USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Acworth > History of Acworth, with the proceedings of the centennial anniversary, genealogical records, and register of farms > Part 11
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The following remarks were from Mr. Jonathan Robinson of Keene :
Mr. President :- I am not here for the purpose of making a speech, nei- ther do I expect to add anything new to what has already been said. But as this is the native town of my "better half," perhaps there will be no im- propriety in relating what I knew of the town fifty years ago. What oc- curred here a century ago can only be gathered from history. Fifty years ago this present year I was here most of the time during the year, and part of the time I was a pupil of your then settled minister, Rev. Phinehas Cooke. A very competent and excellent teacher he was, and I have often regretted that I never had an opportunity of thanking him cordially for the
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interest he manifested in my education, and especially in teaching me the outlines of Astronomy. Fifty years next winter, I kept a school in town, in what was then called the Deacon Finlay district, and a very pleasant time I had ; and while here, from the information I obtained and personal observa- tion, I believed it to be one of the most industrious, enterprising and thriving towns in the old county of Cheshire, and for aught I know it is so still. Perhaps there was no town in the county where the wealth was so equally divided as in Aeworth, and it had the reputation of being one of the best farming towns in the county. It may appear incredible, but I believe there has been more dressed hogs, in one season, sent to market from the three or four stores you then had in this village, than would now furnish every family in town with a sufficiency of pork-besides leaving enough for your minister. I was here the winter after your present meeting-house was built, and was much interested and amused to hear your merchants discuss the subject of paying for the meeting-house ; but after canvassing the town and investiga- ting the matter, they finally came to the conclusion, that it was no great affair for Acworth after all, for the town that year raised flax and flax-seed enough to pay for the meeting-house, and besides give every man and woman in town a new linen shirt, and the boys a pair of tow pants. In my school- keeping here, as the saying was, I " boarded round," and had a very good opportunity of seeing something of the industry of the inhabitants, and I believe that some of my boys, even in the mornings before school time, dressed a number of pounds of flax, but this I cannot vouch for, for the reason that school-masters were allowed to lie in bed till they were called to breakfast. But one thing I do know, and I presume many present know by experience, that as soon as the supper table was out of the way, the big spinning-wheels were brought out, as many wheels as there were girls in the family, to spin tow, and the mother with her little wheel would spin flax, and it was buzz- whiz and whiz-buzz, until bed time. The boys would tend the fire and draw cider, for Aeworth then made some six or seven hundred barrels of eider yearly, and you know it would not do to let it all go to vinegar. Fifty years ago next March I deposited my first vote here in Acworth for State and County officers, and I have never failed to vote in this State at every annual election up to the present time, and I think I have always voted right.
Of the many hundreds of letters received by the " Committee of Invitation " we can insert only a few.
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT SMITH OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. HANOVER, N. H., September 15, 1868.
Gentlemen,-It is a matter of regret to me, that circumstances connected with the opening of our college year, will forbid my attending your approach- ing Centennial. I cannot leave my pressing engagements here.
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I the more regret this, as I have not only had relatives resident with you for many years, but your town has had worthy representatives in our college and it has had many warm-hearted friends among your citizens.
May the same blessing of the Most High, which for so long a period has crowned your hills and gladdened your valleys, abide there till the end of time. Yours very truly, ASA D. SMITHI.
LETTER FROM HON. GEO. W. NESMITH.
FRANKLIN, N. H., September 14, 1868.
Gentlemen,-Be assured it would give me great pleasure to accept your kind invitation to attend your Centennial Anniversary on the 16th inst., but other engagements will prevent my attendance. You have my hearty approval of the objects and design of the celebration. Our citizens in our several towns should oftener meet together, and forgetting the cares and little animosities of daily life, improve themselves by recalling to remem- brance the virtues and worthy example of their fathers, who have gone to their rest.
I have a lively recollection of the lives and character of many of your citizens, and can bear honest and faithful testimony to their intrinsic worth. The more immediate object of your celebration will be to revive the memo- ries and trace the history of your early settlers, and such as have gone down to the grave, having acted their part well here. It is to such men you are indebted for your good standing as a town. We hear it said of you that none of your native inhabitants were ever committed to the State's prison for crime. Few towns can show so pure a record, and I trust a long time shall elapse, before your good fame and reputation, so honorably acquired, shall be tarnished by the criminal conduct of any of your children.
In my youthful days I was accustomed to meet many of your citizens. While dwelling in my father's house in my native town of Antrim, we often met those who were claimed by me as relatives or " kith and kin." We re- member and embrace in the number the Duncans, the McClures, the Dickeys, the Wallaces and Wilsons. Some of these people were old when I was young. We remember Col. John Duncan as one of the early settlers of the town. He was a man of superior ability, possessing an extensive knowledge of men and things, and a great fund of anecdotes. He represented Ac- worth and Lempster in the convention which met in Exeter, when our State constitution was adopted in 1792. He was the father of many children, some of whom no doubt will attend your anniversary. His oldest son, Adam Duncan, of Barnet, Vt., was a man of good talents and acquirements. When the spotted fever first appeared in the town of Antrim in February, 1812, he happened to visit my father's house, and to his sagacity and experi- ence, some of us were much indebted, because the physicians had no expe- rience with the disease, while Duncan during the previous season, had seen its ravages, and learned its treatment in his own town. You will remem-
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ber my other numerous relatives as possessing great physical strength, in- dustrious habits, general intelligence, some wit, and much good humor, in- clined to hospitality and ready and willing to do their share to promote good order, and a good social feeling in the respective societies in which they moved.
The Acworth people were remarkable for their industrious habits. We can never forget the sleigh loads of flax and cloth, among other productions, which they formerly carried to market. The business of raising, and the home manufacture of flax, was formerly an extensive business with your peo- ple, but we regret to say that it has now become one of the lost arts in this State. It was the source of income to many of your inhabitants, and con- tinued to be so as late as 1825. Many of your farms, besides producing enough of other materials ' for man and beast, raised annually one thou- sand pounds of flax. The home or domestic manufacture of a portion of this crop, was deemed indispensable to the support and success of the fe- male department of the family. Another, a surplus quantity of a good quality, supplied the foreign market. Now the hum of the little spinning- wheel, as it stood upon the ancient hearth-stone, plied by our good old mothers and grandmothers, is no longer heard. These days of domestic in- dustry and true enjoyment, contributing to good health, and sound moral training, have been exchanged, to a large extent, for homes in factories, far from the parental eye, and in ill-ventilated and ill-kept boarding houses. As a people, we may be richer, but not better or happier.
In conclusion I have only to say, select from the good habits and the vir- tues of your ancestry, everything worthy of imitation, and let this genera- tion and their descendants have for their guiding motto, Excelsior.
With much respect, I subscribe myself your well wisher and obedient servant, GEORGE W. NESMITII.
FROM DR. E. S. WRIGHT.
FREDONIA, N. Y., August 13, 1868.
Dear Sir,-As the historian of the town of Acworth, you have asked me to give you a sketch of some of the old men, who have passed away, and who were representative men of the town during my pastorate. I now recall with special interest a few of these, whom I will mention. Among the first, who died soon after my settlement in Acworth, was Capt. James Warner, a brother of Maj. Nathaniel Warner. He was a man of noble physical person, dignified deportment, kind and genial in heart, of strong sense and greatly respected and loved by all. At his funeral the church was crowded. Daniel Robinson, Esq., was another of the old men who was marked for strict integ- rity of character, and purity of life. He had passed through many reverses of fortune when I knew him, but still preserved his early habits of industry and enterprise. He was a great lover of order. An amusing habit was once related to me, illustrating this trait of his character. On retiring to
Edwin S. Hright
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bed at night, he was accustomed to lay his clothes in such order as he would wish to put them on in the morning. At the bottom the boots and stockings, next the pantaloons, vest and coat, and the whole surmounted with the hat, with which he began dressing. Thus no time was lost in dressing, and due order was also observed in the method. Deacon William McClure was a man of great firmness of character, and ardent in his devotion to the interests of the town, both civil and re- ligious, and ready for every good work. Mr. Lemuel Lincoln, father of Deacon Lincoln, Dr. Carleton, David Montgomery, Esq., Dr. Brooks, and some others I remember with special interest, as excellent men and valuable helpers in perpetuating the good influences which have made Acworth so worthy of a noble record in the history of the towns of New Hampshire.
The Scotch-Irish element predominated in the still earlier fathers, who were the leading men at the time of the Rev. Phinchas Cooke's ministry. Mr. Cooke related to me a very interesting incident in regard to " old Capt. Dickey," as he was then called, showing the tenacity, both of personal opin- ion and of personal friendship, among the early fathers. Mr. Cooke preached a close sermon on temperance in the beginning of the temperance reform. Capt. Dickey was very much offended with it, and with Mr. Cooke. But on Monday morning, he drove into Mr. Cooke's yard with a very large load of hay, saying to his pastor, in his broad Scotch accent, as he stepped out of the door, "I have brought ye a load of hay, for that mad sermon you preached. Ye was mad when ye wrote it. Ye was mad when ye preached it, and ye're mad now." I hope you may be prospered in your efforts to make the approaching centennial anniversary one of interest and profit.
Yours respectfully, E. S. WRIGHT.
LETTER FROM MAJOR-GENERAL CRAM.
DETROIT, September 9, 1868.
Gentlemen,-It is with no ordinary degree of pleasure that I acknowledge the receipt of your invitation, to be present at the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town of my birth, and I had, as I hoped and believed, made all arrangements necessary to enable me to be present on the occasion. The very recent death of my brother Eliphalet Cram of Racine, Wis., with domestic duties, pertaining to his family and estate, which by his will, making me executor, have devolved upon me, and my official duties besides, will render it impossible for me to participate in the celebration. I thank you, and through you the citizens of Acworth, for the honor conferred by your invitation, and regret exceedingly my inability to be in Acworth with you in person, as I will be in heart, on the 16th inst. I have the honor to be your friend, and very respectfully, your obedient servant, T. JEFFERSON CRAM,
Maj. Gen. U. S. Corps Engineers.
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LETTER FROM HON. NEDOM L. ANGIER OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA. ATLANTA, Ga., June 8.
Dear Sirs,-Your esteemed favor of the 9th ult. I have deferred answer- ing in hopes that my affairs might assume such a shape, as to allow me the pleasure of accepting your kind invitation, and mingling with my old Acworth friends in the joys of a reunion of her hundreds of sons and daughters, at home and scattered throughout this happy land. But I see no chance to re- lieve myself of the heavy responsibilities that press upon me, and demand my presence here. I know of no earthly assemblage that could afford me so much pleasure, and it is with a heavy heart I am forced to deny myself the great boon. Be assured, though absent in person, that my thoughts, prayers, and sympathies will be with you, and the thousands who congregate at that happy gathering. Many will be there whose path verges close on the other world. Give my kind regards to all my old friends, and accept the as- surance of my highest esteem and respect. NEDOM L. ANGIER.
LETTER FROM JOHN WILSON OF FLINT, MICII.
Dear Sirs,-Your kind invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration in Acworth was duly received, and I hereby acknowledge the kindness and courtesy of my friends. I regret that I am unable to attend the anniversary of the settlement of the town. The reminiscences and scenes of bygone years will come up in review, and the cordial greeting of old friends will enhance the pleasures of the occasion. But I must forego this great pleasure, on account of age and infirmiity. I think I was highly favored in having my birth and education in dear old Acworth. "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood." From my father's farm on "Derry Hill" the scenery was grand and beautiful in every direction ; on the west from Ascutney far to the south, the beautiful Green Mountain range was in full view, and we had a grand panoramic view of the valley of the Connecticut River, dotted by its villages, churches and public buildings.
There were many events in my early life quite interesting, and in their distinctness outlive the lapse of years. The great eclipse of the sun at noon- day in June, 1806, I remember distinctly. Napoleon Bonaparte was then in the full tide of his mighty career, and I used to eagerly watch for the Post to read the bulletins of the grand army of Italy and mark its wonderful career after crossing the Alps. The cold season of 1816 was remarkable for frost or snow during every month in the year. The memory of our dear pastor, Rev. Phinehas Cooke, will ever be gratefully cherished. The great revival of 1817 in the schools and through the town was wonderful, and many souls were converted. It seems but yesterday when thirty-six of our young men and women stood up in the broad aisle of the old church in Acworth and pro- fessed their love for Christ. I hope and trust you will have an interesting and pleasant time on the 16th. Respectfully yours, JOHN WILSON.
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LETTER FROM MISS LURINDA CUMMINGS OF ASHBURNIIAM, MASS.
Thanks for this invitation,-this token of respect, For oft we find the aged are treated with neglect ; 'Tis a joy to be remembered in this world of change and care, And we estimate our friendships by the time that they will wear.
I am writing for my Mother,-for seventy years ago She was a little infant in Acworth town we know,
But now her form is bending beneath the weight of years, And childhood through the mists of time like fairy land appears.
They called her Milly Currier, and she lived upon the hill, And this invitation tells me she is not forgotten still ; She remembers all her play-mates, and strings their names like pearls Upon the thread of memory-those happy boys and girls !
But when to womanhood she grew, my father claimed his bride, And nearly half a century they've traveled side by side ; Four mischief-loving children once filled their home with glee, But the eldest and the youngest have sailed o'er death's silent sca.
My brother's grave is far away where Texas' wild flowers bloom- And God's bright stars their vigils keep, over his lonely tomb ; We gave him to his country-and no stain his glory dims, He tried to sooth the aching hearts and bind the shattered limbs.
I'm writing for my Mother-and her heart is sad and sore, For the son who left his home to die upon that distant shore ; Though we miss him and are lonely where'er our footsteps stray, We would not call him back to earth from o'er the starry way.
Alas ! I hardly dare to think how old my parents seem, Their threescore years and ten have passed so like a fleeting dream, While many dear companions whose parting hands they've pressed Have exchanged their weary earth-march for the grave's unbroken rest.
The life-steed, hastening to its goal with such a rapid pace, Reminds us that this world is not our sure abiding place ; But the silvery tents are gleaming on the distant Eden shore, Where the lonely saddened spirit finds shelter evermore !
I'm writing for my Mother-and she wishes me to say Her thoughts will oft be with you on the bright centennial day ; Wishing prosperity may rest upon her native town, While peace and plenty evermore those hills and valleys crown.
Friends of her youth and childhood, if any such remain, How gladly would she meet them in childhood's home again, To renew the olden friendship, that time cannot destroy And eternity will brighten from earth's dimness and alloy.
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I had dear friends in Acworth some twenty years ago, Who now may seem like strangers, for time has changed us so ; But those old familiar faces I should dearly love to see,
And I cannot think my school-mates have quite forgotten me !
But some have sunk to early graves when life seemed bright and fair ; And were laid beneath the daisies with a blessing and a prayer ; Thank God for Immortality ! though precious friends have died, There will be a sweet reunion in our home beyond the tide. Yours truly, LURINDA CUMMINGS.
LETTER FROM REV. GEORGE COOKE OF WINCHESTER, MASS. BOSTON, July 14, '68.
Gentlemen,-Your favor communicating the invitation to the Centennial Anniversary is received. It greatly revives my first recollections of the beau- tiful hills of Acworth-the first square, unpainted meeting-house, through the pew-railings of which it was one of the first developments of my genius to thrust my flaxen head-the successor of that primitive building with its tall white steeple, its stars around the gallery for the boys to count during sermon time, and its wondrous lightning rod which tempted me to climb be- yond the proper limits of a boy's ambition-the singing seats, with the " pitch pipe," and its subsequent refinement to instruments of string and wind-the choir, with its momentous questions of leadership and conventional proprie- ties, which almost visibly shook those eternal hills. The old red school- house ! Oh ! that wonderful seminary ! with a Brigadier-General imported from Lempster, (ten feet high, as he then seemed to me,) to govern the school-the " high seats," so infinitely elevated in our juvenile view ; where one of your number, gentlemen of the committee, sat and "did his sums" with vastly more dignity than Senators or Presidents are capable of putting on now-a-days-with the row of stout young men on one side of the middle aisle, and an equal number, by count, of pretty girls on the other, skillfully keeping one eye on the reading lesson, while the other danced with gleam- ing fun and frolic across the aisle, the brow, nose, ears and other features, maintaining meanwhile the utmost deference to the Brigadier, who stood be- fore the fire-place with his big ruler under his arm to keep order.
I hope that old red school-house survives bodily, as it does in my memory, at least that its ancient landmarks may be found.
My memory busies itself in tracing the roads as they were fifty years ago, spreading out from the "middle of the town " to the four points of the compass-down steep and up high hills, leading away to the Grouts, the Campbells, the Duncans, the Dickeys, the Silsbys, the McClures, the Moores, the Hemphills, the Sladers, the Warners, Howards, Greggs, Griers, Lincolns, Nourses, Wilsons, Thayers, Studleys, and Keyes, while Robinsons, Gilmores, Wallaces, Davidsons, Parkers, Montgomerys and others were clustered in the " middle of the town."
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" Park's Hollow," "Derry Hill," Cold River, the trout brooks, the broad green pastures, the beech, and the hemlock woods, the sugar orchards, the potash kettles, the berry-fields, the rabbits, partridges, squirrels, the boys and girls, the singing-schools, and the spelling-schools, the haying time and husking time, the cider-mills, the whole barrels of apple-sauce, the butter and the cheese, (specimens of which were sure to find their way to the minister's house) but above all the people of fifty years ago, sturdy and healthy in body and in mind. Old Scotch brains, keen as a razor in separating the true and the false, the precious and the vile-powerful in " arguing " and staunch against sophistry, as their rocky hills themselves-honest in thought, sober in industry, true and noble in friendship, sympathetic in trouble, generous and brave in action.
Acworth, as it was then, is good to the memory-the whole picture is fresh, pure and wholesome. Away from most of the influences which cor- rupt and degenerate society, yet favored less by the inaccessibility of its mountainous location, than by the impregnablo virtues which the fathers taught and their sons and daughters cherished.
I must shape my plans to be with you on the anniversary, if Providence will permit. Very many reasons beside the one so naturally influential with me, induce me to come.
My honored and beloved father, so largely identified with the history of Acworth, reposes in your cemetery, and in the affections of his children most lovingly, as I doubt not he does in the memory of very many of his flock, still alive in Acworth. Very respectfully and cordially yours,
GEORGE COOKE.
A tree in commemoration of the Centennial Anniversary las been planted upon the Common by Mr. Granville Gilmore.
PART II.
History of Acworth.
CHAPTER I.
CIVIL
HISTORY.
THE town of Acworth is situated east of Charlestown, its north-western corner being only about three miles from the Con- necticut River. Its boundaries are nearly east, west, north and south lines. Its shape is almost square, being six miles and a half in length, north and south, by five miles and three-quarters in width. Perry's Mountain is situated at its north-western cor- ner, Coffin Hill near its north-eastern, and Gates Hill near its south-eastern. Cold Pond covers its north-eastern boundary, and Cold River, its outlet, flows along the eastern and southern sides of the town, only that it is compelled at its head by the spurs of Coffin Hill to make a detour into Lempster, and is prevented by Gates Hill and ridges connected with it, from approaching the southern boundary of the town until it reaches its south-western corner.
The church at the center of the town is 1397 feet above the level of the sea, and there are dwelling-houses on sites still higher than this. The views around Acworth are unsurpassed, in some respects, by any in the State. To the spectator on Derry Hill, a beautiful panorama of the Green Mountains extending from Northern Vermont into Massachusetts, is spread out, Ascutney being on the right hand and Monadnoc on the left. From the brow of the hill, beyond school-house No. 4, a view of Ascutney from its base to its top is obtained. From Coffin Hill, the highest point in town, the White Mountains, on a clear day, can be seen. From Grout and Derry Hills the arable portions of the town are seen by the spectator, showing its beautiful farms, for Acworth claims to be one of the best hill towns in the State for farming.
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Daniel grout.
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MRS. ELIZABETH ADAMS GROUT.
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GEOLOGY-BERYLS AND OTHER MINERALS.
The underlying rock is principally mica slate, in which are large veins of granite. The outcropping ledges, and loose boulders on the surface, are not so numerous as in most other hill towns of New Hampshire, though the farmers think in some fields they are plenty enough. There is a boulder on the Symonds farm, measuring thirty feet in circumference, which is so poised as to seem to be easily moved, and to which geologists have given the name of the " Rocking Boulder."
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