Major Ephraim Heald was one of the first settlers of Temple, NewHampshire. His deed was dated July 24, 1756 and he settled inthe area in 1758. He "was a perfect Nimrod in those days, andis said to have amassed quite a property by chaffer in the hidesof foxes, bears, wolves, and other animals which he killed inhis constant pursuit of forest game. His favoritehunting-grounds were the wildest he could find, and we hear ofhis peregrinations in distant Maine, (then considered by mostpeople as the Ultima Thule of known Eastern territory) stillfresh and elastic, Daniel Boone-like, honest, fearless, and highin native nobility." Major Heald was chosen by the governor ofthe province to call the first town meeting, was chosen firstselectman of the original board, and was one of the selectmenand town-treasurer for several years thereafter. Major Heald wassaid to be a man of strict integrity and respected by all whoknew him. ******** "Life of Major Ephriam Heald, the greathunter and trapper of the Monadnocks; the indian scout, traderand leader in the wilds of Maine; the first settler of Temple,N.H.; the honored and beloved friend and citizen, whose work waswell done, including sketches of his Ancestry and Posterity" byEphriam Brown of Lowell, Mass., Morning Mail Print: No 18Jackson Street, 1885. r247 In 1775 the town of Temple, NH sent relief to the poor ofBoston. This was about the time of the Boston Tea Party. "NewMampshire, Jan. 12, 1775 Gentlemen, -- You will receive, wesuppose, the the bearer, Mr. John Cragin of Temple, a smallquantity of rye, about 40 bushels, for an infant settlement;collected by a free and cheerful contribution from most of theinhabitants, in consequence of previous recommendation by thetown. Agreeable to the proposal of the town, we shall send it toyou to be disposed of by you for the benefit of the poor of thetown of Boston that have been reduced to straits by the unjustand cruel Port-Bill. We assure you that we heartily sympathizewith you, and earnestly pray that as your day is, your strengthmay be. That you may be undaunted, faithful and wise, and byyour steady, undisguised conduct, put to silence those that waitfor your halting. That your enemies may be ashamed; that yourfriends, at present as we suppose the firends of America and ofjustice, may be united both in good wishes for you and in justand kind conduct towards you; and that God in his own wise andholy time and way may subdue the hearts, divert the designs, andeffectually counteract the violence of your enemies, and soonrestore you and us, America and Britain, to that security andpeace which we cannot but hope will, in issue, be more firmlyestablished even by those very means which vain ambition uses toattain its own purposes. The little we do or can do for themitigation of the evils you suffer, we consider rather as an actof justice than kindness, to those that are called by Providenceto stand in the post of danger and suffer for their adherence tothe common cause from the enemies of America, and being shut outfrom the usual channels from which they had been wont to derivea decent competence or increasing fortune. We are sensible thatthe same injustice which deprives you of your usual method ofsupport by trade, because some tea was destroyed by somebody inyour town, would as readily and on the same principles, depriveus in whose country the tea was destroyed, of the cheerfulwarmth of the sun and refreshing rain, til the tea was paid for,if this were equally in its power. It attacks you rather thanus, because this they can do, in which for our caution andsympathy they express their ill-will and for our satisfactiontheir impotence. We rejoice in your general firmness hitherto,and would not forget to give thanks to a kind Providence, that,as we trust, you have been enabled to conduct with so muchprudence. We are particularly pleased as you declare you aredetermined to be very open and exact in your accounts of whatyou receive, and how you employ it, as, with all your care,amazing pains is taken to propagate stories to the disadvantageof the committee and the town, the extensive and very fatalconsequences of which nothing but the plainest facts canprevent. With heartyt good wishes for your welfare and humblycommending you and ourselves, and the cause of America to Himthat has hitherto so wonderfully defeated the secret plots andopen violence of our common enemies. We subscribe your friends,Ephraim Heald, Francis Blood, David Spafford, Sam'l Webster,Jno. Cragin, Committee of Correspondence and Inspection forTemple."r247 "Major Heald owned two bear traps. They are described ashaving been of steel, very large, closing a foot high, and noteasily "set" without levers. The teath were those of afox-trap, only larger, and "closing under instead of over."" InSeptember, 1808, Majore Heald caught a large bear in a trap inTheodore Barker's cornfield, which weighed 300 lbs. dressed, andanother in Joseph Searle's field.r247 Just before the city of Quebec was taken by the English,Ephraim Heald, being then about 22 years of age, in company withtwo other young men, one named Whitney, the other Reed, wentfrom Dunstable to Saco River, and thence to the Androscoggin,for the purpose of obtaining Indian scalps, for every one ofwhich a prize or bounty of $1000 had been offered by thegovernment. Just at nightfall they discovered a birch-barkcanoe and a fire on the bank of the river. There were noIndians to be seen, but on the supposition they would return inthe morning, they thought best to withdraw to the other side ofthe hill, and there remain until early the next day, when theymight be able to take them by surprise. Before day broke theymade for the river, but by wrong calculations on their point ofcompass, they chanced to stumble on the river much sooner thanthey expected to, and instead of their discovering the Indians,the Indians discovered them, and fired. Whitney dropped dead,and Reed was wounded in the thigh. Heald fired and killed oneIndian, when the other two took after him with their tomahawks.He ran down the river, and was gaining on them, when his fartherprogress was arrested by a deep rivulet which flowed into theriver. Not being able to swim, he was obliged to turn back, andrun the gauntlet of tyhem both, so to speak. When he cam inrange between them, he struck his toe against a snag and fell,the Indians throwing their tomahawks just over his head. TheMajor sprang to his feet and ran around a hill while the Indianswere picking up their tomahawks. He had time to load his pieceand get behind a tree for protection. The Red-skins, onperceiving that he was sure to kill one of them if they followedup any closer, gave over the chase. Heald then started for Saco,which was two days' travel. The Amonoosac, a small stream,about forty rods in width, intervened. Here, again, not beingable to swim and there being no ford-way for several miles ineither direction, he cut poles and withes and constructed araft. But he had gotten only half way across when a sudden galedrover him back to land, his raft having come to piecesmeantime, so that he was obliged to hold it together by dint oflying flat down upon it, thus making his hands and feet serverfor withes. So he had to travel round after all; for he darednot trust himself again to the treachery of withes and poles. Hethen returned to Dunstable, in order to get assistance in hissearch for Reed. Fifteen men volunteered, and started offimmediately. In a few days they came across his wigwam; thenoise of their footsteps in the leaves awoke him from the sleephe was in, and starting up, under the impression that Indianswere upon him, he seized his gun. One of the company, alsounder a false impression as to the character of Reed, supposinghim, indeed, to be an Indian, fired at first sight, and mortallywounded him. He lived about two hours. The party also foundthe body of Whitney, and were thus afforded the melancholysatisfaction of being enabled to bury them both in one grave.Several years afterward, in 1791, Major Heald left Templeon amerchant's and trapper's expedition to a place (now Concord,) onthe Kennebec. He carried with him, ;rum, molasses, calico, etc.etc., to sell to the Indians. We have heretofore written of thePenobscots, a comparatively good and well-meaning tribe, -- butwe have now to relate what befell the Major from one Susup, who,with his brother John Hart and his father Sabbie, was acold-country Indian, from far north, and very savage. ThisSusup came to the Major, one day, for some rum; Mr. Healdrefused him, as he had had some not long before. A gill was theIndian's dram, but Susup would have more. Becoming more andmore angered, he at last seized his drinking-cup and threw itacross the camp. He then caught the Major by the hair of hishead and twisting it one way and the other, hoarsely whispered,'Me machiney you, good time;' (i.e., I will kill you when I havean opportunity.) By help of the other Indians, Mr. Healdreleased himself, and Susup went sulky away. Not long after,Susup's good squaw came to the Major, and whispered,confidentially, 'Susup machiney you to-night; don't you letSusup know me tell you!' The Indians being advised of hisintention, hid all the guns, tomahawks, etc., in order that hemight not be enabled to carry out his threat against the Major.But Susup was not to be diverted from his object. Betakinghimself to the brook, he chose out a smoth round pebble, aboutthe size of a man's fist, and then returned to the camp. Thecamp was built of logs; trhe door of 2-inch plank. Part was upthe door, and on each side, was a hollow log; in the hollows ofthe two logs, a stake was made to run and serve for a fastener.Through this door Susup endeavored to force himself. The Majorwent to the door and told him, calmly, that if he persisted inhis attempts to break in, he would shoot him dead upon thethreshold. But Susup kept at work, having more 'occupy,' orrum, on board, probably than he had caution. He was verystrong, and finally succeeded in loosening one end of the stakeso it came out of the hollow log, and allowed him just roomenough to squeeze in sidewise. The Major now fired. The chargetook effect in his shoulder, but the wound was not very serious,and accordingly Susup pressed on. The Major then attacked himwith the breech of his gun. This he soon shivered in pieces,and now having only the barrel left,he so pounded and pommeledpoor Susup that he cried out, 'You have killed me, Major!' andMr. Heald believing that he really had killed him, or at anyrate disenabled him to carry out any of his 'machiney-ing'propensities, dragged him out and replaced the fastener in thehollow logs. Susup crawled off to his companions, and the Majorretired to his bear-skin couch, to dream of Temple and his happyhome. Next day Mr. Heald and others visited the Indian camp,where they found Susup alive, though hardly able to speak forthe pommeling he had received. Sabbie said to the Major 'JohnHart and I will drink your heart's blood within six months!' Mr.Heald leveled his piece at him, on the instant, but concluded,almost as soon, that he would not fire upon him, and so loweredhis gun. Sabbie laughing in his face, said, 'Me got very greatheart, Major!' but, no doubt, secretly felt great respect forhim. Susup survived, but never recovered his former health andelasticity. He was resolved to have revenge upon Mr. Heald. Atone time he followed Ephraim, a son of the Major's for threeconsecutive days, on a line of sable traps which he was tendingfor his father; but in consequence of snow coming on, Ephraimwent directly in, so that Susup could not execute his design ofkilling him. Three or four years subsequent, Susup set out forOldtown, the Indian settlement on Penobscot river. On arrivingat Bangor, he went on board a vessel and entreated them to givehim some 'occupy.' They turned out a common dram, and one askedhim if he wouldn't have some good stuff in it. 'Yes, me takesome,' he said and drank it hurriedly. He also took anotherdram which was poured out for his companion, on the latter'srefusal to drink it. In a few hours he fell sick and died. Mostof the Indians appeared to be very angry about it, and called onthe captain to give up the man who had poisoned Susup, to betried by their laws. The captain said to them, "Has he not beena bad Indian?' 'Yes,' they replied, 'he been very bad Indian;he kill good many Indians, and good many white men; he be verybad Indian, but we must take some notice of it.' 'Well,' saidthe captain, 'how much occupy shall I give you to say nothingabout it?' 'Four gallons,' was the answer, 'and we will buryhim, have a good pow-wow, and say nothing about it."