USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Dover > Dover, N.H., its history and industries issued as an illustrated souvenir of...twenty-fifth anniversary of Foster's Daily Democrat, descriptive of the city and its manufacturing and business interests > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01187 9142
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
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DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
ITS HISTORY AND INDUSTRIES.
ISSUED AS AN
ILLUSTRATED SOUVENIR
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF
FOSTER'S DAILY DEMOCRAT
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE CITY AND ITS MANUFACTURING AND BUSINESS INTERESTS.
COMPILED BY A. E. G. NYE.
CONTAINING :
Concise History; Old Landmarks; Present and Former Residents; Its Institutions; Buildings; Picturesque Scenes; Comfortable Homes; Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Active Men; Men noted in Public, Business and Professional Life; Its Manufacturing and Commerce ; Statements of Resources and Advantages of Locality; Its Growth, Pros- perity and Future Possibilities.
PUBLISHED BY GEO. J. FOSTER & CO. 1598.
LO2.LEL.2 DVIDA DEWOCKVI
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Introduction.
1951910
N the publication of this book, With a view to the welfare of the community, Foster's Daily Democrat presents its compliments to its thousands of readers on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its birth. Great care has been exercised in the preparation of this work, and it is to be trusted that a perusal of its pages will prove it to be a work wider in scope and different in character from anything ever before published in this city.
GEORGE J. FOSTER & CO.,
Publishers.
BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF DOVER FROM GARRISON HILL.
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1623 ...
Dover
... 1898
O N a spring day in 1623, a vessel, name of which is now lost, landed upon the western shore of the Piscata- qua, two parties sent out by the company of Laconia. One party, consisting of Ed- ward and William Hilton (brothers), with a few other persons, took possession of
Possibly other settlers came over in the years immediately following 1623 ; but, in 1631, there were only three houses in all that part of the Piscataqua. In that year Captain Thomas Wiggin was sent over by the patentees ; in 1632 he returned to England, and in 1633 he came back with
THE CITY HALL.
the beautiful neck of land lying between the Newichawannock and Bellamy rivers, some six miles up the Piscataqua ; and, with the necessaries which they had brought with them, began the settlement, which, in 1639, received the name of Dover; in 1640, that of Northam ; and, in 1641, that of Dover again, which it has since borne.
" about thirty settlers," some of whom were " of good estate and some account for religion," and others of no particular account for either. These settlers, land- ing at Salem, from the ship James, Octo- ber 10, 1633, proceeded immediately to Dover, and took up small lots upon Dover Neck, " where they intended to build a
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DOVER 1623-1898
compact town." Captain Wiggin, by authority from the owners in England, distributed these lots, recorded the titles, transacted the com- pany's business gen- erally, and " had the power of a gov- ernor hereabouts." In the same band came Rev. William - Leverich, “ an able and worthy Puritan minister." The in- habitants immedi- ately erected a REV. HANSERD KNOLLYS. meeting-house;
trading post. He himself became major, commander of the New Hampshire forces, counsellor, acting president of the prov- ince, chief justice, representative, and speaker of the Massachusetts general court.
From 1633 to 1641, Dover, although increasing in population, experienced a succession of troubles. The original set- tlers were Episcopalians ; those of 1633 Puritans. To these discordant elements was added the bad character of some men, who, forced to leave Massachusetts, ac- quired influence in this loose society. The ill results soon appeared. Mr. Leverich was forced to leave in 1635 for want of
DOVER, FROM THE SITE OF FIRST MEETING HOUSE.
and, with the tan pits, and other means of practical crafts which soon followed, Dover began its organized existence.
In addition to the original purposes of the settlement (fishing), trade with the Indians and the manufacture of lumber soon followed. Both of these were mainly in connection with the settlement of Rich- ard Walderne (whose descendants bear the name of Waldron), in 1640, or a little earlier, at the lower falls of the Cochecho, where the compact part of the present city of Dover stands. He built a saw- mill, and soon after a grist-mill; and, for half a century, his house was a frontier
support. Rev. George Burdett, who suc- ceeded him in 1637, was able, ambitious, unscrupulous, and profligate ; but, before his character be- came known, he prevailed upon the people to make him governor ; but, soon exposing him- self, he fled to
Agamenticus. In the ministry he was succeeded by Hanserd Knollys, a good and pious
DR. JEREMY BELKNAP.
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DOVER 1623-1898
man ; and by him the first church in Dover was organized, in December, 1638. The first meeting-house in Dover was erected in 1634 or earlier, and stood near the Beck Cove, on the western slope of the Neck. The second was built on the spot where the remnant of the fortifications once around it still remains. This house was standing in a ruinous state in 1720. The second meeting-house was probably built a little after the year 1700, for Mr. Sever, who was settled in 1711, and dismissed in 1715, preached in both
The remainder of the house was subse- quently taken down. The fourth and present meeting-house was erected in 1829, and cost about $12,000. The par- ish was incorporated as a parish district from the town by an act of the Provincial Assembly.
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Jeremy Belknap D.D., eleventh min- ister, was distinguished for his literary at- tainments and beloved for his personal character. He was an ardent patriot in the Revolution, and by his writings and correspondence did eminent service. He
WHITCHER'S FALLS ON COCHECO RIVER.
houses. This house was sold in 1759 and taken down the following year. It stood on Pine Hill, on land now inclosed in the burying-ground, very near its northern boundary, and a little west of north of the tomb of the Cushing family. The third edifice erected in 1758, stood where the present house stands. In 1829, the parish voted to sell the old meeting- house. The northern end was taken off and converted by the purchaser into a dwelling house, and now stands on the east side of Court Street, near the brook.
published numerous works, the best known of which is his " History of New Hamp- shire."
In civil office Burdett was followed by Captain John Underhill, an old Euro- pean soldier and a refugee from Mass- achusetts, having a strange mixture of enthusiasm, ability, and hypocrisy. Un; derhill was deposed in 1640 for various crimes. Knollys was eclipsed by the su- perior talents of Thomas Larkham, an emigrant of 1639 or 1640, and forced to yield. The discordant elements now
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broke out into disgraceful contests, ended at last by the union of Dover with Massa- chusetts, Oct. 9, 1641, which the better
BLOODY POINT.
part of the people adopted as the only cure for their difficulties. It was gladly welcomed by the latter power, who, in- deed, claimed a latent right to the terri- tory by virtue of their own patent. The town was made part of old Norfolk coun- ty, was represented in the general court, and was subject to the laws of Massachusetts until New Hampshire, in 1679, was erected into a separate province. .
From 1641 to 1679 Dover had gen- erally peace, ecclesiastically and civ- illy. The Massachusetts government bore lightly, and the clergymen were able and excellent men. The only jar in religious matters was that caused by the coming of Quakerism, in 1662, and the barbarous sentence upon women of ten lashes upon the naked back. Of course Quakerism flourished with greater vigor in Dover than in any other town in the province. In business the town increased, having a direct trade with the West Indies, ex- porting principally lumber. In pop- ulation it gained rapidly for a time ; the tax-paying males increasing from 54 in 1648 to 142 in 1659, and 155 in 1668. It then experienced a check, falling to 146 in 1675, doubtless on account of the Indian wars. In terri-
tory it embraced, in addition to its present limits, Durham, Madbury, Lee, Somers- worth, Rollinsford, and part of Newington, -all of which were included in Dover in 1641, when its boundaries were defined for the first time, and all of which were settled be- fore 1660. In civil affairs it enjoyed virtual s e lf - go vern- ment. The only disturbance was that caused by the royal com- missioners in 1665, who en- deavored to find or create a public sentiment in opposition to the government of Massa- chusetts Bay ; but, so far as Dover was con- cerned, entirely in vain. A greater cause of disturbance was the occasional efforts of 'the heirs of Mason to establish their pro-
OLD FRANKLIN ACADEMY.
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DOVER 1623-1898
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SCENE ON THE COCHECO RIVER.
DOVER 1623-1898
prietary claims, efforts which developed themselves more fully at a later period.
During this period some town votes are worthy of copying. One was that of the 27th of November, 1648, when " It is this [day] ordered at publique Town meeting that Richard Pinkame shall beate the drumme on Lord's days to give notice for the time of meeting." This method continued for several years. In 1665 it was " Ordered that mr. Petter Coffin shall be Impowered by this meitting to A Gree with some workman to Build a Ter- rett upon the meeitting house for to hang
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the Bell wich wee have Bought of Capt. Walldern." In 1657 " Charles Buckner chosen by voet A Scoellmaster for this town." Other schoolmasters followed, among whom, early in the next century, was " Master Sullefund " (Sulli- van), ancestor of the eminent family of that name. In 1653 the second meeting-house was built, which was " forty foot longe, twenty-six foote wide, sixteen foote studd, with six windows, two doores fitt for such a house, with a tile covering, and to planck all the walls, with glass and nails for it." The third church was built in 1714 (whose bell was hung on a schoolhouse near by) ; the fourth in 1758, which last was used
until 1828. From 1679 to the close of the Indian wars Dover suffered extremely. Population, it is true, largely increased during the latter part of the period ; thus the number of polls in 1675 was 131, and in 1727, 466 (Newington in both cases being excluded). Nor did any ecclesias- tical troubles occur, beyond the efforts of the present town of Durham to obtain separate authority, in which they succeed- ed in 1716 ; and the question whether the proper site for a place of worship was not at Cochecho, instead of Dover Neck, which question was settled in 1711 by having the meetings alternate, and, in 1720, by the entire removal to the newer but tar larger place. But the Indian wars severely
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THE OLD GARRISON HOUSES.
impaired, for a long series of years, the prosperity of the place.
It was a frontier town, touching the forests which stretched away to Canada, defending an extensive frontier, and pos- sessing but a scattered population. In addition to the general causes of Indian hostility, in their own jealousy and the machinations of the French, local differ- ences had grown out of trading operations. Suspicions of hostility had been so far ex-
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cited, as early as 1667, as to lead, at that time, to the fortification of the meeting- house, by " intrenchments and flankarts,"
ON LOCUST STREET.
in whose inclosure sentinels paced during divine service, and whose ruins are still visible. On the breaking out of the gen- eral war of 1675, there commenced a series of attacks upon the inhabitants, which, with occasional and sometimes protracted intervals of peace, did not wholly end until the treaty of Aix-la-Cha- pelle. As most of these were petty affairs, and of the same general character, it is unnecessary to narrate them particularly. Exposed houses were captured and burned, individuals at work were killed ; inhabitants were waylaid and shot on their way to church; captives were carried to Canada, to be ransomed at a heavy ex- pense, or, in repeated cases, to live and die there, where the blood of Dover set- tlers is still perpetuated. On the other hand, Indians were often surprised ; their stores of provisions were destroyed ; the woods were scoured by rangers, especi- ally by parties of exasperated young men ; and sometimes severe blows were struck. The most destructive affair, upon what is now Dover soil, may be more particularly noticed.
It occurred on the morning of the 28th of June, 1689. Thirteen years before, at a time when, although war had broken out on the Kennebec, there was peace at Piscataqua, 400 Indians were assembled at Cochecho, 200 of whom were refugees from the south of Massachusetts ; and, ignorant of the unity of the government, thought themselves safe with Major Wal-
derne, who then commanded the forces of that territory. Two companies of whites, on their way to the Kennebec, stopped at Dover, who brought with them orders to seize all Indians re- cently hostile, which they would have proceeded by force to obey ; but Walderne, knowing the bloodshed which would follow, dissuaded them, and contrived a stratagem to seize them by means of a sham fight. It was successful ; the whole were dis- armed, and the Southern In- dians were sent to Boston, where four or five were hung, and the remainder sold into slavery. Thirteen years passed away, dur- ing which a relentless thirst for vengeance was cherished. In the course of this period former habits of trade revived, and whites and Indians mingled freely. But the old enmity was fostered by some of those enslaved who had returned. On the
DR. EZRA GREEN, AT 101 YEARS OF AGE.
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DOVER 1623-1898
27th of June, the Indians were noticed to be gathered in unaccustomed numbers. Many strange faces also appeared. Some of the people hinted to Walderne their suspicions. " Go plant your pumpkins, and I will tell you when the Indians will break out," was his merry reply. That evening, a young man told him that the town was full of Indians. "I know the Indians very well," said Walderne, " and there is no danger." The Indians told him that a number of Indians were coming to trade next day. " Brother Walderne," said Messandowitt, as they sat at supper, "what would you do if the strange Indians should come ?" " I could assem- ble a hun- dred men by lifting up my finger," was his careless answer. In the evening two squaws applied at each garri- son house (Walderne's Heard's, Otis's, Paine's, the two Coffins', and Ger rish's), for permis- sion to sleep before the kitchen fire, as had often been done before. It was granted at Walderne's, Heard's, the elder Coffin's and Otis's. In the hour of deepest quiet the doors were opened ; the Indians in waiting en- tered. Walderne, though seventy-four years old, defended himself with vigor until stunned by a blow on the back of his head. The Indians then dragged him into the hall, placed him in his chair upon the table, with a derisive cry, "who shall judge Indians now?" and cut him across the breast in turn, each exclaiming, " I cross out my account," and finally killed him. A messenger sent from Bos-
BRACEWELL BLOCK, BEFORE THE FLOOD.
ton with warning of this very attack was delayed a night at Newbury. When he reached Cochecho the next morning, he found four or five houses burned, four garrisons destroyed, twenty-three persons killed, and that twenty-nine were captives on their way to Canada. Among these was Christine Otis, whose romantic ad- ventures a limited space forbids us to recount. Other attacks were made upon parts of what was then Dover, disastrous still, but the intrepid settlers never fell back for a day from their frontier position. Among the various arts to surprise the whites, tradition has pre- served the following : The hay- makers,hav- ing made hay upon a meadow a mile or more up the river from the falls, had piled it into cocks and left it. One warm day, when the men were absent from Wal- derne's gar- rison (a few rods from the lower falls), and the doors were open for air, the women noticed the haycocks floating down the stream. They exclaimed against this wanton mischief ; but none, save one, paid any further attention to it ; and she, as she sat carelessly looking, was suddenly sur- prised to see the cocks edging towards the shore. A close inspection revealed the cause-under every haycock an Indian was swimming. She gave the alarm ; the doors were hastily closed, and the house secured just in time against the baffled savages.
In the midst of other troubles, the Masonian controversy revived. Several cases were tried at Dover in 1683, Wald-
DOVER 1623-1898
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derne's being the first. He made no de- fense, asserted no title, and gave no evi- dence. Judgment was entered against him, and other cases followed ; but in no case could an execution be enforced. Riots ensued, the attempt to enforce an execution at Dover being ended by a woman's knocking down the officer with a bible. Against such a spirit nothing could be done, and the suits were sus- pended. They again came up in 1703, pased through various courts, and were a source of constant perplexity to the peo-
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All through the war, in Rhode Island, at Bennington, at Saratoga, at New York, and on every field where northern troops were found, Dover men were in active service ; while at sea, not a few of its hardy sons were the followers of John Paul Jones. The last person known to have served with him, Dr. Ezra Green, surgeon on board the Ranger, died in Dover, July 27, 1847, aged 101 years and one month, being previous to his death the oldest living graduate of Harvard College.
From the close of the war of the Revo- lution until the introduction of cotton' manufacturing, the town grew somewhat slowly. Its population in 1790 was 1,998 ;
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BRACEWELL BLOCK, AFTER THE FLOOD.
ple, and great complication i n political affairs, until 1746.
From the con- clusion of the In- dian wars to the Revolution, noth- ing peculiar marks the history of Dover. Its busi- ness (including ship building) continued to increase. Its population in 1767 was 1,614, having already lost Mad- bury and Somersworth (including Rollins- ford), Durham, and Lee. The population of the original territory at that time was 5,446 ; of the present Dover 1,666, in- cluding twenty-six slaves. During the Revolution it bore its part of the burdens, supplying largely both troops and money. An entire regiment was enlisted at Dover by Colonel John Waldron, under whom it joined the army at Cambridge. The town itself paid bounties to all who enlisted.
in 1800, 2,062 ; in 1810, 2,228 ; in 1820, 2,871, which by 1860 had increased to 8, 186, the valuation at that time being $3,629,442. It was, so far, a farming and ship-building town. But, with the erection of cotton mills a change came over the place. The succession of saw- mills, grist-mills, fulling-mills, oil-mills, and nail factory, which had covered 181 years ended in 1821, when the " Dover Factory Company" was incorporated, by which, and its successor, the " Cocheco Manu- facturing Company," the present large
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cotton factories and print works were erected. To this enterprise alone must be ascribed the steady growth and com- mercial prosperity of Dover.
In 1841 the opening of the Boston and Maine railroad, and the construction, a few years after, of the Cocheco railroad to Alton, to both of which Dover people contributed liberally, had a marked effect upon the business of the town. While its local trade and interests were on the increase, its importance as a distributing point for interior trade declined. The Dover-Packet Company, which had for
superseded by a city organization. With the city government came in the use of gas in lighting the streets and dwellings, improved sidewalks, a police court, a more efficient administration of the laws, and other city institutions, quiet and or- derly elections included. The act incor- porating the City of Dover was signed June 29, 1855, and was accepted by the citizens at a town meeting held August 15, 1855. The first mayor, Andrew Peirce, took the oath of office March 25, 1856, and the city government was then inaugu- rated.
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VIEW ON SILVER STREET.
1 many years given life and activity to the wharves and storehouses on the river, soon discharged its last cargo, the Landing ceased to be the centre of business, which from this time gathered around the rail- road station and the streets leading to it. In 1847 the introduction of shoe manu- facturing for the southern and western markets added largely to the business of the place, employing after a few years a large capital, and in a good season more workmen than any other industry.
In 1855 the town government, after an existence of 222 years, or from 1633, was
During the Civil war the part borne by the Dover companies has emblazoned their names on the scroll of fame. On the evening of the President's first call the citizens met in the city hall. The mayor, Alphonso Bickford, presided, and resolu- tions were unanimously adopted, com- mending the President's action and pledg- ing their support to the government. Companies were formed and the patriot- ism of the citizens was unbounded. On Wednesday, April 17th, 1861, by author- ity of the Governor of the State, George W. Colbath opened a recruiting-office in
DOVER 1623-1898
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our City Hall. On Thursday he informed the Governor that the first company was full. He was directed to proceed with enlistments. On the next Monday 150 men were on the muster roll. On Mon- day, the 29th, the first two companies were to leave home, to become Companies A and B of the First New Hampshire. The day before they had listened to a stirring sermon in the old First Church, from a successor of that minister who had preached to the soldiers here on the same spot as they were to take up their march to Cambridge in 1775. At ten o'clock,
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IIth of May the choice was given to each, -three years or be discharged. Seventy- one on that day chose the three years, and five days afterwards the number was 104. On the 25th that company left the city to become company D in the gallant second New Hampshire.
Of how many men this city furnished during the four years that followed the record is not perfect. Even in the im- perfect rolls there were Dover men in each of the first fifteen regiments and in the eighteenth, in the cavalry, the navy, and the marine corps. From the call of July
CENTRAL AVENUE, LOOKING SOUTH.
. Monday morning, they were in line in Central Square, 145 men in the ranks. Four thousand people witnessed the scene, -in the streets, from windows, from bal- conies, from the house-tops. The women had been working day by day to supply needed clothing, some of them whose tears dropped as they sewed. Prayer was of- fered by one who soon after himself went to serve in the navy, Rev. T. G. Salter.
A third company was meanwhile formed from the excess of enlistments. . Orders now came, however, to receive only those who would enlist for three years. On the
2nd, 1862, 582 names are on record. Prior to that were all the first men of the first eight regiments, and of the sailors en- tering the navy before that date which should be added. Some examination of the rolls shows that more than 800 enlist- ments were made by this city of 8,500 inhabitants. Dover men served in the Shenandoah and in the first disastrous march to Bull Run; they were in the Peninsula battles and marches; in the several battles before Washington ; in the bloody charge at Antietam bridge. They were in the charge up the heights of St.
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Marie. They were in the burning woods of Chancellorsville. They were where Lee hurled his legions against Ceme- tery Hill at Gettysburg ; in the long and bloody march from the Wilderness to Petersburg. They were in North Carolina. They were with Burnside in Tennessee, and with Sherman back of Vicksburg, and they sailed the coast, and watched the harbors, and manned the war boats on the Mississippi.
To raise and put its quota of men into the service, under the various calls which were issued, the city advanced upwards of $250,000, increas- ing its expendi- tures from $59,- 272, in 1860, to $233.462 in 1865. A soldiers' monu- ment was erected in the Pine Hill burying- ground by Charles W. Sawyer Post, G. A. R., and dedicated Sept. 17, 1877.
In 1871 Con- gress appropriated $10,000 for the purpose of remov- ing obstructions in the Cocheco River. In 1872 an additional sum of $10,000 was granted, followed by a like amount in each of the two succeeding years.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
' In 1875 the sum was increased to $25,000, and later a further sum of $15,000, which gave free access to vessels employed in the coal and other freighting business upon the river.
In November, 1872, ground was broken for the construction of the Portsmouth and Dover Railroad, an enterprise which had been in contemplation for more than twenty years. The road was built in that and the following year, and opened for travel in February, 1874, costing some $800,000, of which sum the city, in its municipal capacity contributed $258,000,
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