History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 69

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 69
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 69

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complied with at that time, and the land re- verted.

He also gave one-ninth part of his remaining lands in Rockingham to each of his nine chil- dren ; the number of acres is not known. Thus it is seen, when Colonel Bellows died, he was in possession of from six to eight thousand acres of land, enumerated and unenumerated. He also gave his children one thousand and fifty pounds in money together with numerous cows, oxen, horses, and also household furni- ture, taken together, amounting to a large sum.

In person Colonel Benjamin Bellows was tall and stout, weighing, a short time before his death, three hundred and thirty pounds; but still he continued to ride about his farm on a strong sorrel horse, looking after his interests. He lived in a style that necessitated much activity and forethought to satisfy the daily demands of his own household, to say nothing of the numerous comers and goers. All were hospitably treated, both rich and poor, for he kept an open house, in one sense.

A large oaken table in the kitchen under the house was always spread for his workmen ; but he maintained a separate table for his own family. He made four hundred barrels of cider annually and put down twelve barrels of pork every winter. Eggs were brought in by the half-bushel and salmon was so plenty that his hired men stipulated that they should not have it oftener than three times a week. In 1775, General Bellows was the captain of a military company in this town.

It appears that Benning Wentworth had given charters to a large number of towns on both sides of Connecticut River indiscrimi- nately, and the grantees on the west side were at loggerheads with the authorities of New York, and a nest of towns settled in Marlborough, Vt., because the New Hampshire grantees could get no justice done them in the "York " courts. As time went on the evils grew no less, till, at length, the "Yorkists" undertook to hold a

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court at Westminster, Vt. ; but the grantees were determined they should not, and, accordingly, assembled in the court-house (unarmed) be- fore the time arrived for the opening of the court. This was in March, 1775. Soon the court arrived with the sheriff and his posse, and barely wedged themselves in. The court clearly foresaw that no business could be done, and adjourned ; but still the sheriff remained till about eleven o'clock at night on March 13th, when something precipitated the firing of the conrt party on the Green Mountain boys, which resulted in the killing of one William French and mortally wounding another person. The news of this killing spread like wild-fire over hill and through dale, and, before daylight the next morning, men from all quarters were seen going to Westminster, when, by noon, the vil- lage was filled with five hundred exasper- ated men, swearing vengeance on the perpetra- tors.

FROM 1780 TO 1790.

General Bellows (then captain) was imme- diately sent for to repair to Westminster as soon as possible with his company, to prevent more bloodshed. When there, he stationed his men out of sight of the crowd, but freely min- gled with it himself, counseling peace, law and order. Thus oil was spread on the troubled waters till the culprits could be hastened off to Northampton jail, the nearest one that would keep them. When the last beam of the setting sun touched the little village of Westminster that day it was as quiet as a Sabbath morning. Probably General Bellows served his country better on this occasion than on all his military campaigning put together.

Vermont, now, had got rid of the pretended jurisdiction of New York over the territory cast of the Green Mountains, and the Tories, who had been long sowing to the wind, were now reap- ing the whirlwind of retaliation from the New Hampshire grantees, who had long been tantal- ized and oppressed by them under the protec- tion of the " Yorkists." It would seem that

sunshine was now smiling on the grantees ; but it was otherwise, for trouble had already com- meneed between New Hampshire province and the province of Vermont.

It appears that the settlers on the New Hamp- shire grants for fifty miles on the Connecticut River, were mostly from the same section of New England, namely, Connecticut ; and as there were no settlements then of importance cast of the grants in New Hampshire for many miles, it was natural that the settlers on the grants should affiliate ; hence the strange pro- ceedings.

Sixteen towns in the vicinity of Cornish, N. H., joined the Vermont settlers through a convention held there, but owing to some mis- understanding they did not remain long. Yet, as the Vermont adherents numbered about one- half the population on the east side of the river and, the excitement continued, till at length a convention was called to meet at Charlestown, N. H., January 16, 1781, where all the New Hampshire grants were invited.

The call was in printed circulars, setting forth that, if a certain named majority of the towns were in favor of forming a " union " with Vermont, the Vermont Assembly would ratify the proceedings. Each party was now on the alert, running up and down highways and by- ways, drumming recruits till the day of meet- ing. The convention was large and fully rep- resented, and the question set forth in the call was ably discussed pro et con for some time. At length a resolution was presented, which, if carried, would take from Vermont all the New Hampshire grants on the west side of the river -virtually annihilating the State of Vermont- which was carried by a large majority and gave the New Hampshire people much joy and hilarity. Ira Allen, of Vermont (brother of Ethan), was present on this occasion and was busy through the following night with his henehmen, conferring with his friends.

When the convention assembled the next morning a motion was carried to recommit the

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report to a committee for emendation, that it might be in a suitable form for publication. When the committee submitted the amended form of the report for adoption, it was found that a clause had been inserted recommending the grants on the east side of Connecticut River to consolidate with Vermont, which surprised none but those not in the secret. The question on its adoption was put and carried by an over- whelming majority.

General Bellows and twelve others, a part of whom belonged to the Council and the others the Assembly of New Hampshire, left the con- vention in disgust, not without leaving a vigor- ous protest, however, against such base trickery. General Bellows was certainly outflanked this time ; but he knew where to strike his enemy where it was vulnerable, as Vermont had been for some time a petitioner to Congress for ad- mission as a sister State of the Union, but had not been admitted for the reason of the troubles on Connecticut River, of which Congress had been seasonably advised; but now, after the foregoing outrage, General Bellows, with his influential friends at Exeter, represented the condition of affairs in a vigorous protest to Congress against Vermont's admission. In the mean time General Washington wrote a confi- dential, unofficial letter to Governor Chittenden, of Vermont, frankly stating that Vermont would not be admitted to embrace any territory east of Connecticut River.

Now commenced, and was continued for a long period, a state of anarchy and confusion which beggars description. Lieutenant John Graves represented the town in the Vermont Assembly, at Windsor; General Bellows was confronted at home by large influential families, such as the Halls, the Hoopers, the Hutchins, Graves and many others; sheriff's were im- prisoned when doing their duty ; the judgment of courts were set aside and attempts made to break them up; majorities in towns of one party bulldozed the minorities, and no person knew whether he lived under the " bench " seal

or that of the " rising sun." The people on the grants were carrying their revengeful feelings to such an alarming extent that the militia was called out in both States and held, for a while, ready for action.

In the course of time the sentiments of Washington's letter reached the Vermonters, which was a wet blanket to them. Then, when they became as anxious to rid themselves of their New Hampshire family as they were to get them, they did not " love Cæsar less, but they loved Rome more,"-i.e., to get into the Union. All parties had become weary of this unprofitable strife, from whence no good had come, but much that was disastrous.

On the 11th of February, 1782, the Vermont Assembly was in session, and a resolution was introduced, in accordance with the expression of the Assembly previously made, and was pre- sented, voted on and carried, which was an af- firmative vote for the dissolution of the "union " of the grants.1

Now peace once more reigned, and, after a while, the people enjoyed life under their own vine and fig-tree, and resumed their accustomed vocations.

The town at this time (1784) contained about twelve hundred inhabitants and had outgrown their meeting-house. For two years frequent ineffectual attempts were made to get a vote of the town to build a new one. Finally, in 1786, a vote was secured to build one, when a dis- agreement arose about its location. At length the town decided to build on land near where B. E. Webster now lives. The people had no settled plan of construction, but went on, from step to step, as the vote of the town dictated. When the wood-work was completed, they were some time in agreeing what color it should be painted. Finally, straw color was adopted. To raise money to pay for its construction and finish, it was agreed to sell pews by " public vendue," and whoever would bid off a pew

1 For a more elaborate statement, see " History of Wal- pole."

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

should give a bond for security of payment. Connected with the building was a high tower, in which the bell was hung that (1885) greets our ears with its mellow tones now on the town-house. Apollos Gilmore rung this bell for many years, morning, noon and night, and he was so punctual at his post that the say- ing was " he regulated the sun." The capacious lower floor was divided into little seven by four feet compartments, called pews, resembling a sheep-fold in the spring. Over the pulpit was suspended an oval, dome-like structure, sur- mounted with an emblematical device called a sounding-board, and on three sides ran a deep gallery which was not only a loft for the organ, but was divided into pews. The deacons' scats were built on the right and left-hand sides of the pulpit. Thus equipped, the people of the town all worshipped at one place, with no mod- ern isms to disturb them. The house was com- pleted in 1789.

Till 1785 there was no way of crossing Con- neetieut River only by ferry-boats, of which there were many. But one Enoch Hale, a citi- zen of Rindge, N. H., moved to town in 1784, obtained a charter of the Legislature and built a bridge in 1785, which connected Walpole with Rockingham at Bellows Falls. This was the first bridge that ever spanned the Connecticut River, and no other was built on the river till 1796. It was considered a great undertaking and made Mr. Hale famous. This bridge passed into the possession of one Frederick William Geyer, and was a source of consider- able income.

Geyer had a family, and a daughter of his was married to Richard D. Tucker. Tueker's wife at her father's death received this bridge as a portion of her legacy. Ever since that time it has been known as " Tucker's Bridge."

In 1786 Walpole was dismembered of all the territory lying north of Theodore Atkin- son's line to Charlestown, measuring one mile and two hundred rods on its southern boundary. This territory included the "Governor's sheep

pasture," which was set off to form the town of Langdon. This arrangement discommoded the settlers on the river, and the next year that portion now running north from Cold River, by legislative authority, was reannexed to the town.

FROM 1790 TO 1800. 1

The succeeding ten years were those of plenty, happiness, hilarity and contentment ; the virgin soil, with proper industry, produced an abundance for man and beast; the apple orchards, which had been planted twenty years before, had just come into a bearing condition of native fruit, and yielded abundantly every year. Colonel John Bellows had an orchard of thirty acres in extent. Every farmer had his apple orchard, and at every tenth farm was an old-fashioned cider-mill.

Forty-eight hundred barrels of cider were made in 1795, which gave to each man, woman and child nearly four barrels each. A portion of this cider was distilled into cider-brandy at a distillery that stood where the High School building now stands, and owned by Colonel Caleb Bellows, the general's son. In one shape or another, this large quantity of cider found its way into the stomachs of the townsmen yearly, and for more than a quarter of century after- wards this brandy and cider-drinking was kept up, which formed the era of red eyes and blue noses. Families, when out of eider, considered themselves out of everything, and the man who could not put into his cellar twenty barrels of cider yearly was considered poor, and the man who could not keep a sideboard filled with liquors was of no account.

The meeting-house being completed, and large enough to accommodate all the people who went to church, assembled there week after week for a quarter of a century to listen to Thomas Fes- senden and Pliny Dickinson, and hear them preach their long-winded sermons, which often ran up to the tenthlies.

The townsmen were taxed pro rata for the sup- port of preaching whether they believed in the

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" standing order" of creeds and beliefs or not. There were agnostics in those days, as well as now, and what could induce all the people in cold weather, some of whom had to travel four or five miles on foot or horseback and sit through two long services in that unwarmed church, is more than can be guessed at, unless, to get their money's worth, for in many cases reluctant payment of taxes was creeping in. During thirty-five years that old church never was warmed, and by some church members it was considered sacrilege to warm a church. After the benediction, at noon, many of the par- ishioners repaired to the public-house of Alexan- der Watkins, which is still standing and owned by B. E. Webster, and seated themselves in semi- circle around a blazing fire in his capacious re- ceiving-room. Parson Fessenden sometimes preached a cold sermon, and on those occasions he drifted with his parishioners to Uncle Alex's, as he was called, and then and there quaffed a generous quantity of flip with them. Then it was not considered derogatory for the cloth to take a little, just a little, for the "stomach's sake." Here the head of each family purchased a mug of flip, from which each member partook from the same mug, and for every mug sold Uncle Alex would add another stick of wood to the already hot fire ; so by the time for after- noon service the parishioners and parson were well warmed inside and outside to meet the chill of the afternoon.

Parson Dickinson, who after this period be- came the town minister, was cast in a different mould from Parson Fessenden ; he considered the guzzling of cider, cider-brandy and the looking upon " wine when it was red" as dan- gerous to the morals and the well-being of his charge, and used his influence to discourage their use as a common beverage. He was not a free liver himself, and it is presumed never touched even wine without being urged by his parishioners.

The lines of demarkation in society were clearly defined in those days. There were

some families who had gained wealth by their shrewdness or otherwise, and who looked upon themselves as the salt of the town, but by the yeomanry as salt without its savor. These two classes had no affiliations in common. Then there was a literary coterie that affected wit, poetry and literature. This coterie was com- posed of such men as Royal Tyler, of Brattle- borough, Vt., who was afterwards chief jus- tice of that State ; Samuel Hunt, afterwards member of Congress ; Samuel West, of Keene, a brilliant advocate, together with Joe Dennie, of this town, editor of the Farmers' Museum, and Roger Vose, who also was afterwards mem- ber of Congress, and others in town. The foregoing persons belonged to the club proper, while there were others who joined them in their symposiums occasionally, which were held at Major Bullard's, who kept a public-house here.

This house was known far and wide as the Craft tavern.1 The persons who joined this self-styled literary club occasionally were Dr. Heilliman, who came to this country with the Hessian soldiers in Revolutionary days, Al- pheus Moore, Dr. Spaulding and Jeremiah Mason, who was a young lawyer here then, but who afterwards became distinguished in his profession and well known throughout New England.

One anecdote is related of him, when in prac- tice here, which is worth repeating. Mason was a malformed man, inasmuch as this : he was six feet, six inches in stature, with pedal extremities very long in proportion to his body, and when seated in one of the old-fashioned high-backed sleighs, with his youthful features, he very much resembled a boy. One day in mid- winter, when the snow lay deep on the ground, he started for Keene, over the hills in a high- backed sleigh, with robes well tucked around him. On the high land he met a burly, cross- grained teamster, who, by threats and billings-

1 Burnt down October 31, 1880.

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

gate, was bent on depriving Mason of his legal right to half of the road. He soon found that threats availed nothing ; so, with upraised whip, he approached this seeming boy to see what virtue there was in castigation. Mason now thought it time to put in a defense, and accordingly seized his whip with butt end forward, and began to rise up, with robes tumbling off, till up, up, he stood at full height before the appalled teamster, when he ejaculated, " You need'nt get up any more on ver ; there's enough neow ; I'll turn eout!" He did so, Mason maintaining silence all the while. There is no other case to be found where the stature of a man sustained the statute of the State.

The meetings of this club were held quite often, and when its members were assembled the old house was turned into a literary pande- monium ; boisterous hilarity prevailed ; all kinds of liquors were drunk to excess ; card- playing and kindred amusements obtained ; breaking of crockery and furniture were com- mon, and late or early suppers were indulged in, as the case might be. Parson Fessenden seemed to be a subject for ridicule by the wags -perhaps he had crossed their path from the pulpit. He was diminutive in size, and when dressed in the Continental garb of those days the wags fancied that he resembled the Jack of Clubs, an important card in their favorite game " Palm Loo," hence they dubbed him " Old Palm." At one time, when Joe Dennie was editor of the Museum (Walpole paper), which was printed in the building now occupied by Chapin & Burt, butchers, he was sought for at the tavern no less than twelve times for " copy " to finish an essay he was writing for the paper.

The last time when " copy " was wanting he was engaged in a rubber of whist, when he said to his friend Tyler, " Here, Tyler, play my hand, while I give the devil his due!" In a few minutes the essay was completed, although he was surrounded with confusion.

Then there were the tradesmen and mechan-

ies, who, though respectable as a class, were a kind of connecting link between aristocracy and the yeomanry. The yeomanry, which composed most of the population, was content in honest labor and industry. As citizens, they cared for nothing but material gain and the comfort of their households ; they neither af- fected pride nor put on airs. The good old housewife and her daughters, with " rosy cheeks and bonny brows," spun the wool and flax, the former colored and woven into cloth for the entire outward garments of both sexes in the families, and the latter into bed-linen and under- garments. The hides of their slaughtered ani- mals were converted into various kinds of leather for home wear, by local tanners, of whom Daniel Bisco was one, whose tannery was located near where Henry J. Watkins now resides. This leather was made into shoes and boots in the kitchens of the farmers, by per- sons who went from house to house, with bench and kit, and made up a year's stock of foot-gear for a family at one time, and many a sixteen- years-old damsel's eyes glistened at a pair of cowhide shoes for the winter after going bare- foot through the summer. Shoes were all sewed then-pegged shoes were not seen till twenty years afterwards. This procedure of shoemakers (then called cordwainers), and a similar one pursued by females in cutting and making the clothing of men and boys in their midst, was called " whipping the cat."

Colonel John Bellows furnished employment for a large number of females, by furnishing them with wool to spin into yarn. Their visits on horseback to return yarn and procure more wool were frequent and constant, and, with their horses tied around his house, made it resemble a public inn on some festive occasion. The colonel had multifarious dealings with the farm- ers, and it was said that his balance-sheet at the end of the year made always a favorable showing for himself.

The common people then were bigoted, superstitious and ignorant ; they believed in

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lucky and unlucky days, and were rigidly guided by the phase of the moon in the planting of their seeds, the killing of pork and the wean- ing of calves and babies. One of those old wiseacres saw Judge Sparhawk, an enlightened townsman, sowing wheat one day, when he ac- costed him thus: "Judge, you won't raise any wheat ; it's the wrong time in the moon !" The Judge replied, "I'm not sowing my wheat in the moon, s-i-r!"

Such is the force of education, that many of our townspeople believe in those whims and notions to-day. Ignorant! Why not igno- rant? The common people had no means of acquiring knowledge ; although the town appropriated a sufficient sum of money yearly, still, there were no schools, only in name. The teachers for winter schools were hired for their physical strength, rather than mental qualifica- tions ; cultivated young men did not bite sharp at eight dollars per month and board round, to teach school in rural districts. Then there were no school-books worthy of the namne. They had the "New England Primer," the Bible, the " Psalter " and "Dodworth's Spell- ing-Book ;" there was no text-book on arith- metic, but, to supply the place, the teachers used to give their pupils practical " sums," and explain the why and the wherefore as best they could. Birch-bark was in common use to figure on, and also to write copies on. In this way some mastered the rudiments of arithmetic, while others advanced in reading, writing and spelling. English grammar was taught some, and in 1800 Morse's Geography was introduced as a study, but the work now would have no merits, only as a curiosity.

The roads were only bridle-paths, most of them, although laid out ; the people had no use for carriage roads, for there were no carriages. Four-wheeled pleasure-wagons were not seen in town till twenty-five years later. There was no post-office in town till April 1, 1795, and Samuel Grant was appointed postmaster. Be- foret his time letters were taken from some central

point and carried by a man called a " post-rider " to the persons directed on the letter. News- papers had no circulation, there was no free library, and very few books found in farmers' houses. The almanac was in every house, and relied upon implicitly as a weather prognos- ticator. Under the circumstances, how could people be anything but ignorant? Still, those people were happy. They had seasons of en- joyment-their election and thanksgiving days, their apple bees and kitchen junkets, their husk- ing bees and quilting frolics, and, more than all, their burst of patriotism on the glorious Fourth. Well, if ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise !

On the 11th of April a new era of progress dawned on Walpole; it was the publication of a live newspaper, and was issued from the press of Thomas & Carlisle, which was in the old building now standing at the corner of High and Main Streets, and occupied as a meat- market and tenement-house. At first it was called The New Hampshire Journal and Farm- ers' Museum. The size of the sheet was eighteen by eleven inches, the paper was course and dingy, and the type inferior and old-fash- ioned. Like other newspapers of the day, at its commencement there were no elaborate origi- nal articles in it. Snatches of news, a few deaths and marriages, some foreign intelligence four months old, a few lottery and other adver- tisements, some political effusions, an essay or so, "Spectator" fashion, and some racy anecdotes made up, figuratively, the olla podrida. A few years later, however, the last page was sur- mounted with an engraving of a huge flower- pot, and underneath was printed in large cap- itals "The Dessert." In 1796, Joseph Dennie became his conductor, and he gathered around him a corps of brilliant writers, such as Royal Tyler, David Everett, Thomas Green Fessen- den, Isaac Story and others, whose abilities may be traced in its well-arranged folio pages. The above-named persons wrote for this paper just for the " fun of it," each striving to do his best

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 69

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