About this time, April 3, 1638, Rev. John Wheelwright and othersbought of the Indians a tract of land around Squamscott Falls,included in the following boundaries, viz.: "Within three mileson the northerne side of ye river Meremake extending thirtymiles along by the river from the seaside and from the saydriver side to Piscataqua Patents thirty miles up into thecountrey northwest, and so from the ffalls of Piscataqua toOyster river thirty miles square every way." This purchaseincluded Winnacunnet, and thus was "obtained a right to the soilfrom the original proprietors, more valuable in a moral viewthan the grants of any European prince could convey." (JudgeSmith) Exeter was settled in 1638 as one of the first four townships ofNew Hampshire. The towns founder, the Reverend JohnWheelwright, purchased territory for the settlement from localIndian sagamores, and in doing so acquired one of the mostfavorable sites for a village in the coastal region of NewHampshire.John Wheelright came from Lincolnshire, and perhaps hisfollowers, who adhered to him, at the cost if severe trial andpersecution, and came with him to Wells, may have been residentsof that county and perhaps members of his church.Ferdinando Gorges having ascertained his undoubted right to theterritory, agreeably to his promise, made the followong grant toWheelright and others: "Witnesseth these presents that I, ThomasGorges, Deputy Governor of the Province of Mayne, according untothe power given unto me from Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, LordProprietor of the said province, have, for divers good causesand considerations in and thereunto moving, given and grantedunto Mr. John Wheelright, minister of God's word, Mr. HenryBoads, and Mr. Edward Rishworth, of Wells, full and absolutepower to alot bounds and sett forth any lott or bounds unto anyman that shall come to inhabit in the plantation, thelmselvespaying for any land they hold from Sir Ferdinando Gorges fiveshillings for every hundred acres they make use of, the restfive shillings for every hundred acres that shall be allottedunto them by the said Mr. John Wheelright, Henry Boads, andEdward Rishworth. The bounds of the plantation to begin from thenortheast side of Ogunquitt River to the southwest side ofKennebunk River, and to run eight miles up into the country, andin case differences arise between the said Mr. John Wheelright,Henry Boads, and Edward Rishworth concerning the admission ofany man into the plantation, or of bounding any land, the saiddifference shall be determined by the agent or agents of SirFerdinando Gorges, to whom full power is reserved of admittingany one into the aforesaid limitt. Given under my hand and sealat armes this 14th July, 1643. Tho. Gorges" "Saco - Memo. ata court holden here the 14th day of August, 1644, this grant washere exhibited and is by us allowed; for further confirmation wehave hereunto sett our hands in court the day and year abovewritten. Richard Vines, Deputy GovernorHenry JocelineRich BonightonNicholas ShapleighFrancis RobinsonRoger Gard"We do not find in any of the sketches of Wheelright'sproceedings and motions, after he was driven from Boston, thetime stated definitely when he left Exeter. We do not pretend todetermine precisely the time when Wheelright came to Wells. Wehave full confidence that his associates, Hutchinson, Needham,and others, came here as pioneers, or to examine the land, in1641. Whether either of the two, at any time, had a residencehere we have no reliable evidence. We think Wheelright followedthem in 1642. In that year Henry Boade came from Saco. In thedeed to Wheelright of April, 1643, he is styled pastor of thechurch in Exeter, but we suppose his connection with that churchhad not been dissolved. A portion of his church were stillthere, and there was no occasion for immediate dissolution. Hefled to Maine for his personal safety.In 1643, Thomas Gorges conveyed to Wheelright a tract of land,of about 400 acres, on the easterly side of Ogunquit River.Wheelright did not dwell on this lot, though when referred to,it is designated as the Wheelright farm. His house was nearerthe Cape Porpoise or Mousam River than the Ogunquit, butsufficiently far from the former not to be reached by theStratton claim (see notes on John Stratton), or the lot askedfor by Thomas Gorges. Under the authority to Wheelright, Boade,and Rishworth, to lay out and assign lots to settlers, butlittle seems to have been done. A very small number of grantsare found, or are referred to on the records. Wheelright doesnot appear to have acted long on this commission. His residencein Wells was short, probably not continued beyond three years.Several of his associates remained in Wells; some for a fewyears; others made it a permanent abiding place.c.15921679, American Puritan clergyman, founder of Exeter,N.H., b. Lincolnshire, England. He studied at Cambridge and wasvicar (162333) of Bilsby. Suspended by Archbishop Laud on acharge of nonconformity, he emigrated to New England in 1636.While pastor of a Puritan church at Mt. Wollaston (now Quincy),Mass., he alienated himself from the parent church in Boston bypublicly defending the views of Anne Hutchinson, hissister-in-law. The General Court in Boston banished him from thecolony in 1638, whereupon he formed a settlement at Exeter, N.H.When the new town was claimed as within the limits ofMassachusetts, the minister, with part of the church he hadestablished, moved in 1643 to Wells, Maine. The next year, uponhis acknowledging some error on his own part, the sentence ofbanishment was withdrawn. He held a pastorate in Hampton, N.H.After visiting England, he returned to America; his lastpastorate, from 1662, was at Salisbury, N.H.
Exeters first immigrants came in 1638 from England viaMassachusetts with Reverend John Wheelwright, eventuallydisplacing the Native American Indians of the areaSquamscottIndians, a sub-tribe of the southern New Hampshire Penacooks andan Alogonquian people. A second wave of immigrants followed,mostly British in origin, many of whom established the millingindustries on the river or trades connected with the shippingindustry. As some of these settlers established their ownwealth, they accumulated enslaved peoplefifty lived in townaccording to census records from 1767. By 1790, only twoAfricans remained enslaved; others had been freed and theAfrican and black community in town remained steady at abouteighty individuals until the 1860s (about 5% of the townspopulation.)Exeter was settled in 1638 as one of the first four townships ofNew Hampshire. The towns founder, the Reverend JohnWheelwright, purchased territory for the settlement from localIndian sagamores, and in doing so acquired one of the mostfavorable sites for a village in the coastal region of NewHampshire.The town started its existence by adopting a "combination," orplan of government, in 1639. Exeter was also unusual in buildinga special town and court house for public meetings; most NewHampshire towns conducted civic affairs in taverns and in thesame meetinghouses they used for religious services.In 1774 Royal Governor John Wentworth dissolved the provincialassembly or house of representatives, which met in Portsmouth,in an attempt to prevent the election of delegates to acontinental congress. Thereafter, a series of provincialcongresses began to meet in the Exeter town house, whicheffectively became the seat of New Hampshires government; theFourth Provincial Congress ordered the provincial records to beconfiscated from royal officials and brought to Exeter forsafety in July 1775. New Hampshires first constitution wasadopted in the Exeter town house on January 5, 1776, and here in1788 the first of New Hampshires conventions was held forratification of the United States Constitution. While mostbuildings associated with Exeters fourteen-year period as statecapital have vanished, the Ladd-Gilman House, home of statetreasurer Nicholas Gilman, Sr., retains a room used as thetreasury.The lower falls of the Squamscott River were harnessed shortlyafter 1638 for a grist mill; sawmills were established at theupper falls in the late 1640s by Edward Gilman and others. By1795 the two waterfalls at the heart of the town powered fourgrist mills, four sawmills, two mills for pressing linseed oilfrom flax seed, and a fulling mill for cleaning woolen cloth.During his visit in 1789, President Washington noted that asnuff mill was in operation here. An iron-slitting millmentioned by Washington had been replaced by Simeon Folsomsfactory for producing the newly introduced machine-cut nail. The broad tidal basin below the lower falls provided access forseagoing vessels to and from Exeter, and it was the means bywhich the towns early production of sawn lumber was carried tomarket. The same section of the Squamscott River proved to be agood site for building ships as large as 500 tons; as many astwenty-two vessels are said to have been built here in a singleseason. Locally built vessels and others arriving from elsewherein the British Empire made Exeter a busy port during theeighteenth century, giving rise to fortunes like that ofmerchant John Phillips. River traffic continued to convey bulkcargoes, especially coal, to Exeter until the 1930s.