History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 42

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

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From the close of the Revolutionary War to the close of the century (1800) the farmers of this town increased, not only in numbers, but in the conveni- ences and enjoyments of home-life. Food and eloth- ing became abundant. In winter the outside, home- made woolen frock of striped blue and white, put on over the head, buttoning at the neck and reaching to the knees, was universally worn by the farmers and their boys. For a time they were worn at public gatherings, and when Parson Kidder was once called upon to open a town-meeting with prayer, he said that half an acre of striped frocking rose up before him. Schools in winter began to be fully attended by boys and girls, many of whom were of adult size and years. Chirography and orthography received increased attention. The town records of Dunstable show a neatness and facility in penmanship which do not suffer in comparison with that of to-day. There were few text-books in use. The reading-books then used were the New England Primer, with its rude cuts of Adam and Eve, Jonah and the Whale, and rustic rhymes, such as

" In Adam's fall We sinned all,"

the Psalms and the New Testament. Dilworth's spelling-book was used by the more advanced pupils. In arithmetic, instruction did not extend beyond the four "fundamental rules," reduction and simple in- terest. No text-book was used, but the schoolmaster wrote the "sums" on each individual slate. Unfor- tunately, the black-board was unknown. Accuracy in the use of language was sometimes taught verbally, but neither grammar nor geography were recognized studies.

Hunting during the fall months afforded some sup- plies to the farmers. Raccoons and gray squirrels had not only a fine relish for the breakfast table, but their depredations in the corn-fields made it necessary to entrap them. Partridges and pigeons were also numerous. In November and December the fur-

bearing animals were sought after, and chicfly by traps. "The first dollar I could call my own," said Jonathan Whiting, "was obtained by the sale of two mink skins, caught in Hassell's Brook."

The catching of fish was for many years after the Revolution a great source of supply for food to the inhabitants. In the Merrimack River the fishing season began with the first appearance of the apple blossoms. With the Indians Amoskeag Falls was the most noted place for catching shad and salmon, and next in importance were the small streams, like Cohas, Pennichuck and Salmon Brooks. But the use of large seines, stretching across the entire river, enabled the whites to scoop in these migratory fish at almost any point along the river where there was a smooth bottom. It seems almost incredible what quantities of fish came up the Merrimack in the month of May. In Dunstable the leading resort was in the smooth water about half a mile this side of the State line. Nearly as many were taken just below the mouth of the Pennichuck. It was a common saying with those families whose meat barrels were apt to be scanty, " We hope meat will last till fish comes, and fish last till meat comes." The alewives were taken with a scoop-net ; the eels by an eel-pot of wieker-work set in the falls of smaller streams. Salmon and shad were taken by both, the net being used at falls and in swift water, and the seine in the river. In the smaller streams the fish continued to be caught until the middle of June.

Regular fishing companies were organized at various points on the river, and the expense of twine, ropes, cord, lead, with boats and oars, was about one hun- dred and twenty dollars for a first-class seine. When these large seines were first used, in 1762, over one thousand shad were taken at a single haul. Twelve men were required to use one of them, and when filled with a ton of live fish it required their utmost exertion. Hundreds of people from adjacent towns would come to buy for their families, and good-sized shad could sometimes be bought for two dollars per hundred. There was a marked diminution of fish in later years, and in 1793 the Legislature of this State enacted laws regulating the taking of fish by provi- ding that during a certain part of every twenty-four hours the Merrimack waters should be. undisturbed. The number, however, continued to diminish, so that in 1812 not more than fifty salmon were often taken in the most lucky haul. More or less, however, were taken till the obstruction of mill-dams at Lowell, about 1824, prevented their annual migration. The last shad taken in Dunstable were from the bend in the Nashua River, just above the iron bridge on Canal Street, in 1839.

Several of the winters between 1790 and 1800 abounded with deep snows. In 1792 the snow re- mained till the middle of May, but, melting suddenly, was followed by a warm and productive summer. The spring of 1794 opened unusually early; but on

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the 17th of May there came the most destructive frost recorded in the history of this State. The young apples and other fruit were formed, the rye headed, and other erops so far advanced as to be exposed. The frost was very severe, and entirely destroyed the fruit and the English grain crops of that year. The corn and hay crops, however, were abundant.

Meanwhile, some of the men who had taken the lead in the military and civil affairs of the town and State were passing away. On the 16th of July, 1788, Hon. Jonathan Blanchard died at the age of fifty. He was descended from a long line of honorable an- cestry. His father and grandfather had been men of note and influence in colonial history. His father died when he was in his twentieth year, and he at once took his place as surveyor and proprietor's clerk. When the contest arose between the British govern- ment and the colonies Mr. Blanchard became an active and earnest advocate of the American cause. He was a member of the Continental Congress at the time of his death. His residence was at the old family mansion, one hundred yards southwest of the brick school-house on the Lowell road and near the cemetery where he was buried. His widow survived till 1811.

In 1792, Jonathan Lovewell, Esq., brother of Cap- tain John Lovewell, the Indian fighter, died at the age of seventy-nine. Early in life he took a prom- inent part in public affairs. He served in the last of the French and Indian Wars and afterwards took an active part in the War of the Revolution. At the close of the war he was a member of the convention which framed the State Constitution, and after its adoption was for several years a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was never married. In his religious views he was an Arminian, a follower of George Whitefield.

During the first century of the history of Dun- stable the two most prominent families were the Lovewells and the Blanchards. Both of them have disappeared from Nashua, so far as regards the actual name. In local affairs they were at times antagonistic, but on State and national interests they were too patriotie and liberty-loving to be otherwise than harmonious. The Lovewell family first at- tained celebrity by the Pequawket fight. The Blanch- ards became widely known as surveyors of wild lands, and traversed most of the western and north- ern towns of this county before they were settled by the white people.

CHAPTER X. NASHUA-(Continued).

DUNSTABLE FROM 1800 TO 1820.

Olden-Time Vehicles and Tools-Women's Labors-Dunstable "Barrens" -The Farmers' Yearly Trip-Deacon Hunt's Inn -- Dunstable Tavern- Keepers-" Flip and Black-Strap"-Bar-room Discussions -- " Uncle Joe"-Birth of "Nashua Village "-Gradual Growth -- Cold Sunner of 1816-Meeting-House Raising-The Old ('ider Mills-Iluskings,

AFTER the close of the Revolutionary War the AAmerican people found themselves essentially an

agricultural community, with scarcely any commerce or manufactories. Steam as a motive-power was un- known. Water-power was only used for sawing lumber and grinding grain. Farming implements, furniture, carriages, clothing, in brief, everything, was made by hand labor. Tools of all kinds were crude and unwieldy. The plow was a rude imple- ment, furnished at a greater cost and worked by double the strength required at this time. The strength of woman's foot turned the wheel, the skill of her fingers spun the thread, and the power of her arm drove the shuttle; the hand-saw, the "pod " anger, the gouge and chisel were the perfection of mechanical tools ; and the two-wheeled eart the best vehicle for transportation. Experimental improve- ments did not succeed at once. When the first four- wheeled wagon came to this town the driver found no space large enough to enable him to turn around till he reached the "triangle" opposite Mrs. Godfrey's residence.

The year 1800 found the Dunstable people with very few of modern conveniences. There was no post-office, no mails, no library, a weekly two-horse stage-coach and less than a score of weekly newspapers. Whether for the better or worse, there were no lawyer, no doctor and only one clergyman. Nor was it inereas- ing in population as rapidly as the towns more recently settled to the north and west. Amherst had three times the population of this town, and Peterborough, Hillsborough, Antrim, Milford, Weare and New Bos- ton had surpassed it in numbers and were rapidly acquiring the thrift which peace, industry and frugal- ity are sure to bring. The seaboard towns of Eastern Massachusetts had little of the commerce and none of the manufactories of later times, and their surplus population were seeking homes among the rounded hills of Central New Hampshire.

The reader of to-day may not fully understand why, eighty and ninety years ago, the upper towns were growing more rapidly than Dunstable. The better soil of this town was already occupied. The ex- tended plain embracing all the central portion of the township, and on the eastern part of which the city of Nashua now stands, was covered with a native growth of serub pine, and the sandy soil on which it rested was really of little value. "Dunstable Plains " were often the subject of much merriment to peo- ple of other sections, as it seemed to them the em- bodiment of the idea of poverty of soil. Mr. Fox, in his history, relates that some wicked wag in our Leg- islature once undertook to disparage our soil, declar- ing that "it would not support a chipping squirrel to the acre," and capped the elimax of his oratory by relating the story "that a grasshopper was once seen perched upon the top of a dry mullein-stalk, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, looking in vain to discover one blade of green grass to allay his hunger."

Meanwhile, with little addition from abroad, there

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was a desirable increase from the growth of resident families. A majority of the households could boast of eight to ten children, and the seven school districts into which the town was divided had, in 1800, an average of forty scholars. New dwellings and larger barns were built, and on the river road one-half of the residences were the large, square, two-story farm- houses, of which quite a number still exist. The far- mers in winter carried the products of the farm- pork, poultry, butter, cheese, wool and grain-to the seaboard markets with their own teams. Boston was not then the sole commercial port of Massachusetts, but Salem and Newburyport were successfully com- peting with her for the West and East Indian trade. A large majority of the products of Hillsborough County eighty years ago were carried to Salem and Newburyport.

The annual winter excursion of the farmer to the seaboard market was quite an event to him and his family. The well-fed ox-team and well-loaded sled left before dawn. It was a two-days' drive to reach either of the seaboard towns. The third day was busily occupied in making a sale and loading up sup- plies for the coming year. It consisted of a few bushels of salt, a few farming tools, some needed crockery, tin and iron-wares, a few pounds of tea, a few yards of cotton cloth, a supply of pins, needles and buttons, a bundle of dry cod-fish, a dozen pounds of brown sugar, a keg of West India molasses and a keg of Medford rum.

If the means of the farmer were not exhausted, he bought for himself a wool hat and red bandanna handkerchief, and for his wife or eldest daughter a string of thirty-six gold beads, some school-books for the older and a few simple toys for the younger chil- dren. If the weather was fair he reached home on the fifth day, soon after darkness set in. His arrival was anxiously awaited. While taking care of his tired oxen the less weighty articles were carried into the kitchen, and the farmer sat down to a steaming hot supper, during which the leading incidents of the trip were related to intent listeners. Afterwards the heavier purchases were brought in, and the evening hours glided away in narrating the particulars of a trip as eventful as an overland excursion of to-day to San Francisco.

The valley of the Merrimack then, as now, afforded a natural thoroughfare for a large part of New Hamp- shire to the markets on the sea-coast. Though there was a limited supply of money in circulation, the amount of barter trade began to be of some import- anee before the Revolution, and rapidly increased after its close. During the first ten years of the present century the European wars gave an impetus to New England commerce, and the products of the farm were in fair demand. The farmers who had taken up and were clearing new lands among the hill- ranges which lie between the Merrimack and the Connecticut Valleys were in extreme need of axes,

plows, chains and numerous other articles of out-door and in-door use. Those who had already secured im- proved farms had ample wants to be supplied, and thus each succeeding year witnessed an additional amount of travel through Dunstable from the up- country. This gradually led to a system of hostelry on the river road, so extensive as to be not only a source of profit, but a social influence. The old- fashioned tavern is known to the young people of to- day only in a legendary sense, but from 1775 to 1825 it was practically an institution of marked promi- nence in this town.

The first tavern in Dunstable for the accommoda- tion of the up-country people and their teams was opened by Deacon William IFunt in 1759. It was a large, square, two-story house, and stood on the east side of the Lowell road, two and a half miles below the city hall, on the site of the present " Elm House." The two barns, forming a right-angle, were on the opposite side of the road. Deacon Hunt was a man of worth and ability. He was for many years a town official and a member of the State Convention which, in 1788, ratified the national constitution. Genial, but not loquacious, he was a popular inn-keeper, and in the winter often twenty or more wayfarers sought repose for themselves and their teams at his hostelry. We must not omit to mention that the deacon, though a church official, kept a bar, which was well supplied with Medford rum. The temperance sentiment had not then been developed in New England. "Flip " was the high-toned beverage of those days; but " black-strap," a compound of rum and brown sugar, sold at three cents a glass, was the usual beverage of the farmer and teamster. The flimsy subterfuges of modern times were not needed, and the deacon's decanters stood boldly on the shelf inviting patron- age.

There would have been more drinking had money been plenty and the times less serious. But the pub- lie mind was excited, and often when night set in the Blanchards, Lovewells, Lunds and many of the citi- zens gathered at Deacon Hunt's spacious bar-room to discuss the state of the country and the events of the day. There was no division of opinion. The tyranny of King George, the Stamp Act and the Tea Tax were vigorously denounced.

When the Revolutionary War was ended the rapid inerease of travel led to an increase of taverns. Cap- tain Benjamin French opened a public-house near the Tyngsborough line, where Alfred P. Kendall now lives. It was a good location. Timothy Taylor kept the first tavern on the north side of the Nashua River, and the building is the ell of the present Indian Head House ; while Cummings Pollard, at the "Centre,"" offered shelter for man and beast on the premises now occupied by Mrs. Godfrey.

In 1801 the travel ou this line of road received a new impulse from the completion of the second New Hampshire turnpike, which extended from Clare-

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

mont to Amherst. Teams from a portion of Central Vermont began to pass over this route, and instead of the two-horse coach of Joseph Wheat, which made a weekly trip from Amherst to' Boston and back with- out a change of horses, a line of four-horse coaches be- gan to run tri-weekly from Windsor, Vt., to Boston, returning on alternate days. Large droves of cattle and sheep went to market over the road, and the amount of freight in both directions soon became so large that six-horse teams were employed at all sea- sons of the year. Ox-teams grew out of use, and when the farmer, ignoring the professional teamster, still continued in winter to take his own produce to market, he used the double "pung" with steel shoes an inch thick.

The winter was still the harvest-time of the Dun- stable tavern-keepers. It was essential to give a com- fortable, home-like aspect to the premises. The first : went no farther than the conventional glass. But requisite was a bar-room of ample size, and a fire- with many the habit grew into an over-mastering ap- petite. There were not a few men in Dunstable who became drunkards, bringing upon themselves financial and physical ruin under the influence of a custom which at that time was sanctioned by the church and ministry. place in winter equally ample, from which in cold weather the oak-wood fire should send forth its glow- ing warmth. The floor was well swept, and the old clock ticked slowly in the corner, and at one end of the room was the alluring bar, with its row of decanters on the shelf behind, while the tin drainer on the counter had a display of tumblers, mugs and toddy- sticks. In the fire-place the loggerhead was kept at white heat to do speedy service when needed. There were days in December and January when an un- broken procession, a mile in length of two, four and six-horse teams left the Dunstable taverns for the lower markets, and a like procession started for the up-country. There were in 1808 nine taverns between the Indian Head House and the Massachusetts line, and their reputation for good cheer was such that the Vermont teamsters usually contrived to be over- taken by night in their vicinity.

No doubt there were jovial nights at these old-time hostelries when, after a hard day's drive, the teamsters, having sheltered and fed their tired horses, sat down in front of a blazing fire to recount the incidents of the day, the probabilities of the weather and the ruling prices of the market. After supper, the drought of the summer, the superiority of Vermont farms and horses, and the probabilities of a war with England were debated till the ten strokes of the old clock announced the hour for sleep.

But there were other gatherings at these old-time taverns than those of the traveling public. The far- mers of that day had few sources of general informa- tion. During the heavy suows of the winter they would gather in the afternoon at some central bar- room and talk of local news,-the marriages, births, deaths, sickness and accidents of the vicinity, and of those among their down-country friends, the land from whence they came, and to which they made occasional pilgrimages. These were not mere gatherings of bar- room loafers, but of industrious and honest farmers, dressed in sheeps' gray frocks, reaching just below the

knees, the enterprising and shrewd business men of the town ; and the ambitious young politicians came together to discuss questions of town management, to spout, talk and wrangle about the laying out of roads, the building of bridges, the locating of school-houses and the building of a new meeting-house. It was here that many a young man took his initiation in public speaking, and felt his first aspiration for public office and honors.

But with all the advantages of the old-time taverns in entertaining the traveling public, the bar was then, as now, the cause of suffering to many families, and of ruin to many a man of feeble will and strong appetite. Such was the custom of those days, every- body drank a glass of flip, egg-nog or some cheaper mixture of Medford rum before leaving the tavern for home. Men of strong will and thoughtful self-respect

The toper of eighty years ago had the peculiarities of the inebriate of to-day, and resorted to the same pretexts. "Uncle Joe," as he was familiarly called, had been reduced to penury by his bibatory habits. The landlord at the "Centre " village could get his pay for drink only by chores. Uncle Joe on his way to dinner passed by the tavern daily, and the habit of taking an appetizing dram had become irresistible. But the landlord grew tired and refused to supply him unless he could give a satisfactory reason why he should be gratified. Uncle Joe's ingenuity was now taxed to the utmost, but a bad cold, rheumatism, no appetite, a weak stomach and a long catalogue of excuses for a time answered. At length he was driven to a repetition of his list of maladies. The landlord saw his opportunity, and indignantly ordered Uncle Joe not to call for another drink till he could name a sufficient cause for so doing. For two days he passed the tavern without calling, but on the third he walked up the bar with a sad countenance. "Land- lord," said Uncle Joe, "I must have a drink to-day, for my wife is going to have salt fish for dinner !"

The year 1803 was the beginning of a new era in the history of Dunstable. Hitherto the only sem- blance to a village in the town was at the " Centre," as the cluster of houses at the old meeting-house was called. It was really up to this time the business centre for the townspeople, having a tavern, store, three or four shops and several dwellings. The new post-office, just established, was also located there. But during the previous year Robert Fletcher had started a store at Indian Head, Timothy Taylor had already opened a tavern, John Lund had a dwelling- house where G. W. Perham now resides, and several new buildings were this season in progress. Added

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to this, Mr. Fletcher completed in June a canal-boat, of singular structure, for the transportation of goods on the Merrimack River. The enterprise was favor- ably regarded. It was launched on the 4th of July, and the event was celebrated by a public meeting with an oration by Daniel Abbott, a young lawyer, who had just opened an office at the Centre.

A landing was fitted up for the boat near the june- tion of the Nashua River with the Merrimack. With due ceremony it was named the "Nashua," and the new village, a mile up the river westward, which had hitherto been known as "Indian Head," received for the first time the name of Nashua village.

The village thus incorporated had its earliest build- ings around Abbott Square. But the tendency of business was toward the river. In September of 1803 the long, low building afterwards known as the " Old Tontine " was built, and soon after occupied by Daniel Abbott, who removed his office from the Cen- tre ; by Dr. Elias Maynard, physician ; Deacon James Patterson, bookbinder; and Joseph Clements, saddler. This building stood near the head of what is now called Main Street, and from it two roads led north- ward,-one directly north toward Concord, the other northwest toward Amherst. These three were the only highways then existing, except a rough road down the north bank of Nashua River to the boat- house and ferries.

At the Harbor in 1803 there were only three dwell- ing-houses. On the south side of the Salmon Brook there were two small cottages; while on the north side, more than forty years before, General Noah Love- well had built the two-story house he still occupied. Afterwards it was for many years the residence of Hon. Jesse Bowers. It is on the east side of Main Street, close to the brook, and is the oldest two-story dwelling-house in the city, having been built in 1759. The entire frame and much of the other materials of this house were taken from what was known as the " Bird meeting-house," which was built by Jonathan Lovewell and others in 1747. The front-door is to-day the same as when it was taken from the meeting-house, retaining its unusual width and antiquated panels.

In 1803 there was an unbroken forest of dwarf pines from General Lovewell's house to the north side of Nashua River. Mrs. Elizabeth Butterfield, now in her ninety-first year, was at that time eight years of age, and lived with her parents on the south side of Salmon Brook. She very distinctly remembers that in going alone over the lonely road between the Harbor and the Nashna bridge, a half-mile with a dense thicket on both sides, she naturally moved with timid and nimble feet. Three years later her father, Mr. John Whittle, bought eight acres on the east side of Main Street, and built the house at the corner of Main and Tyler Streets, now owned by his grandson, Edward G. Tyler. The next year a small house was built and occupied by Dr. Peter Howe, on the lot now occupied by the Noyes block.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 42

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