USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume I > Part 33
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1 Asa McFarland in paper read before the N. H. Printers' Association, Jan. 17, 1872.
2 Town Records. 222.
3 Ibid, 320; also see Plan of Main Street in note at close of chapter.
4 Dr. Bouton's third Semi-Centennial Discourse, June 17, 1875, p. 8.
5 Town Records, 320.
1
305
TOWN AFFAIRS AND PROGRESS.
those persons who drive sleighs on Sunday be desired to keep on the east side of the street." 1 The Rev. Dr. McFarland, during the greater part of his ministry, was wont, at the first sleighing of each year, to promulgate the rule from the pulpit in these words: "Per- sons who drive sleighs will please keep to the right, and let those who are afoot have the middle of the road." And the stout, fearless Captain Richard Ayer, once at least, practically enforced the rule. Following one day in the steps of a number of women on their way to meeting, he saw them compelled to turn aside into the snow, by a loaded two-horse sleigh from out of town. The captain, indignant at the neglect to heed his timely call to " turn out," sprang forward, and with a blow of a heavy staff or club which he carried brought one of the horses to its knees, while he exclaimed to the astounded driver: "There, turn out when you meet people on their way to meeting, or I will knock you down." 2
Before the year 1800 this "centre road" had become a lively thoroughfare of business travel. Over it passed numerous sleds or sleighs in winter, or wagons in summer, drawn by oxen or horses, bearing the varied produce of the north country to seaport marts, or returning homeward, laden with merchandise. On all days of the week,3 and sometimes in long trains, this travel was seen streaming along " the street." In its necessary tarryings such well-supplied taverns 4 as those of Benjamin Hannaford and William Stickney, Benjamin Gale and Samuel Butters furnished fit "entertainment for man and beast."
And here digressive mention may be made of another road in Concord, across the river, and beyond Oak Hill, much frequented by similar travel, and provided with John Hoyt's famous inn. For twenty-five years was that inn a public favorite. Its spacious oven allowed easy entrance to a boy twelve years old, and more than inside room enough in which to turn around. Its capacious barn, stored with hay of "natural mowing," often stalled over night thirty- three yokes of oxen at a "pistareen "5 the yoke. Its solid table d'hote supplied fresh meats from the host's own flock and herd, for hearty but frugal guests, who used to bring along " their own bread and cheese."
Having returned from "Hoyt's " through " the Fort," or village of East Concord,-where already Ebenezer Eastman had his tavern, and Stephen Ambrose his store,-one could count along the " main Strect," in the first and second ranges of "home-lots "-as laid out
1 Town Records, 313.
2 Bouton's Concord, 322.
3 Dr. Bouton's Commemorative Discourse, March 23, 1865, p. 29.
' See special chapter on Taverns, etc.
" About twenty cents.
21
306
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
in 1726-seventy or eighty dwellings. These were wooden struc- tures, rarely, if cver, exceeding two stories. They were topped with the gable, gambrelled, hipped, or pent roof, and were occasionally painted in red or yellow. Along with them, stood the taverns and sundry business establishments, consisting mainly of stores devoted to general or special trade, and shops for mechanical industries. The village was one of wood, for brick did not come into use as building material until later years.
Commercial enterprise, in which, at a period antedating the Revo- lution, Andrew McMillan, Timothy Walker, Jr., John Stevens, and Gordon Hutchins were pioneers, was destined never to slacken. In the last decade of the eighteenth century there were upon the list of Concord's merchants the names of William Duncan, Robert Harris, William Manley, David Wait, William Austin Kent, Jonathan Her- bert, and Jacob Abbot, general dealers ; and of John Thorndike, and the brothers Philip and Oliver Carrigain, apothecaries, all duly licensed by the selectmen "to be retailers of wines and foreign dis- tilled liquors."1 Though trade was not conducted on a large scale, yet it met the demands of an increasing patronage from within and without the town, and was fairly remunerative. Two traders, Will- iam Duncan and Robert Harris, seem to have been especially well-to- do, both from present income and past accumulation. They had both brought with them considerable means ; and each rode in his chaise, on and after coming to town.2 Prior to 1800 that vehicle signified wealth, and the use of it was a luxury in which not more than two or three others in Concord indulged; even ordinary wagons were few, and people generally rode on horseback or went afoot. More- over, the Duncan and Harris families, which were united by marriage, lived in a style "reckoned genteel and fashionable," 3 and helped to introduce new social customs, as well as to modify those of the " old families," such as the Ayers, Bradleys, Kimballs, Stickneys, and Walkers.3
Another of those early merchants came into business with scanty means, but erelong found himself a winning competitor, and rising into prominence in the civil and social life of his adopted town. This was William Austin Kent, a native of Charlestown, Mass., who came to Concord in 1789, at the age of twenty-four years. The fact that his sister Huldah had become the wife of the Reverend Israel Evans suggested the step. Having served seven years as an apprentice, and three more as a journeyman, in tin-plate working, he at length found himself able, by money and credit, to purchase a set of tools, a few boxes of tin, a barrel of sugar, a barrel of molasses, a keg of tobacco,
} Town Records (Appendix), 534-5. 2 Bouton's Concord, 513. 3 Ibid, 335.
307
TOWN AFFAIRS AND PROGRESS.
a bag of coffee, and a chest of tea. With this mechanical and mer- cantile outfit, he journeyed from Boston to Concord, by the tedious conveyance of a farmer's team ; and having reached his destination, he set up his modest establishment.1 The venture proved successful. Within three years Charlotte Mellen became his wife and the light of his home-a home destined to be a noted center of "refined and gen- erous hospitality," and which Daniel Webster was to declare, sixty years later, to have been "one of the first in all the neighborhood in which " he " met intelligent and cultivated society." 2
And now, besides Kent, the mechanic as well as merchant, other enterprising men were plying all along the street their various indus- tries. Of these were David George, the hatter ; Benjamin Hanna- ford, the carpenter as well as taverner; Richard Ayer and Ebenezer Duston, the tanners ; Daniel Gale, the blacksmith ; Elijah Russell and George Hough, the printers ; Timothy Chandler and the broth- ers Levi and Abel Hutchins, the clock-makers. The first of the last three, a grandson of the proprietor, Captain John Chandler, was a skilful artisan in brass clock-making, while the last two, sons of Colo- nel Gordon Hutchins, carried on the same business near their dwell- ing-house, from the ashes of which the Phenix hotel was afterwards to arise. Many years before, the Reverend Timothy Walker had brought from England the first clock set up in Concord, and, subse- quently, Ephraim Potter, who had settled with his brother Richard and nephew Anthony, in East Concord, near Turtle pond, made serviceable wooden timekeepers. But the enterprise of brass clock manufacture, the first of its kind in New Hampshire, was undertaken by Levi Hutchins at a date prior to the year 1786, when his brother Abel came into partnership. The business thus established was to be prosperously conducted by them for more than twenty years, and Levi could say, in his old age, with just satisfaction : "Our names may now be seen on the faces of many time-keepers, standing in the corners of sitting-rooms in houses situated in all the New England states ; and probably there are eight-day clocks, or timepieces, of our manufacture in all the original states of the Union." 3
Along with these busy workers in the various departments of busi- ness were to be found those who wrought capably in the professions of law and medicine. Not far north of the Hutchins establishment stood the office of Peter Green, Concord's first lawyer; and a little farther on, his residence, somewhat noted for social refinement in those days. The proprietor, living down the imputation of Toryism, which had caused him some trouble in the Revolutionary time, be-
1 Bouton's Concord, 594.
2 Letter written to a son, George Kent, in 1853, cited in Bouton's Concord, 594.
3 Autobiography of Levi Hutchins, 121.
1
308
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
came an influential and honored citizen, and having practised suc- cessfully his profession thirty-one years, died in 1798 at the age of fifty-two. Samuel,1 his younger brother, succeeded him, having, in 1793, commenced professional life, which, at the bar and' on the bench, was to continue for more than forty years. Two other tal- ented brothers, Edward St. Loe and Arthur Livermore, had some- what earlier engaged in legal practice here, the former of whom, by marriage with Mehetabel, a daughter of Robert Harris, became the father of Harriet Livermore, born in 1788, and celebrated for roman- tic pilgrimage and sojourn in the Holy Land.
Now, too, Dr. Philip Carrigain still dwelt at the North End. This genial and popular physician had, for a generation, been pursuing the practice of medicine, and was to continue so to do until his death in 1806, at the age of sixty years. Now, also, another physi- cian could have been seen riding away on horseback from his home opposite the town house, for the fulfilment of duty on a wide circuit of practice. For Peter Green 2 had removed hither, in 1772, from his native Lancaster, in Massachusetts. With the liberal training of Harvard, and the due preparatory study of medicine, he entered upon a prosperous career, characterized by high professional ideals, and destined to continue for more than half a century, until it should close with a life of fourscore years and three.3
Thus the mile-and-a-half of Concord's main thoroughfare was, in the last years of 1700, a scene of activity in the various departments of human effort that mark a prosperous, enlightened community. It was the center, the vertebrate column, as it were, of progressive, elevating influences for the whole town, with its increasing popula- tion of two thousand souls.4
In 1799, a new element of brotherhood and benevolence came into the social life of the town. Free Masonry had received its first organization in New Hampshire as early as 1736, when St. John's Lodge was established at Portsmouth. From that time to 1789, only two other lodges were formed in the state,-St. Patrick's at Ports- mouth, and Rising Sun, at Keene. Early in July, 1789, deputies from St. John's and Rising Sun lodges organized the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, with General John Sullivan, president of the state, for the first grand master. On the 23d of February, 1799, upon a warrant granted by the Grand Lodge, on petition of seven, for found- 'ing a lodge in Concord, a meeting was held in furtherance of the object, in "Union hall" at the inn of Benjamin Gale, one of the grantees. At the same place, on the sixth of the following May,
1 See special chapter, Bench and Bar.
2 See special chapter, Medical Profession.
3 Bouton's Concord, 668.
4 The census of 1800 gave two thousand and fifty-two.
309
MASONRY-DEATH OF WASHINGTON.
Blazing Star Lodge was duly consecrated in appropriate services, conducted by Nathaniel Adams, of Portsmouth, Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire. Of the seven petitioners, Benjamin Gale and Moses Sweatt were residents of Concord.
Thus introduced, Masonry, in its various forms and grades, was destined here to abide. Within the next century, the number of lodges was to be trebled; a Royal Arch Chapter, a Council of Royal and Select Masters, and a Commandery of Knights-Templars were to be established and maintained, with eligible halls of assem- bly,-the one on the site of Concord's first store, the other at Penacook. Moreover, Concord was to become a central rendezvous for the mystic Brotherhood, where the "Grand " Masonic bodies, comprising all the local bodies in the state, would convene in Anual Communication, Convocation, Assembly, and Conclave.
But now the eighteenth century was about to lapse into the nine- teenth, when, on the 14th of December, 1799, George Washington expired ; and at the tidings of his death, a bereaved nation wept. When the news reached Concord, men from all parts of the town had met in large numbers to raise the frame of the ambitious Carri- gain house 1 at the North End ; but they straightway suspended their "work and went home in sorrow."2 The national Congress was moved to recommend to the people of the United States to as- semble on the 22d of February, 1800, "to testify their gricf by public prayers," or other suitable services. The recom- mendation thus to celebrate Washing- ton's Birthday by funeral observance, met with general compliance, in which Concord participated. The people, old and young, marched to the meeting- house, where solemn services were held. William Kent,3 who, a boy of seven, had trudged in the procession, and who was to outlive all other participants in the event, feelingly said eighty years later: "The solemnity of the occa- sion, the deep mourning dress of the pulpit and galleries, in connec- tion with the sad countenances of the people, are vivid in my mem- ory to this day."
The Philip Carrigain House.
1 In 1900 the residence of Dr. William G. Carter.
2 Recollections of Asa McFarland, 23 (note).
3 Son of William Austin Kent.
310
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
NOTES.
Deacon Wilkins. This gentleman married, in 1787, Sarah, grand- daughter of Deacon Joseph Hall, an original settler of Penacook, who lived at the Eleven Lots. Mr. Wilkins had a farm on or near the ancient Hall premises, and lived in a house standing till a recent date, at the crotch of the roads, west side, near the Countess Rum- ford house. He was deacon of the North Church from 1811 to 1830, when he died at the age of seventy-five years. Bouton's Concord, 295.
Scarcity of Money. Money was so extremely scarce at that time, that John Bradley, elected representative, had great difficulty in getting enough to take him to Exeter; but Judge Walker supplied him with means to pay his board while attending the legislature, and he was the only one of fourteen boarders who paid their landlord in full. Sometimes representatives offered the whole of their State scrip received for services, in payment for board, but the landlords preferred their private securities. On one occasion, a dozen of them returning home, and passing through Concord, took lodging at the house of John Bradley over night, without a dollar amongst them.
CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE OF RATIFICATION DAY.
It being deemed desirable that the New Hampshire Historical Society should celebrate, on the 21st of June, 1888, the centennial anniversary of the Ratification of the Constitution of the United States by New Hampshire, the matter of making preliminary arrange- ments therefor was, on the 24th of April, referred to the committee on orator and the standing committee, to act conjointly, and to report to the next adjourned annual meeting of the society, to be held on the 9th of May. On that day, the aforesaid committees, by Samuel C. Eastman, made a report recommending the appointment of a committee to ascertain, by circular, the feasibility of providing a banquet, and defraying other necessary expenses for the occasion, and such feasibility being ascertained, to make the necessary arrange- ments for the proper observance of the day. Whereupon, a com- mittee of three, with authority to add others, was appointed, consist- ing of Messrs. Samuel C. Eastman, Amos Hadley, and Joseph C. A. Hill. This committee subsequently added Messrs. Benjamin A. Kimball, Joseph B. Walker, Isaac W. Hammond, and Charles R. Corning.
Hon. James W. Patterson, of Hanover, had previously accepted an invitation to deliver the oration, and Mr. Allen Eastman Cross, of Manchester, to read a poem.
311
CENTENNIAL OF RATIFICATION DAY.
It was ascertained by circular issued to the resident members, that a sufficient number would attend the banquet, and a sufficient sum would be subscribed to meet the necessary expenses and render the occasion a success. Invitations were sent to the governors of the thirteen original states, to the President of the United States and members of the cabinet, to many other persons of distinction, and to historical societies. Other arrangements were made for the day's exercises, including an elaborate banquet, with Dooling, of Boston, as caterer, and for after-dinner speeches by men distinguished in public and private life, in politics and letters.
The regular sixty-sixth annual meeting of the society occurring on the 13th of June was adjourned to the morning of Tuesday, the 21st. At that time the society met, and having transacted the usual busi- ness of an annual meeting, adjourned to meet again at noon, in White's Opera House, to listen to the oration and poem. A fair- sized audience, comprising citizens of Concord and strangers, was in attendance. The president of the society, Hon. J. Everett Sargent, introduced the exercises with brief remarks. The oration was then delivered, and the poem read. These exercises completed, the mem- bers of the society, with invited guests, repaired to Chase's hall, where the banquet of two hundred covers was laid. The partici- pants of the elegant, well-served repast sat at five tables. Among the guests were: His Excellency Governor Charles H. Sawyer ; President Samuel C. Bartlett, of Dartmouth college ; Hon. Mellen Chamberlain, Hon. Robert S. Rantoul, Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury, Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, Captain A. A. Folsom, Colonel Albert H. Hoyt, Hon. Nathaniel F. Safford, William B. Trask, Charles Carleton Coffin, of Boston ; Hon. George B. Loring, of Salem, Mass .; Hon. Frank B. Sanborn, of Concord, Mass. ; Rev. Henry A. Hazen, of Billerica, Mass .; Hon. E. H. Elwell, of Port- land, Me .; Hampton L. Carson, F. A. Stone, of Philadelphia ; Cap- tain Woolmer Williams, of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of London, Eng. The resident members of the society and other citi- zens from Concord, Manchester, and other places were present in goodly numbers, and numerous ladies graced the occasion with their presence.
In course of the banquet, a telegram from Washington announced that the United States senate had, on motion of Hon. Henry W. Blair, adjourned in honor of the event celebrated. After dinner, President Sargent, at four o'clock, called to order, and introduced Hon. Samuel C. Eastman, of Concord, as toastmaster. Speaking ensued for more than two hours, to which the following gentle- men, in response to appropriate sentiments, contributed : Governor
312
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Sawyer, President Bartlett, Rev. Edward Everett Hale, Hampton L. Carson, Hon. Mellen Chamberlain, Hon. Frank B. Sanborn, and Hon. George B. Loring.
With "America " effectively sung under the leadership of Mr. B. B. Davis, the first centennial observance of Ratification Day came to a close.
Dr. Carrigain's House. Dr. Carrigain lived at the North End, on the east side of Main street, and where now (1900) is the residence of Mr. Charles S. Parker. Mr. West lived on the opposite side of the street.
Benjamin Emery's Residence. This was afterwards the homestead of Captain Ebenezer S. Towle, at the northwest angle of State and Franklin streets, and where, in 1900, was to stand the residence of Mr. John H. Stewart. At an early period, Captain Emery removed to this location from the Carrigain place, where he formerly resided.
Subscription for Town and State House. The following were sub- scribers, pledging themselves to pay in labor or materials the sums annexed to their names, for accommodating the general court with a convenient house-which was also to serve as a town house : Timo- thy Walker and Peter Green, each, $100; Benjamin Emery, Thomas Stickney, and Benjamin Hannaford, each, $40 ; John Bradley, Robert Davis, Joshua Abbot, John Kimball, and Joseph Hall, each, $30; John West, $25; Enoch Coffin, George Hough, and James Walker, each, $20.
PLAN OF MAIN STREET, 1798.
The following plan, with its key, is from Bouton's Concord, pp. 296- 297 :
MAIN STREET,
AS LAID DOWN ON ENGRAVED MAP, AND DESCRIBED ON THE ORIGINAL PLAN IN TOWN RECORDS.
EAST SIDE-beginning at the north end:
Judge Walker's barn-the north side of it 184 rods from the Great Elm.
Mr. Herbert's store *- 77 rods from the Great Elm; two feet six inches on the road-about thirty-two feet front.
Maj, Daniel Livermore's houset-57 rods from the Great Elm; about nine inches on the road-forty feet front.
The Great Elm-opposite Capt. Ayer's tan-yard.
Mr. Aaron Abbot's-9914 rods from the corner- seven feet on the road-twenty- four feet front.
Barber's shop-87% rods from the corner-eight feet on the road-fourteen feet front.
. Mr. Wilkins's house-851grods from the corner-eight feet on the road-twenty feet front.
Mr. Hough's printing office-6812 rods from the corner-three feet four inches on the road-twenty-four feet front.
* Mr. Jonathan Herbert's store still standing, occupied as a dwelling-house.
t Formerly the residence of Dr. Bouton; on the site of John C. Thorne's dwelling in 1900,
313
PLAN OF MAIN STREET.
Esq. Green's house-67 rods from the corner-six feet three inches on the road -twenty feet front.
Mr. Green's office-eighteen inches on the road-fourteen fect front.
Mr. Hutchins's shop-62 rods from the corner-two feet three inches on the road-twenty-two feet front.
Mr. Thorndike's store-10 rods from the corner-fourteen and a half feet on the road-twenty-eiglit feet front.
Mr. Dustin's bark-house-three rods from the corner to the south side-seven and a half feet on the road-twenty feet front.
Brick drove into the ground one rod and one link westerly of the north-west corner of Mr. Dustin's shop.
Mr. Butters's corner stone-four and a half feet west of willow trec.
WEST SIDE-north end:
Stone-twenty-six feet from the north-east corner of Jacob Abbot, Esq.'s, house, and 123 rods from the Great Elm.
Mr. Gale's house-50 rods from the corner; 7012 feet front; north side 10/2 feet on the road; south-east end, five feet seven inches on the road.
Mr. Wait's store-44 rods from corner-seven feet six inches on the road- twenty feet front.
Mr. Manley's store-30 rods from the corner-six feet four inches on road- thirty-six feet front.
Corner, north of Capt. Chandler's.
Birch pole-2 rods and six feet from an oak stump in Mr. Jos. Abbot's land. School-house-85 rods from stone at Shute's corner.
Mr. Ladd's shop-41 rods from stone at Shute's corner.
South-east corner of Mr. Shute's house, six and a half feet on the road.
Mr. Shute's shop on the road twenty-two feet.
314
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
JUDGE WALKER'S BARN
N
JUDGE WALKER'S HOUSE
U
MAIN STREET, 1798.
STONE
N. 21 30'W. 184 RODS
HERBERT'S STORE
MAJOR LIVERMORE'S HOUSE
S
STONE
ECM
GREIAT 1
W 5°30'W 145 RODS. 9 FEET
AARON ABBOT'S
BARBER'S SHOP
WILKIN'S HOUSE
-1
HOUGH'S PRINTING OFFICE
GREEN'S HOUSE
BENJ. CALE'S HOUSE
GREEN'S OFFICE
HUTCHINS' SHOP
WAITS'
MANLY
THORNDIKE'S STORE
SCALE 64-RODS TO AN INCH
DUSTIN'S BARK HOUSE
STONE C CHANDLER'S
2
BRICK
SCHOOL HOUSE
LADO'S SHOP
N 25.30_W. 136 RODS IS LINKS
JOHN SHUTE'S
STONE
SHOP
CHAPTER X.
THE TOWN OF CONCORD .- EARLY EVENTS OF THE NEW CEN- TURY .- BECOMES THE CAPITAL OF THE STATE .- THE WAR OF 1812 .- OTHER FACTS OF THE PERIOD.
1800-1816.
The population of the town of Concord was, in 1800, two thou- sand and fifty-two, being one thousand more than in 1775, and seventeen times larger than that of the plantation of Penacook, in 1730. Slow, sure, and steady had been the increase of population, not only amid the usual hardships of pioneer settlement, but amid the extraordinary perils and persecutions which have been set forth in previous narration.
The enumeration of the living in the course of those seventy years has been better preserved than that of the dead. The death record for forty-four years-from 1750 to 1792-is entirely wanting, and for most of the remainder of the period is scanty. But death had been garnering for more than two generations. Ever since 1730, the one burying-ground, near the meeting-house, had subserved its sacred purpose. Hither, according to ancient custom, the bier uplifted by its twelve bearers had, for many a year, been bringing from whatever home within the borders of the town, over whatever distance, and at whatever season, the beloved dead, here piously to be laid to rest. There had been few interments elsewhere. In 1792 Jonathan Stick- ney, a victim of smallpox, was buried in a secluded spot on his land, at the foot of Stickney hill, as subsequently were some other members of his family. This lot was, fifty years later, given by Charles Smart to the town " for a burying-ground," 1 and accepted as such. By 1800 there had been two interments, one of which was that of Ezekiel Dimond, in a lot near Millville, given by Warren Bradley,1 and later accepted by the town as a public burial place.
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