Oass Book COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT >^tL.4g-<r .wr, -^ -<:, «-»-^-' 2^1 E M I R OF COLONEL SAMUEL NEVERS. M E M I H OF COL. SAMUEL NEVEES, LATE OF SWEDEN, TO WHOSE EARLY FRIENDS AXD RELA- TIVES THIS LITTLE WORK IS KESPECTFULLY DEDICATED ^ . BY WILLIAM NEVERS 3D, AUTHOR. PRESS OF GEO. W. MILLETT, .<'^^'' '•^%^^ NORWAY. " ;^^COPYR!GHf'^' s^ Eotered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by WILLIAM NEVERS 3d, III the Clerk's Office of the District Court oJ" the District of Maine. 7 PREFACE. So small a book, can hardly be supposed to need a preface ; but small as it is, it has a design. And first, let it be understood that it is not made to sell; and the question as to "vyhether it tv'OuM -pay*' or not, 'W'as not inade a «]Uestion. A few friends and relatives "wish- ed to preserve, in some form, the life of Mr. Nevers; and at their instance, these brief outlines are ar- iv PREPACE. raiigctl in this form — brief and im- perfect. There was material for a longer ^'Life;" but this answers the de- sign of those interested; and fur- thermore, the -writer has none of that miagery so necessary to deck the ''theater of reahties.*' As this little work will not be likely to be thrown much upon the public, the public taste has been little consult- ed : and if it pleases those inter- ested, it certainly ought to please the Author. 11 E xM I R OF COLONEL SAMUEL KEVE.E3. INTKODUCTION. It is to be regretted, that the gene- alogy of the family cannot be traced with reasonable minuteness, farther back than to Samuel, the father of the subject of this Memoir; and only enough is known of him to show, be- yond doubt, that he was born in AYo- burn, Massachusetts, not far from the year 1730. His right name was Mar- shall, but he was an adopted son to one Samuel Nevers, of Woburn. He settled in Burlington, Massa- chusetts. His first wife was a Miss Wyman, by whom he had six children ; Samuel, born 1766, William, Mary, Susanna, John, and an infant son that survived only a few hour^'. 8 MEMOIR OF Of these children, William alone survives J and still lives in Sweden, near the home just left by Samuel, the eldest. The others have long since left the scenes of earth. To John, there is attached a mourn- ful history. Long after the Revolu- tion he was on board of an American vessel lying in one of our Atlantic harbors, when she was boarded by a British recruitinc^ officer, and refusino; CD i O to show his protection papers, was im- pressed into the British Naval service, and his after fate is yet untold. By a second marriage with a Miss Wyman, of Burlington, — sister to his COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. \) first 'wife, — "vvere added twelve child- ren : five sons and seven daughters. The sons were Elijah, Asa, Wyman, Benjamin, and Issac. The daughters were Harriet and Matilda, (never mar- ried;) and Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Locke, Mrs. Carey, Mrs. Raymond, and Mrs. Curtis. The father was early engaged in the " French and Indian War,*' in the ex- pedition under Rogers. In this war he was in many of the hardest-fought battles with the Indians. One little incident of Indian cunninsr, may be told in his own words. "One day, as our file leader was taking us through the woods, he stop- ped short, and struck his hatchet into 10 MEMOIll OF "wluit I supposed to be the ground ; but pretty soon a large Indian sprang up and reeled forward dead — his head entirely split open by the hatchet. " This was a I'use of the Indians to hide one of their number in the leaves on the ground; to count the American forces as they passed along ; but this poor fellow had made a mlss-go that time." He, toOj was the first to take up arms in the Revolutionary struggle. He heard the report of the first gun discharged on the morning of the bat- tle of Lexington. lie joined no company; and easily got permission to fight oii his own CUL. .SAMIEL NEVEKS. 11 hook, for he was every where known as a •' dead shot.''' He secreted himself along the line of the enemy's route, and in the courso of the day — to use his own words — "gave them sixty- two bullets to do what they pleased with.'' Towards sun-set, he was wounded in the thigh; but he managed to keep hard on the enemy's flank, till he was utterly unable to walk, when he lay down behind a fence. In a short time he saw approaching, five British officers, with a horse and chaise which they had stolen. Of this last scene on that memorable day, ho says: ''I put two balls through the leather of the chaise in the right place. 12 MEMOIR OF Pretty soon they hauled up ; and two of them got out and lifted out three dead bodies and threw them over the wall!" In a short time there came alon;^ one of his near neighbors, by the name of Bacon, on horseback. He had his horse loaded with clothing he had ta- ken from houses where the inhabitants? had fled at sidit of the Eno;lish. Ba- con was an infernal tory. Nevers requested the loan of hi.^ horse, so that he could overtake the enemy; but was refused. Mr. B. did not go but a short distance before his horse fell to rise no more. Mr. Nevers said he knew the man who piloted the British out of Boston. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 13 His name 'svas Smith. He tried liim once, as lie ^vas coming down a liill. There Avas one of the Light Infixntry bcj'Ond Smith, who jumped his length above the rest, and fell a corpse. S. got down from his horse, took off his hat and examined it, but did not mount again in his sight. Smith was not a friend to his country. The generous reader must pardon the seeming haste "with which we pass over this part of our task; but the space is small. Of the heroes of that day, impartial History has w^'itten. They lived for Freedom ; and they could die for it. Whether on paper or marble, each 14 MEMOIR OF name sliall be found, does not matter ; for it is just as safe in the heart-histo- ry of grateful sons and daughters. Thej met life and death with e(j[ual courage. They repose their ashes un- der the green sward, and all above them is the blessing. We pass to the subject of our sketch. Colonel Samuel Nevers, was, as has been seen, the eldest of eighteen children. Born in 176G, his early life was one continual hardship and danger. He had no opportunities to acquire an education. In the rugged school of real life he was taught "the rudiments (>f desperate studies," without the pol- ish of scholarship. At the age of thirteen, — his mother COL. SAMUEL SfEVERS. 15 being dead, — his fatlier told him that he had the whole world to get a livir.g in ; and with a firm purpose, and a light heartj he proceeded to take for- mal possession of his heritage ! Alone, and on foot, journeyed tO' Warwick, where he found a home in the family of a Doctor Williams. He seems to have been quite a favorite with the Doctor ; and tells, with great giisio, a thousand and one incidents of his '"boy-life," during his sojourn with the family ; how he watched the squir- rels at their daily work, and pounced upon their miser-store of chestnuts : how he shot the marauding crow and the thieving thrush ; and gathered tlK3 well-stored and fiercely-protected Win- 16 MEMOIR OF ter stocks of honey from tlie forest pine; and numberless freaks and ^vliims, joys and sorrows, as familiar as '^houseliold words," to any one who has ever had the incSable hai^j^iness of beinoj once a boy ! ! One scientific experiment of Iiig, wliile at the Doctor's, is sufficiently amusing to warrant a record : iind the mxhr and spirit of research was mani- festly entitled to a more gratifying re- sult. He says :— '' One Sunday morning, as the family had gone to moetin^-j leaving me in possession of the Castlej I thought I would have some sport with the dog. I brought out the Doc- tor's battery, and after having chai-gcd COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 17 it to the highest notch, I took the dog and placed his paw on the wire. The first thing I knew of myself, I was on the floor, flatter than a broken egg. ^^ The dog took it harder than I did. lie whirled around and around, and finally went through the window, ta- king with him the entire sash ! "When the Doctor came home, he asked some questions about the window, and I told him the dog went through it. lie asked no further questions ; and whether he ever mistrusted the real truth, or not, I never knew." His stay at the Doctor's was two years ; he then went back to his fa- ther's. He stopped at home but a few days, — long enough to help dig a field IS ME3I0III OF of potatoes after four inclier of snoic had fallen. His next move was to Brooklyn, where an unole (his father's brother) lived. There, he sajs, ''he had another cold job digging potatoes;" and con- cludes, in the event of his ever owning; a farm, he would never plant them ! Of the particular reason of his next move, he says nothing; but it appears that he soon left his uncle's, and ship- ped in a Privateersman, — the brig Hjder Ali,-~then just fitted and ready to sail from Salem. This brig mounted sixteen guns. From this period, dates the danger, the privation, the cool, calculating, yet COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 19 fervent and bold spirit of tlie man, tlic ardor of tlie Patriot, the courage of the Soldier, and the character of the Citi- zen. The -writer of this, has no records of the owners or officers of the brig. She immediately sailed, and her first cruise was off JSTew Brunswick. One adventure of the crew is, per- Laps, worth relating. One fine morning, as the brig was moored close to the shore, a proposi- tion was made to go ashore, and if possible find some poultry — perhaps some truant chickens, too far strayed from the parent roost. Close by the shore was a thicket of bushes, wdiile farther back, a sloping 20 MEMOIR OF field and farm house could be seen — liear vrliicli the chickens were supposed to be. The party had hardly landed, before they saw an Indian creep cautiously across the path, a little distance ahead. Betaking themselves to the landing, I hey hoisted a signal, and instantly the cannon from the brig roared a broad- side, and the shot raked the thicket. One minute more and the whole hill- h^ide was lined with scampering savages, who ran with all the strength of beings irightened to madness. In the words of the narrator, '• they acted as thouglf they had urgent business at home!'' I^ut the chickens were forgotten, and wlien our little company remembered COL. SAMUEL NEVER3. 21 that they were but a short distance irom a British fleet, they very quietly weighed anchor and stood out to sea. But the cruise was a short one and unfortunate. Chases most of the time, it required all the energy of the little band, to keep safe and afloat, with wa- ging a war of aggression. At lengtli they were overhauled by a British cruiser, as they lay in a fog. The Englishman proved to be hU Majesty's three deck ship, CnATHAXf, mounting sixty-four guns. The Pri- vateer, unwilling to contend against such odds, surrendered ; and the crew, numbering forty-four, were ordered ou hoard the enemy's vessel. The Eng- 22 MEMOIR OF lish told us they ^vould nin us under if we fired a gun. Perhaps we can do no better than give the history of the capture, impris- onment, and subsequent escape of the young captive, in his own words : as often repeated to his children and friends. "After they had drawn in the long boat, and manned the prize, the Band stationed themselves on the fore deck, and played '' Yankee Doodle." " When the strain was ended, an old gruff and weather-beaten Yankee tar, sung out, — '' Play Bunker Hill, d— n ye !" ''Then came the tallest swearing I ever heard. The Pritish officers °©r- COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 23 dered us all butchered on the spot. We immediately passed round the or- der to draw our knives ; and, as there ■were two stacks of muskets standing near, with bayonets fixed, it is certain that there would have been a hard fight, if they had attempted to execute the order. ^'We kept cool, however, and they finally contented themselves by putting fourteen of us in the dungeon. ' ' The rest were afterwards sent to Kew York and imprisoned. All we had to eat was a kind of porridge made of pea-meal and water — burjout, so called. "This they let down to us in a bucket. I generally managed to get 24 MEMOIR OP my shoe full, and going into a corner, would cool it and have a feast. At the end of fourteen days we were taken out, and ordered to do duty. '' They asked me if I could serve the King ; and I told them I thought I could but poorly. "The task assigned me. was to wait upon the 2nd Lieutenant, unless in ac- tive duty, then I was obliged to be powder-monkey. "It was a hard task to carry cart- ridges to kill my own countrymen, or, perhaps, a brother ; but I managed lo be of little service to them. " The first favor I got, or asked for. was permission to take a gun and sho<jt COL. SAMUEL XEVERS. 25 some gulls that were flying about the vessel one bright morning. '' I stationed myself on the fore-cas- tle, and pretty soon one came along. and I blazed away. " The gull fell into the water, and I knew it would, for I Avas a dead shot. At the report of the gun, the officers came on deck and asked me what I was* up to. " I pointed to the dead gull. They asked me if I could shoot another. I told them I thought that must have been a chance shot. " But I was willing to humor them, so I blazed away at another. It fell ; I knew it would. " They asked me if that waa tli# 26 MEMOIR OF way the Yankee boys could slioot; (and didn't the answer do me good.) I told them I was always reckoned a fool of a gunner, ''They said no more, but I heard one of them mutterinor something: to the effect, that they "might as well try to take h — 11 as America !" ' ' I got off that day without a flog- ging. I usually got two or three a day. The officers were a cruel set of men. Humanity was absent from them. I have often seen them flog old grey-headed sailors in the face, be- cause they could not hurt them bad enough by striking them anywhere else : and the sufferers not all knowing COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 27 the cause, nor daring to offer the slight- est remonstrance. " Their love for liquor ^vas immoder- ate. There was not a man on board, except the Americans, but that would get " tight as a tiger's tail." The men would save their allowance until evening, then tflfey would drink it, and carouse till morning, unless the officers interposed. ^'"VVhen any quarrel arose between any two of them, they would draw out a chest and sitting astride of it, would box it out. I have seen twenty boxing at one time. The crew were not al- lowed to pick any quarrel with us; and the Lieutenant once flogged anoth- er waiter for striking mo, as I was p;'S- 28 MEMOIR OF sing him while going into tlie wash- room ; and afterwards scolded me for not fighting for my rights. "After this when I saw any dispo- eiiion on the part of a sailor to quarrel with mc, I hit him under the chin, or grappled him by the fore-top, and jumped him back oft the deck, and punished him till he asked for quar- ters. " A. few lessons like this, put me on terms of safety ; but before that, I had a black eye or a broken nose most of the time. "I generally managed to conciliate the favor of the officers, and soon pass- ed for a harmless waiter. But it must COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 29 be remembered that I did them all the mischief in my power. •'When I was ordered aloft in a dark night. I would take my knife and cut off pieces of rigging and throw over- board, and call for more. '• They always kept the cannon char- ged, ready for action ; but often the powder would get wet, and they would be obliged to draw the charge. " I destroyed, generally, about sixty pounds of powder per day, by putting water in the vent-holes of the cannon. I managed to burn the large cable nearly a third part off, partly out of mischief, and partly because it might some time part and allow the vessel to be driven ashore. 30 MEMOIR OF ' • While they were on this cruise thej took three prizes — one American and two French ships. ' • I do not remember the names of any. In one engagement, an eighteen pound shot came through one of our port-holes, killing the gunner and the man who svrahbed the cannon, breaking the oven, amidships, into a thousand pieces. "It came so near me that it knock- ed me down, and half buried me in the blood and mangled bodies of the two men it killed ; and still it was not an unpleasant sight to me ! •'There was one Yankee enterprize that came under my notice that I must relate. COI* SAMUEL NEVERS. 81 • ' There -^-as a large, new, Englisli brig came into Ncav York harbor, load- ed -with provisions and munitions of war for the army, and ran agroimd. "They run a sloop alongside and commenced unloading the brig, so tliey might get her off at the next high tide. ' ' The Americans, from the Jersey shore, with their glasses watched the operations. After the labor of unla- ding was over, the crew went on board the sloop to sleep. At the right time of night, seven Americans, in a whale- boat, started for the harbor. ' ' They boarded the brig and made sail. They then proceeded to unlasJi her from the sloop. This last opera- tion awoke the lubbers ; but it was too 34 MEMOIR OF to the fore-scuttle, and told me to get down and hand up such pieces of rig- ging as he named over, " When I had passed up a sufficient amount, he threw all back over me, and locked the scuttle. "About nine o'clock, the next day, the British officer came on board and asked the Captain if he had any de- serters on board. The Captain told him he had not. "The officer insisted upon knowing. So they searched eyery part of the ves- sel till they came to my hiding place. He then got the key and unlocking the scuttle, ordered his attendants to search that. "They dug so near me, that they COU SAMUEL NEVERS. 85 trod on me several tiiQes; and when they desisted and went on deck again, you had better believe I felt more at home ! If they had found me, they would have whipped me to death, and hung the Captain. " The following day the vessel sailed for Salem, Four days after we reach- ed the wharf in Salem, Mass. *' During that time I had nothing to eat, save three small biscuit ; and yet I was happy. "When I got ashore, I went to a house and asked for something to eat. The woman — although she ought not to be reckoned among mankind — ask- ed me who I was, and where I came from. I told her ; and she refused to 34 MEMOIR OF to the fore-scuttle, and told me to get down and hand up such pieces of rig- ging as he named over. " When I had passed up a sufficient amount, he threw all back over me, and locked the scuttle. "About nine o'clock, the next day, the British officer came on board and asked the Captain if he had any de- serters on board. The Captain told him he had not. " The officer insisted upon knowing. So they searched eyery part of the ves- sel till they came to my hiding place. He then got the key and unlocking the scuttle, ordered his attendants to search that. *' They dug so near me, that they COU SAMUEL NKVERS. 25 trod on me several times; and when they desisted and went on deck again, you had better believe I felt more at home ! If they had found me, they would have whipped me to death, and hung the Captain. " The following day the vessel sailed for Salem, Four days after we reach- ed the wharf in Salem, Mass. " During that time I had nothing to eat, save three small biscuit ; and yet I was happy. "When I got ashore, I went to a house and asked for something to eat. The woman — although she ought not to be reckoned among mankind — ask- ed me who I was, and where I came from. I told her ; and she refused to 36 MEMOIR OF give me a mouthful. The family were infernal tories, I do not know Vvhy it was, that I was not indigiiant ; but I went out, sat down on the steps, and cried like a child ! " It was thirteen miles to my fa- ther's ; but I resolved not to ask again till I reached home, and, Oh ! the wel- come ! '' The family had given me up as lost, and I do not remember of ever hearing of but one man, impressed into that service, who had the good fortune to escape. His name was Twist. ^' The reason why I never applied for my pension, was because I knew not w^here to find him at the time the pen- sion act went into effect, and I had nc COL. SAMUEL NEVEES. 87 other i)roof. I was with the British or English, eight months and a half, and was seventeen years of age when I left them. None but the officers' attend- ants were ever allowed to go on shore. ' ' But few can ever know the cruel treatment of impressed seamen, — flog- ged, and stone-dead, some times, before they have received half their number of lashes ! and not leaving the service un- til too old to do duty. "I have seen men, thus impressed, who never set foot on the land for forty years. '^ The lash, on board a vessel, is call- ed ' the cat with nine tails.' The staff or stock is a piece of rope eighteen inches in length and three inches in 88 MEMOIR 07 circumference ; at one end of this are attached nine smaller ones eighteen inches in length, at the end of each of each of which is attached knotted wires. It is a cruel tormentor." Many things, incidents of every-day- life on ship-board, have been omitted here, as perhaps lacking the general interest, sufficient to make them profit- able to the general reader. It appears that soon after his return to his home, an uncle offers him the Lieutenant's office in one of his brigs ; but he declined the kind offer and gave for his reason, that he had seen enough of the sea " to last a life- time." Indeed, it is very apparent that this kind of life ne^er had any, even seem- €0L. 8AMUBL NBVBRS. 39 ing cliarmg, in the first instance. — There was none of that wild and way- ward boy-fancy; nor that thirst for the excitement of novel sensations, that prompted him to leave his home ; but it was from the simple, but earnest de- sire to do somethings a trait that never left him once during his life. And even in his declining years, he was constantly busy in some kind of work. And from this escape to his father's home, begins the life of the freeman, the penniless seeker for work, the me- chanic, the business man. How well and nobly he met the rude touches of the world, and fulfilled life's mission, 40 MEMOIR OF in laboring, acquiring, and giving^ let the reader of these pages learn. His first work for pay^ was for a Mr. Brown, a Boston baker. Here he stayed till he was well clothed, and had saved a small sum of money, when, be- ing one day absent, he lost, by the burning of his boarding-house every- thing but the single suit he wore away. At this time there was no State Prison, and the convicts were put on Castle Island, now Fort Independence. Here he did fort duty and baker for. the garrison three years ; and here he mentions a circumstance that gave him an opportunity to see the third Lieuten- ant of the English ship which he so un- graciously left in New York. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 41 " A large English ship came into the harbor, and I went on board of her, with others at the invitation of GrOT. Hancock. " I found there the third Lieu- tenant of the Chatham, but he did not recognise me. ^' His name was John Love ; and he was the most arbitrary man I ever met. "The men always hated him; but he never left this vessel till he left it for an ocean grave, having been doubt- less, quietly slipped overboard by the night watch." In 1791, he came into New Suncook — now Sweden — where he spent the remainder of his long life. He had ac- cumulated a small sum of money, and, 42 MEMOIR OF tired of the turmoil of his former life, he gladly turned awaj, even to the wilderness of Maine. In 1793, Mr. Nevers mentions a Spring's work on Sebago Pond, while he was clearing his farm in Sweden. He took a job to raft and "get out" a large quantity of boards — 70,000 feet — from Stevens' Brook to Stand- ish Landing; distance, 30 miles. He says that his was the first raft ever ta- ken across this Pond without being broken up. He also mentions a peril- ous voyage across this Pond along with* a man by the name of Butterfield, and his family. They made the voyage in a long log-boat. The distance was 14 miles to the mouth of Songo river. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 43 '' When we had got about half way across, the wind began to blow, and I hoisted a bed-quilt for a sail. '• At last the wind increased so that our only safety was to keep right before it. I told Butterfield to take the helm and I would bail out the water. It took my best efforts to keep from sink- ing. Butterfield was a Blacksmith, and was on his way to what is now Lovell. " We however managed to * weather ' the whole, and by running under the protection of an island, we were able to haul up out boat, and the next morning it was so calm that we could row the rest of the way. '' Just as we were going into Songo 44 MEMOIR OF river, I saw a flock of Shildrakes light a little distance off. I took my gun and followed. When I got a good po- sition, I blazed away and killed thirteen and wounded two more, that swam a little way and turned toes ujt. Noth- ing more, worthy of note, happened till we arrived safely at Stevens' Brook in Bridgton." In 1791, Mr. Nevers came to New Suncook — now Sweden — 178 miles from his father's and into a wilderness four miles from any inhabitants. He explored the land he had bought, hired a man to fall and burn eight acres of trees, and then returned to Boston, Massachusetts. In April, 1792, Mr. Nevers return- COL. SAMUEL NEVER?. 45 ed to Sweden, accompanied by one Benjamin Webber, who bought a part of Mr. Nevers' land. They labored to<]cether, Summers, in clearing; off the growth where they made their farms ; but they returned to Boston each Au- tumn. As Mr. Severs was on his return to Sweden, in 1793, lie stopped at Songo river, or the main inlet of Sebago Pond, and fished one day and a half for Sal- mon trout. In that short space of time he caught tvro-thirds of a ban-el. He salted them down, and said they were as nice as any Salmon he ever eat. In the Spring of 1796, Mr. Nevers was married, in Tukesburv. Mass., to Miss Either Trull, and immediate] v 46 MEMOIR OF removed to Sweden; his wife riding the entire distance on horseback — 180 miles. Mrs. Nevers had six sons. Three died when they were young ; the other three are yet living. Their names are Samuel, William Sd, and Benjamin. William Nevers Sd, lives on the chosen spot of Col. Nevers ; Samuel and Ben- jamin live near by. He built the first house (of logs) ev- er built in this region, in 1796, four miles, or more, from any clearing — the nearest neighbor being a Mr. Wm. Hazen, then living in what is now Bridgton ; and even to this one there was no road — all an unbroken wild- erness. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 4T In 1797, Jacob Stevens built a house "within a mile and a half. This was deemed a near neighbor. Of the many privations and hard- ships of this early settlement, few re- alize, though Qnost have heard. To this day, children listen eagerly, to the stories, rehearsed for perhaps the hund- reth time; and the "tales of a grand- father " are caught up and borne along through groups of boys and girls, an^ made miracles. There can scarcely be a choicer field for the American history- writer, than this Pequaket region. From Fryeburg to Bethel, still exist the relics and charmed scenes of the bloody drama of Indian cruelty and 48 MEMOIR OF "pa3e-face wrongs;" and it is to be hoped that some day, such a place in our Kew England History, may be assigned to this, as it manifestly de- mands. Nor can the vrondcr-seeker, the sci- entific explorer, the romance- writer, the curiosity-cahinet-gatherer, or the mat- ter-of-fact historian find choicer facts, or themes, or more correct data, than here ; for 'tis all traditionary. When we look with pride on the now prosperous villages of this region, and mark the happy blending of Art with Nature, the princely houses, the busy mills, the prosperous schools, and the ^'' Spires of Faith,'' f\incy bears us back to the "solitary clearing.'- COL. SAMUEL NEVER,?. 49 «Where the rude forefathers of the hamlet slept,' — oft startled by the prowling wolf, and the glare of Indian camp-fires. From the old men of silvery locks, tottering steps, but youthful-sparkling eyes, the well cherished legends of Pe- quaket, have thus far descended; but one by one the "grey-haired heroes" are gathering to their fathers. A few days more, and the last of that "pilgrim train" shall sleep his last sleep. The actors through all the tragedies of blood-bought Liberty, the supporters of Constitutional Freedom, will soon be gone. Oh! let the sons learn well, the lesson ; and watchful of the trust confided, imitate the bright examples. 4 50 MEMOIR OF and show to the world deeds worthy of "Heroes, descended, from heroes,'* It is proper, and quite necessary to speak of the neighbors, families and de- scendents. Mr. Stevens left several children, and some are now settled near the spot of their birth. Capt. Benjamin Webber was the next settler. He came in 1798, and settled within a mile of IMr. Nevers, whose sister he afterwards married. He was more nearly allied to Mr. Nevers in interest, than any other man, and for years they toiled together. He was distinguished for his appli- cation to work and business, and has left behind him the bountiful harvest of an industrious and frusral life. He has COL. SAMUEL NE7ERS. 51 left a large family, and many of them are living near the first home of their father. The old homestead still retains the thrift, taste and opulence of the ances- tor. The next early settlers in this town, were Andrew Woodbury, Micah Trull, William Nevers (brother to the Colo- nel and still living), Senter, Peter and Philo Holden, Elijah Richardson, Cal- vin Powers, Stephen Sanderson, a Mr. Ordway, Mr. Green, George and Na- hara Maxwell, David Millikin, Oliver Knight. Sullivan Jones, Eben Stevens, Nathaniel Flint, Ephraim Jewett, Capt. Joseph Sanderson, Oliver Haskell, Ruel Power ; all of whom made homes, and 62 MEMOIR OF most of wliom still reside on the first chosen lots — leaving families. These settlers were a hardj race of men, and no doubt to their labor and example, the present prosperity of the descendents is due. They sought no luxury, beyond that of a quiet home ; no pride beyond the respectability, the integrity and moral- ity of the deserving citizen ; no ambi- tion to grasp the fortune of any other than the laborer; and no aristocracy beyond that of blood. The soil was good; the climate healthy. 'Twas a rugged surface — like all ' upland ' — but productive, and so well was it timbered, that though for sixty-six years the ax has plied the UOL. iiAMUEL ^^EVEKS. 53 forests, all along the streams and hill- sides, still exist important evidences of its native wealth. The forests were full of game, and the streams of fish ; and many hunter stories might be told, but space for a few only can be spared. It appears that the bear was a con- stant dread and danger. Whole flock;^ of sheep, and sometimes cows and oxen, were the prey of this night prowler. There never was a war of aggression waged upon bruin in his own peculiar haunts ; for it required all the time the settlers could spare, to defend their owi" premises from his attacks. Mr. Nev- ers says he seldom followed a track ; but when a flock was scattered, or a §4 MEMOIR OF COW carried off, the neighbors followed the trail, and avenged the wrong, by at least a future security, if not a past in- demnity. To show the great strength of the bear, he relates the escape of one from a wooden trap- One Fall, his corn field was visited a number of times, and he and Capt. Webber determined, as their steel trap was gone from home, to set one made of logs, for a large bear they had often seen. '' We cut off a tree eight inches in diameter and twelve feet long, for the " fall piece," and brought along and lay crosswise of this, four logs as large a€ we could lift= COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 65 '' I shonld judge the whole must have "weighed over twelve hundred pounds. ' ' Early in the evening we heard the bear's howl, and started for the trap. ' ' We found that the bear had sprung the trap and got awaj. The "fall piece," with all the weight of the four log?j must have come upon his back ; but he had scattered them all." lie adds, however, that he was troub- led no more that !Fall, till his corn had ripened. He tells, too, of setting his steel trap, for one, and fastening it to the top of a birch tree, hoping he might hang him up ; but on his hearing the *' holler" he went, to find the tree broken off some seven feet from the 5Q MEMOIR OF top, and followed the ''varmint," -with his appendageS; nearly two miles before he came up with him. The Sabbath day, so sacredly kept, was sometimes profaned by a bear-hunt, as seems from the following fire-side story, related by Mr. Nevers. " Early one Sunday morning, as I was reading my Bible, Capt. Webber came in and said that the neighbors had started an old bear and two cubs, that had been seen several times within a few days. "I took my gun and started after them. The cubs had climbed a tree, and a man, by the name of Felt, was half way up the tree after them, but COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 57 dared not go any farther till the old one was killed. " The rest of them were equally un- decided as to the best mode of attack. They seemed to be afraid to fire, for fear that they might miss ; and all this time the bear was snarling at them, and they were dodging behind the trees. " Webber and I lay behind a log, ■watching the fun. At last the bear came within about fifteen rods, and I fired at her. She toppled over, dead enough to skin, and the men soon kill- ed the cubs." There was, no doubt, not a little feel- ing as to which of the neighbors was the best shot ; but Mr. Nevers rather 58 MEMOIR OF claims it himself, in the following bear storj. There is no mistake, he was a dead-shot. ''A Mr. Stevens had treed three bears, and ''treed" them on or i?i a big pine stub. "He, as usual, summoned the rest to attend. We took turns chopping at the tree; till it was most off, and then Stevens was to finish, and Webber and I was to stand and shoot them when the tree fell. The first one that made his appearance, I shot so effectually, that he died on the log. I then took Stevens' gun to shoot the next, leaving the third one for Webber, who fired, but did not hit him. '' I followed and shot him at the dis- COL. SAMUEL NEVER3. 50 tance of eighteen rods — putting tATO balls through his shoulder — but he ran some rods and fell dead." He adds — "He was the only bear that ever ran twice his length, after I fired at him." Had these early occupants of the soil been ever so indolent, in farming, they could have lived from the productions of the forests ; for every kind of game was here. Mr. Nevers tells of one coon-hunt that gave him a sled-load of seven. But as practised as they were in the art of fishing, fowling, and trapping, they allowed themselves to indulge in these pursuits but little. They had determined to find plcnti- 60 MEMOIR OF ful homes here for themselves and chil- dren; and thej nobly pursued the work. Farming, then, was a matter of hard labor ; not of experimental ease. To do a hard day's work, and then take a bushel of corn on his back and carry it four miles to be ground, was a common task for the farmer. To eat it in the form of hasty-pud- ding, or bannock, with skimmed milk, was the full bounty of the tiresome journey; and when butter or molasses was added, it assumed almost the shape of a luxury I But to enumerate the many incon- veniences of ''farm-life," then, would take more space than is warrantable. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. Gl The first four seasons, Mr. Nevers lived here, he only stayed on the farm during the Summer months. Most of life, thus far, is a matter of his own record ; but from this time, it is carefully remembered and told by '' the oldest inhabitant." He had made a fortunate purchase of lands, and he had the courage and strength to improve upon it. The wants of a family, then, were fe-^ — scarcely beyond the immediate growth of the farm. Eridgton was the nearest trading town, and the "shopping" was general- ly done by Mrs. Nevers, in a weekly journey, on horseback, through the woods. This journey was made gcncr- 62 MEMOIR OF 9 ally between the "early breakfast'' and the hour for preparing the noon- day meal. The only draw-back on the family prospects, was the long protracted law- suits which were institut^^d by two men in Massachusetts, who had bought, for a trifle, quit-claims of these "settlers lots;" and nothing but the nerve, en- ergy and public spirit of the man, would have withstood the vexation and ex- pense of carrying them on. One suit was in Court thirteen years, and the whole costs paid by him, — though as much for the benefit of sev- eral others ; but he had the satisfaction of seeing them forever settled in his fa* vor. COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. Q^ He paid one lawyer, Stephen Long- fellow, almost a thousand dollars. In the war of 1812, Mr. Nevers held a commission — that of Colonel — but he assisted in mustering his Begi- ment, and then gave the command to a senior Colonel, and was in no active service. He was a member of the Convention which met at Portland, to form a Con- stitution for the new State. He was frequently a member of the Legislature till 1837*! Besides this public duty, he held one of the first offices of this town, a long series of years. He was, too, almost universally em- ployed in surveying lands. He siir* G4 MEMOIR OF veyed and alotted out sereral towns and plantations, whose lines and monu- ments, to this day, remain undisturbed. A few facts as to the market price of land and timber, then, may not. per- haps, be uninteresting. He says — ''I once saw a deed of three lots of land, in which the consideration was ' tu-o mugs of flip.'' " The same lots, twenty-five years ago, before the timber was taken off, were worth $12,000. He says of one of his own purchases : — ' ' I sold a horse for three hundred acres of land — three lots. From one lot I took $900 worth of timber, and sold the land for $1,400. From the second I took $-300 worth of timber, COL. SAMUEL NEVER3. 65 and now the Assessors value it at $2,- 500.. The last lot has since been sold for $3,500. There is no doubt but that seventy- five, and even nfty years ago, this re- gion was one of the best timbered por- tions of the old "pine tree State." Within the memory of many men, the choicest pine timber, — what is now almost impossible to find, "clear stufi*," — .was sold for twenty-five cents a thou- sand on the stump. To-day it would be worth twenty dollars. The purchases of a few of the early settlers, were a icorld of wealth : and even now are acres of dark- waving pine, "ever singing and ever sighing," the remote wealth of Mr. Nevers. Captain 66 MEMOIR OF Webber, Capt. Wood, and some others. In 1837, Mr. Neveis lost the part- ner of his 'joys and cares.' lie never married again ; and from about this time retired almost wholly from busi- ness. In his last days, he says : — "I had accumulated enough of this world's goods to carry me through life, and since that time I have lived pretty much as I pleased." For forty years, surrounded by his children, grand-chil- dren, and great-grand-children, in the old mansion-house, on the first chosen lot, he has lived, respected and almost revered by all -who knew him. His great memory and conversational powers never failed him, nor was he ever unwilling to talk with any one •^ho might call. But few men may COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 67 Lope to win the envious reputation of thu-s being a Patriarch. He loved to tell to a circle of eager hearers, even for the hundredth time, the stories of the Revolution ; and in some particulars, he has thrown light on some of the doubtful passages of that history. It appears that while on board the ship Chatham, as a prisoner, he formed the acquaintance of a Mr. Abram Day, who told him he was in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was in the first sec- tion that stepped into the American works. He says Pitcairn flourished his sword, and said, ''By G — d, the day is ours." An Am.erican boy in the fort, said, " By G — d, you lie,'^ and shot him down," and then escaped 68 MBMOiR or by rnnning like the d — 1. Day told him that his companj were all killed but six, and they were all put on board of this vessel for marines. An incident in the "last war," too, is worthy of record. He says: — "I was in Boston in 1814, when a bill was introduced into the Legislature to ad- mit the British fleet into Boston, un- molested. Com. Bainbridge, then be- ing in the harbor with one of our larg- est ships of war, heard of it, and re- quested the committee, chosen by the Legislature, to meet him on Long- wharf the next morning at eight o'clock. Th^y met him^ and he made them the following comprehensive speech. '^ Gentlemen, t understand that yon pni^e to allow the British fleet to an- OOL. SAMUEL NEVSLRa. 69 chor quietlj in this harbor. I shall conaider this, then, an enemy's port. I shall open a fire on the town, and batter the State House down about jour heads ; and land mj men on Chelsea beach, and laj a slow match to my magazine. I will hear your answer to-morrow morning." The next morning the committee waited upon him with the news that *• the bill could not pass !" Many more interesting historical facts might be written here, to show how well Mr. Nevers studied and learn- ed from his own personal observation, the history of our Kation, and the memory he had to relate them; but enough have already been recited, to answer the purpose of this work. But} 70 MEMOIB Of the soldier life, and the politician lifc^ has long since passed with him ; and we turn to the character of the citizen and the man. In the extensive and varied business of his life, he never ground the face of the poor ; nor wrested one farthing un- justly from the poverty-stricken neigh- bor. He never took but six per cent, interest for any money in his life. While no man suffered by his extortion, many a one has rejoiced in his bounty. He never gave in large sums to any particular sect or society ; but he gave as occasion demanded, to alL In 1827, he gave a lot of land to the School fund of Lovelh The same year he built a house for the public meet- ings of the toym of Sweden, and they COL. SAMUEL NEVER3, 71 Still use it. In 1854, he built a brick house for the School in his own district. His charitj was not of that kind, that challenged the admiration or courted the favor of founders of societies ; nor did he need to purchase absolution of the world, for his old age safety, by any dazzling display of fanciful munificence. His bounty began at home ; it filled the full measure of an earthly fortune ; and then it flowed in the easy channels of deserving merit, and worthy but un- blest labor. His character for benevolence shall never need be written as long as living witnesses shall be found ; and it is the design of this work, not to swell into undue proportion any attributes of this srian; nor to aggrandize the family — 72 MEMOIR OF nor add a shade of doubtful merit to tlie name; but to give, in a brief, plain manner, the main features of a long life — embracing almost a century, and taking in, as it were, at a glance, the whole history of our Nation and Gov- ernment, from its earliest conceptions, to its matured strength. His education was limited, and his home, so far obscure, as to give him no wide-spread notoriety ; but the pla- ces he has filled^ show how well he was fitted for others. And it was, doubt- less, as satisfactory to him to fill the stations of humbler life, in the gift of a constituency living all around him, as it would have been, to have borne the easier burdens and worn the heavier haraess of Governmental patronage; for COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 73 his whole life shows how well he cher- ished the wholesome truth that "the honor of an office is not in the office, but in the manner in which that office is discharged." " Paint me as I arn — wrinkles and all^^^ was the stern wish of the old Pro- tectorate. The rigid sense of justice and the quiet tone of the subject of this sketch, had he been consulted as to a biography, would have endorsed this sentiment. His friends wish to pre- serve this, more as a family record and gift-book to a few early friends, than a praise of the family. name; and the writer would avoid the fulsome, fawn- ing, and o'erreaching tone of so many ^'- Lives.'''' No material has been cre- ated ; no facts have been colored ; and T4 MEMOIR OF no trait has been rounded into a praise unless it was legitimate. It is a palpable but deplorable fact, that, after a man has died, we are apt '- to gild his virtues, and bury his frail- ties." But when we remember that the memory of the dead, is almost, if not q7nte as potent in shaping the fortunes of men, as the acts of those among whom we live, it certainly becomes us, in justice to ourselves and children, to have impartial biography, as well as impartial history ; for as we live for example, we also take from example. The object -of this little work, aside from the gratification of a few relatives and friends, is to weave in something of the town's history, and to furnish to the joung i*aen a page or two of t^''^^ COL. SAMUEL NEVERS. 75 life of a worthy pioneer, and a trust- worthy example of what any one who has courage and integrity, may become in more fortunate times. Nor is it likely that such an example will be lost. ilis life measures so many events, that he was capable of advising. He has marked the early struggle for freedom, and the faithfully-guarded treasure of free institutions and free society. He has marked the fiction of unreliable trade and over-crowded bu- siness, and the commercial crisis. He has been borne on the wave of business pressure, and he has met the revulsion. And often has he told the story of his early patient labor and luxury-denying habitBj when he has heard the young 76 MEMOIR OF farmer talk of " profit and losa " in the Stock Market, His success, and the success of co- temporary settlers, has fullj establish- ed the productiveness of New England soil, as sufficient to sustain and reward the faithful farmer ; and his testimonjjT shows how any one, who has learned *' To labor and to wail," may find a competence for his declining years ; and, that contentment, — the "Philosopher's Stone" of real life — does folloWj and reward willing hands and hearts. Mr. Nevers remembers, and tells of the various political measures and chan- ges in the history of the Govemment. He has voted for every President, from COL SAMUEL NEVERS. 77 Washington — first election — down to the present incumbent of the Executive chair. Through all the storms and tides of interest, passion and prejudice, he claims to have been a Democrat. In the struggle of a doubtful theory, he maintained and at last realized the successful experim.ent of a Republican form of Gov^ernment ; and has ever had the fullest confidence of the perfection 6f a Patriotism that may render perpet- ual the blessings thus descended. And does it not become the sons of such fa- thers not to waste the heritage of so nobly endowed privations ? This uni- versal fortune deserves the same " Sen- tinel Watch" that hailed its first dawn in the Colonial AsBembly, V (Q >fEMOIR OF Of tlie moral character of the man, enough, has, perhaps, been seen. As for integrity, TN-hich is the basis of all moral actions, he lived above suspicion. True to the impulses of Lis heart, he lived and died an honest man ; and the choicest eulogy to pronounce, is that in all the business of his life, surrounded, as all men are sometimes, by unfortu- nate circumstances, and dealing laro-ely with ail classes, there is no record of a single act he ever did, that even the breath of envy has made a stain upon his character. As a Religionist, he was a believer in the faith of Universalism, His first teachings, were from the lips of the Key. John Murray, while he was yet a cot. SAMUEL NEVfiRS. T'c> boy ; and through all his life hopefully spoke of the final restoration of all rnen to the bounty of Him " who is able and willing to save.'' He died September 10th, 1857, at the age of ninety years, eleven months and twenty days. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. J. W. Ford, of Norway ; and to one of the largest audiences ever assembled in the town. For miles around, the people gathered to pay the last tribute of respect to a " Kevolutionary hero,'* a neighbor and a man — aye, more than this — a Pxi- TRIARCH. In the family tomb, on a sloping hill-side and hard by the home of his early manhood, he sleeps his last sleep. Society has lost a valuable mem- 80 MEMOIR OF COL. SAM'l NEVERg. ber; the Trorld, a philanthropist; the country, a patriot; and humanity^ a friend. Three of his children are left behind him, and two brothers — all living near. The otliers, with the partner of his '' jojs and cares," sleep along with him in the family vault. But why mourn ? His was not an untimely death. Ho had filled the full measure of a life- time, and rests on the spot he loved, 'neath the shade of his own planted trees, — *■* Whose composing sound hava their own sanc- tity; And, at the touch of every wandering breeze, Murmur, not idly, o'er his peaceful grave." FINIS. Mmv i'-^l^ ^"^^^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 995 828 7 f^ 7 1 i i