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SAMUEL SHUTE, GOVERNOR

In the golden month of October, of this year 1716, a grand cortége passed through Hampton, en route for Portsmouth. The occasion was no less than the visit of Governor Dudley's successor in office, Col. Samuel Shute, to publish his commission as governor of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He left Boston on Monday, the 15th, with great pomp and ceremony; was met at Cambridge by the faculty and students of Harvard, who escorted him to the college and greeted him with an oration; met escorts of horse and foot, and sumptuous entertainment everywhere on the route; and arrived at Salisbury, near the province line, on Wednesday. Here he was met by Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan of New Hampshire, members of the council, sheriff and men of note, "being guarded with a troop of horse from Hampton, and after that, met by a troop of horse from Exeter, and at Hampton Town, four companies of foot were drawn up upon the common, before Captain Winget's where the Governor dined." About 5 o'clock the same afternoon, with his numerous and imposing retinue constantly augmented, he made his entry into Portsmouth, greeted by the booming of cannon from castle and ships, the Portsmouth regiment under arms and two troops of horse. After publishing his commission, "the regiment discharged their volleys and the people their huzzas." It was a hearty ovation, for no hand lifted the veil, to disclose the inharmony of the future. Back to previous section -- Forward to next section -- Return to Table of Contents