USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Acworth > History of Acworth, with the proceedings of the centennial anniversary, genealogical records, and register of farms > Part 3
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 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
The people of this town very early saw the necessity of provid- ing schools for the young. Next to religion, they felt the worth of good learning. Training their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," they also trained them for lives of use- fulness. If any people could be justified in neglecting to make provision for public schools, it would seem that such justification might have been theirs. They were few in numbers. They were subject to the deprivations incident to the subjugation of the hard and uneven land of the place they had chosen for their abode.' The colonies were engaged in a bloody war with the mother coun- try ; and even this remote hamlet, so insignificant in population and so destitute of means, was called upon to bear its share of the burdens. But our fathers regarded it as no excuse for neg- lecting their duty to their children. Taxed to the utmost for the support of the war, they were ready to tax themselves more, if possible, for securing to their children the privileges of school education ; for they knew that the future interests of their town would depend very much, under God, upon the intelligence of the people.
An article in the warrant for a special town-meeting, in 1774, was " to consult about having a school this winter." The record does not show what was done with the article. No other action seems to have been taken on the subject, for several years. No mention is made of a school-tax, or of school-moneys. But they were not without a school ; for we find a special town-meeting called " at the school-house in said town," in November, 1778; and the meeting was held as warned. A school-house had been built, near the south-west corner of the Common, before that date. How it was built, what kind of a structure it was, and how the school was maintained, I do not know. The teachers may have been paid by private tuition-fees ; or they may have received for their compensation a pittance of the money raised " to defray town charges."
By the terms of an addendum to the charter and the names of the grantees, one seventieth part of the township was reserved
.
28
THE CENTENNIAL.
" for the benefit of a school in said town forever." In 1783, it was voted to sell the school lands, and place the proceeds in the treasury, the interest to be accounted for yearly, and appropri- ated to the support of schools. In 1790, the town was classed into nine school districts. The next year, it was voted that the districts build their own school-houses; and the town chose a " headsman " in each district, to receive the allotted money and see it properly laid out. District collectors were first chosen in 1794. A quarter of a century elapsed before the inhabitants, amid the poverty and embarrassment of the times, were able to secure the benefits of summer and winter schools, in all parts of the town; but these citations tell us with what persistent endeavors they sought to achieve this end. Though often disappointed, they never despaired. Many here to-day have reason to be grateful 'for the advantages provided in the summer and winter schools of the town, of a former period, for securing the elements of their education. Though the privileges were neither many nor great, yet they were richly prized, and diligently improved. In the homely structures with which the town was dotted, many acquired a degree of solid culture, often missed by the children of the pres- ent day, in more favored localities. But few of the blessings of my early life are remembered with more gratitude, than those I enjoyed in the old red school-house behind the pound, under the instruction of such teachers as Corinna Slader, Mrs. Newman, Lydia Hunton, Gen. William Carey, John Pearson, Jesse Mills and Milton Parker. They would not probably rank very high, when compared with teachers of the present day. They were the best the times afforded ; and one pupil, at least, remembers them with gratitude, for the desire they awakened within him for a more extended course than the curriculum of the Acworth schools afforded.
Our fathers were patriotic. The records of their devotion to the liberties of their country are written in the story of what they sacrificed for them, in the midst of the poverty of the times. The troubles which preceded the War of Independence, had already far advanced when the hardy pioneers from Connecticut began to clear these hills. The English had obtained Canada by the Peace of Paris, in 1763, and the French and Indian war had ceased. The Stamp Act was passed, in 1765. "The Stamp Act Con- gress " met in New York the same year. The affray between the citizens of Boston and the British soldiers, occurred two years
29
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
after the settlement of the town. The tea was destroyed in Bos- ton Harbor, in 1773. The next year the port of Boston was closed, and a Congress of the Colonies met in Philadelphia. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, which made accommoda- tion with England hopeless, were fought in 1775.
It would seem that so small a community, hidden among these hills, would have been overlooked, and thus escaped the call for munitions and men. But they were too deeply interested in the issues, to pass unnoticed. Small as they were, they felt that they had a country to defend, and they would not shrink from bearing their part of the burdens of the conflict. They sought, rather than evaded, opportunities for participating in the strife which was to secure the independence of their native land.
At a special meeting at which the boundaries of the Common were designated, they voted it, among other uses, " for a training- field." A meeting appears to have been held, of which no record exists, when Capt. Henry Silsby and Lieut. Ephraim Keyes, had been chosen delegates " to consult with sundry other towns what method was best to be taken to secure our just rights and privi- leges." The consultation had taken place at the house of Capt. John Bellows, in Walpole, in 1774. Benjamin Giles, Esq., of Newport, who, three years before, had issued the warrant for the first town-meeting in Acworth, had presided at the meeting in Walpole. Arrangements had been made for another meeting at the same place, to be composed of delegates, legally chosen from every town in the county. To this second "congress," Acworth sent Capt. Henry Silsby and Samuel Harper, and the meeting advised the towns to be provided with arms and ammunition, for defence against any encroachments that might be made. I judge that the encroachments they feared were those of the King and Parliament for enforcing the unjust system of taxation, against which the colonists protested, and not, as it might at first seem, that an attack was anticipated upon any portion of the county. Cheshire county was a part of the country. A blow inflicted on any part of the land, would be felt as one aimed at the liberties of the people, in this remote region. In accordance with this advice, the town voted to provide every man with arms and ammunition, and to meet speedily for inspection. At the annual meeting, the following spring, it was voted to procure "a town stock of anımu- nition," and at an adjourned meeting, "to raise nine pounds, law- ful money, to pay for that already bought, and to purchase more."
30
THE CENTENNIAL.
Measures were taken " to proportion the number of men who shall go on any sudden emergency to fight our enemies," and the faith of the town was pledged to pay those who should be ordered out.
On the 3d of July, 1776, in consequence of word received from Col. Bellows, a special meeting was warned to meet at eight o'clock the next morning, at which it was voted "to send to head- quarters at Exeter, for half a barrel of powder, one hundred and fifty pounds of lead, and three hundred flints ; and every one of the reformados and soldiers shall have one pound of powder, three pounds of lead and six flints, and to pay for the same; the re- mainder to be turned into the town stock." Fourteen guns were also to be obtained, and Lieut. John Rogers was dispatched on the errand. Thus, on the very day, when Congress, assembled in Independence Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, solemnly declared "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states," the people of Acworth, assembled in town-meeting, were preparing, so far as their agency could effect it, to make that declaration good.
From this time, till peace was established, the records of every year evince their unflinching devotion to the cause of independ- ence. They chose committees of safety. They kept a stock of the munitions of war on hand. They maintained their militia or- ganization, and had their days of inspection and drill. They met the requisitions of the Colonial authorities, for men and supplies. Their most prominent citizens served various lengths of time as volunteers-men like Capt. Henry Silsby, Lieut. Ephraim Keyes, Dea. Thomas Putnam, John Duncan, and Dean Carlton. And when a system of government was to be formed for the State, they watched with jealous care the measures that were proposed, re- jecting and approving plans that were submitted to their votes, like men who knew their rights, and dared defend them.
I have not the means of learning the number of men from this town, who served in the war. No entire list has fallen into my hands. But in the ancient records for 1777, I find the names of those for whom credit was claimed, to that date. Thirty-seven men had then been in the service, various lengths of time, from nine days to one year and eight months. The war had then but just begun ; and the records show that provision was promptly made to fill the quotas as they were called for. The only clue I have found to the names of the ancient worthies, who, subsequent to that date, were ready to take their lives in their hands and lay
31
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
them down on the altar of national independence, is the list of those who received government pensions. But, as previous to 1836, only a few were the recipients of this token of a nation's gratitude, many had received their discharge from life's conflicts, and their names had been entered upon the roster of the eternal world. It may be that many of those heroes must remain un- known, till their self-sacrificing deeds shall be read in the light of the world to come. I regret that Acworth's Revolutionary roll of honor is so imperfect.
The town contributed its share of the burdens of the second war with Great Britain. But little is found upon the records, that relates to the struggle. At the annual meeting, March, 1815, it was voted to make up the pay of the soldiers, called out in the autumn of the year before, to fifteen dollars a month, and that of the commissioned officers in proportion. I am told that, when in 1814, a call was made for men to go to the defence of Portsmouth, the " East Company," under the command of one of Acworth's most respected citizens, Capt. Gawin Gilmore, volun- teered in a body, and a draft was required to determine, not who should go, but who should stay at home! Two of those soldiers of the war of 1812, I am happy to see present to-day-our re- spected and honored fellow-townsmen, Capt. David Blanchard and Dea. Thomas Ball.
One soldier from Acworth distinguished himself in the war with Mexico ; Capt. John M. Barnard, whose voice you will be glad to hear, in the speaking at the table, this afternoon.
The patriotism which thus animated the breasts of the fathers was not wanting in those of the sons, when in 1861, traitorous hands were laid upon the general government, by those who had long been its petted favorites. Many of your young men, sharing in the enthusiasm of "the great uprising," enlisted under the ban- ners of their country, and freely gave themselves to the cause of loyalty and freedom. The calls of the government for men were cheerfully met. The quotas were filled ; and the town in its cor- porate capacity, voted generous bounties to those who left their homes, and braved the dangers of that murderous conflict. Hap- pily, we have the names of the soldiers from the town, who served in the war of the Rebellion. Written upon the tablets of your hearts, you can never forget them. Tears have not yet ceased to flow for those who fell in battle, and died from the exposures of life in the camp. But time with you is passing away. Another
.
32
THE CENTENNIAL.
generation will search as earnestly for the names of the patriots of 1863 and 1865, as we for those of 1776 and 1778. Let them not perish through your neglect. Trust them not to the uncer- tain rumors of tradition. Let not even the most carefully written records suffice, for the solicitude with which you seek to preserve them. But upon a shaft, hewn from a quarry of your native granite, engrave their names in characters that no lapse of_centu- ries can efface. In years to come, around such a monument of the patriotism of their fathers, your children and your children's children will meet, rehearse the story of their deeds of valor, and swear, that the free institutions for which they braved the terrors of the battle-field, shall be forever preserved !
Our fathers were faithful in little things, as well as in greater ones. They watched the town expenditures with scrupulous fidelity, so that there could be no misappropriation of the public funds. The men who transacted the town's business, and handled the people's money, were too conscientious to think of growing rich at the public expense. Had they been ever so much disposed, they could not have done it, for the town's "Counter," elected an- nually for that purpose, rigidly scrutinized the receipts and expen- ditures of the town officers. It was the day of little things. Money was scarce and the people poor. The small taxes of the day bore harder upon the people, than the larger ones we are called to pay, even since the burdens of the late war fell upon us.
Looking over the lists for 1793, I find that only in the highway tax, which was to be paid in labor, was a sum equal to one pound assessed against any man. The highest town-tax, that year, was paid by Jabez Alexander. It was only eight shillings and three pence, while a majority paid less than one shilling. The whole town-tax was only eight pounds, six shillings and eight-pence. The minister-tax was sixty-five pounds, eight shillings, three and a half pence. County tax, fourteen pounds, six shillings and one penny. Meeting-house tax, twenty pounds, nine shillings and one penny. In all, about one hundred pounds, money tax, for the year, or not far from five hundred dollars in federal money. The sum is small, compared with the assessments of our day, but it was no trifling matter with the fathers. Considering the poverty of those times and the wealth of the present, together with the difference in standards of value then and now, it was a heavier burden than our recent troubles have imposed upon the present generation. When money is so scarce as to compel us to pay our
-
33
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
taxes in what we raise from the soil, we may, perhaps, be allowed to grumble for some other reason than for political effect. In 1791, it was voted that the ten pounds raised to pay town charges might be paid in rye at three shillings and sixpence, and in other grains or flax, at their current values. Rye and flax were legal tender here, seventy-five years ago.
Among the troubles of the times we recall, the people of Ac- worth and vicinity at one time did not know in what State they lived, or to what authorities they owed allegiance. New York laid claim to Vermont. The people living east of the Green Mountains were hostile to the claim ; and at one time a project was on foot to organize a State, to be composed of towns on both sides of the Connecticut River, and to be called New Connecticut. The government of New Hampshire resisted the movement, and set up a claim of jurisdiction over all that part of eastern Vermont, . embraced in what was originally called "the New Hampshire Grants ;" while Massachusetts found a pretext for extending its authority in the same direction. A party arose who argued that though the towns included in the New Hampshire Grants lying east of the Connecticut River had formerly recognized the author- ity of New Hampshire, yet, since by the original grant the State was circumscribed by a line running sixty miles from the coast, and by casting off the British yoke the people were left "in a state of nature," therefore they had the right to form such politi- cal connections as a majority should elect. Hence, in 1778, six- teen of these towns sought to be represented in the Assembly of Vermont. In December of that year, a convention of dele- gates from several towns on both sides of the river met in Cor- nish, and made proposals for the settlement of the difficulties, either by an agreement with New Hampshire as to the dividing line, or by a submission of the dispute to Congress or some other mutually chosen umpire. Should neither of these proposals be accepted, if an agreement could be effected with New Hamp- shire respecting a form of government, they would consent that the whole of the territory of "the Grants," on both sides of the river, should come under its jurisdiction. If such agreement could not be made, they resolved "to trust in Providence and defend themselves."
These controversies, though now involved in somewhat of ob- scurity, at one time seriously threatened the public peace. A Vermont constable attempted to arrest a debtor on the cast side
5
34
THE CENTENNIAL.
of the river. The owner of the house where the debtor was found, resisted. The householder, with one in his company, was imprisoned in the Charlestown jail. A New Hampshire sheriff, attempting to release them, was imprisoned by a Vermont sheriff. The militia of New Hampshire was called out to liberate him ; and the governor of Vermont threatened to oppose force to force. The Vermont sheriff, with others, went as a committee from the governor of Vermont to the governor of New Hampshire, to agree on measures to prevent hostilities. He was arrested at Exeter, and thrown into jail, as a hostage for the New Hampshire sheriff. A proclamation from the governor called upon the revolted towns to return to their allegiance, within forty days. The militia was ordered to be in readiness to march against the revolters. Civil war was only avoided by a letter from Gen. Washington to Gov. Chittenden of Vermont, advising a relinquishment of the jurisdic- tion claimed east of the river, and intimating that a non-compli- ance would be construed into an act of hostility to the United States, and that coercion would become necessary. It was the first time the word was ever used in the history of the country. Washington believed in "coercion."
Acworth was one of the revolted towns. Henry Silsby and John Duncan were chosen delegates to a convention held in Charlestown, "to consult upon and unite in such measures as should be most conducive to effect a union of the territory " of the New Hampshire Grants. In March, 1781, the people voted to come under the jurisdiction of Vermont, and chose John Dun- can representative to the Assembly. During the year, six special town-meetings were notified "in the name of the State of Ver- mont ;" and Acworth was legally recognized as belonging to the County of Washington.
I have introduced this piece of history, to show the difficulties and perplexities of the times, and also the difference then and now, in the value of money and the services of public men. For four- teen days' attendance at the convention, John Duncan was voted " nine hundred and eighty dollars paper money, or the value thereof in silver money, the rate of exchange between the two currencies being seventy-two to one;" also four shillings and seven pence for expenses. His compensation for services, travel- ing fees and expenses amounted to a dollar a day, a sum which would now only suffice for the purchase of a dinner at a public house. The difference of the times is vividly seen in the differ-
35
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS.
enec between this and what a member of Congress, or of the Legislature, now receives, by way of salary, or per diem, mileage and incidentals. Small as it seems, doubtless, many of Mr. Dun- can's fellow-townsmen would gladly have taken his place, consid- ering him fortunate to get even that.
We go back to a period a century and a half earlier, and find a better illustration of the difference between the present and former times. In the introduction to that quaint book, recently re-pub- lished, entitled " Wonder-working Providence of Zion's Saviour in New England," we read that the town of Woburn voted to pay its representatives six pence a day besides their diet! This was the rich emolument of a representative to the General Court of Massachusetts, in the year of Grace, 1645 ! And the same his- tory tells us, that, on account of the difficulty in obtaining silver to pay the representatives' board, corn was sometimes sent in its stead.
It is amusing to read the record of sums paid annually by the town for the care of the first meeting-house. Six shillings were voted the first year, for the service, to Daniel Grout, Jr. After- wards it was put up at auction and bid off at sums varying from five shillings to two dollars and a quarter. Lazell Silsby did the work one year for five shillings. John Bailey bid it off once for one dollar and eighty-three cents. I believe he underlet it; but think of his riding two miles, "over the hills and through the woods," to open and shut the house and keep it fit for service, on Sundays and for week-day lectures, summer and winter, during the year !
It is with deep interest we recall the peculiarities of the men who acted their part in the early history of the town, as they float down to us on the records of memory and the breath of tradition. We try to catch their lineaments, and to see the expression of their faces. They were a plain people, simple in their manners, diligent in labor, and economical in their expenditures. The old farm-houses were not distinguished either for the grace of their proportions, or the beauty and costliness of their decorations. The furniture was neither abundant, nor remarkably ornamental. The daily fare was homely, but sufficient for the needs of a healthy generation. They were not given to compliments, and did not think much of useless ceremony. The neighbor who knocked at the door was told to " come in." If at meal-time, a seat was ready for him at the frugal board. He was bidden to help himself.
·
36
THE CENTENNIAL.
Often he found neither cloth nor plates, but must cut his mealy potatoes upon the clean white table. Like the others, he would dip his pieces in the gravy of a common dish, from which he would, with his fork, fish out the unctuous pork, that had been cut into mouthfuls of the proper size, by the careful mother of a numerous family. Brown bread and fresh butter followed the " meat victuals ;" after which a good-sized " riz " doughnut pre- ceded a generous piece of pie, well sweetened with molasses. A huge mug of cider was then passed round ; and no company of grandees ever rose from a banquet, with more evident satisfaction than they indicated, by the smacking of their lips. They were excellent neighbors, and ever ready for neighborly deeds; and though tenacious of their rights, and a little apt to quarrel about any real or fancied infringement of them, they were ready, the next day, to make up their difficulties, over a steaming mug of toddy.
We touch here upon one of their greatest frailties. They were lovers of 'alcoholic liquors, and "mighty to drink strong drink." Ardent spirits were used on all occasions-in haying and reaping, chopping and burning, sheep-washing and sheep- shearing, and at births, marriages and burials. On public days, and at raisings, huskings and clearing-bees, they often drank deeply ; and as a consequence, sometimes they were quite merry, and at others very quarrelsome. Many strange stories were told in my younger days, by the older men, of the doings at such times. The practical jokes they played upon one another, seem hardly possible to be credited now. Certainly they would not now be tolerated.
The inconsistency of those who like our fathers were addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, is shown by the action of a town-meeting, held December 23, 1784. Eighteen pounds were voted "to pay for rum procured at the framing and raising of the meeting-house ;" and each person who had advanced money for that purpose, was ordered to be paid out of the sum raised. Be- cause of their poverty, they had been twenty years without a place of worship. The materials were mostly contributed, in lieu of money so hard to be raised : but now that the timber was on the ground and the work begun, they could afford to purchase and drink one hundred dollars' worth of rum, in preparing and setting up the frame ! We are sometimes told that, after all the temper- ance effort of forty years, no real progress has been made. This
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.