History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 171

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

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire > Part 171

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Manufactures of Wilton in 1885 .- In 1882 the site, where two mills had been burned, was purchased by the Colony Brothers, who erected a building of brick, one hundred and seventeen feet long, fifty-four feet wide, three stories high, with basement; boiler and engine-room on the west side and dyeing-room on the south.

The size of the mill is seven set. Early in 1883 they commenced the manufacture of woolen flannel, medium grade ; color, blue and scarlet. Number of hands employed, seventy; the power, steam and water; the mill is warmed by steam.

THE WILTON COMPANY .- Capital stock, thirty thousand dollars. Charles H. Burns, president ; John A. Spalding, treasurer ; Charles A. Burns, clerk.

Mill commenced January 1, 1883, the mannfacture of cotton warps, yarns and twine. Number of hands employed, thirty-eight; power, steam and water; the mill is warmed by steam and lighted by gasoline.

Milk has been one of the principal products of the farmers of Wilton for the last thirty years. A car was started from Wilton in 1852 for conveying milk to the Boston market. At the present time D. Whit- ing & Sons run four cars to Boston daily,-one from Hillsborough Bridge, one from Wilton, one from Milford and one from Concord, Mass.

Owing to the impossility of furnishing the right quantity for the Boston market, the loss to the milk- raisers by keeping a small quantity at home when the quantity was flush, and the inconvenience to the contractor to collect to supply the deficiency when the supply was short, induced Mr. Whiting to con- tract for more milk than the market took and work the surplus into butter and cheese.

For a few years the Messrs. Whiting have deliv- ered daily about seven thousand gallons at Boston and the surplus has ranged from about two hundred to three thousand gallons daily. For a few years

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the months that have furnished the least milk have been August and September.

The pay-day for the most of the milk they buy is about the middle of the month, for the milk of the preceding month.

The Messrs. Whiting have a saw-mill that they run several months in the year, in which, beside the board- saw, they have box-board and stave-saws and saws for sawing wood, planing-machines and machinery for making keg and-barrel heads, and for preparing the box stock ready to be nailed together. They grind in their grist-mill about one hundred and twenty-five car- loads of corn annually, which, with about one hun- dred car-loads of feed, is, a large part of it, sold to the milk-raisers. In addition, they have a large run of custom grinding. Their power is cighty horse-power steam and seventy horse-power, water. They also sell about five hundred tons of coal and three hun- dred and fifty cords of wood annually.

Levi Putnam has a saw-mill, planing-machine and turning-lathes, and manufactures trunk stock and trunks. Power, water.

Daniel Cragin has a saw-mill and machinery for manufacturing knife-trays, dry measures and sugar- boxes. He employs about six hands. Power, steam and water.

Nathan Barker, grist-mill ; Hermon Hopkins, saw- mill, clapboard and shingle machinery and turning- lathe ; J. & H. H. Livermore, saw-mill, shingle and stave machinery ; Henry O. Sargent, saw-mill and turning machinery ; James H. Holt & Son manufac- ture knobs and milk-can stopples, and have a cider- mill; Samuel W. Smith manufactures knobs; Flint & Gray, wheelwrights and carriage-makers; A. J. Parker, wheelwright and carriage-maker; Bales & Putnam, jobbing blacksmiths and carriage-smiths ; H. N. Gray & Son, jobbing blacksmiths and carriage- smiths; C. B. Smith, jobbing blacksmith and car- riage-smith ; carpenters, C. A. & H. L. Emerson, James L. Hardy, William D. Stearns, Jeremiah Dris- coll, L. A. Tyler, Edson D. Frye, J. H. Hutchinson and Albion Flint.

S. H. Dunbar, meat and vegetable market; S. A. Spalding, meat and vegetable market; Joseph Lang- dell, livery stable (has about twelve horses) ; F. P. Kent, livery stable (has about eight horses).

Wilton Savings' Bank,-Josiah Fleeman, presi- dent ; Moses Clark, treasurer.

Druggists, Dr. Henry Trevitt and H. A. Powers. STORES .- S. N. Center & Son, fancy and dry-goods, boots, shoes and groceries; George A. Carter, dry- goods, boots and shoes; David E. Proctor, flour, meal, groceries, boots, shoes, hardware,-a general assort- ment store; George W. Wallace, clothing and furnish- ing goods ; Levi W. Perkins, clothing and furnishing goods; Miss S. A. Smith, millinery and fancy goods ; A O. Barker, groceries; C. W. Edwards, groceries ; E. E. Hutchinson, groceries ; M. P. Stanton, fish and groceries ; P. Ring & Son, variety-store ; S. K. Fos- 46

ter, stoves and tinware; - Stickney, undertakers' furnishings ; Henry A. Holt, writing-desks and fancy boxes (employs, on average, five hands) ; Henry W. Hopkins and Francis B. French, writing-desks and fancy boxes.

CHAPTER X. WILTON-(Continued).

ROADS-POST-ROUTES - CARRIERS-POSTMASTERS-STAG- ING AND RAILROADS.

THE facilities of travel, intercourse and the com- munication of intelligence were, of course, in the time of our forefathers, of the most meagre kind. Roads-one of the tests of civilization-were few and poor. It might be said, as in the time of the judges in ancient Israel, that "the highways were unoccu- pied," or, rather, that highways were not yet opened, and that "the travelers walked through by-ways." Foot-paths from house to house, trails through the forests, marked by blazed trees, were the first con- veniences of the settlers ; and as roads for carriages were gradually opened, fords and ferries were slowly succeeded by bridges, and logs and rails were laid down for rough corduroy highways. The roads ran usually over the hills and shunned the valleys, as the settlers lived on the heights, and avoided the low- lands, as being marshy and damp and subject to floods, and more exposed to surprises from Indians.

It was rather remarkable, and showed the high aims of the pioneers, that while they early set apart a por- tion of the land beforehand for the support of churches and schools and public improvements, that they left the road and bridge-building to the immediate care of the settlers and the tardy votes of the town. Roads would come of themselves by stress of necessity, but the minister, the teacher and the miller must be put beyond doubt or neglect. Bread for the body and bread for the soul must be subject to no contingencies.

And in due time the roads came, as they were forced upon the public attention. But as it was, there were ten appropriations for the church and the schools where there was one for bridges and roads. These are some of the ancient records of economical appropri- ations,-

"March 9, 1767. Allowed Timothy Dale four pounds ten shillings sil- ver, old tenor, for planks for covering the bridge near Jacob Putnam's saw-mill.

" April 27, 1768. The fifth article negatived concerning raising money to rebuild the bridge near Capt. Nathan Hutchinson's mill."

But they soon thought better of it, and voted

"June 9, 1768, to raise nine pounds, lawful money, to rebuild the bridge by Capt. Nathan Hutchinson's mill, and that each person should have the liberty to work ont his rate to the sum aforesaid.

" April 25, 1770. Voted to raise twenty pounds to rebuild the bridge over the river known by the name of Parker's bridge.

"Sept. 28, 1770. T'oted to raise thirteen pounds, lawful money, to re- build Parker's bridge, so-called.

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" The following bridges allowed to be maintained by the town : Par- ker's bridge, the bridge by Capt. Nathan Hutchinson's mill, the bridge over the river by timothy Dale's, the bridge to Lyndeborough, the bridge by Jacob Putnam's saw-mill, the bridge by David Kenney's and the bridge over Gambrel brook.

"April 14, 1772. Voted to raise thirty pounds, lawful money, to re- build and repair the town bridges in said town.

" I'cted that each person taxed to said bridges should have two shillings per day, and each yoke of oxen one shilling per day.

" Voted that each person should begin their day's work at seven o'clock in the forenoon.

" Voted to raise one hundred pounds, lawful money, to be laid ont in making and repairing the highways the present year.

" Voted to allow each person taxed in town two shillings and eight pence, and each yoke of oxen one shilling and four pence per day, and each cart and each plow eight ponce per day.

" April 20, 1773. l'oted to raise fifty pounds, lawful money, for high- ways the present year. Foted to allow the same per day for men, oxen, plow and cart as the year before."

As an illustration, at a much later period, of the heavy expenses of maintaining the roads and bridges, and building new ones, the town expended in twenty- one years, from 1825 to 1846, the sum of $23,924.41 in extra sums for that purpose, besides the regular high- way tax of from six hundred to eight hundred dollars annually.

The first mail-route through Wilton was over the old County road, through the north part of the town, from Keene to Portsmouth, about 1788. The first post- rider, Ozias Silsbee, was succeeded by Messrs. Wright, Phillips and Thayer. The latter died very suddenly in Amherst, of injuries received in a playful scuffle with Mr. Cushing, the editor of the Cabinet, August 4,1807.

Mr. Daniel Gibbs succeeded Mr. Thayer, and car- ried the mail on horseback some eight years. The mail-pouch was about two feet long, and from eight to ten inches wide, but amply sufficient to carry the postal matter that passed over the road at that time. In a pair of saddle-bags he carried newspapers and express packages. He passed down through Wilton on Sunday and back on Thursday. During the War of 1812 he was accustomed to call out the news, good or bad, to those within hearing, as for instance, " Glorious news ! Commodore Perry has captured the whole British fleet on Lake Erie," or, if the news was the reverse, with a melancholy expression, "Bad news! The British have captured and burned Washington." He began to drive a wagon about 1816, and carried some passengers. He was prompt and faithful in the discharge of his duties. Mr. Gibbs died in Peterborough at the age of seventy-three, September 25, 1824, by being thrown out of his wagon at the great bridge over the Contoocook, on the rocks below.

Before the establishment of the post-office, in 1816, a number of copies of the New Hampshire Patriot, published at Concord by Isaac Hill, and one or two copies of the New Hampshire Sentinel, published at Keene by John Prentiss, were brought to subscribers in Wilton by Mr. Gibbs. But the majority of the people took the Farmers' Cabinet, published at Amherst by Richard Boylston. The subscribers in turn went

for the papers on Saturday, and they were distributed on Sunday. Mr. Boylston kept the tally, and marked the paper each week of the one whose turn was next. Letters, too, were superscribed and forwarded to "your turn next," and thus reached the post-office at Amherst. Verily, those were the primitive times.

About the time of Mr. Gibbs' death the post-route was changed from the north road to that through the middle of the town. Mr. Gibbs' son succeeded his father, and drove a two-horse carriage until 1828, July 7th, when the four-horse coach-line from Keene to Nashua was started. Different owners-Messrs. F. Lovejoy, Joseph and John Holt, T. Smith and L. Winn-were partners in this enterprise. About 1833 an accommodation line was established, and a coach ran each way through town daily. On the opening of the Boston and Lowell Railroad to Lowell, the line was ex- tended to Lowell. As the railroad was extended farther into the country, successively to Nashua, Danforth Corners, Milford, and finally to Wilton, December, 1851, the stage-line was shortened. The successive drivers, well remembered by the older inhabitants, were Messrs. John Holt, John Larch, Benjamin P. Cheney and Captain Porter. The busi- ness on this line was continued till October, 1870, when the proprietors sold out to the railroad company. The railroad to Greenfield was opened January, 1874, which took the stage-coaches on that line from Wilton after a service of about forty-six years.

The Forest road, in the north part of the town, was built in 1831. Mr. Joy, of Nashua, started, in 1832, a line of stage-coaches, which ran to Charlestown, N. H., on this road. At various periods, besides Mr. Joy, other proprietors and drivers were concerned in this enterprise,-Messrs. Woods, the Wymans, Pennock, Dane, Tarbell, Morrill, Phelps, Hall, Harrison, Howison and Prouty.

The drivers on the road, other than the proprietors, were Messrs. Leavitt, Harris, Pettengill and Sanborn.

An accident to a stage-coach on this road at one time cost the town over one hundred dollars.

After the river road from West Wilton to East Wilton was built, the stage-coaches from Keene to Nashua ran on this route for many years.

The road from Gray's Corner to Greenville was completed in 1843. Soon after, a mail-route was established on this line from Manchester to New Ips- wich. Coaches with four and two horses have been run at different times, but at present the mail is car- ried with one horse. The drivers have been Messrs. Porter, Thomas, Sanborn and Batchelder.

Soon after the railroad was opened to Greenfield, the post-route from West Wilton to East Wilton was established, and Mr. Abiel Frye carries the daily mail.

The Wilton post-office was established October 1, 1816. The following is a list of the postmasters, and the date of their appointments: John Mack, October 1, 1816 ; Elijah Stockwell, February 21, 1824; Harvey Barnes, April 4, 1826; Stephen Abbot, February 27,

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1828 ; Ezra Buss, January 4, 1837 ; Timothy Park- hurst, January 3, 1838; Isaac Blanchard, June 7, 1845; Varnum S. Holt, February 9, 1856 (the title of the office was Wilton); Varnum T. Holt, April 16, 1855 (the title of the office was Wilton Centre) ; Varnum T. Holt, April 23, 1856 ; Philander Ring, April 21, 1858 ; Henry O. Sargent, December 10, 1877 ; Ballard Pettingill, February 24, 1831; William M. Edwards, January 4, 1833; John Merrill, January 19, 1835; William M. Edwards, October 30, 1835; Ephraim Hackett, February 14, 1839; James M. Dane, Feb- ruary 17, 1842; Albert Farnsworth, July 22, 1853; Leonard Pettengill, February 28, 1854 (the title of the office was East Wilton) ; Leonard Pettengill, April 16, 1856 ; Nathan Flint, July 20, 1861; William J. Bradbury, December 14, 1869; Alfred E. Jaques, August 4, 1875 (the title of the office was Wilton).

CHAPTER XI. WILTON-(Continued).

CEMETERIES, EPIDEMICS AND NECROLOGY.

BESIDES the four cemeteries at present in Wilton, viz. : the North, Centre, and East and County Farm, there are four other private burial-places, where a few bodies have been interred.

The earliest is the spot where John Badger was buried, the first white person who died on the terri- tory now included in Wilton, "a little north of the road," as an intelligent informant stated, " running east from the Dale place, either in the field or pasture, probably in the pasture." The exact locality is now unknown.

Philip Putnam, Esq., a few years before he died, built a tomb near his house, in which he, his wife and two sons were buried.

Lieutenant John Hutchinson, his wife and two sons were buried in the lot back of his house, in the East village.

Mrs. David Cram, who died of smallpox in 1853 or 1854, was buried on the farm belonging to the family.

The following measures were early taken by the town to provide suitable interment for the dead :

June 27, 1771, "Voted to raise £1 16s. to provide a burying-cloth for said town, and chose Nathan Blanchard and Abner Stiles a committee to provide said cloth."

The first entrance on the town records relative to the burying-grounds is found in a warrant for a town- meeting, dated September 17, 1772, Article 5, as fol- lows: "To see if the town will vote to clear and fence the burying-ground in said town, and to raise money and choose a committee for that purpose."

At the meeting, October 5th, the fifth article was

dismissed ; but in a warrant for a town-meeting, May 20, 1773, is the following:

" Whereas, Mr. John Cram proposes to make a present of one-half of an acre of land for a burying-place for said town, this is, therefore, fourth- ly, to see if the town will pay Mr. John Cram eighteen shillings, L. money, for one other half-acre of land adjoining the old burying-place in said town, and for a privilege of a road or highway to the same, on his giving a conveyance of the same.

At a meeting, held June 3, 1773, it was voted to allow Mr. John Cram eighteen shillings, lawful money, for one-half acre of land, adjoining the old burying- place in said town, and the privilege of a highway to the same upon his giving conveyance of the same.

The North Burying-Ground was occupied from the early history of the town, being enlarged and im- proved from time to time.

The burying-ground near Mr. Henry Gray's was first occupied in 1809, the first interment being that of the first minister of the town, Rev. Jonathan Livermore.

Within a few years the cemetery near East Wilton was opened, and improvements and additions made to it. Many interments have been made in it.

The cemetery in the northwest part of the town was established in connection with the County Farm, and many burials of the inmates of that institution have already been made in it.

Epidemics .- Rev. Thomas Beede, in "A Topo- graphical and Historical Description of Wilton," in " Farmer and Moore's Collections," Vol. I., No. 2, June, 1822, pp. 69-72, says: "No uncommon sickness has ever been known here except in the year 1801, when a very malignant and contagious fever pre- vailed very generally among the people for a number of months, and in many instances proved mortal. It is conjectured, perhaps not without reason, that the contagion was introduced in a parcel of old feathers which had been brought in and sold by peddlers just before the fever made its appearance."

The smallpox has appeared at several times in the history of the town, but has not prevailed to any extent. Mrs. David Cram died of it in 1853-54.

Vital Statistics .- The first child born in town was a daughter of one of the first settlers, Ephraim Put- nam, by the name of Hannah, March, 1741. She was married to a Mr. Woodward, of Lyndeborough, and died there in October, 1801, in the seventy-first year of her age.

The number of deaths in Wilton in 1851 was 21; 1852, 20; 1853, 26; 1854, 27; 1855, 20; 1857, 26; 1858, 26 ; 1859, 25; 1860, 25; 1861, 16; 1862, 22; 1863, 40 ; 1864, 27 ; 1865, 25; 1866, 15; 1867, 14; 1868, 19; 1869, 31 ; 1870, 34; 1871, 31; 1872, 40; 1873, 26; 1874, 25; 1875, 31; 1876, 24; 1877, 19; 1878, 29; 1879, 34; 1880, 25; 1881, 23; 1882, 22; 1883, 24; 1884, 38.

The healthfulness of the climate may be strikingly illustrated by the low rate of mortality and also by the great longevity of many of the inhabitants. In

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a carefully-prepared list by Sewall Putnam, taken from the public records, it appears that from 1791 to 1884 one lindred and thirty persons have died of eighty years and upwards, twenty-four of ninety years and upwards, and one, Mrs. Sarah A. Holt, who died October 9, 1854, aged one hundred and three years, two months and twenty-five days.

CHAPTER XII. WILTON-(Continued).

FIRES, FLOODS, CASUALTIES, MISFORTUNES, REMARKABLE EVENTS, ETC.

WILTON has not escaped the destroyers which be- fall our modern civilization. Especially her losses by fire have been comparatively very great. Besides the repeated destruction of single houses, mills or barns, in two notable instances, in 1874 and 1881, extensive conflagrations swept over the business centre of the East village, laying waste the principal stores and public buildings. But the sufferers have uni- formly rallied, with fresh courage and energy, to repair their losses and make the place more beautiful than before. New stores and dwellings have filled the vacant lots, and a substantial and elegant town hall now occupies the site of the once spacious hotel.

But it has become, in general, a serious question how the ravages of fire can be stayed in our modern world. We have resorted to all the new measures and inventions to arrest the fearful devastation, such as steam fire-engines, paid Fire Departments, fire ex- tingnishers, quick communication by telegraph and telephone, fire signals, but millions upon millions every month are destroyed by fire throughout our land.

No wonder that, with all the toil, industry and energy of multitudes of human beings, there is still so much poverty and misery, when such wholesale destruction is constantly taking place, and the fruits of their labors are swept away in smoke and ashes. The small annual gain of income over expenses, averaging in the whole population, is said to be only about four dollars to each individual. Only by this narrow margin does our American civilization keep ahead of utter want, starvation and nakedness. He will be a great benefactor of society who shall rise equal to the occasion, and, by some yet unapplied or undiscovered instrumentality or invention, say to the devouring element, "Thus far shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy fierce flames be stayed."

Fires .- Hezekiah Hamblet's house, on the west side of the road southeast of Abiel Flint's house. James Dascomb's barn, 1774, on the south side of the road northeast of Mrs. Francis Whiting's build- ings. Wood's barn (by lightning), August 9, 1779, on the place now owned by Mrs. Curtis Blood. Uriah Smith's grist-mill and a clothing-mill, near

where Samuel Smith's knob-shop now stands, in 1781 or 1782. A school-house, near where Mrs. Henry Newell's house now stands. Deacon John Flint's house, April, 1810, northeast of Mrs. Charles White's barn. Colonel Dascomb's shop, March 21, 1829. John Parker's house, May, 1833. Wilton Company factory, February, 1839. Simeon Holt's barn (by lightning). J. Newell's first store at East Wilton. Deacon Ezra Abbot's house, 1840. Deacon William Sheldon's shop and dry-house at the West village, 1844; second fire, July 21, 1864. D. Whiting's barns (by lightning), 1846. Theron Russell's house. John F. Russell's house. Joseph Holt's house. The Batchel- der house, on the hill east of Joseph W. Stiles. David Whiting's Barrett House. Henry Putnam's Eaton House. Mrs. Charles Howard's house and barn. Abel Fisk's cider-mill, farming tools and grain, May, 1853. Jonathan Snow's house, 1856. The old meeting-house at the Centre, the second built in town, was burned December 8, 1859. A juvenile concert, given by Miss Mary Thurston, had taken place in the evening. The fire, as generally believed, set by some malicious person, broke out before midnight, and "our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, was burned up with fire, and all our beautiful things were laid waste." Mrs. Chandler's house, opposite to Gardiner & Blanch- ard's. John Frye's house and barn. Stock's house, and two children were burned in it. Nahum Child's building, where the butter-factory now stands. Wil- ton Company factory, March, 1872. Peter H. Putnam's store-house. W. P. Dunklee's shop, where C. A. & H. L. Emerson's shop stands. Spalding's cooper-shop. John Herlihey's house. Freeman's mill, built and formerly owned by Philip Putnam. Mrs. Neil's house and barn, 1873.

On December 2, 1874, a destructive conflagration swept over the East village. Beginning in a store and dwelling on Main Street, it destroyed the spacious Whitney Hotel, Masonic Hall, stores, houses and other buildings. The cause of the fire was supposed to be combustion of oil and painters' rags. Losses, about one hundred and five thousand eight hundred dollars; insurance, about fifty-five thousand dollars. J. Newell's and S. N. Center's buildings, March 15, 1876. John H. Frye's stable, opposite to the depot. Jeremiah Driscoll's house and barn, 1879.

As if one great fire was not enough, a second fire broke out January 20, 1881, and swept away stores, Masonic Hall, bank, library and houses along the most thickly-settled part of Main Street, in the East village, on nearly the same site as that of the great fire of 1874. The losses were estimated to be about fifty thousand dollars and the insurance about thirty thousand dollars. Goss Mills, formerly the French Mills, 1882. Harvey A. Whiting's barn, June 27, 1883. Harvey A. Whiting's house, 1883.

Freshets .- The greatest flood ever known in Wil- ton took place on Monday, October 4, 1869. Rain had

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fallen on Sunday and Sunday night and on Monday forenoon, but no apprehensions of a very high freshet were felt until noon, when the windows of heaven seemed to be opened and poured down sheets of water such as had never been seen before. In a very short time the streams rose to a fearful height, sweep- ing away bridges, dams, logs and mill stufls, mills and factories, gullying roads and flooding fields and meadows. Brooks became raging mountain rivers. Torrents swept down the hills. A cloud seemed to have burst over the devoted region. It continued to pour until half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, when the storm broke away and the sun came out. Only one bridge in town escaped injury. Roads were impassable for weeks. Travel was across fields and by fording streams. The woolen-factory at French village was undermined and swept down stream. The cost to Wilton of repairing roads and bridges was sixty thousand dollars.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 171

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