History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 48

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 48
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 48

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SURFACE AND GEOLOGY .- The surface of Marlborough is greatly diversified with hills and valleys. Some portions of it are truly romantic and picturesque. It is almost surprising that within an area of thirteen thousand square acres there should be such a diversity of highland and lowland, woods and clearings. With truth we can say that Nature has smiled propitiously upon this town, filling it with her choicest charms and attractions, beauties and sublimities.

Its geological formation is made up mostly of the primitive rock. The outcropping ledges, being numerous, are composed of granite. Ge- ology would call ours the "everlasting hills," having existed from the very beginning of the world's history. The drift, or loose formation, is composed largely of silicates. The deposits give evidence of glacial, aqueous and iceberg action. The grooves cut into the highest ledges, and holes worn into the granite, show the re- sults of long-continued water-action. The minerals consist mainly of granite, gneiss, granular and rose quartz, feldspar, mica, beryl, garnets and plumbago. The gneiss has been

quarried extensively for building purposes. The granite ledges upon the Stone Hill are of great value.

The sedimentary rocks are made up of sand, clay and peat. The soil is best adapted to grazing. The farms, under good cultivation, yield fair crops of Indian corn, oats, potatoes, rye and barley. Those who are tilling their farms after modern methods, guided by the science of agriculture, are proving that system- atic farming is no humbug, but is certain to re- sult in good buildings, rich fields, fine stock and independence of living.

CLIMATE .- The air of this town is usually pure, and possessed of tonic properties. The elevation is such that even in the hottest days in July and August it is seldom sultry. Of course the winters are long, and the snows are frequently deep and drifted. The extensive growth of forests, no doubt, has much to do in moderating the air during summer and winter.

TREES AND FRUITS .- Some of the principal forest trees are the oak, beech, birch, sugar- maple, elm, cherry, hemlock, pine, larch and spruce.

Orchards are quite abundant in Marlborough. The apple and pear-trees are sure to yield here, if they do anywhere in this vicinity. The orchardists count largely on the income from their fruit-trees.

The peach, cherry and grape do well here in certain localities. This town is highly favored with wild fruits. The blueberry, huckleberry, blackberry, raspberry and strawberry are usually plenty in their season. Some years large quantities are shipped to distant markets. It is seldom a season passes without a supply of wild fruit sufficient to meet all home demands.

The flora here is very full. The botanist finds a great variety of plants, all the way from the delicate mosses and ferns in the deep dells to the Alpine flowers upon the highest elevations.

PONDS .- The Stone Pond, situated in the

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east part of Marlborough, is its largest body of water ; it is about three-fourths of a mile in length and one-third of a mile in width; its elevation is some two thousand feet above the level of the sea. Its water is clear and sparkling. Its native fish were trout ; seventy-five years ago large quantities of them were caught from it weighing from three to four pounds each. At length the pond was stocked with pickerel, and the trout since that have nearly disappeared. The pickerel grow to a large size. The yellow perch are now its most abundant fish.

The scenery just around this pond and in the distance can scarcely be surpassed. Were it situated in Italy or Switzerland, it surely would have been famous in song and story ; it would have been possessed of as many charms and beauties as Luzerne or Como.

The Cummings Pond, in the north part of the town, is about three-fourths of a mile long and one-fourth wide. No doubt it was former- ly much larger than at the present. Trout were once common in this pond, but now pick- erel, pouts and shiners monopolize its waters. Through the ice hundreds of pickerel have been caught from it in a single day.

The Clapp Pond is in the northeast part of the town. It is not as large as the Cummings Pond, but more depressed. Its waters are not so clear as those of the Stone Pond. Its fish consist mainly of pickerel and pouts.

The Meeting-House Pond, near where the old meeting-house stood, occupies an area of one hun- dred square aeres, including the open water and what is grown over with bog. This pond has long been a favorite resort for fishing. Its waters have been prolific of pickerel and cat- fish.

STREAMS AND BROOKS .- The largest stream is the Minni-wawa. Its head-waters are in Nelson and Dublin. Flowing through a very broken country, it is subject to sudden rise and fall of water; still, by the means of reservoirs and ponds, it is supplied with power sufficient for extensive manufactories of woolen

goods, wooden-wares and for grinding grain. With propriety it may be called the mother of our present thriving village. It has been faith- ful in driving saws, spindles and millstones, so as to supply work for many active minds and busy hands.

Its falls and basin, a short distance above the village, are natural curiosities, of special inter- est to lovers of the grand and beautiful.

Another stream is known as the South Branch, which is about the size of the Minni- wawa. Its current is rapid and its bed very stony. Its waters have been utilized to some extent in propelling lathes and saws.

There are several brooks in town which are supplied with pure, cold water, furnishing count- less haunts for finny tribes.

ZOOLOGICAL HISTORY .- Though in the early history of this town, bears, wolves, pan- thers and deer were numerous, still these all dis- appeared long ago, leaving only traditions of their feats and cruelty. Within the remem- brance of some who are living, beavers and minks were common, but now it is seldom one is seen or caught. Foxes are numerous ; they seem strongly attached to our hills and dales. They appear to lose none of their sagacity or cunning as civilization presses upon them. They evidently enjoy turkeys and chickens with as good relish as they did pheasants and conies. The woodchucks hold in their posses- sion at present as much real estate as they did fifty or a hundred years since. In spite of guns, dogs and traps, they have kept their stock unimpaired and undiminished. Rabbits fre- quent our glades and thickets. Red, gray and chippering squirrels inhabit our woods and forests. We are all apprized now and then that skunks are around, and are free to lend their. influence to friend or foe. Rats and mice cling to our houses with fondest attachment, assuring us that their race is not yet run.

Hawks whistle and crows caw as they did when the whoop of the Indian and the bark of the wolf echoed among the hills and val-

InMCollecti

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leys. During some seasons, wild pigeons flock to our fields and woods in large numbers. Ducks swim our ponds, partridges beat our logs and whir through the leafy boughs, and the owls hoot as they did when the axe of the early settlers first rang from our highlands and our streams. The robin, the oriole, the bluebird, the phebe, the wren, the lark, the bobolink, the nightingale, the thrush, the ground-bird, the hair-bird, the king-bird and the humming-bird are with us every year to supply change and enchantment.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

REV. S. H. MCCOLLESTER, D.D.

The history of the town of Marlborough would not be complete without a sketch and representation of one of her sons, who has honored the place of his nativity, and among those who have had charge of re- ligious and educational interests in this and in other States of the Union, there has been none worthier than the Rev. S. H. McCollester, who is a descendant of a good old Scotch family. His ancestors were among the sturdy pioneers of New Hamp- shire. Isaac (1), the first of the family in Marl- borough, was born in 1736. He was one of the proprietors of Monadnock, and took an active part in the affairs of the town, and was paid in land for his services in the survey of the township. He was the second settler in Marlborongh, removing here in the winter of 1764-65, and was a resi- dent until his death, June 8, 1809. Sam- uel (2) his son, married Silence Belknap, and settled on the homestead. Silas (3) married, Achsah Holman, and resided for many years on the farm (now owned by Dr. McCollester) where he died, December 26, 1873.

Rev. Sullivan Holman McCollester, D.D., son of Silas and Achsalı (Holman) McColles-

ter, was born in Marlborough, N. H., De- cember 18, 1826. His youth was passed, like that of many New England boys, working on a farm or at some mechanical employ- ment. During the winter he availed him- self of the good school privileges of his na- tive town. His tastes, early in life, were for study and the pursuit of knowledge, and at the age of fifteen he attended a select school, and afterwards received a thorough academi- cal education in the seminaries and acade- mies at Swanzey, Dublin, Jaffrey, Winchen- don, Mass., and Brattleborough, Vt., and was well fitted for college. He was a pleasant, genial and social companion, a scholar eager to learn and concerned in all that pertained to the interests of the schools. He was a general favorite, exerted a good influence upon the students, and by his kindness and sympathy aided the teachers in their arduous labors. At the age of eighteen he commenced teaching at Richmond, where he received nine dollars per month ; afterwards he taught four success- ive winters in Walpole. In the winter of 1847 he entered Norwich, (Vt.) University, and grad- uated in the summer of 1851, having completed the classical course. He was a fine scholar, quick, retentive, and with a determination to thoroughly master all tasks set before him. He then became a student at Cambridge Divinity School, with the intention of enter- ing the Christian ministry. At the expiration of two years, he left Cambridge, and took charge of the Walpole, (N. H.) Academy. Prior to this, he had married, November 23, 1852, Sophia F. Knight, daughter of Joel Knight, of Dummerston, Vt., of an early and notable family. Mrs. McCollester was a good scholar, and sucessful teacher at Melrose Academy, Vt., and was of great assistance to her husband in his school-work.

In 1853, Dr. McCollester began his long career as a preacher of love to God and men in Swanzey, N. H., taking charge of the Mount Cæsar Seminary there, and labored for five

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years, almost incessantly doing double duty, teaching and preaching. He started a new society and church in the middle of the town, and another in the west part, where a church edifice was built. These societies prospered under his care, and he left them in a hopeful state. He is held in grateful remembrance there for his successful efforts in behalf of ed- ucation, morality and religion. From Swanzey he removed to Westmoreland, and was pastor of the Universalist Society, and of the one in West Chesterfield, preaching part of the time in each town, and taught a select school a por- tion of the time. His meetings were largely attended, especially by the young, who were influenced to activity in the Sunday-school. He continued his work with these societies for four years, and during his pastorate the number of Sabbath worshippers had more than doubled ; real religious life was expressed among the people ; their interest in the affairs of the church was awakened, and they renova- ted and greatly improved both of their church edifices. While here he was elected to the responsible office of school commissioner for Cheshire County, which he held until 1859. He was also appointed president of the State Board of Commissioners, and in the winter visited schools and lectured on education, and in the spring held Teachers' Institutes, and thus made his influence felt exten- sively among the teachers and the people. His reputation soon reached beyond his own State. He was called to the seminary at West- brook, now Deering, Me., (a suburb of Port- land), and commenced his work April, 1861. Here Dr. McCollester, a faithful worker as ever in the vineyard of the Lord, held a relig- ious service Sundays in the seminary chapel, where the students and families in the vicinity could worship. A society was soon organized, and, in the course of four years, it had assumed such proportions, outside of the school, that the chapel (with a seating capacity of over three hundred) could not accommodate

all desiring to worship there. Measures were soon taken towards the erection of a church building on the grounds, and in the course of two years a beautiful and commodious house of worship supplanted the chapel. On its comple- tion Dr. McCollester was obliged from fail- ing health, caused by overwork, to leave his cares for a time.

In the summer of 1866, in company with his wife, he visited Europe, and remained until the spring of 1867. In their travels +hey visited Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The varied and sublime scenery of the Alps, the pure air of the mountains in the summer, the mild climate on the shores of the Swiss and Italian lakes in the winter, were delightful, invigorating and recreating. Remaining in London, Paris and Rome for some time, he studied their history, antiquities, social insti- tutions and the topography of the surrounding country. He wrote frequent and instructive letters to the Portland Transcript, New Eng- land Journal of Education, Boston Transcript, Gospel Banner and other papers, which were read with eagerness by many. He returned to his school with his mind refreshed and enlarged by his studies and travels, but did not feel able to preside over the seminary and also per- form ministerial labor on Sunday. He con- tinued for a year and a half longer in charge of the school, when he found that the severity of the climate would not permit him to remain on the coast without endangering his health, and he resigned.

Dr. McCollester was at the head of this insti- tution nearly eight years, and raised it into a flourishing condition. His first term, with thirty scholars, was the hardest he ever taught. He sought to put the school upon a firm basis of discipline and systematic study, and finally succeeded in infusing a healthful, moral and intellectual tone among the students, and awak- ening a noble ambition in their hearts. The school became very popular, numbering from

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175 to 240 members. In 1864 he obtained from the State Legislature a charter for a "Fe- male College," the first one of the Universalist denomination in New England. From this college he graduated annually a class of young women, who, by their scholarship and moral influence, gave tone and vigor to the society in which they moved, and reflected honor and credit upon their principal.

When he left Westbrook the school was the largest it has ever been, and also in the best financial condition, and the church had grown to a large and respectable religious body. Dur- ing these years Dr. McCollester had wrought with fidelity, perseverance and faithfulness in this field, and it was with the profoundest re- grets of the trustees and friends of the semi- nary that his resignation was accepted.

In the summer of 1868 he made a second tour of Europe, with his friend, Rev. John S. Lee, D.D., of St. Lawrence University, Can- ton, N. Y. who thus writes of it: "We em- barked on board one of the Montreal and Quebec steamers at Quebec, and passed around the north of Ireland. Dr. McCollester revis- ited the scenes of his former tour, and extended his travels to Egypt, Palestine, Turkey and Greece. It was a memorable journey. We passed a month in the Holy Land, and it left a vivid and lasting impression. We went up the Nile, ascended the pyramids, landed at Jaffa, passed nearly two weeks in and around Jerusalem, stood before the tombs of the pa- triarchs, bathed in the Jordan, walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, supped and slept in the birth-place of Jesus, rode along the sandy shores of the Mediterranean, stopping over-night in the old dilapidated cities of Tyre and Sidon, also riding over the Lebanon Mountains, visiting Baalbec and the Cedars of Lebanon. Then, taking a steamer at Beyrout, we passed among the Greek and Turkish Isles of the Archipelago, spent a Sunday at Smyrna, and thence alongside the plain of Old Troy, through the Dardanelles to Constantinople,

thence to Athens, whence we made excursions to Penteliens and other parts of Greece, to Corinth, Corfu and Brindisi, in Italy. We visited the 'Lands of the Bible.'" Dr. McCol- lester returned from this voyage in February, 1869, his social and professional life greatly enriched by the offerings he gathered. He lectured extensively, and wrote much describ- ing the countries he had visited.

On the day that he resigned his principalship of Westbrook Seminary, he received a call to the Universalist Church in Nashua, N. H., which he accepted, and commenced his pastorate there in the fall of 1869, and devoted himself en- tirely to the ministry. He brought new vigor to this church. The Sunday-school soon more than doubled. He had a Bible-class of some forty members. His church raised $800 towards the Centenary Fund in 1870. A " Ballou Associa- tion " was started under his administration, consisting of young people in the parish, which has since been a strong working force in be- half of the church. The parish also purchased a fine parsonage, paying more than $4000 to- wards it, while he was with them. He started conference meetings, which were largely attended. Under his charge the society in all its depart- ments of work was most active. He was re- spected in the pulpit and out of it. He so preached in word and deed that he was beloved and esteemed by all in the city. He so identi- fied himself with the cause of education, the temperance work, and the establishment of the Natural History Society and other city enter- prises, that all felt to accord to him the highest meed of honor for Christian energy, ability and moral worth. After an exceedingly happy and prosperous settlement of three years in Nashua, he was induced, by the urgency of friends of his de- nominational schools, to resign his charge, against the wishes of the whole church, to assume the presidency of Buchtel College, Akron, Ohio. He was so regarded by his own church and others, that at an historical celebration in Nashua, in speaking of the clergy, it was said :

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" The Universalist Church and the community lost a most excellent man, and Buchtel College gained an efficient president, when Rev. Mr. MeCollester left this church."

He entered on his new duties in the antumn of 1872. His scholarship, peculiar gifts for organizing, ability to teach and govern, and power to incite the young with truest aims, fitted him in a high degree to open and carry on this most important undertaking with eminent

success. As the college went into operation it seemed advisable and necessary that there should be a Universalist Church established in the thriving city of Akron, where the students and others could attend. Accordingly, this duty fell upon the president, who at once began to hold religious services in the capacious chapel of the college. The meetings were well at- tended in the inception. Then he organized a church, Sunday-school and weekly conference meetings, which prospered beyond the expecta- tions of the most sanguine. His pulpit efforts were thoroughly Christian, persuasive and elo- quent, and he soon became known as a more than ordinary preacher. His naturally strong descriptive powers, vivid imagination and clear statements made him popular as a public speaker, and he was called upon often to plead in the cause of temperance, and held a con- spicuous place as a powerful advocate. After having built up a firm society in connection with the college, he realized that his duties were too onerous, and he was instrumental in having a pastor settled over the society, thus relieving him of his double charge. Having served as president of the college for six years, he re- signed his office on account of failing health, and went abroad with his family for a year. At the close of his labors in this connection, Judge Tibbets, in behalf of the trustees and college, said on commencement day : "Six years ago, when we had completed this structure, grand in its proportions, strong in its foundations, and beautiful in its appearance as it was, we well knew that we had only begun the work of es-

tablishing a college. It needed to be presided over by a man of learning, of experience, of character, and of devotion to the great cause of education ; not one to take charge of an old-es- tablished institution, whose character and repu- tation were already made and known, but to create and make a new name and character among the colleges of the land.

" We sought you, and, after the most earnest entreaties, you accepted the position and you have not been found wanting. But, successful as have been your labors in the college, and as enduring as will be their results, I would speak of other fields where you are known, and where in your absence you will be missed. I see here to-day, and have seen elsewhere, the fruits of your labors for the downfallen and the poor. With others, you have sought to save the victims of the wine-cup from ruin, and the poor from suffering. You have extended to them the hand of fellowship. You have left the quiet of your home on week-days and on the Sabbath to bless them. These have found a friend in you, whose heart was warm, and whose purse was open to relieve their necessities. In all these characteristics and works you have shown yourself an accomplished educator, a high- minded, faithful man, a genuine Christian." In June, 1874, St. Lawrence University gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity.

On Dr. MeCollester's return to America, he was not much improved in health, and thought he would settle on his farm in his native town, where his honored parents had lived and died. But he was not allowed to continue there long. He was made to feel it was his duty to take hold of a new movement to establish a Univer- salist Church in the wide-awake village of Bel- lows Falls.

He commenced laboring there in November, 1879, holding religious services on Sunday in a hall. After working with this people for six months, he started a subscription to raise money for a church edifice, and, although a few months previously, it was not known that there were

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a dozen families in the place that sympathized with Universalism, yet in the course of a year there was quite a strong society, which rep- resented much financial ability, and money was readily raised to build a house of worship, and in less than two years from the time Dr. Mc- Collester engaged in this work, a strong and united parish was worshipping in a new, com- modious and fine edifice, free from debt. He continued his work for three years with a

most successful pastorate, and served the town of Rockingham as superintendent of schools for two years with great acceptance. At the close of his third year, having accomplished the special work which called him there, he re- signed his charge against the wishes of the peo- ple, and returned to Marlborough. But he did not remain there long, as there was work for him in another field, Dover, N. H., to revive Universalism. A new church edifice was just being completed, having been built by the late Hon. T. W. Pierce in memory of his revered and sainted parents. It is a unique religious edifice and bears the name of " Pierce Memo- rial Church." The doctor began his labors here Jannary 11, 1883, when the church was dedicated. The spiritual building now com- menced. Only a few in Dover were known as Universalists, but as the meetings were opened large numbers were in attendance, and in a short time eighty families were identified with the society as pew-holders. New organizations were made in all the different branches of church- work, and in a few months the " Pierce Memo- rial Church " was felt to be a working force in the city.

As a man and a preacher, Dr. McCollester was popular and highly esteemed. He took hold of this enterprise with the view of start- ing a strong society, so as to call another pastor into a promising field, and at the end of his second year he desired to give up his charge, but the parish urged him to continue another year. More than a hundred families are now represented in his society. Since he began this

work a parish, church, Sunday-school, " Ladies' Dorcas Society," " Young Folks' Brooks Asso- ciation " have been organized and systematized, so that they are now doing excellent religious labors. He tendered his resignation of this pastorate October, 1885, feeling that he had by his efforts placed the church on a strong footing, and that it would go on and prosper.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 48

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