William Grimshaw's New Hampshire

Life After the Revolutionary War

(Note: Webpage in preparation)

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William Grimshaw fought in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the Colonials. The records of his service in Hazen’s Regiment are described on a companion webpage; the latest is dated 1783. After the war, William settled in New Hampshire, where he apparently had a family and remained for more than 20 years. During that time at least 20 direct (and 2 indirect) records of his presence were created, including land transactions, census tallies, road petitions, inventory and tax, and other records. The records discovered so far are presented on a companion webpage and cover William's life in New Hampshire from about 1789 to around 1811.

Webpage Credits

Overview of William Grimshaw's Post-war Life

Bath, NH Military Service Monument

Additional Bath Images from Curtis Williams, ca December 2004

Who Was William Grimshaw's Spouse?

Recapitulation of William Grimshaw's Movements, and Family, in New Hampshire

What Happened After New Hampshire?

Was Mahala Grimshaw One of William and Elizabeth's Children?

Bath Town Record of William Grimshaw's Revolutionary War Service

Map of New Hampshire Towns Where William Lived

What Happened After New Hampshire?

Hazen's Regiment Connection

References

 

Thanks go to Curtis Williams for visiting Bath on behalf of the author, taking several photos, and making a rubbing of William Grimshaw's name on the plaque in the Bath Town square.

Many other (probable) descendants of William Grimshaw have also been involved in the research effort and have provided additional information. In particular, Barbara Bonner and Calvin Lamb deserve special mention for their work in "ferreting out" the family history of William and his descendants.

The last Revolutionary War record for William is that of his discharge from Hazen’s Regiment in June, 1783. The next known record for William is in January 1788, almost five years later, when he is recorded in land transaction and other records in Lyman Town, New Hampshire. Nearly all of the subsequent records of William’s life are from New Hampshire, where he apparently settled and lived from 1789 until at least 1811.

The fact that William served as a fifer in the War may indicate that he was quite young (say, age 16 to 18) when he served from January 1782 to June 1783. If so, he would have been born about 1765, and thus was about age 22 when his presence in New Hampshire was first recorded in 1789. If he left the state in 1813, he would have then been about 48 years old.

During his more than years in New Hampshire, William lived with his family in the Town of Bath and the surrounding Towns of Lyman (to the north), Coventry-Benton (southeast), and Haverhill (south). This area is in western New Hampshire, near the Connecticut River. As noted, the records demonstrating his presence there include land purchases and sales, censuses, and miscellaneous Town records, such as inventory and tax records.

No direct records of William’s life after 1811 have apparently yet been found, although it is believed that he may have left New Hampshire and gone to Vermont, New York and Quebec.

The community of Bath, in Grafton County, New Hampshire, erected a monument in 1929 to honor its citizens who had given military service in wars up to that time. William Grimshaw’s name is included on a plaque for those who served in the Revolutionary War (see Figures 4, 5 and 6 below). Deep appreciation is expressed to Bill O’Halloran for providing these photos.

Curtis Williams visited Bath on behalf of the website author in late 2004 and made rubbings of William Grimshaw's name on the monument, which are shown below. Curtis also took several photos of the monument and of Bath in the area around the monument. These photos are shown below the images of the rubbings.

Similarity of Elizabeth Lepninah's surname (it was apparently a clerical error, as there are no other "Lepninah's" to be found anywere) to Zephaniah's first name (observation of Barbara Bonner). But it doesn't appear to "work":

The number of records of William Grimshaw and his family in New Hampshire is remarkably extensive - consisting of between 20 and 25 distinct records of different types. They chronicle William's initial settlement in Lyman Town and subsequent migrations to Bath, Coventry (later renamed Benton), and Haverhill Towns. Images of the records are posted on a companion webpage; the records are summarized as follows along with the their dates and the location and associated period: 

Lyman Town , 1789-1792

Land Purchase in Lyman Town ,  1789

Road Petition in Lyman Town , 1789

Census Record in Lyman Town , 1790

Bounty Land Warrant, 1790

William Grimshaw Voted as "Tithing Man," 1791

School District Established, Lyman Town , 1791

Land Sale in Lyman Town , 1792

William Grimshaw Voted as "Saxon" and Takes Oath of Office, 1792

Bath Town , 1792-1796

Inventory and Tax Records, Bath Town , 1794 to 1796

Coventry ( Benton ) Town, 1800

Census Record in Coventry ( Benton ) Town, 1800

Haverhill Town , 1800-1811

Published Marriage Intention of William Blair and Betsey Grimshaw, 1800

Inventory Record, Haverhill Town , 1801

Highway Tax Record, Haverhill Town , 1801

County, Minister, School and Town Tax, Haverhill Town , 1801

Highway Tax Record, Haverhill Town , 1802

Town, County, School and Minister Tax, Haverhill Town , 1802

Promissory Note, Samuel Chase to William Grimshaw, and Subsequent Judgment, August 1802

Land Purchase in Haverhill Town , 1803

Petition to be Excused from Support of Minister John Smith, 1805

Land Sale in Haverhill Town , 1806

Census Record in Haverhill , 1810

Zephaniah Grimshaw and Jerusha Hunter Marriage Record, Haverhill Town , 1811

These records provide the basis for a rather detailed reconstruction of William's movements, and the growth of his family, during the more than 20 years that he lived in New Hampshire. Sometime after his discharge from Hazen's Regiment in June 1783, he apparently moved to Lyman Town (location shown in Figure 3, above) and bought 50 acres of land from Asa Parker (for 20 pounds) in the "original right" of Samuel Wilmot in early 1789. Three road petition records, from January to June 1789, reference roads that "strike" William's land; in two of these records, William is one of the petitioners.

The first U.S. Census, in 1790, found William living in Lyman Town with his wife and two children, a daughter and a son under the age of 16. On November 10, 1790 William received Bounty Land Warrant No. 13129 for 100 acres in return for his Revolutionary War service. Then on March 15, 1791 William was voted as "tithing man" during a Lyman Town meeting. On November 10, 1791 a school district was set up during another similar meeting that extended "as far as Wiam (sic) Grimshaw." In January 1792 William sold the 50 acres in Lyman Town for 50 pounds, 2-1/2 times the amount he had paid for it two years earlier. The record of the land sale indicates that William was a cordwainer; i.e., a shoemaker. On March 13, 1792, William was voted as a "Saxon" during a Lyman Town meeting, and he took the oath of office on the same date.

Sometime later in 1792, or early 1793, William and his family apparently moved to Bath Town, just to the south of Lyman (see Figure 3), for a few years. William’s presence in Bath is indicated by property inventory and tax records for 1793, 1794, 1795 and 1796. His property included a poll (himself?), a cow, 1 or 2 horses and 50 acres of "wild land" (apparently different land than the 50 acres he sold in Lyman Town in 1792.) For this property he was assessed school, county, state, bridge, highway, and wheat taxes.

By 1800 William had moved to Coventry Town (renamed Benton Town in 1840) to the southeast of Bath Town (see Figure 3.) The second U.S. census of that year found him with his family, consisting of his wife, the son and daughter recorded in 1790 (now between 10 and 16 years of age,) and three additional sons, all under 10 years of age.

Sometime after the 1800 census, William and his family apparently moved to Haverhill Town, to the west of Coventry Town and the south of Bath Town (see Figure 3). In October 1800 Betsey Grimshaw and William Blair, both of Haverhill, were published for marriage according to Town records. Assuming that Betsey was William's daughter (undoubtedly the oldest daughter, recorded in the 1790 and 1800 censuses), the family likely moved from Coventry to Haverhill Town sometime in 1800 after the census was taken. Betsey could not have been more than 16 years old at the time of her betrothal, as she was shown as less than 16 in the 1800 census.

An inventory record and four tax records document William’s presence in Haverhill Town in 1801 and 1802. Then in December 1803, William bought 15 acres of land in Haverhill Town, from George Twiner. This land purchase again showed William as a cordwainer (shoemaker.) On March 15, 1805 William and 15 others gave notice in the Haverhill Town meeting records that they should not be taxed for the salary of the Town minister, John Smith, because they were not of his denomination and did not attend his ministry or services. George Twiner, from whom William had bought land 15 months earlier, was one of the co-signers of the 1805 petition.In February 1806, William sold his 15-acre parcel in Haverhill to Caleb Morse for the same amount that he paid for it ($150) a little over two years earlier. Once again, William is shown in the land sale record as a cordwainer. Despite this land sale, William and his family are found in the third (1810) census still living in Haverhill. (Bill O’Halloran has pointed out a land record, not yet obtained from the Lyman Town Clerk’s Office, but known to be dated September 1802, may indicate that William owned two parcels of land in Haverhill. This could explain why he was still living there after selling the 15 acres to Caleb Morse.)

According to the 1810 census, the family consisted of William (now over 45), his wife (still under 45,) one son between age 10 and 16, and four new daughters (since the 1800 census.) The total number of William's children, according to the censuses of 1790, 1800 and 1810, would then have been nine – 5 girls and 4 boys. The oldest daughter and 3 of the 4 sons (2 of them still teenagers) were not "picked up" in the 1810 census. As noted, Betsey was probably the oldest daughter and would probably have been married for 10 years, and Zephaniah, the presumed oldest son (second child) was soon to be married. In fact, the last known record of William and his family in New Hampshire consisted of the announcements, on consecutive days (February 14 and 15, 1811) of the betrothal and marriage of Zephaniah Grimshaw and Jerusha Hunter. The announcements appeared in the Haverhill Town records.

Evidence from Barbara Bonner, November 9, 2008...

William Grimshaw appeared in the records of the Town of Bath⁴ for 1786, in which the request is made that the Town "receive a Twenty pounds bounty for procuring" William as a Continental Soldier in Hazen's Regiment. An image of the record is shown below along with the cover page of the volume in which it appears.

William settled in Grafton County, New Hampshire near the border with Vermont. The general location of Grafton County is shown below. Figure 2 is an outline map², showing Grafton County in the northwestern part of the state. The county seat is in North Haverhill (green dot in Figure 2). 

The red star is on Bath. Note also Benton to the southeast of Bath and Center Haverhill to the south.

The figure below was prepared from U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps³. The maps show a closer view of the area, including Lyman, Bath, Haverhill and Benton (formerly Coventry) Towns.

Topographic map of western border of Grafton County, New Hampshire, showing the Connecticut River and the Towns of Lyman, Bath, Haverhill and Benton. Wells River, mentioned above in Figure 1, can also be seen. Prepared from two U.S. Geological 30 x 60 minute quadrangle maps³ spliced together. Click on the left thumbnail to see the upper (northern) part of the map, and on the right thumbnail to see the lower (southern) part of the map. The maps overlap around Bath Town and Wells River.

Calvin Lamb's research indicates that William was probably with his son, Zephaniah, and family in Hinchinbrooke Township, Huntingdon County, Quebec in 1825: 

http://www.grimshaworigin.org/Webpages2/CalvinLamb.htm 

The record appears as shown below; this apparently is the last record in existence for William Grimshaw, so it seems likely that he died in Quebec, perhaps not far from where he was living in when he was recruited into Hazen's Regiment some 50 years earlier.

Also on Calvin's webpage is the following notation on the arrival of Zephaniah Grimshaw (presumably including his father, William) in Canada in 1822;

Farmer. The 1842 census indicates that Zephaniah had been in Canada for 20 years. That would make his arrival in Canada 1822.

The area around Haverhill and Bath was frequented by Hazen’s Regiment during the Revolutionary War. For example, Hazen’s Road was built in 1779 by the Regiment from Wells River, Vermont, just across the Connecticut River from Bath Town, to Hazen’s Notch in the Green Mountains. (William’s service began about 2-1/2 years later, in January 1782.) The route of Hazen’s Road¹ is shown in Figure 1. Several prominent members of the Regiment settled in the Bath and Haverhill area after the war. It therefore seems likely that William’s decision to settle in New Hampshire was in some way connected to his service in Hazen’s Regiment.

The following photos at the starting point of the Bayley-Hazen Road were taken visit to the area in July 2006.