History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 26

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 26
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 26

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Marshall S. Streeter, private, Company F, Fourteenth New Hampshire Infantry ; three years ; mustered in September 23, 1862; wounded in the left leg at the battle of Winchester, Va., September 19, 1864, and died from the effects of the wound at Baltimore Hospital, October 9th, the same year. Herbert B. Titus, Company A, Second New Hamp- shire Infantry ; three years ; discharged June 10, 1865; commissioned second lieutenant June +, 1861; first lieutenant, August, 1861, and assigned to Company F; promoted to major of the Ninth New Hampshire Infantry June 14, 1862; com- missioned colonel of the same regiment Novem- ber 22, 1862; discharged September 27, 1864, but reinstated by Special Orders No. 377, par. 18, War Department, November 1, 1864; at the battle of Antietam, Md., September 17, 1862, he was severely wounded in the right shoulder ; March 15,1865, he was appointed brigadier-general by

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brevet, "for gallant and meritorious services during the war."

David B. Tyrrel, private, Company A, Second New Hampshire Infantry; three years ; mustered in August 24, 1861; discharged August 24, 1864. Everett C. Tyrrel, private, Company D, Second New Hampshire Infantry; three years; mustered in September, 1861; discharged May, 1863; dis- charged for disability.

David S. Walton, Jr., private, Company I, First Ber- dan's United States Sharpshooters; three years; enlisted September 11, 1861; discharged Decem- ber 10, 1862 ; discharged for disability.

Lyman H. Warren, private, Seventeenth United States Infantry; three years; enlisted September 16, 1861; appointed second lieutenant October 13, 1862 ; brevetted captain July 2, 1863; appointed captain October 25, 1865; slightly wounded in one of his feet at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va. ; died at Houston, Tex., September 18, 1867. Alonzo W. Wheeler, private, Company F, First New Hampshire Cavalry; one year; mustered in March 8, 1865 ; discharged July 15, 1865.

Of the seventy-four men whose names have been given above, none were killed in battle ; one died from the effects of a wound received in battle; eleven were wounded and survived ; six died of disease.

The amount of the bounties paid by the town during the war was twenty-four thousand six hundred dollars.

Twelve persons were drafted and paid a com- mutation of three hundred dollars each, and twenty-seven furnished substitutes at an expense of from one hundred to four hundred dollars each.

INCREASE AND DECREASE OF POPULA- TION .- A census taken by order of the provin- cial government in the year 1767 shows that Chesterfield then had 365 inhabitants. In 1773 the number of inhabitants was 747, of whom 400 were males. In September, 1775, the selectmen made an enumeration of the inhabit- ants of the town and found the number to be, including 36 men absent in the army, 874. Of this number, 462 were males. No slaves were returned in these early censuses.

During the War of the Revolution many

families came into the town from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. By the year 1786 the number of inhabitants had reached 1535, notwithstanding the unsettled state of affairs that existed in the town during the Revo- lutionary period.

The number of inhabitants of the town in every tenth year since 1790 (inclusive) has been as follows :

1790, 1905; 1800, 2161; 1810, 1839 ; 1820, 2110; 1830,2046; 1840, 1765; 1850,1680; 1860, 1434; 1870, 1289 ; 1880, 1173.

THE DISTRICT SCHOOLS .- The schools are mentioned for the first time, in the records of the town, in the warrant for a town-meeting held the second Tuesday in June, 1767. At that time the town had not been divided into school-wards, or districts, and what few schools there were, were taught in private houses. The sum of money raised for school purposes in 1767 (if any) was not recorded; but at the annual town-meeting in 1771 it was voted to raise fifteen pounds for the support of schools. From 1771 to 1779 the amount raised annually seems at no time to have exceeded fifty pounds. During the next five years the town was in a more or less disturbed condition, and little or no money appears to have been raised for the support of schools. In 1776 the town was divided into several school-wards, and each ward allowed to employ an instructor; but it was not till 1787 that the town was divided into any considerable number of wards, nine- teen of them having been established that year. Frequent changes were made in the lines of these wards previous to 1815, about which time the term " district " was adopted in the place of " ward."

When or where the first school-house was built in Chesterfield has not been ascertaincd. It is doubtful if one was built before 1785. The oldest school-houses now standing appear to have been erected between 1800 and 1812. The one in District No. 7 is known to have been built about 1810. Before the building of

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school-houses the schools were taught, as already stated, in private houses. At one time, near the beginning of the present century, the school in District No. 7 (the Hardscrabble District) was kept in Gibson Willard's barn. Many of the schools were much larger in the first quarter of this century than at present ; some of them, it is said, had nearly one hundred scholars each. In the winter of 1816-17 the little school-house in the district last mentioned is said, on good authority, to have been occupied by at least eighty pupils. The number of scholars in the district is now about fifteen. The largest dis- triet in the town, No. 13 (which includes Ches- terfield Factory), has at present about sixty scholars ; the next largest, No. 1 (which in- cludes West Chesterfield ), has about thirty-five. The average number of scholars attending school each year previous to 1847 has not been ascertained. Since that date the number for each fifth year has been as follows :

1847, 438 ; 1852, 342 (?) ; 1857, 436; 1862, 355; 1867, 300; 1872, 265; 1877, 225. The number of scholars enrolled in 1883 was 218. The amount of money raised yearly by tax- ation for the support of schools was, from 1785 to 1798, usually one hundred pounds; from the latter date to 1805, four hundred dollars. From 1805 to 1847 the amount raised annually appears to have varied from four hundred and forty dollars to eight hundred dollars; from 1847 to the present time it has been from eight hundred dollars to fifteen hundred dollars. Since 1829 each district has received annually a portion of the "literary fund," this town's share of which, for a number of years, has aver- aged not far from one hundred dollars. The greatest number of districts in which schools have been maintained since 1817 has been, apparently, sixteen ; at present the number is thirteen or fourteen.

CHESTERFIELD ACADEMY .- On the 12th day of January, 1790, the New Hampshire Legislature passed an act entitled " An Act to incorporate an Academy in the Town of Ches-

terfield, by the name of the Chesterfield Acade- my." In the preamble of this act it is stated that "the education of youth has ever been con- sidered by the wise and good as an object of the highest consequence to the safety and happi- ness of a People ;" also, that " Peter Stone, of Chesterfield, gentleman, and sundry other per- sons, have voluntarily contributed certain sums of money for the purpose of establishing and supporting a public school, or academy, in said Chesterfield."

The first section of the act sets forth the object of the academy, namely, " the promoting piety and virtue, and the instruction of youth in such branches of useful Literature as the trustees hereby appointed shall think proper to direct." The same section also empowered Rev. Abraham Wood, Solomon Harvey, phy- sician, Moses Smith, Esq., Silas Richardson, Zur Evans, Simon Willard and Abner John- son, gentlemen, all of Chesterfield, to act as trustees. The third section provided that " Abraham Wood and other trustees, as afore- said, and the longest livers and survivors of them, and their successors, be the true and sole visitors, trustees and governors of the said Academy, in perpetual succession forever." The fourth section fixed the number of trustees at not less than seven, nor more than eleven, and provided that the major part of them should be "laymen and respectable frecholders." In the sixth section provisions were made for the holding, by the trustees, of real and personal estate, provided the annual income from the real estate should not exceed five hundred pounds, and that from the personal estate should not exceed two thousand pounds, " both sums to be valued in silver, at the rate of six shillings and eight-pence by the ounce."

It was enacted by the eighth, and last, section that all estate, both personal and real, held within this State for the use of the academy, should be exempt from taxation ; and that students of the academy should also be exempt from paying poll-tax.

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It has usually been stated that the academy was not opened till August 14, 1794, but the records of the institution show that this state- ment is, in all probability, incorrect. August 31, 1791, the trustees voted to hire Sheldon Lo- gan "to instruct in the academy for the term of one year," and to give him eighty pounds for his services. July 4, 1792, they voted that the afternoon of every Wednesday, for the rest of the year, should be "a vacation." There could be no reason for passing the latter vote if the school was not already in operation.

The date of the erection of the academy building cannot be ascertained, but it is certain that the petitioners for the incorporation of the academy, in their petition to the Legislature, stated that a sufficient sum of money had al- ready been raised "to erect a house of suffi- cient bigness in the town of Chesterfield, in which a Seminary may be kept, etc." The town also voted, May 6, 1790, to allow the trustees of the academy to put a building on the common for the use of the school. Whether the academy building was completed before August, 1794 (the school, in the mean time, being kept in some other house), cannot now be determined with certainty.

For many years after its incorporation the academy had the reputation of being one of the best schools in the State, ranking second, it is said, to Phillips Academy, at Exeter. It was attended by students from all the neigh- boring towns, and some came from remoter places, even from the Southern States. Many of those who sought instruction at this insti- tution became, later in life, eminent in the var- ious trades and professions.

It was a common practice, in the earlier years of the academy, for the trustees to grant the use of the academy building, and sometimes other property, to certain persons styled "adven- turers," on condition that they should employ an instructor and keep the school in operation. It seems that the property held by the trustees for the benefit of the academy never produced

an income sufficient for its support ; and some- times this income and the tuition fees together amounted to less than the expenses. The prop- erty held by the trustees seems to have consisted almost wholly of real estate. This included, about the year 1800, a part, if not all, of the glebe-land, in the southeastern quarter of the town.

In 1808 the Legislature passed an act grant- ing to the trustees the privilege of raising money by lottery for the benefit of the school. Elijah Dunbar, Benjamin Cook, John Putnam and Phineas Handerson were chosen managers of this lottery ; but the records of the academy do not show how much money was obtained in this way. The sum allowed by the act of the Legislature to be raised was five thousand dol- lars ; but probably only a small part of this sum was ever actually obtained. The act was extended, however, by the Legislature in 1814.

The number of "adventurers " for the year last mentioned was one hundred, and the defi- ciency to be made up by them amounted to eighty-eight dollarsand sixty-seven cents.

September 11, 1818, the trustees voted "that Captain Benjamin Cook sell to the highest bid- der the privilege of selling liquor on the com- mon on exhibition day, and that the money so raised be applied to building the stage and paying Mr. Hardy a balance of about nine dol- lars due him for arrearages of board for the last year."

The exhibitions that were given by the stu- dents of the academy during the period of its greatest prosperity were notable incidents in the history of the school, and even of the town. It was a part of the by-laws of the institution that no student should take part in these exhi- bitions until he had been a member of the school at least twelve weeks, unless he had had previous instruction in the art of declaiming under a competent teacher ; and all students to whom parts were assigned, in any public exhi- bition, were obliged to make careful preparation " in order to perform their parts accurately and

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preserve the reputation of the Academy." The names of all the preceptors of the acad- · emy from its incorporation till 1847 have not been obtained ; but some of them were as fol- lows :

Sheldon Logan was, perhaps, preceptor 1791 -94. It is certain that he was engaged by the trustees for one year, beginning August 14, 1794, at a salary of one hundred pounds.

John Noyes was preceptor two years, com- meneing his duties September 1, 1795. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College and at one time represented the Southern District of Ver- mont in the Congress of the United States.

Broughton Wright (?) was preceptor one year from August or September, 1797.

Levi Jackson, of Chesterfield, was preceptor 1799-1805. (See Biographical Notices.)

Daniel Hardy taught at least one year, begin- ning in the autumn of 1805.

Isaac Fletcher, a student of Dartmouth Col- lege, was preceptor in 1808. He married, in 1812, Abigail, daughter of Peter Stone, Sr., of this town, and afterwards practiced law at Lyn- don, Vt.

Jonathan Hartwell was preceptor in 1809.

Asa Keyes was preceptor two years from April 16, 1810. He was a graduate of Dart- mouth College and became a distinguished law- yer. He died in Brattleborough, Vt., June 4, 1880, at the great age of ninety-three years. His wife was Sarah, daughter of Asa Britton, Esq., of Chesterfield.

- MeConihe appears to have taught six months in 1812.

Otis Hutchins, of Westmoreland, was pre- ceptor two years at least, commeneing in the autumn of 1812. He was again engaged in the spring of 1820 for the term of three years. His salary was to be raised in part by subscrip- tions, which could be paid in cloth, provisions, wood, etc. He died in Westmoreland October 6, 1866.

Elisha S. Plumb was preceptor 1815-16.

Thomas Hardy was preceptor 1817-19. He

was again engaged to teach in 1834 for the term of ten years, and was to receive as salary all the tuition fees. He was also to have the privilege of selling books and stationery to the students. The trustees also agreed to provide twenty-five days' work each year for Mr. Har- dy's farm. He was released from his engage- ment, at his own request, February 6, 1838.

Mr. Hardy was one of the most efficient and respected teachers ever connected with the acad- emy. He was a graduate of Dartmouth Col- lege and spent many years in teaching. The entire number of persons under his instruction during his career as a teacher was six thousand seven hundred. He died March 3, 1864.

George Freeman was preceptor three months in 1822; Rev. John Walker, six months or more in 1823 ; Jolin Chamberlain in 1824.

Josiah W. Fairfield was preceptor 1824-26. He was a native of New Boston, this State, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1827. He married Laura, daughter of Asa Britton, Esq., of this town, in 1829, and settled in Hudson, N. Y., where he died, December 3, 1878.

Edward P. Harris was preceptor 1827-28 ; Oliver M. Smith, 1830 ; James W. Emery, 1831.

Charles L. Strong was preceptor 1832-33, and again in 1841-44. Mr. Strong was a grad- uate of Amherst College and was a teacher by profession. He married, in 1843, Prusha, daughter of Ashbel Wheeler, Sr., of Chester- field, and died in this town August 2, 1847.

John E. Butler, of Jamaica, Vt., was an as- sistant teacher in 1833. He afterwards became a distinguished lawyer in the State of Vermont.

Samuel H. Price was preceptor 1838-39 ; Nathan Kendall, 1845-47.

Since 1850 the academy has not been in a flourishing condition and for several years has been closed.

The original academy building stood on the southeastern part of the common, at the Centre village, a few rods from the old meeting-house. It was a two-story structure surmounted by

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a belfry, in which, however, there was no bell. April 9, 1859, it was burned to the ground. A new building was erected the same year, having nearly the same location, by School District No. 5 and the trustees of the academy, conjointly, on condition that the same should be used bothi for the district school and a High School or academy.

THE CHURCHES .- The First Congregational Church of Chesterfield was probably organized in 1771, but it is evident that a site had been selected for a meeting-house, on the common, as early as 1767 ; for, in the record of the ac- ceptance of a new road by the town that year, mention is made of the " meeting-house place." April 24, 1770, the town voted to raise one hundred pounds, to cover the meeting-house frame, that had already been erected. June 8, 1772, it was voted by the town to take seventy- five pounds of the money appropriated for the highways and use it in finishing the outside of the meeting-house. This building stood on the common, at the Centre village, about thirty-five feet south of the site of the present town-house, and was about sixty feet long and forty-five feet wide. It was two stories high, with two rows of windows, and originally had a porch on each end.

The west porch, however, was removed in accordance with a vote passed by the town in 1815, and a projecting bell-tower built in place of it. The bell in this tower was rung on week-days at noon and at nine o'clock in the evening. All the town-meetings were held in this house from September, 1771, till it was burned down by an incendiary fire, March 1, 1851. It was also used by the students of Chesterfield Academy for their public exhibi- tions. The present Congregational meeting- house was occupied, for the first time, in No- vember, 1834.

The first settled minister in Chesterfield was Abraham Wood (see Biographical Notices), who came from Sudbury, Mass., at the age of about twenty-four years, and was ordained pastor of

the First Congregational Church December 31, 1772. For half a century Mr. Wood was the sole pastor of this church. Before Mr. Wood came to Chesterfield, John Eliot preached for a while " on probation ;" but, for reasons which he did not see fit to make public, he declined an invitation to become the settled pastor of the Congregational Church in this town. After Mr. Eliot's declination the town voted (Octo- ber 12, 1772) to invite Mr. Wood to be their pastor, which invitation was accepted by him in a letter dated November 17, 1772.

At a special town-meeting held the 7th day of the following December, preparations were made for the ordination of Mr. Wood. It was voted,-

"1. That Thursday, the 31st day of the same month, should be the day on which the ordination was to take place.

" 2. That Elisha Rockwood should have £8 for pro- viding and entertaining with victuals, drink, lodgings and horse-keeping the whole of the council of minis- ters, delegates and other gentlemen of distinction.

" 3. That the sum of £9 should be raised to defray any expenses arising from the ordination.

"4. That the town concur with the vote of the church, to send invitations to other churches to assist in the ordination.

"5. That the window-caps of the meeting-house should be of straight, solid wood, with cornice on the front.

"6. That two or three Sabbaths a year should be granted to Mr. Wood, to enable him to visit his friends, so long as he should be the pastor of the church."

For the first nineteen years of his ministry Mr. Wood received an annual salary of sixty-five pounds, which sum was raised to eighty pounds in 1792. From 1800 to 1822 the average sum raised yearly by taxation, for the support of preaching, was about two hundred and seventy- five dollars. After the latter date no taxes were assessed for the support of religious instruction. In the year 1800 the names of forty-seven tax- payers were recorded in the town records as being persons who were members of the "Universal Restoration Society," and consequently ex-

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

empted (by the Bill of Rights) from paying min- ister rates. In 1802 the names of thirty-one tax-payers were recorded as being members of the " Republican Society," and, therefore, " not holden by law to pay taxes for the support of Congregational ministers."

Mr. Wood having become, a few months be- fore his death, unable to attend to his pastoral duties, Rev. John Walker was installed as col- league pastor April 30, 1823. Mr. Wood re- tained his ministry, however, till he died, Octo- ber 18, 1823. During his pastorate three hundred and twenty-four persons united with the church, either by profession or by letter, including those who were members when he was ordained. The number of persons bap- tized was seven hundred and sixty-five. At the date of Mr. Walker's installation as col- league pastor the church had one hundred and thirteen members, and eight more were admitted during the year.

Besides Rev. Abraham Wood, this church has had the following pastors : Rev. John Walker, from April 30, 1823, to April 22, 1829 ; Rev. Elihu Smith, May 23, 1832, to December 2, 1834; Rev. Josiah Ballard, Au- gust 5, 1835, till the following spring ; Rev. Hosea Beckley, 1836-42; Rev. Benjamin E. Hale, August 31, 1842, to November 11, 1847 ; Rev. Ebenezer Newhall, July 23, 1852, to July 2, 1854; Rev. Jeffries Hall, April, 1858, to April, 1866; Rev. Albert E. Hall, November, 1882, to the present time.

The "Universal Restoration Society " was or- ganized as early as 1798, and perhaps earlier. The annual meetings for the election of officers were regularly held for many years before the society was incorporated ; but services seem to have been held only occasionally. In June, 1818, fifty-five members of the society peti- tioned the Legislature for an act of incorpora- tion. The petition was granted, and an act passed incorporating Oliver Baker, Stephen Streeter and Jonathan Cochran, with their as- sociates and successors, into a society to be

known as the " Universal Restoration Society." Previous to 1830 the Universalists held their meetings for worship, for the most part, in school-houses and private dwellings ; for the town would not vote to allow them the use of the meeting-house at the Centre village, for any purpose whatever, till 1816, when they were permitted to hold a convention in it. January 2, 1830, it was voted by the town to grant the use of the meeting-house to the Universalists, every alternate Sunday, for one year. The same year, however, the house now occupied by them, at the West village, was built.

The names of very few of the Universalist preachers who preached in Chesterfield before 1830 are now known. January 2, 1822, it was voted by the society to hire Robert Bart- lett, of Langdon, to preach on five Sundays during the year, provided he could be engaged for five dollars per Sunday.

In 1823-26 the society appears to have had preaching only four Sabbaths each year.

In April, 1828, arrangements were made to engage Rev. William S. Balch to preach every fourth Sunday during the year ensuing, if he could be engaged for eighty dollars. Since 1830 the Universalists of Chesterfield have usually held services in the meeting-house at the West village every alternate Sabbath, em- ploying a pastor in connection with societies in Winchester, Westmoreland, and Putney, Vt. The pastors of the Universalist Society have been, since 1830, as nearly as can be ascertained, as follows :

Rev. Philemon R. Russell, about two years, between 1830 and 1835; Rev. Stephen A. Barnard (Unitarian), 1835-37 ; Rev. Charles Woodhouse, 1838-41 and again in 1843 ; Rev. William N. Barber, for a while between 1841 and 1843; Rev. Josiah Marvin, 1844-45 ; Rev. Edwin H. Lake, from about 1851-54; Rev. Hymen B. Butler, 1854-56 ; Rev. Sullivan II. M'Collester, 1857-62; Rev. Oliver G. Wood- bury, 1862-70 ; Rev. Joseph Barber, 1871-77 ; Rev. Hiram B. Morgan, 1878-81 ; Rev. Ed-

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ward Smiley, 1882-84; Rev. Winfield S. Wil- liams, 1884-5.

Baptist Church .- No records of the Baptist Church of Chesterfield have been found, but it is known that Nathan Worden, a preacher of this denomination, settled in the town as early as 1787, and in 1819 a society was incorporated under the name of the "First Baptist Church." Several persons of the Baptist persuasion had an interest in the church built by the Univer- salists in 1830, and for a few years held ser- vices in it. This society has been extinct for many years.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 26

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200