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 70
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Another sawmill was built on Turtle brook, in 1790, by Jacob Eastman, in the locality known as "Leather lane," a name derived from the proximity of a small shoe shop kept by " Parson " Cleasby. Brick making was carried on in this neighborhood for several years by Smith Bean. In 1795 Stephen Ambrose had a tannery on Turtle brook near Willow bridge. In this same year Federal bridge was in- corporated, and a few years later opened for travel,-an event which promised well for the inhabitants of the " Old Fort" village.
The business of tanning was peculiarly one of the old industries, in fact, the leading one for many years, for near the Ebenezer East- man house Edmund Leavitt built a tannery, while opposite, on the west side of the stream, Josiah Fernald, about 1817, set up an estab- lishment for dressing morocco, the first and it would seem the only factory of that kind ever in Concord. In 1824 Cyrus Robinson of Methuen, Massachusetts, and Enos Blake of Chester came to East Concord, and forming a partnership, bought the Leavitt property, and began what was afterwards to be an extensive source of material advantage to both Concord and East Concord. In a short time Mr. Blake sold his interest to his associate, and removing to the city, built a shop on land in the rear of his dwelling-house on North State street, now the corner of Blake street, where he carried on business until some time in the sixties. Mr. Robinson continued in the tan- nery business, having as partners at different times, E. W. Upham,
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Joel S. Morrill, and towards the last his two sons, Charles E. and Cyrus R. Robinson. The factory had been enlarged several times during this period, and its product obtained a large and extensive sale. In 1864 the entire plant was destroyed by fire, compelling a purchase of the steam sawmill property on Penacook street, now known, after many changes, as the Page Belting Company. There the Robinsons carried on their business until another fire overtook them, when the site passed into the hands of the Page brothers.
In 1800 Isaac Eastman opened a machine shop above the Leavitt tannery, which is said to have been the first machine shop in Con- cord, and it was there that all the early axles were made for Lewis Downing's carriage works. In 1826 John Putney had a workshop, and manufactured sleighs and coffins and also carried on painting. Afterwards it was converted by Mr. Putney into one of the village stores, the other store being the one formerly occupied by Stephen Ambrose. In the old days the post-office was first in one store, then in the other, according to the changes in national administrations. In 1835 the Sewall's Falls Lock and Canal Company began opera- tions, and the future of East Concord looked bright. A dam was planned across the Merrimack where the present dam now is, and a canal dug some two miles in length running through the village with locks at its junction with the river at Federal bridge. The intention was to make a factory town of East Concord, and certainly there were good reasons for such expectation, but it was never to be. First came a disastrous freshet, destroying the works, and then came a more calamitous circumstance in the bancful Eastern Land Specu- lation which crippled many of the promoters of the company and brought the enterprise to its end.
About 1840 Lewis Gage of Methuen, Massachusetts, started a fac- tory for the making of boots and shoes, but the business was soon abandoned. The factory was in a building subsequently used as a cooper shop, near the present residence of Charles E. Staniels.
Dr. Elijah Colby came to East Concord early in the twenties, and continued in practice until 1838, living in a house at the foot of Gen- cral Eastman hill, where he had a drug store in connection with his profession. In 1843 Ebenezer Eastman built a saw- and grist-mill on Turtle brook above the machine shop just mentioned, and east of that, some years later, John Teel conducted a flourishing bakery business. Farther up the stream there was, as early as 1833, a saw- and grist-mill, with a carding mill and dye-house, then the prop- erty of Eben Carter, now known as Batchelder's. Another industry was started carly in the fifties by Reuben and John P. Locke, who manufactured the celebrated Plymouth gloves in the basement of
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MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT.
Eastman's mill and in an adjoining building. In 1872 Cyrus R. Rob- inson erected his present factory for the making of fire-engine hose, belting, and harnesses.
Brick making was extensively carried on for several years by Joseph T. Clough.
The growth and importance of Concord and the surrounding towns, particularly Hopkinton, called for the establishment of a bank, so the legislature, at the June session, 1806, in response to a numerously signed petition, granted a charter for the first discount bank in the central part of New Hampshire. The name given was the Concord Bank, and the following gentlemen were made grantees: Timothy Walker, Robert Harris, Richard Ayer, John Bradley, William A. Kent, and John Chandler of Concord; Caleb Stark and John Mills of Dunbarton ; Baruch Chase and Joseph Towne of Hopkinton ; Joseph Clough of Canterbury ; Joshua Darling of Henniker ; Aquilla Davis of Warner; Ebenezer Peaslee and William Whittle of Salis- bury. The capital was fixed at not less than fifty thousand nor more than two hundred thousand dollars in specie, and the charter was to continue for twenty years. The grantees held their first meeting July 17, 1806, at the tavern kept by David George, and chose Timothy Walker as moderator, and William A. Kent as clerk. Mr. Walker was a native of Concord and Mr. Kent had long been a resident, and both were among the leading citizens of the town. They represented the business and social interests, and unfortunately they represented prejudices as well. Mr. Walker stood for the North end, while Mr. Kent stood for the South end; for Main street, at that time, was attracting trade towards its lower end, and thereby depriving the North end of its former business monopoly and importance. The feelings engendered by this condition of local affairs were soon man- ifest in the meetings of the Concord Bank grantees. The location of the bank's place of business was the cause of much shrewd man- agement and discussion, but when it became clear that Mr. Walker and his friends had the majority of votes, Mr. Kent and his followers, after entering a formal protest against the proposed action, withdrew from further participation in the North end meetings. It is not with- out interest to know that Daniel Webster appeared as attorney for one of the dissatisfied grantees on the occasion of the protest. Suits at law were soon entered in the court of common pleas, and the case, in its various forms, was continued for several years, or until 1814, when the docket shows that it was dismissed.
The Concord, or the "Upper" Bank, as it was popularly called, was opened for business in February, 1807, with Timothy Walker as president and Samuel Sparhawk as cashier. During the first twenty
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
years of its existence, or until its second charter, in 1826, the bank was kept in the northwest front room in the house of its cashier, which occupied the site of the present residence of John C. Thorne, on North Main street. Within this period the bank had these offi- eers : Presidents : Timothy Walker, 1806-1815, Baruch Chase, 1815- 1818, Charles Walker, 1818-1826 ; cashiers : Samuel Sparhawk, 1807- 1810, Charles Emery, 1810-1812, Joseph Walker, 1812-1814, Samuel Sparhawk, 1814-1826.
Upon the expiration of the first charter, in 1826, the legislature granted another eharter for twenty years, and at the same time changed the bank's name to that of the Merrimack County Bank.
The brick building now owned by the New Hampshire Historical Society was erected the same year, and the newly reehartered bank entered upon its career of forty years of prudent and honorable man- agement.
That building in the day of its youth was regarded with admiration and pride, and was pointed out to strangers as a fine speeimen of con- temporaneous architecture. The interior was once a busy place. The bank did business in the north rooms ; the south rooms were occupied by the New Hampshire Savings Bank (1830-1866) and the Merri- mack County Insurance Company ; while the second story was given over to offices, Franklin Pierce, Charles H. Peaslee, and Asa Fowler being among the tenants. On this floor, at different times, were also publie offices, such as the registry of deeds and the selectmen of Con- cord, and for many years the Reverend Nathaniel Bouton used one of the rooms for his study. On the third floor was found the library of the Historieal Society, which continued to occupy the space from 1840 until the remodeling of the building a quarter of a century later. As a yearly rental the society paid to the bank the sum of fif- teen dollars. In 1846 the legislature voted a third charter of twenty years, but at the end of that period the directors, not caring to ask for another state charter or to avail themselves of the national bank- ing act, determined to close the business of the old institution, which they did by paying the original capital to the stockholders, together with a final dividend of forty-three and one half per centum.
The history of the Concord (Lower) Bank is not without interest. When William A. Kent and his minority associates entered their pro- test and withdrew, they carried with them full confidence in their com- peteney to start a bank and carry on business under the same charter as the Upper Bank. Accordingly, in 1808, the Lower Bank opened its doors, with Joseph Towne as president and William A. Kent as eashier. For twenty years these two banks originating from the same source remained at arm's length, striving in various ways to outdo
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MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT.
one another, exciting rivalries in business, and creating discord in social affairs, all to the detriment of the little town of barely two thousand souls. In 1810 the officers of the rival institutions were as follows : The Upper Bank, Timothy Walker, president; Samuel Spar- hawk, cashier; John Bradley, Joseph Clough, Benjamin Wiggin, Charles Emery, directors ; of the Lower Bank, Thomas W. Thompson, presi- dent ; William A. Kent, cashier ; Joseph Towne, William A. Kent, Benjamin B. Darling, Samuel Green, directors. The Kent bank car- ried on business in the brick building opposite the Phenix hotel, now partly occupied by W. S. Baker as a tailor shop, until the expiration of its first charter, when its directors went to the legislature and obtained another charter for a period of twenty years. But the end came in 1840, when bankruptcy overtook the interesting old institu- tion, and its doors were finally closed, never to be reopened. During the early years of the bank a brick building of two stories was built, the ground floor being occupied for banking and the upper floor used for various purposes, among others that of the lodge room of Blazing Star Lodge of Freemasons. During the Civil War this ancient build- ing was the city's police station. To-day this building, after many changes and alterations, remains the oldest brick business structure in the city.
It is interesting historically to Concord people to recall the part played by the Concord (Upper) Bank in one of the greatest political contests of the century, President Jackson's fight with the United States Bank. It was in 1829, when party feeling was at its height, that Levi Woodbury-United States senator from New Hampshire and a leader of the Jackson forces-attempted to have Jeremiah Mason removed from the presidency of the Portsmouth branch of the United States Bank, and at the same time Isaac Hill, president of the Upper Bank, attempted to have the United States Pension Agency connected with the Portsmouth branch removed to the bank in which he was interested. President Jackson at once gave orders to have these New Hampshire requests complied with, but Nicholas Biddle, the president of the United States Bank at Philadelphia, de- nounced the scheme as a political job and refused to obey the execu- tive. Whereupon the storm broke forth, and added a famous chapter to our national annals. In this way the Concord Bank became an interesting incident in our political history.
As a sturdy specimen of the old-fashioned bank safe or vault, that of the Concord (Upper) Bank possesses considerable interest. It stood upon a solid foundation of stone. Its walls were of hewn granite with ceiling and floor of the same material set in long slabs extending from side to side. The exterior surface was covered with
43
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
The New Hampshire Savings Bank.
brick masonry work as a protection against fire rather than vio- lence. The walls had a uniform thickness of two feet. The inte- rior was seven feet square, and divided into two parts, one, for the president and the other for the cashier. The cashier took the sec- tion which contained the bank's specie and other articles of value, as was indicated by the ponderous wrought iron doors with two mam- moth locks and keys of ingenious design. When experience had proved the skill of the burglar, who with a piece of bent wire could open these doors, the bank officials introduced steel bars as addi- tional security against outer assaults. These bars were made to play across the door by some arrangement worked by those in the secret but the burglar soon showed the inefficiency of this contrivance, and compelled the use of iron boxes which, serving as a second safe, sug- gested the successive improvements which have continued to the present time.
The New Hampshire Savings Bank was or- ganized in July, 1830, with Samuel Green as president; Samuel Morril, treasurer; Timothy Chandler, William Low, Nathan Ballard, Jr., Jonathan Eastman, Jr., David George, Nathan- iel G. Upham, Samuel A. Kimball, Richard Bradley, Richard Bartlett, Stephen Brown, Will- jam Kent, William Gault, David Allison, Fran_ cis N. Fiske, Joseph Low, David L. Morril, and Isaac F. Williams as trustees.
This bank popularly spoken of as the " Old New Hampshire " has long been one of the rich- est and most prudently managed institutions in the state, and its high repute is still main- tained. For more than thirty years the business of this bank was done in the south room of the present Historical Society building, but circumstances demanding a change of location, the bank was moved in 1868 to the rooms over E. H. Rollins's drug store, for- merly occupied by the Mechanicks Bank and the First National Bank. There it remained until the building, passing into the possession of the bank, was torn down and the present bank building erected. The new banking rooms were opened May 9, 1887. The bank has had seven presidents,-Samuel Green, Joseph Low, Francis N. Fiske, Sam- uel Coffin, Joseph B. Walker, Samuel S. Kimball, Samuel C. Eastman, -and four treasurers,-Samuel Morril, James Moulton, Jr., Charles W. Sargent, William P. Fiske.
The exact charter name of this institution was "The New Hamp- shire Savings Bank in Concord" and so continued many years. In
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MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT.
1900 this bank had ten thousand two hundred and fifty depositors, and deposits of four million six hundred and fifty-one thousand, three hundred and thirty-two dollars and ninety-eight cents. Dividend No. 1 of seventeen dollars and ninety-two cents was paid in January, 1831, while dividend No. 113, paid in January, 1901, amounted to one hundred and fifty-four thousand, seventy-nine dollars and sixty-one cents.
The fourth bank in Concord was the Mechanicks, incorporated in June, 1834, and organized at a meeting of the grantees held at the Eagle Coffee House, Tuesday, August 12th, of that year, when these officers were chosen : Nathaniel G. Upham, president ; George Minot, cashier; Nathaniel G. Upham, Peter Renton, Horatio Hill, Joseph M. Harper, Nathaniel Curtis, Abner B. Kelly, and Arlond Carroll, directors. The capital was fixed at one hundred thousand dollars, with right to increase it to two hundred thousand dollars. The bank's first place of business was in a wooden block on Park street, subse- quently bought by Dr. Abraham H. Robinson and William H. Rix- ford and made into a dwelling-house. This house is now standing (1900) and occupies the site across the passageway west of White's Opera House. At the time of the great fire in August, 1851, the Mechanicks Bank had been but recently moved to the newly built Merchants' Exchange, which was utterly destroyed. Business, how- ever, was soon resumed at the former quarters on Park street, con- tinuing there for a year or two, when rooms were leased in the new block north of the Eagle, where the bank remained until its removal to State block in the early sixties.
In 1865 the Mechanicks Bank wound up its affairs and went out of existence. The following year Josiah Minot and Charles Minot, the last president and the last cashier of the bank, went into the banking business under the name of Minot & Company, continuing in it until 1880, when the partnership ceased. Minot & Company had their banking rooms in State block, in Durgin's block, and finally moving to the brick building which they had built on the north side of School street, remained there to the end.
The business of Minot & Company passed substantially to a new national bank organized January 3, 1880, with a capital of one hun- dred thousand dollars, called the Mechanicks National Bank. The original officers were Josiah Minot, president; Benjamin A. Kim- ball, vice-president ; James Minot, cashier; Josiah Minot, Benjamin A. Kimball, Joseph B. Walker, Edward II. Rollins, Charles H. Ams- den, John M. Hill, Sargent C. Whitcher, directors. This bank kept the former place of business of Minot & Company until May, 1889, when the institution was moved to the present quarters in the Board
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Mechanicks National Bank and Merrimack County Savings Bank.
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
of Trade building. The officers of the institution (1900) are Benjamin A. Kimball, president; Henry W. Stevens, vice-president ; Harry H. Dudley, cash- ier,-with the first two named and John Kimball, John F. Webster, Ferdinand A. Stillings, James Minot, and Dr. George M. Kimball, directors.
The fifth bank organized in Concord was the State Capital, which received its charter from the legislature in 1852, and opened banking rooms in Rumford block, up stairs, January 26, 1853. The MEGHANICE NATÜRNL HAMK capital stock was at first one hundred thousand dollars, then one hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars, and finally two hundred thousand dollars. Samuel Butterfield was president; Edson Hill, cashier; Samuel Butterfield, Enos Blake, Abraham Bean, Hall Roberts, Asa Fowler, Robert N. Corn- ing, and Ebenezer Symmes, directors.
In January, 1865, this bank was reorganized under the national banking act as the National State Capital Bank with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, which was soon increased to one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars, and in 1872 to two hundred thou- sand dollars. The business place was moved to the newly built State block about 1864, occupying rooms directly over the corner store. The president at this time was John V. Barron, and the cashier Preston S. Smith. In 1871 the bank bought the wooden building at the corner of Main and Warren streets, formerly the site of Gale's tavern, and finished commodious rooms on the ground floor. In the spring of 1879 (April 18) this building was de- stroyed by fire, compelling the bank to take tem- porary quarters in Central block, a few doors south of Warren street. In the meanwhile the present bank building was built and occupied in Septem- ber, 1880. In 1900 Lewis Downing, Jr., was pres- ident, having at that time served twenty-two years in that office, Josiah E. Fernald was cashier, and James S. Norris, Lyman D. Stevens, Lewis Down- ing, Jr., John M. Mitchell, John F. Jones, William M. Mason, and Benjamin C. White, directors.
The State Capital, in almost half a century of life, has had but four presidents, namely : Samuel Butterfield, 1853-1860; Hall Roberts, 1860-1862; John V. Barron, 1862-1878; Lewis Downing, Jr.,
The National State Capital Bank and Loan and Trust Savings Bank.
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MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT.
NATIONAL SAVINGS
1878 to his decease in 1901. Preston S. Smith was cashier until 1872, and was suc- ceeded by Henry J. Crippen, who held the office for ten years when Josiah E. Fernald, who had been for many years a clerk in the institution, was chosen.
Political influences had had considerable to do with the state banking system, and 3 the dominant party did not look favorably on projects calculated to divide the profits already in the hands of the established in- stitutions. Some prominent Whigs, believ- ing that a bank under their management would answer a public demand, succeeded in procuring from the legislature of 1856 a charter for a new State bank in Concord. Old Bank Building. The name given was the Union Bank, and the first organization was as follows: George B. Chandler, presi- dent; Augustine C. Pierce, cashier; with the president, George Hutchins, Nathaniel White, Woodbridge Odlin, Peter Sanborn, John E. Tyler, N. H. Sanborn, as directors. The bank remained in Phenix block for several years, and was then moved to Central block, corner of Main and Warren streets, where it had rooms over the drug store of Henry B. Foster. Here the bank continued business until the exigencies of the national banking act caused its directors to wind up its affairs about the year 1868.
The First National Bank was organized in March, 1864, with a capital of one hundred thousand dol- lars, increased to one hundred and fifty thousand the following year. The bank's number on the government list is 318. The first president was Asa Fowler and the first cashier Woodbridge Od- lin, who served a short time when he was succeeded by William W. Storrs. The directors were Asa Fowler, Enos Blake, Edward H. Rollins, William Walker, Benning W. Sanborn, George A. Pillsbury, and Moses Humphrey. The bank was opened for business in the brick block next north of the Eagle hotel (up stairs ), the rooms being those afterwards occupied for so many years by the New Hampshire Savings Bank. In 1868 the bank was moved to the brick building opposite the Phenix built by the famous Concord (Lower) Bank in the early years
The First National Bank and Union Guaranty Savings Bank,
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
of the century. There it remained and prospered until increasing business made another move necessary, so in 1892 large and beau- tifully arranged banking rooms were established in what had been the Statesman building, at the corner of North Main and Depot streets. This corner, one of the historic sites of Concord, was in early days occupied by the garrison house of James Osgood, and subsequently by the famous Wiggin tavern.
The presidents of the First National have been Asa Fowler, 1864- 1866 ; George A. Pillsbury, 1866-1878; Augustine C. Pierce, 1878- 1883; William M. Chase, 1883-1885; William F. Thayer, 1885- The cashiers have been Woodbridge Odlin, William W. Storrs, Will- iam F. Thayer, Charles G. Remick. The board of directors, 1900, comprised : William M. Chase, William F. Thayer, Solon A. Carter, William P. Fiske, Henry McFarland, Edward B. Woodworth, George W. Abbott, Frank S. Streeter.
Union Guaranty Savings Bank, chartered by the legislature in 1887, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, has always occupied rooms in common with the First National. On the original board of trustees were : Thomas Stuart, Edgar H. Woodman, William P. Fiske, Solon A. Carter, Alvah W. Sulloway, Charles C. Danforth, Edson J. Hill, Timothy P. Sullivan, William M. Chase, William F. Thayer, Charles H. Roberts, IIenry A. Emerson, Edmund E. Trues- dell, John E. Robertson, John Whittaker, George P. Little, James II. Rowell.
A state bank, called the Concord Savings Bank, was opened for deposits in June, 1857, with Ira A. Eastman as president, and Charles Minot as secretary and treasurer. The banking rooms were the same as those of the Mechanicks Bank. The bank, however, did not long continue in operation; the amount of its deposits was very small, only twenty thousand dollars, and its business was too limited for profits, accordingly its affairs were gradually closed, and in ten years from its inception the bank ceased to exist.
About 1867 another savings bank, called the National Savings Bank, was started with rooms in connection with those of the First National in the old brick building opposite the Phenix hotel. George A. Pillsbury was president, and William W. Storrs, treasurer. This bank soon had a most gratifying deposit, and was ranked with the largest institutions of the kind in New Hampshire. But in 1874 misfortunes overwhelmed the institution, causing a complete reorgan- ization, accompanied by suits at law and other entanglements. Fi- nally the name was changed to Concord Savings Bank, the place of business moved, and a new management installed. Benjamin A. Kimball was elected president, and George Jones, treasurer.
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