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 38
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
riences since the formation of the partnership in 1851. Scarcely had the forty-five hundred dollars agreed upon as the price of the paper been arranged and the property moved to the printing-office of Mr. McFarland in Stickney's block, when Concord was visited by a dev- astating conflagration such as even the fire-stricken inhabitants had never before experienced. In August, 1851, occurred "the great fire," which, starting in a wooden building in the rear of what is now the New Hampshire Savings bank, swept with increasing fury both north and south until it laid in ruins all the east side of Main street from Low's block (Woodward's) to Stickney's block opposite Park street. The Statesman plant was practically destroyed, yet with splendid courage Mr. McFarland took the earliest train for Boston, where he set about buying presses and printing material for another start. Fortunately, it happened that among the few things saved were the forms of that week's Statesman, which were at once removed to the Patriot office and the paper published on time. In the mean- while, a long one-story building was erected back of Low's block, which was occupied by the Statesman. This continued to be the home of the paper until January, 1855, when Phenix block was completed, and another move was made. In these new quarters business in- creased year by year, so that in 1867, the " Statesman building," corner of Main and Depot streets, was built and occupied.
The Independent Democrat (1860), under the management of Amos Hadley,-as Mr. Fogg was giving his time to political matters and was on the eve of going to his diplomatic post in Switzerland,-was printed and published in apartments in Merchant's exchange. This block had been the home of the Democrat for several years, and con- tinued to be up to the time of its consolidation with the Monitor.
The Congregational Journal did not have a building of its own, but was printed on the presses of the Statesmin and the Patriot.
The Democratic Standard, edited by Edmund Burke of Newport, and printed and published by John B. Palmer and his brothers, occu- pied rooms in the third story of Low's block, and was (1860) ap- proaching its sudden and violent end at the hands of a mob.
In 1862 a daily, called the Legislative Reporter, was begun and its periodical publication continued until succeeded by the permanent dailies subsequently established. This paper was the joint property of the several newspaper proprietors,-William Butterfield of the Patriot, McFarland & Jenks of the Statesman, and Fogg & Hadley of the Independent Democrat.
The decade beginning in 1860 is distinguished in the annals of Concord newspapers by the introduction of permanent dailies. The pioneer daily was the Monitor. The need of a daily paper becoming
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NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR EDITORS.
urgent, a business arrangement was made with Cogswell & Sturte- vant, job printers, to print and publish an evening daily, and on the 23d of May, 1864, the first number appeared. The backers of the undertaking were a party of Concord men, headed by Governor Joseph A. Gilmore. The sum of four thousand dollars was subscribed, an editor engaged, and the paper started. The editor was William S. Robinson, a journalist of Massachusetts, whose pen name, " Warring- ton," was widely known. The paper received telegraphic news, an especial feature being war intelligence and letters from New Hamp- shire soldiers.
At the June session in 1864, J. M. W. Yerrington, one of the most accomplished stenographers living, who had formerly been employed by the Statesman, was engaged to report the legislative proceedings. Inaugurated thus favorably, the enterprise soon encountered troubles. The financial promises were not kept, dissensions arose, the editor left, the promoters held back, the guaranty to the printers remained unpaid, and at last, as part payment, the property was made over to Cogswell & Sturtevant in August, 1865. J. Henry Gilmore then became the editor, and Mr. Cogswell did the local work. Also con- nected with the early years of the Monitor as writers were George A. Marden and William B. Smart. The office and press-rooms were at first in Rumford block, and afterwards in Durgin's block.
In January, 1867, a radical change was made whereby the Monitor was strengthened and given new life. The Monitor interests were united with the Independent Democrat under the firm name of " The Independent Press Association." The members of the new com- pany were George G. Fogg, Amos Hadley, Parsons B. Cogswell, and George H. Sturtevant. The " weekly Monitor," which had been running for upwards of a year, was now discontinued. In a few months Mr. Hadley retired, Samuel C. Eastman taking his interest. In 1870 Mr. Sturtevant sold his share to John W. Odlin, and with these changes and an enlargement of the Monitor, the concern went on until the formation of the Republican Press association.
The Republican Press association was formed in the summer of 1871, its purpose being to acquire the Statesman, the Independent Democrat, the Daily Monitor, and the two printing establishments from which these papers were issued, and so terminate a rivalry between those establishments which had been somewhat bitter and miprofit- able. The project was brought to a conclusion without much diffi- culty, and the consolidated business was housed in the Statesman building, now occupied by the First National bank. Prominent Republicans about the state became stockholders in the enlarged enterprise, but the chief owners were Concord men. Among them
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
were Edward H. Rollins, William E. Chandler, George G. Fogg, Henry McFarland, Parsons B. Cogswell, Rossiter Johnson, George E. Jenks, Onslow Stearns, and Nathaniel White. N. G. Ordway, of Warner, was the largest out-of-town investor. Rossiter Johnson was the first editor. After him came William E. Stevens, and later James O. Lyford, Edward N. Pearson, and George H. Moses, who is the editor at the present timc.
Of the newspaper men connected with the Monitor and its subse- quent history Parsons B. Cogswell was one of the most prominent. He was born in Henniker, January 22, 1828. He went to the com- mon schools, and was for a while a student at Clinton Grove acad- emy, Weare, then under the principalship of Moses A. Cartland, a well-known public man and a radical abolitionist. The influence of this association became very marked in the opinions and attitude of Mr. Cogswell respecting the reforms of the period, for he became strongly attached to anti-slavery tencts and temperance. Coming to Concord in November, 1847, he began an apprenticeship in the print- ing-office of the Independent Democrat. Two years later he began work in the Patriot composing-room, remaining there until 1852, when he became a book compositor in the establishment of Tripp & Osgood. For several years, or until the founding of the daily Monitor, Mr. Cogswell worked at his trade, sometimes in company with others, once with Abraham G. Jones, and sometimes alone. Soon after the Monitor started he quit type-setting forever, and henceforth gave his entire time as local reporter and finally as local editor of that publi- cation, continuing in almost constant and uninterrupted service until he became mayor of the city in 1893. Mr. Cogswell, while manifest- ing an active interest in politics, was not an active politician, nor was he attracted by office-holding. One of the earliest members of the Republican party, he remained in full accord with that organization as long as he lived. He was elected to the legislatures of 1872-'73, and was public printer for the years 1881-'85. He served also as auditor of printers' accounts, and was for several years one of the trustees of the state library. Mr. Cogswell had a wide acquaintance among Concord people; no citizen was better known or more sin- cerely cstecmed. His long connection with the Monitor made him a familiar figure on all occasions, and his gentle disposition and agree- able manners made him a most welcome one.
He was a hard worker, taking but brief vacations until late in life, yet no man was fonder of sight-seeing and the experiences of travel. Traveling for a year in Europe he gave to the public a book called "Glints from Over the Water," published in 1881. On the con- solidation of the Statesman, Monitor, and Independent Democrat, from
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NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR EDITORS.
which the Republican Press association was formed, Mr. Cogswell became a large owner of the new shares, and at the same time retained his position as local editor. On the formation of Union school dis- trict, in 1859, he was chosen one of the nine members of the board of education, and by successive re-elections he remained on the board until his death, thus comprising the longest term on record. For several years he was president of that body. Nominated by his party for mayor he received a large majority at the election in November, 1892, his term of office beginning the following January. Mr. Cogs- well was interested in all measures tending to improve Concord, and as mayor he did his best to serve public ends. For many years a member of the Historical society, and its secretary for several years, Mr. Cogswell evinced deep interest in the work of the society and its purposes. His death occurred October 28th, 1895.
In the eighties the control of the Republican Press association passed to William E. Chandler, who had bought more than a majority of its stock. Mr. Chandler exercised an active management of its affairs, together with a direction of the Statesman and Monitor, until July, 1898. when he disposed of his interest, which at that time was very large, to his son, William D. Chandler, and George H. Moses. The new owners then moved the newspaper plant from the States- man building on Depot street to the Colonial block on South Main street, where the first issue took place July 5th.
In January, 1868, the Patriot began the publication of a daily edition that has continued to the present time. At the same time John M. Hill again became actively connected with the Patriot, and assumed a large part in its management. Mr. Hill, with ex-Presi- dent Pierce and Josiah Minot, had bought a half interest in the prop- erty, while William Butterfield retained the other half and directed its editorial columns. Changes, however, were made in the owner- ship during the next five years, and in February, 1873, Edwin C. Bailey, of Boston, became sole proprietor of the paper. Following this change, the active editor for a long period was John C. Moore, a witty and accomplished newspaper man, a Scotchman by birth, but for many years a resident of Massachusetts, while the local desk was occupied by Allan H. Robinson. As with the Statesman, so with the Patriot, fire invaded its premises, entailing loss and inconvenience ; for in April, 1864, Sanborn's old block was nearly destroyed, com- pelling the paper to seek for a while other quarters. In 1865 San- born's present block, considerably narrowed in width because of Cap- itol street, was completed and partly occupied by the Patriot, the composing and the press rooms taking the upper stories while the editorial and the business departments were in apartments at the
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
rear of the second floor. The Patriot, owing to several reasons, ap- proaehed a low ebb in its affairs during Mr. Bailey's proprietorship,- so low, indeed, that in October, 1877, the paper eeased to be issued as a daily. The Patriot, meanwhile, had been moved to Bailey's bloek, now Smith's bloek, at the corner of Main and Depot streets.
Differenee of opinion respeeting questions of railroad management and general corporate influenee, aggravated by personal animosity among influential members of the Demoeratie party, resulted in the starting of a new Democratic weekly paper in the summer of 1868. Charles C. Pearson & Co. were the publishers, and the paper was ealled The People. Its distinguishing principles, as announced in the prospeetus, were the maintenance of the people's rights and hostility to bosses, rings, eliques, and railroad influenee in party matters.
Associated with Mr. Pearson in the proprietorship were his father, John H. Pearson, who was really the moving spirit in the enterprise, Edward L. Knowlton, John L. Tallant of Coneord, and Lewis C. Pattee of Lebanon. The business management was in the hands of Charles C. Pearson. Henry H. Metealf, who had begun journalistic work as editor of the White Mountain Republic at Littleton the year before, was ealled to the editorship, and the mechanical department was placed in charge of William H. Gilmore, a praetieal newspaper man of large experienee. An agricultural eolumnn was a feature of the new paper, of which Mr. Gilmore also had eharge.
The People was a large eight-column folio, elearly printed, and pre- sented a very attractive appearance. It had a popular feature in a state news department arranged by counties, and was the first paper in the state to adopt that system. Beginning with a subseription of three thousand names, the list inereased rapidly, so that within a few years The People had a larger eireulation in the state than any other paper, and exercised a strong influenee in politieal matters.
Mr. Metealf remained as editor until the spring of 1872, when he returned to Littleton, having purchased the Republic. Subsequently John C. Moore, John T. Hulme, and James O. Lyford were in edi- torial charge for different periods, Mr. Lyford's serviee extending from 1877 to 1879. In 1882 Mr. Metealf was reealled to the edito- rial chair and continued under changing business managements for a ยท period of ten years.
For several years, beginning with the summer of 1870 and eon- cluding with 1878, a daily edition of The People was issued during the sessions of the legislature. In October, 1879, the proprietors of The People purchased the Patriot from Edwin C. Bailey and merged it with their own publication under the name of The People and New Hampshire Patriot, which was subsequently changed to People and
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NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR EDITORS.
Patriot. December 1st, 1879, a daily edition was issued and contin- ued until September, 1881, when it was suspended, though appearing again during the legislative session of 1883, from June until Sep- tember.
Upon the death of Charles C. Pearson (March 13th, 1883) the paper passed into the hands of his administrators, John H. Pearson and Lewis C. Pattee, by whom the publication was continued until April, 1885, when it was sold to The Democratic Press company, an association of representatve Democrats of the state, who continued the weekly and revived the daily, both of which have been continued to the present time. Eliphalet S. Nutter was the president of the corporation, Henry H. Metcalf, editor, and Franklin P. Kellom, busi- ness manager. This arrangement continued until the spring of 1892, when Stilson Hutchins of Washington, D. C., secured control of a majority of the stock and took charge of the establishment. John H. Oberly, also of Washington, was for some time manager and edi- tor. Then the paper passed into the hands of George F. Willey, who conducted it for a brief period, when Mr. Hutchins again resumed control. In 1899 and 1900 Harry B. Metcalf was in editorial charge. Late in the latter year Mr. Hutchins sold his interest to Arthur P. DeCamp of St. Louis, Mo., now of Brookline, Mass. For a time Allan HI. Robinson was in editorial charge. He was succeeded by Michael Meehan, who is now manager and editor.
For nearly three decades Concord has been represented in the world of magazine literature by the Granite Monthly. The founder of this publication was Henry H. Metcalf. Mr. Metcalf conceived the idea that a magazine primarily devoted to New Hampshire his- tory and biography ought to find a good field among the people of the state ; accordingly he carried out his idea by publishing the first number at Dover, where he was residing, in April, 1877. Two years later, owing to the publisher's change of residence, the Granite Monthly became a Concord publication.
In January, 1880, the Monthly was purchased by John N. McClin- tock, who conducted it for twelve years, when it passed into the ownership of Mr. Metcalf and Allan H. Robinson. Under the man- agement of its new proprietors the magazine gained in popularity and became a feature in the literary life of the city. Mr. Metcalf continued as editor until January, 1894, when the Republican Press association acquired the property. The change proved beneficial : the magazine appeared in new form, and especial attention was given to the picture department. In July, 1898, another change was made owing to the dissolution of the Republican Press association, and the monthly passed to the Rumford Printing company.
CHAPTER XXIX.
DOMESTIC CUSTOMS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
FRANCES M. ABBOTT.
There is a house standing in West Concord, built in 1760, whose original occupants, among the first settlers of the town, had pre- viously lived in a log cabin. When the house was repaired and enlarged in 1807, the younger members of the family wanted planed floors. The aged owner, Amos Abbott, Sr., the great-grandfather of the present occupant, Andrew James Abbott, grumbled exceedingly at this extravagance. Rough boards were good enough for him and his father, and he groaned over the shiftlessness of folks who were too lazy to wear the floors smooth by walking and working on them. He stoutly refused to have his room meddled with when the rest of the house succumbed to the dictates of fashion, and to the year of its owner's death (1821) "gran'sir's room " preserved its pristine simplicity.
We are less than a century and a half from the days of unplaned boards. We have gone through all the changes from sanded floors, braided mats, rag carpets, "boughten " woolen and Brussels fabrics to polished hardwood and oriental rugs. Each passing generation has lamented the extravagance of its successor, and wondered " what folks were coming to if they continued to put on style at this rate." Our social life has changed with our mode of living, but possibly we are no more worldly now than in the days when we lived in log cabins. Social customs are superficial, but they mark the progress of civilization, which, on the whole, means better things.
The social life and domestic customs of Concord in the eighteenth century were those of a settlement on the edge of the wilderness. Everybody was fighting for a living. The early settlers had hardly got their lands staked out and cleared, and their first rude dwell- ings and log meeting-house built, before the French and Indian War drove them into a state of defense. In 1746 the whole town was living in ten garrisons. The men went forth from these in gangs, each one armed with his gun, to mow their grass and gather their crops. The garrison life continued intermittently for some years, then followed the Bow controversy and the Revolution. The arts of peace made slow progress under such drawbacks.
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DOMESTIC CUSTOMS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
The roads in the township were rough, merely tracks through the woods. Ox-carts were used for teaming, and people rode to church on horseback when they did not walk. The first chaise seen in this region was bought by the town's richest citizen, Colonel Benjamin Rolfe, somewhere between 1767 and 1770. Probably there were not a dozen carriages in the village before 1800. People lived on farms and all worked with their hands. Reverend Timothy Walker, his son, Timothy Walker, Jr., his son-in-law, Colonel Benjamin Rolfe, and Dr. Peter Green, all four educated at Harvard, were the only college graduates living here till after the Revolution.
People dwelt in simple abodes. There were three successive orders or generations of houses. The first was built of hewn logs. All of the proprietors' earliest dwellings in the first and second ranges (east and west sides of Main street) were of this style. As soon as sawmills could be erected, one-story frame houses, containing two or three rooms, were put up in different parts of the township. This formed the second order of architecture. The third period began just before the Revolution, when two-story houses with an L or lean-to in the back began to appear.
Many houses of the third period are still standing, in some cases occupied by descendants of the original owners, but nearly all have been so modernized as to be metamor- phosed. The ancient Herbert house, 207 North Main street, nearly opposite the North church, built in 1765, and the Bradley homestead on Penacook street, built in 1769, are good specimens of this type, which has a substantial dignity not surpassed by any recent architecture. The present owners of these houses-Charles Horace Herbert and Moses Hazen Brad- ley-are grandsons of the original occu- The Herbert House. pants, Lieutenant Richard Herbert and John Bradley. The Bradley mansion is one of the few gambrel-roofed houses in town. The Her- bert homestead still retains the original paneling in the front rooms, hand-wrought from mammoth old growth pines, and the twenty small panes of glass in each window. Externally as well as internally, this house preserves the old-time look, perhaps better than any other in Concord.
The oldest house in town, antedating all others by a generation, is the Walker parsonage, at the extreme north end of Main street, now occupied by Reverend Timothy Walker's great-grandson, Joseph B. Walker. This was built in 1733-'34, and was the first two-story frame
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
house in a direct line between Haverhill, Mass., and the Canada bor- der. Its history is almost coeval with that of the town, of which it well might say, "Quaeque ipse vidi, et quorum pars magna fui." The house has been much changed by modern improvements, but the orig- inal wooden pins, fastening the beams of the garret, can still be seen. This house is particularly rich in relics of the past, in- cluding the valuable collection of Rumford portraits.
The Countess of Ruinford house at the South end, built in 1764, still retains the panel- ing and wainscoting in the front rooms and the carved balusters and cornice Parson Walker House. in the hall. The light of the setting sun twinkles from the twenty-four panes of glass in each of the front windows just as it did in early days, and the great front door (recently replaced by a modern one) had huge bolts and hinges and other specimens of ancient iron-mongery. The house of the Rev- erend Israel Evans, built in 1786, occupied during the middle of the nineteenth century by Dr. Samuel Morrill, and lastly by his daugh- ter, Miss Clara Morrill, kept much of its ancient look, both within and without, until it was pulled down in 1895. This house stood within a few inches of the sidewalk, according to the old fashion, and it was around its sunny front door that the lilac bushes always budded earliest in the spring.
It is interesting to know that until the destruction of the Evans house the homes of the six ministers of the Old North church werc all standing intact. The original parsonage has been mentioned. The dwellings of the next three ministers stood in a row, nearly opposite the court house. The Evans house was the northern one; the McFarland house, of a little later date, came next, and is now occupied by the grandchildren of the original owner; and the home in which Dr. Bouton passed the last twenty-five years of his life is just south, though in a greatly changed condition. The present par- sonage on Franklin street, half way between the Walker house and the others, was the home of Dr. Ayer for many years, and is now the residence of his successor, Reverend George H. Reed.
Domestic appliances in the eighteenth century were of the crudest sort. The first iron crane was introduced in 1757, by Stephen Far- rington, who bought a bar of iron in Portsmouth and had it ham- mered into shape by a Concord blacksmith. Before that time people
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DOMESTIC CUSTOMS AND SOCIAL LIFE.
had used a lug pole of oak two to four inches in diameter. On this were hung hooks and trammels which suspended the kettles over the fire. A wooden pole was in danger of burning off ; but it was thirty years after the proprietors set up housekeeping before anyone was able to procure an iron crane.
The house built by Stephen Farrington stood on the northwest corner of State and Pleasant streets, and was torn down in 1900 to make room for the Wonolancet club-house. The exact date of its erection is unknown, but it was without doubt as old as the crane, which is now in the possession of the New Hampshire Historical society. Rich- ard Herbert, Jr., born in 1761, said that the Farrington house antedated him. Lovers of the past were sorry to see this ancient landmark go; for its interior had been little changed since the early days, and the big beams of the ceiling and the hand-wrought wood-work of the mantels and staircases remained till the last. Madam Huldah Kent Evans, after the death of her husband, Reverend Israel Evans, in 1807, lived for some time in this house, and in later years it was occupied by the David G. Fuller family.
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