USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Haverhill > Haverhill's historic highlights > Part 10
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In 1782 Colonel Little deeded nearly 600 acres, which included the Governor's Farm to his minor son, Moses Little, Jr., who in 1795 sold 371/2 acres in the northwest corner to one William Abbott; it was he who settled here and cleared the land for a time known as the Abbott Farm. A mill privilege near the mouth of the Ammonoosuc was on this property. A small part of the mill privilege was in Bath; in all it contained about five and one- half acres and was purchased by Isaac Smith and Moses Campbell in 1809 for $400. They sold to Miles Olcott of Hanover in 1816, who built a dam across the river and then a saw mill.
In 1827 he sold to one William Styfield, subject to a lease held by one John L. Woods and Samuel Hutchins and son of Wells River, Vt. Shortly before this later transaction Woods had purchased all the William Abbott Farm of 371/2 acres except the mill privilege and two small houses. In 1829 the highway bridge was built over the Ammonoosuc River between Haverhill and Bath, at a cost of $2,400.00, divided equally between the two towns.
In 1830 Woods bought the mill privilege containing five and one-half acres covered with a heavy growth of white pine. This was the heart of the present village of Woodsville on both sides of the present Central Street.
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The same year about 380 acres, being the remainder of the Governor's Reser- vation, was sold by Little to Russell King (great grandfather of the author) for $6,000.00
John L. Woods was born in Corinth, Vt. in 1791. He came to Wells River, Vt., when he was 21 and worked for Timothy Shedd who operated a tannery and made harnesses, boots and shoes. Also, he had a lumber business with a saw mill on the dam across the Wells River. Woods became a valuable citizen of Wells River. He settled estates, he owned land, he was one of the town listers in 1822 and 1823. E. Chamberlin sold his ferry rights to John L. Woods in 1817. He had a ferry business between Wells River and what is now Woodsville until the bridge over the Connecticut River was opened in 1820 (last bridge went out in 1812 freshet).
Mr. Woods was also interested in the attempted navigation of the Con- necticut River, and in 1824 was one of four incorporators of the Connecticut river company, which never proved a success, although attempts were made to operate steamboats on the river. In 1830 he moved across the river where he owned some land. He developed a very successful lumber business and a general store near his saw mill, which building later became the residence of Isaac K. George, and today is the American Legion Home.
Mr. Woods is known to have been a man of strong character, a good hearted and very charitable man. He was often described as a man of excel- lent judgment coupled with unusual business ability and integrity.
He married Mary Ann Swasey of Bath in 1826. They lived in Wells River until 1830, and across the river in Woodsville until his death 25 years later. They had three children, one born in Wells River in 1828, one born in Woodsville in 1831, and a son, John L. Woods, Jr., born in Woodsville on June 8, 1838. The first two children died at an early age, while the son, John L., Jr., lived for many years in Chicago where he moved as a young man and where he died in 1913.
John Woods, Sr., lived in Woodsville until his death on March 15, 1855 at the age of 64. He was first buried in the area just east of the present Butson Block, north of the railroad underpass. On May 3, 1904, a disinter- ment permit was issued to Arthur C. Clough to remove his body from a private cemetery in the town of Haverhill to the Horse Meadow cemetery. On the same date a similar permit was given Arthur C. Clough to remove the body of Mary Ann Woods, aged 2, date of death Feb. 14, 1834 from a private cemetery to Horse Meadow. On the same date a third permit was issued to Arthur C. Clough to disinter the body of Mary Ann Woods, aged 72, date of death June 29, 1874 in Illinois, and bury it in the "same" cemetery. It is known that Mrs. Woods spent her last days with her son in Chicago but it
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is assumed her body was brought here for burial but not in the private cemetery where her husband and one child were located.
A present day reminder of John L. Woods is the house at the foot of the hill just south of the court house on the east side of the road. Old records show that a vote was taken in a school meeting on Jan. 29, 1848, by the voters of District No. 13, Woodsville District: "To raise $225.00 to purchase the school house built by John L. Woods, furnishings, stove, outbuilding, etc." This was the first school house in Woodsville. It is still standing although its condition has been changed many times. In 1848 its location was described as being at the foot of Clay Hill (now South Court Street).
Obviously WOODSVILLE was the most logical name for the village which owed more to John L. Woods as its founder than to any other man who had lived there prior to 1853 when the railroad came in. What a thrill the coming of the railroad must have been to Mr. Woods. Since he lived less than two years after that historic event, he could never have dreamed of the development which would take place in HIS village during the next one hundred and ten years.
Railroad YMCA building on site of present postoffice.
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HAVERHILL NEWSPAPERS (1799)
Just when the first printing press was available in the Town of Haverhill is uncertain. It definitely was before 1800. The record shows that one Alden Spooner came to Hanover from Connecticut with a printing press during the Revolutionary War. Sometime after that a small press was brought into Haverhill. Proof of this is the publication of a weekly newspaper at Haverhill by one David Coverly for six months prior to 1800. Also one Mosely Dunham printed several issues of a little magazine at about the same time. Next in 1808 the Coos Courier appeared for a short time. Then in 1810 the Haverhill Advertiser was published by T. L. Houghton for three months.
In November, 1820, Sylvester T. Goss founded the first newspaper of any permanency. It was called the Grafton and Coos Intelligencer. After two years its name was changed to New Hampshire Intelligencer and Grafton and Coos Advertiser. Three years later the name was abbreviated to New Hampshire Intelligencer, which later suspended publication in 1827. This was a four page paper which sold for $2.00 a year payable half in cash and half in produce. No subscription was taken for less than one year.
Beginning in November, 1822, Mr. Goss also published a religious paper called The Evangelist. This was an eight page paper issued once every two weeks, and sold for 50c a year. It too was of short duration.
In an effort to keep his bills paid, Mr. Goss sold several patent medicines such as botanical drops, ointment for the itch, corn plasters, and asthmatic pills, all of which advertised regularly in his paper.
However, in 1827, the presses and material were purchased by John R. Reding who came here from Concord. He established the Democratic Repub- lican in June, 1828 which he successfully edited until he was elected to Congress in 1840, when his brothers took over and continued the paper until 1863. This newspaper was probably the most influential publication in the northern part of the state during its thirty-five years' existence.
John Reding was well qualified to operate a paper. He served his appren- ticeship under Isaac Hill of the New Hampshire Patriot in Concord, and later married his sister. Reding also worked on the Boston Post before coming to Haverhill. Reding and his paper were outspoken democrats. He once had a libel suit brought against him by a Whig (Caleb Morse) which was tried four times. Morse finally got a judgment for 1c. The fact that Morse never held any political office afterward, and that Reding was elected to Congress six
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years later, indicates that in politics at least Reding came out better than Morse.
Other early attempts to print newspapers in Haverhill were the Masonic Cabinet which lasted two years; also the New Hampshire Post and Grafton and Coos Advertiser which later removed to Lebanon where it was known as the Granite State Whig-probably the forerunner of Lebanon's present paper Granite State Reporter. Several other attempts were made to operate a paper. The Whig and Argus, Haverhill Herald, Budget of Fun, and the Oliverian all were of short duration.
In 1882 W. Coul Mahurin bought all the equipment of the Democratic Republican. He had learned the trade working for the Redings in 1859-60. His publication was called the Grafton County Signal. After two years he sold out to John W. Dunbar, principal of Haverhill Academy, who continued it for one year. Then he had it printed at Hanover, next at Littleton, where it finally was merged with the Littleton Republic Journal.
In 1883, the Woodsville Enterprise was established by W. H. Pringle. The Grafton County Register was first published by the Bittinger Brothers in Haverhill January 1, 1886. They were sons of Reverend J. Q. Bittinger who wrote a history of Haverhill. They were both graduates of Dartmouth College. They operated the Cohos Steam Press which had fine up-to-date equipment and became a very successful printing business. They purchased the Woodsville Enterprise and consolidated it with their paper, The Grafton County Register in 1890 under the name of the Weekly News. The first issue was August 22, 1890. They built a brick block at the west end of Main Street in Woodsville and moved the Cohos Press there. In 1898 the Bittingers sold The News to William F. Whitcher, another Haverhill historian, and removed to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
W. F. Whitcher came from Boston where he had been on the staff of the Boston Traveler and Advertiser for eighteen years. He was editor-in-chief of the Traveler for several years. He changed the name of the paper to Woods- ville News when he took possession November 1, 1899. He continued as sole editor and manager until March 1, 1916. It became a strong Republican organ and was widely quoted throughout the state.
On March 1, 1916 Mr. Whitcher sold his paper to the Woodsville Pub- lishing Company under the management of F. Earl Thayer who had been foreman in the composing room for four years under Mr. Whitcher. Mr. Thayer continued to publish the News until 1945 when he sold out to a rival local paper, The Times, and again a consolidation with change of name took place. This time the new publication was called the News Times which has changed management once and is now our local weekly paper.
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Thus we see our local paper has a continuous record since 1883 for a period of almost 70 years, the longest in the town's history. Also it is clear that while numerous papers were printed in the town during the past 160 years, the two outstanding ones are the Democrat-Republican published by the Reding family for over thirty-five years, and our present paper published by the Bittingers, Mr. Whitcher, Mr. Thayer and Mr. Andrews, the present owner.
HAVERHILL'S MANY BRIDGES
Today, New Hampshire has 54 covered bridges which are still in use. Two of these are in the town of Haverhill, one over the Connecticut River from Haverhill to South Newbury, Vermont, and the other over the Ammo- noosuc River from Woodsville to the town of Bath. The early history of bridges in Haverhill is a monument to the courage of the early settlers here, and shows how they overcame great set-backs. The story of rebuilt bridges over the Connecticut River is positive proof of the sturdy qualities and the dogged determination of these former citizens.
Middle Bridge-1796-Keyes
The thirteenth bridge over the Connecticut River between New Hamp- shire and Vermont was built at a point north of the mouth of the Oliverian in 1796 by Moody Bedel. This was known as the Newbury-Haverhill Bridge, later as the Middle Bridge, and, in recent years, as the Keyes Bridge.
Moody Bedel was the third child of Timothy Bedel, an early settler in Haverhill, and a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Moody Bedel was born in Salem, Massachusetts, May 12, 1764, and his sister Anna was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, October 20, 1766. It appears certain Moody came here when he was less than two years old and remained here until his death in 1841. He was twice married and had nine children by each wife. He was one of Haverhill's outstanding residents during his life. He served many terms as town moderator, selectman, and representative to the General Court.
In 1791, the town voted exclusive ferry rights over the Connecticut River near the mouth of the Oliverian Brook to Moody Bedel. At the same town meeting, Er Chamberlin was given similar ferry rights to the upper ferry near the mouth of the Wells River. The ferry business was apparently profitable, and toll bridges were soon being discussed.
In 1796, Moody Bedel built the first toll bridge for Haverhill over the Connecticut River north of his ferry. This washed out in 1798 and was re-
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built the same year. Seven years later, the second bridge washed out, and a third was built sometime between 1805 and 1809 on the site of the present bridge. The third bridge went out in the flood of 1822. The fourth bridge was built in 1834 at a cost of $9,200. To raise this money, stock in a bridge company was sold. In 1895, new arches were added at a cost of about $2,000. The old stock was called in 1898 and new stock issued.
In 1906, more repairs were needed. Stockholders were unwilling to put up needed funds. Henry W. Keyes, a selectman who later became governor of New Hampshire, and then our United States senator, bought up all the stock and offered to give it to the towns of Haverhill and Newbury if they would make the necessary repairs to extend the life of the bridge 20 years, and also agree to maintain it as a free bridge. It had been a toll bridge for 110 years. Both towns voted to accept the offer of Mr. Keyes. The bridge was repaired and freed in 1906.
In 1913, the spring floods and a big ice jam so damaged this historic covered bridge that it seemed unwise to repair it again. A new steel structure was erected and opened to the public on December 1, 1913. This fifth bridge is now in daily use, and its chief expense has been for paint and resurfacing. It is often known as the Keyes Bridge, and properly so.
Bedel Bridge-1805-South Newbury
The charter for a bridge between Haverhill and South Newbury, to be built within the limits of Bedel's ferry, was granted by the New Hampshire legislature to Moody Bedel and others, June 16, 1802. Of the one hundred shares of stock, Moody Bedel held thirty-five, and Captain William Trotter of Bradford, Vermont, fifteen. The first meeting of the stockholders was held May 9, 1805, at the house of Asa Boynton, innholder in Haverhill. General Bedel conveyed his ferry rights to the new corporation for the sum of $900.
The first bridge, an open one resting on wooden piers, was built that same year by Avery Sanders for a contract price of $2,700. Just when this bridge was carried away is uncertain, but at a meeting held September 4, 1821, steps were taken to rebuild the bridge which had been partially destroyed. The cost of rebuilding was a little less than $2,600. This bridge stood till February, 1841, when it was again carried away. The ferry came into use again till 1851, when an open bridge supported by wooden piers was constructed, which lasted till the spring of 1862, when it was carried away by the high water resulting from the unprecedented depth of the winter's snow.
The next year a covered bridge was erected. It was of light construction and was strengthened by arches in 1865, which made the roadway narrow and unsafe. This bridge was demolished by a hurricane wind storm in 1866 and was replaced the same year by the present structure.
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Bedel Bridge built in 1866.
In 1929, extensive repairs were made costing $15,323.81, which were shared equally by the two towns. It has been known for more than a century as Bedel's bridge and now is often called the South Newbury Bridge. The selectmen of Newbury and Haverhill agreed with the proprietors of the bridge company for the purchase of all rights to operate as a toll bridge, after a long negotiation. On April 24, 1916, the two towns took title to this property and immediately freed it.
Wells River Bridge-1805
While the present Keyes Bridge represents the fifth at that location, and the present Bedel Bridge at South Newbury is the fifth to have been erected there, the present one between Woodsville and Wells River is the eighth structure over the Connecticut River at the north end of the two towns. In January, 1795, a charter was granted by the New Hampshire legislature to erect a bridge near Wells River. The time for completion of this was extend- ed for seven years, but no bridge was erected.
The second charter for what has been known as the Wells River bridge for a century and a half was granted December 27, 1803, to Er Chamberlin, Ezekiel Ladd, James Whitelaw, Moses Little, Amos Kimball, William Abbott, and their associates. They were given the same privileges previously granted to Colonel Porter whose charter had lapsed. Chamberlin had for thirty years or more maintained a ferry here, and he was given a share in the charter to recompense him for the loss of his ferry privileges which were to revert to him
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should the bridge be discontinued. The bridge was built in 1805, and the Ver- mont end was on the ledge of rocks above the mouth of Wells River. This was the first of the Wells River bridges.
It was an open structure resting upon wooden "horses," but in the spring freshet of 1807 it was carried away. The shares of stock sold at par in 1806. The rates of toll fixed by the charter were: "For each foot passenger, one cent; for a horse and rider, three cents; each chaise or two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse, ten cents; one-horse wagon or cart drawn by one beast, eight cents; by two beasts, ten cents; each four wheeled carriage or coach, twenty- five cents; and two cents for each horse more than two; two cents for each animal except sheep and swine, which were one cent each."
Steps were taken at once to rebuild, and at a meeting held July 7, 1807, a tax of $12.50 was levied on each share for the purpose of rebuilding. This amount proved insufficient and, on January 28, 1809, it was voted to assess a tax of $24 a share, including the $12.50 previously voted. Amos Kimball was the moving spirit in the erection of this bridge, and of the $1,139 allowed in accounts for building, his bill for materials furnished and labor performed amounted to $838.50.
He was the owner of a large farm comprising what were subsequently known as the Eli Evans, the J. P. Kimball and E. S. Kimball farms. He had great confidence in the stability of the bridge he had been so instrumental in building and offered to insure it against freshets for a term of years for a com- paratively small sum. His offer was accepted, and when the bridge went out by a freshet in 1812, the loss fell on Mr. Kimball, causing him serious financial embarrassment.
No effective action was taken towards building a new bridge till the spring of 1819. The charter was extended by successive acts of the Legislature in 1813, 1815, and 1819.
The third bridge was built in 1820, south of the first two bridges, where William Noyes lived last, prior to the 1927 flood. Some of the old stone abut- ments on the New Hampshire side still exist. This bridge went out in 1850, but was rebuilt at once at the same location.
Two years later in 1852, the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad was completing its tracks to Woodsville and wished to cross the Connecticut to form a junction with the Passumpsic Railroad. The latter corporation did not want this junction and was doing all in its power to prevent it. The bridge company owned franchises which would be of service to the New Hampshire road in accomplishing its purpose of crossing the river. Though the toll bridge had been rebuilt but two years previously, it was of an unsatisfactory char- acter, having to be weighted with stone to resist the pressure of high water.
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A new bridge was needed. A free bridge was desirable, but there seemed, as there also seemed some seventy years later, to be no way of securing it. A contract was, therefore, entered into between a committee of the bridge corpo- ration and a committee of the railroad, a contract later ratified by both cor- porations, which gave the bridge proprietors a new bridge without any expenditure on their part, and the railroad a right of way into Vermont, en- abling it to form a junction with the Passumpsic at Wells River.
The railroad agreed to construct for the bridge proprietors a bridge, op- posite the village of Wells River, with all necessary highways and approaches, for the accommodation of public travel, to be for the sole use of the proprietors of the Wells River bridge for the purposes of a toll bridge. The bridge was to be so constructed that if the railroad should wish to run their cars and en- gines over the same, they might do so by constructing a track for that purpose on the top or upper chords of the bridge, while the lower chords and ap- proaches to the bridge were to remain unencumbered by such construction and the running of railroad cars. The bridge was to be forever kept in repair by the railroad, except the flooring of the highway. The bridge company was to issue to some person or trustee for the railroad, fifteen shares of its corpora- tion stock, to be on a par per share with the already existing forty-eight shares of bridge stock.
The new bridge was completed and opened to travel March 2, 1853. Its cost, including the approaches and several rods of highway to connect with what was the old ferry highway, was about $20,000. The material used in construction was of the best. The frame was selected from old growth white pine cut in the town of Whitefield, and when taken down in 1903, was still sound, showing no signs of decay except on the ends of the arches. The bridge was what is known as "the Burr truss," and at the time of its construction was the only one of its kind. It was also the longest single span in the United States.
This wooden bridge was used by the railroad on the top level, and by the public at the lower level, for 50 years. It had extensive repairs in 1868, and new arches were added in 1878. In 1903, the Railroad acquired all the stock in the bridge company and built a new steel bridge which was opened to the public in February, 1904. It was still a double-deck toll bridge.
As traffic increased on the lower deck, and as grease from the railroad locomotives dropped from the upper level on those riding in open vehicles be- low, there was much agitation for a new free bridge. In 1916, Haverhill and Newbury voted to authorize the selectmen of the two towns to build a free bridge. Both towns contributed to the cost in proportion to their valuation at
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the time. New Hampshire and Vermont also paid $8,000 each, and Grafton County and the town of Ryegate also contributed.
This new free bridge was opened with very appropriate ceremonies on October 15, 1917. Its cost was about $65,000. This was the seventh bridge at this location, and was destined to serve the public need for only seven years, as it was practically destroyed in the 1922 flood on April 12. The cause for its downfall was the undermining of the two piers in the middle of the stream, which were not based on "solid rock" as required in the original speci- fications. This was clearly established by costly litigation in the federal court.
Once again, the two towns and both states agreed to rebuild, and the present suspension bridge was built in 1923 at a cost of $82,863.00 which in- cluded some costs of removing the old bridge from the river and of planking the lower level of the railroad bridge for use of the public during construction of the new one.
Another charter was granted by the New Hampshire legislature in 1809 for a toll bridge over the Connecticut River between Haverhill and Newbury. It was to be erected between Horse Meadow and the Ox-bow in Newbury, at some place within one-half mile above or below the ferry of Col. Asa Porter. He was one of the proprietors. This bridge was never built, and the charter was forfeited.
The covered bridge over the Ammonoosuc River between Haverhill, at Woodsville, and Bath was built in 1829, at a cost of $2,900, equally divided between the two towns. While it has had major repairs on several occasions, it is, at present, our oldest bridge and in substantially its original form. The sidewalk for foot passengers was added on the north side after the 1927 flood when other major repairs were made.
Thus, we find Haverhill has built, within a period of 159 years, a total of 19 major bridges at costs ranging from $2,700, 150 years ago, to about $72,000, 32 years ago. It is doubtful if any other New Hampshire town has had a bridge building program during the past century and a half which can compare with that of the town of Haverhill.
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