My Children's Family Tree


‎Deacon Samuel Haines‏‎ Born ‎1611 at Westbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom, died ‎1686 at Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States‎, age 74 or 75 years Samuel Haines was born in England in 1611. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to John Cogswell of Westbury, Wiltshire, a cloth manufacturer, who owned mills in Frome, Somersetshire, a few miles from Westbury. It appears that his apprenticeship was to continue for ten years; but after having served nine years, he came to New England in 1635 with Mr. Cogswell in the ship Angel Gabriel, which sailed from Kings Roads, Bristol, England, June 4, and from Milford Haven, Wales, on the 22nd of the same month. After a voyage of ten weeks and two days from Bristol, coming near the coast of Maine, they anchored on the night of the 14th of August in the outer harbor of Permaquid, now Bristol; and there they encountered the "Great Hurricane" which occurred on the following day, when the storm was so severe that the vessel was driven on shore and broken to pieces; and although several persons perished, and much of the cargo was destroyed, yet they saved a considerable quantity of their personal effects, so that they were able to live on the shore in a tent, which Mr. Cogswell had taken with him, until the arrival of Goodman Gallup's bark from Boston, which took them with a large portion of their possessions to Ipswich, Mass., where Mr. Cogswell made his home. Samuel Haines remained with him one year to complete the term of his apprenticeship; and having fulfilled his obligations for service, he outlined plans for the future in this then wild country, doubtless arranging to cast in his lot with the settlers at Northam, now called Dover Point. In 1638 he returned to England, prolonging his visit one and a half years, and in the meantime, on April 1, 1638, was married to Ellenor Neate in the church at Dilton, Wiltshire, near Westbury, where he had previously lived. As he was married within a few weeks after returning to his native land, it is safe to infer that he was engaged to his bride before coming to this country, and that he made the long and perilous voyage across the sea that he might claim the lady of his choice. On his return to this country they established their home in Northam, where he had ten acres of land near the first church. Afterwards there were set off to him twenty acres on the west side of Back River. He had for neighbors WWilliam Furber and John Tuttle, and perhaps others who were fellow passengers with him on the ship Angel Gabriel. The patent of land on which he settled had been granted to Edward Hilton, but conveyed to him by Capt. Thomas Wiggin and his associates, who were from Shrewsbury, England, where the early Haines family lived. Such may have been a factor in the choice of location of our first ancestor. We find that Samuel Haines was one of the signers on Oct. 16, 1640, of what was called the "Dover Combination." This must have been shortly after he had established his home at Northam, where he remained ten years. He was taxed in Dover in 1648 and 1649. Either because he was not satisfied with his location, or because he saw that it would be more profitable, in 1650 he rented Capt. Francis Champernown's farm at Strawberry Bank, so named because of the strawberries found there. In company with Lieut. Neal he took the farm "to the thirds." It appears that he took a deed of the farm for the satisfying of a "certain debte," and that he lived there two years. In the meantime he secured ninety-one acres of land adjoining the Champernown farm, where he built himself a house and made a permanent home. By purchase and by grant of common lands from the town he came into posession of many acres. He chose a very desirable location for his house, on a well-drained ridge of land which now commands a pleasing view of the surrounding country. Ther could have been but a small hamlet where he settled; for there were at that time but fifty or sixty families in what now constitutes New Castle, Portsmouth, Greenland, and Newington. The larger part of the country around was as yet unsubdued by ax or plow, so the comforts and privileges were comparatively few. Travel to the more thickly settled part of the town was by water, or by a circuitous and rough path through the forest. The Indians were a menace, and wild animals were in the woods. Foreign supplies must have been costly and few, and the support of a family was the price of unceasing toil, while educational and religious privileges were obtained only by great effort. Our ancestor seems to have been sturdy and strong, for he was able to more than hold his own. In addition to the large tract of land which he had secured, he bought a part of the saw-mill which was located near his home, paying for it one hundred and ten pounds. He was a highly respected citizen, and occupied important positions of trust. But there were adversaries to contend with as well as a rigorous climate and hard soil. In 1683, after he had made his land pleasant with the labor of thirty years, Robert Mason, Esq., laid claim to it, together with that of others, and tried to eject him, but without success. In the following year he made a second effort, putting the land-holders under bond to appear in court at New Castle, but his plans did not succeed. The titles were good. The four towns within the limits of New Hampshire, having put themselves under the protection of the colony of Massachusetts, in 1653, Samuel Haines was one of the signers, petitioning the General Court at boston to change the name of the town from Strawberry Bank to Portsmouth, which was done. The same year he was chosen one of the selectmen of Portsmouth, to which office he was elected for ten successive years. In 1666 he was employed to assist in running the town line between Portsmouth and Hampton. In 1678 the town intrusted to him the keeping of an orphan child for a period of fifteen years for a stipulated sum of money. Aside from his business sagacity he was a religious man, being one of the number who organized the North Church in Portsmouth; and as soon as Reb. Joshua Moodey was settled as their pastor, he was ordained Deacon of the church by the "imposition of hands and prayer." This was in 1671, although religious services had been held in town for the greater part of the time since 1638. In 1675 the town granted "Deacon Haines" the privilege of hitching his horse in "the pound" on Sundays for shelter and protection. It was a long distance for him to travel to church, and that act indicates that he made the journey sometimes in rough weather. When by the weight of years his infirmities increased, he deemed it wise to deed his homestead to his eldest son, Samuel, reserving a sufficient life support for himself and wife. The exact date of his death s not on record; but it must have occured about 1686, at the age of abut seventy-five years. His wife was living at the time he made his will in 1682, but the exact date of her death is not determined. They were buried on a bold promontory jutting a little into the Winnicut, thirty or forty feet above the river, -- a beautiful, quiet spot, now covered witha wooded growth, at the foot of which the tide has ebbed and flowed by their graves for almost two and a quarter centuries. At this place it is said that more than one hundred of the first settlers of the town of Greenland have been laid away. This "God's acre" is but a short distance from the old Haines homestead. - From "Deacon Samuel Haines of Westbury, Wiltshire, England, and his descendants in America, 1635-1901." Thomas Vanburen Haines, Andrew Mack Haines. Married ‎01 Apr 1638 at Dilton,, Wiltshire, England, age 26 or 27 years (married 43 or 44 years) to: ‎Eleanor Neate‏‎, age by marriage 24 or 25 years Born ‎1613 at Dilton,, Wiltshire, England, died ‎1682 at Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States‎, age 68 or 69 years Children: 1. ‎Samuel Haines‏‎ Born ‎1646 at Dover, Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States, died ‎1688 at Greenland, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States‎, age 41 or 42 years 2. ‎Mary Haines‏‎ Born ‎1649 at Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States, died ‎1681 at Greenland, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States‎, age 31 or 32 years 3. ‎Matthais Haines‏‎ Born ‎1650 at Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States, died ‎1688 at Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States‎, age 37 or 38 years Matthias Haines was born at Strawberry Bank, afterwards Portsmouth, now Greenland, NH, and after marrying Jane Brackett he settled near the old homestead. He, with Leonard Weeks, was appointed in his father's will to see that his brother executed all the provisions of the will. On June 28, 1671, he made testimony to the usual privilege of drawing logs across land from the river to the sawmill. He was juryman in 1683. On 18 Jan 1747, John Smith of North Hampton testified that 'Matthias Haines lived near where Daniel Lunt then lived, that he and his brother Samuel died in the winter time within a few days of one another, and that the event was very much taken notice of, and considered as a remarkable providence, for they were noted men and carried on their work and business together in Partnership.' Mathias and his brother Samuel ran their grandfather's saw mill and carried on the work the Deacon had started. Both Mathias and Samuel died within a week of each other. They were building a stockade together since they were bothered by Indians and wild animals. It is assumed they were killed by Indians.