Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 61

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 61

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No spot in the mountain region is more lovely and abounds in more picturesque and romantic scenery. To the east, on the opposite side of a deep valley, are the mountains, so bold, so huge, so rugged and magnificent. The whole range rises to view, from Mt. Washington to Kinsman, from the sombre spruce in the foot-hills, to the rocky cliffs in the clouds, altogether constituting a vast expanse of mountain side, endless forest, and rocky decliv- ities. The tourist can here revel in scenes "which daily viewed, please daily, and whose novelty survives long knowledge and the scrutiny of years." From day to day he can recline upon the veranda, and contemplate these grand old mountains in all their varied phases. He can gaze upon their lofty summits, bleak, and weird, and desolate, and silent, reposing in the glorious sunlight, or when the tempest bursts upon them in all its fury, and presses their rock- ribbed sides, searches every nook, and howls its mournful anthems through hollow caverns.

From the hotel looking westward, the scene presented to the view is, if less, sublime, more lovely and attractive. Nature unrolls a panorama peculiarly her own, embracing all the beauties of landscape. Over the variegated ex- panse, far away, are seen the smokey forms of the Green Mountains; fur- ther south appear hill beyond hill, till, in the dim distance, the view is lost. This house usually remains open until October, affording opportunity for lovers of Nature to linger and behold the ubiquitous forests, tinted with all the gorgeous hues of autumn, and the mountain tops white with snow.

The Goodnow and Phillips Houses are one mile north of the Sunset Hill. The former is kept by the proprietors, Goodnow & Peckett, and accommo- dates 300 guests ; the latter, kept by Mr. Phillips, lodges 100 guests. These houses are first-class in every respect, and are very popular, as is proved by the liberal patronage they receive. Excepting the view westward, the scenery does not differ materially from that of the house last mentioned. The Good-

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now was the first large boarding-house erected in Lisbon, and its success has encouraged the building of others. It is a fact worthy of mention, and one- that speaks well for the house, that quite a proportion of the boarders return from year to year. The Phillips, W. B. Phillips, proprietor, is a new house, of handsome appearance and pleasant surroundings, and has made its debut under favorable auspices.

The Breezy Hill House, D. Jesseman & Son, proprietors, occupies a com- manding elevation one mile east of the Ammonoosuc river and three miles northeast of Lisbon village. Here one hundred guests find accomodations. The house was built in 1883, and was opened for the first time in 1884. As seen from points below. one is impressed with the idea of its stateliness and symmetry, while a near approach but confirms the impression. Neither pains nor expense have been spared to render this place attractive and worthy of patronage, while nature, too, has vouchsafed to lend a helping hand. The view of Mt. La Fayette and contiguous peaks is superb ; and the Ammonoo- suc valley, an extensive agricultural district, the Lyman hills and Gardner's mountains greet the vision to the westward. In a neighboring ravine flows a purling brook with woodland pools, where sport diminutive specimens of the finny tribe. Near at hand are rocky hillocks, and groves of primeval forests with sylvan retreats, where the denizen of the crowded city may ramble in seclu- sion and hold "sweet communion with Nature." The success which has at- tended the efforts of the proprietor thus far, augurs favorably for the future prospects of the Breezy Hill House.

Besides the larger houses, there are numerous small establishments which are yearly thronged with boarders. Among these are the Hillside House, Elm House, Bluff House, Echo Farm House, Elm Farm House, Grand View Cottage, Woodland Cottage, Cedar Cottage, Sugar Hill House and Maple Side.

The Lisbon Library Association built a commodious two story building of wood in 1883, called the "Library Building." The Grand Army of the Re- public occupies a portion of it for its headquarters. The Congregational society has its vestry rooms in it, and the Dorcas society owns and occupies a portion of the rooms for its meetings. The building is situated on the west side of Main street, in the village of Lisbon. The Library Association is an incorporated company, of which E. D. Rand is president. The directors and other officers are chosen annually. The library contains 1,570 vol- umes, which have been removed to the new building. At one time the town voted an appropriation for the library, but before the money was raised the vote was rescinded. It was the intention of the association to have made the library free to the town, had the appropriation been carried out in good faith.

Parker & Young Manufacturing Company manufactures piano sounding boards, boxes, bobbins and chair stock. They have a large building, erected at the lower end of Main street, taking the place of one burned in 1883.

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TOWN OF LISBON.

They have an engine of one hundred horse power and employ fifty men, using a vast amount of spruce, pine, birch, maple and oak lumber, large quantities of which they manufacture at their mill, and obtain other portions by purchase from Canada, Vermont and other localities.

J. K. Atwood & Co. have an extensive bobbin manufactory situated near the B. & L. railroad station. The business was commenced by Atwood & Bowles, thirty-two years ago. Most of the time since Mr. J. K. Atwood has carried on the business alone. From a business of five to eight carloads per year, the trade has steadily increased until at present the product is one hun- dred car loads, or in round numbers 16,000,000 bobbins per year, more than by any other firm in New England. The partner in the business, Mr. Bald- win, of Manchester, is the largest finisher of bobbins in the United States. Atwood & Co. also turn out large quantities of both hard and soft wood lum- ber, employing twenty-five hands. In the manufacture of the bobbins, vast quantities of white and silver birch and rock maple are used, the hills of both Grafton and Coös counties yielding an abundance of the above named trees of the very best quality.

Rand & Cummings, at Lisbon village, are the owners, and W. M. & F. H. Richardson agents of a large flouring and custom mill. They are heavy deal- ers in flour feed, etc., at wholesale and retail. They occupy a bulding of three stories and have three runs of stones. The motive power is water from the Ammonoosuc river.

O. D. Moore, carries on the business of manufacturing pulp from wood at the village. His pulp grinder is a machine invented by his brother, James G. Moore, of this town. He employs four men and produces two and one half tons per day. Spruce is the wood principally used, but popple is used to some extent.

Charles Mindt has a manufactory which turns out one hundred to one hundred and twenty bushels of shoe pegs per day, about 35,000 bushels yearly, of twenty-four pounds to the bushel. Employment is given to twenty hands, one half of them women who feed the machines. All of this immense pro- duction is shipped directly to Mindt, Hamburg, Germany, where Mr. Mindt's father is agent for their sale, though he also has an office in New York city. White birch is almost wholly used in the making of shoe pegs, which are shipped in barrels manufactured at the same factory. The works were estab- lished ten years ago. The machinery is propelled by water-power though steam is used in drying and bleaching the pegs and fitting them for shipment.

Mindť's grist-mill is located in the building formerly used for the crusher of a gold mining company. It employes two men and grinds about 150 bushels of grain per day.

The Lisbon marble works, Henry H. Jesseman proprietor, 95 Main street, produces two thousand to three thousand dollars of work per year, employing three men.

S. C. Jackman & Co., on Mill Brook, carry on a business of quite large

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proportions. They have a saw-mill, grist-mill, shingle, lath and planing-mill and manufacture a million feet of lumber per year.

Miller & Jackman, on Mill brook, also have a grist-mill and machinery for the manufacture of butter tubs, of which they turn out large quantities, making them entirely from spruce lumber.

William E. Little carries on a saw-mill on road 16, which was established sixty years ago, and which turns out half a million feet of lumber per year. He also manufactures shingles, mackerel kits, bobbins and scythe-stones. The material for the latter is procured from a ledge on Walker Hill, known as the " chocolate stone," no other quarry like it being known in the United States.

The settlement of Lisbon was slow and attended with much trouble. Through the influence of Capt. Leonard Whiting, who was instrumental in procuring the second charter, and Major John Young, of Haverhill, Mass., some settle- ments were made during the period of the Revolution. Matters progressed slowly, however, and for several years there were but few additions to the settlement. In the mean time the war came to a close, giving a new impe- tus to immigration, and thus did it continue, so that in 1785 there were com- fortably ensconced in log cabins forty families, in addition to a respectable contingent of batchelors. After the first influx subsequent to the war, immi- gration in some degree abated, yet each year witnessed a sure and steady increase, and evidently the morning of prosperity had dawned upon the new colony. The genuine prosperity which had rewarded the efforts of the Gun- thwait proprietors was coveted, by the origial grantees. They came forward, laid claim to the township, and, as is surmised, made some kind of compro- mise with certain influential citizens. The controversy thus raised was fol- lowed by litigation which culminated in the restoration of the Concord char- ter ; hence, as by a single stroke of the pen, the Gunthwait titles were extin- guished and the poor settler, who with his wife and children during these years had shared all the privations of pioneer life, and had begun to enjoy some of the comforts so dearly earned, was at once deprived of his home and left nothing but his pittance of personal property.

A part of the settlers abandoned their claims and went to Canada and places further north, while others endeavored to sell their improvement ; but no one was willing to purchase, so prevalent was a feeling of distrust and uncertainty. Every one knew that the first charter had actually been forfeited, and that points had been carried by dint of bulldozing and fraud, yet there was no redress, inasmuch as the courts had decided against them. By far the greater number of citizens remained upon their farms and awaited the issue ; and when the claims of the Concord proprietors were fully estab- lished and acknowledged finding they must yield to the inevitable, they pur- chased their farms over again. At length the excitement and disturbance subsided, and, by an act of the legislature the name Concord was resumed, and was retained until 1824, when it was changed to Lisbon.

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TOWN OF LISBON.

The first settlers of the town were Samuel Martin, Ebenezer Richardson, William Belknap, and Samuel Sherman. Then followed the Youngs, the most influential family for a considerable period, followed by the families Dexter, Dailey, Judd, Parker, Aldrich, Jesseman, Bishop, Harriss, Howland, Northey, Hildrith, Jewett, Colby, Quimby, Streeter, Spooner, Oaks, Priest, Noyes, Jameson, Taylor, Hains, Applebee, Morse, Bailey, Ash, Whitcomb, Smith, Page, Wells, Knapp, Kennistons, Burt, Kay, Emery, Cushman, Morris, Kelsea, Gurnsey, Cooley, Whiting, Barrett, Robbins, Cole, Eastman, Whipple, Cobleigh, Kimball, Savage, Gould and Ela, besides individuals and other families, perhaps equally as early but not so numerous.

One of the oldest buildings in town was the house on road 512, built by Major Benjamin Whitcomb, a famous scout in the Revolutionary war, about 1785. Moses Emery, also a Revolutionary soldier, occupied this house in 1800, and it was occupied by his son Moses Emery, until the latter's death in 1861, when it fell into the hands of Moses Emery, of the third generation, who occupied it until the morning of October 1, 1884, when it was burned to the ground. Harvey W. Emery, a brother of the last named, born in the old house described, removed to Wisconsin in 1856, after having graduated at Norwich university, Vt., and was admitted to the bar at Morgantown, West Virginia, in 1856. He entered the service of his country in the war of the Rebellion as lieut .- colonel of the 5th Wisconsin Vols. Inf. His record as a soldier is a brilliant one. Indeed, he lost his life through his devotion to his country, his last struggle being at the second battle of Bull Run, after which he was brought back to this town, and to the old house in which he was born, to die with his aged mother at his bedside, and is buried in Grove Hill ceme- tery, overlooking the village of Lisbon. A relic of the aforesaid fire is an elegant gold-mounted sword, now in possession of Samuel Emery, which was presented to Col. Emery by the citizens of Milwaukee, for gallant conduct at the battle of Williamsburg. It passed through the fire which blackened and scorched it, but it is still interesting as a souvenir.

William Aldrich was the first settler of Sugar Hill, and his son Peter was the first person buried in the cemetery there. William also planted the first apple tree in town, in 1778, where the cemetery now stands. The tree stood until the summer of 1884, or for more than a century.

Stimpson Harris was born in Lisbon, on the Little Ammonoosuc river, in the northeast part of the town, and always resided on the same ground and nearly the same spot upon which his father, Joshua Harris, first settled, and erected a log house. He married Pamelia Bailey, of Lyman, who bore eight children-four sons and four daughters. Of these Philemon lives on the old homestead, Elery is a farmer on road 20, and one daughter married Stephen Huntoon and lives in Bethlehem.

Stephen P. Simonds was born in Landaff, and removed to this town at an early day. He has resided on the farm where he now lives, on road 49, for more than thirty years. He married Susan Stokes, of Ossippee, and has a

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son living in Warner, a daughter. Mrs. Prescott, at Sugar Hill, one daughter, Mrs. Howland, lives near Lisbon village, two sons in Lisbon and one at home with his parents.

Alvin Crane came to this town, from Dalton, his birthplace, settling on road 19, near the Little Ammonoosuc, where he carried on a farm of 200 acres for many years. He married Betsey Streeter, who bore him four chil- dren, one of whom died in childhood. Frank occupies the home farm, and a daughter married Miles Bowles and lives at Sugar Hill. Joel Streeter mar- ried Nancy Daly and settled on the south branch of the Ammonoosuc river, near Franconia. Their family consisted of eight sons and eight daughters, all of whom lived to manhood and womanhood. Levi and Hosea still occupy the old homestead. Adams lives near Mink pond. Joel resides near the Salmon Hole bridge. David Streeter married Betsey Spooner. They had a family of seventeen children, most of whom lived to be men and women. Adams Streeter married Polly Daly. Their family consisted of two sons and one daughter.

Jonathan Bowles was born in Richmond and came to this town at a very early date. His son Benjamin was born at Sugar Hill in 1797. His wife was Mercy Taylor, who is now living at the age of eighty-two. Amasa Bowles married Jerusha Parker, and their children were eleven in number. The eldest daughter married Kimball W. Noyes and resides in Landaff. Willis Bowles lives in Easton. Two sons, Leonard and Simon, live at Sugar Hill, on the paternal estate. Alden Bowles lives at Ashland. One daughter, Phebe Bowles, is a resident of this town, at Sugar Hill. In the old days of militia trainings, one field on the farm of Leonard and Simon Bowles was used for musterings, and to this day retains the name of "Training Field." The farm of one hundred and sixty acres was once purchased from one of the proprietors of the town for a coat of homespun, to be used by him for a wedding garment. Leonard Bowles married Lizzie M. Atwood, of Littleton. Simon married Marcia E. Gove, whose father was buried at sea, while he was on a trip to California, in the early days of the " gold fever " in that state.

Moses Aldrich, one of the pioneers of the town, leaving his wife at Rich- mond, came alone and spent the first season here in solitude and hard labor, in felling the forest trees and endeavoring to make a clearing. One day, be- coming utterly desolate and discouraged, he threw his axe far into the forest, declaring that he would stay no longer to be eaten up by flies. Sitting down upon a log and giving himself up to reflection, however, he came to the con- clusion to remain. The next spring he removed his wife to the new settle- ment, fortune smiled upon them, and he became prosperous and one of the influential citizens of the town.

Leonard Morse was born in Windham and removed to this town, to a farm on Walker hill, where he lived thirty years. He married Lydia Walker, of this town, and their family was four sons and four daughters. Wilton, who settled in Easton, is now dead. Horace is a farmer of Easton. He was a

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soldier in the late Rebellion, one of the Burden sharpshooters. John died in childhood. John W. married Adelia B. Dexter, and is a farmer on road 16. He was a soldier in the Ist N. H. Vol. Inf. for three years, was wounded at the battle of Pocotaligo, S. C., October 24, 1862, and at Deep Run, Va., August 16, 1864. Jane married James Richardson, of Littleton. Cordelia married Lowell Moulton, of Portland, Me. Eldina G. married Byron A. Clark, of Easton, and died in 1881. Sarah is Mrs. John H. Cameron, of Littleton.

Ephraim Dexter was an early settler of the town. He lived on a farm on road 16, and died at the age of eighty years. His son Joseph succeeded him on the farm, and died at the age of fifty-seven. He married Mercy Streeter, the eldest of the sixteen children of Joel Streeter. They had two children, Joseph, and one daughter, who married Henry Buzzell, of North Lisbon. Joseph married Lucy Ann Carlton, and now occupies the old homestead.

Captain Leonard Whiting, and his son Stephen, were granted a right in the towns of Whitefield and Lisbon, for services in the Revolutionary war. They gave many farms to such as would locate on them, and sold others at a small price. George W., a son of Stephen H., settled on a farm on road 16. He married Mindwell P. Kendall, of Landaff, their family being two sons and three daughters, of whom Horace A. married Emily J. Gray, of Jackson, and lives on the old homestead. George W. died in California, in 1881. Julia H. married David S. Richardson, of this town ; Angeline E. married Albert Gray, of Lowell, Mass., and Martha A. married Orrin C. Gordon, of Royals- ton, Mass.

Ebenezer Richardson came to this town at a date when all the guide to localities was by marked trees, and settled on a farm near North Lisbon, cut- ting the first tree of the primeval forest from it. He built a frame house, which was burned before fully completed. It stood on the ground now oc- cupied by the house of Horace Richardson, his grandson. David Richard- son, his son, was born on the old place. He lived a portion of his life at Lit- tleton, where he carried on the business of a clothier. His shop was burned, and a brother and another man named Palmer were burned to death in the conflagration. David married Sally Walker, and had born to him four chil- dren. Horace Richardson married, first, Sarah Elliott, and second, Marinda H. Dutton, who had four children, two of whom died in childhood. The survivors, David F. and Isaac, reside with their father, on road 4. Horace Richardson represented his town in the state legislature, in 1879 and 1880. He has, for a number of years, held the office of selectman,, was a captain and colonel in the state militia, and was also adjutant for two or three years.

George Jesseman, born in Rhode Island, came to this town when the only guide front point to point was by marked trees, and settled at Sugar Hill. He resided in town until his death, about thirty years ago, aged eighty-three years. His widow lived to the advanced age of ninety-five. Sally, their daughter, married Smith Wetherby, and resided with her son, on road 3, until her death, September 17, 1885.

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Rufus Whipple was born in 1748, at Richmond. His wife was Mary Com- stock, born in 1750. 'T'heir oldest daughter married Silas Parker, who built the first framed house at Sugar Hill. David Whipple spent most of his life where Nathan Whipple, his son, now lives. He owned the first cook-stove, probably. ever in the town of Lisbon. Sally Whipple married Elkanah Hil- dreth, and has always been a resident of the town. Lewis Whipple, another son, carried on the manufacture of scythe-snaths at Sugar Hill. He was possessed of a miserly disposition, and at one time deposited eight hundred dollars in silver in a box, and hid it near the old-fashioned chimney of his house, and eight hundred dollars in gold he put into a hole bored in a small log which he buried in his cellar, where it remained until after his death, in 1860. He had only partially divulged the secret of its whereabouts to his wife, but she finally succeeded in finding the treasure. Nathan Whipple married Martha Sturgis. Mrs. Whipple died October 8, 1884. Nathan was selectman of the town in 1871 and 1872, and in 1874 was a member of the legislature.

Jeremy Howland came to this town one hundred years ago, from Rhode Island, and lived with his father at Sugar Hill, where Benjamin Bowles now lives. He married Martha Jillson, of Richmond, the fruits of which mar- riage were eleven sons and two daughters, of whom only five survive, viz .: Silas and Hosea live at Sugar Hill; Washington W., at Littleton; Simon B. and Charles W., at Whitefield. Silas Howland married Eliza Oakes, of this town, who died in October, 1883, at the age of sixty-four years and eleven months. George Howland, when young, followed whaling, from New Bed- ford, Mass. His wife, Mary Jillson, felled the first tree on their farm.

Hon. Levi Parker, eldest son of Silas Parker, was a native of Richmond, N. H., where he was born November 2, 1792. His ancestors were of Eng- lish descent, and of the early settlers of the old town of Reading, Mass. When Levi was four years old, his parents removed to Lisbon, N. H., and settled on Sugar Hill. Silas Parker was an agriculturist, tanner and shoemaker, and resided on the place where he made his home in the summer of 1796 until his death October 16, 1834, at the age of seventy years. He was a good type of the old-fashioned New England pioneer. He lived in that period of our country's history when it had hardly recovered from the long Revolutionary struggle, and the people were chiefly agriculturists with limited means, and but few could give their children educational advantages-even those of the district school. His family of six sons and one danghter were educated in a school of stern virtue, frugality, and the unflagging industry always required in the home life of the plain farm houses, supplemented by that limited, bu intensely practical, learning which has furnished many generations of men of sound, clear, and vigorous minds. His wife was a kind-hearted woman, always having a pleasant and cheering word for every one. She survived her husband thirty years, dying in 1863, aged ninety-three years. Silas Parker, in 1796, the year of his arrival in Lisbon, erected, it is said, the first tannery in the state north of Haverhill, and carried on the business of tanning for many

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years, and was succeeded in this by his son Levi, who continued it for twenty years or more, when he was succeeded by his son Silas, who erected a new building and extended the business.

Levi Parker married, March, 1814, Phebe Ball, a very devoted christian woman, well educated and efficient, ever ready to attend the sick and suffer- ing, and to sympathize with the afflicted, who heartily seconded the generous hospitality of her husband. She was a good wife, mother, friend and neigh- bor. She died February, 1872. in the eightieth year of her age. The chil- dren of Levi and Phebe (Ball) Parker were Silas, Eleazer B., Levi Pratt, Charles, Chandler B., and Phebe Ann, who married Lindsey Aldrich. Mr. Parker, like his father, resided at Sugar Hill, where he died, February 6, 1865. He took a deep and intelligent interest in public affairs, exerted a great influ- ence for good in the community, and his word and counsels were listened to with respect. He was elected to and served in every office within the gift of his townsmen, and his duties were performed with the fidelity and faithfulness which characterized his whole life. When first placed in office he was com- paratively a young man, and for forty years he did efficient and satisfactory work. He was selectman in 1823, and one of the board for eighteen years, town clerk in 1830 and 1831, treasurer in 1856. A life-long Democrat, he believed with Jefferson that "a strict adherence to the Constitution was the one thing needful to the perpetuity of the Union." He represented Lisbon in the legislative terms of 1836, 1839, 1840, 1851 and 1852. He was chosen councilor for his district to serve under Gov. Gilmore at the time of the civil war (1862-63), when men of responsibility, discretion, and sagacity were needed, and the Governor said, that "no one in his council was more ready to assist by word and deed in subduing the Rebellion, or to render aid to the families of those who perilled their lives for the safety of the country."

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Gazetteer of Grafton county, N. H. 1709-1886, Part 61

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