~ The Old Sachem ~

The Pine Tree Riot – an early act against the British

By Bill Stewart

I’ve written about the troubles in the American Revolution, Concord, Lexington, Salem and about people of the period, such as Paul Revere. But there were earlier scrambles between the patriots and the English forces in North America.

By the late 17th century, the construction and maintenance of the huge number of ships required to build and repair and defend the British Empire left few trees in Britain suitable for use as large spars. Eastern white pines from colonial New England were superior to the masts and booms of the day to maintain Britain’s naval and trading situation.

The Broad Arrow Policy in English Parliament made it illegal to cut down white pine trees of 24 inches in diameter and larger in New England. The prior law in England declared all white pine trees with a diameter of 24 inches to be property of the Crown. The General Court on May 10, 1708, voted to preserve all those trees in New Hampshire for use by the British navy. The law was enforced by Governor John Wentworth. The rules stated that the biggest trees must be used only to build masts for warships for Britain. The British found that the people of the area were cutting down pine trees for firewood and construction and this would limit the number of trees left for England.

John Sherman, Deputy Surveyor of New Hampshire, ordered a search of sawmills in 1771 for white pine to be marked for the Crown. His men found that six mills in Goffstown and Weare had large white pines and marked them with a broad arrow to indicate that they were Crown property. The owners of the mills were named as offenders in the February 7, 1772, edition of The New Hampshire Gazette.

The millowners hired a lawyer, Samuel Blodgett, to represent them, and he met with Governor Wentworth to argue the case. The Governor then offered Blodgett the position of Surveyor of King’s Woods, which he accepted, and then he instructed his clients to pay a settlement. The mill owners of Goffstown paid their fines at once; those of Weare refused to pay.

Sheriff Benjamin Whiting and Deputy John Quigley went to Weare and arrested sawmill operator Ebenezer Mudgett for violating Royal rules governing the harvesting of white pine trees. He was beaten with large rods while imprisoned, then they later released him. The sheriff and deputy spent the night in Weare at Aaron Quimby’s inn, The Pine Tree Tavern. That night many of the townsmen met at Mudgett’s house; a few offered to pay the bail, but the majority wanted to physically assault Whiting and Quigley in their sleep and abuse their horses by maiming their faces. At dawn the next day, Mudgett led about 30 men disguised by blackface, entered the tavern and burst in on Whiting, who was still in bed. The oppressors beat him with switches, and Whiting later said that he was afraid they would kill him.

He escaped and summoned Colonel Moore of Bedford and Edward Goldstone Lutwyche of Merrimack, and they brought in soldiers to capture the offenders. Eight men were brought to court and were convicted of rioting and disturbing the peace. They pleaded guilty and each paid 20 shillings to end the disturbance.

There is a milestone in Weare on Route 114 where Quimby’s Inn used to be located to designate the Pine Tree Riot. The attack was one of the first confrontations leading to the American Revolution, and became known as the Pine Tree Riot.

  (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, who is better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column – sometimes about sports. He also opines on current or historical events or famous people.)