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On 28 March 1698 the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Dover deeded the
house and twenty acres of David Hambleton, Sr. to Thomas Potts of Dover,
“in consideration of his keeping and maintaining David Hambleton, Jr., for
the rest of his life.” In fact, Thomas Potts and Johana, his wife, had
already deeded the property on 19 January 1698 to Job Clements of Dover,
for an unspecified tract of land elsewhere. The deed was not recorded
until 1717. Until that date, Thomas Potts was the owner of record.
On 31 January 1700 a petition from Gabriel Hambleton, then a single man
about 20 years old, was read to the Council and Assembly. The Council
ordered the present Board of Selectmen, and any retired selectmen who had
taken “the estate of said petitioner’s father into their hands,” to appear
at the next General Assembly and bring an account of the value of its sale
and the expenses they incurred in the maintenance of David Hambleton, Jr.,
“deceased.” Five weeks later, on 7 March 1700, the Select Men “moved that
they had not timely notice to appear.” The matter was adjourned, and no
account was rendered. And David Hambleton, Jr., was dead.
On 15 October 1700, Job Clements and Abigail, his wife, sold the Hambleton
house and land to Henery Nock, for “divers causes and valuable considerations,”
and for twenty-five pounds lawful money, less than the price at which David
Hambleton, Sr. had been sold into slavery in 1651. The deed was not recorded
until 1717, and Thomas Potts remained the owner of record. Among the “divers
causes” prompting the sale may have been the petition of Gabriel Hamilton.
The matter had been adjourned, but not formally dismissed. But now it was a
moot point. The seven younger brothers had lost the family estate in exchange
for the “maintenance” of their eldest brother for less than two years’ time,
and nobody besides the interested parties had any idea who owned their house
and land.
On 28 September 1691, when David Hambleton, Sr. was killed by Indians, six
of his eight sons were still minors. Under English common law they were
considered orphans, whether or not their mother was still alive. It is
recorded that their mother, Annah Jaxson, was likewise “destroyed by the
enemy,” probably at a later date. On 28 March 1698, when the Board of
Selectmen deeded away the estate of David Hambleton, Sr., his sons were left
not only orphaned but landless. The youngest son, James Hambleton, from whom
we are descended, was no more than sixteen years old.
REFERENCES:
Catalfo, Alfred, Jr., “History of the Town of Rollinsford,” Master’s Thesis
presented to the University of New Hampshire, Department of History, 1952,
Revised, pp. 3, 4, 7, 21, 22, 23.
Emerson, Ruth Porter, and Greenaway, Florence Philpott, Rollinsford’s
Heritage II, A Thoroughly Researched and Documented History of the Town of
Rollinsford, New Hampshire, 1995, pp. 16, 17.
Knoblock, Glenn A., “A Brief History of Rollinsford,” 1996, p. 1.
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