PRESIDENT WHEELOCK'S PERSONAL EXPLORATIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.—LOCATION AT HANOVER.

In his "Narrative" for 1771, President Wheelock tells the story of Dartmouth's location in the Granite State so plainly and satisfactorily, that we can do no better than to give his own recapitulation and condensation of the leading facts.

"The smiles of heaven upon this school were such that it appeared quite necessary to build to accommodate it; and the plan which I laid for this purpose was to secure a sufficient tract of good land for the only use and benefit of the school, and that the English charity scholars should be led to turn their exercises for the relaxation of their minds from their studies, and for the preservation of health, from such exercises as have been frequently used by students for these purposes, to such manual labor as might be subservient to the support of the school, thereby effectually removing the deep prejudices, so universal in the minds of the Indians, against going into the business of husbandry."

"The necessity of building, and also that I proposed to fix it at any distance where the design might be best served by it, became publicly known, whereupon great numbers in Connecticut and in neighboring Provinces made generous offers to invite the settlement of it in their respective places. In which affair I employed proper agents to view the several situations proposed, and hear the several arguments and reasons that might be offered by the solicitors for it, and make a faithful report of the same.

"The magistracy of the city of Albany offered an interest estimated at £2,300 sterling, besides private donations, which it was supposed would be large, to fix it in that city. Several other generous offers were made to fix it in that vicinity. His Excellency, Sir Francis Bernard, Governor of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in company with two others, offered 2,000 acres of good land in a central town[25] in the county of Berkshire in said Province. To which were added several other donations, amounting in the whole to 2,800 acres of land, and a subscription said to be about £800 sterling. Also generous offers were made to it in Stockbridge and other towns in that Province. Several generous offers were made by particular towns and parishes in the Colony of Connecticut, and particularly to continue it where it had its rise. But the country being so filled up with inhabitants, it was not practicable to get so large a tract of lands as was thought to be most convenient and useful for it in those old settlements. The Honorable Trust in England gave the preference to the western part of the Province of New Hampshire, on Connecticut river, as the site of the school."

Before this period he "began to be convinced by many weighty reasons that a greater proportion of English youth must be prepared for missionaries to take entirely the lead of the affairs in the wilderness." He also was deeply impressed with the want of ministers in a large number of towns, nearly two hundred in all, just then newly settling in the Connecticut valley. In view of all the circumstances, and especially the fact that there was a disposition on the part of many young men who had the ministry in view to seek preparation for it elsewhere, than at Yale or Harvard, he felt it his duty to adhere to his plan of extension.

"As neither the Honorable Trust in England nor the Charter had fixed upon the particular town or spot on which the buildings should be erected, wherefore to complete the matter, as soon as the ways and streams would allow, I took the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, and Esq. [Samuel] Gilbert (a gentleman of known ability for such a purpose) with me to examine thoroughly, and compare the several places proposed, within the limits prescribed for fifty or sixty miles on or near said River; and to hear all the reasons and arguments that could be offered in favor of each of them, in which service we faithfully spent eight weeks. And in consequence of our report and representation of facts, the Trustees unanimously agreed that the southwesterly corner of Hanover adjoining upon Lebanon was the place above any to fix it in; and that for many reasons, namely, it is most central on the River, and most convenient for transportation up and down the River; as near as any to the Indians; convenient for communication with Crown Point on Lake Champlain, and with Canada. The situation is on a beautiful plain, the soil fertile and easy of cultivation. The tract on which the college is fixed, lying mostly in one body, and convenient for improvement, in the towns of Hanover and Lebanon, contains upwards of 3,000 acres."

We quote from official records:

The "Coos" region now demands our more careful attention.

While southern New England was largely occupied by emigrants from the Mother Country, and their descendants, in the seventeenth century, much of its northern portions, and especially the rich valley of the upper Connecticut, was still covered with the virgin forests. As early as 1752, Theodore Atkinson (whose name will become more familiar to us) and others in Eastern New Hampshire, had formed a plan for acquiring and colonizing the best portion of this unoccupied, but fertile and inviting, basin. But the proud and lordly Indian disputed their right to invade this ancient and charming hunting-ground, whose meadows almost spontaneously produced the choicest corn, and they desisted from their purpose.

The immediate occasion of the settlement of this part of the Connecticut valley was the French war. In the progress of that war, the New England troops had cut a road from the older settlements in the south part of the Province through Charlestown, then called No. 4, to Crown Point. The soldiers in passing through this valley became acquainted with its fertility and value.

The soil of Eastern Connecticut being exhausted in some measure, her hardy and enterprising yeomanry now gladly turned toward a region where honest industry would find a surer and better reward. Many of them knew the value of religion by a vital experience, and all knew the value of sound learning by experience or close observation.

The leading founders of Hanover were of the highly respectable Freeman family, of Mansfield, Conn. The early history of this family in America connects it with the Bradford and Prince families. The pioneer settler at Hanover was Edmund Freeman. Of this worthy and enterprising man, sincere Christian, earnest patriot, and valuable coadjutor of President Wheelock, it is said: "Of distinguished uprightness and integrity, he commanded universal respect and esteem." Hon. Jonathan Freeman was his brother.

Another family to whom Hanover is largely indebted for its solid foundations bears the no less distinguished name of Storrs, also of Mansfield, the old ancestral home of all, or nearly all, of that name, who in various ways have been conspicuous in giving "strength and beauty" to American institutions. Of Joseph Storrs, an early donor to Dartmouth, it is said: "He was the younger son of Samuel Storrs the second, and grandson of Samuel Storrs the elder, from whom all of the name in America are descended, excepting one family near Richmond, Va. He was a member of the first board of selectmen of the town of Hanover."

The town contained about twenty families at the period of which we are writing. The relations of some other early settlers with President Wheelock deserve equally careful notice. John Wright, from Lebanon, Conn., was a man of marked ability and decided religious character. He was deeply interested in the new college, and as pioneer explorer and artisan rendered its founder invaluable aid. His name also heads the list of the Hanover donors of lands.

David Woodward, formerly a parishioner of President Wheelock, and afterward widely known for his strong mind, his public spirit, and patriotism, also coÖperated earnestly with him while he was laying foundations. His house appears to have furnished the venerable president his first headquarters, while planning future operations.

Nathaniel Wright, from Coventry, Conn., was a relation of John Wright. His descendants have honored the college, as some of them still honor the memory of an ancestor, whose name is inseparably and prominently connected with the civil and religious history of the town. His heart and hand were with President Wheelock, and his log cabin was a welcome resting-place.

James Murch, one of the more enterprising among the early settlers, was also from Connecticut, where he had formed some acquaintance with President Wheelock and his plans. Upon him it seems to have devolved, in some measure at least, to set forth in homely but vigorous language the leading attractions of this locality.

Reverting to the "Narrative," we give President Wheelock's own graphic account of labor and privation, which, in view of all the circumstances, has few parallels in history:

"After I had finished this tour [of exploration] and made a short stay at home, to settle some affairs, I returned again into the wilderness, to make provision for the removal and settlement of my family and school there before winter. I arrived in August [1770], and found matters in such a situation as at once convinced me of the necessity of being myself upon the spot. And as there was no house conveniently near, I made a hutt of logs about eighteen feet square, without stone, brick, glass, or nail, and with thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty laborers appointed to their respective departments, I betook myself to a campaign. I set some to build a house for myself and family, of forty by thirty-two feet, and one story high, and others to build a house for my students of eighty by thirty-two, and two stories high."

His family and about twenty or thirty students arriving before the completion of his house, difficulty in locating having arisen, he says: "I housed my stuff with my wife and the females of my family in my hutt. My sons and students made booths and beds of hemlock boughs, and in this situation we continued about a month, till the 29th day of October, when I removed with my family to my house."

A few last words to one who for a long period had regarded his work with more than fraternal interest, and himself with more than fraternal affection, fitly portray the state of President Wheelock's mind and heart in those days of toil and trial and hope:

There appears to have been no subsequent meeting, on earth, of these eminent coadjutors in all good works. The one was called to his reward above, just as the other was beginning to enjoy the fruition of his labors on earth. Few names deserve more honor, in connection with the founding of Dartmouth College, than that of

George Whitefield.[27]

[27] Many things, which cannot be specified, illustrating the history of this period and others, are necessarily placed in the Appendix.