History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 1

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 1
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 1

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CHESHIRE & SULLIVAN CO'S.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

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Liberal Arts

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HISTORY

CHESHIRE

AND SULLIVAN

COUNTIES,

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

EDITED BY D. HAMILTON HURD. ...

PHILADELPHIA : J. W. LEWIS & CO. 1886.

JAS. B. RODGERS PRINTING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA.

974 2

PREFACE.

IN presenting this work to the public, the publishers claim that they have at least endeavored to faithfully fulfill their promises. The most competent persons have been employed in the preparation of the work, and it is sincerely hoped that readers in the various towns of the counties will find the narratives of their special localities interesting and instructive. The work has been com- piled from authenticated and original sources.

The preparation of the " History of Cheshire and Sullivan Counties " upon the within elaborate plan imposed upon both editors and publishers a task of no small magnitude, and one which they have keenly felt. They submit the work to the public trusting that their just expectations may be fully realized.

THE PUBLISHERS.

iii

CONTENTS.

CHESHIRE COUNTY.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. GENERAL HISTORY

IT. BENCH AND BAR. .

III. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 20

TOWN HISTORIES.

PAGE

ALSTEAD .

114

RICHMOND .

322

CHESTERFIELD

123

RINDGE .

332

DUBLIN.

180

ROXBURY. . 329

FITZWILLIAM

200

STODDARD 33I

GILSUM

207

SULLIVAN 340

HARRISVILLE

210

SURRY 342

HINSDALE 357

TROY . 346

JAFFREY.

220

SWANZEY 375

KEENE .

WALPOLE 408

MARLBOROUGH

231

MARLOW

314

WESTMORELAND 457

NELSON

318

WINCHESTER .

. 54

SULLIVAN COUNTY.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. GENERAL HISTORY .

II. BENCH AND BAR

TOWN HISTORIES.

PAGE

ACWORTHI

LEMPSTER

185

CHARLESTOWN

NEWPORT .

200

CLAREMONT

PLAINFIELD

310

CORNISH .

14I

SPRINGFIELD.

317

CROYDON .

150

SUNAPEE.

336

GOSHEN. .

168

UNITY

384

GRANTHAM .

170

WASHINGTON 39I

LANGDON.

I81

APPENDIX

406

PAGE

ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHESHIRE COUNTY.

PAGE

Appleton, Jesse R

191

Ilale, Samuel W

107

Ball, David

582

Harris, Gordis D. 109

Boyden, Elijah

302

Hemenway, Luther 306

Boyden, Frederic

368

Holbrook, Daniel H 110

Briggs, Oliver L

522

Holbrook, John J

111

Buffum, C. T.

106

Knowlton, James

311

Buffum, Haskell

518

Lane, F. F.

Burt, William II

Leonard, Levi W

193

Carpenter, Algernon S

112

Map (outline) of Counties.

Cole, Theodore.

520

Map-plan of Westmoreland

466

Dickenson, Ansel

584

McCollester, Rev. S. H

295

Elliot, J

104

Patten, Daniel W

528

Esty, Ilenry

524

Robertson, George

371

Faulkner, F. A

Stearns, John.

374

French, Abijalı

516

Thompson, Albert.

525

Frost, Rufus S

300

Turner, James B

583

Fuller, John II. 108

Twitchell, Dr. Amos

113

Graves, Josialı G.

454

White, Shubael

527

Greenwood, Colonel .W. II

304

Whitney, Charles ( 308

Haile, William, Ex-Governor

367

Winch, Nathan

310

SULLIVAN COUNTY.

PAGE

Adams, Daniel N. ..... 356

Ilall, Rufus ...

178

Baker, Edward D.

Hatch, Mason, 298

Balcom, George L ..

131

Howard, Rev. Lewis 359

Barton, L. W. 302

McDaniel, Charles. 363

Clark, Judge William. 132

Parker, II. W 9

Colby, Ira ..

Quimby, Samnel

358

Dunbar, George W

165

Richards, Josialı

138

Eastman, Charles H

134

Runals. A

382

Farwell, George N

130

Sanborn, Thomas.

300

Fisher, Leonard P

139

Smith, Alvah

194

Freeman, P. C .. 14

Swett, John L.

297

Goodline, David P

362

Tolles, Nathaniel.

135

Goss, B. F.

177

Wait, A. S.

Graves, I. J 137

vii

BIOGRAPHICAL.

CHESHIRE COUNTY.

PAGE

Appleton, Jessie R

191

Haile, William. 367

Ball, David.

582

Hale, Ex-Governor Samuel W 107

Boyden, Elijah

302

Harris, Gordis D. 109

Boyden, Frederic.

368

Hemenway, Luther. 306

Briggs, Oliver L

522

Holbrook, Daniel 11. 110

111

Buffumı, Haskell

518

Horton, Edgar K

530

Burt, Charles W

Horton, Egbert C. 530

Burt, Lieutenant-Colonel William II

Knowlton, James

311

Carpenter, Algernon S.

112

Lane, F. F.

Chamberlain Family. 513

Leonard, Levi W. ('

193

Cole, Theodore. 520

McCollester, Rev. S. 11

295

Dickinson, Ansel

584

Patten, Daniel W.

528

Elliot Family. 104

Robertson, George. 371

374

Faulkner, Hon. F. A

Thompson, Albert.

525

Faulkner, Francis A

Turner, Family.

583

French, Abijab. 516

Twitchell, Dr. Amos

113

Frost, Rufus S. 300

White, Shubael. 527

Fuller, John H. 108

Graves, Josiah G.

454

Whitney, Charles O. 308

Greenwood, Colonel W. II

304

Wilkinson, Solon S

313

Gustine, Edward. 113

Winch, Nathan

310

SULLIVAN COUNTY.

PAGE

Adams, Daniel N. 356

Hall, Rufus ..

178

Baker, Edward D. 15

Hatch, Mason. 298

Balcom, George L 131

Howard, Rev. Lewis. 359

Barton, L. W. 302

McDaniel, Charles. 363

Clark, William. 132

Parker, H. W.

Colby, Ira. 13

Paris, Sherman, residence of.

Dunbar, George W

165

Quimby, Samuel

358

Eastman, Charles Il

134

Richards, Josiah

138

Farwell, George N 130

Runals Family (the).

382

Fisher, Leonard P 139

Sanborn, Thomas 300

Freeman, P. C. 14

Smith, Alvah. 194

Goss, Benjamin F

177

Swett, John L.

297

Goodhue, David P.

362

Tolles, Nathaniel

135

Graves, L. J. 137

Wait, Albert S

Esty, llenry. 524

Stearns, John

Holbrook, J. J

Buffum, C'aleb T. 106

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HISTORY

CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL HISTORY. BY WILLARD BILL.

Geographical - Topographical - Geological - Botanical -- Manufactures-Courts and County Buildings-County Officers-Aboriginal Occupancy-Population from 1867 to 1880.

GEOGRAPHICAL .- The province of New Hampshire was divided into five counties in 1771. One of these was named Cheshire, deriving its name from a county in the west of England, cele- brated for its manufacture of cheese; hence, the name originally. Keene and Charlestown were made the shire-towns. July 5, 1827, the county was divided, the northern portion taking the name of Sullivan County. This division left Cheshire County with its present limits, situate in the southwestern part of the State, bounded on the north by Sullivan County, east by Hillsborough County, south by the State of Massachusetts, and west by the west bank of the Connecticut River. It extends its greatest length thirty-one miles north and south, and twenty-six miles in extreme width east and west. It contains twenty-three towns, eight of which were incorporated in the reign of George II.,-namely, Chesterfield, Hinsdale, Keene, Richmond, Swanzey, Walpole, Westmoreland and Winchester,-ten in the reign of George III.,-namely, Alstead, Dublin, Fitzwilliam,

Gilsum, Jaffrey, Marlow, Nelson, Rindge, Surry, Stoddard,-and five under the govern- ment of New Hampshire,-namely, Harris- ville, Marlborough, Roxbury, Sullivan and Troy.

TOPOGRAPHICAL .- The surface of Cheshire County is greatly diversified. From the valley of the Connecticut on its west to the towering height of Grand Monadnock on the east, rising to an altitude of three thousand one hundred and eighty-six feet, is a succession of hill and valley and plain, in various places of great natural beauty.

Numerous lakes and ponds feed a network of streams of greater or lesser extent. The Con- necticut River is the largest stream in both State and county. Rising among the mountains of the extreme north of the State, it flows in a southerly direction, forming the boundary line on its west low-water bank between the States of New Hampshire and Vermont ; thence, pass- ing through the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut, it empties into Long Island Sound.

Its valley is noted for its productiveness. Ex- cluding the falls, the average fall of the river is about one and one-half feet to the mile. At Bellows Falls its descent is forty-nine feet, furnishing ample power for manufacturing uses.

Other streams lend beauty and utility to the surface of the county, the principal of which are the Ashuelot, Cold and branches of the

HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Contoocook. The Ashuelot River, rising in numerous ponds in Washington, Sullivan County, flowing in a southwesterly direction through the towns of Marlow, Gilsum, Surry, Keene, Swanzey, Winchester and Hinsdale, where it empties into the Connecticut, is one of the most important manufacturing streams in the State. All along its course are many im- proved water-powers. It is fed by branches from ponds that have been converted by dams into reservoirs, and thereby affording many water-powers of themselves. One of these rises in Stoddard and flows through the northwest corner of Nelson, southeast corner of Sullivan and northwest corner of Roxbury to Keene, and one from Dublin through Marlborough to South Keene, where it joins the branch from Stoddard. Another stream comes from Troy, flowing through the southwest corner of Marl- borough and joins the Ashuelot in Swanzey. The Ashuelot is about forty miles in length, from its source to the Connecticut ; falls about one thousand feet, and drains a basin of three hundred and seventy-five square miles, or two hundred and forty thousand acres.

The Cold River, rising in Sullivan County, flows, in a southwesterly dircetion, seventeen miles through Alstead and Walpole, and furnishes water-power to a limited extent. It drains a basin of sixty thousand acres nearly.

The branches of the Contoocook River, in the eastern portion of the county, furnish some good water-powers. The Partridge Brook, rising in Lake Spofford, flows through Chester- field and Westmoreland, where it empties into the Connecticut, is a rapid stream, falling five hundred feet in its course of nearly six miles, and affording constant water-power, but only partially utilized. In a tabulated form we give the principal bodies of water in the county, with area of cach in square miles and decimals thereof, with altitude in feet above the sea, and towns where located,-

Area. Altitude.

Warren Pond, Alstead. 0.5

550

Spofford Lake, Chesterfield

1.0

738

Breed Pond, Nelson

0.7

1250

Woodward Pond, Roxbury

0.3

1150

Swanzey Pond, Swanzey. 0.2

Stacy Pond, Stoddard

0.7

...

Area.

Altitude.

Spoonwood Pond, Nelson

0.25

Long Pond, Nelson and Hancock. 1.2

1338

North Pond, Harrisville. 0.2 1218

GEOLOGICAL .- When, in the beginning, this planet, earth, was hurled, revolving, into space by the power of an Almighty hand, a seething, fiery, gaseous mass of molten elements, it gradually took form from its revolutions, and thereby consistence and compactness. In the pro- gress of centuries the surface became crusted over, holding within its bosom a mighty mass of molten matter, frequently convulsed by throes of sufficient power to elevate mountain heights and depress to ocean beds, separating, disintegrating and mixing the earth's crust in a manner to print in ineffaceable characters the great story of the Creation,-a creation not yet completed. In Cheshire County we find those characters frequent and prominent. 'Briefly-very briefly, for space forbids otherwise-we will endeavor to sketch a few of the more prominent " Foot- prints of the Creator." From the elementary or molten period the earth passed into the igneous period. We now see the unstratified rocks, of which the enduring granite is the low- est of the series and the great frame-work of the earth's crust, and by far the most abundant, rising to the greatest heights, thrown up by the subterranean forces. From an endless monotonous plain these forces are now operat- ing with a power beyond all human conception to transform this plain into a broken surface, from mountain peak to ocean bed. Of granite, Cheshire County contributes her full share of earning the sobriquet of the "Granite State." Her quarries of granite are unsurpassed. The coarser granites are of the oldest formation. Cotemporary with the beginning of the igneous period, the atmosphere, heavily charged with minerals in a, gaseous form, condensing from the effect of the cooling carth, was deposited, forming another coating of rock material. This was the vaporous period. So far the earth had been surrounded by an atmosphere so dense and dark that the light of star nor moon nor sun could penetrate. Now the progress of creation was ripe for the settling of the atmospheric moisture into the hollows of

GENERAL HISTORY.

the earthı. It became nearly covered with water. This is the aqueous period. Then came the long, cold night, when the summer sun failed to thaw the snow and ice that gathered in mighty masses, covering mountains in height, forming glaciers of continental extent, that planed and transformed the rugged volcanic surfaces into new vestments, and printing its history in characters the plainest of all. An enormous mass of ice, thousands of feet in depth, moved down the valley of the Connecticut, grinding, crushing, planing its way. A tributary glacier flowed down the Ashuelot Valley. This mass of ice pressed so heavily downward as to compact the earth into the lower hill, or, what is generally known, and appropriately so, as hard pan.

This ice-sheet carried along in its track huge fragments of detached rock, which, grinding and rounding, it deposited in the form of boul- ders, generally upon the higher lands. In var- ious places they are plentiful. The glaciers moved in a southeasterly direction, and this movement must have resulted from a different chorography of country than exists at the present time. The interior of the continent must have been elevated many feet. This elevation and after-depression must have been of slow prog- ress. This movement is still operating in var- ious places. As the glacier moved down the valley, hard-rock fragments were frozen into the bottom of the ice-sheet ; these, driven along by fearful power, acted as chisels or gouges, deeply scratching the ledges along the course of its progress. These striæ are everywhere found. Mount Monadnock is striated from base to brow. Mr. G. A. Wheelock, à local geologist of repute, entertains the belief that this mountain was an island in a sea of icebergs, which struck equally strong upon the northwest and southeast sides.

Could our rocks be uncovered from the over- lying earth, they would generally show the result of their mighty planing and rounding in their striæ. Now the continent slowly depresses, a geological spring-time dawns, a warmer climate prevails, the vast fields of ice and snow melt rapidly, mighty floods pour down the valleys with resistless fury. Changes impossible to be wrought by a moving river of ice, mountain-

high, are easily effective before a rushing torrent of water. Now comes the era of modified drift, with its deposits of stratified, water-worn gravel, sand, clay or silt, an era extending from the departure of the great northern ice-sheet down to the present time. The glacial or drift period embraces two eras,-the drift and the alluvium. The former is characterized by re- peated elevations and depressions. It was then a " foundering land, under a severe sky, beaten by tempests and lashed by tides, with glaciers choking its cheerless valleys, and with countless icebergs brushing its coasts and grating over its shallows." The alluvium era witnesses the per- fection of the earth to an extent that fits it as the proper abode of man.

" From harmony-from heavenly harmony --- This universal frame began ;

From harmony to harmony,

Through all the compass of the notes it ran, The diapason closing full in man."

The eastern portion of the county is a prime- val ridge, though it was submerged at times, and is underlaid by the oldest rock formations. This ridge belongs to a chain of ridges that was the first to appear above the ocean. The de- pression of the Connecticut Valley, that embraces a large portion of the county, carries with it the later rocks, and has been, and is, the source of drainage of the highlands to the northward.

The eastern part of the county, comprising portions of Jaffrey, Dublin, Harrisville, Nelson and Stoddard, rests upon the edge of a large area of porphyritic gneiss. Another area of it forms the elevated and rugged portions of the towns of Chesterfield, Swanzey, Winchester and Hinsdale, while it appears in Fitzwilliam, Jaf- frey and Marlow. A variety of gneiss known as the protogene gneiss extends from the State line, through Winchester, Richmond, Swanzey and Keene, to Surry, where it changes its form and extends to and into Sullivan County. In Surry and Keene the protogene is often found of a deep red color. Encircling this protogene we find hornblende, schist, and, girting this, quartzite. A large surface area of the Montal- ban schist in one tract extends from Stoddard to the State line through the towns of Rindge, Fitzwilliam, Richmond, Troy, Jaffrey, Marlbor-

HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ough, Roxbury, Sullivan, Nelson and Stoddard, These rocks are feldspathic and ordinary mica schist. The mica is seen in large spangles, either black or white. In Rindge a variety is found in which quartz predominates, heavily charged with iron pyrites, that decomposes when brought in contact with the atmosphere ; the rock erumbles and the soil is colored reddish- yellow from the presence of the iron peroxide.

The Montalban rocks in Cheshire County are supposed to be of the same age with that which composes the summits of the higher White Mountains. A band of micaceous quartzite, full of fibrolite, two miles wide, crosses the towns of Marlow, Alstead, Gilsum and Surry, carrying gigantic veins of granite, in which the mica plates are large and of commer- cial value. For many years they have been mined in Alstead for glass. The latest group of rocks so far found in the county are known as the Coos group. Its constituents are quartz- ite, argillite and calcareous schist. A large arca of Walpole is covered by the former, and it is found in all the towns adjoining the Con- neetient River. Mount Wantastiquet, in Hins- dale and Chesterfield, is composed of argillaceous and mica schist. The eruptive rocks are very sparingly represented in this county. The only eruptive rock of any extent in the valley of the Connecticut in this county is found in West- moreland and forms most of the hill southeast of the west depot. Inclosed in the Montalban schists of Fitzwilliam, Troy, Marlborough and Roxbury we find oval deposits of eruptive granite. These are extensively quarried, and are held in high repute for building and monu- mental purposes. Permeating Surry Mountain are veins of quartz, bearing metalliferous depos- its. A large outlay has been expended in efforts to mine it, but not, so far, with success. De- posits of infusorial silica, formed of decayed organisms, are found of excellent quality in various places and especially so in Fitzwilliam. Bog iron-ores of the nature of ochre ocenr at Chesterfield, Walpole, Jaffrey and Surry.

in the distribution of plants. A large part of the area of the county has an altitude of more than five hundred feet above the sea-level. Following the trend of the Montalban rocks, in the eastern part of the county we find vege- tation of the Canadian type. In the valley of the Connecticut and of its tributaries we find a larger number of species, some characteristic of Southern New England. The county was formerly covered by a dense forest, through which the sun scarcely penetrated at mid-day. Along the valleys of the Connecticut and Ashuelot Rivers were forests of the finest white pine, the most valued of our timbers, and reserved by King George in his grants of the several townships for His Majesty's navy. His officers provoked the displeasure of the early settlers by carving their "broad arrows" on the tallest mast-trees. The higher lands were covered with heavy growths of hemlock, maples, birches, beeches and red oak, while belts of spruce were common,

The original . forest presented the same characteristics as at the present day, save the restrictions imposed by the lumberman. The old pine forests are represented by thick, thrifty growths of their saplings. These are general all over the county. . Their conversion into wooden-ware has been and is a source of a large industry and of much wealth. Next to the pine, the hemlock is the most frequently found of any conifer; originally they competed with the pine in diameter and height. In the cold swamps of the river towns and throughout the eastern towns we find the black spruce and the balsam fir, and upon the dry drift knolls and sandy plains we find the pitch-pine. In the cold peat swamps and springy lands of Fitzwilliam, Rindge and Jaffrey we find the tamarack in abundance. A variety of the yew, generally known as the "ground hemlock," is common. Passing from the sombre evergreen, we turn to the deciduous trees, presenting every phase of change, from the leafless branches of winter-time to the delicate green of spring, the full foliage of summer and the gorgeous hues of autumn, when nature's artist paints with every conceivable shade of color in tints that

BOTANICAL .- From papers prepared by William F. Flint, B.S., of Winchester, we glean the following facts relating to the botany of Cheshire County. Altitude has much to do | art cannot produce, and giving to the American

GENERAL HISTORY.

forests a beauty nowhere else to be found. Of the deciduous trees, the maple is the best represented. The white maple is mostly found in the valleys, upon the intervale lands. The red maple is common everywhere. The rock or sugar maple is the largest of the genus, is found in all of the towns, and fills an impor- tant part in the economy of the county, furnish- ing both sugar and timber. The largest groves of the rock maple are found in the northern and eastern towns of the county. Gilsum, particularly, is noted for its manufacture of sugar. The birch is generally found, but attains its fullest development in the eastern towns. The gray and black birch are more common in the southern and southwestern towns, while the yellow and white birch are found everywhere. The bass is quite common upon the banks of the river terraces. The black cherry and the white ash are found sparingly in nearly all the deciduous forests. Confined to a strip of territory five to ten miles wide, bordering the Connecticut River, we find the elm, chestnut, white oak, black oak and three species of the hickory. The red oak is very generally distributed. Upon the alluvial soil of the Connecticut we find the cottonwood, the butternut and the balm of Gilead, or balsam poplar. Two species of the poplar are found,-the one of small dimensions, often springing up in great abundance where woodlands are cut away ; the other, the black poplar, is of more pretentious proportions. In spring its young leaves are clothed with white down, that can be seen a long distance, and thereby readily distinguished. Of the shrubby plants, the heath family has about twenty species in the county. This is a family distin- guished alike for beauty and abundance of bloom, and for economic purposes. Included in this family are two cranberries, three species of blackberry and the huckleberry. The rhodo- dendrons are the finest of the heaths. The maximum species is found in Fitzwilliam and Richmond. To this family belongs the kal- mias, including the mountain laurel, found in the southern portion of the county. The rose family is numerously represented. Of the herbaceous plants we have a large family.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 1

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200