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 50
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1 No. 225. 2 Judge Timothy Walker.
3 Parts of State and Washington streets.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Also, in 1865, when the requirements of the state government had outgrown its eapitol and its enlargement had become imperative, Concord appropriated one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for that purpose ; and, having made the modifieations called for, by the addi- tion in front of a two-storied columnar portico of granite, by a large increase of its depth, by the erection of a lofty dome and a recon- struction of its entire interior, restored it thus remodeled to the state. To enhance the beauty of its park the city also opened Cap- itol street, on the south side of it, at an expense of about sixteen thousand dollars.
Still again, and quite recently, at the request of the commissioners for the erection of the state library, the city of Concord purchased the spacious area in its rear at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars, removed from it the structures thereon, and devoted it as an open space to the perpetual benefit of that institution.
While, by the establishment of these several institutions within its limits, and the selection of it as its capital, the state has conferred marked favors upon Concord, it has also by so doing secured for these centrality of position and ease of access to and from all parts of its domain.
Provincial Prisons. One of the earliest mentions of a New Hamp- shire prison may be found in Number 34 of the Province Laws, enacted about 1697, wherein it is quaintly said :
" Whereas great inconveniency may arise for want of a Prison within this Province ;
" Be it enaeted . That ye Treasurer doe forthwth agree with Mr Sam1 Cutt for his Wind-Mill in Portsm" and cause the same to be fitted for a Prison until further care be taken thereabout de- fraying the charges thereof out of ye Public Treasury." 1
" Further care was taken thercabout," November 9, 1699, when it was "Voted that a strong log house be built in the Province for a Prison, of thirty foot long, fourteen wide, one story of seven foot high, two brick chimneys in the mids, five foot each, to be done fortli- with strong and substantial, the Treasurer, the overseer, and the charge to be paid out of the next Provinee Assessment : to be sett in Portsmouth in or near the Great Fort."2 Mr. Brewster says this prison stood near Market square.3
How long this prison may have served its purpose is not clear. August 7, 1730, it seems to have been sold and the committee in charge of the sale were ordered to pay to the Treasurer the money received for it.4 If a new one was built about this time, as seems
1 Prov. Papers, Vol. III, p. 203.
. 3 Brewster's Rambles, Series II, p. 84.
2 Prov. Papers, Vol. III, p. 88.
4 Prov. Papers, Vol. IV, pp. 461, 462.
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STATE PRISON.
probable, and may have been the one to which Mr. Brewster alludes, it did not at first prove satisfactory, as appears by the report of a committee to the house, May 25th, 1728, in which it is spoken of as a two-story building, needing additional locks and bars for its doors and windows.1
The Provincial Papers contain repeated complaints in regard to this prison, but little seems to have been done to improve it down to the time of the Revolution, when, upon the abdication of the royal governor, it became the property of the state.
State Prisons. For nearly forty years after its adoption of a state government, New Hampshire had no state prison. Criminals and poor debtors were confined in the county jails, and during the Revo- lution Tories were not unfrequently sent there. But soon after the opening of the present century, the insufficient accommodations and unsanitary conditions thereof attracted public attention. The absurd- ity of maintaining criminals in idleness, at the public expense, for years or for life, who might be made self-supporting, became more and more apparent. Humanity, economy, and common sense sug- gested the collecting at one point all such, and there employing them in industries whose avails might relieve the public of their support.
The subject excited general attention outside of New Hampshire, and different states established state prisons as fast as the public sentiment within their respective limits demanded them. The Mas- sachusetts state prison, at Charlestown, was opened in 1803; that of Vermont, at Windsor, in 1808; and those of other New England states at dates not distant from these.
The erection of a prison in this state first gained the consideration of the legislature at its June session in 1810, when, after full dis- cussion in both branches, resolutions were passed providing for the building of a prison of granite2 at Concord, at an expense not exceed- ing thirty-five thousand dollars, on condition that the town would furnish a suitable site and deliver upon it, free of cost to the state, all the stone required in the construction of its buildings and walls.
This condition having been fully complied with by the town and private citizens, a contract was concluded with Stuart J. Park for the erection of an administration building, a south wing, and an adjoining rear yard wall, for the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars. The first was to be three stories high, fifty fect long, twenty-two fect wide, and covered by a hipped roof surmounted by a belfry. The wing was to be three stories high, eighty feet long, thirty-six feet wide, and to contain thirty-six cells, located on the opposite sides of three longi- tudinal corridors. The rear yard wall was to be some fifteen fect
1 Prov. Papers, Vol. IV, p. 497.
2 House Journal, 1810, pp. 107, 108,
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
high, crowned with guard boxes and an outside rail. The cells of the first and second stories of the wing were to be lighted by long and narrow apertures in the front and rear walls, some five or six inches wide and thirty inches high ; those of the third story by small, square windows, inserted in openings about three feet square, guarded by iron gratings. A front yard was to be inclosed by a semi-circular picket fence, some fifteen feet high. The time allowed for the com- pletion of the work was three years. William B. Darling of Hop- kinton and William A. Kent and Jeremiah Parker of Concord were appointed agents of the state to superintend it.
The stone required came from the land of Benjamin Kimball, near the site of the present prison. The season proving favorable, a por- tion of it was transported to its destination the succeeding autumn (1810). Such was the progress of the work that the contractors asked and obtained leave to complete it in two years instead of three, and in the autumn of 1812 the entire struc- ture was delivered in full completion to the state.
By an agreement made with the contractors during the progress of the work, a fourth story was added to the administration building, at a cost of one thousand dollars. For the fur- nishing of this building, and for cul- inary equipments, an additional appor- tionment of thirteen hundred dollars was made, increasing the original one Original State Prison. to thirty-seven thousand three hun- dred dollars. In their final report the constructing agents say that, owing in part to the sinking of a well in the prison yard, their ex- penditures had exceeded the sum placed at their disposal in the sum of twenty-seven dollars and seventy-six cents. This deficiency was graciously provided for by a prudent legislature, and their account was allowed and closed.
Inasmuch as the erection of a state prison involved the purpose of the state to substitute imprisonment and confinement to hard labor for many of the former penalties for crime, it became necessary to revise its penal code. To that end the legislature appointed an able committee, consisting of Jeremiah Mason, Daniel Webster, and John Goddard, all of Portsmouth, to consider this subject and suggest such alterations of the existing statutes as to them might seem desirable.
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STATE PRISON.
In accordance with their recommendations the legislature, at its June session, in 1810, passed " An act for the punishment of certain crimes by solitary imprisonment and confinement to hard labor," which was approved by the governor on the nineteenth day of that month.
This law reduced the existing capital crimes of treason, murder, rape, sodomy, burglary, arson, robbery, and forgery of public securi- ties, of which the punishment was death, to the two first mentioned. The penalty of the other six was changed to solitary imprisonment for not less than six months, and confinement to hard labor for periods varying from one to twenty years, or for life.
Thus constructed and equipped with this modification of the penal laws the state prison entered upon its career under the imme- diate control of three directors and a warden appointed by the gov- ernor and council, aided by such subordinates as were found neces- sary. On the 24th of November, 1812, it received as its first pris- oner John Drew, of Meredith, sentenced to a five years' term for horse stealing.
For a time the prison and its operations excited great pub- lic interest and commendation. President Dwight, of Yale col- lege, who visited Concord in 1812, found it in strong con- trast with the old Granby state prison of his own state, and in his " Travels," speaks of it as Original Prison, with Additions. " a noble edifice of beautiful granite."1 The number visiting it be- came embarrassing to such a degree that the directors felt obliged to give published notice, dated December 25, 1812, "That after the first of January next no spectator shall be admitted into the prison or apartments, except on Saturday, of each week, from 10 to 12 o'clock a. m., and from 2 to 5 p. m.," except in special cases.
This prison answered the demands made upon it for nearly twenty years, at the expiration of which the number of convicts had so increased as to call for its enlargement. In 1831 the legislature ordered the ercetion of an additional wing to be joined to the admin- istration building on the north, and to contain one hundred and twenty cells of a proper size to accommodate one person each. Such a building was thereupon constructed of block stone, laid in courses, two stories high, one hundred and twenty-seven feet long and thirty-
1 Dwight's Travels, London Ed., Vol. 4, p. 130.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
seven feet wide. The cells, which were of brick and provided with iron doors, were about six and a half feet high, six and a half long, and three and a half broad, the interior of each having a space of about one hundred and forty-eight cubic feet. These were con- structed in a block of three tiers, surrounded by a corridor which occupied the space between the cells and the walls of the building. This wing was completed in 1833 at a cost of seventeen thousand six hundred and forty-eight dollars. To it were removed all the male prisoners, to whose occupancy it was subsequently devoted.
In the south wing living apartments were constructed for the use of the deputy warden and his family. About 1869 a new French roof was substituted for the old one which had covered this struc- ture, and cells were built upon the upper floor for female prisoners.
Thus enlarged the old state prison served fairly well the purpose for which it was constructed until about 1875, when the increase of crime having kept pace with that of the state's population demanded its further enlargement or the construction of a new one. The num- ber of prisoners had grown from one in 1812 to two hundred and twelve in 1877, when for want of cell room some forty or more were insecurely lodged in the chapel.
At its June session, in the latter year, the needs of the prison were called to the attention of the legislature, which decided " That the erection and construction of a new state prison is now impera- tively demanded, not only by considerations of humanity and econ- omy, but also for the advancement of the public interests and for the protection and security of the public peace and public safety."
It also ordered "That His Excellency, the governor, with the advice of the council, be hereby authorized to appoint three commis- sioners whose duty it shall be to procure plans and specifications for the construction of a new state prison, with all necessary offices, workshops, and appurtenances, at a cost not to exceed the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, and of sufficient capacity in all its parts and appointments to accommodate and employ two hundred convicts."
In accordance with these directions John Kimball, Albert M. Shaw, and Alpha J. Pillsbury were appointed commissioners of con- struction, and entered upon a discharge of the duties assigned them. A site was selected and ground was broken on the third day of May, 1878. With appropriate formalities, the entire group of prison build- ings and adjoining walls were transferred in completeness to the state on the twenty-eighth day of October, 1880.
The present prison grounds consist of twenty-one and fifty-four one hundredths acres, situated upon the west side of the West Con-
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STATE PRISON.
cord road, about one and two thirds miles north of the state house, extending nineteen hundred and seventy-one feet on that highway, and back therefrom five hundred and fifty feet, in addition to the railroad track leading thereto from the Concord & Claremont Rail- road.
The new prison structures consist of a central building and two adjoining wings, house for the use of the officers and guards, shops, yard walls, and stables. The north wing, occupied by male convicts, contains two hundred and forty-eight cells, each eight feet long, six wide, and seven and a quarter high, inclosing an interior of three hundred and forty-eight cubic feet. The south wing, designed for female convicts, has twelve of larger dimensions.
This prison is furnished with offices, a guard room, a chapel, a library, a hospital, a laundry, a kitchen, bathing rooms, and other sanitary conveniences. It was enlarged from the original plan, during construction, by order of the legislature, which made addi- tional appropriations therefor of thirty-five thousand dollars. Its whole cost, including the land attached to it, was two hundred and thirty-four thou- sand eight hundred and forty- one dollars and thirty-one cents ($234,841.31), an amount less Present State Prison. by one hundred and fifty-eight dollars and sixty-nine cents than the sum of the appropriations before mentioned. Its cost per prisoner was nine hundred and three dollars and twenty-three cents.
The old prison's earnings generally exceeded its expenditures. In October, 1825, its profits had accumulated to such an extent that its second warden was enabled to pay into the state treasury the sum of ten thousand dollars. During most of the subsequent years of its occupancy it was a source of income to the state, and in 1880 had built up a prison fund from its surplus earnings of sixty thou- sand dollars. Indeed, about one third of the amount expended in the construction of the present prison was derived from this fund and from the sale of the buildings and lands of its predecessor.
The reports of the operations of the new prison have been less favorable. From 1881 to 1896, those of three years show an aggre- gate profit of five thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars and thirty-one cents ($5,495.31), while those of the other thirteen show an aggregate loss of fifty-two thousand eight hundred and ninety- two dollars and sixty-six cents ($52,892.66).
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Since its opening, a period of eighty-five years, the New Hamp- shire state prison has had twenty different wardens, whose names and terms of service have been as follows :
Trueworthy G. Dearborn .
1812-1818.
Moses C. Pilsbury
1818-1826.
Daniel Connor
1826-1829.
Abner P. Stinson
1829-1834.
John McDaniels
1834-1837. .
Moses C. Pilsbury
1837-1840.
Lawson Coolidge
1840-1843.
Samuel G. Berry
1843-1847.
James Moore
1847-1850.
Rufus Dow
1850-1853.
Gideon Webster
1853-1855.
William W. Eastman
1855-1859.
John Foss
1859-1865.
Joseph Mayo
1865-1870.
John C. Pilsbury
1870-1880.
Frank S. Dodge
1880-1887.
J. Horace Kent
1887-1888.
George W. Colbath
1888-1894.
Nahum Robinson
1894-1896.
Charles E. Cox
1896-
Some of these were most ably qualified for the responsible posi- tion of warden; notably so, the Pilsburys, father and son, who superintended its affairs with marked ability as disciplinarians and financiers for about one quarter of the entire period of its existence.
The appointment of the warden of the state prison was originally vested in the governor and council. Here it remained until Jan- uary 13, 1837, when it was transferred to the legislature. From this time until June 20, 1870, the office was an elective one by the members of that body. At that time the appointing power was restored to the governor and council, where it now rests.
The whole number of committals to the state prison during the period, 1812-'98, was three thousand and twenty-six. It has varied from one in 1812, to sixty-eight in 1896. During this time four hundred and thirty-six, or fifteen per cent. of this number, have been pardoned before the expiration of their terms of sentence. At times, the pardoning power has been exercised with great freedom. During . the period, 1844-'56, inclusive, the pardons granted were one hun- dred and fifty-nine, a number equal to forty-four per cent. of the whole number of committals during that period.
The vigilance of the prison officials is attested by the fact that of the nearly three thousand prisoners committed to their custody from first to last, but twenty have escaped; and that, since 1871, no one
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STATE PRISON.
has gained his liberty except by executive clemency or the legal termination of his judicial sentence.
A careful consideration of the construction, industries, and man- agement of the New Hampshire state prison clearly proves that it is entitled to the respectable rank which it enjoys when compared with the best punitive institutions of this country.
CHAPTER XXXIII. CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
HOWARD F. HILL.
The Democratic party opened its campaign of 1860 with the following declaration :
That we reaffirm our steadfast adherence to the great principle of popular sovereignty, subject only to the limits of the Constitution and to the wise and salutary rule of non-intervention by Congress in the local and domestic affairs of the states and territories ; that all attempts by agitators to create and continue sectional strifes and animosities on the subject of slavery, whether by the doctrine of the "irrepressible conflict " avowed by the Republican leaders at the North, or by the odious proposition to reopen the slave trade announced by co-workers for agitation at the South, deserve the con- demnation of all friends of the Union, and all who, knowing "no North or South or East or West," desire to cultivate that fraternal spirit by which alone its blessings can be perpetuated.
The Republican state convention of the same campaign resolved:
That under the Federal Constitution as expounded by its framers, freedom is the rule and slavery an odious exception, and that the Government of the United States, in the exercise of its legislative powers, whether executive, legislative, or judicial, can no more ex- tend slavery than it ean establish a monarchy ; that the territories of the United States are the property of all the people of the United States; that the Constitution has expressly conferred on Congress the power to make all needful rules and regulations respecting sueh territories ; and that it is, therefore, the right and duty of Congress to protect them against all political and social nuisances, and particularly against the debasing and unchristian institution of domestic slavery.
The Democratic state convention of 1861 had the following as its cardinal principles :
That the only safe and lasting foundation for the Union is in the spirit of conciliation and of mutual regard and good will between the people of the different states which secured its formation; and in a faithful observance, in letter and spirit, of all the requirements of the bond of union, the Constitution ; that we utterly repu- diate the idea of any "irrepressible conflict " between one section and another, as necessary or unavoidable.
At this convention, a salute was ordered in honor of the battle of New Orleans and " the gallant Major Anderson [of Fort Sumter
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CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
fame], whose soldierly conduct and wise forethought we fully approve and admire."
The Republican state convention for this campaign resolved :
That the Federal Constitution having been formed by a general convention of the people of all the states, and ratified as a perpetual bond of union and government by the people of each of the states, it can only be abrogated in the same manner and by the same power which established and ordained it ; that secession from the Union and resistance to the laws, whether under the forms of State authority or otherwise, is treason and rebellion.
The call for this convention was addressed to "all the people of the State of New Hampshire in favor of sustaining the present National Administration in the vigorous and effective prosecution of the war," etc.
The Democratic convention for the campaign of 1863, resolved " that we unqualifiedly condemn the late proclamation of the Presi- dent relative to emancipation, as unwarranted by the Constitution, in violation of the solemnly plighted faith of the Administration at the commencement of the war, and, if persisted in, fatal to all hopes of a restored Union."
Per contra, the Republican convention of the same month said of the president that the emancipation proclamation "enrolls his name with imperishable renown upon the records of time."
So far as pole-star principles are concerned, the foregoing words express the position of the two political parties at the opening of the Civil War and during the superheated days of strife which immediately followed. They are as clear-cut as it is possible for words to be. They are as intrinsically antagonistic as two modes of thought ever were, or ever can be. If history is past politics, the foregoing is its briefest, simplest statement, as far as that history was enacted in Concord. By these two standards, the parties stood during the epochal days of the early sixties. There was no eva- sion, apologizing, flinching, compromise, or retreat. The contest was formally joined, continued with all the vigor of which body was capable, mind admitted, time allowed, and spirit inspired, to that bitter end in which the two ideas could not both survive and one principle must triumph and abide triumphant. Fought to the finish though it were here, it was on the field of blood, by the arbitra- ment of the sword, that the basal states' rights question and its no less evil twin, human slavery, were eventually tried, sentenced, and consigned to reprobation. But it is of the home scenes which grew out of these ficree trials that this article is now dealing. From the times of George Thompson's advent in Concord to the masterly
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
efforts of Abraham Lincoln in Phenix hall and Stephen A. Douglas in the state house yard, the main issue and its fellow were debated, in homes, in press, in lyceum lectures, in neighbors' casual meetings, in formal assemblies, legislatures, Sunday sermons, and all the con- ceivable situations into which articulate speech can be said to enter, and often with an acrimony of which those born since those days have but a faint conception.
The presidential campaign of 1860 had been fought with an inten- sity which by no means failed on the election of Mr. Lincoln. Both sides had reasoned with a sharpness, earnestness, and thoroughness which had left their believers utterly convinced of the complete justice of their cause. During the remainder of Buchanan's term, during the gathering of the clouds and the breaking of the storm, Buchanan was savagely attacked for inaction, while the Confederate states were organizing and fateful events were centering around Fort Sumter. And he was no less determinedly defended. Upon Lincoln's accession, heat was raised to the boiling figure. The Patriot earnestly deprecated the use of force, saying (April 17) that "wisdom and statesmanship dictate that when rebellion becomes too strong to be conquered, it should be submitted to and compromised with."
On the call for troops The Patriot offered each man who left the paper his position upon return, and provision for his family during absence. Among the volunteers were printers from more than one newspaper office. The community was divided into two hostile camps during nearly the whole war, and only the element of armed physical aggression was lacking to reproduce here scenes of grave description. This was the case in brief.
Governor Goodwin had laid particular emphasis in his proclama- tion on the need of a genuine Fast Day this year. The tone of the discourses preached was more sombre. Nor were any occasions of public worship about this time wholly cheerful. Coming events were casting their long shadows before. The air itself was brooding. Heavy apprehension held full possession, expecting something. And that something came, and upon a Sunday, when it was generally known that Fort Sumter had been attacked. The thoughts of such as met were not on the subjects of their assembly. Pastors but . formally performed the expected duty. The street was unlike that of the usual Lord's Day. Agitation was evident everywhere. Gloomy forebodings, soon to be realized in a density then not even guessed, held full possession. Each sought the fullest news of the then scanty telegraphic service ; discussed it, carried it home, and there discussed it further.
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