Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire by Mary P. Thompson, Durham, N.H. ©1892, Printed by the Republican Press Association, Concord, N.H. LANDMARK: Back River, Cedar point, Johnson's creek bridge NAMES: MILLER, Joseph; GODDARD, John Back River. The early settlers gave this name to the river at the west side of Dover Neck, as far as the head of tide water, above which it was called Bellamy's Bank river or freshet¹ to its source in Barrington. It is mentioned as early as Sept 20, 1647, when Joseph Miller conveyed to John Goddard 20 acres on the west side of Back river. The name is still retained. Back River, as a district, is also frequently mentioned in the public records of the last 200 years. It comprises the whole territory between Back river itself, and the Durham line from Cedar point to Johnson's creek bridge. ¹ The name of "freshet" was given by the early settlers to the fresh portion of a stream, to distinguish it from the tidal part towards the mouth, which is salt. "Oyster river freshet," and Bellamy Bank freshet," are often men- tioned in the old records, meaning that part of those streams above the head of tide water. an English critic, objecting to Dr. Jeremy Belknap's use of this term as unknown to him, Belknap replied, "Our forefathers brought the word from England,"and he cited "Milton's Paradise Regained" as good autho- rity for its use: "All fish from sea or shore, Freshet or purling brook, or shell or fin" (See Belknap's History of New Hampshire (1792) Vol. III, Preface.) PG 10 - Submitted by C. Parziale **************************************************************************** * * * * Notice: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter informa- tion is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.