USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Mont Vernon > History of the town of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire > Part 1
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Durham Library association
DURHAM
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Shelf 974.2 a
Book
m 81
Volume
Source Simpson fund
Received
December 1908
Cost
2.50
Accession No.
7909
NHamp
14 M7 54 907
ith, Charles J. History of the town of nt Vernon
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HON. CHARLES J. SMITH.
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN
OF
MONT VERNON,
NEW
HAMPSHIRE.
BOSTON, MASS. BLANCHARD PRINTING CO., 27 BEACH STREET, 1907.
ر
PREFACE.
974.2am81
The preparation of the History of the Town of Mont Vernon has involved the outlay of considerable time and patience, and like other publications of the same character can not be perfect.
The author of the History of Amherst, the late Mr. D. F. Secombe, in acknowledging the incompleteness of that pub- lication very justly remarks that the proper preparation of a town history is the work of a lifetime, and not of three or four years.
The History of Mont Vernon is necessarily brief. Its history was merged in that of Amherst, the parent town, until the year 1803, from which it was then severed.
The town is small in population : its largest number of inhabitants, being ?63-in 1830-small in industries and busi- ness, but the enterprise of its people is not to be measured by these things. The writer has been unable to gather much material in the shape of records, personal intercourse with old settlers, etc., upon which to work as a basis. Had he an- ticipated some fifty years since, that it was to be his task to prepare at some future time a history of the Town of Mont Vernon. he might then have collected much valuable material from interviews with aged people, who have passed away since, which would have proved entertaining and interesting. As it is, there is scarcely a person living, who could furnish facts concerning the early history of the town.
The writer has collected and put into shape all available material.
7909
IV
PREFACE
Taking all these facts into consideration the reader must see that the History of Mont Vernon would be short, that it would be impossible to make it a book of much size.
After all we know but comparatively nothing of the perils and privations of the pioneer's life. They toiled amid dangers and difficulties of which we have no adequate concep- tion.
Rough, hardy, worthy people were they, having a con- stant struggle for existence, with little pleasure in their lives. Such as these were the founders of this great republic, which they left behind them as an imperishable monument.
Let us who come after them strive to cherish and per- petuate these institutions, which they founded, for our chil- dren, as they cherished and perpetuated them for us.
The writer hopes that this work will prove readable, and ·also be a valuable book of reference, perhaps not so much to the present generation as it will to the future generation.
The map of the old church was drawn and presented by Mrs. S. J. Bunton.
GENERAL INDEX.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Hon. Charles J. Smith. Frontispiece
Old Meeting House
New Meeting House 96
Appleton Academy. 112
Old Mount Vernon House.
169
Summer Residence of J. Frank Wellman. 185
CHAPTER I.
Early History and Early Settlers - Narragansett Townships - First Settlement - Establishment of Boundaries between New Hampshire and Massachusetts - Incorporation of Amherst - Pioneer Settlers of Mont Vernon-Second Church - Building of Church - Incorporation of Second Parish - Warrant for Parish Meeting -Miscellaneous Proceedings.
CHAPTER II.
Condition Preliminary to the Separation from the Parent Town-Public Events-Sketch of Charles H. Atherton, Charles G. Atherton, Samuel Dana and Others - Troublous Times - Organization of Third Parish - Incorporation of Milford - Political Parties.
1-14
15-26
VI
INDEX
CHAPTER III.
Separation from Amherst-Voting Actions of North- west Parish-Act of Incorporation of New Town Boundary - Tax Payers - First Town Meeting 21-30
CHAPTER IV.
Description and Boundaries - Situation - Surface - Brooks and Ponds-Game, Birds, Etc .- Climate Purgatory-Dedication of Purgatory. 31-35
CHAPTER V.
Politics - Free Soil Party - Careers of Marden and Bruce - Highways and Bridges - Old Turnpike Taverns - Notable Events - Spotted Fever - Tempests and Floods -Dark and Yellow Days -- Long Winters. 36-53
CHAPTER VI.
Ecclesiastical History - List of Ministers and Dea- cons-Sketches of the Eighteen Ministers- Revivals - Temperance Reform. 54-82
CHAPTER VII.
The Old Meeting-ITouse-Pew Grounds-Altera- tions - Transfer of Parish Matters to Town - Buildings on the Common - Fire in Meeting House-Its Removal Across the Road-Hearse and Hearse House - As a Town Hall -Town and Society Quitclaim to Each Other - Certain Rights Reserved - Changing Meeting-House to Town Hall - Town Hall Dedicated. 83-94
CHAPTER VIII.
The New Meeting House - How Project Started - Committee - The Dedication - Programme of Exercises - Report of Building Committee - Dedication Sermon - Description - Memorial Windows 95-105
VII
INDEX
CHAPTER IX.
Educational - Public Schools - Early Pupils Aurean Academy at Amherst - Latin Grammar School - Money Appropriated - Literary Fund - Appleton Academy - Built by Shareholders - Incorporation of Academy - First Printed Catalogue - New Academy Building - Library Given by Mr. Appleton - Permanent Fund - Sketches of Principals 106-148
CHAPTER X.
McCollom Institute Succeeds Appleton Academy - Endowment by George W. McCollom of New York - Charter Amended -- Different Principals - Improvements -Trustees Incorporated - By- Laws- As a Town High School - Triennial Alumni Reunions. 149-180
CHAPTER XI.
Old Home Week-Mont Vernon First Town to Respond -The Governor Attends -Three Days Festivities - Illuminations. Fire Works, Sports, Etc. - Celebrations Each Year. 181-191
CHAPTER XII.
Three Celebrations in One - The Triennial Alumni Reunion, Old Home Week and Hundredth An- niversary of the Incorporation of the Town - Outline Report of All Three - Col. Goerge A. Bruce's Oration - H. Porter Smith's Church Story - Reminiscences by Rev. C. C. Carpenter 192-221
CHAPTER XIII.
Military History - French and Indian Wars - Revo- lutionary War -War of 1812 - Musters - Mex- ican War - Civil War - Action of Town as to Bounties-Men Furnished Under Different Calls - Raising Quotas - Action as to Drafted Men or Substitutes 222-233
VIII
INDEX
CHAPTER XIV.
Statistical-Population-How and Why it Decreased -Indebtedness of Town Before and During Civil War-War Expenses-Bounties-Town Bonds Longevity - Moderators, Town Clerks, Select- men -Their Compensation - Representatives. . 234-243
CHAPTER XV.
Conclusion
244-245
HISTORY OF MT. VERNON.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLERS.
NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS-MEETING OF PROPRIETORS OF SOUHEGAN WEST-TOWNS TO WHICH PROPRIETOR> BELONGED-FIRST SET- TLEMENT IN TOWNSHIP-LIEUT. JJOSEPH PRINCE-PIONEERS' DIF- FICULTIES-SAWMILL-ESTABLISHMENT OF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MASSACHUSETTS-GRIST-MILL BUILT-IN- CORPORATION OF AMHERST-PIONEER SETTLERS OF MONT VERNON -DESIRE OF THE NORTHWEST' PART OF TOWN TO BE SET OFF INTO A SECOND PARISH-EXERTIONS OF NORTHWEST TO BE SET OFF-SECOND CHURCH OF AMHERST-BUILDING OF CHURCH- PETITION OF NORTHWEST PART OF TOWN-ACT OF INCORPORA- TION OF SECOND PARISH-WARRANT FOR PARISH MEETING -- ACTIONS OF PARISHI MEETING-HIRING OF MR. BRUCE ESTAB- LISIIMENT OF PARISH BOUNDARIES-COMPLETION OF CHURCH EDI- FICE-MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS.
IN 1733 the Province of Massachusetts assigned certain un- settled tracts of territory. afterwards formed into townships, as a reward of valor. to seven companies composed of those who were officers and sokliers in King Philip's War (which occurred in 1675-76) . and particularly those who were in the Narragansett expedition, and took part in the Swamp Fight on December 19th. 1675. under Captain Benjamin Church. They were known as the Narragansett townships, from the name of the leading tribe with which King Philip's War was waged.
The grantees were surviving officers and soldiers. or their legal representatives. Each company was composed of one hundred and twenty grantees. The seven Narragansett townships were located as follows : Massachusetts. three: New Hampshire, two; Maine, two. Grant Number Three, located in New Hampshire, was called Souhe-
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HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
gan West, and comprised all of Amherst and Milford. and the larger parts of Merrimack and Mont Vernon. Grant Number Five, known as Souhegan East, embraced the present town of Bedford and parts of Merrimack, and of what is now the city of Manchester.
The first meeting of the proprietors of Souhegan West was held at Salem, July 17, 1734. A committee of three was appointed to take a "particular view of the circumference of said township and make report to the Grantees on the second Tuesday in September next." They were authorized to employ a surveyor and such guides as might be necessary, at the expense of the proprietors. Another committee of eight was appointed to sub-divide the township. In September, 1734. the proprietors met to hear the report of their view- ing committee, who stated that they had been disappointed in the surveyor they had engaged, but "they had been on the land and found it well timbered." The sub-dividing committee was directed to lay out sixty acres to each proprietor for his, or her. first home lot ; what was wanting in quality to be made up in quantity.
At a meeting January 8. 1735, it was voted that three lots be reserved : one for the first settled minister ; one for the ministry : and one for the school. The lots laid out by the committee appear to have been drawn by the proprietors at this meeting. The towns to which the proprietors belonged, and the number in each town, were as follows : Andover, 9; Beverly, 14: Boxford, 4; Bradford, 1: Chatham, 1 ; Falmouth, 2; Gloucester, 5 ; Lynn. 27 ; Marblehead, 7 : Reading, 2; Salem, 29: Searborough, 1 : Topsfield, 13: Wenham, 4 : York, 1. Of these, two were females, and one hundred and eighteen were males : twenty-nine were survivors of the fight at Narragansett fort, December. 1675, and ninety-one were children or legal heirs of those to whom territory was assigned.
At a meeting May 1. 1735, a committee of three was appointed to visit the township and find and lay out the most commodious places whereon to erect a public meeting-house, a convenient publie burying ground, another for a training field, moreover one for the ministry, one for the minister. and one for the school, and make a return to the clerk, that he may record the same.
The first settlement in this township was probably made in 1735, by Samuel Lamson and Samuel Walton. both from Reading, Massa- chusetts, a mile south of Amherst Plain, where they built a log-house. Lamson, about 1740, removed to Mont Vernon. In 1765 he removed to Billerica, Massachusetts, and died there in 1779. His sons, Jon-
3
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
athan and John. passed their lives and died in Mont Vernon. Sarah, daughter of Jonathan. married Deacon Jacob Kendall, of Mont Vernon. in 1782. Four daughters and one son of John spent most of their lives in this town. Lient. Joseph Prince. of Salem Village. now Danvers, was the only one of the original proprietors who settled in the township. Ile was a proprietor in the right of his uncle. Richard Prince. According to a family tradition. he once owned a belt of land extending from Bedford line westward to near where Mont Vernon village now stands. He first located about 1740. and lived some years on the farm about one mile southeast from Mont Vernon village known as the JJones farm, for many years owned by Samuel Campbell, now by William Gurdy. The cellar of the log house Prince occupied has been discovered by Mr. Gurdy in the southern part of his farm. near where it adjoins George C. Iladley's farm. He [Prince] removed thence to the easterly part of Amherst. lived. and died there in November. 1789. on the farm now the homestead of his great grand-son. Solomon Prince. Other settlers followed Prince. mostly from the vicinity of Salem. but the progress of the settlement was slow. notwithstanding that the proprietors voted sums of money and made great efforts to induce settlers to locate in the township.
The lives of the first settlers in the New Hampshire townships were a constant struggle for existence. A settler in one of them thus describes his town in its infancy : "A howling wilderness it was. where no man dwelt. The hideons yells of wolves, the shrieks of owls, the gobbling of turkeys. and the barking of foxes were all the music we heard. All a dreary waste and exposed to a thousand diffi- culties." In 1736 a bridge was built over the Souhegan River, for which the proprietors paid £95.
The building of a sawmill was now in order, and in April, 1737. the proprietors appointed a committee "to secure the building of the same upon Beaver Brook where it may be most convenient. provided that said mill be fit to saw the first of November next, and that it shall be kept in good repair for ten years, and to saw for the propri- etors by the halves during that time." and £120 was levied upon the proprietors to pay for the same.
March 5. 1740. the King in council established boundaries be- tween the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which had been in dispute, which have remained unchanged until the present time. By this decision Souhegan West. with twenty-seven other townships, which had been granted by Massachusetts, with large
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HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
quantities of ungranted land intermixed among them. became parts of New Hampshire.
April. 1741. it was voted that the proprietors give to John Shep- ard, of Concord, Massachusetts, one hundred and twenty acres on the Souhegan River. to begin at William Peabody's line and run down to the bottom of the falls. he to build a good grist-mill and a good saw- mill on said river against the aforesaid land, and to keep them in good repair for the use of said proprietors. having the liberty to cut such white oak timber for the mill as he wants." The same year he built the mill. and became a useful and honored citizen of the town.
At the same meeting they voted to build a bridge over the Sou- hegan River. and appointed a committee of three to say where it should be built and to get it done. This committee was composed of Capt. Samuel Bancroft. Capt. Thomas Tarbox. and Joshua Hicks. They also voted that they will give no encouragement to a blacksmith to settle among them." but they soon thought better of it. for on the 22d of May, 1745, they voted that they "will give encouragement for a blacksmith to settle with them. and that Capt. Parker. Lieut. Prince, and Mr. Lamson be desired to agree with a good smith to settle with them." Capt. Parker and Mr. Lamson resided in the district now included in Mont Vernon.
As the sixty families required by the grant had not settled in the township, the proprietors voted. March. 1747. to choose a committee to treat with and get an obligation to secure at least sixty families with those that are already there to settle immediately, agreeably to the grant.
In January. 1753. a petition was presented to the Governor and Council of New Hampshire by thirty-two citizens of Souhegan West. for incorporation as a town. Seven of these citizens lived in that part of the town which is now Mont Vernon. They were Ebenezer Ellinwood, Ebenezer Ellinwood, jr., Samuel Lamson. Samuel Lam- son, jr., Ebenezer Lyon. Joseph Steel. and Caleb Stiles. This petition failed. Seven years later. JJanuary. 1760. in answer to all- other larger petition by the inhabitants. Governor Benning Went- worth. with the advice and consent of the Council. granted a charter incorporating Souhegan West into a town by the name of Amherst. "reserving to us. our heirs and successors. the power and the right of dividing said town when it shall appear necessary and convenient to the inhabitants thereof." Lieut .- Col. John Goffe was appointed "to call the first meeting of inhabitants of said town within forty
·
5
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
days." at which meeting Col. Goffe read the charter. He was chosen moderator, and the town voted to accept the charter. Col. Goffe was then the leading citizen of the town.
The resident tax-payers in Amherst in 1760 were one hundred and ten. Of these certainly twenty-two lived in what is now Mont Vernon. These original settlers bore the names of Averill, Bradford. Carlton, Cole. Curtis. Ellinwood. Gould. Harwood. Holt. Lovejoy. Lamson. Odell. Smith, Steel. Stiles, Weston. Wilkins.
From this date the growth of the northwest part of the town. afterwards known as the Northwest Parish. now as Mont Vernon. was rapid.
The pioneer settlers of Mont Vernon were a rough. hardy. worthy people. In many of thein the religious element was strong. Their attendance at church was regular, though the route was long and tedious. They early looked forward to the time when this section should become a separate parish. In 1777 Rev. Daniel Wilkins, the first minister of Amherst. had become so enfeebled by age as to be incapable of performing his duties acceptably : the town sought to obtain a colleague pastor. The people of the northwest part of the town made this an occasion for a strong and persistent effort for organization into a separate parish.
In the winter of 1777-78. the church and town extended a call to Mr. John Blydenburg to become associated with Mr. Wilkins as a colleague pastor. Against this action seventeen citizens of what is now Mont Vernon made a written protest. demanding that it be placed on the town records. Mr. Blydenburg declined the call.
In the spring of 1779 petitions were presented to the General Court by sundry persons belonging to the northwesterly part of the town to be set off as a parish. The town chose a committee to treat with these petitions. in March. 1779. and at a subsequent meeting on the 31st of said month. after hearing the report of the committee. voted not to set them off.
In Angust. 1779, the town appointed an agent to prepare and present reasons why this petition should not be granted before the General Court.
December 6. 1779. sundry inhabitants of the northwest part of the town asked to be voted off as a parish. on condition that the in- habitants of that part of the town should pay their full proportion towards the support of Rev. Mr. Wilkins and every charge of the town. except the settlement of a minister. until they could supply
6
HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
themselves with preaching in the parish, but the town refused to grant their request.
In December. 1779. the church and town united in inviting Mr. Jeremiah Barnard to become their minister, whereupon thirty-two residents of the northwest part of the town filed a protest setting forth "That having repeatedly petitioned to be set off as a distinct parish. and their petitions having been rejected. they enter their protest against Mr. Barnard's being settled, or any other minister. while they remained in conjunction with the town and their request not granted." It would seem that their opposition to their ministerial candidates was almost wholly based on their desire to be made a distinct parish. Mr. Barnard, having accepted his call. was ordained March 3, 1780, prior to which a lengthy and earnest remonstrance was addressed to the ordaining council, by thirty-seven residents of what is now Mont Vernon, and a few others.
Another committee was appointed by the town September 11. 1780. to show canse before the General Court why the prayer of a number of the inhabitants of the town residing in the northwesterly part of the same, asking to be set off as a separate parish, should not be granted. But the people of this part of the town insisted upon having a ministry of their own selection. and in September, 1780. called a council, which organized here. what was called the Second Church of Amherst. No records of these transactions, or of the church for the first thirteen years exist. but it is known that the first deacons were Oliver Carlton. Nathaniel Heywood, and Richard Ward. all men of sound orthodoxy and fervid piety.
Immediately after the organization of the church. the Rev. Mr. Coggin, of Chelmsford. Massachusetts, preached to a large congrega- tion in Major Cole's barn on the Capt. Kittredge place, in the south part of what is now Mont Vernon. upon the importance of immediately erecting a house of worship. This, in the poverty of those Revolu- tionary times, was no slight midertaking : but in the month of April, following, each farm in the community had contributed its free-will offering of timber for the frame and covering of the edifice, which still stands on the summit of the hill. a momnent to those brave christian men. It is related that the heaviest timber was drawn upon the snow-ernst the last of April. without obstruction from walls or fences.
Lient. James Woodbury gave the land where the church, now
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HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
converted into a town house, stands, and also another lot one-fourth of a mile above, for the burial ground.
So urgent was the demand for the house, that as soon as the frame was covered, and before the floor timber was laid, it was occu- pied without any formal dedication. They finished the house gradu- ally, as they were able. The first worshipers here sat upon rough benches, with a single open floor, with nothing to warm them but the glad tidings of salvation. The old-fashioned square pews were constructed as the families felt able, "the pew-ground" merely being deeded by the parish.
The organization of a church and providing a place of worship were but preliminary to the renewal of their effort to be legally set off into a second parish. They, in March, 1781, presented to the General Court convened at Exeter, an extensive petition, setting forth their reasons in asking for a separation.
".To the IIon'ble the Council & Gents of the Hon'ble House of Rep- resentative in General Assembly Convened at Exeter in the State of New Hampshire. March 14, 1781 :
"The humble petitions of the several persons whose names are hereto set and subscribed. Inhabitants of Amherst in the County of Hillsborough, living chiefly in the northwest part of said town. Sheweth that the Rev. Daniel Wilkins, the former minister of Am- herst, Being by Age and Infirmities Rendered incapable of Duty, the Town chose a committee to hire preaching until another minister should be ordained. By which means the Reverend Mr. Jeremiah Barnard was introduced into the church there only by Way of Supply, the town not being in a proper situation for settling a minister. However, the s'd Mr. Barnard officiated there some time. That your petitioners for Reasons hereafter mentioned. Could by no Means Rest Satisfied under his Ministry and openly disapproved of him. Notwithstanding which a party was form'd in favor of s'd Barnard, which party taking advantage of Calling Church and Town Meetings, when the severity of the season was such, and times when such an abundance of snow had fallen that it was extremely Difficult if not morally impossible to have a general attendance of the town's inhabi- tants. it was carried by a very small majority, to give the s'd Mr. Barnard a call. An Ecclesiastical Council was convened at Amherst on the first day of March, 1780. for the purpose of ordaining him. That although your petitioners were convinced to their great Grief and Sorrow (by being out voted) that they were not the greatest part of the inhabitants of said Town, yet being Conscious of their weight and Importance (as paying a greater part of the Taxes than those that voted in favor of Mr. Barnard's settling) they did think themselves aggrieved in having the s'd Mr. Barnard imposed upon them in that unfair manner ; and they did, previous to the s'd ordination, sign and
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HISTORY OF MONT VERNON.
address a Memorial and Remonstrance. Couched in the strongest but most modest Terms. to the s'd Council, setting forth among other things that with Regard to Mr. Barnard, they must say that he was not a man of their choice. that he was not the man they should choose for their Spiritual Guide. for their Instructor in the Great and Deep Mysteries of the Gospel of JJesus Christ, and that his. the s'd Mr. Barnard's. discourses-however Doctrinally sound they mightbe-did not appear to be delivered in the demonstration of the spirit, and with that life, power, and energy which they could wish for. nor yet with that clearness and perspicnity which they thought they had a right to expect from a man thoroughly furnished to every good work. and from one who might come to them in the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel of Peace.
"And in conclusion, hoping that the bare sight of such a number of names as would be annexed to s'd memorial might be sufficient to convince Mr. Barnard that he ought not to think of settling where there was so little prospect of his being Beneficial to the people and comfortable to himself. And praying the Venerable Council that the said Mr. Barnard might not be ordained .- to which Memorial your Petitioners pray leave to refer themselves. and that it may be taken as part of this petition. That notwithstanding there are some few of your petitioners who did not sign said memorial. vet did they oppose Mr. Barnard's being settled as their minister, and did in the strongest (though) modest terms manifest to the said Council their disappro- bation of the said Mr. Barnard's being ordained as a minister of the Church and People of this town.
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