USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Brookline > History of Brookline, formerly Raby, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire : with tables of family records and genealogies > Part 13
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About the year 1828 the mill was again torn down; this time by James Hobart, a brother of David Hobart, Sr., who erected a new mill upon its site, it being the third sawmill to stand upon the same site. James Hobart operated the mill by him erected until about the year 1835, when he abandoned it; and from that year until 1840 the mill remained idle.
In 1841 the mill was leased by William Wright and Milo J. Rock- wood who operated it until 1848, when they abandoned it. Soon after the mill's abandonment by Wright and Rockwood its machinery was sold to Alfred Spaulding by whom it was removed to and installed in his saw- mill on the Spaulding brook in the southwest part of Milford. From the time of the removal of its machinery the mill building gradually de- cayed, and for many subsequent years it was known to the public only as a picturesque ruin. Finally all traces of the original structure dis- appeared. At the present time (1912) its site can be located only by its crumbling foundations and the ruins of its ancient dam and race way.
During the period between 1808 and 1812, when it was owned. and operated by Asa Shattuck, this mill was the scene of a deplorable acci- dent, in which Benjamin Cummings lost his life.
The Washington Wright Blacksmith Shop and the Gristmill Connected Therewith.
In 1806-07 Washington Wright removed from Pepperell, Mass., to this town, where he settled on a farm near the old sawmill on the Rocky Pond brook. His dwelling was located on the summit of the hill a few rods southwest of the mill and on the west side of the highway. The
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house was destroyed by fire Jan. 19, 1810, a day known in the annals of New England as cold Friday. Its site is marked at the present time by its cellar hole, which still survives.
Soon after he came here Mr. Wright erected upon the brook below the sawmill, and between it and the highway, a blacksmith shop, and installed therein a gristmill; the latter mill being, so far as is known, the only mill of its description to have ever been erected upon this stream. Both shop and mill were operated by Mr. Wright until about 1828, when he gave up the business and the shop was torn down.
The Blacksmith Shop of David Hobart. Sr.
In 1828-29, soon after the Washington Wright shop was torn down, David Hobart, Sr., a settler near the old mill on Rocky Pond brook, coming there from Pepperell, Mass., built a dam across the stream a few rods below the point where it crosses the Pepperell highway, and erected thereon a building in which for many subsequent years he carried on the business of blacksmithing.
The shop which was afterwards owned and occupied by Ephraim L. Hardy is still standing, but has not been used for its original purpose for many years. At the present time it is owned by Walter Taylor, who utilizes it as a storehouse.
At the date of his building the shop, Mr. Hobart owned and was living in a dwelling house which was located on the east side of the high- way, a few rods north of the bridge over the brook, and near the site of the original log cabin of Phineas Bennett. This house was destroyed by fire June 10, 1877. Its site at the present time (1912) is occupied by the dwelling house of Walter Taylor.
The Benajmin Brooks Sawmill.
This mill, which was the earliest of at least four which within the last one hundred years have stood upon the same site, was located upon the south side of the Wallace brook a few rods above the point where, at South Brookline, it crosses the highway to Townsend, Mass. Ac- cording to tradition, the mill was built about 1791 by Benjamin Brooks, Jr., several years after he settled in this town, coming here from Towns- end, Mass. But while the tradition in this instance is undoubtedly true, there is some reason for doubting the claim that the Brook's mill was the first to occupy the site upon which it was erected. For an examination
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of the Hillsborough County Records shows that the land upon which the mill was built was conveyed by Robert Fletcher, of Amherst, to Benja- min Brooks, Sr., by deed dated May 7, 1790; and that in the deed the land conveyed is mentioned as the-"Sawmill lot." Of course, the use of the words "sawmill lot" in the description of the land conveyed may have meant nothing more nor less than that at that time the lot was considered a good site for a sawmill. But that the words may have had reference to the fact that the site had been previously occupied by a sawmill is too obvious to be a cause for discussion.
In the said deed of conveyance, Benjamin Brooks, Sr., is described as living in Townsend, Mass. As a matter of fact, his house at that time was located on the west side of the highway leading from South Brook- line (then Paddledock) to Townsend hill. It stood a few rods south of the State line. Its site at the present time is occupied by the dwelling house of George Kendall.
Benjamin Brooks, Jr., at the time of said conveyance, was living in Raby; his log cabin being located in Paddledock, now South Brookline, on the west side of the highway leading from Brookline to Townsend, Mass., and a few rods north of the bridge over the Wallace brook. Its site at the present time is occupied by the dwelling house of Frank Farrar. He continued to live in the log cabin until 1810. In the latter year he built on the east side of said highway and a few rods north of his cabin the framed house afterwards known as the Luther Rockwood place, into which he removed, and where he continued to reside until his death.
In this connection it may be of interest to mention some others of the dwelling houses which were standing in the vicinity of this mill at the date of its being built, or shortly after. Among them was the brick house now standing, on the east side of the highway to Townsend a few rods south of the bridge over the Nissitisset river; which was built about the year 1795 by Benjamin S. Tucker, a son of Swallow Tucker, and father of the late James N. and Joseph C. Tucker. At the present time this house is owned and occupied as his home by David S. Fessenden. Save for the brick, or Tucker house, and the Brook's log cabin already mentioned, there were no dwelling houses on this highway between the bridge over the Nissitisset and that over the Wallace brook.
Immediately south of the Wallace brook bridge a lane led out of the highway on its east side and ran in an easterly direction for a short dis- tance; at the end of which, tradition says, there was a log cabin which at one time was occupied by Samuel Douglass, Sr. Tradition says fur- ther that sometime in the remote past a tannery for curing sheep skins
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was located near this house; but the tradition fails to give the name of its owner and operator. The house was afterwards for many years the home of Nathaniel Shattuck, Esquire. Coming back to the Wallace brook bridge, and passing southerly along the Townsend highway, the next house to be encountered was that of Samuel Douglass, Jr. It was located on the west side of the road a short distance south of the mill. The origi- nal house is standing at the present time. In the fifties it was owned and occupied as his home by the late Levi Rockwood. About one-fourth of a mile south of the Samuel Douglass, Jr., house and on the same side of the highway was located the house of Jonas Smith, by whom it is said to have been built. In the sixties this house was owned and occupied by the late Thomas V. Wright. At the present time it is owned and occupied by Stephen Barnaby .- But to return to the Brooks sawmill.
Jan. 13, 1813, Benjamin Brooks sold the mill to William S. Crosby.
For a period of thirty-one years from the date of the Brooks deed to Crosby, or until 1844, the mill was owned and occupied at different times by no less than seven different individuals or firms. Among these differ- ent owners was Reuben Baldwin, in whom the title was vested three different times; viz., in 1826, in 1829, and from 1834 to 1836.
During the last term of Mr. Baldwin's ownership the plant was run in connection with a gristmill. Whether this gristmill was installed in the sawmill building by Mr. Baldwin, or whether it was installed before his purchase of the same, the writer has been unable to ascertain. Neither has he been able to ascertain definitely how long after 1836 the gristmill continued to be operated.
During the last term of Mr. Baldwin's ownership of the mill, he built the dwelling house located on the west side of the highway south of and adjacent to the Levi Rockwood millhouse; it being the house of which the late Andrew Rockwood was afterward the owner, and in which he was living at the date of his decease, March 1, 1889.
Oct. 1, 1836, Reuben Baldwin sold the plant to Franklin McDonald, who operated it until 1844, when he sold out to Levi and Milo J. Rock- wood. Up to this time the mill had been equipped with only the old- fashioned "up and down" board saw. But soon after taking possession, the Rockwoods added to its facilities for doing business by putting in a stave and also a head saw. March 6, 1846, Levi Rockwood sold his inter- est in the mill to his partner, Milo J. Rockwood, who thus became the sole owner.
Nov. 15, 1847, while the plant was still in his possession, Milo J. Rockwood was killed in the mill by falling onto a circular saw. After
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Milo J. Rockwood's death the mill passed into the hands of his father, Luther Rockwood, who operated it until May 11, 1851, when he sold to his son, Levi Rockwood.
In the month of December, 1852, during Levi Rockwood's owner- ship, the mill was totally destroyed by fire. The following year Mr. Rockwood erected upon its site a new sawmill and equipped the same with new and modern machinery; including, in addition to the stave and head saws, a shingle mill, and continued to operate the plant until his death, which occurred in the millhouse, Nov. 7, 1863.
Levi Rockwood's death, because of the circumstances under which it occurred, was one of the saddest events of the history of the town, and was the cause of universal regret and sorrow upon the part of its citizens, by whom he was held in the highest respect and esteem. He died of diphtheria which in that year was epidemic in Townsend, Mass .- where its victims numbered over sixty souls-and from whence it was trans- mitted to and became epidemic in South Brookline. At the same time with Mr. Rockwood's death occurred the deaths of three of his children, and also the death of Ann M. Rockwood, a daughter of his brother, Andrew Rockwood.
After Levi Rockwood's death, his wife, Cynthia T. Rockwood, as administratrix of his estate, on the 27th day of Aug., 1864, sold and con- veyed the mill property to Benjamin Shattuck. Mr. Shattuck operated the plant for about one year, and then sold it to David S. Fessenden. Mr. Fessenden operated the mill until December, 1874, when he sold it to William B. West. In 1876 Mr. West sold the plant to Martha R. Patten, and in the same year Mrs. Patten sold and conveyed the same to Susan H. Pratt.
In 1883, Walter Fessenden of Townsend, Mass., as the result of the foreclosure of a mortgage which he held on the premises, became the owner of the mill. Prior to this, however, on the 18th day of Feb., 1881, the mill was again destroyed by fire, and was rebuilt the same year by David S. Fessenden.
Feb. 20, 1883, Walter Fessenden sold the mill property to Charles A. Stickney, then of Milford, by whom it has ever since been, and now is, owned.
June 23, 1884, the mill was again destroyed by fire. It was imme- diately rebuilt by Mr. Stickney. Oct. 6, 1888, the mill was again, and for the fourth time within a period of thirty-six years, burned down. It was rebuilt the same year by Mr. Stickney. In 1898 Mr. Stickney equipped the mill with a steam plant, in addition to its water power.
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At the same time he substituted a steel penstock for the ancient channels through which the water had hitherto passed from the reservoir to the mill.
At the present time (1914) this mill is standing and is in good con- dition.
The James Campbell Sawmill.
This mill was built at least as early as 1768. At that time its site was within the limits of the Mile Slip where Campbell was an early settler. It was located about three miles northwest of the present village Main street on the north side of the highway to Mason, and on the north side of Campbell's brook, at the point where the brook crosses the highway. The mill is one of the earliest to be mentioned in the town's official records where, in 1783, there is recorded a vote-"To give Capt. Campbell twelve days work of men and four days work of oxen to build a bridge at his mill dam."
Captain Campbell owned and operated the mill until the year 1796, possibly longer. To whom he finally sold it is unknown. But the next owner, of record, after him was Abel Foster, who operated it during the forties. Mr. Foster was succeeded in the ownership of the mill by Wil- liam Gilson; who, in his turn, was succeeded both as owner and operator, by Amos A. Gould. Oct. 5, 1870, Mr. Gould sold and conveyed the mill to J. Alonzo Hall, by whom it was owned and operated from the date of his purchase until his death, which occurred in November, 1899.
Nov. 15, 1899, the heirs of J. Alonzo Hall sold the mill and the ad- jacent land at public auction to Franklin Worcester of Hollis. Mr. Worcester operated the plant until Dec. 17, 1903, at which date he sold it to the Fresh Pond Ice Company, in whose name the title to the plant at the present time stands. The mill building was torn down, under the direction of the Ice Company, by James Segee, in 1903-04. Its mate- rials were used by Mr. Segee in the construction of his dwelling house on the highway west of Clarence R. Russell's house. At the present time (1914) the old mill-dam is still standing, but in a very dilapidated condition.
Of the cabins of the early settlers who, at the time, or soon after, this mill was built, were living in its vicinity, that of Capt. SamuelRussell was located about one-fourth of a mile southwest of the mill on the east side of the road leading out of the west side of the Mason highway at a point just south of the mill pond and passing to Townsend, Mass. Its site at the present time is occupied by the dwelling house of his great
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grandson, Clarence R. Russell. On the east side of the same road, and immediately south of the Samuel Russell cabin, was located the cabin of his brother, George Russell; south of which and on the same side of the road was the cabin of George Woodward; who settled here in 1772, coming from Mason, and whose name appears on Brookline's recorded list of the names of its soldiers in the War of the Revolution. Still fur- ther south, and adjoining the Woodward farm, stood the cabin of Simeon Blanchard, originally of Hollis, who settled here about the same time as did Woodward. With the exception of the cabin of Captain Russell, the sites of all these cabins are unknown at the present time. But the prob- abilities are very strongly in favor of the presumption that their sites are now occupied by the dwelling houses located on this road which in 1855 and later were owned and occupied by Elnathan Russell, Jonas Kendall and James French, respectively; all of which are located within the original limits of the Mile Slip.
The Benjamin Shattuck, Sr., Sawmill.
The first sawmill to be erected on the North Stream was built by Benjamin Shattuck, Sr., soon after his settling in this town, in the latter part of the sixties of 1700, coming here from Groton, Mass. The mill was located about three miles north of the present village Main street on the west bank of the stream at the point where it crosses the highway leading from this town to Greenville. Its site, however, was consider- ably higher up the stream than was the site upon which at least two of the sawmills which succeeded it were built.
The mill is said to have been a very crude affair; a mere shanty formed of upright poles supporting cross pieces, upon which were laid coverings of rough plank, which afforded but little protection to the mill machinery and still less to the men who operated it. In a very few years after the mill was built it was destroyed by fire, and a new mill was built upon its site. This second mill was also probably built by Benjamin Shattuck, Sr., although it is possible that it was built by his son, Ben- jamin, Jr. The date of its construction was not far from 1775. In ad- dition to the up and down board saw used in the first mill, the new mill was equipped with machinery for sawing shingles; it being, probably, the first mill of that description to be set up in this town. The mill remained in use until about 1780; when, having become out of repair to the extent that it was practically useless, it was torn down.
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The third sawmill to be erected on the stream at this point was built in 1783 by Benjamin Shattuck, Jr., who at the same time constructed a new dam. The sites of the mill and dam were located further down the stream than had been those of the two prior mills and dam; their loca- tion having been just south of the highway to Greenville, at the point at which it then crossed the stream; which was considerably higher up the stream than is the point at which, at the present time, it is crossed by the same highway. As a matter of fact, this third mill and dam were built just above the point where the stream at the present time crosses the Greenville highway; which, at this point, was relocated and recon- structed that same year by Mr. Shattuck.
In this third sawmill was gotten out the lumber used in the con- struction of the dwelling house of Benjamin Shattuck, Jr .; or, as it was known in latter years, the Alpheus Shattuck house; which was built in 1783. The mill lasted until well into the nineteenth century, but was finally torn down.
The fourth mill to be erected on the north stream at this point was built by Alpheus Shattuck, a son of Benjamin Shattuck, Jr., about 1825. It was located on the site of the third mill. Like its predecessors, it was fitted up as a sawmill and a shingle mill. In the latter part of the fifties, or forepart of the sixties, this mill's machinery was increased by the addi- tion of a saw for cutting out barrel staves and heads and, also, a planing machine.
Alpheus Shattuck continued to own and operate this mill until 1862. December 5th of the latter year he sold the mill plant, together with the entire area of four hundred acres comprised in the original farm of Ben- jamin Shattuck, Sr., to James H. Hall; and, shortly after the sale, re- moved with his family into the "Old Yellow House" in the village, where he resided until his decease in 1886.
The Alpheus Shattuck Shingle Mill.
At some period during the existence of the fourth of the Shattuck sawmills, Alpheus Shattuck increased the efficiency of the plant by the addition thereto of a new shingle mill; the machinery for which was installed in a building erected for the purpose by Mr. Shattuck, and lo- cated just south of the highway bridge and on the east bank of the stream, and but a few rods distant from the sawmill; from which it derived its motive power by means of an endless rope connecting the machinery of the two mills. This mill was unique in that it performed its work by
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the use of knives, instead of saws; the shingles being cut from blocks of wood which had been prepared for the purpose by being steamed. Tra- dition says that the knives proved to be a poor substitute for saws, and that their use was soon discontinued.
The building remained in position until as late as 1869; when, in the great freshet which occurred in the fall of that year, it was swept from its foundations, and its timbers were torn apart and carried down stream to the meadows below, where some of them are to be seen at the present time.
As has been previously stated, on the 5th day of December, 1862, Alpheus Shattuck sold his farm, including the sawmill and privileges con- nected with it, to James Harvey Hall. Mr. Hall took immediate pos- session of the premises, and continued to operate the sawmill until his death, which occurred Aug. 11, 1874. During this period, on the 18th day of Dec., 1873, George W. Peabody, a son-in-law of Mr. Hall, and a young man of the highest character, was accidentally killed in the mill, of which, at the time of his decease, he was in charge as foreman. Jan. 31, 1881, Charles Burgess, an employee in the mill, was also accidentally killed within its walls.
For a few years succeeding Mr. Hall's death the mill was operated by his heirs. Feb. 13, 1890, the Hall heirs sold the mill to William H. Hall, a nephew of James H. Hall. This sale included the mill property only. William H. Hall operated the mill until May 10, 1897; at which date he conveyed it back to the James H. Hall heirs, by whom, on the 18th day of Jan., 1897, its site was sold and conveyed to Walter F. Rock- wood; by whom it was subsequently sold to the Fresh Pond Ice Co., in whose name it stands at the present time (1914). Prior to Mr. Rock- wood's purchase of the site, however, the mill building was destroyed by fire. It has never been rebuilt.
The mill property of Benjamin Shattuck, Sr., as well as his farm of more than four hundred acres, remained in the ownership and possession of his descendants from 1766-67 to 1862; a period of nearly one hun- dred years. During this time the Shattuck sawmills were always the centres of the social, as well as of the business activities in the northern part of the township. The Shattuck dwelling house, or "mill-house," as it was locally known, both in the days of its builder, Benjamin Shattuck, Jr., and later, when it was the home of his son, Alpheus, was famed for the hospitality of its proprietors. Its doors were open at all times to welcome the coming or speed the parting guest; and whoever entered them as a friend of the host or hostess never passed out of them without
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feeling that the cordial invitation to-"come again"-was as sincere as it was hearty. There are yet living in this town-and for that matter, in all of the towns of this vicinity-citizens who recall with pleasure tlie years between 1840 and 1860, when the Alpheus Shattuck place was one of the principal centres of the town's social attractions. To be present at any social function transpiring there, whether it was a husking-bee, a barn dance, or a turkey dinner, was the nearest approach to perfect earthly happiness of which the townspeople had any conception. The house was destroyed by fire April 30, 1896.
In this connection it may be interesting to mention some others of the dwelling houses which during the years of the existence of the Shattuck sawmills were located in their vicinity.
About one-half mile northwest of the old Shattuck house, on the west side of the highway to Greenville, in the days of Benjamin Shattuck, Sr., was located the log cabin of Moses Shattuck, a nephew of Benjamin, Sr. The log cabin was torn down early in the nineteenth century; and in 1808 Mr. Shattuck erected, a little to the east of its site, and nearer to the highway, the framed dwelling house in which he resided until his decease, in the latter part of the sixties. It was in this latter house, in the latter part of the sixties, that the six children of his son, Asa Shat- tuck-each of whom died of consumption after reaching maturity-were born. In this house, also, after Moses Shattuck's death, Henry K. Kemp resided for many years, or until 1872; in which year he purchased the Alonzo Bailey house in the village, into which soon after his purchase he moved and where he resided until his decease. For several years after the death of Moses Shattuck, the house was occupied by Mrs. A. A. Bucknam and her son, Wilton Bucknam, who came here from Stone- ham, Mass. In 1874 the house became the property of Jeremiah Bald- win who tore it down and used its timbers in building a new house for himself in the village. The dwelling house which at the present time (1914) is standing on the site of the Moses Shattuck house was formerly the schoolhouse of school district number 8, in Milford. It was pur- chased from the town of Milford and removed into its present position by Fred Farnsworth.
A few rods north of the Moses Shattuck place on a lane leading out of the highway, on its west side, at the present time is located a cel- lar hole upon which once stood a dwelling house which in the early six- ties was the home of Jeremiah Harwood, a descendant of a family of that name which settled in this town at an early date, coming here from
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old Dunstable, where the Harwoods were among its early and most re- spectable settlers.
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