USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of Hudson, N.H., formerly a part of Dunstable, Mass., 1673-1733, Nottingham, Mass., 1733-1741, District of Nottingham, 1741-1746, Nottingham West, N.H., 1746-1830, Hudson, N.H., 1830-1912 > Part 30
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Not many years after the bridge was built at Taylor's Falls an ice jam and high water pressed so hard against the Hudson pier that fears were entertained for its safety. To avoid this danger in the future an ice break was erected in 1834, which is still in its place.
The original bridge was lighted nights by oil lanterns always hung at the north side. In the winter season, when snow was on the ground so as to make sleighing, the floor of the bridge was kept covered with it. The toll-house was located on the north side about fifty feet west from the
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
end of the bridge. The gate crossed the road from the toll-house to a high fence on the south side, and was usual- ly kept open in the day time, but closed at night and bolted.
Zadok Farmer was the toll-gatherer for many years, but sometime before it became a free bridge John M. Sanders held the position. The enterprise proved profit- able, netting satisfactory returns to the stockholders, and it continued as a toll-bridge for twenty-eight years, when under a petition to the supreme judicial court, the county commissioners laid out a public highway over the bridge from Nashua to Hudson, and it became a free bridge in 1855.
Eventually the bridge became unsafe for travel, and at the annual town meeting, March 8, 1881, "Kimball Web- ster, Stephen D. Greeley, Osgood Hill, James B. Merrill and Enoch Cummings were chosen a committee to exam- ine Taylor's Falls Bridge, and to consider what in their judgment would be best, to repair or rebuild, and to report at an adjourned meeting the 22d, to which time this meet- ing was adjourned." At the adjourned meeting the com- mittee reported that it considered any repair of the old bridge inexpedient and unprofitable, and it unanimously recommended the building of a new one, its construction to be begun as soon as practicable. This committee also advised the building of an iron structure to take the place of the wooden one. This report was accepted, and the committee was authorized to confer with a committee ap- pointed by the city of Nashua relative to building a new bridge.
At the annual town meeting March 14, 1882, this com- mittee reported that after careful investigations, coupled with the work of the committee for the city of Nashua, they adopted from among several proposals from different com- panies that submitted by the Corrugated Metal Company, of East Berlin, Conn. It also decided that the grade of the bridge be raised two feet above the old one, which would make the new stone masonry upon the piers and abutments
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FERRIES AND BRIDGES
about five feet in height. The contract was awarded to this company for $19,500, the stone work under the bridge included, and the contractors were to remove the old struc- ture, having the old material. After the bridge had been placed in position and opened for travel it was thought best to add an extra railing on the south side for the further protection of the public.
The cost of the bridge and the repair of the ice pier, as far as the town of Hudson was concerned, is shown in the following report: .
Contract with Corrugated Metal Co. $9,750.00
Corrugated Metal Co., extra railing . 250.00
Corrugated Metal Co., extra railing at end of bridge . 189.00
C. J. Griswold & Son., extra work on pier and abutment 53.00
C. W. Spalding for stone
132.00
For labor fitting and laying stone
113.45
For sewer pipe, grate, use of derrick, cement, blacksmithing, etc. 49.30
For grading
69.30
*Services of Engineer, E. H. Hewins, of Boston 75.00
Traveling expenses, postage, etc. 29.62
$10,710.67
This included the total expense of the bridge to Hudson, excepting the repairs of the ice pier, which amounted to 99.93
Total expense $10,810.60
Hudson received from Nashua towards the ex- pense
$1,500.00
Hudson received from Londonderry 800.00
Hudson received from Litchfield 1,200.00
Total
$3,500.00
Leaving an actual expense to Hudson of .
$7,310.60
* Mr. Hewins was a bridge engineer, and was employed to report upon the strength and value of the bridge. He did no other engineering in connection with its building.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The bridge was completed so as to be open to public travel November 29, 1881, though James Ryan had crossed it with a light team the evening before.
With the exception of new planking once in two or three years, an occasional tightening of the rods and a new coat of paint, the bridge received very little repairs for fourteen years. This was in 1895, and in order to strength- en it for the passage of the electric cars running between Nashua and Lowell, the railroad company put in all new floor beams, and materially strengthened the structure in other ways at an expense of $10,000, all of which was borne by the company.
In response to a petition from a number of citizens in the autumn of 1908, the selectmen of Hudson built a wind- shield on the north side of the bridge to protect those crossing the river, from the biting blasts of winter that had a wide sweep down the course of the stream. A similar petition was presented to the city of Nashua, which was complied with the following year, These fences were to be removed during the summer months.
In the summer of 1909 another and more serious ques- tion asserted itself in the minds of the people, and this was the safety of the bridge in allowing the passage of the heavy electric cars, which were more than double the weight of those first used on the line when the transit of them was allowed. To settle the matter the city govern- ment of Nashua called an expert engineer from Boston, a Mr. Pettee, to test the bridge and report as to his finding. He found it unsafe and reported accordingly. Not satisfied with this report another engineer was asked to make an examination and he corroborated Mr. Pettee's statement.
The selectmen of Hudson immediately issued a call for a special town meeting, and this was convened Septem- ber 22, 1909, when it was voted to take action in regard to building a new bridge of iron or steel. The selectmen were authorized to confer with representatives of Nashua and the managers of the Boston and Northern street railway
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FERRIES AND BRIDGES
relative to what should be done. It was also voted that Kimball Webster and Sidney P. Gowing should serve as a committee to act in conjunction with the selectmen.
This committee, with the Board of Public Works of Nashua, formed a joint committee, which held numerous meetings, and procured plans and specifications for a new steel bridge, with a road-bed twenty-eight feet in width and a sidewalk six feet wide. This structure was to be of suffi- cient strength to carry a fifty-ton car. Bids were also pro- cured for building the bridge above the foundation of stone work. The lowest bid was from the Boston Bridge Com- pany, which was for $38,692.00.
At the annual town meeting, March 8, 1910, an article "to see if the town would vote to raise sufficient funds to build a bridge across the Merrimack at Taylor's Falls" was indefinitely postponed.
At this meeting a new board of selectmen, consisting of Jesse S. Weston, George N. Dooley and Guy A. Hop- kins, was elected. The plan of building a concrete bridge instead of a steel structure was now agitated. The select- men, with the committee on bridge, Messrs. Webster and Gowing, met with the Board of Public Works of the city of Nashua, in joint convention to consider the feasibility of this plan. The result was a warrant for a special town meeting in Hudson to be held May 14 to act upon the mat- ter. In order to have the necessary number of voters at the meeting an earnest effort was made in that direction, with satisfaction, so when the vote was taken there were 192 voting in favor of the construction of a concrete bridge and two against it, the entire number of ballots cast being 194.
The selectmen elected in March, with Kimball Web- ster and Nathaniel Wentworth, were authorized to confer with the Nashua Board of Public Works, and with them to procure the construction of a concrete bridge across the Merrimack in place of the iron bridge then spanning the river. The joint committees acted promptly, so that June
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
6, 1910, a contract was signed by the joint committee on one part and Fred T. Ley & Co., (Limited) of Springfield, Mass., on the other. This provided for a reinforced concrete bridge according to the specifications of a plan furnished, the structure to consist of five arches, with four piers and an abutment at each end, the roadway to be thirty feet clear with an overhanging sidewalk on the north side six feet in width. The contractors were to provide for the necessary travel-restricted-over the river during the construction of the new bridge, at their own expense. Ten days of cessation of traffic was allowed the builders in which to remove the old bridge, the new structure to be finished within 120 days, Sundays and stormy days except- ed. The cost was fixed by the contract at $74,480.00.
The difficulty and expense of the construction of the foundations on the Nashua half of the bridge very much exceeded the same on the Hudson end. The abutment and two piers of the latter were located on solid ledge foundation, and the water was only a few feet in depth. The Hudson abutment was in excellent condition and only needed to be faced in concrete. Both the Nashua piers were located in water thirteen or fourteen feet deep, with an unsafe bottom, which needed to be piled to insure an en- during foundation. The original abutment here had been set on a treacherous support.
Work was begun upon the Hudson abutment by the contractors June 14, 1910, and continued with a rapidity and regularity so that the last pieces of the old iron bridge were removed November 14. The first teams to cross the new bridge, which was still unfinished, was on November 17. The electric railroad track was laid through the cen- ter of the bridge, November 23, and the first electric car to cross the new bridge passed over about eight o'clock the same evening. The running of cars over the old bridge had been suspended about the middle of July. During this interim of more than 130 days, all passengers going to or from Nashua by the electric lines were compelled to walk over the bridge.
From Photo by C. E. PAINE
TAYLOR'S FALLS BRIDGE, CONCRETE, 1910
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FERRIES AND BRIDGES
The work upon the bridge was not finished, but was suspended for that season by the contractors December 19, and was resumed the following spring. Later in the season of 1911 the westerly pier, or pier No. 4, was found by engineers to be defective, it having places in the interi- or containing weak concrete. This defect was to be over- come by reinforcing the pier with a solid concrete wall of several feet in thickness around it. But the work was begun too late in the season to complete it, so that it had to be suspended until the spring of 1912. The Hassam pave- ment was placed upon the bridge in September, 1911.
The work of reinforcing and strengthening pier No. 4, as had been recommended by the consulting engineers, J. R. Worcester & Co., of Boston, Mass., which engineers have a reputation of being one of the most reliable and best equipped firms of engineers in New England, was completed about the first of September, 1912. The engi- neers made a final report, September 4, 1912, which report is copied in full and is self explanatory :
Sept. 4, 1912.
Bridge Committee of Town of Hudson and City of Nashua, N. H.
GENTLEMEN :
We would respectfully report that the Contractor for the Taylor's Falls Bridge has completed the work of reinforcing Pier No. 4, to our sat- isfaction and that we see no reason why the bridge may not now be safely accepted by the Committee.
When we first examined the bridge about a year ago, we found a con- dition of the foundation concrete of Pier No. 4, which indicated that it was not properly cemented. This condition we considered to be of such gravity that we recommended that a careful examination be made of this foundation concrete, not only in Pier No. 4, but also in Pier No. 3.
This further examination having been authorized by you we had va- rious holes excavated in both these foundations, and found that the con- dition in Pier No. 4 was very bad, while in Pier No. 3 the concrete was fairly good. It seemed as if there were danger in allowing Pier No. 4 to stand as it was through the winter, and a design was prepared by us for reinforcing the foundation. The execution of this reinforcing was en- trusted to Fred T. Ley & Company, the Contractor for the Bridge.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The scheme for strengthening consisted in driving a row of piles around the foundation and enclosing them in a coffer dam about two feet away from the old foundation. The space between the coffer dam and the old foundation was filled with first class concrete, and the top was capped with a heavily reinforced ring of concrete surrounding the old pier and wholly enclosing all the material of the quality of which there was the slightest suspicion.
The Contractor was able to get in the piles, the coffer dam and the most of the concrete before being driven out by high water in December. This afforded sufficient protection to the pier to prevent any damage. As soon as the water dropped this summer, the coffer dam was pumped out and the work carefully examined, No injury being discovered, the cap- ping of reinforced concrete was applied.
As stated in our report of October 23, 1911, we consider that the bridge, except for Pier No. 4, which has now been repaired, is free from defects which impair its strength or durability. The blemishes to its ap- pearance which we have noted, are not, in our opinion, of structural im- portance.
We take pleasure in adding that in the matter of repairing Pier No. 4 we have found the contractor desirous of doing everything to our entire satisfaction, sparing no expense to accomplish a good job; and we believe in this he has been successful.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) J. R. WORCESTER & CO.
A final meeting of the joint committee was held at the City Hall, Nashua, October 14, at 7.30 P. M., when there were present, William H. Barry, mayor, president; John Hagerty, Frank T. Lewis, Joseph Rousseau and Erwin O. Hathaway, city engineer; clerk of the Board of Public Works of Nashua, and Jesse S. Weston, George N. Dooley, Kimball Webster and Guy A. Hopkins, of the committee of Hudson.
The report of the engineers was read, when it was voted unanimously that the bridge be accepted and that the balance due the contractors, Fred T. Ley & Co., be paid.
CHAPTER XXX
CEMETERIES AND BURIAL GROUNDS
There are in Hudson eight cemeteries or burial places These are known respectively as Hills Farms Cemetery, Ford Burial Yard, Blodgett Cemetery, Old Hudson Center Burying Ground, Senter Yard, Sunnyside Cemetery, Hud- son Center Cemetery, and Catholic Cemetery.
While there is no positive proof of the fact, it has long been conceded by the older inhabitants that the Hills Farms cemetery is the most ancient in town.
HILLS FARMS CEMETERY
The original part of this cemetery is situated upon level, sandy land nearly midway between the Derry and Litchfield roads, bounded northerly by the highway called Derry Lane, and about two miles from Taylor's Falls bridge. This section was laid out upon the south-east cor- ner of the Hills garrison farm, where Nathaniel Hills and his brothers, Henry and James, settled in the pioneer days of Hudson.
The exact date of its being laid out, or of the first in- terment, are not known, but must have been several years subsequent to the time of the Hills settlement, as two or three young children of Nathaniel Hills were interred in the ancient burial ground at South Nashua, near the South Nashua railroad station, after Mr. Hills and his family had lived at the garrison house.
The early settlers seldom erected head stones with in- scriptions at the graves of their deceased friends and rela- tives, so the markings that are found do not indicate the earliest interments. It is probable that this place was used as a burial ground previous to 1730.
411
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The first mention of this cemetery to be found in the town records is under the date of April 4, 1749, when the town-
Voted to change the highway between land of Edward Spalding and Roger Chase by the Farms burying ground.
It was again referred to December 13, of the same year, in another lay out of the same road, Derry Lane, which '"runs the North side of said Burying place." The most ancient date found upon the head stones in this yard is that of "Joseph, son of Capt. Ezekiel and Mrs. Esther Greeley, who died Sept. 18, 1749." The date 1738 is found upon a common stone at the head of an ancient grave, but there is no other inscription whatever.
There is no record found to show that this yard was ever conveyed to the town, but it was used as a public burial place, and it is it probable that it was given for that purpose by Nathaniel Hills.
The family names most frequently found upon the head stones are Hills, Greeley, Spalding, Marsh, Marshall, Pierce, Cross and Sprake, all of which were numbered among the early settlers upon the Hills Farms.
About 1873, small additions of one rod in width were made by the purchase of land upon the south and west sides, and the yard was soon after inclosed by a stone wall with iron gates. The additions, with other vacant land in the yard, were laid out into lots, streets were graded, the bushes destroyed and other needed improvements made The yard as inclosed contained a little less than one and one-half acres.
By Chapter 190 of the Laws of 1885 this yard was in- corporated under the name of "The Farms Cemetery." This charter was amended by Chapter 159, Laws of 1905, by changing the name to "The Hills Farms Cemetery."
Since the extensive improvements made in 1873, the yard has been under the supervision of officers, who have kept it in excellent condition.
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CEMETERIES AND BURIAL GROUNDS
Dr. Alfred K. Hills, in view of a needed extension of these grounds, purchased a large tract of land adjoining on the east and extending to the Derry road. He has had about six acres of this land surveyed and bounded, as an intended addition to the old cemetery. This proposed ad- dition has a frontage of 330 feet on the Derry road, extend- ing westerly at a right angle 760 feet on the south side to the corner of the old cemetery wall. On the north side it runs 873 feet to Derry Lane. When this addition, with the proposed improvements, is accomplished, it will make this yard the most spacious, with the exception of the Catholic cemetery, and the most accessible, convenient and attractive in Hudson.
FORD CEMETERY
The next burial yard in order of antiquity, and claimed by some to be the most ancient, is a small cemetery in the south part of the town, south of and near the location of the first meeting-house, erected in 1734. It was the usual custom of the early settlers of New England to have a burying ground, or church yard, as it was called, adjoining the meeting-house lot, sometimes extending on three sides. In this case this could not be done on account of the char- acter of the land surrounding the house of worship, but a lot as near by as could be found suitable was selected. This place was laid out and consecrated to the use of a burial ground not far from the date of the building of the church in 1734.
The oldest inscription found in this yard is that of En- sign John Snow, which is dated March 28, 1735. Ensign John Snow was assessed in 1734, and the town records give the date of his death as March 21, 1735.
This is a small yard, containing about one-half acre. It has been used by a few families, residents of the south part of the town, and has been carefully kept. It is in- closed by a stone wall, with an iron gate.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The most frequent names among the inscriptions are Snow, Merrill, Ford, Fuller, Gowing and Barron. Within this yard is the grave of Rev. Nathaniel Merrill, the first settled minister of the town, who preached here more than half a century.
BLODGETT CEMETERY
The third burial yard in order of age is the Blodgett cemetery, which has sometimes been called "The Old South," and is located near the Lowell road, about one and one-half miles south of the bridge. It contains about one acre, and was acquired by the town from Benjamin Whit- temore for a meeting-house site and for public uses. The second meeting-house erected by the town in 1748, stood on the southerly side of the yard and near the present gate of the cemetery. This burial plot was the church yard flanking the church on the rear and both ends. As we have seen, in time the meeting house was moved away, and a school house, No. 4, was built upon its site. This, in the winter of 1855, was burned.
Before this time a question seems to have arisen as to the validity of the town's title to the lot. At a town meet- ing held at the North Meeting-house, November 28, 1839, a committee consisting of Jeremiah Smith, Thomas B. Wa- son and Daniel T. Davis, was chosen "to examine into the claim the town has to the common and grave yard near the South meeting house."
At the annual meeting March 11, 1840, the town "Voted to accept and record the Report in relation to the boundary line of the burial ground at South meeting house, Viz:"
The undersigned a committee chosen at a legal Town meeting to es- tablish the boundary lines of the Burying ground at the South meeting house in Hudson have attended to the duty of their appointment, ask leave to report.
The committee met on the 14th day of Feb., 1840, on the premises together with Reuben Greeley Esq., the owner of the lands on the east &
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CEMETERIES AND BURIAL GROUNDS
north lines of the said Burying ground, and the said committee and the said Reuben Greeley Esq. did mutually agree to establish said east & north lines of said Burying ground as follows, to wit :
Beginning at the south east corner of said Burying ground, at the corner of the wall, on the north side of the highway, at a stone set in the ground with stones about it; thence N. 21° W. 14 rods 17 links in the direction of the wall which is now partly built, to a stone set in the ground with stones about it; thence S. 67º W. 16 rods 10 links to a stone set in the ground with stones about it at the highway.
THOMAS B. WASON, JEREMIAH SMITH, Committee.
DANIEL T. DAVIS,
As the site of the old meeting-house upon which the school house stood was a part of the public land bought by. the town of Benjamin Whittemore, in 1748, when the school lot was abandoned the land reverted to the town, and was added to the cemetery. A little later a cemetery associa- tion was organized, and it is understood was incorporated either by the state legislature or under the revised statutes. Then the yard was inclosed by a stone wall, with iron gate, was cleared of bushes and rubbish and otherwise improved.
Family lots were located and laid out upon the vacant grounds, and, either from carelessness or willfulness, new lots were plotted upon the mounds of ancient graves, which were obliterated by this vandalism, which seems to the writer inexcusable, and lacks the veneration that rightfully be- longs to the memory of our departed ancestors. Land in Hudson has not yet become so dear as to make it necessary to use the same ground more than once for burial pur- poses.
The most ancient date found among the inscriptions of this yard is that of Priscilla Chase, who died October 5, 1749.
The names that most frequently appear on the head stones in this yard are Blodgett, Greeley, Burns, Chase, Pollard, Winn, Wason, Hale, Caldwell, Page, Wilson, Cross, Merrill and Burbank.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
OLD HUDSON CENTER BURYING GROUND
The old cemetery at Hudson Center contains about one-half acre. The land was given for the purpose by Dea. Henry Hale about 1775. There is a tradition that a Mrs. Gibson was the first person buried in this yard, but the date has not been preserved. The oldest inscription is that of John Haselton Smith, son of Page and Lydia Smith, who died September 5, 1778, aged two years and eight months.
This yard, being small, became filled with graves many years since, and burials ceased to be made there. It was a public burial place, and after it became filled, it was for many years neglected, and became overgrown with bushes and small trees. The question of removing the remains was at one time agitated, for the purpose of adding the ground to the public common. A petition was circulated to call a special town meeting, April 22, 1871, but the at- tempt to carry out this idea was opposed by a majority, and the article was dismissed.
The discussion aroused by this action may have at- tracted the attention of a wealthy son of Hudson, Mr. John Foster, who had been a merchant in Boston for many years. A young brother of his, John Hastings Foster, born December 11, 1811, and died April 26, 1818, and whose little head stone can be seen now, helped to stimu- late the sentiment of Mr. Foster to a righteous indignation over the neglect of the town's people. In 1886 he offered to pay the town one thousand dollars, to be expended in clearing up, fencing and improving this yard, the town agreeing henceforth to keep it in proper condition.
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