Dover 400th anniversary summer celebrations begin. What's happening and what's next

DOVER —The city kicked off the two most active weeks of events in the yearlong celebration of its 400th anniversary Saturday at the place where it all began, now known as Hilton Park on Dover Point.

The Dover 400 Committee held a ceremony at the tip of Hilton Point where Edward Hilton first came ashore and founded Dover Neck Village in 1623. Hilton was joined by his brother William and by Thomas Roberts, who married Hilton’s sister Rebecca. The ceremony honored the Hilton and Roberts families with many descendants of both families in attendance.

The ceremony began a day of events, including rock bands playing at the Rotary Arts Pavilion, an antique car show and a boat parade on the Cochecho River.

“In spite of a few raindrops, we are excited,” Jeannette Poulin, executive director of Dover 400, said before the ceremony. “It’s been five years of planning. We are ready to celebrate our city and all the goodness that comes out of all our planning. And we’re excited to honor the founding fathers of our settlement.”

“It’s really gratifying,” said Kevin McEneaney, chairman of the Dover 400 Committee, of the arrival of the two weeks that make up the core of the city’s 400th birthday celebration. “We started planning in 2018, and then COVID hit, but we took advantage of it. We did things online like our historical talks. Now we’re finally here. The Hilton and Roberts families landed in Pomeroy Cove and established a settlement, the first permanent settlement in New Hampshire. It’s great to have so many of their descendants here.”

After the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer by the Rev. Agapit Jean Jr., widely known as “Father Aggie,” and a reading of the land acknowledgement honoring the Indigenous people who inhabited the area first, Dover Mayor Bob Carrier read two proclamations. The first was from the city of Dover and the second from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire.

The Dover proclamation declared “The two weeks from today to July 7 as a period of jubilation” in the city. Carrier commended the Hilton and Roberts families “who laid the foundation for the vibrant community we have today” and presented a key to the city to John Pratt of Kittery, Maine, a descendant of the Hilton family, and to Stephen Roberts of Rollinsford, a descendant of the Roberts family. Both also were presented with a print of a map of Dover Neck Village in its early development.

More Dover news: City breaks ground on Cochecho River redevelopment. What to expect and when it's coming.

District 1 Executive Councilor Joe Kenney next read a state proclamation from Gov. Chris Sununu honoring Dover on its 400th. Kenney also recognized former Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin of Portsmouth, who attended the ceremony at the foot of the bridge named for her. “She knows no boundaries and she knows the state of New Hampshire better than anyone,” Kenney said. He also announced Sununu and the Executive Council will hold its July 19 meeting in Dover at the Rotary Arts Pavilion to honor the city.

All the proclamations honored Dover as “the oldest continuously settled town in New Hampshire,” and the seventh permanent settlement in the nation.

Hilton and Roberts families share history

Pratt told the crowd some of the Hilton family’s history, which he, his mother and his wife have researched extensively. He said Edward and his brother William did their apprenticeships with the Fishmongers’ Guild in England in 1621 before crossing the Atlantic sailing up and down the Maine coast. “They’d most certainly been here before returning to settle,” he said.

Their motivation was greed, he said. “They realized the incredible fishing opportunities here,” he said. He noted Hilton Head Island in South Carolina was also named for a family member.

Pratt said he is taking his children and grandchildren to visit Hilton Castle in Sunderland, England this August. He said the castle was built in 1390 on land deeded to the Hilton family by William The Conqueror.

Roberts and his wife, Julia, still own the land in Rollinsford, where the Roberts family eventually settled.

“I have learned the stories of the family for so long from my grandparents and my parents,” said Susan Roberts, another descendant in attendance. “Our grandma was constantly telling us stories, but to have the history recognized outside of the family is amazing.” She remembers being brought to Hilton Park as a child to see where their family first settled.

“It’s pretty exciting for our kids to now see where they lived, and to feel that connection to the community,” said Julia Roberts.

Patsy Roberts Hefright flew in from Maryland with her son Patrick Kelly Hefright to attend the ceremony. Thomas Roberts was her son’s ninth great-grandfather, she said, pointing to a folded paper her son took out of his pocket where she had written out his lineage for him. “The Roberts and the Hilton families are unified through marriage,” she said, referring to Thomas Roberts’ and Rebecca Hilton’s marriage. A painting of Hilton Point, which she had commissioned, hangs over the mantle in her Maryland home, she said.

“It’s amazing the research my parents have done, to piece together the timeline and the connections,” said Jannice Hodges of Portsmouth, Pratt’s daughter. She and her children Tyler and Jacob Hodges will accompany Pratt on the trip to Hilton Castle later this summer. They recently helped their cousin Carter Riker give a presentation about their Hilton ancestors to his class at Frances G. Hopkins Elementary School at Horne Street in Dover.

“It’s not about us,” Pratt said of the city honoring his family. “It’s about our ancestors. Teaching the kids how there was nothing here when they arrived and educating them about how Dover became what it is today.”

What's coming next for Dover 400th anniversary

The celebration was set to continue Sunday, June 25 with a day of vintage baseball at Leary Field in Portsmouth, which is also celebrating its 400th anniversary in 2023. The Dover 400 celebration continues in earnest through the July 4 holiday with highlights including a downtown block party Saturday, July 1, a parade Sunday, July 2 and fireworks on Tuesday, July 4.

Dover 400th events details: Block party, parade, fireworks, historic walk and more coming on and around July 4 holiday

Later this week, on Thursday, June 29, The Cocheco Quilters Guild will unveil a Dover 400th quilt at the Dover Public Library at 3 p.m. The quilt uses “reproduction cloths patterned from the original Cocheco Mill Textiles,” according to the Dover 400 Committee. Learn about all Dover’s 400th birthday events at https://dover400.org/events.html

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover NH 400th anniversary summer celebrations begin