USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Walpole > A history of Walpole, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
When Cleveland became president in 1893, the tariff was removed from wool. The imports increased from 55,000,000 1b. in 1894 to 203,000,000 lb. in 1895 and the price dropped from 30¢ to 15¢. By 1897 the sheep
548
business had shifted so that some farmers were buying lambs to fatten, but did not themselves keep any great number of sheep. In October 1897 John P. Holmes drove 325 lambs home from Windham, Vt. The previous January he had sold 600 at a good profit. The lambs were shipped at 100 1b.
By 1899 the wool price was more or less stabilized at 19-20¢. Through the years dogs became an increasing menace. In 1961 there were 120 sheep and goats in the whole town.
Sheep were always "ornery critters," difficult to control. They were a nuisance in the meeting house yard. It took a good fence to hold them in or out. Mrs. Barnes relates how Joseph Bellows wished to move some of his valuable sheep from one pasture to another two or three miles distant. He sent for Thomas Bellows to make the transfer. He was suc- cessful in driving the sheep a part of the way, when all at once they scattered in every direction. On going closer, he found Sam Gilchrist lying in the middle of the road, dead drunk. Knowing that he could never get the sheep past him, Thomas attempted to arouse him, to get him out of the way, but to no avail. Finally in angry desperation he took a pole from a nearby fence and beat him to his senses. To his chagrin, Sam told and retold his account of the occurrence until Bellows finally bought him off with the gift of a pair of shoes.
CATTLE
In 1840 most farmers had from three to ten cows. Josiah Bellows had fifteen, William Buffum fourteen, Luther Proctor twelve. There were 100 families owning one cow, 69 owning two cows.
As early as 1857 Joseph Wells brought cattle from Canada to Walpole but not until the 1870's were a great many cows brought into town from the north, a business which increased through the years. In 1887 Henry Slade was bringing cattle from northern Vermont and selling them locally for $20 to $30 apiece. Davidson of Craftsbury was driving cattle through town-in November 1887 at least six droves in a few weeks. He drove them to the Fletcher farm in the south part of town where he kept them for a few days before proceeding southward. Often they went through on Saturday night and pastured at Fletcher's over Sunday. There are said to have been 1,200 to 1,300 animals at a time, but most droves were a few hundred. By 1898 George A. Chickering was in business as a drover, also Arthur Chickering.
The early cows in Walpole were described in the records (when they broke into someone's enclosure) as red, or black, or brindle, etc., although
549
there is reference in 1845 to a Devon. By 1885 Edwin Guild, Frederick H. Holland and Esdras Smith listed their herds as Jersey; Kingsbury Brothers, Durham; and E. K. Seabury as Holstein. In 1897 Rufus Leon- ard's four Jerseys produced 1,426 1b., 5 oz. butter, which sold at 25-26¢ per pound. In 1889 John Hayward had Jerseys, selling cream at 25¢ per quart. One Sunday his bull got into Judge Bellows' pasture, causing such a commotion among the cows that there was a forced intermission in re- ligious worship.
In the early days butter and cheese were made on the farm. What could be spared was traded at the store for goods. In 1798 Moses Johnson ad- vertised: "Good, hard sweet butter will be received at 10 pence per lb. Those who prefer cash to goods shall receive 9 pence per lb. for 'their butter. N.B. No butter will be received but the best kind, the milk well worked out, and the butter perfectly sweet, hard and in neat order."
Butter directions Museum July 24, 1798: "The cream to be churned before it is old, the butter well worked and properly salted, then to be set in a cool, clean cellar, put into a vessel wet with cold water, a large cloth several times folded, and wet with cold water, laid over it; the next day taken up and well worked again, the milk washed out with cold water, and after sufficiently worked, put into the cellar again as before; if to be sent several miles distance, the box which contains the butter (if warm weather) should be wrapped up in a large cloth wet directly from the well to prevent the heat from the horse melting it. If timely and properly attended to in this manner, Butter may be transported upon a horse ten miles in the warmest morning in August, per- fectly hard and in good order. For the encouragement of the above applications to this valuable article, the generous price of ten pence per pound will be paid in Goods at low prices, or if more agreeable, one third goods and two-thirds cash .... "
In 1884 there was talk of establishing a creamery in Walpole, but noth- ing seemed to come of such an undertaking until Walpole farmers put up a share of the capital for a creamery which was opened in West- minster September 10, 1888 (Vermont Valley Creamery). In 1889 butter was selling for 28¢ a pound.
By 1894 farmers were shipping milk to Boston. In July 1895 sixteen farmers shipped a daily average of 235 cans from Walpole station, while 26 farmers shipped from Hall's Crossing where they had erected a station along the east side of the railroad south of the highway. They received 22¢ per 81/2 quart can, with the demand greater than the supply. How- ever, by 1897 there had begun to be problems arising from surplus milk. Many of the Walpole farmers had joined the Milk Producers' Union at Bellows Falls, Ira Ramsay being Vice President and John Holmes, Secre- tary. Holmes and Willie G. Leonard attended a meeting in Boston at which the surplus milk problem was discussed. The conclusions were:
550
Surplus should not exceed lø per can, milk should be furnished only by the Union, consumption should be stimulated and extended, and quality kept up to standard.
Locally Everett L. Houghton was the first to deliver milk (1895). In September he was peddling milk to 43 families twice a day, average 571/2 qts. per day at 5¢ per quart, from ten Jerseys. In 1897 he bought a regu- lation milk cart and bought out N. W. Holland's route to add to his own. In the spring 1911 Ira Hubbard bought Charles H. Barnes' route, then sold it in the fall to C. E. Seward.
In January 1898 there were 10,429 cans of milk that went to the Boston Dairy Company, 1,095 direct to customers in Boston, mostly from Amory and Williams. Fred Booth, Cyrus Church, W. G. Leonard, J. L. Hough- ton and others withdrew from the Boston Dairies, separated and sold cream to the Valley Creamery at Westminster. Houghton used sheep power to turn his separator. From Walpole station the last week of De- cember 1897 3,265 lbs. of butter were shipped.
Amory and Bridge were first who tested for tuberculosis in cattle in 1894. That year the farmers met, sent George P. Williams to Concord as delegate to see if cows slaughtered for T.B. should not be paid for at assessed valuation. Cattle had to be tested for T.B. before being shipped into Massachusetts. Reactors were slaughtered.
In 1920 the Bellows Falls Cooperative Creamery was organized, al- though not a marketing agency until 1921 when an agreement was made with the First National Stores. There were 120 members in the beginning, up to a maximum of 1,300; in 1951 about 900. The first shipment was made November 1921. In 1921 the daily average per producer was 125 lb .; in 1935, 168 1b .; in 1950, 265 lb .; in April 1962, 704 lbs.
Through the years some producers have delivered their own milk to the plant, but more have had theirs picked up by Brookside trucks. At the present time the shift is being made to bulk tank trucks, doing away with the old 40 qt. cans which ruined many a strong back. The milk is processed at the Bellows Falls plant, ready for delivery in the metropoli- tan markets. What is sold in bottles is bottled at Bellows Falls. Louis Ballam of Walpole is president of the Cooperative. In April 1962 there were 581 active patrons.
In 1961 there were in Walpole 1,311 cows, 101 neat stock and oxen.
BEEF
As noted before the value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter in 1875 was $254,095, most of which was probably beef. In the early days
551
butchering was done on the farm and each family had its pork barrel and its corned beef. Even the state tax was expressed as "beef money."
As early as 1798 there is a record of beef cattle going to Boston. Later there were yards at the Walpole and Cold River railroad stations. During a four-week period in the summer of 1895 the following were shipped to Boston from these yards: 615 calves, 117 sheep, 251 cows, 20 beef animals. Monday was shipping day. Before 1900 it was considered worthy of news comment which markets in town sold native beef and which western.
HORSES
Horses were listed in the early inventories and with oxen were the farm draft animals. Teaming was an important occupation for many farmers, particularly out-of-season. Before the days of the railroad there was team- ing to and from Boston (See Decade to 1830). Among the drivers were Elisha and Ebenezer Crain who had two teams, driving between Walpole and Boston about 1839. Walpole was also an important staging center. In 1840 we find the following owners of large numbers of horses: John B. Sparhawk, 9; William F. Greenwood, 7; Pelatiah Armstrong, 6; William Buffum, 8; Otis Bardwell, 13 (stage); Reuben Brown, 6; Thomas Drew, 8; Lovell Farr, 8; John Graves, 6; William P. Mason, 8. William Buffum also owned 8 oxen; most people had 2 horses.
As early as 1835 Frederick A. Wier introduced the Morgan horse into Walpole, a universal favorite with stage drivers, physicians and all who depended on driving horses. Cock of the Rock was an early Morgan stud belonging to Wier and Charles C. Chaffin.
In May 1873 L. B. Holland bought a portion of the Hibbard farm on the River Road near the railroad crossing and laid out a track, the only mile track in the state. In September about 50 of Mr. Holland's friends and neighbors gathered for a bee at the track, bringing with them a score of 2-horse and ox carts. They worked bravely toward completion of the track, but were interrupted by a storm. Their efforts were rewarded with a clam bake, the first in this part of the country, a barrel of clams being consumed.
In 1874 there were races and special events such as are common at fairs. Albert Short caught the greased pig. Auctions of horses were also held at the track. In 1875 the track was leased to Solon S. King for the season, but was not very successful. Leach later owned the track.
Late in the winter of 1877 the river furnished a splendid trotting course, safe from the Village Bridge to Cold River, with as many as 50
552
teams there at a time. William March's pacer seemed to be the fastest in the races.
In 1897 we find the following list of horses and horsemen in Walpole who normally gathered at the hotel:
David W. Leach-'Jos Wilkes' George E. Sherman-'Reno McGregor'
F. L. Chickering-'Kitty Wilkes' D. W. Smith-'King Tantalus' F. J. Perry-'Pair of Lamberts'
H. F. (Hen) Chandler-'Truth'
Charles W. Adams
W. W. Porter
Fred Prentiss
Frank Sibley
George Sparhawk F. A. Lebourveau
LIVERIES
In the 1850 census we find hostlers listed in connection with the hotel in the village, probably for the care of the horses of guests, rather than having horses for hire, although Henry Allen is said to have opened a livery about this time. The hotel owners are not listed in the early town inventories as owning any great number of horses. In 1849 Calvin J. Holden is listed as having a livery business: 4 horses, 4 buggies, 1 Rocka- way wagon, 1 two-horse covered carriage, 1 four-horse coach, 12 harnesses, 6 sleighs, 11 Buffalo robes. He was running the Walpole House at that time.
Also listed, but without date, is Charles F. Colston: livery business and running to the depot. There was certainly a stable connected with the hotel when Holbrook sold the property to Silas M. Bates in 1858; 1865 to Horace A. Perry. He leased to others. In 1870 William Maynard owned the livery, if not the building, with 14 horses valued at $2000. The prop- erty burned 1880 and Maynard set up business in George Jennison's barn, then soon sold to Warren H. Jennison. At this time Henry P. Allen started a livery in his father's barn, corner Turnpike and Main Streets, where Otis Bardwell had operated stables and stage lines in earlier days.
In 1883 Perry built a new livery barn and blacksmith shop west of the hotel-12 open stalls, 2 box stalls, office and harness room. In 1889 Perry sold to Fred Lebourveau; 1893 to John White Hayward Jr .; in 1896 Lebourveau became manager. His business is thus described in the Souvenir Edition of Bellows Falls Times 1899: "One of the first and most essential requirements of the summer tourist or the commercial traveller is for the services of a liveryman who is reliable, courteous, in- telligent, and thoroughly informed regarding the roads, the scenery, and the personnel of the town.
"Mr. F. A. Lebourveau possesses all of these requirements, and is also
553
an accomplished horseman and an agreeable companion. He is widely known to the public as a successful liveryman and horse buyer and trainer, and he has been a factor in attracting summer company to Walpole.
"Fred began buying horses at the age of sixteen, experimented in the butcher and meat business with a partner, learned to shoe horses and iron wagons, and finally decided that his sphere of usefulness, as well as his tastes, were in the line of horsemanship.
"Some fifteen years ago, soon after the old hotel and livery were burned, he erected his livery stable near the Dinsmore House, and soon had the choicest livery stock in this section. For a pair of stylish creams with white tails, he was offered $800, but kept them six years as a travel- ling card for the stable, and then sold them for $600. Mr. Lebourveau has probably mated, trained and sold more high priced Gentlemen's drivers, single and in spans, than any other man of his age in Cheshire County (40), the prices ranging from $300 to $2,000."
In April 1899 Russell Graves bought the Lebourveau Livery Stable, retaining as foreman George F. Chandler who had been with the business for eight years and was familiar with the country and a great favorite with commercial men. The stable had twelve horses with outfits to match and a three-seater Surrey enjoyed by many a lively party on outings. The Graves business was continued as long as there was any demand for horse drawn rigs.
In 1909 Albert Brigham established a livery stable on High Street, also at his farm on the Bellows Falls Road, kept a stallion and raised colts. He took William G. Stowell as a partner, died suddenly, after which Stowell took Edgar J. Wells as partner. Soon they dissolved, Wells con- tinued the business with six horses, running an express delivery, a school bus route, and later an auto livery. All his profits were consumed when he went into politics. At one time, either before 1909 or after 1914, Archie Hathaway had a livery here.
Around 1908 John E. Proctor and wife Emma Radford Proctor kept a livery of five horses on Pleasant Street. Mrs. Proctor worked caring for the horses, harnesses and wagons; Mr. Proctor was cemetery sexton and used his horses on the hearse. He also drove his horses for hire.
At North Walpole Taylor had a livery stable in 1900.
RUNAWAYS AND OTHER ACCIDENTS
In this mechanical era we are apt to think of locomotion in the 18th and 19th centuries as comparatively slow and without danger. To dispel
554
such an idea we here list a few of the many accidents reported in the press.
In July 1890 there was a week of accidents of one kind and another. While the Mazeppa Fire Company was testing the fire engine, Edward Holland got his feet tangled in the rope used for drawing the engine, was run over and seriously injured. The same day Ellis was hurt leading a cow. On Monday Dannie Brown was thrown from his mowing machine, his foot hurt in the machine. That same day James Sullivan hitched his horse into a buggy with a broken thill. The horse became furious and crowded Sullivan against the piazza post, seriously jamming his chest. He also dislocated the post which was more easily repaired than Sullivan's bones.
In July 1895 Frank Sibley's horse was frightened at the crossing in Westminster, threw out the two occupants of the buggy and ran through the bridge to Walpole Street where the buggy collided with a post. About a week later the ice delivery team in the village ran away.
In November 1897 J: P. Holmes harnessed his colt to go up to the street and left him standing at the door while he went inside to get his coat. When he came out, the rig was gone. Two days later the colt was found dead on a crossroad near Westmoreland Depot, the carriage nearby. It appeared that he had run into a tree.
In March 1898 a large gray horse of R. G. Graves caused considerable excitement in the village when he ran, with heavy forward cart wheels, from Prentiss' blacksmith shop into the Square and round Elm and Turnpike Streets. He cleared himself neatly, but was caught on West- minster Street.
In June 1898 the two horses hitched to the Standard Oil wagon, driven by W. H. Kiniry of North Walpole, were standing by the hitching posts in the Square, bridles off, eating their supper. One suddenly began to kick; they started, ran into the team of W. G. Leonard, then crashed into the end of the C. C. Davis Block, and were finally stopped by the crowd.
POULTRY: HISTORY OF HUBBARD FARMS
In 1791 Levi Hubbard came to Walpole from Holden, Mass., and purchased the original Hubbard farm (#460) from John Kilburn. On this land he built the colonial home that stands today. The farm has been in the continued ownership of the Hubbard family since that time and is now occupied by Levi's great-grandson, Ira S. Hubbard.
On this farm in 1914 Oliver J. Hubbard, son of Ira, started the poultry operation which has developed into the present commercial Hubbard
555
Farms business. By 1921 approximately 1,000 laying birds were housed which was then considered to be a large poultry enterprise. In that year chicks were hatched and shipped to purchasers by Parcel Post. This was a pioneer venture as the mails had only recently permitted the Parcel Post shipment of day-old chickens. The hatchery business as it is known today was only starting and the Hubbards were among the first to use the mails for delivery of chicks. This method of distribution was instrumental in the development of Hubbard Farms since it made pos- sible a wide geographical distribution and market for their product.
During the 1920 decade a new breed of chickens was being developed in New Hampshire that later gained country and world-wide popularity. This became known as the New Hampshire breed. Hubbard Farms had a major part in originating this breed, and in the development and pro- motion of it. They also became the largest breeders and distributors of New Hampshires in the United States.
In July 1931 the business was incorporated as Hubbard Farms, Inc. By that time the yearly production and sale of chicks had grown to over 1,000,000. Sales areas were growing and a demand had been created for the Hubbard Farms product in some of the larger eastern states such as New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. To better serve this area, in 1933 a branch hatchery was established in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The rapid growth of the poultry industry in the South in recent years made it desirable to establish a plant to serve that area. In 1957 a hatchery was built in Statesville, North Carolina. In 1959 another hatchery was opened in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
For many years Hubbard Farms has shipped foundation breeding lines of day-old chicks by air to many foreign countries. This demand has increased as other areas of the world have copied the commercial mass production methods that the poultry industry has developed in the United States. The growth of these foreign markets made necessary a European Hubbard Farms Hatchery. In 1962 a Hubbard Farms Belgian Corporation was formed for the purpose of distributing breeding stock to the European Common Market. This is jointly owned with citizens of that country. A poultry farm and hatchery has been constructed at Oudenaarde, Belgium, where Hubbard Farms breeding stock is carried and foundation breeding stock chicks are hatched to be distributed to the poultry farms of Europe.
The business has been family owned and operated. As other sons of Ira S. Hubbard finished college they found opportunities in the growing operation. Austin I. Hubbard joined the organization in 1925, Leslie S.
556
Hubbard in 1926 and Donald E. Hubbard in 1938. At the present time third generation family members are in active management positions, consisting of John A. Hubbard, son of Austin; O. Wentworth Hubbard, son of Oliver; and William I. Phipps, son of Mildred Hubbard Phipps.
In Walpole, the headquarters of the company, Hubbard Farms oper- ates one of the largest and most detailed genetic poultry breeding re- search operations in the United States. This is designed to improve pres- ent commercial strains of poultry as well as to originate and develop new and better ones. Foundation breeding stock goes out from the Walpole Research Farm to stock the multiplication farms of Hubbard Farms in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Belgium. It takes over 300,000 breed- ing birds to produce the hatching eggs to keep these plants operating. In turn, the progeny of this stock goes directly by air-conditioned trucks to hatchery and poultrymen as breeding parent lines and as commercial chicks for meat and egg production. Present incubating capacity at all Hubbard Farms plants is over 21/2 million eggs at one setting. At full production this means 700,000 chicks a week are hatched.
In Walpole the number of full-time employees is 70. A considerable number of hatching eggs are produced by local poultrymen and pur- chased by the Hubbard hatcheries. Thus, the business has been helpful in the economic life of the community.
It might be interesting to observe that between 1914 and the time of this writing, 1962, or within the working lifetime of one generation, vast changes have occurred in all agricultural production. However, none has been more rapid or dramatic than the technological and productive ad- vance of the poultry industry. Before 1914 poultry raising had advanced little if any from the knowledge and methods used by the ancient civiliza- tions of China and Egypt. The history of the Hubbard Farms poultry business therefore coincides with the period of years when immense sources of information were being discovered in genetics, nutrition, dis- ease control and labor saving devices, all making possible massive pro- duction of poultry meat and eggs at a fraction of the cost that prevailed fifty years ago. Hubbard Farms has been a factor in this development and growth of the poultry industry in the United States as well as in other countries. And through its genetic breeding program it has been influential in developing strains vastly improved in meat and egg pro- duction quality.
The present officers of Hubbard Farms, Inc., are: O. Wentworth Hub- bard, President; Austin I. Hubbard, Vice President; Leslie S. Hubbard, Vice President; Donald E. Hubbard, Treasurer; Oliver J. Hubbard,
557
Chairman of the Board. Directors of the Corporation are: O. Wentworth Hubbard, Austin I. Hubbard, Leslie S. Hubbard, Donald E. Hubbard, Oliver J. Hubbard, John A. Hubbard, Ira S. Hubbard, William I. Phipps, Leslie A. Neal.
APPLES
In the early years all farms of any consequence had their orchards, and in the early town inventories we find the number of acres of orchard owned by each taxpayer. When a farm was advertised for sale the orchard acreage was noted. According to Aldrich, Nathan Watkins brought with him on horseback from Connecticut the apple trees which were still standing in 1875 on the Kingsbury farm a little south of the homstead. Col. John Bellows is said to have had the largest orchard in town, 30 acres.
These apples were no doubt "common" fruit, although there may have been named varieties. In 1831 William Hooper had a tree which yielded 80 bushels of apples. It was known to the family as "Pride of the Frying Pan" and at that time was supposed to be 80 years old. In 1851 he set grafted trees, so that by 1874 he was said to have the finest apples in town. That year he produced 200 bbl. Baldwins, 80 bbl. R. I. Greenings, 10 bbl. Fall apples and enough for 30 bbl. cider. Charles Hooper, next door, that year had 300 bbl.
According to Fogg's Gazetteer (1875) the annual value of orchard prod- ucts in Walpole was $7,610.
In 1882 there were 2,010 bbl. apples shipped by rail from Walpole Depot, 1,000 bbl. from Cold River Depot. Dana Hooper grossed $790 and with his father William from two orchards grossed $1500. In 1885 several carloads of apples were shipped to England, men coming from Boston to do the packing. In 1897 there were 1000 bbl. shipped to Liverpool. In 1885, according to statistics, Levi Burt was a dealer in small trees and had 960 trees on his place (#271); William Hooper 500 trees, Mrs. Lyman Houghton 130 trees, William Jennings 150 trees, S. Johnson Tiffany 75 trees.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.