Description:

Colonial New Hampshire
Portsmouth, NH, March 16, 1767
New Hampshire Governor Signs Marriage License
DS

[NEW HAMPSHIRE.] Benning Wentworth, Manuscript Document Signed, Marriage License for Nathaniel Bachelder and Hulda Rollins, March 16, 1767, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 1 p., 12.5" x 7.75". Expected folds; scattered staining; tape residue on verso; repaired tears.

New Hampshire colonial Governor Benning Wentworth signed this marriage license permitting any New Hampshire minister to marry Nathaniel Bachelder (Batchelder) (1743-bet. 1820 and 1830) and Huldah Rollins (Rawlins/Rawlings) (1747-1840). They married three days later in Kensington, New Hampshire, and had at least three children over the next several years. He sold most of the property he inherited from his father in 1769, and they moved to Deerfield, New Hampshire, between 1772 and 1778, where he bought fifty acres in the latter year. He sold the property in 1781. He was a farmer, and they evidently lived in or near Deerfield for the remainder of their lives.

The phrase, "Except one Drowner," may be a reference to a derogatory nickname for Baptists. In New Hampshire, Congregationalism was the established church, and the Congregationalists regarded the Baptist practice of immersion with derision. They sometimes referred to Baptists as "drowners."

Complete Transcript
By his Excellency Benning Wentworth Esqr Captain General Governor and Commander in Chief in & Over his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire.
To Either of the Ordained Ministers of the Gospel in said Province Except one Drowner
You are hereby Authorized and Impowered to join together in Holy Matrimony
Nathaniel Bachelder
&
Hulda Rollins
Unless some Lawful Impediment appears to you to the Contrary
Given at Portsmouth the 16th day of March 1767
B Wentworth

Benning Wentworth (1696-1770) was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to a ship's captain and later lieutenant-governor of New Hampshire, and his wife. He graduated from Harvard College in 1715 and apprenticed at his uncle's counting house in Boston. His father arranged for him to work as a merchant in the colonial trade with the West Indies and Spain. After his father died in 1730, he returned to Portsmouth to take over the family trade in ship masts and timber. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1732 and joined the governor's council in 1734. He became the colonial governor of New Hampshire in 1741 and served until 1766 under King George II and King George III. As governor, he issued land grants that expanded the borders of New Hampshire, especially in territory contested by New York. When the Board of Trade and Plantations assigned the area to New York, the resulting unrest led to the independence of Vermont in 1777. Vermont settlers named the town of Bennington in his honor. Wentworth also appeased the timber industry, in which his family had been involved for decades. He quietly resigned as governor in 1766 and died four years later in Portsmouth.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 12.5" x 7.75"
  • Medium: DS

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