Manchester Was The Residence Of John Stark, A Hero Of Two Wars,
And Survivor Of A Third, And At His Death The Last But One Of The
American Generals Of The Revolution.
He was born in the
adjoining town of Londonderry, then Nutfield, in 1728.
As early
as 1752, he was taken prisoner by the Indians while hunting in
the wilderness near Baker's River; he performed notable service
as a captain of rangers in the French war; commanded a regiment
of the New Hampshire militia at the battle of Bunker Hill; and
fought and won the battle of Bennington in 1777. He was past
service in the last war, and died here in 1822, at the age of 94.
His monument stands upon the second bank of the river, about a
mile and a half above the falls, and commands a prospect several
miles up and down the Merrimack. It suggested how much more
impressive in the landscape is the tomb of a hero than the
dwellings of the inglorious living. Who is most dead, - a hero by
whose monument you stand, or his descendants of whom you have
never heard?
The graves of Pasaconaway and Wannalancet are marked by no
monument on the bank of their native river.
Every town which we passed, if we may believe the Gazetteer, had
been the residence of some great man. But though we knocked at
many doors, and even made particular inquiries, we could not find
that there were any now living. Under the head of Litchfield we
read: -
"The Hon. Wyseman Clagett closed his life in this town."
According to another, "He was a classical scholar, a good
lawyer, a wit, and a poet." We saw his old gray house just
below Great Nesenkeag Brook. - Under the head of Merrimack:
"Hon. Mathew Thornton, one of the signers of the Declaration
of American Independence, resided many years in this town." His
house too we saw from the river. - "Dr. Jonathan Gove, a man
distinguished for his urbanity, his talents and professional
skill, resided in this town [Goffstown]. He was one of the
oldest practitioners of medicine in the county. He was many
years an active member of the legislature." - "Hon. Robert
Means, who died Jan. 24, 1823, at the age of 80, was for a long
period a resident in Amherst. He was a native of Ireland. In
1764 he came to this country, where, by his industry and
application to business, he acquired a large property, and
great respect." - "William Stinson [one of the first settlers of
Dunbarton], born in Ireland, came to Londonderry with his
father. He was much respected and was a useful man. James
Rogers was from Ireland, and father to Major Robert Rogers. He
was shot in the woods, being mistaken for a bear." - "Rev.
Matthew Clark, second minister of Londonderry, was a native of
Ireland, who had in early life been an officer in the army, and
distinguished himself in the defence of the city of
Londonderry, when besieged by the army of King James II. A.
D. 1688-9. He afterwards relinquished a military life for the
clerical profession. He possessed a strong mind, marked by a
considerable degree of eccentricity. He died Jan. 25, 1735,
and was borne to the grave, at his particular request, by his
former companions in arms, of whom there were a considerable
number among the early settlers of this town; several of them
had been made free from taxes throughout the British dominions
by King William, for their bravery in that memorable
siege." - Col. George Reid and Capt. David M'Clary, also
citizens of Londonderry, were "distinguished and brave"
officers. - "Major Andrew M'Clary, a native of this town
[Epsom], fell at the battle of Breed's Hill ." - Many of these
heroes, like the illustrious Roman, were ploughing when the
news of the massacre at Lexington arrived, and straightway left
their ploughs in the furrow, and repaired to the scene of
action. Some miles from where we now were, there once stood a
guide-post on which were the words, "3 miles to Squire
MacGaw's."
But generally speaking, the land is now, at any rate, very barren
of men, and we doubt if there are as many hundreds as we read
of. It may be that we stood too near.
Uncannunuc Mountain in Goffstown was visible from Amoskeag, five
or six miles westward. It is the north-easternmost in the
horizon, which we see from our native town, but seen from there
is too ethereally blue to be the same which the like of us have
ever climbed. Its name is said to mean "The Two Breasts," there
being two eminences some distance apart. The highest, which is
about fourteen hundred feet above the sea, probably affords a
more extensive view of the Merrimack valley and the adjacent
country than any other hill, though it is somewhat obstructed by
woods. Only a few short reaches of the river are visible, but
you can trace its course far down stream by the sandy tracts on
its banks.
A little south of Uncannunuc, about sixty years ago, as the story
goes, an old woman who went out to gather pennyroyal, tript her
foot in the bail of a small brass kettle in the dead grass and
bushes. Some say that flints and charcoal and some traces of a
camp were also found. This kettle, holding about four quarts, is
still preserved and used to dye thread in. It is supposed to
have belonged to some old French or Indian hunter, who was killed
in one of his hunting or scouting excursions, and so never
returned to look after his kettle.
But we were most interested to hear of the pennyroyal, it is
soothing to be reminded that wild nature produces anything ready
for the use of man. Men know that _something_ is good. One says
that it is yellow-dock, another that it is bitter-sweet, another
that it is slippery-elm bark, burdock, catnip, calamint,
elicampane, thoroughwort, or pennyroyal.
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