HISTORY OF NEW IPSWICH, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE
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SOURCE: History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire 
Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885, 878 pgs.

NEW IPSWICH, N.H.
CHAPTER I
p. 610

Geographical--Original Grant--The Grant of 1750--Incorporation of the
Town--The Charter of 1762, Ipswich--The Charter of 1766, New Ipswich--
The First Settlements--Names of Pioneers--Indian Alarms--The Pioneer
Mills-Early Votes--Tax List of 1763--The First Town Meeting--Officers
Elected--Votes--Tax List of 1774

The town of New Ipswich lies in the southwestern corner of the county,
and is bounded as follows: On the north by Sharon and Temple, on the
east by Greenville and Mason, and on the south and west by Cheshire
County.
  The township was granted by the government of the Massachusetts Bay,
in 1736, to some inhabitants of Ipswich, in that province, as surveyed
by Jonas Houghton.  The settlement of this province boundaries in 1741
severed a small portion of the Massachusetts claim from the township.
The Masonian proprietors' claim, being confirmed in 1745, annulled the
aforesaid grant; but the proprietors under it, with others, applied to
Colonel Joseph Blanchard, agent for said Masonian proprietors, and
succeeded in procuring a grant from them at a small expense, said 
grant being dated April 17, 1750.  This grant varied somewhat from the
former, but covered much of the same territory.
  At a meeting of the proprietors, July 5, 1762, it was:
 "Voted to apply to the General Court to git the Place called New
Ipswich Incorporated.
 "Voted to imply Capt. Reuben Kidder to go down to Court to get the
Incorporation effected, and that the said Kidder shall proceed in the
affair as he shall think best, and that the necessary charges shall
be paid by the Propriety."
  He secured an act of incorporation bearing date September 9, 1762.
[The text of this charter is found in the original document, but is
not included here. That document was dated 9 September 1762 and was
signed by Benning Wentworth, Governor and Theodore Atkinson, Council.]
That document describes the location as "Inhabitants of a tract of 
Land within the Province of New Hampshire, known by the name of
New Ipswich, lying on a branch of the Souhegan River, between No. 1
and Rowley Canada (so called)..

The town was chartered as Ipswich, and was to have continuance until
January 1, 1766.
  Another act of incorporation was granted March 6, 1766, by the same
authority, "to have Continuance during Our Pleasure by the Name of
New Ipswich."
  The first permanent settlement of the town was made in 1738 by
ABIJAH FOSTER, who, with his wife and daughter, Mary, then one year
old, came from Old Ipswich. His son, Ebenezer, was the first white 
male child born in the town.  Both father and son were in the French
War, and died near Crown Point in 1759.
  JONAS WOOLSON was one of the five earliest settlers, and is said to
have been here in 1739, and to have worked about three summers on his
land in company with BENJAMIN HOAR JR., returning to Littleton during
the winter. It is supposed that they both removed their families
here in 1742, soon after his marriage.  He is mentioned as one of the
resident grantees under the Masonian charter. His name is often
noticed in the proprietors' and town records, under both of which he
was often appointed to important offices.  His farm was located on the
east side of the river, on "Town Hill." It was occupied by him and
his descendants for seventy years.  Mr. Woolson was at the taking of
Burgoyne [Revolutionary War], where he lost a valuable horse.
  About the same time (1739) came BENJAMIN HOAR and MOSES TUCKER. Mr.
Hoar was from Littleton, and came from Townsend by marked trees,
before any path had been cleared. He settled on the lot below Woolson,
near the river, near where the first bridge was built and still
continues.  He was a blacksmith and also kept a public-house, and was
a very useful citizen. He was the third settler, and his wife the
second woman in town. CAPTAIN MOSES TUCKER settled on the west side of
the river, cornering on Mr. Hoar, and his house stood on the side of
the hill near the corner where the roads going to the river divide,
the farm long owned and occupied by Judge Champney.  He also
subsequently owned, and probably occupied, a farm on the Town Hill, 
on the eastern line of the town, as we learn from the record of ths
laying out of a road to Mason line in 1765, "going on said Chandler's
land...to the corner of his lott, then on the north end of his other
lot to Captain Moses Tucker's end line of his lott to the town line,"
etc.  Along this old "country road," then, on either side of the 
river, was the first neighborhood gathered.
  The BULLARDS, Ebenezer and John, next followed and settled on Town
Hill.  In the records of the town of Groton is recorded the marriage
of JOSEPH STEVENS, of New Ipswich, to Elizabeth Sawtell, November 10,
1743, showing that he, too, was at that time a resident of the town.
He settled on the Wilson Hill.  Some of the ADAMS' and other young
men, both married and single, came in, so that in 1745 there were a
dozen or more inhabited houses in the town.
  This, to be sure, was not making any great advance towards a
settlement,--far less than the terms of the grant required.  The
inherent difficulties in effecting a new settlement are always great,
especially when remote from others.  But in this instance, before the
five years' probation allowed them for settling their lots had
expired, the energy of the proprietors had been paralyzed by the
running of the province line in 1741, and by the consequent loss of
their rights under the Massachusetts grant; and those few settlers
who perservered in clearing and occupying their lands must have done
so under the discouraging consciousness that they held them by no
valid titles.
  But a still more serious obstacle interposed, which, for a time,
entirely suspended further operations.  This was the breaking out of
the French and Indian War, in 1744, which spread consternation
throughout all the feebler settlements, as well as in the older
country towns.  The Indians soon made descents from Canada, spreading
terror and devastation as they went, and the principal towns to the
north and west were attacked.  The inhabitants of the neighboring
towns either received garrisons for their defense or fled to stronger
places for refuge.  The settlers here, however, seem to have
maintained their ground until an actual incursion upon our very
borders.  In the summer of 1748 a descent of a body of Indians, about
eighty in number, was made upon the settlement of MR. JOHN FITCH,
which was located in what was then Lunenburg, and near the south part
of the present town of Ashby.  He, with his wife and five children and
three soldiers, occupied a garrisoned house.  They were attacked one
morning when two of the soldiers happened to be absent, one of whom
was killed in attempting to return.  After a gallant defense, and the
loss of the soldier with him, he surrendered, and with his wife and
children were carried to Canada.
  There was a block-house in Townsend, at the foot of the hill, above
the West village, which still bears the name of Battery Hill, on the
south road, not far from the southeast corner of New Ipswich. To this
place the inhabitants now fled for protection, with their families 
and valuables, with one exception.  Captain Tucker bodly resolved to
remain and make such defense as he could, or otherwise take his fate;
and he did so.  It is probable, however, that his family accompanied
the fugitives.  In the course of a month or two their fears were
allayed by the report of the scourts which had been sent out, that the
Indians had retired beyond the Connecticut River; and they returned
to their deserted homes.  Captain Tucker was found safe.  They also
found that their meeting-house had been burnt; but whether by the
Indians or by fire from the burning forests was uncertain.  It was
probably by the latter, however, as the Indians would not have been
likely to destroy the meeting-house alone, while they left the private
dwellings unmolested.
  The inhabitants of the town seem never afterwards to have been
seriously alarmed on account of the Indians, though some of the
neighboring towns were led to feel the need of protection.  In 1750
Peterborough petitioned for a block-house and soldiers, pleading
their great danger and exposure.  Even as late as January 1755, when
the Indians ravaged and burnt the towns on the Connecticut River,
the people of Ipswich Canada (Winchendon) called for aid, stating that
Indians were about, and they could not cultivate their fields, so
that they were dependent on Lunenburg, Lancaster and Groton for food.
Nor were their fears groundless, for traces of the visitation of
savages were detected near at hand by the scouts.
  But such was the rapid progress then being made in this town that
the settlers felt themselves in comparative security; and when, at 
the proprietors' meeting, in January 1757, they question was put
whether "the Proprietors will built a fort or forts in this township,"
it was voted "not to build any forts in this township;" and again,
whether they "will repair Mr. Adams' flankers in order for defense
against the enemy," it was voted in the negative.  This is the only
intimation we have that any means of defense against the Indians were
ever adopted in this town.  These "flankers" were a sort of
breast-work of logs and stakes, extending outwards and inwards from 
the angles of the house, with a port-hole at the point of meeting.
Douglass, who wrote in 1748, says, indeed, that there were two
block-houses in New Ipswich.  Mr. Adams' house might have been one of
those to which he alludes and Captain Tucker's another.  It is
probable that our forefathers were indebted for their immunity from
Indian intrusions to the mountain barrier on the west.  This
opposed a serious obstacle to a ready retreat with plunder; and hence
we find it to have been the custom of the savages to confine
themselves, in all their predatory incursions, to the principal
water-courses and low-lands.

  The first meeting of the proprietors was held in Dunstable,
April 16, 1749.  At the next meeting, however, it was
 "Voted, that all meetings shall be heald at New Ipswich for the
futur; and that the owners of five shears shall be sufficient to
request meetings for the time to com; and that notifications being
posted up at New Ipswich, Old Ipswich and Dunstable shall be
sufficeant warning for said proprietors."
  Thomas Dennis, Francis Choate, Nathaniel Smith and William Peters,
who had been proprietors under the Massachusetts grant, were admitted
as proprietors.
  The first saw-mill was built in 1750 and the first corn-mill in
1751, by JOHN CHANDLER.
  March 21, 1753, "Voted that Reuben Kidder, Ephraim Adams and
Benjamin Hoar to be a Committee to take care of the prudentials of
this place; also to lay out a Burying-place and clear some their."
  February 27, 1754, "Voted, to give Joseph Kidder, at the rate of
twelve pounds an acre, for clearing his land at the North West corner
of his lott, to be for a common, after three years and a halfe from
the date hereof."  The same vote was passed in relation to the
southwest corner of Joseph Bates' lot, and ten acres were afterwards
laid out "adjoyning to the meeting-house, agreeable to ye grant of ye
same."
  The westerly part of the lot then laid out was subsequently 
exchanged with Mr. Farrer for land "under and about where the
meeting-house" afterwards stood.
  November 26, 1754, "Voted that four neat cattle shall stock a Right
till such time as it shall be thought proper to alter this vote."
  August 25, 1757, "Voted that TIMOTHY HEALD shall draw out of the
Treasury, forty-five pounds, old tenor, for keeping Phinehas Goodale
and carrying him to Townsend."

The following is the TAX LIST of 1763:
  MINISTER'S RATE FOR THE YEAR 1763
                                        L. s. d.
"Captain Jonas Woolson.................10 18  3
 Captain Benjamin Hoar.................10  8 10
 Thomas Wright......................... 3 11  3
 Thomas Parrett........................ 1 19  4
 Ebenezer Heald........................ 6  9  4
 Jacob Adams........................... 2 18  1
 Samuel Kinney......................... 4  7  0
 Thomas Heald.......................... 2 14  4
 Benjamin Gibbs........................ 5 10  7
 Samuel Whittemore..................... 7  9  6
 Simeon Fletcher....................... 4  5  1
 Robert Campbell....................... 4  3  1
 Hezekiah Corey........................ 2  2  2
 Andrew Conn........................... 2  6  3
 Joel Crosby........................... 4 17  6
 Thomas Adams.......................... 7  8  1
 Simeon Hildreth....................... 3  4  8
 Stephen Adams......................... 7 12  7
 Jesse Carleton........................ 2  5  6
 John Chandler.........................11  7  0
 Peletiah Whittemore................... 2  8  9
 Elias Stone........................... 1 16  3
 Thomas Spaulding...................... 2  9  7
 Stephen Adams, Jr..................... 2  1  2
 Timothy Heald......................... 7  1  0
 Joseph Bullard........................ 4 14  1
 Ebenezer Bullard...................... 7 13  7
 Captain Moses Tucker..................11  3 10
 James French.......................... 2  8  9
 John Dutten........................... 7 10  7
 John Dutten Jr........................ 2 13  1
 Deacon Benjamin Adams................. 7  5  6
 Deacon Ephraim Adams.................. 6 19  6
 Abba Severance........................ 3  6  0
 Peter Fletcher........................ 3 17  7
 Benjamin Knowlton..................... 7 10  9
 Archibald White....................... 5 18  0
 Benjamin Procter...................... 3 15  4
 Ezra Towne............................ 2 19  1
 George Start.......................... 7  7  0
 Esn. Joseph Stevens................... 8  3  1
 Nathan Cutter......................... 5 16  3
 Barnabas Davis........................ 5  3  6
 Simeon Gould.......................... 2 16  8
 John Brown............................ 2  0  0
 Benjamin King......................... 4 14  9
 Benjamin Safford...................... 7  4  9
 Wido [Widow] Mary Foster.............. 3  3  9
 Wido Elizabeth Fletcher............... 0 19  1
 Joseph Kidder......................... 4  6  3
 Joseph Bates.......................... 6  9  1
 Isaac Appleton........................ 9  4  6
 James Farrar.......................... 3 18  9
 James Wilson.......................... 2  0  0
 Reuben Kidder, Esq....................16 13 10
 Robert Waugh.......................... 3 10  0
 Samuel Parker......................... 5  1  3
 Abel Wright........................... 4 11 10
 Thomas Farnsworth..................... 3 11 10
 Kendall Briant........................ 6  7  6
 Andrew Spaulding...................... 3 15  0
 Josiah Crosby......................... 4  6  0
 Moses Tucker Jr. ..................... 3 15  0
 Thomas Fletcher....................... 6  4  1
 Francis Fletcher...................... 6  9  9
 William McClary....................... 4 18  0
 Wido Catherine McClary................ 1 13  9
 Daniel McClary........................ 2  0  0
 Aaron Kidder.......................... 7  7  4
 Issac How............................. 7  2 10
 William Brown......................... 2  8  7
 Benjamin Cutter....................... 5  1  3
 Silas Parker.......................... 2  0  0
 Leonard Parker........................ 2  0  0
 Simeon Wright......................... 2  0  0
 Thomas Brown.......................... 2  8  9
 William Spear......................... 5  1  3
 Nathaniel Carleton.................... 2 16  3
 Amos Taylor........................... 2 10  7
 Reuben Taylor......................... 3 15  0
 Robert Crosby......................... 3  6  7
 John Preston.......................... 3 15  0
 Samuel Perham......................... 2  0  0
 Ichabod How........................... 8  3  1
 Asa Bullard........................... 2  0  0
 Joseph Richardson..................... 2  0  0
 George Hewett......................... 3 17 10
 Silas Russell......................... 2  0  0
 Zachariah Emery....................... 2  0  0
 Zachariah Adams....................... 7 12  3
 Samuel Foster......................... 2  0  0
 Joseph Parker......................... 2  0  0
 John McIntosh......................... 2  0  0
 Wido Mary Brown....................... 0 14  0
  TOTAL: L436 10s 8d
"The above is a copy of the Minister's Rate for the year 1763, the
assessment was on silver at L2 5s per dollar, as they were set or
valued in the Massachusetts Provinces, in the currency of said
Province, by reason that our contract with ye Rev. Mr. Stephen Farrar
was for Silver as aforesaid.
 "Timothy Heald, Town Clerk." 

FIRST TOWN- MEETING--The first town-meeting was held September 13,
1762, as follows:
  "At the first Town-meeting held at Ipswich, in New Hampshire, by
Veirtue of a Charter of Incorporation held in said Ipswich.
 "Capt. Jonas Woolson chosen Moderator of said meeting.
 "Moses Tucker, Dr. John Preston and Robert Crosby chosen Selectmen.
 "Ebenezer Bullard chosen Constable.
 "Ichabod How and Thomas Heald chosen a Committee to examine the
Selectmen's accounts, and make Report of the same at the next annual
meeting.
 "Voted, that the Selectmen shall serve as Assessors.
 "Benjamin Knolton and Isaac Appleton chosen tithingmen.
 "Joseph Bates was chosen Sealor of Waits and Measurs.
 "Saml [Samuel] Kinney, Simeon Gould and Aaron Kidder chosen deer
keepers.
 "Joseph Stephens, Thomas Farnsworth, Francis Fletcher, Ebenezer Heald
and Joseph Bullard chosen Surveirs of High ways.
 "Robert Crosby chosen Surveir of Lumber.
 "(signed) Timothy Heald, Town Clerk."

1763,--
 "Voted to chuse an agent to defend in behalf of this town, in those
actions commenced against the Town by Capt. Kidder and Samuel Parker.
 "Voted to build a Pound of Wood, and set it on Joseph Kidder's Land,
south of the road, on the east side of the Brook that runs out of said
Kidder's meddow.
 "Voted, not to abate Doct. Preston's Rate for his head and hors,
nor Relese him from pay for his head and hors for the future."

1767,--
 "Voted, to chuse two Constables for the present year.
 "Voted, for calling town-meetings for the future the Constable 
notifie at the Mill and the most public House in town.
 "Voted, not to pay the Select men.
 "Voted, not to exact the fine of Lieut. Bates for his not serving
Constable for said year."
  (He had been regularly chosen, but refused to serve this year.

  1770,--
  "Whereas, sundry persons have been licensed to sell spiritous
liquors in this town, who have not had the Approbation of the Select
men, which we think has a bad Tendency, and has already been to the
damage of the Town;
 "Voted, that the Town Clerk, in behalf of the Town, prefer a Petition
to the Court of Quarter Sessions, that no person for the future be
licensed but what have the Approbation of the Selectmen.
 "Voted, that Commissions of profit and facultys and licensed Houses
be Rated by the Selectmen according to their supposed profits."

  In 1770 an article was inserted in the warrant for town-meeting, as
follows:
  "To pass such fauther Resolves respecting the non-Importation
agreement of the Generous Sons of Liberty at Boston, as shall be 
thought proper.
 "Voted, that the Selectmen provide a Stock of Ammunition, sutable for
the town.
 "Voted, to build a place for the Town Stock of Ammunition on the
Beams under the Roof of the Meeting house."

  1773,--
 "Voted, that the Selectmen provide Burying Cloths for the Town's
use."

1773 INVOICE
 An invoice of the town, taken in 1773, was as follows: 169 male 
polls, 3 slaves, 201 oxen and horses, 267 cows, 246 young cattle,
18 acres of orchard, 3118 acres of pasturage, 881 acres arable and
mowing; L66 lawful, the yearly income of stock in trade, money at
interest, mills, etc; whole number of inhabitants: 882

TOWN TAX FOR 1774
SOUTH LIST [only NAMES from original document included here.  Original
document also listed the actual tax]
 Stephen Adams Jr., Silas Adams, Thomas Adams, Richard Alexanders,
Charles Barrett, Samuel Bartlett, JohN Breed, JohN Brooks,
Nathan Boynton, Alled Breed, David Brooks, Jesse Butterfield,
Robert Campbell, Nathaniel Carlton, James Chandler, Hezekiah Corey,
Thomas Cummings, Ephraim Chamberlain, Benjamin Carver, Ephraim
Cummings, Samuel Cummings, Aaron Chamberlain, Bunker Clark, 
Benoni Cory, Thomas Davis, Jonathan Davis, Widow Rachel Fletcher,
Timothy Fox, Isaac Farwell, Timothy Farwell, Widow Mary Foster,
Nathaniel Farr, Ephraim Foster, Daniel Foster, William Faris,
Benjamin Gibbs, Captain Benj. [Benjamin] Hoar, Ensn [Ensign]
Thomas Heald, Samuel Horsley, Sampson Hildreth, Samuel Holden,
William Hodgkins, Stephen Hildreth, Simeon Hildreth, Jonas Holden,
John Jaquith, Samuel Kinny, Samuel Kinny Jr., Jacob Kendall,
Stephen Lund, Nathaniel Melvin, Capt. Jonas Minott, John Mansfield,
John Melvin, David Melvin, Abel Miles, Lieut. Obadiah Parker,
Capt. Samuel Preston, James Preston, Joseph Parker, Stephen Pierce,
Leonard Parker, Kendall Parsons, Joseph Pollard, Leonard Proctor,
Nathaniel Pratt, Abel Parker, Jonathan Parker, John Pratt, Nathaniel
Reed, Jonathan Robbins, David Rumrill, Benjamin Safford, 
William Shattuck, Ephraim Severance, Thomas Spaulding, John Sawtell,
David Saunders, Timothy Stearns, William Shattuck Junr, Reuben Taylor,
Odoardo Thomas, James Tidder, Sampson Tuttle, Moses Tucker,
Joseph Tenney, Capt. Jonas Woolson, Peletiah Whittemore, Samuel
Whittemore, Henry Woods, Samuel Woods, Peletiah Whittemore Junr,
Supply Wilson, John Wheeler, Joseph Warren, Simeon Wright, John 
Wilkins, Jonas Wheeler, John Walker, Oliver Wright, Jonas Wheeler Jr.,
Seth Wheeler, Nathan Wesson, Henry Wright, James Wright,
Henry Spaulding and Elijah Flagg.
 NORTH LIST
Deacon Ephraim Adams, Deacon Benjamin Adams, Lieut. Isaac Appleton,
Francis Appleton, Ephraim Adams Junr., Levi Adams, Lieut Stephen
Adams, Phinehas Adams, Mr. Joseph Adams, Lieut Joseph Bates, Lieut.
William Brown, Thomas Brown, Edmond Briant, Josiah Brown, 
Thomas Barnes, Joseph Baker, James Barrett, Capt. Nathan Barrett,
Retire Bacon, John Boutwell, Ephraim Burge, John Brown, Joseph
Brooks, John Brown junr., Jonas Brown, Mr. Ebenezer Champney,
Eleazer Cummings, Nathan Cutter, William Clary, Isaac Clarke,
Jesse Carlton, Daniel Clary, John Cutter, Jonathan Cutter, John
Dutton, Deacon Stephen Davis, Stephen Davis junr, Benjamin Davis,
Elijah Davis, Silas Davis, Capt. Davis Fletcher, Francis Fletcher,
Samuel Farrar, Thomas Farnsworth, Henry Fletcher, Timothy Farrar,
William Fletcher, Daniel Farnsworth, Adam Goold [Gould], Simeon Goold,
Nathaniel Goold, Isaac How, David Hills, John Harkness, Robert
Harkness, Charles Hinds, Samuel Heyward, Thomas Holt, Elisha Hubberd
[Hubbard], Col. Reuben Kidder, Lieut. Benjamin Knowlton, Widow Rachel
Kidder, Thomas Kidder, Joseph Lowell, Daniel Mansfield, Ezra 
Mansfield, Josiah Melven [Melvin], Elijah Morse, Joseph Peirce,
Doctr [Doctor] John Preston, Stephen Parker, Paul Prichard,
Benjamin Pollard, Samuel Parker, Benjamin Procter, Amos Prichard,
Ezra Peirce, Robert Reading, Silas RIchardson, Doctr Jesse Rice,
Josiah Robbens [Robbins], Josiah Rogers, Samuel Rogers, Ensign
Joseph Stevens, George Start, Lieut. Nathaniel Stone, Jonathan
Stevens, Abijah Smith, William Start, William Spear, 
Andrew Spaulding, Thomas Stow, Joseph Stickney, Ezra Town,
Josiah Walton, Benjamin Williams, Timothy Wheelock, Samuel Walker,
John Warner, Joseph Wright, Jonathan Wheat, John Flynt [Flint],
Samuel Soper, Daniel Stratton, Timothy Spaulding, and Benjamin Smith.

---------
CHAPTER II
MILITARY HISTORY
Initial Events--The Lexington Alarm--Captain Heald's Company at
Lexington--Captain Towne's Company--Captain Parker's Company--
Saratoga and Stillwater--The Seneca Lake Expedition, List of
Soldiers--The Militia of 1785--War of 1812, List of Soldiers--War
of the Rebellion

The first reference on the town records to the forthcoming struggle
for Independence was under the date of December 6, 1774, as follows:
 "Voted, That it is the opinion of this Town that Representation is
absolutely necessary to legal taxation or Legislation; and whereas
this town has, for a number of years, been taxed to the Province,
and have had no Voice in Legislation, which is a great Grievance;
and in order to obtain a Redress, that the Selectmen of this town do
forward a Petition and Remonstrance to his Excellency, our Governor,
that we may enjoy those privileges which are essential to the
British Constitution, and that they call upon the adjacent Towns to
adopt the like measures and endeavor that the unrepresented Towns come
into simliar measures throughout the Province."

The intelligence of the British advance on Lexington (says Kidder and
Gould's "History of New Ipswich") reached this town about two
o'clock in the afternoon.  The Committee of Safety immediately
assembled on the common, and fired three guns in quick succession,
the signal that had been agreed upon in case of a sudden alarm.
The people rapidly assembled, and in less than two hours a great
proportion of the male population met on the little common in front
of the meeting-house.  After a short consultation with the oldest
and most experiences, it was decided to prepare as many as possible
and march for Concord.  The town's stock of powder and lead was taken
from the magazine, then situated on the beams of the meeting-house,
and distributed to such as had not a supply, a careful account of it
being taken by the selectmen.  In the mean time the alarm was
extending through the remote parts of the town, and some of the men
who were at work in the woods or distant fields did not reach the
usual training-ground till sunset; and as provisions had to be
collected, so much time was consumed that probably but few
commenced their march before dark.  Several parties proceeded as far
as Captain Heald's, where they took a few hours' repose, and others
spent most of the night in and near the middle of the town, but took
up their march before daylight; and before the sun rose the next
morning not less than a hundred and fifty men, the very bone and
muscle of the town, were pressing forward, some on foot and some on
horseback, towards Concord.  Provisions were collected and forwarded
in carts, under the direction of the Committee of Safety.
  Deacon Appleton, like Cincinnatus, had left his plow in the furrow
at the moment of the alarm, and soon after mounted his horse and
carried the news to Peterborough.  The next morning a company from 
that patriotic town, with Captain Wilson in command, passed through
New Ipswich, then nearly deserted by the men, the deacon hastening
on with them, not even stopping to take leave of his family, though
he passed near his own door.
  It has been stated that there was but little military organization.
Timothy Farrer, was, perhaps, the most prominent man, and had been
the most active in exciting a military spirit, though he did not 
assume any command.  Ezra Towne was an officer in the militia, but
acted as a subaltern on this occasion.  Captain Heald was recognized
as the commander, and paid the bill for the entertainment of the men
at Action, where they arrived and remained during the night of the
20th.  On the succeeding day they arrived at Concord, where they
obtained reliable information that the enemy had all returned to
Boston.  Many of the elder men, after visiting the scene of blood at
the North Bridge, returned home to make the necessary preparations
for a contest, which they now saw was inevitable; and with what
feelings we may judge, when we consider that the scene of the conflict
was the natal soil of many of them, and that many of those who had
fallen victims had been their neighbors and kinsmen.  By far the
larger part, however, proceeded to Cambridge, the headquarters of the
army.
  On the arrival of our men at Cambridge they found an immense
concourse of people, rather than soldiers, most of whom were
occupying the colleges for temporary quarters. At the request of the
Committee of Safety, Captain Towne, on the 23d of April, took orders
for enlisting a company, and immediately notified his townsmen; and
such was their confidence in him, and in those who were to be
associated in office with him, that nearly thirty signed his roll that
day, and by the 10th of May it was increased to sixty-five in number,
including rank and file.  Most of these were citizens of New Ipswich,
only ten being from Peterborough and a few from Mason.  All of the
officers were of this town, and it was called the "New Ipswich
Company."

PAY-ROLL of CAPTAIN EZRA TOWNE'S COMPANY IN COLONEL JAMES REED'S
REGIMENT, to the 1st of August, 1775.
  Ezra Towne, captain; Josiah Browne, first lieutenant; John Harkness,
second lieutenant; Benjamin Williams, Peletiah Whittemore, 
Elisha Hubbard, Samuel Breeding, sergeants; Supply Wilson,
Elijah Morse, Stephen Adams, corporals; Jesse Carlton, drummer;
Wilder Kidder, fifer.  Privates: Phinehas Adams, Asa Adams,
Jeremiah Andrew, David Avery, Timothy Avery, John Breed, Ebenezer
Bullard, Peter Brown, Benjamin Cutter, Archer Churchwood, Nathaniel
Carlton, Elijah Davis, Abraham Densmore, David Elliot, John Elliot,
Joseph Felt, Ezra Fuller, Silas Gill, Samuel Griffin, Samuel Hutchins,
Daniel Hall, Benjamin King, Peter Lowell, Samuel Mitchel, 
David Melvin, David Marshal, Farrow Miller, Thomas Morrison,
Aaron Oliver, Thomas Patterson, Eben [Ebenezer] Pratt,
Jeremiah Pritchard, Jonathan Stevens, John Start, Ebenezer Severance,
David Scott (killed June 17th), Abel Severance, Benjamin Smith,
Isaac Stanhope, Ephraim Stevens, William Scott, Daniel Severance,
Josiah Stone, Timothy Sternes, Samuel Soper, Thomas Tufton,
Ezra Towne Jr., John Temple, Josiah Walton, Nathan Watson,
Archibald White, Daniel White, Levi Adams--sixty-five rank and file.

About the 1st of June, Colonel James Reed arrived at Cambridge with a
commission from the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire to command a
regiment of troops of that State.  The next morning, he says, "he was
waited upon by Captain Towne, who introduced to him some other
officers commanding companies from this State," and a regiment was
soon formed, consisting of eight companies, of which Captain Towne's
was called the First, and was assigned the post of honor, being
stationed on the right.
  In October 1776, Captain Abijah Smith marched towards New York with
a company from this town, Peterborough and the vicinity.  Among them
were many of the principal men,--the two Deacon Adams, Lieutenant
Stone, Deacon Isaac Appleton, John Cutter, Jonathan Kinney, Jonas
Dutton, Jeremiah Pritchard and others. They were present at the battle
of White Plains, but from their position were not much exposed to the
fire of the enemy.  They all arrived home safe before the end of the
year.

PAY ROLL OF CAPTAIN STEPHEN PARKER'S COMPANY, IN COLONEL MOSES
NICHOLS' REGIMENT, and GENERAL STARK'S BRIGADE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
MILITIA WHICH COMPANY MARCHED FROM NEW IPSWICH (AND JOINED THE
CONTINENTAL ARMY UNDER GENERAL GATES AT STILLWATER) 19th July, 1777
  Stephen Parker, captain; Benja. Craggin, T., Samuel Cunningham, P.,
first lieutenants; Benjamin Williams, ensign; Benja. Ryan, P.,
John Robb., P., Archibald White, Saml. Mitchel, P., sergeants;
Whitcombe Powers, Ephraim Brown, Thomas Morrison, P., Saml. Lewis,
corporals; Saml. Lowell, drummer; Simeon Hildreth, fifer. Privates:
Allen Breed, Allen Breed Jr., Saml. Walker, Benjamin Safford,
Josiah Walton, David Rumrill, Peletiah Whittemore, Peter Fletcher,
Ephraim Stevens, Jona. Parker, Richard Wheeler, Amos Wheeler,
Wm. Upton, Edmund Sawtel, Nehemiah Stratton, John Knight, Jotham Hoar,
Francis Appleton, Ebenezer Severance, James Foster, Caleb Bancrof,
Paul Powers, John Everet, Samuel Wheeler, Peter Wheeler, Daniel 
Foster, Richard Stickney, Nat Shattuck, Needham Drury, Benja.
Severance, Levi Spaulding, Henry Spaulding, Eli Adams, Abel Dutton,
Benja. Dunn, P., Ephraim Brockway, P., Jeremiah Proctor, P., 
Asa Brockway, P., Jesse Smith, P., James Mitchel, P., John Blair, P.,
Benja. Mitchel, P., Wm. Robbe, P., Thomas Little, P., Sargent Paige,
P., Simpson Hogg, P., Jeremiah Smith, P., James White, P., 
Charles McCoy, P., Wm. Blain, P., Saml. Miller, P., Wm. Moore, P.,
Joseph Heald, John Steward, P., Silas Taylor, Abraham Taylor,
Isaac Barret, P.,
 NOTE.--"T." Temple.  "P." Peterborough.

In September a company of forty-two men was raised in which 
Simeon Gould was an officer, and hurried off in great haste. Part of
the men had horses, and, no doubt, practiced "ride and tie." They
arrived in time to take part in the battles at Stillwater and
Saratoga, and to witness the surrender of General Burgoyne and his
whole army, an event everywhere received with joy and satisfaction,
more especially by the people of New England, who were thereby
relieved from the fear of impending invasion.
  In 1779 a number of men joined the expedition under General Sullivan
to Seneca Lake, which resulted in great disaster to the Indians there.
  In March, it was "Voted, that there be a contribution taken up to
defray the charges of bringing Ephraim Foster home from the army, 
and also for the benefit of the poor of the town."
  At this time the British held possession of part of Rhode Island,
and a company of thirty-one men under Captain Joseph Parker
proceeded to Providence, and afterwards to the Island.  It is not
known whether or not they fought in the engagements there.
  It would appear that several parties went to Rhode Island while it
was invested by the British; for, in the following August, when a
committee was appointed to make another average of the services of the
inhabitants in the war, their report was, "That those who went to
Rhode Island the first term be allowed for six months; and those who
went the second term be allowed three weeks; and those who went the
last term be allowed six months."
  In obedience to another call in August, it was voted "to Hier six
men to go in the Continental army, agreeable to the requisition of
the Court."
  In June 1780 a call for six men for the Continental army was made.
A meeting was called, and it was "Voted, that the Selectmen and the
Captains of the two Train Bands be a committee to hire the six men
for the town, in the cheapest and most expeditious way they can."
  In July a demand was made on the town for the proportion of beef
for the army.  It was acccordingly "Voted to raise Fifty-five
Thousand Pounds, lawful money [this would have been the equivalent,
in silver, to $733.33] to procure Beef for the Army, and to
pay Soldiers now gone."  It was also voted that any person might pay
his rates, in silver at seventy-five for the one, which shows the
depreciated state of the currency of this period.
  The next year it was "Voted to raise L400 Silver Money, for to pay
for the Town's proportion of Beef rate for the Army," and the
constables were authorized to receive the old rates, on the scale of
one silver dollar to ninety of paper.
  In February, 1781, a meeting was held to raise twelve men for the
Continental army, who had been called for to fill up the quota 
assigned to the State. These were raised by dividing the town into
twelve classes, as recommended by the General Court, each class to
furnish a man, by hiring or otherwise.
  In November a call was made for miliamen, and the selectmen
proceeded to hire them on the best terms they could.  The town, "Voted
to approve of the Selectmen hiring the three months' militia, and
also to procuring the town's proportion of Rum." It is supposed that
nine men went at this time to West Point, of whom Isaac How was the
leader.
 "Voted, to pay those men who went on the late alarm for Coos." A 
small party of British soldiers made an incursion into Vermont, and
at Newbury had captured a Colonel Johnson, and carried him to Canada.
An alarm was made in this region, and Captain Heald, with quite a
number of men, were soon on their way thither; they were absent but
a short time.
  January, 1782, "Voted, that the Selectmen shall procure clothing for
the Continental Soldiers against the next Town-meeting, if they can."
  Six men were raised this year for the Continental service; one of
these was Mr. John Gould.
  During this summer or autumn a party of Tories from Canada made an
interruption into Vermont, and proceeded as far as Royalton. It was
supposed they were the vanguard of a large detachment sent to lay 
waste the towns on the Connecticut River.  An alarm was sent to this
town, and a large company of sixty-five men marched immeidately, but
were absent only a few days. This was the last alarm that ever came
for soldiers.  The capture of Cornwallis with his army, nearly closed
the active operations of the Revolution.
  Of the persons who were officers or soldiers in the service
during the war, it is to be regretted that no entry was ever made on
the town records, that there-by their names might have been
preserved.  We have already given two extensive rolls, and, after a
thorough investigation, we think the subjoined list will contain the
largest part of those who served three years or more, besides those
already named, but not all,--
 Jonas Adams, Levi Adams, John Adams, Phinehas Adams, Stephen Adams,
Peter Bullard, John Bullard, Amos Baker, Joel Baker, William Scott,
Jesse Walker, William Hewitt, John Proctor, John Thomas, 
Samuel Potter, Silas Whitney, Ezra Meriam, Ephraim Foster,
Nathaniel Hays, Silas Gill, Nehemiah Stratton, Ithamar Wheelock,
Rawlins Coburn, Samuel Foster, Asa Perham, William Prichard,
John Yoman, Ephraim Severance, Moses Farnsworth, Ebenezer Fletcher,
Ashel Powers, David Melvin, Jonathan Davis, Lt. Nathan Wesson,
Thomas Kidder, Asa Severance, Isaac Taylor, James McGensey, 
Joel Barker, Bunker Clark, James WHipple, Hezekiah Sawtelle,
Jonathan Parker, Hezekiah Wetherbee, Zebedee Whittemore,
Samuel Walker, Joshua Davis, Eleazer BUllard, John Thomas, 
Joel Proctor, James Tidder, Henry Knowlton, John Brown Jr.,
Jonathan Wheat, Isaac How, Stephen Hildreth, Lt. Jeremiah Prichard,
Lt. Peletiah Whittemore, Samuel Cummings, Whitcomb Powers,
William Hunt.

In addition to these were all those who turned out on the various
alarms, on the requisition of the Committee of Safety, making in all
something like three hundred and sixty enlistments, in numbers
varying from three to forty-eight men at a time, and for periods of
one month to three years.  Nearly every man, from the highest to the
lowest, sooner or later took his turn or hired some one as a
substitute.
  Of all these men but one or two were killed in battle, eight or
ten were very severely wounded, among whom were Josiah Walton,
Ebenezer Fletcher, Jeremiah Prichard and Jonas Adams; and about 
twenty died of sickness in the army, or soon after they were brought
home, of whom were John Adams, Simeon Hildreth, Daniel Hall,
Samuel Campbell, Jonathan Wheat, Samuel Foster, Ephraim Foster,
and Asa Perham.  Quite a number of them had contracted habits
incident to the camp, which materially affected their respectability
and success in afterlife.
  The country was drained of all its available means by continual
heavy taxes that were almost constantly levied, in one shape or
another, to carry on the contest.  The proportion of this town, in
a province tax of L1000, was in 1773, L13 1s; only sixteen towns paid
more.  In 1777 it was L12 11s. 6d.,; only ten towns paid more; In
1780 it was L12 5s 2d. In 1781 an act was passed to raise a quantity
of beef for the army; the proportion levied upon this town was
17,164 pounds; only twelve towns furnished a larger quantity. A levy
was made by the State for 10,000 gallons of rum; this town's part
was 122 gallons.
  In 1781 Congress called on this State for thirteen hundred and
fifty-four men for the Continental army; our proportion was seventeen
men, which were promptly furnished. From this is it probably that this
town was relied on, and did supply a fraction over one-eightieth of
all the men and other means raised by this State during the
Revolutionary War.  All the requisitions were supplied fully and
promptly. In 1783 a list was made out by the Legislature of the
deficiencies of the several towns; and while there were great
delinqencies in some places, New Ipswich was found deficient two men
only, which were immediately supplied [Kidder & Gould's "History of
New Ipswich"].

The following lists of Revolutionary soldiers and matters pertaining
to the Revolution are from the State archives and furnished by
Isaac W. Hammond, Esq., Deputy Secretary of States:
  The following is a list who responded to the first alarm, referred
to on page 75, "History of New Ipswich":
 "Persons that went to Cambridge in April, A.D. 1775, on the alarm of
the battle at Concord, their time and expenses:
[Note: this list shows Name -- Days as the headings, which contradicts
the list name, stating it is Name and Time/Expenses]
"Thomas Heald, Captain 13
Ezra Town, Lieut. 00
Joseph Parker 13
Hezekiah Corey, Ensign 6
William Start, Clerk 13
Isaac How, Serg't, 13
Saml. Whittemore, 3
Simeon Hildrith, 7
Ebenr Brown, 2
Jesse Carleton, 13
Jno. Brown Jr., 7
Joseph Wright, 7
Samuel Soper, 13
Stephen Davis, 5
Robert Cambell, 3
Thos. Brown, 13
Jonas Wheeler, 7
Josiah Brown, Sergt, 13
Jonas Wilson, Jr., 7
Simeon Gould, 4
Jona. Davis, 4
Joseph Pollard, 13
Francis Fletcher 10
Nathl Pratt, 9
Edmd [Edmund] Bryant, 5
William Hodgkins, 5
James Chandler, 5
Jon. Brookes, Serjt, 13
Jno. Cutter, 11
Nathl Swain, 9
Timo Wheelock, 4
Joel Wheelock, 8
Nathl Read, 5
Benja Hoar, 7
Aaron Chamberlain, 9
Rev. Stephen Farrar, 30
Elijah Flagg, 6
Timo Farrar, 5
Jno Wilkins, 5
Danl Mansfield, 5
Peter Fletcher, 5
Jno. Sartell, 8
Abel Miles, 13
Wm. Speer, 6
Elijah Davis, 13
David Sanders 8
Joseph Warren 5
Moses Tucker, 2
Thomas Fletcher,5
Danl Clary, 6
Isaac Farwell, 5
Timo Farwell 5
Nathl Melvin 8
Jno. Walker 5
Wm Kendall 8
Danl. Stratton 5
James Tidder 13
Nathl Carleton 13
Benj. Williams 13
Josiah Walton 13
Leonard Parker 7
Joseph Tinney 5
Wm. Faris [Farris] 7
Ephraim Foster 8
Daniel Foster 13
Samuel Foster 8
Timo Stearns 13
Benja Gibbs 8
Supply Wilson 13
Saml Kinney 13
Jno [John] Melvin 5
David Melvin 13
Josiah Davis 5
Allen Breed 13
Jona. Wheet [Wheat] 7
Whitcomb Powers 13
Joseph Bates 5
Chas. [Charles] Barrett 1
Isaac Appleton 5
Reuben Kidder, 5
Jereh [Jeremiah] Underwood 7
Benj. Pollard 13
Abrm [Abram or Abraham] Abbott 13
Josiah Rogers 5
Saml Haywood 5
Thos Farnsworth 8
Stephen Parker 5
Nathl Stone 5
Timo. Fox 4
Nathl Farr 13
Saml Bartlett 3
James Barr 3
Amos Boynton 7
Elear [Eleazar] Cummings 5
Isaac Clark 5
Wm Shattuck 3
Ephrm Adams Jr. 7
Robert Harkness 7
 "Attest, Thomas Heald"
"State of New Hampshire, Hillsborough ss. Octr 17th 1785
 "Personally appeared Thomas Heald, Edmund Briant and Joseph Parker
and made solemn oath that this Account by them severally subscribed
is Just and true according to the best of their knowledge
 "Coram   "Timo Farrar, Justis Pacis." [Justice of the Peace]
  (The whole account amounted to L124 16s)

"Persons that went on an alarm to Royalston, State of Vermont, their
time and expenses with horses"
 "Edmd Bryant Capt, Isaac Clark Lieut, Benj Williams Lieut, Jerh
Prichard, Thos Brown, Josiah Walton, John Brown Jur., Silas Davis,
John Gould, Joseph Stickney Jr., Benja Adams Jr., Jno Adams,
Amos Baker, Saml Speer, Wm Speer Jr., Jno Cutter, Wm Prichard,
Jona Fletcher, Ephm Adams Jr., Elijah Davis, Josiah Brown,
Thos Kidder, Thos Fletcher Jr., Wm Clary, Edmd Town.
 "Attest, Edmund Briant."
They went on horses, were out for four days and traveled forty-five
miles. The account amounted to L34 10s.

"Cap Parker's Company that went on towards Royalston on said alarm.
 "Thos Hale Lieut Col, Joseph Parker Capt., Moses Tucker Lieut,
James Chandler Ensn, Jno Brooks Sergt, Leonard Parker, Allen Breed
Sergt, Wm. Faris, Ebenr Knight, Enos Knight Jr. Saml Cumings,
Ebenr Fletcher, Thos Spaulding, Timo Fox, Wm Shattuck, Jona Twist,
Wm Hodgkins, Levi Farr, Nathl Farr, Isaac Bartlet, Jotham Hoar,
Ephm Hildreth, Joseph Warren, Jesse Walker, Amos BOynton, Joel Baker,
Stephen Pierce, Saml Fletcher, Stephen Adams Jr., Jno Prat, Edwd Prat,
Nathl Prat, Isaac Farwell, Edmd Farwell, Jno Gowing, Robert Campbell,
Thad Talor, Reuben Taylor, Hezekh Hodg, Jno Wheeler Jr.
  The fore going were out with horses four days, traveled thirty-five
miles and the account amounted to L90 9s.

HORSES LOST IN THE AMERICAN WAR
[original document shows how much they were reimbursed.  Only the
names and what they lost are included here]
Capt Charles Barretts horse lost when Tie was evacuated
Jonas Wilsons horse at the alarm when Borgoin was taken
Capt. Francis Fletchers horse lost at the same time
Francis Appletons horse lost at the same time
Wm. Clarys horse lost for a year and expenses and time in obtaining
his horse
John Thomas' Horse taken and Impressed into the Continental Service
 "A true account, attest
 "Isaac Appleton, Thomas Heald, Joseph Parker, Josiah Brown,
Committee."
 (The aggregate amoutn was L328 8s 0d. The account was sworn to before
Timothy Farrar.

In 1777 a petition was made to the Council and Assembly of the State
of New Hampshire from the Town of New Ipswich requesting payment for
horses lost in the service. [entire document in original] that was
dated New-Ipswich Decr 25th 1777, and was signed by "Francis
Fletcher, Jonas Woolson Junr, William Clary and Ephraim Adams"

In a document dated, Exeter, Febr ye 19th 1778, "the horse of Francis
Fletcher I think was worth L30 William McClary 28, Jonas Woolson 35,
Ephraim Adams 30 the Horses was ordered forwarded by me with the
advise of other officers."
 (signed) "Thos Heald, Leut Col"

A Petition to Pay for A Horse Lost in the Service 1777 was directed to
the Council and Assembly of the State of NH, from Ipswich, stating
"That on or about the first Day of Octr 1777 we pressed on a Horse
the Property of Capt Charles Barrett of New-Ipswich to carry Packs
for the Men...that the said Horse was lost in the Expedition.. 
 This document was dated: "New-Ipswich, 23d Octr 1778" and was
signed "Wm Shattuck, Isaac Appleton, James Chandler, Selectmen" and
was sworn before "Timo Farrar, Just:Pacis" [Justice of the Peace]

APPRAISAL OF ESTATE OF ABSENTEES, 1778
 "An inventory of the Estate of John Tomlinson and John Tufton Mason,
Esqrs (supposed to be inhabitants of Great Britain) lying in N-Ipswich
in the State of N-Hampshire, taken into Custody and appraised by the
Subscribers, Select-Men of sd New-Ipsiwch [remained of original
document states the appraisals]. This document was dated and sworn to
on Oct 24, 1778 by Isaac Appleton, Wm Shattuck and James Chandler,
Select men, before Timothy Farrar.

In 1785 a document relating to the militia regiment [but not
specifially mentioning any names of the militia] was signed on
January 27, 1785 by "Paul Prichard and Ephm Adams, Selectmen of
N-Ipswich" along with the following citizens of New Ipswich:
 "Timo Farrar, Josiah Walton, Josiah Rogers, Ebenezer Jones,
Daniel Foster, Benja Adams Jr., Ephm Hartwell, Benjamin Knolton,
Seth Wheeler, Jesse Carlton, Luther Kidder, Nathan Robens, 
Thos Noals Reed, Amos Baker, Nathl Hodgkins, Nathl Farrer,
John Wheeler, Richd Wheeler, James Tidder, Peter Fletcher, John 
Walker, Simeon Wright, John Pratt, Enos goodale, Timothy Fox Jur,
Jonathan Fox, Lazarus Cary, ELijah Newell, Eleazer Comings,
George Start, Isaac Bartlett, Benja Hoar, Joseph Batcheller,
Ithamar Wheelock, William Prichard, Nehemiah Stratton, John Cutter,
William Speer, William Speer Junr, Jesse Walker, Isaac How Jr.
John Champney, Samuel Bartlett, Timothy Fox, Peter Shattuck,
Silas Adams, John Shattuck, Stephen Adams, Thos Spaulding,
Thomas Spaulding Jr., John Binney, Joel Baker, Onesimus Newell,
Caleb Campbell, Samuell Fletcher, Robert Campbell, Ebenr Fletcher,
James Chandler, Joseph Warrne, Moses Carleton, Zebulon Conant,
Simeon Blanchard, John Weeler Jun., Samuel Wheeler, William Wheeler,
Samuel Fletcher, Nathaniel Melven, Benjn Gibbs, John Pratt Junr,
William Fariss, Stephen Hildreth, Joseph Baker, Reuben Taylor,
Thos Fletcher, Thomas Fletcher Juner, William Wheeler, William Cary,
Francis Fletcher, Ebenr BUllard, Josiah Wlaton Jur, James Walton,
Thos Brown, Jonas Woolson Junr, Jonas Whiting, Samll Heywood,
Samll Whiting, Franc Appleton, Nathan Parker, James Barr, Timothy
Wheelock Jr., Simen Goold Junr, Ebenezer Adams, John Champney Jur,
Daniel Bartlett, Noah Bartlett, John Prichard, Daniel Mansfield,
Ezra Towne, Shurmon Shattuck, Samuel Chandler, Aaron Kidder, 
Joel Hildreth, Nathan Walker, Joseph Parker Jur, Ruben Taylor Jr.,
Zebedee Taylor, William Wheeler Jr., Daniel Clary, David Clary,
Ephraim Fletcher, James Tidder, Jonathan Fletcher, William Delap,
Enos Knight, David Knight, Ebenezer Knight, Moses Tucker,
Benja Knight, Samuel Parker, Jotham Hoar, Josiah Robbins, Daniel
Parker, Samuel Blood, John Preston, Ebenr Parker, Benjamin Procter,
Benja Hoar jun., Nathaniel Prentis."

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE OF SAMUEL WALKER, 1782.
 "This may certify that I the subscriber one of the Selectmen in New
Ipswich in the year 1780 did with the other Selectmen by order of
Court hire Six men to serve Six months in the Continental army of
which Number Samuel Walker of Ipswich was one who marcht off and
returned with the others, and I never heard but that he faithfully
Did the Service and was properly Discharged.
 "New Ipswich, August 27th, 1782
 "Isaac How."

John Goold certified that he served with said Walker for the term of
six months, and that they came home together.

SOLDIER'S BOUNTY
 "The BOunty paid to Hezekiah Sartwell by the Town of New Ipswich
amounts to Eighteen pounds.
 "Exeter Septr 12th 1786
 "Josiah Gilman, Junior"

PETITION FOR JOHN THOMAS, 1785
 "Ephraim Adams, of New Ipswich, states that John Thomas was in the
Rhode Island expedition in 1778, and had a horse impressed into the
Continental service; and that said horse was never returned to him.
He asked to be paid for the same. Timothy Fox stated that said horse
was worth L10. Joseph Parker and Peter Fletcher testified that they
were in the same regiment (Colonel Enoch Hale's) and knowing to the
fact as stated by Adams. He was allowed L10.

PETITION OF CAPTAIN EZRA TOWNE
 "To the General Court of the State of New Hampshire:
 "The Petition of Ezra Town of New Ipswich in said State humbly shews
that he in January A.D. 1776, commanded a company in the Service of
the United States, and that his Men went into Canada then to Albany
in the same year and on the first of December in the same year his
company marched to Pennsylvania and continued there untill the first
day of Janr following and soon after his company was dismissed without
rations or any subsistance money to carry them home...
 "New Ipswich 30th Jany 1786
 "Ezra Towne."
(The petition was dismissed and he presented another dated February 4,
1788, in which he stated that his company was in General James Reed's
regiment, and that the men were discharged February 13, 1777, at
Morristown, N.J.).

PETITION FOR AN ALLOWANCE FOR BOUNTIES PAID THREE YEARS' MEN, 1785
 "Whereas it was Eneacted by the Authority of the State of New
Hampshire upon January--1781--
 "That for every recruit raised and Mustered to do three years
Service in the Continental Army--the TOwns who raised said recruits
should be entitled to receive out of the Treasury of said State
Twenty pounds equal in Vallue to Indian Corn at four Shillings a
Bushel for each recruit so raised--
 "it appears to use that agreeable to the foregoing Act the Town of
New Ipswich raised the following persons for said Service (viz)
John Bullard--Peter Bullard--John Adams--Nehm Stratten--Joseph Procter
-- Stephen Adams--Phinehas Adams--Saml Walker--Jesse Walker--John
Thomas--Joel Baker--Amos Baker--Saml Potter--Wm Hewitt & Wm.
Scott--
 "We therefore desire your Honour the Treasurer for said State to pay
the Sums allow'd to the Town for raising the foregoing recruits to
Deacon Ephraim Adams and his receipt Shall Discharge you for said
Sum--
 "New Ipswich May 23d 1785
 (signed by) "Hon. J. Taylor Gilman, Esqr.
  and "James Hosley, Paul Prichard, Ephm Adams Jr., Select men for
sd New-Ipswich"

********
WAR of 1812
*******
The War of 1812 met with but little favor from the citizens of
New Ipswich.  The following were in the service:
  "Aaron Barton, John Eaton, Ephraim Spoor, Peter Cumings, Mr. Stears,
Moody Blood, William Hall, Abel Bardner, Bela Gardner, 
Sewell Spaulding, James Spaulding, Ashby Brooks, Jonas Smith,
John B. Wright, Peter Wilder, Silas Wheeler, Samuel Chikering,
Nathan Severance, Henry Keep (as a substitute for Charles Walker),
James Spaulding and --- Gould.

****
WAR OF THE REBELLION [CIVIL WAR]
****
The town responded promptly to the call of an imperiled country during
the War of the Rebellion, and its record during that conflict is an
honorable one. Its quotas were filled and money furnished with the
same patriotic spirit evinced by Deacon Appleton as he left the place
on that April day in 1775 and marched to the Concord fight.

************
CHAPTER III
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
************
Congregational Church--Methodist Church--Baptist Church--
Unitarian Church

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH--In the original grant of the town a reservation
was made of a certain piece of land for the support in part of the
Christian ministry, and at the town-meeting in 1750 it was voted
"to choose a committee to provide a proper person to preach in said
town." They also voted forty-six pounds, old tenor, "for preaching
in the fall of the year," and chose Joseph Stevens and Reuben
Kidder a committee "to provide a proper person to preach."  Two
years afterwards (1752) one hundred and fifty pounds, old tenor, 
were voted "to pay for what preaching there had been, and to be laid
out in preaching for the futer," and also "to have constant preaching
hereafter."  In 1754 it was voted "to hire two months' preaching in
six months next coming, and no more."
  It was voted, February, 1755, "to proceed to settle a minister," and
subsequently, "that Mr. Peter Powers be our gospel minister."
Joseph Stevens and Ephraim Adams were chosen to apply to Mr. Powers,
"And make some proposals to him about his settling with us, and hear
his reply, and make Report at the Adjournment of this meeting." They
were also directed "to hire Mr. Powers to preach with us hear in
this place till the adjournment of this meeting."  They voted to give
four hundred pounds, old tenor, in passable bills, for "a settlement,"
and also to give him four hundred pounds, old tenor, equal to about
forty pounds silver, for a salary, with thirty cords of wood yearly.
  Mr. Powers accepted the call, but before the day appointed for the
ordination he requested to be relieved from his obligation to become
their pastor.  The request was granted, and November 26, 1759,
Rev. Stephen Farrar was called, and ordained October 21, 1760, when
the church was also organized.  Rev. Mr. Farrar remained pastor of 
this church until his death, which occurred suddenly June 23, 1809.
He was succeeded by Rev. Richard Hall, who was ordained March 12, 
1812, and remained until his death July 13, 1824.  Rev. Isaac R.
Barbour was pastor from March 8, 1826 to September the same year;
Rev. Charles Walker from February 28, 1827 to August 26, 1835;
Rev. Samuel Lee from May 5, 1836 to 1862; Rev. Calvin Cutler settled
March 12, 1862, dismissed April 11, 1867; Rev. Prescott Fay settled
January 1, 1868, dismissed October 6, 1869; Rev. Benjamin F. Ray 
acting pastor from July 1, 1870 until death, January 1, 1872;
Rev. Thomas S. Robie acting pastor from May 1872, until March, 1874;
Rev. Bela N. Seymour, acting pastor from October 1, 1874, until
March 15, 1878; Rev. Horace Parker, acting pastor from August 1, 1878,
until May 30, 1880; Rev. Sumner G. Wood settled December 31, 1880,
dismissed March 1, 1883; Rev. George F. Merriam, Acting pastor,
April 15, 1883.
  The first meeting-house was erected by the proprietors of the town,
but probably was never used as a house of worship, and was destroyed
during the desertion of the town in 1748.
 In 1752 it was voted to build a meeting-house which was completed in
1759, and a committee was appointed, consisting of Aaron Kidder,
Joseph Bates and Ichabod How, to "seat the meeting-house;" and
they were directed to "seete ten persons on each Long Seat and four
on each short one."
 This was an unpretentious building, and in 1762 it was:
 "Voted to build a Meeting-house 50 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 24
feet post.
 "Voted to chuse a Committee to receive and provide stuff such as
boards, slit-work, shingles, clapboard and the like for the
Meeting-house. Chosen Mr. Robert Crosby, Mr. John Chandler, Dea.
ABenjamin Adams and Capt. Reuben Kidder."

A controversy arose respecting the location of the house, which lasted
until 1767, and after the location had finally been decided upon,
and the church erected, another controversy occurred in relation to
the distribution of the pews.  Some wished to have a committee "to
prise the pew spotts and let the highest payers have them according
to their pay," and others wished to hve them sold to the highest
bidder at public vendue. It was finally agreed, November 18, 1768
"That all persons who hath a mind to have his proportional part in
the pew ground in the New M.H., prefer a Request to the Commtee 
chosen to dispose of the Pews at Vendue, by the 25th day instant at
9 o'clock in the morning, shall have their proportionate part,
according to their pay, sett off to such as Request it.
 "Voted, by Intrest, that all the persons Intrested in the New M.H.
shall sell the pews (that are not sett off to such as Requested their
part) at public vendue to the highest bidder, and have the benefit of
the money said pews come to, in proportion to their pay."

 In March 1769, it was voted that the committee "proceed to build a 
pulpit and make the Body of Seats, and Seal up the window stools,
and lathe and plaster to the Gallery girts and so under the Gallerys,
and Build the Stairs, and lay the gallery floor and also the
ministerial Pew, all to be compleated this Summer coming."
  In January, 1770, it was voted to finish the meeting-house this
present year; to have a row of pews around the gallery, sell them at
auction and apply the proceeds towards the finishing of the house.
They also voted to paint the interior as the committee should "think
proper upon advise of men skilled in painting." The last recorded
act in relation to the completion of the house was to build seats on
the spaces over the stairs, "and the Negroes to set on the Hindmost
of said seats in each gallery," though by a subsequent record it
appears that they had not been built in 1774.
  The fourth and present church edifice was completed in 1813.

February 22, 1759
 "Voted to give Joseph Stevens L9 9s in silver, old tenor, for
going ot Concord to hier a preacher, and to Townshend to wait on
Mr. Farrar up; and for going to Cambridge, L7 4s, silver, old tenor,
L2 10s, like tenor, for going to Chelmsford on the like business.

November 26, 1759. At a meeting of the proprietors,
 "Rev. Daniel Emerson presiding, and after solemn supplication, Vetoed
by Proxes, and chose Mr. Stephen Farrar to be our Gospel minister
in this place.
 "Voted to give Mr. Stephen Farrar L40 starting money of Grate Briton
in addition to the first Minister Rite of Land in this Place, if
he settles in the ministry in this place.
 "Voted, to give Mr. Stephen Farrer forty pounds starting, as afor-
said for a yearly Sallery, so long as he continues a Gospel minister
amongst us.
 "Voted to add Mr. Farrar's Sallery five Pounds Starling, to be paid
yearly, when there is Eighty families; and five Pounds starling more
to be paid yearly, when there is one hundred famelies settled in
this place, said addition to continue so long as he does the work of a
Gospel minister in this place, and no longer
 "Voted to give Mr. Stephen Farrar thirty Cord of good Wood,
cordwood length, to be delivered at his house annaly, if he settled
in this place.
 "Voted that the Comtee appointed to hier preching shall inform
Mr. Farrar of our Call and the Conditions of the same."

The following signed the church covenant:
 "Stephen Farrar (pastor-elect), Ephraim Adams, Joseph Bates,
Thomas Fletcher, Andrew Spaulding, Jonah Crosby, Amos Taylor,
Zecharaiah Adams, Stephen Adams, John Dutton, Reuben Kidder,
Ebenezer Bullard, Joseph Stevens, Benjamin Hoar, Benjamin Adams,
Thomas Adams, John Chandler, Joseph Bullard.

To these were added, in the course of the succeeding twelve years,
thirty-eight others. Among these were:
1764--Barnabas Davis, Nathaniel Carleton and wife, Rachel Kidder,
Cornelius Cook, Joel and Hannah Crosby, Marshall Farnsworth.
1765--George Start and wife, Ichabod and Sarah How.
1766--Edmond and Abigail Briant, Nathan Boynton, Rebecca Mlevin and
the wives of Ezra Town and Abijah Smith.
1767--Seth Cobb and wife, Jonathan and Sarah Davis.
1768--Joseph and Ruth Pollard, and Rebecca, wife of John Preston.
1770--Samuel and Bridget Brown, Silas Richardson, John and Susannah
Cutter, and the wives of Jonas Woolson, Josiah Brown, Stephen Brown,
and Elijah Mansfield.
1772--Isaac Clark, William Elliot and the wife of Simeon Fletcher.

According to Mr. Walton's memoranda,, there were added in 1786, 88;
1787, 10; 1789, 5; 1790, 1; 1791, 2; 1792, 3; 1794, 2; 1800, 5;
1801, 3; 1806, 1; 1808, 2; 1809, 3.
  Ephraim and Benjamin Adams were the first deacons.

THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH--was organized October 9, 1851,
with fifty-seven members, but within ten years later united with the
old church.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH--was organized in 1841. The following
is a list of pastors from its organization to the present time:
  Horace Moulton, from December 1851 to June 1852; Jacob Boyce,
from July 1842 5o July 1844; George W.T. Rogers, from July 1844 to
June 1845; Henry Nutter from June 1845 to May 1846; J.W. Grumdly
from May 1846 to June 1848; Joseph Hayes from June 1848 to May 1849;
Jonathan Hall from June 1849 to may 1851; O. H. Jasper from May 1851
to December 1851; O.P. Pitcher from December 1851 to June 1852;
Jonathan Hale from June 1852 to May 1855; J.P. Stinchfield from
May 1855 to July 1856; S.G. Kellogg, from July 1856 to July 1858;
David Culver from January 1859 to April 1859; A.P. Hatch from May 1859
to April 1861; George F. Eaton from April 1861 to April 1862;
Irad Taggart from April 1870 to April 1872; Jacob F. Spaulding from
April 1872 to April 1875; Israel Ainsworth from April 1875 to
APril 1877; F.W. Johnson from April 1877 to September 1877;
G.M. Curl from September 1877 to April 1879; Geo. S. Wentworth from
April 1879 to April 1880; F.H. Corson from June 1880 to April 1883;
J.M. Coburn, from June 1883 to April 1884.
 This church has no pastor at the present time.

A UNITARIAN SOCIETY--was formed here and a meeting-house erected in
1833.  Among the ministers were Rev. Mr. harding, Rev. R. Bates and
Rev. Warren Burton. The church is now extinct.

********
CHAPTER IV
*********
APPLETON ACADEMY [by John Preston].  We read in the "History of New
Ipswich," that though the town had made provision for instruction in
the languages, it was only for a few weeks in the year; and after the
close of the Revolutionary War it was not to be supposed that such
men as the Farrars, Champneys, Prestons, Barretts, Appletons and
Kidders, who had children growing up, would be satisfied with the
advantages enjoyed.  In 1861, at a re-union of the alumni of the
academy, Hon. John Preston, is responding to the toast, "The
Original Founders of the Academy," said,--
 "As early as 1787, when but one Academy had been established in this
State, thirty-two men of New Ipswich and other towns in this
vicinity bound themselves by mutual covenants to contribute their
several proportions to the support of a school in New Ipswich, where
the higher branches of knowledge might be taught.  In 1789 our
Academy was incorporated.  Some of the founders had been soldiers in
the War of the Revolution; all were suffering from the embarrassments
occasioned by the expenses of the war and a depreciated currency.
Many of them were involved in debt; yet, for the sake of providing the
means of educating their children, they increased their debts and even
mortgaged their farms, firmly convinced that they should leave their
children no legacy so valuable as a good education."

In the fall of 1787 the school opened in a district school-house with
Mr. John Hubbard for its first preceptor. The school flourished and
outgrew its first home; so, in 1789, a building now occupied as a
dwelling by Emerson Howe, was erected, and a charter of incorporation
obtained. Trustees were selected from those who had been members of
the association, all papers and money given to the new board and
the old association gave place to the new.  Rev. Stephen Farrar was
chosen president of the trustees, Dr. John Preston secretary, and
John Hubbard was retained as preceptor until his resignation in
1795.  The next year Mr. Samuel Worcester, who had fitted for college
under Mr. Hubbard, was secured as preceptor, and remained two years,
when he resigned to begin his vocation of the ministry in 1798. Mr.
Worcester was succeeded by Mr. David Palmer, who remained one year,
and the school was closed that winter.
  The next two terms were under the charge of Mr. Peter Cochran.
  In September, 1799, Mr. Warren Pine took the school for two years.
At this time there seems to have been a depression, and the school was
closed for two years, to open in 1803 under the care of Mr. Joseph
Milliken, who remained until 1807, when Mr. Benjamin White was put in
charge for a year. He was succeeded by Mr. Oliver Swain Taylor, who
recently died in Auburn, N.Y. at the age of one hundred. Under Mr.
Taylor the school was prosperous, and a goodly number of the daughters
as well as the sons, of the town attended.  At this time we find the
first lady assistant (Mrs. Mitchell, afterwards married to Mr. Peter
Batchelder).  Mr. Taylor resigned in 1811, and the next few years
we find the school to have been in charge of Messrs. Luke Eastman,
Hart Talcott, Jesse Smith and Elijah Demond.
  In 1817 the town was about to build a new town hall, and an
agreement was made with the trustees by which the town and trustees
should, to their mutual advantage, join in erecting a building.
  In 1817 the school was moved to its new rooms, the students marching
in procession from the old building to the new.  The music on this
occasion was furnished by some of their own number, among them being
Elijah Bingham and Jonas Chickering, whose name has since been so
well-known in musical circles throughout the world.
  From 1818 to 1820 Mr. Earl Smith was preceptor. The school 
flourished at this time, and we find in a letter from Mr. Charles
Barrett to Mr. Samuel Appleton that, beside the building, fifteen
hundred dollars had been added to the fund.  Soon after this Mr.
Samuel Appleton sent some globes and one hundred volumes toward a
library, of which the school was in need.  At the same time, Mr.
Isaac Appleton contributed a large and curious folio volume on 
"Genealogy."
  The next four or five years were under Messrs. Amasa Edes, 
Rufus Putnam, and Cranmore Wallace.  In 1827, under Mr. Seth H. Keeler
the school was very small.  Mr. Robert A. Coffin, assisted by his
wife, held the school from 1828 to 1833 with great success.  During
this time Mrs. Dolly Everett, sister of the Appletons, presented the
school with a bell.  Mr. Coffin was followed by his assistant, Mr.
Stephen T. Allen, who was highly commended by the trustees when he
resigned at the end of the following year.  From 1835 to 1841, Mr.
Charles Shedd was preceptor, and from 1841 to 1844 Messrs. 
Josiah Crosby, James K. Colby and Abner Warner were in charge.
 In 1844, Mr. Edward A. Lawrence began his successful work, which 
lasted until his resignation, in 1851. 
  At the meeting of the alumni in 1861 allusion is made to him by
the chronicler as follows:
 "After a season came Edward, whose surname was Lawrence, a wise man
who dealt uprightly and walked in his integrity. And his days were
marked by gentleness and peace. Many children of the people drew
nigh unto his loving-kindness, and they took sweet counsel together
and walked to the House of God in company. Now the rest of the acts
of Edward, and his many kind words, and his goodness, they are
graven with the point of a diamond on the tablets of our memory."

On September 11, 1850, the town celebrated its centennial, and many
of its distinguished sons and daughters were present.  On account of
great age and infirmities, Samuel Appleton was unable to attend, but
sent a letter, in which he says,--
 "As a sentiment on the present occasion, I send you the following,
which I hope will meet the approbation of all; 'The Literary
Institutions of New Hampshire in general, and the Academy of New
Ipswich in particular;' and to enable that institution to assume its
former standing and extend in future usefulness, I, Samuel Appleton,
of Boston, do hereby promise to pay to the Trustees of New Ipswich
Academy, for the benefit of said Academy, five thousand dollars on
demand."
 After the applause, which the reading of this letter excited, had
ceased, Dr. Augustus A. Gould, of Boston, one of New Ipswich's sons
rose and promised to give to the academy an extensive collection of
shells, plants and other objects of natural history whenever the 
resident citizens would furnish suitable cases for their arrangement
and preservation.  At the same meeting a committee, consisting of
Hon. Samuel Batchelder, Hon. Timothy Farrar, Jonas Chickering, Esq.,
Dr. A.A. Gould and Frederic Kidder, were chosen to solicit money
for a permanent fund for the academy.  Such an ipulse had been given
by the donations of Mr. Appleton and Mr. Gould that the resident and
other friends of the school resolved to erect a building suited to 
the future requirements of the institution, and money for the purpose
was given by Samuel Appleton, Nathan Appleton, Jonas Chickering, the
Kidders, Champneys, Barretts, Prestons, Thayers and many others.
Mr. Elihu T. Quimby took charge of the school after the resignation of
Mr. Lawrence.  In 1853 the present academy building was begun, a 
large two-story brick building, situated on fine grounds commanding
an extensive view.  In the spring of 1854 the new rooms were ready for
occupation.  The first floor of the building was devoted to
recitation-rooms; by a broad, easy stair-way the second story was
reached, on which were situated the large school hall, library, room
for philosophical apparatus and a museum for the promised gift of Dr.
Gould, who, shortly after the completion of the cases, came to
superintend the arrangement of the cabinet.  Among other things is a 
very valuable and complete geological collection, part of which was
given to Dr. Gould by his friend, Dr. Charles Lyell, and many of the
inscriptions are in Lady Lyell's handwriting. Another branch of the
collection had been given to Dr. Gould by Colonel Ezekiel Jewett,
a native of Rindge, who served in the War of 1812, and also in the
South American War.  Still later in life he became famous for his
researches in minerals and shells.  In 1854 the academy received from
the executors of the will of Samuel Appleton, who had recently died,
twenty thousand dollars, making his total gift to the school fund
twenty-five thousand dollars; and at this time, in recognition of
his kindness, the name of the school was changed to New Ipswich
Appleton Academy.  In the summer of 1851, at the request of friends of
the academy, Mr. Quimby, the principal, issued a circular, a portion
of which follows:
 "The Alumni of New Ipswich Appleton Academy will meet at the Academy
hall, in New Ipswich, N.H. on Wednesday September 18, 1861, for a 
social reunion, and to listen to an oration by B.B. Kingsbury, Esq.
of Cambridge, Mass.  Timothy Perry, Esq., of Brooklyn, N.Y. has been
engaged as poet, and William A. Preston, Esq. of New Ipswich, N.H. as
chronicler for the occasion.  A dinner will be served and music
provided, and no pains will be spared to make the day pleasant and
profitable to all."

We read in the record of that day that a large number of alumni and
friends of the school met on Wednesday, September 18, 1861, at nine
A.M. in the old academy hall.  The meeting was called to order by
Rev. Samuel Lee, one of the board of trustees, and the following
officers of the day were chosen: President, Deacon N.D. Gould, of
Boston, Mass; Vice-President, Hon. John Preston, of New Ipswich;
Marshal, Colonel John P. Clark, of New Ipswich; Chaplain, Rev.
Perley B. Davis of Andover, Mass; Secretary, John N. Stearns, Esq. of
New York.
  After the business of the day had been transacted, a procession was
formed on the green in front of the old academy in the following
order: The Marshal and Aids; The Band; An Escort of Students; The 
Officers of the Day; The Orator, Poet, Chronicler and Secretary;
The Trustees; Invited Guests; Teachers (past and present) of the
Academy; and Alumni.
  The procession moved through the principal streets of the village
to the large hall in the new academy building, which was filled to
overflowing.  The president of the day, Deacon N.D. Gould, a 
vigorous man, though in his eightieth year, upon calling the assembly
to order, made a short address, in which he said,--
 "Perhaps there is no one now living who knows so much of the history
of this Academy as myself, or who can say, as I can, that of the
thirty-two original founders of the institution, of the fifty-five
different gentlemen who have been from time to time its trustees,
and of the twenty-eight preceptors who have successfully had its 
charge, I have known every one, and have been intimately acquainted
with most of them."
  An oration was then delivered by B.B. Kingsbury, Esq., entitled,
"True Heroism" and its connection with the life of the scholar. The
oration was followed by a poem written and delivered by Timothy Perry,
which was received with great favor by the audience.  The poem was
followed by the "Word of the Prophet Benammi," by William A. Preston.
The ancient and allegorical style in which the prophet treated
numerous incidents in the history of the academy provoked hearty
merriment among the most dignified in the assembly.
  It was the first year of the Civil War, soon after our defeat,
when Bull Run and Manassas Gap awakened sad memories in all hearts,
and it was in allusion to these events that the chronicler, who refers
to New Ipswich as GIlead and the academy as the tabernacle, foretells
the final triumph of the right, and invokes the blessings of Heaven
upon our cause...[a lengthy quotation from the above chronicler's
speech is found in the original document, but is not included here].

During the next few years many valuable philosophical and chemical
instruments were added to the school laboratories.  Mr. Ira Holden,
of Baltimore, MD gave a fine air-pump; Mr. Jeremiah Prichard, of
Boston, a large electrical machine, and, from time to time, many 
other instruments have been given by other friends. Rev. E.T. Rowe
succeeded Mr. Quimby in 1865, and remained until 1868, when Mr.
Earl W. Westgate was put in charge of the school.  In 1872, Mr. John
Herbert took charge of the school, and remained until 1874, when
William A. Preston Esq. became principal, and the school still
remains in his care.  The school fund has, within a few years,
been increased five thousand dollars by the bequest of the late 
Isaac Spalding, of Nashua, a native of New Ipswich. Among the 
prominent men who have been students at the academy are Chief Justice
Appleton, of Maine; Levi Woodbury, of the Supreme Court of the United
States; Amos Kendall, Postmaster-General of the United States;
Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston; Dr. George C. Shattuck of Boston; the
famous surgeon, Dr. Amos Twitchell, of Keene, and many others. At
the New Hampshire festival in Boston, in 1850, five of the twelve
vice-presidents were sons of New Ipswich and former members of the
academy.  The following gentlemen have, at various times, been
trustees:
  Rev. Stephen Farrar, Charles Barrett, Esq., Ephraim Hartwell, Esq.,
Joseph Brown, Rev. Seth Payson, Daniel Emerson, Henry Woods,
Jacob Abbot, John Hubbard, Dr. John Preston, Hon. Timothy Farrar,
Thomas Fletcher, Rev. Noah Miles, Jonathan Searle, Rev. Abel Fiske,
Robert Smith, Ebenezer Edwards, Jeremiah Prichard, Rev. Cornelius
Waters, Isaiah Kidder, Benjamin Champney, Esq., Dr. John Preston Jr.,
Rev. Richard Hall, Samuel Batchelder, Rev. Ebenezer Hill, Rev. David
Palmer, Charles Barrett, N.D. Gould, Dr. James Crombie, Rev.
Thomas Bedee, Peter Felt, Joseph Barrett, Rev. Isaac R. Barbour, O.P.
Eaton, Rev. Charles Walker, Rev. A.W. Burnham, Ephraim H. Farrar,
John Clark, William Ainsworth, Isaac Adams, John Preston, Esq.,
Rev. Samuel Lee, David Perry, Rev. Frederick A. Adams,
William W. JOhnson, George Barrett, STephen Thayer, WIlliam Olmstead,
Supply Wilson, Charles D. GOuld, Augustus A. Gould, William A. 
Preston, Rev. Calvin Cutler, Newton Brooks, Edward Spalding,
Matthias S. Wilson, Thomas H. Marshall, Frank W. Preston, Frederic
Jones, Jeremiah Smith, John U. Davis, Ira S. Holden, Thomas G.
Appleton, Henry A. WHitney and Rodney Wallace.

CHAPTER V.
The Manufacturers' Bank--The New Ipswich Bank--The New Ipswich Savings
Bank--The Press--Physicians--Post-Office--Manufacturing-- Bethel
Lodge, F and A.M.--Watatic Lodge, I.O. of O.F. -- Civil History--
Representatives and Town Clerks from Incorporation of Town to 1886

THE MANUFACTURERS' BANK--was chartered in 1820, with a capital of
$100,000.  The first president was Charles Barrett, who held the
position until his death. Thomas B. Fearing was the first cashier.
He was succeeded by William Ainsworth, and Mr. Ainsworth by George
Barrett.

THE NEW IPSWICH BANK--was chartered in 1848, with a capital of
$100,000.  J.M. Minot was president, and George Barrett as
cashier in 1861.  The bank closed about 1867.

THE NeW IPSWICH SAVINGS-BANK was incorporated January 3, 1849. The
incorporators were Isaac Adams, Joseph Barrett, Jeremiah Smith,
Nathan Sanders, John P. Clark, James Chandler, Ephraim H. Farrar,
George Sanders, William W. Johnson, Supply Wilson, George Barrett,
John Preston, Hiram Smith and Stephen Smith.
 The incorporators met February 10, 1849 and chose the following
trustees: William W. Johnson, Joseph Barrett, James Chandler, Nathan
Sanders, Jeremiah Smith, Supply Wilson, George Barrett, Hiram Smith
and Stephen Smith.
  The trustees above-named met February 24, 1849, and the following
officers were chosen: Jeremiah Smith as president, John Preston as
treasurer.
  The presidents in order and time of service are as follows:
Jeremiah Smith, 1849 to 1873, resigning on account of ill health;
James Chandler, 1873 to 1878, resigning on account of ill health;
William W. Johnson, 1878 to 1883; George Whiting, 1883 to 1886.
  The treasurers in order and time of service are John Preston, 1849
until his death in March 1867; William A. Preston, son of John
Preston, 1867 to 1875; Frank W. Preston, son of John Preston, 1875 
to 1886.
  The present standing committee are George Whiting, Henry O. Preston,
Frederick Jones and Edward O. Marshall.
  Present board of trustees are William W. Johnson, George Whiting,
William A. Preston, Ephraim F. Fox, George W. Wheeler (2d),
Frederick Jones, Frank W. Preston, Henry O. Preston, and Edward O.
Marshall.
  The first three deposits are as follows: February 27, 1849,
Charles Abner Chickering, $13; March 30, 1849, Joseph Howard Sanders,
$6.50; March 31, 1849 Frank Whipple Preston, $13.
  The amount of deposits January 1885 were $77,091.

***
THE PRESS
***
On New Year's morning, 1802, a small pamphlet was found distributed 
at almost every man's door.  It was entitled, "The New Year's Gift,
or Naughty Folks Reformed;" by his Honor, Isaac Iambic.  The
avowed object of the muse was to
 "lash the times
 "Review the folly and the crimes
 "Which have transpired within the year, &c"
The management of singing and singing-schools and the preceptor of the
academy are castigated, with sundry hits at hard drinking, swearing
and lying and many other topics.  The excitement produced was very
great, and the effect was highly beneficial in suppressing the
follies and quarrels of the citizens.  Every one stood in terror of
Isaac, who had declared that he would do his duty, and that every
New Year they should have his gift, and moreover, that he will
  "tell the truth, but will not spare
  "Little or great a single hair;
  "And when you tell a lie or swear,
  "Expect your friend Iambic there,
  "To write your name, and then to lift
  "It into his next New Year's Gift."
The threats of vengeance from those who had been directly alluded to
were loud and long.  The sin of authorship was laid at many a door,
but no satisfactory clue to it was then obtained.  Indeed, we believe
the name of the author has never yet been fully disclosed.  His two
coadjutors were faithful, and he so artfully diverted attention by
castigating himself, as well as his father, hinting
  "How S---l B---r, the younger
   In an oration much did blunder,"
that he escaped detection.
  A somewhat similiar commotion was produced, a dozen years or more
afterwards, by the circulation of some verses entitled "The Ladies'
Looking-Glass," aimed at some of the prevalent follies of the day.

THE PRESS OF NEW IPSWICH--Early in the year 1815, Simon Ide, then in
his twenty-first year, having served an apprenticeship with Farnsworth
& Churchill, publishers of the Vermont Republican, at Windsor,
procured of Monroe & Francis, of Boston, a small two-pull Ramage 
press, a font of second-hand bourgeois type, weighing three hundred
and fifty pounds, badly worn, and other material necessary for 
printing an edition of the New Testament.  This he placed in a
blacksmith-shop on his father's farm, situated "over the hills" in 
the southwest corner of New Ipswich, about four miles from the
Centre village and three miles easterly from the village of Rindge.
Having procured paper from the mill of Samuel Smith, Esq., of
Peterborough, with the assistance of a sister not yet twelve years of
age, he completed an edition of five thousand copies of the New
Testament, in duodecimo form, three hundred and seventy-five pages,
in about five months.--he doing the press-work at "half-press," while
his sister did nearly all the case-work.  This is believed to be the
first edition of the New Testament published in the State.  In order
that this, his first publication, might be as free as possible of
errors, he engaged the Rev. Dr. Payson, of Rindge, to read the
proof-sheets, and walked to the doctor's house, a distance of three
miles, twice a week to read proofs with him.  To give greater currency
to the edition, he prevailed upon Dr. Payson to allow him to insert
upon the title-page, "Revised and corrected by Rev. S. Payson, D.D."
Some of the doctor's friends getting the impression that he had been
attempting a new translation he was not a little troubled; but Mr.
Ide came to his relief by placing over the obnoxious line a printed
slip, on which were the words, "First New Ipswich Edition." One
thousand copies, in full binding, were sold to the New Hampshire
Bible Society for two hundred and eighty dollars--much below the 
cost--in order to raise the money for his supply of paper.  The
remainder of the edition was retailed at fifty cents a copy.  Mr.
Ide also printed several sermons, pamphlets, and small books for the
young, during the term of about one year he remained with his father
at the homestead.  Among the latter were "Franklin's Way to Wealth,"
"Prompter," "Sketches of Franklin's Life and Character" (written by
Mr. Ide while an apprentice), "The Grave," by Robert Blair,
"Gray's Elegy," etc.
  About the same time Solomon Wilder removed to New Ipswich from
Leominster, Mass, with a printing apparatus of the rudest sort, even
for those days.  He did jobs in the way of posters for vendues, farm
sales, probate notices, etc.  He also printed toy-books with cuts
of a very questionable style of art, and an occasional pamphlet;
but beyond this he did not aspire.  He did most of the printing 
demanded by the locality for many years.

THE NEW IPSWICH REGISTER was published by Mark Miller in 1833, and
had but a short life.
  The NEWS-GATHERER was published by King & Hewes in 1836.
  The NEW IPSWICH TIMES, a small sheet, is now published quarterly
by Emery & Allen.
  George D. Burton commenced printing in New Ipswich in 1871.  With a
press seven by nine inches, and a small stock of type, mostly
purchased on credit, he opened in a small room opposite the hotel. His
principal work was address and business cards, procured by advertising
from abroad.  Being successful in this, and having paid off his
indebtedness, in 1872 he purchased more type and a plough 
paper-cutter.  
  In 1874 he commenced the publication of the New England Star, an
eight-page, thirty-two column amateur paper, published monthly, at
fifty cents a year, printed at the office of the Cheshire Republican,
at Keene.  At first one thousand copies were issued, and the
circulation continued to increase monthly.  The advertisements so
called in work that in the spring of 1875 an eight-inch Gordon press
was purchased, and more spacious quarters were found for the business
in the two-and-one-half story block opposite Thayer's cigar factory.
Soon after a Hoe press, with platen twenty-six by twenty-eight, was
added, and a large outfit of wood and metal type.  In the fall of
1875, Dr. Burton received from the postmaster a certificate that he
furnished and received more mail each day than all the other
inhabitants combined.  That the STAR had some shining qualities is
evident from the fact that in the spring of 1876 it had attained a
circulation of between five thousand and six thousand.  In that year
it was sold to William M. Pemberton, of Ansonia, Conn.  In the spring
of 1877 such was the run of job-work from abroad that another press
was demanded and procured; also a thirty-two inch Sanborn power
paper-cutter and a four horse-power engine.  New shafting was put in,
and the business run by steam.  Many large business houses in Boston
and other large places procured their printing at his office. A
machine-shop was also annexed in the rear of the building, for the
manufacture of small novelties.  Everything continued prosperous until
the fall of 1877, when, on a calm, clear November evening, the office
having been run to a late hour to meet the crowd of work, the owner
and his co-laborers were summoned from their incipient slumbers to
see the whole establishment vanish as in an hour by the insatiable
fire-fiend.  The amount of loss can be judged from the foregoing
sketch, and the fact that seven hands were constantly employed in his
office.

PHYSICIANS--The first physician was John Preston, who came in 1762,
and for some time was the only physician in the town. He was followed
by Drs. Thomas Swain, Eben H. Goss, Nathan Breed, John Preston Jr.,
Timothy Preston, James Barr, Moses Farwell, Calvin Brown, William
Galleys, John Clough, Henry Gibson, L.H. Cochran, Dr. Kitteredge,
Frederick Jones, Stillman Gibson, George M. Gage, James Emerson,
John M. Rand, Francis N. Gibson, John Cutler, Frederick W. Jones.

THE POST-OFFIcE at New Ipswich was established, in 1800, with 
Samuel Batchelder Sr., postmaster.  The following is a list of the
postmasters from that time to the present:  Sampson Fletcher,
Josiah W. Spaulding, Charles Hastings Jr., Charles Chickering,
Edward M. Isaacs, John U. Davis, John G. Leonard, Charles A. Whitney,
Henry O. Preston (the present incumbent).

THE FIRST COTTON-MILL in New Hampshire was established in this town,
in 1804, by Charles Robbins, Charles Barrett and Benjamin Champney.
Robbins was a practical manufacturer, and was to receive for his
services and skill $2.75 a day and the others to furnish the means
for conducting the business.  The mill went into operation in December
1804, and contained five hundred spindles.  Four and a half pounds of
yarn were spun on the first day, which was sold to Charles Robbins
for $3.42.  June 11, 1805, the Legislature of New Hampshire, on the
petition of Charles Barrett and others, passed an "Act to encourage 
the manufacture of Cotton Yarn in the town of New Ipswich, in this
State."
  Other factories were built from time to time; but the only one now
in existence in the town is the Columbian Manufacturing Company,
which manufactures cotton goods, denims, stripes, etc.  The
woolen manufacture was also carried on at one time in this town.
John Everett commenced the manufacture of woolens as early as 1810;
but it was abandoned in 1826.

SLAVERY IN NEW IPSWICH--Slavery at one time existed in this town,
and the minister, the doctor, the magistrate, the deacon and the 
captain were all slave-owners.  The first one owned in town was a man
belonging to Deacon Adams.  Tradition says he was very discontented
when comparing the solitudes of the wilderness with the cleared
fields of old Ipswich.  Soon after, Colonel Kidder, had two, one of
whom was a girl, who died young; Caesar, the man, was purchased in
Chelmsford, for ten pounds, when seven years old.  Scipio, owned by
Captain Hoar; Patience, by Rev. Stephen Farrar; Boston, by Doctor
Preston Sr., and Grace, by Paul Prichard, died young.

THE FIRST BURIAL-PLACE in the town was near the first meeting-house.

WATATIC LODGE OF ODD-FELLOWS was instituted here about 1840.

BETHEL LODGE, No. 24, F. and A. Masons, was chartered August 22, 1815,
and John Everett was first Master.  The present membership is about
thirty-five, among whom is Silas Wheeler, who received his Entered
Apprentice degree at the first meeting held for work, September 12,
1815.

CIVIL HISTORY--The following is a list of town clerks and representa-
tives from the incorporation of the town to 1886 [note that only a
partial list will be included here]

Town Clerks:
1762-Moses Tucker
1763-Timothy Heald
1764-Ichabod How
1765,1768-70; 1772-1773--Benjamin Adams
1767-Isaac Appleton
1771-John Preston
1774-Timothy Farrar
1775-Isaac Howe (William Shattuck, representative)
1776-Isaac Howe (Joseph Bates, rep.)
1777-Isaac How (Benjamin Adams, rep)
1778-Isaac Appleton (John Preston, rep)
1779-Isaac Appleton (Ebenezer Champney, rep)
1780-Isaac How (John Brown, rep)
1781-Isaac How (Timothy Farrar, rep)
1782-Isaac How (Ephraim Adams, rep)
1783, 1784, 1785-James Horsley (Ephraim Adams, rep)
1786-Isaac Appleton (John Preston Rep)
1787, 1788, 1789, 1790-Isaac Appleton (Charles Barrett, Rep)
1791, 1792, 1793, 1794-Jeremiah Prichard (Charles Barrett, Rep)
1795-John Hubbard (Jeremiah Prichard, Rep)
1796-Jeremiah Prichard (Charles Barrett, Rep.)
1797-Jeremiah Prichard (Jeremiah Prichard, Rep)
1798-Seth Wheeler (Charles Barrett, Rep)
1799, 1801-Noah Bartlett (Jeremiah Prichard, Rep)
1802-John Preston (Jeremiah Prichard, Rep)
1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, 1809-John Preston (Noah Bartlett, 
Rep)
1810-John Preston (Isaiah Kidder, Rep)
1811, 1812 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816-John Preston (Samuel Batchelder, 
Rep)
1817-John Preston (N.D. Gould, Rep)
1818, 1820-Samuel Batchelder (N.D. Gould, Rep)
1819, 1821, 1822-Samuel Batchelder (Charles Barrett, Rep)
1823-Samuel Batchelder (Stephen Wheeler, Rep)
1824-E.H. Farrar (Stephen Wheeler, Rep)
1825, 1826, 1830-E.H. Farrar (Charles Barrett, Rep)
1827, 1828, 1832, 1836-E.H. Farrar (Stephen Wheeler, Rep)
1829-Jeremiah Smith (Stephen Wheeler, Rep)
1831-E.H. Farrar (George F. Farley, Rep)
1833-E.H. Farrar (John Preston, Rep)
1834, 1835, 1837-E.H. Farrar (Seth King, Rep)
1838-John Gould Jr. (John Preston, Rep)
1839-John Gould Jr. (Jeremiah Smith, Rep)
1840-John GOuld Jr. (Jeremiah Smith, Rep) Edward M. Isaacs to fill
vacancy
1841-John Clark (William Ainsworth, Rep)
1842-John Clark (William Ainsworth, Rep) Henry Isaacs to fill vacancy
1843, 1844, 1845, 1846-John Clark (John Preston, Rep)
1847-John Clark (John Preston & Jeremiah Smith, Reps)
1848, 1849-John Clark (Jeremiah Smith and Samuel Lee, Reps)
1850-John Clark (James Chandler and Frederick Jones, Reps)
[Note: years 1851-1885 found in original document, not included
here]

******
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
******

JOHN PRESTON
The first of the name of Preston to come to New Ipswich was John,
in 1760, at the age of twenty-two, son of Captain Samuel, of
Littleton, Mass., who was a descendant of John, of Andover, with the
name John seems to be a family heirloom from a time when the memory
of man runneth not to the contrary.  Captain Samuel Preston, was a 
brave commander in the French and Indian War, and John,--so family
legend tells us,--was a fearless young soldier in his father's
company.  Little fighting was done after the capture of Quebec by
Wolfe in 1759, and the next year John laid aside the sword for the
scalpel, and settled in this town as a physician.  The doctor was a
fortnight younger than the new minister, Rev. Stephen Farrar, who 
was ordained the same year, and the two young men became fast friends.
That the doctor's frequent visits to the parsonage were not wholly
due to his interest in theology is evident by his marriage, in 1764,
to Rebecca, the minister's sister, of which marriage was born eleven
children, of whom the eldest son--of course, named John--was born
February 15, 1770.   The doctor was a staunch Whig during the
Revolution; succeeded his brother-in-law, Judge Timothy Farrar, as
member of the convention to frame the State Constitution; was one of
the founders of the academy, and for many years its secretary; his
son-in-law, John Hubbard being its first preceptor.  He filled the
various town offices of town clerk, selectman and representative, and
till his death, in 1803, was a leader of public opinion.  The house
which he built and always occupied has remained in the possession
of the family, and is now owned by his granddaughter, Miss King.
  His son John, born, as we have said, February 15, 1770, graduated
at Dartmouth College in 1791, and, like his father, was a physician,
a portion of his medical studies being with Dr. Holyoke, of Salem.
He was a good townsman, was town clerk for sixteen years, like his
father, secretary of the academy and built the house now owned by
his nephew, Henry O. Preston.  In 1798 he married Elizabeth, daughter
of Judge Ebenezer Champney, and of this marriage were born ten
children, of whom John, the subject of our sketch, was born
April 12, 1802.  The doctor died in 1828.  His mother, Rebecca
(Farrar) Preston died the following year.  At the time of John's
birth, April 12, 1802, the doctor had not finished his new house, and
was living in the house built by Noah Cooke, grandfather of
Professor J.P. Cooke, of Harvard College, and now owned by the heirs
of Edward F. Preston.  A few years later, when he was living in the
new house on the turnpike, and when John was about ten years old, the
store of Samuel Batchelder, but a few rods distant, caught fire on a
cold winter night, and John sprang from his bed, and without waiting
for shoes or stockings, ran through the snow to awaken the neighbors.
A severe illness followed this exposure, producing subsequent
lameness and disease, from which he was a constant and acute
sufferer for more than fifty years, resulting at last in his death,
on the 5th of March, 1867.  He fitted for college at the academy,
of which he, like his father and grandfather, was for many years
secretary; and entered Harvard College in 1819, in the time of
President Kirkland; a relative, Professor John Farrar, being one of 
the faculty.  During the course he was obliged to use the strictest
economy, and one year received but eighteen dollars aid from his
father, earning the balance of his expenses by writing and
school-keeping.  He was a member of the Institute of 1770, of the
Hasty Pudding and also of the Medical Faculty, a noted society which
was founded a year before he entered, and in which his ready wit made
him a leading member.  His classmate, Rev. George Ripley, of the
New York Tribune, writes of him: "In college he was distinguished for
his successful devotion to study, the rare kindness of his
disposition and his friendly and winning manners."  Other members of
his class were John P. Robinson, humorously assailed by Lowell in
the Biglow Papers, and Governor Dorr, of Rhode Island, who, while in
prison, read with emotion a speech in his behalf by Mr. Preston in
the New Hampshire Senate.  He was fond of his class-mates and fond
of his college, and in after-years delighted to ramble through the
college-grounds with his sons, pointing out the various rooms he had
occupied; among them one in the noted Weasel Den, near the present
location of College House.  After graduation he commenced the study
of law, a portion of the time with George F. Farley, then at New
Ipswich, and also with Judge Samuel Hubbard, at Boston. It was while
in Boston that his winning ways, alluded to by Mr. Ripley, attracted
the attention of an old Scotchman, who was but recently from
Abbotsford, who said to Mr. Preston, "Ye mind me, lad, of the great
Sir Walter, ye're aye sae cheerie."  While in the office of Mr.
Farley, a fellow-studient and townsman was John Appleton, Maine's
famous chief justice.
  On October 27, 1828, Mr. Preston married Elizabeth Smith French,
born in Boston, March 1, 1808 and the daughter of Abram and
Elizabeth (Kidder) French, and for two or three years practiced law
in Towsend, Mass., but in 1831 came back to New Ipswich and
purchased the house in the Centre village once owned by his 
grandfather, Judge Champney, where he afterwards resided and still
later purchased his grandfather's farm, lying along the river.
  In this connection we will quote a paragraph from the "Annual Report
of the Trustees of the New Hampshire Insane Asylum," in reference to
him, published soon after his death, he having been a member of the
board for eleven years: "He was very fond of agriculture, and the
State had few more intelligent or successful farmers than Mr. 
Preston.  His efforts to promote an intelligent, sound and practical
agriculture were earnest and constant, and their influence will remain
for generations to come."
  Soon after his return to New Ipswich, in 1831, the questions of
temperance and anti-slavery began to be discussed, and both reforms
found a warm champion in Mr. Preston.  He introduced and secured the
adoption of resolutions in town-meeting, as early as 1835, to suppress
the sale of liquor, and was the president of the first total
abstinence society in the town and his zeal for the cause ended only
with his life.
  In politics he was a strong Whig, and especially fond of Henry Clay,
whose birth-day, like his own, was April 12th; but although to ally
one's self to the cause of anti-slavery at that time meant social
ostracism and insult, which was peculiarly trying to one of his
genial nature, yet he turned away from his former associates and was
one of the little band known as the Liberty party in 1844, and never
faltered in the faith till he was rewarded by seeing the slave
system overthrown.  He was many years in the Legislature, was Senator
from District No. 9 when all other members of the State were
Democratic, was the Free-Soil candidate for Congress in 1848 and was
supported by the Free-Soilers in the Legislature for United States
Senator in 1852.
  Thought not believing in the course of William Lloyd Garrison to be
wise in refusing to vote, he was a subscriber to the "Liberator,"
and his house, as well as that of his sister's husband, Elisha L.
Hammond, was the home for the long array of Garrisonian speakers that
went through the land arousing the sluggish consciences of the people.
  Mr. Garrison was his guest and entertained for him a warm regard.
A sonnet to Mr. Preston now lies before us, written by Mr. Garrison,
bearing witness to his mental and moral worth.  It perhaps should be
stated here that in all schemes of reform he was not only supported,
but perhaps incited, by his wife, who was as warm-hearted,
clear-sighted and fearless as himself.
  One who knew him well, being asked to give his own ideas with
regard to him, says:"You ask me to describe Mr. Preston; a pen-picture
at first seems easy,--there is his figure, rather below the middle
height, but broad-shouldered and muscular; quick and alert in his
movements, with a smile almost always playing round his features,--
one whom Mr. E.D. Boylston, of the "Amherst Cabinet," paints in a
single line when he says 'He was a man whom the boys and the birds
all loved,' -- with a warm and impulsive nature, unable to harbor
resentment against his bitterest foe if he saw him sick or in want.
Not an orator like Gough, yet one of the readiest and most effective
speakers in the Legislature.  Not so deep a lawyer as Bell, Parker
or Perley, but mentioned by a judge of the Supreme COurt as being a
dangerous opponent.  Not such a classical scholar as Everett, but
helping his son with an ode of Anacreon that he hasn't seen for
thirty years, or reading French or Spanish with his wife.  Not a
professional musician, but ready with voice or flute to please the
home circle.  Not a professional philanthropist, but at the time of
the famine in Ireland, leaving the table, unable to eat till he had
packed a box with articles for the starving Irish; and seen one bitter
day in winter toiling through drifts to find if a poor family were
warm.  Very fond of a cigar, but giving up the habit for nearly
forty years that his example might be good for others. So fearless
that there may be a doubt it if should be called bravery or
insenibility to peril.  College-bred, as were his ancestors, but
thoroughly democratic in his sympathy with the poor and ignorant,
of whatever race or country, and with food and shelter for the slave
on his way to Canada.  Taking great pride in his town and its 
history, and especially beloved and revered in the domestic circle.
In saying all this, while perhaps few salient points are presented
it seems to me that Mr. Preston exhibited a well-rounded and wonderful
symmetry in all those points which go to make up a man in the highest
and noblest sense,--such a type as, I fear, may be growing rarer
every day, in view of the present craze for specialists."
  As Mr. Preston advanced in life his sufferings from his lameness
became more intense, until, as a last resort, amputation was 
performed, from which he rallied, and for more than a year seemed to
enjoy vigorous health and to be wholly without pain, a feeling that
had been unknown to him for more than fifty years.
  It is probable, however, that the seeds of the disease still
lingered in his system, and were the occasion of the brief but fatal
illness that ended on the 5th of March, 1867, in the sixty-fifth
year of his age, his mother following him to the grave a few months
later, at the age of eighty-eight.
  Of seven children, two sons and a daughter only were living at his
death, and the daughter died less than two years after.
  In closing this sketch we append the following from the town
records.
  At the annual town-meeting in New Ipswich, N.H., March 12, 1867,
the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:
  "Whereas, It is fitting for public bodies to acknowledge the hand
of God, especially in the marked events of their history; therefore
 "Resolved, That in the recent death of the Hon. John Preston this
town has lost a valued citizen,--one who has long been identified
with the leading interests of the people, and often honored with
important public trusts.
 "Resolved, That we remember with gratitude to God, and command to
our young men as a worthy example, his energy and perseverance, his
enterprising spirit, his love for his native town and country, his
active sympathy in the cause of education and reform, his
cheerful hospitality and the purity of his domestic life.
 "Resolved, That these resolutions be entered on the Town Records,
and that a copy of them be sent to the family of the deceased."

***************************
LEAVITT LINCOLN
  Leavitt Lincoln is descended from two of Massachusetts' oldest and
most honorable families, the Lincolns and Cushings.  Among the
branches of his ancestral stock have been numbered men who have
achieved distinction in almost all the walks of life.  General 
Benjamin Lincoln, of Revolutionary fame, is noted in history as the
man who received Lord Cornwallis' sword upon the latter's surrender
at Yorktown, while Abraham Lincoln will always be regarded as one
of the most illustrious Presidents our republic has had.  The Cushing
family had produced some of our ablest jurists, statesmen and divines.
On the paternal side, Mr. Lincoln traces his lineage in a direct
line, through William, William, Jedediah, Samuel and Samuel again, to
one of the first settlers of Hingham, Mass.  They have been an honest,
upright, strong, hardy, long-lived race.  His great-grandfather,
Jedediah, lived to be nearly ninety-two years of age, while most of
the members of both families have been noted for their longevity
and vigorous constitutions.
  Leavitt Lincoln is the son of William and Jael (Cushing) Lincoln,
and was born in Marlborough, N.H. June 22, 1797.  To this place his
father had removed in 1792, and was a tanner and an extensive farmer,
owning a farm of more than three hundred acres.
  Leavitt learned in his youth the trade of a clothier and followed
this trade until its decline, on account of the rise and development
of cloth-making in the large factories.  He then learned shoemaking
with his brother-in-law, and carried on this industry for six
years at Towsend, Mass.  He then purchased a farm at Ashby, and
carried on both shoemaking and farming for a period of more than
twenty years.  While in Townsend, he married May 29, 1821, Sibyl
Heald, daughter of Colonel Thomas Heald, of New Ipswich, N.H.  They
had eight children, five of whom reached maturity, but only one,
William L., is now living.  He is a physician in Wabasha, Minn.
Of the others, Maria died when twenty-two years of age; Henry Martin
died in young manhood, after having graduated in the Medical Depart-
ment of Harvard College. He was at the time of his decease a rising
young physician in Westminster, Mass.  Cyrus Stone, another son,
died at the age of twenty years, while fitting for college.
  About 1852, Mr. Lincoln removed to Winchendon and purchased a farm,
his principal object being to make a home for his son, William L.,
who had graduated in medicine and chose that town to practice in.
He had been in practice there about two years when he father removed
there.  The son's health failed, however, and he went West, and
was for three years physician to a hospital for the insane in the 
State of Missouri; he then went to Wabasha, Minn., where he now
resides.
  Mr. Lincoln made his home in Winchendon about twelve years until
the death of his wife.  He then came to New Ipswich, N.H. where he
afterwards married his deceased wife's sister Mary, who was then
the widow of Francis Shattuck.  This Mrs. Lincoln lived about
twenty years, when she died, leaving no issue.  In 1876, Mr. Lincoln
married his present wife, Delia McDonough.  They have no children.
  Mr. Lincoln has made farming his principal business through life,
and still conducts a farm, and he can boast of having mowed more
or less every summer for seventy-eight years.  He has been a man of
remarkable vigor, and has never had a serious spell of illness in his
life.  He has been regular and primitive in his habits, has led a 
quiet, unostentatious and unambitious life, never having sought or
held office, and he has made it a rule through the long years of his
business life to alway do unto others just as he, under similiar
circumstances, should desire to be dealt with.  He was appointed
Sabbath-school teacher in 1819, and held that relation for more than
sixty years, and in the various communities in which the different
periods of his life has been passed, he has always deserved and
received the unqualified respect of his fellow citizens.

(end)