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The Newichawannock Trail started at the river, at the present boundary
between South Berwick, Maine and Rollinsford, New Hampshire, following very
closely the right bank of the river downstream to Sligo Brook. Here the
trail turned westward, away from the river, crossed Fresh Creek, and then
turned northwestward toward the present city of Dover. The present routes
of Sligo Road, Fresh Creek Road, and Oak Street follow very closely the
Newichawannock Trail. The land of David Hambleton was located on the
Newichawannock River, and extended across the Newichawannock Trail at the
present intersection of Sligo Road and Pinch Hill Road. Thus, he had
frontage on the most important water route and the most important land route
of his day.
Today the ruined remains of an old stone foundation can be seen on the west
side of Sligo Road, just south of the intersection with Pinch Hill Road, very
near the historical marker to David Hambleton and Annah Jaxson. It measures
32 feet by 24 feet, and there is a well on its south side, with three large
stone slabs covering and protecting it. It is located within a 6.8-acre
parcel (Tax Map 4, Tract 12) referred to in a Warranty Deed dated 25 March
1912 as “the homestead place of the late William R. Garvin.” His great-
grandfather James Garvin, a sea captain who emigrated from Ireland, obtained
this land on 30 July 1763; he is identified as “James Garvin Mariner” on his
Warranty Deed. The land remained in the family for five generations until it
was sold on 23 September 1955 by the guardian of A. Bertha Garvin to Robert
H. Morris, father of Marian Morris Aikman, the present owner. Mrs. Aikman
remembers the Garvin homestead as a much larger house with a brick foundation
on the same building site, and she states that all the nineteenth-century
wells were on the other side of Sligo Road, toward the river, the water
having been pumped by windmills. Thus the older stone foundation may well
be that of David Hambleton, and it should be preserved as a historical site.
DISPOSSESSION OF THE HAMBLETON FAMILY
After David Hambleton was killed by Indians on 28 September 1691, and his
wife Annah Jaxson was likewise “destroyed by the enemy,” their house and land
fell under the English common law of primogeniture, passing into the hands of
their eldest son, David Hambleton, Jr. He was claimed to be a “town charge,”
unable to support himself. The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Dover
petitioned the Council and Assembly of the Province of New Hampshire to sell
the entire estate in order to pay for his maintenance. Public notice was
given that relatives of David Hambleton should appear before the Council and
Assembly if they had any objection to the granting of the petition. None
appeared, and on 1 October 1697 the Council and Assembly empowered the Board
of Selectmen to sell the estate.
There is no indication that the “public notice” consisted of anything more
than a posting of the matter in a public place. There is no claim that any
relatives of David Hambleton were personally served with notice to appear.
Even if they had been, it would have been very difficult to do so. The
meeting house at Dover’s Neck was eight miles from Rollinsford. Early
settlers had to travel either on horseback or downriver. It was a long and
arduous journey, with the constant threat of attack from the same hostile
Indians who had killed David Hambleton, Sr., and Annah Jaxson.
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