USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Hampton Falls > History of Hampton Falls, N.H., Volume II > Part 19
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Nov .: First week cold. Presidential election, Republican
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vote, 123; Democratic, 17; Prohibition, 2. Fred P. Sanborn elected representative, having 79 votes to 61 for John E. Brown who ran on nomination papers. John N. Sanborn was elected senator from the Twenty-first District. Warren Brown was elected one of the presidential electors. Mrs. Wells W. Healey died. A little snow was seen to fall on the 15th. It is very dry; wells and spring are very low. Only a fractional part of an inch of rain fell during the month. . 27th: Thanksgiving day, and was a very pleasant day.
Dec. 1st: Sixty-seven degrees in the shade; this was the warmest day of the date on record. 3d: 10° above, cold and disagreeable for a number of days. David C. Hawes died. He was a native of New Bedford, Mass .; went to California in 1849, where he remained for a number of years; came to Hamp- ton Falls in 1864, and settled on the Melcher place. His wife was a granddaughter of Joseph Melcher. He was engaged in the manufacture of fertilizers. Some snow which made good going.
7th: A hard southeast rain storm with a high tide. Snow on the 18th made good going. Remainder of the month not very cold. Thus ends a year with more pleasant enjoyable weather than we usually have. Not as much rain as usual. The streams, wells and springs are very low; many are put to in convenience for water for domestic and other purposes.
1909.
Jan .: The year opened with moderate weather, followed by a heavy rain which carried away nearly all the snow. Cold wave, 7th-8th. 12th: Rainy all day. Six inches of snow on 17th. Colder. Zero on the 18th. Snow trodden and good going on the road. Ice of good quality being cut, ten inches thick. Rain on the 23d. Thunder and lightning on the 28th. Cold, with good sledding remainder of the month.
Feb .: Up to the 5th cold; 8° below followed by warmer weather which carried away the snow and spoiled the going. 21st: Ground bare. Some spring birds have come.
Mar. 5th-6th: Cold. Some ice of poor quality being cut. It has been a poor ice season. More hay than usual on the marshes which have not been well frozen. 9th: Annual town meeting; John Elmer Sanborn, Elroy G. Shaw and Harry P. Brown, selectmen; Arthur W. Brown, treasurer; Jos. H. Weare,
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collector; Frank H. Lord, town clerk; Charles W. Birtwell, member of school board. Pleasant, and not very cold during the month. The roads were dry and appeared to be settled middle of the month. Heavy rain on the 25th, which did much damage at the beaches and made the roads muddy as the frost was not all out. There has been but little frost in the ground during the winter. Grass beginning to show green. Have not heard the frogs yet. People are busy getting off the nests of the brown tail moths which are more numerous than ever before.
Apr. 2d: Frogs heard for the first time. So dry that grass fires have done a great deal of damage. A cottage house and work- shop on the estate of the late Charles T. Brown caught fire from grass burning on the lawn and were entirely consumed. 11th: Grass fires doing a great deal of damage and are a constant menace. Cold for the time of year, with just rain enough to keep the grass growing. 18th: John W. Elkins died. Men are employed removing moth nests from trees and bushes in the highways in accordance with the state law. Cold for the season. Glass at zero in Coös County, with three feet of snow in the woods last of April.
May 1st: Rain, followed by warmer weather. Mrs. Charles F. Chase died, aged eighty-seven. She was a daughter of the late Josiah Smith. Exciting school meeting held on the eve of the 7th. Dull and misty, good grass weather. Very cold for the time of year. Frequent rains with little precipitation. Grass never looked better at this time of year. Samuel R. Dalton committed suicide by shooting. He was a native of North Hampton and had lived in this town for about ten years. Freight house on the Boston and Maine railroad set on fire by a passing locomotive and came near being destroyed. No warm weather this month. Cold east winds prevailed nearly all the time. 30th: Apple trees in bloom, not more than one-fourth of an average bloom. A. K. Chase of Nashua died suddenly while packing clams at the railroad station. He had been engaged in building a house boat which was nearly completed at the time of his death. James Truesdale died about this time, aged more than eighty years. He came to this town from Scotland in 1855, and had lived in this town nearly all the time since, and was employed as a laborer. He had a house on the depot road, the one destroyed by fire in June, 1916.
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June: Up to the 14th very cold; not more than one or two warm days this spring. It was dry all through the month. All kinds of crops have suffered from drought. Planted seed in many cases has failed to germinate. The weather last of the month intensely hot, 100° in the shade on a number of days. Mrs. Howard T. Moulton died. John F. Gynan and Fannie Ward Sanborn were married. The barn is being moved from the Towle place to Railroad Avenue, by Mr. Edgerly.
July 1st: The drought continues; not more than an inch of rain fell during the month. 15th: Heavy showers went north and south of us. A hail storm which did much damage at Ports- mouth. On the 8th, it was too windy to handle hay. The best hay season for years. The crop much reduced from the effect of dry weather. Pastures are dried up and cows are being fed at the barn.
Aug .: Cool and comfortable first week of the month, remainder hot and dry. What little rain fell helped vegetables tem- porarily, but had no visible effect upon streams or wells. Roads too dry and dusty to ride with pleasure. No dew has fallen during the summer. All kinds of vegetation badly dried up.
Sept .: Cool the first week, with frost in some places which did little damage. Enough rain fell during the month to cause the fields to look green. 20th: A frost which killed the corn. Land too dry and hard to plow for reseeding.
Oct .: Cool weather first week. The fields and pastures are quite green. Hot weather with heavy dust. Some report a large yield of potatoes of good quality. But little second crop grass. The smallest crop of apples for years and of poor quality. 28th: High winds, with ground frozen. The month has been favorable for doing all kinds of farm work.
Nov .: Cool all the first week. About one-half inch of rain has fallen each week for a number of weeks past, but has no effect upon springs and wells. Many are put to great incon- venience to get water. Snow and rain fell to the amount of two and three-fourths inches of water, which did much damage under leaky roofs. The month as a whole has been warmer than usual and favorable for doing outdoor farm work.
Dec. 1st: Some snow to be seen; a little rain. Cold, 10° above on the 11th. Fair with a cloudless sky until the 25th. The ground frozen hard and the roads smooth. A severe northeast
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snowstorm came on Christmas night; a foot of badly drifted snow came which took a great amount of labor to open the roads. High- est tide since 1851. Water came over the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks. A great deal of damage reported to the beaches along the coast. Hay stacks were floated. A store on the heater, owned by Edwin Janvrin, was burned on the night of the 25th. But for the falling snow a serious conflagration might have re- sulted. The water situation is still a serious one. The water is very low in the ground, with no signs of any improvement. From the opening to the close of the season the weather has been very pleasant. Fair weather nearly all the time, which was at- tended by a severe drought which cut the hay crop down on an average of fully one-third. It had the effect to reduce the yield of all other crops. Prices of living have advanced during the year.
1910.
Jan. 1st: Considerable snow on the ground, but not well trod- den; followed by some warm days which made good going. Drifting snow on the 14th. 16th: Rain and warm weather have carried away most of the snow and spoiled the going. The roads in places very icy. Annie Leavitt Sanborn, daughter of Dr. Charles H. Sanborn, died of pneumonia. Enoch P. Young of Hampton, a blacksmith who did a great deal of work for the people of this town, died this month. 20th: Warm for time of year, with frequent rains and light snows; has made the going on the road poor, snow drifts and mud alternating. Icy around the buildings.
Feb. 5th: Rain and some snow. Eighteen inches of snow at Exeter and the roads blocked. 7th: Very cold for a few days with a severe northeast snowstorm which made the roads im- passable, after which it was warmer. During the remainder of the month variable temperature, going as low as 9° below. It was good going on the road. A thaw began on the 26th and contin- ued until the going was spoiled, the water resulting going into the ground. Roads muddy.
Mar. 5th: George Austin Weare of Seabrook was buried. Thunder shower on the 4th. Roads drying. Annual town meeting on the 8th; Elroy G. Shaw, Herbert Page and William H. Thompson, selectmen; Arthur W. Brown, treasurer; Frank H. Lord, town clerk; $600 was raised to defray town charges; one-
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fourth of one per cent of valuation for highways; $925 for schools; $10 for Memorial day; $50 for town library. Joseph W. Moulton, the oldest man in town, died, aged eighty-five years. Weather moderate rest of the month. Signs indicate a dry spring. Grass fires are numerous and a serious menace. Hood and Sons' ice houses at Derry and North Hampton burned. 25th: Warm for time of year. Roads settled. Grass shows green. Frost not all out. 26th: Warm day, 75° in the shade.
Apr. 4th: About an inch of rain. Grass very green. Hay scarce. 10th: Fair and cool. Not much over an inch of rain has fallen since Mar. 1st. This is true over a large extent of country. 19th: Three-eighths of an inch of rain has fallen, followed by misty weather which has caused the grass to grow vigorously. Remainder of the month damp and misty. Frost on the morning of the 29th. The wind has been from the west nearly all the time this spring. Robert Brown, a native of Scotland, died. He had been a resident of the town since 1872. His age was sixty-seven years.
May: It was cold and dry up to the 15th, with some frost. Some dull weather with little precipitation. Grass on new fields looking well; old fields light. 20th: Apple trees are in full bloom. An extended milk strike going on; 30,000 cans of milk said to be withheld from the Boston market because the contrac- tors refuse to advance the price paid the producers. The most of our farmers have joined in the strike. Some warm days. Rain much needed. Feed in pastures not very good.
June 1st: Frost, which killed corn and potatoes on low land, followed by two and one-half inches of rain. Hay high with slow sales. Complaint that seed does not germinate and of the ravages of cut worms. 12th: Dull, with little sign of clearing. Considerable rain has fallen. Thunder shower on the 18th. Fine growing weather. Vegetation making a rapid growth. Last of the month hot and dry.
July 17th: Since the month came in it has been hot and dry and the best of hay weather, which has been well inproved. More than an average yield of hay. The hoed crops have suffered from drought. Mrs. Edwin Janvrin died on the 8th. After years of intense suffering Samuel Wesley Dearborn of Hampton died. He built the town hall in this town in 1877, and many other buildings. Dog day weather after the 20th,
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which interfered with haying. Most people had finished before this. More than an average crop of hay reported. Thunder showers did much damage in some places. It killed a heifer out in the clear ground in the pasture. Annual farmers' meeting at Hampton Beach on the 27th, which was largely attended. A barn owned by William Irving was struck by lightning and burned. It has been fair and pleasant nearly all the time this month. It has been a good time to do all kinds of out-door work. It is very dry; more rain has fallen in some other sections. The Peoples Telephone Company has been purchased by the New England Telegraph and Telephone Company. The buildings on the Edward D. Pike place were destroyed by fire; cause of fire unknown. A child of Nathaniel M. Batchelder died on the 28th.
Sept .: Warm and pleasant. 5th-6th: Dull and wet. A seri- ous forest fire just over the line in Kensington. 6th: First primary election in the state; Bertram T. Janvrin nominated for representative. Rest of week fair and warm. William Mc- Devitt, a native of Nova Scotia, died. He had been a resident of the town since 1868. Fair and warm last of the month, with no frost to do any damage.
Oct. 1st: There was a thunder shower which did much damage in some places in the state. 2d: High winds which blew off a great many apples. There is a partial crop of apples which are of good quality. Sold for $2.50 per barrel, buyer doing the packing. Lewis F. Prescott, the oldest man in town, died, aged eighty-two years and seven months. The last of the month pleasant, with no damage from frost. Great scarcity of water. A good time to do extra work.
Nov. 8th: Election; Republican vote, 80; all others, 15; B. T. Janvrin, representative. 20th: It has been pleasant for the time of year. Coldest night of the season, 18° above. Thanksgiving the 24th. Turkeys sold for thirty-five cents per pound. Cool remainder of the month. A little snow; ground not frozen much.
Dec .: Until the 16th cold. Zero on a number of mornings. Not snow enough through the month for sleighing. Great com- plaint of want of water. Nelson Copeland, a resident of the town, died in Georgia. Helen M. Sanborn died on the 3d, aged eighty years and five months. The season from start to finish has been a pleasant one. Much less rain than usual. Many have
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suffered for want of water for domestic use, which condition continued until the end of the year.
1911.
Jan. 1st-8th: Variable weather from zero to 60° above. Not snow enough to use runners. Water very low in the ground. Many wells dry. Not very cold from 8th to 16th. Frozen rain makes going dangerous. Newell W. Healey died 13th: Very cold for three days. 22d: Warmer; snow came but soon disap- peared. Ice being cut of good quality.
Feb .: First week cold. Snow and rain which made good going. Complaint of scarcity of water. Changeable weather. A little snow made good going until the end of the month. A great deal of ice has been cut.
Mar. 1st: Snow gone. Cold, fair weather. Ground frozen deep. Surface of the roads soft. 14th: Annual town meeting; William H. Thompson, J. Herbert Page and Bertram T. Janvrin, selectmen; Arthur W. Brown, treasurer; Frank H. Lord, town clerk; Jos. H. Weare, collector. 10th: Roads soft and badly washed. Cold, disagreeable weather. Some rain which did not help the wells. Mrs. Benjamin F. Weare died. 26th: The wind has dried the roads and it is very good going. Cold for the season. Ground said to be frozen to a depth of four feet. Thunder shower on night of the 30th. Mrs. Mary Josephine Graves died.
Apr. 3d: Six inches of snow. 9th: Northeast snowstorm. Snow soon went away, followed by pleasant weather. Grass beginning to look green. Roads dry in most places. Frost not all out. Remainder of the month cold for the season. No rain of any amount fell during the month. Many wells dry and many suffer from want of water.
May: Henry C. Tuck of Kensington committed suicide by drowning. Vegetation backward. Land too dry to plow. Grass and forest fires are doing much damage. The week follow- ing the 7th hot; 90° in the shade on some days. No rain. The atmosphere heavily laden with smoke from forest and other fires. Showers on the morning of the 18th. More rain fell to the south of us than fell here. Apple trees in full bloom on the 20th. Caterpillars plenty and doing a great deal of damage to all kinds of vegetation. Cold and very dry rest of the month.
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June 1st: Still dry. . Insects doing a great deal of damage, worms have injured planted crops, so that replanting has in some cases been necessary more than once. All signs point to a light hay crop. One-half inch of rain fell on the 6th, which is more than has fallen for several weeks. 11th: Cold north- east winds. Signs of a dry storm. A little more than an · inch of water has fallen this week, which has done much to revive vegetation. 18th: The dry weather continues with no signs of. any change. Vegetation of all kinds suffers badly from want of moisture. It continued dry till the end of the month. Hay crop lightest for years.
July 1st: Intensely hot, 100° in the shade. A cyclone passed over here, which did much damage; the high tension wires across the road were broken down and the telephones put out of commission; the barns on the W. W. Healey and Godfrey places were partially unroofed; shade and fruit trees damaged; not much rain here; heavy showers each side of us. Many buildings destroyed by lightning in the state. Rev. Hartwell J. Bartlett, a former pastor of the Baptist church in this town, was killed by an automobile at Scituate, Mass. 7th: The past week has been the hottest ever known here, 101° in the shade. Many prostrations and deaths reported. Crop suffering badly from drought. 9th: Good hay weather; grass cut and put in the same day. The bed of the Taylor river dry in many places. 16th: Many done haying; from 50 to 75 per cent of a normal crop. 28th: Three and a half inches of rain fell which is more than we had for a number of months; it caused grass in the fields to become green. The rain and sea-turns at night have caused all kinds of vegetation to improve. The remainder of the month fair with occasional rains which have done much good.
·
Sept. 1st: Work was begun on the Lafayette road from the post office to Seabrook line by the state and town when $4,400 was expended. Frost on the 14th, which did much damage in some places. John A. Dow, a native of Seabrook, but for many years a resident of this town, died. The remainder of the month pleasant, with occasional light rains.
Oct. 1st: Apples are being gathered which are of the best quality but only a partial crop. The marsh seasons have been very poor this year and the salt hay was of poor quality. The later rains have caused considerable second crop grass to grow
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which is being cut, and which will do much to help out the light hay crop. 22d: Dull and wet all the week with only an inch of rain. The sun shone only one day during the week. Hard frost on the 27th.
Nov. 1st: Work on state road finished for this year. Cold wave the 2d. 17º above. People generally more backward than usual with their work. Cold the 16th. Warmest November on . record. Thanksgiving the 28th; turkeys, twenty-eight cents per pound.
Dec .: Warmer than usual. Plowing being done until the 20th. Not snow enough for sleighing at any time during the month. It has been very pleasant from the opening to the close of the season at the end of the year.
1912.
Jan .: The year opened warm with no snow upon the ground. 5th: A cold wave which continued until the 20th; about six inches of snow fell during that time. The glass went to 16° below with a much lower temperature in other parts of the state; 35° below at Concord. Ice of the best quality has been cut. Rain. 19th: Going icy and dangerous. Coal scarce, owing to frozen harbor it is said. Cold wave the 25th, which lasted the remainder of the month. Mr. Leander Harris died the first of the month.
Feb. 1st-18th: Fair and cold. Good going on the roads all the month. Mrs. John A. Dow died. She was a daughter of Charles F. Chase. Thunder shower on the 23d.
Mar .: Snow did not thaw on the roofs of the buildings until the 8th when a heavy rain came, which carried away the snow and caused the roads to be muddy which continued until the end of the month. 12th: Annual town meeting; George C. Healey, George J. Curtis and William H. Thompson, selectmen. Heavy rains at night, continued all the next day. School meeting on eve of the 15th; Henry Prescott elected on school board. Remainder of month changeable, rain, snow and mud. Moses E. Batchelder, a former resident and native of this town, but for forty-seven years a resident of Warrensburg, Ill., died, aged eighty-nine years. He had been very prosperous in the West.
Apr. 1st: Some snow which soon went away. Miss Mary Ann Smith died, aged eighty-two. She was a daughter of the late Josiah Smith. She had lived in Seabrook for a number of
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years where she died. James D. Brown died, aged seventy-six years and eleven months. The selectmen are taking the inventory under the new law whereby our valuation has been increased about $200,000. Two inches of snow on the 10th. Roads are very muddy. Grass begins to look green. Remainder of the month cold, with a great deal of wind. Hay and potatoes scarce and selling at high prices. Potatoes selling quick at $2 per bushel. Miss Ellen T. Cram committed suicide by drowning in the deep hole below the bridge on the Exeter road. Spring work and planting backward. The land in many cases is too wet to work. 18th: Warmest day of the season, followed by a thunder shower. Apple trees in full bloom. 24th: Last of the month good growing weather.
June: Considerable planting done this month. Corn was plant- ed as late as the 10th. The hay has nearly all been fed and the barns are empty. 8th: Quite a heavy frost which did consider- able damage, followed by a number of mornings near freezing. Insects are plenty and are doing a great amount of damage to fruit trees. 20th: Getting dry. Roads very dusty. Gardens and hoed crops suffering from drought. Only .27 of an inch of rain has fallen this month. No signs of rain and little hot weather up to the close of the month.
July: No rain first week. Best of hay weather which was well improved. Intense heat from the 7th to the 12th when we had a heavy thunder shower which did much damage. A cow was killed in Mr. Ladd's pasture. 21st: More rain fell than had fallen for a long time. It was a good hay season. Haying nearly all done before the 20th. Birds of all kinds are very scarce. Quite a number of buildings have been protected from lightning by placing rods.
Aug. 1st: Good growing weather. Corn very backward. Leander Harris, a Union veteran, and for many years a resident of this town, died, aged seventy-nine.
Sept .: Generally fair and cool. Not much rain. Some quite warm days. 22d: Frost which did little damage. It has been a good time to get second crop. There is a large crop of potatoes. Not a great many apples in this vicinity, but a good crop through- out the country. Last of October pleasant with little rain. Mrs. Warren B. Pervear died, aged seventy-five years.
Nov .: Was an unusually pleasant month, with little rain. A
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good time to do all kinds of out-door work. Last of the month cold, with ground frozen. Presidential election the 5th; a very light vote, Republican 58; Democrat 28; Prohibition 3; Joseph H. Weare, representative. 28th: Thanksgiving.
Dec. 1st: The pleasantest days of the season. Wells and springs very low. There has not been a soaking rain this year. The weather was fair and cool during the month. 12th: 5° above in the morning. But little rain during the month. About two inches of solid snow came on the 26th, which made good going for a couple of days but soon disappeared. Pleasant till close of the month.
1913.
Jan .: This month was a remarkable one; the ground was frozen but little. Farmers were seen plowing as late as the 20th. Not more than three inches of snow fell during the month. It was a good time to do out-door work. There was some complaint of lack of water for domestic purposes, as wells and springs are very low. In other sections of the state there has been an abundance of rain. Corn meal has been selling at $1.25 per cwt. Hay at the barn, $18 per ton. The wind has been from the southwest nearly all the month and quite cold. Coal has been very scarce. The local dealers did not advance the price on this account. The absence of cold weather has been favorable to those who have been short of fuel. Ice has not made of sufficient thickness for cutting which causes some anxiety. The marsh has not been frozen enough to get off hay.
Feb .: There was not snow enough to speak of during the month. There were not more than four days' sleighing. The temperature was at zero on a number of mornings. Ice cut varied from six to fourteen inches in thickness, not very good quality.
Mar .: There was little snow during this month. The coldest days of the winter were in March. Considerable rain fell. There was little frost in the ground. The roads were muddy but were settled better than usual at the end of the month. The pre- vailing wind all winter has been from the southwest. At the annual town meeting George C. Healey, George J. Curtis and Charles F. Coombs were elected selectmen; Arthur W. Brown, treasurer; F. H. Lord, town clerk. There were no snow bills paid by the town this year. A thing unknown before.
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