USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Chester > History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn : a supplement to the History of old Chester, published in 1869 > Part 52
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Auburn > History of Chester, New Hampshire, including Auburn : a supplement to the History of old Chester, published in 1869 > Part 52
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
Bell, John Dana, son of Dr. John and Mary Ann (Beede) Bell. Dartmouth College, 1887.
Hall, William C., son of Clark Betton and Frances (Sawyer) Hall. Dartmouth College, 1902.
Jenness, Gilman Hazelton, son of Abraham and Abigail Sawyer (Hazelton) Jenness. Dartmouth College, 1871.
Lewis, Miriam (m. Cree), daughter of Farish G. and Flora (Jones) Lewis. University of N. H., 1920.
Wason, Bernard Albert, son of William Burton and Eva L. (Martin) Wason. University of N. H., 1925.
West, Harris Moody, son of George Sherman and Alice M. (Noyes) West. Dartmouth College, 1910.
"LORD" TIMOTHY DEXTER.
An interesting episode in the history of the town is its being the residence for a few years, in the last decade of the eighteenth century, of an eccentric individual known as "Lord" Timothy Dexter. A niece of his was the wife of Rev .Nathan Bradstreet which probably ac- counts for his coming to Chester, where he purchased the Tappan Webster place, now owned by Amos Tuck French.
An account of his erratic actions while a resident of the town will be found in Judge French's "Chester, Fifty Years Ago."
FIRE ENGINE AND FIRES
Chester has a fire engine which has been in constant operation since 1842. It is a small hand tub, but it can send a powerful enough stream to reach the highest steeple in town. The little machine is in as good working order as it was when first brought to town. It has no suction hose, but is supplied by a bucket brigade, and a few lengths of hose completes its equipment.
Since 1869 the following fires have occurred that are not men- tioned in the Bi-Centennial Calendar :
Luther Fitz' barn struck by lightning, 18 Aug., 1875; Henry H. Lane's place, 15 Nov., 1878; the Hub Mill on the Marston place, about 1879; William Cook's house in 1879; John W. West's house about 1883; Clark B. Hall's place, 18 June, 1888; Ephraim Davis' place, and the Gilman Morse place, Aug., 1888; Spollett place on Walnut Hill, home of Mark Carr, owned by George Merrill, 18 Apr., 1890; the home of George M. West, known as the Emerson Child place, by lightning, 31 July, 1890; the home of George M. Newhall, known as the Hawk's place, 27 Jan., 1890; the home of George Dane on the Haverhill road, 25 Dec., 1890; the home of Martin Colby, known as the James D. Lane place, 23 Oct. 1892; the home of John N. Hunt, 25 July 1893; the house of Nathaniel H. Currier, occupied by Joseph Johnson, 18 July, 1894; the home of Austin Owen, 29 Nov., 1894; the home of George Dennis, 19 Jan., 1901 ; the house of Jesse G. Hall ,24 Nov., 1902; Eliza Purington's home, 21 Oct., 1903; the home of Martha I. Spear on the Raymond road, 10 Apr., 1905; George W. Southwick's home, 17 Dec., 1905: the barn of John A. Hazelton, by lightning, 7 July, 1907; the Lewis Kimball buildings, Aug., 1910; Osborn N. West's home, 29 May, 19II; home of August Writz, known as the Freeman Page place, 30 Aug., 1911; the Luther W. Hall place, 19 Jan., 1912; the home of
448
HISTORY OF CHESTER
William H. Cole, 25 Apr., 1912; the George W. Dolber place on the Raymond road, 22 July, 1916; the barn of Cyrus W. Hills, 2 Aug., 1917; the John P. Emerson place, 8 Aug., 1918; the Townsend barn, 25 Aug., 1918; the home of Edson C. Eastman, 18 Sept., 1920; Martin Harner's place on Walnut Hill, 22 Dec., 1920; and the "Old Chester" house, owned by Miss Florence C. Carr, 9 Jan., 1923.
TOWER CLOCKS
In the late forties or early fifties a clock was placed in the tower of the Congregational Church. It was purchased by contributions from the citizens of the town. The dials were made of sheet iron and are now in the cellar of the Church. It did not keep good time and soon after the Civil War was taken out. In 1882 Mrs. Abigail S. Knowles, widow of Lot Knowles, gave the present clock, through Hon. John W. Noyes, who placed the matter in the hands of Cyrus F. Marston. He purchased and assisted in installing the present Howard Clock, which has given excellent time. Mr. Marston has kept the clock in repair and Robert H. Hazelton, sexton of the Congregational Church for nearly forty-five years, has wound it once a week since its installation, neither receiving compensation.
PUBLIC GIFTS.
1854. Hon. John W. Noyes and others, one-half the cost of build- ing and furnishing the Town Hall.
1868. Hon. Toppan Robie of Gorham, Maine, gave $5000 to establish a fund for the Congregational Society.
Mrs. Wiley gave $500 towards building the Baptist Church.
1882. Mrs. Abigail S. Knowles gave $350 to place a tower clock in the Congregational Church tower.
Abigail S. Knowles gave $4400 to the Ministerial Fund of the Congregational Church.
1890. Hon. John W. Noyes gave the Memorial Gate to the Vil- lage Cemetery.
The Young Peoples' Union gave a Pipe Organ to the Congre- gational Church.
1891. Henry B. Learnard of Danvers, Mass., gave an orgen to the Baptist Church.
Deacon James D. Bell gave the Baptist Church certain property. 1905. Charles S. Wilcomb gave $500 to the Baptist Church and Society.
1908. George W. Stevens of Boston, Mass., gave $11,300 for Stevens' Memorial Hall Building, and $339.80 for the Public Library Fund.
1910. James F. Brown, M. D., of Manchester gave $5000 for high school education of our young people. I915. Mrs. Mary J. Wilcomb gave $8000 for the establishment of a Home for destitute old ladies in Chester.
Mrs. Harriette S. Noyes gave $500 for improvements on the Con- gregational Parsonage.
1916. John W. West, 2nd, and wife, gave their home on Chester Street for a Baptist Parsonage.
1917. Albert Knippee gave his home for the use of the Baptist Church as residuary legatee, valued at $1000.
Cheating Maleand Future . Tilcouch
449
ADDENDA AND MISCELLANY
Mr. and Mrs. Amos Tuck French gave a tract of land, part to be used as a cemetery and part as a playground, in memory of his father, Francis O. French, also over 100 Maple trees were set out on Chester Street and Square by Mr. French, and an 80-foot flag pole was erected in front of Stevens' Memorial Hall by him.
1920. Clarence O. Morse gave $1000 for the improvement of the Village Cemetery.
1922. J. H. Townsend of New York City gave his house and land in Chester to the town, "for a home or for such public purpose as shall inure to the benefit of its citizens."
Contributions to the Bi-Centennial Celebration fund were made by the following named persons, amounting to nearly $500.
Edwin H. Anderson,
Frank D. Bell,
Louis Bell,
Jolin C. Chase,
George M. Clark,
William P. Farmer,
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Fitzsimons.
Amos Tuck French
Daniel Chester French,
Orin L. Hazelton,
Albert L. Kimball,
Thomas R. Varick,
Rev. Harry M. Warren.
1924. Mrs. Lydia A. Newell made the town residuary legatee, value estimated at $12,000, "to help establish or maintain a home for destitute old ladies in Chester, to be known as the Wilcomb Home," supplementing the bequest made by her sister, Mrs. Mary J. Wilcomb.
CHESTER PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THE CHURCH RECORDS OF HAMPTON FALLS.
Jacob Basford dismissed to Chester (no date).
Marriages.
1739, Nov. 6, James McFerson of Chester and Mrs. Jane Leslie of Derry. License.
1740, June II, Richard Watts and Mrs. Sarah Rachell, both of Chester. Lic.
1743, Nov. 3, Samuel Powel of Chester and Mary Clifford of Hampton Falls.
1727, Sept. 10, Abiall Colby, wife of Enoch, admitted; dismissed to Chester.
1739, July 15, Dismissed Eliphare Sanborn to Chester.
1743-4, Mar. II, Dismissed Elisabeth Swain to Chester.
450
HISTORY OF CHESTER
THE CHURCH CHOIR MRS. EMILY S. HILLS
From the METEOR of Aug. 17, 1893
I remember a choir of long ago, I hear the music still; Who sang their rev'rent songs of praise In the church upon the hill.
No wordly fame had any there, No operatic skill ; But psalmody that suited well The church upon the hill.
No costly organ notes had they To aid them as they sang,- Yet never on the summer air A sweeter music rang.
But long ago their voices ceased, Their earthly tones are still. They sleep beneath their native earth In the church yard on the hill.
But well I know they tune their harps And sing their anthems o'er In never ending songs of praise, Upon the golden shore.
HISTORY OF AUBURN CHAPTER XXIV
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
Auburn, early known as Long Meadow and West Chester, was incorporated as a separate town by the New Hampshire legislature, June 25, 1845. It was set off from the western part of Chester.
Surrounded on three sides by hills, the town contains Lake Massabesic, a poetic word given by the Indian tribes who frequented its shores and crossed over its sparkling waters and meaning in the aboriginal tongue "Place of much water." Its corporate name was given in allusion to Oliver Goldsmith's "loveliest village of the plain" also a poetic picture of English rural life.
Within a short distance of the city of Manchester, its wooded slopes, green fields, sparkling waters and charming scenery make it one of the most attractive rural towns in the Granite State.
No wonder that the colonizing Englishman and the hardy Scotch- man selected these lands, covered with primeval forests along the shores of the beautiful lake, to establish homes within the limits of Old Chester.
In imagination we see them felling the giant forests, erecting log-houses, burning over a few acres for cultivation, sowing and planting between the rocks and stumps, accomplishing all with their hands and the rudest kind of implements. With what laborious toil they produced their potatoes, their grains, their flax, their wool ! How patiently they prepared their foods and their clothing! With what vigilance were they compelled to defend their homes and com- munities from the attacks of wild beasts and treacherous savages of the forest !
About one mile east of Lake Massabesic, William Graham who was called William Grimes, came from the North of Ireland and cleared up and settled upon a farm near the site of the present Methodist Church. He was a sturdy pioneer and as a linen weaver did a thriving business with his sons in raising flax, dressing, spinning and weaving it.
According to the writings of the aforesaid William Graham, one James Horner, a carpenter and a millwright came from the North of Ireland with two sisters and built the first saw-mill in the vicinity of Auburn village about 1720. It is also stated (Granite State Magazine I: 237) that James Horner built the first house in what is now Auburn. One James Horner appears among the petitioners of Lon- donderry, Chester, Derryfield, Bedford, Goffstown, Starkstown, Pem- broke and Penacook, 13 July, 1764. (N. H. Town Papers, 9: 523). He was the first settler on lot No. 123, in the Second Part of the Second Division (later known as the Samuel Shirley farm and later still as the Dea. David Currier place).
Another pioneer, John Calfe, a clothier by trade, came from
45I
452
HISTORY OF AURURN
Newbury, Mass. and erected a fulling mill for which the Proprietors gave him a grant of land in 1735. At that time Calfe's fulling mill was the only mill of its kind between Chester and Canada and the settlers came long distances to have their homespun cloth dressed. Long since the old dam disappeared, but one of the mud-sills remains to remind us of the rude mill in which homespun flax and wool was made suitable for clothing.
Another clothier Dea. Joseph Blanchard removed to Chester (now Auburn )about 1772 and became associated with Robert Calfe, a son of John Calfe. Having married Robert Calfe's only child, he purchased the mill and privilege and engaged in fulling cloth. In course of time the introduction of cotton goods throughout the country ruined his business. He then changed the old mill into a shop for the manufacture of cut nails. With him were associated William J. and John Folson. From 1796 to 1816 they manufactured nails, cut by water-power but headed by hand.
Dea. Blanchard was a representative from Chester, 1788 to 1793, a delegate to the convention which ratified the Federal Constitution, a state senator and a member of the Governor's Council in 1800 and 1801.
In 1835 the mill privilege was purchased by Jay T. and Flagg T. Underhill, brothers, who engaged in the manufacture of edge-tools, being an off-shoot of the business begun by their grandfather, Josiah, on the main road near the Auburn line, and successfully carried on by the family for three generations in various localities, as fully set forth in the History of Old Chester. For several years the Underhill brothers carried on the most extensive business of the kind in the state, but better transportation facilities by rail being required their succes- sors abandoned the place in 1865, and a manufacture that had flourished in the town for over sixty years passed out of existence.
The property was bought by George G. Griffin who operated the saw-mill and grist-mill, putting in a circular saw which largely in- creased the production of lumber. The old tool factory building was moved down stream several rods and became known as "Clarke's Hall" and later on found another abiding place on the Chester road. In 1881 the title to the mill property passed from Mr. Griffin to his son, Willard H., and later was acquired by the city of Manchester to settle damage suits for flowage and protect its water supply, as had been the case with numerous homes in the village.
About 1805 John Folsom and John Melvin built fifteen miles of the Londonderry turnpike. This included the construction of the well- known "Deer-Neck bridge" which spans the strait between the bays of Lake Massabesic. The road was completed in 1806.
The following year Mr. Folsom opened a tavern on the turnpike which was known as "Folsom's Tavern" and was a famous hostelry in the days of the stage-coach.
There was a large amount of travel over this new turnpike until the construction of the railroad up the Merrimack valley in 1842, led to the discontinuance of stage coaches and long distance carriage driving.
Folsom's Tavern was indeed a popular hotel, overlooking verdant fields reaching down to the shore of the beautiful lake, with a full view of the hills and mountains in the distance, all presenting a scene charming even to an inartistic eye. Here, doubtless the great orator and statesman Daniel Webster sojourning drew inspiration and re- newed his love for his native state. With the onward march of time
453
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
Folsom's Tavern disappeared and on its site stands a modern farm- house.
A little higher up the hillside, commanding a somewhat wider view of the surrounding country, one of Manchester's bankers and financiers, Walter M. Parker has built a beautiful summer residence and arranged attractive grounds. No happier choice could have been made than this grand location, with its historic associations and its magnificent scenery.
Another old-time hostelry known as the "Shirley Mansion" de- serves mention for its imposing structure. Its large front, two stories in height, extension, numerous windows of seven-by-nine glass, great chimneys, open fireplaces, huge kitchen and outbuildings, including horse sheds, had the appearance of an old French chateau. The walls of the "Mansion," which long echoed and re-echoed with many scenes of conviviality, were torn down in 1848. A new set of buildings erected by John S. Brown now stand a few feet north from the site of the "Shirley Mansion."
Near the east bay of Lake Massabesic, William Leach settled in 1742. His son, Capt. William Leach, served in the Continental Army in the "times that tried men's souls." He was also a Deacon of the Presbyterian Church of Long Meadow. The story is told that the Deacon had a dog which was bitten by a rattlesnake and that the wounded animal immediately went to a plot of lowland and buried himself in the mud up to the tip of his nose. Here he remained until hunger compelled him to return to the house for food. As soon as he had eaten he returned to his hiding place where he remained till the poison was taken out of his body.
Journeying along past the Leach place, climbing the hill one comes to a sharp curve in the road. At this point is an old cellar, the remains of the homestead of another early settler of the town, Dea. Robert Patten. He came from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, and settled here in 1741. Long ago the old house disappeared.
A story is told which illustrates the native wit and keen observa- tion of the Scotch pioneer. A short distance beyond the old cellar is a well-known cave in the hillside called the "Devils Den." Among those who came to see the abode of his satanic majesty, out of curio- sity for the place and its occupant, were two Methodist ministers.
As they drew near they happened to see Dea. Patten, sitting on his porch with his chin resting on his cane, whereupon one of them asked how much farther they would have to go to reach their des- tination. Starting up from his reverie the old man replied: "It's only a wee bit o' space beyont." Wishing to quiz him further the other clergyman inquired if he thought it likely they would find his satanic majesty at home then, and if not when he would be most pleased to receive callers. Fixing his small piercing eyes, overhung by shaggy brows, on the inquirer, the old Scotchman remarked that if the devil was at home, "a wee bit o' buird wouldst fly out to greet 'em" and that the cave-dweller was always glad to welcome visitors, day or night.
Laughing at the reply the ministers continued their journey. Coming in sight of the cave, they hitched their horses and followed the rough path leading to the dark retreat. As they reached the mouth of the cave to their great surprise, a small bird came out of the place and whirled about their heads in swift flight. The words of the old Scotchman flashing through their minds, the twain believed the devil was actually within waiting for them, and turning about fled with swift steps down the declivity. Soon the rumble of carriage
454
HISTORY OF AUBURN
wheels along the highway, gradually dying away in the distance, was believed to indicate that even good men cannot always face the devil in his den.
No account of the town would be complete without a description of its diversified scenery, enhanced by the bueaty of one of the most charming sheets of water in the Granite State.
The shape of this beautiful lake may have suggested to the red man a pair of eyes which, some claim, to be the meaning of Massabesic, that is, "Eyes of the Sky." Possibly the form in two sections of the lake suggested this name.
At low water, miles of white-sanded beach wind around this "buckler of silver," broken here and there with rocky points jutting out into the water. The surface is dotted with rocky isles, fit haunts for wild birds and teeming with reeds and lilies.
In old times these shores with "wooded slopes running down to the water's edge, luxuriant vines clustering on to fine old trees and the scent of wild grapes perfuming the autumn groves, where wild geese rested in their long flight hither and yon and great flocks of ducks found a safe retreat, the deer browsed in the surrounding forests and the lordly loon trumpeted defiance in the lee of some secluded spot, disappearing with lightning celerity at the crack of the hunter's firelock, where the flooded marshes afforded feeding grounds for perch and pickerel and the river was crowded in spring-time with suckers and alewives-all making the locality doubly attractive for the pioneers to inhabit." Such was the glory surrounding the rude log homes of the forefathers of old Chester.
THE LONG MEADOWS
Auburn was a part of Chester until the year 1845, and in Auburn is the section known as the Long Meadows. These meadows began near the Congregational Church ,united with the north branch just back of the Long Meadow Cemetery, extended to the Londonderry line, and were the principal meadows in Chester, so that part of the town was known as the Long Meadows.
At the time of its settlement, Chester abounded in beaver, which built dams across the various streams, killing the growth of trees. When the beaver were killed off by hunters, the dams went down, and the land come into grass, of great use to the early settlers, which was divided into equal shares among them; no one was allowed to cut the grass before a certain day, under penalty of a heavy fine.
Beaver ponds are frequently mentioned in the records; there was such a pond at the Long Meadows, about one-half mile in length and quite narrow, located between the Congregational Church and the Long Meadow Cemetery. It has long since dried away and is known as the "Calef meadow" for many years. Cranberries grew in these meadows and were highly prized for winter food.
John Smith was the first settler at the Long Meadows in 1728, on lot No. 51, which is the Gov. Wentworth farm of two hundred acres. Gov. Wentworth's land in this section was first settled by Nathaniel Linn, afterwards owned by John Witherspoon. From him it passed to Josiah Hall, then to his son John Milton Hall.
Gov. Wentworth owned another tract of land at the Long Meadows, comprising two hundred and fifty acres; it occupied the rectangle en- closed by the four roads south of the Congregational Church. A part of this land was sold to and occupied by Andrew and Alexander Craig. On this grant is located the farm known as the "John Ray
455
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
place," the one owned formerly by Irving Grant, and one now owned and occupied by John Mckinley. A large tract is owned by the heirs of Charles W. Calef who lived just above Long Meadow Cemetery on the Manchester road.
On the Long Meadow brook near the No. 4 school-house was built the first saw mill in town, known as Campbell's, and there was a corn mill near by owned by Hugh McDuffee during his life, while Archibald and Mansfield McDuffee owned the saw mill previously built by Campbell. James McDuffee was the last to be taxed for them in 1801.
The saw mill stood just above the present road leading to Derry, the corn mill several rods below. There were also other saw mills and grist mills further down this brook as it flowed into Londonderry.
Underhill's edge tool factory was started on the home farm in the Long Meadows, near what is now the line between the towns of Auburn and Chester. The walls of the old dam remain, and there is still quite a pond in the springtime.
Alexander Eaton built the house opposite the Long Meadow cem- etery in 1793. This house was afterwards owned by Captain John Wason and was used as a tavern when the Long Meadow meeting house was just across the street. It was brought from the Wason heirs by Enoch Watson in 1854 when he and his wife moved there from Manchester and where he died in 1899, at the age of eighty-one years. His widow, who lived in the Wason house forty-one years, lived and enjoyed good health until her death in 1924 at the age of one hundred and four. She had been the oldest resident of Auburn for the last twenty years.
The first Presbyterian meeting-house which was built in 1739, and the little meeting-house which stod where the Congregational parson- age now stands were taken down and the materials used in construct- ing the one which stood where the Long Meadow cemetery now is. This new house was raised July 14, 1793, the pews were sold July II, and the building was dedicated January 1, 1794.
The Long Meadow parish, as voted in 1753, was from the Lon- donderry line to the northwest corner of lot No. 43, then northwest to Tower Hill, then to the corner of Derryfield. This parish was over six miles long, and people were constant in their attendance. They walked long distances, taking their shoes in their hands, to put on just before reaching church. Polly Blasdell is credited with the first umbrella at the Long meadows, which she used to carry to this church.
On April 14, 1795, James Graham at the Long Meadows died; this year was remarkable for the quantity and the hardness of the snow, and the lateness of its going off. John Waddel of Derry came to the funeral, driving his horse and sleigh across the drifts and over the fences in his way. Afterwards it became very warm, the snow melted away rapidly, and plowing was done the twenty-fifth of the same month.
The Presbyterian Church was finally dissolved, and the land and the common in front given for a burying ground; the old burying ground being back of the church. On May 18, 1796, David Carr's wife died and was buried here, the first in the old cemetery.
On the records, March 28, 1851, it is voted "that Samuel Dins- more, Pike Chase, and Samuel Colby and such others as may join them, be authorized to fence and put in repair, suitable for a grave yard, the land on which the old meeting house stood, and
456
HISTORY OF AUBURN
the common in front of it: and after selling lots for families, sufficient to pay the expenses of fencing and putting in repair said grave yard, the balance of said lots shall remain the property of this society. A true extract from the records of the First Con- gregational Society in Auburn, David Currier, Clerk."
We find they agreed to pay $.92 per day for the labor. The lots were sold June 27, 1851. The wall was built by Alexander Meek, and his bill for building the wall, hanging the iron gates, and setting the stone step, was $21.84. The gates cost $13.27 in Concord, and were sent to Manchester by freight; the freight bill was $.21.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.