man who later received from England the Title of Baronet
and commanded an English Army and who gave 2500 lbs. of his own money –
literally  $125,000 to help finance the Colonial Army that sailed to Cape Breton
in 1745. Col. Pepperell was the only American man ever to receive a  title from
England and yet for all his importance were it not for the “Pepperell Sheet”
named for this very wealthy grandiose gentleman, even the name Pepperell would
mean nothing. The sheet company 
publishes a thick pamphlet called “The Romance of Pepperell” that tells all the
story – but, mind you, it is to advertise sheets and sell them rather than to
keep alive the historical data concerning the man in question. 

Enter the Worthens – This able outstanding man, Major Ezekiel Worthen descended
from George Worthen who came to Salem, Massachusetts from Devonshire, England
about 1635. The first 
Ezekiel was born to George and his wife Margery, perhaps in England, maybe in
the colonies and perhaps on the high seas. We know that his parents were at
Salem in 1638 and figured in the church, land boundaries, etc. This same Ezekiel
received a grant of land from George II, located in Amesbury. The cellar hole
may still be seen,  locating where he once lived. All down through the
generations,  there were many children, and always an Ezekiel until we come to
Ezekiel Worthen, great, great, grandson of the first settler, George Worthen.
This Ezekiel Worthen, destined to become a major, was born March 18, 1710. He
married, about 1732, Hannah, daughter of William and Rachel Sargent Currier,
born in Amesbury, June 26, 1711. Dr. 
Anne Worthen, then of Concord, as well as my Aunt Ima Worthen  and father
Fremont Elgin Worthen, is a direct descendent of George  Worthen. 
Having laboriously traced the genealogical record of Ezekiel Worthen 
I now bring him and his wife and three small children to Kensington, 
New Hampshire, incorporated in 1737, where he bought land and built 
a house in the spring of 1738.” *Insert (Can you imagine, my father, began to
build his house in 1938, when the hurricane scattered all the lumber only to
have to wait to be completed in Manchester, in 1939 the year I was born. ….200
years later!) Ezekiel in later years, became the town’s most prominent and
outstanding citizen and  leader. (Oddly enough, while he had engineering skills,
so did my father, 200 years later, who became an electronic engineer, having 
a booth at the NY World’s Fair, “Worthen lab” in 1936, and the first tv in the
state of NH in 1948)have these genes? Yes, I definitely believe in genetics, as
I have my Aunt Ima’s art and writing talents.)

 Our lineage and history is very important, and provides incentive as well.
Kensington, in Rockingham County, is a small town about five or six  miles from
the ocean as the crow flies….forty-five miles from Concord, near Hampton Falls
at a time when said Hampton was one of four original towns that forms New
Hampshire. Having some 7,430 acres of land that the ice age had left
scientifically  beautiful and well adapted to the settler and his way of life,
it was not 
long before the courageous, ambitious, hustling, youngfolk began coming to
Kensington and establishing homes on the three ridges that ran through the town,
locating roads over the hills for their convenience. “The aforesaid young
settlers were sons and daughters of Puritan families, hardy, frugal, and God
fearing …they had known hardships and had met them courageously.” 
History tells us that when two young people wished to marry and make a home for
themselves, their kin, menfolk of both families, would form a party of workers,
go across lots to a wooded area, take their tools, cattle, and food; clearing
trees and building days, sleeping by hot fires 
at night.  Kensington was past the log cabin stage, the house to be built would 
very likely be a two-room house with a dark loft for the children when the
graduated from the trundle bed. It happens that Ezekiel built a story-and-a-half
house. When the kinfolk had finished, the house being ready, the young settler
came with a yoke of steers, the gift of 
his father, and the bride came with a cow, the gift of her father. What  a far
cry from the debutante of today with her Vogue clothes, sports roadster,
electric egg beater, etc. (remember written in 1948..what would she think of
today’s technology, computer’s & cell phones, etc.) 
Would it not be a queer sight to see her lead a pedigreed Ayrshire to a heated
garage? In those early years before 1750, there was always the Indian menace.
There were probably 15,000 Indians in southern New Hampshire until they caught
the smallpox from John Smith’s men (he was at the Isle of shoals, if you
remember), reducing their numbers to 2,000. I am thinking aloud to myself now.
We practically exterminated a people who at first, until vile influences enraged
them, were friendly – the curse of liquor carried out the plane of unscrupulous
and greedy wicked nations. With 13,000 Indians dead, there were none left to
claim their clearings, and these were taken up rapidly by the white settlers
because now there was greater safety and much preliminary back-breaking clearing
was already done.  

In compiling data about Kensington, I have read at length from Reverend Roland
Sawyer’s “History of Kensington”. I have had  pleasure and profit from reading
this early colonial and present day history. It covers the years from 1663-1945,
282 years.
Kensington, like all other small towns, got its name from an English town, quiet
old Kensington, a suburb of London. The glacial period  having left three high
ridges, the settlers were quick to see that these hills would yield the best
crops as the rains would flow off and plots could be planted earlier. In
Revolutionary times, about 35 years after incorporation, there were about 800
people in the town – later the population dwindled to 400. Kensington is a fine
old town with beautiful scenery. One sees from the hills on one side the ocean,
on the other side the mountains, on clear days the White Mountains. What more
healthful location could one ask for? Air-freshened by mists from salt spray,
dried by winds blowing down from the mountains. 
When the first house was built, it is said there was not another between 
it and Canada, except the Indian wigwams. A ladder was used to enter 
a door that was very high from the foundations and the ladder pulled in to
prevent enemies from gaining an entrance. This would be in the years 1702-1715.
At this point in narration, you will know the situation in which Major Ezekiel
Worthen himself – in 1738 - age 28 years. All 
through his life he was a great leader, a very able man, Kensington’s most
prominent citizen. 
I have decided to list in abbreviated form the military record of Major Ezekiel
Worthen, in reality his gift to posterity. From Hurd’s History  of Rockingham
and Strafford Counties: Major Ezekiel Worthen, born march 18, 1710. A leading
citizen of Rockingham Country and had the exceptional privilege of serving his
country w4ell in three important wars. He played a credible part in some of the
most stirring scenes of our early history. Ezekiel distinguished himself at the
Siege of Louisburg 1745 in soldiery and engineering skill in fortifying “Light
House Cliff” from 
which the English-American cannon reduced the French Fort and caused the enemy
to surrender. 
He did garrison duty at the fort for one year; returned home and was discharged
June 20, 1746. Lt. Worthen was in active command of a company for considerable
part of the siege and on the death of Captain Prescott was promoted to rank of
Captain. 

From Stackpole’s History of New Hampshire: French and Indian War 
1754-1763. For the Crown Point Expedition of 1756, NH raised a 
regiment of 700 men under Colonel Nathaniel Meserve of Portsmouth – 12 companies
– the eighth company was commanded by Captain Worthen. 

The original muster roll for his company and receipt for first month’s pay dated
May 25, 1756 – is owned by Miss Josephine P. Dow, Exeter, NH. Ezekiel’s
engineering skill was useful in creating fortifications.  He took part in an
encounter with the Indians at the Massacre of 
Ft. William Henry. He was called gentleman in deed dated July 20, 1740, also
described as “joyner” or home carpenter. Town offices held by Ezekiel Worthen
were legion. He served on 
Board of Selectmen 1748, surveyor of highways, constable, moderator  Captain
Worthen in 1770, representative of Kensington in lower house of the Provincial
Congress from incorporation of town until outbreak of the Revolution – a period
of 39 years – Representative in Constitutional Convention held at Concord, June
10, 1778, delegate to  Constitutional Convention September 22 and in June 1781.
His last public appearance December 17, 1781 in Concord. 
NH Vital Records - Member of Assembly which convened at Portsmouth April 7,
1774, but after serious clashes with Governor  Wentworth, this assembly was
dissolved. He took part in the Revolutionary War. At the age of three score and
five years he was one of the most active patriots of NH. He shaped defensive
legislation,  equipped troops for the Revolution and fortified the coast. Cannon
were planted on the Parade at Portsmouth by a skilled engineer, Captain Worthen
and he erected batteries for the defense of  Piscataqua Harbor at the Narrows
(Stackpole). Ezekiel was engineer and military advisor at Piscataqua Harbor
during September, October, 
and November of 1775. On January 27, 1776 it was voted that Captain Worthen be
chief 
commander of forces at or near the harbor to erect batteries. June and 
July, 1776 he was muster man and paymaster of several companies. In 
1776, he was in failing health – he died September 17, 1783 age 73. He is buried
in the old cemetery yard in Kensington. His grave has been marked by Exeter
Daughters of the American Revolution. Major Worthen’s experience at Fort William
Henry merits further 
explanation too. He took part in the battle. It became known to the French that
Lord Louden had withdrawn some of the troops that protected the New York
frontier. General Montcalm took advantage of this situation and captured Fort
William Henry at the south end of Lake George. By the terms of the capitulation,
the colonial troops were to be allowed to return home but after they
surrendered, the half-drunken Indians fell on them and killed a great many. The 
French employed the Indians to fight against the colonists; they gave them
quantities of liquor. It is said that liquor affected the Indians badly…made
them crazy.  Ezekiel Worthen nearly lost his life. The Indians tore his red coat
off, while they were fighting over it, he grabbed a French gun and ran for  dear
life. He saw a pile of bark, covered himself over with it and lay close to a
fallen log. The Indians rushed past, never seeing him. After terrible hardships,
both weariness and hunger, he finally reached home.  The gun he brought home
with him is now at the Bunker Hill Museum;  there being no descendents in the
family to whom it was given. Other 
heirlooms, such as the old wing chair in which he was sitting when Cornwallis
surrendered at Yorktown, were owned by Ms. Dow. It is  said he gave out a
tremendous yell at the news of the surrender and threw his cane into the air in
great excitement.  

Even a greater and more harrowing experience came to Ezekiel 
Worthen, when he joined the expeditionary forces going to Louisburg, 
Cape Breton Island in 1748; as usual the affairs of England affected 
the colonists; they were drawn into wars, not of their own making and from which
their sacrifices gained them nothing. The colonists had a large fishing trade
with England, catching the fish-cod a few miles off the coast of Nova Scotia and
Cape Breton Island. They knew that 
privateers hiding at Louisburg Harbor would prey upon their fleets and 
ruin their fishing trade. Something had to be done.  From “The Conquest of
Louisburg”, “The American Colonies had been watching with much interest and
anxiety the progress of the war 
between England and Spain. As the fortunes of battle seemed to be  favoring the
English, the apprehension became general that Spain would seek, and doubtless
obtain, an alliance with France, and that the Colonies would be drawn into the
conflict. Nor was the fear 
unfounded: In 1743 Governor Shirley of Massachusetts received dispatches from
England, stating that in all probability war would soon be declared. In October
of that year he informed Colonel Pepperell,  who commanded a large militia, of
the state of affairs and instructed 
him to prepare the frontier for war immediately. The Colonel at once  sent
orders to this effect to his officers, adding to his letters of instruction the
following message: “I hope that He who gave us our breath will give us the
courage and prudence to behave ourselves like 
truesborn Englishmen..” 

In March of the following year war was declared by the French, and 
hostilities immediately commenced in Nova Scotia. On the island of 
Cape Breton, which with Newfoundland guarded the entrance to the St. 
Lawrence, the French had erected the mighty citadel of Louisburg, named for King
Louis, the Magnificent. Six millions of dollars had been expended and
twenty-five years consumed in the construction of the city and fort. King Louis
squeezed every peasant until he squealed to get money. A solid stone rampart,
two and a half miles in circumference, surrounded the citadel. At the fortress
were one hundred and one cannon, seventy-six swivels and six mortars. The 
capacious harbor, which afforded a safe anchorage for the French men-of-war, a
place of refuge for their merchantmen and fishing vessels and  a convenient
gathering place for their privateers, was defended by an island battery of
thirty-two “twenty-two pounders” and a royal battery 
of fifty cannon on the shore, with a moat and bastion so perfect that it is
said, “ they thought two hundred men could defend it against a thousand.” The
garrison of sixteen hundred men was a constant menace to the Colonies. The fort
itself was a depot for the war supplies of all the French armies in Canada. 

*“Two centuries ago Louisburg was a French walled city, the only city of its
kind on the North American Continent. It was often called the “Dunkirk of
America”, and was said to hold the key to all French power in the western
Hemisphere. It possessed a flow harbour which served as headquarters for the
largest fishing industry in the New World. It was protected by a most formidable
fortress built at a cost of some six million dollars with walls 12 feet thick
and 30 feet high. Seven bastions towered above these walls and the fortress was
regarded as by far the strongest in New France. “Capture Louisburg and you
capture Canada” was the verdict of the day, a verdict which has been borne out
of history. For the capture of Louisburg, by the 
British in 1750 led to the fall of Quebec the following year and the end of
French rule in Canada. 
“All the drama and tragedy associated with many centuries of history was
experienced by this proud fortress within less than fifty years. Its 
construction was begun July 3, 1717, and the city of Louisburg officially
founded in 1720 when a medal was struck by order of King 
Louis XV to commemorate the occasion. The passing years brought increasing
splendor to this dream city of the New World. Court gallante came and gay
carnivals were held. There was laughter and  merriment, music and dancing, and
even the lowliest soldier had wine in plenty. Louisburg was gay and in the
hearts of its people invincible. Along the harbour were five gateways leading to
the wharves. Boston vessels came there with provisions and superstitious sailors
reflected when they saw its streets made up what they regarded as an unlucky
number…thirteen. “The unlucky Fortress” they called it. And Boston  sailors
accompanied by bushman, farmers, and tradesmen of every sort, came back one day
just five years after the erection of the fortress had been completed and
captured it. They easily defeated a handful of regulars and citizen volunteers
who had rushed to prevent them from landing. This was in 1745. In its second
decade of prosperity the Harbor of Louisburg had become the rendezvous of
privateers who prayed upon British shipping and the New Englanders were
determined to remove this menace to their trade. The fruits of  their victory,
however were soon abandoned by order of the British  authorities, and in 1748
the fortress was returned to the French under the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle,
much to the annoyance and disappoint-ment of the New Englanders who regarded it
as their special prize.” 

*Copied from material published by Chamber of Commerce of Cape 
Breton Island, Canada: “The Fortrress of Louisbourg, National Historic Park.” 

Clearly Louisburg must be captured, but, how? At its winter session, 
the Legislature of the New England Colonies discussed plans of action. 
Governor Shirley presided over this body. That no suspicion of these plans
should reach the French, the Legislature had been laid under strict oath of
secrecy during its deliberations. One of its members, however, a pious old
deacon, was overheard at his private devotions invoking God’s blessing upon the
enterprise, and so the affair leaked out. After considerable opposition, the
expedition was decided upon, and once the decision was made, the people became
enthusiastic in its support. Now remained the task of securing a commander for
the expedition. A long period of peace had brought about a dearth of officers
experienced in difficult military maneuvers; but, there was only one man whose
training in the border wars with the Indians, and whose remarkable ability for
making a success of any venture, however difficult or foreign to his experience,
had won the confidence of the people as had no other in the entire colony, and
that was Colonel William Pepperell of Kittery, Maine. He was unanimously chosen
for the position, and was officially appointed by Governor Shirley. Would he
accept? With his characteristic caution, he carefully considered the matter. The
famous preacher, George Whitefield “The Great Awakening” who was one of his
missionary expeditions through New England, who 
led many Indians to the Lord and salvation; was at that time a guest at  the
Colonel’s home; and when consulted by Pepperell in regard to the affair, he
said, “I do not think the scheme very promising, if you take the appointment the
eyes of all the world will be upon you, if you do not succeed, the widows and
orphans of the slain will reproach you. 
If you do succeed, many will regard you with envy, and endeavor to eclipse your
glory. You ought therefore, if you go at all, to go with a single eye, and you
will find your strength proportioned to your necessity.” “Convinced at last that
his country depended upon him in this hour of need, Pepperell laid aside his
other interests and responded to its call. 
Within two months he had recruited and equipped a force sufficient to undertake
the expedition – 4,000 men. He also contributed freely from his own purse to the
funds which had to be raised to finance the affair. On the twenty-fourth of
March, the Massachusetts troops set sail. It was a bright, breezy day. In the
hearts of the people who thronged to the dock to see the men off, where singled
hope and fear. Colonel Pepperell, in his scarlet uniform, with a Bible in his
pocket, said 
farewell to the group of officials. He said good-bye to Governor Shirley, who
was dressed in velvet and lace, he fluttered around giving  advice to Colonel
Pepperell – advice that no one with any sense could  take – it is said it would
have taken a dozen soldiers to read the orders he gave, to say nothing of
memorizing them…that they could have been dispatched quickly. Then there was
William Vaughn , a real military man. It was a motley throng; the men being clad
in garments of many hues. They came from nearly every walk of life. “The
officers, “ Hawthorne tells us, “were grave deacons, justices of the peace and
similar dignitaries.” There were sons of rich farmers, mechanics, fishermen,
merchants and carpenters, “husbands weary of 
their wives, and bachelors disconsolate for want of them.” Above  them in the
breeze fluttered their flag with its’ motto, “Nil Desperandum, Christo Duce,”
furnished by the Reverend George 
Whitefield, giving to the expedition the semblance of a crusade. 
“They arrived at Canso, the gathering place for the Colonial troops, 
on the first of April. Commodore Warren, with the West India Fleet, 
arrived shortly to take charge of the naval end of the siege. It was 
a tremendous task which confronted these untrained Colonial troops, 
but, with a skill and foresight which distinguished him as one of the greatest
of Colonial generals, Colonel Pepperell successfully directed  the operations.
Regardless raging surf and shifting tide, the troops landed immediately upon
their arrival, made their way through thickets and bogs, and on sledges which
they had constructed they dragged their cannon through morasses knee-deep in
mud. Under Pepperell’s leadership they learned to cooperate and were able to
conduct their attack against the trained French troops entrenched behind the
strong fortifications, with comparatively small loss of life. Forty-nine days
after their arrival at Louisburg, that mighty fortress capitulated. It was a
great day for the provincial army, which marched into the fortress through the
southwest gate and paraded before the French troops who were drawn up in front
of the barracks to receive them. What a curious sight the men of the Colonial
army must have presented as they marched in triumph through Louisburg: Hawthorne
tells us of one man who had gone to war equipped with two plain shirts and one
ruffled one. The last he had saved for the day of victory, and he made a
ludicrous figure as he marched along in his rough brown suit and blue yarn
stockings, with the huge fills sticking forth from his bosom to England as well
as the Colonies. At Boston and Salem, in New York and Philadelphia, bells were
rung, bonfires lighted and cannon fired. 
Mr. Harding referred in the House of Commons to the victory as “an everlasting
monument to the zeal, courage and perseverance of the troops of New England,”
and Voltaire, in his history of the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, ranks the
capture of this strong fortress, by 
husbandmen, among the great events of the period. Colonel Pepperell 
was made a baronet and was given a high commission in the British 
regular army. In 1749 he visited England and was received with marked
distinction. He took no glory to himself for the success of this great
enterprise, but ascribed it all to the prayers of the people. He had sacrificed
not only his business interests by devoting over a year to 
this military service, for he remained in command at Louisburg some 
time after its surrender, but he permanently injured his health by exposure to
the cold and dampness of the low marsh ground in front of  Louisburg where he
contracted rheumatism which later caused his death.” 

The French surrendered the Fortress on June 38, 1745; the pride of France was
greatly hurt. The following year, the Duke of D’anville was sent to recover the
fortress; a storm and disease prevented an attack and he returned to England.
Two years later at Aix-la-Chapelle a treaty between France and England was
signed. It was agreed that  all provisions should be released and all property
on either side be restored. Both parties lost heavily. Yes, you guessed it.
Louisburg 
was given back to the French, to the great disgust of the Colonists who had won
it. They had won, yet they had lost. Such are world politics. One vital fact was
plainly shown to England; the strength of the colonists was revealed and noted.
I will say one thing for England, 
she did reimburse the Colonists for the expedition and at a time when
Massachusetts sorely needed money. If the “Great Awakening” had knitted the
Colonists more closely spiritually, the successful naval and military
engagements against Louisburg in 1744-45 gave them the vision of future
independence. The much publicized campaign at Louisburg proved to the raw
provincial troops that they could fight and win battles as well as getter
trained English soldiers. They felt very cocky. Lt. Worthen remained a year
after the surrender at Louisburg, it was here that he became Captain of
Prescott’s company; Captain Prescott  having died. History talks only of
governors and generals but Lt. Worthen’s townsmen knew that his engineering
skill greatly assisted Colonel Pepperell in the siege. One wonders how it was
that armies were raised so easily for expeditions such as these. I wish to
differentiate between the war  of the Revolution and the French and Indian Wars
and the Siege of Louisburg. The Indian wars were fought against the French and
the Indians they used for their own wicked, selfish purposes, for existence; the
Revolution for independence; but, Louisburg: First they hated the French,
second, there was hope of great financial gain if immense loot was divided…here
again was disappointment. England favored the Royal navy. It got the greater
part. Governor Shirley, although not too smart, received a top post in the
regular army. Colonel Pepperell, as I was told you, fared more than well, as did
Commodore Warren of the English Fleet, to whom England showed much partiality,
but Vaughn who was the soul of the whole expedition got left out entirely. I
haven’t learned why this was. He died in England when he went to convince the
English authorities that he deserved a financial settlement. The irony of the
whole fight was the fact the battle was won by about 400 land troops who stormed
the citadel along with the cannon balls. History tells us that they screeched
and yelled so loudly that they scared the Frenchmen to death; they thought the
whole English army was after them. They felt rather small when they learned that
only 400 
men had captured them. Commodore Warren strutted around too, claiming the
victory. Colonel Pepperell, however, must have made a  striking picture with his
beautiful scarlet coat, buttons and braid. The  men certainly looked grand in
those days. 

*“The ink had hardly dried on the treaty which handed back Louisburg 
and Cape Breton Island to France when British authorities began to 
think that the judgment of the New England4res was around after all. 
The old policy of preying on the British fishing vessels, using Louisburg as a
base for operations, was resumed and everything possible was done to prevent
British enterprise getting a foothold in 
Canada . For France and Britain were rival nations in those days. Soon 
Britain began to consider another campaign with the object of recapturing
Louisburg, and in the spring of 1758 an army of thirteen  thousand under the
command of General Amherst and a sea 
force of thirty-nine fighting ships under Admiral Boscawen assembled 
at Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Louisburg as their objective. As with the 
Siege of Quebec, the name of General Wolfe is immortally connected 
with Louisburg. Most Canadian school children can tell you all about 
the daring feats of this intrepid warrior whose genius encompassed the second
fall of Louisburg and later the capture of Quebec, adding Canada to the British
Empire. 
The second siege of Louisburg was altogether a British undertaking. 
After the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle the French once more poured  money into
strengthening the defenses of this fortified city, and during the next ten years
it regained much of its former splendor. Then British decided to end once and
for all the menace it created in her power in 
the New World. The story of the second siege of Louisburg provides one of the
most exciting and romantic chapters in Canadian history. The garrison this time
was well prepared to meet an attack, and deeds of valor and chivalry were almost
a daily occurrence. The wife of the 
Governor, Madam Druccur “daily walked the ramparts and fired three cannons to
encourage the troops.” The British commander, struck by her heroism, sent
presents, and never perhaps was war carried on with more courtesy.
Never-the-less, the siege continued and for forty-nine days, during which
occurred many stirring episodes, the fortunes of war at times were equally
divided. But the hapless career of this renowned but unlucky fortress was coming
to an end. General Wolfe, who had made a successful landing in the face of heavy
fire from French batteries, gradually maneuvered his artillery into position and
one by one most of the opposing batteries were silenced. On July 27, 1758, the
gallant defenders of Louisburg surrendered in the face of overwhelming odds and
the Lillis of Old France were once more replaced by the flag of Great Britain on
the citadel flagstaff.  “Two years later a career filled with tragedy and
disappointment was brought to a close when the British Government ordered the
complete demolition of the fortress and walled the city of Louisburg. For many
years after its destruction in 1760 it remained a stony desolation, neglected
and almost forgotten. Its provided shelter for sheep which pastured on the
fortress grounds. Settlers carted away the stone to build homes and barns. Now
all this has been changed. Louisburg has been reclaimed from oblivion. Today,
most of the original area of 
the fortress, which is situated about three miles from the present town,  has
been acquired by the Canadian Government and placed under the control of the
National parks Bureau at Ottawa, which administers it as the runs, and all walls
exposed have been rebuilt above ground level. A museum has been constructed
quite recently and houses many articles of interest relating to the site,
including a plaster model and plans of the old fort. By examining these plans
one may visualize from the exposed ruins the lay-out of the original fortified
city and sense the glory that was once Louisburg.” *Copied from material
published by Chamber of Commerce of Cape 
Breton Island, Canada: “The Fortress of Louisburg, National Historic 
Park”.

The interested should go to the site of a walled city once proudly termed the
Dunkirk of America, Fortress of Louisburg National Historic Park. It is one of
the most noted of all historical places on the 
North American Continent. Most of the original area of the fortified city,
together with Battery Island and the site of Grand Battery, is  included in the
340 acres which comprise the park. A group of old casemates or bomb-proof
shelters still stand as mute relics of the last 
siege, and extensive excavation work has brought to light remains of walls of
the citadel, barracks, chapel, governor’s house, and hospital. Memorials have
been erected to mark the site of the King’s and  Dauphin’s bastions, and a fine
stone museum, opened in 1936, contains 
a large number of exhibits and mementoes relating to the historic past. The park
is accessible from the village of Louisburg, three miles distant, which is
served by railway and highway from the City of Sydney. Now, may I say of Major
Worthen, that he was patriotism personified; what a noble career. It seemingly
was pre-ordained for him. It’s not  likely that he went to war three times
because he liked war. His soul rebelled against murder, marauding and the
over-bearing lordship of  England. He hadn’t yet learned – he never could have
learned to depend upon George to do what he knew he could do better himself. All
praises be to the early settlers who had courage, tenacity and faith to carry
through once they knew the right of things. Ezekiel went far up the military
ladder. He went to Louisburg as a Lieutenant, came back a Captain. In the
Revolution he was promoted to Major. Like father, like son, as the saying goes –
how very proud he must have been that three of his sons were officers in the
revolution and a grandson of 15 years old, was a private in the land forces.
Although Ezekiel’s house is not standing, the one his son, Lt. Enoch built, is
diagonally across the road. The living descendant of Major 
Ezekiel in this locality is Ms Josephine Dow, (1948) of Exeter. We congratulate
Ms. Dow upon her enviable ancestry….as well as the Worthen’s of Kensington,
Manchester and Goffstown, NH.



Additional Comments:
I am very fortunate to have an ancestor with such a remarkable history.  

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