HEARD (HURD), Jacob

John married DAY, Charity in 1734. Charity was born on 25 Apr 1711 in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 4 Jan 1785 in USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
New England, America

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Abt 1734, Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA
• Probate: 18 Apr 1734, New Hampshire, USA

Tristram married (UNPROVEN), Abigail in 1691 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA. Abigail was born on 17 Jul 1668 in New Hampshire, USA; died in 1737 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
(Many online trees say she is a Walderne/Waldron. I haven't found proof yet, though. Needs more research.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: The Great Migration; Immigrant; signed the Dover Combination
• Great Migration: Yes, arrived in Dover by 1635
• Web Address: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Heard-49
• Residence: Maine, USA
• Residence: Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: Strafford, New Hampshire, USA
• Arrival: 1639, Boston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Public Service: 1647; Fined for calling Godfrey an old knave abd criticizing Capt. Champernowne
• Residence: 1650, Kittery, York, Maine, USA; Living on Champernowne's island
• Court Case: 1 Mar 1651, Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA; John Heard successfully sued Anthony Emery for slander
• Residence: 1654, Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA; Permanently settled here by this date
• Will: 2 Apr 1687, Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA; signed on this date

Notes:

He was called "Capt. Heard" because he was commander of ships in the foreign trade of Dover while in business connection with Capt. Richard Walderne. While he was in the shipping business he lived on Dover Neck, where he lived for 20 years before moving to the house he built on the hill where National Block now stands. He appears to have come to the Dover area in 1655. About 1675 when the Indians became dangerous, he had a stockade placed around his house and it became known as "Heard's Garrison." The next garrison below was that of Richard Otis. Of the five garrisons near the falls, that of Capt. Heard was the only one saved in the massacre of 28 Jun 1689. By some incredible folly two squaws were allowed to sleep before the kitchen fire in each garrison that night,even though fears of Indian troubles had sent many persons into the garrisons each night for safety. Early in the morning the squaws opened the gates to the stockades and let the Indians in, while the families were fast asleep. Elder Wentworthand his family were at Heard's garrison. Just as the Indians were about to enter a dog barked and awakened Elder Wentworth; he arose and closed the gate just as the Indians were about to enter. He fell upon his back and held the gate closed till other members of the household came to his aid. The Indians fired several bullets through the door, but no one was hit.
Stackpole notes there were two John Heards - one who was in Kittery in 1640 on Champernowne's Island. He cautions that the other was of Dover and lived at Cocheco. He died 17 Jan 1688 leaving a large family, and it may have been he who owned land and lived in Gorgeana in 1648. John signed the Dover Combination in 1640. In March 1648/49 he had lot No. 8 in Cocheco Fresh Marsh assigned him. He did not appear on the tax lists of 1648, but does appear on that of 1657 and years following.
An interesting point to the second John Heard (of Kittery) is that he had a son James who had a son John who had a daughter Dorcas who married a Hugh Tucker in the early 1700s. Could this be a tie to the Kittery John Heard?
Pike's Journal notes John died after a short sickness before the massacre.

Compiled and Edited by
Ernest Shorey Tucker Jr.

This version printed in the year 2001
All copyright rights waived in the interest of
preservation, correction and continuation
of this family history.

Died:
may have been 1688

John married HULL, Elizabeth in 1643 in York, York, Maine, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of HULL, Reverend Rev. Joseph and UNKNOWN, Joanne) was born in 1628 in Northleigh, Devon, England; died on 30 Nov 1706 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Immigrant; The Great Migration
• Residence: USA
• Arrival: 1635, Massachusetts, USA

Notes:

Elizabeth Hull, daughter of Reverend Joseph Hull, was born in 1626 in England, and married Captain John Heard at York, Maine in 1642. Soon after their marriage, they settled at Dover, New Hampshire. The leader of the colonists at Cochecho (near Dover) was Richard Waldron (Walderne), an Englishman who had emigrated in 1635. In 1642, Waldron owned a large tract of land at the Lower Falls of the Cochecho River where he built a sawmill. That spot became the foundation of the settlement known as Cochecho.

In 1652, Captain John Heard had grants of land "under the Great Hill of Cocheco," and he and Elizabeth built their house on the brow of the Great Hill.
By 1666, a total of 41 families lived and worked there. Indians became a familiar sight around town when Richard Waldron opened a large trading post, but there were occasional problems with the Indians, because Waldron was not above breaking the laws that forbade selling liquor or firearms to Indians.
For over half a century following Dover's founding in 1623, the English settlers had co-existed peacefully with the local Pennacook tribe. The Indians helped the colonists to develop the fishing, hunting, and farming skills necessary to survive in New England.

The Indian chieftain, Passaconaway, was responsible for forming the Penacook confederacy, a unification of local tribes against the hostile Mohawks. Passaconaway's 50 year reign marks one of the most peaceful periods in the New Hampshire province. His son Wonalancet took over leadership of the tribe in 1665 and continued his father's peaceful ways.
In 1676, many Indians fled Massachusetts due to bloody fighting between a confederation of Indian tribes and English settlers. By September, over 400 Indians were at the Cochecho settlement. Half of them were strangers, the other half were Wonalancet's people. Two companies of Massachusetts soldiers arrived to recapture the escaping Indians. They were ready to fight the Indians, but Major Waldron intervened.
Waldron agreed that the Massachusetts Indians should be returned to Boston for punishment, but he did not want local, loyal Indians to be harmed in the process. The Indians were invited to assemble close to town for a day of war games. The unsuspecting Indians were surrounded by four militia companies who separated out the local Indians. Over 200 of the Massachusetts Indians were taken back to Boston. Some of them were hanged or sold into slavery.
Elizabeth Heard saved the life of a young Indian boy that day by concealing him until his would-be slayers had left her house, and then helped him to escape.
For the next eleven years, tensions mounted between the settlers and the Penacook Indians. The peaceful Chief Wonalancet was replaced by the warlike Kancamagus, who bitterly resented the injustices meted out by English settlers to his people. More and more land was seized from the Indians for paltry payments like a "peck of corn annually for each family."
In 1684, the Governor ordered that the meeting house at Dover be fortified against Indian attacks. Every neighborhood developed at least one fortified blockhouse where people could flee to safety if Indians attacked.
Five homes at the Cochecho settlement were garrisoned at public expense, including Elizabeth Heard's, which became known as Heard's Garrison. These five sites were chosen because of their locations on the highest knolls of the town. The garrisons were built with foot-thick squared logs impenetrable to bullets and a second story that projected over the lower story by two to three feet.
This overhang feature was designed to combat Indians who customarily attacked with fire or smoke. A loose board in the overhang could be removed in order to pour boiling water on marauders or on fires below. Each wall also had narrow slits for firearms. The garrisons were also surrounded by an eight foot palisade of large logs set upright in the ground.
The settlers at Cochecho became frightened by the large number of hostile Indians now living with the local tribe. The settlers took refuge at the blockhouse each night, and during the day, guns were kept close to hand in the fields.
Advance word that the Pennacooks were massing for an attack on Cochecho was known as far away as Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The vendetta against Waldron was described in a warning letter from Chelmsford. Waldron, aware of the tensions, reportedly laughed it off, telling his townsfolk that he could assemble 100 men simply by lifting his finger.
On the evening of June 27, 1689, several Indian women asked for shelter at each of the garrison houses, a common practice in peacetime. They were shown how to open the doors and gates in case they wanted to leave in the night. No watch was kept as all the Cochecho families retired for the night.
During the early hours, the Indian women quietly opened the gates to several hundred Pennacook. Waldron, then 74, is said to have wielded his sword in defense. He was tied to a chair and cut across the chest repeatedly as each warrior symbolically "crossed out" his trading account with the distrusted merchant. Waldron was forced to fall on his sword, the garrison was burned, and his family killed or captured.
Elder William Wentworth was guarding the Heard property while Elizabeth was away. He was awakened by a barking dog and managed to close the gates against attack. Elizabeth Heard - by then a widow - her three sons, her daughter, and their families were all returning from their voyage to Portsmouth with the dawn tide. The smell of smoke and the chilling sound of Indian cries alerted them to their peril. Mrs. Heard was so overcome with fright that she could not go on. She pleaded with her family to flee for their lives, and they left her hidden in some nearby bushes.
As daylight broke, an Indian spotted Elizabeth in the thicket. He raised his gun and aimed it at her. He stared hard at her face, then silently ran away, never revealing her to his tribesmen. In a curious twist of fate, Elizabeth Heard had saved the life of this Indian in 1676. He had never forgotten her kindness and took this opportunity to repay the favor.
Mrs. Heard remained hidden in the thicket until all the Indians had left Cochecho. She wearily returned to her home expecting to find burnt ruins. Thanks to her courageous neighbor, William Wentworth, she found her home and family intact.
Several years passed before Cochecho fully recovered. Houses and mills were rebuilt, but the loss of so many persons (about 25% of the population) was a severe blow to the settlement's prosperity. By 1700 however, the town had begun to resume its former importance. Although Cochecho was occasionally harassed by Indians, it was never again the target of so destructive a raid.
Elizabeth Hull Heard died at Dover, New Hampshire, on November 30, 1706.SOURCESElizabeth Hull HeardThe Cocheco MassacreNative American Massacre