History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 106

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124

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Conway Freewill Baptist Church, organized in 1826, by Benjamin Manson, with a membership of twenty-nine, was called the Eaton and Conway church in 1832, when fourteen united with it. In 1834 the membership was eighty- four. A division was made this year, and the Convay church had thirty-six members. In 1838 twelve united, and twenty-two became members in 1842, making the number sixty-five. From this time, with brief intervals of improve- ment (fourteen were added in 1851), the church dwindled, and three years later, when Deacon Hazelton asked the Quarterly Meeting " to do something for Conway," it was declared no longer a church, and a new one organized, with seven members pledged to be faithful. This was received into the Sand- wich Quarterly Meeting in 1855. In 1858 and 1859 thirty-two were received

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as members, twenty-four by baptism. But this was the last period of bloom ; it faded away and ceased to exist in 1868, forty-two years from the first formation.

Methodism in Conway. - A few meagre facts are all that we can gather of early Methodism here. In 1802 Rev. Asa Heath, in charge of Falmouth (Port- land) circuit, visited Conway, which appears to have been part of the territory of that circuit. In 1806 Rev. Lewis Bates preached here, and Ebenezer Newell and Hezekiah Field made occasional visits. This section then was part of the extensive Tuftonborough circuit. A class was formed here about this time. In June, 1807, Conway circuit was formed, with Rev. William Huntress preacher in charge. It belonged to "Portland District," and embraced Conway, Bartlett, Chatham, Brownfield, Denmark, Lovell, Hiram, and Bald- win. Mr Huntress regulated the society, received several persons into full connection, and formed classes in Bartlett and other places. A quarterly meeting was held in Conway, July 29, 1807. In 1829 Conway was included in Fryeburg circuit, D. Copeland preacher in charge. In 1856 Fryeburg was again connected with Bartlett and Conway. Later Bartlett circuit embraced Conway territory. (See Bartlett Methodist Church.)

During the Civil War a dissension on account of the high political feelings of the times arose in the Congregational church, and many fell off from support and attendance. At the close of the war some who had formerly attended Congregational services at Conway Village decided to form another religious body. Their feelings will be best shown by extracts from the " His- torieal Record " of the society.

In 1865 a deep religious feeling existed in every section of the town, as yet unspoken, and an anxious waiting one for another to give utterance to the hitherto stifled voice of the people. At last a movement was made in Conway Village, the outgrowth of which was the present Methodist society. For nearly a century the Congregationalists held this point. Methodism had made several unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold in years past. Now the people seemed to desire a change for something that had more spiritual life and energy. At length (January 1, 1866) a subscription was circulated covering these points: that the subscribers felt it their duty to support religious meetings and to have a settled minister among them whose moral influence and interest in our behalf will be promotive of good results, and payment of a sum by each to pay for a minister, who should preach every Sabbath for a year from the first of March, and "settle with us" for one year. These subscribers were : Daniel E. Pendexter, Levi C. Quint, Joseph G. Cobb, Edwin Pease, Nathaniel Quint, Nathaniel Faxon, Benjamin Bean, William K. Bean, Jolm Thompson, Samuel Deering, Charles W. Heath, Mark Annis. George A. Heath, Leroy S. Merrill, Hasket D. Eastman, Bennet P. Strout, Jonathan F. Chase, Amos C. Towle, Hiram C. Abbott, David Watson, William K. Eastman, John K. Abbott, James Willey, Leander S. Morton, Dean Carby, Charles A. L. Hill, Mrs E. S. Taylor, Dr J. R. Thompson. John Head, Jr, Daniel B. Merrill, Amos A. Merrill, Charles A. Brotton, C. W. Wilder, Samuel S. Burbank, George W. Bean, Jacob H. Berry, Levi Runnells, George H. Eastman, Otis Buekman, Simon Parker, Conway Sewing Society, $100. There were forty-one subscribers, whose subscriptions amounted to $155. This being considered financial support sufficient to warrant the calling of a meeting to choose a

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committee empowered to engage a minister, one was called, and Daniel E. Pendexter, Nathaniel Faxon, Nathaniel Quint, Bennet P. Strout, and Benjamin Bean were chosen. The meeting voted "that the committee be not instructed in relation to the denomination or religious persuasion of the minister whose services they may engage." The committee corresponded with Rev. Isaae S. Cushman, principal of Mechanic Falls (Maine) Academy. He had been a member of the New England Methodist Episcopal Church, and had but recently returned from the seat of war, where he had been commissioned both as chaplain and surgeon. HIe preached one Sabbath in February, and the committee was anthorized to offer him "a salary of $400, his house rent, and expense of moving his goods." At the meetings the question of denomination had been one of open conversation, and as it was understood that as the existing Congregational society would hold their meetings, as usual, on Sabbath after- noons, it could not be expected that another Congregational church could thrive, and the minds of the promoters of the new organization, as expressed, seemed to favor placing it under Methodist auspices. Accordingly, after Mr Cushman had entered upon his duties, he attended the Maine Annual Conference, was transferred from his former conference to this, and assigned to the Conway charge - the conference adding to and paying seventy-five dollars of his salary. At a quarterly meeting in the summer an attempt was made to organize a society according to Methodist usages, but not enough male " professors " were present to perfect one. The next winter a church was formed, regular weekly prayer- meetings were held, class-meetings met regularly, and a continual "dropping in" to the fold was the result. The church was organized upon such general principles as all evangelical denominations endorse, but with the understanding that all additions were to be received in the Methodist manner as Methodists. During a part of the first year meetings were held twice on Sunday, and the other part, three times. Mr Cushman held meetings at Conway Centre and other points adjacent to the village.

Rev. George W. Barber succeeded Mr Cushman as pastor of the Bartlett and Conway charge in 1868. In 1870 the circuit consisted of Conway, Conway Centre, North Conway, and Bartlett, under Rev. Mr Strout. The next year he was in charge of North Conway and Bartlett, and Rev. Joseph Hawkes was preacher in charge of Conway and Centre Conway in 1871 and 1872. Rev. Mr Turkington was in charge of the latter circuit in 1873, Charles W. Bradlee, 1874; H. B. Mitchell, 1875 and 1876; Frank W. Smith, 1877; John Collins (a firebrand of distraction), 1878 and 1879; Daniel Waterhouse, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883; J. M. Woodbury, 1885, 1886, 1887; J. H. Roberts, 1888 and 1889.

There are now three classes: No. 1, Conway, Daniel E. Pendexter, leader ; No. 2, Centre Conway, Phrendius Potter, leader ; No. 3, South Conway, Ben- jamin Perkins, leader. Centre Conway has a new and convenient " Union " chapel where meetings are held, and South Conway has had a convenient church for some years.

North Conway appears still connected with Bartlett in 1874, Rev. H. A. Patterson being pastor in that year and 1875. O. M. Cousins was here in 1876 and 1877, when Frank W. Smith (1878) came for three years. Hitherto the meetings of the Methodists had been held in the academy, Masonic Hall, and in the Baptist meeting-house. Things now demanded different accommoda- tions, but finances did not seem to encourage any building operations. In 1882

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

David Pratt, an energetic man, never weary in well-doing, was made pastor. He went into the woods and hewed the timber for the church, and the present fine house of worship was commenced. This was completed and dedicated September 25, 1885, "free from debt." It is finely located, and very satisfac- tory as a church edifice. Mr Pratt was succeeded by Ezra Tinker; he by P. Chandler, and he by the present pastor, Rev. M. E. King. North Conway and Intervale were made a separate circuit in 1889. There are now ninety-six members, in three classes : North Conway, Rev. Augustus Bowie, leader; Kearsarge, Reuben Eastman, leader; Intervale, Rev. Jonathan Gale, leader. North Conway Sunday-school has 105 members, Rev. M. E. King, super- intendent. Kearsarge Sunday-school has 40 members, Rev. Mr King, super- intendent.

Episcopal Church.1- The colonial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, tried to provide for the support of the church in North Conway, as in the other towns laid out under his rule, by allotments of land for glebe, and for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Christ Church probably now stands on a portion of one of these lots. The first services in North Conway were held by clergymen who came as tourists when the place had become a summer resort. Among the earliest were those held by two laymen, Messrs Locke and Hilliard, in the Baptist meeting-house. They are now both clergymen, and Mr Hilliard became afterwards rector of the parish. The parish was organized, and a vestry elected August 9, 1867. Christ Church building, when fully completed, was consecrated by the Right Reverend William Woodruff Niles, bishop of the diocese, on the sixth of July, 1876, during the rectorship of Rev. Henry A. Parker. During the rectorship of the Rev. Samuel H. Hilliard, and by his efforts, Grace Chapel (Kearsarge village) was begun, and was consecrated on the same day as Christ Church. Services are held during the summer. Rev. Mr Greer is the clergyman in charge. The church is almost entirely supported by the offerings of the congregations. The hours of service are: Christ Church : Sundays, 10.30 A.M., with celebra- tion of the holy communion. Wednesdays and Fridays, morning prayer, 9.30. Grace Chapel : Sundays, 3.30 P.M.

1 Contributed.

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CHAPTER LXXV.

Industrial Development - Mills, Tanneries, and Stores in 1832- Largest Tax-payers in 1832 - Chaises in 1832 - Conway in 1858 and 1872 - Farms, etc. - Conway Village in 1879 - Conway Savings Bank - Sturtevant's Peg-wood Mill - Kennett's Spool Factory - Conway House - Pequawket House -Other Business Interests -North Conway - Scenery - Libraries - North Conway Water-works, etc. - Railroad Stations - Hotels - Kearsarge House - North Conway House - Sunset Pavilion - Bellevue House - Eastman House - Artists' Falls House - McMillan House - Randall House - Moat Mountain House - Past and Present Business Men and Interests - The Intervale - Intervale House, etc. - Kearsarge Village - Merrill House - The Orient - The Ridge - Redstone - Centre Conway - Cotton's Manufactory - Centre House, etc. - South Conway - Green Hills-Conway Street - East Conway.

T THE industrial development was of slow growth. Apart from the small saw and grist mills, and the attempt at iron manufacture mentioned else- where, and a few small carding and fulling mills to satisfy the needs of the community, the early settlers, and the inhabitants of a later date, did nothing in this direction. In 1832 Tobias Hanson had a grist and saw mill ; Colonel John Hill, a saw and grist mill ; Jeremiah L. Eastman, one gristmill ; Thomas Merrill, two mills; Jonathan T. Chase, a carding and fulling mill ; Jacob E. Chase, a clothing-mill ; William K. Eastman, a tannery and store ; David Webster, Luther Whitaker, and Calvin Whitaker, each a tannery ; Richard Odell, Daniel Eastman, and Charles S. Whitaker, each "kept store," while Joseph Burbank, Stephen Eastman, John Kelly, William Mason, Seth Willey, and Eliphalet Cloutman had " shops," that is, were mechanics.

Largest Tax-payers, 1832. - Gilbert McMillan, has 2 houses, 4 barns, etc., $1,300; 90 acres improved interval, $1,800; 60 acres second quality, $400; 4 acres improved plains, $28; 300 acres wood and timber land, $1,500; 40 woodland, $60; on which he is taxed, $26.56. He is also taxed on personal property, $3.63. Richard Odell inventoried with 4 houses, 3 barns, 1 store, etc., $2,500; other real estate, $2,753 ; personal property, including $1,000 bank stock and $8,000 money at interest, $9,322; paid $65.36 taxes. General Samuel Stark, on real estate amounting to $3,448 and personal property, taxed $23.48. Samuel Sparhawk, on real estate, $2,620; money at interest, $3,300, etc. ; taxed $30.97. T. S. & N. Abbott, 3 houses, one store, and other real estate inventoried at $5,294; $600 stock in trade, etc. ; taxed $33.50. Colonel John Hill, taxed $21.02 on mills valued $1,600 ; other realty, $2,050; personal property, $294. David Webster paid taxes on real estate, $200, tanner's stock, etc., $24.60. Jonathan T. Chase, taxed $20.87 on real estate, valued $2,540 ; $500 money at interest ; $400 stock in trade, etc. Solomon Densmore's taxes amounted to $18.25.

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Chaises in 1832. - The inventory shows twelve chaises owned by Colonel Gilbert McMillan, Richard Odell, General Samuel Stark, T. S. & N. Abbott, Jonathan T. Chase, Colonel John Hill, Solomon Densmore, Elijah Farrington, Jeremiah Farrington, Jonah Hamilton, James Osgood, Jesse Page.

Thirty-one years ago (1858) the town contained four church edifices, two Congregational, one Baptist, one Union; twenty school districts, an academy and a seminary, three postoffices - Conway, North Conway, Conway Centre ; thirteen stores, two carriage factories, two flouring-mills, three gristmills, one paper-mill, one large tannery, and several mills for the manufacture of lumber, clapboards, and shingles. The valuation was $126,468.

In 1872, the committee of the Portland and Ogdensburgh railroad reported concerning Conway : -

Several thousand acres are outspread in beautiful intervales, which extend the whole length of the town along the course of the Saco river and the line of the railroad. Pota- toes, dried apples, beans, etc., are shipped. There are four water-powers, part improved. " Odell's Falls " on the Saco, at Conway Centre, have twelve feet fall, rocky bottom and banks, and ample power for large improvements. The power on the outlet of Walker's pond is one of the best in all the region, reservoir nine by one-third miles, good site half a mile from rail, with thousands of cords of poplar for pulp, excelsior, etc., in the vicinity. 20,000,000 feet of pine are standing in the town, hard and soft woods, with spruce and hemlock. Annual sales of manufacture, $60,000; merchandise, $150,000.

Conway has some of the finest farms of the state, the rich Conway intervales being not only beautiful, but extremely productive. Among the representative farmers on the west side of the Saco are George P. Stilphen, George W. Bean, Nathaniel Faxon, Haven A. Quint, Amos Merrill, Sumner C. Hill. Joel E. Morrill on the Eastman farm has perhaps the best farm in town, while Joseph P. Pitman at the Centre has a very fine one. Near Fryeburg we find John W. Thom on the west side of the Saco, then Charles Page, Edmund Kelly, Joshua Shirley, Bradley B. Woodward. The Willey, or Bigelow, farm at North Conway is a well-known and exceedingly valuable place. Under the management of J. L. Binford it is a model farm. James C. Willey, Thomas C. Eastman, Henry Emerson, and William M. Wyman (on Mrs S. D. Pendexter's farm) are among the best farmers in the vicinity of North Conway village.

Among other valuable possessions of Conway we would mention the granite quarries on both sides of the Saco, and the various mineral springs, of which the White Mountain Mineral Spring, at the foot of Pine hill, is most noted.

There are six villages : Conway, North Conway, Conway Centre, Kearsarge village, Intervale, and Redstone.

CONWAY, near the southwest corner of the town, is the oldest village, and has an air of neatness, thrift, and staid respectability. It has a lovely situa-

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tion in a great bend of the Saco near its confluence with the Swift, and is a most charming place. Pequawket stream furnishes a valuable water-power, on which are grist, saw, and other mills, carriage works, etc., and is capable of great improvement. Besides this stream, Odell's Falls on the Saco has magnificent water-power. No place in New England has finer scenery. Away over the broad intervales of the winding Saco rise the massive mountains, Mt Washington's towering form surpassing all. No picture painted by the hand of man is one tithe as lovely. Chocorua and Mote mountains look like twin-brothers in their impending sternness. There are two religious societies, two hotels, - Conway House and Pequawket House, -the largest mercantile house in the county, several stores, the only factory in the world making the ribbon shoe-peg, the largest thread-spool factory in the United States, a savings bank, two lawyers, three physicians, and minor industries. A large iron bridge crosses Pequawket stream where it flows through the village.

" Until about 1812 this village consisted of a saw and grist mill, Abbott's one-story tavern, and one or. two houses more." Then it began to grow, and the name Chateaugay was applied to it in sport. It clung to it for many years. It was afterward known as Conway Corner and Conway west village. A Captain Pratt was here in extensive business as an iron manufacturer in the first and second decade of this century. He had a trip-hammer, and employed several men in making nails, axes, scythes, and other kindred arti- cles. The trip-hammer was run by water, and the power was furnished by Pequawket brook. Colonel Eliphalet Cloutman succeeded to the establish- ment, but the changed conditions of commerce brought the manufacturing to an end and changed the business to ordinary blacksmithing.

CONWAY VILLAGE IN 1879. - A local writer says : -

The leading industry is B. F. Sturtevant's peg-mill, which pays out $3,500 a month, and supports many families. The savings bank is a solid and well-conducted monetary institu- tion, worthy of the confidence bestowed upon it. If all such corporations had such careful, attentive, and sagacious officers as this bank possesses in its treasurer, C. W. Wilder, Esq., it would be better for the world at large. L. S. Merrill manufactures straw-board, spool- wood, and carriages. J. H. Berry manufactures staves, box and stave shook. The box-shook are for the use of the peg factory and are made of poplar. William H. Allen manufactures spruce lumber, boxes, finish, etc. The Pequawket river furnishes the power for these. The village has a saddle-and-harness maker, a marble worker, three blacksmiths, two shoe- makers, and a carriage manufactory. About two miles northeast of the village is a steam- mill, owned by Mr Sanborn, of Wakefield, which produces spool-timber and oak shook. Barnes & Drown manufacture staves and spool-stock at Allen's Crossing, about a mile away. These various manufactories not only afford employment to many hands, but also a ready market for much lumber that would otherwise be of little value to the owners. There are three hotels at Conway Corner. The Conway House is owned and occupied by L. H. Eastman, Esq .. formerly sheriff of the county. North of the Conway House is the Grove House, owned and occupied by Edwin Pease, Esq., and near the depot is the Pequawket House, kept by D. E. Pendexter, Esq. There are five well-filled stores at this place, all of which are doing a prosperous business, if one may judge from the large and varied display of

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goods. There is a remarkable degree of quiet neatness about most of the village residences, not always found, especially in villages where the people are so largely devoted to manu- facturing pursuits. Outside of the hotels but little attention is given to the entertainment of summer visitors. There are at this place two prosperous religious societies, Methodist and Congregationalist, both worshiping in the same church, an example of toleration and harmony.

BUSINESS INTERESTS AND MEN. Conway Savings Bank. - This corpora- tion was chartered by the legislature in 1869, with these members : Conway, Leander S. Morton, S. B. Shaekford, Hiram C. Abbott, L. H. Eastman, William H. Allen, Bennet P. Strout, Albert Merrill, H. D. Eastman, C. W. Wilder, Nathaniel Faxon, Samuel Dearing, Samuel Hayes, Charles B. Shackford, George P. Stilphen. North Conway, Andrew Dinsmoor, William C. Eastman, Tobias A. Hanson, John McMillan, Timothy Wolcott, Nathaniel R. Mason, S. W. Thompson, James C. Willey, James T. Randall, Isaac E. Merrill, Albert Barnes, Levi Wheeler, Isaac M. Chase. Conway Centre, Joel Eastman, James Thom, Robert Boothy, Ansel Page, Robert Wiley, Samuel Hazelton, Stephen M. Davis. Bartlett, G. W. M. Pitman, S. P. Meserve, Cyrus A. Tasker. Madison, James J. Burk, Josiah H. Hobbs, William Mason. Eaton, Ira Atkinson, Edwin Snow, Robert Robertson. Jackson, George P. Meserve, N. T. Stillings, J. B. Trickey, John Hodge.

The charter was made a perpetual one, and the bank was organized in the spring of 1870, with Leander S. Morton, president; Samuel B. Shackford, vice- president; Hiram C. Abbott, treasurer; Leavitt H. Eastman, assistant treas- urer. The trustees were : L. S. Morton, S. B. Shackford, Hiram C. Abbott, L. H. Eastman, Isaac E. Merrill, Nathaniel R. Mason, John McMillan, Albert Merrill, C. W. Wilder, William H. Allen, James J. Burk, Samuel Hayes. The first deposit was made May 2, 1870, by Herbert L. Cobb. The bank was first located in the Conway House, but in 1872 was removed to its present location on the corner, diagonally across the street from the Conway House. Mr Morton was succeeded as president in turn by Samuel B. Shackford, Leavitt H. Eastman, Hiram C. Abbott, John C. L. Wood, and Benjamin F. Clark, who has held the office since January, 1886. The treasurers from the first have been : Hiram C. Abbott, Leavitt H. Eastman, S. B. Shackford, Sumner C. Hill, and Christopher W. Wilder, who was elected January 1, 1885. Mr Wilder has been connected with the bank from its inception ; as member of the legislature he secured the charter, he drew up the by-laws, was the bank's first auditor, and has been in charge of its treasury the most of the time since 1874.1 The

1 Christopher Walker Willer, son of Elisha and Emily (Pollard) Wilder, was born in Lancaster, Mass., January 7, 1829. From the age of four, he was a member of the family of his mother's sister, Mrs Benjamin R. Page, of Conway. He had the educational advantages of Fryeburg Academy, and when a young man learned carriage-trimming and harness-making at Haverhill, Mass., and in 1850 established a shop at Conway (west village). This he conducted until 1875. Mr Wilder has been much in public life. A Democrat in politics, he was elected county commissioner in 1860, and served three years; he has been selectman of Conway four years consecutively, and representative. In 1871 he became register of probate and held the office five years. From

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treasurer's statement of March, 1889, is : Assets : real estate, $2,989.75; loans on real estate, $38,003.82; on personal names, $19,040.42; on collateral, $10,562.08 ; on western farms, $9,460.00; bonds and debentures, $4,750.00 ; bank fixtures, $225.00; deposits in National Exchange Bank, $4,977.75; eash on hand, $740.37; $90,749.20. Liabilities : due depositors, $81,756.28; on accounts, $4,122.77 ; guaranty fund, $2,214.39; surplus, $2,655.76 ; $90,749.20.

Sturtevant's Pey-wood Mill. - B. F. Sturtevant, of Boston, built a mill for the manufacture of machine peg-wood and veneers, which was completed in June, 1873. This was burned January 6, 1874, and the present one at once commenced, and finished in April of the same year. From that time (April, 1874) it has been in constant operation, employing about fifty operatives. Its power is furnished by an 80-horse-power steam-engine, and it uses annually about eight hundred cords of birch wood. This year, however, it will dispose of fifteen hundred cords. This is one of the most valuable enterprises of the town, as it furnishes steady employment for so many people, and brings much money here. The monthly pay-roll for labor for its more than fifty employés through the winter averages $1,800; for labor and material, from $5,000 to $8,000. Benjamin F. Clark, a native of Townsend, Mass., came here in July, 1874, and succeeded John A. Rowell as superintendent and general manager. The mill is equipped with all modern improvements, fire-pump and hose, and electric lights were introduced in February, 1888. The wood used, birch and poplar, comes from a wide seetion, as far north and west as Jefferson and Whitefield, and as far east as Wilton, Maine. The price paid for birch, deliv- ered, is twelve dollars a cord in winter, and fourteen in summer. This is the first manufactory ever built to produce the ribbon peg, and all the varied machines used in its preparation are the invention of Mr Sturtevant. During the past year, twelve hundred cords of selected white birch have been used. This mill also produces veneers of different kinds ; notably poplar for brush baeks, and rock-maple for pianos. The manufactured product is distributed to the various shoe towns of this country, and a large amount is sent to Montreal and to Germany.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 106

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co. Number of Pages: 1124

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Boston : W.A. Fergusson & Co.
Number of Pages: 1124