USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Brookline > History of Brookline, formerly Raby, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire : with tables of family records and genealogies > Part 10
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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
The Cemetery-in-the-Woods.
The oldest and in some respects, at least, by far the most interesting cemetery in town, and of the existence of which, even, many of its citi- zens are ignorant, is one to which for lack of a better the writer has given the foregoing name. It is, as the name implies, situated in the woods, and is located on the eastern slope and near the summit of the hill to the southeast of, and about one-fourth of a mile distant from, the dwelling house on the west side of the north highway to Hollis, formerly known as the Dickey place, or Capt, Robert Seaver place; the same being at the present time the property of Mrs. Ebenezer J. Rideout.
This cemetery was in existence certainly as early as 1752. For in that year, Randal McDaniels, one of the three original settlers of the name in this town, was, according to the family traditions, buried in it. Tradition says, also, that it furnished a last resting place for at least some members of the Dickey family. It has not been the scene of a burial for more than a century past. Sixty years ago it contained some fourteen or fifteen graves marked by rough unhewn stones of granite and void of in- scription of any character. But in the years intervening since then, time and the ruthless hands of men have thrown down and removed many of the stones from their original positions. So that at the present time it is difficult to locate more than seven of the original graves; and in an-
109
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
other fifty years, unless measures are taken to prevent it, this ancient burial place where sleep the rude forefathers of Raby, its early settlers, will have passed beyond the knowledge of men then living. Connected with this cemetery there is a tradition to the effect that with one of its inmates, a young lady, were buried her personal articles of jewelry.
Disturbances Over the Law Relative to the Killing of Salmon and Other Fishes, 1784.
In 1784 the Great and General Court passed an act prohibiting- "The Killing or destroying any salmon shad or alewives in the Merrimack River or any waters falling thereinto in this state, except on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, under a penalty of 2 lbs"; and further- "That no person shall erect or build annually within the months of May, June, September and October, any dams or other obstructions across said streams, nor continue said mill-dams or other obstructions under a pen- alty of 20 pounds."
This act, according to tradition, because of its provisions for keeping the dams open during certain months of the year, was the cause of no little commotion in Raby, where the project of damming the Nissitissett River at or below its outlet from the pond was already being seriously considered. It divided the people into two factions. It was a question of "To dam or not to dam." One faction was opposed to the act, claim- ing that to build a dam across the river with the obligation of keeping it open during four months of the year, two of which, at least, were spring months when mill business was most active, was prohibitive to that ex- tent that it reduced to a minimum the chances of making even a living profit in the mill business and therefore cut out all inducements for capital to invest in building mill-dams. The men who argued as above were, of course, the town's capitalists; many of them passing rich with a mortgaged farm and an income of five pounds a year. Thus it happened that they opposed the damming of the river and instead d-d the General Court for passing the law.
The other faction favored the act because, as they claimed, if the dams were not kept open during the spring months, the pond itself, as well as all the streams which flowed into it, would no longer furnish the inhabitants with their annual spring supply of brain food in form of lam- prey eels and alewives; a species of nutrition of which they openly hinted the brains of their opponents were sadly in need. This latter faction, therefore, was in favor of damming the river and obeying the law.
110
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
A few years later, and while the foregoing act was still operative, a dam was built across the river at its outlet from the pond; and for many years after the seafishi continued to make their annual migrations up and down the Nissitissett and its tributary streams. Indeed, that ancient "chestnut" of alewives crowding into brooks so thickly as to enable one to cross upon their backs from shore to shore, continued to be told of Douglass brook in the village well into the nineteenth century.
Inns and Inn Keepers, Ancient and Modern.
In the year 1785 the General Court of the State passed an act- "For the Better Keeping of the Lords Day." By this act, traveling on Sunday was prohibited; "Excepting from some adversity or upon a li- cense obtained from some Justice of the Peace"; and inn holders were forbidden-"To entertain or suffer the inhabitants to be about their houses on the Lord's day."
The last of the foregoing extracts from said act recalls the bromidic saying of-"How history repeats itself." For at the time of its enaction there was a license liquor law 'upon the statute books of this state, as there is today; and one of the provisions of the present law relative to the sale by hotel keepers to their Sunday guests is very similar to the one above set forth.
At this time there were in town three inn keepers: Benjamin Farley, Samuel Douglass and Alexander McIntosh; each of whom had been li- censed as such, under the provisions of the law as it then was. Mr Far- ley's inn was kept in the old Lieut. Samuel Farley house, now the property of Elmer Wallace, and situate on the east side of the highway to Pep- perell, Mass., about one mile south of the village Main street. It was the first inn to be opened in this town, and it was kept by Mr. Farley in connection with a general store, which was also the first store to be opened here.
The inn of Samuel Douglass was located on the west side of what is now the village Main street, near the brook named after him. The Mc- Intosh inn was located in the house now owned and occupied by Henry G. Shattuck, and standing on the west side of the highway to Mason, about one mile northwest of the village Main street. The annual town meetings were held alternately in these two latter inns until the comple- tion of the town house in 1791.
The passing of the above mentioned law did not, to any appreciable extent, discommode either of these three inn keepers. For they imme-
THE OLD YELLOW HOUSE-OR ELMWOOD
111
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
diately obtained from a justice a license which enabled them to catch, corral and entertain all Sunday travelers who chanced to come their way, and continued to serve their in town customers, without paying any spe- cial attention to the day of the week upon which the service was ren- dered, with "cider flip" straight or New England rum at "three cents with sug" or "two without," as did, also, their successors in the business for many years after them.
The Old Yellow House.
In addition to the houses mentioned above there are at the present time several other houses in town which at some period of their existence have been used as inns. Among the oldest of them is the "Old Yellow House," as it was called seventy-five years ago, a name which was es- pecially well applicable to it at that time. For even then its weather beaten appearance, as well as certain streaks and patches of yellow paint, -all that was left of its original coating-which were in evidence under the eaves and on the sides less exposed to the weather -furnished ample and sufficient reasons for the use of the adjectives "old" and "yellow" as applied to it. The name of its builder is unknown, although there is a tradition to the effect that it was built by Capt. Robert Seaver soon after the close of the Revolution. It was occupied and used as a wayside inn until well along into the thirties of the nineteenth century. Among those who, during that period, occupied it as landlord was Capt. Joshua Hall. From 1840 to 1847, the year of his death, it was the property and dwelling place of James Parker, Jr., father of the writer who was born in it. After Mr. Parker's death, his widow, Deverd Corey Parker, con- tinued to live in the house until 1853-54, when she sold it to the late Edwin C. Bailey, then postmaster of Boston and editor of the Boston Herald; who at that time owned and was occupying as a summer resi- dence the dwelling house adjacent to it on the west, which is at the pres- ent time the property and residence of Mrs. Edward C. Tucker. Later on, Mr. Bailey conveyed the house to the late Philemon French, who made his home in it until his death. At the present time this house is owned and occupied by Mrs. Amos A. Peabody, a daughter of the late Alpheus Shattuck, Esq., under whose charge it has returned to its original use as a hotel, under the name of the Elm House. The house is located on the east side of the village Main street opposite to the Nissitisset Hotel. At the present time it is easily identified by three very old and magnificent elm trees which are grouped around it.
112
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
The Capt. Nathan Corey house, located on the east side of the vil- lage Main street, a short distance south of the Old Yellow House, is also another house which in its early days did duty as an inn. It was built by Captain Corey about 1805, a few years after he settled in Brookline, coming here from Groton, Mass. Captain Corey occupied and kept the house as an inn, in connection with his business as a general store keeper, until his death in 1836; since when it has been used only as a private dwelling house. After Captain Corey's death, the house passed into the hands and ownership of his daughter, Susan J. Abbott, wife of the late Jonathan Abbott, formerly of Andover, Mass. At Mrs. Abbott's decease in 1889, it passed into the possession and ownership of her son, Charles H. Abbott. In 1899 it was purchased from Charles H. Abbott by the writer, Edward E. Parker, a grandson of Capt. Nathan Corey, by whom it is utilized at the present time as a summer home.
THE NISSITISSET HOTEL is located on the west side of the vil- lage Main street and opposite to the "old yellow house," or Elm House, as it is known at the present time. Although its use as a hotel is of a more modern date than that of either of the foregoing described houses, it has, nevertheless, been in use for that purpose for nearly or quite eighty years. The ell part of the house is one of the oldest buildings at the present time standing on Main street. The date of its erection, like that of the "old yellow house," is unknown. The main part of the house was built by Capt. Daniel Bills about 1840. But for several years prior to that date the ell had been in use as an inn, its upper story being finished off as a hall which at that time was used and for many years subsequent to the building of the main part of the house in 1840 continued to be used for dancing parties and other social gatherings.
The earliest known landlord of the house was Daniel Bills, who acted in that capacity prior to the addition of the main part of the build- ing in 1840, and possibly a few years after. Captain Bills was succeeded as landlord by Capt. John Smith, who in his turn was succeeded by Jo- siah Shattuck of Pepperell, Mass. About 1854 Shattuck sold the house and good will to Bigelow of Boston, Mass., and removed to Pepperell, Mass., where he subsequently died. In 1855 Capt. Joseph Jefts became both proprietor and landlord of the house. During Mr. Jefts' ownership the upper part of the ell was lengthened by an addition to its south end. Aug. 13, 1867, Captain Jefts conveyed the hotel property to his son, J. Frank Jefts, who officiated as its landlord until May 24, 1862, at which date he sold the same to Joseph C. Tucker. Soon after disposing of the hotel to Mr. Tucker, J. Frank Jefts left town and, from the day of his
113
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
departure to the present time, (1914), his whereabouts has remained a mystery to his former fellow citizens. During Mr. Tucker's proprietor- ship the hall in the ell part of the house was divided into sleeping rooms. April 6, 1864, Joseph C. Tucker sold the hotel to James W. Fessenden of Townsend, Mass., who continued to act as its landlord until April 30, 1873, at which latter date he conveyed it to Marshall Davis of Amherst. Mr. Davis was landlord of this house until March 30, 1875, at which date he sold it to Mrs. Martha Shattuck, wife of George J. Shattuck of Townsend, Mass. Mr. Shattuck was succeeded as proprietor and land- lord of the hotel by James Wise of Leominster, Mass., who, after con- ducting the business for a few years, returned to Leominster, where he died Feb. 3, 1909. At the present time (1914) his widow, Mrs. James Wise, is the owner of the property.
During the early years of its existence this hotel was managed after the manner of conducting inns or taverns in those days. It was never without an open bar, where all kinds of distilled liquors could be obtained by those who had the wherewith to purchase them; and purchasers were never lacking, neither from among the town's people nor from the citizens of the neighboring towns. Yet, during all this period, its reputation as a hostelry which afforded entertainment for man and beast was second to that of no country hotel in the county. Its landlords in those days were, on the whole, typical specimens of their class: jolly, courteous and obliging to their guests.
But, like the majority of the old-time taverns, this house has had its day. At this time its doors are and for several years past have been closed to the public; and the rooms, which have echoed to the laughter, songs and stories of nearly four generations of men; and which, if they could speak, could furnish more information relative to the good and bad, humorous and sad, pathetic and sympathetic sides of the characters of some of the town's old-time peculiar citizens than could be obtained from any other source of information, are deserted and lone.
114
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
CHAPTER VIII.
Brookline.
1786-1800.
Recovery from Hollis of the Disputed Strip of Land on Raby's Eastern Borders-Current Events, 1786 to 1800-Bridges over the Nissi- tisset River-Highway West of the South Cemetery Accepted by the Town-Gift to the Town of the Land upon Which the Old Meet- ing-House Stands, by R. Cutts Shannon, Esq .- First Guide Boards -Change of Town's Name from Raby to Brookline-Prices Cur- rent of Commodities in 1795-United States Census of 1790.
From the time when, immediately after Raby's incorporation in 1769, the surveyor who ran the boundary line between Raby and Hollis, either through ignorance or treachery, had located that line three-fourths of a mile west of its right location as set forth in Raby's charter, thus at- tempting to deprive the latter town of its title in and to a strip of land on its eastern borders three-fourths of a mile in width and extending north and south the entire length of the township, until the year 1786, when by act of legislature the title to said strip of land was settled as being in Raby, the citizens of the latter town had never ceased to claim their rights of ownership in the same.
During the years preceding the Revolution, both Raby and Hollis claimed and endeavored to exercise jurisdiction over this tract of land; and the question of its ownership was a frequent and fruitful subject for discussion between their respective inhabitants; the citizens of Raby ar- guing upon the justice of their claim of rights to the same and the possi- bility of their establishing those rights; and those of Hollis upon the pos- sibilities of their being able to retain possession of it. Moreover, it fre- quently happened that when a citizen of one of the towns met a citizen of the other, the twain would immediately engage in a war of words which, tradition says, sometimes ended in fisticuffs over the disputed territory. Thus it happened that in process of time the peaceful relations formerly existing between the two towns became somewhat strained. It was dur-
d175 371W
Gilson
Jonas Shattuck
.
Jamec Masher.
Sawtel .
SRoda
"Part of monson thee was see off to Hollis
Ross from Jonge Shattuck t
from
Jonas Stead.
Senters House
Senters Baran ·
Gilsonk
. R A- Danis.
POND
Cape Sever.
wilddom DICKE
a> Hollis
Posb. by foot
RABY
R Cutts Shannon Boy
HoThes
Meeting House.
.James
DIETEY
John Cummings
to
of land
·Phin? Bennet
Grog
Scale I .. = 150 rods
. John Boynton
Copund by
Josh us Smith
.
Clarence R.Russell
Thes, Aster .
& miles
wide
Surveyor
Feb 17. 1780,
Province
Line
" which will admit of but for
· Perkins
A Road
Hollis Meeting
between Hollis +
meeting
LANDE Petitioned
MAP OF DISPUTED TERRITORY (From the Original at the State House at Concord)
O settlements
.
115
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
ing this period that the Rabyans began to speak of their neighbors in Hollis as-"Those who dwelt by Hollis sea shore"-thereby intimating that they were clams; and by way of retaliation the Hollisites, whenever they saw a flock of three crows coming from the direction of Raby towards Hollis, would point in a derisive manner their forefingers at them, at the same time exclaiming, "There come the selectmen of Raby":
This state of affairs had, so far as Raby was concerned, reached a climax, and its inhabitants were about prepared to apply to the Great and General Court for a solution of the matter in dispute between the two towns, when the advent of the Revolution caused both towns, for the time being at least, to suspend their individual hostilities, and to unite with their sister towns in a vigorous prosecution of the war against the common enemy of the country.
But although the coming and continuance of the Revolution caused the two towns, so far as their personal warfare was concerned, to bury the hatchet, the burial was, nevertheless, only a temporary one. The old feelings of antagonism were not dead, but sleeping; and the last echoes of the Revolution had not ceased to sound ere Raby dug up the buried hatchet, and again took the war path which led towards her neighbors on the old question of the disputed territory. Hollis, equally alert, and prob- ably far more confident, girded up her loins and calmly awaited the at- tack. It was evidently understood in both towns that the conflict between them was no longer to consist of a warfare of words, but of deeds.
At a town meeting of its inhabitants holden on the 5th day of Feb., 1783, Raby commenced the war by voting-"To petition the town of Hol- lis for a part of the west and Nor West part of their town to be laid out to Raby"; and chose Capt. Samuel Douglass, Waldron Stone and Lieut. James McDonald as a committee-"To consider the matter and report to the town from time to time as they have opportunity."
There is no record of the foregoing committee's having made any report of their proceedings up to December 8th of the same year. But at a town meeting holden on the latter date their original appointment as a committee was re-affirmed.
Meanwhile, on the 5th day of December of the same year, 1783, cer- tain inhabitants of the disputed territory, i. e., the three-fourths of a mile strip, petitioned the town of Hollis as follows:
"Petition of Certain Persons to be set off to Raby.
To the Town of Hollis
The Petition of us the Subscribers Inhabitants of the Westerly Part of sd Hollis Humbly Sheweth that by Reason of many Inconveniences
116
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
We Labor under by Living at such a Remote part of Hollis so far from meeting and at such a Distance from the other Inhabitants of sd town that we are Deprivd in a great measure of the privilege of Schoolling and by Reason of the badness of the Rods it is Very Deficult for sum of us to git to the Town of Hollis at sum Sesons of the year it is even imprac- ticable Except We first goo into the town of Raby and travel Sum Ways in the same before We Enter Hollis again-and as we live much more Compact with the Inhabitants of Raby and think it mite be more Con- venient for us to belong to the Town of Raby to which if we were set of it is Lickly the sd Inhabitants of Raby and us your Petitioners mite both Injoy the privileges of preaching and Schoolling-&c-in a ful and ample manner than ether they or us can under our present Sitteration we there- fore beg you to take our case into your wise consideration & if you in your Wisdom can see fit that you would give your Consent to have a part of the westerly part of Hollis set off to Raby-(that is that part of Raby formerly expected) Beginning at said Sandy bank so cold (called) at Nissitisit River and from thence a North pint by the Nedel acrost Hollis which we humbly conseve would not be a great Damage to Hollis But Verey advantagus to the town of Raby-and to us your Petitioners- Dec. 5-1783.
(Signed) James McDonels Simeon Senter James McDaniels Jun. Jesse Parkins Phinehas Bennet, Jr. Joshua Smith John Cummings."
Hollis refused to grant the foregoing petition; and in January, the following year, Raby through its selectmen supplemented the efforts of the petitioners by forwarding to the Hollis authorities the following paper :
"Memorial asking for part of Hollis to be annexed to Raby
To the Town of Hollis
the Petition of the
Town of Raby humbly sheweth that we your Petitioners have for a Con- siderable Nomber of years Labored under many Disadvantages by Reson of the Town being So Small which we belong to and we so fue in Nomber that we are not able to Settel a minister nor to hier preaching but a Small part of the year. Nor to carre on town affairs without great cost and as there is a part of the inhabitants of the westerly part of Hollis that have a Desire to be Set of to the town of Raby which we sopose might be very advantageous to us your petitioners and those that Desire to be set of and not a great Damage to the town of Hollis. We therefore beg you to take our Case into your wise consideration and if you can see fit that you would give your Consent that a part of the Westerly part of Hollis be set of to Raby-(Viz) beginning at the Sandey bank So call'd on Nissitiset
117
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
River and from themce a North pint acrost Hollis to Amherst line-which line we think would Divid the towns of Hollis and Raby much more to the advantage of the whol than wheir the Line now is-
Jan 18-1784
ROBERT SEVER in behalf SWALLOW TUCKER ? ¿ of the town JAMES CAMPBELL of Raby" .
Hollis ignored this petition, as it had the one preceding it, and con- tinued to hold on to the disputed territory; meanwhile, metaphorically speaking, thumbing its municipal nose at both the petition and petitioners.
At a town meeting holden March 2, 1784, Raby re-elected Capt. James Campbell, Swallow Tucker and Capt. Robert Seaver-"As a comit- tee to carry on the Petition we sent into Hollis to git a piece of land set to Raby."
If this committee endeavored to-"carry on the Petition." its efforts were unsuccessful; and finally Raby's people, having exhausted their stock of patience, as well as their committees' knowledge of the system of phonetic spelling then in use, on the 29th day of April, 1784, voted to carry the question in issue to the General Court; and, at a subsequent meeting on the 5th day of October, instructed their committee to act accordingly. The committee delayed its action until the following year, 1785; when, in June, it filed in court the following petition :
"Petition for Annexation of Part of Hollis State of New Hampshire. To Honorable the Senate and house of Representatives of Said State in General Court assembled at Portsmouth in said State June 1785
The petition of Swallow Tucker Robert Seaver and James Campbell Committee in behalf of the Town Raby-humbly Shews-
That the Town of Raby is of Small extent N. & South consisting of about four and a half miles in lenth and E. & W. two milds 59 1-2 in bredth and much of the land unfit for cultivation and more unfit for settlement and consequently thinly inhabited and unable to Settle or Sup- port the Gospel or necessary Schools for the instruction of youth (so necessary in Society ) and other Town charges, and such is the unhappy Scituation of ye Town that should we anexed to other Town our difficul- ties would not be remided. the inhabitants are So Sensible of the im- portance of the education of youth that they can by no means rest easy to have their children brought up in Savage ignorance unfit members for Society either in Church or State-that the Town of Hollis is a large Town both in quantity of land and Number of inhabitants & can well
118
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
spare a part to build up the Town of Raby. the Town of Raby have repeatedly applied to the Town of Hollis to vote off to the Town of Raby some part of said Town which they refuse to doe, the Town of Raby therefore find themselves constrained to apply to your honors to take their difficult case under your wise consideration & set off from the Town of Hollis and annex to the Town of Raby the following tract of land with the inhabitants consisting of nine families (Viz) beginning at the great Sand bank (so called) and running parall with east line of the town of Raby untill it comes opposite to Northeasterly corner of the sd Town of Raby thence to said Northeasterly corner, in width about three Quar- ters of a mile that the inhabitants Settled on said tract of land are de- sirous to be Sett of to the Town of Raby (one excepted), we beg leave further to represent to your honers that nature seemed to design the abovesaid tract of land for the Town of Raby as the proposed line will run thro a tract of poor land unfit for cultivation and the Town of Raby at their incorporation had reason to expect some further help from the town of Hollis-these reasons (with many others which may be given if oppertunity therefor) we submit to the wise consideration of this Honor- able Court-praying your honors to grant us relief and your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray
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.