Chapter 37 - Kingston from History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by MLM, Volunteer 0000130. For the current email address, please go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000130 Copyright. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************ Full copyright notice - http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm USGenWeb Archives - http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ Source: History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915 Page 487 CHAPTER XXXVII KINGSTON Geographical-Topographical-Original Charter-Occupations of the People -Ecclesiastical History-The Epidemic-Educational-Military Record The Town of Kingston lies in the southern part of the county, and is bounded as follows: on the north by Brentwood, on the east by East Kingston, and Newton, on the south by Newton and Plaistow, and on the west by Plaistow, Hampstead, and Danville. The surface of the town is rolling, and the soil very fertile. The Population is 1,016. Original Grant or Charter.-The Town of Kingston was granted in 1694 by the following charter: "William & Mary by the Grace of God of England, Scotland France & Ireland King and Queen, Defendr. of the Faith, ,&c. "To all people To whom these presents shall come, greeting know ye that we of our special Grace certain knowledge & mere motion for the due encour- agement of settling a new plantation by & with the advice & consent of our Council have given & granted & by these presents as far as in us Lies Do Give & Grant unto our beloved subjects, James Prescott Sen. Isaac Godfrey Gershom Elkins Thos. Phibrick Jr. Samuel Colcord, Thomas Webster Sam'l Dearburn William Godfrey, Jacob Garland John Mason Ebenezer Webster, Nathaniel Sandburn Benjamin Sandburn John Moulton Daniel Moulton & Francis Toule and several others of their Majestys Loving Subjects that Inhabit within the said Grant, within our province of New Hampshire all That Tract of Land to begin seven miles Westward of the meeting house now stand- ing in Hampton from thence to run a Due course West & by North Ten miles into the country for its breadth, four miles Northerly from the Head point of the West Line from said Meeting house & Southerly within three miles of the Northermost side of Merrimack river. & that the same be a town corporated by the name of Kingstown to the persons above named or other of their Majestys Subjects that do and shall forever, & we do by these presents give & grant unto the said men & Inhabitants of our said Town of Kingstown & to such others that shall hereafter inhabit all & every the streets & Lanes & Highways within the said Town for the publick use & service of the men & Inhabitants thereof & Travelers there Together with full power License and authority to the said men & Inhabitants & such as shall inhabit within the said Town forever to establish appoint order & direct the establishing making Laying out ordering amending & Repairing of all streets, Lanes High- ways Ferries places & Bridges in & throughout the said Town necessary need- ful & convenient for the men & Inhabitants of the sd Town & for all Travellers & Passengers there provided always that our said License to as above granted for the establishing making & Laying out of such Lanes Highways, Fences places & Bridges be not extended nor Construed to Extend to the taking away Page 488 of any person or persons Rights or property without his or their consent, or by Some Law of our said province To have & to hold & Enjoy all & Singular the premises as aforesaid to the said men & Inhabitants or those that shall inhabit the said Town of Kingstown & their successors forever. Render- ing & paying therefor to us our Heirs & Successors, or to such other officer or officers as shall be appointed to Receive the same yearly the annual Quitt Rent or acknowledgment of one pepper Corn in the said Town on the 25th of October, yearly forever & for the Better order, Rule & Government of our Said Town. We do by these Presents, Grant for us our heirs & successors unto the said men & Inhabitants of those that shall inhabit the said Town that yearly and every year upon the first Tuesday in March for ever They the said men & inhabitants & such as shall inhabit the said Town shall elect & chuse by the Major part of them Two sufficient & able men, Householders of the said Town to be constables for the year Ensuing, which said men so chosen & elected shall be presented to the next Quarter sessions of the Peace to be held for said province there to take the accustomed oaths appointed by Law for the Execution of their offices under such penalties as the Law in our said province shall direct upon refusal or neglect therein & We Do by these presents Grant for us our Heirs & Successors unto the said persons & Inhabitants & such as shall inhabit in said town. That yearly & every year upon the first Tuesday in March forever, then the said men & Inhabitants or the Major part of them shall elect & chuse Three Inhabitants & Householders within our said Town, To be overseers of the Poor & Highways or selectmen of our said Town for the year ensuing, with such powers Privileges & authority as any Overseers or select men, within our said province, have & enjoy or ought to have & enjoy. "In testimony whereof we have caused the seal of our said province to be hereunto affixed. Witness John Usher Esqr. our Lieutenant Governor & Com- mander in Chief of our said Province at our Town of New Castle the 6th Day of August in the sixth year of our Reign Anno que Domini, 1694. "John Usher, Lt. Govr. "William Bedford, Dep'y Sec'y. "Copy Examined, Theodore Atkinson, Sec'y. "Province of New Hampshire, March Ist, 1743. "Entered and Recorded According to the Original, pr. Theodore Atkirtson, Sec'y. "Copy Exam'd. Pr. George Jaffrey; Clerk." From the charter it appears that Kingston is one of the older towns of the state. Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton were the only towns incor- porated when Kingston received its charter. It was also one of the large towns, extending from Hampton, which then included Kensington, ten miles west to what is now the eastern boundaries of Chester, Derry , and Hamp- stead. On the north it was bounded by Exeter, which then included Brent- wood and Fremont. On the south it was bounded by an indefinite line, which became the occasion of much trouble between the inhabitants of Kingston and their southern neighbors. In 1739 East Kingston became a separate parish, and in 1756 Sandown was incorporated. On February 22, 1760, another section of the northwest part of Kingston was cut off and incorporated with the name Hawke (now Danville). Page 489 The southwest part of Kingston lies between Newton on the east, with Danville and Hampton on the west and Plaistow on the south, and is called South Kingston. Though it is not a separated town, its position is such that there is little intercourse between its inhabitants and those of the remaining part of the town, which is now in territory one of the smallest in the state. The whole town contains 12,188 acres, of which 800 are supposed to be covered with water. Great Pond, with an island of ten or twelve acres, covers 300 acres. It is on the southwest of the village, called "The Plain." Little Pond, cover- ing over fifty acres, lies but a few rods west from the three churches and the town-house. Country Pond, with an island of six or eight acres, lies on the southeast boundary , and is mostly in Newton. There are smaller ponds, named Moon Pond, Long Pond, and Barberry Pond. The highest land in town is on the Great Hill, in the northeast corner of the town, on the line between Exeter and Kingston. Rock Rimmon, in the west of the town, near Danville, is a high ledge of granite, very steep on the south, but falling off gradually on the north. The first houses in town were built on the plain, and were several of them garrisons. The village where most of the business of the town is done is called Kingston Plains, near the center of the town, on a plain more than a mile long from north to south, and about half a mile wide, with a common in the center half a mile long and twenty rods wide, upon the west side of which are some stately elm-trees. The water from the northeast side of the plain runs into the Exeter River, but from the southwest part it runs into the ponds which are connected with the Powow River, that carries their waters into the Merrimac River. From Kingston Plains to Exeter is six miles northeast; to Portsmouth, twenty miles; to Haverhill, Mass., twelve miles south; to Concord, thirty- seven northwest. The Boston and Maine Railroad runs through East Kingston, two and a half miles east from Kingston. The soil of Kingston is usually a sandy loam, easily cultivated, and pro- ductive if well dressed. There is an abundance of pure water, and the climate is healthy. There have been some cases of remarkable longevity. Samuel Welch, one of the first settlers, had a son Samuel, born September 1, 1710, who married, January 22, 1732, Elenor Clough, and had a son, Reuben, born February 15, 1740. When about forty-five years of age he removed to Pen- broke. He was a quiet, industrious, and temperate man, living the last fifty years of his life on a little farm in an obscure corner of the Town of Bow. Mr. John Farmer visited him in March, 1823, and spoke of him as feeble, but with mental faculties little impaired and quite interesting in con- versation. He died the 5th of April following, aged one hundred and twelve years and seven months. His mother and his sister are said to have lived, each of them, to the age of one hundred years, and his brother lived to near ninety years of age. Abigail Sanborn, a native of Kingston, died in Canterbury, among the Shakers, aged one hundred and one years; and Mrs. Judith Webster, born in South Hampton, August 29, 1775, was a member of the Kingston Congrega- Page 490 tional Society, and died in East Kingston, March 11, 1876, aged one hundred years and six months. The ponds in Kingston are well stocked with fish, which afforded much food for the Indians long before the white men visited the country. Many of their implements of stone and some old French coins have been found in the vicinity. Occupations of the People.--At the settlement of Kingston much of the land was covered with valuable timber. In 1705 the town granted 100 acres of land to the persons who would build a saw-mill upon the Little River, on the condition that they should saw the town's lumber. When the roads were built so that lumber could be hauled to market, it became an important article in the productions of the town. From 1750 to 1775 there were six or seven stores in the town, and a brisk business was done at the "Plains" in the lumber trade. There were large lumber-yards on the common, where great quantities of the article collected from this and other towns were kept for sale. At one period in the early history of Kingston a company engaged in the manufacture of iron, using the bog iron ore taken from the bottom of Great Pond, but the quantity of the ore was small, and it was procured with so much difficulty that the business was unprofitable and finally abandoned. The cultivation of the soil has from the settlement of the town been the main business of the inhabitants. Those who have patiently and intelligently continued this business have not failed to secure a reasonable reward for their labors and a secure investment for their funds. Kingston was for many years one of the frontier towns, and for more than fifty years the inhabitants suffered, often severely, from the attacks of the French, and Indians, so that the people were much hindered, and dis- couraged in their efforts to clear the land and secure safe homes for them- selves and their families. There were natural meadows, much more numerous and profitable then than now. The Indians used to burn the grass upon these meadows, and thus prevented the bushes from growing upon them as they do now. The native grasses upon these lowlands were of much value to the new settlers before they had time to fell the large trees, clear the new land, and inclose the fields and pastures for raising the English grasses. Ecclesiastical History.--As the main object of the proprietors and early settlers in obtaining a charter and organizing a separate town or parish was to aid them in establishing public worship and public schools within a dis- tance convenient to the settlers, the main part of the history of the town for many years which has been preserved for us is the ecclesiastical history of Kingston. The first settlers of this town were from the families of the Puritans who had settled Ipswich, Newbury, and Salisbury, Mass., and Hampton, N. H. They were ardently attached to the principles of the Puritans, and anxious to train up their children with a correct knowledge of their own doctrines. Some of the proprietors and early settlers were natives of England, who had not been sent out from the prisons and the almshouses of the old country I but men who, at a great sacrifice of property, etc., had left the homes of their fathers and encountered the dangers of a long voyage over the wide ocean for the purpose of finding on this wild, inhospitable shore freedom to worship Page 491 God. Here, exposed to the treachery of the murderous savages, they were in still greater dangers. If their religion was tinctured with any superstition, it may have been owing somewhat to the circumstances in which tHey were placed. The town-meeting in January, 1700, was to consult about the division of their lands, and to establish public worship. They hoped that their treaty with the Indians would be permanent, and in their joy at a release from the burdens and the dangers of the war they were preparing to establish the public worshIP of God in the place. The second meeting, in June, 1700, was to discuss "the plan for hiring a minister." They "voted to have a minister, if he can be obtained," and "that his salary shall not exceed £80 a year." They must have roads, and they voted that the road north and south across the plain for nearly a mile be twenty rods wide, and from the plain to the Exeter line eight rods wide. They were not narrow men, as some have supposed. In 1702, when the lots of land were laid out, No. 14 was assigned for a parsonage lot, and in the year following a grant of 100 acres was made for the first minister who should settle with them. They also chose a site for a meeting-house. But they were sadly disappointed, for in 1703 the war with the Indians suddenly broke out again, and many of the people left their lands and returned to safer localities in the older settlements. Some of those who remained on their lands were obliged to send back their wives and children to the homes of their friends. These were perilous times, when their cattle were killed, their crops destroyed, their buildings burned, and their lives in constant danger. Ensign Tristram Sanborn, from Hampton, had commenced clearing a piece of land where some of his descendants still reside on the Exeter road. He had erected a cabin of logs, where he took his food and found shelter till it was safe to bring his family to the place. One evening, on returning from his work in the Great Meadows, where he had been to cut his grass, he found instead of his food and shelter a heap of ashes. The Indians had been there, and taken what they chose of his property, and burned what they could not carry. He did not, like many others, desert the land which they could not carry off or consume, but built a garrison-house upon it, where his wife and children need not be constantly exposed to death or captivity from any roving Indians who were prowling about intent upon pillage and murder. This building probably afforded a refuge to some of his neighbors in seasons of peculiar danger. Tradition says that some years afterwards a band of savages, taking advantage of the absence of the men, made a furious attack upon this house. The women defended it till their assailants were repulsed and retreated. The next day a dead Indian was found not far from the garrison. Aaron Sleeper erected another garrison not far east from Sanborn's, and the town-meeting in 1705 was held in it. One object of this meeting was "to consider some way to secure a minister." During some years the Indians, supplied with ammunition and incited by the French in Maine and in Canada, kept the people of this whole region in a state of continued anxiety and fear. This fear was not groundless, but reasonable. Page 492 Though patrolmen and scouts were employed on a line of frontier for fifty miles at great expense of money and life, it was impossible to prevent small bodies of Indians from passing this line by night or by day. They could conceal themselves by day, and visit the larger villages by night. The grants of lands to the original settlers of these new towns were attended with certain conditions, so that if a man felt obliged to leave his lot without improvements for a certain period he lost his title to it. Some of the first settlers of Kingston, who, on account of the danger, had left the place and had forfeited their rights, with others "who wished to settle there in the fall of 1705," sent a petition to the General Court in May, 1705, for leave to return to their lands. This was granted upon the condition that there be not less than thirty families, and that they "build a fort in the centre of the town," and "laye out in the centre of this a forty- acre lot for ye parsonage, and settle an able orthodox minister within three years next coming." The people had already suffered so much that on May 9, 1705, "The Council voted that the town of Kingston be excused from send- ing a representative and paying any part of ye province charge for the present year, provided that they assist the scouts with pilots at their own charge whenever required." Soon after this the settlers made the attempt to comply with the condi- tions of their settlements. They chose a committee to look for a minister, but it was a difficult business for these thirty or forty families, some of them not permanently settled themselves, to "settle an able orthodox minister." They could not offer a very safe and comfortable home, nor a tempting salary, nor a large and inviting field for usefulness. The people had, many of them, become poor, having suffered so much from the depredations of the Indians. While they were toiling to fell the heavy trees and open fields for cultivation, their families in their humble cabins were exposed to the murderous enemies secretly hovering round, ready to destroy the lives and the property of the poor laborers. Having been heavily taxed in erecting garrison-houses, and in furnishing the means of self-protection, they were unable to promise their preacher more than forty pounds, one-half as much as they had hoped to pay when they commenced their settlement. In October, 1707, two years later, they succeeded in hiring a Mr. Benjamin Choate, A. M., who was born in Ipswich, Mass., in 1680, and graduated at Harvard College in 1703, who had for a time been a teacher in the garrison at Deerfield, Mass. He was probably licensed, but was never ordained nor united with the church in Kingston, though he remained there more than forty years. He seems to have been a teacher a part of the time while he supplied their pulpit, and afterwards he held different offices In town. They engaged to pay him fifty pounds a year,--thirty pounds current silver money and twenty pounds in labor and provision pay. They also voted to give him a grant of land, and from time to time we find the record, "that the town give Rev. B. Choate 40 cords of wood thiS year." The same year the first meeting-house, with two stories and gallery, was built on the plains, on the southwest part of the common, near the present home of Deacon Clark. Tristram Sanborn, before mentioned, was one of the building committee. "It was paid for by a tax on improved lands, and by a tax on heads." It was standing in 1760, and perhaps later, but was probably never finished, for Mr. Choate preached a part of the time--perhaps Page 493 during the winter--in the garrison-house. It was not used for public worship only about twenty-five years. Mr. Choate is supposed to have preached about ten years. On April 16, 1716, a committee was chosen to confer with Mr. Choate "upon terms of continuance with us in the work of the ministry." Also a vote was passed to "add £10 to the salary, making the whole £60; at the end of two years £5 more, if he continues with us in the work of the ministry." Also a vote that "£40 shall be presented to him when he builds a house in this town. " Five voters entered their dissent from this vote. Tradition says the objection to him was that he sometimes used too much strong drink. The people still continued to suffer from the fearful attacks of the merci- less savages. On the 17th of September, 1707, they killed Henry Elkins. In 1710 they killed Samuel Winslow and Samuel Huntoon. In 1712, Steven Gilman was killed and Ebenezer Stevens wounded. The terrible butchery of so many men, women, and children in 1708 at Haverhill, only twelve miles distant, must have filled with alarm the people of Kingston, who were equally exposed to such murderous attacks. It is not strange that such cruel and bloody acts aroused in the minds of our fathers a lasting hatred of the Catholic missionaries, who, instead of preaching the gospel of peace, incited the Indians to such deeds of blood and murder; and that as a means of self- protection they followed the example of the French, and bounties were offered for the scalps of these murderers, who lurked about the settlements, waiting their opportunities to kill the innocent and then retreat to their hiding-places. Such a state of things was not very favorable to the success of Mr. Choate's labors in preaching the gospel. It seems the form of public worship was kept up, though it was with danger that the people left their homes on the Sabbath to attend the house of God. For twenty-five years after the settlement of the town no church was organized, and the citizens in the town-meeting were the only religious society. The town records are the only source of information respecting the progress of religion in the place. It is not known that Mr. Choate kept any records, unless he was town clerk, or that he baptized any. He may, as a civil magis- trate, have married some couples, but I find no records of any such marriages. When released from service in the pulpit, Mr. Choate did not leave the people in a condition favorable for settling another man. On the 16th of February, 1721, the town gave a call to Mr. William Tompson to become their minister, offering him a salary of eighty pounds a year--forty pounds in money and forty pounds in provision pay--also "a grant of land, provided he be our ordained minister, and continue with us in the work of the ministry ten or fifteen years, except God should take him away by death"; also the use of the parsonage meadow "during his natural life." He accepted the call, and his letter in answer to it is recorded in the town book. But for some reasons, not recorded, he was not ordained, and did not remain long, though he returned and preached occasionally. The treaty of peace with the Indians in 1713 did not contim1e long, for the Indians in the east became dissatisfied with the conditions of it, and renewed their attacks upon settlers on the frontiers, while England and France were nominally at peace. In May, 1724, they entered Kingston again and took as prisoners Peter Colcord and Ephraim Severance and two sons of Ebenezer Stevens, whom they carried to Canada. The children were ran- Page 494 somed, and Colcord, a smart, active young man, after about six months escaped and returned to his friends. In September, 1724, while Jabez Colman and his son were gathering cornstalks in a field on the borders of Little Pond, they were attacked and murdered by the Indians. A mere statement of such facts as these gives us no adequate idea of the solicitude, the sufferings, and the distress with which these early settlers were oppressed. Many of them sacrificed all their pecuniary means, and mortgaged the houses and lands which they had just been preparing for their homes. If they escaped with their lives, they often saved nothing with which to sustain life. Sickness, occasioned by destitution and exposure, took away many who escaped the tomahawks and the bullets of the savages. On May 17, 1725, the "Selectmen of Kingstown," viz.: Joseph Fifield, Ebenezer Stevens, Tristram Sanborn, Joseph Greele, and Joseph Sleeper, pre- sented the Governor and Council a petition for "Abatement of Province Tax," in which they say, "We request that your honrs would consider our sad surcomstances,--living in a frontier town,--so small, & exposed to ye Indian enemy, & our rates so heavy that we cannot tell how to pay it. Therefore we humbly pray your honors to consider us, & to medigate sumthing of our Province Rates." "We have Lately lost sundry men of considerable estates,-- some by the enemy, & some by sixness. We are so exposed to danger of ye enemy, dayly,--whenever we goe to work, we are as it were upon duty." Early in the year 1725, Mr. Ward Clark, son of Rev. John Clark, formerly pastor of Exeter, commenced preaching in Kingston, and in April he received a call to settle as minister in the place. He was about twenty-one years of age, and a graduate of Harvard College in 1723. They voted to pay him a salary of eighty pounds on September 17th. A church was organized of twenty-three members--nine by letter from Hamp- ton, and seven brought letters from Hampton Falls. He was ordained September 29, 1725, his stepfather, Rev. John Odlin, of Exeter, preaching the sermon, which was afterwards printed at Boston. The text was (I Timothy vi. 11 and 12) the subject, "Christian Courage Necessary for a Gospel Minister." Mr. Clark proved to be an able and efficient pastor, and the church increased rapidly under his ministry. His church records are very carefully kept, and will be of much value in preparing a complete history of Kingston. He made a list of the families in the town, eighty-one in all, including the three towns which were afterwards set off from the original town. Fifty surnames are found in the list. The name Sleeper is represented by six heads of families, and Bean, Sanborn, and Webster by four each. One man is described as a Quaker. It would seem that all the others were Congrega- tionalists. There was no other religious society organized for 100 years from the settlement of the town, or in the year 1800, when the Methodists had a society. From this time the town became more prosperous, and rapidly increased in population. For several years they annually voted twenty pounds addi- tional to their pastor's salary, and made him liberal grants of land. In 1767, after East Kingston, Sandown, and Hawke had been detached from it and incorporated as separate parishes, Kingston contained 999 inhabitants. In March, 1732, at the annual meeting they voted to build a new meeting- Page 495 house, and that it "shall be 55 foots Long and iorty-five foots wide, and high enough for two ters of Gallery, &c." It stood for 100 years on the west side of the common just north of the road which leads to Rock Rimmon and Danville. Some years later a tower was erected 100 feet high. The first meeting-house remained for more than thirty years, and was in 1764 used for town-meetings. The Epidemic Which Originated in Kingston.--In the midst of their pros- perity the town was suddenly visited by a terrible disease, called "the throat distemper." It commenced in June, 1735, and in about fourteen months 113 had been taken away by it, ninety-six of whom were under ten years of age. The wife and two children of their pastor, the Rev. Ward Clark, were among the victims of this scourge. His own health failed soon after, and he returned to his native town, Exeter, where after a long sickness he died, May 6, 1737. "A good man, much wanted, and much lamented," as was said of his father, who died at the same place, near the same age, thirty-four. Of this disease the town record says, "This mortality was by a kanker quinsy, which mostly seized upon young people, and has proved exceeding mortal in several other towns. It is supposed there never was the like before in this country." Professor William Franklin Webster, of this town, when in Germany, found in a "medical work the statement that the first recorded instance of this disease in the whole world was in this town," Kingston, N. H. Of the first forty persons seized with it not one recovered. It is now supposed that it was a malignant type of diphtheria, which soon visited many other towns in the vicinity, and was fearfully destructive in its ravages. During the pastorate of Mr. Clark, 471 persons were baptized, and 130 were received into the church. At the funeral of Mr. Clark, in Exeter, 10th of May, 1737, the senior deacon, Moses Elkins, fell and suddenly died. Mr. Clark in his will gave to "his beloved people at Kingston, for a per- petual parsonage, to be improved for the use of the ministry there, [his] dwelling-house and home place," upon conditions which were accepted, and for about eighty years his "successors in the ministry" were permitted to occupy the premises, which were afterwards sold, and the funds used some- times to oppose the (truths) doctrines which he preached. The records at his death say "He lived beloved, and died respected by his people." On the 17th of October, 1737, the church voted unanimously to give Rev. Joseph Seccombe a call, and the town on the week after cast a unanimous vote that he should be their minister. He was installed November 23, 1737, and spent twenty-three years, the remainder of his life, as their pastor. It is said, "Mr. Seccombe was a good man,--a poor man's son; that he preached to the Indians three years before coming to Kingston." His labors were very successful, and the parish soon grew to such an extent that in February, 1739, the east part of the town had been set off, and a committee appointed to fix the boundaries between the two parishes. On the 6th of March, 1739, the old part of the town voted to remonstrate against this division, but they did not succeed in preventing it. On November 4, 1739, ten members were dismissed from the Kingston Church to unite with a church in East Kingston, which was organized December 19, 1739. In the year following thirty-three others were dismissed to the new church. On September 26, 1740, forty-three persons included in the new parish "requested Page 496 to still belong to the old parish." They were permitted to do so. These persons lived in the District on the Exeter road, and it seems the northern part of the line between the tWo parishes was removed to the east to accommo- date them. From the settlement of Kingston a part of the congregation at public worship came from that part of Exeter afterwards Brentwood. In 1750 thirty-three members were dismissed from the church in Kingston to unite with a church in Brentwood. On April 6, 1756, the west part of the town was incorporated under the name Sandown, and in November, 1759, ten members were dismissed from Kingston to organize a church in it. On February 22, 1760, another section in the west of Kingston was incorporated and called Hawke (now Danville). On October 25, 1749, the Masonian proprietors granted the Town of Salisbury (then Stevens Town), N. H., to fifty-seven grantees, of whom fify- four belonged to Kingston. Soon after quite a colony from Kingston settled in that place. Among these was Ebenezer Webster, the father of Daniel and Ezekiel Webster, and so-on after, Dr. Joseph Bartlett and his wife Hannah (Colcord) , the parents of Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth. The people of Kingston felt a deep interest in the prosperity of the colonies that went out from the town. They divided their parsonage property with the society at East Kingston, and the proprietors voted "to assist to build a meeting-house in Salisbury like that in East Kingston, and a pulpit like the one in Hawke, and that Ebenezer Webster, Joseph Bean, and Capt. John Calef must see that the work is done in a workmanlike manner." Some years later, when called upon to choose a representative to the Assembly to meet in Exeter, December, 1775, they voted that "No person [i.e., from Kingston] be allowed a seat in that Congress who shall, by himself or any other person, before said choice treat with liquor." (Showing they had already at this early day discovered the cloven foot of the old devil, Intemperance.) Mr. Seccombe's ministry continued till his death, September 15, 1763, nearly twenty-three years, during which he baptized 1,257 persons, old and young, and received to the church 338 members, most of them joining after a revival, which commenced some five years after his installation. Mr. Seccombe took no active part in the contention which arose in the churches respecting the labors of Mr. Whitefield. While Messrs. Coffin, of East Kingston, and Fogg, of Kensington, signed a letter desiring their brethren not to admit Whitefield into their pulpits, Mr. Seccombe probably sympathized with his views and profited by his labors. In about eighteen months from the death of Mr. Seccombe the town gave a call to Mr. Amos Toppan, who accepted, and was their pastor for nearly nine years, till his death, June 23, 1771. From this time the church was vacant over five years, during which they were supplied by Mr. Stephen Pea- body, Nathaniel Niles, Stephen Lancaster, Joshua Noyes, Moses Everett, Joseph Appleton, and probably others. Some of them declined the calls which they received, and others were not invited to settle with them. The political discussions had invaded the religious societies. In 1757 the Baptists and the Quakers had refused to aid in the support of public worship. Afterwards, if anyone did not wish to pay his proportion of such expenses, he could join Page 497 the Quakers or Baptists and be released from that part of the taxes paid by the rest of the town. In 1763 the town treasurer records, "Paid Benj. Collins £7 10S. for being a Quaker, and Jonathan Collins £3 S shillings." In 1775 the town voted "not to raise any money for preeching." In the year following Mr. Elihu Thayer was called at a salary of sixty pounds lawful money, use of parsonage, and twenty cords of wood, and ordained December 18, 1776. He soon took a high place, not only in his parish, but in the com- munity about Kingston, as a man of piety and learning. For more than thirty-five years, till his death, April 3, 1812, he retained his well-earned reputation in the town and throughout the state. During this long period we have no account of any other organized religious society except the Metho- dists, a feeble band, organized in 1801. The year after his death a census of the 129 families in the town "showed that eighty-two of them" preferred the Congregational denomination, and "forty-seven the Baptists, Universalists, or Methodists," who, it seems, united their forces. Dr. John H. Church, of Pelham, preached the sermon at the funeral of Doctor Thayer, upon the text (Ezekiel xxxiii. 33), "Then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them." From this time the town had no settled minister till Rev. John Turner was installed, January 1, 1818. The town officers withheld a part of the income of the parsonage fund, and it was used to pay for preaching different doctrines. From this time any person in town who pays any tax can withdraw a portion of that money yearly, and direct that it be used for a different purpose. Though the town had settled Mr. Turner, the party opposed to the rate shut the church against him, and Deacon Stevens, for forcibly entering it, was fined and imprisoned for thirty days. The opposition was so violent that Mr. Turner was dismissed May 1, 1823. Mr. Patton, in manuscript, says, "If Mr. Turner had possessed the wisdom of the serpent and the harm- lessness of the dove, he could not have escaped censure." The town officers set a guard from Saturday till Monday at the doors of the meeting-house, and the Congregational people withdrew from the place where their fathers wor- shiped, and in 1825 erected a new meeting-house, which was enlarged in 1841, and remodeled in 1879. From this time the town and the churches have been independent of each other, except that the town holds the funds given for the support of the gospel, including the legacy of the first pastor of the Congrega- tional Church, and that church and society have usually received about one- fourth of the income from it. The preachers in the Congregational Church since 1823 have been Rev. Ira Pearson, seven years; A. Govan, two years; George w. Thompson, three years; Samuel Mason, three years; John Smith, two years; John H. Mellish, twelve years; S. Bixby, three years; and J. Chapman, seven years, closing July, 1879, and several others for shorter periods. Mr. G. B. Balch was ordained pastor August 4, 1881, and served to 1884 and was followed by Thomas W. Minnis, 1884-86; Josepb Ham- mond, supplied, 1887-89; D. W. Morgan, supplied, 1889-93; William F. Warren, acting pastor, 1893-98; Joseph W. Strout, settled, 1899-1909; Fred V. Slavley, 1910-12; Henry R. McCartney, 1913-14. Universalists ministers preached more or less regularly in Kingston in 1833 and probably before that time. The first record of an annual meeting Page 498 under a constitution bears date March 28, 1851. The first settled preacher was Rev. Rowland Connor, whose term of service came to an end by resigna- bon Apnl 17, 1865. Other minsters preaching for greater or less periods, were N. R. Wright, T. B. Thayer, D. D., Ada C. Bowles and A. J. Patter- son, D. D. On the death of Mrs. Miranda S. Bassett, the homestead left her by her husband, in accordance with her will became the parsonage of the society. Since 1902 this has been occupied by the present pastor, Rev. Frank W. Whippen and his family. Mr. Whippen began his ministerial services in the spring of 1899, and those have continued uninterrupted to the present time. As stated before the Methodists organized in 1801. A church was built in 1846 and the vestibule, belfry and vestry were added in 1878 when Rev. Charles H. Chase was pastor. During Rev. J. H. Knott's pastorate in 1894 the pews which had faced the door were turned around and the pulpit also changed. In 1910, through the efforts of Rev. Clarence Reed, new pews were put in place and a bell was given by Mr. Albert Brown. At the 1914 conference Rev. J. N. Bradford was appointed pastor. His immediate predecessors have been Rev. H. P. Copp and Rev. R. S. Gieplily. The early settlers of Kingston were not unmindful of the education of their children. In 1700 they set apart lands for the support of schools. But the pursuit of knowledge then and there was attended by many difficulties unknown in the present age. The people incurring such great expenses in clearing their lands, erecting their houses, building roads, bridges, mills, etc., besides supporting the military companies necessary to protect their lives and their property, had but little money left to build the schoolhouse or pay the schoolmaster. Even when by hard labor they earned a little money, it was not safe to keep it long for use. Frequently in a few months their money would lose much of its value. Their paper money was of such a poor quality that it often deteriorated in the hands of the collector of taxes, or of the town treasurer, before he could pay it out for the proper objects, and the town would have to pay him for his losses. Then the inhabitants were scattered so widely that it was extremely diffi- cult to bring the children together into the school when they were in danger, during the long, lonely walks through the forests, from the wild beasts and from the still more fearful savages waiting to kill the little ones or carry them into captivity. Notwithstanding all these discouragements they did not hesitate to tax themselves for the support of their teachers and their preachers. They wanted well-educated men for pastors and teachers. Benjamin Choat, A. B., of Harvard, who was the first preacher, it is said, taught school in the garrison-house, where the children were safer from the attacks of the Indians. They had no spelling-books, grammars, and geo- graphies, but used the Testament and the Psalter as reading-books, For writing and ciphering they probably used, as in other places, the bark of the birch-tree. Still, some of these pupils became quite familiar with the science of numbers, and with practical geometry and surveying. When we consider the imperfections of their instruments, and the other difficulties they had to encounter, we wonder that they were so accurate in their surveys. In respect to orthography, punctuation, and the use of capitals they were Page 499 not particular. The modes of spelling differed widely, for Johnson, Walker, and Webster had not put the words of our language in proper shape. The same writer would sometimes spell a word in two or three different ways on the same page, using such letters as would express the sound of the word as spoken. I will give a specimen, taken verbatim et literatim from a manuscript in the Provincial Court papers: "Mar. 2, 1695 at a meeting of Kingstown men in Kingstown to chuse cunstabules & selectmen, we have chose John Mason & Ebenezer Webster for cunstabules & James Prescut sener & Isaac Godfrey Gershom Elkins for select- men of the town." We find in the records frequent notices of the expenses incurred in sup- porting the schools. In 1733 "Pd. Mr. Choat for Keeping school £1 16s." . In 1745, Matthew Campbell was a schoolmaster. Jeremiah Webster was for some time a teacher, and Jacob Bailey, a graduate 0£ Harvard, and afterwards rector of an Episcopal Church in Annapolis, N. S. In 1750 a colony from Kingston settled in Stevenstown (now Salisbury). During twenty-five years the enterprising people of Salisbury sent fifteen students through Dartmouth College, including the Websters, Ezekiel and Daniel, and a son of the first physician (Dr. Joseph Bartlett), who became Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth. In January, 1770, the town "Voted to give the money for which the school lands were sold to the commoners or proprietors to settle the dispute with Hampstead, etc." The commencement of the war in 1775 was a great injury to the prosperity of the schools and the churches. After many years the interest in education was revived. "In 1826, Lieut. Thomas Elkins left by will $2000, $1000 for schools & $1000 for the support of the poor. He was the first (except Rev. Ward Clark) who left any legacy to the town. He was the son of a farmer, descended from one of the first settlers. He was a man of industry, integrity & economy." (C. Patten's MS.) Mr. Elkins had no child, and left about ten thousand dollars. Mr. Peter French, afterwards left a certain sum of money the income of which is to be devoted to the benefit of the academy, if that institution is kept open, under faithful teachers. He always shrank from official position, but was bound up in the cause of education. As evidence of that he left in his will a bequest of a tract of woodland, which was to be sold and invested in safe corporations, the interest to be applied to the payment of teachers in Kingston Academy, who should be a Methodist or member of some other evangelical denomination, etc. This land was sold for $4,600, and after deducting expenses gave a permanent fund of $3,000. This amount given from an estate which inventoried not more than ten thousand dollars, shows the wonderful liberality of the gift and the giver. Mrs. French still survives, although in feeble health. Kingston Academy.--The building was erected in 1819 at an expense of $1,500. It was commenced under the patronage of the Methodist denomina- tion, being, I think, the second institution of the kind under their management in New Hampshire. There was a hall finished over the school rooms, and after the old church became unfit for use the Methodist Society worshiped in this hall; but in a few years the control of the institution passed into the hands of a board of trustees of different denominations. Page 500 About the year 1856, by a mutual arrangement, the town took charge of the academy building and lot, enlarged and repaired the house, and continued to occupy more than half of it, while the trustees held possession of two rooms on the first floor. I have not space to name here the prominent men who have studied in this institution. The list of teachers contains the names of many well-known public men. Ex-Governor Noyes has been named. He married 15th of February, 1863, Margarette W. Proctor, of Kingston. He has been governor of Ohio, and United States minister to France, etc. Thomas W. Knox, the famous author of books of travel, and various others might be named. The Hon. Josiah Bartlett, M. D., was perhaps more widely known than any other citizen of Kingston. He was great-grandson of the emigrant Richard Bartlett (I), who came to Newbury, Mass., in 1635, and died in 1647. His son, Richard (2), born in 1621, died in 1698, leaving a son Richard (3), whose sixth son, Stephen, born in I691, was the father of Doctor Josiah (5), born in Amesbury, Mass., November 21, 1728, who mar- ried January 15, 1754, his cousin, Mary Bartlett, of Newton, and had twelve children. In 1750 he settled in Kingston and soon acquired celebrity by his successful treatment of the throat distemper, so prevalent and so fatal. In 1765 he engaged in political affairs, and became very popular and influential. In 1776-78 he was a member of the Continental Congress. He is said to have been the first man who signed the Declaration of Independence. His biography may be found in the first volume of "The Lives of the Signers of the Declaration," etc. He was the first governor of New Hampshire. For near ten years he held the office of chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas or of the Superior Court. He died May 19, 1795, aged sixty-five years. Sanborn Seminary was built and endowed by Major Edward S. Sanborn, a native of Kingston, in order that he might provide better educational facili- ties for Kingston and the surrounding towns. The school qualifies for any college or technical school, or gives a literary and scientific training of the first order for students of both sexes, who do not intend to continue their school life after graduating from the seminary. The board of trustees con- sists of C. M. Collins, Joseph Wiggin, Samuel C. Prescott, Louis G. Hoyt, John F. Swasey and Rev. Rufus P. Gardner. Z. Willis Kemp is principal with nine instructors. The seminary commenced its twenty-fourth year with ninety-one students. MILITARY RECORD, 1861-65 Simon P. Fifield, 2d N. H.; William H. Quimby, 2d N. H.; John S. Sweatt, 3d N. H.; Frederic Silloway, 3d N. H.; Daniel P. Seaver, 3d N. H.; Samuel E. Moore, 3d N. H.; Josiah F. Hunt, 3d N. H.; George W. Collins, 4th N. H.; Levin B. Martine, 4th N. H.; George E. Schelling, 4th N. H.; Andrew J. Collins, 4th N. H.; George F. Quimby, 4th N. H.; Edwin S. Brown, 4th N. H.; Elbridge G. Towle, 4th N. H.; John Nickett, 4th N. H.; Frank Monihan, 4th N. H.; Andrew J. Johnson, 4th N. H.; George Davis, 5th N. H.; Andrew J. Davis, 5th N. H.; Peter Handy, 6th N. H.; Timothy Littlefield, 6th N. H.; George Crosbury, 6th N. H.; Osborne P. Webster, 7th N. H. ; Alexander Durant, 7th N. H.; George W. Bean, 7th N. H.; James W. Marshall, 7th N. H.; Benjamin Silloway, 7th N. H.; David S. Davis, Page 501 7th N. H.; John Silloway, 7th N. H.; John C. Coons, 7th N. H.; Perley P. Chase, 14th Mass.; George Stevens, 14th Mass.; Hazen Davis, 14th Mass.; Joseph Nickett, 14th Mass.; George P. Lowry, 14th Mass.; Frank Nickett, 14th Mass.; Joseph R. Sanborn, 8th Mass.; Stephen M. Bragdon, 5th Mass.; Josiah B. Gale, 12th Mass.; Samuel Curtis, 12th Mass.; William P. Chase, 1st Mass.; John O. Davis, 11th Mass.; Henry L. Patten, 20th Mass.; Warren A. Webster, 22d Mass.; Simon S. Johnson, 22d Mass.; Stephen S. Ruse, 28th Mass.; Amos George, 48th Mass.; Robert George, 48th Mass.; Isaiah Tucker, 7th N. H.; Daniel P. DeRochemont, 50th Mass.; Charles A. Davis, 50th Mass.; George Huse, 11th N. H.; S. B. T. Goodrich, 7th N. H.; John Peirce, 48th Mass.; James Peirce, 22d Mass.; Frank Prescott, 48th Mass.; Thomas Geer; John P. Bean, 11th N. H.; Jeremiah T. Curtis; Edmund Q. Brown, 1st Cav.; Addison Griffin, 1st Cav.; John T. Crosbury , 1st Cav.; John Bellows, 1st Cav.; George M. Keezer, 1st Cav.; John W. Quimby, 1st Cav.; Charles Tibbets, 1st Cav.; Samuel Goodwin, 1st Cav.; John A. Follet, 1st Cav.; Charles R. Schelling, 99th N. Y.; Howard DeRochemont, 5th Conn.; William M. Simonton, 11th Me.; Joseph H. Flagg; Daniel L. Goodwin; Nathaniel C. Brown, 7th N. H.; Elihu T. French, 7th N. H.; Thomas Martin, 7th N. H.; Hiram F. Davis, 7th N. H.; John Colby, 7th N. H.; John Lucy, 7th N. H.: William G. Wilson, 7th N. H.; George S. Wetherell, 8th N. H.; Calvin D. Wetherell, 8th N. H.; Abraham Sanborn, 9th N. H.; Henry Davis, 9th N. H.; Stephen M. Judkins, 9th N. H.; Charles H. Webster, 9th N. H.; Joel S. Collins, 9th N. H.; Joel Judkins, 9th N. H.; Hiram Glines, 9th N. H.; Benjamin Severance, 9th N. H.; John C. McDaniels, 9th N. H.; Alfred P. DeRochemont, 9th N. H.; Oren S. Silloway, 1st N. H. Battery; Frank Center, 1st N. H. Battery; C. Fred. Myers, sharpshooter; Daniel Colcord, 14th Mass.; Richard H. Davis, 14th Mass.; Marcus M. Bartlett, 14th Mass.; George A. Bartlett, 14th Mass.; William J. Bartlett, 14th Mass.; George P. Severance, 14th Mass.; John W. Swett, 14th Mass.; Moses E. Smith, 14th Mass.; Warren P. Shaw; Joseph George; Franklin B. Goodwin; Otis Tucker; Elbridge G. Collins; Moses Chase; Gilman Crane, 11th N. H.; William A. Cheney, 5th N. H.; Edward L. Cheney, 5th N. H.; John T. Webster, 5th N. H.; James W. Silloway, 5th N. H.; George B. Dudley, 5th N. H.; John W. Hoyt, 5th N. H.; Obadiah S. Collins, 5th N. H.; John A. Webster, 6th N. H. The quota of Kingston was 150 men; 152 were put in. This list contains 118. Re-enlisted soldiers and substitutes, residence unknown, twenty-four. Nichols Memorial Library, Kingston.--In the year 1892 the town voted to establish a public library. In 1894 the library was opened in the select- men's room of the town hall building. In 1898 the present beautiful and commodious building was erected by Mr. J. Howard Nichols in memory of his parents, Nicholas and Mary Barstow Nichols, and on June 8th was pre- sented to the town and accepted and dedicated with appropriate exercises. The trustees of Sanborn Seminary and the trustees of the library made an arrangement for the mutual benefit whereby the library of the seminary, consisting of some fifteen hundred volumes, was placed in the new building, and the Kingston Public Library and that of Sanborn Seminary were prac- tically combined in the Nichols Memorial Library. Page 502 The library has steadily grown since 1898, having at present 6,057 books. Mrs. Nellie F. Ingalls is librarian. The lawyer is Louis G. Hoyt and the physicians are P. F. Joyce, T. 0. Reynolds and H. L. Sweeney. Societies.--Gideon Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; Corinthian Chapter, 0. E. S.; Columbian Lodge, I. 0. 0. F.; Ruth Rebekah Lodge.