USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 > Part 56
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And so it has been for several years up to the present, only gaining a little, almost ever year, up to two years ago, when he thought he was strong enough to write another operetta, but upon trial found that he could not go on, and it was laid aside after writing almost one act. At the present time
30.
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(May) he has it in hand again, and is confident that he will have it finished by the end of the year. His business house in Boston during all these years had, as before, gone on steadily and prosperously, no misfortune ever having happened to it ; and, except one year when he had a partner, and about two years when he was a very sick man, he has been the chief manager, sending. his orders every week to Boston from Europe or Africa or wherever he hap- pened to be, and having detailed reports sent from the store to him also- every week. For the past fourteen years, then, he has resided and travelled most of the time in Europe ; summers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and winters in southern France, Italy, Sicily, and the past winter he has spent in Egypt, residing nearly all the time in Cairo for the benefit of his- health, that being a most delightful place, as his case requires a warm, even and sunny climate. In March he was back in Italy, in Rome and Venice ;. April in Vienna, and the present time in Teplitz, Bohemia, where he has been every May or June for several years, for the benefit of the splendid mineral baths there, which have done more to build up his health, strengthen his sick head and nerves than all the doctors he has been able to find in all his travels. He has been an extensive traveller ; has crossed the ocean fifteen- times ; and when he went into Egypt, it is stated in one of his letters, that he wrote down in his diary --- " Crossed Frontier 121st time, which means that during my travels I have passed from one kingdom, empire or country to an- other one hundred and twenty-one times, have had my baggage examined so many times, or nearly, by Custom House officers. So Custom Houses are not so much dreaded as they were, I have got so used to them." Much of the time, on account of his extreme love of music and art in general, he has resided in the capital cities-London, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna, Rome and other cities famous for music and art, Naples, Florence, Milan, Venice, Dusseldorf, Leipsic, and a short time in various other smaller interesting cities.
Another thing, which Mr. Stratton says, he has done to make good his declaration that he would return to his art, is that,-"I have learned to play the piano during the past eight years. I do not mean that I had not learned to play some during the early part of my life ; but even up to the time I left the profession, 1866, I was totally unable to play classical music, in the large- forms-Sonata, Concerto, etc., the most difficult styles of piano music-at all to my own satisfaction, because I never had any natural execution. During these past eight years, although I have been pretty sick most of the time, my doctors have allowed me to practice a little if I would not study too much or play music which had too much feeling in it! But, in spite of what they said, to the disadvantage of my health, I would practice Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn a great deal, and believe that I am now able to somewhat ap- proach the manner in which these great composers probably played their compositions themselves."
At a reception given by Mr. Stratton, in Keene, to his Swanzey and
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Keene friends last summer, the following programme of classical music for the piano was performed by him, wholly without the assistance of notes, to the great delight of his many friends there assembled.
PART FIRST.
I. Air, with variations, MOZART.
2. Sonata, C sharp minor, "Moonlight," BEETHOVEN.
Adagio, Minuet, Trio.
3. Rondo Capriccioso in E minor, Op. 14,. MENDELSSOHN.
PART SECOND.
4. Concerto, D minor, No. 2, . MENDELSSOHN.
Second Movement-Andante.
Third Movement-Allegro.
5. Caprice, . SCARLATTI.
6. Spinning Song MENDELSSOHN.
The enterprise which Mr. Stratton now has in hand, and which is occupy- ing the most of his mind, is the establishment of a Free Public Library and and Art Gallery in his native village. For over a year he has been purchasing for it books and pictures in Europe. The building is now progressing as rapidly as possible, and will be finished about July Ist, and the day set for the dedication is Tuesday, September 15th. As a part of the dedication exercises, his operetta "Genevieve" will be performed in the city hall, Keene, in the evening, a special train to run for the accommodation of the Swanzey people ; the Germania orchestra and one or two solo singers from Boston will take part in the performance.
The library building is to be a most solid structure, intended to last sev- eral hundred years. The length is forty feet, width twenty-five feet ; height of walls eighteen feet, with arched ceiling ; the walls are of brick work, eight- een inches thick, of the best quality; the floor is of marble, resting upon piers. The two columns of the portico are of red granite, polished as smooth as glass, and were made to order in Aberdeen, Scotland; the window shutters are of heavy iron, the roof of iron (frame) and slate. It will be seen from the foregoing that the building is not only fire-proof in name, but in substance. The picture presented here of the buiding was made especially for this work from the drawings of the architect, and gives a good idea of the exterior. At the opening the Library and Art Gallery will contain over 2,000 books and over 200 pictures. The books will be the best in the English language, and as good a variety as is possible to make by several persons experienced in handling books, one having been for several years connected with the cele- brated Boston Athanæum Library. The pictures, Mr. Stratton has been gathering together in his travels during several years, the most, however, in the past year and a half. As it is to be eminently an educational institution, mostly for the benefit of young people, as Mr. Stratton has from the first declared, the pictures as well as the books have been selected from an educa-
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tional point of view, and there will be scarcely one out of the two hundred which will not teach something of art, history or architecture, interesting to those wishing to learn. Of eminent, talented and learned men, there will be a few engravings and photographs. Some particularly interesting cities will be well illustrated; of Venice, the most charming city in the world, there will be large sized photographs in water colors of St. Mark's Church and Doge's Palace, exterior and interior, several ; St. Mark's Square and Bell Tower, the celebrated Clock, Bridge of Sighs, Rialto, Grand Canal, many palaces, etc. Of Rome will be many also; among them St. Peter's and St. Paul's exterior and interior ; the Forum, ruins of the old aqueducts, Coliseum, and various old and interesting structures, Baths, Tombs, etc. ; the others will be views in England,-the great English Cathedrals particularly ; the celebrated cathedrals in Cologne, Milan, Florence, Pisa, with the world-renowned Leaning Tower, and views in Naples, Pompeii, Alexandria, Cairo, the Pyramids, etc., etc. Among the larger of the oil paintings are-The Roman Forum, interior of Santa Maria, a beautiful church in Rome, interior of a room in the Doge's Palace, Venice, Wartburg Castle, Prison of Chillon. Ruins of Kenilworth Castle, Warwick Castle, King Charles's Tower in the walls of Chester, a view of the Siena, Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, etc., etc. There will be in four frame pictures in minature : Ist, all the celebrated composers, pianists, vocalists, etc. ; 2d, all the celebrated painters ; 3d, all the popes of Rome; 4th, all the doges of Venice. Musical works, sheet music, Beethoven's and Mozart's sonatas, etc., will be given out same as books.
Mr. Stratton says that it is impossible for him to say, for he cannot remem- ber, when he first thought of this project, but thinks it was when he was an earnest student, twenty or twenty-two years of age, that he thought what a happy thing it would be if he could sometime give to his native village a library, so that when there was a boy who wished to learn something about the world as much as he did, when ten or twelve years old, he should not go through the same distress because there were no books nor people to tell him what he was anxious to know. He says that during the last five or six years the enterprise has somewhat extended itself, the Art Gallery portion being of quite recent date. The cost of the whole when finished and furnished, will be between $9,000.00 and $10,000.00.
Abcut Mr. Stratton's business career he does not give much information, as he considers it of little public interest. He says, however, that he thinks it will be a satisfaction to the people of Swanzey, at least, to know that not one dollar of the money which went to pay for this library building and its contents, was made out of any "operations " in mining, real estate, railroad stocks or speculations, or in any sort of gambling whatever of any kind ; but that the funds were earned from fair profits made in his legitimate business, through hard work and study, and patient waiting. He says that it might interest a few business men to learn something about the combats he has had in defending himself against the attacks of his competitors, but he will mention
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only the one at present going on pretty sharply, and he is carrying the war into the enemy's country, England ! He writes, " My two operettas, ' Laila ' and ' Genevieve' were issued in London several years ago by a large music house, and the copies were exactly the same as the American edition ; but recently they have been issued by another music-publishing house, an un- principled, unscrupulous firm, Curwen & Sons, in a simplified, abridged, altered form, one or two of the best pieces being entirely thrown out, and some very simple and cheap music substituted. In the absence of an inter- national copyright law between America and England, I cannot make up a case to bring them before the courts for the great injury they have done my reputation as a composer of operatic music, so I must resort to other means to defend myself against this outrage. I have issued a sharp and earnest cir- cular of four large pages, illustrating with notes what the unprincipled Cur- wens had done to my injury, that they might make a little money to put in their purse out of my compositions. This circular, with another going with it describing the operettas, I send to all Professors and Teachers of Music, Conductors of Orchestras, Concerts, etc., and Dealers in Music in England, Ireland and Scotland, as per Musician's Directory-many thousands of them. I have put a large stock of my own edition of these operettas into a London music house, owned by a large French firm in Paris, which is on the best terms with me and allows me to manage the sale of the books exactly in my own way. I put a reduced price on them, and propose to continue, for two or three years at least, my vigorous manner of advertising them, and showing by further illustrated circulars, how Curwen & Sons have nearly ruined the works by what they have done to them. The affair is at the present time creating considerable excitement in England. With me it is not at all a money con- sideration which has drawn me into this little war in England; but what I do is wholly to defend my reputation as a composer."
George Ingersoll Cutler was born at Keene, N. H., December 10, 1833, and there first attended school. He subsequently moved with his parents to Charlestown, where he lived about ten years. After this his home was in Alstead. His early education was received in common schools, and he obtained his academical education from different schools, including the high school in the latter town, two years in the high school at Brattleboro, Vt., and sev- eral terms at Westminster Seminary, Vt., under the instruction of the late Prof. L. F. Ward. After fitting for teaching and successfully following that profession for some years in different grades of schools, he commenced the study of medicine in 1860, with Dr. D. L. M. Cummings, and afterwards con- tinued it under the direction of Dr. William M. French, of Alstead, now of Washington, D. C. He graduated at the medical department of the Univer- sity of Vermont, at Burlington, in 1864, and in the following February (1865) settled at West Swanzey, and commenced the practice of medicine, where he has been very successful and acquired a large and extensive prac- tice. In February, 1866, he married Miss E. Jennie Aldrich, daughter of
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Arvin Aldrich, Esq., of East Westmoreland. Dr. Cutler is a Democrat in politics, and has held different offices of trust and responsibility since he be- came a resident of Swanzey. He was first elected town clerk in 1867, and has continued to hold the office nineteen successive years, and has also been superintending school committee nineteen years. This is a fair showing of the confidence he enjoys with the town's people, and the general respect they entertain for him.
Rev. Elisha Rockwood, D. D., son of Elisha Rockwood, was born in Chesterfield, N. H., May 9, 1778, and graduated at Dartmouth college in 1802. He was principal of Plymouth academy two years, tutor in Dartmouth college two years, and was ordained to the work of the ministry in Westbor- ough, Mass., October 26, 1808. He remained there as minister of the Con- gregational church till March, 1835, then settled in Swanzey, November 16, 1836, and continued there as pastor of the Congregational church till the time of his death, June 19, 1859. He married, for his first wife, Susan Park- man, daughter of Hon. Breck Parkman, of Westborough, by whom he had three children-William, Susan and Hannah. She died in 1835. In 1836 he married Mrs. Emily Wilder Herrick, widow of Rev. Osgood Herrick, of Millbury, Mass., and daughter of Abel Wilder, of Keene. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him in 1855, by Dartmouth college.
Asa Kimball, a native of Burlington, Mass., came to Fitzwilliam in 1851, and engaged in the tanning business there for seventeen years. He then came to Swanzey, where he converted the Stratton Saw-mills into a tannery and carried on the business until 1883. He represented the town of Fitz- william in 1855.
CHURCHES.
The early settlers of the town gave the subject of religion particular con- sideration, in fact, it was a subject enjoined upon them by Massachusetts in granting them the charter of the township. The settlers were obligated to build a "suitable meeting-house," and to settle a "learned and orthodox minister within five years from the date of said settlement." Accordingly, on the 7th of September, 1737, the proprietors voted that a meeting-house 46x36 feet, with twenty-foot posts be built upon "the rock near the corner of lot No. 18 ;" and again, December 28, 1738, it was voted to make the meeting-house four feet longer, four feet wider and two feet higher, and to build a decent steeple upon one end of it." At a subsequent meeting, how- ever, it was voted "not to build the meeting. house," probably on account of the fear of Indian depredations.
Congregational church .- On December 4, 1741, Rev. Timothy Harrington was ordained as pastor of the Congregational church of Swanzey, at that time formed, with thirteen members. After the town was abandoned, in 1747, the proprietors met at Rutland, Mass., and made a settlement with Mr. Har- rington and he gave them the following receipt in testimony thereof :-
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"RUTLAND, October ye 12th A. D., 1748.
"Received of ye Standing Committee of ye Proprietors of Lower Ashuelot, full satisfaction for all Debts, Dues and Demands, whether as settlement or Salary, from ye beginning of ye world unto this day, as Witness my Hand." "TIMOTHY HARRINGTON.
"In Presence of
"SAMUEL HEATON."
On August 21, 1753, the churches of Keene and Swanzey met here "at the school-house," and united in the support of gospel ordinances, and the pastoral care of the churches was committed to Rev. Ezra Carpenter. This union was continued seven years. It is supposed Mr. Carpenter's con- nection with the Swanzey church terminated about 1764. He was succeeded by Rev. Edward Goddard, September 27, 1769, who was dismissed July 5, 1798. Rev. Caleb Mason was installed September 5, 1810, and remained until October 1, 1815. Rev. Joshua Chandler was ordained January 20, 1819, and dismissed November 26, 1822. Rev. Ebenezer Colman was installed May 23, 1827, and dismissed July 1, 1834. Rev. Elisha Rockwood, D. D., was installed November 19, 1836, and his ministry continued until his death, June 19, 1858. The present pastor is Rev. Benjamin Merrill, his church having sixty-five members. The church also has a Sunday-school with 134 members, having an average attendance of fifty-eight, with Deacon A. A. Ware, Superintendent. The first church building, located on Meeting-house hill, was built previous to 1755, and was used for public worship about forty years. This was succeeded by another structure built by the town, which was in turn used about forty years, and the present brick structure at Swanzey was erected in 1835. The Congregational society did not, until a compara- tively recent date, have to support its pastors. At first, their salary, etc., was cared for by the proprietors, and later by the town ; but since the town ceased to be a parish, the support has fallen entirely upon the society.
The Baptist church, located at West Swanzey, was organized in 1792. Their church building was built in 1804. It is a wood structure, capable of seating 300 persons, and is valued, including grounds, at $8,000.00. The society has ninety-eight members, with Rev. Stephen G. Abbott, pastor. The church has a Sabbath-school with sixty-six scholars.
The Universalist church, located at West Swanzey, was organized by Jona- than W. Frink, Adis Bennett, and Elliot Hammond, with thirty members, in 1843, the first pastor being Rev. Joseph Barber. The church building, erected during that year, will accommodate 400 persons, and is valued, in. cluding grounds, at $300.00. The society has about twenty members, with no regular pastor.
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TOWN OF TROY.
T ROY, a small, irregularly outlined township, lies in the central part of the county in lat. 42° 50' and long. 4° 51', bounded north by Marlboro, east by Jaffrey, south by Fitzwilliam, and west by Swanzey and Rich- mond. It was formed in June, 1815, by taking parts of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey and Richmond, making up an area of 8,165 acres and thirty-five rods. The causes which united to bring about this effect were mainly as fol- lows : In the first place, the surface of the territory being very irregular, with its hills disposed in such a manner as to prevent convenient accession of the inhabitants to the center of their respective towns, to transact public busi- ness or for other purposes, was the principal cause. At this time, also, what. is now Troy village had attained considerable size, and became a place of ex- tensive business, so that it commanded the most of the trade within a circle of a radius of two or three miles. And the people, having become accus- tomed to do much of their private business here, very naturally concluded that it would be for their convenience to transact their public business here- also. Then, again, the village, having been built upon the border of two towns, was under a divided jurisdiction, and so long as this was the case the inhabitants must feel that their interests to a certain extent were divided, a condition of things neither pleasant nor condusive to the prosperity of the place. The subject of division was actively canvassed as early as 1794, when, as a preliminary step likely to tend toward the desired result, it was decided to build a meeting-house. This project, however, failed, to be revived again in 1800; but even then no considerable progress was made. In the summer of 1812 the subject again came up, and led to a controversy in Fitzwilliam which was settled only when that town consented to the erection of the new township, in 1815. Marlboro then acceded to the demand, followed by the others, and the matter. was placed before the legislature, which resulted in the passage of the following act :-
" State of New-Hampshire, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and" fifteen.
[L. s.] " An act to incorporate the inhabitants of the southerly part of Marlboro, the northerly part of Fitzwilliam, and the easterly parts of Swanzey and Richmond, into a separate township, with all the privileges and immuni- ties of other towns in the state.
" WHEREAS, A petition signed by a number of the inhabitants of the towns. of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey and Richmond, praying to be incorporated into a separate town, has been presented to the General Court of this State, the prayer thereof appearing reasonable, therefore,
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened : That all the lands and inhabitants within the fol- lowing limits, namely : beginning at the southeast corner of lot No. 21, in the fourth range of lots in Fitzwilliam on the west line of Jaffrey, thence running north eighty-seven degrees west 215 rods, thence north eighty-two degrees. west 326 rods, thence south one degree west 220 rods, thence north eighty degrees west 160 rods, thence south four degrees west ninety-five rods, thence north eighty-four degrees west 160 rods, thence south six degrees east 100- rods, thence north eighty-two degrees west 160 rods, thence north eighty-
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TOWN OF TROY.
seven one-half degrees west 210 rods to the east line of Richmond, thence northerly on said line 262 rods, thence north seventy-two and a half degrees west 243 rods, thence north one and a half degrees east sixty rods, thence south eighty degrees west forty-seven rods, thence north one degree west 145 rods, thence south eighty degrees east fifty-two rods, thence north eighty rods, thence north twenty-three degrees east ninety-two rods, thence north thirty degrees east twenty-seven rods, thence north one-half a degree west 173 rods, thence east ninety-eight rods, thence north one-half degree west 235 rods, thence south eighty-two and one-half degrees east 132 rods to the line between Marlboro and Swanzey, thence north four and a half degrees east on said line 263 rods, thence north eight degrees east on said line 194 rods, thence east 215 rods to the Branch Turnpike Road in Marlboro, thence southerly on said road to the south line of lot No. 9, in the fourth range in Marlboro, thence south eighty-seven and a half degrees east sixty-two rods, thence easterly on the north line of the fifth range of lots of Marlboro to lot No. I, in said range, thence south on the west line of lot No. I, in said fifth range 160 rods, thence east 100 rods to the line between Jaffrey and Marlboro, thence south- erly on said line of Jaffrey 748 rods to bounds first mentioned, be and the same are incorporated into a town by the name of TROY, and the inhab- itants who now reside, or shall hereafter reside within the above mentioned boundaries, are made and constituted a body politic and corporate, and invested with all the powers and privileges, and immunities which other towns in this State are entitled to enjoy, to remain a distinct town, and to have continuance and succession forever.
"SECTION II. And be it further enacted, That all the moneys that are now assessed in the towns of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey and Richmond for the support of schools be divided between the remaining towns of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey and Richmond and the several parts of the town of Troy disannexed from said towns according to their present proportion of the public. taxes, and the lands which the said towns of Marlboro and Fitzwilliam now have for the support of schools shall be divided between the remaining parts of Marlboro and Fitzwilliam and the town of Troy according to the present proportion of the public taxes paid by the remaining towns of Marl- boro and Fitzwilliam and the parts of Troy disannexed from said towns, and the inhabitants of the town of Troy shall pay all the taxes assessed on them by the several towns from which they are hereby disannexed, and the said town of Troy shall, after the next annual town meeting, support all the pres- ent poor including all those supported in whole or in part who have gained a settlement in the towns of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey or Richmond, by living in that part of either of said towns that is now included in the town of Troy, and shall support any poor person now residing in any other towns, which by law the towns of Marlboro, Fitzwilliam, Swanzey or Richmond may respectively be liable to relieve or support, that have gained a settlement in either of said towns, by residing within the limits of the town of Troy.
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