History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 63

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 63
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 63

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).

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

a saw and grist-mill, where the woolen-mill now stands. In 1800 these mills had been supplying the farmers with manufactured lumber, and grinding their grain for forty years.

On June 1, 1759, David Belding, Elisha Scott, Joshua Graves and Abner Graves ob- tained a grant of fifty aeres of land at Factory village, in consideration that they build at that place a saw and grist-mill within two years, and keep the mills in good repair for ten years and do work for customary prices. They ob- tained from the proprietors of Keene the right to take the water from the East Branch, through a canal, to furnish the water-power for their mills.

John Whitcomb and sons built the first saw and grist-mill at East Swanzey, in about 1780.

Captain Samuel Brown and Moses Board- man Williams had a fifty-acre lot pitched and surveyed at Westport, June 2, 1774, which included the falls ; mills were erected there at an early date.

Richard Stratton commenced the business of cloth-dressing previous to 1800 at West Swan- zey, and Colonel Elisha Whitcomb built a card- ing machine at East Swanzey at an early date.

A tannery had been built and was in success ful operation at what was long known as the Blake tannery. Captain Timothy Bishop had at one time a small foundry on a brook up amongst the hills in the east part of the town.

Carpenters, shoemakers and blacksmiths were scattered through the town. But it was to the farmers in the town up to 1800 that the mill- owners and the mechanics looked for employ- ment. The fact was that nearly every man in town was engaged in farming. The tavern- keeper, the trader, the mill-owner, the clothier, the carder, the carpenter, the shoemaker, the tanner, the blacksmiths, the nail-maker, the brick-makers had their farms. They carried on their farms to a great extent by exchanging their goods and their labor for labor to culti-

vate lands already cleared and for clearing up more land.

In 1800 there were many large and substan- tial houses in the town, many of more moderate proportions and not a large number of small framed houses and but a small number of log ones. Probably there never was much necessity for using the log house for any great length of time. Timber was abundant and of little value and plenty of mills to manufacture it.

The oldest type of the best houses that had been built previous to 1800 was a two-story house in front and one-story at the back part. The plan was to have two good-sized front rooms on the lower floor and to have two good- sized chambers on the second floor. The centre of the rear part contained a large kitchen, and at the ends of it bed-room, pantry, cupboards, entries, etc. To accommodate the three large rooms on the lower floor and the two front chambers, a very large chimney was built in the centre of the house. Another type, and one from which a larger number was built than from the first, was to have the same construc- tion upon the lower floor, but without the second story in front. A fashionable type for the best houses at a later date was to build with two stories and with a four-cornered flat roof. If it was built with two rooms upon each floor, it had usually a chimney at each end of the house. If it contained four rooms upon each floor, the chimneys were built between the front and rear rooms.

From the standpoint of 1830 a considerable amount of business had been engaged in in the previous thirty years of a different character from that pursued previous to 1800.

Perhaps the first business taken hold of was the weaving of cotton cloth by the women. It was a number of years after machinery had been put in operation in this country for spin- ing cotton yarn before the weaving of cot- ton cloth by the power-loom was successfully accomplished. During this time cotton yarn was made in the mills and distributed through

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the country to be woven by women. Large amounts of this work were done in Swanzey ; men went with teams to Rhode Island and obtained the yarn and put it out to be woven. There was in almost every house one or more looms and some of the family busy at work weaving.

About 1810 a mill was built at the Factory village for making cotton yarn. Subsequently looms were put into the mill.

In 1830 the mill was in active operation making cotton cloth. About 1820 a small amount of machinery was running at East Swanzey, by William Ryder, Phincas Stone and Henry Cooper, making cotton yarn.

Between 1800 and 1830 an important busi- ness was commenced by the owners of saw- mills in manufacturing lumber for the princi- pal towns low down upon the Connecticut River. There was at this time a large amount of superior pine timber in the town. In the winter a number of mills were heavily stocked with this timber. The mills at this time were all sash-mills, and, compared with the present circular-mills, lumber was sawn very slowly by them. To make up for this, they were kept running during the months of March, April, May and June, night and day. As soon as the lumber was sufficiently seasoned, teams were em- ployed to cart it to the bank of the Connecticut River, at Northfield, Mass., or Hinsdale. At these places it was packed into large rafts and floated down the river to such places as Spring- field, Hartford and New Haven, and there sold. The principal men engaged in this business were John Stratton, Major Benjamin Whit- comb, Moses Howard, Alvin Holman, John Chamberlain, Daniel H. Holbrook, Lyman Parker and Roswell Parker.

This business was of great advantage to the farmers. Many of them owned considerable quantities of timber, which they could dispose of to the manufacturers for cash. Most of the farmers at this time had one or more pairs of oxen. These were usually kept busy in the

winter, logging. Those who had timber of their own could cut and draw it themselves ; those who had not timber of their own could usually find employment for themselves and teams by working for the mill-owners, who generally bought lots of standing timber and hired it cut and drawn.

The lumber that was carted to Northfield, as most of it was, had to be drawn over North- field Hill. The road was rather steep upon both sides. That which was carted from East Swanzey had to be drawn over the Potter Hill and over the Fish Hill. Both of these hills were steep upon both sides.

Most of the teams for carting had two yoke of oxen ; some would have an extra horse and some would be one pair of oxen and a horse. The loading of the wagons was most frequently done one day, that the team could start as quick as daylight the next morning. They would reach the river and unload before dark, and return home during the night.

The prices paid for work, and the wagons and sleds used those times, were very different from the price paid for work at the present time and the wagons and sleds used. Four dollars for carting a load of lumber with two yoke of oxen, to Northfield, was about a fair price; and in the winter, when a man got for himself and a pair of oxen for a day's work one dollar and twenty-five cents, he thought that he was fairly paid. The wagons used, most of them, were made with a wooden axle-tree skeined. Brakes for wagons were unknown in those days. As some of the hills were so steep on the road over which the lumber had to be carted that went to the river, one pair of oxen could not manage a load drawn by two yoke, and so a false pole was used, that both pair could hold back in going down the steep hills. The sleds had long run- ners, shod with wood.

Another business introduced into the town was the working up the red oak timber into shooks. The business consisted in going into the woods, cutting down the best red oak trees,

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

sawing them up into blocks of the length of a stave for a molasses hogshead ; then in splitting these blocks up into staves; then in shaving and jointing the staves ; then in binding them to make the bulge of the hogshead ; then in packing enough in a bunch to make a hogs- head, and bending them firmly together.

They were then carted to Connecticut River and transported down the river loaded on the top of a raft of boards or carried in a large boat made for transporting freight up and down the river. The shook market was at New Haven, Conn. There were men at that place who bought them and shipped them to the West Indies.

The making of palm-leaf hats was intro- duced into the town previous to 1830, and at that time many of the women were busy mak- ing hats.

Soon after 1800, if not before, the travel from Keene for Boston was diverted from the road that passed through Swanzey Centre. At first it went through Marlborough and Jaffrey ; but soon the turnpike was built through the east part of Swanzey, which soon became a great thoroughfare for freighting, for private traveling and staging. After the travel had left Swanzey Centre there was but little busi- ness for public-houses to do, that were on the road that passed through there; but soon the Underwood tavern was built at the Factory village, which for a long time was popular and well patronized.

Benjamin Page was born in 1792, and died when about sixty-six years old. During the time after he was twenty-one years old to the time of his death he was one of the marked men of the town. He was intensely in earnest to become rich, and was extremely visionary. These traits in his character led him to engage in many different branches of business. He at first en- gaged in trade at Swanzey Centre ; next he commenced to make woolen flannels at the place of his birth, the old Ephraim Page homestead. The spinning of the yarn for these flannels and

the weaving was done at first by hand. A shop was built in which to do the work, and women were employed. His next move for making these goods was to purchase, at East Swanzey, the cloth-dressing business, and change the ma- chinery for making flannels. About 1830 the business of making flannels was given up, and machinery for making pails was put into the mill.

This was the first of the pail-making business in Swanzey by machinery, and was nearly the first that was done anywhere. A very little had been done in Troy and Marlborough.

We will now take a look at Swanzey as it was in 1830, and notice some things that dated a few years from 1830.

The old growth pine timber was quite abund- ant. Large traets could be seen of these stately forest-trees upon the plains and upon the hills. Many of these trees appeared in another form, which gave to the town a disagreeable aspect. At a time when pine timber was not considered of any value it was cut and burned up on the land. In cutting the timber upon land for the purpose of bringing it under cultivation, many large pine-trees would be found that it would be a great task to cut and burn up. The result was that many of these trees were left standing when the land was chopped, and were killed by the fire when the land was burned. And it was very frequent to find at this date, when cut- ting off a timber-lot, old, defective trees that were not worth cutting and would be left, and then fire would run through the lot and they would be killed. Such trees could be seen in all directions, some with bark on, some with it partly off and some with it all off; some of the trees would have limbs on ; some would have nearly all their limbs gone; some were black, having been burned after they had become partially dried.

Nowhere in Cheshire County was to be found, in 1830, a road over which there was more staging, more teaming and more general travel- ing than the turnpike in the east part of Swan-

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zey. The travel by stage between Keene and Boston nearly all went over this road. In sum- mer soon after daylight, and in winter before daylight, four-horse stage-coaches would start and pass down over this road. In summer the stages from Boston would pass before dark, in winter it would be after dark. The passengers aboard the coaches would be made up usually of some from Keene, some from other towns in Cheshire County, many from Vermont, a few from the northeast of New York and frequently some from Canada.

The teams that one would see on the road going south would be one of six horses, with a great load of bags of Vermont wool; then would be seen more frequently two-horse teams going the same way, some with loads of grain from the Connecticut River towns, loads of butter and loads of cheese from Vermont. When these teams came back, if they went through to Boston, they would be loaded with all kinds of merchandise for the traders, or such stocksas the manufacturers had to purchase for their special business. In those times people who went to visit friends went very generally with their own teams ; some would have a nice pair of horses and a nice carriage, some with a nice pair of horses and a farm-wagon, some with a nice horse and chaise, some with an ordinary horse and a common wagon. The old Underwood tavern at the Factory. village, was a place where large numbers of teamsters and travelers were entertained.

A number of Swanzey men at this time owned a nice chaise, about the only nice car- riages that were used. Of those who owned such a carriage was Rev. Ebenezer Colman, Hon. Elijah Belding, Hon. Elijah Carpenter, Major Ezekiel Page, Captain Levi Blake, Amos Bailey Esq., Captain Benjamin Brown, Captain David Holbrook, Israel Stanley, Alexander Perry and Alvah Thompson.

The majority of the people rode in a com- mon wagon. These were made with a wooden axle-tree ; the body of the wagon was set square

down upon the axle-tree, and the seats were set upon wooden springs.

Rev. Ebenezer Colman was the minister of the Congregational Church and Society in 1830, who worshiped at what is the town-house, un- less the Universalists wanted it. This denomina- tion claimed the right, to use the house a portion of the time, and when they did the Congregation- alists worshiped at a hall, or a school-house. The Universalists had no regular minister, and used the house only occasionally as they em- ployed a minister for a few Sabbaths or as a minister of that denomination happened to be in town.

At this time not so large a proportion of the people attended meeting on Sunday as they did fifty years previously, but going to church was more general than it is at present. Of those that did go, in the east part of Swanzey, most of them went to the Congregational meet- ings and in the west part of the town they went to the Baptist meetings.

A large majority of the men that went to church were farmers. Raising of colts was an important part of the business of the farmers. The mare that raised his colts was used to carry the family to church. On Sunday one would see a large number of mares, with colts by their sides, hitched under the horse-sheds, or under a shade tree, or to a fence. A less number of the boys attended Sunday-school, than at the present time. Much of the intermission be- tween the morning and afternoon services would be spent by the boys in looking at the colts and ascertaining who had got the best ones. But the fun with the colts came after the meet- ing was out. They would be full of frolic, and get mixed up, to the annoyance of the men, and that would make fun for the boys. Priest Colman kept a mare from which he raised colts, and he could be seen week-days riding about town making calls with his mare hitched to his chaise, and her colt running by her side.

Wages were low compared with the present

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

price paid for labor. Priest Colman's salary, we think, was three hundred dollars in money and his fire-wood a year, and he had a strong body, a vigorous mind, and was a good minister. Men would work on a farm in the summer, and keep school in the winter, for fifteen dollars a month. Women would work for two dollars a week at teaching school or at house-work.

The water-power in Swanzey consists of a fall of water at Westport of about ten feet of the Ash- uelot River. The fall of the same river at West Swanzey is twelve feet. This is all the power that can be obtained from that river in the town. The water-power at the Factory vil- lage is obtained by bringing the water through a canal from the East Branch in Keene. After the water leaves the Factory village it has to flow about a mile before it enters the Ash- uelot River. It furnishes in its course an ex- cellent water privelege at Spragueville.

The South Branch has no fall that furnishes power for some four miles from its mouth. Above this, to where it enters the town, there is considerable fall of water, and seven very good water privileges have been brought into use. The Swanzey Pond is the only natural pond in the town. It covers about one hundred acres. At the outlet of this pond there is one very good privilege. There have been two saw-mills on a brook that runs from Richmond north to Pond Brook and enters the South Branch. There have been two saw-mills on Hiponeco Brook, which is in the southwest corner of the town. There is a mill on Bridge Brook, in the southeast corner of the town, for manufacturing pail stock, and there was a mill at one time for making toy pails. Varey Brook is in the ex- treme west part of the town, and there was a saw-mill upon this brook for many years. A small brook runs by the house of Captain Ed- mond Storrs, upon which he has mills.

We will give the names of the principal busi- ness men in the town, excepting the farmers, and the nature of their business and the places

where they were located in 1830, or very near that time.

The mills at Westport were operated by John and Wetherbee Chamberlain. Benjamin H. Carl- ton was a clothier at the same place. B. C. Peters carried on the tailoring business. Major Benjamin Whitcomb owned the mills at West Swanzey, on the west side of the river ; John Stratton on the east side. Isaac Stratton was a clothier. Samuel Stearns, Luke & David Ben- nett, Porter Hills were in trade either at West Swanzey or Westport. Archer Campbell was operating the cotton-factory at the Factory village, and the other mills at that place. Dr. E. H. Frost owned the mills at Wilson Pond. Ezekiel Graves had a saw-mill at the Hollow, and Ira Taft a shingle-machine. Lyman & Roswell Parker had a saw and grist-mill at East Swanzey. Joseph Whitcomb had at the same place a shingle-mill and a carding-machine. Henry Cooper and Israel Applin had a saw- mill. The cloth-dressing mill had at this time, or did soon after, pass into the hands of Benjamin Page, and was changed into a manufactory of pails. Who operated the saw-mill at Swanzey Pond we have not ascertained. John Perry and John Hills had saw-mills on the Sant Brook, Nathaniel Thompson, on Hiponeco Brook, and Daniel Varey on Varey Brook. Captain Levi Blake carried on the tanning business about a mile and a half south of the middle of the town, and employed four or five men at the business. Amos Bailey, at the Centre, employed three or four men making boots and shoes. Caleb Sawyer was the trader at the Centre. Two of the best-known-carpenters and builders in this vicinity at this time were Zadock L. Taft and his brother, James S. Taft.

The following are the names of men and their business, which has intervened between 1830 and the present time :

Alvin Holman was associated with John Cham- berlain at Westport in the lumbering business a number of years. He may have been there as early as 1840. Franklin Holman, a brother of

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Alvin, commenced the manufacturing of nest buckets at the same place about the same time, and continued the business for a number of years. After Mr. Chamberlain and the Holmans had discontinued business, the principal manu- facturing of the place was done by a company of which Stephen Falkner, Henry Holbrook and several others constituted the firm.

About twenty years ago James Marsh and E. F. Read bought the mills and water-power, made some extensive repairs and commenced the manufacturing of pails. Mr. Marsh ul- timately bought out Mr. Read and has continued the business.

It is many years, perhaps twenty-five, since the making of small boxes for the New York mar- ket was begun in the village. One of the first in the business was a Mr. Coborn. After him Mr. Henry Holbrook was in the business. Mr. J. Mason Read was the successor of Mr. Hol- brook, having purchased the machinery soon after Messrs. Marsh and Read bought the mills. Some two years since Mr. Read moved his machinery to Keene.

Mr. Sylvanus Bartlett moved from Westport to Keene some three years ago. We think that he had been most of the time a resident of the village more than forty years previous. He opened a few years at the West ; during his residence there he was much of the time in trade, and some of the time a manufacturer of wooden-ware.

Jotham Frink, Stephen Falkner and Henry Abbott have been in trade here. E. F. Read was for some time associated with Mr. Marsh in trade. Until quite recently Mr. George Brooks had been with Mr. Marsh.

We presume that it is fifty years since Ever- son Cook commenced trading at West Swanzey, and he may have continued in the business there twenty-five years. Much of this time he connected the tailoring business with his store.

Of other men that have traded at this place are Jonathan and Hiram Whitcomb, Jotham Frink, Rev. Mr. Mason, Joseph Hammond,

Joseph Ware, Paul F. Aldrich, Frank Snow, Russel & Whitcomb, and J. L. Parker.

The tanning business at this place was begun by Isaac Stratton. It may have been thirty- five years ago. The business was continued many years by Mr. Stratton. Several years ago Asa Kendall purchased the establishment and did a large business at tanning until within two or three years ago.

John Stratton, Jr., and his brother-in-law, Jotham W. Frink, bought the Whiteomb mill, on the west side of the river, not far from thirty years ago; they subsequently built what is now a part of the woolen-mill. The mill was run by these men a number of years. E. F. Read and J. L. Parker have each been en- gaged a number of years in manufacturing wooden-ware here. Some of the time they were in company.

Virgil Woodcock was born July 16, 1806. He learned the carpenter's trade of his father, Levi Woodcock. Soon after he reached his majority it was apparent that he was a good workman, was very industrious and was des- tined to be a man of business. He very soon had a number of men in his employ, and was taking contracts to build large buildings, such as meeting-houses, hotels, etc. His residence was at Swanzey Centre ; he there built a shop for his business and put in a steam-engine. It subsequently appeared that he took some of his contracts too low, which resulted in his becon- ing involved. Soon after gold was discovered in California he took an overland route to that place. He returned, after staying there a few years, having accumulated something of a prop- erty. The shop that he first built had been disposed of, and made into two dwelling-houses. Soon after his return from California he asso- ciated himself with Phinehas Stone, and they erected at Swanzey Centre a large mill, and put in steam-power sufficient to operate a saw-mill, a grist-mill, pail-works and machinery for manufacturing chair stock. The enterprise did not prove profitable, and the business was con-

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tinued only a few years. Mr. Woodcock died July 18, 1875. A few years before his death he was interested in gold-mining at Plymouth, Vt.

We have already mentioned that Benjamin Page commenced the manufacturing of pails by machinery at East Swanzey about 1830. Very soon after Mr. Page had got his first mill into successful operation he built a new mill on another privilege. This was where Wilder P. Clark's pail-shop now stands. Na- than Winch and Joseph Putney bought the old Whitcomb carding-mill a few years after Mr. Page commenced making pails and put in ma- chinery for making pails. They continued the business a short time and then sold out to Mr. Page. A few years later Mr. Page bought the Parker grist and saw-mills. He took out the grist-mill and put in pail machinery. This gave him the ownership of all the mills in the place, which he continued to hold until his death. He was connected with the pail busi- ness some twenty-seven years. Some of this time he was in trade at this place, and some of the time at the Centre. At one time he en- gaged in making friction matches ; at another time he went into the poultry business. His estate was settled and the mills sold in 1859.

Since the sale of Mr. Page's property, and the time when the present proprietors came into possession of their respective mills, the following persons have been interested in opera- ting some one of the mills for a longer or shorter time making pails : Benjamin Read, Asa Clark, J. W. Murphy, Silas B. Patridge, John S. Sargent, Edward Woodward, Calvin Alexander and H. W. Mason. A. W. Banks and J. Mason Read owned one of the mills a number of years, and during this time they manufactured chair stock and pail-handles.

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 63

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