USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Walpole > A history of Walpole, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 53
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In digging across Main Street old pump logs were found, antecedents of freestone, lead and iron pipe. At the foot of Prospect there had been a corduroy road, buried 4 feet deep. On Union Street an old well was uncovered.
The Watkins pasture, so-called, near the head of High Street was bought and a dam put across the brook, 225 feet long, 21 feet high, spill- way 15 feet wide and 2 feet deep. The resulting pond covered about two acres with a capacity of 3,000,000 gallons-sufficient for 700 persons for 100 days at double average consumption. The water was carried by 4 inch pipe to the boundary line of the pasture, by 6 inch pipe to the filter house built on a small piece of land bought from the Rowe Wier farm, 35 ft. x 30 ft. x 9 ft., with a cement floor. By 4 inch pipe the water was carried to the distributing reservoir, 5500 feet from the dam. Fall from dam to filter was 20 ft., filter to reservoir 140 ft. The reservoir was on land of H. B. Hurd on Prospect Street, circular, 50 ft. diameter, 18 ft. deep, 250,000 gallon capacity-a week's supply. When full, the surface of the water was 221 ft. above the Square, flow line of dam 387 feet above the Square. Pipes to the village were 10 inch cast iron down Prospect to School Street, 8 inch on Main Street to High, 6 inch on all other streets with hydrants except 4 inch on Turnpike beyond stone bridge. There were 21 hydrants, all buildings in the village within 400 ft. of a hydrant. There was a gauge at the Savings Bank to show the height of water in the reservoir. Chemical analysis showed the water to be of excellent quality, slightly harder than spring water, much softer than well water. There was at first a slight taste of tar from the lining papers in the pipes, but that soon disappeared. There was much later a meter at every house.
Construction progressed so that by the middle of November it was nearly complete and the last 36 of the workmen returned to Boston. Water was let into the houses of 60 to 70 families during September.
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The following June the pipes were extended north on Elm Street. In 1946 pipes were extended to the new Hubbard hatchery, in 1953 to the Homestead Development.
In 1945 the Walpole Village Precinct voted unanimously to buy for $40,000, the Walpole Water and Sewer Company.
More recently there has been added to the system the water from a well off the Watkins Hill Road beside Great Brook, the water pumped from there into the system. Accumulated silt had lessened the original capacity of the reservoir.
BUTTERNUT BROOK
Butternut Brook crosses the highway at the south end of the village at the junction of Wentworth Road and Route 12, having come down along the west side of Prospect Street from Meeting House Hill. At this point at the south end of Main Street Benjamin Bellows had a potash in 1774. On the west side of Route 12 here, James Bundy Jr. had a black- smith shop as early as 1779, later used as a hat shop, wheelwright shop and finally as a shoe shop. It was very close to the brook. After its days of manufacturing it became a dwelling house, torn down by Shaw. See land records.
There was a cider mill on the O'Brien Farm (#217) on this brook and Hubbard Bellows had a distillery. Around 1836 there was a brickyard in this vicinity, Lawrence Leonard and later George McNeil.
GREAT BROOK
Great Brook has had more mills on it than any other brook in town, probably because it is the longest and has the greatest drop in its course. On the branch rising on Eaton Hill, Moses Fisher had a mill where cot- ton yarn was manufactured. By the time the brook reached the March Bridge two branches had joined that from Eaton Hill, Williams Brook coming down from the direction of Walpole Valley and March Brook from the valley between Derry Hill and Fay Hill. There at March Bridge Josiah Hubbard built a mill, later owned by Eliphalet Fox, Phinehas Hutchins, Isaac and Asahel Bundy, Jonathan Royce, John March, and Joshua March.
From some references it appears that there may have been a shop of some kind where Great Brook crosses the Watkins Hill Road.
Samuel Martin had a mill on the west side of the County Road on Graves' land (#317) about 1820.
Up the County Road a short distance north of (#317) there is John
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#262
2
Esther M. Andros
OLD LANE'S MILL
Graves Pond, a made pond. This was mowed in the summer so that there wouldn't be grass in the ice harvested the following winter. (In 1898 clear, 12 inches thick.) Farther to the south, on the west side of the County Road is Tom Graves Pond, also draining into Great Brook. Both are good locations for water lilies.
On Allen Holmes' land on the west side of Wentworth Road there were several mills on the brook. One wonders how, with so little drop, but it is understood that an undershot water wheel was used. In 1810 Asa Titus reserved use of the water for a carding machine, inventory of his estate
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1814 listing 4 machines for dressing cloth. Bradford Brown was here from 1826.
There is said to have been an iron works here sometime (Edith Tif- fany).
The most important mills on the brook were on Route 12, generally spoken of as Lane's Mills. There were mills here as early as 1771 (Graves), in 1781 referred to as Edgill's Mills, although no deed appears to such a party. Jonathan Gates sold to Ephraim Lane. See land records for owners. The sawmill was close to the road, west side, and the grist mill was farther downstream (the old foundations still there 1961). While Charles Hawks owned the property in 1895, a subscription was made to raise money for the installation of a gasoline engine to supplement the water power for the grist mill. The mills are all gone now, but the site has through the years been a favorite place for bathing.
In 1800 James Allen had a sawmill on Great Brook down toward the River Road, on the Aaron Allen land. Samuel Turner sold this same millspot to Elisha Mack before 1813.
There is now a swimming pool by the brook, east side of River Road. (See Decades)
On the west side of the River Road near the brook there was at one time a cider mill.
On the river near the mouth of Great Brook there seems to have been a boat landing of sorts and some facility for sending lumber, etc., down- stream in 1833.
HOUGHTON (FAY OR WHIPPLE) BROOK
Houghton Brook flows from the south side of Derry Hill down through Christian Hollow. There in the point between the roads Adams Whipple is said to have had his iron works. Farther downstream was a pool beside the road which in season served for baptisms and for washing sheep, also another one near Wentworth Road used for the same purposes. Down beyond the Wellington meadows Joseph Fay had a sawmill, and below there is Fay Falls.
On the east side of Wentworth Road there was at one time (1794 on) a sawmill, and in 1812 a carding machine. It was here that Jonathan Chase commenced his tanning business which led to an extensive shoemaking business. (See Manufacturing)
West of Route 12 were the Lock saw and grist mills, run by Philip and/or Jacob Lock as early as 1800, later owned by John and/or Samuel
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Martin. This was on the east line of the Chandler Farm. The grist mill was gone by 1816.
WIER (ALDRICH) BROOK
Next south, sometimes in Westmoreland, is Wier or Aldrich Brook. It is about on the town line where it crosses Route 12. Whatever mills may have been on this brook were probably in Westmoreland. Joseph and/or William Barrett may have had a millsite near old Rt. 12 before 1792, or possibly this is the same as Lock's Mill.
MERRIAM BROOK
On the east side of Carpenter Hill there is Merriam Brook which flows into the Ashuelot River. Richard Merriam had a sawmill on this brook north of the old road. (See land records and History of Surry.)
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BLANKETS
BOSTON CASH GROCERY
Howard S anders. 1962.
Old Village Store, Drewsville
Chapter V BUSINESS
AGRICULTURE
TT IS NOT known positively whether Indians ever occupied Walpole per- manently and tilled the soil, but it is well known that in May and June at least they collected in the vicinity of the Falls for the shad and salmon fishing.
There is sufficient evidence to warrant the conclusion that there were large numbers of Indians who lived a part, if not all the year, near the mouth of Cold River. In the immediate vicinity and also a half mile to the south the plough-share of civilization has unearthed Indian skele- tons, spear-heads, arrow-heads, heaps of clam shells and numerous other relics which indicate that the Indians more than passed by the place. They were attracted not only by the fishing, but by the healing qualities of the water from what were known as the Abenaqui Springs.
Through the years Walpole has been one of the leading agricultural towns of the state. Its soil is thus described in the History of Cheshire & Sullivan Counties: "The soils of the town on the river and tablelands east are fluviatile, while back on the hills they are more tenacious, being a heavy loam, with sometimes an admixture of clay; most of the soils are arable and well suited to all kinds of farm crops of this region. Fruit
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trees of all kinds produce well but the peach, which does not do well here now; but apple and pear trees yield an abundant harvest."
The rock formations under most of the town are Devonian. A band of Bethlehem Gneiss extends around Fall Mountain from North Walpole to Drewsville. With the exception of a little Clough and Partridge forma- tion in the southeast corner the balance is all Littleton formation. Peg- matite outcroppings appear on many of the hilltops in the east of the town. Three of these which have been worked for feldspar at one time or another are known as the Ramsey Hill, Chickering and Damaziak mines or prospects.
A low grade of graphite has been explored just west of the Hubbard road to Drewsville and southeast of #527. Elsewhere reference is made to the paint mine which endeavored to exploit the red oxide of iron deposits which the Indians were said to have used for war paint. The location must have been near "Paint Mine Hill". Also near Cold River are the extensive sand and gravel deposits which have without doubt been the most valuable mineral workings in the town.
John Kilburn was the first farmer in town, settling where the marker now records his battle with the Indians on Rt. 12 south of Cold River. He was followed in 1752 by Col. Benjamin Bellows who settled the Home- stead, some to the south, also on Rt. 12. Next settled was the present village and south on Wentworth Road. One would have to travel far to find a lovelier pastoral scene than that which greets the eye when one emerges from the woods driving from Rt. 12 toward the old Hooper places on top of the hill (now Hicks, Roentsch, Lewis) on Wentworth Road. Next settled was the south part of the River Road, south of Boggy Meadow. Access was by a road which crossed over from Rt. 12 at Beatrice Graves'. Boggy Meadow was not cleared for more than eighty years after the first settlement of the town. This is perhaps the most arable and productive section of town, but due to its very bogginess and the exceed- ingly heavy growth of timber, it appeared as a generally discouraging proposition. There is also another rather good reason. This was part of the share of Theodore Atkinson, and he never came to Walpole to develop his holdings. He and Col. Bellows divided the town between them, having bought the shares of the other grantees. Atkinson was sup- posed to have one-third, Bellows two-thirds. This was the most valuable part of Atkinson's share, about a thousand acres here.
Farms were cleared along the Watkins Hill Road, some around Brit- ton's (#413) at least by 1770 (Bundy). This road was cut to the Surry line very early and down there on the line, before the Revolution, were the
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Merriams. The Carpenter Hill section with Josiah Goldsmith at his tavern was pre-war also.
Ramsay Hill was settled before the war, Col. Bellows having sold farms there before 1770. By 1781 there was a network of roads over most of the town except for Derry Hill and the Rapids which were not opened until the 1790's. Derry Hill was another section which belonged to Atkinson. He had William Heywood, a farmer-surveyor from Charlestown, survey the whole tract for him, and his recorded comments on the quality of the land in each 100-acre tract are most interesting, especially at this vantage point in time when one can observe the accuracy of his judg- ment. Except for what the Kingsburys are tilling on Derry Hill, the farms on Fay Hill and those on March Hill Road, most of this tract has reverted to forest or is fast doing so. This is the highest part of Walpole, over 1300 feet elevation and was originally covered with a heavy growth of beech, birch, and sugar maple timber, most of which was cut off by the settlers. However, there is still a predominance of hardwoods. (Also, see AH 7 on.)
The Rapids, cleared and settled by some of the same families as Derry Hill and at about the same time, no longer is tenanted, although some of the land is still worked to a certain extent by farmers from elsewhere in town.
The Valley in early days was rather forbidding. The land was covered with a dense growth of hemlock; the soil was wet, sterile, and covered with angular boulders. It was, however, later traversed by the Cheshire Turnpike and was not so remote from the stream of commerce as it had seemed. The land was pretty well broken up and never did lend itself to the development of large prosperous farms as did some other sections of the town.
LUMBERING
During the early settlement much of the timber was cut off to get it out of the way for agricultural pursuits, as well as for building purposes. Some was burned, there being a ready market for hardwood ashes. In the Museum in 1798 we find that Bellows & Stone will receive salts of lye or ashes in payment for goods, and Moses Johnson will pay 1 shilling 2 pence per bushel for hardwood house ashes. There are also ads for potash and pearlash kettles. The wood ashes were leached by allowing water to trickle down through them, the resulting lye was evaporated, usually in iron pots. The calcined residue was crude potash; when purified, it was called pearlash. The chief need for this product was for the making of soap, by adding it to fat.
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There were in town several "potashes", usually located near brooks for a supply of water. Benjamin Bellows had one in 1774 at the south end of Main Street; Amasa Allen had one on his land on the River Road (now Leighton Bridge (#231)); there is said to have been one a short distance south of the present Vilas Bridge; one on the old Eaton place (#582) north of the "Seward Pasture" on the south side of the Valley; one on the old Fenton Place (#566) in the Valley.
Another use for the wood was the manufacture of charcoal. In the 1830's Thomas Cunningham mortgaged "all the wood in the wood yard . . . also a lot of wood on Fall Mountain being about 60 cords, also the bin of coal on Fall Mountain of about 200 bushels" and later "the wood for a coal pit set up to burn on Ebenezer Morse's land on Fall Moun- tain. .. . "
Great quantities of wood were used for heating houses and for cooking. March 1799 we find this ad in the Museum: "Those persons who expect to pay for their papers in wood are requested to bring it in this week." Everyone had his woodpile-William Mitchell: "21 cords in my woodpile in my garden". In the early days when all the wood was burned in fire- places, it did not have to be worked up so much as after the advent of stoves. In the 1830's there were all kinds of stoves-the cast iron box stove, Conant's Patent Cooking stove, Wilson's Patent Cook Stove, Rotary Top Cook Stove. ... When wood had to be worked up more, we find one of "John and Luke Hale's machines of their improvement for apply- ing animal power for the purpose of sawing firewood" about 1833 and Henry Mellish's "one horse power and circular saw" ... ; later sawing was done with gasoline engines. Around 1890 householders were install- ing furnaces, steam heat.
In the few years preceding 1876 the number of coal users in town increased from three to sixty, the price ranging from $7.25 to $8.50 per ton at the Walpole Depot, through a Bellows Falls dealer. The next year the price was $5.50 for egg, $6.00 for stove, between 300 and 400 tons being sold in one week in October. In 1895 F. A. Spaulding sold about 1,000 tons of coal. In 1903 there was a coal famine; everyone was hauling wood at $6.00 and $8.00 per cord.
Before 1800 there were at least five or six sawmills in town: James Allen's on Great Brook east of the River Road; Jonathan Gates on Great Brook on Rt. 12; Richard Lock's on Houghton Brook west of Rt. 12; Jonathan Royce's near March Bridge on the March Hill Road on Great Brook; Fairbanks at Drewsville; Richard Merriam's on Merriam Brook in the southeast part of town; Chapin's on Governor's Brook in North
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Walpole; on Josiah Gilbert's land on the brook on the south slope of Fall Mountain after 1800. In 1870 there were two sawmills in town, yearly payroll $4,000, producing 220,000 ft. shingles and laths, 1,100,000 ft. boards and dimension timber, total value $20,000.
As was true in other towns in the Connecticut Valley there was heavy stripping of the forests of Walpole between 1890 and 1910. Most of this was done by portable mills set up on or near the lots being cleared and moved as required. Among those who had such mills in this period were George A. Pierce, Charles W. Adams, Colburn Bros., Warren Newton of Athol, Mass. and Hagar Bros. of Greenfield, Mass. Oliver J. Butterfield had a mill near Westminster Depot, and there was the mill at the pond north of the village.
Today many of the farmers develop their woodlots with careful plant- ing, pruning and thinning and harvest their timber by selective cuttings. The town has properties of forest land, one connected with the Hooper School and another being the east part of the Fanny Mason estate which she left for a town forest.
According to Fogg's Gazeteer for 1875 Walpole ranked third in the state in value of agricultural produce, total $254,095 (for year 1872). Fol- lowing are the items as tabulated: Acres of improved land 19,433; Num- ber of horses 408; Number of cattle 1,278; Number of sheep 9,219; Num- ber of swine 441; Estimated value of all livestock $141,615; Bushels of wheat 1,001; of rye 514; of corn 38,660 (13,000 more than any other town); Bushels of barley 33,373; Pounds of wool 39,103; Bushels of peas and beans 61; of potatoes 15,355; Value of orchard products $7,610; Pounds of butter 50,000; Pounds of cheese 4,670; Gallons of milk sold 145; Tons of hay 6,657; Bushels of seed (Hay) 39; Pounds of maple sugar 10,500; no honey or hops; Value of animals slaughtered or sold to be slaughtered $254,095; Pounds of Tobacco 95,850.
We offer these figures only as a matter of interest. Gazeteers are not noted for their accuracy. More reliable figures, although not covering the same items, are to be had from the town inventories which may present an understatement. In 1797 a law was passed requiring the select- men to "take inventory of the following articles which each person shall be possessed of April next/viz., orchard, arable, mowing and pasture land, accounting so much orchard as will in a common season produce 10 barrels of Cyder or Perry, 1 acre-so much pasture land as will sum- mer a Cow-4 acres-what mowing land will commonly produce 25 bu. corn yearly, 1 acre, in which is to be considered all land planted with Indian Corn, Potatoes, and Beans and sown with grain flax or peas. . . . "
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GRAIN
In 1814 Josiah Bellows 2nd and David Stone bought the Atkinson farm (Boggy Meadow) on speculation, Josiah Bellows 3rd joining them in 1816. They employed Thomas Cunningham who lived next north "and others to cut off the timber, which found a ready market in Hartford, and sowed a large part of the land to winter rye in the fall of 1815 which was probably the largest field of grain ever seen in town, and the sowing that year proved a fortunate circumstance, as the next year, 1816, was the coldest season ever experienced in this vicinity, and, in consequence, the corn crop was a perfect failure. 1816 is well remembered by the old citizens as the cold season or 'poverty year'. The mean mercurial tempera- ture was about 43. Snow fell in June, and August was the only month exempt from frosts. The early frosts of September cut off the unripe corn, which some persons vainly tried to save by early husking and spreading. There was a heavy crop of English grain, otherwise the inhabitants would have suffered a partial famine." (AH 95)
In 1798 an advertisement in the Museum listed the following grains as those taken in trade: wheat, rye, Indian corn, oats. In 1870 there was the following report: no fibre, little rye, no hops, little barley or buckwheat, very little wheat; potatoes usually fraction of an acre; chief grains oats and corn.
The production of most grain fell off, but corn increased. March 13, 1883, the following discussion took place at the Walpole Farmers' Club on What We Know About Silos.
E. K. Seabury: "Two years ago, after studying the subject pretty thoroughly and visiting a number of farmers who had silos in successful operation, I built my silo. The first year I put in 30 tons of corn. People laughed at me and predicted that I should have to cart the stuff out as manure; but their expectations were not realized. I fed all the ensilage to my stock with very satisfactory results. ... I intend to build another the coming season. . .. I think good silos can be built by any of our farmers at small expense, and I should like to see them all try the system for them- selves."
O. J. Hubbard: "I built a wooden silo last summer and filled it with corn. My ensilage corn, owing to the drought, was light, not much more than half a crop. It was cut up in September and trod into the silo with a horse, and a heavy pressure applied. The ensilage came out in better condition than I expected. I commenced feeding it to 20 cattle and 160 sheep twice a day. The sheep gained very fast. The cattle did as well as others that had no ensilage, perhaps a little better."
John L. Hubbard: "I have had the ensilage fever, but I am now convalescent. I am apt to be enthusiastic about new things, and sometimes get bit by investing in them, but I haven't built a silo yet." (He proceeded to prove his points with figures, opposing the practicability of ensilage. O. J. Hubbard pointed out his errors in calculations and
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the fallacy in his conclusions. Seabury quoted authorities on the subject, John P. Holmes cited his experiences.)
O. J. Hubbard: "I fed 10 two-year-old steers on ensilage, and they did as well as any cattle I ever fed. They became fat early in the season, and sold for a good price. I got the full market price for the grain I gave them, and $15 a ton for the ensilage." John P. Holmes: "The question might be raised whether the $15 should be credited wholly to the ensilage, or in part to Mr. Hubbard's sharpness in buying and selling." Hubbard: "All I can say about that is that I paid for the steers all I was asked, and I sold them to two of the hardest fellows to deal with that I know of."
That first silo of Seabury's was built inside his barn, now Albert Fletcher's. By 1895 silos were fairly common. The self-binding harvester was a boon. Even 30 years ago the corn was cut that way, dropped in bundles on the ground, picked up by hand and loaded onto wagons, chopped at the barn and conveyed into the silo. Today the corn is chopped in the row and blown into a truck, then taken to the barn and transferred to the silo.
In 1892 Baxter built a cannery at Westminster and many farmers raised sweet corn for that outlet, feeding the fodder to their cattle. Succo- tash, tomatoes, squash and apples were also put up at the cannery. The cannery was damaged by fire in September 1931.
SHEEP
In 1869 there were 12,532 sheep in town; in 1895 there were 2,759. Aldrich states that the French Merino were coming into town, but in larger flocks the breed seemed to be of no particular consequence. Some of the smaller flocks were listed as "full-blooded Spanish Merino." In 1885 the following were listed: William Arnold, 150 Spanish Merino; Harrison G. Barnes, 375 Spanish Merino; Oliver J. Hubbard and King Bros., Spanish Merino; Charles Parkinson, 400 no breed; S. Johnson Tiffany, 200 Spanish Merino; Charles E. Watkins, Spanish Merino; George Watkins, pure Spanish Merino; Henry J. Watkins, 450 no breed.
During this period the sheep were kept primarily for their wool. In May 1886 33,000 lbs. of wool were gathered from the country-side, brought to the town hall and sold to Faulkner & Colony of Keene for 20-29ยข per pound. In October that same year D. B. Emerson bought over 70,000 lbs., others 35,000; 20,000 lbs. not sold. About half of this had been produced in 1886. Lyme was the only town in the state producing more wool than Walpole.
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