We quote from official records:
"Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 5, 1770.
"We, the subscribers nominated Trustees of Dartmouth College, in the Charter of said college, and being duly qualified as directed by said Charter, have taken into consideration the places whereon said college might be situated; and do hereby certify that it is our advice, opinion and vote that said Dartmouth College be situated and erected upon lands in the township of Hanover upon Connecticut river in the Province aforesaid, provided the lands, moneys, and other aids subscribed for the use of said Dartmouth College, if placed in Hanover aforesaid, be firmly and securely conveyed to the Trustees of and for the use of said College. And also that the said town of Hanover, and Lebanon, previously consent and petition to the Legislature that a contiguous parish of at least three miles square, in and adjoining to these aforesaid towns of Hanover and Lebanon, be set off and incorporated into a separate and distinct parish under the immediate jurisdiction of the aforesaid Dartmouth College.
"In witness whereof we have hereunto signed this instrument for placing buildings and establishing the said college in Hanover aforesaid, upon the aforesaid conditions.
"J. Wentworth.
"Theodore Atkinson.
"Eleazar Wheelock.
"George Jaffrey.
"D. Pierce.
"P. Gilman.
"Benj. Pomeroy."
"Hartford, 17th July, 1770.
"We, the subscribers, being nominated Trustees of Dartmouth College, and being duly qualified according to the Charter of such college, do hereby agree to the situation of said college as determined by the Trustees as above signed; provided (in addition to the conditions they have specified), that Dr. Wheelock may be accommodated with a suitable farm, at or near the college; apprehending that his past labors and expenses, and his present connection with said institution, justly merit such consideration.
"Wm. Pitkin,
"James Lockwood,
"Timothy Pitkin,
"John Smalley."
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