USA > New Hampshire > Colony, province, state, 1623-1888: history of New Hampshire > Part 46
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work, and his death at the age of sixty-one deprived the country of an up- right judge and an eminent public man. Of his children, his only son is Charles Levi Woodbury, a prominent lawyer in practice in Boston, who re- tains the family mansion at Portsmouth. One daughter married Hon. Montgomery Blair, who was postmaster-general under President Lincoln, and another was the wife of Captain Gustavus V. Fox, formerly of the United States navy, who rendered to the country such signal service by his practical knowledge as assistant secretary during the war.1
In 1824 David L. Morril was elected governor by the legisla- ture. He was born in Epping in June, 1772, was educated at Exeter Academy, studied medicine, and entered into practice in Epsom, in 1793. He commenced to study theology in 1800, and was ordained pastor of the church in Goffstown in 1802, but re- signed his charge in 1811, and again commenced to practise med- icine. In 1808 he was elected representative from Goffstown, and re-elected every year till 1817. In June, 1816, he was chosen speaker of the House, and the same session was chosen to the Senate of the United States for six years. In 1823 he was elected a member of the New Hampshire Senate and was presi- dent of that body. In 1825 he only lacked a few votes of re- election. He settled in Concord in 1831, where he remained a highly respected and useful citizen until his death in January, 1846.
Mr. Mason was a candidate for the United States Senate in 1824. There was a strong desire on the part of his friends that he should resume the place he had formerly filled with so much honor to himself and so much usefulness to the country. Poli- tics were in a transition state, and votes were determined mainly by personal preferences for the four candidates for the presidency, - Mr. Adams, General Jackson, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Clay, all of whom were members of the old Republican party. All the New England States, New Hampshire included, supported Mr. Adams ; and Mr. Mason, who distinctly preferred him to any of his rivals, once more found himself on the side of the majority. Eleven of the State senators had been Republicans, and a majority of the House had been of the same party. At the June session Mr. Mason was the strongest candidate, but the election was put off
I History of Rockingham County.
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until the November session. In the meantime Mr. Eastman, a State senator and a brother-in-law of Levi Woodbury, had been elected to Congress. The House gave Mr. Mason a two-thirds majority : the Senate voted for William Plumer, Jr. The action of the House was communicated to the Senate in the form of a resolution naming the person chosen. The Senate concurred in passing the House resolution with an amendment striking out the words "Jeremiah Mason " and inserting "William Plumer, Jr." Mr. Mason was standing before the fire in the Representatives' Hall, and when William H. Y. Hackett, assis- tant clerk of the Senate, having delivered the message to the House, went by him Mr. Mason said, " Good morning, Mr. Hackett, I see you propose a trifling amendment." The Senate afterwards voted for John F. Parrott and Samuel Dinsmoor. Late in December a vote was taken in the Senate which was a tie, al- though seven members had pledged themselves to vote for Mr. Mason, and the legislature adjourned without electing anybody to the position. Levi Woodbury was elected senator at the next session of the legislature, but Mr. Eastman, to whom was at- . tributed the defeat of Mr. Mason, was not re-elected to Con- gress. Mr. Woodbury was at that time a supporter of Mr. Adams, but soon became a zealous and trusted adherent of General Jackson.1
The most destructive freshet in the valley of the Merrimack, taking place outside the season when crops were upon the earth, was that of February, 1824. It was a complete demolisher of bridges, from the mountains in northern New Hampshire, and from the sources of the Contoocook river, in the southern portion of the State, on to the sea. The volume of water which passed down the valley in the rise of February, 1824, was vastly less than what flowed in any given time in the freshet of 1869 ; but enormous quantities of ice swept all before them. Both the bridges which then spanned the Merrimack in Concord-the "Federal " and the "Lower," as they were called - were de- stroyed, as would have been a dozen others had they stood in the way of the devastating flood. The facts were these : A
1 Life of Mason.
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warm and copious rainfall set in when the ice had not been at all weakened by any mild days. It was as thick and strong as in January. The warm rain fell upon a great body of snow, and the rain and dissolving snow were suddenly precipitated into the streams. The effect was speedily seen, as it had been appre- hended by men who had long been conversant with freshets. Enormous fields of thick-ribbed ice were broken into great frag- ments and driven with unusual and irresistible velocity down the swollen river.
Very few general elections take place when a party does not suffer because of absence from the polls of voters in sympathy with it. In November, 1824, in Concord and Pembroke, men enough remained away from the polls to have elected Ezekiel Webster a member of Congress. The choice was by general ticket, and Mr. Webster needed only about one hundred more votes.
In 1825 there were at least seven if not eight military organi- zations in Concord, as follows : One company of cavalry, in which were from sixty to seventy mounted men ; one of artillery, forty to fifty men ; a company of light infantry, about forty men ; and four companies of militia (men dressed in their every-day 'apparel), with guns, knapsacks, and cartridge-boxes. One of these last named companies was composed of men residing in the centre part of the town ; another, of those in the south-west part and Millville ; a third in West, and a fourth in East, Con- cord. There was a company known as the Borough riflemen, composed of men living in the north-western part of the town, including the neighborhood then known as The Borough; but whether all the preceding were then in existence the writer is uncertain.
The fields of Mars, in Concord and Pembroke, where these troops made manifest the valor they would have displayed if called into the service of the country, are many. The earliest recollection of a militia-muster was upon what was known as the lower interval, in East Concord, sixty or seventy years ago. It was a notable day. Two companies of cavalry, two of artillery, several of light infantry, and ten to fifteen companies of men
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HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
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with arms, but not dressed in uniform, from Canterbury, Loudon, Concord, Chichester, and Pembroke, and men, women, and chil- dren, upon the ground in numbers greater even than the troops, were assembled. The exhilarating effect of the spectacle, espe- cially upon young folks, can be readily imagined.1
As the war with England, declared by Congress, June, 1812, became a more and more distant event, the military spirit de- clined, and those full companies of cavalry, artillery, light infan- try, and riflemen, which had made so excellent an appearance from time to time on Main street, began to " languish - and languishing did die," one by one, until the military organization of New Hampshire was virtually dissolved.
A part of the visit of General Lafayette to the State shall be described in the words of his youthful companion, Colonel A. A. Parker, aide-de-camp of Governor David L. Morril, lately living at a venerable old age, and in the full possession of his faculties, in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
General Lafayette had made a journey through the Southern and Western States, and had received demonstrations of welcome from everybody. At Boston the ceremonies of his reception had been imposing, joined in by all New England ; and he had assisted in laying the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument, June 17. The governor of Massachusetts had insisted upon escorting the hero to the State line at Methuen, where he was received by Colonel Parker.
The party consisted of General the Marquis Gilbert Motier de Lafayette, George Washington Lafayette, his son, Emile Lavo- siur, his private secretary, his servant, who seemed to be a very capable man of all work, the driver, Mr. Nathaniel Walker, and Colonel Parker ; the equipage consisted of "three carriages, a barouche drawn by four horses with flags in their headstalls, a four-horse stage-coach, and a two-horse covered carriage for bag- gage.”
" We found the scenes on the route in Massachusetts repro- duced in New Hampshire ; for at all the hotels, stores, villages, and cross-roads, multitudes had assembled to greet him as he
I Asa McFarland.
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came. It was in the rosy month of June, and roses were abund- ant, especially in and about our carriage, in the shape of wreaths and bouquets. At times our carriage became so much incum- bered that we had to throw them overboard- in some solitary places.
" Our route lay through Suncook village, at the south end of Pembroke. There Major Caleb Stark, son of Major-general John Stark, lived ; and as he had a slight acquaintance with Gen. eral Lafayette in the Revolutionary war, had written to him a request that he would call at his house, as he very much wished to see him and introduce him to his family. We called, and on introducing him to the general, he seized his hand and began an animated speech about Revolutionary times, which did not seem soon to terminate. His family were standing on the opposite side of the room, waiting to be introduced, but he seemed to have forgotten them I was acquainted with the major, but not with his family, and could not introduce them myself. In this dilemma the spirited Miss Harriet Stark, no longer able to brook delay, came forward, seized General Lafayette's hand, and said : ' Permit me to introduce myself to you as the eldest daughter of Major Caleb Stark, with whom you are talking, and the grand-daughter of Major-general John Stark, the hero of Bennington ; and now permit me to introduce you to my mother, brothers, and sisters' - which she did, with her usual prompt- ness and energy.
" When we were seated in the carriage, General Lafayette said : ' Miss Harriet Stark does indeed inherit all the fire and spirit of her grandfather, and would have been a heroine had she lived in the exciting scenes of the Revolutionary times.'
" Near the close of a beautiful summer day (Tuesday, June 21), one of the longest in the year, we entered upon the long main street of Pembroke. The sun, having moved round his long circle in the sky, was resting in crimson robes on the west- ern hills, and soon retired for the night. Not so Pembroke village ; that was wide awake, and gave the general as enthusi- astic a welcome as he had received anywhere on the route. Sometimes, it seemed, the less the numbers the greater the zeal.
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" We had used due diligence and had travelled rapidly when not hindered ; but our coming had been so well advertised by the well-known Walker, the stage-driver on the route, that it was known to all people, far and near. And so it was that we were not only detained at villages, hotels, and cross-roads, but even at a single cottage. Our approach seemed to have been watched ; and, at the report of a musket or bugle blast, people would rapidly appear from their lounging places, where none were visible before; and the general must needs pause a mo- ment, take by the hand those near by, and speak a few words. Infancy and age were alike presented, and the halt and the lame were sitting in easy chairs before the cottage doors. At one of these cottages an invalid old lady, 'cadaverous and pale,' was brought by two men, in her arm-chair, to the carriage; she seized the general's hand with both of hers, and with tearful eyes exclaimed, ' Bless the Lord !'
"At Fiske's Hotel, on the main street of Pembroke, five miles from Concord, we rested for the night. A large concourse of people gave the general a hearty welcome, and shook hands with him, and he made a short speech. On my suggesting to the most active men that the general had had a long and fatiguing day, and needed rest, the people promptly retired, and Pembroke village could never have been more quiet. After sup- per the general leaned back in his easy chair and carried on a long and agreeable conversation with his escort before retiring."
The next day (June 22, 1825) a committee of the legislature, then in session at Concord, consisting of Hon. Stephen P. Web- ster, of the Senate, and four members of the House, came down in a coach-and-six to escort the general to Concord. Six white horses were attached to the barouche, in which were General Lafayette and Mr. Webster ; and the procession, made up of a long line of carriages, proceeded on their way, being met on the Concord line by twenty independent companies of the New Hampshire militia, under the command of General Bradbury Bartlett.
Lafayette's personal appearance at the time is thus sketched : " He is now about sixty-eight years of age; with a fresh and
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vigorous constitution for one of his years-though it was severely tried in the dungeons of Olmutz. He lost all his hair during that confinement, and now wears a wig." The account closes with anecdotes and reminiscences of the general, and is altogether deeply interesting, showing that the journalists of that day were as appreciative of a special occasion, and quite as sure to seize its salient points, as are those of the present day, with all their superior facilities.
ORDER OF PROCESSION,
On the introduction of General LAFAYETTE into the Town of Concord, and to the Legislature.
[Corrected. ]
The following shall be the Order of Procession on the introduction of General LAFAYETTE into the Town of Concord, and to the Legislature.
The Committee of Arrangements (consisting of Messrs. Webster and Bowers, of the Senate; Messrs. Bradley, Fisk, Peabody of E., Parker of G., March, Hayes, Barrett, Webster of B., Rogers of O., Bellows, Baker, Carey, Flanders of B., Mahurin, and Meserve, of the House), with the Marshals, shall move from the front of the State House at half-past five o'clock on Wednesday morning, June 22d.
Shall arrive at Pembroke at 7 o'clock.
The Chairman of the Committee will be introduced to the GENERAL and Suite by his Excellency's Aides.
The Chairman will then address the General, and introduce the members of the Committee and Marshals.
Procession shall move from Pembroke at half-past seven, in the following order : -
MARSHALS Perkins. Marston.
Wentworth. Wilson, Fr.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
CHIEF MARSHAL PARKER.
GENERAL LAFAYETTE
-
And Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. (In a Barouche.)
Wilson.
Whittemore.
THE GENERAL'S SUITE. (In Carriages.)
Darling.
AIDES OF HIS EXCELLENCY.
Chamberlain.
Locke.
Gentlemen of Distinction, Strangers, and Citizens, In Carriages and on Horses. Clarke. } Chadwick.
Sherburne.
Rogers.
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At the line of Concord, the Committee of Arrangements from the citizens of Concord will be introduced to the General by the Marshal, and then take their place in the procession next to the Aides of his Excellency.
A national salute will be fired from the military upon the hill beyond the bridge.
Procession shall be received at the same place by the military escort, under the command of General BARTLETT.
The band of musick shall follow the military escort, and precede the Com- mittee of Arrangements; and in this form the procession shall move to the north end of Main street, wheel and return down Main street to the General's quarters at Colonel Kent's.
The General shall be escorted in the same manner from his quarters, up Main street to opposite the State House, and a national salute shall be fired on the moving of the procession.
The military shall then form a line from the front gate to the Capitol, ten feet from each side of the gravel walk.
Committee of Arrangements will dismount and form between the barouche and the gate two deep. The General and his suite will alight from their car- riages, the General being supported by Senators Webster and Bowers -they will move to the Capitol, followed by the General's suite and his Excellency's aides.
After entering the south door of the Representatives' Chamber, the com- mittee will open, the General shall be announced by the Marshal, and the Legislature shall rise and receive him. He will then be presented by the Marshal to the Governor and Council, Senate, and House of Representatives ; after which the Governor shall make an address to the General, in behalf of the Legislature.
The Marshal will then introduce him to the Governor, who will introduce him to the Council. The Governor will introduce him to the President of the Senate, who will introduce him to the Senators. The Governor will intro- duce him to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who will intro- duce him to the members.
When the General shall be introduced into the Representatives' Chamber, the Governor will be seated in the Speaker's chair, - the Council at the right of the Governor in the wall seat-and the Senate on the left of the Speaker's chair. On the right of the Speaker, on the floor, in settees, the Secretary and Treasurer, Adjutant and Commissary General, the Attorney-General, Judges of the Courts, Senators, and Representatives to Congress.
The Speaker of the House will be seated in a chair in front of the centre division of the House.
The General will be conducted to his seat at the right of the Governor and his suite, to the seat in front of the Council.
The General will be escorted in the same way, supported by the Governor, to the area of the Capitol, where the Revolutionary officers and soldiers will be introduced to him by the Marshal.
He will be escorted and supported in the same manner by the Governor to the dinner table.
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From the table he shall be escorted and supported in like manner to his barouche - and accompanied in the barouche by the Governor to his quar- ters.
The military will then be discharged.
At seven o'clock the General will hold a levee on the area of the Capitol, for the introduction of ladies and gentlemen.
After the levee, the Capitol will be illuminated.
Marshals Cartland, French, Bell, and Ham will have charge of the State House and Yard. 1
In 1825 farmers were simply farmers and nothing more. They raised nearly all the supplies for their own tables, and largely for their clothing, which was manufactured from the raw materials in their homes. Wheat was much more generally grown then than now, but not in sufficient quantities to furnish bread for the household. Flour was rarely bought by the barrel; and barley, rye, and Indian corn were extensively used. In those earlier days flour bread was, with large numbers of families, dignified with the name of "cake," and considered a luxury for use on extra occasions, when company was entertained. A story is told in one of the old Rockingham county towns which illustrates this fact. A high-toned gentleman, known as the "Squire," called at a farm-house one day, on some business, and when he had finished his errand and had remounted at the door, the good housewife, wishing to impress the squire with the dignity and thrift of her family, said to him : "Squire, won't you stop and have some flour bread and butter?" thinking it now too late for him to accept her invitation. To her chagrin the doughty squire · replied : "Thank you, marm, I don't care if I do," and promptly dismounted and entered the house. The poor woman could only explain that to her surprise she found the flour bread all out, and offered him the best she had, some Indian bannock. A string of bannocks, eight or ten in number, would be set upon tins in front of the fire in the broad fireplace, there being room then left in the corner for one to sit and look straight up the chimney into the blue heavens. There was very little market for farm pro- duce in those days, except in the larger towns ; long journeys had to be made, mostly to such as were known as "sea-ports,"
I Copy of official program.
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HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
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as there were no interior towns of sufficient population to be centres of such trade. Every farmer kept a flock of sheep, and wool constituted a large portion of the clothing. It was carded, spun, and woven at home, and made into garments for both sexes. The best clothes for men and boys were made of what was called "fulled cloth." This was made at home, of the finest material, and taken to the mills known as "fulling-mills," where it was put through a process of thickening, dyeing, and finishing. The women used to wear gowns of cloth which was called "pressed woollen." This was simply home-made flannel, taken to the mills above-named and pressed so as to present a glossy surface.
Every farmer had a small patch of flax. This was pulled and spread out in rows on the ground, "rotted " and then " broken " and " swingled," and was prepared for the combing, carding, and the " little wheel," as the machine was called, on which the flax was spun, to distinguish it from the larger machine for spinning wool. It was woven into cloth for table covers, towelling, sheet- ing, and shirting. The "tow," which was the coarse portion combed out on the "hatchel," was spun into a coarse yarn, of which a cloth was made for summer suits for men and boys. The tow shirt, so commonly worn, was, when new, an instrument of torture to the wearer, as it was full of prickling spines left from the woody part of the stalk.
Benjamin Pierce was elected governor in 1827. He was born in Chelmsford in December, 1757.
Two days after the encounter between the patriots and the British soldiers at Lexington, Benjamin Pierce, then eighteen years old, was holding the plough in his uncle's field in Chelms- ford when the news of that event arrived. He immediately left the plough, took his uncle's gun and equipments, and started for Boston. There he enlisted ; was present at the battle of Bun- ker Hill, remained in the service during the war, and was on the staff of George Washington until the final disbandment of the American army at West Point in 1784. He settled in Hills- borough in 1786, and earnestly engaged in agricultural pursuits. He took great interest in military affairs, holding offices in the
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militia from colonel to general of brigade. In 1798 he refused a colonel's commission in the regular army. He was also called upon to fill many political offices, such as representative, counsellor, and presidential elector. He finally was chosen gov- ernor of New Hampshire in 1827-9. His public services in one capacity and another extended over fifty years. At his death, which took place in April, 1839, and when in his eighty-second year, he was vice-president of the Society of the Cincinnati. He was patriotic, brave, noble-minded, and charitable ; a bene- factor to his country, and a blessing to his State and society, - and no one memory associated with the past history of Hillsbor- ough brings up higher feelings of respect and veneration than that of General Benjamin Pierce.
1 When high sheriff of Hillsborough county his duties called him at one time to Amherst, where he found, imprisoned in the jail, three Revolutionary soldiers. Interesting himself in their behalf he learned the prisoners had served their country well and faithfully - had honorable discharges, but at the close of the Revolution, like hundreds of their comrades, were penniless. They had, after long and weary days of travel, reached their homes, where a merciless creditor secured their arrest and imprisonment for debt. Ascer- taining these facts, he instantly discharged their liability, and, taking the keys from the jailor, unlocked the prison doors, and, leading the old veterans from confinement, pointing to the blue sky above them said : "Go, breathe the free air! There can be no true republican liberty when such men as you are consigned to prison for such a cause."
The Pierce mansion in Hillsborough stands in the midst of grounds which in former years were laid out with elegant taste, and embellished with fruit trees and shrubbery. Several handsome, stately trees embower the venerable roof. Around the front side of the building extends a broad and generous piazza. Surely none ever gave a more genial welcome.
The founder of this mansion was a great man in his day, and with but one exception was probably the most popular governor ever elected in New Hampshire. Even to-day, after the lapse of forty years, his very name touches the heart almost to a burst of enthusiasm. His personal appearance, as it has been preserved by the portraits on the walls of the mansion and in the State House at Concord, is indicative of the man. There is something of the look of a Jackson in that face. The jaws have the same lion-like solidity, the lips are firm, and the nose identical with that same feature which we observe in the portrait of the hero of the hermitage, but the eyes have a merry gleam, and the rubicund visage and the thick-set, portly figure tell more plainly than words can of the frank, fearless, good natured, good living, hos-
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