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 47
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
was a shining example of high Christian endeavor and accomplish- ment ; April 1, 1840, at the age of eighty-four, Philbrick Bradley, a soldier at Bennington and Saratoga; April 7, 1840, at the age of seventy-five, Colonel William A. Kent, prominent in business and in town affairs, a member of the state senate for three years, and state treasurer for two; May 9, 1841, at the age of forty-nine, Miss Mary Clark, "a lady of uncommon gifts and aequirements . . . and espe- cially interested in the anti-slavery eause " [Bouton's Concord, 446] : Philip Carrigain, March 15, 1842, aged seventy ; August 12, 1843, at the age of seventy-one, Jeremiah Pecker,-adopted heir of Rob- crt Eastman, childless son of Philip,-and a man who held impor- tant positions of trust and responsibility, especially on the commit- teeships for building the state house and the state prison addition, and for remodeling the town house for judicial purposes; August 20, 1844, Samuel Jackman, a Revolutionary soldier, aged ninety-six ; August 4, 1846, Henry H. Carroll, editor of the N. H. Patriot, aged thirty-three ; October 5, 1846, at the age of seventy-five, Stephen Ambrose, of East Coneord, a leading merchant and citizen ; February 13, 1847, at the age of cighty-seven, Thomas Haines, known as " Sol- dier Haines," from his Revolutionary experience, especially in the battle of Bemus Heights, in 1777, where a bullet passed through his cheeks, from side to side, nearly cutting off his tongue, and knocking out most of his tecth, leaving him to lie among the dead for more than forty-eight hours, and when restored, to bear the marks of muti- lation till his death; May 9, 1847, William Low, ex-postmaster, aged seventy-seven ; November 7, 1847, in his eighty-ninth year, Colonel John Carter, of the Revolutionary service, and a colonel in the War of 1812; May 19, 1848, in his ninetieth year, Captain Samuel Davis, a Revolutionary soldier; January 27, 1849, at the age of seventy-six, ex-Governor David L. Morril, a resident of Concord for eighteen years ; March 22, 1851, at the age of sixty-three, ex-Governor Isaac Hill, so much of whose public life has been sketched in previous pages, and of whom it has been written that-" In all the private and social relations of life, he was kind and amiable, and as a son, a hus- band, a brother, and a father, has left a reputation honorable to him- self, and a memory to be cherished in the grateful recollections of the numerous relatives to whom he was the best of friends and protec- tors "; September 8, 1852, John P. Gass, the noted taverner, aged fifty-eight.
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CHAPTER XIII.
THE CITY OF CONCORD .- NEW GOVERNMENT IN OPERATION .- CITY AND COUNTY BUILDING .- PUBLIC LIBRARY .- THE PRO- HIBITORY LAW .-- PROGRESS IN VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS .- ANTE-WAR POLITICS.
1853-1865.
In accordance with the vote of the town at its last meeting, meas- ures were forthwith taken to organize the city government. The selectmen caused check-lists to be prepared for the seven wards,1 and warrants to be posted for the elections prescribed in the charter, to be held therein on Saturday, the twenty-sixth day of March, 1853. While each ward was to contribute its vote for the choice of a mayor, it was, by itself, to choose a moderator, clerk, three selectmen, one alderman, two members of the common council, an assessor, and a member of the superintending school committee.
At the polls, on the appointed day, political party lines were drawn with considerable strictness. For the mayoralty Joseph Low was the Democratic candidate, Richard Bradley the Whig, and Asa Fowler the Freesoil. Of the one thousand five hundred nineteen votes cast, the first received seven hundred forty-nine ; the second, six hundred forty-four ; the third, one hundred twenty-six. At this trial, a majority was requisite to a choice, and of this Low failed by twenty-one votes. Of the seven aldermen and fourteen common councilmen elected, all but two of the former and four of the latter were of the Democratic party, the exceptions belonging to wards 1 and 3 of Fisherville and West Concord.
The members of the first city council of Concord, named in the order of their wards, were,-Aldermen: John Batchelder, John L. Tallant, Joseph Eastman, Robert Davis, Edson Hill, Matthew Har- vey, Josiah Stevens. Common council: Jeremiah S. Durgin and Eben F. Elliot ; Samuel B. Larkin and Heman Sanborn ; George W. Brown and Moses Humphrey ; Ezra Carter and George Minot; William H. H. Bailey and Cyrus Barton ; Ebenezer G. Moore and Thomas Bailey ; Moses Shute and Giles W. Ordway.
The organization of wards, under the charter, was completed, but that of the city government proper had to await another mayoralty election, the result of which a plurality would decide. On Tuesday,
1 See Wards Defined, in note at close of chapter.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
April 5th, came the second trial, with Joseph Low and Richard Brad- ley as the candidates ; the former of whom received eight hundred twenty-seven of the fourteen hundred sixty-six votes cast-four scat- tering included-and the latter six hundred thirty-nine. So, by a majority of one hundred eighty-eight, General Joseph Low, who had been foremost in obtaining the charter from the legislature and in pressing its acceptance by the town, became the first mayor of Con- cord. On the afternoon of the next day, Wednesday, April 6th, occurred, in Representatives' hall, and, in presence of a large assem- blage of people, the induction of the city officers-elect. The mayor- elect took seat in the speaker's chair, having, on the right and left, the aldermen, common councilmen, assessors, and school committee; and before him, at the clerk's desk, the last town board of selectmen. The mayor-elect signified to the chairman of the selectmen, John C. Pils- bury, that he was present to take the oath of office before entering upon its duties ; whereupon, in compliance with the request of the chairman, the oath was administered by Judge Josiah Minot, a cir- cuit justice of the court of common pleas. His Honor, Mayor Low, then administered the oath to the other officers-elect; and after a Scripture reading by the Reverend Charles W. Flanders, pastor of the Baptist church, and prayer by the Reverend Dr. Bouton, senior ordained clergyman of the city, he delivered his inaugural address to the members of the city government. In the course of this he said : " The change of government upon which we are about to enter in- volves duties and responsibilities that can be successfully met and performed only by the united and patient efforts of those to whom the administration of the affairs of the city has been confided. I may consider myself singularly fortunate that I am associated with so many gentlemen of tried worth and long experience in the munici- pal affairs of the town ; and I doubt not that it will be the anxious care of every member of the government of the corporation to have the change bear as lightly upon every section and every individual as may be consistent with the highest good and truest interests of the city, and realized only by its convenient, economical, and effi- cient action. I am not aware that any considerable change or unusual outlay will be required to accomplish all the objects for which the city charter was obtained; nor do I apprehend, gentlemen, under your administration, any augmentation of burthens or material increase of taxation consequent upon its adoption."
The exercises of induction having closed, the common council withdrew to another room, and the two branches of the city council began to act, each by itself. In the board of mayor and aldermen, remaining in Representatives' hall, two members were appointed upon
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FIRST CITY COUNCIL.
each of two joint committees-a standing one to report rules, and a special one to secure rooms for the use of the city government. In the common council, Thomas Bailey, the oldest member, presided until Cyrus Barton was, by ballot, elected president and took the chair. Councilman William H. H. Bailey was chosen clerk pro tem- pore, and the council having concurred in the appointment of the committees on rules and rooms by adding three members to each, met, for the first time, the other board in convention or city council, with the mayor presiding, and wherein Alderman Josiah Stevens was elected city clerk pro tempore. Both branches then adjourned for three days, or until April 9th, then to meet at the court house.
At this adjourned meeting, the board of mayor and aldermen met in the grand jury room ; the common council in the court room. In the common council Amos Hadley was, by ballot, unanimously elected clerk, as he was annually to be for the next fifteen years. The first appointment to office made by the mayor and aldermen was that of Moses Gill as overseer of the poor farm. In convention, John F. Brown was elected city clerk, and William H. Bartlett city solicitor. The two boards concurred in the adoption of joint rules and the appointment of joint standing committees of the city council ; while each board adopted its own standing rules and appointed its own standing committees. An adjournment of four days was then taken, or until Wednesday, April 13th.
At this third meeting, Jonathan E. Lang was chosen city treasurer ; John C. Pilsbury, city marshal, collector of taxes, and constable, and James F. Sargent, city physician. A joint committee was appointed to prepare and report ordinances, of which Alderman Robert Davis was chairman ; and two ordinances were at once introduced, being the first ever presented in the city council of Concord. The first of the two was for "establishing a system of accountability in the ex- penses of the city "; the second, "to establish a City Seal." These, after reference to appropriate committees in both branches, were, upon due consideration, concurrently passed.
Thus, the city council, in its first three meetings held within the space of those seven April days, set the machine of municipal legis- lation in orderly and effective motion. Thenceforward, during the first year of experiment, the change from town to city government was so wisely handled as to bear fairly, never heavily, upon the people, and so as to be realized only by its convenient, ceonomical, and efficient action.1 The new conditions were met by twenty-eight ordinances, more or less elaborate, and by other judicious measures. The rate of taxation was not inercased over that of the last year of
1 Mayor Low's first Inaugural.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
the town, nor was there reason to expect increase therein for the coming year. From a laborious examination of the fiscal concerns of the town at the close of its organization, a thorough understand- ing of the real state of affairs at the commencement of the new organization 1 was reached; and the establishment of a strict system of accountability helped to render possible present and future knowl- edge of the exact financial condition of the city. A regular police department was established, with its first city marshal, John C. Pils- bury, and his two assistants at the head; with its corps of policemen and two night-watch; and its police court, at which its first justice, Calvin Ainsworth, presided. The fire department, also, received early attention, and, somewhat remodeled, " was never in better con- dition," as Nathaniel B. Baker, its chief engineer, declared in his annual report. The schools, too, reported commendable progress. And without specializing further, it may safely be said that the sub- stantial interests of Concord were never more satisfactory and full of hope,1 than at the end of the first year of the city.
Though the administration of city affairs was hardly, if at all, in issue at the election of 1854, yet, as in the year before, three straight party tickets were generally supported for municipal officers, at the regular March meeting, with the result of no choice of mayor, and some change in the party complexion of the boards of aldermen and common council. Of the 1,631 votes cast for mayor-including 32 scattering-Joseph Low, Democrat, had 761; Ephraim Hutchins, Whig, 659; James Peverly, Freesoiler, 179. Plurality not electing on the first trial, there was no choice. But in the municipal contest, four Democratic and three opposition aldermen were chosen, and eight opposition and six Democratic common councilmen. At the second mayoralty election, held on the 5th of April, with but two candidates, Low was elected by a majority of forty-eight votes over Hutchins. Before this re-election, however, the aldermen and com- mon councilmen-elect had, on Tuesday, the 21st of March, been duly inducted,-with official oath administered by Mayor Low,-and had entered upon their duties. So that on Saturday, the 8th of April, the boards met, as an organized city council, in Rumford hall, when and where took place the induction of the re-elected mayor.
At the retirement of Mayor Low after his two years' service, the Democratic party, in 1855, was so weakened by the "American " or " Know-Nothing " movement, that a Democratic candidate for muni- cipal office in Concord stood no chance of being elected. Thus, at the March election of that year, Ezra Carter, the Democratic nom- inee for mayor, was defeated by Rufus Clement, his "American "
1 Mayor Low's second Inaugural.
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SCHOOL FUND.
antagonist, by a majority of five hundred sixty-one on a total vote of one thousand eight hundred sixty-nine; and the boards of alder- men and common council were entirely "American." But the second mayor thus elected did not live to complete his term of official ser- vice. Dying on the 12th of January, 1856, he left vacant the posi- tion which he had acceptably filled for ten months, and was succeeded by John Abbott, chosen four days later by the city council. The remaining municipal elections, occurring within the period covered by this chapter, need not be treated in detail. Suffice it to say in this connection that their results were continuous successes won over Democratic opposition, with consequent unbroken American or Re- publican ascendancy in the city government, at the head of which stood in the mayoralty : John Abbott in 1856, 1857, and 1858; Moses T. Willard in 1859 and 1860; Moses Humphrey in 1861 and 1862; Benjamin F. Gale in 1863 and 1864; Moses Humphrey in 1865.
The School Fund was one of the topics of Mayor Low's second inaugural. The lands, from the sale of which this fund arose, com- prised the " house and home " lots assigned, in 1726, to the "School," in the original division of the Plantation into one hundred three lots, and subsequent additions thereto made from territory at first undi- vided-just as in the case of the Parsonage Fund lands, as more fully set forth in a former chapter. By order of the town, the school lands were sold in 1826. The price received was one thousand six hundred ninety-one dollars. This sum, as the principal of a school fund, had accumulated, despite some loss on investment in stock of the Concord bank, so as to amount, at the close of the fiscal year, 1853, to eight thousand six hundred seventy-eight dollars. The principal of this fund, for each successive year, had been that of the preceding with the year's interest added, and had finally become wholly a loan to the town, on the certificate of the selectmen. Mayor Low, having described the fund as "arising from lands sold by the town, and pledged for educational purposes, but which was paid into the town treasury, and used to liquidate its corporate in- debtedness," added the forcible suggestion: "As it is questionable whether the city can legally impose a tax for purposes of education other than as prescribed by the statute for the support of common schools, I submit for your consideration the expediency of canceling this item upon the books of the treasury, making an apparent increase of indebtedness, and having in itself no substantial character, or binding force upon the taxpayers of the city." The suggestion was adopted, and the school fund ceased, from 1854, to cumber the city's financial records.
The first Funded or Bonded Debt in Concord was created on the
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
second day of December, 1854, by an ordinance authorizing a loan of forty-six thousand dollars. This measure had been reported by a special committee consisting of Samuel Coffin and Joseph P. Stick- ney. Of the total loan thirty-one thousand dollars were appropri- ated for the payment of debts heretofore contracted by the town and city; and fifteen thousand dollars for defraying the expense of the erection, finishing, and furnishing of the city's portion of the build- ing in process of construction jointly by said city and the county of Merrimack, and for the draining and grading of the land about the same. Provision was made for issuing certificates of stock of uni- form date, with coupons or interest warrants annexed. Certificates for one thousand dollars each, and numbered from one to twenty- threc, were to cover one half of the total sum ; while the other half was to be covered by certificates for five hundred dollars each, and numbered from one to forty-six. These were made payable-one thousand dollars annually for ten years, and three thousand dollars annually for the succeeding twelve years-with six per cent. inter- est upon presentation of coupons to the city treasurer. Thus the city had twenty-three years in which to pay the whole debt in easy instalments. This measure introduced into the management of the city finances a practice to which future advantageous resort was often to be had. It was passed by both branches of the city council on a full vote-by the common council, unanimously ; by the other board, with but one negative.
Indeed, early recourse was had to the convenient policy thus ini- tiated, when in August, 1855, the funded debt was increased by twelve thousand dollars, distributed as follows: ten thousand for fin- ishing the city hall and grading the lands about the same; five hun- dred for purchasing a strip of land adjoining the city land to improve the shape of the latter; and fifteen hundred for fitting up a room suitable for a city library, and the purchase of books, maps, and periodicals for the same. One fourth part of the stock certificates of this loan were made payable on the first day of January, 1878, and one fourth part yearly thereafter, until the whole should be paid ; and the certificates were not to be sold for less than their par value.
The city and county building for which provision was made in these ordinances has been mentioned in an earlier chapter, but fuller treatment of the topic properly enough belongs here. The under- taking had been projected under the town organization, when in March, 1852, Josiah Minot, Richard Bradley, Joseph B. Walker, John Abbot, and Nathaniel B. Baker were appointed a committee with authority to make, in behalf of the town, such arrangements with the county as they might deem proper "for the erection of a
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CITY AND COUNTY BUILDING.
new building on or adjoining the site of the town house, with a town hall, court room, and other offices in the same, and to dispose of the old town house, and appropriate the proceeds thereof to the new building." At the last Concord town-meeting in March, 1853, the powers before given the committee were renewed and confirmed with additional authority "to purchase all the premises enclosed by Main street on the east ; Court street on the north ; Summer street on the west ; and the south line of the Dearborn lot extended in a straight line westerly to Summer street on the south ; or such parts thereof " as might be thought proper. The heaviest land purchase was the Dearborn lot, for which six thousand three hundred thirty dollars were paid. This sum, as Governor Nathaniel B. Baker remarked at the laying of the corner-stone of the new building, in 1855, was about the amount-at six per cent. compound interest-of the ten dollars paid for the same land a hundred years before by Richard Herbert, who was often rallied by his neighbors for paying such a price for " a sand-heap." 1
By ordinance in August, 1854, the mayor was joined to the com- mittee, the powers conferred by the votes of the town were con- tinned, and full authority was given to proceed, in behalf of the city, with the duties assigned. Accord- ingly, within nine months, prepara- tions were made for carrying out the joint enterprise of the city and county, and the corner-stone of the contemplated structure was laid on Friday, the 25th of May, 1855. At two o'clock in the afternoon a pro- cession was formed at the Phenix building, and moved up Main street to the scene of ceremony. In this walked the members and officers of the city government, several clergy- men of the city, and other citizens, under escort of members of the Ma- sonic fraternity accompanied by the Concord brass band. Having arrived upon the ground, those who came in procession occupied the floor of the south wing, temporarily laid for the occasion. After music by the band, prayer was offered by the Reverend Daniel Lancaster. A brief abstract of events and dates in local history was read by the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bouton, as also a list of documents to be depos-
City Hall and County Court_House.
1 Bouton's Concord, 666.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
ited beneath the corner-stone. These having been deposited in their proper place at the southeast corner of the building to be reared, the proper Masonic ceremonies, under the direction of the Reverend Samuel Kelly as acting grand master, were performed, the stone was laid, the corn, wine, and oil were poured upon it, and the benedic- tion of Heaven implored upon the new structure. Governor Baker then made an address; and Mayor Clement followed with brief remarks that closed the exercises of an interesting occasion. The work of erection thus solemnized virtually reached completion to- wards the end of 1856. Upon a pleasant and historic site stood the edifice waited for with high expectations. Though of architectural design not faultless, it was a substantial, and by no means ugly, structure. Its well-built, two-storied walls of brick, securely under- pinned in granite, enclosed an interior, finished in the center upon the lower floor, into a spacious city hall : upon the upper, into a cor- responding county court room; and in its northern and southern wings, respectively, into apartments for county and city uses.1
The first public occupancy of the new city hall occurred on the evening of January 21, 1857, the occasion being a concert given by Benjamin B. Davis and John H. Morey, which, with the novelty of its place of holding, drew a large attendance. Such veteran and devoted friends of Concord's welfare and honor as Joseph Low, Rich- ard Bradley, and William Kent were present to intersperse music with speech congratulatory upon the beautiful place of convening. Ten days later, in the afternoon of the last Saturday of January, the boards of city council, that for four years had been migratory,-meet- ing in county court and jury rooms, in the city clerk's office and the police court room, and in Phenix and Rumford blocks,-convened in permanent quarters suitably prepared for them in the south wing of the new building, and later still, or on the 17th of March, the mem- bers-elect of the fifth city government were the first to be formally inducted in the city hall, thereafter to be the fixed place for similar official ceremonies.
The subject of establishing and maintaining a Public Library was forcibly urged upon the consideration of the city council by Mayor Low, in his second inaugural address, on the 8th of April, 1854. This important subject came as a legacy from the town to the city. When, in 1849, the general state law was passed, authorizing towns and cities to establish public libraries, Concord had, in March, 1850, appointed a committee of five, consisting of Sylvester Dana, Asa Fowler, Jacob A. Potter, Moses Shute, and Abel Baker, to report, at the next town-meeting, what action should be taken in relation to ' See " County Building," and the Old Town and Court House, in note at close of chapter.
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PUBLIC LIBRARY.
the establishment and perpetnal maintenance of a public library, and what sum of money the town should raise and appropriate for that purpose. But, at the next town-meeting, in March, 1851, the war- rant contained no article pertaining to the matter, and no report was made. In March, 1852, however, the committee made an able report, setting forth the advantages of such an institution, and accompanied by resolutions declaring the expediency of its immediate establish- ment. The resolutions, accordingly, provided for raising and appro- priating one thousand dollars to be expended by a committee in pur- chasing books, periodicals, et cetera, for the commencement of the library ; in furnishing suitable quarters, and in making other neces- sary incidental outlays during the ensuing year. The committee, just mentioned, was to consist of three disinterested and competent citizens, to be appointed annually by the selectmen, in the month of March, and denominated the Committee on the Public Library. This was to have charge of the institution, and to make rules and regula- tions for the control and the management of its affairs.
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