Living in New England, one can be exposed to an abundance of colonial-era history – tales of settlers and revolution.
Practically everyone knows of the "Boston Tea Party," which occurred Dec. 16, 1773. It is recognized as the action that put the colonies on the path to independence.
But there was an event that predates it, that some say may have actually sparked America's revolt and eventual succession – although few have heard the tale.
When the first shipment of masts was sent from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to England, in 1634, Great Britain had already suffered deforestation. To dominate the high seas, new sources of abundant timber for shipbuilding were needed. No ships, after all, could set sail without as many as 23 masts, yards and spars varying in length and diameter from the huge mainmast to the less substantial.
Although New Hampshire's white pine wasn't as hard as Europe's, its height and diameter were superior. It also weighed less and retained resin longer, giving the ships a remarkable sea life as long as two decades.
When granting land rights to the colonists in 1690, King William prohibited them from the cutting of white pine over two feet in diameter. These larger diameter trees were reserved for the king's fleet. In 1722, under the reign of George I, the British parliament passed a law that reduced the diameter to one foot, required a license to cut white pine and established fines for infractions.
The law was basically ignored until the crown commissioned John Wentworth as British colonial governor of New Hampshire and surveyor of the king's woods in 1766. As surveyor, he recognized the revenue potential of licenses and fines and appointed deputies to carry out the law. He conducted his own inspections of mill yards in New Hampshire's Piscataquog valley by having a servant drive him around in his coach.
Before settlers could clear the land or build cabins, barns or meetinghouses, the king's sanction, a broad arrow mark, was required on trees reserved for the Royal Navy. The deputies charged them a "good, round sum" to mark the trees and for the license required to cut the rest. Small wonder the law was unpopular. The consequences involved arrest and fines. Contraband white pine already sawed into logs could be seized and a large settlement required; if not paid, authorities sold them at public auction.
In the winter of 1771-72, a deputy surveyor of the king's woods found and marked for seizure, 270 mast-worthy logs at Clement's Mill in the Oil Mill section (now called Riverdale) of South Weare, New Hampshire. He fined the log-cutters from Weare and those from nearby towns where illegally cut logs were found. Men from other towns paid the fines, but those from Weare refused.
Consequently, the Weare men were labeled "notorious offenders."
The county sheriff, Benjamin Whiting, Esq., of Hollis, New Hampshire, and his deputy, John Quigley, Esq., of Francestown, New Hampshire, were charged with delivering warrants and making arrests in the king's name. On April 13, 1772, the sheriff and his deputy galloped into Weare and found "major offender" Ebenezer Mudgett, who promised to pay his fine the next day. The officials then retired to nearby Quimby's Inn for an overnight stay.
News that they had come for Mudgett flew through town, and a plan was hatched. The following morning, more than 20 men with blackened faces and switches in hand rushed into Whiting's room led by Mudgett:
"Whiting seized his pistols and would have shot some of them, but they caught him, took away his small guns, held him by his arms and legs up from the floor, his face down, two men on each side, and with their rods beat him to their heart's content. They crossed out the account against them of all logs cut, drawn and forfeited, on his bare back. … They made him wish he had never heard of pine trees fit for masting the royal navy. Whiting said: 'They almost killed me.'"
Deputy Quigley suffered the same fate. With "jeers, jokes and shouts ringing in their ears," the sheriff and deputy, beaten and bloodied, were placed on their horses and rode off toward Goffstown on Mast Road – named for the logs that were moved overland, or river raft, to the sea and off to England for the king's ships.
The Weare men were ultimately tried and convicted, but they paid only a light fine. Their rebellion against the crown, which preceded the Boston Tea Party by 19 months, helped set the stage for the Revolution.
And thus the event became known as the Pine Tree Riot, April 14, 1772.