The idea of writing a History of Manchester originated with the Centennial Celebration of 1851, when the undersigned was appointed Chairman of the Committee whose duty it was to collect materials, and prepare a history of Manchester for publication. The Committee held various meetings, and divided their labors as they supposed most meet and convenient. To the writer was assigned the writing the history of the Pennacooks, who had their headquarters at the Falls in this town, as well as the ancient history of the Province and of Amoskeag to the settlement of the lines between New Hampshire and Massachusetts in 1740, and amid a multiplicity of other cares, he prepared for the press the first eleven chapters of this work. When this had been accomplished, it was found that press of business had prevented the other members of the Committee from performing the duties assigned them, and the writer was forced from his position to continue the work, and the present volume is the result of his labors,--the more difficult and perplexing, as he has had to grope his way in an unexplored region; not a scrap of the history of the town having been written, saving alone that connected with the life of one of its distinguished citizens. I have thought thus much of explanation necessary that the responsibility of the work, its errors, and imperfections, should rest where it belonged, and also as an apology for its long delay, the more irksome to the public, as from the large number of the Committee, an early publication was expected. It was my plan in performing the duty assigned me, to describe in detail the incidents connected with the life of any man of Amoskeag, as being part and parcel of its history. Thus the stirring scenes in which Passaconnaway, Wannalancet, Kancamagus, Goffe, the Rogerses, the Starks, and their brave companions were engaged, are given with minuteness, whether performed at home or abroad, because in them the men of Amoskeag were prominent actors, and their acts have become identified with,--a part of its history. The same reason influenced me in giving a history of the Masonian claim, the difficulty with Massachusetts as to the lines, and the "Scotch Irish"; Derryfield being a part of the Masonian claim, often the battle ground of the contest in regard to the lines, and the Scotch Irish within its borders, being in the thickest of the fight, in that border controversy. So that if any one should complain that my plan has taken too wide a range, I can only say, that the fault is not mine, but the responsibility is with the men of Amoskeag,--they took a wide range, were Rangers, and wherever they ranged, left their mark, ever to be traced. But it is not to be understood, that in my labors I have had no assistance. On the contrary, I have had much valuable assistance, and Hon. Samuel D. Bell, Samuel N. Bell, Esq., and Joseph M. Rowell, Esq., of this city in particular, have my hearty thanks for such assistance. F. B. Eaton, Esq., Librarian of the City Library, has extended to me many courtesies.--Hon. Wm. C. Clarke, Dr. J. S. Elliot, Col. William Patten, and Maj. Hiram Brown, by their kindness have laid me under many obligations. To Messrs. E. A. Straw, O. W. Bayley, Cyrus W. Baldwin, Phinehas Adams, David Gillis, Wm. P. Newell, Waterman Smith, and C. H. Dalton, gentlemen formerly, or at the present time connected with the corporations in this place, as Agents, I am under very great obligations, not only for furnishing me with engravings of the works under their charge, but for rendering me every facility in obtaining information as to those works. The other gentlemen who have furnished me engravings, wherewith to illustrate and embellish the work, have my hearty thanks. Thomas P. Treadwell, John L. Hadley, and L. N. Pattee, Esquires, of Concord, have placed me under great obligations at the Secretary of State's office, for their many favors in facilitating my researches. Samuel G. Drake, and J. W. Thornton, Esquires, of Boston, and Frederick Kidder, Esq., of New York, as also the late Dr. T. W. Harris, Librarian of Harvard College, and John L. Sibley, Esq., the present Librarian; as well as S. F. Haven Esq., Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, at Worcester,--all have placed me under very great obligations for their many courtesies. "But last, though not least," I would return my thanks in behalf of the Committee, to the City Government, for the handsome appropriation of $500, towards defraying the expenses of the work. I should hope that it might be a profitable investment in furnishing knowledge for the present and future, of facts now rescued with difficulty from oblivion. And here I would gladly stop in any allusions to merely personal matters, but there are circumstances connected with the progress of this work, known only to a few personal friends, which I cannot pass over without doing great violence to my own feelings. While so many in and out of our city, have done every thing that could be asked of them, in forwarding the work, a few individuals have thrown in the way of its progress and completion, every obstacle that invention could form, or malignity suggest; thus causing much delay in the publication of the work; but thanks to generous friends, causing only delay, as the volume herewith presented to the public, is ample testimony.
I am under the necessity of apologizing for the many errors that are to be found in the work. Under the circumstances, many of them were inevitable. I was groping in the dark. In some instances, in the early part of the work, facts are given upon the authority of other writers, as to the Indians, which subsequent investigation has shown to be erroneous; tradition in families as to family names and individuals, has been followed, and in some three or four instances, such tradition has been found inaccurate; other mistakes have crept into the work unwarily; many of them have been corrected in notes, and in the errata, or addenda; but others will have escaped my scrutiny, and the indulgent reader will excuse them, while correcting them, the more readily when he learns, that hundreds of the pages of the following work, were written, when the writer was suffering the most excruciating pain, or upon a bed of sickness. It will be seen, that although the work purports to be a History of the town of Manchester only, yet the history of all the leading interests of the city are given in detail to the present time. Thus the history of Manufactures, Mechanics, Schools, Religious Societies, Highways, Canals and Corporations, public and private, are made as complete as circumstances would permit. Biographical sketches are given in the course of the work, of many of our noted and distinguished citizens, but all matters strictly genealogical, are reserved for a more appropriate place and opportunity. And now the greatest source of fault-finding will undoubtedly be,--Omissions; but let those discovering them ask themselves, how many suggestions have we made to, or how many facts have we furnished for the writer of this History? And after answering satisfactorily to themselves, let them furnish them now, as they will be most gratefully received for future insertion or amendment.
It is believed, that the Table of Contents will furnish all needful help in the way of reference. The Table of Contents includes all the Running Titles while the contents at the head of each Chapter, include all the important proper names and subjects treated of in the same. Thus name or subject can be found with the greatest facility. And now to close, I can but hope, that the book will meet the reasonable expectations of the citizens of Manchester and that the reading of it, will afford them as much pleasure, and by far more profit, than the publication of it has the author.
| C. E. POTTER |
Transcribed from Pages v-vii.
List of Illustrations Title Page
Preface
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