History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 133

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

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" It was a beautiful September morning. And now might be seen coming in by every road, and from the neighboring towns, great num- bers, men-women and children-to see the show. Some came on foot ; some practiced the method, unknown in modern days, of riding and tying ; some were on horseback, with their wives or sisters behind on a pillion. It was an occasion of universal expectation. The timbers were all prepared, the workmen ready and the master-workman, full of the dig- nity of his office, issuing his orders to his aids. All went on prosperously. The good cheer, the excitement of the work, the crowd of spectators, men looking on, women telling the news, boys playing their various games, all made it a scene of general rejoicing.

"The sides of the house were already up, and also a part of the roof at the east end of the building. One of the raisers from Lyndeborough, Captain Bradford, had brought over his wife, whom he left, on account of illness, at the place where Mr. Baldwin now resides, while he himself went on to take part in the work. Ilaving to pass along the centre of the building, he observed that the middle beam, extending across the church, was not properly supported. A post was under the centre, but it was worm-eaten and was already beginning to yield and give way under the pressure. In raising the middle part of the roof the weight of the workmen would come in great measure ou this beam, which was evidently not strong enough to bear np the timbers and men. lle immediately ascended the roof and informed the master-workman, who, being made over confident by the

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

success thus far, replied to him that if he was afraid he might go home, that they wanted no cowards there. Indignant, he immediately went down and started off for his wife with the purpose of returning home. But before he had reached Mr. Baldwin's the men had already pro- ceeded forward, confident and elated at their progress. They were swarming upon the unsupported beam and the planks and timbers which rested on it. They were raising up, with much exertion and shouts of direction and encouragement, the beams and rafters, when suddenly, as he was anxiously looking back, he saw the frame already erected trem- ble, the men shrink back aghast, the building seemed to rock for a mo- ment to and fro, and suddenly all, timbers and tools and men, rushed down together in one mingled mass in the centre. The crash was so lond a> to be heard nearly a mile. For a moment all was silent, and then the air was filled with groans and outcries and shrieks of terror. There were fifty-three men on the frame that fell. Three were instantly killed, two died very shortly afterwards, others were crippled for life, and most of them were more or less mangled or wounded.

"To understand the impression that the event made at the time, it must be remembered that the whole population of the town-men, women and children -- was scarcely five hundred. It was like so many men lost overboard from a ship at sea. It caused a general mourning, for there were few families which had not lost a friend, or connection, or some one of whose friends were not among the wounded."

This was indeed a terrible event. There are those who think the cause of the disaster was the fact that the authorities, by vote of the town, furnished one barrel of West India rum, five barrels of New Eng- land rum, one barrel of good brown sugar, half a box of good lemons and two loaves of loaf sugar.

Of course, the good people of the Milford parish had not forgotten the Wilton tragedy, and, displaying that sagacity and caution which has always distinguished its citizens, and resolving that it should not be re- peated in the history of their church, they prudently and wisely avoided lemons at their raising. They evidently recognized the necessity of having some- thing sour, and so they procured two barrels of cider, good and hard, for the occasion.

In 1771 Amherst had built and raised a meeting- house. They entertained the crowd with New Eng- land rum, and when the frame was up they had a wrestling-match.

It would therefore seem that raisings were then festive affairs. It was nearly seventy-five years from the time of the raising of the Milford meeting-house before the custom of furnishing intoxicating liquors at a raising was wholly discontinued. For more than half a century the propriety of it has been questioned by many right-thinking people, and happily now the disgraceful practice is unknown, probably, throughout New England.

David Goodwin, one of the very excellent citizens of Milford, now dead, who, by vote of the town, March 11, 1862, was chosen town historian, to record the events of the Civil War as connected with Milford, and to whose gleanings, through the courtesy of his family, the writer is indebted for many facts contained in this sketch, was the first to attack this practice in Milford. In 1830, being about to raise the frame of his dwell- ing-house, wishing to encourage the temperance cause which had begun to be agitated throughout the county, he "ventured to try," as he says, "the experiment of raising the frame by the aid of a substitute for ardent spirit, previous notice being given to that effect. It

proved completely successful. Others followed the example, and now it would be considered disreputable if any one should presume to furnish any kind of distilled liquor at a raising."

All honor to David Goodwin and those who acted with him in bringing about a new public sentiment which stamped as disreputable a practice of long standing, which had not only killed men with falling timbers at public raisings, but had afforded innumer- able opportunities and inducements to form a habit which had for years borne an annual crop of poverty, distress and death !

The first church structure in time was completed. What hard work it was to accomplish the task can with difficulty be understood. September 2, 1784, the parish voted "to board and shingle the meeting-honse frame, and that the job be let out to the lowest bidder." Benjamin Hopkins gave the nails. Many others con- tributed in small ways toward the erection of the first temple in the parish. It was a perfectly plain build- ing at first ; but March 17, 1785, it was determined "to have porches," and " that the work be done at three shillings per day." In size the house was made, agreeably to vote, " the same as the meeting-house in the northwest parish of Amherst," now Mont Vernon.

This first church in Milford possesses great interest to us now, for it was for a long time the town-house. The town appropriated money and was taxed as regu- larly for preaching in this church as for schools. In- deed, the annual appropriation for many years was larger for the former than the latter. At the first town-meeting, held, as before stated, March 4, 1794, they voted forty pounds or one hundred and thirty- three dollars for schooling and seventy-five pounds or two hundred and fifty dollars for preaching, and this was followed up for many years. The town really owned the church. There was but one parish in the whole township.

The interior construction of the house was after the fashion that prevailed in those times. For a while there were three porches through which the building was entered, one each on the east, west and south, which was the front entrance. In 1802 the west porch was taken off and removed to the bank of the Souhegan, upon Mr. Knowlton's land, and has been used since for a shoe-shop. On the north side of the house was the great pulpit. It probably had a sounding-board, as the Wilton meeting-house had, and as the Old South Church, Boston, had and has. In 1802 the town built a belfry " similar to that in Francestown." and soon after Mr. Perkins Nichols, of Boston, a na- tive of Amherst, presented the town with a bell which weighed eight hundred pounds and cost four hundred dollars. It still hangs in the tower of the old town- house. The pews were large square pens, with seats which could be raised up and let fall after prayer in a way that would leave no room for doubt that some- thing had occurred. It had a gallery on three sides, arranged also into square and long pews.

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MILFORD.

It took ten years to build this meeting-house, but it was at last accomplished, and the old church, acting in the double capacity of a place for worship and for town transactions, amply repaid its builders by its great work, faithfully done, through several genera- tions.

It stood where it was built until the summer of 1847, when it was removed about four rods to the northeast of its original location and fitted for a town hall. Under the town hall, stores were put in, while in the basement there was an engine-house, lobby, etc. The Congregational Church, which assisted in building it, sold its interest to the town, and thereupon pro- ceeded to erect a new and more commodious structure, and located it where it now stands, having since en- larged it, built a vestry and adorned the grounds around it with beautiful elms. Later on a brief résumé of its more recent history will be given, as well as that of the town hall.

The first bridge built by Milford was on the spot where the arch bridge now stands, and was put in place of one which had been carried away by a freshet, the first one, which was a wooden bridge, having been placed there in 1783. The new bridge, built in 1808, was called the Ball Bridge, on account of the white balls on its four corner-posts, and was eighteen feet wide, with one pier in the middle, and cost two hundred and sixty dollars.

March 30, 1795, Milford sent its first representative to the Legislature, but not alone, for it was classed for that purpose with Raby (now Brookline). William Peabody was elected for one year. Hereinafter will be found a list of all the men who have since then acted as representatives and senators of Milford in the General Court of the Granite State. It will be seen that the first representative elected by Milford alone was Augustus Blanchard, who was chosen in 1799. This same Augustus Blanchard was also, as appears, the first parish elerk.

The "King's Highway."-About the first work that the early settlers of a country have to do, if they are ambitious to become civilized, is to establish and build highways and bridges. Highways, like steam- ships and railroads, being the indispensable promoters of trade and commerce, do more to advance and spread civilization than all other secular agencies employed by man. This fact seems to have impressed itself upon the minds of the New England settlers. They gave unremitting attention to the building of roads and bridges. After the log hut came, at the earliest possible moment, the traveled path leading to it. It soon widened into a broad highway. There was no hill so steep and no barrier so impassable as to prevent its approach. This traveled path always had a habitation at each end and frequently along its sides. It was a sure indication of business and social life. It was the forerunner and herald of the church, the school, the store, the village and trade. It signi- fied commerce, a state and finally a nation.

The first settlers of Milford began at once to lay out and build convenient highways.

Probably the first highway in the territory of Mil- ford originated in the path, and is the one on the south side of Souhegan River, and is the old road leading from Portsmouth to New Ipswich. If there ever was a record of its laying out, it was burned at Portsmouth. It is the same old highway over which old Mr. Gibbs traveled, carrying the United States mail in his sad- dle-bags. The first bridge on this highway, between Milford and Wilton, was built agreeably to an act of the General Court, passed April 2, 1779, " to oblige the County of Hillsborough to build and maintain a bridge across the Souhegan River in the Mile Slip, so called." It was subsequently, in 1835, rebuilt by the town, and is one of Lang's patent three-truss bridges. It is called the "County bridge." The next high- way, in point of time, is the one on the north side of the Souhegan, leading also from Milford to Wilton. There are other highways in town whose history it is now impossible to trace, many coming into existence by long-continued use and without any formal laying out, as it is called. They were es- tablished, and had been for years, when the town secured its charter.

In 1847 the road from the stone bridge past the hotel was laid out and built on the west side of the common. Franklin Street was also built by the town the same year. In 1850 the foot-bridge across the Souhegan was built, the town appropriating one hun- dred dollars and the balance raised by subscription, the subscribers having the right to act with select- men in locating it.

In 1845 a granite bridge across the Souhegan, in place of Shepard's bridge, was commenced, and fin- ished at an expense of two thousand dollars, but it was not satisfactory, and the next year it was made over in a more substantial and thorough manner at a total cost of five thousand dollars, completing one of the finest bridges in the State.

The bridge across the Souhegan at Jones' Crossing was built in 1872. It is a thorough and handsome structure. March, 1874, the town voted to name the streets, and Charles B. Tuttle was chosen to do it. Street lamps were first put up in 1875.

Settlement of Humphrey Moore .- Down to 1802 the one church of the town had been without auy set- tled pastor. It had made many attempts, but none seemed tosuit. April 26, 1802, the town voted to con- cur with the church in giving Rev. Humphrey Moore a call to settle with them as their minister, with the then tempting offer of six hundred dollars settlement, four hundred dollars annually and two hundred dol- lars annually after he should become superannuated.

Humphrey Moore was a native of Princeton, Mass., and was graduated at Harvard College in 1800. He was a man of mark. For more than a third of a century he was a moral, religious and intellectual force in Milford and towns about. He was orthodox

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

through and through. He preached " the word " as he understood it, without extenuating, changing or abating one jot or tittle. It mattered not who it hit or where it cut, he applied it to every question and phase of life, and whatever and whoever could not stand that test was rejected by him.

This was the character of the man whom the town and church invited to become their minister.

His reply to their invitation was not only character- istic of the man, but of the times in which he lived. It was as follows :

" MILFORD, Aug. 2, 1802.

" Men and Brethren :

"Having received your invitation to take the pastoral care of the flock in this place, I feel myself under obligations to make you my grateful acknowledgments for the honor of your general approbation.

" After much deliberation, with diffidence in myself, with hope of your candor, of your tenderness and long forbearance with an inexperi- enced youth, with hope of the continuance of your present peace and unanimity, and with dependence upon God for wisdom profitable to di- rect, I give my answer in the affirmative.

"H. MOORE."

This, it will be observed, was directed to " men and brethren." The "mothers in Israel " were left out. In those days these " mothers" were not allowed to teach in the common schools, to lead in public prayer or take any active part in religious worship. They could listen and learn. It was the " men and breth- ren " upon whose broad shoulders the pillars of church and state rested. It is only a few years since a Pres- byterian minister was arraigned by his denomination because he dared to permit a woman to tell the story of the cross from the top of the pulpit-stairs. But all this is now changed; fortunately for the church, women are not only permitted, but urged to lead in public religious work. The modern church, if it de- pended solely upon the "men and brethren " to do Christian work, would soon languish into utter inac- tivity and would be powerless.

The call and acceptance being accomplished, it be- came necessary to settle Mr. Moore firmly and for- mally amidst his people. He must be publicly en- trusted, after the manner of the church, with "the pastoral care of the flock." In other words, he must be ordained. This occurred October 13, 1802.

The ordination of a minister at that time, like the raising of a meeting-house, was a great event. It at- tracted always the whole population. Everybody at- tended,-the old, young, rich, poor, the religious and irreligious. Mr. Moore's ordination was particularly important. He was the first minister the town of Milford ever had. The church had given audience to some seventy different candidates. He was the picked man among the seventy. The people were anxious to see him, and they wanted to see each other, and they all knew that everybody would be there. The town had made liberal appropriation for his salary. Everybody was to be taxed, and of course they wanted to see the man on whose account they were to be assessed. The day came, and the popu- lace came. The church wasn't big enough to hold

them. They took out the windows and built a plat- form outside for the accommodation of those who couldn't get in. It was on a superb October day. The exercises of ordination were impressive. First they had an anthem. Rev. Ebenezer Hill, of Mason, made the introductory prayer. The Rev. Elijah Dunbar, of Peterborough, delivered a sermon from Luke ix. 60. The ordaining prayer was by Rev. Jacob Burnap, of Merrimack ; the charge by Rev. Jeremiah Barnard, of Amherst ; concluding prayer by Rev. Lemuel Wadsworth, of Brookline; and the bene- diction by Mr. Moore.

The surrounding towns were mostly represented. Possibly Wilton wasn't orthodox enough to have a hand in the ordination exercises.

Now, while these exercises were going on there were certain small performances, like side-shows to a circus, near by. In a building south of the common, and opposite the meeting-house, which is now owned by Mr. Wallace, and which contained the first store in Milford, there was a small hall. In this hall the young people assembled while the ordination services were progressing, and had a social dance, and Parson Moore said he " could hear the music." Who will say that the music and the dancing were not graceful and harmless expressions of honest delight in the fortunate advent of the new minister in the new town, which he greatly honored in his splendid career of a third of a century ?

During his ministry three hundred and thirty-five additions to the church were made, and although dis- missed March 9, 1836, he remained in Milford and died in his parish, April 8, 1871, at the age of ninety- three. He was a man of wit and wisdom, piety and brains. His life was unblemished and his character without a stain.

At the time of Mr. Moore's settlement there was probably a population in the town of eight or nine hundred people. There was but one church, and all worshiped under the same roof. This con- tinued down to 1809. The new minister, therefore, had a good audience to confront each Sabbath morn- ing, and he generally satisfied them. Gradually new sects and other churches worked into the town and commanded a share of public attention.

CHAPTER III.

MILFORD-(Continued).

Churches-Baptist-Congregational-Unitarian-Methodist -Catholic- Schools-Lyceum-Newspapers-Library.

First Baptist Church of Milford .- As a number of persons living in Milford and vicinity, had em- braced Baptist views, united with the Baptist Church in Mason, and as Mason was too hard to reach, they were permitted by that church to associate together and enjoy church privileges in Milford, and were designated as a " Branch of Mason Church."

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MILFORD.

In June, 1809, they petitioned the Mason Church to be set off as a distinct and independent church. Accordingly, a council was called from the following churches, viz .: Second Baptist Church in Boston, Baptist Churches in Dublin, New Boston and Weare, together with the church in Mason, which proceeded, on the 5th of September, 1809, to organize "The First Baptist Church in Milford," and adopted a con- stitution, articles of faith and by-laws. It then consisted of thirty-one members ; since then seven hundred and eighty-five persons have united with the church, making a total of eight hundred and six- teen. Present membership (January 10, 1885), two hundred and eighty. The church was connected with the Boston Baptist Association until the Milford Baptist Association was formed, October 15, 1828. The report they made at the first session of the asso- ciation was "that they had enjoyed an interesting revival within the past year which still continues. Twelve have been baptized. The season has been truly refreshing. The church has done more for the cause of missions than in any preceding year. They recommend entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits, and have, in many instances, set the example. They have a Sabbath-school of about sixty scholars and propose to continue it through the winter."

The largest number that have united with the church in any one year was sixty-one in 1831. Their place of worship during the first eight years was the school-house in District No. 2.

Rev. William Elliott had the pastoral care of the church the first three years of its existence, preaching for them on the first Sabbath of each month. The church was supplied with preaching by several minis- ters, a short time each, until 1812, when George Evans, a licensed preacher from South Reading, Mass., commenced his labors with them, and con- tinued to preach for them until 1817.

The settled pastors have been, and in the order, as follows, viz. : Ezra Wilmarth, one year ; Matthew Bolles, four years ; George Evans, two years ; Samuel Everett, eight years; Mark Carpenter, seven years; J. G. Richardson, four years ; Orrin O. Stearns, three years ; Ira Person, five years ; Edward Anderson, five years ; J. W. Horton, three years; W. B. Clapp, one year ; J. D. Tilton, seven years; R. B. Moody, six years; L. J. Deane, two years; H. W. Tate, present pastor.

Deacon Isaac Bartlett, a deacon of the Mason Church, officiated in like capacity in the " Branch of Mason Church " until it was organized in due form. Andrew Hutchinson and Ebenezer Pearson were or- dained deacons, and officiated until disqualified by the infirmities of age. Their successors have been William Wallace, Abner H. Bartlett (son of Isaac B.), George F. Bartlett (son of Abner H.), Aaron Mills, William P. Colburn.

The clerks have been Andrew Hutchinson, Joel Howe, W. Wallace, George F. Bartlett, W. N. Harts-

horn, William P. Heald, David Goodwin, J. M. Stanyan, E. J. Parker, George A. Worcester. Trea- surers, Andrew Hutchinson, E. Pearson, Benjamin Goodwin, John Mace, Daniel Putnam, Daniel Cram, Calvin Averill, Jeremiah Hood, A. Mills, George Melendy, Mrs. G. A. Worcester.

By an act of the New Hampshire Legislature, the First Baptist Society in Milford was incorporated June 7, 1813. Their meeting-house was built in 1816 (on the hill, about thirty-five rods northwest of the stone bridge, upon the lot now owned by G. A. Wor- eester), at a cost of about three thousand dollars. It was originally fifty-four by forty-two feet, without tower, with square pews, high pulpit,-so high that a man could stand under the front part of it, which was supported by two fluted pillars, and had a flight of stairs to get into it. There were wide galleries, with a row of pews against the wall and free seats in front. After the frame was raised, boarded and shingled it was used for a while before being finished. The finished house was dedicated February 11, 1817 (the same day George Evans was ordained), the ser- mons upon the occasion being preached by Rev. Drs. Baldwin and Sharp, of Boston.

In 1836 it was moved from the hill to its present location, and a vestry finished underneath it. In 1846 it was enlarged by the addition of fifteen feet to the front, and a tower built, the pulpit reduced in height, the galleries reduced in width, the old pews removed and modern "slips" substituted, all at a cost of abont seventeen hundred dollars.

In 1856 a bell was hung in the tower, weighing fourteen hundred and fifty-one pounds, and costing thirty-two cents per pound without the hanging. The total cost was abont five hundred dollars.

In 1874 the pews were relinquished by the owners to the society, and a lot of land more centrally located was purchased, and work upon a new church commenced June 3, 1874, and completed and dedi- cated January 21, 1875, Rev. Dr. Lorrimer, of Boston, preaching the sermon. The edifice is commodious, being fifty-five by eighty feet, with a spire one hun- (red and fifty feet high, and contains all the modern arrangements for comfort and usefulness, and was erected at a cost of twenty-two thousand dollars, the old house being meanwhile sold to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 133

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168