Londonderry News

In 1740, Londonderry had been divided, by the Royal Governor, into the east and west parishes of Londonderry. Each parish had its own Presbyterian meetinghouse and taxed itself to pay for its own pastor. The original dividing line of the two parishes ran about north and south from approximately where the traffic circle is today and followed the route of modern day Route 28 from Salem and 28 bypass to Auburn.

The town of Londonderry held an annual town meeting in which the citizens set the tax rate by voting for a town budget and elected their town officers. Starting in 1790, it was official policy to alternate the location of the town meeting between the meetinghouse of the two parishes. The two divisions had approximately the same populations and tax values. The western parish of Londonderry was larger in size at approximately fifty square miles, but had a smaller population density.

The east parish was home to most of the town’s doctors, lawyers, and merchants. It was also the site of the Adams Female Academy. Pinkerton Academy was just over the line into the Londonderry parish. The town’s major highway was the Londonderry Turnpike (today’s Route 28 and 28 bypass), which had made Derry Village the commercial center of the town. The west parish was much more rural and agricultural. It could logically be assumed that those in the eastern parish viewed their fellow townspeople in the western parish as country bumpkins and themselves as sophisticates.

On February 23, 1827, Constable Billy R. Gage posted the warrant for the annual town meeting, which was to convene in the meetinghouse of the east parish. Most of the articles dealt with mundane town business such as the election of officers, the boundaries of school districts, and road construction. The document this year, however, contained a real shocker. Way down inside the warrant were articles 15 and 16, which had been submitted by petition. They called for the splitting off of the eastern part of Londonderry into a new town.

The east Londonderry people wanted to disregard the old parish line and draw a new border nearly a mile farther to the west. The petition for the new town of east Londonderry was proposing to grab land that had been a part of the parish of west Londonderry since 1740. The present Broadway section of town had been a part of the west parish for nearly a century. Now these eastern rebels wanted to rip it off and make it part of the new town in the east.

The First Parish Church in Current East Derry, as of 1895, was the meetinghouse for the 1827 Annual Londonderry Town Meeting.

On Tuesday, March 13, 1827, at 9 in the morning, the town meeting began in the meetinghouse of the First Parish Church. An estimated 463 men crowded into the sanctuary and its balcony. The first order of business was to vote for state governor. For long hours, the voting for other officers continued. Finally, by late afternoon, came the first of the important votes-the election of three representatives to the state legislature. The victors would represent the town in Concord. This vote was critical. Any plan for splitting Londonderry into two towns required legislative approval. Both factions wanted their own men in Concord.

The west Londonderry voters were in the majority but scattered their votes among a dozen candidates; the east Londonderry people were better organized and this time voted as a bloc. John Miltimore, John Porter, and Alanson Tucker were duly elected to represent Londonderry in Concord. This was perceived as a triumph for the secessionists as Tucker and Porter were the leaders in the pro-split faction.

The west Londonderry voters were distressed to see that two east Londonderry politicos would represent the town in Concord. Quickly a motion was made to send only one representative to the legislature that year rather than the three the law allowed. With only a single representative, there was a strong chance that his influence would be insufficient to sway the other members of the legislature to vote to allow east Londonderry to split from the west.

The motion passed. John Miltimore, because he had received the most votes on the original tally, was declared to be the one and only representative from Londonderry. This was a triumph for the anti-split voters. Miltimore had never publicly favored the division of Londonderry. He was not expected to submit a bill calling for a split of the town. Without such a legislative bill, Londonderry could not be split in two.

By now it was getting dark. It was time to adjourn the town meeting until another day. Next week the meeting would reconvene in the meeting house to finish up town business. This, of course, included voting on the actual articles to break up the town. Within moments, over a hundred of the west Londonderry voters left the meetinghouse to begin their long trek home. Most believed the meeting had been voted as adjourned until next Monday.

Those of us familiar with modern Town Meeting know what happened next.  To find out more read the rest of the story!

As soon as it was clear that most of the west Londonderry voters were out of earshot, the town meeting sprung back to life. A motion was made to reconvene the meeting and reconsider the last vote. This reconsideration was not challenged by the moderator and thus prevailed. It was moved, seconded, and approved by voice vote to have Londonderry send three representatives to the state legislature.

The few west Londonderry voters that were still in the hall tried calling for a point of order to have the vote declared illegal. One can easily imagine the angry scene as the moderator ignored their frantic cry of “Point of order! Mr. Moderator, please. Point of order!” The westerners were yelling at the top of their lungs that the meeting had been adjourned but were ignored by Moderator Choate who was pro-split.

In the end, however, the ballots were counted. John Porter and Alanson Tucker were elected to the legislature. The eastsiders had stolen the election! With that victory achieved, Moderator Choate adjourned the meeting until March 19, when the town meeting would reconvene in west Londonderry.

The week’s break between sessions of the town meeting gave the west Londonderry forces time to plan their counterattack. They knew that Moderator Choate wouldn’t allow a second reconsideration; all they could do was try to find ways to restrain the power of the eastsiders.

The session of March 19 was a clear victory for the westsiders. The voting for selectmen saw the election of three men from the west. Soon came the moment everybody was waiting for-Articles 15 and 16, which called for the splitting of the town.

When the two articles were brought up for consideration, the westsiders voted as a bloc to defeat the motion. The final vote was 303 NO-253 YES. The Londonderry men voted to stay together as one town. The town further voted for Colonel William Adams and Colonel Robert Patterson as agents of the town in Concord. They were given the task of finding ways “expedient to oppose the division of the town” by the legislature. They were also charged with persuading the legislature not to allow Tucker, Porter, and Miltimore to be sworn in as members of the House of Representatives. Town Meeting also voted to press charges against Town Clerk Samuel Adams for not recording a true account of the meeting of March 13.

Agents Adams and Patterson published a four-page “Remonstrance” to the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate that stated the arguments for why Londonderry should not be divided. Adams and Patterson wrote that among the major problems facing Londonderry as a result of the split would be the repaying of the debt incurred to build Mammoth Road; the whole town had voted for it but now west Londonderry would have to pay for it. The proposed new town line would also divide three school districts and three militia companies. In addition there would be many farms that would see their acreage divided between towns. A west Londonderry resident in that situation would have to pay nonresident property tax in east Londonderry but not be able to vote at the town meeting in which the tax rate on his farm was set.

James Aiken, Thomas Patterson, William Adams, Ebenezer Fisher, and John Pinkerton wrote a second Remonstrance to the Senate and House. This appeal was different from the first in that it only dealt with the illegality of the March 13, 1827, town meeting.

The two Remonstrances were submitted with a petition signed by three hundred men of west Londonderry. It’s main point was that the town was already exactly the right size and should not be divided. Likewise apetition was submitted to the legislature by John Morrison, Alanson Tucker, John Burnham, James Thom, and John Porter and 311 others. It refuted all of Londonderry’s claims and, in brief, said the town was too big and should be divided.

The Town Borders as of August, 1880; Compiled by R.C. Mack and L.A. Morrison

The two Remonstrances from Londonderry appear to have had little effect on the legislature. There were several hearings centering on where the new boundary line should be but in each case, the east Londonderry plan prevailed.

On Monday, July 2, 1827, the House and Senate voted to create a new town in east Londonderry. Governor Benjamin Pierce signed the bill into law that same day. The new town’s boundary would not be the 1740 parish line that ran through today’s Derry Village but instead a north-south line that was about a mile farther to the west. The law also spelled out the payment of old debts and future taxes.

As soon as the divorce was legal, the towns hired Captain John Clark to draw the north-south line between Derry and Londonderry. The distance surveyed measured 36,493 feet, or 6.9 miles, long. On the north, the line would start at a point in the middle of the Londonderry Turnpike at the Chester town line. It would continue south until it hit the Windham town line. Clark stopped for the night after sighting a tree farther to the south that he believed to be on the Windham line.

There was a valiant attempt by Alanson Tucker and James Thom to officially give the new town the name of Londonderry, which meant the western section would have to take a new name. Their reasoning was based on the fact that the town’s oldest settlement had been in the eastern part of town. This name grab was foiled through the efforts of Robert Mack. The Londonderry people likely countered with the argument that because the eastern part of town had opted to separate, it gave up all rights to the old name.

East Londonderry was forced to come up with a new name. The people chose to be called Derry. This is what their half of the town had been called for years anyway. The name Derry comes from the Gaelic word Doire which means “oak woods.” Derry was the original name of the town of Londonderry, Ireland. This was the city their Scotch-Irish ancestors had left in 1719 to settle in the New World.

The First Parish Church, as it now stands in East Derry. Aerial Image by ImageAbility Inc.

This excerpt is from “Nutfield Rambles”, Richard Holmes’ fifth published piece on local history. Born in Derry, NH, Richard was raised and attended school throughout New Hampshire. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Keene State College and his Master’s Degree in History from Rivier College. In 2003 he founded the Derry Museum of History. In 2007 Richard Holmes received an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History. This is the most prestigious recognition one can receive for the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. Richard is also a regular columnist for the Derry News and a frequent contributor to the Nutfield News, the Lawrence Eagle Tribune and the Manchester Union Leader.

Twice each month we provide the “Readers Digest” version of his many stories presented in his history of Derry, Londonderry and Windham. Be sure to pick up a copy copy of Richard’s newest book you can visit the Derry Museum, open every Thursday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. For directions or to contact Richard visit the Derry History Museum Website