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 3
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
passenger station and running north-westerly to the river ; thence turning sharply to the right along the bank of the river to the old bridge ; thence easterly to Union Avenue again near the northerly end of the passenger station ; Laurel street, running easterly from Union Avenue a few rods to what is now Mechanic street ; a high- way called "the new road" (now Stark street), leading to Gilford. There was no part of Mechanic street laid out till 1846, but there was a private way leading from Laurel street to Hillside Cemetery.
The dwelling houses on the east side, commencing at the south end of the village on the west side of the street, were :
1. Enoch Merrill's, situated just north of the junction of Messer street and Union Avenue. This house was demolished many years afterwards and a two-story double-tenement honse erected in its place.
2. The next house to the north was the W. P. Moulton house. This was removed nearly fifty years ago, now stands on Fore street, and is owned by Ara Sargent. It has been enlarged by a second story and a brick basement. Levi Stevens erected a house on the old site, which is now owned by Dr. J. C. Moore.
3. House occupied by Ira F. Folsom, who died there a few years after. Jacob M. Cook came into possession of it later, and it is now owned by his widow, Mrs. B. F. Brown. The house has been en- larged and one story added.
4. House owned by John L. Carr, now owned by Uzziel Hay- ward. The house has been rebuilt and one story added.
5. House owned by Richard Martin, now owned by Casper Bunker. This also has been rebuilt and one story added.
6. House owned by Deacon Samuel Gilman. Now owned by Libbeus E. Hayward, who has built another residence on part of the lot and added one story to the old house.
7. House occupied by Amos Bugbee, and since owned and oc- cupied for many years by Franklin Davis. Now owned by Mrs. Maria Adams.
8. House built by Thomas M. Lang, and soon afterwards bought by J. S. Jewett, who removed to Warren about fifty years ago, where he still resides. The house is now owned by George A. Ferguson, and has been lately remodeled.
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LAKE VILLAGE IN 1844.
9. Houve built by Henry 1. Sleeper and occupied by him many yCAIS. Now owned and occupied by William H. Watson.
10. House built by Asa Cole and occupied by him till 1846. Since then owned by different persons, later remodeled, and now owned by Dr. George H. Saltmarsh.
11. House built by Nathaniel Sanborn, who resided there many years ; now owned by his daughter, Mrs. George B. Randall, and occupied by W. E. Woodworth.
12. House now owned by Mrs. Mary Elkins, widow of Moses R. Elkins, who resided there from about 1850 until his death. Who owned or occupied it in 1844 is not known to the author; but it has been rebuilt since that time.
13. House standing by the railroad track near the corner of Elm street and Union Avenue, occupied by Burleigh Moulton. It was used as a passenger station when the railroad first came to the place and afterwards was moved to Gold street, just north of the Free Baptist church.
14. A small house occupying the site of George H. Robie's res- idence on Park street. It was moved to Laconia more than forty years ago and is now on Orange Court. Josiah F. Robie built a two story house in its place, which George H. Kobie has lately re- modeled and occupied as his residence.
15. A one-story house, just north of the Robie house, occupied by John Goss. It was bought by Thomas Ham, in 1850, and was his home for nearly half a century.
16. A one-story house owned by the Lake Company and occu- pied by Warner Adams. It stood on the south side of Elm street at the present eastern end of the new bridge. The ell part was moved to Gold street and fitted into a tenement house. The main part was greatly enlarged, one story added, and made into two ten- ements. This was thirty years ago.
17. A small one-story house on Gold street, near the store of Henry J. Odell, occupied by Widow Gale. This is said to be the first house built in the place on this side of the river. It has not changed the least in appearance in sixty years.
18. Building known as the Bugbee store, at the corner of Gold angl Fore streets, the ell part of which was finished and occupied by a tenant. An addition has since been made and finished into sev- eral tenements.
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
19. A small house near the present pumping station, occupied by Noah Smith, a soldier of the war of 1812. This house has long since disappeared.
20. A one-story house on the site of the late Samuel C. Clark's residence. It was moved to the opposite side of the street near the north end of the village, was owned by the late John G. Donovan, and is the present residence of his widow.
21. House built by John A. Cole about 1836, and was his place of residence until his decease, about thirty years later. The estate has remained in the family till the present time and is now owned by his son, Capt. Stephen B. Cole, who has lately remodeled it into two tenements.
22. House built about 1830 by Capt. John V. Barron, a soldier of the war of 1812. Now owned by John S. Crane, and has not been materially changed.
23. A one-story house and basement, owned and occupied by Miles Buzzell ; now owned by E. D. Ward. It was not been much changed since first built.
24. House owned and occupied by John Blaisdell ; now owned by Charles T. Richardson. There has been but little change here in sixty years.
25. A small house occupied by Samuel Davis, just north of the brown church, a little back from the main street on what is now Harrison street. This house has disappeared from the place, and was probably moved to the Black Brook colony.
26. Known as the Harlow House, occupying the site of the present Mount Belknap House. Was built, about 1830, by a man named Harlow, who commenced to build a blast furnace here for the smelting of iron ore which he expected to obtain on one of the Gilford mountains. The stone stack for the furnace was partly built, standing where the private way now is that leads to the Bay- side Mill. The project was a failure, and the remains of the stone stack was a prominent object for twenty-five years. The house was used as a hotel till about 1866, when it was burned. The present Mount Belknap House is much larger than the Harlow House.
27. House built by Otis M. Moulton about 1830, occupied by John C. Moulton for several years. Afterwards owned by Thomas
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LAKE VILLAGE IN 1844.
Wilder, who sold it to Horace Adams about 1850. Now the resi- dence of Ralph Adams.
28. House built by Isaac Cole in 1827. It stood just north of the residence of Col. H. B. Quinby. It has been moved to Mechanic street nearly opposite its former site, and is now owned by Mrs. Smith.
29. House built by Benjamin J. Cole in 1838, and was his res- idence for more than sixty years. The buildings and grounds have been enlarged and remodeled. Now the residence of Henry B. . Quinby, whose wife is the only surviving heir of Mr. Cole's estate.
30. House at the corner of Union Avenue and Laurel street, built by Isaac Cole about 1830 and sold to Dr. T. M. Sanborn, who resided there till his decease. It came into the possession of E. D. Ward several years ago, and has been enlarged and remodeled by him.
31. House at junction of Laurel and Mechanic streets, was built by Isaac Cole, Jr., who lived there till 1844. It has since been owned by several different persons, the last of whom made additions to the same.
32. House now owned and occupied by John P. Lane, and pre- viously owned for many years by his father, John Lane. Oren Bugbee resided there in 1844, but when and by whom the house was built is unknown. It has not been materially changed.
33. House at the corner of Laurel and Mechanic streets, built by David Sanborn about seventy years ago and was his residence for many years. Mrs. Muzzey and the heirs of Dr. Daniel Elkins now own it.
34. House on Mechanic street, opposite Hillside Cemetery, oc- cupied by Samuel Sanborn. An addition has since been made to it, and it is now occupied by Samuel Rose.
35. House on the corner of Laurel street and Union Avenue, built by Horace Bugbee and was his residence for about forty years, until his decease. Considerable additions have been made to the buildings, and the place is now owned by Charles A. Sleeper.
36. House built by Hiram Gilman, where he lived for about forty years. Charles F. Brown afterwards bought the place, removed the house to opposite the pumping station, and erected a two-story double-tenement house in its place.
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
37. A one-story dwelling, built by Joseph Thyng more than seventy years ago and occupied by him and his family more than half a century. It is now occupied by Dr. J. G. Quimby, and has been slightly remodeled, but not much changed.
38. House built by Samuel C. Gilman about 1840, and he lived there many years. Some thirty years ago it was purchased by Wm. H. Pepper and remodeled throughout. His widow and grand- daughter still reside there.
39. House built by the Baptist society for a parsonage, in the early history of the village, and used for that purpose many years. A few years ago it became the property of George A. Collins, who remodeled and fitted it up for his own residence.
40. House built by Tenney Hibbard about 1840, where he re- sided a few years and then built a brick house a few yards farther south. The house is now occupied by Waldo H. Jones and his mother and has been changed but very little in outward appear- ance.
This completes the list of the forty dwellings on the Gilford side of the river in 1844. More than half of this territory had never been cleared of its original forest, and much of it belonged to non- residents or the estates of persons long since deceased, and was not available for building purposes. Since 1844 these lands have been sold and become the sites of many dwellings and industrial build- ings, increasing many fold the business and population of the vil- lage. One of these unimproved lots, containing abont thirty-five acres, situated in the center of the east side and known as the Tucker lot, was sold at auction in August, 1845, and was bid off by B. J. Cole. The deed is dated August 2, 1845, and was signed by George Y. Sawyer and H. L. Hazelton, administrators.
Not long after this purchase Mr. Cole sold one-half interest in it to John Davis 2d, a former agent of the Lake Company, and they commenced at once to cut off the wood and timber. They leased the Lake Company's saw mill and commenced the lumber business under the firm of Cole & Davis, which was continued about ten years.
Early in the spring of 1846 they commenced clearing the western part of the lot, and Eleazer Young, a surveyor from Meredith, was employed to lay out streets and building lots on that part of it. A
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LAKE VILLAGE IN 1844.
portion of Mechanic, Clinton, Pear, Hill and Willow streets were located, and before the close of the season several dwelling houses had been erected and quite a number of lots sold.
Since that time there have been erected on this lot sixty-four dwelling houses, comprising nearly one hundred separate tenements, furnishing homes for nearly five hundred people-probably more than the population of the whole village in 1844. In addition to these dwellings, the following industries and business interests have been established on that part of the lot sold by Mr. Cole : Machine shops, blacksmith and axle shops with connecting buildings, with the yard, lumber sheds and storehouses now owned and occupied by the Cole Manufacturing Company; the Morgan building, so called ; the Quinby Block, Odd Fellows Opera Block, Wardwell Needle Company, Crane Manufacturing Company, Rublee carriage and blacksmith shops, livery stable on Clinton street, wood, coal and ice business, the old Pear street school house and carriage sheds of the Laconia street department. The assessed valuation of the property on this lot for the year 1904, not including any polls, was $158,000. Previous to 1845 it had not been assessed for over one thousand dollars.
Besides the buildings enumerated in the foregoing, there were the following on the east side of the river : The okl Lyford saw mill, with two upright saws-no other machinery, unless, possibly, a shingle machine, and no addition to original building. A mill for manufacturing cardboard from straw, where the present Bayside hosiery mill stands ; this was burned in the spring of 1845. Small frame building with a brick basement underneath, which is still standing, being the iron foundry of Cole & Co., stove and pattern shop ; a plow shop, now the office of the Cole Manufacturing Co. And scattered around were one or two small shoemakers' shops, a small blacksmith shop, two cooper shops, a storehouse on the shore of Long Bay, the Free Baptist chapel, the school house.
On the west, or Meredith side of the river were a saw mill and a grist mill, a small woolen mill, a carding and fulling mill, a small cotton factory, and a larger mill not yet equipped with machinery- all owned by the Lake Company. This company also owned sev- eral of the thirty dwelling houses on this side of the river, as well as a large part of the other real estate, most of which was covered with forest.
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The saw mill was torn down many years ago. All the other build- ings mentioned, with twenty-six of the thirty original dwellings, were destroyed in the great fire of May 26, 1903. The old Batchelder boarding house, the Pitman and Barron store and three small houses near the north end of Elm street are all that remain of buildings on that side of the river in 1844.
The families of the following persons were resident here in 1844, with perhaps half a dozen others who cannot now be recalled :
Capt. Hugh Blaisdell, a soldier of the war of 1812 ; David Blais- dell, Daniel Davis, John Davis, familiarly known as "Neighbor Da- vis" ; John Davis 2d, a former agent of the Lake Company ; John O. Davis, Mary Ann Doe, William Dockham, Lyman B. Fellows, James Foss, Joseph T. Gilman, Deacon James Gordon, Deacon Jas. Johnson, Stephen Leavitt, Jeremiah Marston, Joseph E. Mudgett, William M. Odell, Andrew Pickering, Dudley Prescott, Lyman B. Pulsifer, Moses Sargent, Joshua Sargent, William T. Sargent, Sher- born Shaw, John Webster, B. Harvey Whittier, Jacob Willey, Geo. W. Young.
Of the heads of all these families living here in 1844, only one survives, Mrs. George W. Young, and she is now one hundred and one years old. Her house was burned in the great conflagration, with all her household goods.
CHAPTER VIII.
LATER CORPORATIONS AND MANUFACTURES.
Formerly, when two or more persons engaged in business, as a rule they simply formed a business partnership. They could operate as a corporation only under a special charter from the legislature. At a comparatively recent date, however, a law was enacted permit- ting any five persons to organize as a corporation without previous legislative sanction. Several Lakeport firms have availed themselves of this privilege, although others have gone to the legislature for their charter.
The Cole Manufacturing Company, of which some account has already been given, was organized as a corporation July 3, 1872. Benjamin J. Cole was chosen treasurer and hell the position until a short time before his death, January 15, 1899, at the ripe old age of S4 years. In 1883 Henry B. Quinby was chosen superintendent, and still fills that position. The company does a large iron and brass founding business, manufacture both iron and wood working machinery, and also forge car axles, at times working both day and night shifts. They give employment to about seventy-five men.
The Cox Needle Company was organized June 4, 1880, with a capital stock of $10,000, divided into shares of $100 each. Joseph C. Moore, Daniel W. Cox (for whom the company was named), Abram O. Arey, Frank M. Rollins and David F. Moore were the incorporators. This company engaged in the manufacture of knit- ting machine needles until July, 1887, when the needle business was discontinued and the company reorganized under the name of the Halifax Mills Company. The new company purchased the hosiery manufacturing business of Thomas Clow & Co. (Thomas Clow and Henry B. Quinby ) and reorganized with Dr. Henry Tucker as super- intendent, who held the position until 1891. In that year the com- pany secured a legislative charter. It gave employment to about three hundred hands and continued in the manufacture of hosiery a number of years, when it shared in the business troubles which over- took Dr. Moore, work was discontinued, and the machinery sold to different parties.
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The Crane Manufacturing Company had its inception in 1870, when John S. Crane and Benjamin F. Peaslee commenced the man- ufacture of knitting machinery under the firm name of Crane & Peaslee. In November, 1878, Mr. Peaslee retired from the firm, and on January 1, 1879, Benjamin F. Drake acquired an interest, and until the organization of the Crane Manufacturing Company the firm name was J. S. Crane & Company. The corporation was organ- ized in 1890 with John S. Crane as president, Mazellah Crane as secretary, and Benjamin F. Drake as treasurer. The company's shop, on Mechanic street, was built in 1889.
The Pepper Manufacturing Company was organized as a corpora- tion in 1890, and was engaged in the manufacture of knitting machinery. The corporation was a development of the business commenced in 1863 by W. H. Pepper & Company ( William H. and his brother John, who died September 2, 1876). In June, 1887, Albert T. L. Davis and George A. Sanders became associated with William H. Pepper in the business. At the organization of the cor- poration Mr. Pepper was chosen president, Mr. Sanders secretary, and Mr. Davis treasurer. The entire plant has lately been pur- chased by the Crane Manufacturing Company.
The Bayside Mills Corporation was organized at the office of Frank Holt & Company, July 26, 1886, and engaged in the manu- facture of hosiery in the mill now occupied by William Clow & Son. Its capital stock was $75,000, in shares of $100 each. The stock- holders were John Lee, Frank Holt, William P. Holt, Arthur E. Reed and Joseph A. Burleigh. They ceased business in 1891.
The American Machine Company was organized October 10, 1888, with a capital or $50,000, in shares of $100 each. The com- pany consisted of Horace H. Wood, David S. Lovejoy, John F. Prescott, Joseph A. Burleigh and B. L. Cass. They did business only a short time, manufacturing and selling machinery, in the annex at the west end of the mill lately occupied by Horace H. Wood & Company.
In 1883 surveys were made and estimates given which resulted in the establishment of the Laconia and Lake Village Water Works, and through the efforts of Woodbury L. Melcher of Laconia and B. F. Drake of Lake Village, a charter was granted September 7, 1883, and amended in 1884. The original capital stock was $60,000,
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LAFER CORPORATIONS AND MANUFACTURES.
subsequently increased to $75,000, and again to $142,000. The incorporators were Samuel C. Clark, John S. Crane, Benjamin F. Drake, Henry B. Quinby and Elijah H. Blaisdell of Lake Village, John C. Moulton, Albert G. Folsom, Perley Putnam, Gardner Cook, Samuel W. Sanders, Ellery A. Hibbard, Charles A. Busiel, James M. Tilton, Woodbury L. Melcher, Charles F. Stone and Edwin C. Lewis of Laconia. The pumping station is upon the shore of Paugus, just out of the business section of the village. The reservoir, on an em- inence to the east, has an elevation of 205 feet, a dimension of 190 by 135 feet across the top, a depth of 21 feet, and a storage capac- ity of two and three-fourths millions gallons. The capacity of the pumps at the station is three million gallons daily, and the water is forced to the reservoir through a fourteen-inch pipe. Up to 1895 the company had laid over twenty-five miles of pipe. Water is sup- plied to over ninety hydrants for fire purposes. Benjamin F. Drake was the first superintendent, and on his resignation Edwin L. Che- ney was in charge until the appointment of the present superintend - ent, Frank P. Webster.
HOSIERY MANUFACTURERS.
Thomas Appleton may fairly be called the father of the hosiery business in Lakeport. He came here in 1857, from Franklin, where he had been engaged in the hosiery business, and began operations in a section of the mill then occupied by Moses Sargent as a yarn mill, Sargent supplying him with yarn. Appleton was enterprising, and his business gradually expanded until it became the business of the village. In 1865 he purchased " the steam mill," so called, on Union Avenue, near the railroad bridge, which prior to this had been used as a lumber mill. He equipped the mill with machinery for the manufacture of cotton hosiery, purchasing his yarn from out of town, wherever he might. The mill was burned January 20, 1870, supposed to be the work of an incendiary. The lone tall chimney towered as a landmark for many years afterwards before being taken down. His son Robert M. engaged in the same line of manufacture for a number of years, but met with business reverses and moved out of town.
In 1865 or '66 Crane, Peaslee & Joyce began making hosiery in
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LAKEPORT, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
the old Pulcifer mill, continuing in business about two years, when they sold out to Robert M. Bailey, who soon after transferred the business to John Pepper. Mr. Pepper subsequently moved into the old "cotton mill," where he continued in business until 1875. Mr. Pepper made many valuable inventions of knitting machinery, which later on were improved upon by the Pepper Manufacturing Co.
Moses Sargent manufactured hosiery from 1861 to 1865, when he removed to Belmont.
In 1870 Sam Hodgson and Richard Appleyard commenced the manufacture of hosiery in a building just west of the Cole Manufac- turing Company's plant, and continued until 1878, when they closed out and Frank Holt commenced manufacture, but occupying only part of the mill. The mill was burned February 12, 1879. At the same time an adjoining building, in which Horace H. Wood was manufacturing shoddy, was destroyed.
Mr. Holt was offered temporary accommodations at Laconia by Frank P. Holt and remained there until the Bayside Mill was built, in 1879 and 1880, when he returned to Lakeport, forming a part- nership with John Lee under the firm name of Frank Holt & Co., and occupying one-half of the new mill until 1891.
The other half of the Bayside Mill was occupied by James F. Min- chin, who in 1881 sold his interest to Brown, Wood & Kingman, who continued in business until 1882, when they moved their ma- chinery to Springfield, Mass.
Henry J. Odell and Daniel I .. Davis were manufacturers of hos- iery in 1879, were burned out at the same time as Holt and Wood, and did not resume business.
Horace H. Wood commenced the hosiery business in the "old cotton mill" soon after being burned out in the shoddy business as heretofore noted. He continued until the great fire in 1903. At the same time he was running the Halifax Mill, where he is still doing business.
Henry Clow began the manufacture of children's hose in 1876, preserving his father's name in the business under the style of Wil- liam Clow & Son. In 1890 the business was removed to Candia for a short time. William Clow & Son are now occupying the Bayside Mill and are doing a large business under the management of Hen- ry B. Clow.
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LATER CORPORATIONS AND MANUFACTURES.
In 1886 Thomas Clow commenced business in the old building of the Wardwell Needle Company, between the railroad track and the Cole Company's yard. Soon after, Henry B. Quinby became associated with him, under the firm name of Quinby, Clow & Com- pany. The Cole Company built the Halifax Mill, into which they moved in January, 1887, occupying some over half of the building. They continued the manufacture of hosiery until January 16, 1888, when the Halifax Mill Company bought them out.
In January, 1887, the Cox Needle Company, having disposed of their needle business, began manufacturing hosiery with ten seamless machines, under the name of the Halifax Mill Company. They enlarged their business rapidly, and in 1891 were chartered as a corporation. The business had passed into the hands of Horace H. Wood prior to the great fire of 1903.
In 1898 Bert S. Wadleigh was knitting hosiery in a building at the west end of the Gold street bridge, but was burned out February 25, 1899, and did not resume business. He is at the present time superintendent for Horace H. Wood & Co.
Persons Bartlett & Son occupied the old Pulcifer mill as a hosiery factory in 1883 and '84 and until the mill was burned, February 16, 1885, after which they went into business at Milford, N. H.
Besides the above, mention may be made of a number who have manufactured hosiery here on a more limited scale, among whom were A. Ross Burpee, a Mr. Bragg, Archie Burke, Joseph Morin, James and Christopher Leavitt, Swain Brothers, and a man by the name of Hall, who manufactured lumbermen's socks.
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