Extended Notes on Characters in The Tory Lover
Cæsar - Slaves in colonial South
Berwick.
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett
remembers the arrangement of a church that included places for
slaves: "I remember that the unpainted woodwork had taken a
beautiful brown tint with age, and that it used to be a vast
pleasure in my childhood to steal into the silent place, and to
sit alone, or with small, whispering friends, in one of the
high, square pews. The arrangement of the pews and benches
reminded one of the time when there was such careful attention
paid to social precedence, and provision made for the colored
people, of whom there were formerly a large number in Berwick,
and many of them have been excellent citizens. Most of the
prominent families in this part of New England, near tide water,
possessed one or more African slaves in the last century; and
one may still hear delightful stories of their strange traits of
inheritance and their loyal affection to the families which they
adopted as their own, and were always ready to champion. A
little sandy hill, just below the Landing, and above the old
river path that leads to Leigh's, now Yeaton's mills, still
bears the name of Cato's Hill, from the fact that the sunny sand
bank near the top was the favorite retreat of an ancient member
of the household of Gen. Lord (see below). Cato was a native
Guineaman, and the last generation loved to recall the tradition
of his droll ways and speeches."
Also in local church records Negroes,
slaves, and servants known by first name only are baptized and
accepted into membership, but none are recorded that correspond
to slaves or servants mentioned in The Tory Lover,
except for Cato Lord.
See also, "Black
Sara."
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From Chadbourne family genealogy:
JUDGE BENJAMIN 5 CHADBOURNE (41. William 4 Humphrey 3-2 William 1), born Berwick 23 July 1718; baptized 15 Feb 1718/9; died Berwick 16 Mar 1799, age 82 (Young's Index, 4); married first Berwick 21 July 1742 (BVR, 113) SARAH HEARD, baptized Berwick 17 June 1722 (BVR, 212), died 23 Nov 1750 (ibid, 212), daughter of James 4 (Capt John 3 Ens James 2 John 1) and Mary (Roberts) Heard (BVR, 212); married second 10 Oct 1751 (BVR, 113) MARY CHESLEY, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Weeks) Chesley of Durham NH BVR, 212; Leonard Weeks and Family of Greenland NH). He was commonly referred to as "Judge Benjamin."William Williamson in The History of the State of Maine writes of Benjamin Chadbourne (sometimes spelled "Chadbourn"): "Mr. Chadbourn represented Berwick, his native town, 16 years in the General Court. He was elected into the Council, for Sagadahock, in 1774, and for Maine the two succeeding years. He was likewise a member of the Executive Council several years under the Constitution [of the Commonwealth, after 1780]; and a Judge of the Common Pleas. He was the great grandson of Humphrey Chadbourn, who came and settled at Newichawannock in 1636; and it is believed, his father, of the same name, was a member from Berwick several years in the General Court" (v. 2, ch. 17).
Benjamin probably served as captain in Col Jonathan Bagley's regiment at Louisburg 1745 and with Col Nathaniel Sparhawk in 1762 (American Officers in French and Indian War, NEHGS). He was called Colonel as well as Judge, was an attorney and counselor at law, a colonel in the militia, and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was representative from Berwick for fifteen years from 1756 to 1771, elected by the legislature to serve as Senator to the Massachusetts Legislature from York Co in 1780 (H-Saco & Biddeford, 290). He was a member of the Governor's Council and one of the founders of Berwick Academy, established in
1791. For the Academy he gave ten acres of land in the finest possible situation, and a sum of money besides, to begin the subscription.
Judge Benjamin had purchased much of his brothers' and sisters' share of the family homestead and, therefore, owned much of the original acreage along the Salmon Falls River. In 1761 he purchased from his uncle Humphrey land in S Berwick. He lived there, in a humbler house built after 1720 at 30 Liberty St, [page 84]courtesy of Howard Kaepplein [page 86] while building his mansion house at Liberty and Vine Sts. In a letter dated 26 June 1768, Mary Chesley was admitted from Durham to South Berwick church (Libby's handwritten note in copy of Old Berwick).
Benjamin raised a new house and barn 12 June 1770. In addition to his Berwick properties, he received liberal grants of land in Lebanon. He wrote about 1791 that "no house stands between here and Canada not built within my memory" (probably due to Indian attacks).
Rev John Lord, in his historical address on Berwick Academy, refers to Judge Chadbourn as:
"a veritable patrician, with a great landed estate which his ancestors purchased from the Indians. He lived in a fine colonial residence, surrounded by noble elms. He sent John Hancock a large number of elms from his Berwick estate, to be planted on Boston Common, where some still exist."
Sarah Orne Jewett has made Judge Chadbourn one of the characters of her historical romance The Tory Lover, picturing him as an "old man of singular dignity and kindliness of look." These biographical details are from William M Emery's Chadbourne-Chadbourn Genealogy. The 1790 Census lists 2 males over 16, none under 16, and 2 females in Benjamin's household.
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett writes: "I shall take the liberty of quoting from the historical address given at the celebration of the academy's hundredth year, by Rev. John Lord, LL. D., one of the most gifted and best known pupils of the old hill school.
'The founders,' says Dr. Lord, 'were all honorable men, at least they were all respectable citizens in this prominent village, or were distinguished clergymen or lawyers in the neighboring towns. Primus inter pares, there was old Judge Benjamin Chadbourne, a veritable patrician, with a great landed estate, which his ancestor purchased from the Indians." Here we find the great-grandson of that Humphrey Chadbourne who came with the earliest settlers, and was for many years their leader. The late President Chadbourne of Williams College belonged to a later generation of the same family. "Judge Chadbourne lived in a fine colonial residence surrounded by noble elms, not far from the Vineyard, and was a great lover of trees. He gave to his friend, John Hancock, a large number of elms from his Berwick estate to be planted on Boston Common, where some of them still exist.'
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Duke and Duchess of Chartres
(23, 39): Louis Philippe Joseph (1747-1793) was Duke of Chartres
and then Duc d'Orléans, a French nobleman, cousin of King Louis
XVI.
According to Encarta Encyclopedia,
during the French Revolution, he "adopted the name Philippe
Égalité. Before the Revolution, he distributed books and papers
throughout France advocating liberal ideas. In June 1789, during
the meeting of the Estates-General summoned by the king, he led
the 47 nobles who seceded from their own order to join the
revolutionary third estate. He was elected to the National
Convention and voted for the death of Louis XVI. In 1793, during
the Reign of Terror, he was guillotined. His son Louis Philippe
became king of France in 1830.
In Paul Jones, Buell identifies
him as "the Sailor Prince," and says that he was "selected in
1774 to succeed the Duke de Bourbon-Penthievre in the office of
High Admiral of France.... He had a few years before married
Mary Adelaide de Bourbon-Penthievre, daughter of the High
Admiral. She was one of the most beautiful and accomplished
women of her time; granddaughter of the Count de Toulouse, High
Admiral of France at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century,
Commander of the French fleet in the great battle of Malaga in
1704.... The Count de Toulouse was a son of Louis XIV. by Madame
de Montespan ...." (1;25-6). S. E. Morison and Evan Thomas
generally corroborate this account. Morison identifies the
Duke's father-in-law as Grand Admiral of France (173). Evan
Thomas notes that the duke was "Grand Master of all the Masonic
lodges in France," an important connection between him and John
Paul Jones (142).
Jewett says the Duchess of Chartres was
Jones's "good angel" in France (Chapter 39). Thomas suggests
that Jones's relationship with the Duchess was quite limited
(145).
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Judge Curwen (38): Samuel
Curwen (1715-1802) was American-born and a judge of Admiralty in
the British colonial administration of the American colonies, a
loyalist with a complex attitude toward his homeland, and an
American refugee in England from 1775-1784. Journal and
Letters of the Late Samuel Curwen (1842) -- edited by
George Atkinson Ward (1793-1864) -- indicates the complexity of
the positions of some loyalists. On the title page of his book
appears this quotation from 1780: "For my native country I feel
a filial fondness; her foibles I lament, her misfortunes I pity;
her good I ardently wish, and to be restored to her embraces is
the warmest of my desires."
During his period as a refugee in
England, he traveled widely, recording his impressions in his
journal. These, along with his letters, offer a good glimpse of
the thoughts and feelings of a principled Tory and of the
difficulties such refugees faced. Following is a sample letter
of June 1776 to Charles Russell.
TO DR. CHARLES RUSSELL, ANTIGUA.
London, June 10, 1776.DEAR SIR:
I congratulate you on your retreat from the land of oppression and tyranny; for surely, greater never appeared since the days of Nimrod. I sincerely wish well to my native country, and am of opinion that the happiness of it depends on restraining the violences and outrages of profligate and unprincipled men, who run riot against all the laws of justice, truth and religion. Sad and deplorable is the condition of those few that like Abdiel, amidst hostile bands of fallen spirits, retain their primitive loyalty. So strangely unprosperous hitherto have been the measures of administration in America, that the active provincials have taken courage, and accomplished what in contemplation would have appeared morally impossible. Gen. Burgoyne sailed from hence ten weeks ago for Canada with four thousand Brunswickers and seven or eight regiments; Lord Howe in the Eagle about a month, and the first division of Hessians, consisting of eight or ten thousand, about a fortnight before him. Gen. Howe, his brother, with nine thousand was at Halifax the beginning of April. The second division, ('tis said,) will sail this week, consisting of four thousand, which completes the whole number of foreign troops. The whole of the regular army on the continent will not be short of forty thousand men. It is surprising what little seeming effect the loss of American orders has on the manufactories; they have been in full employ ever since the dispute arose; stocks are not one jot lessened, the people in general little moved by it; business and amusements so totally engross all ranks and orders here that administration finds no difficulty on that score to pursue their plans. The general disapprobation of that folly of independence which America now evidently aims at, makes it a difficult part for her friends to act.
By letters from Salem to the 16th April I find they were in a quiet state there, and hugging themselves in the fatal error that government had abandoned the design of reducing them to obedience. Six vessels laden with refugees are arrived from Halifax, amongst whom are R. Lechmere, I. Vassal, Col. Oliver, Treasurer Gray, etc. Those who bring property here may do well enough, but for those who expect reimbursement for losses, or a supply for present support, will find to their cost the hand of charity very cold ; the latter may be kept from starving, and beyond that their hopes are vain. "Blessed is he (saith Pope) that expecteth nothing, for he shall never be disappointed;" nor a more interesting truth was ever uttered.
I find my finances so visibly lessening, that I wish I could remove from this expensive country, (being heartily tired of it,) and old as I am, would gladly enter into a business connection anywhere consistently with decency and integrity, which I would fain preserve. The use of the property I left behind me I fear I shall never be the better for; little did I expect from affluence to be reduced to such rigid economy as prudence now exacts. To beg is a meanness I wish never to be reduced to, and to starve is stupid; one comfort, as I am fast declining into the vale of life, my miseries cannot probably be of long continuance.
With great esteem, etc.
S. CURWEN.
Mr. & Mrs. John Davis of
Bristol, England (32):
It is not clear to what degree this
couple is based on historical persons. Graham Frater's
research in Bristol provides this information: Responding to the
suggestion that John Davis might have been based on an
historical figure, Sheila Lang of the Bristol Records Office
writes 'I have found references, including letters, relating to
a Captain John Davis who was voyaging to Barbados in 1723, in a
Bristol Record Society publication: The Trade of Bristol in
the 18th Century, edited by W. E Minchinton, (BRS Vol 20).
There is no John Davis in our lists of Aldermen of the city for
the 18th century.'
In Chapter 32, Jewett establishes a
series of relationships that are complicated and that tie Mrs.
Davis, Mary Hamilton and Madam Wallingford together in a common
ancestry with one of the great heroines of the Piscataqua
settlement, Hetty Goodwin, whose story is given in Jewett's
version, in the entry on Hetty Goodwin. Mrs. Goodwin's captivity
story is itself complicated, and much might be said about what
it means to connect Mary and Madam Wallingford with Hetty.
Jewett indicates that Mrs. Davis is the
youngest daughter of Hetty Goodwin and is kin to Mary's own
people as well as to the Wallingfords. This daughter of Hetty
has married the son of a wealthy Bristol merchant, older than
she, who is called "Sir" in Chapter 33 and who is an alderman.
He is supercargo of the beautiful ship, The Rose and Crown,
when he meets and courts his wife. He promises her that she will
visit home every other year -- because she is so attached to her
mother -- but fails to keep this promise. What basis is there in
fact for these characters and their relationships?
The Wallingford - Hetty Goodwin Connection
This is quite complicated. The
Chadbourne family web site provides this sketch of Mehitable and
Thomas Goodwin's family (I have put some key parts in boldface):
http://www.chadbourne.org/Gen4.htmlWe can note that none of Hetty's daughters married John Davis of Bristol, though some people thought Mary married a John Davis. And we see, of course, that Hetty's youngest son married into the Wallingford family. According to the Wallingford family web site, the children of Judge Thomas Wallingford (see below) by his first wife, Margaret Clements, were:20. THOMAS C4 GOODWIN SR (5. Margaret C3 Spencer, Patience 2 William 1), born Berwick circa 1657; died before administration of his estate was granted to widow Mehitable 26 Mar 1714 (MPA 2/141,188, 3/64); married 1685 MEHITABLE PLAISTED, born 1670, died after 2 June 1740 (YD), daughter of Roger and Olive (Coleman) Plaisted.
He and his wife and infant son were captured by Indians at William Love's Inn at Salmon Falls ME.
"Thomas and Mehitable were separated after capture and each believed the other dead; indeed a local tradition says that "Hetty" took to herself a new husband in Canada and left him when she learned that Thomas was living. This seems doubtful, as no record of the marriage has been found. Mehitable's story has been printed in the Magnalia and elsewhere.
She had a cruel captor who was disturbed by the wailing of her young baby. To quiet the child she would sit for hours in the snow far from the fire, but the Indian, impatient of her slow progress, snatched it from her arms and killed it.
Three years later, at Montreal, on Monday, 11 May, 1693, there was solemnly baptized an English woman, called in her own country, Mehetabel and by the French, who captured her in war 18 March 1690, Esther, who, born at Barwic, in New England 30 April (old style or 19 May new style) 1670, of the marriage of Roger Pleisted, Protestant, and of Olive Colman, of the same religion, and married to Thomas Gouden, also Protestant, living since nearly three years in the service of Mademoiselle de Nauguiere. She was named Marie Esther... "
(Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada I:185-186)."Hitobl Goodin" was one of those redeemed in Oct 1695 by Mathew Cary (ibid, I:74). She and Thomas settled at Old Fields, S Berwick. In Feb 1726, widow Mehitable sold land in Berwick which had been sold to Daniel Goodwin in 1674 from Moses Spencer (YD). Her handmade gravestone is in the Old Fields burying ground in Berwick (Coleman I:186).
Children, surname GOODWIN:
i. son C5, killed by Indians 1690 (Cotton Mather: Magnalia Christie Americana).
ii. THOMAS JR, b Kittery 29 July 1697 (KVR, 11); living Oct 1755; m 2 Dec 1722 ELIZABETH BUTLER, b & bpt Berwick 22 Sep 1699, dau of Thomas and Elizabeth (Abbott) Butler and niece of Sarah Abbott who m Thomas Wills (LND, 57-8). Children, surname Goodwin: 1. Elisha, bpt S Berwick 9 Oct 1726, m Sarah _____, at Blueberry Hill, 10 ch. 2. Thomas, bpt 9 Oct 1726, m1 Mary Hicks, m2 Eunice Lord. 3. Olive, bpt 26 July 1728, m 19 Dec 1745 S Berwick Nathan Lord Jr, 4 ch. 4. Moses, bpt 27 Oct 1728, d 1766, unm. 5. Elizabeth, bpt 9 Aug 1730 or 6 Sep 1730, m1 29 Mar 1752 Alexander Shapleigh who d 1762, she m2 Samuel Jenness of Rye NH, 4 ch. 6. Mary, bpt 15 Apr 1733, d 18 July 1736. 7. James, b 17 Mar 1735, d 18 July 1736. 8. Capt James, bpt 15 May 1737, m Sarah Griffith. 9. Mollie, bpt 25 Jan 1740, unm 1766.
iii. ICHABOD, b Kittery 1 June 1700 (KVR, 11); d 27 Oct 1777 (Master Tate's Diary); m 25 Aug 1729 ELIZABETH SCAMMON, d 8 Feb 1774 (NH Gazette, 60), dau of Capt Humphrey of Saco. He was a blacksmith of Berwick 1728/9. 10 children, surname Goodwin: 1. Hannah, b 24 July 1730, m 23 Nov 1749 Tristram Jordan who d 1821, age 90, 3 ch. 2. Ichabod, b 17 Aug 1732, d 1732. 3. Humphrey, b 24 Dec 1735, d 26 Aug 1736. 4. Mary, b 24 Jan 1736/7, d 16 Apr 1774, age 37 (NH Gazette, 60), m1 Blackberry Hill, Berwick, Foxwell Curtis Cutts, son of Richard Cutts, m2 S Berwick
1762 Rev John Fairfield, son of William Fairfield, 5 ch. 5. Ichabod, b & d 1739. 6. Dominicus, b 24 Apr 1741, m1 Hannah Hill, d Berwick 10 Mar 1772 (Master Tate's Diary, 183); m2 Elizabeth (Littlefield) Perkins. 7. Ichabod, b 14 May 1743, m Mary Wallingford. 8. Samuel, b 17 Aug 1745, unm. 9. Elizabeth, b 25 Dec 1748, unm. 10. Sally, b 21 Apr 1754, m1 S Berwick 24 Apr 1772 Temple Hight, son of William Hight, m2 Rishworth Jordan, son of Judge Rishworth Jordan, 5 ch.iv. MEHITABLE, b ca 1702; d 1761 (GDMNH); m before 1758 THOMAS BUTLER, b Berwick 6 Mar 1698 (KVR, 17), d between 12 Feb 1759 (date of will) and 4 Apr 1759 (date of proving; MW 864-5), son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Abbott) Butler (KVR, 17). They lived in Portsmouth. She is probably the Bial who owned the covenant on 20 May 1716, name shortened by Rev Wise. Children, named in father's will, surname Butler: 1. Moses. 2. Thomas. 3. Olive. 4. Elizabeth. 5. Mary. 6. Samuel. 7. (LND, 124, says 7 children).
v. OLIVE, bpt Berwick 14 Mar 1707/8 (NEHGR 82[1928]:75); d 12 May 1772 (LND, 188) or 10 June 1774 (Master Tate's Diary, 189); m by 1758 TIMOTHY DAVIS of Berwick, bpt 25 Dec 1715, d 10 June 1774 (ibid), possibly son of James and Susanna. Child, surname Davis: 1. perhaps Timothy who m Margaret _____ and had children bpt at 1st Congregational Church of Biddeford in the 1750s (MHGR VI & VII).
vi. MARY, b 1708, bpt 18 June 1710; m1 Portsmouth 1729 RICHARD LORD JR, b ca 1708, d ca 1735 (MPA 16/241, 275, 473), son of Capt Richard and Mary (Goodwin) Lord (The supposed marriage to John Davis as reported in NEHGR 25:395 is incorrect); m2 ca 1740 (KVR, 13, MPA 16/241,275,473) JOHN COOPER JR, b 7 Oct 1702, d 1792. Children, surname Lord: 1. Daniel, dy. 2. Richard, dy. 3. Olive, m 25 Aug 1750 Jonathan Abbott Jr (MPA 9/54, 12/376), son of Jonathan and Bathsheba (Brackett) Abbott. Children, surname Cooper: 4. Sarah, bpt 14 Feb 1741/2. 5. Alexander, bpt 18 Aug 1745, m 31 Dec 1756 Patience Goodwin. 6. Mary, bpt 21 Mar 1746/7, m 27 Nov 1765 Moses Warren, son of James. 7. Daniel, bpt 25 May 1749, m 2 Dec 1773 Mary Warren, dau of William. 8. John.
vii. JAMES, m MARGARET WALLINGFORD; both alive 1756. Children, surname Goodwin: 1. Margaret, bpt Berwick 27 Feb 1741/2, m 30 Oct 1763 Thomas Hodgdon Jr, bpt 10 June 1739, will Apr 1810, resided Cranberry Meadow, 5 ch. 2. Mehitable, b Berwick 24 Apr 1744, m 22 Oct 1767 Thomas Chadbourne, b 30 Apr 1743, son of Joseph (see Thomas for 5 ch). 3. Major Jedediah, bpt 18 May 1746, m Hannah Emery. 4. Olive, bpt 28 May 1749, m S Berwick 19 Mar 1770 (BVR) Nehemiah Gray, lived in Coxhall/Lyman, bur Elder Grey Cem, N Waterborough, at least 1 ch. 5. Mary, bpt 4 Feb 1753, m Somersworth 1 Apr 1772 (Master Tate's Diary) Dr Ebenezer Hall. 6. Silas, bpt 8 June 1760, m1 Isabella Bragdon, m2 Anna Clements. 7. Amos Wallingford, bpt 13 Apr 1755, m Eunice Getchell. 8. Thomas, b 14 Jan 1763, m Anna Goodwin. 9. James, taken prisoner in Revolution and d in Halifax prison. 10. Silas, taken prisoner in Revolution and d in Halifax prison.
Hannah born 5 May 1720Though this has not been established beyond doubt, it appears that James, the son of Hetty Goodwin married Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Wallingford by his first wife. Their dates correspond well, and despite appearances, they lived close to each other and were children of powerful and important members of the community. This would make Madam Wallingford kin -- though seemingly fairly distant -- to Hetty Goodwin, in that Madam Wallingford's step-daughter marries Hetty Goodwin's son.
Judith born 25 Mar 1722 Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire
Ebenezer born 21 Jul 1724 died 15 May 1777
Margaret
Abigail born 30 Sep 1726 Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire
Rachel.
Furthermore, according to the Wallingford family web site, General Ichabod Goodwin (grandson of Hetty through her son, Ichabod) also married into the Wallingford family (Molly) in 1768. Molly/Mary was a granddaughter of Judge Thomas Wallingford, the daughter of Captain Thomas Wallingford (the judge's son by his second wife, Mary Pray). This Mary/Molly was Madam Wallingford's step-granddaughter.
Where John Davis of Bristol comes in
The Goodwin family web site lists the
children of James Goodwin (c. 1658 - 1697), half-brother of
Thomas Goodwin (husband of Hetty). James married Sarah Thompson
(1652-1714) in 1686. Their fourth child is:
MARY, (niece of Thomas & Hetty) b 23 May 1691; d between 11 Mar 1756 when she wrote her will and 5 Apr 1763 when Joseph Lord admin it (MPA 11/101); m (NEHGR 25:395) JOHN DAVIS or m ca 1707 (YD 37:225-6) Capt RICHARD LORD, b Kittery 1 Mar 1684/5 (KVR, 29), d before 21 May 1754 when admin granted to Mary (MPA 7/27, 9/229), son of Nathan and Martha (Tozier) Lord of Berwick (LND). Mary may have married second John Davis (LND, Barry Goodwin). Children (MPA 9/53, 11/101), surname Lord: 1. Richard, b 1708, m Mary Lord (#20.vi). 2. Annah, m _____ Shackley. 3. Keziah, m _____ Nason. 4. James. 5. Aaron. 6. Joseph. 7. Jabez.The condition of this list indicates that this family is not well-represented in the records; hence this site is not very sure about Mary's marriage to John Davis. But if the site's guess is correct, then a niece of Hetty Goodwin -- rather than a daughter -- seems to have been married to John Davis, either as a first or last marriage, or perhaps both. Another genealogy web site http://www.weymouthtech.com/Genealogy/ps35/ps35_065.htm) adds the following information:
The NEHGR, Vol. 23 or 24, says "John Davis, of Bristol in Great Brittaine, and Mary Gooding, of Neckswamick, were married 23rd of October, 1718."The author of this web site is persuaded that this Mary Gooding is in fact, James Goodwin's daughter, Mary, and therefore, a niece of Hetty Goodwin. "Neckswamick" or Newickawanock was an earlier name of South Berwick. While this is murky, especially when considering the dates of Mary's marriages and death, and does not square exactly with Madam Wallingford's account of Mrs. Davis's parentage, it is remarkably close. It would make sense for Jewett to possess a version of this story because of her friendship with Madam Wallingford's granddaughter, Mary Cushing Hobbs, daughter of Olive Wallingford Cushing, who was Madam Wallingford's daughter. A glimpse of this friendship appears in "The Old Town of Berwick."
This information makes it probably impossible to determine whether Jewett was fictionalizing identities and relationships she was aware of or reconstructing them from what her friend gave her as oral history and family lore.
Mary Hamilton's kinship with Hetty Goodwin, Madam
Wallingford, and Mrs. Davis
Keeping in mind that we are to
see Mary as Jonathan's sister, this is simpler than discovering
Mrs. Davis's historical model, but still it has its
complications. There are several Hodsden, Hamilton and Goodwin
genealogical web sites available on the Internet; these and
other sources agree that Goodwins and Hamiltons intermarried in
the 18th Century, but they don't exactly agree on who married
whom.
To summarize, Hetty Goodwin's
brother-in-law was Daniel Goodwin. His daughter married a
Hodsdon, and their daughter, Abigail Hodsdon married either Bial
or Abiel Hamilton (See Jonathan Hamilton's entry below). Sources
seem to agree that Abigail Hodsdon was Jonathan's (and so in the
novel, Mary's) grandmother, though his grandfather's identity is
unclear. In either case, Mary's grandmother probably was Hetty
Goodwin's grand niece.
There is a bit more, as well. Everett
Stackpole in Old Kittery and Her Families (1903) says
that Margaret Hodsdon (Abigail's youngest sister) married
Gabriel Hamilton, Bial's younger brother (489). If this is
correct, then there is another small connection between Jonathan
Hamilton and Hetty Goodwin, his uncle having married one of her
grand nieces.
A Sarah Orne Jewett Connection
This is not quite the whole story of
the connections between Mary Hamilton, Mrs. Davis, Mary
Wallingford, and the historical matriarch and heroine, Hetty
Goodwin. We need to keep in mind that for Jewett's purposes in
this novel, a "step-relationship" seems as weighty as a "blood"
relationship, as we see in tracing how Elizabeth Wallingford is
related to Hetty Goodwin.
By a similar relationship, Jewett
herself is related to Jonathan Hamilton, and so to her fictional
Mary, Jonathan's sister, and the historical Mary, Jonathan's
wife. Jonathan's second wife was Charlotte Swett of Exeter (See
Jonathan Hamilton's entry below). After his death, Charlotte
married Governor John Taylor Gilman of Exeter, a great uncle of
Mrs. Theodore Jewett (Sarah's mother).
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General Goodwin:
In Chapter 2, he laments the decline of
law and order, referring to slavers, the minister guesses, and
so leading Jones to raise an issue over which the community is
divided. In Chapter 29, he leads in breaking up the mob that
attacks Mrs. Wallingford.
This is General Ichabod Goodwin
(1743-1829) of Old Fields, grandson of Hetty Goodwin, according
to Jewett in "The Old Town of Berwick"; she also reports that he
was the father of Ichabod Goodwin who became governor of New
Hampshire. At the beginning of the Revolution, the elder Mr.
Goodwin served in the Provincial Congresses of 1775. Williamson
reports in The History of the State of Maine that
Goodwin was put in charge of one of the state's two divisions of
militia in 1783 at the rank of Major-General. (v. 2, ch. 18). It
would appear, therefore, that he did not receive the title of
"general" until after the Revolutionary War. This has not been
verified, however, and further information is welcome.
This anecdotal legend of General
Goodwin is reported in Maine: A Guide 'Down East' by the
Federal Writers' Project (1937):
At one time a band of thieves lived in the near-by Negutaquit Woods. A favorite local folktale tells how the General left for church one Sunday morning with an admonition to his small daughter, who was remaining at home with a servant, to be courteous to any guests who might arrive during his absence. Shortly after his departure, the thieves approached, and the child, unaware of their identity and mindful of her father's orders, importantly assumed her rôle as hostess and asked the maid to prepare food for them. The visitors accepted the hospitality without comment, eating their fill; then they began to collect the family silver and other valuables, packing them in bundles. The child was puzzled and frightened, torn between a suspicion that something was wrong and a fear of violating the laws of hospitality; after she had seen one treasured object after another snatched up, she came forward timidly, offering her own silver cup as a substitute for her mother's possessions. The leader stared at her, abruptly told his men to leave the bundles and led them away. The story is that sometime afterward, when the thieves had at last been jailed, the General, in talking with them, asked the leader why he had failed to take anything of value from the Goodwin home; the answer, according to the old wives, was that he could not do it after the little one had treated him 'for the first time in his life like a gentleman.' (337-8).According to the Wallingford family web site, Goodwin married into the Wallingford family (Molly) in 1768. Molly was a daughter of Captain Thomas Wallingford (son by an earlier marriage) and granddaughter of Colonel Thomas Wallingford.
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Hetty Goodwin (1670-1740): Described
in Chapter 32 as the mother of all the Goodwins and as being a
Plaisted of the Great House. Judge Benjamin Chadbourne's
"History of the Town of Berwick" at the Old Berwick Historical
Society, indicates that the Great House was built by the
Plaisted family, started by Colonel Ichabod Plaisted around the
beginning of the 18th Century. Chadbourne reports that the Great
House was burned in January 1738.
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett
says:
"Among these unfortunate captives was Mrs. Mehetable Goodwin, who may be called the mother of all that representative widely scattered Berwick family, which has shown in different generations so much ability and such marked traits of character. Hetty Goodwin, as she has always been called, was taken by the Indians, with her husband and baby. The man and wife were separated by two parties of the savages, and set forth on their long and suffering journey to Canada, each believing the other to be dead, and leaving behind them their comfortable farm on a beautiful hill above the river, near the Plaisted garrison. In the early part of the march one of the Indians snatched the baby from its mother's arms and dashed its head against a stone; and when the poor mother dragged her weary steps behind the rest and could not still her cries, they threatened if she did not stop weeping to kill her in the same way. At nightfall she was stooping over a brook trying to wash a bloody handkerchief, and her tears were falling fast again. She forgot the threats of her captives. Suddenly, a compassionate squaw, pitying the poor, lonely mother, threw some water in her face, as if in derision. The tears were hidden, and no one else had noticed them. "This squaw had a mother's heart," the old people used to say, in telling me the story. In Canada the captives underwent great hardships, and "Hetty Goodwin, a well-off woman," was so hungry that she sometimes stole food from the pigs. She was bought at last by a Frenchman; and, supposing herself to be a widow and despairing of ever reaching home again, she married him and had two children. Their name, corrupted probably from the French, was Rand; and the Portsmouth family of the name is said to be descended from them. As I was once told, the captive husband "was a Goodwin, and smart"; so after a while he outwitted the Indians in some way and gained his liberty; and, coming to his home, found that his wife was still alive. He went back to Canada and found her and brought her back; after which they managed to live unmolested and were the parents of many children. Hetty Goodwin's half-buried little headstone may still be seen in the Old Fields burying ground. I never can look at it without a thrill of feeling, or pass the pleasant place where she lived without remembering that she knew that lovely view over hill and dale, up the river, and must often have dreamed and longed for the sound of the river falls, in the far country to which she was carried a lonely captive, in the northern wilderness of Canada."Marion Rust points out that Jewett drew upon Francis Parkman's Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV (1880), and that this story also was told by Cotton Mather in Decennium Luctuosum: An History of Remarkable Occurences in the Long War....(1699). See Rust, ed. "'The Old Town of Berwick' by Sarah Orne Jewett." New England Quarterly 73:1 (March 2000), 122-158.
Mrs. Mehetable Goodwin's stone in the Old Fields cemetery bears only her name, without dates.
See also: Mr. and Mrs. John Davis.
Problems with Jewett's Version of Hetty Goodwin's Captivity
In all three of the above versions, Jewett relates that after her captors killed her son, they threatened to kill Hetty as well if she would not control her grief. Seeing that she could not keep from weeping, a kindly Indian woman with "a mother's heart" splashed water in her face, creating -- through an apparent act of cruelty -- a rationale for Hetty's tears, and saving her from her captors' wrath. Useful as this story is to Jewett in her two novels, it is unlikely to be true. The multiple accounts we have of Hertel's raid indicate that there were no women among the raiders. The situation differs from captivities in King Philip's war (1675-6), such as that of Mary Rowlandson, when the raiders were exclusively Native Americans with some local camps, through which prisoners could be passed on their route to Canada. Hertel's raiders came from Three Rivers, in Canada, and were made up of French soldiers and an Indian force, mainly Sokoki, who would be familiar with the Salmon Falls area, but not recently residing there. The raiders had to move quickly through rough terrain in the winter. At his website, historian Emerson Baker reprints a transcription of an eye-witness account: “French Captive Examination from Piscataway 19th March 1690” (http://w3.salemstate.edu/~ebaker/chadweb/raiddocs.htm). Failing to mention any women traveling with the raiders, this account confirms the military nature of the raid: "yt they came by ordr of the french Govr at Canada & that both french & Indians are in pay at ten Livers p month."
Though it is not impossible that women accompanied this group, it is unlikely, and there is no mention of Indian women in written accounts from Mather through Parkman to more recent summaries, such as that in Chester B. Price's description of "Historic Indian Trails of New Hampshire" of the Newichwannock-Sokoki trail, which the raiders followed in their escape (reprinted in The Indian Heritage of New Hampshire and Northern New England. McFarland: Jefferson, NC, 2002, pp. 160-162). Colin Calloway's account emphasizes the arduous military character of the raid: " … twenty-four French, twenty to twenty-four Sokokis, and five Algonquins -- led by François Sieur d'Hertel -- left Three Rivers, crossed Lake Memphremagog to the Connecticut River, and, after three months hard traveling, attacked Salmon Falls on the New Hampshire frontier" (The Western Abenaki of Vermont 1600-1800. Norman: U Oklahoma P, 1990, pp. 94-5). A. T. Vaughan and E. W. Clark say that Governor Frontenac, who ordered the raids, had recently lowered the bounty on scalps and raised it on prisoners, thus encouraging the raiders to bring more prisoners to Canada (Puritans among the Indians, 136). In The Captor's Narrative, William H. Foster points out the need for captive labor in the developing French colony.
We may also notice another difference between early accounts of the captivity and more recent accounts of the raid. Mather and Parkman focus on the prisoners, emphasizing that they were "given to the Indians," and as a result suffered special cruelties, such as the killing of children and various tortures. Both, of course, are making cases against the Indians. Mather wishes to persuade readers that Indians are bestial minions of Satan, to be either converted or extirpated from the Christian colonies. Parkman wishes to persuade readers that Indians are a savage race, generally incapable of civilization, and, therefore, those who cannot convert to Protestant Christianity are doomed to extinction by historical forces represented by America's Manifest Destiny. More recent accounts, such as Calloway's, emphasize the conditions of international warfare between France and England, and the military character of this and other raids. It was the French intention to terrorize English colonists on the frontier and drive them out. The British had the same intentions toward the French. Both used Indians in warfare in part because they could do what "civilized" soldiers were not allowed to do, ruthlessly kill prisoners who proved incapable of keeping up with the necessary pace of the raiders as they struck and retreated. Calloway, for example, emphasizes that the Frenchman d'Hertel was in command, while earlier writers, whom Jewett follows, typically name the Indian, Hopehood, as a co-commander.
The second element of Hetty Goodwin's story that probably is legendary appears only in "The Old Town of Berwick," the assertion that Goodwin, believing her first husband dead, remarried while held prisoner in Canada.
In Old Kittery and her Families, Everett Stackpole, doubting the marriage, provides this account:
Other captives were Thomas Goodwin and his wife, who was Mehitable, daughter of Lieut. Roger Plaisted. The husband and wife were assigned to different bands of Indians and so remained apart. After his escape he is said to have returned to Canada for the ransom of his wife. An account of her sufferings was written by Rev. Cotton Mather in his Magnalia, and has been often republished. Her son, about five months old, was barbarously murdered before her eyes and hanged by the neck in a forked bough of a tree. After terrible sufferings from grief, cold and hunger, she arrived at Montreal. The record of her baptism, written in French, has been kindly furnished me by Miss C. Alice Baker, who has published much about the captives taken in the French and Indian Wars. The translation is as follows:Again, it remains possible that Hetty remarried in Canada and perhaps even bore one or more children while there, but the marriage would have had to take place, as Stackpole points out, after May of 1693. C. Alice Baker's inquiry elicited no record of a marriage, and Foster's research for The Captor's Narrative turned up no evidence that Hetty married in Canada. He discusses her as among two married English women who converted to Catholicism during their captivities (144).
"Monday, 11 May, 1693, there was solemnly baptized an English woman called in her own country Mehetabel, and by the French who captured her in war, 18 March 1690, Esther, who was born at Barvic, in New England, 30 April (old style, or 19 May new style) 1670, of the marriage of Roger Pleisted, Protestant, and Olive Coleman of the same religion, and was married to Thomas Gouden [Goodwin] also Protestant. She has lived for about three years in the service of Mademoiselle de Nauguiere [written also de la Naudiere]. She was named Marie Esther. Her godfather was Messire Hector de Catlieres, Chevalier, Governor for the King in the Isle of Montreal and its vicinity. Her godmother was Damoiselle Marguerite Renee Denis, widow of Monsieur Naugiere de la Perade, during his life Captain of the Guard of Monsieur le Conte de Frontenac, Governor of New France. The baptism was performed by M. Francois Dolie de Casson, Grand Vicar of the most Illustrious and most Reverend Monscigncur Bishop of Quebec." (Signed) Chevalier de Catlieres,
Marguerite renee denis,
Fran. Doelier,
E. Guyoth, Cure.I have heard the tradition from one of her descendants that Mehitabel Goodwin was married in Canada to a man named Rand (some say Pain) and that descendants are living in Portsmouth. This is highly improbable. She was baptized in May, 1693, and could not have been married before, and she was ransomed in October, 1695. The Rands of Portsmouth are all, doubtless, descended from the Francis Rand who came over in the company of Capt. John Mason. (Old Kittery and Her Families, 1903, pp. 165-6).
One wonders about how the story of this marriage made it into the oral history of South Berwick and so, into Jewett's account of Hetty in "The Old Town of Berwick." It certainly adds to the pathos of the 5-years separation of the young married couple, but it also adds complications that beg for deeper exploration. How did Hetty feel about leaving her second husband to return with her first? How did her children by the second marriage end up in nearby Portsmouth, NH? What relationships did they sustain with their mother?
Jewett does not mention Hetty's supposed second marriage in either of her novels, probably because it would have seemed inappropriate and would have worked against her reasons for bringing Hetty's story into her narratives. Indeed, in The Tory Lover (Chapter 32), Madam Wallingford emphasizes her ancestor's extreme reticence about her trials, suggesting that Hetty was not herself the witness who provided Cotton Mather with his account of Hetty's captivity. Possibly, C. Alice Baker, Jewett's close friend according to biographer Paula Blanchard (Sarah Orne Jewett, pp. 225-6), told Jewett about the baptism between 1894 and the publication of The Tory Lover in 1901. Baker did not retell Hetty's story in True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars (1897), but she may have completed her research on Hetty Goodwin before 1897.
Though this detail seems less important to Jewett's work, there also is lack of clarity about how Hetty was rescued and returned home. Jewett indicates that Hetty's husband, Thomas, personally undertook the redemption, but Emma Lewis Coleman says, "'Hitobl Goodin' was one of those redeemed in Oct 1695 by Mathew Cary" (Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada I [1925]: 185-186). Vaughan and Clark in Puritans among the Indians indicate that Hetty Goodwin was among the twenty-two prisoners brought back to Boston from Canada by Matthew Carey/Cary aboard the Tryal in October-November, 1695 (157).
Finally, whether Three Rivers in Canada would be seen as a "northern wilderness" in comparison to the Goodwin farm at Berwick is a subjective judgment. Certainly Berwick was home to Hetty and her husband was there, and she seems to have been eager to return, in comparison to other captives from King William's War (1689-1697), who voluntarily remained behind when Matthew Carey offered an opportunity to return. Still Three Rivers, as a frontier village, was not unlike Berwick.
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Hetty Goodwin's Grave in Old Fields Cemetery
by Terry Heller, 2003
Lord Gormanstown (30):
The Lords Gormanstown, Howth, and Trimlestown are all remembered
by Master Sullivan in Chapter 30 as fancy dressers when
attending the theater in Dublin during Sullivan's youth,
probably in about 1720. All three families were prominent among
the nobility in Dublin in the 18th century.
Samuel Fitzpatrick describes brilliant
social gatherings a few years later at the New Gardens of the
lying-in hospital in St. George's Lane. The decoration of the
assembly room
"... left nothing to be desired. Adorned with fluted Corinthian pilasters, with a handsomely decorated ceiling, bright with gilding and brilliantly lighted, when filled with a motley throng including the elite of the nobility and gentry attired in the gorgeous and picturesque costumes of the period, it must have presented a striking spectacle.
"There was to be seen the portly figure of Lord Trimleston dressed in scarlet, with full powdered wig and black velvet hunting-cap; the elderly, middle-sized Lord Gormanston in a full suit of light blue; Lord Clanrickard in his regimentals; while Lord Strangford wore under his coat his cassock and black silk apron to his knees, and the clerical hat peculiar to these times, and Lord Taaffe appeared in a whole suit of dove-coloured silk" (Chapter 6).
Old Master Hackett: Two
Hacketts, William and James, were well-known ship-builders in
Portsmouth, NH, prior to and after the American Revolution.
According to The Diary of Ezra
Green, The Ranger "was built 1777, on Langdon's
Island, Portsmouth Harbor, by order of Congress, under the
direction of Colonel James Hackett." Langdon's Island
is now known as Badger Island. S. E. Morisson says that the Ranger's
designer was William Hackett and that Hackett's
son-in-law, Tobias Lear was in charge of construction. Morison
also points out that there is no surviving picture or plan for
the Ranger, so that all illustrations of the ship are
reconstructions (104).
Ray Brighton, Port of Portsmouth
Ships and the Cotton Trade: 1783-1829 (1986), says that
William Hackett (b. 1739) of Portsmouth was the master builder,
and that his cousin, James Hackett, "master-minded construction
of the Continental warships Raleigh and Ranger"
(145). William and James operated a shipyard together beginning
sometime prior to 1774. They worked on the America,
which was promised to Jones later in the war but given to
France, and also were responsible for building the Caroline
in 1800. James's last commercial vessel was completed in 1811
(190). George Henry Preble, History of the United States
Navy-Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. (1892) lists the company
building the Ranger as Hackett, Hill & Paul,
Shipwrights (12-14). Other sources indicate that James served in
the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, fighting at
the Battle of Saratoga, among others. See: Naval Documents
of the American Revolution 1775 v. 2, (616-7), Charles H.
Bell, History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire
(Exeter: The Quarter-Millennial Year, 1888), and State
Papers of New Hampshire: Rolls of the Soldiers in the
Revolutionary War. May 1777 to1780. v. 15.
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Major Tilly Haggens and Nancy,
his sister (Haggins / Higgins):
Though there is at least some basis in
history for Jewett's protrayal of Tilly and Nancy Haggens,
Jewett has created versions of them that are almost completely
fictional. It is not clear why she has done this, whether
because she lacked information about them or because she
particularly wanted them to have the features she gives them.
Since she presents Tilly as an old-fashioned, admirable, and
somewhat wild action hero, her portrait at least suggests the
features she believed made up such a figure.
The following entry will review
what Jewett tells about Tilly in the novel, provide background
on what we are told, and finally present information about the
problems raised by these materials.
Jewett's Tilly Haggens
In Chapters 1 and 8, Jewett presents
Tilly as the builder of the house that became her family's home
and eventually her own home, the Jewett House at the corner of
Portland and Main in South Berwick. She attributes his rank of
major to participation in the Indian Wars. In Chapter 2, he says
that he brings several strains into "our nation's making,"
suggesting that he might have become a parson because of his
inheritance from his grandmother, "a saintly Huguenot maiden,"
except that his grandfather "a French gallant" had run away with
the maiden. He sees himself as divided between these two
heritages. This division is reflected in his account of his
name: "My family name is Huyghens; 'twas a noble house of the
Low Countries. Christian Huyghens, author of the Cosmotheoros,
was my father's kinsman, and I was christened for the famous
General Tilly of stern faith."
In Chapter 8, Jewett shows Tilly in
what is now the Jewett house, with his older sister, Nancy,
living out his old age as a successful gentleman in the large
new house he has built.
Christian Huyghens, also Huygens or
Christiaan Huyghens, (1629-1695) was a Dutch astronomer,
mathematician, and physicist. His Cosmotheoros appeared
in 1698. Johann Tserclaes Graf von Tilly (1559-1632), according
to Encarta Encyclopedia, was a "Flemish field marshal,
born in Brabant (now part of Belgium). At the outbreak of the
Thirty Years' War in 1618, he was made commander of the armies
of the Catholic League. He won (1620) the Battle of Wiesserberg
(White Mountain) near Prague; defeated (1622) the Protestant
forces at Wimpfen (now Bad Wimpfen, Germany); and conquered
(1623) the Lutheran prince Christian of Brunswick at Stadtlohn,
Germany. He was then created a count of the Holy Roman Empire."
In the history of Tilly's name and ancestry, we see reflected
both sides of the Catholic-Protestant conflicts that form a main
feature of the background of the European colonization of North
America and that, to some extent, are playing out in the
American Revolution.
The Historical Tilly Haggens and his family.
(Special research assistance: Norma
Keim, Connie Higgins Smith, Glen Corbin, Martha Sulya)
Tilly Haggens's (d. 17 August 1777)
actual ancestry is Irish. So far as has been discovered, he had
no sister, Nancy, though his daughter Nancy became the owner of
the Jewett house in South Berwick and sold it to Thomas Jewett,
Sarah's great uncle, in 1839. It was Tilly's son, John Haggens,
who built (beginning in 1774) and occupied the house where we
see Tilly and Nancy in the novel. Tilly's military background in
recent colonial wars is correct, and his love of spirits may
derive from the indication in local records that he was the
first tavern-keeper in South Berwick in 1767. The historical
Tilly had been dead about 6 weeks when The Tory Lover
opens.
According to 21st-century descendants,
Fergus O'Hagan and his brother, Tilly, arrived in America around
1740 and settled in Maine. With them was Fergus's small son,
Edmund. They are thought to have come from County Tyrone in
Ireland. According to Willie O'Kane's "Surnames of County
Tyrone" (tyrone.local.ie.content/31100.shtml/genealogy), the
O'Hagans were one of the principal families, the founder of
which was named Fergus.
G. T. Ridlon, in Saco Valley
Settlements and Families, says "Tilly Higgins came from
Ireland and sat down in Berwick; his brother Fergus settled in
Scarborough" (727).
The Woodsum Family in America
by Joseph C. Anderson II, with Maine Research by Lois Ware
Thurston (1990), describes Tilly's family (19-20):
Mary [Woodsum], born by 1725 as she "owned the covenant" on 16 February 1742/3 indicating she was at least 18 years old (NEHGR, 82 [1928]:214) and baptized 16 April 1732. She was alive on 13 June 1781 when a debt was paid to her from the estate of her sister, Sarah (York County Probate #20796). She married TILLY HIGGINS (NEHGR, 74 1777 [1920]: 194) who died Sunday morning, 17 August 1777 (id., 74 [1920]: 192). Higgins, the first tavern keeper in Berwick, Maine, was also "an importer and trader in South Berwick, Maine in 1744. He planted some of those now beautiful elms in South Berwick; particularly those in front of the house which he built next to the Congregational Church..." (John Wentworth, LL.D., The Wentworth Genealogy: English and American, 2 [Boston MA, 1878): 40-41). It has been claimed in at least two publications that Tilly Higgins married Mary, daughter of John and Mary Woodsum (ibid.; G. T. Ridlon, Sr., Saco Valley Settlements and Families [Portland ME, 1895] 1209 in footnote). The only John and Mary Woodsum to whom these sources may be referring are John2 and his wife Mary (Brackett) Woodsum who were married in 1747. However, it is impossible that John2 and Mary (Brackett) Woodsum were the parents of "Mary wife of Tilly Higgins" since Mary had a first child in 1742 and was old enough to "own the covenant" in 1742/3. Therefore, it is judged that Tilly Higgin's wife was actually Mary2, daughter of Joseph1 Woodsum.The Woodsum Family in America provides a good deal of information about Mary Woodsum's family, since her father is the founder of the line explored. It is noteworthy that this family was involved in a good deal of sexual scandal in Berwick before 1725, including adultery and producing children out of wedlock.
The Wentworth Genealogy by John Wentworth (1878) has this note on Tilly: "Tilly Higgins was an importer and trader in South Berwick, Me., in 1744. He planted some of those beautiful elms in South Berwick; particularly those in front of the house which he built (next to the Congregational church), which place is still owned by his descendants" (40).
Probably it should be noted that the Congregational Church located near what is today the intersection of Rts. 4 and 236 in South Berwick, was built after Tilly built his house, but presumably, they did stand next to each other.
The Woodsum Family in America lists Tilly's children; [I have added death dates for John and the second Edmund]:
Children (HIGGINS) of Tilly and Mary2 (Woodsum) born at Berwick, Maine (Tilly Higgins will, York County Probate #7983; NEHGR, 74 [1920]: 42, 184, 194; NEHGR, 82 [1928], 214, 216,218,325):Though it is not yet known when Tilly Haggens achieved his rank of major, he is listed as private Tilly Hagins in "The Blue Troop of Horse," William Pepperell's regiment from "Barvick" that went to Louisburg in 1757. Old Eliot 2 (February 1898) 28.1. John, born 19 September 1742, baptized at Berwick, Maine 16 February 1742/3, married Lydia Chadbourn. [John died before 29 March 1822, when an inventory of his property was completed].
2. Abigail, baptized at Berwick, Maine 8 July, 1744. Probably died young as she is not mentioned in her father's will.
3. Edmund, baptized at Berwick, Maine 30 March 1746 Probably died before 1760 when second child named Edmund was born to Tilly and Mary Higgins.
4. Anna, baptized at Berwick, Maine 6 March 1747/8, probably died young, as she is not mentioned in her father's will. [Note that John S. H. Fogg in "Graveyard Inscriptions from South Berwick" (NEHGR 10, Jan 1856, p. 58) records "Here lyes the body of Ann Haggens, died Jany 26th 1748 aged 4 years and 6 months." While it is possible, it is not certain this is the same Ann / Anna.]
5. Mary, born 23 March 1750, died 15 January 1777, married Paul Wentworth.
6. Sarah, born 23 December 1752, married Captain James Holland of Portsmouth, N.H.
7. Daniel, born October 1755, baptized at Berwick, Maine 9 November 1755.
8. Elizabeth, born 8 July 1757. Unmarried on 16 July 1777 when Tilly Higgins made his will.
9. Edmund, born 16 January 1760, married Susanna Hamilton. [Died 29 November, 1827, according to his stone in the Portland Street Cemetery in South Berwick. Major Edmund Haggen's family plot stands next to the Theodore H. Jewett plot].
There is confirmation of Tilly's children in Records of the First and Second Churches of Berwick, Maine, which shows the baptisms of Abigail, daughter of Tilly Higgins, July 8, 1744; Edmund, son of Tilly Higgins, on March 30, 1746; Anna on March 6, 1747; Mary on April 1, 1750; Sarah on January 28, 1753. Tate has Daniel Higgins "raising a grist mill at the foot of the lower mill at Salmon Falls, Berwick side," March 23, 1775. And he records the marriage of "Sarah, a daughter of Tilly Haggens to Captain John Holland" on Thursday 21 May, 1772; and the death of "Mary Wentworth, the oldest daughter of Tilley and Mary Higgins and wife of Lieutenant Paul Wentworth" on Wednesday, January 15, 1777 [Note that her older sister Abigail seems to have died before 1777 -- see above list of children of Tilly and Mary]. Captain Nathan Lord marries an Elizabeth Haggens in 1784, and this is likely to be Tilly's daughter.
This last marriage may be of some significance to Sarah Orne Jewett, for it appears that Nathan and Elizabeth's daughter, Elizabeth (March 31, 1791-1867), in 1816 married Thomas Jewett, Sarah's great uncle, and became her great aunt; she also became the mother of another Sarah Orne Jewett, who died apparently as a result of childbirth in 1864.
The above records suggest that Tilly moved to South Berwick at about the time of his marriage, since we have found no record of his presence in South Berwick before 1743, when he purchased land from "William Lord of Berwick" (York Deeds Book 24 p. 279). In this transaction, he is listed as a shopkeeper, as he is again in several other records of purchases in York Deeds books. He chaired the December 25 town meeting in 1755, suggesting that by that time he had become a person of influence in the community.
The Chadbourne family genealogy (available on CD) provides this basic information about Tilly's first son:
"JOHN HAGGINS, b Berwick 19 Sep 1742, d 1822, son of Tilly and Mary (Woodsum) Haggens. John was likely a trader of S Berwick. In 1744 his father may have planted many of the elms in town. He or his father built the Jewett house in 1774."
The Chadbourne genealogy lists the 12 children of John and Lydia Chadbourne Haggins (1746-1815), married in Berwick 1 May 1765, daughter of Judge Benjamin Chadbourne -- see above:
1. Lydia, b 17 July 1766, d 25 Aug 1787.(From Chadbourne Family Genealogy: Information on this family written by John Frost and Dotty Keyes).
2. Anne or Nancy, b 16 Apr 1768, d 1847, unm resident of Boston when the house was sold to Dr Thomas Jewett in 1822. [Presumably this should read Thomas Jewett in 1839.]
3. Mary (or Martha), b 15 Mar 1770, prob m Isaac C Pray of S Berwick and Boston, 3 ch. [Berwick Vital Records shows the marriage of Polly Haggins and Isaac C. Pray on 18 January 1809].
4. John, b 18 Feb 1772, d 7 Sep 1778.
5. Benjamin, b 6 June 1774, d ca 1816 (Chase Charts, 1858), unm.
6. James, b 16 June 1777, d by 1839, m 14 Apr 1819 Eunice Marsh (or March), d a widow 1839.
7. Sarah, b 24 June 1778 (Chase Charts), d Wells 4 Sep 1810, m 24 Nov 1807 Tristam Gilman Jr, b 25 Feb 1780, d Wells 25 Mar 1828, at least 2 ch.
8. Edmund, b 7 Oct 1780, m Elizabeth Rollins, d 16 July 1809, 1 ch.
9. Patty, b 8 Feb 1783, d 9 Jan 1834.
10. Tilly, b 23 Mar 1785, living 1822.
11. Betsey, b 25 Feb 1787, d 28 Apr 1809.
12. Daniel, b 25 Aug 1789, d 23 Sep 1801.
"Tilly Haggens's House" / Sarah Orne Jewett House
by Terry Heller, 1996
Who built the Haggens / Jewett House
Partly because of Jewett's vivid
portrayal of Tilly as builder and occupier of what became the
Jewett house, some people have believed that he rather than John
was the first builder and occupier. However, there is ample
evidence that Tilly's residence was at what is now the
intersection of Routes 236 and 4, near the current Federated
Church.
We can see that in 1878, the lawyer,
John Wentworth, believed that Tilly had built his own house next
to the Congregational church in South Berwick, though the church
was built some time after Tilly would have built his house.
Alfred Catalfo's master's thesis,
"History of the Town of Rollinsford" includes "The Diary of
Master Joseph Tate," who was a schoolmaster in Rollinsford, when
it was known as Somersworth. In this diary appears this passage:
"Mr. John Higgins raised a new house at the turn of the ways
near Mr. Robert Rodgers on Berwick side on Thursday, April 7,
1774." Tate also records Tilly Higgins's death on Sunday, August
17, 1777.
Master Tate distinguishes Tilly from
John, and in Records of the First and Second Churches of
Berwick, Maine, Tilly and John are separate persons as
well, father and son. This is important because Jewett seems to
conflate father and son into a single character, and a number of
writers have accepted this conflation as fact, seeing Tilly as
the builder and later a benefactor of the Berwick Academy.
Tilly's son, John, was 15 years old when the siege of Louisburg
took place, and he almost certainly did not become a major
during the French and Indian wars, as Jewett tells us Tilly did.
Tilly himself was dead for more than a decade before the Berwick
Academy was founded.
Where Tilly lived when he wrote his
will seems clear. A transcript of his will -- proved 9/16/1777
in York Probate -- in the possession of the SPNEA Jewett House,
shows he left his son Edmund "all my land on which I now dwell
at Quampegan in Berwick on the E side of the main road w/ new
road thru it. Btwn Nathan Lord and Robert Furness w/ bldgs &
appurtenances on land ....."
A copy of a road survey map at the Old
Berwick Historical Society, dated 1805, shows two Haggens
dwellings in what is now the town center of South Berwick, the
current Jewett house is called Mr. John Haggen's house, and at
what is now the intersection of Routes 4 and 236 is "the elm in
Majr Haggen's old garden." The York County Atlas of 1872
shows a house at this location marked as belonging to E. Haggens
(presumably, Edmund's son, Edmund), though we cannot be sure
this is the same house in which Tilly lived and which he willed
to his son, Edmund. This location would, however, place it next
to the Congregational church, as does Wentworth's note. Tilly's
son, Edmund, died intestate. The inventory of his property (Inv
39-342; 2 Feb, 1829, York County Probate v. 39 p. 341-2)
includes two houses: "Homestead in South Berwick. A dwelling
house, and buildings and 12 acres 40 rods of land on easterly
side of the road" and "Old house and 96 acres 150 rods on the
westerly side of the road." The second house may still be
standing, but this has not been determined.
It would appear that the house Tilly
left to Edmund was magnificent in its day, whether it was the
"homestead" or the "old house," standing above and commanding a
view of the Upper Landing with its wharves and mills. In the
entry on Jonathan Hamilton, Hamilton says that he expects his
new house to be a "finer house than Tilly Haggens's." That the
1805 map speaks of the elm in Major Haggens's old garden
suggests that perhaps by that date the original Haggens house
was gone. However, John Wentworth implies in 1878 that at least
one house remains occupied: Tilly "planted some of those now
beautiful elms in South Berwick; particularly those in front of
the house which he built (next to the Congregational Church),
which place is still owned by his descendants" (John Wentworth,
LL.D., The Wentworth Genealogy: English and American, 2
[Boston MA, 1878): 40-41). It is somewhat puzzling that such a
house could have disappeared since 1878 without some commentary
in town history, but this has not yet been found.
There also remains confusion about the
history of ownership of the John Haggens house that became the
Jewett house. Stories vary from the observable facts, probably
because it appears that from 1819 (according to SPNEA) or soon
after 1821 (according to Paula Blanchard) Sarah's grandfather,
Theodore F. Jewett, began to occupy the John Haggens house.
Since John died in 1822, this would be a good possible date for
the new occupancy, but we have little hard information about
what happened and why.
Though this is difficult to determine
with exactness, it appears that the ownership of the land on
which the house and its outbuildings stood became unclear when
John and Edmund (sons of Tilly) died intestate between 1822 and
1827. The estates were settled by 1830, and it seems that Nancy
Haggens became the main owner of the Jewett house and lands.
Blanchard states that Theodore F.
Jewett moved into the Jewett house with his second wife, Olive
Walker, soon after their marriage in 1821. Though Blanchard
states that T. F. Jewett bought the house at that time, in fact
the purchase was not completed until 1839, and SPNEA research
suggests that Theodore Furber Jewett rented the property from
John Haggens's estate at first. The house did not change hands
legally (by deed) until 1839. On May 27, 1839, Thomas Jewett
purchased from Nancy Haggens and the estate of John Haggens
several parcels of property (York Deeds 164:267). On the same
day, Thomas sold the "mansion house" and lot to his brother,
Theodore (York Deeds 164:269).
The Society for the Preservation of New
England Antiquities is responsible for the Jewett house. SPNEA
believes the house was completed in about 1778 in its original
form, but that a new kitchen appeared as the Haggens family
grew, before it was sold to the Jewett family. When Haggens
raised the house in April 1774, Lydia was pregnant with their
fourth child. By the time it was completed there were probably 7
children living at home.
It would make sense for Tilly's son
John to be building a good-sized house and eventually
contributing to the Academy, given that his family was expanding
and that he and his family were major property holders in the
northern parts of South Berwick. According to tax valuation
information in Hamilton genealogy documents at the Old Berwick
Historical Society, "Tilley Higgens" was about in the middle of
the seven wealthiest men in South Berwick in 1771. In 1798, his
son, John, is about the second wealthiest after Jonathan
Hamilton.
[ Top of Page ]
Jonathan Hamilton (1745-1802)
In the novel, Hamilton is presented as
a serious businessman and an active patriot, seemingly involved
militarily, but in a vague way, in the Revolution. For
example, in Chapter 35, he is said to be serving in General
Washington's own regiment. He is unmarried and deeply
involved in his work. In Chapter 18, she has Dickson say
that Hamilton began his career as an itinerant shoe repairer,
but this has not been confirmed in research.
Jewett clearly has fictionalized
Hamilton in some key ways. He had no sister, Mary, but in fact,
had married Mary Manning in 1771. He had three sisters,
according to a family genealogy kept by the Hamilton House in
South Berwick: Elizabeth (bpt 1742), Sarah (bpt. 1744), and
Deborah (bpt 1744). Details of his military service have
not been found. Hamilton was an astute businessman with
far-flung trading interests.
Jewett also shifts time a little,
presenting Jonathan Hamilton and his business associate, John
Lord (see below), in 1777 as they were, financially and in
business terms, in 1787, about the time Hamilton House was
completed.
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett
says: "The richest founder of Berwick Academy, the oldest
literary incorporation in the state, was Col. Jonathan Hamilton,
a shipowner and merchant, who from humble beginnings accumulated
his great fortune in the West Indian trade. He was born on Pine
Hill, in the northern part of the town; but built later the
stately old house at the Lower Landing, and lived in it the rest
of his life, with all the magnificence that was possible in his
day. On his archaic looking tomb, in the Old Fields burying
ground, the long high-sounding inscription ends with the solemn
words, 'Hamilton is no more.'"
There is disagreement among sources about Hamilton's ancestors. Margaret Kugelman Hofer's informative essay, "Citizen, Merchant, Community leader: A New Interpretation of Jonathan Hamilton" in the files of Hamilton House (SPNEA) includes a "Genealogy of the Hamilton Family." Following is a summary of Jonathan's ancestry as reported by Hofer, and a discussion of the confusion over the identity of his grandfather.
Paternal Great-Grandparents:
David Hamilton (d. 28 Sept. 1691) and Anna Jackson, married
1662.
David Hamilton was deported in chains from Scotland, settled on
what is now Sligo Road, southwest of South Berwick in New
Hampshire, where he was eventually killed by Native Americans.
Grandparents:
The Hamilton House genealogy lists Bial
and Abigail as Jonathan's grandparents, but this turns out not
to be clear. Two of David Hamilton's sons were Bial (b. 1676)
and Abiel or sometimes Abel (b. 1680). Everett Stackpole in Old
Kittery and her Families (1903) is a main authority on
this topic; he says that Bial Hamilton married first Mary Hearl
sometime before 1715 and then later married Abigail Hodsdon
(daughter of Joseph Hodsdon and Margaret Goodwin) in 1721. By
this second marriage, he became the father of Joseph Hamilton
who was Jonathan's father.
However, the town records of Berwick at
the Berwick Town Hall, near the end of volume 1, list the
marriage of Abial Hambleton and Abigail Hodsdon on December 26,
1721; here also are listed the births of two children to Bial
and Mary Hambleton: Keziah on 30 March, 1715, and Solomon on 6
June, 1716. (Stackpole also indicates that Abiel was first
married in 1705, to Deborah, and that there is evidence they had
some children.)
So, it seems uncertain whether it was
Bial or Abiel whose second wife was Abigail and who became
Jonathan's grandfather, since it seems agreed that Abigail was
Jonathan's grandmother.
Parents: Joseph Hamilton (bpt. 1726) and Elizabeth.
Jonathan was the youngest of four
children, baptized in 1745 or 1746.
Though Joseph's death date is not
known, he received a jury appointment from the town of Berwick
on March 12, 1749, so his death was after that date.
Jonathan married twice: Mary Manning 8
February 1771, and Charlotte Swett of Exeter 4 April, 1801.
These marriage dates are confirmed in Vital Records of
Berwick ..., Mary (118) and Charlotte (47). However,
Stackpole has him marrying three times. This has not been
confirmed; and it is useful to know that two Jonathan Hamiltons
appear active in Berwick affairs after 1770, and Stackpole's
list of the third generation of Hamiltons includes several Johns
and Jonathans (488-491).
Jonathan and Mary had nine children;
there were no children by the second marriage.
Hofer also reports on Hamilton's ships
and wealth, beginning with his operating two privateers in 1780,
and then 12 brigs, ships, and schooners from 1785 until his
death. In 1771, Hamilton's net worth for tax valuation was 9
pounds, compared to 94 pounds for the leading businessman of the
area, Benjamin Chadbourne. In 1798, Hamilton was one of the two
leading property holders, with a tax valuation of about $6200,
about the same as John Haggens at $6300. However Hamilton held
considerable property outside Berwick, including the sea-going
vessels, a wharf and warehouse in Portsmouth, and plantations in
the Caribbean.
The stately Hamilton house was
completed after the Revolution in about 1788 -- various dates in
the 1780s are given in different sources. Paula Blanchard in Sarah
Orne Jewett suggests that Jewett may not have known the
date of the house's construction, though by the time she
completed The Tory Lover, she had helped to arrange for
Emily Tyson and her step-daughter, Elise, to purchase and
restore the property. In "River Driftwood" (1881), Jewett
imagines John Paul Jones visiting the house (342).
Various sources affirm that David
Moore's mansion, which occupied the site before Hamilton House,
was equally impressive, but that it burned between 1777 and
1783. The "gossipy" Goodwin Diary by Mrs. Ichabod Goodwin
(Sophia Elizabeth Hayes) from 1885 (Old Berwick Historical
Society) reports this as heard from Mrs. Raynes, July 31, 1884,
"On the place where the 'Hamilton House' now stands was a house
built and occupied by David More, which was burned, there was
also another large house built by Wm. Rogers ... nephew of Mrs.
More. Both of these houses were finer than the Hamilton House."
She goes on to report that the Rogers house was eventually moved
without damage to Portsmouth by gundalow. Even if John Paul
Jones did not visit Hamilton house itself, he could well have
visited a similar house at the same site. However, I have found
no documentary evidence that he travelled up-river from
Portsmouth, where he oversaw the completion of the Ranger.
Drawing upon Marie Donahue in "Hamilton
House on the Piscataqua," Down East (1975), this
account appears in Cross-Grained & Wily Waters, edited
by W. J. Bolster (2002): "During the American Revolution,
Jonathan Hamilton of South Berwick went privateering and amassed
a fortune. With peace he purchased thirty acres of land along
the eastern shore of the Salmon Falls River from Woodbury
Langdon. There, on a high bluff, Hamilton built a Georgian-style
mansion in 1785 that, he boasted, would be a 'finer house than
Tilly Haggens's' ..." (178).
In The Old Academy on the Hill:
1791-1991, Donahue says of Berwick Academy's founders:
"Probably the most affluent of these gentlemen was Colonel
Hamilton, a merchant and shipowner, whose great gray house
standing on a knoll high above the broadest reach of the
Newichawannock River reflected not only his wealth but his
superb taste. Born in Berwick in 1745, he grew up in the Pine
Hill section of the town, where his companions included the
Sullivan brothers, John and James. Though, like the Sullivans,
Hamilton sprang from humble beginnings and had little formal
education, he had a shrewd business head and an eye for a sharp
deal. In a letter dated December 27, 1790 to Captain Nathan
Lord, who was commanding Hamilton's brig Betsey, Hamilton
urged him to "shorten your tarry in Tobago" in order to take
advantage of the high prices prevailing in the Portsmouth
market. "If you leve a Small part of your affects behind for the
Sake Gutting away befor any other Vessell you Will Leve it in
Such a Way as that the first Vessell after you may bring it --
but keep that From your Merchant untill you Gut all that you
can." A low C in spelling, perhaps, but an A+ in economics. By
the time he was thirty, Hamilton was a rich man, had acquired
the honorary title of Colonel, and was able to contribute
substantially to the subscription fund of five hundred pounds
raised by the founders for the erection of the first Academy
building" (23).
The Goodwin diary transcript at the Old
Berwick Historical Society provides interesting testimony about
Hamilton, from Mrs. Raynes, July 31, 1884:
"Col[.] and Mrs. Hamilton came from Pine Hill. They had several sons and daughters, one daughter married John R. Parker of Boston, another married Joshua Haven of Portsmouth. The second Mrs. Hamilton was Mrs. Swett of Exeter, a cultivated lady. Mr. Hamilton's daughters wore full mourning when she appeared as a bride. Mr. Hamilton lived only 18 months after this marriage....The full inscription on Hamilton's tomb reads:
"Mrs. Swett of Exeter outlived him and received $60,000 of his property. She afterward married Gov. Gilman of Exeter, a great uncle of Mrs. Theodore Jewett, and received a large share of his property.
"Col. Hamilton died very suddenly. He had be[e]n walking in the field with his wife and complained of not feeling well, and died soon after entering the house. His sons were very dissipated and soon spent their patrimony...."
In memory of
JON HAMILTON Jn.r Esq.
Who departed this life Sept.r 26th 1802
Ætatis 57
Possessing those qualities which always ensure esteem:
of pleasing deportment
a firm, vigorous & enterprising mind,
a tender Husband
a kind & anxious Father
His zeal for order in Church & State, extensive business,
and publick spirit, rendered him a blessing to the community
a friend to religion & religious men
an agreeable companion
and a sincere constant faithful friend
As a merchant
extensively known & respected
his strict probity & exact punctuality secured him
the entire confidence of all that knew him;
the smiles of Heaven on indefatigable industry & the best
œconomy rendered him eminent as a man of property
But alas, neither wealth nor merit can bribe or evade
the grim tyrant death
nor repel the fatal shaft.
Hamilton is no more.
below the signature is this sign
Jonathan and Mary Hamilton tomb in Old Fields Cemetery
by Terry Heller 2002
Note on the Hamilton Tomb
It is notable that the Hamilton tomb is
unique at the Old Fields Cemetery, and virtually so in Berwick
area cemeteries. The large horizontal tablets with their long
inscriptions were not typical in South Berwick in the 18th
Century. Among the few later tombs of similar design are those
in which Jewett herself presumably had a hand, those of her
immediate family, except for her father, at the Portland Street
Cemetery in South Berwick. However, as Melissa Scott, Hamilton
House guide points out, such tablets were more common among the
gentry of Portsmouth and Boston, and indeed, one can find
examples of similar tablets in various cemeteries in Portsmouth,
e.g., the South Cemetery.
[ Top of Page ]
Mary Hamilton (1749-1800):
Mary Hamilton, presented in the novel
as Jonathan's younger sister, was modeled upon his wife, Mary
Manning. In Ch. 30, Jewett implies Mary lost her father early.
This and most other information presented about Mary in the
novel presumably is based on the assumption that she is
Jonathan's sister.
Mary Manning was the daughter of
Patrick Manning, about whom a number of basic facts are recorded
in Records of the First and Second Churches of Berwick,
Maine: Patrick transferred his membership from the church
at Cocheco, NH on July 3, 1743 (59). He married Mary Dyer on
February 9 in 1748 or 1749. (141). He had three children
baptized at the church:
Mary on 12 November 1749 (75);
John on 14 June 1752 (80);
Samuel on 30 June 1754 (84).
And Mary's marriage to Jonathan Hamilton is recorded on 8
February 1771. It is possible that there was another brother,
since a Patrick Manning marries Mary McIntire on 13 November
1788 (262).
Of course, in the novel, Mary is a
Hamilton by birth, and her being orphaned early would mean that
Jonathan also lost his parents early. This has not been
substantiated. No one seems to know when Jonathan's father
Joseph or his mother Elizabeth died. Elizabeth's maiden name is
not known, either.
The announcement of Mary Hamilton's
death in the Sunday Dover Gazette of Wednesday 3
December 1800 reads:
On Sunday morning, 23 ult. took her
flight for the world of Spirits, Mrs. MARY HAMILTON, the
excellent and amiable consort of JONATHAN HAMILTON, Esq. of
Berwick, in the 52nd year of her age.(Vital Records 1790-1829
from Dover, New Hampshire's First Newspaper, W. E.
Wentworth, 1995, p. 52).
Mary and Jonathan share a sarcophagus near the center of the Old Fields Cemetery in South Berwick, with large inscribed stone lids, Mary on the left, Jonathan on the right. Mary's stone reads:
In Memory of
M.rs Mary Hamilton
The amiable and virtuous consort of
Jonathan Hamilton Jun.r Esq.
Who departed this life Nov.r 23d 1800 Aged 51 years
She was endeared to her friends and acquaintance.
By those virtues which adorn human nature
And secure esteem and affection
A prudent, dutiful, & affectionate Wife,
A peculiarly kind & tender Mother,
A pleasing companion,
A faithful friend,
A compassionate benefactress to the poor
Afflicted and distressed,
Often caused the widow.s heart to sing for joy,
But alas! she is no more
Here her frail body sleeps in the dust
The spirit has returned to its God
We trust
To be ever with the Lord.
The Hamiltons' oldest son, Joseph, a drowning victim according to Master Tate, is buried with them. His stone, next to Mary's side of the tomb reads:
In memory of
Joseph Hamilton J.r
Son of Jonathan
Hamilton Jun.r Esq.r
who died July 15th 1788
Æ. 15 years
[ Top of Page ]
Hertel and his French and Indians: François Hertel (1642-1722), was a French-Canadian. He and his sons eventually served the French military in a series of raids on English colonies during several periods of warfare. In 1690, in King William's War (1689-1697), François led Indian warriors into Maine and New Hampshire. In Chapter 11 of Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV (1877), Parkman gives this account.
Through snow and ice and storm, Hertel and his band were moving on their prey. On the night of the
twenty-seventh of March, they lay hidden in the forest that bordered the farms and clearings of Salmon Falls. Their scouts reconnoitred the place, and found a fortified house with two stockade forts, built as a refuge for the settlers in case of alarm. Towards daybreak, Hertel, dividing his followers into three parties, made a sudden and simultaneous attack. The settlers, unconscious of danger, were in their beds. No watch was kept even in the so-called forts; and, when the French and Indians burst in, there was no time for their few tenants to gather for defence. The surprise was complete; and, after a short struggle, the assailants were successful at every point. They next turned upon the scattered farms of the neighborhood, burned houses, barns, and cattle, and laid the entire settlement in ashes. About thirty persons of both sexes and all ages were tomahawked or shot; and fifty-four, chiefly women and children, were made prisoners. Two Indian scouts now brought word that a party of English was advancing to the scene of havoc from Piscataqua, or Portsmouth, not many miles distant. Hertel called his men together, and began his retreat. The pursuers, a hundred and forty in number, overtook him about sunset at Wooster River, where the swollen stream was crossed by a narrow bridge. Hertel and his followers made a stand on the farther bank, killed and wounded a number of the English as they attempted to cross, kept up a brisk fire on the rest, held them in check till night, and then continued their retreat. The prisoners, or some of them, were given to the Indians, who tortured one or more of the men, and killed and tormented children and infants with a cruelty not always equalled by their heathen countrymen.
Worster's Brook in March 2005
Photo by Wendy Pirsig
Jewett also knew James Sullivan's and William Williamson's accounts of these events, which she read while writing "The Old Town of Berwick." She may also have read Francis Parkman's The Old Régime in Canada (1893) which shows sympathy to the French point of view. Eye-witness accounts differ in some details. See Emerson Baker's web site for an eye-witness account: http://www.salemstate.edu/~ebaker/chadweb/raiddocs.htm.
James Sullivan says: "In the year 1690 a party under the command of one Hertel, a Frenchman, and Hopegood, a sachem, assaulted the plantation of Newichawanick [Salmon Falls River]; they killed thirty men, and the rest of the people, after an obstinate and courageous defence, surrendered at discretion. The captives were fifty-four, the greater part of whom were women and children. The enemy burned all the houses and mills, and taking with them what plunder they could carry, retreated to the northward. A party of one hundred and forty men collected from the neighbouring towns, pursued and came up with the Savages on Worster's River, at a narrow bridge. Hertel had expected a pursuit, and had placed his people in a posture of defence. The engagement was warm, and continued the whole of an afternoon; but as the men on both sides were shielded by the trees and brush, there was no great slaughter; four or five of the English, and two of the Savages were killed, a Frenchman was wounded and taken prisoner" (History of the District of Maine, 250-1; See also William Williamson, v. 2, ch. 2).
Francis Parkman says, in The Old Régime in
Canada (1874), "When ... a band of French and Indians
issued from the forest and fell upon the fort and settlement of
Salmon Falls, it was François Hertel who led the attack; and
when the retiring victors were hard pressed by an overwhelming
force, it was he who, sword in hand, held the pursuers in check
at the bridge of Wooster River, and covered the retreat of his
men. He was ennobled for his services, and died at the age
of 80, the founder of one of the most dinstinguished families of
Canada. To the New England of old he was the abhorred
chief of Popish malignants and murdering savages. The New
England of to-day will be more just to the brave defender of his
country and his faith" (Library of America edition, 1152-3).
At
http://users.rcn.com/central.nh.ultranet/hike2002.htm, Norma
Keim writes, "In 1688 a series of French and Indian Wars began,
making life in our area unsettled and often dangerous. Some of
these wars were extensions of war in Europe between France and
England. In the New World, the French had the support of
displaced natives from western and eastern Abenaki tribes as
well as Indians from Canada; the English had their native allies
as well. The French and Indians made numerous attempts to
disrupt English settlements in New England, lasting well into
the 1700s. It was to the benefit of France that English
settlements failed, for settlements like Salmon Falls and
Quamphegan were providing masts for the English navy in Europe.
"Salmon Falls, Quamphegan and Old
Fields felt the effect of King William's War (1688). Salmon
Falls was all but destroyed in the surprise attack of March 18,
1689. A group of French from Canada and their Indian allies
burned homes and mills, killed many settlers and captured
others, a young woman named Mehitable Goodwin among them. This
attack may also have been responsible for the burning of the
Humphrey Chadbourne homestead."
This raid of 1689/90 (both dates get
used because of the change in calendar), as Keim recounts, swept
through the Upper Landing area; Emerson Baker believes this
attack destroyed the Chadbourne house at the mouth of the Great
Works River.
(Research assistance: Emerson Baker,
Norma Keim, Wendy Pirsig).
[ Top of Page ]
Major Hight (8):
An Internet genealogy shows Temple
Hight (b. 1749), son of William (1707-1782), who married Sarah
Goodwin in Berwick on 24 September 1772. Temple and his father
were important businessmen in 18th-century Berwick; they are
known to have built in the Great Works area of the village.
William owned land on the mill pond where the Great Works River
flows into the Salmon Falls River; he and his son both had
houses on this land in the late 18th Century, according to a
1764 Chadbourn estate map at the Old Berwick Historical Society.
Two sisters of Temple Hight, Mary (1745-1770) and Frances
(1748-1816) both married Dr. Ivory Hovey of South Berwick.
Jewett tells something of their story in "River Driftwood."
In Records of the First and Second
Churches of Berwick, Maine: Rev. E. W. Allen notes: "Major
Wm. Hight lived in a house built by Judge Benjamin Chadbourne
for his son Benjamin. Maj. H. died April 18, 1847. The house is
now occupied by John H. Burleigh and is the last upon the right
of ye road leading by ye Portsmouth Cotton Mill toward Great
Works, before you come to the road leading to Yeaton's Mills."
This house is still standing on the west (river) side of Liberty
Street, up the hill from the Counting House Museum, which stands
next to the Rte. 4 bridge at the Upper Landing.
William Hight (1707-1782) is buried at
Old Fields Cemetery with his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1776
at the age of 63. Master Tate says that on Thursday, April 18,
1776, "Elizabeth Hight, wife of Mr. William Hight of Berwick
died." This is Temple's mother. Fisher & Fisher list a
William Hight of Berwick who did political service in the
Revolution (365), which could account for his having a rank.
Temple's son, William, (1773-1847) also
became Major Hight, but clearly he was too young to have built a
large house in 1777.
(Research Assistance: Norma Keim and Wendy
Pirsig)
[ Top of Page ]
Mr. Hill: It is possible but
not very likely that Jewett refers to Deacon John Hill
(1738-1810), who is buried at Old Fields Cemetery, with his
wife, Elizabeth (d. 1822); he was a prominent citizen of Berwick
during the American Revolution, and after the war he seems to
have been a Justice of the Peace, performing marriages in
Berwick (Vital Records of Berwick... 134, for example).
However, Jewett seems to have kept
another John Hill alive past his historical death date in order
to present him as a character. Especially as he appears in Ch.
29, Mr. Hill seems like the John Hill (1703-1772) Jewett
describes in "The Old Town of Berwick."
Jewett presents this John Hill's
obituary in her notes:
"On Monday last, March 2d, died at Berwick the Hon. John Hill, Esq., Ætatis suae 69: a Gentlemen much improved in public offices and Betrustments. He was early in Life appointed one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and elected to represent the Town where he dwelt; and soon after was elected into His Majesty's Council, and continued to enjoy a seat at the honorable Board for twenty-eight years successively, and about two years since, honorably resigned. He was also improved for many years one of the Justices of the Inferiour court in the County of York and for several years as the Chief Justice. And also, for some years, Judge of Probate of Wills. In all which public characters, as well as those in more private life, he discovered himself to be what the Poet calls: --"The Diary of Master Joseph Tate" records the death of Major John Hill of Berwick on March 2, 1772. Tate also says that his wife, Elizabeth had died in 1763 at the age of 55, and that his second wife, Sarah, died on August 13, 1772.' -- The noblest work of God --He made public profession of the Christian Religion, and appeared to enjoy the comforts of it in his last sickness: he often exprest his longing to depart and be with Christ." -- New Hampshire Gazette, Friday, March 6, 1772. (See also William Williamson, The History of the State of Maine v. 2, Appendix #1).
An honest man.'
[ Top of Page ]
Sir William Howe: William Howe,
5th Viscount Howe (1729-1814), according to the Encarta
Encyclopedia was "British commander in chief in North
America (1775-78) during the early years of the American
Revolution. Born in London he entered the army in 1746 and
gained distinction as one of the most brilliant junior officers
in the service. In 1775 he was second in command under General
Thomas Gage in Boston and commanded British troops in the Battle
of Bunker Hill. Later in that year he succeeded Gage as
commander in chief. In 1776 he defeated the Americans on Long
Island, took the city of New York, and won the battles of White
Plains and Brandywine. During the winter of 1777-78, when George
Washington had set up quarters at Valley Forge, Howe stayed in
Philadelphia with his troops. He was severely criticized for
this inactivity, and in the spring of 1778 he resigned and
returned to Britain, claiming that he had not received
sufficient support from the home government. Four years later he
was commissioned lieutenant general of ordnance and in 1793 was
made a full general. He was a member of Parliament (1758-80),
retaining his seat while in North America."
Mrs. Wallingford's disapproval of Howe
stems from his harsh treatment of American colonials and rebels.
In Our Country, Lossing offers this characterization of
Howe's actions after he accepted leadership of British forces:
Howe strengthened his defences, and increased the number of British cruisers sent out to harass the coast towns of New England, hoping thereby to cause Washington to weaken his besieging army by sending detachments for the relief of the distressed regions. Falmouth (now Portland, Maine,) was burned in October, and other towns were sorely smitten by the marauders. These acts failed to draw a regiment away from Cambridge, but caused a swarm of American privateers to appear upon the waters. Captain Manly, in a vessel sent out by Washington to intercept supply-vessels bound for Boston, maintained a position off the harbor of the New England capital for some time, and made three important captures. One of his prizes contained heavy guns, mortars, and intrenching tools; the very things most needed by the Americans at that time.John Lord (1): John Lord is presented as a young business partner of Jonathan Hamilton, and as in love with Mary Hamilton. His older brother is one of the more famous of the Nathan Lords -- see below.
Howe imitated Gage in treating the open whigs and suspected persons in Boston with harshness. His excuse was that they were active, though secret, enemies, keeping up a communication with the "rebels" either by personal intercourse, or by signals from church steeples and other high places. He forbade all persons leaving the city without permission, under pain of military execution; and he ordered all of the inhabitants to associate themselves into military companies (V. 2, ch. 18).[ Top of Page ]
There were several John Lords in the Berwick area during this period, but the correct one seems to be John Lord (1764 or 1765-1815) who married Mehitable and fathered the Nathan Lord (b. 1792) who became president of Dartmouth College. He achieved the rank of brigadier general in the American Revolution. Marie Donahue identifies this John Lord clearly: "A business partner of Colonel Hamilton's in the West Indies trade, John Lord had been a brigadier general in the militia during the Revolution. General Lord lived at the Upper Landing in a handsome three-storied house and rode a magnificent gray horse at general muster. Historian John Lord recalled that his grandfather was a very hospitable man, 'a good liver,' whose sideboard always held decanters of Madiera, brandy, and rum. ...." (The Old Academy 25).
The York County Atlas of 1872 offers this sketch: "Gen. John Lord was a prosperous merchant, and was a representative and State senator. He was the father of Nathan Lord, D.D., ex-president of Dartmouth College. He had five children, John P., ... still residing in town, Samuel, Nathan, Augustus, and Susan. Augustus died young; Susan married Judge Hayes; Samuel became a cashier in the bank at Portsmouth, which position he held uninterruptedly for a period of fifty years. John P. studied law, but engaged in mercantile pursuits. For a number of years he occupied a position in the custom-house at Boston. He has been the father of nineteen children; best known among them is Rev. John Lord, LL.D., of Stamford, Conn., who has made himself eminent as a lecturer upon history. Also Rev. Chas. Lord, an author of some note" (102).
Jewett sketches him as well in "The Old Town of Berwick" as one of the academy's founders. Jewett says, "Another of this interesting group of the first trustees of the [Berwick] academy was Mr. John Lord, the young partner in business of Col. Hamilton, afterward Gen. Lord, and the successor to Judge Chadbourne's and Col. Hamilton's pre-eminence and authority in town affairs. He lived at the Upper Landing, in another fine old house, which was long ago destroyed; and died when hardly past middle age, leaving a large inheritance to his family and generous gifts to the church and academy, beside a fund to the latter, from which each student is given a copy of the Bible. Among his children and grandchildren have been many distinguished men and women." Jewett says more about the influence of the Lord family in the region. William Williamson lists a John Lord as a senator from Maine, first elected in 1801 (The History of the State of Maine, v. 2, Appendix 2; see also Berwick Vital Records).
[ Top of Page ]
Nathan Lord (6): In Chapter
6, Jewett refers to the Nathan Lord who, along with Eben
Sullivan, and then Captain Moulton, marched to Boston for the
Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Amory points out that Eben
Sullivan was captain of a company in the American revolutionary
army raised in Berwick, Maine, and that Nathan Lord was a
lieutenant in this company (I, 84).
Almost certainly the "right" Nathan is
the one born in 1756, who married Tilly Haggens's daughter,
Elizabeth, in 1784. His parents were Nathan Lord and Elizabeth
Shackley (m. 1754). One of Nathan and Elizabeth's
daughters, Elizabeth/Betsey (1791-1867), married Thomas Jewett,
brother of Sarah Orne Jewett's grandfather. (Research:
Wendy Pirsig).
Another of the more famous of the
Nathan Lords appears in Jewett's "Looking Back on Girlhood,"
where she tells the legend of his being captured in the American
Revolution and winning a fight with a future king of England. In
The History of the Town of Rollinsford, New Hampshire:
1623-1973, Alfred Catalfo writes of the Nathan Lord who
married Esther Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts on June 30,
1748:
"From this couple were born four
children. Nathan Lord [b. April 14, 1758] was the third child,
and he was the builder of the Captain Nathan Lord's House.... He
was only 16 years old when he entered the Revolutionary Army
under General John Sullivan, and went to Fort Ticonderoga and
Canada." If the birth date is correct, Nathan would have been 16
if he joined the army before April 14 of 1775. Catalfo goes on
to tell the story of Nathan's capture and escape during this
campaign, because Nathan or another captive gave a Masonic sign
to a British officer, leading to their being ransomed rather
than executed. Catalfo continues: "In the same Revolutionary war
Nathan Lord served under Captain John Paul Jones on the
privateer, 'The Ranger.' He was captured by a British man of
war." Catalfo then narrates the story Jewett repeats of Nathan
responding to a British insult by offering to fight the officer.
The officer accepting, Nathan beats him and is congratulated by
the Duke of Clarence, his antagonist, who later became King
William IV of England (247). Catalfo also reports that Nathan
Lord eventually married Betsey Brewster in South Berwick in 1785
and built his mansion on Somersworth Hill (247). He died in 1807
(248).
Clearly the fight story leaves
something to be desired for its basis in fact. No one was
captured from the Ranger while Jones was in command.
King William IV (the Duke of Clarence, 1765-1837, reign
1830-1837) was younger than Nathan Lord, just 12 or 13 in 1778,
when he might have encountered Lord on the Ranger under
Jones's command; though he did begin service in the Royal Navy
in 1779, he did not become Duke of Clarence until 1789.
This Nathan Lord (1758-1807), the
husband of Betsey Brewster (m. 25 August, 1785), sometimes was
called "Capt. Nathan Lord 3rd" (Berwick Vital Records p.
24). This Nathan's younger brother was John Lord, who became
Jonathan Hamilton's business partner and was eventually known as
General John Lord. See above. One of Nathan's descendants was
the painter, Edwin Lord Weeks (1849-1903) --
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/weeks_edwin_lord.html).
(Research assistance: Wendy Pirsig).
[ Top of Page ]
John Marr: This local man is
reported missing in New Jersey battles of 1778 (Ch. 28). In fact
there was a John Marr of Kittery (1720 - c. 1778), though it has
not been confirmed that he died while serving in the
Revolutionary Army. According to Marr family web sites, this
John Marr was the son of John Erskine, of Scotland, who changed
his name upon emigrating in 1717, taking the name from the man
the family believes to be John Erskine Marr's father, John
Erskine, Earl of Mar.
W. D. Spencer's "A List of the
Revolutionary Soldiers of Berwick" (1898) lists a William Mars,
who served in 1777 under Captain Hodsdon, and in 1780 at
Falmouth. Fisher & Fisher lists a John Marr of Kittery as
serving in the American Revolution (505).
In 1901, Jewett was in correspondence
with a John Marr of Rochester, N.Y. In a letter of 22 May, Marr
indicates that he is sending Jewett a book containing
information about Thomas Johnson, the last survivor of the Bonhomme
Richard. He also explains that one man who was confined in
the Mill Prison and later served under Jones was Thomas Hammett,
the brother of Sarah Hammett Marr, his great-grandmother
(Houghton bMS Am 1743 (146)).
Vital Records of Berwick ...
(362) lists Mr. John Marr of South Berwick and Miss Elizabeth E.
Perry of Keene, N.H. 15 January 1848, marriage certified 22
January. If Elizabeth Perry is related to Jewett's mother,
Jewett may be related to this John Marr. In his 22 May letter,
Marr shows familiarity with South Berwick and says he is now the
second oldest man still living who was born in his "section."
[ Top of Page ]
Mr. Moody (3): Probably the minister who helped Master Sullivan to his first teaching post after his arrival in America is the Reverend Samuel Moody, who was minister of the first parish at York, from 1700 to 1747, according to James Sullivan, The History of the District of Maine (238-9). His son, Reverend Joseph Moody was the first minister of the second parish at York, and it is likely that another Mr. Samuel Moody, the first master of the Berwick Academy (Founded, 1791), was the son of Joseph. William Williamson in The History of the State of Maine says of the elder Samuel Moody, "He was a graduate of Harvard, in 1697; and in 1700, received his ordination. He declined a settlement upon a stipulated salary; choosing rather to live through faith, dependant upon his Divine Master, and the voluntary contributions of his people. He continued in the ministry 47 years; when he died, -- greatly endeared to his charge, and highly regarded by his country. His praise is in all the churches of this region, as a godly minister and useful man. Amidst his pastoral zeal, many of his eccentricities afford curious anecdotes, which will be related in story to a succession of listening generations." This biographical sketch is followed by a note with further information: "His wife was the daughter of John Sewall of Newbury. He had two children, Joseph and Mary. The latter married Rev. Mr. Emerson of Malden. [See above for his son's career]. Mr. Moody died, Nov. 13, 1747, Æt 72. An ingenious epitaph on his gravestone, near his meeting-house, shews where his relics are deposited" (v. 2, ch. 3).
[ Top of Page ]
Passaconaway (c. 1580 - 1666)
(10)
We are told that Mary has her birch bark
canoe, her canoe-handling skills, and other less specified
knowledge of her landscape from an Indian tutor who is a last
descendant of the old chief, Passaconaway.
Passaconaway became the leader of the
Pennacook Confederacy, an organization of Abenaki tribes and
bands (of the Algonquin language group) living in what is now
New Hampshire, Southern Maine, and Northeastern
Massachusetts. This included two groups residing in the
area of South Berwick, Maine: the Piscataqua, who lived on the
east side of the river; and the Newichewannock, who lived on the
upper part of the Piscataqua and within the Piscataqua
territory.
The Pennacook was one of several 17th-century
confederacies of Native Americans in New England. The main
purpose of the Pennacook Confederacy was to maintain unity among
its groups by holding regular councils, and, in this way, to
secure peace within the confederacy. It became especially
important to maintain peace with the British settlers who began
pouring into the region after 1620, because an intertribal war
and then the European disease plagues of 1617-19 had reduced the
native population by about 75-90%. The Confederacy was not
in a strong military position at the moment when European
settlers began establishing colonies in New England.
Largely as a result of
Passaconaway's leadership, the confederacy maintained
peaceful relations with English settlers, despite many
provocative incidents, including requirements of
submission by English authorities and various other
humiliations forced upon him and his family. He
ceded large amounts of land to colonists, and his people
helped them adjust to and make use of local crops and
resources. In The Indian Heritage of New
Hampshire and Northern New England, Piotrowski
says:
The Indians taught the settlers to place small fish in each hill of corn for fertilizer. They taught them to grow squash and pumpkins within hills of corn; to trap the wild animals of the forest by means of snares, log traps, and pits; to fish effectively in the rivers and streams; to make and store maple syrup and sugar; to make and use snowshoes; to preserve fresh meat; to catch ducks; to tan hides; to dye hair; to raise, prepare, and eat corn; to clear potential farm land by girdling trees; to safely use herbs, roots, and bark; and to prepare antidotes for snake bites. (14)Historians such as Morton, Belknap and C. E. Potter confirm and elaborate these contributions and list many others. The etching, purportedly of Passaconaway, on the right is from C. E. Potter's The History of Manchester, 1856; this copy reprinted from Beals, Passaconaway in the White Mountains (1916). The signature appears to be B. W. Thayer & Co. Benjamin W. Thayer was a lithographer and engraver of mid-19th-century Boston, known to have been working there 1841-1853. According to Who was Who in American Art (1999), his associates at his company were John H. Buford and John E. Moody. |
 |
Passaconaway's peace lasted reasonably well
during his lifetime, though this was difficult. The
suspicious English colonists repeatedly tried to undermine his
power, and they were notoriously bad at keeping the agreements
they made with him. According to Colin Calloway, keeping
peace was complicated by the fact that the Pennacook Confederacy
was in contact with French colonies on the St. Lawrence River
and, in 1650, had helped the French in their military actions
against the Iroquois Confederacy. The English were
suspicious that the Pennacook would ally with the French against
the English colonists.
In the year Passaconaway is believed to have
died, the English encouraged the Mohawks (of the Iroquois
Confederacy) to attack the Pennacooks. At the battle of
Fort Eddy in 1666, the English and Mohawks broke the power of
the Pennacook Confederacy (Piotrowski, 15).
In 1689, Passaconaway's grandson, Kancamagus,
allied with the French in King William's War, the first of the
French and Indian wars. They joined the French after the
March raids by French and Indian military units that included
the Salmon Falls raid, that became so important to Jewett's
sense of South Berwick's history. They were defeated a year
later.
Historians have considerable difficulty
separating fact and myth in Passaconaway's life. His name
is said to transliterate as "Child of the Bear." One can gather
from contemporary sources that he was significantly taller than
the average, that he was admired for courage and wisdom, by the
English and his enemies, as well as by his own people. His
people are said to have loved him. He was widely reputed
to be able to perform magical deeds, such as producing ice in
summer and bringing a dead leaf to life.
Though he was suspicious at first of
Christianity, he eventually allowed John (the Apostle) Eliot to
preach to his family. Eliot affirms that Passaconaway and
his family converted to Christianity. Though there is no
evidence to challenge this, it was sometimes the case that
Indians would seek to conciliate colonists by diplomatically
"pretending" to adopt their religious beliefs. David
Stewart-Smith, in his Ph.D. dissertation, The Pennacook
Indians and the New England Frontier, circa 1604-1733
(1998), suggests that Passaconaway may have seen conversion as
an effective tool for maintaining peaceful relations with the
English, but remains skeptical of the reality of this
conversion, pointing out that "there is really no further record
or tradition of Passaconaway attending to the religion of the
white man" (UMI reprint, 139).
In Jewett's time, Passaconaway's life was
apparently adapted to create the legend of St. Aspinquid, who is
said to be buried atop Mount Agamenticus. Jewett mentions
this legend in "A Winter Drive" in Country By-Ways.
Mary's belief that her old Indian friend and
tutor is a last descendant of Passaconaway probably is
mistaken. Passaconaway had many children. Among the
better remembered is a daughter, whose marriage provoked a
contest of honor between Passaconaway and his son-in-law, out of
which John Greenleaf Whittier made his narrative poem, "The
Bridal of Pennacook" (1844).
Mary probably would have been interested to
know that among the descendants of Passaconaway was his
grandson, Kancamagus. David Stewart-Smith, in The
Pennacook Indians and the New England Frontier, circa
1604-1733 (1998), explains that when the Pennacooks
divided over whether to fight the English in the Second Abeenaki
war (King William's War) in 1689, one of Passaconaway's several
sons, Wonalancet, led those who wanted to remain neutral, while
his nephew, Kancamagus, led those who wanted to fight the
British and who planned the June 1689 raid on Dover. Their
purpose was to kill Major Waldron, who had caused them a good
deal of trouble (Stewart-Smith, 224-231). One of
Kancamagus's close friends and allies was Hopehood, "or Wahowah,
son of the Androscoggin sagamore Rawandagon or Robin Hood"
(228). This is the Hopehood who was co-leader with Hertel
of the military raid on Salmon Falls, in which Hetty Goodwin was
made a captive (See Chapter 32).
[ Top of Page ]
Sir William Pepperrell /
Pepperell (1696-1759) (1, 7, 38):
"American merchant, statesman, and soldier, born in Kittery
Point, Massachusetts (now in Maine). Largely self-educated, he
was appointed chief justice of Massachusetts in 1730, where he
served on the governor's council from 1727 to 1759. In 1734 he
inherited his father's estate and became one of the richest men
in New England. His experience as a colonel in the Massachusetts
militia led to his command in 1745, during King George's War, of
a colonial land and sea force that captured the French
stronghold at Louisburg on Cape Breton, in present-day Nova
Scotia. He was made a baronet the following year, the first
American-born person to be so honored. In 1754, during the
French and Indian War, he raised a regiment of 1000 men and
commanded the military forces of Massachusetts. After 1756 he
served as acting governor of Massachusetts. He was commissioned
a lieutenant general shortly before his death." (Source:
Encyclopedia Britannica). Jewett discusses
Pepperell in "The Old Town of Berwick."
In Ch. 38, we learn that people of this
name are friends of Madam Wallingford and come from London to
visit her, while she is in England. The American Loyalists
by Lorenzo Sabine (1847) makes clear that this would have been
the grandson of the hero of Louisburg, William Pepperell
Sparhawk (about 1746-1816), who by the terms of his
grandfather's will, changed his name to Pepperell and inherited
the baronetcy. A graduate of Harvard (1766), he was appointed to
the Council of Massachusetts by Act of Parliament and against
the colony's charter in 1774. This led to various reprisals from
patriots, ending with his banishment and the confiscation of his
vast property, mainly in Maine. He took up residence in London,
where he received an annual stipend from the Crown that kept him
in comfortable circumstances. He is remembered for his kindness
to colonial exiles in England and for his leadership in
attempting to gain relief for people who had lost their property
as a result of remaining loyal to the king (518-28).
William Pepperrell mansion in Kittery Point
by Terry Heller, 2003
[ Top of Page ]
Mr. Rollins (29): Rollins is
identified as Parson Pike's chief parishioner, presumably in
Somersworth, where Pike was serving. This is likely to be
Ichabod Rollins.
Master Joseph Tate offers these clues
to Mr. Rollins's probable identity:
July 6, 1774, an Esq. Rollins' negro
slave, Jack, falls in a mill.
Sept. 24, 1774, Ichabod Rollins is a
partner in raising a saw mill "at Quamphaggen, Somersworth." and
on Friday 10 March 1775, "Captain Ichabod Rollins and Mr. Daniel
Ricker raised a new grist mill at Somersworth." And he appears
again in later entries.
Stackpole in "Sligo and Vicinity" notes
that Ichabod Rollins may also have been a judge, since he is
identified as Judge Rollins in documents of the 1770s (45).
Catalfo says that Ichabod Rollins
served on a committee to provide troops and supplies during the
war (157). And he places Rollins first on lists of those
purchasing pews at the new Rollinsford meeting house in 1772 and
again in 1780 (177-9).
Marie Donahue in The Old Academy on
the Hill, points out that one of the academy's founders
was Judge John Rollins, who was the "oldest of the children of
Judge Ichabod and Abigail Wentworth Rollins, represented the
town of Rollinsford, named for his family, and practised his
profession there until his untimely death at thirty-three (29).
Some have speculated that the town of
Rollinsford (then Somersworth) in NH combines the names of
Rollins and Wallingford, the two richest families in the town in
1849.
[ Top of Page ]
Master Sullivan and his family: John Sullivan (1692-1796) and his wife Old Margery (c. 1714 - 1801), settled in the Pine Hill area of Berwick, where Master John taught school for many years while Margery managed the farm.
Their
Children.
[Benjamin, not mentioned in The
Tory Lover. Served in colonial navy; lost at sea before
1775.] Catalfo, following Scales History of Strafford County
(236) gives his birth date as 1736 and his death date as 1767.
[Daniel (1738 -1782), not mentioned in
The Tory Lover.]
John -- General Sullivan. (1740-1795).
James -- Judge Sullivan. (1744-1808)
[Mary (c. 1752 - ?), the only daughter,
mentioned but not named in The Tory Lover, and only
mentioned by Amory.]
Eben (c. 1753- after 1778).
Biographical Sketches
Master John Sullivan was born
in Limerick, Ireland, the son of Major Philip O'Sullivan, who,
after the surrender of Limerick to King William of Orange in
1691, chose exile in France, where he died soon afterwards of a
wound received in a duel. Because Irish universities were closed
to Catholics, John was educated in France. According to a family
tradition, after his return to Ireland, he became connected with
his cousin, a leader in attempts to restore the Catholic Stuarts
to the English throne. Coming under suspicion, he was forced to
leave Ireland for the American colonies. However, Amory believes
he left after a break with his mother over his wish to marry a
woman she considered unsuitable. Sullivan emigrated in 1723.
The following provocative information
appears at a Stanford University Web page, The Book of Sullivan:
1743: New Hampshire Wife Seeks Husband, Begs
for Return
From the July 25, 1743 Boston Evening Post, following an
advertisement for the return of "an escaped negro fellow, lusty,
stout, and comely," the following: My dear and loving Husband,
--Your abrupt Departure from me, and forsaking of me your Wife and tender Babes, which I humble acknowledge and confess I was greatly if not wholly on the Occasion of, by my too rash and unadvised Speech and Behaviour towards you; for which I now in this publick Manner humbly ask your Forgiveness, and here-by promise upon your Return, to amend and reform, and by ny future loving and obedient Carriage towards you, endeavour to make an Atonement for my past evil Deeds, and manifest to you and the whole World that I am become a new Woman, and will prove to you a loving dutiful and tender wife.Other glimpses of the Sullivans at Pine Hill appear in William F. Lord, "Black Sara" (1897) at the Old Berwick Historical Society. Sara (c. 1720- after 1775, but before 1801) was a slave of Captain Samuel Lord, who for most of her life worked for the captain's son -- a farmer and miller -- in a variety of capacities, and who lived near Master Sullivan at Pine Hill. This account emphasizes the comparative density and activity of the population at Pine Hill after the establishment of the Second Parish Church at adjacent Blackberry Hill in 1755. This is of some importance because in the novel and in other sources, the Pine Hill area often is spoken of as "backwoods" in comparison to Berwick village around the Upper and Lower Landings. While the Pine Hill and Great Falls neighborhood (now Berwick) may not have been as cosmopolitan as the Berwick and Somersworth area (now South Berwick and Rollinsford), it was not without its basic amenities of church and school.
If you do not regard what I have above written, I pray you to hearken to what you Pupil, Joshua Gilpatrick hath below sent you as also to the Lamentations and Cries of your poor Children, especially the eldest, who (tho' but seven Years old) all rational People really conclude, that unless you speedily return will end in his Death, and the moans of your other Children are enough to affect any humane heart....And why, my dear Husband, should a few angry and unkind Words, from an angry and fretful Wife (for which I am now paying full dear, having neither eat, drank nor slept in quiet, and am already reduced almost to a skeleton, that unless you favour me with your Company, will bereave me of my Life) make you thus to forsake me and your Children? How can you thus for so slender a Cause as a few rash words from a simple and weak Woman, chuse you to part from your tender Babes, who are your own Flesh and Blood? Pray meditate on what I now send, and reprieve you poor Wife and eldest Son (who take your Departure so heavily) from a lingering tho' certain Death, by your coming home to them again as speedily as you can, where you shall be kindly received, and in the most submissive Manner by your Wife, who is ready at your Desire, to lay her self at your Feet for her past Miscarriage and am with my and your Children's kind love to you, your loving Wife,
Margery Sullivan
Summersworth, New-Hampshire. July 11, 1743
Master Sullivan's Grave
Lists of the inscriptions in Berwick
cemeteries appear on the Internet. Here is the inscription on
Master John Sullivan's stone as recorded at this site. The
author notes that the stone is no longer in Berwick, but was
moved to Durham, New Hampshire.
Here are buried the Bodies of John Sullivan &
Margery his wife. He was born in Limeric in Ireland
in the year 1692, & died in the year 1796.
She was born in Cork in Ireland in the year 1714 &
died in 1801.
This marble is placed to their memory by their son
James Sullivan.
James Sullivan, from History of the District of Maine
The Sullivan Children from "Black Sara"
"John Sullivan was her master's nearest neighbor, she being
twenty-four years of age when his oldest child was born, and
frequently visited their humble dwelling and cared for the
children while that energetic Irish woman drove the oxen to
plough and otherwise assisted the energetic husband in
cultivating the farm. For many years she fondled in her sable
arms those children, who, in her life time became illustrious in
the Commonwealth."
The Revolution
"When it was learned that John, Daniel and Ebenezer Sullivan had
gone to the front .... it was determined in the council of the
household that Nathan and Samuel Lord should go to the war. Sara
had for some time anticipated this event and applied herself to
the wheel and loom and furnished them with serviceable suits of
homespun. They started on a bright morning in July after the
battle of Bunker Hill in June. While the boys were taking leave
of the family, Sara had gone up the road and seated herself on
the great rock; when they came along she joined them on their
way. The new mown hay in the field perfumed the air and bright
red cherries hung in clusters on the trees by the road; red
roses and peonies were blooming in the garden of the farm house.
They stopped at the school house where their school days had
been spent, looked into the window to get a view of Master
Sullivan's chair and the rude benches where they sat so many
days and passed over Worster's River to the top of Hodsdon's
Hill...."
Sara's Death
"The women of the neighborhood quickly gathered at the [Lord]
homestead and kindly offered aid and sympathy. Mrs. Sullivan
boisterously extolled her virtues and said, 'the like of her
will never be seen again.'"
Margery Brown was a nine-year-old passenger on the ship that brought Sullivan to York, Maine. Both were obliged to enter service agreements to pay the cost of their travel. Sullivan applied to a Dr. Moody (probably the Reverend Samuel Moody) for help and was given a loan to pay his debt and also Margery's, and he then opened a school in Berwick. He raised Margery as his adoptive daughter; they married in about 1735. While John taught, Margery became the manager of their small farm, and was remembered for having a quick temper, but also for her kindness and generosity.
Daniel Sullivan (not mentioned in The Tory Lover) In 1765, he established a saw-mill near the town of Sullivan (then called Frenchman's Bay). In the American Revolution, he became a captain of minute-men, was involved in several battles, and in 1781 was captured in his home by British soldiers and confined to the Jersey prison-ship in New York harbor, which led to his death in 1782. Catalfo says, "In the defense of Castine, Maine, a British fleet sent a party of marines to the head of Frenchman's Bay where they captured him and burned his house. He refused to take oath that he would not re-enter the Continental Army, so he was imprisoned in New York in the Jersey Prison Ships. After fourteen months and through the intercession of his brother, General John Sullivan, he was released, but he died a day or two after leaving New York" (144).
General John Sullivan. He practiced law prior to the American Revolution. According to the Encarta Encyclopedia General Sullivan was an "American military officer and statesman, born in Somersworth, New Hampshire. During the American Revolution, as brigadier general and later major general in the Continental Army, he held important commands at the siege of Boston from 1775-76; the battles of Long Island and Trenton in 1776; and the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown in 1777. In the following year he headed the American forces that besieged Newport. Sullivan is particularly noted for his leadership, together with General James Clinton, of an expedition that decisively defeated a strong combined force of British Loyalists and Iroquois warriors at Newtown (now Elmira), New York, on August 29, 1779. He resigned his commission in November of that year and served (1780-81) in the Continental Congress. He later served also as New Hampshire's attorney general (1782-86) and president (1786-87, 1789) and as U.S. district judge of New Hampshire (1789-95)."
Judge James Sullivan. After studying law under his older brother, John, James became active in politics, serving in several provincial government posts and then as a judge, continuing on the bench through the Revolutionary War. After the revolution, he served in Congress and in the Constitutional Convention. He served as Attorney General of the United States in 1790-1804 and as governor of Massachusetts. He is author of The History of the District of Maine (1798), on which Jewett drew for The Tory Lover, and of other works. His biographer, Thomas Amory, explains that James was lamed by a tree-cutting accident in his youth.
Mary Sullivan (30, where she is mentioned, but not named). Catalfo says, "... their only daughter (Mrs. Mary Hardy) lived in Durham, New Hampshire, most of her life. She, like her father, became a famous schoolteacher at a time when women were rare in the field of education" (145). In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett gives her name as Mrs. Margery Hardy.
Eben Sullivan. He served as a captain in the Revolutionary War, was captured and made a hostage to guarantee a prisoner exchange. Upon his eventual release, he served as an aid to General Sullivan in 1778. Catalfo says he was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and that he practiced law after the war.
Main Sources:
Thomas Amory, The
Life of James Sullivan (1859). See selections from
this book for further details.
Alfred Catalfo, Jr. The History of the Town of Rollinsford,
New Hampshire: 1623-1973. (master's thesis)
Also of interest: Materials
for a history of the family of John Sullivan of Berwick, New
England, and of the O'Sullivans of Ardea, Ireland (1893),
by Meredith, Gertrude E. (Gertrude Euphemia), b. 1852; Burke,
Bernard, Sir, 1814-1892; Amory, Thomas C. (Thomas Coffin),
1812-1889.
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett
writes: "Two of the most interesting figures of the last
century, however, who must by no means be forgotten, were John
(or Owen) Sullivan, always called Master Sullivan, and his wife,
Margery, who came over to New England from Ireland about 1723.
They first landed at York, and spent some time there on the
McIntire farm, still occupied by descendants of the royalist
exiles. Master Sullivan always surrounded himself with more or
less mystery, but insisted that he had "four countesses to his
mother and grandmothers, which has been proved true." He feigned
great ignorance at first to match his poverty; but at last,
tiring of his humble position, tradition says that he wrote a
letter to Parson Moody, of York, in seven languages, and
presently removed himself to the upper part of Berwick, a few
miles above Quampeagan, to the neighborhood of the Great Falls,
and opposite the present city of Somersworth. Here he kept a
school for a great number of years, and owned a small farm. He
is reported to have been indolent according to the standard of
his contemporaries, but to have been always reading and a man of
great wit and natural powers of mind. His wife was a woman of
quick temper, but great tenderness of heart, joined to all the
practical ability which master Sullivan seems to have lacked,
except that most noble gift of awakening young minds. Margery
Sullivan, -- "the small, beautiful, energetic, courageous woman,
who worked in the fields, so that her thoughtful and studious
husband might not be obliged to do it; who drove a cow some
thirty miles through woods and along bad roads for her son; who
nursed the neighbours when they were ill, and quarrelled with
them horribly when they were well; who gloried in her sons'
careers, boasting that she never did anything contrary to the
will of her husband. He was her father in age, her master in
knowledge, and her husband by marriage." The writer has heard
another boast of Margery Sullivan's repeated: that she had
dropped corn many a day with two governors: a judge in her arms
and a general on her back. Old Master Sullivan died in 1796, at
the great age of nearly one hundred and five years, keeping his
love for books until the last. His wife died in 1801. Two of
their sons, Daniel and Ebenezer, were captains in the
Revolutionary army: the first dying on his way home from a
captivity in the Jersey prison ship; the second was a lawyer at
South Berwick, but died at Charleston, S.C. John Sullivan, the
younger, was one of the distinguished officers of the war,
major-general by rank, and afterward first president or governor
of New Hampshire. James lived at first in Saco (it was to him
the cow was driven), and later he became a citizen of Boston; a
judge of the Superior Court, attorney-general, and in 1808
governor of Massachusetts.
There is a charming story of his being on
circuit in the District of Maine, and going out of his way to
pass the night with his old father and mother at Berwick. In the
evening he and his father lost their tempers over some political
argument and parted in anger. The judge was obliged to leave the
house very early in the morning before day, but he was so
troubled as he rode away by the thought that he had been
disrespectful, that he turned his horse at last and rode back
again several miles to beg his father's pardon.
This was the author of the "History of
Maine," so often quoted; a delightful work, eloquent at times,
and naturally very full of interest when its author touched at
any point the history or traditions of his native town. Berwick
has had few sons of whom she has such good reason to be proud.
The family burying place, at the old farm on Pine Hill, was
unfortunately destroyed by the laying out of a road; and the
graves of the father and mother being disturbed, the poor ashes
that were left and the stone erected by their son James were
removed by a descendant to the burial ground of their son and
daughter, Gen. John Sullivan and Margery (Mrs. Hardy), at
Durham, N. H.
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Ben Thompson: In Chapter 13,
Dickson accuses Thompson of being a Tory who, like Wallingford
and the Wentworths, only pretended to be patriots when their
lives & property were threatened. This is Benjamin Thompson,
Count Rumford (1753-1814). According to the Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia, the American born scientist left
the colonies in 1776, because he opposed the American rebellion,
and was knighted for service to England in 1784. He then "became
aide-de-camp to the elector of Bavaria. During his 11 years in
Bavaria, Thompson reorganized the Bavarian army, abolished
mendicancy in Munich, and established workhouses for the poor.
In 1791 the elector made Thompson a count of the Holy Roman
Empire."
In Journal and Letters of ...
Samuel Curwen, Ward points out that Thompson served in the
British army: "Towards the close of the war he was sent to
New-York, and raised a regiment of dragoons, of which he was the
colonel. He commanded at Huntington, Long Island, in 1782-3,
where he caused a fort to be erected in the church-yard,
contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants" (497-8).
Jewett was particularly interested in
Rumford and may have written an unpublished piece about his
daughter, Countess Rumford, who led in establishing an
institution for destitute children in Concord, N.H., where
Thompson had been a teacher before the Revolution. According to
Belknap, Thompson was among those proscribed after the
Revolution from returning to New Hampshire without permission of
the state (381). See also George E. Ellis (1814-1894), Memoir
of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1871).
Paula Blanchard quotes from Jewett's
notes for her piece on Countess Rumford: "His fellow New
Englanders could not then believe in the honest opinions of
those who sided with the mother country. It is only of late
years that we have begun to understand the deep sorrow which
that great war made in many a loyal conservative heart whose
every instinct flew toward patience and delay and the
interference and pacification of statesmanship rather than the
provocation of such a bloody quarrel" (345).
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Parson Tompson (1): Rev. John
Tompson (1739-1828)
He attends the feast in Chapter 2,
indicating that he is a Cambridge College (Harvard) graduate.
Paul Blanchard points out that "Parson John Thompson," one of
the founders of the Berwick Academy, did not become a minister
in Berwick until after the Revolution (342).
In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett
says:
There followed him [the previous parson] a man who is still remembered by some of my older friends, the Rev. John Tompson, who was a far more worthy successor of Parson Wise. He, too, was a college-bred man, of Harvard, 17-, and a descendant of the Parson Tompson of Braintree, so celebrated by Cotton Mather, in his "Magnalia," for his "constellation of converts." Mr. Tompson evidently plucked up his courage in accepting the call to Berwick. It was not only that he succeeded his predecessor, but the call was given in the darkest days of the Revolution, by a poor and anxious parish, with whom he frankly condoles upon its divided and languishing state. Berwick, as neighbor to her parent town of Kittery, had shared in the glorious successes of Pepperell in the siege of Louisburg; and no doubt some of her men marched with the company, formed about Saco, that was present at the fight on Bunker Hill. There is a devout assurance of Mr. Tompson's "Requests at the throne of Grace, that the God of Peace may be with us and bless us," as he ends his letter of acceptance.Rev. John Tompson (1739-1828) is buried in Old Fields Cemetery, with his wives, both named Sarah. The first died August 30, 1788 at the age of 35, the second on 24 August 1825 at the age of 83. The Goodwin Diary, perhaps quoting from the Judge Benjamin Chadbourne's "History of the town of Berwick" (1792), indicates that Parson Tompson began his service in 1783, after the Revolution, and continued until 1824.
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Madam Elizabeth and Judge Thomas Wallingford:
The Wallingford family website
says "Elizabeth was born 15 September 1718, in Hampton,
Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Her parents were from Hampton
Falls, N.H. before moving to York, Maine around the time
Elizabeth was born. Elizabeth was the daughter of Joseph Swett
and Hannah Sayward.
"Elizabeth died 3 December 1810, in
Berwick, York County, Maine, at 92 years of age. Elizabeth
Wallingford, 'relict of Hon. Thomas', is buried in the Salmon
Falls old town cemetery in Rollinsford, NH."
Elizabeth married twice. Her first
husband was Dr. Mark Prime. Stackpole's "Sligo" says: "Joseph
Prime was the son of her [Dorcas Wallingford's Stacpole's]
step-mother, Elizabeth Wallingford, and he married, Molly,
daughter of Andrew and Betsey (Abbot) Stacpole" (42).
Elizabeth had two children with Thomas:
Samuel Wallingford, born 4 February 1755, and Olive Wallingford,
born 29 May 1758 and died 1853. Olive married John Cushing of
Boston on Tuesday 6 April 1773 ("The Diary of Master Joseph
Tate"), and her son eventually inherited Madam Wallingford's
homestead farm. In "From a Mournful Villager," Jewett tells of
childhood visits to the elderly Widow Cushing, who then lived
not far from the Jewett home, at the site where South Berwick's
Central School now stands. The Widow Cushing would be a likely
source for Jewett's knowledge of the Wallingford family history,
being a near neighbor and friend of the Jewett family. See
also the Charles Cushing Hobbs
Talk.
Elizabeth Wallingford's gravestone in the Salmon Falls Old Town Cemetery in Rollinsford, NH reads:
ELIZABETH WALLINGFORD,
Relict of
Hon. Thomas Wallingford,
died Dec. 3, 1810,
aged Ninety-three years.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
In Chapter 10, we learn that Madam Wallingford has at least one patriot brother, in Boston. In Chapter 8 Nancy Haggins says she has young cousins there, too. Whether these are a factual assertions has not been determined. Stackpole below identifies Wallingford's brothers; two possibly surviving blood brothers are John and Samuel Swett.
From Descendants of John Swett of Newbury, Mass., by
Everett S. Stackpole, no date, published by The Journal
Printshop, Lewiston, ME. Copied by Elaine Merrell.
http://users.rcn.com/lmerrell/swett.html
LT. JOSEPH SWETT (Joseph 3, Benjamin 2, John 1), born in Hampton, N. H., married Hannah, dau. of John and Mary (Rishworth) Sayward of York, Me. She was born 21 June 1688 and died 15 Nov. 1761. He lived a few years at Hampton Falls and removed thence to York, Me. The church record at Hampton Falls says, "Hannah Swett wife of J. S. Jr. Dism. York (gone this region)." Three children recorded at Hampton, the rest in York. He married (2) 26 June 1762, Patience, widow of Ebenezer Nowell of York. Tate's Journal says that he died 2 Aug. 1776.Joseph Prime, who appears to be Elizabeth's son by the first marriage to Mark Prime, is listed in Soldiers, Sailors, and Patriots of the Revolutionary War: Maine, compiled by Carleton E. Fisher and Sue G. Fisher. National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1982. He was born in York 1739, married Lydia, and died in Berwick 1789.MARY b. 5 March 1715; m. 22 Nov. 1730, Dr. Alexander Bulman of York.
SUSANNA b. 7 May 1716; m. 12 June 1736, John Hovey.
ELIZABETH b. 15 Sept. 1718; m. (I) 12 April 1735, Dr. Mark Prime, (2) Capt. Thomas Wallingford of Somersworth, N. H. She d. 3 Dec. 1810.
43. JOHN b. 31 March 1719; m. Sarah Plaisted.
JOSEPH b. 3 Feb. 1723; drowned 12 June 1750.
ESTHER b. 3 Aug. 1725; m. James Arbuckle. Pub. 18 Jan. 1755.
44. SAMUEL b. 8 March 1728-9; m. Lydia Moulton.
Thomas Wallingford: According to a Wallingford family
web site, Thomas Wallingford (1697-1771) lived most of his life
in Somersworth, N.H. and was buried in the Salmon Falls old town
cemetery in Rollinsford, N.H. Having lost his first two wives,
he married Elizabeth Swett (1718-1810) in about 1754. He served
in the Royal Provincial Assembly and held other local offices in
Dover. He became a Judge of the Superior Court of the Province
of New Hampshire in 1748 and served in this position until his
death. He was a colonel in the Royal Colonial Militia. The site
says, "He was an extensive landowner, being one of the original
Masonian Proprietors, a group of wealthy seacoast area merchants
who purchased claim to ownership of all wastelands within sixty
miles of New Hampshire's coast. It was through land sales,
township grants and the reservation of much land for their own
use that these Masonian Proprietors gained such immense wealth
.... Like many of the rich families of early New England, the
Wallingfords were slave-owners. In the inventory of Thomas's
estate four slaves are mentioned -- a woman named Phillis, a
girl named Dinah, a man named Richmond and a boy named Cato.
Cato is likely the one who served in the Revolutionary War.
Phillis died 18 February 1773, but before she died she had been
offered to Thomas's son in law Capt. William Pearne, who married
the daughter Mary. The girl Dinah was described as 'disordered
in Mind & body of no value'."
"The Diary of Master Joseph Tate" has
this entry for Sunday, August 6, 1771: "Colonel Thomas
Wallingford of Somersworth died at Captain Stoodley's at
Portsmouth, was carrd [carried] up to Somersworth in the evening
and buried on Tuesday, August 6. Aged 74 years the 28th day of
July last."
Thomas Wallingford's grave stone in the Salmon Falls Old Town Cemetery in Rollinsford, NH reads:
Here lies interr'd the mortal part
of THOMAS WALLINGFORD ESQ.R
Colonel of a Regiment, and an
Honorable Judge of the Superiour
Augst the 4.th 1771
Aged 74 Years.
Princes the clay must be your bed
in spite of all your powers
the tall the wise the Reverend Head
must be as low as ours
