Thomas Westbrook Waldron
Encyclopedia
Thomas Westbrook Waldron, a captain in the 1745 expedition against the Fortress of Louisbourg
, afterwards a commissioner at Albany, New York
, a Royal councillor
in 1782 and later described as a Colonel, abandoned a close friendship with the last royal governor of colonial New Hampshire
, John Wentworth (governor)
, for the role of a cautious patriot of the new United States.
"He inherited the homestead, mill privileges, etc., purchasing the rights of his brother George. ... He lived on the old property, and in the Waldron house ..." This house, which he had built in 1763, was for a time "by far the best in Dover; its joiner work was ornate and elaborate, in every apartment; the furnishings were the best that period afforded." . "... [S]tood in Revolutionary times the mansion of Thomas Westbrook Waldrone, the soldier of Louisberg." .
"The town records show him to have been frequently moderator of Dover town meetings... a selectman... townclerk... representative.... Described as "a representative at Exeter in 1768 and a councilor in 1773...." . "Thomas Westbrook Waldron (1721-85) was a Recorder of Deeds, Strafford County, 1776.. He was the Dover, New Hampshire, town clerk from 30 March 1772 until his death in 1785
In 1748 Waldron's father complained that though Thomas Westbrook Waldron had done much at the siege of Louisburg, he couldn't receive a significant militia commission: "and for which he has been very illy requited by Mr. W--ntw--th
" However this situation improved when a different Wentworth
became Governor. In later life he was described as a colonel.
Fortress of Louisbourg
in Cape Breton Island
, now part of Canada
.
"I have engaged for 1,000 men," writes William Vaughan, a prominent early proponent for the invasion. "When I was in New Hampshire
, in a ludicrous manner talking of these affairs, your son Thomas desired a Lieut'y and if it go and I shall have a great hand in the nomination of the officers and if it may be that he may go, and be thought equal to a higher part, he may have it, if he can get 50 men. 'Tis proposed that the government find vessels, provisions and ammunition, &c--the men only find themselves and arms, without pay from the province, all to be volunteers.
... Your Kinsman, friend and Humble Servant, W. Vaughan"
Ultimately he became a Captain of militia in the 1745 invasion.
Looking back, his father referred to "...his services at the siege of Louisbourg, he commanding one of the whale boats which first landed in Chepeau-rouga Bay, and being one of the Captains that commanded a Company in sustaining the advance Battery the first day it pla'd on the City, when the Trench was hardly knee deep, and not 200 yards from the City walls, upon which the Enemy kept a continual Fire all the day both with Cannon and Muskets, and the volleys of small shot were like showers of hale...."
His letters to his father describe with some bitterness that the spoils of war did not go to New Englanders and rightly predicted that the men would be "Lul'd along" into occupying Louisbourg through the winter.
Young Captain Waldron can perhaps be forgiven for his uncharitable view of Massachusetts Brigidier General Samuel Waldo
, who was also part of the Louisbourg campaign and was probably the "Duke Trinkelo" he described unflatteringly to his father. Waldo, his grandfather Colonel Thomas Westbrook's former business associate, was believed responsible for all his grandfather's financial reverses just a couple of years earlier. Bower, perhaps not understanding the Brigadier's connection to Thomas' family, dismissed his comments as a love of "idle talk".
, led him to loan a horse to him and to not hold him responsible for the death of the horse thereafter. He asked Belknap give a sermon to mustered troops and to educate one of his sons at his home. In turn, Belknap asked Captain Waldron if Belknap should compile a history "because I have such a value for your judgement, and must depend so much on your favor and assistance in the prosecution of such a work...." Belknap states he would abandon the whole project at this point without Captain Waldron's approval.
We don't know which of his sons Waldron offered to stay with the approximately seven year old Governor's nephew at Belknap's home to receive an education. Perhaps it was Richard, christened 11 Aug 1765. In January 1770 Belknap politely declined to take students from either family.
Despite this friendship with the Governor he threw his lot in with the rebels as the American Revolution
approached, and was "named in a list of inhabitants of Dover, New Hampshire who took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and Continental Congress, 1776, published in the Dover Enquirer."
Chosen as a counsellor for Strafford County by the NH House of Representatives on Sat 6 Jan 1776 (See Stan Klos website), Waldron declined in a letter to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety
January 15 for health reasons, and at the same time suggested a revolutionary council was unnecessary as "friends of America in England"
would assist the revolutionary cause . On Wednesday, January 17, 1776 an "Hon. John Wentworth, Esq., of Somersworth, [was chosen] one of the Counsellors for the County of Strafford, in the room of Thomas Westbrook Waldron, Esq., who was chosen, but did not accept."
Governor Wentworth's biographer, Paul Wilderson, suggests Wentworth hoped the American Revolution
was temporary and unnecessary and that eventually wiser and more level heads would work together with more flexible leaders in Britain
to restore the colonial allegiance to the crown. Colonel Waldron's looking for "friends of America in England" shows he initially shared this view.
Even as he came to accept the revolution as appropriate and necessary, he expressed reservations at how some were treated. By August 19, 1776, as chairman of a revolutionary committee charged with inventorying a Loyalist's property,
he wrote to the chief political figure in post-colonial New Hampshire, Meshech Weare
, deploring that those who disagreed with the revolution had their property confiscated and expressing the hope that "politeness, justice, and lenity [be] among the shining characteristicks of the American States...."
died in Macao, the other in Canada
.
"These quantities of real estate were divided among his children, Charles and Daniel inheriting the Dover property. Daniel was the last owner of the extensive Waldron real estate in Dover. It probably came into the family in 1642 when the mill privilege in the center of Dover was granted to Major Richard Waldron. Upon January 31, 1820, an uninterrupted family ownership of 178 years terminated."
Despite the existence of an oldest son, William, the youngest son Daniel, not yet four years old when his father's will was written, inherited the majority of the family's land in Dover.
. A copy previously hung in the "council chamber" of the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
That copy is also owned by Historic New England and is in somewhat less pristine condition than the original . This and other works at the Wentworth-Coolidge house suffered at the hands of the grandchildren of later residents, who admitted they "mischievously touched up the [portraits] with fence paint!" .
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
, afterwards a commissioner at Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, a Royal councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
in 1782 and later described as a Colonel, abandoned a close friendship with the last royal governor of colonial New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, John Wentworth (governor)
John Wentworth (governor)
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
, for the role of a cautious patriot of the new United States.
Residence and property
"He was born and died in Dover" New Hampshire."He inherited the homestead, mill privileges, etc., purchasing the rights of his brother George. ... He lived on the old property, and in the Waldron house ..." This house, which he had built in 1763, was for a time "by far the best in Dover; its joiner work was ornate and elaborate, in every apartment; the furnishings were the best that period afforded." . "... [S]tood in Revolutionary times the mansion of Thomas Westbrook Waldrone, the soldier of Louisberg." .
Career summary
"Thomas Westbrook Waldron.... was a man of large property and extensive influence, although not so much in public office as father, grandfather, or great-grandfather...."The town records show him to have been frequently moderator of Dover town meetings... a selectman... townclerk... representative.... Described as "a representative at Exeter in 1768 and a councilor in 1773...." . "Thomas Westbrook Waldron (1721-85) was a Recorder of Deeds, Strafford County, 1776.. He was the Dover, New Hampshire, town clerk from 30 March 1772 until his death in 1785
In 1748 Waldron's father complained that though Thomas Westbrook Waldron had done much at the siege of Louisburg, he couldn't receive a significant militia commission: "and for which he has been very illy requited by Mr. W--ntw--th
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
" However this situation improved when a different Wentworth
John Wentworth (governor)
Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet was the British colonial governor of New Hampshire at the time of the American Revolution. He was later also Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
became Governor. In later life he was described as a colonel.
Louisburg
He has been described as the first volunteer in the 1745 invasion of the FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Fortress of Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
in Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, now part of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
"I have engaged for 1,000 men," writes William Vaughan, a prominent early proponent for the invasion. "When I was in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, in a ludicrous manner talking of these affairs, your son Thomas desired a Lieut'y and if it go and I shall have a great hand in the nomination of the officers and if it may be that he may go, and be thought equal to a higher part, he may have it, if he can get 50 men. 'Tis proposed that the government find vessels, provisions and ammunition, &c--the men only find themselves and arms, without pay from the province, all to be volunteers.
... Your Kinsman, friend and Humble Servant, W. Vaughan"
Ultimately he became a Captain of militia in the 1745 invasion.
Looking back, his father referred to "...his services at the siege of Louisbourg, he commanding one of the whale boats which first landed in Chepeau-rouga Bay, and being one of the Captains that commanded a Company in sustaining the advance Battery the first day it pla'd on the City, when the Trench was hardly knee deep, and not 200 yards from the City walls, upon which the Enemy kept a continual Fire all the day both with Cannon and Muskets, and the volleys of small shot were like showers of hale...."
His letters to his father describe with some bitterness that the spoils of war did not go to New Englanders and rightly predicted that the men would be "Lul'd along" into occupying Louisbourg through the winter.
Young Captain Waldron can perhaps be forgiven for his uncharitable view of Massachusetts Brigidier General Samuel Waldo
Samuel Waldo (merchant)
Brigadier-General Samuel Waldo was a wealthy merchant, land speculator, soldier and political figure in Massachusetts.He was born in Boston, the son of Jonathan Waldo and Hannah Mason. In 1722, he married Lucy Wainwright...
, who was also part of the Louisbourg campaign and was probably the "Duke Trinkelo" he described unflatteringly to his father. Waldo, his grandfather Colonel Thomas Westbrook's former business associate, was believed responsible for all his grandfather's financial reverses just a couple of years earlier. Bower, perhaps not understanding the Brigadier's connection to Thomas' family, dismissed his comments as a love of "idle talk".
Looked to for encouragement of the first history of New Hampshire
Waldron's high regard for the future historian of New Hampshire, Jeremy BelknapJeremy Belknap
Jeremy Belknap was an American clergyman and historian. His great achievement was the "History of New Hampshire", published in three volumes between 1784 and 1792. This work is the first modern history written by an American, embodying a new rigor in research, annotation, and reporting.Jeremy was...
, led him to loan a horse to him and to not hold him responsible for the death of the horse thereafter. He asked Belknap give a sermon to mustered troops and to educate one of his sons at his home. In turn, Belknap asked Captain Waldron if Belknap should compile a history "because I have such a value for your judgement, and must depend so much on your favor and assistance in the prosecution of such a work...." Belknap states he would abandon the whole project at this point without Captain Waldron's approval.
From friend of the last New Hampshire royal governor to revolutionary
To the last Royal Governor of New Hampshire he was a "friend who predicted the rebellion" . "Ten days after [Governor Wentworth's] commission was read [13 June 1767], he nominated Peter Gilman, John Sherburne, and Thomas Westbrook Waldron for a vacant position on the council. These three men represented families long inveterate enemies of the Wentworths and their interests in New Hampshire. Out of personal inclination, and for obvious political reasons, Wentworth felt it was time to mend broken fences ...." . "....Thomas Westbrook Waldron in the years to come became one of Wentworth's close friends and confidents." . He was also one of the Governor's councillors called from his Dover home to sit in council during what might be termed the Portsmouth Tea Party of Sep 1774.We don't know which of his sons Waldron offered to stay with the approximately seven year old Governor's nephew at Belknap's home to receive an education. Perhaps it was Richard, christened 11 Aug 1765. In January 1770 Belknap politely declined to take students from either family.
Despite this friendship with the Governor he threw his lot in with the rebels as the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
approached, and was "named in a list of inhabitants of Dover, New Hampshire who took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and Continental Congress, 1776, published in the Dover Enquirer."
Chosen as a counsellor for Strafford County by the NH House of Representatives on Sat 6 Jan 1776 (See Stan Klos website), Waldron declined in a letter to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety
Committee of Safety (American Revolution)
Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...
January 15 for health reasons, and at the same time suggested a revolutionary council was unnecessary as "friends of America in England"
Rockingham Whigs
The Rockingham Whigs or Rockinghamite Whigs in 18th century British politics were a faction of the Whigs led by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, when he was the opposition leader in the House of Lords during the government of Lord North from 1770 to 1782 and during the two...
would assist the revolutionary cause . On Wednesday, January 17, 1776 an "Hon. John Wentworth, Esq., of Somersworth, [was chosen] one of the Counsellors for the County of Strafford, in the room of Thomas Westbrook Waldron, Esq., who was chosen, but did not accept."
Governor Wentworth's biographer, Paul Wilderson, suggests Wentworth hoped the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
was temporary and unnecessary and that eventually wiser and more level heads would work together with more flexible leaders in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to restore the colonial allegiance to the crown. Colonel Waldron's looking for "friends of America in England" shows he initially shared this view.
Even as he came to accept the revolution as appropriate and necessary, he expressed reservations at how some were treated. By August 19, 1776, as chairman of a revolutionary committee charged with inventorying a Loyalist's property,
he wrote to the chief political figure in post-colonial New Hampshire, Meshech Weare
Meshech Weare
Meshech Weare was an American farmer, lawyer and revolutionary statesman from Seabrook, New Hampshire. He served as the first President of New Hampshire from 1776 to 1785.-Family life:...
, deploring that those who disagreed with the revolution had their property confiscated and expressing the hope that "politeness, justice, and lenity [be] among the shining characteristicks of the American States...."
Family
He married Constance Davis of Durham, New Hampshire, about 1755. Of their children, two sons and three daughters had descendants. His name was reused by ensuing generations, including two grandsons, one who as consulThomas Westbrook Waldron (consul)
]Thomas Westbrook Waldron was a captain's clerk on the Wilkes Expedition, and the first United States consul to Hong Kong. His service to the United States consular service was honoured by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during a ceremony in 2009...
died in Macao, the other in Canada
Thomas Westbrook Waldron (Canada)
Thomas Westbrook Waldron was the first of his New Hampshire family to immigrate to Canada and was an early resident and farmer of Charlotte County, New Brunswick. He was the senior grandson of his namesake grandfather, yet moved away from his first homeland, where his family had been prominent. ...
.
Death and Burial
"[He] died there [the TW Waldron house] April 3, 1785. He was buried in the burial ground west of the Methodist church. After his death, the children were carried to Portsmouth, where they remained for several years.Estate
"[He] made his will Aug 7, 1779. He owned large quantities of land. In addition to the Dover property he owned lands in Rochester, Barrington, Gilmanton, Grafton County, Lebanon, Chichester, Canaan, Kilkenny and the Globe Tavern, The Square and the Training field in Portsmouth, two mill privileges in Portsmouth, and part of the lower falls."These quantities of real estate were divided among his children, Charles and Daniel inheriting the Dover property. Daniel was the last owner of the extensive Waldron real estate in Dover. It probably came into the family in 1642 when the mill privilege in the center of Dover was granted to Major Richard Waldron. Upon January 31, 1820, an uninterrupted family ownership of 178 years terminated."
Despite the existence of an oldest son, William, the youngest son Daniel, not yet four years old when his father's will was written, inherited the majority of the family's land in Dover.
Portrait
His portrait is owned by Historic New EnglandHistoric New England
Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities , is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England and is the oldest and largest regional preservation...
. A copy previously hung in the "council chamber" of the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room clapboard house which was built as the home, offices and working farm of Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth. It is located on the water at 375 Little Harbor Road, about 2 miles southeast of the center of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is one of the few royal...
That copy is also owned by Historic New England and is in somewhat less pristine condition than the original . This and other works at the Wentworth-Coolidge house suffered at the hands of the grandchildren of later residents, who admitted they "mischievously touched up the [portraits] with fence paint!" .
External links
- His portrait http://www.historicnewengland.org/collections-archives-exhibitions/collections-access/collection-object/capobject?gusn=GUSN-175713&searchterm=waldron