USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Rindge > History of the town of Rindge, New Hampshire, from the date of the Rowley Canada or Massachusetts charter, to the present time, 1736-1874, with a genealogical register of the Rindge families > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
fica 150
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF RINDGE,
NEW HAMPSHIRE,
FROM THE DATE OF THE
ROWLEY CANADA OR MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER,
TO THE PRESENT TIME,
I736-1874,
WITH A
GENEALOGICAL REGISTER
OF THE
RINDGE FAMILIES,
BY
EZRA S. STEARNS.
" Who so shall telle a tale after a man, He moste reherse, as neighe as ever he can, Everich word, if it be in his charge, All speke he never so rudely and so large; Or elles he moste tellen his tale untrewe, Or feinen thinges or finden wordes newe." Prologue to Canterbury Tales.
BOSTON: PRESS OF GEORGE H. ELLIS. 1875.
1127780
THE PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORY OF OUR OWN NEW ENGLAND, . . IS BUT A JUST AND AFFECTIONATE TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF . THOSE WORTHY MEN WHO HERE PLANTED THE GERMS OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION, WHICH HAVE NOT ONLY BUDDED AND BLOSSOMED, BUT HAVE BORNE ABUNDANT FRUIT; WHO HERE ESTABLISHED THOSE IMMU- TABLE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE, EQUAL LAWS, AND EQUAL RIGHTS, WHICH HAVE MADE OUR NATION INDEPENDENT AND FREE IN THE MOST NOBLE SENSE- A SHINING EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD, - AND WHICH, LIKE THE SPIRIT OF LIGHT MOVING ON THE FACE OF THE DARK WATERS, SHALL ILLUMINE THE ENTIRE GLOBE. . AND WHAT MORE PRE- CIOUS TESTIMONIAL OF YOUR LOVE OF KINDRED AND HOME CAN YOU LEAVE. THAN THAT WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THE HISTORY OF YOUR ANCESTORS, YOURSELF AND FAMILY, TO FUTURE GEN- ERATIONS! HOW CONSOLING THE THOUGHT, THAT WHEN YOU SHALL HAVE BEEN GATHERED TO YOUR FATHERS, THIS HISTORY SHALL LIVE THROUGH ALL COMING TIME AS A PRECIOUS INHERITANCE TO YOUR DE- SCENDANTS! THIS IS A TRUST WHICH PROVIDENCE HAS CONFIDED TO YOUR CARE; AND WHO SO DEAD TO SYMPATHY AND AFFECTION, TO KINDRED AND COUNTRY, THAT HE WOULD NOT PRESERVE THE RECORD OF HIS ANCESTORS, THE PLACE OF HIS BIRTH, THE HOME OF HIS CHILD- HOOD, AND THE SACRED SPOT WHERE REPOSE THE LOVED AND LOST ONES OF EARTH!
HON. MARSHALL PINCKNEY WILDER.
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PREFACE.
Prefaces to works of this character are generally lugu- brious affairs, penned with a weary hand, and tinged with the lassitude of a jaded brain. These brief lines, like the Song of Miriam, shall rather proclaim deliverance from a prolonged labor, as they joyfully announce a task performed and a duty done. The constant employment of these many months has not been altogether tiresome and monotonous. The study of the character of our fathers, and the constant testimony of the steady purpose and consistent obedience to duty which crowned their lives with triumphs and suc- cesses, have awakened a firmer faith in the inherent strength and moral courage of mankind. During these years a forest has been leveled, and the green grasses and fruitful products of a virgin soil have sprung up in a most capti- vating luxuriance. Sturdy men, seeking homes for their wives and children, have appeared upon the scene, to fulfill the mission of their active, useful lives, and have been laid in graves from which their vigorous strokes in the prime of manhood's strength removed the monarchs of the forest, and are now sleeping beneath the sunshine which they let in to warm the surface of the earth. Another and another gen- eration have followed, and in their turn have been gathered to the dust of their fathers.
But none has possessed the manly form, the proud bearing, the firm faith, and frank honesty which crowned
2
PREFACE.
as Nature's kings the sturdy settlers who first awoke the echoes of the forest with their hearty strokes, and amid the dying flame and fading smoke hopefully reared their rude cabins, and thither conducted their wives and children. They erected meeting-houses, settled ministers, established schools, and promptly joined their brethren in arms in the cause of national independence. The chapters relating to these several subjects have been carefully written.
Throughout the following pages a broad distinction has been maintained between fact and tradition, and nothing has been stated which was not believed to be true. With charity for error when discovered, and censure restrained by a strict adherence to truth, it is hoped there will appear no occasion for disapprobation of the motive, although the scholar may justly complain of hurried, and frequently of careless, composition.
While it has been the constant aim of the author to narrate facts and recount the deeds of men, he has also attempted to portray the lives, the characters, and the passions of the people, and to present the most prominent features of the manners and customs of the times. How far he has succeeded, or wherein he has failed, must be judged by the readers of the following pages.
The material for several chapters of this volume has been accumulating for many years. During several sessions of the Legislature many hours have been devoted to an examination of the papers, records, and documents which are deposited in the State House, and much valuable infor- mation was thus secured. The chapters devoted to the Revolutionary history of this town are more particularly indebted to these researches. A search of several days among the Massachusetts State Archives furnished consid- erable information of the grant of Rowley Canada by the
3
PREFACE.
Province of Massachusetts ; and the records of this town have been daily consulted during the progress of the work.
The citizens of Rindge, from whom the author, at all times, has received the most considerate treatment, have not been indifferent to the undertaking, and the kindly interest manifested by very many has been a constant pleasure and encouragement from the beginning. At a legal meeting held August 11, 1874, an appropriation of five hundred dollars was voted the author on certain conditions, and a committee was chosen to carry the vote into effect. With this com- mittee a contract was made by which they, in behalf of the town, were to publish an edition of four hundred copies, and to have the exclusive sale of the book in the town of Rindge until they had disposed of two hundred and fifty copies. Of the remaining one hundred and fifty copies, not more than ten is to be sold in any one year, which provision will reserve a part of the town's edition to meet future demands ; while the author, having the benefit of the type, has been at no part of the expense of composition, and has been at liberty to publish an unlimited edition, which he is per- mitted to dispose of to any person not a resident of this town. The cost of publication has been less than at first was anticipated, and for this reason the author has not received the full benefit that was intended by the generous action of the town; but as made the contract has been honorably and faithfully fulfilled. To Zebulon Converse, Samuel W. Fletcher, Joel Wellington, James B. Robbins, and Daniel H. Sargent, Esqrs., the members of the com- mittee, the author extends the most grateful acknowledg- ment of courteous treatment, and of the faithful effort which has secured a volume that in mechanical appearance is far superior to its literary merit.
In the mention of any town the State is also generally
4
PREFACE.
stated; but in the frequent occurrence of the names of the border towns of Winchendon and Ashburnham, in Massa- chusetts, of Fitzwilliam, Jaffrey, Sharon, and New Ipswich, in New Hampshire, the name of the State is purposely omitted.
More time and labor was given to the genealogies than to the former portion of the volume. The multitude of names and dates was drawn from very many sources. Without the cheering assistance of many friends, both in Rindge and abroad, the family registers, which now contain above five thousand names, exclusive of those who have intermarried with the Rindge families, would have been less complete. While all who have rendered assistance are grate- fully remembered, I cannot refrain from an acknowledgment of polite attention and valuable assistance from Robert Safford Hale, LL.D., of Elizabethtown, N. Y., John Ward Dean, A.M., the efficient librarian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the late George A. Cunning- ham, Esq., of Lunenburg, Mass., Benjamin Cutter, Esq., of Jaffrey, Drs. Albert Smith and D. B. Cutter, of Peterboro, N. H., Amos J. Blake, Esq .; of Fitzwilliam, and Hiram Blake, Esq., of Keene, N. H .; and also many others who have furnished records of their own and of collateral families.
That the following pages may prove acceptable to his townsmen, and afford a measure of enjoyment and profit to the general reader, and be found of some value to the genealogist and historian, is the hope that has encouraged the author from the beginning.
EZRA S. STEARNS.
RINDGE, January 1, 1875.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Location. - Area. - Hills. - Water Courses. - Lakes. - Fish. - Wild Animals. - Arboreal Products. - Scenery. 13-22.
CHAPTER I.
THE GRANT OF ROWLEY CANADA BY THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Sir William Phipps. - Expedition to Canada, 1690. - Its Influence upon the History of Rindge. - First mention of Abel Platts. - The Char- ter .- Plan and Description of the Boundaries of Rowley Canada .- ' Ezekiel Jewett. - Location of the Boundary Line between the Provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. - Forfeiture of the Charter. 23-38.
CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND, OR MASONIAN, CHARTER.
Conflict of Titles. - Grant of Land in New Hampshire to Capt. John Mason. - Confirmation of the Grant to John Tufton Mason. - Its Sale to Atkinson and others. - The Masonian Charter, or Grant, of Monadnock Number One. - Influence of the former Charter. - The Western Boundary of the Masonian Patent. - The Curved Line. - Gen. Joseph Blanchard. - The Charter, and Survey of the Town- ship. - Drawing of the Lots. - Settlements. - Conflict of Titles. - Lawsuit with Joseph Platts. - The Last French War. - Indians and Indian Relics. 39-65.
2
6
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
RECORD OF SETTLEMENTS, 1758-1768.
Amended Fortunes. - Retrospect. - Roads Laid Out. - Saw-Mill. - Labor upon Highways. - Severe Drought. - The Common. - Delin- quent Tax-payers. - Rev. Deth Dean ordained. - Incorporation first Proposed. - Census of 1767. 66-80.
CHAPTER IV.
A RECORD FROM THE INCORPORATION TO THE REVOLUTION.
Town Incorporated. - Origin of the Name. - The Charter. - Town- Meetings. - Warning out of Town. - Settlements. - John Fitch. 81-99.
CHAPTER V.
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY -1775 AND 1776.
The Prevailing Sentiment of the People. - Census of 1775 .- Conven- tion at Keene. - Delegate chosen to attend the Provincial Con- gress. - Convention at Walpole. - Town-Meeting Warrants. - Minute-Men. - Selectmen and Committee of Safety for 1775. - Battle of Lexington. - Roll of Captain Hale's Company .- Captain Philip Thomas' Company. - Battle of Bunker Hill. - Lovejoy, Adams, and Carleton Killed .- Loss of Arms and Clothing. - The Company Continues in the Service. - Enoch Hale Appointed Colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment. - Training Bands and Alarm Lists. - List of Officers. - Importance given to Military Titles. - Selectmen and Committee of Safety for 1776. - Conventions at Walpole and Hanover. - Association Test. - Captain Parker's Company. - Colonel Baldwin's Regiment. - Other Enlistments. - Scarcity of Salt. 100-128.
CHAPTER VI.
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY -1777.
Alarm and Defensive Measures. - Report of Col. Hale. - Alarm at . Ticonderoga. - Fourteen Men in Capt. Brown's Company. - Capt.
7
CONTENTS.
Stone's Company. - Capt. Stone's Letter. - Vermont asks for Assistance. - Twenty-four Men in Stark's Brigade. - Capt. Rand's Company. - Casualties. - Sentiment and Votes of the Town. - Small-Pox. - A Season of Sickness. - Col. Nathan Hale. - Charges not Sustained. - Daniel Russell. - Letters of Col. Enoch Hale. 129-160.
CHAPTER VII.
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. - 1778 -1781.
Auspicious Omens. - Depreciation of Currency. - New Recruits. - Cas- ualties. - Expedition to Rhode Island. - Col. Enoch Hale's Regi- ment. - Taxation. - Powder. - Selectmen and Committee of Safety for 1778 and 1779. - Enlistments. - Record of Soldiers. - Capt. Othniel Thomas. - Tobe Cutler. - Bounties paid by the Town. - Other Soldiers from Rindge. - Selectmen for 1781. - Scale of Depre- ciation. - Beef and Rum Tax. - Money Tax paid to the State. - Contention between New Hampshire and Vermont. 161-177.
CHAPTER VIII.
REPRESENTATION IN THE LEGISLATURE .- ADOPTION OF THE STATE AND FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS.
Rindge Classed with Jaffrey and Sharon. - Representatives not allowed Seats in the Assembly, 1775. - Enoch Hale and William Smiley. - First Constitution Rejected, 1779. - Second Constitution Adopted, 1783. - Amendments, 1792. - Federal Constitution. - Removal of Col. Enoch Hale. 178-184.
CHAPTER IX.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Early Efforts to Secure Preaching. - Mr. Swan. - The Call Extended to Timothy Walker declined. - Rev. Seth Dean settled. - Church Embodied. - Withdrawal and Discipline of the Baptists. - Mr. Dean's Salary. - Loss Sustained by Depreciation of the Currency. - His Dismissal and Character. - Seth Payson called. - Letter of Acceptance. - Ordination. - Owning the Covenant. - Successful
S
CONTENTS.
Ministry of Dr. Payson. - His Salary. - Death of Dr. Payson. - His Character. - Call extended to Mr. Demond and to Mr. Goodell. - Mr. Burnham preaches in Rindge. - Accepts a Call. - Ordina- tion. - His Prolonged Ministry. - Personal Notice. - Era of Sup- plies. - Installation of Mr. Clark. 185-226.
CHAPTER X.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY CONTINUED).
Charter Stipulations concerning Meeting-Houses. - The Common. - Fears of the Indians. - Voted to Build a Meeting-House. - Building Raised. - Cost of First Meeting-House. - House Occupied. - Seat- ing of the Meeting-House. - Second Meeting-House Built. - Cost of Building. - Preparations for the Raising. - Dedication. - Members of other Denominations excused from the Ministerial Tax. - Relig- ious Society Organized. - The Methodists ask for Privileges in the Meeting-House. - Town Grants the Society liberty to Remodel the Meeting-House. - Extensive Repairs Made. - Internal Arrange- ment. - Repairs made in 1870. - Reduction of Society Debt. 227-257.
CHAPTER XI.
THE METHODIST CHURCH AND SOCIETY.
Early Preachers. - Lorenzo Dow .- Father Taylor. - First Meeting- House. - Society Organized. - Second Meeting-House. - New Con- stitutions of the Society. - Early Members. - Ministerial Fund. - Peterborough and Rindge Circuit. - Rindge and Richmond Circuit. - Rindge made a Station. - The Clergy. 258-263.
CHAPTER XII.
SACRED MUSIC.
Attention Early Paid to this Subject. - First Choristers. - Lining the Hymn. - Fugues. - Instruments and Players. - Anecdote. - Sing- ing Schools. - Other Choristers. - New Organ. 264-272.
9
CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII.
SCHOOLS.
Home Instruction. - The First Appropriation for Schools. - Five School Districts. - Early Instructors. - Wages of Teachers. - A New Era. - Text Books. - Organization of Districts. - Boundaries Defined. - Prudential Committees. - Supervision. - Private Schools. - Ex- hibitions. - Names of School Committees. 273-294.
CHAPTER XIV.
MILLS AND MANUFACTURES.
Inconveniences Experienced by the Early Settlers. - The First Saw- Mill. - Grist-Mill. - Hopkinson's Mill. - Robbins' Mill. - Tarbell Mill. - Platts' Mill. - Asa Cole. - Tanneries. - Shoes. - Clothes- Pins. - Nest- Boxes. - Pails. - Clothiers. - Bobbins and Spools. - Miscellaneous. 295-309.
CHAPTER XV.
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
Prevailing Sentiment of the People. - Importance of Town Meetings. - Resolutions Adopted. - Spontaneous Meetings. - War Committee Chosen. - Presentation of a Sword to Capt. Converse. - Sudden Death of Stephen B. Sherwin, Esq. - Names and Character of the Soldiers. - Record of Sixth Regiment, 1862. - Additional Bounties Offered. - Soldiers in the Ninth, Fourteenth, and Sixteenth Regi- ments. - Record, 1863. - Draft. - Regiment of Cavalry. - Substi- tutes for Enrolled Men. - Last Quota Filled. - Surgeons Darling, Abbott, and Norcross. - Others in the Service. - Payments by the War Committee, and for Bounties. - List of Selectmen. - Soldiers Aid Society. - Tablets. 310-330.
CHAPTER XVI.
SKETCHES OF PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS, AND A LIST OF COLLEGE GRADUATES.
Edward Payson. - Asa Rand. - Marshall P. Wilder. - Ezekiel Jewett. - George P. Barker. - Amasa Norcross. - Ira Russell. - Samuel
10
CONTENTS.
Burnham. - Albert S. Ingalls. - Lake Coffeen. - James Milliken. - James Walker. - Isaac Kimball. - Silas Wilder. - Charles Walker. - Charles Shedd. - William C. Richards. - George Shedd. - John P. Perry. - Joseph Brownlee Brown. - Charles W. Kimball. - How- ard Rand. - Frank H. Hardison. - Albert F. Norcross. 331-362.
CHAPTER XVII.
PHYSICIANS, LAWYERS, AND MERCHANTS.
Drs. Morse, Palmer, Prescott, Townsend, Hartshorn, Whitney, Jewett, Shurtleff, Abell, Abbott, Seyffarth, Darling, Symonds, Heard, Wat- son. - Noah R. Cook, and Benjamin Ward, Esqs. - Hale, Parker, the Wilders, Sherwin, Ingalls, Breed, Adams, Howe, Hale, Jennings, Raymond, Sawtell, Stearns, Fletcher, Emory. 363-382.
CHAPTER XVIII. MISCELLANEOUS.
Tithing-Men. - Pauperism. - Turnpikes. - Post-Offices. - Railroad. - War of 1812. - Centennial Celebration. - Libraries. - Mechanics' Hall. - Population. - Mortuary Record. - Longevity. - Representa- tives to the General Court. - Town Officers. - Justices of the Peace. - Measurement of Trees. 383-417.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
MEETING-HOUSE
240
REV. AMOS W. BURNHAM, D. D. 222
HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 340
COL. EZEKIEL JEWETT 346
DR. IRA RUSSELL. .351
SAMUEL BURNHAM, A. M .353
SAMUEL L. WILDER, EsQ 377
THOMAS INGALLS, EsQ. .380
JOSHUA CONVERSE, EsQ. 486 ELIPHALET HALE, EsQ. 545 HARRY HALE, ESQ. 546 HON. ERASTUS RUGG 666
THOMAS SHERWIN, A. M.
.692
INTRODUCTION.
Location. - Area. - Hills. - Water Courses. - Lakes. - Fish. - Wild Animals. - Arboral Products. - Scenery.
RINDGE is the most eastern of the five towns in Cheshire County in New Hampshire, bordering upon Massachusetts, and is bounded north, 1,898 rods, by Jaffrey, and 513 rods by Sharon ; east, 1.694 rods, by New Ipswich; south by Ash- burnham and Winchendon, Mass .; and west, 1,730 rods, by Fitzwilliam. The centre of the town is twenty miles south- east from Keene, and fifty miles southwest from Concord, and is in latitude 42°, 45' north, and longitude 72° west, or 4º, 7' east from Washington. In outline the town is rhom- boid, the boundary lines inclining about two degrees east of north. and about twelve degrees north of west. The area is not far from 24,000 acres, of which about one-sixth is covered with water.
The surface is hilly. There are no chains or ranges of hills in this town, and no elevation is prominent above many others. The similarity of many of the rounded, mound-like forms of the higher elevations is a prominent feature of the landscape. Very few of the hills are abrupt or broken in outline, and nearly all are fertile to their summits. Numer- ous farm-buildings, situated on the height of these elevations, are the centres of the most productive farms ; and, in marked contrast with many other sections of New England, the
3
14
HISTORY OF RINDGE.
forests and wild lands are in the valleys and upon the plains, leaving the hills for grazing and tillage. The prevailing stone is granite, which abounds more in the form of boulders than of ledges. Upon the farm of Samuel Martin, formerly of Ebenezer Blake, is found a decomposed rock, from which a coarse paint has been made for more than fifty years; its color, a red, shading into brown, is owing to the presence of iron. Crystals of quartz are abundant in several portions of the town, and specimens of rare beauty and perfection of form are frequently secured.
The town is well watered. The clay formation of the soil is well adapted to retain moisture, and springs of the purest water abound. The water-courses are numerous, and all have their rise within the limits of the town. A few small brooks from the western slope of the New Ipswich mountains, which, with one exception, are dry a portion of each year, are only a partial exception to the general state- ment.
The course of the streams is a certain index of the eleva- tion of a place. Miller's and Contoocook Rivers have their rise in this town, and the water-shed, between the Connecti- cut and Merrimac River valleys, divides the town into two nearly equal portions. Here are several dwelling-houses, the water from one side of the roof of which finds its way into the Connecticut, and from the other side into the Merrimac, River. The northern slope of the township is drained into Long Pond, the head of the Contoocook River, flowing through Jaffrey and Peterborough, thence north and east emptying into Merrimac River a few miles north of Concord. The southern slope is mostly drained into Monomonock Lake, the head of Miller's River, which flows through Winchen- don; thence west and south emptying into the Connecticut River near the town of Greenfield, Mass. The western por- tion of the town belongs to the southern slope, and is drained into Miller's River a few miles below its rise. The
15
INTRODUCTION.
drainage of a small area in the southeast part of the town, including the stream from Pecker Pond, empties into the eastern branch of Miller's River in Ashburnham, which joins the northern branch from Monomonock Lake, at the reservoir of B. D. Whitney, Esq., in Winchendon.
The ponds, inclusive of reservoirs, are thirteen in number, six in the northern and seven in the southern slope. The Monomonock Lake, the largest body of water, lies partly in Winchendon, but the greater portion is in this town. A dam, erected at the outlet, has raised the level at high water twelve feet above the natural surface. The present area is 2.600 acres. It has been known by its present name, which is of Indian origin, from the date of the earliest settlements in this vicinity. The orthography of the name has experi- enced many changes, but in them all a similarity of sound has been preserved. Different people formerly wrote such names as the sound happened to strike them. Wonomenock was a form which was sometimes employed more than a hundred years ago. This and the other forms of spelling the word, which have prevailed, substantially preserve the Indian pronunciation of the name. The orthography most current has been here employed, and is as good as any. The word is said to have been derived from Monon, or Menan, an island, and ock, or auk, signifying locality or place, and before the dam had raised the water above its natural level, two islands, now submerged, were prominent near the centre of the lake.
Emerson Pond is a beautiful sheet of water, locked in the embrace of the surrounding hills. There are no streams flowing into it, and the pond is fed entirely by springs. The water is remarkably cool and clear. It has been designated by its present name since 1763, and perhaps for a longer period. This name is evidently derived from some member of the Emerson family, but the origin is unknown. The tradition, current in many such instances, that a man by this
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HISTORY OF RINDGE.
name was drowned in the pond, has not been withheld, but should be received with considerable allowance. The drain- age of this pond was originally from the eastern extremity. For nearly a century the water has been diverted from its natural channel, and conducted by the mills of A. S. Coffin, Esq., and thence into Monomonock Lake. The central por- tion of this body of water is in the eighth lot in the seventh range.
Smith Pond, sometimes called Goddard Pond, on account of families of these names residing in the vicinity, was origi- nally one of the smallest ponds in town, comprising not more than thirty acres, and is situated in the corner of the second and third lots in the fifth and sixth ranges. A dam erected on the stream near the residence of Addison Bancroft forms a reservoir which has multiplied the area of this sheet of water.
Tortoise Pond is appropriately named. The names of Sawtell Pond and Divoll Pond have been employed, but the former is the older and better name. The greater portion is in the second lot in the second range. The two latter ponds are drained by the East Rindge stream, thence by way of Converseville into Monomonock Lake.
Pearly Pond is so called on account of the clearness of its waters. The name of Tarbell Pond has been more rarely employed. Portions of six lots are submerged by this pond. The central portion is in the eighteenth lot in the eighth range. The stream from this pond is an affluent of Miller's River. The junction is several miles below the outlet of Monomonock Lake.
Mud Pond, a small body of water in the northwest corner of the town, is properly named. The drainage is into Pearly Pond.
Pecker Pond, only a few acres in extent, covers a part of the fifth and sixth lots in the first range. The course of the stream has been described.
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INTRODUCTION.
Long Pond, situated upon the borders of Jaffrey, with the exception of the Monomonock Lake, is the largest body of water in the township, and receives the drainage of the northern slope.
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