Collect Day #8 WENTWORTH CHESWELL
Almighty God, who raised up your servant Wentworth Cheswell to serve the cause of American freedom and to serve his community with honor and dedicated labors in education, government and the pursuit of justice: we pray that his enduring spirit may fill our hearts for service in the cause of true freedom for all the citizens of New Hampshire and of the United States; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Day #8, February 22, 2018
Newmarket
WENTWORTH CHESWELL
(1746 – 1817)
Richard Alperin
Wentworth Cheswell — teacher, coroner, scrivener, assessor, auditor, moderator, selectman and Justice of the Peace — was the only child born to Hopestill and Catherine (Keniston) Cheswell, in Newmarket.
Wentworth’s grandfather, Richard Cheswell, enslaved in Exeter, purchased 20 acres of land from the Hilton Grant. The deed, dated Oct. 18, 1716, is the earliest known deed in New Hampshire which shows land ownership by a Black man. The land was located in what was to become the town of Newmarket. Richards only child, Hopestill, was a housewright who plied his trade mostly in Portsmouth. Research has shown he took part in building the John Paul Jones House. Hopestill was active in local affairs and passed his love and knowledge of carpentry, agriculture, and community involvement to his son.
Wentworth attended Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts. His education was, in terms of the day, “an unusual privilege for a country boy of that time.” After completing his education, Wentworth returned home to become a schoolmaster.
In 1765, he purchased his first parcel of land from his father. By early 1767, he was an established landowner, educated, and held a pew in the meetinghouse. He married 17-year-old Mary Davis of Durham, New Hampshire on September 13, 1767. Eleven months later, Paul, the first of 13 children, was born.
During the war for independence, the citizens of Newmarket, including Wentworth, were unequivocally for the patriotic cause. In April of 1776, along with 162 other men, Wentworth signed the “Association Test,” which was uncommon for a man of mixed descent. He was elected town messenger for the Committee of Safety, which entrusted him to carry news to and from the Provincial Committee at Exeter, the state capital at the time.
Paul Revere rode into Portsmouth to alert the colonists of the impending arrival of the British frigate Scarborough and the Canseau sloop of war. Portsmouth cried out for help from neighboring communities, prompting Newmarket to hold a town meeting. At that meeting it was decided that 30 men be sent to Portsmouth for assistance. Wentworth then rode to Exeter to receive instructions from the Provincial Committee on where the men were to be sent.
Wentworth enlisted in the cause on Sept. 29, 1777. He served under Colonel John Langdon in a select company of “men of rank and position,” called “Langdon’s Independent Company of Volunteers,” to bolster the Continental Army at the battle of Saratoga.
After his service, Wentworth returned to Newmarket and continued his work in local affairs. He also owned a store (which still stands today) beside the old school house. Wentworth’s career as a teacher was short lived, but his concern for the educational welfare of Newmarket’s children was paramount. In 1776, the town chose Wentworth and four others for a school board to regulate its schools.
He was a man of many firsts. It has been suggested that he was the first archeologist in New Hampshire. In 1801, Wentworth and several other men in town organized the first library in Newmarket. Wentworth’s interest in his town and its history prompted him to hand copy all of the extant town records, including two congregational meetings held in Newmarket. He collected stories and took notes of town events as they occurred. This original work is still intact and is archived at The University of New Hampshire.
Cheswell was appointed as Justice of the Peace for Rockingham County, serving from 1805 until his death in 1817. He was responsible for executing deeds, wills, and legal documents and was a justice in the trial of causes.
In 1820, New Hampshire Senator David Lawrence Morril addressed Congress, being opposed to an item before the legislation concerning persons of mixed race being forbidden to enter or become citizens of Missouri. In his speech Morril remarked that “In New Hampshire there was a yellow man [sic] by the name of Cheswell who, with his family, were respectable in points of abilities, property, and character. He held some of the first offices in the town in which he resided, was appointed Justice of the Peace for that county, and was perfectly competent to perform with ability all the duties of his various offices in the most prompt, accurate, and acceptable manner.” Angrily, Morril added, “But this family is forbidden to enter and live in Missouri.”
Upon writing his will, Cheswell stated that “the burying place in the orchard near my dwelling house be fenced with rocks, as I have laid out (if I should not live to finish it) and gravestones be provided for the graves therein….” His daughter Martha, being his last surviving heir, willed that “the burying yard at my farm as now fenced in, for a burying place for all my connections and their descendants forever… on the express condition that they and their heirs and assigns shall forever maintain and support the fence around said burying yard in as good condition as it now is.” In accordance with their wishes, the gravestones have been restored or replicated over the last several years, as friends and family have recently discovered their heritage and connection to the Cheswells.
On March 8, 1817, Wentworth Cheswell died from typhus fever. The Newmarket community mourned this vital, important and influential man. Wentworth’s own abilities certainly inspired his successful life. However, his father’s legacy to his son must not be overlooked. Hopestill’s example of hard work, sound investing and determination ultimately helped Wentworth become the successful man we honor.
