Adams has compiled a chronological account of the history of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, providing year-by-year entries from 1621 through 1823, based on a wide range of primary sources. Salted throughout the narrative are brief biographies of town leaders, ministers and others important to the town.
The author scoured all sources available to him, including town, county, military and church records. He organized this material into annual accounts of events occurring in town each year, as well as events in the larger world that impinged upon Portsmouth, frequently providing lengthy verbatim excerpts from the records. The topics covered include the usual ones of the foundation of the town, church history and Indian conflicts. Adams also took notice of other less usual matters, such as eclipses and earthquakes.
As might be expected, the annual entries for many of the earliest years are relatively brief, with some years being omitted, largely because of the paucity of records for the beginning years. By the middle of the eighteenth century, and especially during the Revolutionary years, the entries become quite substantial, covering the wide range of important events occurring throughout the colonies.
Adams frequently diverted from his straightforward chronological presentation and inserted brief biographies of ministers, town leaders, merchants and other leading citizens of the town.
High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD has been bookmarked for easy
navigation, and pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.
