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 6
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In 1857 occurred the famous trip to Portsmouth. Thomas Ham had the supervision of the expedition, and James M. Foss was fore- man. The company numbered some sixty men. The party went by way of Dover, where it was given a reception by the firemen of that city. A couple of packets had been chartered to take the Ni-
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OLD. NIAGARA ENGINE, NO. 1.
agara boys from Dover to Portsmouth. The wind was blowing a gale when they started ; the first boat got ahead very comfortably, but the second was struck by a squall which split the craft open amidships. The men walked back to Dover and took the cars to Portsmouth. The party was accompanied by the Manchester Band and genial Natt Head.
At Portsmouth a royal reception awaited the boys. The Mayor welcomed them ; the local firemen and citizens made a perfect ova- tion. Charles Clement of the Lake Village men, handsome and eloquent, made a speech that the Portsmouth papers said was the best they ever heard. That night there was a ball, and a feast was spread ; beauty and wit lent grace to the occasion.
The following year a complimentary ball and banquet was ten- dered the Portsmouth firemen by the Niagara Company at Lake Village.
All but three of the original company are gone now. These three are Benjamin J. Cole, Joseph S. Thyng and Aaron C. Badger. Al- though no longer really needed for actual service, Niagara is as carefully kept as in other days.
CHAPTER XIV.
HOTELS AND LANDLORDS.
The first hotel-or tavern, as it was then called-was a one-and- a-half story building on Elm street, where now stands the building occupied by George Rollins and 1. Eugene Pickering. Some thirty years ago the ell was removed to Gold street and finished into a ten- ement house ; while the main house, after being swung around side- ways to the street, was enlarged by the addition of a story and finished into the present double-tenement house. This was one of the early-built houses in Lakeport. Warren Adams, a brother of Ralph Adams, was the landlord.
In 1848 William T. Sargent fitted up and furnished the old Har- low residence as a hotel and did a good business for quite a number of years. The house was built about 1830 by a man named Harlow, in a measure for the accommodation of employees in his ill-fated iron mining venture on Gilford Mountain, an account of which is given in another chapter.
After "Uncle Bill Sarge," Sylvester A. Sargent was landlord for some three years.
The house was burned February 18, 1866, and in 1866-'67 Charles P. Stevens built the Mount Belknap House on its site. In 1868 George W. Weeks, acting for a syndicate, bought the house, paying $11,800. Mr. Stevens ran the house about two years, and was followed by William Adams in 1870 ; David B. Story in Decem- ber, 1872 ; Levi B. Brown in 1876; Frank S. Plummer October 1, 1882 ; Plummer & Whiting in 1885 ; A. C. Evans in 1886.
In 1886 Mrs. George R. Cushing made a purchase of the prop- erty and still retains the ownership. Frank N. Stevens took charge April 7, 1887 ; Levi B. Brown, for the second time, in 1888; A. C. Evans, his second time, in 1889 ; Smith & Shannon in 1891-'92 ; Patsey Maloney, January 23, 1893 ; Day & Carey, January 1, 1901 ; Willard N. Whiting, July 1, 1901 ; Noah W. Goss, April 22, 1902 ; Mrs. George R. Cushing, September 8, 1904, who ran the house about three months, and then closed up.
CHAPTER XV.
FIRES.
The first fire in this village, as recorded in Lancaster's History of Gilmanton, was the burning of Abraham Folsom's mills-"both for grain and lumber"-in 1788.
The next fire of any size was the burning of the "paper mill," so called, in the spring of 1845. The writer of these sketches dis- tinetly remembers seeing this fire, which, as it was the first burning building he ever saw, made a lasting impression on his mind. This mill stood on the ground now occupied by the Bayside Mill. The first floor was occupied by George Hoyt for the manufacture of straw-board. He removed his business to Holderness ( now Ash- land). The second story was occupied by Ira Folsom. as a cabinet shop.
The burning of this mill was quite a serious blow to the interests of the little village, and the citizens were brought to realize that the hand buckets with which each house was supposed to be provided were hardly an adequate fire protection. It was not until 1848, however, that the agitation for better fire-fighting machinery took definite form. Sometime in that year a citizens' meeting was called, at which various tax payers pledged themselves each to support and pay a tax levied for the purchase of a fire engine at an expense of not more than six hundred dollars. In 1849 Niagara Engine No. 1 was received, bright and new, from the manufacturers, Hunneman & Co., of Boston. A company was organized with John Blaisdell, Jr., as foreman and Thomas Ham as clerk.
The new machine was first brought into action at the burning of Enoch B. Prescott's wheelright shop, December 24, 1851. The building was situated on the premises now owned by John Lee, on the rise of ground at the north side of Franklin Square. The ma- chine was stationed near the west end of the present Elm street bridge, and forcing water up the hill to the burning building, the flames were quickly subdued and the adjacent buildings saved.
On the morning of January 31, 1857 the railroad shops were
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burned. It was one of the coldest days ever experienced here, the thermometer recording thirty degrees below zero, and the firemen suffered severely, many of them being frostbitten.
February 18, 1866, the hotel, formerly the Harlow house, was burned. It stood on the site of the present Mount Belknap House.
Charles H. Flanders's house, on High street, was burned Decem- ber 28, 1868.
August 24, 1869, John Pepper's mill, near the present site of the Halifax Mill, was burned. It was occupied at the time by Sam Hodgson, dyer, and Robert M. Appleton, hosiery manufacturer.
January 20, 1871, the "steam mill" was burned. It stood near the old freight depot, just above the junction of the Boston & Maine and Lake Shore railroads. The building was built in 1860 by Henry Il. Sleeper and Josiah F. Robie, and they ran it as a steam saw mill about four years. It was then purchased by Thomas Appleton, who added two stories to it and occupied it for a short time as a hosiery mill.
John H. Daniels's residence, on Mechanic street, was burned March 14, 1871.
John H. Dow's building and John F. Prescott's blacksmith shop, on Franklin Square, were both burned March 8, 1872.
The barn of the Belknap boarding house, on Franklin Square, was burned April 20, 1872.
Slaughter house of James H. Plummer, at Black Brook, burned April 9, 1873.
Simeon Whiting's house, near Valley street, burned May 14, 1873.
Inside of Ilenry Blaisdell's store, on Elm street, burned June 3, 1873.
Joseph Pickering's house, on North street, burned April - 1876. Charles E. Dockham's house, at Black Brook, burned April 9, 1876.
Mrs. Charles Rollins's house, on Franklin street, burned April 16, 1876.
Two barns, one of Benjamin H. Whittier, the other of Samuel B. Smith, both on Elm street, burned April 14, 1878. Supposed to be incendiary,
Peaslee HI. Folsom's house, at Black Brook, burned September 2, 1878.
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FIRES.
February 12, 1879, two buildings west of the Cole Manufacturing Co.'s works were burned. One was occupied by Horace II. Wood as a shoddy mill, with G. E. Cook, hosiery manufacturer, and Daniel W. Cox, needle manufacturer, on the second floor. The other building, owned by William H. Pepper, was occupied by himself as a machine shop, and Frank Holt, manufacturer of hosiery.
April 2, 1879, Thomas Carroll's house, on Franklin Square, was burned.
A waste house of the Union Lace Company burned Aug. 23, 1879.
Tenement house on Belvidere street, known as "the long block," burned December 17, 1879.
March 9, 1881, at It o'clock in the evening, the Weeks Block, corner of Union Avenue and Clinton street, was destroyed by fire. The first floor was occupied by the Post Office, James M. Ward, dealer in fancy goods, and Albert D. Pinmmer, grocer. The second floor, offices of Drs. David F. and Joseph C. Moore, and barber shop of George Nixon. Third floor occupied entirely by the Odd Fel- lows, who lost everything but their charter. The Post Office fixtures and all the mail matter were saved and removed to Clark's Block, on Elm street, where the office remained until October 1, 1901, when it was removed to its present location, corner of Union Ave- nue and Clinton street.
A storehouse of the Lake Company burned May 14, 1881.
An attempt to burn the North Church was made July 1, 1881.
The only fire where there was any loss of life was the burning of a house on Fairmount street, at 11.45 p. m., July 4, 1881. The house was owned by widow Mary Blaisdell. The ell was occupied by a colored family named Moodey. Moodey, his wife-to whom he had been married about three months -- and an infant, all escaped ; but Moodey's three children by his first wife-one girl and two boys, aged respectively nine, six and three years-all perished. Their skulls were crushed, which might have been caused by falling tim- bers ; but there were many other circumstances that raised a very strong suspicion of foul play. Public sentiment demanded an in- quest, and one was held in Mount Belknap Hall, on Friday, June 8, with David C. Batchelder as Coroner ; Charles C. Rogers, Solicitor ; Moses R. Elkins, William S. Taylor and Arthur Tucker, Jury. The jury did not consider the evidence presented strong enough to hold
IO
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Moodey and his wife, and they were discharged. [In Mr. Whitti- er's book is preserved a very complete report of the evidence pre- sented, which, however, is not of sufficient historical value to warrant reproduction here .- EDITOR. ]
Henry E. Brawn's tinshop, on Railroad Avenue, burned .Novem- ber 21, 1882.
February 16, 1885 the old Pulcifer mill was burned. It was oc- cupied at the time by l'. Bartlett & Son, hosiery manufacturers.
William Clow & Son's hosiery mill burned December 1, 1892.
E. L. Cram's block and William G. Cram's grain store, on Gold street, burned March 27, 1898.
Boulia, Gorrill & Co.'s sash and blind factory burned December 3, 1898.
From this to the time of the great conflagration there were seve- ral minor fires and several unsuccessful attempts at incendiarism, of which we make no record.
THE GREAT FIRE OF 1903.
On Tuesday, May 26, 1903 Lakeport was swept by one of the most disastrous conflagrations in the history of the state. Between the hours of one and two p. m. the fire alarm was sounded, and al- most immediately there came a second, and then the dreaded third alarm, calling the entire fire department of the city. And never did firemen respond more promptly than on this occasion.
The fire originated in the hosiery mill of Horace Wood & Co .- the old mill built about the year 1827. With everything dry as tinder from a protracted drought, and a wild gale blowing up from the south, it soon became evident that assistance from out of town would be required, and the Engineers telegraphed for help to Dover, Concord, Franklin, and Meredith. The response was prompt, but nothing could stay the onward march of the fire fiend, and the west side was swept clean from Lake Opeeche north to the village limits, there remaining only a scattered fringe of houses upon either side. 108 dwelling houses, two mills, one building material establishment, electric light plant, two blacksmith shops, two churches, with various other buildings, were totally destroyed. There were no cinders left from this fire-only incombustible brick, stone and iron-although the gale carried burning shingles and wood fragments in such pro-
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FIRES.
fusion that at Weirs, four miles distant, precautionary measures were taken, such as wetting down roofs ; and in Sandwich, twenty miles away, quantities of charred wood were picked up.
The scene during the fire was a terrible one, and there were many pathetic scenes. "I have lost all but what I have on my back," was a not infrequent exclamation. Several women, lying in bed with sickness, were carried away on mattresses to places of refuge. Our oldest resident, Mrs. George W. Young-who lacked only four days of being one hundred years old-was carried to safety by her son, John C. Young. Several persons, men and women, were burned about their faces and hands in attempting to save their household goods, which in many instances were consumed after being carried to places of seeming safety. There were instances where parties carrying clothing and bedding through the streets found them in flames in their arms and were forced to drop them by the way.
From the time when the first alarm was given to the time when nearly one-half of the village was destroyed was only two and one- half hours.
CHAPTER XVI.
CASUALTIES-DROWNINGS.
Situated as Lakeport is, partially surrounded by attractive bodies of water, where hundreds find enjoyment, summer and winter, in boating, fishing, bathing, and skating, it is inevitable that there should be an occasional drowning accident. It is not probable that the following is a complete list, but it is all we have been able to find a record or tradition of.
The first drowning of which we have any record was that of Chas. F. Bell, from New York, who was here to direct the building of the steamer " Belknap." On the very day of his arrival here, June 12, 1832, he fell from the dam, in attempting to assist some workmen putting in planks to stay the water. Not being used to this work, the force of the current against the plank threw him into the rapids. It was not till eight or ten days that his body was found.
In 1840 Susan Cole, daughter of Isaac Cole, and Miss Susan Foss (afterwards Mrs. Oakes), while skating across just west of where the railroad bridge now is, broke through the ice, and while Miss Foss was rescued, Miss Cole was drowned.
Laura Sewell, Jane Weeks and Catherine Smith were drowned near Black Brook in 1850. Samuel C. Clark recovered their bodies. When found, all three were standing erect and holding each other by the hand.
George and Charles Bessie, brothers, broke through the ice and were drowned while skating on Paugus, in January, 1852.
Natie Veasey was drowned near the old dam in 1859.
George W. Knights was drowned in Pangus in September, 1862.
Charles Wesley Sanborn was drowned in Opeeche October 29, 1862. His body was not recovered until February 2, 1863.
George B. Lane was drowned in Opeeche August 6, 1867.
George W. Lane, father of the above, was drowned in Winnipe- saukee June 9, 1868, at a point between Diamond Island and the Gilford shore. He was the engineer on the steamer " James Bell," and fell overboard while drawing a bucket of water over the side.
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CASUALTIES.
His body was recovered the next day, the same boat being used as in the recovery of his son's body the year before.
Daniel Smith was drowned in Paugus, near the Quimby ledges, above Big Island, September 12, 1870.
Walter L., son of John Y. Sanborn, 5 years old, was drowned in a covered reservoir on Belvidere street, September 2, 1871.
Ira S. Bryar was drowned in the canal at Laconia November 2, 1872.
Russell Hutchinson, 10 years old, fell from a raft on which he was playing on Opeeche, and was drowned, June 9, 1873.
George and Charles Whitehead, brothers, drowned at west end of Gold street bridge, May 30, 1874.
Charles Dockham drowned in Opeeche March 9, 1881.
Ivan Genie Swain was drowned in Paugus, near the steamboat wharves, July 4, 1882.
George B. Renou, his son Bertie, and Almon Veasey, skating in company near the westerly shore of Opeeche, broke through the ice and were all drowned, on Christmas day, December 25, 1880.
George Laflamme drowned in Opeeche, in the cove behind the Cole Company's foundry, June 25, 1899.
Charles J. F. Black was drowned near Frank Johnson's shop, on Gold street, June 9, 1892.
Edwin D. Wilson was drowned while at play in the water near Gold street, August 6, 1902.
Leroy M. Gould, editor of the Belknap Republican, was drowned near Melvin Village, Thursday, October 9, 1902.
George A. Sanders was drowned at Glendale, December 24 or 25, 1903. He was at his camp on a fishing trip, and his body was found in the water near the edge of the shore ice, from which he had evi- dently slipped or been blown by the wind.
OTHER THAN DROWNINGS.
Leonard Shackford was killed at the lower end of the railroad yard, by a train of cars, in the fall of 1852.
Sarah E. Baxter was burned by the breaking of a fluid lamp, liv- ing two or three days after the accident, and dying March 22, 1858.
In October, 1863, Alonzo Taylor was stabbed by James Filgate, in an affray in the store on Fore street now owned by Ara L. Sar- gent, and died a few hours afterward.
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Gilman Rowe died from the effects of a blow received from a saw bench while at work in Cole's shops, in February, 1851.
George Veasey accidentally shot himself, near Sheridan street, May, 1864.
Rev. Joseph B. Damon fell from a building at Tilton, dying two or three days after, March 3, 1865.
John Langdon Swain was killed on the railroad bridge near Mes- ser crossing, December 25, 1866.
Daniel B. Rogers was killed June 3, 1868, while uncoupling cars. He was standing on the bridge across the private way just below the depot and leading to the Cole shops, when the train started before the uncoupling was effected. Rogers was terribly crushed, and, as soon as the wheels released him, fell through the unplanked bridge to the ground below, a distance of about ten feet. He lived less than two hours.
August 28, 1870, a four-year-old son of George S. Perkins was killed at the railroad crossing below this village. He attempted to cross in front of a moving freight train, when a foot got wedged be- tween the rail and the planking, and the entire train passed over him. Both legs were severed, and he died within an hour.
Amanda, widow of William Odell, was killed at the fateful Messer crossing, September 19, 1870. In a fit of mental abstraction, appa- rently, she stepped in front of an approaching down train, and was struck by the engine and hurled a considerable distance, killing her instantly.
Charles T. Homan was run over by cars at the Gold street rail- road crossing, February 21, 1871, living only six hours.
January 18, 1875 James Rowen was injured on the railroad snow plough, and died January 25.
September 29, 1871, Andrew Beard, while oiling shafting in the railroad shops, had his clothing caught by a set-screw and was car- ried over the shafting, sustaining injuries of lifelong duration.
Jeremiah Homan, employed in the Pepper hosiery mill, had his right arm torn off near the elbow by a broken shaft and pulley, August 26, 1873.
August -, 1874, Alvah Dockham, Albert Lassey and Edwin A. Philbrick, while driving over the Gold street crossing in a wagon, were struck by a locomotive. The horse was killed, and Philbrick
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was run over by the train, necessitating the amputation of one leg. The other two were not seriously injured.
October 23, 1877, at Lisbon, Clarence Adams, an engineer, in attempting to climb upon his moving engine, slipped and fell, the wheels passing over and necessitating the amputation of the greater part of one foot.
June 5, 1880, Charles W. Vance, a brakeman, was thrown from the top of a car in the Concord yard, receiving shocking injuries, from which he died at his home in Lake Village four days later.
George H. Stone, freight conductor, was killed in a railroad acci- dent at Haverhill, N. H., April 26, 1881.
Fred Londerra was killed by cars at Messer crossing, May 21, 1883.
Leon Brown was killed by a team, in Railroad Sq., June 27, 1884.
Mis. Alanson Young was killed by cars at the Messer crossing in September, 1886.
Smith E. Dockham was run over and killed by the shifting engine in railroad yard, February 18, 1889.
John 1 .. Quimby, while coupling cars at Lawrence, Mass., Sept. 22, 1892, was so severely injured that he died the following day.
Edgar A. Holbrook, a railroad employee, was run over by an en- gine at Jefferson, December 10, 1892, and died from his injuries.
Wilbur Piper was thrown from a wagon, near junction of Union Avenue and Messer street, October 27, 1893, dying the next day.
Charles i .. Patten, watchman at the railroad yard, was run over by an engine a short distance north of the Elm street crossing, while on duty, December 22, 1893.
Samuel Lougee, of Ashland, aged 16 years, was killed in jumping from a railroad train just north of the Gold street crossing, March 7,1895.
Albert Mudgett, while on duty as a railroad conductor, was struck by a train of cars on the sidetrack at Ashland, July 9, 1887, and died from his injuries July 25.
Joseph Dockham fell from an ice-slip, at Black Brook, January 27, 1897, and broke his neck.
Frank Stevens, a railroad engineer, and George S. Merrill, his fireman, were both killed in an accident about one mile south of Plymouth, August 8, 1895.
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Bert Mason was run over by cars at the lower end of the railroad yard, September 24, 1898, causing the amputation of one leg.
Martin Murry was killed in the railroad yard, while coupling cars, December 27, 1901.
Fred Hall, a locomotive engineer, was killed at Tilton, December 11, 1903, in attempting to board a moving train.
Philip Rheaum was struck by a passing locomotive at the Elm street crossing, January 25, 1904, and died February 6.
SUICIDES.
Samuel Bartlett cut his throat in the woods near his house, Sep- tember 13, 1849.
Mrs. Samuel Gilman, it is supposed, drowned herself in Opeeche about the year 1850. Attempts to find her body were without suc- cess.
December 11, 1851, James Johnson cut his throat in his house on Belvidere street. The other members of the family were attend- ing the funeral of Charles, son of Rev. Smith Fairfield, a Free Will Baptist minister here in 1846-'47.
Mrs. Catherine Sanborn hung herself with a skein of yarn from a door in house on Gold street, Sunday morning, November 21, 1875.
Ralph McMurphy hung himself at Black Brook, March 4, 1876.
William H. Sanborn hung himself, July 26, 1876, in woods on the outskirts of the village.
Emma Lizzart drowned herself in the river, between the two bridges, January 12, 1884.
Millie Lizzart, sister of the above, drowned herself at the same place April 24, 1886.
Susan Rowe hung herself, May 10, 1890, at her home on Pros- pect street.
Amos Veasey hung himself at the residence of his son, Wilbur E. Veasey, on North street, June 27: 1890.
John B. Hendley cut his throat and wrists, in the rear of his barn, on Mechanic street, July 14, 1890.
Joseph M. Lougee hung himself at his residence on Gold street, December 6, 1891.
Stillman A. Arnold hung himself, August 23, 1892, in the grove near his residence on Union Avenue.
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CASUALTIES.
John Dame hung himself in the lobby at Laconia, June 17, 1894. Abby Odell hung herself with a skein of yarn placed over a door, March 4, 1895.
Thomas Morris, suicidal drowning, July 17, 1895 ; body found, July 20, near railroad bridge.
Frank Sidney Arnold shot himself at his residence, 509 Union Avenue, May 4, 1899.
CHAPTER XVII.
BUSINESS BLOCKS AND BUILDINGS.
The history of some of the more prominent business buildings of the village may be worth preserving in this record.
The Morgan Block, on Union Avenue, was built in 1849 by Lang- don G. Morgan. In 1868 it was raised up and an additional story put under it by its then owners-James H. Plummer and George W. Sanders. In the hall on the top floor the Lake Village Times was first printed by Ben : F. Stanton and M. A. Haynes ; and later Drake Post, G. A. R., was instituted there and occupied the hall for a considerable time as a post room. The ground floor was used for a time as the railroad waiting room.
The machine and wood shop of the Cole Manufacturing Company was built in 1852, since which time it has been enlarged to a con- siderable extent. After the railroad shops were burned, in 1857, the railroad company occupied the second story as a machine shop until their own shops were built in 1858. Since that time this room has been used by different parties, most of the time as a shop for iron work. In this building the Crane Manufacturing Co. did their work, occupying the place until they built their present shops on Mechanic street, in 1889.
Sleeper and Ames Block, corner of Elm street and Railroad Ave., was built in the fall of 1852 by Daniel Webster and John Aldrich, and they were in the grocery trade there for some time.
The Mount Belknap House was built in 1866-'67 by Charles P. Stevens.
The Piper Block, on Fore street, was built in 1868-'69 by S. Au- gustine Piper. June 5, 1869, while the carpenters were at work on this building, some of the floor supports gave way and the whole upper story fell in, carrying with it the third floor and five workmen. No one was much hurt.
Clark's Block was built in 1870 by Samuel C. Clark.
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