History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 45

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

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" The Town Hall in the second story is 70 by 47 feet, and light is furnished from ten large windows. The main entrance is at the westerly end of the building, through the porch in the tower, by large double doors, 9 feet high and 7 feet wide. The porch is 19 feet 6 inches by 19 feet 6 inches ; the floor is paved with face-brick on edge; at the farther side of this porch is a flight of stairs of seven steps leading to the lobby, or entry-way ; at the

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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY.

right of this landing is a ticket office, 7 feet 3 inches by 8 feet. Opposite the ticket office is a serving-room, 11 feet 6 inches by 16 feet, with lavatory. The main hall is reached by four large doors; the auditorium is 47 by 59 feet ; at the east end of the hall is a stage, or platform, 20 feet wide; on the right of the stage is an entry and passageway furnishing a dressing-room 5 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 10 inches ; three steps reach the platform from each side, and at the left is a rear entrance to the stage from the vestibule below. There is a continuation of the reading-room in the second story. The front elevation is very attractive in appearance, with its two towers and handsome dormer-like window in the centre ; in the small tower are three windows, 182 feet high, circle tops; the main tower is the embodiment of beauty and solidity. Above the main entrance is a spacious window opening upon a handsomely ornamented and railed balcony, while in the top is to be placed a large clock with four illuminated faces, having a diameter of 7 feet 6 inches. The east elevation shows a pretty front of 114 feet and has one gable. The interior of the hall has a roof finished after the hammer-beam style. The building is to be heated by steam and lighted by electricity. A commodious and neatly arranged police-station is fitted up beneath the selectmen's office."

PRESENT BUSINESS INTERESTS. - MANUFACTURERS : lumber, John L. Peavey, A. W. Wiggin & Son, Libbey, Varney & Co., Hersey Brothers, Valentine B. Willey ; shoes, J. M. Cropley & Brother, F. W. & I. M. Munroe, Moses T. Cate ; leather, Joseph Varney & Co., George E. Chamberlain : carriages, Charles HI. Gage ; furniture, William B. Hodge, William Deland. TRADERS: general stores, Ira J. Abbott (Mill village), Furber & Clark (Edwin L. Furber, Mayhew Clark), Charles H. Hersey, Samuel N. Hersey, Mason Brothers, Lewando & Mattison (Joseph Lewando), at the Bridge; Lewando & Mattison (William J. Mattison), South Wolfe- borough ; George J. Burke, Willand & Son (Hezekiah and Arthur J.), North Wolfeborough ; William T. Dorr, East Wolfeborough ; dry goods, A. E. Rich- ardson (this is the first store of the kind established in the county) ; millinery and fancy goods, Mrs I. B. Manning, Mrs II. E. Tyler; clothing, Charles F. Piper, Charles S. Chase ; tin, hardware, etc., George F. Horn; varieties, S. F. Hodgkins ; watches, jewelry, etc., Everett S. Albee, Ira J. Abbott; books, sta- tionery, etc., I. B. Manning ; drugs, etc., Dr R. H. King, Charles W. Hicks ; grain, Eleazer D. Barker, Isaac C. Thompson, William C. Thompson ; shoes, Curtis J. Frost, S. A. Edgerly, John Rogers, M. T. Cate; harnesses, J. W. Sleeper, C. F. Symonds; livery, Frank E. Cook, Frank Chase, Levi T. Haley, Frank P. Hobbs & Co., Loring T. Grant & Son (South Wolfeborough). Among the builders are Charles Prindall, Alexander S. McDonald, Jasper II. Warren, Stephen W. Clow, George G. Collier. There are two prac- tising lawyers, William C. Fox and Sewall W. Abbott. Also three insurance agents : W. O. S. Hodgdon, John H. Beacham, Ira Banfield.

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Pen Picture. - For varied picturesque scenery, Wolfeborough is prob- ably unsurpassed. The centre of the principal village is situated in a little valley on the border of a narrow strait that connects two bays. The main street which crosses this stream continues a roadway that leads to New Durham and Tuftonborough, a distance of seven miles. In the compact part of the village this street is lined with shade-trees and well- constructed and well-preserved buildings, while in either a northerly or southerly direction, by a more or less gradual ascent, at no great distance, it reaches broad plateaus where are spread out attractive panoramas of hill and dale, water and wood.

Here are obtained bird's-eye views of the village, the open town, and portions of other towns, while towards the west lies the great "Smile," dotted with its numerous islets and bounded on its farther shore by moun- tains whose peaks give to the horizon line a contour of fantastic beauty. The almost land-locked bay which fronts the village has a comparatively unruffled surface and a safe harbor, even when the boisterous north wind brings frowns to the broad Winnipiseogee, and dashes its foaming waters on unprotected shores. Harmony grove, a little park whose waving pines are a survival of the evergreen foliage which everywhere surrounded the lake in aboriginal days, is a pleasant retreat. May no utilitarian axe ever mar its beauty !

Within the boundaries of Wolfeborough, there are attractive lakes and lake- lets that would be even more noted were it not for their great rival that lies so near them. Not unworthy to be noticed is its "Rust's," with its well-defined oval-shaped border; its " Wentworth," smiling with the reflected rays of the rising and the setting sun; its "Sargeant," whitened with the blooming water-lily ; its "Beech," mingling the glitter of its placid surface with that of its pebbly shore; and, last and least, its little "Batson," hidden behind the mount that bears its name, and shadowed by the forest trees that environ it, a sequestered pool whose sleepy waters are seldom seen by human eye. There are also numerous peaks, from which are extensive views of attractive scenery. In this respect " Trask " rivals all others. From its top are seen the mountains of other counties and of other states, and towering above the rest, stands New Hampshire's chief, Mt Washington, while in the valleys are mirror lakes and ribbon streams shimmering in the sunlight.

Wolfeborough has a diversified but generally fruitful soil, which yields to the farmer fair crops that usually find a ready market; while its woodlands are to their owners a source of welcome income. It has a large amount of water-power, little affected by droughts or freshets. Some of this is not now utilized, while a large portion is employed in turning the humming wheels of busy industry. The facilities for ingress and

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egress are as good as an inland town can possess. There are three routes for steam carriage. Its industries are varied and generally prosperous. Besides farming, cutting and hauling of wood and timber, and the usual mechanical pursuits, it has manufactories of sawed lumber, boxes, leather, shoes, and blankets. To a limited extent it manufactures carriages, har- nesses, tinware, furniture, and brick. Its fisheries are a source of profit and pleasure. Trout, cusk, and pickerel are taken from Lake Winni- piseogee. Black-bass fishing is, however, the most important. These are generally caught in Lake Wentworth. Hundreds of persons visit the town every season to engage in the fascinating pastime of catching bass. Amateurs pronounce this place equal, if not superior, to any other for this kind of sport.

Wolfeborough is an important central point for travel, being the terminus of the Wolfeborough Branch railroad, and the point where the Boston & Maine makes direct connection with its steamers and those of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal railroad. It is thus easy of access to all points of attraction in the lake and mountain region, and is visited yearly by many thousands of health and pleasure seekers. At various hours of the day, during the summer, large passenger steamers leave its wharves for Alton, Centre Harbor, and the Weirs. Smaller steamers and sailing-craft furnish abundant facilities for excursions to the islands and secluded shores, while the sheltered bay with its many rowboats presents an attractive scene of gayety.

The lake shores afford numerous delightful sites for summer cottages that are each year more and more utilized for that purpose. Lake Went- worth also furnishes desirable locations. The drives around Wolfeborough are very inviting. Among the most enjoyable are those along the shore to Tuftonborough, and on to Ossipee Park; that to Copple Crown; to Mt Dick ; the ten-mile square; the five-mile square; to the Wentworth farm.

From its peculiar situation, Wolfeborough village is not seen from many points on the lake shore. It is when the steamer from Alton bay reaches Barndoor island or the one from the upper part of the lake doubles Sewall's point, that the village is seen most advantageously, its centre lying on the water's edge, while its streets, gradually rising on either side, are lined with buildings whose diversified colors harmonize most pleasantly with the green of the numerous shade-trees. The smoke of its mill and factory chimneys indicates its industry, the many-lighted walls of the hotels speak of refreshment and repose for the traveler, its church spires tell that its people are not unmindful of the beneficent Father. The Brewster Free Academy, whose extensive grounds slope to the shore of the lake, and the massive town hall, with its clock-tower pointing skyward, stand most conspicuous of all, monuments of the gen- erous benefactor who has so well remembered his native town.

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TOWN OF WOLFEBOROUGH.

Financial Condition. - The liabilities of the town, March 1, 1889, were : bonded debt, $58,250; accrued interest on bonds, $388.13 : interest due and unpaid on bonds to January 1, 1889, $174; parsonage fund, $1,063; school fund, $4,300; unpaid bills, $250. Assets, $4,662.26; net debt, March 1, 1888, $63,391.34. Net debt, March 1, 1889, $59,763.07. Redue- tion of debt during the year, $3,628.27. The treasurer reports March 1, 1889, receipts of $34,679.06, of which $24,010.26 was from the assessment of 1888; and expenditures of $32,775.72, among which were $3,323.72 for schools ; interest on bonds, $2,463.47; bonds redeemed, $3,100; state tax, $2,820 ; county tax, $5,666.50; fire department, $1,930.

From a report made to the State Department of Agriculture in 1889 Wolfeborough produced during 1888, 20,000 pounds of butter and 1,200 pounds of wool; 36,500 gallons of milk were sold; 200 tons of ensilage made and used; 75 tons of commercial fertilizers used; and $25,000 were received from summer boarders. The valuation of 1889 is. 706 polls, $70,600 ; real estate, $852,622; 467 horses, $26,198; 6 mules, $320; 238 oxen, $9,922; 641 cows, $14,236; 595 other neat stock, $10,398; 5 hogs, $44; 255 sheep, ฿798; 59 carriages, $3,210; stock in public funds, $1,100; stock in banks and other corporations, $55,000; surplus capital of banking institution, $8,900; money on hand and at interest, $23,806; stock in trade, $44,752; machinery, $4,250; total valuation, $1,126,148.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

SAMUEL AVERY, ESQ.1

A HISTORY, and even an historical sketch, of Wolfeborough during the last three quarters of a century that should fail to give some notice of Samnel Avery would, to every one who ever knew the man, be obviously very defective, if not indeed the play of " Hamlet with Hamlet left out." Yet the work of preparing such a biographical notice of him as our full sense of his worth dictates is not without difficulties. His was one of those unassuming and noiseless lives that so touch society at every turn and in every phase, in the interests of virtue, honesty, and good order, as to be a sort of modified ubiquity, always felt and always respected, yet never visible as an embodiment of officious meddling.

So far as the facts have been ascertained, it is safe to say that Samuel Avery descended from an ancestry preeminent for their moral worth. In the early years of Boston and several of the ancient towns in its vicinity there

1 By Rev. Leander Thompson.

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were families bearing the name of Avery which stood high in the esteem of the people, and included, even in the first two or three generations, an unusual number of educated and professional men, clergymen and physicians being especially noted. Among the latter Dr William Avery, who was born in England, 1619, and came to this country in 1650, lived in Boston, and died there in 1686. Some of his descendants early settled in Franklin county, Massachusetts, where have been found many highly respected families of the name.

Another and doubtless a near relative of Dr William was Christopher Avery, who is said by an old writer to have come from Salisbury, in county Hants, England, and was among the first settlers of eastern Massachusetts. In 1646 he was on the board of selectmen in Gloucester, and for several subsequent years remained in that position. In 1658 he removed to Boston, and in 1666 he finally settled in New London, Conn. Among his children born in England was James, born in 1620, who married, November 10, 1643, Joanna Greenslade, of Boston. With a large and highly esteemed family, he also removed to New London, where his descendants have been well known and respected for many years. This James was for some time a representa- tive. He was also a captain, and in King Philip's War was in command of the Pequoit allied force.

Among the sons of James was John, born February 10, 1654, who is believed to be identical with the John who settled in the southeastern part of New Hampshire, and in 1689, when thirty-five years of age, solicited the protection of Massachusetts, which at that time largely controlled the new settlements of the former colony. There can be but little, if any, doubt, indeed it seems to be fairly demonstrable, that this John was the father of John Avery, of Stratham, the grandfather of Samuel Avery, of Wolfeborough. If this be so, the generations may easily be traced as: Samuel 6, Joshua 5, John +, John 3, James 2, Christopher 1.

Of the seven children of John and Bridget Avery, of Stratham, the two youngest, Joshua and Josiah, were twins, born October 23, 1740. Joshua married, November 24, 1768, Hannah Clark, who was born December 18, 1747. They had seven children, of whom the youngest was Samuel, subsequently of Wolfeborough. He was born in Stratham, May 9, 1785. Nothing in his childhood and younger manhood seems to have distinguished his experience and career from the common lot of youth in those days. If, however, as we have reason to believe, "the child was father of the man," he was ever trustworthy, of steady habits, of irreproachable character, and of even and noiseless demeanor. When yet a young man he received a lieutenant's commission in the artillery company of his native town. Marrying, January 13, 1814, Mary Moody Clark, he and his young wife, during the same month, fixed their home and entered upon their lifework in Wolfeborough. Mr

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Avery had lived the previous year with his older brother, Daniel, a prominent business man of Meredith Bridge, now Laconia, and when he started in life as a married man he supposed himself to be the possessor of from four to five hundred dollars. He purchased the real estate on which he passed his subsequent life and on which his oldest son still lives. There were then only a small house of one story and a barn. There were also a store and a cooper's shop, both of which he opened for business. The store being destroyed by fire in March, 1824, he in the course of a year built another in which he or his sons, who succeeded him, continued merchandising till 1865. In connection with his other occupations, he at various times engaged in blacksmithing, shoemaking, harness-making, milling, coopering, and farming. In 1836, with Stephen and Daniel Pickering and Hon. Nathaniel Rogers, he engaged in woolen manufacturing, which they conducted for several years, till the factory was consumed by fire.

The various departments of Mr Avery's business made him emphatically a busy man. This pressing care and his lack of robust health, as well as his personal taste, disinclined him to public official life. Yet in 1819, 1820, 1821, 1830, and in 1831 he held the office of town clerk, and in 1825, 1830, and 1835 he was on the board of selectmen.

Mr Avery took a warm interest in the Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough Academy from the outset of the enterprise. After it was incorporated (Jan- uary 20, 1820) its friends intended to erect a suitable school building by means of a stock company, that should issue two hundred shares at ten dollars each. It was found, however, that only one hundred and fifty of these shares were sold to fifty-three holders, and the enterprise stopped for want of funds. Mr Avery felt so strongly the importance of finishing the building already erected, and had so much faith in its usefulness, that he took forty-three of the remaining shares, thus giving a new impulse and new hopefulness to the work. The building was soon in readiness for occupancy. John P. Cleveland (the late Dr Cleveland) opened the school as its first principal, and it met then and later in its history a degree of success which far exceeded expectation. Many prominent men from Wolfeborough and elsewhere there laid the foundations of their success in various professions. There Henry Wilson began his career in education, finding his home, as many others did, in Mr Avery's family. And when, many years afterward, he visited the place as Vice-President of the United States, it was with deep emotion, and his eyes filled with tears as the old school building and his old home were both in full view, that he said, though in the presence of many friends : " For all I am, I am indebted to Mr Avery. It was through his influence and kindness I received my education in the academy when I was without money and discouraged, and when all others refused to aid me."

Mr Avery was a corporate member of the board of trustees of the academy,

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and, with several others, held a deed of the property in trust. He was also a member and a liberal supporter of the Congregational society from its organ- ization until his death.

In every department of his life Mr Avery was known and trusted as an honest man. No one ever accused him of meanness or fraud. And he ever aimed to train his sons to habits of living and doing business which should command the confidence of the community. When one of them was a lad of from thirteen to fourteen years of age he secured for him a position in the store of one of the most enterprising traders in a large, distant town. Calling upon him a few weeks afterward to see how he succeeded in his new rela- tions, he was gratified to find that between the merchant and the boy there was a feeling of mutual kindliness ; but, learning that the former was addicted to methods of trade not strictly and squarely honest, he quietly took his son from the position he thought too full of temptation and incompatible with the formation of the strictly honest business character which he desired him to possess.

Though less demonstrative than many in the social relations of life, Mr Avery was ever keenly alive to the incidents that touched them both in his own family and in the community. A few quiet words, uttered just at the right moment, often revealed a busy mind and a sympathetic heart. Contrary to what many would have expected, this was sometimes true of him on the mirthful side of life. There are those still who remember with what zest he used to relate an incident which, in the early days of his office as town elerk, amused a whole assembly. According to the custom of the times, he embraced an opportunity after the sermon at a public religious meeting for publishing the bans of matrimony between certain well-known parties. As the sermon had criticized with some severity the doctrines of Universalism, a man who had embraced those doctrines and was troubled with some deafness hastily inferred that Mr Avery was expressing a wish that such a sermon might never be heard there again, at once arose and said, " I second Mr Avery's motion." The effect of his manœuvre upon the assembly was not assuring. And the enjoyment of his discomfiture on discovering his mistake was to him who was supposed to have made the motion not limited by the occasion.

Mr Avery's last years, though often affected by frail health and sometimes considerable suffering, were in the main free from seriously disturbing inci- dent. His last sickness, which he bore without complaint, was long and exhausting. He died peacefully, trusting in Christ, October 5, 1858, and was borne to his grave sincerely mourned and universally respected.

No account of Samuel Avery can be complete that does not include some notice of his wife. Mary Moody Clark, the oldest daughter of Joseph and Comfort (Weeks) Clark, of Greenland, N. H., was born in that town August 25, 1795, and was a lineal descendant of Nathaniel Clark, one of the first

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settlers of Newbury, Mass., hier line of descent being Joseph5, Greenleaf 4. Enoch 3, Henry 2, Nathaniel 1. At her marriage she was young, small, and beautiful, but, as ever afterwards, full of life and energy. When she settled in Wolfeborough many of her friends thought of her as in a wilderness, of which very little was known except that it was a desolation. In later life she used to amuse her children by telling them of the curiosity which, soon after her coming to Wolfeborough, some of the people had to see Mr Avery's young bride. Much had been said concerning her as the latest wonder, but a few only had verified the rumors by actual sight. At length one, more resolute than the rest, declared that he would see her for himself. He went accordingly to the house and knocked at the door. The door being opened by Mrs Avery, he asked her if Mrs Avery was at home and desired that she would bring him a mug of cider. So particularly anxious did he seem that Mrs Avery should herself get and bring it, that she at once suspected his object. She, however, brought the cider, which he drank, and, returning to the store whence he had come, reported, with evident disappointment, that he had failed to see Mrs Avery, but saw instead a small young girl, wlio came to the door and insisted on waiting upon him, though he specially requested her to ask Mrs Avery to bring what he wished.

Few men have been so blessed in the marriage relation as Mr Avery in his union with Mary Moody Clark. The heart of her husband fully trusted in her. As the eldest daughter in a large family in her early home, a special responsibility was thrown upon her which admirably trained her for her life as a wife and mother. Capable, energetic, prudent, hospitable, kind, sympathetic, are only some of the adjectives that describe her character. In the home circle, in society, in the church, in social life, in the abode of suffering and distress, everywhere she was ready for needed service. After the opening of the academy it seemed to be considered a matter of course that she should board the preceptor, and it seemed to be the special aim of pupils from abroad to secure, if possible, a home in her family. Iler children cannot recall the time in that well-remembered past when her house was not the attraction of friends from near and from afar, and the almost unbroken rush of people from various parts of New England and elsewhere made it more like a public house than the abode of a private family. But her sunny face and slight figure flitting here and there, minister- ing alike to family and to guests, somehow never failed to meet every emergency. There were occasions so unlooked-for and so full of difficulties, not to say seeming impossibilities, that they would have appalled into despair almost any other woman, yet, with wonderful equanimity and cheerfulness, she successfully met them all, till her numerous guests were sometimes tempted to believe that to her marvelous executive there had been added a creative power.

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Meanwhile Mrs Avery never neglected her own family. She was ever watchful over her children, efficiently controlling and faithfully instructing them, and uniformly prompt in attendance with them upon the Sabbath services. Sometimes, when there was no other religious meeting, she went with them to that of the Quakers, where, upon board seats supported by wooden bloeks, they often sat for a whole hour in profound silence, longing for the "break-up" and the closing hand-shaking.

Mrs Avery was peculiarly the friend of the poor. All who suffered from peeuniary needs which could not otherwise be supplied seemed moved as by a law to go to her, and she never failed, in some way, to help them. After her death various garments were found which she had neatly mended and kept in readiness for needy children here and there, as their wants should become known to her.

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History of Carroll County, New Hampshire, Part 45

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