21. In 1622 the territory between the Merrimac and the Kennebec was granted by the council of Plymouth to Sir Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason. The proprietors made haste to secure their new domain by actual settlements. In the spring of 1623 two small companies of colonists were sent out by Mason and Gorges to people their province. One party of immigrants landed at Little Harbor, near Portsmouth, and began to build a village. The other company proceeded up stream and laid the foundations of Dover. With the exception of Plymouth and Weymouth, Portsmouth and Dover are the oldest towns in New England. But the progress of the settlements was slow; for many years the two villages were only fishing stations. In 1629 the name of New Hampshire was given to the province. Very soon Massachusetts began to urge her rights to the district north of the Merrimac.
22. On the 14th of April, 1642, New Hampshire was united with Massachusetts. The law restricting the rights of citizenship to church members was not extended over the new province, for the people of Portsmouth and Dover belonged to the Church of England. New Hampshire was the only colony east of the Hudson not originally founded by the Puritans. The union continued in force until 1679, when New Hampshire was separated from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and organized as a distinct royal province. Edward Cranfield was chosen governor.
23. Before his arrival the sawyers and lumbermen of the Piscataqua convened a general assembly at Portsmouth. A resolution was passed by the representatives that no act, law, or ordinance should be valid unless made by the assembly and approved by the people. When the king heard of this resolution he declared it to be both wicked and absurd.
24. Of all the colonies, New Hampshire suffered most from the Indian wars. Her settlements were constantly exposed to savage invasion. During King Philip's War the suffering along the frontier was very great. In the wars of William, Anne, and George the province was visited with devastation and ruin. But in the intervals of peace the spirits of the people revived, and the hardy settlers returned to their wasted farms. Out of these conflicts and trials came that sturdy race of pioneers who bore such a heroic part in the contests of after years.
CHAPTER XVII.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
THE history of New Jersey begins with the founding of Elizabethtown, in 1664. As early as 1618, a trading-station had been established at Bergen; but forty years passed before permanent dwellings were built in that neighborhood.
Claims to New Jersey.