History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 60

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 60
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 60

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We have alluded elsewhere to the happy family relations of Mr. Robertson ; he was a devoted husband and a loving father.

There seemed to be a community of interests one toward another, and a great unanimity in all that pertained to home happiness and domestic comfort. To his sons he was at once father, counselor, companion and friend,-entering into all their projects with the enthusiasm and interest of an elder brother, tempering the impulsive- ness of youth with his mature judgment and discretion.

He was an active member of the Congrega- tional Church and Society for several years be- fore his death, and his piety was of that practical kind which found its best expression in works. His pastor, Rev. H. Il. Hamilton, says of him : " He was for five years superintendent of the Sunday-school, and under his administration it was very successful. He was greatly interested in the children and had a way of gaining their affections. To his pastor he was loyal and a kind personal friend. As a Christian, he was positive in his convictions and an earnest sceker

after truth. Religious experience to him was a reality ; his faith was strong and he was never troubled with doubts. He was converted late in life ; but the change was real, the work thor- ough; no one justly doubted the reality of the change or questioned his sincerity. We all mourn the loss of a large-hearted Christian man."

And yet another personal friend puts on record these words : "With him honor and probity were garments for every-day wear ; his religious convictions, never unduly obtrusive, were not for Sunday ministration alone, but were his companions in the routine work and details of a busy life. His broad charity of thought was proverbial. He was ever ready to cast its mantle over the shortcomings of others. In practical every-day life he thus illustrated his entire sin- cerity and belief in the religion he professed."

It is an incident often mentioned in these later years that the beautiful poem entitled "Over the River," by Nancy A. W. Priest, afterwards Mrs. Wakefield, was written by her in the summer of 1857, while an employé in the mill of George Robertson. This exquisite gem of poesy has found its way into many hearts all over the world, and given the writer, whose early death we have never ceased to deplore, an enduring fame in the annals of American litera- ture.

We know not how we can more appropriately close this life-sketch than by quoting the con- cluding lines of another lyric by the same author, less famous, it is true, and not even found in the published volume of her poems, but nevertheless bearing the impress of a genuine poet. These seem pertinent to the close of the good life we have attempted to portray, and are, at once, a solace and a benediction,-

" And I thought it were pleasant and sweet to die, To pass from this world of care and strife, To close on its sorrows my glazing eyes, To open again on a better life.

And when we shall bow to the common fate,

May we find that the life-paths our feet have trod,

Lead up to the shining, pearly gates

Of the city whose builder and head is God."

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

JOHN STEARNS.1

In preparing a brief biographical notice of one of Hinsdale's oldest and most widely known citizens, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, it is proper to refer briefly to the genealogy of the Stearns family. It appears that Nathaniel Stearns, the grandfather, came from Hebron, Conn., and is supposed to have settled for a time in Northfield, Mass., and then removed to what is now Hinsdale. The first notice of him in the old town records is in 1774, where he is termed Lieutenant Stearns, and there is a record of his marriage to Dorcas Sanger, January 4th of that year. Walter, his eldest son, was born in the latter part of the same year, being the oldest of ten children.

He married Thena Shattuck in August, 1797. And just here it is pertinent to trace ont the re- mote ancestry of the Shattuck family, in order to show that the farm owned and occupied for so many years by John Stearns came down in a direct line of descent by way of the Shattuck race.

Daniel Shattuck located in Merry's Meadow in 1736. He built a fort on both sides of the little brook where now stands the large barn built by John Stearns. This fort was assaulted and partly burned by the Indians in 1746. Daniel Shattuck had a son Daniel born in 1727. He was a soldier at Fort Dummer in 1756 and afterwards captain of a company at the battle of Stillwater in 1777. He died in 1809. This Daniel Shattuck had two wives,-Mary, daugh- ter of Stephen Smith, of Sunderland, Mass., and for his second wife, Lucy, widow of Martin Smith, of Amherst, Mass. He had seven chil- dren, among them a son named Makepeace, who married Lydia Grandy, and the last-named were the parents of Thena Shattuck, the wife of Walter Stearns.

Walter Stearns was a resident of Hinsdale all his life, with the exception of seven years, from 1801 to 1808, when he resided in Dover, Vt.

He reared a family of thirteen children, namely : Fanny, Roxie, John, Emily, Rhoda, Elliot, Maria, Gracia, Nathaniel, Horace, Walter, Mary and Charlotte.

Of this great family there remains now only Maria, formerly wife of the late David Blanch- ard and later wife of the late Kimball C. Wor- den. She at present resides on Canal Street.

Only two of the sons settled in town, Elliot, a farmer and for many years a prominent and highly-esteemed citizen, and John, the subject of this sketch. John Stearns was born in Hins- dale, August 10, 1801. Of his early life we can record little beyond the fact that he was reared a farmer, with the limited educational advantages which were the lot of farmer boys of that period ; but what he lacked in book knowledge he made up in tact, keen observa- tion and good judgment.

On February 25, 1825, he was united in mar- riage to Esther Webster, of Northfield, Mass., a most estimable woman and a connection of Noah Webster, of dictionary fame. It is most fitting that we trace his career from the time that he assumed the management and ownership of the large and productive farm which, until his time, had been in the hands of the Shattuck family, and which he bought and where he resided for more than half a century. Besides being a good farmer, he early turned his attention spe- cially to dealing in horses and cattle, and became widely known all through Northern New Eng- land as a shrewd and successful buyer and trader. He also dealt more or less in real estate, being one of the owners, with John Ray, of the old American House, at Brattleborough, and the Ashuelot House, at Hinsdale, was more than once his property. He may be said literally to have carved out his own fortune, and ere he had reached middle life he had amassed a hand- some property and was accounted one of the solid men of the town. In his day he wielded great influence in town affairs, and though never accepting any public office, yet he exercised a controlling power over all important measures.

1 By W. S. Leonard.

John Strains

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HINSDALE.

It was a source of gratification to him in his old age to compare the Hinsdale of fifty years ago, then a small hamlet with a few scattered houses, with the Hinsdale of to-day, an enterprising, thriving village, with its tasteful residences, prosperous manufactories and material wealth and prosperity, and to feel that he had contrib- uted not a little toward making the town what it is by his good judgment and far-sighted pru- dence and sagacity. In private life Mr. Stearns was a most genial companion, hearty, mirthful and given to hospitality. There is some subtle influence which imbues those men who possess broad acres, large barns and luxuriant meadow lands, who deal much and largely in horses and fat cattle, which tends to make them genial and overflowing with hospitality. For many years "Uncle John " and his good wife dispensed a golden hospitality at the old Stearns homestead, making their home a true New England home in the most ample sense, and it is sad to think how fast these sunny homes are disappearing from our country hill-sides and valleys, and that the sturdy virtues and generous, hospitable manners, of which these good people were the types, are gradually fading out of our Ameri- can life.

Mr. Stearns had a keen perception of wit and humor, enjoyed a good joke or a laughable story and could himself tell one on occasion. Of this faculty the infirmities of age never bereft him, and many of his witty sayings and bits of quiet satire and humor will long be remember- ed among the local traditions of the town.

Uncle John was not unmindful of the Scrip- tural injunction to increase and multiply and re- plenish the earth. A family of eight children was born to him, viz. : Jane R., Elvira, Dwight W., Janette, Franklin, Newton, Charles and Ellen. All of them are living ; all have fami- lies of their own and occupy honorable and use- ful positions in life. In the summer of 1878 the family circle was broken by the death of the mother, Mrs. Stearns, who passed away, after a lingering illness, at the ripe age of sev-

enty-nine years,-a noble woman, who embodied in herself the household virtues of patience and unvarying kindness, and who was universally respected and beloved by all who knew her.

The death of this faithful and devoted help- mate had a profound effect upon Mr. Stearns. It was a rending asunder the ties which bound him to this world. Already an old man, he gradually withdrew more and more from the world without, and for the last year or two of his life rarely left the old homestead. His final sickness lasted only a few hours. He died on December 2, 1884, quietly and peacefully, under the roof that had sheltered him so many years, surrounded by his children and friends.

This sketch would be incomplete if we should neglect to mention some of the cotemporaries of John Stearns,-men who were more or less as- sociated with him in town affairs and whose loss Hinsdale has been called to mourn within the last fifteen or twenty years.

First of all, there was William Haile, a na- tive of Chesterfield, coming here a young man, first a merchant and later in life a successful manufacturer. The town honored him, and honored itself the more, by sending him many times as its representative to the General Court. The Senatorial District pressed upon him the office of State Senator, and the State twice be- stowed upon him the highest honor within its gift, in electing him its Governor. One of the most polished and dignified presiding officers in the State, and as a citizen identified with all the interests of the town for many years, Hinsdale proudly claims him as her own, though the last years of his life were passed in a neighboring citv.

" And to add greater honors to his age Than man could give him, He died, fearing God."

Next we may mention Dr. Frederic Boyden, the doctor par excellence for about a third of a century, later in life a successful mill-owner and manufacturer, but retaining his love for his chosen profession all his life long,-a man great-

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ly honored and beloved, and whose death, in the full maturity of his mental vigor and in the midst of his usefulness, we have never ceased to deplore.

Caleb Todd, prominently connected with town affairs for many years, a man of unusual personal presence, honest and firm in his opin- ions and beliefs, even though they leaned toward the unpopular side ; who believed that minori- ties were always in the right and majorities al- ways in the wrong,-a stately old gentleman, as we remember him, who, by common consent, was called by the old-time title of " the 'Squire."

Jonathan Browne, whom the young men of this generation recollect as a man of quiet man- ner, moderate in speech and dignified in move- ment, who in his time had much to do in shap- ing the affairs and guarding the interests of the town.

Sylvester Bishop, the manufacturer, a man of incorruptible integrity and honesty.

Elihu Stebbins, the courteous gentleman, who was also a power in town matters in his day and held many positions of trust, which he fill- ed with fidelity and acceptance.

Oliver Adams, who beneath a rough exterior concealed a heart as soft as a woman's, and pos- sessed a fund of good, sound common sense and integrity, which the young men of to-day would do well to seek after. A farmer, and a good farmer, before the days of agricultural colleges, mowing-machines or fancy fertilizers; he knew how to make farming pay, and he did it by steady, persistent industry.

John Stearns outlived all these prominent men whom we have briefly mentioned. It was pleasant to hear him in his old age speak of those his associates, and, with a touch of his old humor, recount anecdotes of their peculiarities as well as their excellent traits. But there were two whose span of life was lengthened out even beyond Mr. Stearns, and whose deaths occurred within the limits of 1885, the year just closed, who are worthy of mention in the catalogue of Hinsdale's influential men of a past generation ; we refer, of course, to Henry Hooker and Lewis Taylor.

Henry Hooker was Hinsdale's oldest citizen, being ninety-three years and eight months old

at the time of his death, a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first pastor of Cambridge, Mass., and a grandson of Rev. John Hooker, of Northampton. On his mother's side a grand- son of Rev. Bunker Gay, the first minister of Hinsdale. At ninety, erect and vigorous, a gentleman of the old school, punetilious in dress and manner, and walking with an elastic step that younger men might well envy,-a man who could look back far enough through the vista of the past to remember when Mrs. Howe (after- wards Mrs. Toots) came in her old age to the house of his grandfather, Rev. Bunker Gay, to beg him to write out the narrative of the mas- sacre of her husband by the Indians, and the details of her captivity in Canada; and this story, written in the most terse and vigorous English, can be found to-day in the old " American Pre- ceptor," a school-book which was in use in our common schools early in the present century.

Lewis Taylor, who died later in the year, de- served to be classed, as he was, among the best of a type of honest, God-fearing men, such as illus- trate and adorn the virtues they profess. He was for more than half a century a power in church and town affairs, and his voice and his influence were always on the side of truth and right. Mr. Taylor ever took a great interest in the early history of the Connecticut and Ash- uelot Valleys, especially the Indian traditions, and it is greatly to be regretted that, before the infirmities of age prevented, he did not put on record, in a permanent form, the interesting facts and data stored up in his memory. As it was, he contributed not a little toward the history of Northfield, Mass., and, better still, at his own expense, he caused to be erected the marble monument which marks the spot of the encounter of his ancestor, Sergeant Taylor, with the Indians. By so doing he has at the same time left a monument for himself, which will last through the ages.

And so, with this brief mention of the co- temporaries of John Stearns, we close this imper- fect sketch. Will the next generation emulate the industry, the thrift, the energy and enter- prise of these men, who leave behind them a re- cord of the good old-fashioned New England vir- tues which we may well aspire to follow ?

HISTORY OF SWANZEY.

BY COL. BENJAMIN READ.

CHAPTER I.

SWANZEY was first settled under the author- ity of Massachusetts. When the first settlement of the town was made the line between Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire had not been es- tablished, but it was assumed by Massachusetts that the territory was within its jurisdiction. The first authoritative movement made, which resulted in a settlement, was in 1732. In June of this year Governor Belcher, in his sketch to the Great and General Court of Mas- sachusetts, recommended that care be taken to settle the ungranted land. In the House of Representatives it was thereupon voted that there be seven towns opened, of the contents of six miles square, and the report located two of these seven towns on Ashuelot River, above Northfield. On the 1st of July, 1733, this vote was concurred in by the Council and con- sented to by the Governor.

October 19, 1733, Joseph Kellogg, Timothy Dwight and William Chandler were appointed a committee to lay out forthwith the townships on Ashuelot River " unless they find that by rea- son of laying out the township granted to Colonel Willard and others (Winchester), the land remaining at Ashuelot River will not well serve for two townships, in which case they are directed to lay out only one on that river." In February, 1737, the committee made a return to the General Court of a "plot of two town-

ships, each of the contents of six miles square, situated on each side of Ashuelot River, above the tract of land lately granted to Colonel Jo- siah Willard and others, beginning at a spruce or white pine tree standing about midway be- tween the south and east branches of said river, about five pearch east of the bank of the main river, and thence running each way as described on the plot." The report was accepted and the lands contained in said townships were declared to lie in and constitute a part of the county of Hampshire. The line thus established was the dividing line between Upper Ashuelot and Lower Ashuelot, and since Upper Ashuelot took the name of Keene, and Lower Ashuelot the name of Swanzey, this line has continued to be the dividing line between the two towns.

To prepare the township for settlement, a committee was sent by Massachusetts in May, 1734, to lay out sixty-three house -- lots. The first step taken by the committee must have been to lay out a street or highway. They commenced on the south side of the South Branch, about thirty rods from where it meets the Ashuelot River, and then ran southerly up over Meeting-House Hill, and then down to the west side of the moat. The length of this highway was about a mile and a half. The house-lots that were laid out upon this road were about sixteen rods in width, and some forty rods in length. Thirty-two lots were laid out upon the west side, and thirty-one upon

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

the east side. A few years after the lots were laid out the south lots on the east side were thrown up and two lots laid out on the west side at the south end, and several of the centre lots on the east side were altered by moving them back a number of rods in order to lay out on Meeting-House Hill a piece of land-common. The object of laying this land-common was to have a place to set a meeting-house, to have a burying-ground and a public common.

The design of having sixty-three house-lots was to have sixty for actual settlers, and to have one lot for the first minister, one for the ministry and one for schools. After the house- lots had been laid out the township was ready for settlement, when sixty persons should pur- chase rights in the township, upon which to set- tle themselves or to settle one of their children. A share was one house-lot and one of the sixty- three lots of each division into which all of the land in the township was subsequently divided.

The terms of admission were, that each set- tler should pay five pounds for a right ; that he should actually live on his land within three years after his admission, and continue there for the space of two years after in person, and with his family, if such he had ; that he should, with- in five years from his admission, build a house on his land of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at the least, and within the same time sufficiently fence and till or fit for mowing eight acres of land ; and in case any settler fail of performance, his right to be forfeited, and the committee for admitting settlers were required to take of each at the time of admission a bond for twenty pounds for the use and benefit of the settlers in case he should fail to perform the conditions mentioned.

The first meeting held by those who became proprietors of the township was at Concord, Mass., June 27, 1734. At this meeting Nathan- iel Hammond, of Littletown, was chosen mod- erator ; Ephraim Jones, of Concord, clerk ; John Flint, of Concord, Joseph Hill, of Biller- ica, Thomas Cutler, of Lexington, Eleazer Rob-

bins, of Harvard, and Nathaniel Hammond, of Littletown, were chosen to manage the pruden- tial affairs of the township.

The five pounds required of each proprietor for admission was to reimburse the province the money advanced to pay committees and the expense of the survey of the township and the house-lots and for building a house of public worship, or to be used as the General Court should order.

The meeting of the proprietors that was held June 27th adjourned to meet in the township of Lower Ashuelot September 18th, at ten o'clock, forenoon. 'This meeting was adjourned to eight o'clock the next morning, to meet on house- lot No. 1.

The division of the house-lots was made by drawing lots for them. The following are the names of the sixty proprietors, and the number of the house-lot which each drew :

Josiah Dival, 1; Thomas Hapgood, 2; Thomas Kendal, 3; Samuel Bacon, 4; James Heaton, 5; John Haldin, 6; William Rogers, 7; John Mead, 8; Jo- seph Lee, 9; Daniel Brown, 10; Joseph Hill, 11; James Wallis, 12; John Flint, for his son, Ephraim Flint, 13; Elnathan Jones, 14; Benjamin Reed, 15; Benjamin Whitney, 17; Nathaniel Hammond, for his son-in-law, Chamberlain, 18; James Houghton, Jr., 19; John White, 20; John Muzzey, 21; Jonathan Prescott, 22; David Cutler, 23; John King, 24; Jo- seph Hill, Jr., 25; Robert Cumming, 26; Nathaniel Hammond, 27; James Henry, 28; Thomas Cutler, 29; Hezekiah Sprague, 30; Benjamin Heywood, 31 ; Jon- athan Hammond, by his father, 32; Joseph Haskel, 33; Eleazer Robbens, 34; William Whitaker, 35; Samnel Douglass, 36; Aaron Lyon, 37; Benjamin Thompson, 38; Nathaniel Whitemore, 39; Thomas Kendal, 40; Timothy Stearns, 41; John King, 42; John Lampson, 43; John Storr, 44; John King, for his son, 45; John Mewharter, 46 ; Nathaniel Mattoon, 49; Ephraim Jones, 50; William Lyon, 51; Benja- min Farnsworth, 52; Oliver Wallis, 53; William Arms, 54; Charles Prescott, 55; Enos Goodale, 56 ; John Taylor, 57; Ebenezer Conant, 58; William Carr, 59; Thomas Heaton, 60; Thomas Kendal, 61; Sam- uel Doolittle, 62; Gardner Wilder, 63. School lot was 16, ministry lot, 47 ; minister's lot, 48.

Some alterations were made in the house-lots by a committee chosen for that purpose in 1739.

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SWANZEY.

The following is the report of the committee, and the plan of the house-lots after the altera- tions had been made :

" This Plan Describeth the House Lotts in ye Lower Ashuelot township so called laid out in part By Mr Nathaniel Dwight in May 1734 and since then agre- able to a vote of ye proprietors theares Been Con- siderable alteration made in them from ye Waiey they Were first proposed to be Laid out by a Commit- tee chosen for that End (as appears by this plan) by Laying a peace of Land common for seting up an house for publick worship &c. and bounding the Eastwardly End of ye Lotts on ye Eastwardly side of ye Road on ye second and third Division Lotts and on ye Westerly side of ye Road thears sum variation made in ye roads betwen ye Lotts viz The Road of four Rods wide on ye south side of ye Lott is added to sd Lott in full satisfaction for ye Road of four Rods Wide taken out of ye north side of ye Lott No 25 which was don by agreament of ye committee and ye person who is ye present proprietor (or owner) of sd No 31 & 25 and Likewise by a free consent of ye present owner of ye Lott No 31 ye Road is turned in at ye North-Eastwardly Corner of it and Runs somthing angling Cross sd Lott Leaving part of it on ye south and south Eastwardly side of ye Road as appears by this plan Laid out in December, 1733, by Benja Brown, surveyor.

" THOMAS CRESSON, ) "SAMUEL GUNN, " BENJª BROWN,

Committee."

Three general divisions characterize the sur- face of Swanzey. The largest division is com- posed of that part which is elevated above the plains and meadows. It is of granite forma- tion, and much of it is quite uneven, although not so much so as to unfit a large proportion of it for farming purposes. There are many hills ; some of them are quite rugged and have an elevation of several hundred feet above the adjacent plains and meadows. Five of the most prominent of these elevations have been designated mountains. These are Mount Hug- gins, in the northeast part of the town ; Mount Chaisson, on the west side of Ashuelot River, about a mile and a half from the centre of the town ; Mount Cæsar, near the centre of the town; Picket Mountain, in the southwest corner of the town; and Franklin Mountain, lying

south of the Ashuelot River and being partly in Winchester.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 60

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