USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Sullivan > A history of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917, Volume I > Part 24
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XVII. May 7, 1792. The " Warren Road to Nelson " from Spaulding Brook, near where the late Jacob Spaulding lived to the Nelson line near the house of Wm. Warren. The part from Nelson line to the west side of the "Warren Bridge" (over Otter River) was discontinued, Oct. 8, 1850. The part from the bridge over Stony Brook to Martin Rugg's east line was discontinued, Mar. 14, 1854. The whole piece between
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Martin Rugg's east line and the end of the new road south-east of the Holt house was discontinued, Mar. 13, 1855. The part from the old Holt house to the west side of "Warren Bridge" and the part from Spaulding Brook to the east line of the old Martin Rugg farm are still used, although the part from the Holt house to the new road was discontinued. It is still pos- sible to drive a team from the Holt place, over the hill, to the Concord Road.
XVIII. May 7, 1792. The old " Packer's Quarter Road ", from the house of Enoch Woods (where Mr. Jewett lives) directly south, then south-easterly, by the houses of Samuel Osgood (where M. A. Nims lives), J. Heaton (the old Buck- minster place), and Calvin Wilder (where A. N. Wilder lives), to the house of Thos. Beals or Beels (on the present farm, and just east of the house of, Hon. D. W. Rugg). The part from the house of E. Woods to that of S. Osgood was discontinued, Sept. 25, 1809, in favor of a newer road.
XIX. Aug. 27, 1792. The old "Locke Road " from the old first meetinghouse to the Locke house, where C. P. Locke lived later. It was discontinued, Mar. 13, 1821, after opening a road from the Frost place (later the house of Seth Nims) to the old Winch place.
XX. Aug. 27, 1792. A road was laid from near the spot where Martin Rugg afterwards lived, southeasterly down the hill, to a spot on the Spaulding Brook where the Hubbards had built a grist-mill. It was not used many years. There is no record of its formal discontinuance by the town. The land would legally become the property of the owner of the farm through which the road passed.
XXI. 1793 (month and day not given on the records), the original road from Elijah Osgood's (where the late Lewis H. Smith lived) to the "Nims Hill Road". As subsequently changed (see No. XXX.), it is still used.
XXII. Aug. 25, 1794. The old " Packer's Quarter Road " was extended, from where No. XVIII. ended to Reuben Morse's (where S. E. Jenkins lives). The road is still used.
XXIII. Silas Shattuck, on Nov. 10, 1794, bought the lot next north of the old Farrar place, on the road from Chapman's to Corey's. His house was in the easterly portion of the lot.
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He made a clumsy private road to it, which was never formally laid by the town. It was afterwards called the "Maynard Road ".
XXIV. June 8, 1795. "Amasa Brown Road ", from the residence of Amasa Brown (not now standing), past the house of Fortunatus Eager (later of D. B. Brooks), to the "Gulf Road ", near where M. J. Barrett now lives. There is no record of a discontinuance, although it has long since been disused, except to afford a right of way to the old farms.
XXV. June 8, 1795. The old " Wilson Road ", from near where S. S. White now lives to Daniel Wilson's, where Geo. Hubbard has recently lived. Still used.
XXVI. Oct. 1, 1795. Road to Ezra Osgood's house, from the " South Part Road". Never discontinued.
XXVII. Oct. 1, 1795. A bridle path (later made to be quite a good road) from Elijah Osgood's (later Lewis H. Smith's) to Joshua Osgood's mill. It was discontinued, Mar. 9, I 869.
XXVIII. Oct. 1, 1795. The " Widow Nash Road " from where L. R. Wheeler now lives, north-westerly, down the hill and across the brook, to a few rods west of the present road to Gilsum, to the house of widow Nash. It was discontinued, Mar. 14, 1837. It once formed a link in the old road from the No. 5 schoolhouse to the old Eaton place.
XXIX. Oct. 1, 1795. A bridle path from a point on the road passing the house of Joshua (later Roswell) Osgood, and below that house, to J. Osgood's mill. Not now used, although never formally discontinued.
XXX. Nov. 7, 1796. A change in the road No. XXI., between the " South Part Road " and Cornelius Howlet's. That road as then laid is still much used.
XXXI. Mar. 14, 1797. The road to Eleazar Brown's, where Abijah Seward afterwards lived. Still used.
On Apr. 25, 1797, five old lines of road were relaid by the town, in order that there might be a record of them. They were: I. The "South Part Road ", from Keene line to the Four Corners, by houses of E. Nims, Zadok Nims, Roswell Hubbard, &c. 2. The old " Osgood Road ", from the Four Corners past Dr. M. Cannon's and Joshua Osgood's to Keene line. 3. The road from the Four Corners by houses of Jonathan Baker and the Chapmans, to the Gilsum line, near Corey's. 4. The old "Gulf Road ", from the Gilsum
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line, by the place where M. J. Barrett lives and the place where the Proctors lived, to the " Osgood Road ", near the Cannon place. 5. The old " Stoddard Road ", from the Stoddard line, past the houses of Josiah Seward, Samuel Seward, James Rowe, and Simeon Ellis (opposite the present parsonage), to the Four Corners. As before stated, this route led over the hill past the place where S. S. White lives and past the old first meetinghouse. They omitted, however, to relay several other roads which had been built at the time of the incorporation of Sullivan.
XXXII. July 24, 1797. The "Kendall Lane", from the " Stoddard Road", south to Ebenezer Kendall's, where Harri- son Rugg lived later. Still used.
XXXIII. About 1797 or 1798, a rude private road was constructed through the farm known later as the "Elder Cun- mings" farm to the farm where Silas Morse afterwards lived. The former farm had been purchased for settlement in 1797, by Solomon Woods, and the latter in 1798 by Artemas Stone. The town subsequently laid and properly built the most of this road.
XXXIV. Aug. 27, 1798. A slight alteration in the road to Eleazar Brown's (where Abijah Seward lived later). The road is still used.
XXXV. Sept. 27, 1798. A new road to Amasa Brown's, from a point west of the Proctor place (not more than two or three rods east of the "West Road " on the old road to Proc- tor's) south to Mr. Brown's house. It was discontinued, Nov. 2, 1840.
XXXVI. Oct. 1, 1799. The "Asa Nash Road", from Asa Nash's (on or near the old Eaton place) southerly to an intersection with the road leading to widow Nash's, No. XXVIII. It was discontinued, Mar. 13, 1832. Some parts of it are still quite well preserved.
XXXVII. Oct. 27, 1800. A slight alteration in the road between J. Baker's and Isaac Rawson's on the hill northeast of the later Isaac Rawson house. Still used.
XXXVIII. Oct. 27, 1800. A slight alteration in road No. VIII., between the road leading by Baker's (No. VII.) and Peter Freeman's (where F. B. Nims lived later). The road was discontinued, Mar. 12, 1878.
XXXIX. Oct. 27, 1800. The old " Joseph Ellis Road ", from the road to Packer's Quarter, south, on the line between Roswell Hubbard and Samuel Osgood, to land of J. Ellis, then
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to the house of J. Ellis. Discontinued, Aug. 27, 1810, after building the present road from the S. Osgood place to the same farm.
XL. Mar. 10, 1801. The road from the "South Part Road ", south-easterly, to house of Jonas Stevens (where Ben. Kemp, Jr., later lived). Discontinued conditionally, Nov. 8, 1864, and unconditionally, Mar. 13, 1866.
XLI. Mar. 10, 1801. The " Luther Wilder Road ", from where a house was later built in which Olive Stone, and later J. Dunn, lived, to the house of Luther Wilder on the hill. Not discontinued, but used only as a right of way.
XLII. Mar. 10, 1801. The oldest "Comstock Road ", from near Luther Wilder's south to James Comstock's (where Geo. W. Holt lives). Discontinued, Aug. 25, 1806.
XLIII. May 3, 1802. A road from near where Lyman Davis now lives, northwesterly, to the house of Daniel Wilson (where Geo. Hubbard has recently lived). A few rods to the north-east of this road, and west of the present house of Geo. Kingsbury, was a house built by John Mason and later occupied by the Havens. The approach to the road from that house was private. This road was discontinued, from Wilson's to David McIntire's, Oct. 2, 1815. It was only used about a dozen years. The part from .D. McIntire's (where Q. B. Nash lives) to the " Packer's Quarter Road " is still in use.
XLIV. Sept. 21, 1803. The "North Part Road", from the house of Stephen Foster (near Henry C. Rawson's present house) to the schoolhouse No. 5, then south-easterly to a point a few rods north of the Isaac Rawson house, to a junction with the road by Chapman's. Still (as later altered) an important road.
XLV. Sept. 21, 1803. The road from James Wilson's (where the Winch family lived later) to the main road of the town, opposite where Mr. Jewett now lives. It is still used. It replaced a piece of road formerly extending from the same place, down the hill, more easterly, to a point just east of the present Town Hall. On this older road was the original Joseph Ellis house.
XLVI. May 16, 1805. The "White Road", so-called, from Stephen Foster's (where H. C. Rawson lives) west to the
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Gilsum line, to connect with a road built by Gilsum from that point to the "Lower Village", by the way of Stephen White's. It was discontinued, Mar. 13, 1832.
XLVII. Aug. 25, 1806. An alteration in the road to Jonas Stevens's, changing the place of beginning the road from the "South Part Road". The whole road was discontinued conditionally, Nov. 8, 1864, and unconditionally, Mar. 13, 1866. XLVIII. Aug. 25, 1806. An alteration in the "North Part Road", between Isaac Rawson's and the No. 5 school- house. As altered, it has since continued to be travelled.
XLIX. Aug. 25, 1806. The second "Comstock Road ", from James Comstock's to the "Warren Road". We find no vote of discontinuance, but it was disused by the public after the opening of the new " Ellis Road", which was accepted, Mar. 9, 1852, as laid, Dec. 20, 1851.
L. Oct. 19, 1807. The present " Nelson Road ", from the "common " to the house of S. Osgood (where M. A. Nims lives). Still an important highway.
LI. Oct. 19, 1807. The road from the "common ", by Daniel Wilson's (where Geo. Hubbard has recently lived) to the Spaulding Brook. Still much used.
LII. Oct. 19, 1807. The present road from S. Osgood's (where M. A. Nims now lives) to Amos Wardwell's (where the Hubbard brothers now live). Still used.
LIII. Mar. 12, 1810. The select-men widened the road from Abel Allen's (where Mr. Chapin now lives) to the " Pound " by a half. rod. Road still used.
LIV. Mar. 13, 1810. The road from Elijah Frost's (where Seth Nims afterwards lived) to Caleb Winch's (where the latter's son, John Winch, lived). The latter house was on the town farm. The upper part of this road was discontinued, Oct. 12, 1819, in exchange for a newer road.
LV. Sept. 2, 1811. A road from Dea. Seward's (where Mr. Fifield lives) northerly to the so-called Keith pasture, near the north line of the town. It was used only as a right of way, though fenced a large part of the distance. It was never dis- continued.
LVI. John Estey, on Sept. 25, 1812, bought a piece of land, south-east of where A. P. Tyler lives, upon which he lived
ROADS, BRIDGES, POUNDS, AND COMMONS. 261
eight years. He had a private road to the house of Eleazar Brown (where Mr. Tyler lives) which was not laid or accepted by the town.
LVII. Mar. 8, 1814. The town accepted the road from the house of Jonas Stevens to the Roxbury corner, known as the old " Roxbury Road". It was discontinued conditionally, Nov. 8, 1864, and unconditionally, Mar. 13, 1866. The short piece of road from the Roxbury corner to the place where Mr. Houghton lived was probably included in this lay-out and was discontinued at the same time.
LVIII. Mar. 12, 1816. The old "Mason Road", from David McIntire's, directly east, across Otter River, to Jeremiah Mason's, thence southerly, across the Nelson Brook and up the hill, to Joseph Mason's. The part of this old road from Jere- miah Mason's (where Mr. Castor lives) to Joseph Mason's (the M. Beauregard place) has always (with a slight alteration in the original lay-out) been used since, except a few rods crossing Nelson Brook, from the Concord road to the intersection with the new " Beauregard Road ", which was discontinued, Nov. 17, 1874. The part from David McIntire's (where Q. B. Nash lives) to the Jeremiah Mason house was discontinued, Mar. IO, 1835.
LIX. The court which sat at Keene, Mar. 17, 1818, ordered built the road from Jonathan Heaton's, westerly, past the Wardwell place (where the Hubbards now live), to the " South Part Road". This road was greatly desired by the people of East Sullivan, who, then, had to go to the Four Cor- ners to reach a road leading directly to Keene. It was a much needed road, but it was bitterly opposed by the town as a whole, which refused to lay it. It was before the days of road commis- sioners, and the matter was carried to the court which ordered its construction, as noted above. The Heaton place was where Franklin Buckminster lived afterwards, now a deserted house in ruins. This road is still in use.
LX. Oct. 13, 1818. A change was made in the lay of road No. LVIII., between the point where the Concord Road now crosses it and the Jeremiah Mason place, also between the latter place and the Otter River to the west. The portions now used and those discontinued are seen under No. LVIII.
25
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN.
LXI. Oct. 12, 1819. The new road from Elijah Frost's (where Seth Nims later lived) to Mr. Winch's (the former town farm house), replacing a part of a former road between the two places. This latter road is still a public highway, although a wire fence obstructs a few rods at the north end.
LXII. Nov. 6, 1820. The town considered a road from Jeremiah Mason's, easterly, nearly past the site of Mr. Burpee's house, to the old Harrington place in Nelson. Action was post- poned until the next March meeting, but we find no more about it in the records. This route was already a private road over which vehicles could pass and continued to be such until the Concord Road was built which removed the necessity for it. The town never accepted it.
LXIII. Oct. 10, 1821. The road from Reuben Morse's (where S. E. Jenkins lives) to the Nelson line. This was a part of the old hill road to Nelson by the Atwood and Taft places. It had been travelled for a long time evidently, but this was a formal acceptance by the town, involving a more thorough con- struction. This particular piece of road was discontinued, Apr. 5, 1865.
LXIV. Mar. 8, 1825 (revised lay-out accepted, Mar. 13, 1827). The road from the house of Ira Ellis (the old Leland house) to the old cemetery, now a part of the West Road, and still much used.
LXV. Apr. 18, 1825. A road from the old house site of Amasa Brown to his new house (west of the West Road). The portion of this road which was east of the West Road was discontinued, Nov. 2, 1840. There is no record of a discontinu- ance west of the West Road. It is still a "right of way ".
LXVI. Nov. 3, 1828. The town voted to leave all action about a county road from Charlestown to Peterborough with the select-men. Such a road was not built. The route chosen was the present " Forest Road ", from Charlestown through Alstead, Marlow, Stoddard, and Hancock, to Wilton and Nashua.
LXVII. About 1828, Silas Davis settled in Sullivan, on land belonging to his uncle John Nash of Gilsum. About this time (perhaps earlier) a private road was constructed, from the road leading by Corey's, northerly and north-westerly, past the rude cabin of Silas Davis in Sullivan, to the old Dean place in
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Gilsum, where Harvey L. Bates lived for some time. It was never accepted by the town as a public highway.
LXVIII. Mar. 9, 1830. The town voted to accept the draughts of three roads which were placed on file. We do not discover the files. We know from the order books of the select- men that one of these was the north portion of the present " Gilsum Road " from the point where it was crossed by road No. XXVIII (whose continuation was No. XXXVI.) northerly to the Gilsum line. It is still an important road, as slightly altered afterwards. Previously, Gilsum was reached by the White Road, No. XLVI., still earlier by the Gulf Road, No. III.
LXIX. Mar. 9, 1830. A second road authorized on the date named is known, from the books of the select-men, to have been the short piece of road which led from Stillman Eaton's northerly, a short distance, to connect with the preceding new road. It is still used some and not discontinued.
LXX. Mar. 9, 1830. The third road authorized on this date is not indicated by any known record. All the roads of the town are accounted for but one. That one is undoubtedly our missing link in this chain. It is the road leading from the present house of S. E. Jenkins, south-easterly, up the hill, to the corner of Sullivan, Nelson, and Roxbury, thence on to its con- nection with the old road, long built, from the old graveyard on Nelson hill westerly to where Charles W. Buckminster lives, in Roxbury. This connecting road was built about this time and is beyond question the third of the "three draughts" of Mar. 9, 1830. It is still used.
LXXI. At the August term of court, 1830, the Court of Common Pleas granted the petition of Noah Hardy and others for the Concord Road, and ordered the same to be constructed within two years. This road, by far the most important and useful road ever built through the place, was most bitterly opposed and fought by the town. Amos Wardwell was chosen, Mar. 9, 1830, an agent to look after the interests of the town in connection with that road and was re-elected to the same office every year until, and including, 1835. Nov. 19, 1833, he was paid $66.67 for defending the town against that road. Probably most of this went to the lawyers. Even so late as Aug. 20, 1832, the town would not give up the fight and had the courage
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to discontinue the road which the court had ordered to be built, by the following vote : " Voted to discontinue the road laid out through Sullivan on the petition of Noah Hardy and others and established by the Court C. P. August term 1830. Voted that the Selectmen be instructed to petition the court of C. P. to sanction the vote of the town in discontinuing the said road ". As a specimen of Yankee obstinacy in a New England town meeting, this comical vote to rescind an order of the court and then ask the court to sanction the vote is a remarkable speci- men. It would be needless to add that the court did not grant the petition. The road was built in 1834 and cost the town, including land damages and lawsuits, about $1260.13, according to the order-book of the select-men. It became at once, and has always continued to be, an important mail route and stage-coach line. It shortened the distance to Concord, from Keene, by many miles ; and the same would be true of the distance from Sullivan to Concord. Excepting the road over Beech Hill, which forms a part of the Concord Road, although constructed many years before, the grades are easy and the whole route a delightful drive. On Dec. 5, 1882, a license was granted to the Cheshire County Telephone Company (now the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company) to erect poles and place wires along the Concord Road, through Sullivan, from Roxbury line to Nelson line. Of course a similar permit was granted by other towns on the route, and the line was con- structed and has been of great service to Sullivan.
LXXII. James Morse, Nov. 17, 1830, bought the upper part of what was later the R. Curtis Nurse place. Shortly after, his parents owned the whole lot, while he lived upon it. At some time between this date and 1840, he constructed a private road from the house in the north part of the lot to the old D. H. Corey place, which was within a few feet of the Gilsum line. A road extended from here, in Gilsum, to the main road, a few rods north of Mr. Corey's. This was the only road by which a carriage could be driven to the Jas. Morse, afterwards R. C. Nurse, lot. It is not kept in repair.
LXXIII. Mar. 8, 1836, the town accepted the new " Gil- sum Road ", laid by the select-men, Oct. 5, 1835, from the Fos- ter place (where H. C. Rawson lives) to the beginning of the
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new piece of road which extended from road No. XXVIII. north to the Gilsum line. Still an important road.
LXXIV. Sept. 21, 1839, the town accepted a road laid by the select-men, Sept. 11, 1838, which we call the " West Road". As laid, it began at the east end of that part of the old "Gulf Road " (No. III.) leading by the Proctor house, and continued westerly, then southerly and south-westerly, to the Gilsum line, thence on to the old " Bridge place " in Keene, on Beaver Brook Road. This is now the regular road over which the mail is carried from Keene to Sullivan, daily.
LXXV. Mar. 12, 1839, the town accepted the road laid by the select-men, Oct. 29, 1838, leading from the house of Dauphin Spaulding (where Lewis H. Smith lived), southerly to Mr. Spaulding's mill, lower down, upon the Ferry Brook. It is a link in the road to Keene (later opened) by that mill.
LXXVI. Apr. 5, 1844. The select-men formally laid out the road (see No. XXXIII.) through the old Cummings farm to the house of Charles Rawson (where J. L. Bates and Mr. Boyce lived at later periods). The road had been used many years, as far as the "old" Cummings house, the cellar of which is still plain. It appears to have been a private road heretofore. The road from the latter place to Chas. Rawson's, where Chas. H. Cummings had formerly lived, had also been used for some time. The continuation, from the latter point to Silas Morse's, was always a private road. There is no record of the formal accept- ance of this road by the town, but it was all discontinued, Mar. 10, 1903.
LXXVII. Mar. 11, 1845, the town accepted the road, laid by the selectmen on the preceding day, from Dauphin Spauld- ing's mill to the Keene line. It is the road to Keene, still travelled, past Mr. Smith's. It seems that the county road com- missioners were asked to give their opinion upon the desirability of continuing this road from the mill to Keene. The town voted, Mar. 9, 1847, to instruct the select-men to borrow the money and build the road, provided the court accepted the report of the commissioners. As the road was built, of course their report was favorable to the road and accepted by the court.
LXXVIII. Nov. 7, 1848, the town accepted an alteration in the " Gilsum road ", as made by the select-men, on the same
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day. It was about 32 rods of road, partly on the Chas. Nash farm (where Mr. Moore lives) and partly on that now owned by Mr. Wheeler, just east of the road as then travelled, to ease the grade. It is still used. The vote, of course, implied the dis- continuance of the former route, on the completion of this.
LXXIX. Oct. 22, 1849, the town finally ordered to be built the " Valley Road", from near where Jacob Spaulding then lived (later M. Barnes) to East Sullivan village. The select-men laid the road, Oct. 12, 1847. It was bitterly opposed to a point of unreasonableness. Some, through whose land it passed and who would be greatly benefitted thereby, as an avenue over which their timber might be taken to market, in the frenzy of the moment, opposed it fiercely. On Nov. 6, 1847, the town postponed action until the next March meeting. At that meet- ing, Mar. 14, 1848, they voted to discontinue the road. The whole of the inhabitants on the west side of the town fought it most strenuously. They thought it would take travel away from them, besides creating an enormous tax. It really did both to a certain extent, at the time ; but where would the town be today without it ? It was one of the most needed roads ever built in town. Before that, all travel from the eastern side of Sullivan and from a great part of Stoddard had to surmount the hills leading to the centre of Sullivan and, in returning, to take the West Road or ascend the long and steep "Nims Hill". The road commissioners were brought into the case and, on June 20, 1849, they approved the road and ordered it to be built. The town had then no alternative and reluctantly ordered its con- struction on Oct. 22, 1849. It is the most important road lying wholly in the town. Formerly the products of two valuable mills were taken over it to market. One mill has been burned, but the so-called Ellis mill and several portable steam saw-mills discharge their products over this highway. It is one of many cases where time has shown the groundlessness of an intense opposition to an internal improvement.
LXXX. Mar. 9, 1852, the town voted to accept the "Ellis Mill Road," laid by the select-men, Dec. 20, 1851, from the Ellis mill to what is called Stony Brook, near the east line of the Martin Rugg farm. Much used now.
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