USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Barnstead > History of Barnstead [N.H.] from its first settlement in 1727 to 1872 > Part 12
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
1872
"The shake was heard and attended by a most terrible noise, somewhat like thunder, the houses trembled some- thing as if they were falling, divers chimneys were cracked -some had their tops broken off.
"When the shake was beginning some persons observed a flash of light at their windows, and one or two saw streams of light. The sea was observed to roar in an unusual manner. The earth broke open near the south bounds of the town (as it did in other divers places) and cast up a very fine and blue sand. It is hard to express the consternation that fell on both man and beast at the time of the great shock. The brute creation were roaring about the fields as in the greatest distress and making noises-much surprised-and some of them as if in great terror."
Another writer describes this earthquake of 1727 thus :
"Oct 30 .- At 10 o'clock at night. The earthquake shook both ye land and ye water, the islands and the seas at that degree that several doors were shook off ye latch. In our village (Nantucket) ye hearth stones grated ye one against the other, and that Carr the boat-builder run out of his house, got into ye boat for fear ye island would sink."
It is generally understood that earthquakes are the result of explosions within the earth, and that they proceed from the pent-up melted materials within it, which sometimes upheave and ventilate, creating excavations or cracks in its outer crust. 'In some localities they are felt much more sensibly than in this latitude, proving at times destructive to life and property, even to the shaking down of a whole city or ingulfing it in its ruins.
E
189
ITS CLIMATE.
1872
CLIMATE.
At all seasons in this latitude the weather is variable ; so that a constant change of clothing is necessary at almost all times in order to insure good health.
The husbandman, though generally well compensated for his industry, has much with which to contend. The extreme droughts of June and July sometimes trouble him in this valley as well as fatal frosts, which sometimes in- vade his domain in the early autumn, and to a considerable extent lay waste his fields of vegetation. The season of planting is from the tenth of May to the first of June, and sometimes the copious rains of spring extend into this period and greatly retard the work and diminish his pros- pects of a fruitful harvest.
The year 1769 was a cold season. It very much dis- couraged the settlers. Frosts were seen in every month of the year. But little hay was raised and generally there was but little vegetation. Corn, the principal cereal, was nearly all killed in its vigor, and the hopes of the husband- man were made faint.
In 1770, the year next after the cold summer, winter came in intensely cold, and so remained with very deep snows for forty days in succession.
In 1806 on the 16th of June at 10 o'clock, A. M., a cold chill visited New England, caused by a total eclipse of the sun ; the only one it can have during the present century. The darkness that then covered the face of the earth was impressive, "that day became night," stars made their appearance in the heavens, domestic fowls perched themselves upon their roosts, the conscious cattle forsook
190
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
the pastures in quest of home, and all nature appeared to clothe itself in a serene solemnity.
January 19, 1810, was what has been termed the cold Friday. Previously there had been a succession of cold days, the snow being deep and in drifts. On this day the wind was bleak, blowing strong from the northwest, creating a cold too intense for man to endure with ordinary clothing.
1815 .- The winter of this year was memorable for its deep snows. In some parts of New England it fell in the woods to the depth of eight feet. It held on late, and on the 19th of May snow fell to the depth of eight inches and the atmosphere at the time was quite cold.
1816 .- During this year frosts now and then were found in the valley of the Suncook all summer. There was a snow storm in June. This year in its cold and dearth was very much the same as 1769. There was no corn and but little hay, so that in winter the cattle died and the inhabitants were covered deep in dearth and dis- appointments. The price of corn then was two dollars per bushel, hay thirty dollars per ton, and every other needful thing was held in about the same proportion.
The cheapest food was sought. A pint of beans with six quarts of water well boiled, was called "bean por- ridge." This was one of the best dishes of that day. Those who could afford it, however, sometimes added to it a small piece of beef, for in many instances their cattle had to be killed to prevent starvation. This year many a family went without bread for weeks in succession. In some parts of Vermont on June 7, 1816, it began to snow and continued until the 9th, when it froze all day. At sunset icicles were three feet in length. On September 9, following, water froze half an inch thick.
191
THE WEATHER.
1872
1819 .- Very different was the winter of this year. It was without snow, there was plenty of rain and many mild days. Farmers plowed and sowed their fields in February and March.
In 1826 provisions were again scarce and prices ranged high. On Dec. 30, the mercury ranged 25° below zero.
January 30, 1830, proved to be the coldest day in New England since the cold Friday of 1810.
The year 1832 was productive of much good sleighing.
The extremes of heat and cold for a series of years were as follows :
BELOW ZERO.
ABOVE ZERO.
FIRST FROST.
1821, January 25, 26°
July 20, 92'
September 29,
1822, January 24, 20
July 6, 92
September 18,
1823, January 7,14 July 11, 93
September 22,
1824, February 5, 25
June 30, 92
September 20,
1825, December 13, 18
July 12, 95
September 26.
Number and depth of snows from 1831 to 1839 inclu- sively :
NO.
4, 3, 1835, 68, 11, FT. IN.
NO.
FT.
IN.
1831, 53, 6,
1836,
9, 0,
4,
1832, 54, 6,
1837,
71, 8,
0,
1833, 53, 9, 11,
1838,
60, 4,
5,
1234,
51, 10, 9,
1839, 57,
5,
9.
4,
1843,
6,
0.
It is believed the coldest day in New England within the memory of man was Saturday, January 24, 1857. The day next before it had been even colder than the "cold Friday" of 1810, but this Saturday for its degree of inten- sity surpassed them both. At Dover, N. H., the mercury at sunrise stood 31° below zero, at Lowell, Mass., 25° be- low, at Tyngsboro', Mass., 31° below, at Bangor, Maine, 44° below, at White River Junction, and Woodstock, Vt., 43° below, at Calais, Me., 39º below, and at Montpelier,
192
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
Vt., the mercury fell to 50° below and congealed. But the weather moderated during the day.
The hottest day in New England is supposed to have been Wednesday, July 15, 1868. At Lowell, Mass., the mercury rose to 104° in the shade and remained nearly as high during the day.
SANITARY INFLUENCES.
"Health, brightest visitant of Heaven, With thee-oh let me rest. In thy allotted years of nature given, Be thou my constant guest."
The Suncook River from its source in the Gunstock Mountain range on the west side of Winnipesaugee Lake to its terminus in the Merrimac, is some more than fifty miles in length. It runs at the rate of three miles per hour ; so that in less than twenty-four hours its waters are changed and a new supply is constantly approaching. In its onward course it passes through Gilford, Gilmanton, Lower Gilmanton, Barnstead, Pittsfield, Epsom and Pem- broke, after receiving the contents of the various ponds, and all the springs from the highlands, it moves on and operates as a complete drainage to the counties of Belknap and Merrimac.
In its approach to Barnstead from the northwest enter- ing the thirty-six square miles of its territory, it meanders onward forming in it two beautiful ponds of water, cover- ing a thousand of its acres, making a narrow inlet between them ; then leaving the ponds it takes a circuitous sweep around through the centre of the vale, thence onward to the great river Merrimac and to the sea.
The flow of the stream is quite uniform, its banks being gravelly, and free from stagnant pools ; no impurities are
193
SANITARY INFLUENCES.
1872
left upon the landscape to engender disease or to load the atmosphere with unpleasant effluvia. The soil along its banks is for the most part a gravelly loam, laden in some places with loose granite boulders which the half frozen aqueous currents from the north at some day had dropped there.
The valley of the Suncook in the north part of the town was formerly covered with dense forests of oak, and the more southern parts were shaded with pines of mammoth dimensions. Its timbers in times past have been of great use in the furnishing of masts and in the building of ships. Aside from these, the original growth in many places was made up of beach, birch, maple, spruce and hemlock. But the valley of the Suncook has long since been shorn of its rich groves. The woodman's axe is no longer heard there. Yet the plow and the sickle at this day encourage the farmer with their constant returns ; his heart is made glad by the bleatings of his flocks as well as by the voice of the meandering, beautiful Suncook.
Health and long-life are common to Barnstead. Its first settlers cultivated the spirit of toil, endurance, and contentment, to which may be attributed the general longevity that attended them. Up to the year 1830 the rate of mortality here was far below the common average. In 1819 and 1820, however there were a few cases of spot- ted fever, of which two brothers by the name of Hall died. These young men on the day before they fell sick, on coming from the barn to the house, said they discovered a strange odor in the atmosphere.
Consumption carries off generally at least one third part of the inhabitants of our towns and cities, but in this town such disease is much less frequent.
25
194
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
In 1853 the population of Barnstead was 1870 ; and at that time there were then living in it seventy-seven per- sons whose ages averaged 84 years.
SEPTEMBER GALE.
Sept. 23, 1815, Barnstead was visited with the greatest gale in the midst of rain and storm, ever known there. Men and houses were injured, sheds were unroofed, fences blown down, and in many places the tall pines were laid level to the earth. The old primeval forest, some of which to that time had remained, which had stood the storms of centuries, and had been the resting places of the summer bird in the far by-gone years, were at once laid prostrate with up-turned roots. Hundreds of acres of valuable lum- ber along the valley of the Suncook fell in this gale. In many places it had to be burned and wasted in order to rid the soil of its incumbrance.
At that time there was but little call for boards, clap- boards or shingles in the market-for this reason they were of but little profit, except for home use. The best of clear boards here at that time brought about $4 per M, at Dover or Durham $8, and clear rived shingle only about $1.75. Hence this gale brought much damage to the lum- bermen. It appeared in its greatest severity along the central part of New Hampshire, doing much damage all the way, as it swept onward from south to north.
195
ITS LONG LIFE.
1872
LONGEVITY.
-
In the year 1853 the following (76) persons were then living in Barnstead, all of whom, as appears, were 75 years of age and upwards :
Samuel York, 82
Samuel Hill, 77 -
Charles Hodgdon, 89
Mrs. S. Hill, 75
Moses Hodgdon, 76
Ebenezer Muncy, 81
Mrs. M. Hodgdon, 80
Mrs. E. Muncy, 75
Josiah Pendergast, 83
Stephen Huzzy, 75
Solomon Pendergast, 77
Mrs. S. Huzzy, 75
Mrs. S. Pendergast, 76
Miss Sally Pendergast, 89
John Nutter, 75 Thomas Snell, 77 Nathaniel Adams, 82 Joseph P. Nutter, 76 John Tebbetts, 82
Isaac Garland, 80
Mrs. I. Garland, 79
John Colebath, 87
Jonathan Keniston, 77
Samuel Caswell, 90
Mrs. S. Caswell, 88 Mrs. T. Wilson, 82
Mrs. J. Keniston, 75 Levi Clark, 79 Mrs. L. Clark, 78
Mrs. Eunice Straw, 77 Mrs. Hitty Drew, 80
Jeremiah Clark, 81
Mrs. J. Clark, 80
Mrs. Deborah Rollins, 84
Jacob Willey, 86
Mrs. Lydia Shackford, 83
Mrs. Oliver Davis, 90
Mrs. J. Willey, 80 Moses Bickford, 89 Jeremiah Davis, 90 Jacob Canney, 89
Mrs. Betsey Littlefield, 87 Mrs. Sally Drew, 84 Mrs. Betsey Jacobs, 75
Jethro Nutter, 90 Isaac Willey, 78 John Pitman, 88
Mrs. Lovey Bunker, 76 Mrs. Nancy Bickford, 78
Mrs. Dorothy Edgerly, 86
Moses Chesley, 79
Mrs. M. Chesley, 77
John Peavey, 79
Samuel Bunker, 80 Mrs. S. Bunker, 79 Simeon Lougee, 76
1
196
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
Jonah Pitman, 76
Mrs. Betsey Newall, 89
Mrs. J. Pitman, 75
Mrs. Patty Drew, 94
John Sanborn, 78
Mrs. Hannah Berry, 76
Miss Ann Davis, 83
Mrs. Esther Durgin, 89
Miss Jane Muncy, 76
Mrs. Nancy Place, 82
Miss Sally Nutter, 76
Mrs. Susan Babb, 77
Miss Elsey Pitman, 75
Mrs. Dorothy Nutter, 87
Mrs. Mary Hodgdon, 76
Mrs. Mary Pickering, 87
Mrs. Temperence Jewett, 82
Mrs. Elizabeth Roberts, 86
Mrs. Abigail Ayers, 77
Mrs. Susan Durgin, 89
Mrs. Joseph Bunker died in 1817, aged 107 years, and Samuel Caswell died in 1865, aged 107 years.
Of this number forty were over fourscore years, five were over ninety, forty-six were females, twenty-seven were widows, three were maiden ladies, and sixteen had husbands.
Of the males thirty-seven were married, and one a bachelor. Five of them averaged 102 years ; the eldest was 107, the youngest 99. It is believed no town in New England for health and longevity sustains a better record.
CASUALTIES.
1790 .- A murder is surmised, a stranger is missing, his horse feeds by the way-side near John Drew's barn, but the rider is lost, and never found.
1808 .- Benjamin Brown, from Collins' boat, upset in the Suncook, and was drowned. 1
197
CASUALTIES.
1872
1812-The house and barn of Wm. Lord in a cold night is consumed by fire.
1813 .- Samuel Rand's house takes fire and is consumed.
1814 .- Nov. 28, a great earthquake happens.
1815 .- The bones of a supposed murdered man are found near Centre Barnstead.
1815 .- The great "September gale" unroofs our dwell- ing houses and destroys the pine forest.
1818 .- Mrs. P. Young, while on horseback, fell from the saddle and was killed by the fall.
1820 .- Mrs. J. Clark, residing in the east of the town, was killed by lightning.
1824 .- A child of Timothy Bunker was drowned in a pool of water.
1826 .- Mrs. J. Bunker committed suicide in her own house.
1828 .- Joseph Peavey, the only son of John, was killed at his father's grist mill. The revolving mill-stone split in two pieces, was thrown upon him, killing him instantly.
1829 .- Isaac E. Goodwin hanged himself in Nutter's woods. Eight months elapsed before the body was found. The joints in this time had extended, increasing its length nearly a foot and a half. He is said to have been insane.
1832 .- John Sanborn, the son of Frank, from Gilman- ton, leaving his team here, jumped into a well and was drowned.
1834 .- Capt. George Chesley fell under the wheels of a heavy ox-cart and was killed instantly.
1834 .- A man by the name of Davis drowned himself in the Suncook, near the Parade.
198
1872
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1840 .- The house, barn, and out-buildings of Rev. Enos George, together with the house, barn, and shop of John Kaime, were consumed by fire, at mid-day. The fire took from a flash of lightning.
1842 .- George Stevens drowned himself in the Sun- cook.
1845 .- A son of the late Timothy Bunker fell into a wheel-pit at Manchester, and was killed.
1850 .- The old Robinson Tavern house, owned by S. D. Nutter, with all its stables and sheds, was consumed by fire.
BONES.
About the year 1812, while the farmers were at work on the highway extending its width, they plowed up a skeleton. A man had obviously been buried there not long previously by a murderer, who had sought conceal- ment in that thicket by the wayside.
This event caused much excitement, the bones were not re-buried, but were taken to the porch of the Parade Church, and being deposited under its stairs, remained there for identification for many months. They served in the mean time as a common bugbear to the people of the neighborhood, impressing them with tragical adventures and bloody deeds ; and for a long time the bludgeon of the murderer, the dying groan, and the spirit of the dead man still seemed in sight, hovering over these tragic bones.
In the course of a year or two this skeleton was ob- tained by a lady from abroad whose husband had disap- peared mysteriously at about the time of the supposed murder, and who had never returned. Many years will elapse e'er the bones beneath the stair-way will cease to be remembered.
199
ASTRONOMICAL.
1872
COMETS.
-
Comets are ascertained to be " large opaque bodies moving around the sun in various directions and in very eccentric orbits." They are wonderful in their motion and appearance, coming and going ; some returning but once in 75, some in 100, and some in 150 years, there being no particular uniformity as to their times of return- ing. Formerly they were regarded by the superstitious as being the harbingers of pestilence, war or famine, filling the timid mind with fearful forebodings for the safety of the state, the throne, or the nation. But in our day they are viewed differently. In the time of Nero one was visi- ble at Rome, appearing in the heavens as large as the sun itself. It was said also by the Astronomer Hevelius, that a comet appeared in 1652, which in size was not less than the moon, though its light was pale and dim. There are some hundreds of them. Their orbits though more ellip- tical than those of the planets, can be calculated with some degree of certainty. The tail of the comet sometimes ex- tends an immense distance across the heavens, but does not thus continue for many days. Its length, however, ap- pears longer or shorter, according to the location from which it is viewed.
The comet of 1664 was visible three months, and cre- ated many superstitious apprehensions among our New England settlers. Although the coming of the comets, as the world grows older, brings less of surprise, yet they always are, and probably always will be looked at with
200
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
wonder, each of itself, as it approaches, affording to the world a subject of curious speculation.
The comet of 1843 was seen in the day time by the editor of this work, at Limerick Village, Maine. The fol- lowing is copied from his note book of that date :
"Feb. 28, 1843 .- The great comet makes its appear- ance east of the sun at 11 o'clock, A. M. It is seen by the naked eye and its train is very conspicuous. In the evening it is seen from 7 to 9 o'clock, its tail extending from the west (as it followed the sun down), towards the southeast, a distance of nearly 70°, the nucleus or body of the comet not being seen, having gone down. This trail extending back, each succeeding evening as above described, is seen up to April 5, 1843. The motion of this comet in passing around the sun was from west to east."
Noah Webster says : "When the Comet is westward of the sun and rises or sets before it, the light appears in the morning like a train, beginning at the body of the Comet, and extending westward and diverging in proportion to its extent. Thus the comet of 1769, (which he saw), when it rose in the morning presented a luminous train that ex- tended nearly from the horizon to the meridian."
The comet of November, 1680, first seen in Boston, exhibited a long trail and continued visible until the 24th of January, 1681. The record which the colonists then made of it runs as follows :
"Since it is that these things are not sent for nothing, though man cannot say particularly for what; they are thought by most people to be fore-runners of evil coming upon the world, though some think otherwise."
201
ORNITHOLOGICAL.
1872
BIRDS.
" Vernal songsters all in chorus, Warbling through the matin hour."
Perhaps there is no place where these almost domestic and beautifully plumaged choristers can be found in great- er profusion than along the verdant banks of the Suncook, and around the wooded recesses of the ponds of Barnstead.
BLUE BIRD.
The blue bird coming about the middle of March is the harbinger of Spring. The robin follows soon, and then in flocks they come, until the groves are made joyfully vocal with the melody of their music. How oft have we waited there, how oft have we listened, entranced by their ten thousand warblings, chanting their lovely notes as if upon a double quiver scale, in solo, in duett, and in chorus, they had been trained of angels !
ROBIN.
At morn the robin red-breast is early awake ; he is con- stantly a favorite, seeking our shade-trees and orchards ; is always prone to feast on our bounty, never failing as if in a returned favor to make us his melodious, friendly calls, awakening us to the inspirations of the day, and leading us by a noble example, to the varied duties incidental to a happy and cheerful life.
WHIP-POOR-WILL.
At eve we are often moved almost to sadness, at the lovely, lonely, never-tiring song, of the "Whip-poor-will."
26
1872
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
202
Sometimes he takes his stand on the barn or shed, or on a low tree, repeating over and over again for three or four hours together his plaintive note. At early morn he re- treats to the forest, and through the day remains unseen. But soon as the evening shades appear he skims low, darts out and after obtaining his repast, again takes his stand, and the landscape is again made vocal by the same old song.
We are not aware that any harm has ever come to "poor Will," notwithstanding he has apparently been so often threatened to be whipped.
BLACK MARTIN ..
The black martin is an annual visitant, coming always (as it is said) on the 11th of April. His domestic habits bring him about our dwelling-houses, and his song is brief but pleasant. His note is clear and may be heard from early morn until evening. He disappears early in the fall and is seen no more here until the precise day which ap- pears to have been appointed for his return.
Most of the birds come in May, build their nests, raise their young, and leave, some of them, as early as the last of July.
THE ORIOLE.
The Oriole with his choice musical notes stays much longer. Who of us have not been delighted with his song, while he stands waiving in his high colored beautiful plumage, on the top of a lofty elm? All at once he turns and darts into his beautiful wrought hanging nest, at the end of a high-up limb, and our entertainment for the time
203
ORNITHOLOGICAL.
1872
being is thus abruptly brought to an end. Such enchant- ments are indeed productive of interest and tend to fill the veins of our hearts with joy and health, and at the same time elevating our conceptions of the wisdom and sublimity of Nature's God. The notes used by birds as well as the voices of animals are doubtless the same now as in the earliest days. Birds use language according to the condi- tion which attends them. Their mating call, their moan of danger, and their shriek of alarm cannot easily be mis- understood. These little "tenants of the air," as they bring to us yearly profitable lessons and entertainments, are entitled to our most tender regards and protection ; yet, how often are their rights invaded by heedless hands. The following story is in point and may prove profitable :
" A matron wood-thrush built a nest, And then sat down to take her rest, While sitting there upon her eggs, A snare was tethered to her legs. Ye heartless dogs that did the deed, Shall rue it for your cruel greed, To cheat and rob the feathered tribe Of eggs and all they have beside. To them, as favorites from above,
To rove the air, to live and love, To cheer all nature with a song, Both life and liberty belong. This bird by no means injured you, With her or hers you'd nought to do. Cursed be the heart, the hand, the twine, That steals away that right divine ! Such right most dear your mother knows; When to her ear this story goes, She'll make you dance upon your pegs, With the ' ile of birch ' about the legs.
In caution kind a lesson take, Oh, never prove yourself a rake, But live to learn and try to make The world more happy for your sake !"
[Caverly's Poems, Vol. 1, p. 77.]
204
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1872
MILITARY.
Immediately after the war of the Revolution, a military pride pervaded most of the towns in New Hampshire. As Barnstead increased in population, its soldiers became numerous and seemed to have been inspired of a laudable ambition in the performance of military duty. Yet there was a law with a penalty requiring all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 years to be called out, and to perform that service, well armed and equipped, the train- ings being at least three days in a year. Barnstead, Gilmanton, and Gilford constituted the 10th New Hamp- shire Regiment. The battalion drill was often held on Barnstead Parade, even before a full regiment had been organized. At that time the company of cavalry was quite numerous and imposing. The red coats, the buff pants, the stove-pipe hat begirt with red silk, the two ends of the silk hanging down on the shoulders, the white feather with its red top, the bear-skin holsters on the front of the saddle holding heavy pistols, and the long sword hanging by the side, gave to both men and officers an ap- pearance war-like and majestic ; emphatically did a hundred of these warriors so appear when seen on the parade, moving at the rate of a double quick. These, together with the light infantry, artillery and infantry, always proved themselves the pride of the crowds of men, women, and boys, that usually surrounded the field on parade days.
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.