USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of Coos County, New Hampshire > Part 104
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[Mrs. Wight is a descendant in the fourth generation of William Howard, who lived in Temple, N. H. His sons were Phineas, Asa, James, Nathaniel and William. Phineas, born in Temple in 1765, married Leonia Powers, and died at the age of eighty-four. His son Joseph, born in 1809, married Zeruiah Roberts (born in 1812 died in 1881), and died aged seventy-
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four. The first American ancestor of this line was doubtless Nathaniel, who emigrated from Suffolk, England, to Dorchester, Mass., in 1641. He had sons, Nathaniel and William, who settled in Chelmsford, and were prominent citizens there for many years. Members of this family removed to Hillsborough county, and had many descendants. Howard is the family name of the illustrious House of Norfolk, (England,) and derives in the male line from William Howard, a learned and reverend judge of the reign of Edward I.]
Mr. Wight was quite a hunter in his youth, and killed many deer, bears, and other wild and fur-bearing animals. He often camped out alone in the wilderness many miles from home, and gained a knowledge of the woods that has since been of much value to himself and others, and his services are frequently desired by lumbermen in locating lots. He has lumbered forty winters. In the winter of 1863-64 he had in his employ a faithful, energetic, and honest boy of about eighteen, George Van Dyke, who then worked for $20 per month, and is now president of the Connec- ticut River Lumber Company. Mr. Wight was originally a Democrat, but cast, with three others in Dummer, his first Republican vote for Free- mont. He has always identified himself with town affairs. When but twenty-two years old he was the first resident of the town to assess the taxes. He has held the offices of selectmen, collector, town clerk, and agent to fill the quota of the town; has been a representative to the legis- lature three years successively: and was a delegate to the State Constitu- tional Convention of 1876. He has administered upon and settled many estates; among them that of Ira Mason and Reuben H. Wheeler, of Berlin; and is well-known for his judgment and integrity. In religion he is not a sectarian, and believes that man will be in the next existence what he is best fitted for-the Infinite Judge to decide. He is a supporter of all that appears just in the churches, and a giver to all ministers whom he deems worthy.
Mr. Wight lives on the place where his father first settled in Dummer, but everything is changed. Then the only building was a log house with a few loose boards for a door, a board chimney plastered with mortar, and a stone fire-place in which "six-foot " wood was burned. In this log-cabin the family lived for years. Now we find a farm, well stocked, yielding from sixty five to seventy tons of hay yearly, and a large, well-constructed set of farm-buildings, surrounded by extensive and valuable apple and plum orchards.
Mr. Wight is now in the advanced prime of life, in good health, beloved and respected by all for his honesty and uprightness; and, sur- rounded by a faithful, trusting, and loving family, his last years are very promising of quiet, rest and enjoyment. He can have the satisfaction of knowing that he has fought the battle of life bravely and successfully, and his descendants may justly take pride in this record.
SHELBURNE.
CHAPTER CVI.
Name-Scenery and Attractions-Boundaries -- First Grant -- Names of Grantees-Descriptions of the Original Grant.
T HE name Shelburne may be formed from shel, or shal, or the Saxon sceol (shallow) and burn or bourn, a brook. Why or wherefore this town was so named we know not. The village is six miles below Gorham. Shelburne abounds in grand mountain scenery, not to be excelled by any town in the state; no drive of the same distance equals or offers more variety in beauty of scenery than the one ten or twelve miles from Gor- ham down the Androscoggin, on its right hand bank through Shelburne to Gilead, and then up the river on the easterly bank, crossing it at Lead- mine bridge. The beauties and charms of the town have been finely de- scribed by Augusta Larned, and we extract as follows from her graphic articles in the Christian Register .- EDITOR.
The river which waters Shelburne is not divided into "four heads," neither is there much gold nor "bdellium " nor "onyx stone " found here, nor in adjacent lands. It is called Androscoggin, and it keeps the secret of beauty as sacredly as did that river of the first paradise.
The great mass of the White Mountain group blocks up the valley with its wedgelike form to the south. Madison is here easily king of the vale, as his broad side is turned genially toward us,-a mighty canvas on which the sun paints its innumerable freaks and fancies. The peak of Adams "perks " itself un over the high shoulder of Madison, as if standing on tiptoe to peep into the valley. In some states of the atmosphere, the whole line of its west side can be dimly seen separating itself from the mass of its more forward brother. Behind Madison, to the southeast, rises the broad, lazy back of Washington. with the "ledge " showing white on its near side, and the Summit House to be made out in clear weather. It is a lion couchant, with head turned tranquilly eastward. This group is like
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the altar of a cathedral toward which the devout turn to pray; but the nave, choir, and aisles are hardly less beautiful than the high seat shadowed by the wings of the cherubim. To the east rise the long slopes of Moriah, a fine mountain of peculiarly rich purple hue. Nearer to us, and close to the river, is thickly wooded Winthrop, with the great, smooth granite ledge on its side, up which Moses Ingalls once had the temerity to climb. The ledge looks much like a very steep barn roof, a hundred feet high, and smooth as glass. Bold Moses glided over it like a bird; and for his courage was presented with a farm, so the story goes.
On the west side of the river rise Mts. Hayes and Baldcap, both strongly marked and individual mountains. To the north are the softly-folded Gilead hills melting into every shade of blue and violet, and with the great bend of the Androscoggin at their feet, enclosing many fairy-like islands all feathered over with the most delicate and living green.
The valley is like a beautiful child nourished by grim guardians. They bring to it rain and dews and wild brooks tumbling over stony beds, and keep it perfect in verdure. The Androscoggin fairly leaps for joy. It is a swift, untamed river. Its feet run night and day toward the sea, and murmur round its multitude of islands in the extremity of haste. These thickly-wooded islands, perfectly virginal and lonely, are a feature of the river. At the famous Lead-mine bridge, two miles above, they are seen in the full perfection of their feathery beauty. On the bridge, the eye climbs up the blue wall of Madison as a bird scales the house. You seem to be in the very heart of the mystery, where the hills will tell you all their secrets. Near the bridge, on the east side of the river, a Detroit gentleman has built a vast, fifty-thousand-dollar house of the native stone and pebbles picked up from the top of the ground. It is among the first of those rich men's dwellings built here, which are springing up all over the land. From my window I see the picturesque gables of a New Yorker's cottage across the river. So Shelburne has at last been discovered by the opulent. I have travelled much through these hills, but I know of no other place which presents more perfect pictures of White Mountain scenery, whose dower is beauty rather than Alpine grandeur.
These mountain intervals, with the elms grouped for the artist eye, have a peculiar charm. They are unlike other meadows, for their smiling beauty makes a gem like contrast to the rugged setting of the hills. There is little cultivation up here. A good many of the old clearings on the mountain-sides seem growing up to wildness. One asks why these heights are not used for sheep pastures. The shepherd's pipe would sound as sweet here as in the Arcadian vales. It is a world of grass, still and soundless, save for the noises of nature, which seem to punctuate the silence, and to make the great unwritten poem easier to read. A world of grass and leaves and flowing water and granite and earth piled up into the sky.
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TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
What joy to come into this world, where there is no dirt, no smoke, no importunate ringing of bells, no tramps or beggars, no barking of dogs or crowing of cocks. You wake in the night, and feel that you are in the very tabernacle of the Lord, held in a sacred bond of peace. The air is of delicious sweetness. It has no harsh quality; but, at night, a blanket is not amiss. There is no doctor nearer than Gorham, six miles distant. When I asked how the people managed for medical attendance, the answer was that the people are seldom sick. Look on these mountains and live, seems to be the great command written on the bases of the hill. It is de- lightful to come into a region where there is no poverty visible to the naked eye, and the mutterings of the conflict between capital and labor are not heard. The hill folk are conservative, like their mountains. They move slowly; but every where there is comfort. and often some attempt at fashion. The old village with the station and postoffice has been somewhat changed. Several new boarding-houses have been put up in various parts of the valley, and are generally filled during July and August. Nothing ever happens here in this blessed land. The events are driving afield with horses or oxen or digging in the potato patch. What a contrast to the life of the tramp in Madison Square! The genus tramp is scarcely known up here. Occasionally one appears in the village and the rumor runs through the country.
One needs to be all eye in these days up here. when the thunder growls around the horizon, and little showers come up without warning. and bring the most splendid cloud scenery. They gather in vast, solid, sculp- tured masses over the White Mountain group, and sweep with a broad wing over the whole land, blotting out miles and miles in gray rain, letting in sudden gleams of light, turning the nearer slopes to the most brilliant purple, clearing suddenly to blue spaces, changing every moment, and be- wildering one with beauty. Never have I seen such cloud-scenery as this, such wonderful shifting and play of light and color, such webs of purple and green and cerulean, torn and shattered and knit up again in a moment, as if by the power of some celestial Penelope, who is forever unravelling her work and netting it up anew. This valley does not raise much wheat or corn, but it raises clouds by a spell stronger than Merlin's. I rejoice in this granite formation, which gives fine, hard roads and soon dries after a shower, leaving the earth bright and shining, as if new-minted and stamped with the superscription of God. The deciduous forests, with only a sparse mingling of fir and pine, give great cheerfulness to the land- scape. We have a beautiful waterfall on the side of Baldcap; but why mention particular beauties, when every prospect is so fair, and each day seems a golden possession in the treasure-house of life?
Topography, Population, Elc .- The Androscoggin river divides Shel- burne nearly in the center, receiving the waters of two parallel ranges of
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
mountains. Rattle river is the largest tributary on the southern side, and Lead-mine brook on the northern. The town is six miles square, bounded north by Success, east by Gilead, Me., south by Bean's Purchase, and west by Gorham. The intervals vary from a few rods to half a mile in width. and were formerly covered, as the encircling mountains are now, by a mixed growth of spruce, hemlock, pine and hard wood. Mt. Moriah is the highest elevation, 4,771 feet in height.
The town was granted to Mark Wentworth and six others. and was surveyed in 1771. In 1820, when it was incorporated, the population was 230. In 1859 it was 480, but after the building of the Grand Trunk railway, and the establishment of the machine-shops and lumber-mills at Gorham, the younger people kept moving away, till by the last census the popula- tion is only 252.
This first or original grant of Shelburne was made in 1768; but, as on a survey there was not found habitable land enough to allow the proprietors to comply with the provisions of the charter, a second grant was made, which included the present territory of Gorham (Shelburne Addition), which see. This second grant was nominally signed by Gov. John Went- worth, November 21, 1770, but was really not issued or recorded until January 14, 1771. It is needless to give the charter. It had all the ornate and magniloquent verbiage peculiar to those documents, and made these conditions: 1st, that the grantees should construct a good carriage road four ro ls wide through the tract within two years; 2d, that there shall be twelve families resident on and cultivating some portion of the land on the first of March, 1774, and sixty families actually settled on the grant by the first of March, 1779, under penalty of forfeiture of the grant; 3d. that all white or other pine trees fit for masting the Royal Navy should be pre- served for that purpose, and not to be cut or felled without especial license; 4th, that a town-plot shall be laid out into town lots of one acre, one for each grantee, near the center of the town; 5th. payment of annual rent on and after March 1, 1771, of one ear of Indian corn, if demanded; 6th, that every proprietor, settler or inhabitant shall pay annually, beginning on March 1, 1780, one shilling proclamation money for every 100 acres he owns, settles or possesses.
Names of Grantees. - Mark Hunking Wentworth, Daniel Pierce, Daniel Rogers, John Rindge, Danie Rindge, Isaac Rindge, Jotham Rindge.
Description of Original Grant .- "Beginning at a hemlock tree, marked, standing in the Province Line, about three-quarters of a mile south of Little Ameroscogin River, and from said hemlock runs north eight degrees east by the needle on the Province line six miles to a maple tree, marked, and standing in the Province line aforesaid. thence turning off at right angles and running north eighty-two degrees west six miles to a beech tree, marked; thence turning off at right angles and running sonth eight degrees west six miles to a red birch tree, marked; thence turning off again at right angles and runs south eighty-two degrees east six miles to the hemlock tree in the Province line began at, containing by admeasurement twenty-three thousand and forty acres."
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TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
CHAPTER OVII.
Early Settlers: Hope Austin-Daniel Ingalls-Stephen Messer-Thomas Green-Samuel Wbeeler-Jonathan Evans-Benjamin Clemens-Bazeleel Gates-Simeon Evans-Jonathan Pea- body-Jonathan Lary -- Peter Poor-Nathaniel Porter, Etc.
ARLY Settlers .- The history of the brave men and women who left the comforts of civilization to make a home in the wilderness a century and more ago, and the records of their privations and suf- ferings would startle their descendants. Their rude shelters were con- structed without any regard for comfort; the only thing attempted was a protection from rain and snow. The ravages of the bears and wolves in this neighborhood were exceedingly terrific. The inhabitants were also subjected to Indian invasions. They endured not only the hardships of isolation and cold, attacks from wild beasts, devastation by mountain tor- rents, loss by freshets, but experienced the terror of the war whoop, and felt the tomahawk and scalping-knife.
One of the first of these pioneers was Hope Austin, who came to Shel- burne in 1771, and began a clearing on the north side of the river, near the Maineline. The snow was five feet deep when his wife walked up from Bethel, carrying one child in her arms, while two others clung to her skirts. Mr. Austin had neglected to provide even temporary shelter for his little fan- ily But spruce boughs were handy, and in a short time a roof was thrown over the log cabin, some rough boards nailed together for a door, the snow shoveled out and a fire built between stones or green logs. Here they lived, making occasional improvements, until prosperity enabled him to build a more convenient frame-house. Of the family of five children, Mary and Judith remained single. Lydia and Hannah married Samuel Wheeler, James married Sally, daughter of Joseph Lary, Jr., of Gilead, and built a handsome two-story house a little below his father's. Of his children, John and Caverno died, and Dearborn married Rose, daughter of Rev. Ezekiel Coffin, and lived at home till after the death of his father, when he moved to Gilead, and the name of Shelburne's first resident was dropped from her records. Mr. Hope Austin is remembered by elderly people of to-day as a pleasant-spoken old gentleman, very much bent, walking back and forth from his house to the mill, with his hands clasped behind him. The Austins, as a family, were pleasant, hospitable and industrious.
Daniel Ingalls, one of the earliest settlers, lived just across the river, and was Mr. Austin's nearest neighbor. He was much esteemed for his high moral character. Religion was a part of his daily life, but he was
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
cheerful and could even make a dry joke now and then. Moses, his oldest son, was a sailor; energetic, resolute, and rather rough. He married Susan Heath. They had four sons, Daniel, Frederick, Robert and Fletcher. Robert, third son of Moses, married Rowena Hills, and bought the farm on Clemens brook, cleared by the Evanses. He was one of the most prominent men in the place, filling many offices with honor and ability. It is remarked of him, as of J. R. Hitchcock, "He always recognized an acquaintance, rich or poor, high or low, with the same readiness and courtesy." His daughter Caroline, a most estimable lady, died at Gorham in 1870. Rufus, son of Robert, married Emeline, great-granddaughter of Capt. Joseph Lary, of Gilead. She died, and Mr. Ingalls married Hattie McKentry.
Fletcher Ingalls, the younger son of Deacon Daniel, like his father, was of a very high moral nature. Every birthday he religiously kept as a day of fasting and prayer. At a time when intoxicating liquors were free almost as water, he was a firm advocate of temperance. The Cold- Water Army, an organization designed to embrace the youth of both sexes, was his conception, and the first temperance lecture given here was by his appointment. He married Mercy Lary. His daughter Polly mar- ried Barker Burbank, son of Capt. Eliphalet Burbank, of Gilead. Mr. Burbank was a practical farmer, a successful merchant, and a lawyer of considerable ability. He built a large, handsome house a short distance from his father-in-law, acquired a comfortable fortune, and reared a family of fourteen children. Payson married Mary Smith, and has six sons. Martin married Mary, granddaughter of Capt. Joseph Pinkham, one of the first settlers of Jackson. Judge Robert Ingalls Burbank, of Boston, now owns the homestead, and has added to it till his estate is the largest in town. The Ingallses have always borne a stainless name, and in wealth, social position and age, rank as one of the first families of Shelburne.
The names of Messer, Peabody and Hubbard are closely entwined, and their descendants comprise a large proportion of our present population. [A sketch of Stephen Messer is given in the history of Gorham.] Nancy Messer, a daughter of Stephen, married Amos Peabody, and after living in Gilead and Randolph came to Shelburne and settled on Peabody brook, where three of their children, Aaron, Nancy and Allan, have since resided. Their son Stephen married Hepzibeth Evans and cleared the adjoining farm. He was intimately connected with town business, and also with the affairs of the church. He was never very strong, but lived to the age of fifty, when he died with that scourge of his family, consumption. Enoch, another son of Amos Peabody, married Judith Wheeler, and lived for several years next to his brother Stephen, then moved to Berlin, Stark, and, finally, to Milan. Betsey Messer, daughter of Stephen Messer, mar- ried Thomas Hubbard and lived at Andover, Dracut and Bradford, Mass.,
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TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
before they came to Shelburne. Mrs. Hubbard rode from Massachusetts on horseback. They reared a large family of children. Afterwards they lived on the farm now owned by John Head, and finally settled near the top of what is now known as the Great Hill. Of their children, Erastus and Rufus married daughters of Abraham Wilson and removed to Whitefield. Enoch and Leonard married daughters of Amos Peabody. Jefferson mar- ried a daughter of George Green, and for twenty-five years was station agent of the G. T. R. at Shelburne. No other proof is needed of his honesty and fidelity. Maria Hubbard married Joshua Kendall.
Thomas Green began a home in the heart of the forest; by good calcu- lation and economy he not only made a living, but laid up considerable property. In his old age his mind became feeble and disordered, and though worth enough to buy half the town, he was haunted by a fear of starvation. One evening in early spring he came out of his room and went out at the back door. He was never seen again. Edward, a son of Thomas, married Nancy Birdin. Three of his children, Lyman, Darius and Manson, ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, resided in Shelburne in 1881. George, another son of Thomas, when he became of age, received $100 in cash, and a piece of land on the Magalloway. He sold this land, bought a lot just across the river from home, built a tiny house containing only a kitchen and bedroom, and set up housekeeping by himself. Three or four years after he married Hannah Lary. As fast as his means allowed he built additions, till, in 1817; it was a long two-story house, with large, square rooms above and below. It was furnished for a tavern, and for more than fifty years afforded accommodation for the travelling public. The large yellow globe for a sign on which the date was given, was an object of great interest to the boys in those days. Peo- ple from Upper Coos on their way to Portland, frequently fifteen or twenty double-teams at once, stopped here to bait their horses. When the Grand Trunk railway was built, the glory of Green's tavern departed. Mr. Green was an honest, plain-spoken man. It is said of him that, knowingly, he would not defraud a person of a single cent. Jonas, young- est son of Thomas Green, a hard-working, stern, and somewhat unsocial man, lived on the home-place until the death of his parents; married, first, Mercy Lary, second, her sister Susannah. Oliver, his youngest son, bought the Green tavern-stand in 1880, and remodelled it into a summer boarding-house.
Samuel Wheeler was a Revolutionary soldier, and dearly loved to re- count the dangers he had passed and the privations he had endured. His clearing was on Ingalls brook close to the base of the mountains, where the sun lay warmly till past noon, and the cold, northwest wind could not strike. In the cold season of 1816, when snow fell every month of the year, he was the only one whose corn got ripe enough to grow again. The
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
next spring he sold it for two dollars a bushel. Among his children were Samuel, Lucy, and Amos. His home, the place on which he settled, is now in possession of his decendants, and is the only farm in town which has been inherited in a direct line for four generations. Samuel Wheeler, Jr., was a licensed preacher, and conducted religious exercises in the absence of regular ministers. He married, first, Lydia Austin, second, her sister Hannah. His children were Austin, Joseph, Samuel, Hannah (Mrs. Reu- ben Hobart), Margaret and Judith (Mrs. Enoch Peabody), of Stark. Austin was well educated and talented, and became a Free-Will Baptist minister. Samuel, grandson of the old soldier, married Eliza Burbank, by whom he had four children. By a second marriage he had four children also. A few years ago he removed to the Austin farm, which he purchased, and his son Ellery became the owner of the old homestead.
Jonathan Evans and Benjamin Clemens came to Shelburne early and nearly at the same time. They were both soldiers of the Revolution, and probably stationed at Fort Ticonderoga. Daniel Evans, son of Jonathan, married Phila Clemens, and cleared the farm afterwards owned by Otis Evans. He was a man of influence and wealth, owning what is now four farms. Otis Evans, son of Daniel, who for three-quarters of a century led an upright life in Shelburne, the town of his nativity, died October 13, 1886. Mr. Evans was a hard-working and successful farmer, and well informed upon the general topics of the day. His wife was Martha Pinkham. They have descendants in Gorham and Shelburne. Jonathan Evans, Jr., mar- ried Mary Lary, and lived on the Charles Philbrook farm. He was a large, portly man, and his three sons, Hazen, Jabez and Augustus, resembled him in this particular.
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