USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Brookline > History of Brookline, formerly Raby, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire : with tables of family records and genealogies > Part 12
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The trail of this bridle path for almost its entire length is easily trace- able at the present time, although for a portion of the distance between the village and the South Brookline railroad station it is identical with the railroad track.
Upon its east side about one-half way between the two railroad sta- tions is an old cellar hole upon which, tradition says, in Revolutionary times was located the log cabin of George Davidson, one of Raby's soldiers in the war.
Another bridle path, much used in its day, and which has already been mentioned in a prior chapter, led out of the east side of the main highway to Milford at or near the residence of the late Rev. Daniel Good- win, one mile north of the village Main street and, pursuing an easterly direction, came out on the east Milford highway a few rods west of the old James McDonald house; from whence it crossed the latter highway and, still pursuing its easterly course, terminated at the north highway to Hollis; into which it entered at a point near the dwelling house, before and after the Revolution, of Ezekiel Proctor, and known to the present generation as the Ralph Burns, Amos Blodgett, and Luke Baldwin place. The dwelling house of Jesse Perkins, the first of his family to settle in Raby, was located on the east side of this bridle path, a few rods back from its junction with the north highway to Hollis.
Relative to this path, under date of March 1, 1786, the town records contain the following entry -"Voted to accept of a road from Capt. Seaver's house to Randel McDonalds' so on to the great road by James McDonells old field. Said road to be a bridle road."
Leading out of the foregoing described bridle path upon its north side and about midway between the two Milford highways another an-
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cient bridle path which at the present time is easily traceable ran in a northeasterly direction and ended at or near the dwelling house on the west side of East Milford highway late of William Gilson, deceased, but one hundred and forty years ago of Simeon Senter. On this bridle path about one-fourth of a mile west of said Gilson house is a cleared space in which is located a cellar hole. This cellar hole is supposed to mark the site of the log cabin of Jonathan Whitcomb, one of the earliest set- tlers in this town, coming here from Lancaster, Mass., as early as 1730. This clearing has long been locally known as "The Boston Place," the name originating from the fact that in 1790 a log cabin standing in it and located a few rods west of the Whitcomb cabin was occupied by Philip Boston, a negro, and, so far as known, the first of his race to settle in town. According to the United State's Census of 1790, his family at that time consisted of himself, wife and three children. Whatever became of them is unknown. Subsequently, the Whitcomb house passed into the ownership of the late Abel Gilson, father of said William Gilson, who for many years occupied it as his homestead. In the fifties of the last century the house was occupied by William Whitcomb for a few years, since when it has remained unoccupied. At the present time it is in ruins.
Another of these old-time bridle paths, and one of the very earliest, led out of the north highway from Raby to Hollis at a point on its south- erly side about one-fourth of a mile east of the Dickey house, or, as it is known at the present time, Ebenezer J. Rideout's place. Its course from its starting point was southerly, its length about two miles, and it term- inated at a point in the road to Hollis via Proctor hill, a few rods west of where the latter road crosses the Rocky Pond brook. Its vestiges, which can at the present time be easily traced, furnish the strongest proof of its having once been a much traveled road. But no living man can remem- ber when it was used as a public thoroughfare. Beside the evidence fur- nished by the road itself, another proof of its antiquity is to be found in the fact that upon it is located the "Cemetery in the Woods," the oldest cemetery in town of the white settlers. This cemetery is located upon the west side of and some six or seven rods back from the path, and about one-fourth of a mile from its starting point at the north Hollis highway.
Leading out, on its west side and about midway of its length, of the foregoing described path, another bridle path runs in a westerly direction, crossing the Stone House brook, and terminating in the village at the east Milford highway immediately in the rear of the old Nathan Corey house. From this latter bridle path, near where it crosses the Stone House brook, another bridle path leads out and passes in a northerly
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direction through the woods back of the Stone House. Upon this latter path, to the east of the Stone House, is an old cellar hole which marks the site of a dwelling house in which, in the forties, one Chapman had his habitation and home.
Dwelling Houses in Town in the Year 1800.
Of the dwelling houses erected in town prior to and for twenty-five years following 1768, few are standing today. The locations, even, of the majority of them are known only by their cellar holes; and of the cellar holes, there are many of which it cannot be claimed with certainty that they mark the sites of the location of the dwelling houses of any one of the settlers in particular. Nevertheless, the fact that over them once stood the rude structures in which dwelt the forefathers of the town, and that around them played the children who subsequently became the grandparents of the succeeding generations, invest them with a charm which, as long as they exist, will always cause them to be objects of peculiar interest and veneration.
Of the dwelling houses at the present time standing on the village Main street, the "old yellow house," now known as the "Elmwood," the ell of the Nissitisset Hotel, and the Capt. Nathan Corey house, all of which have been written up in another chapter of this book, are the old- est standing in the compact part of the village; all of them dating back to about the year 1800 or a few years prior thereto. Save for these four houses, the dwelling houses at the present time standing on said Main street, in the compact part of the village, are of comparatively modern origin, none of them dating back of the year 1825.
On the summit of "Meeting-house hill," there are three, possibly four, houses which were built prior to the year 1800. The house on the west side of the "great road" opposite to the old meeting-house, which at the present time is owned and occupied by Lieut. William Ladd Dodge, was in existence when the meeting-house was completed in 1791; it having been built as early, at least, as 1783. For in the latter year it was occu- pied by James Campbell who was then operating with John Colburn the "Conant Sawmill" on the river below the outlet to the pond.
This house was very probably the scene of Raby's first public school, which was established in 1783, and of which said Campbell and Isaac Shattuck were joint teachers; as the town records mention the school as having been kept-"In James Campbell's house near the pond."
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The dwelling house on the east side of the "great road," some twelve or fifteen rods south of the old meeting-house, which at the present time is owned and occupied by widow Newton W. Colburn, also dates back of 1800. In the nineties of the last century it was the home of Samuel T. Boynton, who kept an inn and store in it. After Boynton, the house was occupied as a store and inn by John H. Cutter, subsequently of "Cut- ter's Old Bourbon Whiskey" fame. Still later, in the latter part of the forties, this house was the home of Dr. David Harris who occupied it until his death, which occurred in 1849.
The dwelling house on the east side of the great road immediately north of the old meeting-house, and known to the present generation as the Asher Shattuck place, in the thirties of the last century was the hab- itation of Colburn Green, one of the town's most influential citizens at that time. He was a son of William and Ruth Green of Pepperell, Mass., from wlience he came to Brookline.
On the west side of the great road half way down the hill between the old meeting-house and the pond bridge, an ancient cellar hole at the present time (1914) marks the site of the dwelling house of the town's first minister, Rev. Lemuel Wadsworth.
The oldest dwelling house standing at the present time in that part of the town formerly known as the Mile Slip is undoubtedly the old Samp- son Farnsworth house. It is located on the summit of the hill in, and on the west side of, the road which leads northerly from the main highway to Mason and crosses the Robbin's or Wetherbee brook, the house being about one-fourth of a mile north of the bridge over the brook.
On the east side of the highway from Brookline to Pepperell, Mass., about one mile south of the village Main street at the present time stands the dwelling house of Lieut. Samuel Farley. This house is the oldest framed building now standing in town, it having been built by Mr. Far- ley as early, probably, as 1750. On the same side of the same highway and some fifteen or twenty rods north of the latter house is an ancient cellar hole which is said to mark the site of Lieutenant Farley's original log cabin.
Concerning other ancient dwelling houses in Brookline, as well as of the cellar holes which at the present time mark the sites of such of them as have disappeared, such information as the writer has been able to obtain may be found in this book incorporated in connection with the brief sketches of the lives and family records of its early settlers.
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Habitations and Brief Biographical Sketches of Such of the Signers of the Petition for the Incorporation of Raby in 1768 as Left Behind Them No Family Records.
In writing what follows in this chapter concerning the signers of the petition for Raby's incorporation, as well as all that is written concerning them in subsequent chapters, and in the family records and genealogies in this history contained, the author desires to be distinctly understood as speaking of and concerning those of the signers aforesaid who at the date of their signing the petition were either bona fide settlers, or non-resident taxpayers, within the limits of Raby; as those limits were described and set forth in its charter at the date of its incorporation in 1769; which in- cluded, of course, the three-fourths of a mile wide strip of land on its eastern borders to which the town of Hollis set up an unjust claim of ownership, but the title to which as being in Raby was finally established by act of legislature in 1786; the same being known in the intervening years as the "disputed territory."
For the sake of brevity, as well as of convenience, the names of the signers who at the time of their signing were living in the "disputed ter- itory" will hereinafter be designated by the letters D. T. immediately following their several names; and in like manner the names of those then living in the Mile Slip will be designated by the letters M. S. The names of those living outside of these two tracts will be written without marks of identification as to their residences.
WILLIAM BLANCHARD, M. S., was originally of old Dunstable. In 1768 he was residing in the Mile Slip. In 1769 he was one of Raby's first board of selectmen; his house at that time being located in the south- west part of the town on land bordering on Townsend, Mass., which was conveyed to him by Simeon Blanchard.
He married, Feb. 28, 1733, Deliverance Parker, daughter of Na- thaniel and Lydia Parker, of Groton, Mass. He has no descendants-of his family name, at least-living here at the present time.
ROBERT CAMPBELL, M. S., at the date of his signing the peti- tion, was probably a resident in the Mile Slip. He was originally of Townsend, Mass., and was a brother of James Campbell, an early settler in the Slip. He married, March 6, 1738, Elizabeth, daughter of James McDaniels, then a resident of Groton, Mass., but afterwards of Raby. His residence at the time of his marriage was given as Roxbury, Mass. But a deed of land conveyed by him in 1758 describes him as being of Townsend, Mass.
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ISAAC STEVENS, at the date of his signing the petition ,was a land owner and probably a resident within the present limits of Brookline. His name appears on its first list of rate payers in 1771. It also appears on its recorded list of its soldiers in the War of the Revolution. His war record is given on a prior page.
He married, Jan. 2, 1771, Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah ) Johnson of Hollis. No descendants here at the present time.
SIMEON BLANCHARD, M. S., was a resident land owner in the Mile Slip. His farm was located in the southwest part of Raby near the old Samuel Russell place. At the present time some of his descendants are living in New Ipswich.
JAMES NUTTING, M. S., was probably a son of Ebenezer and Ruth (Shattuck) Nutting of Groton, Mass., where he was born April 10, 1713. He and his son, James Nutting, Jr., each of whom signed the petition, were probably then non-resident land owners. Their names do not appear on Raby's first rate list in 1771, nor upon any rate lists there- after. James Nutting, Sr., married Hepsibah Rolfe of Pepperell, Mass.
FRANCIS BUTTERICK was originally of Hollis. He was probably a non-resident land owner in Raby. His name does not, however, appear on its first tax list.
JONATHAN POWERS, M. S., was a brother of Peter Powers, the first settler in Hollis. At the time of his signing the petition, he was the proprietor of several tracts of land located in the Mile Slip, now Brook- line. His name does not appear in its first rate list in 1771.
HENRY SPAULDING, M. S., at the date of the petition was a non-resident land owner in the Mile Slip. He was probably originally of Pepperell, Mass .; and, if so, married Rachel Conant, Nov. 22, 1770. He does not appear to have been a resident in Raby after its incorporation.
ABIGAIL SPAULDING, M. S., one of the signers concerning whom the writer has not been able to obtain information.
PETER HONEY, M. S., at the date of the petition was a resident in the Mile Slip, coming there from old Dunstable. His land, which con- sisted of two lots, was conveyed to him by William Blanchard by deed dated Jan. 28, 1765; and, according to the description in the deed, was located west of "Great Massepatanipus hill"; one lot on Campbell's brook, and the other on the old north boundary line of Townsend, Mass. There is no record of his having lived in Raby after its incorporation. In the War of the Revolution he served as a soldier for Dunstable, now Nashua, and also for Hollis and Amherst.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE
CHAPTER X.
Industries, Early and Late.
1740-1852.
The Jasher Wyman Sawmill-The James Conneck Sawmill-The Melvin Sawmill-Old Sawmill on Rocky Pond Brook-The Washington Wright Gristmill and Blacksmith Shop-The David Hobart, Sr., Blacksmith Shop-The Benjamin Brooks, Sr., Sawmill-The James Campbell Sawmill-The Benjamin Shattuck Sawmill-The Abel Spaulding Sawmill-The Sawtelle-Newell Sawmill-The Thomas Bennett Sawmill-The Conant Sawmill-The Ensign Bailey Saw- mill-Tannery and Sash and Blind Shop-The Samuel Brooks Sawmill-The George Betterly Fulling Mill-The Alpheus Shat- tuck Scabbard Mill-Clay Banks and Bricks-The Coopering Business-Charcoal Burning-Early Granite Business-The Eph- raim L. Hardy Tool Shop-The David Hobart Steam Sawmill.
Among the earliest and probably the very earliest of the industries, outside of that of farming, to be carried on by the original settlers within the present limits of Brookline was that of the manufacture of lumber.
For many years before, as well as after, the town's incorporation, and in fact well up to the close of the last century, its magnificent forests were the principal source of its prosperity. In the town's early days they not only furnished large quantities of lumber for local use, but also material for the manufacture of pearl ashes, soft coal, and rift timber for hard wood barrels. At a later period when, as early as 1840, the saw- mills began to install machinery for the manufacture of sawed barrel staves and heads, they were the cause of the establishment here of the coopering business which for many years was the principal source of income for a large percentage of the town's inhabitants.
The Jasher Wyman Sawmill.
The first sawmill to be erected within the present limits of the town was built prior to 1741 by Jasher Wyman. It was located on the stream
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then known as Wolf brook, but at the present time known as Stickney brook, in the southwest part of the town; its site being on or near that of the present sawmill of Deacon Perley L. Pierce, in South Brookline. At the date of its erection the mill was located in Townsend, Mass., from whence it was transferred into Brookline by the running of the Province line in 1741.
As appears by the Hollis records, Wyman continued to own and to operate the mill until, at least, as late as 1746; after whichi date we have no further definite information concerning him, although there is a tra- dition to the effect that he removed from Raby to Townsend Harbor, and that he died there. Another tradition says that he died in Woburn, Mass.
After Wyman's ownership ceased, there was a long interval of years during which little or nothing is known concerning this mill. But about the year 1795, its site was occupied by a sawmill which was owned and operated by David Wright, Jr., a son of David Wright and his wife Pru- dence (Cummings) Wright, who arrested the tory, Whiting, at Jewett's bridge in Pepperell, Mass., in 1775. David Wright, Jr., deceased in 1825 and is buried in the Southi Cemetery. After Wright's decease the mill was owned and for several years operated by Thomas Tarbell. Sub- sequently it passed into the hands of the late Andrew Rockwood. In 1855 Mr. Rockwood sold the mill to the late William J. Smith. Smith, soon after his purchase, entered into partnership with Noalı Ball, of Townsend, Mass., and the twain under the name of Smith and Ball oper- ated the mill until Oct. 22, 1870, when Smith sold it to Deacon Perley L. Pierce.
Dec. 26, 1872, during Deacon Pierce's ownership, the mill was de- stroved by fire. April 25, 1873, Pierce conveyed one undivided half part of the mill privilege to David S. Fessenden; and the same year Pierce and Fessenden rebuilt the mill. In 1877 Mr. Pierce repurchased Mr. Fessenden's interest in the mill and, in 1879, sold the entire plant to Charles A. Stickney and William M. Armstrong. Stickney and Arm- strong operated the mill until Oct. 17, 1889, when they reconveyed it to Deacon Pierce, by whom it has ever since been owned and operated. At the present time (1912), of three water power sawmills standing in town, this mill is the only one in full operation. Of the other two, the old Capt. Sam Brooks mill has been idle for many years, and the Charles J. Stickney mill is being operated occasionally and spasmodically.
The Jasher Wyman mill house was located on the north side of Townsend hill, a few rods southeast of the mill. At the time of this writ-
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ing it is occupied as his dwelling house by Luther Lawrence. In the vicinity of this mill, in Wyman's day, were living Samuel Wheeler, John Wright, Ensign Farrons (Farrar?) and Capt. Samuel Douglass. Of whom Richard Hazzen, who in 1740-41 surveyed the western section of the boundary line between the Provinces of New Hampshire and Massa- chusetts, in his journal of the survey, speaks as follows. "At three Miles and Two hundred poles from the Nashua River we crossed the Nissitissit River, and near the End of Our Measure this day by the highway in Townsend"-Townsend hill-"Samuel Wheeler's house was north of our line about twelve poles and Joshua Wright's House further north. These Two houses are all that were inhabited in Townsend on the North of Our Line and Ensign Farron's House was South about Ninety Rods, by whose fire we lodged this Night." *
The sites of the houses of Joshua Wright, Samuel Wheeler and En- sign Farron, as they were then located, are unknown at the present time. But the site of the Captain Douglass log cabin is still marked by its cellar hole, which, although it was built more than one hundred and sixty years ago, is in an excellent state of preservation. It is located in Brookline in an open field lying about midway of the north side of Townsend hill, and on the east side of the highway leading from South Brookline to the summit of the hill; from which highway it is distant about twenty rods in an easterly direction. It is situated a few rods north of the state line. At the present time, it may be found by following a stone wall which, beginning at said highway, bounds said open field on its north side, for about twenty rods, at the end of which distance the cellar hole lies a few rods almost directly south.
The James Conneck (Connex?) Sawmill.
This mill was built by James Conneck, probably before the town was incorporated. Like the Wyman mill, it was originally located in Townsend, Mass. Its location in Brookline was in the southwest part of the town on the upper part of the Wallace brook; its exact location on the brook being at the point where the stream makes its outlet from the meadows in front of the old Mathew Wallace place; where the ves- tiges of the ancient mill-dam are still to be seen. All traces of the mill disappeared many years ago. Seventy-five years ago the oldest inhabit- ants then living had no personal knowledge of it and, save for tradition
* Province Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XIX, p. 494.
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and the ruins of the dam, the knowledge of its ever having existed would long since have passed into oblivion.
James Conneck, its builder, was one of the town's soldiers in the War of the Revolution. He died of wounds received in the battle of Bunker Hill. His dwelling house, of which the cellar hole is still in exist- ence, was located about one-fourth of a mile south of the Mathew Wal- lace place, on the east side of the highway leading from that place to South Brookline. Within the past forty years a dwelling house standing upon its site has been known as the "Pickerel Nutting Place."
The Ebenezer Melvin Sawmill.
The Melvin Sawmill was perhaps the third sawmill, in point of time, to be erected in this town. It was built by Capt. Ebenezer Melvin as early, at least, as 1747; as the Hollis records for that year contain a mention of "Melvin's milldam." The mill was located on the upper part of the scabbard mill brook a few rods north of the site, afterwards, of the Thomas Bennett sawmill. Its site at the present time is marked by the ruins of its old dam; which are still of magnitude and strength sufficient to retain within their limits, especially in more than ordinarily wet weather, enough water to form a small pond.
Captain Melvin, whose genealogy is given on another page, in 1770, in company with James Gould, Jonas Hobart and Samuel Farley, Jr., all early settlers in the east part of the town, removed from Raby to Groton, N. H., where they were the first settlers. So far as known, this mill was never operated after Captain Melvin abandoned it.
The Old Sawmill on Rocky Pond Brook.
When or by whom the first sawmill to be erected on Rocky Pond brook within the limits of Brookline was built is unknown. But it is reasonably certain that a sawmill was standing upon its banks as early, at least, as 1765. For in a deed dated July 24 of that year and recorded in Vol. 3, page 5, of Hillsborough County Registry, by which Col. David Hobart conveyed to Caleb Farley a tract of land lying upon the brook's banks within the present limits of Brookline, mention is made of "Pierce's dam and Flint's meadow:" and the records show further, that at that time and for many subsequent years, James Flint was the owner of the meadows lying on the stream above the point where, about one mile south of the village Main street and a few rods north of the point where
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it crosses the highway to Pepperell, Mass., the stream at the present time is blocked by the ruins of an ancient dam.
That these ruins mark the site of "Pierce's dam," mentioned in the foregoing named deed, there can be little or no doubt. For in the entire stretch of the meadows above them through which the brook flows, there is not a single place suitable for the location of a mill.
This first, or original sawmill disappeared about 1800. Some ac- counts say that it was destroyed by fire. Others say that it was torn down by Asa Shattuck of Pepperell, Mass., about 1808-10; and that soon after tearing it down, Shattuck built a new mill upon its site. The latter statement is probably the true one. At any rate, Asa Shattuck operated a sawmill standing upon the site of the old one for a few years between the years 1808 and 1822.
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