Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 48

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 48

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Professor Arthur S. Hardy was born at Andover, attended Amherst col- lege, graduated from West Point military academy in 1869, and became lieutenant in the .3d Regt. U. S. Artillery, from which he resigned in 1870. He was professor of civil engineering and applied mathematics, from 1870 to 1873, was professor of civil engineering of the Chandler Scientific Depart- ment, from 1874 to 1878, and was then elected to the chair of mathematics in Dartmouth college.

Professor Charles F. Emerson was born at Chelmsford, Mass., September 28, 1843, attended school at Westford, Mass., and at Appleton academy, New Ipswich, N. H., and graduated from Dartmouth college, in 1868. He remained there as instructor, tutor, associate professor of natural philosophy and math- ematics, from 1872 to 1878, and was elected to the Appleton professorship of natural philosophy, in 1878, a position he still holds.

Professor Clarence W. Scott was born at Plymouth, Vt., August 20, 1849, attended the Normal school at Randolph, and the Kimball Union academy. He graduated from Dartmouth college, in 1874, and was librarian of Dart- mouth college from 1874 to 1878. He was admitted to the bar at Wood- stock, Vt., in December, 1879, and was chosen to the professorship of Eng- lish language and literature, in the New Hampshire College of Agriculture, in 188I.

Robert Fletcher, Ph. D., professor in charge of Thayer School of Civil Engineering, was born in New York city, August 23, 1847, was educated at the public schools and the college of that city, and graduated from West Point Military academy, in 1868. He served in the United States artillery one year, and was instructor in mathematics at the military academy, from October, 1869, to October, 1870, when he received the appointment to his present position, from General Sylvanus Thayer, the founder of the professor- ship He has been an advocate of the American society of Civil Engineers, since 1875.

Professor Benjamin T. Blanpied was born at Seville, O., July 24, 1848, at- tended the Ohio Wesleyan university, at Delaware, O., and graduated from Bethany college, in West Virginia, in 1871. During the same year he was elected tutor at New Hampshire College of Agriculture, and two years later he was appointed associate professor. He became professor of chemistry in 1876, and is now the senior professor of the college.

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TOWN OF HANOVER.

Rev. Henry E. Parker, D. D., was born in Keene, N. H., April 17, 1821, attended the schools of that place, and also Kimball Union academy. He graduated from Dartmouth college in 1841, after which he became a teacher, and studied for the ministry at the Union Theological seminary, of New York. He was a clergyman nineteen years, and was chaplain in the army during the late war, for eighteen months. He was elected to the Daniel Webster professorship of Latin, and since that time has been a resident of Hanover. Many of his sermons and addresses have been published. He married Mary Elizabeth (Brackett) Huntley, April 22, 1856, and has two chil- dren, Henry Horatio, who graduated from Dartmouth college in 1882, and Alice, who is a graduate of the Bradford female seminary, in Massachu- setts.

Charles Henry Hitchcock, A. M., Ph. D., the well known geologist of Dartmouth college, and a son of president Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst college, was born in Amherst, Mass., August 23, 1836. Mr. Hitchcock fitted for college at Williston seminary, of East Hampton, Mass., and graduated from Amherst with high honors in 1856. He subsequently studied theology at An- dover, Mass., and also attended the Royal School of Mines, at London, Eng., 1866-67. Among the positions he has filled are the following : assistant geolo- gist of Vermont, 1857-60; State geologist of Maine, 1861-62 ; professor of geology at Lafayette college, Easton, Pa., 1867-70 ; lecturer on zoology and curator of the cabinets at Amherst college, 1858-64; State geologist of New Hampshire, 1868-78 ; professor of geology and mineralogy in Dartmouth college from 1869 to the present time ; professor of geology, temporarily, at Williams college and at the Virginia State agricultural college. Aside from this multitude of cares, Mr. Hitchcock has in his busy life borne that of pro- fessionally visiting most of the States, territories and provinces of North America, having had an office as mining geologist in New York city from 1865 to 1869. He has also traveled in Europe a year, visited the Sandwich Islands, and is now 'spring of 1886) absent on a second trip to the latter place. Mr. Hitchcock has also contributed largely to scientific literature, among his larger works being the " Geological Reports" of Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, respectively, while he has also published or written for publication more than one hundred scientific papers, and is the author of a general geological map of the United States, and made the large relief map of New Hampshire, which commands so much attention at the State House in Concord. He married a daughter of Prof. E. P. Barrows, of Andover Theological seminary, who has borne him five children.

George H. Whitcher, son of Joseph A., was born at Strafford, N. H., graduated from New Hampshire College of Agriculture, in 1881, and became superintendent of the college farm in April, 1884.

Elbert Hewitt was born in Pomfret, Vt., July 30, 1843, and lived with his father, Lucian Hewitt, a teacher and farmer, until he was eighteen years of age. In April, 1862, he enlisted in Co. F, 17th U. S. Inf., and served in the

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Army of the Potomac, under McClellan. He was in the second battle of Bull Run, where he received a wound in the left breast, breaking one rib, but did not leave his company on account of the wound. He was taken with fever, and was discharged for disability in May, 1864. In August, 1864, he re-enlisted in Co. C, 6th Vt. Vols., and in the battle of Winchester, Septem- ber 19, 1864, was hit in the face with a piece of shell, his lower jaw broken in three places, twelve teeth shot out, and his upper jaw split open. The same piece of shell killed his comrade by his side, and he himself was left for dead. He finally revived and reached a hospital, where he remained until June, 1865, undergoing three surgical operations, and the wound has never fully healed. Mr. Hewitt has resided in Hanover since 1875. He mar- ried Augusta, daughter of Alvin I. Merrill, of this town.

Joseph Tilden, with his sons Joseph, Stephen, Elisha and Joel, moved to Lebanon, from Connecticut, at a very early date. He owned a large tract of land opposite and above Olcott Falls, where his sons Joseph and Joel lived and reared families. The latter kept a store near the falls, Elisha served in the Revolution, and Stephen moved to Canada. Joseph, Sr., lived to be nearly 100 years of age. Lydia, Betsey and Joseph Tilden, of Hanover, are great- grandchildren of Joseph Tilden, who came from Connecticut.

Rev. Samuel H. Smith, son of Jonathan, who was a carpenter and wheel- wright, was born at Conway, Mass., in 1811, and was brought up to the trade of his father. He became a member of the Baptist church at Rutland, Vt., in 1831, and has been a preacher of the Gospel since 1840. His first charge was at West Dummerston, Vt., from May, 1840, to 1842. , He first became identified with Grafton county as pastor of the Baptist church at Lyme Cen- ter, in 1863, filling the pastorate with approbation nine years. He then en- tered in pastoral relation in Hanover, where he still remains. He married three times, first, Hannah P. Field, of Rutland, Vt., in 1832, and has had born to him four children, viz .: Bertha A., Charles E., who died in childhood, an infant who died unnamed, and Delia H., the wife of F. F. Flint, of Lyme. Mrs. Smith died April 27, 1854, and he married for his second wife Ellen M. Copps, December 12, 1854, who bore him one son and died in 1859, the child dying in 1860. Mr. Smith married for his third wife Hannah Kendall, a native of Chester, Vt., February 19, 1860, who has borne him two sons, Edmund J. and Edmund H., both of whom died in childhood. Rev. E. H. Smith represented Lyme in the legislature, in 1867, and has been town clerk of Hanover about four years.

CHURCHES.

The religious interests of this town have been, like those of others near it. for the most part in the hands of the so-called "orthodox" denominations ; beginning with a sort of independent Presbyterianism, which passed into Con- gregationalism very early in the present century. The first preachers were

22*

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sent up from Connecticut, hired by the proprietors for a few months each summer, beginning with 1766. Rev. Knight Sexton, of Hartford, officiated several seasons in that capacity, occupying for a meeting-house, it is said, a log hut near the river and about midway of the town, in which a hollow bass- wood stump served the purpose of a pulpit.

An independent church was organized by the Rev. Mr. Powers, of Haver- hill, some time prior to 1770, without any other official sanction. In 1772 Rev. Eden Burroughs was called from Killingly, Conn., and settled in due form over the parish under the official patronage of the town, and took the land reserved for the first settled minister, as well as other land given him by individuals to induce his acceptance of the call. This churchi, located near the center of the town, and its successor, rank as the first. A meeting-house was built in 1773, near the center of the town.

The college district obviously required a separate provision of its own, and in January, 1771, a church was organized there by President Wheelock, with- out assistance, and independent of town assistance or control. The town recognized the propriety of this arrangement by excusing the college district from contribution to the salary of Mr. Burroughs. Both of these churches came into relations with the Presbyterian organization as prominent members of the Grafton Presbytery, at its inception in 1773.

Troubles arose in the Central church as early as 1784, in consqeuence of which Mr. Burroughs, with his adherents, withdrew from the Presbytery and ceased to be recognized by the town as its official pastor, Rev. Samuel Col- lins being substituted in his place. Through an appeal by him to the courts the town was afterwards obliged to pay him his salary for a considerable time, notwithstanding the separation. Two churches existed in consequence side by side. Mr. Burroughs and his friends erected a house of their own a little north of the parade-ground at the Center village, while the other body re- tained possession of the meeting-house that the town had built, at the south end of the parade, about a quarter of a mile distant.

In the meantime, as early as 1785, doubts had arisen with some of the people about baptism, and there grew up, in 1791, a Baptist church, which, in 1825, built a neat and convenient brick edifice two miles south of the Cen- ter, near the mills, and which still maintains its identity.

During the long controversy of the churches at the Center, other denomi- nations got a foothold, notably the Universalists, but without any definite organization, and in 1797 the old town church was burned, and a new one built by the united efforts of several denominations, to each of which privi- leges in it were accorded. This was the end of all official connection of the town in religious matters. In 1810, after long negotiation, the two churches at the Center were again brought into one. The body still exists, in the Congregational form.

On the college plain, Wheelock's church comprised members from both sides of the river, and grew and prospered until, 1797, difficulties arose in-

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connection with causes which led to the college troubles, heretofore alluded to. The members living in Vermont, though still technically members of the church, had long since ceased to take active part in its affairs on this side of the river, having for a considerable time enjoyed a separate ministration in a house which they had erected at Dothan, in the town of Hartford. But they adhered to the fortunes of the younger Wheelock, and when he found him- self in opposition to the almost unanimous sentiment of his brethren at home, they came to his aid in such numbers as to enable him to carry his points against the votes of the resident members.

The consequence was, after much controversy and several councils, both exparte and mutual, that in 1805 all the resident members of the church, ex- cepting Mr. Wheelock and two members, united in the formation, by the aid of a council, of a new body under the Congregational government, which still exists as the college church. The old organization was kept for a time nom- inally alive, and during the period of the "university" became the official church of that institution, maintaining the separate administration of religious ordinances in the chapel, under the care of President Allen. It then came to a final end.

The meeting-house on the college plain was built by pew-holders in 1795; prior to that, the place of meeting for religious or other purposes had been the college chapel.

There was also, between 1840 and 1850, a Methodist church near the col- lege. A meeting-house was built for it abont 1840. After the extinction of the society the house passed into the hands of the Episcopal church, which established a society here in 1855. For this church, through the generosity of friends abroad, a fine stone edifice and a parsonage were built about ten years since.

H AVERHILL, one of the shire towns of the county, lies in the eastern part of the same, in latitude 44° 5' and longitude 72º 1', bounded north by Bath, east by Benton, south by Piermont and west by the west bank of Connecticut river. It was originally granted by Governor Benning Wentworth to John Hazen and others, May 18, 1763, * in eighty-one equal

* These grantees were as follows: John Hazen, Jacob Bailey, Ephraim Bailey, James Philbrook, Gideon Gould, John Clark, John Swett, Thomas Emery Benoni Coburn Reuben Mills, John Hazen, Jr., Ebmund Coleby, David Hall, Lemuel Tucker, Edmund Moores, John White, Benjamin Moores, William Hazen, Moses Hazen, Robert Peaslee, Timothy Bedel, Jaseel Harriman, Jacob Kent, Ebenezer Hale, Samuel Hobart, John Haile, Maxi Hazeltine, Thomas Johnson, John Mills, John Trussell, Abraham Dow, Uriah Morse, Enoch Hall, Jacob Hall, Benoni Wright, John Page, Josiah Little, John Taplin, Jonathan Foster, Joseph Blanchard, Richard Pettey, Moses Foster, John Spafford, Enoch Heath, William Page, Joseph Thilley, Aaron Hofman, John Harriman, John Lampson,

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shares, with the usual restrictions and reservations of the township grants of that day, and bounded in the charter deed as follows :-

" Beginning at a tree, marked, standing on the bank of the eastern side of Connecticut river and on the southerly or southwesterly side of the Ammo- noosuck river, opposite to the southwesterly corner of Bath; from thence down Connecticut river, as it runs, to a marked tree standing on the bank of the river, about seven miles on a straight line from the mouth of Ammo- noosuck river aforesaid ; from thence south 53ª east five miles and three quarters to a stake and stones ; thence north 25° east about eight miles until it comes upon a line with the [lower] line of Bath ; and thence north 55° west, as Bath runs, to the tree by the river, the bounds began at."

The locality was originally called Lower Cohos, which name was changed to Haverhill, at the time the charter was granted, for the reason that several of the proprietors were from Haverhill, Mass. By an act approved June 21, 1815, the town was divided into two parishes, north and south, Samuel Morey, of Orford. Jonathan Merrill, of Warren, and Samuel Hutchins, of Bath, being appointed to run the divisional line.

In common with most of the towns bordering on the Connecticut river, Haverhill is not only very productive but very beautiful. Its surface is bro- ken into a series of hills and valleys, though it is not sufficiently rough to re- tard cultivation of the soil. The elevations afford many exquisite views of the surrounding beautiful country, including the Connecticut valley for many miles north and south ; and these facts, coupled with its salubrious climate, an- nually attracts many summer residents and tourists. Aside from the Con- necticut, the principal streams of the town are Poole brook and Oliverian river. The former flows through the town from northeast to southwest, emptying into the Connecticut near the "Great Ox Bow," of Newbury, while the latter, having its source in Benton, flows a westerly course through the southern part of the town, falling into the Connecticut. Both of these streams afford good mill-sites. Three small ponds, also, dimple the surface of the town. The first, French pond, covering about forty acres, lies in the northern part of the township. It received its name from Richardson French, a hunter, trapper and farmer who early occupied the hill to the west of it. Demming pond, a small body of water, lies near the center of the town, while Wood's pond, somewhat larger than the first mentioned, lies in the southern part.

The soil of Haverhill is adapted to all species of cultivation common to the latitude, while there is much interval land, composed of a deep rich loam, yielding large crops of grass, etc. All in all, Haverhill is one of the most

Stephen Knight, John Hall, David Hurlburt, Simon Stevens, John Moores, William Toborn, David Page, James White, Benjamin Merrill, Nathaniel Merrill, John Church, James Nevin, John Nelson, Theodore Atkinson, Jr., Nathaniel Barret, William Symes, William Porter, John Ilastings, George Marsh, Richard Emery, Nehemiah Lovell, Henry Sherbon, John Wentworth, Samuel Wentworth, Byfield Lloyd, Francis Barnard and Ben- ning Wentworth. Governor Wentworth's right was in the northwestern part of the town, including the present village of Woodsville.

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valuable farming towns in the state, the annual value of its agricultural pro- ducts, it is said, not being exceeded by any other town on the Connecticut river. Of its total area of 34,340 acres, 24,300 is improved land. The town has also good quarries of soapstone, limestone, granite and scythestone.

In 1880 Haverhill had a population of 2,452 souls. In 1885 the town had eighteen school districts, fifteen common schools and four graded schools. Its nineteen school-houses were valued, including furniture, etc., at $15,- 350.00. There were 498 children attending school, fifty-four of whom were pursuing the higher grades, taught during the year by three male and twenty- five female teachers, at an average monthly salary of $33.25 for males, and $24.00 for females. The entire amount raised for school purposes during the year was $4,114.29, while the expenditures were $4, 196.60, with Samuel B. Page and Samuel T. Page, committee.

HAVERHILL, or Haverhill Corner, as it is locally known, a post village and the county seat of Grafton county, is beautifully located upon a slightly inclined plateau from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet above the Connecti- cut and overlooking the valley, commanding a fine view north and south. Two principal streets in the form of the letter "T"-Main street, extending north and south and Court street leading eastward-constitute its thorough- fares. The county court-house, record building and jail, located upon the north side of Court street, Haverhill academy standing at the northeast corner of the park, which lies at the intersection of Court and Main streets, and two church buildings (Congregational and Methodist) comprise its public buildings. Several stores and shops, two printing offices, and a hotel consti- tute the business enterprises of the place. Many of the residences which border these principal streets and are grouped about the park are fine speci- mens of the large, square-built mansions which distinguish the New England architecture of 1800.

WOODSVILLE is a small but rapidly growing post village located at the mouth of the Lower or Wild Ammonoosuc river, in the extreme northwestern part of the town. It has two churches (Episcopal and Methodist), two hotels, six or eight stores of various kinds, a steam saw-inill, and about 100 dwellings, while one lawyer and two physicians reside here, and the division offices of the B. & L. R. R. (formerly B., C. & M. R. R.), together with a branch re- pair shop, which were located here in 1884. Up to 1853-54, when the B, C. & M. railroad reached this point, little indication of the present village was seen, and of the houses now standing only a few, the "Brock" House and the "Little" House. so-called, being the oldest, were erected. The village de- rived its name from John L. Woods, familiarly known as "Jack" Woods, who, in 1829, purchased a saw-mill on the Ammonoosuc, near where the present bridge is located, and began the manufacture of lumber from the pine forest then covering the site of the village. This mill, we are told, was built by a Mr. Cotton in 1811, and was owned by others before Woods bought it. J. L. Woods was in a store at Wells River village in his early life, and subse-

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quently kept a store in his house, where Mrs. C. B. Smith's house now stands, which was the first store established in Woodsville. Later he erected a build- ing for that purpose, the present dwelling of E. J. Henry. He died March 15, 1855, aged nearly sixty-four years. The old " Brock" House, now a dis- mantled shell on Ammonoosuc street, was the scene of the first, and so far as we know, only murder ever committed here, that of Mrs. Frank Wright, by her husband. The first bridge across the Connecticut at this point was erected in 1804, the second in 1820, and the present when the railroad reached the place. The present Ammonoosuc bridge was erected by Luther Butler, in 1829, and was the first of its kind in Northern New Hampshire.

NORTH HAVERHILL is a post village pleasantly located in the western part of the town, upon the southern verge of a level table-land about fifty or sixty feet above the Connecticut. To the north and east for more than a mile the land is nearly level. Poole, or Bacon's brook, which runs through these meadows, is formed into a pond by dams and furnishes water power for a saw and grist-mill, etc. Main street, extending north and south, is lined with residences, as is Depot street, which forms a right angle with Main street near the south end. Two church edifices are situated here (Baptist and Metho- dist), but only one, the Methodist, is regularly occupied for religious services. One well-kept hotel, three stores, and various shops are among the business establishments of the place.

EAST HAVERHILL is a post village located in the southeastern part of the township, on Oliverian brook. It has about twenty dwellings, one church (Methodist). a store, school-house, railroad station and blacksmith shop. The meadows along the Oliverian for two miles above and below this point are quite broad and fertile, and the farms thereon have the appearance of thrift and prosperity. The postoffice was established here in 1844.

PIKE STATION (p. o.) is a hamlet composed mostly of the buildings of the A. F. Pike Manufacturing Co., located at a convenient water-privilege on the Oliverian, where the B. & L. R. R. crosses road 46.

OLIVERIAN VILLAGE is a hamlet on Oliverian brook, at the intersec- tion of roads 36 and 49, where are located a grist-mill, saw-mill, paper-mill, marble, blacksmith and carriage shops, and two or three stores.

CENTER HAVERHILL is the name applied to a hamlet lying about at the junction of roads 24, 25, 27 and 272, where a Union meeting house has been built.

LADD STREET designates a section of road 36, from Oliverian brook north about one mile, and here is the B. & L. R. R. station of "Haverhill."

BRIER HILL includes the section of Haverhill reached by roads 6, 7, 16, 17 and 19.

Haverhill academy was incorporated by the legislature, February II, 1794, with Hon. Charles Johnston, Rev. Ethan Smith, John Page, Samuel Brooks, and Joseph Bliss, trustees, with full powers to elect other trustees, not to exceed ten in all, and to have all the rights, privileges and duties

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usually conferred upon such corporations. The first building was erected of wood, by Col. Charles. Johnston and others, previous to the act of incorpora- tion. The building was destroyed by fire about 1816 or '17, after having been sold, and the present academy building, a two-story brick structure, was erected in 1816-17, the County academy trustees and school district No. 1. in Haverhill, sharing the expense. The sessions of the county courts were held in the upper story of the building for a time, or until the present court- house was erected, in 1840, when the county relinquished its claim, upon the furnishing of a site for a new court-house by the trustees of the academy. The Haverhill academy has had many teachers of eminent ability, most of whom have been Dartmouth college graduates, and it has sent forth many of its pupils to careers of eminent usefulness. It ranks well among the acade- mies of New England, and its history, while presenting few seasons of over- flowing prosperity, has suffered less adversity than many others. The beauty of Haverhill village as the seat of such an institution connot fail to be ap- preciated. The present principal is D. O. Bean, who has two lady assistants. By an arrangement with the academy trustees, the pupils of the public school districts 1 and 17 are now taught in the academy, where there are three de- partments appropriately graded. The present trustees are G. W. Chapman, Esq., C. B. Griswold, Esq., Henry Merrill, P. W. Kimball, L. B Ham, C. G. Smith, J. N. Morse, E. R. Weeks, A. F. Pike and W. H. Nelson.

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Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 48

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