THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



117 



tlon of tlie distance in which the Saco river form- 

 erly flowed has been cut off, shortening the extent 

 of the channel many miles. 



Tiiere are many elegant, well cultivated farms in 

 the meadows of Fryeburg. A mapandjilan oftlic 

 town in tlie hands of Roliert Bradley, Esq. was 

 shown us, in vvliich the meandering.^ of the river, 

 with the marked lots and the names of the orig-inal 

 grantees of the town, the most of whom v.'ere an- 

 cient inhabitants and names in this vicinity, are 

 laid down. Lovewell's pond is within a mile of 

 the village : and there are several other extensive 

 ponds connecting with tlie river within the linnts 

 of the lown,around and near which are tracts of low 

 meadow grounds. All these low grounds possess 

 the elements of great fertility, which in hundreds 

 of preceding ages have been brought down witli 

 the water that has fallen in many streams from the 

 stupendous mountains above. 



SanfTiiinary battles with the Indians. 



It is not to be wondered that such a place as this 

 should be a favorit resort of the original in'.iabitants 

 of the forest: here the moose, the bear, and the 

 deer, the otter, the beaver, and the sable, were a- 

 bundant. Fishes were plenty in the streams, 

 the lively spotted salmon trout abounding in llie 

 silver waters that fall from the highest mountains. 

 The tribe of Indians located at this point upon the 

 Saco before its settlement by the whites, having 

 been induced to unite in the early depredations of 

 the French from Canada, were ten fold more an 

 object of terror than the wildest beasts of prey. — 

 The men of courage of that day, finding that tam- 

 pering with such an enemy as the Indians, by fight- 

 ing and fending off at points where they attacked, 

 would answer them no good purpose — it became 

 necessary to adopt the true policy of ^'carrying the 

 war into Africa," into the very v;igwam and domi- 

 cile of the wary Indian. 



In Sept. 1724, the Indians fell on the infant set- 

 tlement of Dunstable, now constituting Tyngsbo- 

 rough and Dunstable in Massachusetts, and what 

 was recently Dunstable (now Nashua) in N. Hamp- 

 shire, and took Nathan Cross and Thomas Blanch- 

 ard prisoners. These men had been engaged in 

 the manufacture of turpentine on the west side of 

 the river Nashua, near where t!ie village of Nashua 

 now stands : at that time tliere were no houses or 

 Bettlements on the west side, and as a place of 

 greater security, the men crossed the river at night 

 and slept in a saw mill. One night they did not re- 

 turn ; and it was feared, as it afterwards turned out, 

 that they had fallen into the hands of the Indians. 

 Next morning, Lieut. French with fourteen men, 

 went in quest of them. The advice of Mr. Far- 

 well, an under officer, to take a circuitous route to 

 avoid an ambush being disregarded by the leader 

 (French) with the imputation that such a course in- 

 dicated want of courage, the party pursued the di- 

 rect track of the Indians up the Merrimack river. 

 At the brook six miles above, near the present site of 

 Thornton's ferry, they were waylaid and fired upon, 

 and tlie greater portion killed instantly. The little 

 remnant continued to fight; and French, the lead- 

 er, was killed about a mile from the place of the 

 ambush, near an oak tree which until recently was 

 standing on a farm belonging to Mr. Lund in the 

 town of IMerrimack. Farwell escaped in a thicket 

 after beins hotly pursued by two Indians, and alone 

 returned to tell the late of his companions; this 

 man was afterwards a lieutenant under Lovcwell 

 at the fight in Pequawket. A company mustered 

 and proceeded to the fatal spot, found and buried 

 the dead. Blanchard and Cross were carried pris- 

 oners to Canada, and after remaining there some 

 time succeeded "by their own exertions in effecting 

 their redemption and returned to their native town 

 where their descendants are still living. These 

 facts were obtained I'rom the verbal relation of Col. 

 Bancroft of Tyngsborough, iMs. as taken down by 

 John Farmer, Esq. deceased. 



Tliirteen young men, the flower of a small sin- 

 gle settlement, shot down and scalped at one fatal 

 rencounter, was an event calculated to arouse the 

 remainder to action. Capt. Lovewell, "who (says 

 Penhallow, writing at the time these events occur- 

 red) v>'as endowed with a generous spirit and reso- 

 lution of serving his country, and well acquainted 

 with hunting in the woods," with thirty volunteers 

 soon after in the same season went northward and 

 several miles up the country, probably in the re- 

 gion of Penapook, came on a wigwam wherein 

 they discovered tno Indians, "one of which they 

 killed and the other took, for wliich they received 

 the promised bounly of^ one hiwidred pounds a 

 Bcalp, and two shillings and six pence besides." 



The ne,xt spring Capt. Lovcwell raised a new 

 company of volunteers, and marched then far be- 

 yond his liead quarters, into tlie wildernees. On 



the easterly side of Winnipisseogec ponds he cross- 

 ed an Indian track (very likely at the head of the 

 Alton b.ay, which was to tlic Indians what it has 

 since been to the white inhabitants, the point for 

 the nearest land carriage to the salt watei') and 

 soon after espied two o.f them, whose motions se- 

 cretly watching all day, he was enabled silently to 

 come upon them at night as they lay asleep round 

 their fire. "At his first firing, he killed seven, af- 

 ter that two more, and wounded another, which 

 wasthrir whole company; who, being within a 

 day and a half's march of our ironiiers, (says Pen- 

 hallow) would probably have done mischief had 

 they not been so seasonably prevented. Their arms 

 (furnished by the French) were so new and good, 

 that most of them were sold for seven pounds a- 

 piece, and each of them had two blankets, with a 

 great many spare moccasons, which were supposed 

 for the supplying of captives that they expected to 

 have taken. The plunder was but a few skins ; 

 but during the march, our men were well enter- 

 tained with moose, bear and deer, together with 

 (lake) salmon trout, some of which were three feet 

 long, and weighed twelve pounds apiece." The 

 wariness of Capt. Lovewell, adroitly overtaking 

 and annihilating the Indian enemy in his own man- 

 ner, discovers him to have been an early teacher in 

 'he school which afterwards distinguished the'cel- 

 ebratcd corps of "Rangers" under Rogers and 

 Stark. 



"Capt. Lovewell, being still animated with an 

 uncommon zeal of doing what service he could, 

 made another attempt on Pigwacket witli forty-four 

 men." And here commences the recital of a most 

 thrilling event which occurred within the limits of 

 the town and within a short distance of the beauti- 

 ful village of Fryeburg, which we have just notic- 

 ed. On his way near the easterly end of Ossipee 

 mountain, he built a small fort, to which he might 

 have recourse in case of danger, and the necessity 

 of a retreat ; one of his men being sick, he left the 

 doctor of his company with eight men more as a 

 guard at this fort. Including himself, thirty-fiur 

 men left this fort in quest of the enemy. On the 

 8tli of May, ITii.'i, about ten o'clock in the morn- 

 ing on a point of land running into Saco (Love- 

 well's) pond, a sinirle isolated Indian was discov- 

 ered. Upon seeing him, the company "immediate- 

 ly put off their blankets and knapsacks and made 

 towards him, concluding that the enemy were ahead 

 and not in the rear." Apprehensive that they had 

 been discovered by the Indians two days before, 

 the Captain calling his men together, proposed 

 whether it was best to engage them or not, suppos- 

 ing the appearance of one Indian alone in so bold p. 

 manner was for the purpose of ensnaring them. 

 The men boldly replied, "that as they came out 

 on purpose to meet the enemy, they would rather 

 trust Providence with their lives and die for their 

 country, than return without seeing them." "Up- 

 on this (says Penhallow) they proceeded and mor- 

 tally wounded the Indian, who notwithstanding re- 

 turned the fire, and wounded Capt. Lovewell in the 

 belly." *'Their dismantling themselves at this 

 juncture, proved an unhappy snare ; for the enemy 

 taking their baggage, knew their strength by the 

 number of their packs, where they lay in ambush 

 until they returned, and made the first shot ; which 

 our men returned with mucli bravery, and advanc- 

 ing within tvi-ice the length of their guns, slew 

 nine. The encounter was smart and desperate, and 

 the victory seemed to be in our favor, till Capt. 

 Lovewell with several more were slain and wound- 

 ed 1 5 the number of twelve." "The engagement 

 continued ten hours, but altlioug!-j the shouts of the 

 enemy were at first loud and terrible, yet after 

 some time they became sensibly low and weak, and 

 their appearance to lessen." The fighting of thir- 

 ty men v.-ith three times the number of savages ten 

 hours would seem to be almost incredible : tlie 

 manner of this battle was firing from tree to tree, 

 in th.^ shelter of which the opposite individuals 

 loaded and discharged whenevcrasight of the body 

 favored a chance to do execution. Wounded as 

 be was before the genera! contest commenced, 

 Lovewell contended personally for a long tiiue with 

 the Indian Chief Paugus, whose name was hardly 

 less terrible to the New Englanders than that oi 

 Philip had been, or that of Tecuinseh was to the 

 inhabitants of the west, twenty-five years ago. 

 The fight continued till both the chiefs were killed, 

 and all Lovewell's men but nine were either killed 

 or wounded dangerously. The savages first re- 

 treated, and left their foes masters of the ground. 

 Feeble as was the remnant of whites, none ofthcm 

 were pursued by the Indians. One of Lovewell's 

 company retreated from the ground early in the 

 fight and stopped not till he arrived at the fort near 

 Ossipee, with an account of the destruction even 

 wor.'je than the reality. The men who had been 



left at the fort were put into auch consternation by 

 this statement as immediately to draw off, leaving 

 only a bag of bread and pork behind. Fifteen of 

 the thirty-four were killed outright in the engage- 

 ment, and several ofthe wounded perished, among 

 whom was Mr. Frye, chaplain of the company, 

 three days after the battle, while on his way to tlio 

 fort : he was "a worthy and very promising young 

 gentleman, the bud of whose youth was but just 

 opening into a flower'— a native of Andover, Ms. 



and a graduate of Harvard college in 1723. Mr. 

 Farweil (before alluded to) held out in his return 

 until tlie eleventh day ; "during which time he 

 had nothing to eat (and drink) but water and a few 

 roots which he chewed ; and by this time the 

 wounds thg^igh his body were so mortified, that 

 the worms made a tliorough passage." Of four 

 wounded persons who in company attempted tore- 

 turn to the fort, Eleazer Davis of Concord, (sup- 

 posed Massachusetts) was the only one who sur- 

 vived : he came alope to the fort, where he found 

 some beef and bread, from whence he made his 

 way to Berwick in Maine, and afterwards to Ports- 

 mouth. Lieut. Robbins, one ofthe wounded, sen- 

 sible of his dying state, desired one of the com- 

 pany to charge his gun and leave it with him, be- 

 ing persuaded that tlie Indians would come and 

 scalp him, and wishing to kill one more before he 

 died. Solomon Kies, being woaiiided in three plac- 

 es, lost so much blood as to be unable to stand any 

 longer, calling to Mr. Wyman, said he was a dead 

 man : however lie said he v/ould endeavor to creep 

 into some hole out of sight that he might avoid the 

 insults and cruelty of the Indians. By a remarka- 

 ble Providence he saw a canoe while creeping off, 

 on the shore of the pond, into which he rolled him- 

 self, and "by a favorable 'wind (without any assis- 

 tance of his own) was driven so many miles on, 

 that he got safe into the fort." 



Speaking of the contest, Belknap in his history 

 of New Hampshire, says, "this was one of the most 

 fierce and obstinate battles wdiich had been fought 

 with the Indians. They had not only the advan- 

 tage of numbers, but of placing themselves in am- 

 bush and waiting with deliberation the moment of 

 attack." After the action commenced under most 

 discouraging circumstances to the whites, "pru- 

 dence as well as valor dictated a continuance ofthe 

 engagement, and a refusal to surrender ; until the 

 enemy, awed by their brave resistance, and weak- 

 ened by their own loss, yielded them the honor of 

 the field. After this encounter, the Indians resid- 

 ed no more at Pigwacket until the peace." 



'When we commenced we did not intend to go 

 so far as we have done in this recital, having, as 

 may be supposed, little to do with the work of farm- 

 ers at this busy season. But as the town of Frye- 

 burg was the scene of an event of such deep in- 

 terest — as the "pleasant places, ".the well cultivat- 

 ed fields which are becoming more and more desir- 

 able to the occupants as they grow more produc- 

 tive, were obtained and holdeu by our fathers thro* 

 danger, suffering and bloodshed — the lesson to the 

 farmer from this piece of local history can be little 

 less useful than an essay on the best method of im- 

 proving his land. 



The winding Saco and its tributary 

 valleys. 



As the Saco within the limits of Frj'eburg i* 

 crooked as the half coiled serpent, so above within 

 the limits of New Hampshire, like the branches 

 feeding it, it winds in many directions in running 

 through the mountains. Its source beyond and 

 through the celebr.ated "Notch ofthe White Moun- 

 tains," where the waters falling on the same level 

 may be made to run either way through the Aino- 

 noosuck and Connecticut, or through the Saco, to 

 the ocean, is some fifty miles by the most direct 

 route from Fryeburg. Leaving this town, up both 

 sides of the river you have a level road in Conway 

 of twelve or I'ourtecn miles ;"-on the north side tho 

 road winds in various directions, almost coming 

 back in some points to the place you have left. 



Isolated town of Jackson- 



At Lower Bartleft on the north side ofthe river, 

 a valley and road branches off to the isolated town 

 of Jackson, s'ltuat^d between the mountains, and 

 at the foot of the White Mountains. The record 

 of our Mutual Insurance Company, which embra- 

 ces most ofthe farm houses and buildings, shows the 

 condition ofthe people in this newly settled and 

 thriving town to be nearly equal and similar. 

 Their houses are of one story, well finished, and 

 th^ first barns erected are generally forty feet in 

 1 ugth, with an addition of a piece or a new barn 

 sO soon as the products of the increased clearing 

 require it. The soil of this uneven mountain town 

 is represented to be rich and productive. Benjac- 

 min Copp first moved into this toivo in the year 



