USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 35
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 35
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In 1873 a few acres of land was taken from Sullivan and annexed to this town.
WAR OF THE REVOLUTION .- Gilsum did its full share in the War of the Revolution.
In 1775 the town had a population of forty- nine males above sixteen years of age, and during the war furnished twenty men, as fol- lows :
David Abraham.
Isaac Griswold.
David Adams.
Brooks Hudson.
Peter Beebe. Zadoc Hurd.
David Bill. Ebenezer Kilburn.
Stephen Bond. Captain Elisha Mack.
Iddo Church. Thomas Morse.
Thomas Church. Jesse Smith.
Josiah Comstock. Ananias Tubbs.
Samuel Crame. Frederick Tubbs.
Joseph French.
Samuel White.
WAR OF 1812 .- In the War of 1812 seven men from Gilsum were in the service :-
Roswell Borden.
Jonas Brown.
Iddo Kilburn.
David Dort.
John Raymond.
Ira Ellis.
David Bill.
CIVIL HISTORY .- The first town-meeting of which we have any account was held August
26, 1776, with Joseph Spencer, moderator, and Obadiah Willcox, clerk. Prior to 1789 the records of the town are missing. Timothy De- wey was clerk in 1787.
The following is a list of clerks from 1789 to 1885 :
Zadok Hurd, 1789.
Robert Lane Hurd, 1790, '91, 1801, '02, '03, '04, '05, '11, '12.
David Blish, 1792, '93, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, 1800.
Josiah Hammond, 1806, '07, '08, '09, '10, '15, '16, '24, '25, '26, '27, '28, '29, '30, '31.
Elisha Fisk, 1813.
Obadiah Pease, 1814, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23.
Luther Abbott, 1832, '33.
David Brigham, 1834, '35.
Israel B. Loveland, 1836, '37, '38, '39, '40, '41, '42, '43, '44, '46, '47, '48, '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58.
Allen Buster, 1845.
M. L. Goddard, elected in 1856, but removed.
Henry E. Rawson, 1859, '65, '66.
Ezra Webster, 1860, '61, '62, '63, '64; died in office.
Calvin Chandler, 1864.
George Henry McCoy, 1867, '68, '69, '70, '72, '73, '74, '75, '76, '77.
John Gould, 1871.
John A. Smith, 1878.
Benjamin H. Horton, 1879.
L. W. F. Mark, 1880, '81, '82, '83, '84, '85.
Representives .- From 1789 to 1793 Gilsum Surry and Sullivan formed a representative dis- trict. Previous to this Gilsum had been classed with various towns. From 1795 to 1827 it was classed with Surry. Since 1825 the town has been entitled to one representative ; the list is as follows :
Luther Whitney, 1827. Aaron Day, 1828, '29,'31. Josiah Hammond, 1830. Jehiel Day, 1832, '34. Allen Butler, 1833, '35. John Horton, 1836, '37. David Bell, 1838, '39,'41. David M. Smith, 1840. William Kingsbury, 1842. E. K. Webster, 1843, '44. F. W. Day, 1845, '46. John Hammond, 1847, '48.
Samuel Isham, Jr., 1849, '50, '56, '57.
Amasa May, 1851, '52. David Ware, 1853. John Livermore, 1854. Ebenezer Jones, 1855. F. A. Howard, 1858. Ezra Webster, 1859, '60. D. W. Bill, 1861, '62, '74, '76.
J. M. Chapin, 1863, '64, '67.
H. E. Rawson, 1865, '66.
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GILSUM.
A. D. Hammond, 1868, '69. William L. Isham, 1875, '77. J. J. Isham, 1878.
Allen Hayward, 1870, '71. J. S. Collins, 1872, '73.
In November, 1878, Gilsum wasclassed with Sullivan, and Francis C. Minor was representa- tive. In 1880 Gilsum was classed with Sul- livan, and the representative was from the latter town. L. R. Guillow, 1882-83 ; George B. Rawson, 1884-85.
ECCLESIASTICAL .- The Congregational Church was organized October 27, 1772; the first church building was erected and dedicated in 1794, and the first pastor was Rev. Elisha Fisk, installed May 29, 1794. Other pastors have been Revs. E. Chase, S. S. Arnold, Wil- liam Hutchinson, Henry White, George Lang- don, J. Tisdale, Ezra Adams, E. E. Bassett, Horace Wood, Silvanus Hayward and George W. Rogers, present pastor.
The Methodist Church .- A Methodist Church was organized here, in 1843, by Rev. Samuel S. Dudley, and in 1848 a house of worship was erected at a cost of fourteen hundred and fifty dollars. The church was disbanded in about 1874, and the house sold to the town. Rev. John Gove was probably the first preacher of this faith here in 1801. The late Bishop Elijah Hedding preached here in about 1806.
The Baptists also held services here for some time, but the church is now extinct." A Chris- tian Church also once existed in Gilsum, and also a branch of the Mormon Church, or " Lat- ter-Day Saints," both extinct.
PHYSICIANS .- The first physician in Gilsum was Abner Bliss. Among other physicians were Benjamin Hosmer, Henry Kendrick, 14
Obadiah Wilcox, J. E. Davis, B. Palmer, Isaac Hatch, Dudley Smith, T. S. Lane, G. W. Hammond (he was one of the prominent men of the town and an eminent physician ; he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850, member of the State Senate in 1855-56, and died January 30, 1872, at the age of seventy years), K. D. Webster, C. C. Bingham, C. F. Kingsbury, A. H. Livermore, M. E. Loveland, A. R. Gleason and I. A. Loveland.
MILITARY RECORD, 1861-65 .- The follow- ing were in the service from this town :
Thomas W. Bingall. C. H. Wilcox.
Joseph Collins. G. C. H. Deets.
S. H. Howard. A. E. Howe.
H. H. Nash. John Howard.
John A. Blake. M. J. Howard.
S. W. Bridge. E. G. McCoy.
J. L. Davis. A. A. Morse.
J. W. Everdon. H. H. Nash.
A. R. Gleason. O. Nash.
G. J. Guillow. E. E. Roundy.
Isaac W. Hammond. F. W. Roundy.
C. H. Harris.
H. E. Wilcox.
Franklin Nash.
Lucius Davis.
S. D. Nash.
Drafted.
Temple Baker.
Jotham Bates.
G. W. Bancroft.
C. W. Spooner.
L. White. A. H. Waldron.
The first three secured substitutes ; the fourth paid commutation of three hundred dollars. The following were also drafted :
H. L. Bates.
G. H. McCoy.
Joel Cowee.
C. E. Crouch.
J. Guillow.
All but the last-named secured substitutes, There were also, in addition to the above twenty- one substitutes furnished.
HISTORY OF HARRISVILLE.
BY S. D. BEMIS.
CHAPTER I.
THE town of Harrisville was formerly a part of the towns of Dublin and Nelson, and incor- porated by an act of the Legislature in the year 1870. The following is that portion of the aet defining its territorial limits :
" An act to constitute the town of Harrisville from a part of the towns of Dublin and Nelson.
"Section 1. That all that part of Dublin and all that part of Nelson lying within the following lines and boundaries to wit : Beginning at a stake marked ' D. M.,' standing in the line of Marlborough and Dub- lin at the southwest corner of lot No. 22, in the eighth range in said Dublin ; thence north the length of three degrees in the lines of Marlborough and Roxbury, to the northwest corner of Dublin at a stake marked 'D. R .; ' thence south, seventy-nine degrees and forty-five minutes east, seven rods to the southwest corner of the town of Nelson at a stake marked ' D. N.,' 1864; thence north, eleven degrees east, the length of one lot to a stake marked 'N. R., 1864'; thence south, seventy-nine degrees and forty- five minutes east, to a stake standing on the east shore of Breed Pond, so called; thence northerly on the east shore of said pond the length of one lot to a stake and stones ; thence south, seventy-nine degrees and forty-five minutes cast, on the northerly line of lots in the third range in said town of Nelson from the north line of Dublin to a stake and stones stand- ing in the westerly line of the town of Hancock marked 'N. H .; ' thence south, twelve degrees and thirty minutes west, to the southwest corner of Hancock and the southeast corner of Nelson to a stake stand- ing in the wall; thence south, seventy-nine degrees east in the line of said Hancock and Dublin eight hundred and seventy-nine rods to a stake and stones ; thence south on the line of Hancock and Dublin and Peterborough and Dublin to the southeast corner of No. 1, in the eighth range of lots in said Dublin, at a stake and stones; thence westerly on the south range-
line of range eight in said Dublin to the place of beginning : be and the same is hereby severed from the towns of Dublin and Nelson and made a body politic and corporate by the name of Harrisville."
Section 7 of said act anthonized Milan Harris, Darius Farwell, Milan W. Harris, or any two of them to call the first meeting of the town. Agreeably to the authority here given them they proceeded to call the first meeting of the town by posting the fol- lowing warrant :
"(L. S.) The State of New Hampshire to the in- habitants of the town of Harrisville, as constituted by an act of the Legislature passed July 2, 1870, qualified to vote in town affairs : You are hereby notified to meet at Eagle Hall, in said town, on Satur- day, the thirteenth day of August next, at one of the clock in the afternoon, to act upon the following sub- jects :
" 1. To choose a moderator to preside in said meet- ing.
" 2. To choose all necessary officers and agents for the present year.
" 3. To see if the town will authorize the seleetmen to borrow such sums of money as may be necessary to defray the expenses of the town.
"Given under our hands and seals this twenty-ninth day of July, 1870.
"MILAN HARRIS,
"DARIUS FARWELL, " MILAN W. HARRIS,
Authorized to call said meeting."
On the 13th day of August, 1870, agreeably to the above call, was holden the first town-meeting ever held in Harrisville. It was a bright, sunny day of the latter part of the summer, when nearly every voter in this new town assembled to take part in this, their first town-meeting. Samuel D. Bemis was chosen moderator ; Stephen L. Randall, clerk ; and Dar- ius Farwell, Samuel D. Bemis and George Wood were chosen selectmen ; and Hon. Milan
210
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HARRISVILLE.
Harris was chosen agent of the town to act with the selectmen in the settlement of affairs with the towns of Dublin and Nelson.
At the annual town-meeting in 1871 the following were the town officers :
Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; Stephen L. Randall, clerk; Darius Farwell, Samuel D. Bemis, selectmen ; Hon. Milan Harris, representative to Legislature.
1872 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator; Frank P. Ward, clerk; Samuel D. Bemis, George Wood, George F. Tufts, selectmen; Samuel D. Bemis, rep- resentative to Legislature.
1873 .- Darius Farwell, moderator; Stephen L. Randall, clerk ; Darius Farwell, Zophar Willard, Luther P. Eaton, selectmen ; Hon. Milan Harris, representative to Legislature.
1874 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator; Stephen L. Randall, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, Zophar Wil- lard, Luther P. Eaton, selectmen ; Aber S. Hutch- inson, representative to Legislature.
1875 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; Charles C. P. Harris, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, Orlando Fogg, Joel F. Mason, selectmen ; Abner S. Hutchinson, representative to Legislature.
1876 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator; Charles C. P. Harris, clerk; Samuel D. Bemis, Francis Strat- ton, Daniel W. Barker, selectmen ; Luke Tarbox, representative to Legislature.
1877 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; Fred. Colony, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, George F. Tufts, Winslow Royce, selectmen ; Sylvester T. Symonds, represen- tative to Legislature.
1878 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; Fred. Colony, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, George F. Tufts, Winslow Royce, selectmen ; Sylvester T. Symonds, representa- tive to Legislature.
1879 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; Fred. Col- ony, clerk; Darius Farwell, George Davis, George Wood, selectmen.
1880 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator; George F. Tufts, clerk ; George Davis, Joel F. Mason, Aaron Smith, selectmen.
1881 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator; George Davis, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, Charles C. Farwell, Everard C. Willard, selectmen ; George F. Tufts, representative to Legislature.
1882 .- Francis Stratton, moderator ; George Davis, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, Charles C. Farwell, Ever- ard C. Willard, selectmen.
1883 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; George Davis, clerk ; Samuel D. Bemis, Charles C. Farweil,
Everard C. Willard, selectmen ; George F. Tufts, representative to Legislature.
1884 .- Francis Stratton, moderator ; George Davis, clerk ; Charles C. Farwell, Everard C. Willard, se- lectmen.
1885 .- Samuel D. Bemis, moderator ; George Da- vis, clerk; Aaron Smith, Francis Stratton, Jacob G. Lakin, selectmen.
In 1876, Samuel D. Bemis was chosen dele- gote to the convention to revise the Constitution. The number of votes cast for President have been as follows :
1872 .- Horace Greeley, 66; U. S. Grant, 95.
1876 .- Samuel J. Tilden, 101; R. B. Hayes, 93.
1880 .-- Winfield S. Hancock, 89; James A. Gar- field, 82.
1884 .- Grover Cleveland, 73; James G. Blaine, 68; scattering, 4.
MANUFACTURING OF WOODEN-WARE AND LUMBER .-- The manufacture of wooden-ware was first commenced in what is now Harrisville by George Handy and Nathaniel Greely, in 1838. Mr. Greely soon sold out to Mr. Handy, who continued the business many years. Handy did a business of about ten thousand dollars a year. About 1850 these mills were sold to Asa Fair- banks, who run them five years. Samuel W. Hale, now ex-Governor Hale, came in posses- sion of them. In 1860 he sold them to El- bridge G. Bemis, by whom they were rebuilt and much enlarged and improved. He owned them about five years. They are now owned by Charles C. & Henry J. Farwell, by whom they have been further improved and the busi- ness greatly enlarged. Just below the factories, and near the Centre village, A. E. & M. K. Perry, in 1845, built a saw-mill and box-shop, and for a number of years did an extensive bus- iness in the manufacture of shoe-boxes. In 1855 this mill was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. It is now owned by Zophar Willard, who does a large business in the manufacture of clothes- pins, cloth-cases and dimension lumber. At this mill, when owned by the Messrs. Perry, a terrible accident occurred. Charles K. Mason, Esq., now one of the leading citizens of Marl- borough, while attempting to adjust a belt upon
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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
a grindstone, had his left arm torn from his shoulder. In 1849, Elbridge G. Bemis, George W. Bemis and Sylvester T. Symonds erected a large wooden-ware shop just below the "Great Meadows," on the stream that takes its rise in Breed Pond, now called Silver Lake. The year following they built a saw-mill upon the opposite side of the stream. Quite an exten- sive business was carried on here in the manu- facture of wooden-ware and lumber for a good many years, but the business is now so depressed that but little is done. These mills are now owned by S. T. Symonds, one of the original owners, and his son, Dana T. Symonds. In 1869 a new dam was built just above these mills, by the Breed Pond Company, which converts the " Great Meadows" into a reservoir. The first saw-mill in the west part of the town was built by Moses Adams, on lot eighteen, range ten. The second was erected by Eli Green- wood, and stood where the grist and saw-mill built by Lambert L. Howe, now stands. This mill was destroyed by fire in 1878. It has been rebuilt several times. In August, 1826, it was carried off by a cloud burst upon Monad- nock Mountain. This was the same night as the slide upon the White Mountains, which caused the destruction of the Willey family ; the mill was carried to the meadows below, almost intact, and from there up the stream from Breed Pond, which here intersects with it, opposite where the railroad depot now stands. There was no perceptible rise of water in the lat- ter stream except from the water which ran up from the overflow of the stream below. In 1834 a saw-mill was built by Robert Worsly and Lyman Russell, on land of Worsly, about one-fourth of a mile above the mill just de- scribed. It afterwards passed into the hands of Nathan & Heath, who added a clothes-pin shop. This mill has been demolished a number of years.
RAILROAD .- For a great many years the project of a railroad from some point on the line of railroad running through the eastern and
central part of the State, through this town to Keene, thereby connecting the eastern and western parts by rail, was from time to time considerably agitated. Several surveys previous to the year 1870 had been made, and the pro- ject was found to be entirely feasible. A com- pany was soon formed which offered to build the road, provided a gratuity of two hundred thousand dollars could be raised to assist them in its construction. With the exception of the town of Dublin, all the towns and the city of Keene upon the line of the road voted gratui- ties varying from two and one-half to five per cent. on their valuations. In Dublin several town-meetings were held, and while a majority of the voters voted for the gratuity, the requi- site two-thirds required by law could not be ob- tained. The people of the manufacturing por- tion of the town, which is now Harrisville, were unanimously in favor of the proposed gratuity, while those in the exclusively farming portion of Dublin, thinking that they might not receive quite as much benefit from a rail- road as their neighbors in the manufacturing part of the town,-a rather narrow view to take as a general rule-steadfastly refused to vote the gratuity. In consequence of this refusal, a peti- tion was presented to the Legislature of 1870 to sever that part of Dublin and Nelson de- scribed in this chapter, and have the same con- stitute a new town, to be called Harrisville, in compliment to the Messrs. Harris, who had been so largely instrumental in building up the manufacturing at the village ; this petition was favorably considered and a charter granted in accordance, which was received by great demon- strations of joy by almost every person within the limits of the new town On the 10th day of August, 1872, a town-meeting was held and a gratuity of five per cent. was voted almost unanimously. Owing to the great business de- pression which followed soon after, the matter was allowed to rest until 1876, when a perma- nent survey was completed and the work of grading commenced in August of the same
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HARRISVILLE.
year ; before its completion, however, the funds of the company became exhausted, and the en- terprise remained at a standstill until 1878, when the road was completed, and trains com- menced to run. There are now four passenger- trains daily over the road, and a heavy business is done in the carrying of freight, with the bus- iness constantly increasing. There are three depots in town,-one at the east part, one at the Centre village and one at West Harrisville. The old towns run mail stages to Harrisville, and the benefit to this and the adjoining towns ean best be estimated after we consider that we were formerly twelve miles from any railroad facilities. Harrisville would not part with her railroad for ten times five per cent.
BUSINESS STATISTICS.1-Bethuel Harris, son of Erastus Harris, of Medway, Mass., came to this place A.D. 1786, destitute of pecuniary ability. He having bought his time of his father when eighteen years old, having learned the carpenter's trade, worked at that business about five years, when he purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land lying partly in the town of Nelson and partly in Dublin, mostly woodland, which, in addition to his trade, he improved for five years. His wife was daugh- ter of Abel Twitchell, of Dublin, who was the first inhabitant of this place. Bethuel Harris had ten children,-six sons and four daughters. He continued his carpentering and agricultural business until 1813, when his health failed, being much troubled with sciatica. At this time he purchased water-power and a small building, and commenced, in a very limited de- gree, the business of manufacturing woolen goods, which, to a considerable extent, was done by hand, as power-looms and spinning were not known at that time ; but, in 1817, he increased the building and added machinery, putting his sons, as fast as old enough, at work in that busi- ness. In 1821 he built a large, three-story brick house, and moved from his farm down near his mill. This was the second dwelling
built near this water-power. In 1825, Bethuel, in company with his oldest son, Cyrus, built a commodious briek mill and filled it with im- proved machinery, inereasing the business of manufacturing four-fold. They continued the business for six years, when his son Cyrus retired from the company ; Bethuel contin- ued alone for two years; when his son Cyrus returned and purchased a half-interest and continued the business for five years ; Cyrus then retired and built a large brick store building, also a large stone mill on the water-power next below that of Bethuel Harris', in 1846-47, when, on the completion of the building, his health failed. Accordingly, he did not fill the building with machinery. On the 14th of April, 1848, said Cyrus Harris deceased. The mill which he built went into the possession of Colony & Sons. It has been successfully operated by them until the present time, they having improved and greatly in- creased the property. The present corporate name of the company is Cheshire Mills Con- pany.
Bethuel Harris was born at Medway, Mass., August 14, 1769 ; he came to this place when but seventeen years old. After working with his father for some years, he commeneed busi- ness on his own account at his trade. He was a man of much energy and decision of charac- ter, a just man and much respected among all his acquaintance. He persevered in whatever he engaged in, and, for the most part, was moderately successful. Although striving under many discouragements, yet he overcame many obstacles. He not only succeeded in earpen- tering and agricultural business, but he was the chief instrument in establishing the manufac- turing business, which has proved to be the business of the place, and has been continued by him, his sons and the Messrs. Colony up to the present time, in a great degree very success- fully. Bethuel Harris was not only a just, up- right and straightforward man, but, for a man of his pecuniary ability, which was very limited
1 By Charles C. P. Harris, Esq.
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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
at the first, he was very charitable and liberal, always showing his Christian faith by his works of generosity and liberality in every good cause, having in view the good of his fellow- beings both in this present and the future world, believing that faith without works is dead, being alone. He not only con- tributed about three thousand dollars for the erection of church buildings, but five years be- fore his decease gave the church, for a perma- nent fund, twelve hundred dollars; he also pre- sented each of his children (ten in number) with a valuable slip, or pew, in the church ; also, he provided a family cemetery on what is called the Harrisville Island, presenting each of his children a nice and beautiful lot for their use and for their families', amounting, for slips and cemetery grounds, to nearly twelve hundred dollars. Therefore, we have a living evidence of the fruits of a devoted and just life of a hum- ble man. Very much more could be said of his private character and life, both public and private, but the writer, being a direct descendant from the said Bethuel Harris, refrains from saying anything further, hoping and trusting that his memory may long be revered by gen- erations yet to come in his lineage and descent.
Milan Harris, second son of Bethuel Harris, at the age of thirty years, in the year 1829, pur- chased the old Twitchell water-power, at the Twitchell Pond (so called), on which was a saw and grist-mill, which he ran for one year. when he, in connection with Henry Melville, of Nelson, built a commodious brick mill, three stories high, in 1833 ; but, before the building was filled with machinery, his partner, Henry Melville, deceased. Said Harris continued in the completion of the mill, and put in one set of machinery for manufacturing woolen goods, and commenced manufacturing, and carried on the business for some three or four years, after which Almon Harris, the third son of Bethuel Harris, connected himself with Milan Harris in said business, when the company was known by the name of M. & A. Harris, who contin-
ned the business successfully until 1846, when Almon Harris retired from the company and went to Fishersville, N. H., and built a large mill at that place and carried on the manufac- turing business very successfully during his life, some thirty years. After Almon Harris retired from the company of M. & A. Harris, Milan Harris continued the manufacturing business until 1858, when his oldest sou, Milan W. Harris, became associated with him. The company was then known by name of M. Harris & Co. until about 1872, when it was incorporated under the name of M. Harris' Woolen Manufacturing Company, and contin- ued until the corporation was dissolved, about 1882.
BAPTIST CHURCH.1-So far as it can be as- certained, several families of the Baptist faith and order lived in the northwest part of the town, and in neighboring towns, at an early period. The first mention of the Baptist Society in the town records is found in the following article for a town-meeting, to be held April 29, 1784: "To hear the plea of those who call themselves the Baptist Society, for being ex- cused from paying Mr. Sprague's salary, and to act anything relating thereto, as the town may see proper." Rev. Edward Sprague was the Congregational minister in the town at that time. In the petition presented to the town it was stated that the selectmen had rated them to Mr. Sprague for the year 1784, and they beg leave to tell them that they look upon it as an unjust and real grievance. At the town-meeting it was voted to excuse all those from paying Mr. Sprague's salary for the last year who had made a profession of the Baptist persuasion in this town, provided they bring a certificate from the clerk of their society that they were in communion with them before Mr. Sprague's salary was assessed, and they were excused for the present year. The Baptists in town at this time were a branch of the Baptist
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