Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 17

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers
Number of Pages: 1266

USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886 > Part 17

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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all of Manchester. He has been a United States commissioner since 1872. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1876, and chairman of the commission appointed to investigate the affairs of the asylum for the insane. In 1881 he received from Dartmouth college the honorary degree of A. M. In 1882, he was elected to the New Hampshire state Senate, resigning his office of clerk, and was chosen president of the Senate. He is a prudent, cautious and practical man, who has succeeded well financially, and has now only to devote himself to his books and his office to become distinguished as a practitioner at the bar. He married, December 8, 1858, Miss Hannah M Eastman, of Croydon, N. H., by whom he has had two children, one son and one daughter, the latter of whom only survives .*

William A. Flanders, a son of Sylvester Flanders, was born and educated in Canaan, commenced the study of law in 1861 with George W. Murray, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in 1863. He commenced practice in Wentworth the same year, and has continued there ever since. He married Miss Angie L. Clark, of Canaan, by whom he has five children.

Joseph Clement Story. (See Plymouth.)

COURT HOUSES.

The first court-house was built about three quarters a mile north of the present hotel at North Haverhill. In the detailed account of the expenses, by Asa Porter, who made out his account against "the Committee for erect- ing the Court-House and Goal in Haverhill," the first item was charged in May, 1773, and the last in May or June, 1775. This account was not finally settled till September, 1791. The court-house and jail were all one building. Among the items charged, and allowed, were for the raising, which commenced on the 19th and continued till the 30th of November, 177-, when they used about forty-five gallons of rum, at 6s. per gallon, 650 pounds of beef, bread that cost 4€, 9s., one and one half gallons of molasses, at 6s. per gallon, and twenty-five pounds of pork. This court-house and jail were used until 1793, when Charles Johnson gave an acre of land at the " Corner" for the jail, where it now stands, and he and other citizens prepared a building for the use of the courts and offered it to the court, which accepted it with a vote of thanks.

*See Granite Monthly, Vol. 6, page 281.

[NOTE .- Many natives, early residents, or former practitioners in Grafton county, are now members of the bar in the prominent towns in other parts of the state. At Laco- nia, are Col. D. J. Whipple and ex-Judge E. A. Hibbard ; at Franklin, Senator A. F. Pike, Hon. Daniel Barnard and Judge Isaac N. Blodgett ; at Concord, Hon. J. E. Sar- gent, Hon. Lyman D. Stevens, Hon. Josiah Minot, William M. Chase, Esq., Sylvester Dana, Esq., John M. Mitchell, Esq., H. M. Cavis, Esq., George M. F. Fletcher, Esq., F. S. Streeter, Esq., A. B. Thompson, secretary of state, and Judge A. P. Carpenter ; at Manchester, Hon. Charles K. Morrison, Hon. Joseph F. Briggs, Hon. E. M. Topliff, Hon. Charles H. Bartlett, William Little, Esq., C. A. Sulloway, Esq., and Senator H. W. Blair; at Exeter, Gen. Gilman Marston and E. G. Eastman, Esq .- EDITOR. ]

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'The last record of a meeting of a court in the old court-house was Tues- day, June 3, 1793. This new house was on the ground now occupied by Haverhill academy. About that time the academy was chartered and the county and academy finally owned the building in common, and it was used as a court-house until the present one of brick was built in 1843-44. The county offices were built in 1837.

The first court-house erected in Plymouth, in 1774, was a one-story wooden building, in size about 30x30, with a cupola. It was removed the same year by David Webster, to Russell hill, directly in the rear of the present resi- dence of John M. Mudgett, corner of Russell and Pleasant streets. It was sometimes used as a school-house before it was abandoned as a court-house. An old lawyer named Smilie there taught some of the children who after- wards became prominent men of the town. It was there that Daniel and Ezekiel Webster made their early if not first professional efforts. After the building of the present court-house, in 1823, Hiram Farnum purchased the old court-house and removed it to the lower end of Main street, on the east side thereof, and about three rods south of the present residence of William R. Park. It was occupied as a wheelwright shop from that time until the death of Mr. Farnum, a few years subsequent to the close of the Rebellion. Mr. Farnum used to say that Daniel Webster came into his shop one day, while on a tour to the White mountains, and with a paint brush made a mark on the spot where he stood while making his plea to the jury. While mov- ing the building the cupola had to be taken off on account of a large elm tree on Main street, and was never again placed upon the structure. After the death of Mr. Farnum the building remained unoccupied till about 1876, when to prevent its destruction and for the purpose of preserving a valuable historic relic, Hon. H. W. Blair purchased the building, procured a lease of the ground directly in the rear of the present court-house in Plymouth, moved it upon that lot and restored its exterior, so far as it could be done, to its original plan, finish and proportions. He then deeded the building in trust to the Young Ladies' Library Association, of Plymouth, to be held and used for the purposes of a circulating library, and it has since been used in accord- ance with the trust created.

COUNTY FARM.

Grafton county farm cost, in 1868, $20,000, and is located two miles south of Woodsville, on Connecticut river, in Haverhill. The buildings, erected in 1868, cost $15,623.54 ; stock, furnishing, tools, &c., $5,461.05; total, $41,- 084.59. The buildings are of wood, commodious, pleasantly located, and neatly painted.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

From time immemorial Connecticut river was the favorite pathway of In- dian travel, and later became the great highway of the white settlers in its val- ley. But with the increase of population came the increase of commerce and travel, and it soon became apparent that some more convenient mode of

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transportation must be devised than was afforded by the rude flat-boats of the Connecticut, or by the stage lines which traversed the several turnpike systems. Accordingly, October 29, 1829, the legislatures of New Hampshire and Vermont passed an act incorporating the " Connecticut River Steam- boat Company," the charter being given to " Jonathan H. Hubbard, Freder- ick Peters, George D. Dutton, Isaac W. Hubbard, Edward R. Campbell, Albert G. Hatch, David H. Sumner, William Hall, James I. Cutler, Alexan- der Fleming and their associates." This charter was altered, however, No- vember 5, 1830, to the "Connecticut River Valley Steamboat Company," allowing the corporation to "purchase, hold and convey real estate to the value of $20,000.00." Canals and locks were built where rapids or falls oc- curred, so that the Connecticut navigation became very convenient from Hartford, Conn., to the "Fifteen Mile" fall at Dalton, in Coos county. One of the canals and locks was built at Bellows Falls, one at Sumner's falls, and another at Olcott's falls. Between these falls, except between Sumner's and Olcott's, were located steamers, which were plied until the canal was reached, when the passengers and freight had to be transferred to the steamer waiting at the other end of the canal, though the flat-boats, rafts, etc., made through trips, using the locks.

Although steam navigation on the Connecticut was never brought to a point of practical utility, its history begins with the history of the steamboat itself, briefly as follows : About the beginning of the century there lived two brothers Morey, Samuel and Ithamar, the former at Orford and the latter at Fairlee, Vt.,-Samuel, with a remarkable genius for invention, and Ithamar, a skillful mechanic. The universal applicability of steam had already been demonstrated, and among those who undertook its application to navigation was Samuel Morey. Under his direction Ithamar built a steamboat, which actually navigated the waters of the Connecticut between Orford and Fairlee. Of this steamboat, which had its machinery in its bow, Samuel took a model to New York and showed it to Fulton, who was experimenting to the same end. Fulton was pleased with the work, and suggested to Morey to change the machinery to the middle of the boat. This he returned to Fairlee to do, and then took his model again to New York, to find that Fulton had made use of his ideas and was ahead of him in getting out a patent. He returned home disappointed and with a sense of injury. Several years since, J. H. Simons, of Windsor, Vt., informed us that he himself has seen in Fairlee pond the remains of Morey's boat.

The first real attempt at steamboat navigation on the Connecticut, how- ever, was made in 1827, when the "Barnet," a strong boat was built, and suc- ceeded, with some help, in ascending the river as far as Bellows Falls. This- was her first and last trip, however, for she was taken back to Hartford, laid up, and finally broken to pieces. In 1829 a Mr. Blanchard built a boat called the "Blanchard," and another eighty feet long and fourteen feet wide, drawing only twelve or fifteen inches of water, called the "Vermont." The

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stroke of its piston was horizontal, and its engine of 120 horse-power. A few experimental trips were made between Bellows Falls and Barnet, but the ob- stacles were such that the undertaking was relinquished. The navigation company also built a steamer called the "Williams Holmes," plying from Mon- tague to Bellows Falls, where it connected with one called the "Barnet," while one other, the "John Ledyard," came up as far as Wells River. Finally, in 1832, a boat 100 feet long, called the "Adam Duncan," was built on the banks of the Connecticut just above the mouth of Wells river. Its trial trip, widely advertised, was to occur July 4th of that year, and a great crowd gath- ered to participate in the excursion to Hanover. When about a mile north of Haverhill, however, a steam pipe was broken, and the escaping steam caused a panic, in the midst of which Dr. Joseph Dean, of Bath, stepped or fell overboard and was drowned. The excursion was terminated, and the boat, being disabled, drifted aground and soon floated down to "Bailey's eddy," and sunk in deep water; but it was afterward raised and made the trip to Hanover, though its powers were found unequal to making the return trip, and it was tied up and abandoned to its fate. The remains of its hull, up to a recent date, were visible in the river above Olcott's falls. The captain of the "Adam Duncan," Horace Duncan, of Monroe, is still living. A steamer run by Captain Nutt, of White River Junction, was built in 1830, so as to be locked through the entire distance, but it did not prove a success.

More than fifty years ago aged men claimed that when they were young, long before dams and locks were known here, flat-bottomed boats were used for conveying freight on the levels between the several falls of the streams. Each succession of falls necessitated the transportation of freight to other boats waiting at their foot or head, as the case might be, until Hartford, Conn., was reached, which was then, as now, the head of sea navigation, situated about sixty miles inland. The boats used then were small, eight tons being considered a good load for one ; but after the canals and locks were completed they were made much larger. The farther up the river one passed, however, the smaller he would find the locks and boats, the "up country boats" being capable of carrying about twenty-five tons. The largest, and also the last, boats used as far up as Hinsdale were owned by Messrs. John B. Capron and Edward Alexander, of Winchester. They were sixty-eight feet in length, fourteen feet beam, would carry thirty-six tons, and drew eight inches of water, the draught being increased to three feet under load. Each was supplied with a mast thirty three feet in height, though a sliding top: mast of twenty additional feet was arranged to be used at will. Their two sails, main and top sail, aggregated a 200 square yards surface of canvass, and though square-rigged, it is said, the unwieldy crafts were capable of sail- ing in a nearly side wind, providing it be strong and steady. Handsomely painted, cleanly kept, and supplied with a well-furnised cabin, however, these boats presented by no means a bad appearance.

The advent of the railroad was heralded, however, about 1850. It called

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the business from the river, and its flat-boats, its canals, its locks and its romance, are among the things of the past.

The Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad .- The following remarks rela- tive to this railroad we quote from the manuscript " Personal recollections," of Dr. Phineas Spalding, of Haverhill. "After the railroad had been built from Boston to Concord, N. H., for some years, it was thought it would not be extended any farther into the country. The citizens of Concord were not desirous that it should be, and the Democratic party, who had control of the state, were opposed to granting any more charters. There was no move- ment made until one evening Harry Stevens, Esq., of Barnet, Vt., while at my house, suggested to me that we get up a railroad meeting at Haverhill. I drew up a call, which was signed by Harry Stevens, myself, and many oth- ers. The meeting was very fully attended by prominent men from Canada, Northern Vermont and Grafton county. The subject of building a railroad from Concord to Montreal was fully discussed, and a petition for a charter for a road from Concord to Wells River was drawn up. I was chosen to appoint efficient men in the towns along the proposed route to circulate the petition, and the work was most thoroughly done. The charter was granted to B., C. & M. R. R., December 27, 1844. The corporation was immediately organ- ized, subscription papers for stock circulated, and the survey made.

" The people of Canada and along the line of the Passumpsic united in the enterprise, giving assurance that they would continue the road from Wells River to Montreal. About the same time another charter was granted, for a road to extend from Concord to the mouth of Whiteriver, and there connect with the Vermont Central. These last two roads endeavored to defeat the building of the Boston, Concord & Montreal road by the pledge of $750,- 000.00 to the Passumpsic to induce this corporation to retract its promises and join with them, and together they threw every obstacle in the way of the success of the B., C. &. M. enterprise. One scheme to defeat the enterprise was a proposition to form a junction at Canaan, on the Northern, thence ex- tend a railroad through Lyme, Orford, Piermont and Haverhill, to Wells River ; and this route was surveyed, but no further work was done."

In consequence of all this opposition, however, the building of the B., C. & M. road was retarded, it being opened to various points in its course as follows : to Sanbornton Bridge, now Tilton, May 22, 1848 ; to Meredith Bridge, now Laconia, August 8, 1848 ; to Lake Village, October 1, 1848 ; to Mere- dith Village, March 19, 1849 ; to Plymouth, January 21, 1850 ; to Warren, June, 1851 ; and to Wells River, May 10, 1853. The White Mountains Rail- road, an extension northward of the main line, was chartered December 24, 1848 ; opened to Littleton in August, 1853 ; to Lancaster in November, 1870; to Northumberland in August, 1872 ; to Fabyan's in July, 1874; and to the base of Mt. Washington, July 6, 1876. The White Mountains road was consoli- dated with the B., C. & M. in 1873, the owners of the former receiving $300,000.00 in six per cent. consolidated bonds for their property. The cost

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of the line from Concord to Woodsville was $2,850,000.00. No dividends have been paid on the old common stock, amounting to $459,600.00. The preferred stock, amounting to $800,000.00, has paid six per cent. dividends since 1867. The bonded indebtedness of the road, originally incurred and covering the construction of the extensions and branches, amounts to $3,069- 000.00. The whole line was leased to the Boston & Lowell road, June 1, 1884, at six per cent. on preferred stock, and five per cent. thereafter for the term of ninety-nine years. The road extends from Concord to Wells River, Vt., a distance of 93.5 miles ; thence to Groveton Junction, on the Grand Trunk railroad, 51.95 miles ; its branches being from Wing Road station to the base of Mt. Washington, 20.4 miles, and from Plymouth to North Woodstock, twenty-one miles. The latter, known as the Pemigewasset rail- road, was completed in 1883, at a cost of $300,000.00.

The Northern Railroad, extending from Concord to White River Junction, Vt., a distance of 69.5 miles, with a branch from Franklin to Bristol, 13.41 miles, was originally chartered June 18, 1844 ; but this charter was superseded December 27, 1844, because it contained no provision to take land. The Bris- tol branch, chartered as the Franklin & Bristol railroad, July 8, 1846, was con- solidated with the Northern, January 1, 1869. The Northern road was opened to Franklin, December 28, 1846, and was operated by the Concord railroad until the completion of the line to Grafton, on the first day of September, 1847. On the 17th of November, following, the road was opened to Labanon, and to White River Junction in June, 1848. The Bristol Branch, opened in 1848, cost $200,000.00, or $16,000.00 per mile. The Northern road cost, exclusive of Branch, $2,868,400.00. It is leased to the Boston & Lowell road for ninety-nine years, at five per cent.

The Portland & Ogdensburg railroad, extending from Portland, Me., to Lunenburg, Vt., a distance of 114 miles, whence the system is extended to Swanton, on Lake Champlain, 120 miles, was chartered in New Hampshire in 1869. Construction was begun in 1870, and the road was opened to Fa- byan's August 7, 1875, a distance of ninety-one miles. From Fabyan's to Scott's Mills, twenty-miles, the Portland & Ogdensburg runs upon the iron of the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad. The road and equipments cost $4,035,262.00, of which $1,052, 185.00 is in stocks, $3, 177,000.00 in funded indebtedness, and $175,000.00 in receivers certificates. On the first of April, 1884, the physical and financial condition of the road rendered it advisable to place it in the hands of a receiver, which was done by decree of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, confirmed by the U. S. Circuit Court for the district of New Hampshire. Samuel Anderson, of Portland, was appointed receiver.

The Profile & Franconia Notch railroad, a narrow gage road extending from Bethlehem Station on the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad to the Profile House, ten miles, and from the same point to Bethlehem Street, three and one half miles, a total of thirteen and one half miles, was chartered July II, 1878, and opened July 1, 1879. The road cost $191,017.99 ; equipment,

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$24,945,03 ; total $216,017.02. The capital stock is $200,000.00. Six per cent. dividends have been paid since the opening of the road, with the excep- tion of the opening year, when four per cent, was paid, and in 1882, when the dividend was seven per cent. The Bethlehem Branch, three and one half miles, was constructed in 1882.

The Sawyer River railroad, built in 1877, is a branch extending from the P. & O. R. R., into Livermore, for lumbering purposes

NEWSPAPERS.

The following sketch of the newspaper enterprises that have been estab- lished in the county, we have arranged by towns, in alphabetical order, the names of live papers being printed in SMALL CAPITALS :-

ASHLAND .- THE ASHLAND ADVANCE, published by W. A. Roberts, was established by C. H. Kimball, May 19, 1881.

THE ASHLAND. ITEM, published by R. R. D. Dearborn, was established at about the same time as the ADVANCE.

BETHLEHEM. - THE WHITE MOUNTAIN ECHO was the first paper of its kind published in the United States giving summer resort information, with a weekly directory of visitors in the district in which it is published. The idea was taken from European papers, where many of like character have been published, while the style and form was copied from the illustrated weeklies. The ECHO was first published in Bethlehem, in 1878, by Markinfield Ad- dey, who continues to be its editor and proprietor. It is an illustrated weekly of from sixteen to twenty-four pages, published every Friday morning for twelve weeks during the tourist season, its principal features being in- formation relative to the White Mountains, social gossip, and directory of guests stopping at hotels and boarding-houses in the region.

BRISTOL .- The Bristol Weekly News, a twenty-four column newspaper, was established here May 22, 1869, by Isaac B. Gordon. It was published just one year, and then discontinued. A few months previous to its suspension, the office of publication was in the old "South Alexandria meeting-house," two miles from Bristol village. This was destroyed by fire, the week the paper was discontinued.

The Weekly Enterprise was established in Bristol, June 22, 1878, by Rich- ard W. Musgrove. This was a sixteen column folio. Four weeks later it was enlarged to a twenty column. January 1, 1879, it was enlarged to a twenty- four column. and its name changed to the "BRISTOL WEEKLY ENTERPRISE." At the commencement of its fourth volume, in June, 1882, it appeared as a twenty-eight column folio, and in June, 1884, commenced its sixth volume as a thirty-two column folio. It now has a circulation of 1,600, and is one of the best papers in the county.

CANAAN .- About twenty-five years ago, G. F. Kimball and James Barnard bought a press and started a paper here, calling it The United States Ga- zette. It was devoted chiefly to personalities, lottery and gift enterprises. It

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had a lingering existence from the start, and when it ceased to exist, its loss was scarcely missed, even by those who had paid their subscription in advance.

THE CANAAN REPORTER appeared in 1867, in two small pages, published by C. O. Barney, a young man who had just finished his school education. The paper has been enlarged from time to time, and has grown to be an in- stitution of influence. The office is well appointed, and its work is done with tasts and neatness. The proprietor now sends forth from his office, the CA- NAAN REPORTER, the MASCOMA REGISTER, the CONCORD TRIBIUNE, and the KEARSARGE SENTINEL, giving a circulation of about 6,000 copies, 1,500 of which are in the town of Canaan.

ENFIELD .- Rev. Ebenezer Chase at one time edited a periodical devoted to the interests of Freemasonry. He was one of the charter member of Social Lodge, in 1827, and at that time was a Congregational clergyman, and preached here. This periodical was called the Masonic Casket, and is thought to have been identical with the one printed at Haverhill.

HANOVER .*- The Dresden Mercury, by Alden Spooner, 1778-79. Of this paper no specimens are preserved.

The Eagle and Dartmouth Sentinel, later the Eagle, from July 22, 1793, to June, 1799, edited by Josiah Dunham until 1796, by Benjamin True until 1798, and by Moses Fiske until 1799.

The Dartmouth Gazette, from August 27, 1799, to June 2, 1820, published and edited by Moses Davis until 1808, and then by Charles Spear (part of the time with his brothers, William and Henry).

The American, by David Watson, Jr., from February 7, 1816, to April 2, 1817.

The Dartmouth Herald, by Bannister & Thurston, from June 21, 1820, to July 25, 1821.

These were all country newspapers, in the ordinary sense of the term, and had no special connection with the college or the students. They were issued weekly, on four pages, ranging in size from ten by seventeen inches to twelve by twenty inches.

The Literary Tablet, published also by Moses Davis, from August 6, 1803, to August 5, 1807, was a bi-weekly paper, of four quarto pages, ten inches by twelve. It was edited by Davis himself, with the assistance of other gentle- men under the nom de plume of "Nicholas Orlando, " and was purely literary in its character.

Subsequent to 1830 there is said to have been published for a brief period a paper entitled The Hanover Chronicle, of which little is known, and in Oc- tober, 1835, three or four numbers of an Independent Chronicle find contem- poraneous mention ; but it is not known that any copies of either remain. In the same year, 1835, beginning with October 21st, there appeared a bi-weekly

*For this sketch of the Hanover journalistic ventures we are indebted to Hon. Freder- ick Chase, of Hanover.

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literary venture under the name of the Magnet, that survived some little time. It was printed by a Thomas Mann, for a "social conclave, " in the form of a sixteen page octavo.

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Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 17

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers Number of Pages: 1266

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Company, Printers
Number of Pages: 1266