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 78

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

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 78

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The settlement of Londonderry was made up of Scotch Presby- terians, who were regarded by their English neighbors of Massachu- setts (with true racial instinct) as no better than Papists or Quakers or Anabaptists. So strong was this feeling of dislike that the set- tlers at Londonderry could obtain no title from the Massachusetts colonial governor even to the wild land which they proposed to re- claim from the savage and the catamount. They were forced to purchase an Indian title from one John Wheelwright, and that was little better than purchasing a lawsuit. The squatters in Bedford were of this hated Scotch Presbyterian stock, and the land they lived upon was not included in that purchased by the Londonderry men from John Wheelwright. It belonged plainly among the un- appropriated lands of the province of Massachusetts. In 1674 the province of Massachusetts, desiring to enlist men for the war of ex- termination which had become necessary against the Narragansett Indians under King Philip, and which is therefore known as King Philip's war, offered to add to the pay of the enlisted men a bounty or land from among the then unappropriated wild lands of the province. But as might have been expected when the expedition against the Narragansett Indians had been successfully ended, and King Philip had been killed, the legislature of the province persist- ently neglected to pass the grant of land which was to form the soldiers' bounty. This continued from 1675 until 1732, when, moved perhaps by the question as to where the dividing line ran between Massachusetts and the newly erected province of New Hampshire, the legislature of Massachusetts signalized its claim to title in certain

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lands contained within the disputed territory by a grant of what were called the Narragansett townships. These were seven in num- ber, and they were granted to be divided among the 840 men and descendants of men who had been enlisted in King Philip's war. By this arrangement each township was granted to 120 persons, and the 840, dividing themselves into seven companies, each of the num- ber of 120, met on Boston common and drew lots each company for a township. No. 5 was drawn to the granters or their claimants then (1733) residing in the several towns of Boston, Roxbury, Dorches- ter, Milton, etc. Title to the land thus granted passed from the province of Massachusetts to the 120 grantees of township No. 5. But of that company but two ever settled on their land, John Barnes and Zachariah Chandler. The other grantees for the most part sold their title to the settlers or squatters whom they found there and who were anxious to make homes there. In 1748 it appears that Governor Wentworth was informed of the wishes of the inhabitants of this Narragansett township No. 5 that they should be incorpor- ated and have all the privileges of a town. And we find in the his- tory of Bedford the record of the action of the governor and council.

Thus we learn how this town came to be incorporated and thus we learn to mark the event. In 1750 things were different than they are now. It is almost impossible for us at this day to bring be- fore our minds the conditions of life then. In all the various branches of human activity and thought the change has been revolu- tionary ; at no other period of human history has it been as great. In law, in medicine and surgery, in mechanics and engineering, in commerce and agriculture, the deepest learning and the highest skill of those times is now discarded as worthless. In matters of law our ancestors believed and all the world believed that the indi- vidual who occupied the throne was his dread sovereign, the foun- tain of justice, of law and of honor; that in his person was embodied the essence of all human authority, and that his person was sacred, and that he could do no wrong. How absurd the idea seems to-day. Then the list of offences for which the death penalty was inflicted numbered one hundred and fifty, now it numbers one, and many of us now think that it should never be inflicted at all. Imprisonment for debts is now unknown, then it was universal. In medicine the change has been equally marked. The smallpox one hundred and fifty years ago was a constant menace to the lives of entire commu- nities. Its ravages to-day have been practically ended through the almost universal practice of inoculation.

This change alone would amount to a revolution, but there are many others which occur to you all. Cupping and letting blood for almost every disorder was good practice then, now it is almost never used. The treatment of fevers then, the care of the insane and the helpless, all the methods of dressing wounds or setting broken bones have been completely revolutionized. In mechanics and engineer-

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ing the change has been even greater. Not only has the life of man been rendered more secure from the ravages of disease, more free from the arbitrary restraints of the law but his productive capacity has been multiplied to an almost unlimited extent. The application of steam to machinery, to say nothing of the discovery of the uses of electricity, the power loom, the spinning jenny, the railroad, the telegraph, the telephone and the phonograph, even a common luci- fer match are all appliances of which our ancestors were entirely ignorant, and which no one of us could possibly have made clear to the understanding of any one of them. In commerce the change has been even more extraordinary. There was then no system of cheap postage for the transmission of orders, letters were written out fully by hand with a quill pen and blotted with sand, since blotting paper was unknown; no such thing as a telegraph message or com- munication by telephone ; no typewriter to save the time and energy of the directing brain; no steam engine to carry the letter or the goods which it refers to, to the distant port, but only a slow sailing ship which consumes three months in the voyage from New Amster- dam and Boston to Liverpool, where now it is made in five days. And more than all the existence of that creature of the law, the commercial corporation or its swollen and distorted progeny, the incorporated trust or combination of corporations, was unknown.

Nowadays the wealth of the country is largely represented by what is called personal property as distinguished from real property, shares in joint stock companies, such as banks, railroads, fire insur- ance companies, to say nothing of shares in the industrial enter- prises or the mines and mills of the country. But in 1750 it would not be too much to say that personal property as we now understand the term was unknown. There were cattle and animals and there were gold and silver and there were slaves, but personal property was substantially confined to these items. From all this one can measure the growth and the change that has taken place for the process of growth has gone on in a direction which seems to indicate that men are being drawn into closer and closer relations and into nearer and more intimate communication. The philosopher might draw endless and most instructive inferences from all this but we can hardly stop for that now. Five years after the town was incorpor- ated came the great French war. The causes that led to it were numerous and world-wide, but they affected us here in Bedford- for how can we help speaking of our ancestors as " us "-deeply. The men from Bedford were in the provincial militia, William McDougal, George Orr, Robert Holmes, Thomas Mclaughlin, Samuel Patter- son, James Patterson, Nathaniel Patterson, John Orr, John Moor,. and Col. John Goffe.

The history and outcome of the struggle is too well known to us. all to need repetition or elaboration here and now. From its close we may properly say dated the struggle for independence. The provincial militia had learned to despise the regulars of the British

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army and had come to feel that under the conditions of battle which obtained in the wilderness they were their superiors. The efforts the colonists had put out in taxing themselves to raise the money necessary to equip and set in the field their quota of the troops had also given them to feel that the successful outcome of the event had been due to an appreciable extent to those efforts and that the mother country owed to them full recognition of their work. When it became clear to their minds that this was not to be expected but that rather the mother country proposed to tax them at its discretion in order to recoup itself for the expenses it had been at in defending its colonies our fathers flamed into revolt. At that time the town had grown measureably, contributing ninety-nine men in all to the Continental army, including eighteen who went with Stark to Ben- nington.

With independence and peace the history of our town is substan- tially the same as that of our neighboring towns. The prominent feature of the life of our grandfathers was their church. In this town, different from most of the towns of New Hampshire or indeed of New England the church was and still is the Presbyterian church.

The original settlers were Scotch and so of course were Presbyte- rians. Their descendants, full of wholesome respect for the wishes of their elders, have kept the faith as it was delivered to them by the fathers. And as marking the difference between modern and ancient ways of regarding the minister and his sermon, I must ask you to listen to the complaint or remonstrance directed to the Rev. David McGregor, who was ordained to the pastoral charge of this church and congregation September 5, 1804, and who so continued until 1826, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Savage.

This document, a quaint arraignment for various shortcomings, real or fancied, was read by the speaker.

The paper was, in part, as follows :

" Rev. and Dear Sir-The object of the recent town meeting lately holden is undoubtedly known to you. Certain individuals are to be found among us who would willingly sever the relation that subsists between you and this people, and thereby, we fear, de- prive the town of the blessings of the Gospel. To every effort of this nature, we have thought our duty to give our united dissent. Desirous that a preached Gospel may be continued among us, and that every obstacle that impedes your usefulness may be removed, we have thought it a duty affectionately to remind you of several things which, in our opinion, tend to diminish your usefulness among the people of your charge. We shall not state them as articles of charge against you, but only mention them, hoping and believing you will cheerfully do everything in your power speedily to remove them out of the way."

Then follows at length a set of specifications of the real or fancied wrongs. Among other things charged is that the parson paid "too

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much attention to worldly things," and that in his daily life he at- tended too strictly to " farming, building and manufacture." In his pastoral visitations, too, the dominie is accused of talking "more about temporal than their spiritual concerns."

Another charge is "too frequent delivery of old discourses," the greater part of the parson's sermons being, according to the charges, so frequently delivered as to have "become proverbial." Another complaint in this same connection is "too great a sameness in ar- ranging and closing " the sermons, while to cap the climax, the poor minister was accused of " the use of too many words in the commu- nication of your ideas." The length of the prayers offered, especially at funerals, is also noted, while the document ends with this state- ment:

"Perhaps, Rev. Sir, these things we have stated have escaped your observation, but they have for a long time lain with weight upon our minds, and we have felt that we could not discharge our duty without plainly stating them to you. This we have endeavored to do in the spirit of brotherly love and respect. We hope, Sir, you will seriously ponder upon these things and unite your supplica- tions with ours at the throne of grace that you and we may be guided into all truth and walk in the faith and order of the Gospel."

From this we can readily see that theological doctrine and dogma had a real meaning for our fathers, while to us they represent large- ly amusing antiquities of thought.

The original boundaries of the town were much more extensive than they now are. Indeed, Bedford seems to have been thought such desirable country by its neighbors that those who could not move into it bodily have shorn away portions of its original domain both to the north and the south of us. At first the southern line. ran east and west from Merrimack river on a line through the Sou- hegan river at John Chamberlain's house, but on June 5, 1750, the governor and council set off from the southerly part of the town a strip three miles wide and four miles and a half long and added the territory to Merrimack. The original north line of the town ran approximately where Douglas street in the city of Manchester now runs, and so westerly to the Goffstown line. But in 1854 a strip extending southerly from Douglas street to an east and west line near to where John McQuesten's house now stands, and bounded east and west by the Merrimack river, and the Goffstown line was set off from Bedford and made a part of Manchester. This strip is now roughly Ward Eight in the city of Manchester, and forms a creditable addition to that busy place.

With the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, we come to a period in the history of the town which can be more ably and fully dis- cussed by the distinguished representatives of the navy and the army whom we are so fortunate as to have here to-day. To them I resign the subject. To you whose knowledge of the past history of our town comes through long experience and from the oral tradi-

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tions you have received from some of those who lived before this century began, we can say that you have lived and done your work in no mean country. This town has contributed a long list of names famous the country over, and which form a large part of the reasons for just pride in her sons and daughters to which New Hampshire is entitled. Horace Greeley, Zachariah Chandler, Joseph E. Worcester were all men who played their part in life before the attention of all their countrymen and in their day and generation commanded the respect of all. They were all sons of Bedford save Greeley, who moved across the line as soon after he was born as possible.

To those of us whose lot in life it is to live here now, we can truly say that for a naturally beautiful, thrifty, prosperous community, for a typical New Hampshire country town, Bedford has no superior. Her past is an honorable one, her present is secure, and her future is in the hands of worthy descendants. To those who are to come into our place-tomorrow-we can say and we do say, bear always in mind the history of your home town, remember always what trials and sorrows were borne by the faithful and good men and women who toiled here one hundred and fifty years ago, and built the fabric of liberty under the law which is yours by their gift. Cherish the pure and high principles which animated them always and so you shall be as they are, the objects of fond recollection and pride. So shall you say as we say-

O Thou Holy One and just Thou who wast the Pilgrims' trust, Thou who watchest o'er their dust By the sounding sea, By their conflicts, toils, and cares, By their perils and their prayers, From their ashes raise up heirs, True to them and Thee.

Following the address of welcome Rear Admiral Belknap, United States navy, retired, was introduced as the next speaker.

The Admiral comes of Bedford stock. Admiral Belknap spoke informally and but briefly and began with a little story which placed his hearers in a very good humor.

I am glad to be here to-day. I feel that I am at the home of my ancestry on the maternal side, and I bow in reverence to the soil, the scene and surroundings in which those dear, industrious, and intrepid forbears toiled and spun and wrought, and by their grand and soulful work helped to build up and maintain town and state and nation whose benefactions you now enjoy.

From my earliest childhood I heard the talk of the Aikens and McAllisters, the Riddles and Chandlers, the Gilmores and McAfees, and other families of Bedford, and I learned to think of them as men and women of worth and distinctive place in the annals of this good old town, who helped by their industrious habits and dogged

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pluck to turn the wilderness into smiling farmsteads, and make of Bedford an ideal community, self-respecting and tolerant, and illumined with a Christian faith they had sought when they came from beyond the seas to exemplify and enjoy. Among such was my ancestor, James Aiken, of whom the historian tells us he came from Londonderry, N. H., about 1760. His parents, of Scotch descent, had come from Ireland and settled in Londonderry. He died at the early age of 42, leaving three sons and nine daughters for his widow to care for and rear. With what pluck and energy she met such responsibilities need not be dealt upon in this com- munity, for her work has shown for itself.

From the fifth child and second son, Andrew, I am descended. He was born here December 26, 1770, and at the age of 27 or 28 years married Martha McAllister. We know that the Aikens and McAllisters intermarried with the Riddles, the Chandlers, the Gil- mores, the McAfees, the Gilchrists, the Parkers, and other families in this town and region, so that the kin are very numerous here, or were in the days gone by.

Perhaps it does not become me to say that the Aikens and McAllisters were a comely race, but according to tradition they were. At all events, my grandmother used to say that "she married the handsomest young man in Bedford ;" and a good many years ago when my grandfather was asked how it was that he had so many handsome daughters, his answer was, "Can't a black sheep have white lambs ? "

As a child I was told that when my grandfather married, he was one of the most substantial young farmers of the town, and com- manded the town troop of horse which he was wont to entertain in a most generous manner every year.

Most of his children, including my mother, were born in Bedford, but about 1813 he suffered financial reverses which compelled him to part with his holdings here, and he left town with his family to mend his broken fortunes elsewhere.

He first took a farm for a year in Croydon, Sullivan county. He then removed to Newport, the shire town, and settled on the pro- ductive farm, known as the Priest Wines place, overlooking the inviting village and the beautiful meadows through which runs in winding, brawling course the Sugar river, a tributary stream of the Connecticut.

The fine old house which went by the name of the "Old Man- sion," had been built by Priest Wines, the pastor of the Congrega- tional church in 1798, and was of course the parsonage so long as Priest Wines occupied it.

Most of grandfather's children were married in the big square parlor of the house and himself and grandmother lived in it until they died in 1850 and 1858, respectively. The farm was bounded on the east by the Sugar river.

The farm continued in the family, and is now owned and occu-

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pied by the grandson, Frederick W. Aiken, who is in this current year the chairman of the board of selectmen of the town.

In the earlier years of their settlement in Newport, grandfather and grandmother exchanged frequent visits with the kin of Bedford, and in winter grandfather used to take his pung sleigh and span of horses and go to Boston with the products of the farm to sell in the Boston markets, often stopping here on the way.

In those days the spirit of hospitality and kinship was cheery and heartsome, and the roaring wood fires in the big fireplaces, and the feast of apples and butternuts and ample flow of cider, the quilting and husking parties, the sugar-making and sleighriding, made the long winters a glory of pleasure and jollity, while the coasting, the boating, the fishing, and the picnics in summer were no less delight- ful and exhilarating. Farming was then the leading occupation of the people, and the conditions of life were more simple and equable than now; every Sunday saw the churches well. filled, the schools were crowded to overflowing, and all signs of idleness were frowned upon.

Although from early childhood I longed to visit Bedford and look upon the homes of my ancestors, I did not have the opportunity until 1880. But in the summer of that year my kinsmen, John A. Riddle, and his brother, asked me to make them a visit and I spent. two days with them, going about and looking upon the old home- steads and their surroundings.

I delight to think that some of my forbears worshiped within the walls of this old church and that some of them sat in the choir. Of Scotch-Irish descent, their Calvinistic creed was unbending, unyield- ing.

Of the term Scotch-Irish-a society has been organized recently called the Irish-American Historical society, which maintains and asserts that the designation of Scotch-Irish is a misnomer-that no such people existed-but that they were Irish pure and simple.

But Mr. Barnes, in his address here fifty years ago, said they were no more Irishmen than is a Connaughton or Munster man who works upon our railways, a Yankee, and I quite agree with him.

The term Irish-American, which we often hear, would seem to indicate an unwillingness to be called mere Americans and a desire to attach the Irish to everything.

The admiral concluded with brief mention of some of the Bedford men who have served in the navy.

A little break in the course of the speeches came here, Robert Fullerton, the well-known Manchester tenor and a son of Bedford, singing Dvorak's "Songs My Mother Taught Me." He was in excellent voice and sang with his customary excellence of expres- sion. He responded to an encore with "Loch Lomond," from the old Scotch, which was sung in equally admirable style.

It had been expected to have several more numbers on the morn- ing programme, but the exercises were here stopped in order that

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there might be no delay in the dinner arrangements. The remaining portion of the morning programme was deferred until afternoon.

During the excellent dinner which followed, prepared by the women of Bedford, the band played on the green in front of the hall.

Although there was a very large number of people to be fed, the dinner hour was not exceeded in administering to the inner wants of the people. It was not yet 2 o'clock, the time set for the opening of the afternoon session, when the procession from the town house, led by the band and the committee of arrangements and guests, reached the church. Already there was quite a crowd on hand, and it took but a very few minutes to fill the church again.

Over seven hundred people sat down at the first service of dinner in the town house, and it was estimated that at least fifteen hundred were in attendance at the celebration.

The exercises opened with an organ solo by Miss Spofford, who played Lachner's " March Celebre " in a very pleasing manner.

The first speaker introduced was the Rev. C. A. Bidwell, who was presented as the pastor of the church which stands on land in West Manchester which was once a part of Bedford. The church of which he is the minister was an offshoot of the Bedford church.

Mr. Bidwell said that as he rode his horse to the scene of the exercises he had a vision of a young man making the same trip on his way to Londonderry in the early days of the settlement of this section, and of a little incident on such a ride in which James Walker, the young man in question, first met the little daughter of Col. John Goffe, who afterwards became his wife. In his parish, to-day, he said, there is a descendant of James Walker and Esther Goffe, so that he felt himself to be in a sense a descendant of the same stock and so of kin to the Bedford church, and that for it he had much of the loyalty and devotion and interest which a true son has for the home of his childhood and youth.

"We should all," said the speaker, continuing, "remember the past with all its wealth of memories and examples, for it is out of the past and its influences that all of the influences and charac- teristics which make later life spring. I feel stirring in my heart to-day all the emotion which must stir in the heart of every son and daughter of this town to-day.

" You may well be proud of the heritage which is yours, you sons and daughters of this ancient and honorable town. You may be proud of that patriotism and independence which characterized those who laid the foundation of this town and of this church in which we stand. The whole country owes as much to your fathers as to those who came over in the Mayflower. You may count it a high distinction to have in you the blood of the men and women who had in them the characteristics which made possible their loyalty to William of Orange in Ireland and such reverence and regard for sacred things."

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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 78

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town) Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Bedford (N.H. : Town)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Concord, N. H. : The Rumford Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1202