Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire, 1875 page 359
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359


WARNER.

men to retreat to the fort. Soon
the Indians made their appearance
on the eminence east of Kilburn’s
house, and Philip came forward,
and sheltering himself behind a
tree, summoned those in the house
to surrender, offering them quar-
ter; ‘Quarter!’ shouted the older
Kilburn, with a voice of thunder
that rang through every Indian
heart, ‘ you black rascals, begone,
or we’ll quarter you.1 Philip then
returned to his companions, who
commenced the war-whoop, after a
few moments consultation. Kil-
burn was fortunate in obtaining
the first fire, before the smoke from
the enemy’s guns obstructed his
aim. An Indian was seen to fall,
and Kilburn, judging from his size
and appearance, supposed him to
be Philip. The Indians kept up
the work of destruction; some
were busily engaged in destroying
the hay and grain, and others fell
to butchering the cattle, while a
shower of bullets continually rat-
tled against the house. It is esti-
mated that not less than four hun-
dred bullets were lodged in the
house at the first fire. Kilburn
and his men were not idle. For
convenience in loading, their pow-
der was poured into hats, and they
were prepared for a successful re-
sistance or a glorious death. Al-
though they had several guns in
the house, they were kept hot by
incessant firing; and having no
ammunition to waste, special aim
was taken to have every bullet
count. When their stock of lead
grew short, the women suspended
blankets from the roof of the
house, to catch the bullets of the
enemy, these were run into bul-
lets and loaded by them, and sent
back to the Indians with equal
velocity. A number of attempts
were made to force open the
doors but the bullets within com-
pelled them to abandon the rash
undertaking. The manner in
which the Indians fought evident-
ly evinced that they were not
insensible to the effect of Kil •
burn’s bullets.

“ For the remainder of the day
until nearly sundown, the fight
was kept up, but as the sun disap-
peared behind the western hills
the cry of the war-whoop and the
sound of the guns died away in
silence. By this day’s encounter,
the Indians were induced to return
to Canada, and thus an effectual
check was put to the expedition,
and it is reasonable to conclude
that hundreds of the settlers were
saved from the horrors of an Indian
Massacre”.

First Ministers. Rev. Jonathan
Leavitt settled in 1761, dismissed
in 1763; Rev. Thomas Fessenden,
settled in 1767, died in 1813.

Boundaries. North by Charles-
town and Langdon, east by Alstead
and Surry, south by Surry and
Westmoreland, and west by West-
minster and Rockingham, Ver-
mont. Area, 24,331 acres.

Distances, Sixty miles south-
west from Concord, and fourteen
north-west from Keene.

Railroad. Cheshire Railroad
passes through this town in a
northerly and southerly direction.

WARNER.

Merrimack County. Warner
is one of the most important towns
in the county, both in agriculture
and manufactures. The surface
is broken by hills, but the soil is
excellent, producing good crops
of wheat, corn, hay, &c. On some



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