USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Haverhill > Haverhill's historic highlights > Part 9
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General Moses Dow purchased a large farm in 1785 which remained in the Dow family until 1848 when it was sold to Henry Keyes, father of the late Governor Henry W. Keyes, whose family still owns the Dow farm. In recent years it has been known as the "Pine Grove Farm."
General Dow lived on the farm, which comprised over 1000 acres, for many years. He built a fine colonial mansion farmhouse which remained
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until 1899 when it burned. Governor Keyes built the present beautiful brick residence on the site of the original Dow mansion.
In the early days the highway from North Haverhill to Haverhill passed the Dow residence, but in 1810 a new road was laid out across the plain and the original road was thrown up. General Dow was awarded $20.00 damages. He appealed to the court and was finally awarded $575.00 and his costs.
THE FISHER FARM-This was a very large tract of land extending from the Ox-bow to the Coventry ( Benton) line which was the eastern bound- ary of the town of Haverhill. It was a mile wide, nearly six miles long and contained 2400 acres. It was bounded by the Hazen farm on the northwest side. Probably this was the largest single tract of land in town ever owned by one man.
It is reported that John Hazen was given this valuable area by vote of the proprietors in 1771. It was mostly covered by the finest of white pine. The same year it was transferred to John Fisher, who was stationed at Ports- mouth. He never occupied this farm and it is assumed he never saw it. He was an English gentleman and he married Anna Hunking Wentworth, a niece of Governor Benning Wentworth, and sister of his successor, Governor John Wentworth.
At the outbreak of the Revolution, Fisher was collector of customs at Salem, Mass. Being of the Royal Party he left the colonies and returned to England with John Wentworth in November, 1775. His land was confiscated in 1778 by the State of New Hampshire. Later these lands were restored to Mark Hunking Wentworth, his father-in-law, who held a mortgage on it when confiscated. He reconveyed it to Fisher in 1784, whose son, John, managed his father's estate under a power of attorney. He deeded the entire property to Nathaniel Merrill and others in December, 1802. They opened up the so- called Fisher Farm for settlement and development. Merrill's wife was Sarah Hazen, daughter of John Hazen. Their daughter, Nancy, married Obediah Swasey who owned the J. Hazen farm for many years.
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THE PUBLIC HANGING OF JOSIAH BURNHAM (1806)
In 1680 the New Hampshire Criminal Code named fifteen crimes punish- able by death. In 1812 the death penalty was abolished for all but treason and murder, and in 1836 treason taken from this list. As incredible as it seems, executions by hanging were public in the early days and vast crowds attended. There were religious exercises including a sermon to which the con- demned criminal had to listen while he stood on the gallows.
Today all executions are at the State Prison. (Chapter 369, Revised Laws of 1942.) The sheriff of the county in which the person was convicted and two of his deputies shall be present. He shall request certain other offi- cials to be present and may admit not exceeding twelve other reputable citi- zens, relatives of the convict, his counsel and a priest or clergyman.
In the first 130 years of this town's history there were five executions for murder; others were pardoned or given life imprisonment: first, the Indian Toomalek described in detail by Grant Powers (History of the Coos Coun- try) ; second in 1796, Thomas Powers of Lebanon, a Negro; third in 1806, Josiah Burnham of Haverhill; fourth in 1848, Enos G. Dudley of Grafton; fifth in 1868, Samuel Mills of Franconia. Frank C. Almy was the next to be convicted (1891) for murder of Christie Warden of Hanover but his execution took place at the state prison in Concord.
Of these the trial and public execution of Josiah Burnham, including the sermon by the eloquent Rev. David Sutherland of Bath on August 12, 1806 is told us in great detail in a pamphlet entitled "Josiah Burnham," edited by the late William F. Whitcher and also in his history of Haverhill. I am in- debted to the late Frank R. Rogers for the Burnham pamphlet.
Josiah Burnham was born August 12, 1743 at Farmington, Connecticut of a notable family. His grandfather, Rev. William Burnham (Harvard 1702), was for thirty years pastor of Farmington church, and a leading clergy- man of the Connecticut Colony. His grandmother was one of the famous Con- necticut Walcott family. Thomas Burnham, grandfather of William Burn- ham, was born in England (1617), came to America in 1649, settled in Hart- ford, Conn., and became one of the largest landowners in the colony. William Burnham was reported to be a "gentlemen of great wealth."
He came from Connecticut to Bath about 1774 and for over thirty years was a well-known character in Bath, Benton, Warren and Haverhill. He was a competent land surveyor. He was probably well educated and was one of the early schoolmasters in Warren. He did much surveying, and included in
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his work was a re-survey of the entire town of Warren. His plan of Warren has been followed since 1795. For a time he was a blacksmith in Coventry (Benton). He was constantly in litigation from the time Grafton county courts opened in 1783. He usually lost.
He also became hopelessly in debt. In 1799 there were seven judgments rendered against him at the June Term of Superior court. Because of his failure to satisfy the executions, he was committed to the Haverhill jail. He is supposed to have been there for the next six years. The sum of $93.18 was the largest execution against Burnham. Under the law of that time a prisoner for debt could be held until the debt was paid, regardless of time.
On December 18, 1805 he was in the same cell with Russell Freeman of Hanover and Captain Joseph Starkweather, Jr. of Haverhill who were also imprisoned for debts. (This penalty for debt was removed in 1818.) Stark- weather was a respected citizen with no criminal record. Freeman was a prominent merchant who had held many positions of trust and honor includ- ing the speakership of New Hampshire House of Representatives (1795- 1797) and was a member of the Governor's Council from 1797 to 1802.
It is claimed that Burnham became enranged over statements by Free- man and Starkweather as to his relations with a woman whose husband was seeking a divorce and charged Burnham with being the co-respondent. He drew a knife, which he had concealed, and stabbed Freeman. Starkweather came to the assistance of his friend, Freeman, and he was also stabbed several times. Both died within three hours.
The first known report of this double murder was printed December 31, 1805 in the New Hampshire Gazette under the headline "Horrid Deed." (Ap- parently newspapers did not have as good coverage of such crimes as today.) The revolting crime was completely described, however, in the paper.
At the May term in 1806 at Plymouth, Burnham was indicted by the grand jury for the two murders. At the same term he was tried and found guilty. It should be noted that Daniel Webster, who only recently had been admitted to the bar, was junior counsel for Burnham, who was sentenced to be hanged July 15, 1806. Governor John Langdon granted a postponement for four weeks so that the prisoner "may have a further time to prepare for death." Thus it happened that August 12, 1806 was the final date set for the execution. It was Burnham's 63rd birthday.
The execution took place as ordered in the presence of a crowd estimated at 10,000 on Powder House Hill at Haverhill. Bittinger gives a graphic de- scription of the event in his history of Haverhill as narrated by an eye witness. There was much ceremony, singing, prayer and then a long sermon by Rev. David Sutherland, the famous minister in Bath at that time. His first words
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were, "The occasion of our present meeting is inexpressibly awful." His text, Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 23, "The wages of sin is death."
It is believed that nothing comparable to this execution has been known in New Hampshire history. It was unique in many respects. Today no one can be hanged within a year and a day after he is sentenced. Burnham was sentenced at the May term and was hanged within three months, after a four weeks' reprieve. Today it is very difficult to get a dozen citizens to witness an execution, yet 10,000 volunteered in 1806. They came from far and near, afoot, in wagons, and on horseback. Today it is most difficult to understand how so many people would have the morbid curiosity to attend such a specta- cle, which was the final chapter of such a "Horrid Deed!"
BANKING IN THE COOS REGION (1804)
The American Colonies had no bank and no banking facilities until near the close of the Revolutionary War when the "Bank of North America" was established in Philadelphia in 1781. Boston followed with the first bank in New England in 1784. The first bank in New Hampshire is believed to have been in 1792 at Portsmouth. Ten years later in June, 1802, the New Hamp- shire Union Bank of Portsmouth was incorporated. The next year at least five banks were chartered by the legislature. They were known as the Ports- mouth, the Rockingham at Portsmouth, the Strafford at Dover, the Exeter at Exeter and the Coos at Haverhill.
This indicates the high regard in which Haverhill was held and its likeli- hood of developing into an important business center. There was no other bank nearer than Exeter and for 25 years there was none within 100 miles of Haverhill. In 1828 a bank was incorporated at Lebanon and in 1832 one at Lancaster.
The charter for the Coos Bank was for 20 years from January 1, 1803. It had an authorized capital of not less than $25,000.00 and no more than $100,000.00. Among the incorporators were John Montgomery, Moses P. Payson, Peter Carleton, Moor Russell, Daniel Smith, Nathaniel Burlow and Timothy Dix, Jr.
The new bank was organized and open for business in 1804. John Mont- gomery was elected president and John Osgood, cashier. Osgood apparently was only acting until George Woodward, a well known lawyer in Hanover, could move to Haverhill. He lived in the Great House at the south end of the common, which also contained the banking rooms. He was a Dartmouth graduate (class of 1793) and served as treasurer of the college before moving
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to Haverhill. Woodward held the position of cashier for almost 10 years, when Joseph Bell succeeded him.
Bell took the bank job and resided in the Great House. He was succeeded as cashier by John G. Wright who with John Nelson, a well known attorney, had to wind up the affairs of the bank in 1820 with great loss to the stock- holders.
A second bank was chartered in 1821 under the name of "Grafton Bank" and started business in January, 1822. A new bank building which also served as the residence of the cashier was erected nearly opposite the first bank on the west side of Main Street. Moses Payson, only survivor of the Coos Bank board was named president. John Bunce of Hartford, Connecticut was hired as first cashier. He resigned in 1839 and John A. Page took his place. Bunce was also editor and part owner of the local newspaper which he sold and re- turned to Hartford, Connecticut as cashier of the Phenix Bank there. He was later made president of the Phenix Bank, a position which he held until his death in April, 1878.
John Page apparently was a satisfactory cashier as he was still there in 1844 when he and others began winding up the affairs of the bank, which were completed in 1849.
A third bank was incorporated in 1846, the "Grafton County Bank," but it never really got started. Again in 1879, the Grafton County Savings Bank was granted a charter but it was never organized. It would appear that a bank organized in Wells River in 1833 was too much competition for the Haverhill Bank. (See article on National Bank of Newbury.)
In 1889 a charter was granted by the New Hampshire legislature for a savings bank in Woodsville under the name of "Woodsville Guarantee Sav- ings Bank." Its first president was Ezra B. Mann, then Dr. C. R. Gibson, then George E. Cummings. The bank opened in the old railroad station but moved to the Opera Block when it was completed in 1890, and functioned there until the new bank building was opened in 1957.
A loan and banking association was chartered in Woodsville in 1891. This was liquidated in 1897 when the Woodsville National Bank was char- tered with Henry W. Keyes as its first president. It shared space with the Woodsville Guarantee Savings Bank in the Opera Block until both institutions moved into their new banking quarters.
This is a brief record of the banks in the town of Haverhill, from "The Coos" in the Great House in Haverhill Corner in 1803 to the new and spacious building which today provides modern banking facilities for customers of the Woodsville Guarantee Savings Bank and the Woodsville National Bank.
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THE BIG CUCUMBER STORY
Among the strange and hard-to-accept stories of the early days in this town, as recorded by the early historians, is one about a huge cucumber grown in Haverhill in 1826.
From various sources, it appears quite certain that a cucumber of incred- ible size actually grew in the garden behind the Grafton Bank which opened in 1822 and operated in a new building on the west side of Main Street until 1844. This building was also occupied by the bank cashier as his residence. (Today it is the home of Friend Jenkins, the recent headmaster of Haverhill Academy.) The first cashier of this bank was John L. Bunce who lived in Haverhill from 1822 to 1839. He returned to Hartford, Conn., where he became cashier and later president of the Phenix Bank there.
His daughter, Alice Bunce, often repeated his story of the "Big Cucum- ber" as related to her by her father. According to Miss Alice this cucumber was well over TEN FEET LONG and attracted much attention as an exhibit at a fair in Orford, N. H. in the fall of 1826.
Other proof that such an exceptional cucumber ever grew at Haverhill is given by John R. Reding, a resident of this town who served in Congress from 1841 to 1845, and is still the only man ever elected to Congress from Haver- hill. Reding reported that he told the cucumber story to several members of Congress one day in their private smoking room. When he had finished they made light of it and called him their "champion liar." Later he was called upon to repeat the story to other members of Congress who expressed their belief it was either a great exaggeration or a big fabrication. This was most annoying to Reding.
Perhaps the best proof of this unusual story is furnished by a disinterest- ed party who happened to mention to Reding that he had spent a pleasant summer in his home town of Haverhill, N. H. on a surveying assignment. This was a congressman from Maine by the name of Herrick. When Reding asked what year it was, he replied, "1826."
His next question was, "Did you ever hear anything about a monster cucumber which grew there that summer?". To the amazement of Reding the reply was, "Oh yes, that was THE SUMMER I was in Haverhill. Every- body went to see it. I got a paper tape from the tailor shop nearby and measured it myself. It was in a garden behind the bank-house where the cashier lived." "Was it a Mr. Bunce?" "Yes, that was his name. The cucum- ber measured TEN feet and ten inches." "Are you sure of that, Herrick?"
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"Yes, indeed I am perfectly sure. Just before I left my home in Maine to come down to Washington, I found among some of my old papers the identi- cal paper-tape measure, and on it was written the length of that cucumber, as I had measured it."
A few days later when Congressman Reding and Herrick met in the reading and smoking room, Reding casually asked him to tell the other Con- gressmen there about the cucumber he had measured some years ago. Her- rick, quite unaware of the situation, started to relate the entire story as he had recently told it to Reding. This was most amusing and gratifying to Red- ing as he assumed it would convince the others of the truth of his cucumber story. His happiness was very brief as his fellow congressmen laughed rudely at Herrick when he finished and then voted him their "new champion liar."
It would appear from the evidence above given by John Bunce, his daughter, Alice, and two congressmen that a BIG CUCUMBER really grew in Haverhill in the summer of 1826! A footnote might be added here, that apparently congressmen of a century ago were as unable to distinguish truth and imagination, or fact and fiction, as many of them are today. In modern times such an unusual report would probably have started an investigation or at least an inspection trip by a subcommittee which may be an indication that Congressmen today at least have a far greater curiosity than their prede- cessors.
THE GOVERNOR'S FARM
In the charter granted May 18, 1763, 500 acres were reserved to Gover- nor Benning Wentworth as marked in the plan "B. W." and known as the Governor's Farm. Benning Wentworth died in October 1770, unaware of the value of his Haverhill rights.
In February, 1774, Ezekiel Ladd, collector for the proprietors, sold sev- eral rights for non-payment of proprietary taxes. Among them was the Gov- ernor's Farm* which was bought by Moses Little of Newbury, Massachu- setts for $38.00. Moses Little also bought a house and meadow lot of James Nevins for $8.00. Moses Little had previously purchased the meadow lot and house of William Symes. These two lots (Nevins and Symes) were upper meadow lots which adjoined the Governor's Farm on the south. Moses Little
*A similar provision was incorporated in the Newbury charter and the Governor's Farm there was just across the Connecticut River from the Governor's Farm in Haver- hill. It is now the village of Wells River.
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was a brother-in-law of Jacob Bayley, a leader in the settlement of the town of Newbury, Vt.
On January 15, 1782 (Book 12, Pg 277) Colonel Moses Little deeded to his son, Moses Little, Jr., a minor, 600 acres which was the Governor's Farm, and lots bought of James Nevins and Colonel William Symes.
In January, 1795, Moses Little, Jr., sold 371/2 acres to William Abbott. He became the first real settler in what is now Woodsville. His great grand- son was Chester Abbott, well known to many present residents of this area. William Abbott cleared the land which became known as the Abbott farm. It had a mill privilege which was near the south of the Ammonoosuc River and part of it was in Bath. This mill privilege, containing 512 acres in all (Haverhill and Bath), was sold to Isaac Smith and Moses Campbell on April 9, 1809 for $400.00. Smith and Campbell sold this in September 3, 1816 to Miles Olcott of Hanover, New Hampshire, who built a dam across the river and then a saw mill.
September 14, 1827 Olcott sold to William Styfield, subject to a lease held by John L. Woods and Samuel Hutchins and Son, of Wells River, Ver- mont. In 1830 Woods bought this mill privilege of William Styfield for $1,000.00, which then included the saw mill, the dam, and a dwelling house. Shortly before this last deed was executed, Woods had purchased the rest of the William Abbott farm (about 32 acres) and all buildings thereon. In 1829 the highway bridge was built over the Ammonoosuc River between Haverhill and Bath for $2,400.00, the cost divided equally between the two towns.
On September 8, 1835 Woods purchased of Moses Little, Jr. 36 acres (Book 138 Pg 123) covered with a valuable heavy growth of white pine. This was the heart of the present Woodsville on both sides of present Central Street. In November, 1835 (same year) Moses Little, Jr. sold the remainder of the Governor's Farm of about 380 acres (Book 137, Pg 204) to Russell King (great grandfather of Harold K. Davison) for $6,000.00, now owned by James Rowe.
On land not far from the Bath bridge, Woods had a store which later became the residence of Isaac K. George, grandfather of the late George Tilton, and that residence became the Legion Home as a gift of D. R. Rouhan.
The Woods store was taken over by Edward Child and later by Ezra S. Kimball. In 1859 Charles M. Weeks of Lyndon, Vermont bought the Woods store from Ezra S. Kimball. The next year, 1860, Weeks built a new store south of the railroad track on the road to Wells River (258/370 Southard to Weeks). This was known as Weeks Block for many years, later known as Stahl Block, then Thompson Block, and more recently Castello Block. In 1870 Weeks erected a large residence on the lot east of his store. This later
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Weeks (Stahl ) Block
became the home of Ezra B. Mann. This was razed to permit the construc- tion of the present Woodsville National Bank and Woodsville Savings Bank in 1956 (opened March 1957).
Thus it appears that Moses Little, Jr., owned all the area in 1782 which is now occupied by residents of Woodsville. His father bought most of it for $38.00. By 1835 most of it was owned by Russell King, Hiram King, and John L. Woods.
The Legion Home, the Rowe farm and the Castello Block* are directly traced from the Governor's Farm as explained above. The title to every property in Woodsville can be so traced. For example, the Woodsville High School land was bought of Luvia L. King, which she took under will of Henry F. King, her husband. He bought from the heirs of Russell King, his father. Russell King bought of Moses Little, Jr. He had a deed from his father of the same name, who bought it for taxes in 1774 of Collector Ladd who had the Governor's Farm for sale of taxes not paid by heirs of Benning Went- worth.
*Destroyed by fire in 1962.
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HAVERHILL'S ONLY CONGRESSMAN (1841-1845)
While Haverhill has furnished this state two governors (Page 1839, Keyes 1917), two United States Senators (Page 1936, Keyes 1919), three presidents of the State Senate (Dow 1791, Cartland 1829, Davison 1929), two speakers of the House of Representatives (Swazey 1842, Davison 1927), it has had but one congressman, a forceful, ardent democrat, John R. Red- ing. He served in Washington four years (1841-1845) during the Harrison- Tyler and Van Buren administrations.
John R. Reding was born at Portsmouth in 1805 and got his limited education there. He left school early to work in a grocery store, then entered the employ of New Hampshire Patriot (now Concord Monitor) owned by Isaac Hill, and later married Governor Hill's youngest sister, Rebecca, in October, 1830. She died while Reding was in Washington in January, 1844. His second wife was Jane Martin of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, who survived him. There were no children by either marriage.
In 1826 he became foreman in the office of the Boston Statesman which later became the Boston Post. In 1828 he came to Haverhill, where in July of that year he published the first issue of the Democratic Republican of which he continued to be sole owner and editor until 1841. Reding was named postmaster of Haverhill in 1831 and served until he went to Congress in 1841.
During the four years in Congress his brothers, Warren and Silvester, continued the paper and after that until 1863.
In 1852 Reding was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated General Franklin Pierce for president.
Reding received an appointment from Franklin Pierce (only president from New Hampshire) as naval storekeeper at Portsmouth in 1853, which office he held for five years. In 1860 he was elected mayor of Portsmouth. Later he was elected to legislature for three terms from Portsmouth. He re- mained in Portsmouth until his death in 1892.
John R. Reding was an outstanding democrat, ever active in his party, a strong character, and an honored and useful citizen, both in Haverhill and in Portsmouth, where he was born and where he lived the later part of his un- usually active life.
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WOODS-VILLE
In the spring of 1760 one Thomas Blanchard made a survey of the Connecticut River from No. 4 (Charlestown) to the mouth of the Ammonoo- suc River for Governor Benning Wentworth. In the Haverhill charter, granted in 1763 by Governor Wentworth, a tract of 500 acres of land was reserved in the northwest corner of the town for the governor and was known as the Governor's Reservation. Among business items of the second meeting of town proprietors September 26, 1763, a surveyor, one Benjamin Whiting, was engaged to lay out the town. He established the governor's farm, which later became the village of Woodsville.
Just when the locality officially took its name is uncertain. In 1844 a proposed railroad from Concord to Woodsville was incorporated. Regular trains began to run July 4, 1853 between these two points. But how the name came to be is not quite definitely known.
In 1774 several proprietory rights were sold for non-payment of taxes, among which was the Governor's Right purchased by Moses Little of New- bury, Mass. for $38.00. He was one of the grantors of Newbury, Vt., and also of Littleton, for whom that town was named. Governor Wentworth died in 1770, unaware of the value of his Haverhill right.
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