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The Cemeteries

A new burying-ground was laid out in 1797, westerly of the present homestead of Nathaniel Johnson. The first internment was that of Joshua Towle, who died September 13th of that year. In 1802, the selectmen were instructed to have the ground "fenced with a stone wall. . . . . . . to be done within eighteen months, with one good gate." It is difficult to understand the meaning of a vote, passed seven years later; "that Abner Page have the use of the old burying-yard so long as he will keep the fences and gate in repair," and "that John Batchelder have the new burying-yard"-unless it is to be explained by another vote, after the lapse of a dozen more years, "that the use of the old burying-ground be put up to the highest bidder, with this restriction, that no creature except sheep and calves shall go therein." John Towle, the highest bidder, at one dollar and fifty cents. If we seek for justification of a course so repugnant to our sense of fitness, as turning the hallowed ground into a pasture, let us find it in the close-cropped grass and absence of weeds, that might have made the deserted enclosure that dreariest of all places, a neglected cemetery.

Carrigain's Map

By an act of the General Court, of December 30, 1803, surveys and plans of all New Hampshire towns were required to be sent to the Secretary's office, in order that they might be used in making a map of the state. It was in obedience to this decree that Thomas Leavitt, Esq., of Hampton Falls, made a survey and plan of Hampton in 1806, a copy of which is given in this work. The state map, made by Philip Carrigain, and called by his mane, was published in 1816, and a copy sent to each town. Back to previous section -- Forward to next section -- Return to Table of Contents