USA > New Hampshire > Colony, province, state, 1623-1888: history of New Hampshire > Part 50
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Mr. Foster, having adopted and proved the great utility of his new method, Persisted in it until it was demonstrated that no other had ever subserved so good a purpose in arousing the whole nation to its duty and danger. Noth- ing like or unlike it, before or afterward, so stirred the whole people, until John Brown, with his twenty heroes, marched on Harper's Ferry and chal- lenged the supporters of slavery to mortal combat.
To-day neither John Brown nor Stephen Symonds Foster need apology or defence. Though their mortal bodies lie mouldering in the dust, their spirits march on in glory and victory for evermore.
Probably he encountered more mob opposition and violence than any other agent ever in the anti-slavery lecturing field, and almost always he would in some way obtain control of his opponents. He died in September, ISSI, at the age of seventy-two.
The election in 1842 resulted in the choice of Henry Hubbard for governor. He was son of Hon. John Hubbard, born in May, 1784, in Charlestown ; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1803; read law with Hon. Jeremiah Mason ; and settled in Charlestown. In 1810 he was chosen moderator, which office he held, in all, sixteen times. He was first selectman in the years 1819, 1820, and 1828, in which last year he was also moderator and town clerk. He represented the town in the legislature eleven times in all between 1812 and 1827. In June, 1825, he was chosen speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, in place of Hon. Levi Woodbury, who had been elected to a seat in the United States Senate. He was also chosen to the same office in the years 1826 and 1827. In 1823 he was appointed solicitor for Cheshire county, in which capacity, exhibiting rare qualities as an advocate, he served the term of five years. On the incorporation of Sullivan county he was appointed judge of Probate, the duties of which office he con- tinued to discharge until 1829, when he was chosen a represen- tative to Congress. In Congress, to employ the language of Chief Justice Gilchrist, " He at once distinguished himself by
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the possession of those qualities which characterized him through life. Always willing to labor; never disposed to throw upon others what belonged to himself; indefatigable in the transaction of all business intrusted to him ; an ardent political friend, but a courteous antagonist ; he had the entire confidence of General Jackson and the kindly regard of his opponents. He was an active member of the Committee of Claims, upon whose deci- sion such important interests depended, and signalized himself by his untiring support of the Pension Act of 1832, which gave their long-delayed recompense to the soldiers of the Revolution. In 1834 he was elected to the Senate, where, for the period of six years, he had the implicit confidence of the administration, and the Democratic party. . . In 1842 and 1843 he was elected governor of New Hampshire. With this office his polit- ical career closed, although at every successive election no one in the State rendered more efficient service to the Democratic cause."
It may be added to the above, that soon after leaving the gubernatorial chair he was appointed sub-treasurer at Boston, to which city he for a time removed.
Politically, the life of Governor Hubbard must be divided into two eras : the first, in which he earnestly supported the Federal- istic or Whig party ; the second, in which he earnestly sustained the Democracy. He died on June 5, 1857. Most of his life was passed in Charlestown, and he died in the house in which he was born.1
2 The town of Pittsburg, which, prior to its incorporation in 1843, was known as the Indian Stream territory, forms the ex- treme northern portion of the State, lying north of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude, and is a portion of the tract claimed respectively by the governments of Great Britain and the United States ; the question of jurisdiction being settled by the Webster and Ashburton treaty in 1842.
About the year 1790, some twelve or fifteen hardy pioneers from Grafton county, attracted by the marvellous stories told by two explorers who had followed the course of the river through
I History of Charlestown. 2 David Blanchard.
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to Canada, of the wonderful fertility of the soil in the valley of the upper Connecticut, made their way through the forests, and commenced a settlement on the river and in the valley of the Indian Stream. They were mostly driven away by hostile bands of Indians during the war of 1812.
Some of these returned after the close of the war, bringing others with them ; and in 1820 there were probably about forty families settled along the north bank of the river, the settlement extending about eight miles north and east from the mouth of Indian Stream.
In 1820-22 surveys were made along the Connecticut, and some ten thousand acres of land marked out in lots of one and two hundred acres each, by Moses Davis and Jonathan Eastman, for an association of proprietors who claimed to derive their title to these lands by deed from one Philip, a chief of the St. Francis tribe of Indians.
These lands were offered to settlers by the proprietors, in alternate lots, on condition of making stipulated improvements thereon within a given period, and working on roads, or in other words doing settlers' duty, as it was termed.
In 1824, at the June session of the New Hampshire legisla- ture, the attention of the State government was called to the encroachments of these settlers on lands north of the parallel of forty-five degrees north latitude, which it claimed as part of its public domain ; and a committee was accordingly appointed to proceed to the territory, make the necessary investigations, and report the fact at the November session. The committee reported some fifty-eight settlers on the lands.
The State repudiated the Indian or proprietary title, but in view of the hardships endured by these pioneers, and their having entered upon their lands in good faith, quieted them in their title to the lands in their possession, to the amount of two hun- dred acres each, excepting Jeremiah Tabor, who was quieted in the amount of five hundred acres, and Nathaniel Perkins in the amount of seven hundred acres.
Among the early settlers, 1816-1824, in the town were Nath- aniel Perkins, from New Hampton, John Haynes, from I 'sbon,
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Richard I. Blanchard, from Haverhill, Ebenezer Fletcher, from Charlestown (No. 4), father of Hiram Adams Fletcher, for a long period a prominent member of the Coos bar, and who died at Lancaster in 1880, Kimball B. Fletcher, a prominent citizen of Lancaster (Mr. Fletcher brought considerable money with him from Charlestown; erected a large saw and grist mill; in 1826 a large barn, and cleared up an extensive farm, and finally moved to Colebrook, where he died about 1860). General Moody Bedel, and General John Bedel of the Mexican war and the Rebellion, were among the early settlers, removing from Haverhill in 1816. General Bedel rendered very efficient service in the war of 1812, commanding a regiment at Ticonderoga and at Lundy's Lane.
But little attention was paid by the State to this section for some twelve years subsequent to this period; the citizens in the mean time having for their mutual protection formed a gov- ernment of their own, very democratic in form, having a written constitution and code of laws; the supreme power vested in a council of five, annually chosen ; a judiciary system for the col- lection of debts and the prevention and punishment of crime ; a military company duly organized and equipped-probably more as a police force than for offensive or defensive purposes.
This government continued till 1836, when the governments of Lower Canada and of New Hampshire each endeavored to ex- ercise jurisdiction over the territory, resulting in the arrest and carrying off across the border, by an armed force of twelve men from Canada, Richard I. Blanchard, a deputy sheriff, for the discharge of his duty as such under the laws of New Hampshire, and his rescue, on Canadian soil, on the same day by a party of mounted men, some sixty in number, from the adjoining towns in Vermont and New Hampshire. Two of the Canadian party were severely wounded in the melee - one by a pistol shot in the groin, the other by a sabre cut in the head.
This was immediately followed by what is known as the Indian Stream war. The 5th company infantry, 24th regiment New Hampshire militia, under the old military organization, under command of Captain James Mooney, was called out by Adjutant
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General Low and stationed at Fletcher's Mills, to protect the inhabitants against the encroachments of the Canadian author- ities. The whole difficulty was happily terminated by the treaty before referred to.
From its incorporation in 1843, to 1860, the increase in pop- ulation was only about fifty. At the commencement of the Rebellion the town contained four hundred and fifty inhabi- tants, - yet this small number furnished seventy men to aid our country in the hour of its peril, being largely represented in the 2nd and 13th New Hampshire regiments. Amos and Simon Merrill were the first to enlist at the first call for three months, and re-enlisted, before the expiration of their term, for three years, or during the war. The former was shot dead on the field at the first battle of Bull Run. The last mentioned, after having been engaged in thirteen regular battles, lost a leg at Gettysburg, and was lately doing good manual labor in clear- ing up a new farm in the town. A fearful fatality seemed to decimate the ranks of the Pittsburg soldiers, - shown by desolate homes and the mutilated and scarred veterans who returned.
From the close of the war of the Rebellion, Pittsburg has slowly but steadily gained in population and material prosperity.
At a special convention of the Protestant Episcopal churches of New Hampshire, held October 4, 1843, after the death of Bishop Griswold of the Eastern Diocese, a motion to elect a separate bishop barely prevailed, and Rev. Carlton Chase, of Bellows Falls, Vermont, was chosen.
A church and parsonage had been built at Strawberry Bank, in 1638, and fifty acres of land had been given as endowment soon afterwards. Rev. Richard Gibson was called as rector, but was banished from the colony in 1642, by Massachusetts authority. Ninety years afterward, in 1732, a parish was organized at Portsmouth, and Queen's Chapel begun. Rev. Arthur Browne was rector. Of six hundred families in Portsmouth in 1741, less than sixty conformed to the Episcopal Church, but all the Churchmen in New Hampshire were his parishioners, and he administered the charge with faith- ful diligence from 1736 till his death in 1773. He was helped in the itineracy by his son Marmaduke, from 1755 to 1762, and by Rev. Moses Badger from 1767 to 1774. In 1768 there were eleven hundred and thirty-two souls under his care.
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A second parish was organized in 1773, at Claremont, by Churchmen from Connecticut. The building then erected still stands in the western part of the town. Rev. Ranna Cossit was rector from 1773 to 1785.
The third parish was formed at Holderness.
During the Revolution the Church of England in New Hampshire was abolished. The war over, the need of organization began to be much felt. Valuable property was at stake, over forty thousand acres of land having been reserved for the endowment of future parishes by Governor Benning Went- worth. Unfortunately the larger part of the land endowment was ultimately lost, a small amount only having been saved to help the diocesan work.
In 1789 New Hampshire was represented at a meeting of six clergymen in Salem, Massachusetts, when Dr. Bass was elected bishop of the two States. Rev. John C. Ogden was rector at Portsmouth from 1786 to 1793. Rev. Robert Fowle was rector at Holderness from 1789 to 1847. A fourth parish was or- ganized at Cornish, in 1793, through the efforts of a Dartmouth student, Philander Chase, the future missionary bishop.
The diocesan history begins with the meeting at Concord, in August, 1802, of the first convention, at which were present the rectors of Portsmouth, Claremont, and Holderness, and two lay delegates each from Portsmouth, Holderness, and Cornish. Rev. Joseph Willard, of Portsmouth, presided : Rev. Daniel Barber, of Claremont, a "remarkable man, able, ambitious, un- wise," would not consent to the proposed union, but advocated a union with the Vermont churches. Mr. Barber was in harmony with the diocese in 1809.
Hopkinton became a parish in 1803; Plainfield in 1804. To these were soon joined Drewsville (Walpole), Charlestown, Concord, Dover, and Man- chester. In ISIo there were 151 communicants; in 1820, 198; in 1840, 394.
From 1812, for thirty years, the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire en- joyed the superintendence of Bishop Griswold.
Bishop Chase was consecrated in October, 1844, and served the diocese faithfully and wisely until his death in January, 1870. He left twenty-three parishes where he had found twelve ; twenty-one clergymen instead of eleven ; 1350 commu- nicants instead of 500.
In May, 1870, the convention elected, as successor to Bishop Chase, Rev. William W. Niles, D. 1)., 1 professor of Latin in Trinity College, Hartford ; and he was consecrated at Concord the following September. There were, in 1887, twenty-two parishes, thirteen missions, thirty-seven clergymen, and 2635 communicants.
Among the prominent clergymen of the Protestant Epis-
1 Right Reverend William W. Niles, D. D., son of Daniel L. and Delia (Woodruff) Niles, was born in Hatley, Province of Quebec, May 24, 1832 ; graduated at Trinity College in 1851 ; and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity both from Trinity College and from Dartmouth College.
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copal church of New Hampshire have been Rev. Dr. Isaac G, Hubbard, of Claremont, Rev. Dr. James H. Eames, of Concord, Rev. Dr. M. A. Herrick, of Tilton, famed for his scholarship, and Rev. Dr. Burroughs, of Portsmouth.
John H. Steele was elected governor in 1844.
Governor Steele was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, in January, 1789, and was of Scotch-Irish stock. He settled in Pet- erborough in 1811, without funds and without friends, and went to work at his trade of making chairs and gigs. He had me- chanical skill and genius. He was soon a manufacturer himself, instead of laboring for others; and he put in operation the first power-loom in the State and built and superintended a large cotton mill in West Peterborough. He represented Peter- borough in 1829; was councillor in 1840 and 1841. He was re- elected governor in 1845. After retiring from office he led a quiet life on his farm and in the village, and had great influence in the town, exercised for its best interests and welfare. H. died in July, 1865.
In 1845 happened the memorable contest between John P. Hal and Franklin Pierce. Mr. Hale, a native of Rochester, a grad uate of Bowdoin College, 1827, had entered the political field in 1832, when he was sent to the legislature and became one of the most able and eloquent supporters of the Democratic party, receiving the election to Congress in 1843. There he soon be- came prominent from his anti-slavery sentiments, and took a leading part in the presidential campaign of 1844. He differed from the accepted sentiments of his party, which had for sixteen years had an unbroken sway and remorselessly cut down every man who dared to oppose its declared will. The legislature in session the previous year had instructed the New Hampshire delegation to favor the admission of Texas as a slave State. Mr. Hale met these resolutions with defiance. He stood by his record he had made against any further strengthening of the slave power.
1 Few men have shown such greatness of soul and loyalty to convictions under such temptations. While most men would have yielded, Mr. Hale did 1 J. H. Ela.
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not falter ; but at once wrote his celebrated letter to the people of New Hamp- shire, against the action of the legislature in its resolutions, in which, after setting forth the aims and purposes of annexation, and the reasons given by the advocates and supporters of the measure, he declared them to be " emi- nently calculated to provoke the scorn of earth and the judgment of Heaven." He said he would never consent by any agency of his to place the country in the attitude of annexing a foreign nation for the avowed purpose of sustain- ". ing and perpetuating human slavery; and if they were favorable to such a measure, they must choose another representative to carry out their wishes.
The Democratic State Committee immediately issued a call for the re-as- sembling of the Democratic Convention at Concord, on the 12th of February, 1845, and every Democratic paper which could be prevailed upon to do so opened its battery of denunciation, calling upon the convention to rebuke and silence Mr. Hale. To show what efforts were made to crush him it need only be said that such leaders of the party as Franklin Pierce, who had been his warm friend ever since they were fellow students in college, went forth over the State to organize the opposition. At Dover he called in the leaders of the party, and the editor of the Dover Gazette, who had taken such strong ground against annexation, and under their influence the Gazette changed sides and went over to Mr. Hale's enemies.
He then went to Portsmouth and brought over the leaders there, with the exception of John L. Hayes, then clerk of the United States Court. The same result followed at Exeter, with the exception of Hon. Amos Tuck. In this way the convention was prepared to throw overboard Mr. Hale and put another name on the ticket in place of his. Expecting no other fate when he wrote his letter, Mr. Hale remained at his post in Congress, and only assisted his friends from that point, making arrangements at the same time to enter upon the practice of law in New York city upon the close of his term. But resolute friends who believed with him rose up in all parts of the State to defeat the election of John Woodbury, who had been nominated in the place of Mr. Hale. Prominent among these, in addition to those named above, were Nathaniel D. Wetmore of Rochester, John Dow of Epping, George G. Fogg, then of Gilmanton, James M. Gates of Claremont, James Peverly of Concord, John Brown of Ossipee, George W. Stevens of Meredith, John A. Rollins of Moultonborough, James W. James of Deerfield, N. P. Cram of Hampton Falls, and Samuel B. Parsons of Colebrook, with others of like stamp, who organized the first successful revolt against the demands of the slave power, which, until then, had been invincible. Through their efforts Woodbury, the nominee of the convention, failed to secure the majority over all others needed to elect him, and another election was called to fill the va- cancy. Great excitement pervaded the State during the canvass, into which Mr. Hale entered with spirit, giving full play to all those characteristics which made him the foremost orator of the State before the people, as he had been before juries.
The canvass opened in Concord in June, on the week for the assembling of the legislature, in the Old North church. To break the force and effect of
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Mr. Hale's speech there, the Democratic leaders determined that it should be answered upon the spot, and selected Franklin Pierce for the work. On his way up to the church, Mr. Hale saw no people in the streets, and he began to fear there might be a failure in the expected numbers in attendance, as there had been or.ce before in the same place in 1840, when he and other leaders of the party were to address a mass meeting; but when he reached the old church, he saw why the streets were vacant : the people had all gone early to be sure of getting in, and the house was full to overflowing. Aware that he was addressing not only the citizens of Concord and adjoining towns, and members of the legislature, but the religious, benevolent, and other or- ganizations which always met in Concord on election week, he spoke with more than his usual calmness and dignity. He created a profound impres- sion, and made all feel, whether agreeing with him or not, that he had acted from a high sense of public duty and conviction.
Mr. Pierce, who had few equals as a speaker, saw the marked effect of Mr. Hale's address, and spoke under great excitement. He was bitter and sarcas- tic in tone and matter, and domineering and arrogant in his manner, if not personally insulting. The convention was wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement when Mr. Hale rose to reply. He spoke briefly, but effectively, and closed by saying : -
" I expected to be called ambitious, to have my name cast out as evil, to be traduced and misrepresented. I have not been disappointed ; but if things have come to this condition, that conscience and a sacred regard for truth and duty are to be publicly held up to ridicule, and scouted without rebuke, as has just been done here, it matters little whether we are annexed to Texas, or Texas is annexed to us. I may be permitted to say that the measure of my ambition will be full, if when my earthly career shall be finished and my bones be laid beneath the soil of New Hampshire, when my wife and chil- dren shall repair to my grave to drop the tear of affection to my memory, they may read on my tombstone, 'He who lies beneath surrendered office, place, and power, rather than bow down and worship slavery.'"
The scene which followed can be imagined, but not described, as round after round of applause greeted this close. At the end of the canvass, in September, with three candidates in the field, there was again no election. A second effort in November ended with a like result. No other attempt was made until the annual March election of 1846, when full tickets were placed in the field by the Democrats, Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Independent Demo- crats. The issue of no more slave territory was distinctly made; and a canvass such as the State had never known before, in which Mr. Hale took the leading part, resulted in a triumphant vindication of his course, and the complete overthrow of the Democratic party, which was beaten at all points. Mr. Hale was elected to the House, from Dover, on the Independent ticket, and on the opening of the session was made speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, and during the session was elected United States Senator for the full term of six years.
During this session of the legislature an incident took place which ex- hibited the independent spirit of the man. Dr. Low, a member from Dover,
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introduced resolutions upon the tariff, slavery, and annexation, taking the ultra-Whig view of the tariff question, and intended to bring Mr. Hale and his friends to their support as the condition upon which he could have the vote of a considerable portion of the Whig party. But instead of yielding his convictions for the consideration of their support, he and his friends declared they would submit to no shackles; they had fought successfully against the tyranny of one political organization, and no allurements of a senatorship should stifle their convictions and bind their judgment to the dictations of another. Much excitement followed, but the counsels of the liberal Whigs prevailed. The resolutions were not called up until after the senatorial elec- tion, when Mr. Hale left the speaker's chair and offered amendments which were adopted after a strong speech by him in their favor. He was supported by his old friend and instructor, Daniel M. Christie of Dover, also a member of the House, who had done much to quiet the opposition and induce it to vote for Mr. Hale.
Mr. Hale was nominated as the Free-Soil candidate for the presidency in 1847, but declined it; and again the honor was tendered to him in 1852, when he received 155,850 votes. In 1855 he was again elected to the Senate to fill vacancy caused by death of Charles G. Atherton, and was re-elected in 1858 for a full term. After his retirement from the Senate he was minister to Spain for four years. He died in 1873.
Anthony Colby was elected governor in 1846.
Anthony Colby is known in his native State as a typical "New Hampshire man." Born and bred among the granite hills, he seemed assimilated to them, and to illustrate in his noble, cheerful life the effects of their companionship. His great heart, sparkling wit, fine physical vigor, and merry laugh made his presence a joy at all times, and welcome everywhere. His ancestry on his father's side was of English, and on his mother's of Scotch-Irish, origin.
During the last century his father, Joseph Colby, bought a portion of land under the " Masonian grant " from Mr. Minot, and settled in New London, where Anthony Colby was born in 1795. Then the restriction of ownership in the State was that "all the white-pine trees be reserved for masting the ships of His Majesty's royal navy." Each town was required to set apart a portion of land for a meeting-house, and the support of the gospel ministry ; for a school-house and the support of a school, as well as a military parade ground.
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