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 II > Part 35
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ferred upon her distinguished son the degree of LL. D. A similar honor was conferred on Judge Carpenter in 1896 by Dartmouth. He studied law with Chief Justice Woods at Bath, and with Ira Goodall, also of Bath, and was admitted to practice in 1853. Bath continued to be his residence during the whole of his professional life. From the day of his beginning practice to the day in 1881 when he accepted the judgeship at the hands of Governor Charles H. Bell, Mr. Carpenter occupied a foremost rank, not only at the Graf- ton bar, and throughout the state, but in Vermont and in the federal courts.
The vacancy on the supreme court caused by the retirement of Judge Foster was at once offered to Mr. Carpenter, with the unani- mous concurrence of the bar. Soon after his appointment the Judge removed to Concord, having purchased the residence formerly owned by John H. Pearson on North Main street, which was to be his home to the day of his death. Judge Carpenter now devoted himself wholly to his new duties, and quickly took undisputed rank among New Hampshire's greatest judges. Endowed with remarkable talents, and possessed of untiring energy and power of application, his judicial labors bore the richest fruits. Learned as he was in the law, Judge Carpenter was also learned in literature and science ; he loved study for its own sake, and was a scholar always. Socially he was a wel- come guest, who contributed generously from the riches of his mind; and among those who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance he shone as a conversationalist of rarest qualities. It was with singular fitness that the highest honor in the profession at last fell to him and accompanied him to the grave. It was the chief justiceship. On the decease of Chief Justice Doe, Governor Busiel, on the 1st of April, 1896, appointed Judge Carpenter as successor to that eminent jurist. Chief Justice Carpenter sustained fully the traditions of that high office, and added one more brilliant name to the honored list of the state's chief justices. His death occurred on the 21st of May, 1898.
The first city solicitor was William H. Bartlett, who subsequently attained high distinction at the bar and on the bench. His term comprised the years 1853 and 1854. Lyman D. Stevens succeeded Mr. Bartlett, holding the office in 1855 and 1856. Then came Will- iam E. Chandler for the two years 1857 and 1858. Napoleon B. Bryant served during the year 1859, and was followed by Lyman T. Flint, who continued one year, 1860. Then John Y. Mugridge entered upon a tenure, embracing the years 1861-68. Mr. Flint was again chosen for the years 1869 and 1870. Charles P. Sanborn came next with a term covering the years 1871 to 1880, and was
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succeeded by Robert A. Ray, 1880-'84. Henry W. Stevens held the office 1885-'86, his successor being Harry G. Sargent, whose term continued until 1901, when he was chosen mayor. Edmund S. Cook became Mr. Sargent's successor.
With the change in local affairs from town to city came the es- tablishment of a police court. The first justice was Calvin Ains- worth, 1853-'54. His successor was Josiah Stevens, who held the office from 1854 to 1856. Mr. Stevens was a well-to-do citizen, a type of the old-fashioned justice who made up in common-sense what he lacked in professional learning. John Whipple was next in line, his tenure lasting about a year, his successor qualifying in June, 1857.
David Pillsbury was the next police justice. Although his resi- dence in Concord had not been a long one, his prominence in militia affairs and his professional learning made his appointment acceptable to the public. General Pillsbury was born in Raymond the 17th of February, 1802, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1827. Beginning practice at Chester and representing that town in the legislatures of 1842 and 1844, he lived there until 1854, when he moved to Con- cord. His practice was not large, but he was a careful lawyer and good counselor. His local fame rests on the reputation he made as an officer of the militia, in which he reached the highest rank, that of major-general. His term as police justice extended from June, 1857, to his death. He died at Concord, the 25th of May, 1862.
Sylvester Dana was the next appointee, his term beginning in June, 1862, and continuing until the constitutional limitation in October, 1886. Judge Dana is a well-preserved and active man, one who takes an interest in current matters, and who retains in remarkable degree the mental alertness and native wit of his middle age. Born in Orford in October, 1816, graduating at Dartmouth in the class of 1839, he began the study of law with Pierce & Fowler, and con- tinued the study at the Harvard Law school. Judge Dana has lived in Concord nearly all his life, and has long been the Nestor of the bar.
Benjamin E. Badger followed Judge Dana in official succession, receiving his appointment in 1886. His term expired in 1901.
The present police justice is George M. Fletcher, appointed by Governor Jordan in December, 1901.
At the beginning of the twentieth century Concord has good reason to take pride in the high reputation of her bar. While the standing and attainments of Concord lawyers have been recognized for many years, there has never been a time when their strength and leadership was more generally conceded throughout the state than during the
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period from 1890 to 1900. At the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury the membership of the Concord bar was as follows :
Ex-Judge Sylvester Dana, whose active professional life began in the forties ; Lyman D. Stevens, only a few years the junior of Judge Dana; Samuel C. Eastman, whose name appears among those in prac- tice in the sixties ; Benjamin E. Badger ; Frank S. Streeter; John M. Mitchell ; Reuben E. Walker, who in 1901 was appointed to the bench of the supreme court; Harry G. Sargent; Henry W. Stevens; Ed- ward G. Leach ; Nathaniel E. Martin; John H. Albin ; Edward C. Niles ; Henry F. Hollis ; Allen Hollis ; De Witt C. Howe; Edmund S. Cook ; William H. Sawyer; Joseph S. Matthews; Fremont E. Shurtleff ; Samuel G. Lane; Harry R. Hood; Benjamin W. Couch ; Anson S. Marshall ; Charles R. Corning; George M. Fletcher ; Will- iam A. Foster; Arthur P. Morrill ; Edward K. Woodworth; Archer F. Lowe ; David F. Dudley ; Charles N. Hall; Frederick T. Wood- man ; Rufus H. Baker ; James H. Morris; William A. J. Giles ; Cornelius E. Clifford; Harry J. Brown; Fred E. Gould; Fred C. Demond ; Walter D. Hardy ; Thomas H. Madigan, Jr .; Napoleon B. Hale.
The judiciary system of the state as established in 1876 under- went a radical remodeling by the legislature of 1901. In place of the supreme court of seven judges, the new act established two courts, the supreme court and the superior court, each court com- posed of a chief and four associate justices. This change, while encountering some opposition, was very generally urged by the bar and welcomed by the public. Concord was again honored by the appointment of William M. Chase and Reuben E. Walker as justices of the supreme court.
Judge Chase had already attained distinction by his services on the bench of the old supreme court, to which he was appointed by Governor Tuttle in 1891. The town of Canaan, renowned through- out New Hampshire as the birthplace of judges, counts William M. Chase among her sons, his birthday occurring the 28th of December, 1837. Fitting for college at Kimball Union academy, Meriden, and at the academy in Canaan, he entered the scientific department at Dart- mouth in 1856, and was graduated two years later with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Mr. Chase at once began his professional studies in the office of Anson S. Marshall and was admitted to the bar in 1862. The following year the partnership of Marshall & Chase was formed, which continued until the death of the senior member in 1874. This firm became one of the most widely known in the state.
Soon after Mr. Marshall's death Mr. Chase entered into partner-
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ship with Jonathan E. Sargent, who had then but recently retired from the chief justiceship of the supreme judicial court. Five years afterwards, Judge Sargent having withdrawn from practice, Mr. Chase and Frank S. Streeter entered into a partnership which con- tinued until Mr. Chase's appointment to the bench.
Concord's other justice of the supreme court, Reuben E. Walker, is a native of Lowell, Mass., his birthday being the 15th of February, 1851. During his youth his parents became residents of Warner, and in the schools of that town he received his elementary education. He prepared for college at the New London Literary and Scientific insti- tute and entered Brown university, from which he was graduated in 1875. Mr. Walker then came to Concord and entered the office of Sargent & Chase. Three years later, 1878, he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in company with Robert A. Ray. Mr. Walker served one term as solicitor of Merrimack county, was a member of the legislature of 1895 from Ward six, and a member of the constitutional convention of 1902. After the partnership of Ray & Walker was dissolved Mr. Walker became a partner of the firm of Streeter, Walker & Hollis, retaining his connection there- with until his appointment to the supreme court.
CHAPTER XXVIII. NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR EDITORS.
FRANK W. ROLLINS.
" When I first came to Concord in 1809," wrote Isaac Hill in 1833, "there were three small printing houses only, the whole united apparatus of which would be scarcely sufficient to print a large-sized weekly newspaper of the present time. With the aid of a single journeyman and my eldest brother, then under twenty years of age, the Patriot newspaper was printed weekly, and such jobs of printing as came in from customers were executed in addition. The printing press I then had was one that had been used at Norwich, Conn., to print a newspaper of foolscap size, during the War of the Revolution ; and the types were a remnant of these which had been nearly worn out by Mr. Etheridge of Charlestown in printing a quarto Bible, etc. The whole expense of the office was about three hundred dollars; and it was really worth, perhaps, half that sum. My colleagues in the business, in this town, were the late veteran printer George Hough, and our friend Jesse Carr Tuttle, the latter of whom printed a rival political newspaper. Mr. Ilough had a font of small pica, and about a hundred pounds of old brevier type; and he had a printing press not quite as rickety as mine, because he had sold my predecessor the older one, and bought another that had not been used probably more than twenty years, and this constituted ncarly the whole of his apparatus. He very rarely had more than one apprentice; but he always worked himself when he had a job of printing on hand, and obtained other occasional assistance.
As for our other colleague printer, Mr. Tuttle, his also were the old Scotch types which had long been used by Mr. Hough, and nearly everything done in his office was the newspaper; this was at first larger than the Patriot, and better supported with advertising pat- . ronage. About the close of the late war (1812) he sold out his newspaper to a family of printers by the name of Spear; but in their hands the Concord Gazette did even worse, until it was finally discontinued, leaving the Patriot the whole field.
"Such was the condition of our art in this place twenty years ago. At this time there are six different newspaper establishments in the village, and these constitute but a small portion of the printing
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done here. There are probably more than twenty different kinds of school books stereotyped and published here, some of which find a market at more than a thousand miles distance. I had the gratifica- tion to present the president and vice-president of the United States and the secretaries of war and navy, who visited this town last sum- mer, with specimens of the fine Bible stereotyped and manufactured by Luther Roby & Co., and of the 'Christian Harmony,' a volume of music published by Horatio Hill & Co.,-specimens, the almost entire material of which was produced here, and which twenty years ago would have been wonderful if produced by the best artists in Europe."
The eighteenth century was far spent when George Hough came to Concord and set up the first printing press. This was in Sep- tember, 1789. Mr. Hough was then thirty-two years old, a native of Connecticut, and a printer by occupation, who had published news- papers elsewhere before coming to Concord. On the 6th of January, 1790, the inhabitants of Concord saw the issue of the town's first newspaper. Its name was The Concord Herald and New Hampshire Intelligencer, and its size could almost be measured by a foot rule, its face being fourteen inches by nine. Small as it was it had for a motto " The Press is the oracle of science, the Nurse of Genius, and the Shield of Liberty." Mr. Hough began work as a printer and edi- tor in a small one-story building that stood on Main street on a site now included in the state house yard. From this little establishment also issued the first pamphlet ever printed in Concord ; it was called "Christian Economy," and was followed the same year, 1789, by the sermon preached at the installation of the Reverend Israel Evans at the Old North, a well preserved copy of which is in the state library. In the conduct of his newspaper Mr. Hough did what most of his contemporaries did, he squeezed his exchanges to sustain his own paper, as he ingenuously says in the first issue of the Herald: "We receive papers from most of the printers in the United States, from which we will extract the proceedings of congress and other matters of entertainment and instruction." Thus one discovers the germs of the associated press of 1789.
George Hough, besides being Concord's first printer and editor, was a prominent and useful citizen. He was born in the town of Bozrah, Conn., the 15th of June, 1757. He learned his calling in Norwich, and followed it there until he moved to Windsor, Vt., in 1783. There, too, he engaged in newspaper work, and helped to establish the Vermont Journal. Six years later Mr. Hough came to Concord, and here he remained until his death in 1830. He was not constituted for aggression, he lacked the capacity to deal sharp
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blows, yet he was a leader in his way and exercised a good in- fluence among his townsmen. Judged even by the standards of his time, he was a character whose peculiarities invited mirth and gossip. Asa McFarland recalls Mr. Hough as "small in person, deliberate in motion, and a gentleman by instinct. He could no more have been made to perform an unkind act than to run a foot race. I shall never forget the deliberation and care with which, seated at our fireside, he prepared an apple for eating, nor the moderation with which he told a story. Colonel Kent often 'put the nub' upon and raised a laugh at the conclusion of the stories of Mr. Hough, which, but for Colonel Kent's assistance, would have been rather pointless." It is easy after this touch to see Concord's first editor and comprehend his personality.
Prim no doubt he was and methodical as well, yet these traits had a market value, as was shown at the time of the run on the lower or Kent bank. Bill holders began calling for redemption in specie and the situation grew grave. Then was conceived the ingenious plan of employing the slow and mechanical Mr. Hough to count out the small coin while an express rider galloped to Boston and brought back the necessary amount of ready money. In looking through the records of that period one finds frequent mention of Mr. Hough, for he was really a public-spirited citizen, always ready to forward any good project. He was a subscriber to the fund to build a town house, he paid liberally towards a bell on the old meeting- house, he gave land to make State street, he served as secretary of the "Society for Discountenancing Vice and Immorality," he was one of the school committee, he was president of the Concord Mechanics association, and a leader in the musical society, one of the social features of early Concord. Besides being the first printer and edi- tor, Mr. Hough was Concord's first postmaster, his commission bear- ing date of 1792. He was in the legislatures of 1815-'16.
The Herald, as his newspaper was popularly called, continued in existence up to 1805, though it changed its name more than once. The circulation, distributed by post-riders, whose quaint calls for arrears appear very amusing, was confined principally to this section of the state, owing to the brisk competition below Concord, and to sparseness of population to the north. On the 4th of January, 1819, Mr. Hough brought out the first number of the Concord Observer. This was purely a religious weekly, and has the distinc- tion of being the first of its kind published in New Hampshire. The life of this paper was not long, for in April, 1822, Mr. Hough sold it to John W. Shephard, who at once changed its name to the New Hampshire Repository, though retaining its religious features.
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The new owner was a Gilmanton man who had recently come to Concord to enter an untried business. His printing office was in a little room over the store on the site of the present Masonic Temple, and later in Stickney's new block then situated opposite the state house.
Printing was not brisk with Mr. Shephard,-three to five persons comprised the entire force, and he had a hard struggle to keep along. In 1826 the Repository was sold and it disappeared, merged in a weekly known as The New England Observer, published at Keene. Mr. Hough's last newspaper connection was with the Concord Register, owned by George Kimball, which he continued to edit until his death, February 8, 1830. His funeral was largely attended, and his grave, marked by an old-fashioned entablature, may be seen near the south line of the old burying-ground.
A newspaper, like a ship, may with its name changed undergo a variety of vicissitudes before its course is finally run, and so the Concord Observer, founded by Mr. Hough, passing into the hands of Mr. Shephard as the New Hampshire Repository in 1822, then chang- ing owners a few years later and going to Portsmouth, then to Port- land and finally returning to Concord in 1831. Edmund S. Chad- wick and ex-Governor David L. Morril now became its proprietors ; but in three years the latter sold his interest to Charles H. Little, who, with Mr. Chadwick, had charge until 1835, when Mr. Little died and his share was sold to Reverend David Kimball. A few months after this Mr. Chadwick retired, and the property became known in 1839 as the Christian Panoply. On January 1, 1841, the paper appeared under a new title, that of Congregational Journal. Its owners at that time were David Kimball and Henry Wood, both Congregational clergymen, who conducted it as a religious publica- tion. But change, however, was not done with it, for it passed through a succession of owners, among them being Reverend Benjamin P. Stone and Benning W. Sanborn. Finally, in December, 1862, Con- cord saw the last of the much-buffeted journal, for at that date it ceased to exist, and its subscription list was transferred to The Con- gregationalist and Boston Recorder.
Not long after Mr. Hough began business a rival publication called The Mirrour was started by Elijah Russell, a former printer in the Herald office. This was in 1792, the first number appearing in October of that year. The paper was printed near Hannaford's tav- ern at the North end. In size it was not unlike the Herald, being thirteen inches by seven and a half, and containing four pages. Moses Davis became a partner about 1795, when the Mirrour was made larger, its contents more carefully selected, and the price ad-
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vanced to five shillings a year. Produce was common money in those days, and with that and barter generally the new firm managed to get along for several years. Mr. Russell seems to have been a man of enterprise, for he published, concurrently with The Mirrour, another paper called the New Star. This was miscellaneous and literary in its make-up, and was issued weekly. In size it was six- teen octavo pages, well printed and rather attractive in appearance. Mr. Russell, a few years before, in June, 1793, began a publication known as The New Hampshire Magazine or the Monthly Repository of Useful Information, which was without doubt the first magazine pub- lished in New Hampshire. This venture was not a success, nor is it surprising, considering the novelty of the project and the scant reve- nue attending it. The first number appeared in June and the last number in November. The editor is said to have been Reverend Martin Ruter of Canterbury. This short-lived magazine was a small octavo in form and contained sixty-four pages. In 1799 both the Mirrour and the New Star ceased publication.
The early newspapers were much alike in make-up and contents. Editorials were rare, their place being taken by signed communica- tions setting forth the political issues of the day. Sharp, spicy, and bitter, they often elicited stinging replies. The influence of Roman history was shown in the names accompanying the communi- cations. A file of the Herald discloses nearly as many proper names as Plutarch contains, for its columns glisten with Plato, Brutus, Cato, Junius, and similar nomenclature. Controversies seemed to be popu- lar, and a subject once espoused was likely to last until the readers showed impatience. Tender rills of poetry trickled over the old newspapers ; incipient bards saw their lines in print and were rejoiced. Still another feature was the space given to correspondents, and the queer things that filled it.
To modern eyes no part of the century-ago newspapers affords more interest and curious delight than the running advertisements. In a degree not wholly appreciated, one sees in them the various incidents and characteristics of the time, and interprets the thoughts and peculiar ideas of the people. Business and social customs are reflected as in a mirror, making clear the every-day doings of old Concord.
The ancient newspapers show also the coarseness pervading the age, for not only was there a rancor of expression but a plainness of suggestion no longer to be found in the press. In contrast to these objectionable features appear advertisements of religious works and doctrinal tracts, such as Addison's "Evidences," Baxter's "Call," Harvey's " Meditations," Graves's " Sacraments," Watts's "Sermons,"
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and "The Seraphical Young Shepherd." Side by side were notices more secular, like Carver's "Travels," Bell's "Surgery," " Spectator," Milton's works, " Robinson Crusoe," while in comical conjunction were " Devil on Sticks," "Roderick Random," and Paine's "Age of Reason." Such, then, was largely the intellectual food of Concord people during the early years of the last century.
The first party newspaper published at Concord was the Republi- can Gazette, which made its appearance under the proprietorship of Elijah Russell in 1801, and lived about two years. Jefferson's elec- tion was the signal for journalistic rivalry, and before many years Concord was to become a fertile field for editorial partisanship.
In 1806 William Hoit, a well-known printer, persuaded that Con- cord ought to support a newspaper,-for at that time there was none in town,-began the publication of a small and unpretentious sheet styled the Coneord Gazette, but the undertaking perished with the issue of its thirty-seventh number. This was in June. Undaunted by his experience and reinforced by a partner, Mr. Hoit again set forth on the sea of journalism a year later, with substantially the same newspaper as before. It was still known as the Concord Gazette. After a few weeks, Mr. Hoit disposed of his interest to his partner, Jesse C. Tuttle, who had learned his trade under the direction of George Hough. Mr. Tuttle seems to have been a person of wit and humor, respecting whom many good anecdotes were related.
The first number of the new Gazette contained a notice offering the paper " to post-riders who take a number weekly at a price which will afford them a handsome profit," and that inducement or some other seemed for a while to stimulate its circulation, as the paper was enlarged in 1809, and again four years later when it appeared with a spread-eagle wood cut bearing the motto " E Pluribus Unum." Mr. Tuttle used to relate that the printing materials of the Gazette were purchased of Dudley Leavitt, who had printed a newspaper and almanac at Gilmanton Corner, and were conveyed from there to Concord in a two-horse wagon without spilling a single type. The Gazette also furnished a theme of reminiscence for Mr. Hoit, who late in life was fond of telling how the engraving of the spread eagle was so badly done as to look like a crow and to give the name of that bird to the newspaper, and this he followed by another story telling of the dissolution of the partnership between him and Mr. Tuttle. According to Mr. Hoit the dispute arose over the capitalization of certain words taken from the foreign despatches and copied in the paper. Mr. Hoit had written that " The army of Napoleon was in jeopardy," whereat Mr. Tuttle corrected it by putting a capital J on jeopardy, claiming that as it was the name of a town it should be so
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