USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Lakeport > Historical sketches of Lakeport, New Hampshire, formerly Lake Village, now the sixth ward of Laconia; the historical collections of Horace G. Whittier > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
'The old, leaky Lyford dam would not serve the purposes of such a company; hence the sub- stantial stone dam put in in 1851, as recorded by Mr. Whittier. The top of the new dam was but a trifle higher than the old, but being tight, and stopping the leakage, the surface of the lake was raised very materially .- EDITOR.
Among the early settlers of Lakeport was Moses Sargent. For a time he was engaged in the manufacture of woolen yarn. His bus- iness was limited, as he ran what is known as a one-sett mill-that is, one sett of woolen cards.
The two saw mills then in operation turned out a good deal of
I 2
LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
lumber. One of these, on the east side of the river, is still stand- ing [since barned ], being the mill owned by George D. Merrill. These mills both used the old up-and-down saws, the "board mill,". so called, not being then invented.
Another business enterprise, destined to be of very great impor- tance to the village, was the establishment of an iron foundry by Isaac Cole, the father of Benjamin J. Cole. He started this busi- ness in a very primitive way. For years he did all his smelting in a potash kettle, using a common blacksmith's bellows for a blast, and charcoal for fuel. The foundry business continued to increase, and the great business of the Cole Manufacturing Company ultimately grew out of it. Horace O. Bugbee, writing to the Belknap Repub- lican under date April 20, 1900, states that the first iron foundry in Lake Village was operated by his father, Horace, and uncle, Benja- min J. Cole, in 1837. All the records we have consulted show that Isaac Cole was the first to have a foundry here. They show that in 1836 Isaac sold the foundry plant to his three sons-Benjamin J., Isaac, and John A. (father of Capt. Stephen B ), and they engaged in business for themselves under the firm name of "Cole & Co." It is possible that about this time Mr. Bugbee might have had an in- terest as stated by Horace ()., and the firm name might for a short time have been, as stated, Cole & Bugbee. But I do not find this firm name on any record .*
Cole & Co. carrie l on an extensive business for some ten years, when they took into partnership John Davis 2d ( father of Professor Nathaniel S. Davis of Brown University), and the firm name was changed to Cole, Davis & Co. The principal articles of manufac- ture by this firm were stoves and plows, and many of the stoves made by them are still in use.
'This partnership continued for about ten years, when Mr. Davis, Isaac and John Cole retired from the firm, leaving Benjamin J. Cole the sole proprietor. He continued in business alone until 1873,
*Mr. Bugbee's statement was that the first iron foundry in Lake Village was operated by his father and his uncle B. J. Cole under the style of Cole & Bughee. They also ran a batting mill. An iron fireplace, mentioned by Horace O. as still in use and bearing the manufacturer's name, "Cole & Bugbee," on the front of it, should be pretty good documentary evidence that there was a partnership of some sort, probably limited and of short duration, but quite certainly not the first town.diy in Lake Village unless we throw out Isaac Cole's claims. - EDITOR.
13
EARLY INDUSTRIES AND BUILDING OPERATIONS.
when the Cole Manufacturing Company was incorporated, with a capital of $60,000, and has since done an extensive business, not only in foundry work, but in manufacturing and repair of all kinds of wood and iron work. Mr. Cole had the entire management of the business until 1883, when he retired from the more active du- ties, and his son-in-law, Henry B. Quinby, was chosen superintend- ent, and has held the position continuously until the present time.
CHAPTER IV.
IRON MINING IN GILFORD.
In 1828 a man by the name of Harlow came to Gilford to pros- pect for iron, having heard that the metal was to be found in great abundance on Belknap Mountain. He located at Lake Village and spent much time testing the value of the ore and the feasibility of a mining project. After he had investigated to his own satisfaction and had gotten the opinion of experienced miners-all of whom expressed the conviction of a splendid prospect-he commenced operations. Being a man of considerable means, he began on an extensive scale. As he required the services of a large number of men, and there were at that time accommodations for but a few families in Lake Village-there being less than a dozen houses, all told, in the vicinity-he concluded to build, and erected a large house on the site of the present hotel, which was occupied as a boarding house by his employees.
He set a gang of men to work on the mountain, and another to the building of a large smelting furnace at Lake Village. The fur- nace was begun on the site of the present foundry. After putting in a foundation, a wall of stone was laid four feet thick, the inside radius being twenty feet. Just what the builder's idea of the whole structure was will never be known, as it was not completed. The prospects at the mine grew so discouraging that operations at the mine were suspended for a time and never resumed. The best looking vein was worked for about two rods without getting a wagon load of ore worth smelting. This was abandoned and another vein taken up, but this also continued so discouraging that it was about to be given up for another, when a terrible accident occurred that so frightened the survivors of the crew that operations were wholly suspended. By the premature discharge of a blast, one man was killed outright and two others seriously injured. Mr. Harlow had now sunk about twenty-five thousand dollars and had not realized a dollar in return. The ore obtained was of excellent quality, but was small in quantity. A horseshoe nail was made directly from the ore. Ruined financially, Mr. Harlow lost his reason and soon died.
CHAPTER V.
"GUNDALOWS" AND HORSE BOATS.
[Staff Correspondent of Manchester Union.\
" I used to think it was a fine sight when a boy," said Rufus Smith, "to climb up on a hill and see the great white sails on the gundalows, when three or four of those queer-looking crafts flew along before the wind."
" Do you mean there were gundalows used on Lake Winnipiseo- gee in olden times? "
" Yes, sir, I remember them well ; it was the only means of lake transportation when I was a young man ; that is to say, before horse boats came along."
" About how long ago should you think it was that they began running gundalows on the lake? "
"(), I can't tell just when the first ones were put on ; but I re- member hearing them tell, when I was a young chap, that they had them before the war of 1312."
" What did they use them for-to carry passengers and freight?"
" Not many passengers ; they didn't like to carry passengers, but if anybody wanted to get up to Lake Village from Alton Bay badly enough to pay fifty cents, the captain would take the passenger aboard."
" How much of a crew did it take to run a gundalow?"
"Two-two captains"-
" Two captains !- how was that ?"
" Why, one man would be skipper and the other fellow the crew one trip, and on the next voyage they would just reverse it; the fellow that was the crew the day before would be captain, and the skipper of the previous trip would be the crew, and so on ; so they never got jealous."
" What points did they touch on the lake? "
" They ran regular trips between Lake Village, Meredith Village and Alton Bay, and also touched at Moultonborough. About 1837-8 Nathaniel Vaughn Shannon, of East Moultonborough, built a large
16
LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
gundalow-it was probably sixty feet long-and used it to boat boards and shook. This, I think, was the last gundalow ever run on our lake. All the boats carried merchandize from Alton to Mere- dith and Lake Village. Paul Peavy ran several fine six-horse teams between Alton Bay, Dover and Portsmouth, in connection with the boats. An invoice of a gundalow's regular cargo when she got ready to hoist sail for her upward trip was as interesting as it was varied. There were cotton bales for the mills at Lake Village, and for eve- rybody they had flour, salt fish, New Eng"-
"No, not"-
"Yes, they had to have it for haying and raisings. The gundalows had two sails and also a jib ; also they were provided with two long oars or sweeps, which, when the craft was hecalmed, would be used to propel the boat. This was slow and tedious work, and to lighten the labor the crew resorted to an ingenious stratagem. Some one would drive a hoop, just a little, on one of the most interesting look- ing barrels, and, after cautiously boring a gimlet hole, they would extract a nipper and then drive the hoop back into place again. Likewise, when discouraged by heavy head winds, 't is said they were wont to cheer their hearts in like manner. Now, a day seldom passed when, near a point about six miles out of Alton Bay, there was not either a dead calm or a stiff nor'-wester blowing straight in their teeth-so up went the hoops; therefore the shore became known as "Gin Point." About a mile farther on is another point of land where there were either buffeting winds or no winds at all. Then the hoops of another promising-looking barrel would be raised and courage and speed renewed; therefore the land at this point went into the boatman's chart as "Rum Point."
The chart maker of later days, laying down the currents and shoals of our beautiful lake, has, either purposely or inadvertently, omitted these suggestive names.
The old-time gundalow was a picturesque craft and most decid- edly practical ; it did its work in its day well and faithfully. None were lost by accident or wreck and no person was drowned or in- jured in the service. Strangely enough, the gundalow is well nigh forgotten. It has escaped the page of history both by picture and description. Its phantom shape has not flitted through the dream of the lake country poet, nor does its white sail, shining afar among the green islands, touch up the painter's canvas with its gleam.
" GUNDALOWS" AND HORSE BOATS. 1 7
" The model of the gundalow varied somewhat," continued Mr. Smith. "Some of them were built quite round at the bows, by put- ting together blocks of timber with pins and afterwards hewing into shape. All the boats were flat-bottomed and .oftentimes planked with hewn timber to make them strong and proof against accidents if they ran onto rocks. There was usually a railing around. In a good wind they would sail six or eight miles an hour, and make the trip from Meredith to Alton Bay and back in two or three days."
" When did the gundalows cease to be used ?"
"Somewhere about 1840 the horseboats drove them out. The very first horseboat was built in 1837-38 by a Mr. Patten of Man- chester. He got the timber on Governor's Island and put the boat together at Meredith Village. It was a sort of scow, about seventy feet long. Afterward, 'Squire John V. Barron of Lake Village and a man named Parsons, who lived on Long Island, bought the boat. Parsons was ingenious and got up some machinery to be operated by horse power. This machinery was put into the boat and two horses used to turn it ; a little later arrangement was made for three horses, but this plan was soon abandoned. In 1841 Barron and Parsons sold the boat to a company composed of Paul Peavy and Capt. Daniel Smith, a wealthy mill owner of Meredith. This was the very first horseboat on Winnipiseogee."
In the year 1840 Smith, with Stephen Wentworth (now living at Center Harbor), built a horseboat on Moultonborough Neck, on the same shore where Dr. Greene's poultry-farm landing now is. Ru- fus Smith, a skillful and trustworthy boatman, took charge of the new boat, which plyed between Lee's Mills, Alton Bay, Meredith and Lake Village, and sometimes touched at other points. This boat brought the first load of wood to Lake Village. In the season of 1840 they glutted the market at that place, so that they were obliged to sell their wood-the very best of hard wood-at $1.25 a cord, and to take their pay out of the store at that. The boat had a capacity of twenty cords of green hard wood.
In those early boating days it was not always sunshine, nor did favoring winds always prevail. But those skillful navigators knew well the devious courses winding among the islands ; and they also knew the shoals and sunken rocks that offered constant menace and peril. By night as well as by day their keen eyes and clear judg-
4
18
LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
ment brought them safely into port. Indeed, all this can be said of the pilots and officers of all the boats that ever plowed the waters of the Winnipiseogee (with the exception of the ill-fated Belknap) from the first known days of its navigation clear down to the present day.
The horse boat was always a prey to contrary winds ; and when heavily loaded and progress slow it required much good judgment to keep things trim. Mr. Smith had, in 1841, an exciting experi- ence in a cyclone off Carr's Point. His horse boat was very heavily loaded, the cargo consisting of fifteen tons of bar iron, forty barrels of flour, fifteen bales of cotton, besides a quantity of dye stuff.
The morning of the day of the tempest was somewhat peculiar. A light breeze, blowing with a circular motion, died away at sunrise, while the shores of the main land and of all the islands were lifted by a strange mirage until they seemed hung in space. This phe- nomena was succeeded by a hot, thick atmosphere and brassy sky and accompanied by a startling stillness. As the morning advanced a glassy calm, awful in its clearness and prophetic silence, spread wide over the deep. At noon clouds gathered and rapidly over- spread the sky about Red Hill, and followed around toward Govern- or's Island, casting a twilight gloom over the scene. At this time the boat was well off the shore and had plenty of sea room, a most fortunate circumstance, for the wind suddenly rose and swept a wide path over the lake. The shores all around appeared shadowed by a pall of thick darkness. Lightning was constant and the roar of thunder loud and deep. Close to the water the wind swept with a terrible hissing sound, while the air seemed filled with a feathery whiteness where the tempest tore the tops of the waves into foam.
By great effort the boat was kept out of the trough, but she was blown shoreward and half filled with water. The cotton bales were washed overboard and floated to land. The blow was of short du- ration, and when the waves had subsided the boat was beached on the Gilford shore and pumped out. The cotton was hauled to Lake Village and spread out to dry in a field near the upper end of Bel- videre street, where it looked like snow shining white in the sun.
The horseboat has followed the gundalow into the lake's past his- tory. It is doubtful if one is in existence today. Indeed, the boat- man himself, always bright and companionable in his day, has, with two or three exceptions, passed away.
CHAPTER VI.
STEAMBOATS.
The first steamboat on Lake Winnipesaukee was the "Belknap," which was built at Lake Village in the fall of 1832 and spring of 1833. The venture was financed by a stock company, in which Stephen Lyford and James Jewett were largely interested. The ship yard where the boat was built was upon the hill at a point nearly in front of where the Ham house now stands, on Park street. It was 96 feet long, the hull 17 feet beam, and 33 feet over all. Its con- struction was begun under the superintendence of Charles F. Bell, of New York, who was accidentally drowned by falling from the dam into the river, June 12, 1832. This was the first drowning accident of which we have any account in Lakeport. The work was contin- ued by Messrs. Clock and Lupton, of New York. The boat was launched in November, but was not finished until the following spring.
July 9, 1833 was a gala day in Lake Village. The boat was to make its trial trip, and a general invitation to a free ride had been extended. In the large party upon the boat were many ladies. The engines were started, and the first performance of the new craft was to "buck." She backed viciously into a jam of logs ; but the diffi- culty was soon remedied, and the boat moved, right end to, up Paugus, on the first trip of the first steamboat on Winnipesaukee. The "Belknap" did a fair freight and passenger business until wrecked on Steamboat Island in October, 1841.
The steamer "Jenny Lind" is now only a faint memory to a few of our oldest residents. She was one of the last of the horseboats, converted into a sort of steamboat. Langdon Thyng purchased a discarded locomotive that had been used to haul gravel trains during the construction of the railroad. This diminutive locomotive had several nicknames. It was first known as the "Cork Leg," but how 'it came by that name has been forgotten. Afterwards it was called the "Widow Dustin," shortened by the boys into "Widder." Mr. Thyng installed her boiler and engine on his horseboat, and gave
20
LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
the new contraption a name just at that time used to juggle with on everything from chewing gum to steamboats-"Jenny Lind." She could make about five miles an hour, and her asthmatic puffing and blowing could be heard at an almost incredible distance.
The original steamer "Lady of the Lake" was built in 1848-'49 on the ground now marked by the junction of the Lake Shore and Boston & Maine Railroads. William Walker and Benjamin J. Cole were the prime movers in the building of this famous boat, and Mr. Walker was its first captain. She began running in June, 1849, and was used continuously, for both freight and passenger business, until September 14, 1893, when she made her last trip from Wolfe- borough to Weirs. The following is a list of her last crew : John S. Wadleigh, captain ; A. P. Hughes, clerk ; John M. Lovett, pilot ; Lorenzo W. Lovett, engineer ; J. Fred Lovett, fireman ; James Wil- kins and Frank Hurlbert, deck hands ; James Hawkins, kitchen colonel ; H. C. Wentworth, cook. The next Tuesday, September 17th, she made a short trip out into the broads of the lake, which was the final trip of her long and useful career. She was towed to Lake Village, the place of her birth, and stripped of her machinery. The dismantled hulk was then taken to Glendale, where it was util- ized as a boarding house for workmen engaged in building Kimball's castle. Finally, she was towed out into the lake and sunk in its deep waters-a fitting sepulcher for the long-time queen of the Winnipesaukee. The figure head-Scott's immortal Scotch lassie, with the paddle in her hand-now adorns the boat house of Charles H. Cummings, near Spindle Point.
In 1856 the steamer "Red Hill" was built. This boat was some- thing after the style of the old "Belknap." It did service for'a few years, when it was dismantled and the machinery sent to Foo Chow, China, in charge of Rufus Clark, a skillful machinist and well known resident of Lake Village at that time.
Frank W. Johnson commenced business here as a boat builder in 1886. He has built a number of steam yachts with a carrying ca- pacity of from fifteen to fifty passengers each-pleasure boats- several of them for other waters than Winnipesaukee.
Besides the larger steamers built here for freight and passenger traffic, several others have been built at various places on the north- ern shores of Winnipesaukee, and more particularly at Long Island.
2I
STEAMBOATS.
In the season of 1866-'67 the "James Bell" was built at Center Harbor, by Wentworth and Sweatt. It was, for many seasons, used as an excursion boat, and sometimes did extra work for the "Lady of the Lake." It was a staunch, safe and popular craft. The cabin was until recently standing on the shore of Paugus, near the mouth of Black Brook, having been moved there and fitted up for a dwell- ing when the boat was torn to pieces. The pilot house is a feature in the yard of Winthrop H. Smith, on Union Avenue. The "Bell" was the last of the side-wheel steamers.
The "Dover"-renamed the "Chocorua"-was built at Alton Bay in 1851. Neither this boat nor the "Mount Washington," which succeeded it, were ever connected in any way with Lakeport.
The "Maid of the Isles"-originally named the "Gazelle" -- was built at Wolfeborough, by D. Haley, in 1877. After doing service several years, it was partially sunk at Wolfeborough, remaining in this condition a considerable time. It was raised and rebuilt by Herbert A. Blackstone, in 1887. In 1893 it was condemned and torn to pieces.
The "Lamprey" was built at Long Island, in 1882, by Alanson and Robert Lamprey, and was burned at its moorings on Moulton- borough shore in 1892.
The "Belle of the Wave" was built in 1882, by Arthur Lamprey, at Long Island, and burned at the back side of Long Island, in 1887.
The "Cyclone" was built at Long Island in 1887, by Arthur Lam- prey, and did service as a passenger and freight boat for several years. The machinery was taken from the "Belle of the Wave," af- ter that boat was burned, and used in the "Cyclone."
The "Mineola" was built at Newburg, New York, in 1877, for a company composed of George H. Robie, Charles D. Robie, and Charles F. Brown. It was shipped here by rail, arriving in Lake- port July 5, 1877. Probably no boat on the lake ever brought in as large dividends to its owners as has the "Mineola." She was the first steamer on the lake, large enough for freight and passenger business, to be fitted with a screw propeller, and is still doing a good business under the management of her present owner, Ehmer Davis.
The "Eagle" was built at Lakeport in 1886, by Herbert A. Black- stone, for Charles F. Brown and Alfred G. Wentworth. They did a
22
LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
good business, both passenger and freight, finally selling the boat to Dr. J. A. Greene. It was accidentally burned, at Long Island, in 1903.
'The "Roxmont" was built in New York and shipped to Lakeport in 1889. At the time of her arrival she was named the "Carroll," but Dr. J. A. Greene bought the craft in 1891 and changed the name to "Roxmont." It is now known as the "Belle of the Isles."
In 1891 various parties conceived the idea of a house-boat and the "Wangan," built at Lakeport, was the result. The owners were Romanzo B. Priest, Dr. George H. Saltmarsh, Frank M. Eastman and George B. Ayer, of Lakeport; Benjamin F. Hoyt, of Gilford ; Ralph O. Brown, of Long Island ; L. C. Paine and L. F. Fitzhenry, of Boston. The "Wangan" was a flat-bottom craft, that could run up to the shores in the shoalest of water, and was fitted with two propeller wheels. It is used exclusively for hunting and fishing pur- poses, and is fitted with all the paraphernalia for housekeeping.
So far as sailing craft are concerned, they have almost entirely disappeared ; but one is worthy of special mention. The "White Wing" was built in 1868 by John S. Crane, and launched in August of that year. She was one of the handsomest sail boats on any wa- ter, and is well remembered by many of our citizens. One day, soon after her launching, she sailed eleven miles in one hour, as re- ported in the Lake Village Times.
All these public service boats, wherever built, had much to do with the business of Lakeport' and most of them made this place their virtual headquarters. And besides these public boats, already named, scores of steam and gasoline yachts have been built by indi- viduals for their own private use and pleasure.
CHAPTER VII.
LAKE VILLAGE IN 1844. .
[ Laconia News and Critic, January 6, 1005.]
There can be but few persons now living who have a distinct rec- ollection of what Lakeport was sixty years ago. The following items of information on that point are contributed by one who has resided here since 1844, and who has been cognizant of the changes occur- ring here since that time.
What is now known as Lakeport, the Sixth Ward of the City of Laconia-except that part of it lying north of Black Brook-con- tained just seventy dwelling houses, by actual enumeration, in 1844. Only eight or ten of these were of two stories, the others being mostly plain cottages ; and several of them were hardly more than shanties of two rooms, only half-finished at that, and would not be considered comfortable dwellings in this latitude in the winter sea- son.
On the west side of the river, in what was then a part of the town of Meredith, there were just thirty houses, situated mostly on Elm and Belvidere streets. The great fire of May 26, 1903 destroyed all of these except the Batchelder house, on Franklin Square, and three or four small ones at the north end of Elm street, out of range of the fire.
On the east side of the river, then a part of Gilford, were only forty houses, a few of which have been torn down or removed, with- out being replaced, while most of the others have been rebuilt, enlarged, or remodeled, so that they would hardly be recognized at the present time by their former owners.
The whole territory of the village, which two or three years later was formed into a fire precinct, comprised less than two square miles, or about one thousand acres, nearly equally divided between the two sides of the river. The streets on the Gilford side were Union Avenue, as it is now called, running the whole length of the village, one and one-half miles ; an unnamed street which is now the east end of Elm street, connecting with Union Avenue near the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.