History of Amesbury - Merrill.org

HISTORY OF AMESBURY. 1 77
mittee see caus to appoynt any other place the town to be at
general charge for y e removing of y e timber and other matters
already provided in order for the promoting and carrying on
y e said work of building and finishing s d house so that the
Committee appoynted for building and finishing s d house and
y e undertakers that are obliged to do and finish y e
s d house
afore s d may not be damnified by y e s d removal."
The committee chosen were Col. Henry Summerby, of New-
bury, Capt. Nathaniel Brown, of Salisbury, and Lieut. Richard
Heason, of Haverhill. What conclusion was reached we hardlv
know, as no report appears on the record. As, however, the
house was not located on the " Country road," but on the plain
a short distance above the present church, it is probable that
this committee changed the location.
The plain was, no doubt, the most populous portion of
"Jemaco" at that time. Capt. Foot, the Aliens, Cottles and,
no doubt, many others lived in the immediate vicinity. Capt.
Foot's fort was there, to which in times of alarm all the fami-
lies fled for safety and protection, as they did this very year.
The Indians were making raids on the settlements in various
places, and suddenly appeared at Jamaco. The alarm was given
and great excitement followed. The women and children fled
to the fort for safety. It was on this occasion 'that Anna Cot-
tle was born, who died in 1810, aged 87 years, 11 months, 5
days. Ushered into the world under such singular circumstances,
she yet lived to a great age, dying at a period when
neither forts nor garrison houses were need. Her parentage is
not very clear, but she may have been the daughter of Edmund
Cottle, then living in some part of Jamaco.
There were at this time several forts or garrison houses scat-
tered over the western section of the town. One of them was
located not far from the homestead of the late Enos Heath,
one at the Highlands, and Capt. Foot's fort was on the plain
where the school was kept a few years ago.
It is probable that at this time a raid was made on the Pond
hills. Tradition says that David Currier, the great ancestor of
the Curriers there, while at work in his field near the Great
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