Recently, while researching the origins of burial grounds in Concord, I read an 1824 publication, Annals of The Town Of Concord by Jacob B Moore. It didn’t include what I was looking for, but it contained a wealth of NH historical references and footnotes that sent me on a quest to educate myself. Contrary to popular opinion, NH allowed slavery until our NH Constitution was passed in 1783. In 1767, the first enumeration of Concord revealed a population of 752 persons including 13 slaves; 9 male and 4 female. ‘Slavery’ is a chapter in Bouton’s History of Concord , which I am reading via a Concord Library link. There are two extensive histories for those interested in NH history.

What’s not common knowledge today is New Hampshire’s insurrection in 1786 including fake electorates (some were NH representatives and lawyers) misinformation being published, fraudulent voting, and an armed group trying to assert their will, but dispersed rather than fire upon the government forces arriving on horseback. Prisoners were rounded up, some taken from their beds at night. “Some, who belonged to the Presbyterian Churches were cited before ecclesiastical session and censured as opposers of just government. Others, being militia officers, were tried by general Court Martial. Some were cashiered but not incapacitated for future service, some were reprimanded and others acquitted” According to an excerpt taken from Vol 2, Ch. 27, History of NH by Jeremy Belknap. New Hampshire’s real history is fascinating.

Nancy Greenwood

Concord

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