USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Bedford > History of Bedford, New Hampshire, from 1737 : being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900 > Part 39
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Since the society was organized delegates have been sent to
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NEW PRESBYTERIAN MEETING-HOUSE.
every International Christian Endeavor Convention except at San Francisco and Nashville. They have also been sent to state and county conventions. We have thus tried to keep in touch with other workers. As we look back it sometimes seems that we have accomplished very little, but we have been blessed and perhaps shall never know what good results may spring from our work or what pure aspirations and holy thoughts someone has felt by our influence. So, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength we will endeavor to do whatever He would like to have us do.
1
Graveyards.
The old graveyard, at the southeast part of the town, was made use of to deposit the dead from the first settlement in 1737. Here were laid the first settlers of the town with their children; here sleep the forefathers and their families.
April 14, 1752. At a town-meeting held in Matthew Patten's barn it was " Voted, To fence the burying-ground, and that it be fenced ten rods square, with stone wall; the wall to be five feet high." (But the wall was never more than three feet high.) John Orr, John Moor, and Hugh Riddle were the committee to see the work done. "They shall employ the inhabitants of the town to do the work ; a man to have fifteen shillings a day, and oxen ten shill- ings, old tenor. Each laborer to begin work at 8 a. m., in the months of August, September, and October." It was voted at the same time to pay for a "moar cloth," or pall. Eighty pounds were appropriated for building the wall, and the ground was to be cleared at the expense of the town. The oldest inscriptions now found in the yard are Ann Burns, July, 1745; John, father of Hon. Matthew Patten, April, 1746; Catherine Bell, 1746; also John Goffe, father of Colonel Goffe, and John Bell, 1746. At the period of 1760, there had been numerous interments. It is now (1850) occasionally used as a burying place. Though in an unfrequented part of the town, it is an interesting spot, and with certain improvements, might be made a place of solemn resort and profitable meditation. Here, within sound of the railroad whistle, the forefathers sleep. Here we stand where tears were shed a hundred years ago for departed friends. Here is still the old stone horse block, where mothers and wives and sisters mounted, having followed in proces- sion some loved one to the grave. Here are the gravestones of the first minister, and the elders, who often consulted together for the welfare of the church. All the early burials were made by bringing the body on a bier carried from the house of the deceased person to the graveyard on the shoulders of bearers. Where the distance was long there were several relays of bearers. This being the first
1
THE OLD GRAVEYARD.
383
4
GRAVEYARDS.
yard on the west side of the river-so far north as Bedford-inter- ments were made there from the neighboring towns. In a part of the yard there are no carved headstones, but field stones, placed at head and foot, mark the grave. The yard is supposed to be entirely filled with graves. For a time after the new yard at the Center was located this older yard fell into neglect. Bushes were allowed to grow over the graves, and the wall became much dilapidated. About 1866 interest was aroused to restore this ancient depository of the dead. The town and private individuals joined in the work of restoration, and the following extract from the Town Report of 1873 shows the nature and extent of the work done :
Report of the old cemetery at the east part of the town :
Rodney M. Rollins has laid out in labor in clearing up and otherwise improving the condition of the cemetery the sum of $40.25
Received by labor given, $16.00
by subscription from Mrs. John A. McGaw, 24.25
by subscription of Adam Chandler, 5.00
by sale of wood cut from yard, 3.50
Total, $48.75
Leaving a balance in favor of old yard,.
$8.50
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM MCALLASTER, RODNEY M. ROLLINS, SILAS HOLBROOK,
Committee.
Since 1873 interest in this old graveyard has been sustained, and it is still kept in a suitable condition by the town, although burials there are not now very frequent.
BEDFORD CENTER GRAVEYARD.
In 1799 Isaac Riddle, Esq., gave half an acre of land for the pur- pose of a graveyard. In 1847 half an acre more of land was ob- tained, and a stone wall built on the north, south, and west sides, and on the east side a stone and wooden fence with iron posts. It is a solemn and interesting spot, and had it been laid out at first with a view to walks and alleys, it might have added much to its attractions as a cemetery. As it is, it well repays the visitor. The
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HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
first body buried in the yard was that of Gilman, son of Isaac Riddle, October 8, 1799. The inscriptions are often inpressive to a stranger. To notice one :
In memory of Mr. Robert Burns Member of Junior Class Dartmouth College Who died Feb. 22, 1810, aged 25.
The name being the same with the Scottish poet, his being a . member of college, and his early death, all create an interest, and the interest is increased when it is known that he was a young man of great promise, and at the time of his death was instructing a dis- trict school in town, to help pay his way in college.
One other epitaph may be given; very appropriate, probably a selection. It is on a young lady who died of consumption, aged 20:
" A marble marks thy couch of lowly sleep, And living statues there are seen to weep, Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb, Affliction's self deplores thy youthful doom."
"Nowhere on earth is death more solemn nor the remembrance of the dead more ineffaceable than in New England." A lack of education in the graceful and the beautiful makes some of the graveyards in this region unattractive to visit, and this was true of this particular spot where briers and bushes grew unmolested, where the severe winters broke the headstones and effaced the in- scriptions. In the summer of 1873, through the kindness and liber- ality of former townsmen, the horse sheds were removed from the front of the yard, revealing the beautiful oak, the pride of the village. A face stone wall was built by the town at an expense of $664.50 along the front of the yard; also a handsome iron gate with stone posts was placed at the entrance, and the tombs reno- vated. The town resolved " A vote of thanks be extended to Free- man P. Woodbury and George W. Riddle for this expression of the interest they have always manifested in our welfare."
In 1888 further improvement was made possible by the legacy of Mr. Adam Chandler, a native of Bedford, for the care of his lot, and a small appropriation was granted by the town for general use in the yard.
In the fall of 1893 the good work was continued by Frances E. Woodbury, widow of Charles H. Woodbury, Esq., of New York
THE CENTER GRAVEYARD AND VESTRY.
CENTER GRAVEYARD-WEST VIEW.
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GRAVEYARDS.
city. It has been said that it is a peculiarly fit labor of love for woman. The great renovation now began which made the desert bud and blossom like the rose. Walls were relaid. Moss was removed from the old headstones, revealing inscriptions of tasteful design of by-gone days. Trees were taken out whose roots were higher than the mounds. Avenues and paths were laid out; neg- lected lots cared for; trees, shrubs, and flowers planted; almost the entire yard nicely grassed; a terrace laid out and concrete gutters made. This result was accomplished at a considerable expense. It now became a necessity for the preservation of these improvements to introduce a water supply. A well was dug in the rear of the yard, and a stone tower erected fifty feet high, containing a wind- mill with a tank to hold three thousand gallons of water. The stone was contributed by Freeman R. French from his quarry near by, and the structure was built at a cost of three thousand dollars. The design was drawn by the donor, Frances E. Woodbury, to whom the permanent care of the yard was granted by the town in 1895.
In August, 1901, a number of persons met at the Woodbury homestead in Bedford Center to organize a society for the perpetual care of the cemetery. A society was formed and legalized under the title of The Bedford Center Old Cemetery Association, its object being to receive all moneys donated for the care of lots; the general repairing and beautifying of the yard, also to care for all legacies left in perpetuity. The following officers were elected :
Frances E. Woodbury, president; Martha R. Woodbury, vice- president ; Martha E. Woodbury, treasurer; Willis B. Kendall, secretary.
Board of trustees : Martha R. Woodbury, Fred A. French, Morris W. House.
The beauty of the yard has been heralded by thousands of visitors from all over our country, and across the sea one comes to visit the last resting-place of a mother. As they wander among the avenues and by-paths, past the ivy-mantled tower and stately poplars, up the time-traveled driveway, they notice the oldest epitaph in the yard of 1799, for a boy of three years :
"Draw near ye youth behold and see How small a grave containeth me. I was the first that here was laid. For death's loud call must be obeyed."
26
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HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
Another stone of 1817 has this inscription :
" Stay passenger, though dead, I speak You know the word conveyed A thousand calls like this you've heard, But have you one obeyed?"
Their attention is arrested by the monument erected to the mem- ory of the Rev. Thomas Savage, pastor of the church in this place from 1825 to 1865. The marble Bible on the pedestal is open at the appropriate text:
"Remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years."
Another stone is of interest, erected to a woman, who, though a maiden lady, won the old-time title of Mrs. Ann Orr:
" A pre-eminently successful teacher of youth for fifty consecutive years."
Scattered about the yard are the graves of the soldiers and sailors sleeping under the stars and stripes and Union Jack.
Under the large oak is the grave of a negro called Boston Bell, the slave of John Bell; he was buried in the year 1811 in the old fashion, with coppers on his eyelids.
The visitors now ascend the terrace, and as they stand in thought, they muse on the problem of life and death; of life, in the sight of the time-honored church on the hill; the little vestry under the hill ; the quaint little house, formerly the home of Mrs. Elvira Walker, with its vine-covered arbor, and moss-covered bucket in the well, whose water has quenched the thirst of many a worn traveler; then look back on the graves of those whose memory shall never fade away, but live in freshness and beauty until the trumpet shall sound on the glorious resurrection morning.
THE NEW YARD.
In 1871 additional land on the west was purchased from the Riddle brothers, Isaac N., John A., and Silas A., by the town, at a cost of $485. The wall in front and the gate at the south were built at a cost of $175.42. "Buying,1 laying out, grading, and fencing (except the front wall) cost $465.21." The whole number of lots in the yard is 315. Lots were sold to pay for the land. It is now known as the New Yard. It is within the same enclosure as the old yard. There is an avenue fringed with evergreens leading from the entrance of the new yard to within a few feet of the tower in the
1 Town Report for 1873.
THE JOPPA GRAVEYARD.
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GRAVEYARDS.
old yard. The evergreen shrubs were presented by Jacob Manning, formerly of Bedford. In 1897 the little wooden gate at the entrance was replaced by an ornamental iron one with stone posts, which was contributed by some of the lot owners and their friends. A connec- tion was made with the windmill. Money is yearly appropriated by the town for the care of the new yard, and trustees have been selected, viz .: William Milton Patten, George F. Barnard, and James R. Leach. This yard is under the personal superintendence of George F. Barnard. Flowers, shrubs, and urns have been added, all of which enhance the beauty and general appearance of the cem- etery.
WEST PARISH (JOPPA1) GRAVEYARD.
The land for this yard was given by Jesse Worcester, Esq., father of Joseph Worcester, the lexicographer. The first burial was Hannah, an infant child of Mr. Benjamin Sprague, June 9, 1789. The oldest gravestone to be seen is that of Mr. David French, father of Deacon John French, and bears date of June 13, 1790. In 1872 an addition was made to the west and south.
The town purchased the land of Stillman A. Shepard and Mary Ann Shepard, his sister, and paid them $52 for it. It was laid out in lots, and the lots are sold for from $2.50 to $5. Harry A. Shepard, son of Stillman A. Shepard, had charge of the lots until his removal to Milford in 1900. The yard is now in charge of Mr. Arthur W. Holbrook.
Here are buried representatives of the families of Holbrook, French, Nevins, Craig, Flint, Parkhurst, Kittredge, Gage, Sprague, Shepard, and Nichols. Their farms are near by.
SOUTH GRAVEYARD.
The land for this yard was given by Major Stephen Dole. The first burial in it was a child of Silas Martin. The oldest inscriptions found there are on the gravestones of William Gerrish, February 20, 1793, and Judith Gerrish, October 10, 1794.
Here are buried representatives of the families of Moore, Parker, Colley, Dole, Underwood, Gage, Martin, Burns, Jaquith, and Gerrish. Just inside the gate and to the left is the grave of Titus A. Moore,
1 The name "Joppa" is said to have been applied because of an incident in a school meeting held in that part of the town, district No. 8. The attendance was small, and commenting on the fact, some one said that in accordance with Acts 10:32, they needed to send Cornelius Barnes to "Joppa " for help. Cornelius Barnes lived just below the location of the cemetery on the road west.
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HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
who was in life the negro slave of Elder William Moore. He served his master until he was twenty-one years of age. His gravestone was erected by the town from money which, at his death, he be- queathed to the town.
Very few burials have taken place in this yard within the last fifty years.
JEWS' GRAVEYARD.
There was a graveyard started by some Hebrews of Manchester in February, 1896. They bought a piece of land on the plains near the west line of Edmund B. Hull's land. There they buried some six or seven of their dead after having consecrated the ground with appropriate and peculiar ceremonies. In 1900 they sold the land to Gordon Woodbury, reserving the right to leave upon a portion of it the bodies already buried there. An iron fence marks the spot. No burials have taken place there since that time.
In a few instances there have been burials on private property. Some of our people have been buried on their own farms. Near the south line of the Beard farm, now owned by Charles E. Bursiel, just west of the Rowe house, are buried Deacon Lincoln and his wife. Two slate headstones mark the spot. On the farm now owned by Nelson Merchant, near the Deacon Stevens' place, are buried Reu- ben Bowers and his wife. The graves are south of the buildings on a little knoll in the pasture.
PISCATAQUOG VILLAGE GRAVEYARD.
William Parker, Esq., gave half an acre of land for this purpose. The first interment was that of a child of James Griffin, 1814; the second was that of Edward, son of William Parker, Esq., April 8, 1815.
These are all the public burial places in the town. A Roman Catholic cemetery, for Manchester, has lately been laid out (1850) a little west of Piscataquog village, on land lately owned by A. J. Dow, and formerly belonging to the Parker estate. In 1836 a human skeleton was dug up by Mr. Willard Parker at the fork of the road near his house. On the place occupied by Mr. Ames, west of the Catholic cemetery, are two or three graves.
THE SOUTH GRAVEYARD,
Ministerial Land.
It has been noted that a condition of the grant of the township in 1733 was the setting apart of a lot of land for the ministry, one for the minister and another for the schools. While there is no record in the Proprietors' Book of Records or on the early maps that this was done when the first division of lots was made, it is clear that when the second division was made the terms of the grant were complied with. According to the conditions of the second division each proprietor was to have "2 lots, 50 acres each." It is found that two such lots were assigned to each, the "ministry," the "minister," and the "school"; so likewise when the third division was made, and each proprietor was voted " a meadow lot and an upland lot," each of the above three received such lots in the third division.
It has been remarked that religion was one of the subjects upper- most in the minds of these people. Because of their zeal, as well as because their charter so required, they would naturally be ready to make the most liberal provision for the means of religious observ- . ance. It seems probable, therefore, that when the surveyors were sent to lay the grant out into lots for the first division, they were instructed to select lots suitable for the three purposes above named, to wit, the "minister," the "ministry," and the " school," and that the selections be of as good locations as were to be had. Yet we do not find what lots were so designated. We do find, however, that the "minister," the "ministry," and the "school " were always re- garded as a propriety, having the same claims upon and rights in the remaining undivided lands in the grant as the other individual owners, hence the equal territorial increase in the second and third division above alluded to.
But it is of the "ministerial land " alone that this chapter is to treat. No record has been found of the disposal of the original " ministry " lot, any more than of its location. It appears that the " minister " land went to the Rev. John Houston, because of his being the " first settled minister," although his settlement did not take place until 1757. In the second division, made in 1736, lots
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HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
Nos. 10 and 11, in the 9th range, were set apart for the "ministry," and Nos. 16 and 19 in the same range for the "minister." In the third division, made in 1739, lots No. 58 (upland) and No. 87 (meadow) were added to the " ministry " holdings, and Nos. 60 (up- land) and 89 (meadow) to the " minister's" portion.
Upon the plan of the grant, showing the lots laid out in the three divisions, No. 58 is marked as the "Meeting House lot." Almost directly west and adjoining it is No. 60. So it may be that this lot was assigned to the "minister" in order that he might be located near the church building, when erected. Each of these two lots, Nos. 58 and 60, measures about four times the area of the orig- inal lots, laid out in the first division, a part of which the former adjoins. Whether the third division of upland lots would account for this larger area, through being an addition to the original lot, is an undetermined supposition.
It is supposed that all of this " minister " land came into the actual possession and ownership of the Rev. John Houston, for the reason above given.
The "ministry land," or as we now call it the "ministerial land," was cleared, improved, or rented from time to time, as seemed best to the citizens of the town. The following from the town records. interestingly confirms this statement :
May 28, 1789, " Voted John Wallace, Zachariah Chandler Esq. John Orr Esq, Ensign John Aiken and Jesse Custer be a committee to clear 15 acres of the ministerial land."
May 7, 1792, " Voted to lease the improved part of the ministerial land for three years, the lessee being under obligation to plough said land within said term." "Voted that the town provide hayseed to. sow the ministerial land."
Sept. 7, 1789, " Voted to vendue the clearing, fencing and sowing of the ministerial land with rye and grass seed. "Voted to vendue: said land by lots as it is described by a plan of the same. Voted Captain Stephen Dole vendue master." " Voted to allow Isaac Rid- dle the privilege of setting potash at the southeast corner of the lot he now lives on, on the giving the town as much land in lieu there- for between his dwelling house and where said potash is to be set. to the south side of the land." " Voted to call upon Mr. John. Houston for the lot of land he has in his enclosure on the south side of the lot Isaac Riddle lives on." Voted to call upon Mr. John Houston for all the land he has enclosed of meeting house lot." " Voted to call upon Mr. John Houston for all the proprietor's lot of land he has enclosed north of Stockbridge at the east end of the lots, numbers 13 and 14 in the ninth range."
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MINISTERIAL LAND.
The improved part of the ministerial land was, in September 26, 1792, leased to Stephen French and Isaac Riddle until April 1, 1796, they being under obligation to plough the same "once more in the present year and twice in the year 1793." The rental was to be the same as that paid by Joseph Bell.
Naturally, this course involved considerable trouble for a very small return and in 1802 it was " voted to lease the lands for a term of 999 years." The reason for leasing rather than selling the lands probably was that the town considered itself as the owner of the land, in trust for the church. The following from the town records is an interesting official account of the lease of the lots above referred to, which were set apart to the "ministry " and the school :
The Committee appointed by vote of the town of Bedford on the 23d of March, 1802, for the purpose of leasing for the term of 999 years, the ministerial lots Nos. 10 and 11 in the 9th range, and the school lot No. 59, third division in said Bedford, report that they have attended to the business of their appointment and after having duly advertised, proceeded by auction on the 20th day of April, 1802, to dispose of said lands in the following manner, observing the term prescribed by the town, viz :
To Dr. Nathan Cutler, 25 acres and 40 rods of the West end of said lots No. 10 and 11, at $12.50 per acre, $315.62. Deduct for road three rods wide and 43} rods in length, $10.15, leaves $305.47. Of which sum, 2 per cent., viz. $6.10 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Nathan Cutler and Robert Walker for $299.37, to be paid to the selectmen of Bedford at two years from the said 2d of April and interest to be paid annually. To Samuel Chandler 25 acres and 40 rods, adjoining on the East of Dr. Cutler's lot, at $12 per acre, $303. Deduct for road three rods wide and 44 rods in width, $9.90, leaves $293.10, of which sum $5.86 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Samuel Chandler and John Orr for $287.24, to be paid in the same time and manner as that of Dr. Cut- ler.
To Robert Houston, 25 acres 40 rods, adjoining that of Samuel Chandler on the east at $20.25 per acre, $511.31. Deduct for road three rods wide and 48 in length, $18.22, leaves $493.09, of which sum $9.86 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Robert Houston and John Houston Jun for $483.23, to be paid in time and manner aforesaid.
To Isaac Riddle, by his agent, Capt. Moore, 27 acres and 26 rods at $14.25 per acre, $386.76. Deduct for road three rods wide and 47 in length, $12.55, leaves $374.24. Of which sum $7.48 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Isaac Riddle and Hugh Rid- dle for $336.76, to be paid in time and manner aforesaid.
To Joseph Bell, all that part of school lot No. 59 which lies east of the road leading from Chandler's to McGaw's, exclusive of road
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HISTORY OF BEDFORD.
land, containing 21 acres and 134 rods, at $3.25 per acre, equal to $70.97, of which sum $1.42 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Joseph Bell and Thomas Townsend for $69.55 to be paid as aforesaid.
To William Moore Jun the Southwesterly part of said lot No. 59 containing 52 acres and 63 rods at $4.30 per acre, $225.29, of which sum $4.50 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by William Moore Jun and John Burns for $220.79 to be paid in the above mentioned notes.
To Samuel Chandler the Northwesterly part of said lot No. 59, containing 51 acres and 155 rods at $3.70 per acre, $192.28, of which sum $3.84 was paid in specie and a note of hand signed by Samuell Chandler and John Orr for $188.44 to be paid as aforesaid.
Amount of cash received by the Committee from the leases of Ministerial lots no 10 and 11, $29.30. Amount received of school lot no. 59, $9.76. Whole amount, $39.06, of which sum the Com- mittee in prosecuting the business of their appointment, expended the following sums, viz.
Paid Hugh McQuesten for his services as auctioneer, and the rev- enue arising to Government from the sales as per receipt, $6.85
Paid Isaac Riddle for liquor furnished at Vendue, 3.67
Paid David Patten Esqr for running lines of lot no. 59, .50
$11.02
The Committee also charge for their services per acct 12.75
Amounting in the whole to $23.77
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