USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > A history of the town of New London, Merrimack county, New Hampshire, 1779-1899 > Part 27
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CHAPTER VII.
THIRD HISTORICAL PERIOD-BUILDING OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH-SPRINGFIELD AND WENDALL LINES-OPENING OF STAGE ROUTE-FOUNDING OF NEW LONDON ACADEMY- THE SCYTHE WORKS-EARLY HISTORY OF SCYTHEVILLE- ESTABLISHMENT OF POOR FARM-SURVEY FOR THE NORTH- ERN RAILROAD - TREE-PLANTING EPISODES - PRINTED REPORTS - NEW LONDON'S CROWNING HONOR - TOWN OFFICIALS, 1826-1850.
The third period, from 1826 to 1850, may be characterized as an era of marked progress. New and profitable industries were established, population and material resources increased correspondingly, and religious and educational interests shared in the general upward impetus. The trend of affairs was nat- urally along old conservative lines, but a few dominant leaders, infected with the public spirit and enthusiasm resultant from broader living and contact with the outer world in its eager, resistless activity, broke down the hedging barriers and set in motion the whirring wheels of industry and advancement. In tracing the gradual evolution, recourse must be had to the vo- luminous records of the town clerk and selectmen, detailing carefully and laboriously the minutiae of current events.
Mention has already been made of the predominance of the Baptist belief, and at a special town meeting in the year 1825, a strong effort was made by prominent members of that society to secure an exclusive right to use the meeting- house for public worship. The motion was defeated, and this was the signal for a radical movement. For nearly a half-century what is now Summer street, by virtue of its pos- session of the mills at the Hominy Pot, the town meeting-house, the earliest store, and the postoffice, had the paramount claim as the business centre of the town ; but the fickle wind of popu- lar favor was already veering towards the east. It was decided to build a meeting-house for the Baptist society on Colby hill,
294
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
and Anthony Colby and David Everett undertook the responsi- bility of the work.
The approximate cost of the building was determined, and enough slips were disposed of in advance to secure the builders. Early in 1826 the corner stone was laid with appropriate cere- monies, and July 4 was the day set for raising the huge frame. No booming cannon was needed to rouse the workmen on that eventful Independence day, and from early dawn until late at night they swarmed like bees around the hive, until at last the completed framework stood bare and gaunt against the evening sky. When the belfry and spire were added, Manning Sea- mans, assisted by a fellow-craftsman from Newport, did the iron work, and the night it was completed his smithy burned to the ground. Through all the long summer days the work went briskly on, and before the snows of winter fell, the house was closed in, and the clear-toned bell in the belfry rang out over the valleys in joyful notes, welcoming the people to the new place of worship. At the regular meeting of the Baptist society, on the third Monday of December, 1826, it was voted to accept the meeting-house and the common around it, and Joseph Colby and Jonathan Greeley were chosen a committee to take a conveyance from the builders. For a while worship was held in the old house on alternate Sundays, but its princi- pal use for the succeeding quarter-century was for town meet- ings. The horsesheds at the new church were built about 1838.
The records of the Baptist state convention attest that on June 27, 1826, delegates from sixteen churches met with the church in New London, and there organized as a corporate body under a charter just obtained from the New Hampshire legislature. Joseph Colby was the first president of the con- vention, and it was most fitting that New London should be the birthplace and Mr. Colby the sponsor of the corporation, for he was not only a devout Baptist himself, but gave freely both of time and money for the propagation of the faith.
The income from the ministerial fund in 1826 amounted to $80, which was divided proportionately among the three societies, according to their numbers. The Baptists, with 117 members, had occupied the old church 35 Sundays, and received $53.79 ; Universalists, 30 members, 9 Sundays, $13.79 ; Free- will Baptists, 27 members, 8 Sundays, $12.41. In 1829 the
ORDER OF EXERCISES,
At the Dedication of the Baptist New Meeting-House in. New- London, on Thursday, January 11, 1827.
1. Auditory Anthem ---
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in .- Who is this King of Glory ? It is the Lord, strong and mighty in battle, and trial of the sword .--- The earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is; the com- pass of the world,. and all that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods .- Hallelujah !- Amen.
Invocation : And reading a portion of Scripture.
3. Singing ---
O come let us sing unto the Lord : let us heartily { thec prosperity, and I will seek to do thee good .-
rejoice in the strength of our salvation: let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and show our- selves glad in him' with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hands are all the corners of the earth : and the strength of. the hills is his also. 'The sea is his, and he made IL: and his hands prepared the dry land .- O come let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is the Lord our God : and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
4. Prayer.
AV
5. Singing a Hymn.
1 Great Lord of angels, we adore The grace that builds thy courts below; And through ten thousand suns of light, Stoops to regard what mortals do.
2 We bring the tribute of thy praise, And sing that condescending grace, Which to our notes will lend an ear, And call us, sinful mortals, near.
3 These walls, we to thy honour raise : Long may they echo with thy praise ; And thou, descending, fill the place . With choicest tokens of thy grace.
4 Here let the great Redeemer reign, With all the glories of his train ; While Pow'r Divine his Word attends, To conquer foes, and cheer his friends.
5 And in the great decisive day, When God the nations shall survey, May it before the world appear, Thousands were born to glory here.
G. Sermon.
M. Consecrating Prayer. w
8. Consecrating Anthem -.
I was glad when they said unto me, We will go inio the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem .- Jernsalem is built as a cuy that is at unity with itself : for thither go the tribes-even the tribes of the Lord-to testify unto Israel, and to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. . For there, is the seat of Judgment, even the seat of the house of David .- O pray for the peace of Jerusalem : Peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces .. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will wish
Amen. Hallelujah !- Amen.
9. Closing Prayer. in
10. Closing Anthem.
1 Grateful notes and numbers bring, While Jehovah's praise we sing Holy, holy Lamb of God. Be thy glorious name ador'd.
2 Men on earth, and saints above, Sing the great Redeemer's love : Lord, thy mercies never fail- Ilail! celestial goodness, hail!
3 Though unworthy, Lord, thine ear, Our humble hallelujahs hear : Purer praise we hope to bring, When with saints we stand and sing.
4 Lead us to that blissful state, Where thou reign'st supremely great : Look with pity from thy throne ; Send thy Holy Spirit down.
5 While on earth ordain'd to stay, Guide our foot-steps in thy way ; Till we come to reign with thee, And thy glorious greatness. sec.
G Then with angels . we'll again Wake a louder, louder strain : There, in joyful songs of praise. We'll our grateful voices raise :
7 There, no tongue shall silent be ; There, all join street harmony; That through licav'n's all-spacious round, Praise, O God, may ever sound.
11. Bonediction.
GEORGE HOUONT, PRINTRE, CONCORD.
295
SPRINGFIELD AND WENDALL LINES.
societies numbered 144, 28, and 14 respectively. By 1844 the Baptists had increased to 177, the Universalists to 42, and the Freewill Baptists had given place to the Christian society, with 4I members. Union chapel, or the Free church, was built at Four Corners in 1847, but was used only a few years, then sold and moved away. Mention is first made of the principal of the ministerial fund in 1837 : principal, $1,323.33 ; annual interest, $79.40. The school fund resulting from the sale of the school lot was $466.67 ; annual interest, $28. The literary fund was $299.76 ; the surplus revenue amounted to $2,203.32.
According to the selectmen's accounts there were in 1826 seven school-districts. The number of pupils in each district and the expenditures were as follows : No. 1, 84 pupils, ex- pense $76.23 ; No. 2, pupils 67, expense $45.91 ; No. 3, pupils 75, expense $73.12 ; No. 4, pupils 71, expense $60.58 ; No. 5, pupils 19, expense $16.02 ; No. 7, pupils 43, expense $38.85 ; No. 8, pupils 39, expense $34.24. Total number pupils, 398 ; total expense, $344.95 ; average expense, 86 2-3 cents. Bal- ance of appropriation unexpended, $46.56. The same year Israel Hunting, collector, returned the full amount of his list, $765.94 ; income from interest, licenses, etc., $94.86; total receipts, $860.88 ; total expenditures, $779.60, leaving a sur- plus of $81.28. In addition the sum of $800 was raised and expended for highways.
Among other perambulations made by the selectmen in 1827 were those along the northeastern boundary, formerly the Masonian line. Between New London and Wendall this had been changed, but the Springfield boundary remained, the return being,-" beginning at the northeasterly corner of Wen- " dall, thence southeasterly to Little Sunapee Pond, and on to " the southeasterly corner of said Springfield, thence north- " easterly on the line between said New London and Springfield " (being the ancient Masonian Curve line) to a stake and stones " at the northeasterly corner of said New London and the south- " westerly corner of Wilmot."
The line between New London and Wendall was not formally established until 1831, when Samuel Greenwood and Jonathan Herrick for New London, and John Colby, Daniel George, Jr., and Daniel S. Currier for Wendall, agreed upon the line as fol- lows : " Beginning at a stake and stones on the shore of
296
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
"Sunapee Lake, and at the southeasterly corner of Daniel " George's land-thence running north eighteen degrees east, " to a stake and stones on the shore of Otter Pond, which is the " northeasterly corner of said Daniel George's land-thence " the same point, across Otter Pond, to a stake and stones on " Springfield line."
In 1828 four taverner's licenses were granted, and for the first time there is a record of the fees therefor, the ordinary license costing $2, while a special license issued to Hiram Duncan to retail in his store liquor in less quantities than one gallon, cost $20. Thereafter the annual fee is given as $2.
It would appear that by this time quite a settlement had been made around the outlet of Lake Pleasant, and in accordance with a vote of the town the selectmen in August, 1828, laid out a schoolhouse lot for district No. 5, as follows : " Beginning on " the northerly side of the highway leading from Colby's Mills "to Wilmot Meeting-house, nineteen rods and nine links "northeasterly from a large maple tree standing on the easterly " side of the road leading to John King's and near the first- "mentioned highway-" thence running easterly along the highway, a lot twenty-five feet square was laid out, and Wil- liam Gay, who owned the land, was awarded $1.50 damage. What was known as "Colby's Mills" were the saw-, grist-, and fulling-mills carried on by Isaac Bunker, Robert Pearce, and Josiah Sanborn.
The schoolhouse lot of district No. 3, at Four Corners, is held by virtue of a conveyance given by Ezekiel Sargent, May 29, 1829, conveying to the "said district and their successors " the free and full use, benefit and enjoyment of a certain piece " of land off of the northeast corner of the lot in " front of the house where I now live, and where the old " schoolhouse now stands,-it being a piece of land three and " a half rods square, bounded on two sides by the road . . "' so long as said school-district No. 3 or their successors shall " occupy said land for a schoolhouse lot."
Sheep were not reckoned among the taxable property until 1829, when Amos Page had 20 and Ebenezer Shepard 5; in 1830 John Brown had 25, Asa Gay 20, Eliphalet Gay 2, and Amos Page 10. In 1831 all sheep that had been wintered one season were taxable, and a total of 2,234 sheep was returned
297
TOWN POOR.
by 119 owners, the largest flock, 133, belonging to John Brown. It is also of interest to note in the 1830 tax-list the increasing prosperity as indicated by two items. In 1825 only five people owned carriages of taxable value; in 1830 the list included Josiah Brown, Perley Burpee, Joseph Colby, Anthony Colby, Samuel Carr, Moody Clement, David Everett, Jonathan Everett, Greene French, Ezekiel Sargent, Moses Trussell, Rev. Oren Tracy, Israel Hunting, Daniel Wood- bury, Jonathan Greeley. Six people had money at interest in 1825 ; in 1830 the list included Joseph Colby, Samuel Carr, Jonathan Herrick, Moses Trussell, Luther M. Trussell, Widow Molly Adams, Seth Freeman Sargent, Ira Smith, Jonathan Greeley, D. M. Everett, Daniel March.
Only two families were assisted by the town in 1830, and those who bid off their support agreed to " board and nurse them in health and sickness, also to do all their washing and mending of every kind," the town paying all necessary doc- tors' bills and furnishing what new clothing was required. The contracts were to " continue for one year if the paupers live." One of the families was the Henry Achilles and his wife who had disappeared from town about 1813 (see p. 66), and after living in Wendall and Weare had drifted back to their early home. Henry died in 1835, and his wife a few years later.
It was deemed advisable to secure additional land for the enlargement of the burying-ground in 1830, and an exchange was effected with Hiram Duncan, who owned land on the westerly side of the burying-ground, for land adjoining the pound, the pound itself and a right to drive to it being re- served. Jonathan Gage, Jonathan Greeley, and Reuben Por- ter, Esq., were the committee to appraise the land.
The selectmen's certification to the warrant for the annual meeting for 1831 has this additional paragraph :
" And we further certify that on the same eighteenth day of " February we posted up an alphabetical list of all of said " inhabitants [legal voters] to the best of our knowledge, at " the store of Trayne and Ayer, in said New London, and left " a like list with the Town Clerk."
This is the first mention of the public posting of a check-list, though for many years one had been in use at the meetings, in order that in doubtful cases the moderator might " cause
298
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
each man's name to be checked as he voted." One so used by Josiah Brown, town clerk in 1807, is still extant.
At a special meeting in 1831 it was voted " to raise one hun- dred dollars, to paint and repair the town Meeting-house," the selectmen being instructed to let the painting to the lowest bid- der. The accounts show that Trayne & Ayer were the suc- cessful party, and received $89 for the job.
The great event of the year 1832 was the daily passage through New London of the line of stage-coaches traversing the route from Hanover to Lowell. In his address at the cen- tennial celebration in 1879, Judge Sargent says,-" This new " road had been before the public for several years in one form "and another, and was strongly favored by one party and " opposed by another. But it had finally, through the efforts "of Col. Anthony Colby more than of any other man, proba- " bly, been laid out and built, and a stage company had been " formed, horses and coaches purchased, and arrangements " made for staging.
" This fall of 1832, J. Everett Farnum was teaching a pri- " vate school for a term in the red schoolhouse at the Four " Corners, and it was announced that on a certain day in " October the stage-coach would make its appearance. It " was to go through here in the afternoon to Hanover, and " start the next morning early for Lowell. As the expected "event drew nigh, study was out of the question, and the " teacher gave all permission to gaze for a time for the long- " expected stage-coach with its four horses in hand. It finally " came and went, as all things come and go ; but it took some " time to fully comprehend and realize the importance of the " fact that New London was henceforth to have a daily stage " and a daily mail both ways."
It was about this time that the present stage road to Sutton was built, the old road running through Crockett lane and over Harvey hill. The road from Gay corner to Scytheville was never officially laid out, that is, the travelled path in vogue in the days of Capt. Eliphalet Gay's saw-mill finally came to be accepted as a roadway. The highway from Scytheville to Wilmot Flat was built in 1836.
To provide good highways was a constantly-recurring prob- lem, and the foundation of excellent roads was laid with much
299
TAX-LIST OF 1837.
patient toil. Up to 1832 the annual expenditure for highways had been $800 for quite a period ; that year there were seven- teen districts, each with its surveyor, and an additional sum of $200 was voted for keeping roads open in winter. In 1833 there were nineteen surveyors, but after a while fifteen was the usual number elected. The two largest appropriations for road purposes during this period was in 1836, when $800 was voted for repair of highways, $400 for roads in winter, and $500 for new roads ; and in 1837, $800 for repairs, and $410 "to build the new road from Isaac Messer's to Albert Worthen's."
Previous to making the annual inventory in 1833 the select- men, Joseph Kimball, Anthony Colby, John Trussell, before Joseph Colby, justice of the peace, severally solemnly swore " that we will make a just and true appraisement of all ratable " estate subject to the assessment of public taxes in the town of " New London at its true and full value in Money-according " to the best of our judgment -. " Referring to the list thus prepared, the total value of the resident real estate was $130,690; the total value of the non-resident real estate was $2,165. Those owning estates exceeding $2,000 were Joseph Colby, $5,400, Anthony Colby, $4,550, John Currier, David Everett, Greene French, Asa Gay, Eliphalet Gay, Jonathan Greeley, Ezekiel Knowlton, Amos Page, John Page, Ezekiel Sargent, Ebenezer Shepard, Marshall Trayne, Daniel Wood- bury.
Following the tax-list of 1837 is a tabulated summary of the same, the first so prepared :
Number of polls . 198
Value of real estate . .
$142,552
Horses over 4 winters, value
.
7,102
1,922
Oxen 4
5,560
Cows 66
4
7,488
Stock 2
3,840
Sheep, value
7,542
Carriages, value
830
Money at interest
19,050
Stock in trade
4,500
Highway tax, rate .64
$831.51
60 2
.
300
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
School tax, rate .26
$337.85
Town tax, rate .32 415.83
State tax, rate .14
181.83
County tax, rate .88
114.29
Road tax, rate .33
Non-resident highway tax .
429.14 3.9I
Since 1828 a great advancement had been making in the line of educational advantages. Rev. Oren Tracy, who had succeeded Elder Seamans, was a scholarly man himself, and was deeply interested that the rising generation should reap the benefits of a broader and more liberal training than had heretofore been possible. Under his influence and leadership the citizens became more and more interested, not only in the betterment of the district schools, but gradually to the securing of even higher facilities. The legislature of 1837 was petitioned for a charter of New London academy, and the charter was granted on July 4 of that year ; Joseph Colby, Jonathan Greeley, Walter P. Flanders, Anthony Colby, David Everett, Samuel Carr, John Brown, Marshall Trayne, Perley Burpee, Jonathan Herrick, and Jonathan R. Addison appearing as the incorpo- rators. The main part of the present academy building was erected, and a school for young ladies was opened in the sum- mer of 1838. Miss Susan F. Colby, daughter of Gen. Anthony Colby, acted as principal, and Miss Martha Greenwood, daughter of Samuel Greenwood, as assistant. After the first term, during which Nahum T. Greenwood enjoyed the dis- tinction of being the only boy pupil, a male department was added, with Prof. Dyer H. Sanborn as principal. The first catalogue, issued Nov. 27, 1838, gave a total enrolment for the two school quarters then completed of 137 students, 67 of whom were from New London. The school thus successfully begun continued to prosper. It enjoyed a large patronage, and became the home of the present denominational school in 1853. Among those who served as principals during the intervening years were Truman K. Wright, Professors Meserve, Averill, and Comings, Alvah Hovey (later the honored president of Newton Theological seminary), Mr. Joseph B. Clarke, and Mr. V. J. Walker.
The firm of Phillips, Messer & Colby appear in the 1837 tax-list as the owners of 30 acres of land valued at $1,800, a
301
THE SCYTHE WORKS.
pair of horses $140, yoke of oxen $66, stock in trade $800. This was the modest beginning of the New London Scythe company, the foundation of an industry which built up the village of Scytheville, and added materially to the population and resources of the town. In the Granite Monthly for October, 1881, is an article from the pen of the editor and publisher, John N. McClintock, which furnishes many inter- esting facts concerning the business that for a half-century flourished in the little hamlet on the eastern border of the town.
The company was organized in 1835, and consisted of Joseph E. Phillips, Richard H. Messer (son of Isaac Messer), and Col. Anthony Colby. Mr. Phillips had charge of the work- shops, and Mr. Messer acted as business manager. Mr. Phillips, the original promoter of the enterprise, was twenty- four years of age, and Mr. Messer twenty-eight, when they commenced business in town, coming from Fitchburg, Mass., where they had learned the trade side by side. The first blow was struck on the scythe works August 8, 1835. Mr. Colby, who had owned the water-power which turned the whirring wheels, was the " silent partner" of the firm, yet it was his own indomitable energy, added to the business tact of Mr. Messer, which carried the company through the financial storm that swept over the country in the early days of the undertaking. Samuel Greenwood was admitted to the firm in 1842, and sold his interest to his son, Nahum T. Greenwood, in 1859. In 1869 Joseph Phillips was succeeded by his sons Charles C. and Joseph S., and Charles E. Folsom, foreman in the manu- facturing process, became a partner at the same time. The firm was reorganized as the New London Scythe company in 1871. Oren Messer and George E. Shepard were admitted soon after the death of Richard Messer in 1872, and Harry and Robert Greenwood, sons of Nahum, were admitted after 1880.
In the early days of the business fifteen hundred dozen scythes was the annual product. Unsharpened and painted blue, they were packed in straw and sold to the traders in the neighboring towns and counties. Col. Anthony Burpee, nephew of Anthony Colby, was for many years travelling salesman. From this modest beginning grew a trade that in 1880 put on the market ten thousand dozen scythes, one thousand dozen hay knives,
302
HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
and five thousand dozen axes, making a gross business of $100,000 and giving employment to seventy workmen. After the Northern railroad was built in 1845-1846, these prod- ucts of the artisan's skill were conveyed five miles by team to Potter Place, and thence found their way by railroad to wholesale dealers from Maine to California. A remarkable fact in connection with the wholesale trade was the exportation of finished products to Sweden, the source of the bar iron enter- ing into the composition of the scythes and axes, and to Scot- land, in competition with English goods, when the two hundred tons of iron and fifty tons of steel annually used by the firm were imported from England.
To fully appreciate the skill of the workman and the enter- prise of the business manager that went to the building up of this trade, the chief difficulty under which they labored must be taken into account. They were in competition with establish- ments on railroad lines that gave them quick and cheap access to the great trade centres. The little hamlet among the New Hampshire hills was five miles from the nearest railroad, and each year over a toilsome road must be drawn the two hundred and fifty tons of crude metal and the five hundred tons of coal that, transmuted into gleaming blades, again traversed the road to the railroad station. But in spite of this disadvantage, the firm held its own in the great marts for a full half-century be- fore it yielded to the inevitable. The works were closed in October, 1888.
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