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 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
Business received a great impetus from the demands of war. Our troops were equipped with material produced and made up, if possi- ble, in the state. Holden's flannels were in request. Every firm of clothiers benefited by the sale of outfits, if not by heavy contracts for uniforms, overcoats, ctc. For a long time Norris baked two tons of bread each day for the camp, not to mention crackers. The Down- ings and Abbots worked overtime on vehicles, gun-carriages, and caissons, while Hill turned out accoutrements for men and harnesses for horse and mule teams. The trains, livery stables, hotels, and boarding-houses "just coined money," and farm produce of all kinds was as good as cash. The telegraph wires were busy into the morn- ing of each next day. But of all the profit-takers jewelry stores were, by long odds, leaders. Many men, unused to large cash assets, had suddenly come to riches by enlisting, and nothing was too good or high-priced in the line of watches, chains, rings, flasks, society emblems, and a multitude of like luxuries of life. Fancy swords, silk sashes, bullion epaulets and shoulder-straps, finely-stitched riding boots and other goods could hardly be supplied at rates which now
1193
CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
seem exaggerated. Hand-sewed shoes of the best material and most elaborate construction superseded those of government providing. It was a period of inflation. Each blue-clad man had money in rolls, was anxious to disburse it, and was catered to accordingly.
It must be borne in mind that at this time all imported goods were subject to a huge war tariff, payable in gold. The following is the range of that precious metal : 1862, $1.00-$1.37 3-4; 1863, $1.22 1-8 -81.72 1-2; 1864, 81.51 3-8-$2.60 1-4; 1865, $1.28 1-4-$2.85 1-2. July 1, 1864, Lewis Downing & Sons sold a quantity of gold coin in Boston at $2.85. And yet, in these times, buying was more free than it is to-day. It was not uncommon to have a bill of $100 or $500 tendered for a purchase under $1. Persons living outside the state bought goods or paid heavy discount to get rid of state bank bills. The best goods were in demand. Business was done for cash or short credit to regular customers. Printing-paper trebled in cost. The newspapers cut down their size in 1863 and raised their price the next year. The following prices of 1864 are taken from the books of traders still doing business in the city :
David E. Clarke-Opera flannel, $1; now 50c .; blue mixed flan- nel, $1; now 45c .; lining cambric, 30c .; now 5c. ; best cloak velvet, $15 ; now $5 ; Scotch gingham, 75c. ; now 25-35c. ; white table dam- ask, $2.50 ; now $1.25 ; bed ticking, 75c. ; now 15c. ; best lining silk, $1.50; now 75c .; bed spread, $3.50; now $1.25; cotton flannel, $1; now 15c .; Coates' spool cotton, 15c .; now 5c. ; pins and needles per paper, 10c .; now 5c .; dress silk, $5; now $2; bombazine, $3.50 ; now $1.50 ; cotton and wool flannel, 87 1-2c .; now 25c .; calico, 45- 50c .; now 5c .; bleached cotton, 75c .; now 9c .; diaper, 50c .; now 25c. ; English silesia, 62 1-2c .; now 20c .; crash, 33 1-2c .; now 12 1-2c. ; ladies' cloth, $2.50; now $1.25. One of the tilting variety of vasty hoop skirts called for an expenditure of $3.50.
T. W. & J. H. Stewart-Beaver overcoating, $7-$10 per yard, with coat at $65 or $70; now $45; broadcloth, $5-$7, with suit at $50; average business suit, $30; now $20. Fabrics and names have so changed that comparison in this line is not easy.
C. W. Clarke-Farmers' boots, $5-$6; fine boots, $8-$10; men's rubber boots, $5.50; rubbers, $1; ladies' boots, $5. These prices are double those now.
Franklin Evans-Java coffce, from July to September, 56-65c .; Rio and Cape (estimated), 50c .; brown sugar, 25c .; crushed or granulated, 32-34c .; Oolong tea, $1.50; Young Hyson, $2; Japan- ese, $1.60; black, $1.50; cocoa, 60c .; gal. molasses, $1.12; best butter, 50-55c .; cheese, 15-22c .; eggs, 30-35c. ; lard, 28c. ; pepper, 60c .; ginger, 60c .; cloves, $1; cassia, $1; oz. nutmegs, 25c .; lemon
1194
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
extract, 30c .; rice, 17c .; raisins, 28c .; tapioca, 25c .; gal. vinegar, 25c .; gal. kerosene, $1.12; salt fish, 10c. ; bush. potatoes, 67c .; bush. eoarse salt, $1.30 ; starch, 18c .; oz. indigo, 17c .; hard soap, 17c .; kit of mackerel, $3; bush. shorts, 40c. ; bush. Northern corn, $2.40; bag Southern corn, $4.60 ; flour, $14-$22, for best St. Louis; loaf brown bread, 15c. ; milk, 8c .; navy tobacco, $1; scouring brick, 12e .; quart Day & Martin's blacking, 65c. ; bush. grass seed, $7 ; gal. sperm oil, $3.
How many men our city actually sent to the front is not likely to be known. Rev. Dr. Bouton, in an address in 1875, set the number at nine hundred and eighteen. In 1865, William A. Hodgdon, city clerk, put the figures at fourteen hundred and ninety-seven. The total quota called for from July, 1863, was five hundred and eighty- three. An excess of one hundred and thirty men over the number named was actually furnished. Major William Silvey, assistant pro- vost-marshal general, certifies that Concord furnished the following, beginning with the call of July 2, 1863 : Three years' men, seven hundred and three; two years' man, one; one year men, one hundred and sixty ; nine months' men, fifty-nine; two months' men, four. No exact records were kept previous to the mustering of the Eighth regi- ment. The number was surely not less than sixteen hundred, and is set by Adjutant-General Ayling as over eighteen hundred.
In a manuscript memorial volume of William I. Brown post, G. A. R., deposited in the state library (p. 337), it is stated that Penacook (Fisherville) furnished two hundred and seventeen to the various branches of the service, fourteen of whom held commissions. Of these, thirty-eight were killed outright or died of wounds, and fifteen of discase. Of those who returned, eighty were alive in 1896. Nearly all of the total number enlisted before the days of lofty bounties. The leading names are three : Leonard Drown enlisted in the First, but went into the Second as captain of Company E, and was killed at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. William I. Brown went into the service as second lieutenant of Company K, Ninth regiment, was promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant, becoming major of the Eighteenth. He was killed at Fort Steadman, in front of Peters- burg, March 29, 1865. Jeremiah S. Durgin was captain of Company E, Seventh regiment, and attained the rank of major.
Neither can an estimate of the cost to our city be made, even approximately. The following figures are taken from the city annual reports : Aid to families of volunteers, 1861-'62, $31,172.78; 1862- '63, $16,624; 1863-'64, $20,454.48; 1864-'65, $21,092; 1865, $9,719.89, footing up over $100,000.
There was paid as bounties to one hundred and ninety persons who volunteered, 1862-'63, $15,204.12; to one hundred and six substi-
1195
CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
tutes and conscripts, 1863-'64, $31,500. The report of 1864-'65 covers disbursements to one hundred and eighty-eight men of sums ranging from $100 to $450, and payments on account of bounties to Mayor B. F. Gale, Nicholas Quimby, Daniel Holden, and J. B. Merrill, footing up to $113,000.
Some weighty hours of the early war have been pictured previ- ously. The defeat of first Bull Run, the slaughter at Fredericks- burg, and the carnage of the Peninsula fights were fierce, hot, mad- dening stings. (It was at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, that Sturtevant was killed.) These were, perhaps, the lowest vales of humiliation. But there were high hilltops of delirious joy reached in the hours of triumph, as when the tidings of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were reported, and when Sherman cut the Confederacy asunder. Indeed, there were times when no throbbing heart in our whole city was without its pang, as when Sergeant Thomas B. Leaver fell at Oak Grove, June 25, 1862, and that more than som- bre day when Jesse A. Gove, colonel of the Massachusetts Twenty- second (Senator Henry Wilson's command), went down June 27, 1862, at Gaines's Mills.
It is hard to choose where good men and true all did their duty, animated by heroic spirits. But the loss of these three touched a nerve which the going of no others did reach as keenly. They were so well known, so regarded and so loved personally, aside from being ideal soldiers, that many an eye in which tears were scant in this connection was running over at the addition of these to the roll of the departed.
But sorrow's deepest deep was sounded when the country was widowed by Lincoln's going. It was 2 o'clock, a. m., on Easter- even when Senator J. W. Patterson was aroused at the Eagle to read the missive of fatal tidings from the wire. Never was there a heavier day than that which Saturday's sun brought in. Never was Easter joy so clouded as in that year's celebration. Soon after eight it was known that Lincoln was dead, and a memory had been left to grow more and more sacred as years should pass, together with a fame which was to wax and which will wax as that of the greatest name in America's possession,-one alone excepted.
Saturday saw a cessation of all work not absolutely necessary. People gathered in mid-street assemblies. No vehicle could be seen. Men talked with bated breath and waited later particulars. Extras issued by the Monitor and the Boston papers were seized, rcad, dis- cussed, and pondered, even through supreme Easter.
The evening following the assassination of Lincoln, and the attack on Seward, was more than notable in this city. In the state of popu-
1196
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
lar excitement, gatherings of the people in the street naturally took place, with free conversation and informal speeches. Numbers of men and boys met and began to visit the houses of prominent Demto- crats for the purpose of making them hang out flags, with but limited success. As usual, in such a stir, the crowd soon grew to large proportions. While at the house of James S. Norris, some one proposed to visit General Pierce, who was living at the residence of Willard Williams, afterwards occupied by the late Joseph Went- worth, on the west side of Main and between Concord and Thorn- dike streets. The crowd at once hurried thither, rang the bell and called for the ex-president, who promptly appeared at the front door. On being informed that his views were desired on the event upper- most in all minds and hearts, he at once declared it "a dastardly act " and "the deed of a fiend," and avowed his willingness now to take up arms, if need be. The time was about 9 o'clock and some rain was falling. There was but scant light in the sky. The glow of a single burner in the entry gave a mere outline of the speaker's form. As he began, anxiety to hear caused deep silence. Never were words more fitly spoken. Never was the charm of that persuasive voice more potent. Never was that winning personality which had gotten so many victories more completely imparted to his hearers. Almost alone on the porch, he uttered words which calmed, which comforted, and which gladdened ; yes, gladdened, even in that sombre hour. It was a master who stood forth equal to the hour of a whole people's pain and humiliation. It was as a man, and as a citizen, and as a soldier, and as himself an occupant of a chair more exalted than a throne, that he spoke of the chief laid low and the nation's abasement in his murder. There were occasional words of approbation, but when the brief address was over, three ringing cheers were given as the visitors departed. The following are the terms used :
I wish I could address to you words of solace. But that can hardly be done. The magnitude of the calamity, in all its aspects, is over- whelming. If your hearts are oppressed by events more calculated to awaken profound sorrow and regret than any which have hitherto occurred in our history, mine mingles its deepest regrets and sorrows with yours. It is to be hoped that the great wickedness and atrocity was confined, morally and actually, to the heads and hearts of but two individuals of all those who still survive on this continent; and that they may speedily, and in obedience to law, meet the punish- ment due to their unparalleled crimes. It is well that you-it is well that I-well that all men worthy to be called citizens of the United States, make manifest, in all suitable forms, the emotions incident to the bereavement and distress which have been brought to the hearths and homes of the two most conspicuous families of the Republic. I
.
1197
CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
give them my warm out-gushing sympathy, as I am sure all persons within the hearing of my voice must do.
But beyond personal grief and loss there will abide with us in- evitably the most painful memories. Because, as citizens obedient to law, revering the constitution, holding fast to the Union, thankful for the period of history which succeeded the Revolution in so many years of peaceful growth and prosperity, and loving, with the devo- tion of true and faithful children, all that belongs to the advanee- ment and glory of the nation, we can never forget or cease to deplore the great crime and deep stain.
[A voice from the crowd-" Where is your flag ?"]
It is not necessary for me to show my devotion for the stars and stripes by any special exhibition, or upon the demand of any man or body of men. My ancestors followed it through the Revolution- one of them, at least, never having seen his mother's roof from the beginning to the close of that protracted struggle. My brothers fol- lowed it in the War of 1812; and I left my family in the spring of 1847, among you, to follow its fortunes and maintain it upon a foreign soil. But this you all know. If the period during which I have served our state and country in various situations, commencing more than thirty-five years ago, have left the question of my devo- tion to the flag, the constitution, and the Union in doubt, it is too late now to remove it, by any such exhibition as the inquiry sug- gests. Besides, to remove such doubts from minds where they may have been cultivated by a spirit of domination and partisan rancor, if such a thing were possible, would be of no consequence to you, and is certainly of none to me. The malicious questionings would return to re-assert their supremacy and pursue the work of injustice.
Conscious of the infirmities of temperament, which to a greater or less extent beset us all, I have never felt or found that violence or passion was ultimately productive of beneficent results. It is grati- fying to perceive that your observation, briefer than mine, has led your minds to the same conclusion. What a priceless commentary upon this general thought is the final reported conversation between the late president and his cabinet; and with that dispatch comes news to warrant the cheering hope that, in spite of the knife of the assassin, the life and intellect of the secretary of state may, through Providence, be spared to us in this appalling emergeney.
I thank you for the silent attention with which you have listened to me, and for the manifestations of your approval as my neighbors, and will not detain you in this storm longer than to add my best wishes for you all, and for what, individually and collectively, we ought to hold most dear-our country-our whole country. Good night.
To conclude these pages. The battered, worn, case-hardened ranks came home. Cheers met them. Honors crowned them. The last roll-call died away with " Herc." The arms were stacked; the final facing made. "Break ranks!" was the order, and the ranks were broken. How time has broken them since that day! The soldier
34
1198
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
became a citizen, never forgetting that he had been a soldier; we also never forgetting that he was one. The toils of honorable peace took the place of duties of greater peril. Scarcely a ripple, the hugeness of the host considered, marked the passage over from strife to quiet. Happy concord bore generosity with it and 1901, the limit of this retrospect, bears no trace of the ancient bitterness in its bosom.
NOTES.
Benjamin A. Kimball was engineer of the train which bore away the First regiment.
The commandant of Camp Union, until Colonel Tappan came in, was Colonel John H. Gage of Nashua.
The little building on South Main street, exactly opposite the Abbot-Downing shops, occupied by William L. Hood as a variety store, was a Camp Gilmore cook house.
Among draft riot preparations, by Governor Gilmore, were a lot of hand grenades, to be used in defense of the state house. A survivor of the batch is preserved in the state treasurer's office.
The annual reunion of the First regiment, on the fortieth anni- versary of its departure for the front, was held at Concord. To one who clearly recalled 1861, the suggestions of 1901 are describable in one word, pathetic.
Loveland W. French, a musician for the Third regiment, hailing from Penacook, but credited to Washington, was poisoned at Camp Gilmore and died January 13, 1864, aged sixteen years. His bounty money was not obtained by his murderer.
At least one drafted man " drew a prize." He belonged to a pool and was reimbursed, according to agreement. He divided half and half with his substitute, who made him custodian of the second half. The sub vanished very early, and all the money is yet among us. Profits, about two thousand dollars.
For much detail which it is not the purpose of this paper to in- clude, the reader is referred to " The Revised Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire," etc., prepared and published, by authority of the legislature, by Augustus D. Ayling, adjutant-general, 1895. The volume is a very monument of carefulness and labor.
While Company I, First regiment, was being recruited, four men in the blacksmith shop at Abbot's came to the conclusion that it was their duty to enlist. Having been promised their places on return, they laid down their aprons, went up street and enlisted, or signed an unofficial paper agreeing to go. They were said to have been among the very earliest volunteers. The men were Charles O. Brad- ley, Henry C. Sturtevant, Calvin F. Langley, and Joseph G. Whitney.
1199
CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
The wagons for the First and Second regiments were made by J. S. & E. A. Abbot, through Lewis Downing & Sons, who had the contract. The remainder were made by the Downings, directly. Both firms made large shipments outside state requirements for army pur- poses, while James R. Hill supplied harnesses to go with the wagons.
In 1863, when " copperhead " was the extremest word of reproach applied to those opposed to the war, the term was taken up, and the head cut from the old "red cent " was worn in the scarf or coat lapel to signify its acceptance. From this came various forms, of consid- erable expense and elaboration. The same metal appeared wrought as cane heads.
The one who rang the door-bell to call out ex-President Pierce, on the evening following the assassination of President Lincoln, was a newsboy, Charles F. Nichols, now resident in the city. He distinctly recalls the strong words with which the speech was prefaced, and stood very close to the speaker throughout the remarks fully repro- duced in these pages.
Full histories have been published of all infantry regiments except the Fourth, Tenth, and Eighteenth. A small volume, practically but a roster, contains all which has been written of the Fourth. Volumes on the Tenth and Eighteenth are understood to be in the course of preparation. The heavy artillery, cavalry, and battery have no pub- lications on their history.
The First regiment brought home a great supply of mascot dogs and 'possums, together with mueh freight of curiosities and sou- venirs-far more than the long-term regiments combined. Among the really desirable importations made was a considerable number of colored boys, who came to stay, and who made useful and respected citizens. All of these proved eager to get some helpful education.
A citizen of strong commercial instincts, by means of large regard for times and seasons and the strategic uses of entrances and exits at Camp Gilmore, succeeded in selling the same cord of wood, at five dollars and fifty cents, nine different times. On the tenth time the game did not work, and a marble-hearted official forced him to dis- gorge all surplus profits.
Major-General B. F. Butler spent some time here in October, 1861. His mission was of a politico-military nature; to bring about an active participating interest in the war in Democratic quarters. For this purpose he came direct from the president, with large powers. His approaches were not successful. October 14 he made a vigorous war speech from the Eagle balcony, during the course of which he was interrupted with the inquiry, "Who voted for Jeff. Davis?" The questioner took to his heels, and, after a smart chase, cseaped his pursuers.
1200
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
October 23, 1863, a man who had been detected in grossly de- frauding soldiers, was seized, ridden on a rail round the grounds and to the mouth of the Gulley, where he was allowed to walk to Main street. At that point he was made to mount again and thus carried to Depot square, amid great tumult. When freed, he was not long in availing himself of more comfortable means of transportation, leading from the city.
October 25, 1864, a soldier took a rifle from a stack left unguarded at the railroad station by the Invalid corps, and proceeded to exhibit his proficiency in the manual of arms. He also exemplified the horrors of war. The weapon was loaded. Two men from the smart man's regiment were wounded, one very badly. The same bullet also inflicted mortal injuries on George E. Sheldon of Hancock, who lived but two hours from the time of his hurt.
Dr. E. W. Abbott, then a resident of Washington, was present at Ford's theater on that evening which will be sadly eventful ever. He heard the pistol shot and saw Wilkes Booth jump, but thought it in some way connected with the entertainment. When a commotion arose in the president's box, he saw that something was wrong and went thither. He was one of the six who carried the wounded man to the house across the street, examined him, gave such assistance as could be rendered, made full memoranda of the case and stayed by till the light of that kindly spirit was extinguished.
In addition to his regular arm, the private of mid-war times often provided himself with a revolver and a sheath knife of fierce dimen- sions. One invariable purchase was a rubber drinking tube, with filter. The top of the soldier's cap was adorned with a brass bugle, with regimental number inside its circle, while the company letter was placed behind the bugle and N. H. V. in front of the same, in white metal. Some few officers equipped themselves with steel- fronted vests, capable of turning a Minié ball. One of these "bomb- proofs " is preserved in the office of the state treasurer. Few of these articles saw long service.
In the times when gold and silver had disappeared and specie of baser metal was none too abundant, great trouble was found in mak- ing change. Private notes for small sums, known as " shinplasters," were current and unauthorized copper coinage freely circulated. But the main reliance came to be on postage stamps in pay envelopes. These passed unquestioned, even though glued into a lump. Later, these stamps were placed in tin cases, fronted with mica. This use of stamps was the beginning of a government postal currency or small change notes, the first device of whose face was in imitation of stamps, placed in a row, but whose later forms were more artistic.
1201
CONCORD IN THE CIVIL WAR.
The price of cotton having risen to over a dollar a pound (one dol- lar and ninety eents or more in 1864), various prudent housekeepers recalled that numerous beds had been filled with that material, and profited by its aerial value. Cotton and woolen rags commanded a goodly sum, as did all metals. The junk man was met with enthu- siasm. Old papers and attie stores of books, exhumed from dust, were turned into ready money. It is sadly to be noted that many valuable pamphlets, volumes, and files were lost in the pulp vat under the blandishments of the former peddler of tins, who now found a rich line of eash investment open to him. The enterprising small boy of predatory talents was a valuable helper in this form of commereial hustle.
In describing Lincoln's speech, a lady lately said that while his fame had reached here, and while prophecy had not failed to hint larger honor, her feeling at first seeing him on the stage was not agreeable. His length of limb, gauntness, plainness of feature and awkward appearance were things which counted. But when he eame forward the angular frame showed its power and all awkwardness took flight. His voice was strong, elear, and pleasing. His gestures were as natural as simple. As the speech went on, what he was appeared. The flow of language was free and all words well ehosen, embodying distinet ideas and logieal deductions. When he had got thoroughly into action the man was transfigured and all surface mat- ters were forgotten in her admiration. The play of mind changed his face into a beauty which was absolute: that of intelligence, sin- eerity, worth, and positive conviction of the right of the cause he advocated. She had known no other speaker, in the four decades since, who had had such power with her. Thinking of that day, the . very mole upon his face was precious.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.