USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > History of Lancaster, New Hampshire > Part 28
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The contest of 1884 was not less vigorous in this town than that of the previous two elections. Being a presidential election it gave some added interest to the campaign. The hot contest between Blaine and Cleveland throughout the country served to arouse the voters of Lancaster to do their best for their respective party leaders at the polls. Blaine received three hundred and thirty votes, Cleveland three hundred and eighty-four, leaving twenty-five to go on record as scattering. This was practically the full vote of the town, strenuous efforts having been made to get every voter to the polls.
The candidates for governor were Moody Currier, Republican, who received three hundred and thirty-two votes; John M. Hill, Democrat, who received three hundred and eighty-three. Twenty- five votes were recorded as scattering.
Col. Henry O. Kent was this year elected to the state senate over William R. Danforth of Stratford, Republican. Colonel Kent received the appointment as naval officer of the port of Boston from President Cleveland in 1885, and entered upon his duties January I, 1886, serving until May 20, 1890.
Frank Smith and Matthew Monahan, Democrats, were chosen representatives by the usual party majority.
The contest of the next year, 1886, was less exciting, and not so large a vote was cast as in the two previous elections. The contest for the governorship was between Charles H. Sawyer, Republican, who carried three hundred and ninety-seven votes, and Thomas Cogswell, Democrat, who received three hundred and sixty-one. There was a number of votes set down in the returns as scatter- ing, which this year counted eleven. A spirited contest for state senator was waged between Hon. C. B. Jordan and Samuel E. Paine, of Berlin, the latter winning by a moderate majority, Mr. Jordan running largely ahead of his ticket. Charles A. Cleaveland and Robert McCarten, Democrats, were chosen as representatives.
The next year, 1888, being also a presidential election, more inter- est was manifested in politics. National questions cast their shad- ows over local ones and often changed their hues. The national contest was a warm one, involving great issues, much exaggerated, of course. It called out a large vote, eight hundred and sixteen in this town.
The Republican party offered David H. Goodell as their candi- date for governor, who received three hundred and seventy-eight votes. Charles H. Amsden was the Democratic nominee, and car- ried off four hundred and thirty votes.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
For president Benjamin Harrison received three hundred and eighty votes. Grover Cleveland polled four hundred and twenty- seven. There were only two scattering votes.
For representatives to the legislature Matthew Smith and John M. Clark, Democrats, were chosen.
Lancaster had now been carried by the Democrats continuously in four elections, and that of 1890 approached. It lacked the added interest of a presidential election to call out a full vote; only six hundred and sixty-seven of the more than eight hundred voters of the town came to the polls. The gubernatorial candidates were : Hiram A. Tuttle, Republican ; Charles H. Amsden, Democrat. Tut- tle carried three hundred and eighty-one votes, and Amsden three hundred and seventy-six, leaving but ten votes to be returned as scattering.
The town now had attained a population of 3,367, which entitled it to three representatives in the legislature. Joseph D. Howe, Pat- rick Small, and George Farnham, all Democrats, were elected.
The campaign of 1892 was one of much excitement and of un- common interest in its local features. As usual with elections every four years, when national issues help to magnify the importance of the state and town questions, this year saw much more than a com- mon contest. Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison were again in the field.
The Harrison electors received four hundred and twelve votes, while the Cleveland electors carried the town with four hundred and thirty. The Republican candidate for governor, John B. Smith of Hillsborough, received four hundred and six votes. Luther F. Mc- Kinney, Democrat, got four hundred and three. Edgar L. Carr, Prohibitionist, received fourteen votes. The Republicans elected their candidates for representatives. They were Willie E. Bullard, Alex M. Beattie, and Gilbert A. Marshall. The Republican party had returned to power on national issues. There were no local issues competent to turn the scale of party for many years past.
The campaign of 1894 was one of much interest in Lancaster, as Col. Henry O. Kent was the Democratic candidate for governor. The Republicans brought forward Charles A. Busiel of Laconia, for many years a stalwart Democrat who had gone over to the Repub- lican party on the tariff doctrine, believing in a protective tariff. Lancaster was one of the chief battle-fields. Candidate Busiel, United States Senators Gallinger and Chandler, to say nothing of lesser lights of the Republican party, spoke before large and enthu- siastic audiences here.
The Democrats cultivated their opportunities no less zealously, with the result that when the polls closed at the November election of that year, Kent received four hundred and sixty-four votes to
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four hundred and twelve for Busiel. The Prohibition party polled fourteen votes for Daniel C. Knowles. George D. Epps received five votes as candidate of the Labor party. Frank Smith, Demo- cratic candidate for the state senate, received four hundred and seventeen votes, while Thomas H. Van Dyke, Republican, carried four hundred and twenty-five.
John L. Moore and James W. Truland, Republicans, and Wil- liam R. Stockwell, Democrat, were elected as representatives this year.
In point of interest, excitement, and anxiety as to the results that might follow it, no election has surpassed that of 1896, in the his- tory of the town. Being a presidential election, great national issues were brought forward, and state and town politics were molded almost wholly by national questions.
The Republican party presented for president William McKinley of Ohio and the Democratic convention nominated William J. Bryan of Nebraska, who received the endorsement of the Populists and Silver Republicans. John M. Palmer was the nominee of the " Na- tional Democrats," while the Temperance people had two tickets in the field.
The vote in Lancaster was Mckinley, 519; Bryan, 290; Palmer, 18, and Prohibitionists, 8.
George A. Hartford, George W. Lane, and James A. Monahan, Republicans, were elected representatives.
No small share of the popular interest of this election was cen- tered about the state tickets. Colonel Henry O. Kent was again the Democratic candidate for governor. George A. Ramsdell was the Republican candidate. Kent received three hundred and ninety- two votes in Lancaster, and Ramsdell three hundred and ninety. There were over a thousand names on the check-list, but the highest vote cast was only 835. Many persons evidently did not vote. Ramsdell was elected by a majority of 21,007 over Kent, who ran ahead of the Democratic presidential ticket by 7,062 votes in the state, the adverse plurality against him being 16,119 votes less than against the presidential ticket.
Another Lancaster man was up this year for the important office of state senator-Hon. C. B. Jordan, Republican. The Democratic candidate for the same office was Edward Herbert Weston, of Whitefield. Mr. Weston made a very vigorous canvass of the dis- trict; Mr. Jordan did not make a speech or leave his daily pursuits to canvass for support; but when the vote was counted he ran ahead of his competitor by three hundred and nine votes in Lancas- ter, and in the district 1,413.
Mr. Jordan's election was no more than announced when his friends brought his name forward as a candidate for president of the
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senate, which honor came to him by a unanimous vote of the senate. This office he has filled with commendable dignity and to the entire satisfaction of that body.
Since biennial elections under the constitution of 1878, the town- meetings in March have become gradually less political; less under the control of party management than before. Affairs are con- ducted on a business and prudential basis instead of on a political and partisan one as before the separation of the state elections from the town-meeting. The parties still hold their caucuses, but some- times they come together on a single ticket for selectmen, town clerk, treasurer, and other minor offices. This in no way interferes with bringing independent candidates before the meetings for any office. This arrangement has been an advantage to the town as it secures less interference with strictly business affairs.
CHAPTER XX.
POETS AND POETRY OF LANCASTER.
The life of a community is not all told in prose. We live in vain if the muse comes not to some of our number, and with her magic touch awakens the inspiration of song, to soothe and cheer the tried and often disconsolate soul. Life is not to be measured alone in the currency of the market-place. Truth, like the shield, has two sides. The one is often plain and prosaic, while, if we be able to turn the other side in the light of an inspiration, it may be pleasing and beau- tiful to a wonderful degree. It would have been strange if all this beauty that fills the landscapes, the sky, the homes and lives of Lan- caster, had not found some expression in verse or color.
The natural scenery is unsurpassed, and the life of the community has not been devoid of that culture, refinement of taste and inspira- tion that appeal to the imagination and taste of men, breaking forth in songs of melody or color.
There have been a number of persons who have written verse of some worth, entitling them to recognition in the history of their town, whether they were born here, or happened to write here under inspiration that was peculiarly local. Col. Henry O. Kent and Nellie Cross (now Mrs. Henry W. Dennison of Yokohama, Japan) were born in Lancaster, while Albert Kimball, Rev. George Osgood, and Mrs. J. B. Harris were residents of Lancaster for only a short pe- riod, though these latter wrote under the inspiration that came to them here, and nothing would have called forth the same verses elsewhere. Their poems, here inserted, are for that reason essen-
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POETS AND POETRY OF LANCASTER.
tially of Lancaster, and are entitled to a place in the anthology of the town.
A portion of the poetry that I should have liked to insert here will be found in Part II, in the chapter on the " Centennial Celebra- tion of the Settlement of the Town." They could not be taken out of their natural settings in that chapter, as they form a part of it, and the reader is referred to it for poems of Henry O. Kent and Mrs. Mary B. C. Slade.
FREMONT .*
BY HENRY O. KENT.
Fremont, Fremont, 't is a name that thrills The free of our native land, That echoes in glee from our eastern hills, And the state of the golden sand.
Fremont, Fremont, 't is a nation's shout That rings unchallenged wide ; Aye well the battle-cry peals out For God and Freedom's side.
Fremont, Fremont, 't is a name for all, From South to frozen North ; Fremont, 'tis the spell that bursts the thrall ; That bids the right go forth.
Fremont, on no disunion flag, Doth that name proudly wave ; It speaks of deeds by stream and crag, It rings from patriot's graves.
Disunion, oh, we spurn the cry And fling it back in scorn ; Bright gleams above, our Eagle's eye To victory sweeping on.
What ! did our sires whose blood bedews The height of Bunker Hill, Whose shoeless feet tracked Jersey's snows, And crimsoned Eutaw's rill
Fight, that the spirit of the free Should sink at last o'erpowered ? And dying, bleeding liberty Fall 'neath oppression's rod ?
Did congress in their glorious might Within that grand old hall, Mean it a farce, when they wrote Of " equal rights to all? "
*This song was set to music by Ellen A. White, daughter of Col. John H. White and sung through the stirring campaign of 1856.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Then peal the cry, the battle-cry From Maine to Texas' shore ; Aye, let our anthem echo high, The Union sweeping o'er !
A feeling warm for our brothers all Amid the sunny South ; And a pledge anew, to the firm and true, Of the stern unchanging North.
A shout for Union, loud and strong, A shout for Kansas free ; Aye, a thundering cheer our ranks along, Fremont and Victory !
THE OLD WILLOW .*
BY NELLIE W. CROSS (NOW MRS. HENRY W. DENNISON).
Graceful willow, tall and stately, Queen of all our village trees, Taking May's sweet bloom, sedately Swaying in the gentle breeze ; What a tale your leaves might flutter, If, like Delphi's priestess fair, We could hear the words they utter, Trembling in the evening air.
What a calm, unvarnished story, Free from mortal hopes and fears ;- Like a patriarch, wise and hoary, You could tell of vanished years ; What a tale of autumn splendor, What a dream of summer dead, Sighs for Spring's caresses tender Lavished on your stately head.
What a tale of joy and sadness, Could you tell each passing scene, Changes fraught with grief and gladness, Since your branches first were green ; Ernest youth and happy maiden That have loitered 'neath your shade ; Weary hearts, with cares o'erladen, Careless children that have played ;
* The Old Willow stood in front of the Lancaster House, and was the pride of the village. It was killed by the burning of that hotel Sept. 27, 1878, and was cut down Jan. 27, 1881. This was the last of a row of Lombardy poplars and willows that Judge Richard C. Everett, the grandfather of Nellie W. Cross, had set out from the court house to the south line of the lot to the south line of present Foundry St., about the year 1800. Judge Everett then owned all the land on that side of the street between the two points above named.
Through the kindness of Erdix T. Wilson, of Barton, Vt., we are able to present in this book a reproduction of a photograph of the old willow taken when he was a photographer here. The late Richard P. Kent was standing under the tree.
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THE OLD WILLOW, NEAR LANCASTER HOUSE. DESTROYED BY FIRE OF 1878.
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POETS AND POETRY OF LANCASTER.
Since from yonder verdant meadow, Where the rippling waters flow, You were brought for grace and shadow More than sixty years ago ; Still the blue skies bend above you, On your limbs green mosses cling, Spring's first sunshine seems to love you- In your boughs the robins sing.
So, while Time his march is keeping, Conquering all we loved and knew, May you watch the years retreating, Like a sentinel, firm and true ; And when mortals die around you, Seasons fade and years go by ; With the glory age has crowned you, May your branches greet the sky.
MAY.
BY NELLIE W. CROSS.
Yes ; May is coming o'er the hills, Her eyes all bright with daisies, Her hands with opening blossoms filled- The theme of poet's praises.
And as I watch her lingering steps, And hear her soft winds playing, My mind went wandering o'er the years To when I went a-Maying.
Again, with many hopes and fears, Forgetful how time passes, I join upon the village green The many lads and lasses.
Again, the wild bees' drowsy hum Is floating o'er the meadow ; Again, I hear the whispering trees, And watch their waving shadows.
Again, I sing the sweet old songs, And hail the bright spring weather ; Again, I wander o'er the hills, Jenny and I together.
*
And though long years have passed since then, And we grown strangely sober, As May's sweet lingering light Gives place to life's October.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
When Spring comes smiling o'er the hills, Old paths my heart will stray in ; With Jenny by my side again, I seem to go a-Maying.
THE SUNSET BURIAL. BY REV. GEORGE OSGOOD .*
Can we forget the holy hour When on the hillside green, All gleaming bright with leaf and flower The rain drops clear were seen?
When landscapes in their summer bloom Seemed bathed in lovliest light, As hung in folds the clouds of gloom, Along the mountain's height?
Can we forget the prayers we breathed, The tender tears we shed, The sweet and stainless flowers we wreathed For one whose soul had fled?
Forget her, as her spirit passed In beauty, peace, and love, To rest, from weariness and pain, To happier scenes above?
Oh, no! her face, sweet and serene, Shall rise before our sight, As when, in placid smiles, was seen Her spirit's lingering light-
Then shall our hearts be pure and good, As we remember still, That by her dying bed we stood, And on the burial hill.
TO MY BROTHER. BY MRS. J. B. HARRIS.
From that now cherished home A thought does sometimes stray, O'er the dim, distant hills, Where the bright waters play,
* The author of this poem, now living at Kensington, N. H., says : "It was suggested by the burial of Maria Crawford, daughter of Thomas J. Crawford of White Mountain fame, but living dur- ing his last days at Lancaster ; Sunday, July 24, 1863, after a day of showers, as we were grouped around the grave, when all the shrubs were brilliant in the sunlight, and the White Mountains were robed in clouds as if mourning for their child." The Rev. Mr. Osgood was then pastor of the Unitarian church.
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POETS AND POETRY OF LANCASTER.
To waken sweet thoughts Of life's sunny morn, Where we played 'mong the hills, And the forest birds sang.
I think of thee, brother,
The long, weary day ; Tho' thine eye has grown dim,
Thy locks turning gray ; And my heart wanders out, When the stars are asleep, To kiss thee good-night, brother, Good-night, ere I sleep.
When I sit down to play Some sweet favorite air, I miss one loved chord
I may never more hear ; 'Tis lost on the breeze, 'Mong the hills far away,
Like the notes of the harp, Which the wild winds play.
Fond memory points, With a tear in her eye, To the cold tide that has borne
My loved ones away. But the bright star of hope Shines yet to illumine Our pathway of tears Through the dark, chilling gloom.
GONE BACK TO HEAVEN.
BY ALBERT KIMBALL.
Lay him to rest in his little bed, Not where he lately was wont to lie, But give him a couch 'mong the quiet dead, With never a murmured lullaby.
Darling Ally is wrapped in sleep- Calmest slumber that mortal knows --- And none to his side with a smile shall creep, To awake his limbs from their long repose.
The lids have fallen in dark eclipse Over those orbs once bright with glee ; A beautiful palor is on the lips, Their marble sweetness is sad to see.
The golden tint of the hair has flown ; The fair, round forehead is damply chill ; The dainty hand is a thing of stone, The heart of the sleeper is hushed and still.
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
God! Can it be that the life has passed Out from the beautiful form of clay ? That only the casket is left at last, And the spirit immortal has soared away?
That never again on this earthly shore Dear Ally's innocent laugh shall ring? His artless prattle no longer pour, That sounded sweeter than birds of spring
That never again shall the lashes rise- Downy lashes, how soft they seem ! Gently veiling those deep blue eyes That lighted a home with their cloudless beam?
That never again shall the cherub face On loving bosom for rest recline ? And never again, in close embrace, Sorrowing mother, be pressed to thine?
These are the thoughts that surge and roll, And burst to tears in the tempests swell ; While out over the waves of the troubled soul Comes the dismal voice of the tolling bell.
Oh, it is hard for the heart to bear ! But the cup so bitter we may not shun ; Still we'll utter our humble prayer, " Father in Heaven, Thy will be done."
LINES.
[Dedicated to the family of the late Lieut. John G. Lewis .* By Albert Kimball.]
Tolls the bell in solemn tones, Telling with its muffled breath Tales at which the spirit moans O'er the victories of death,- Death, whose sway encircles all, Making slaves of proudest kings, When the fatal shadows fall Of dread Azrael's sable wings.
Slowly moves the funeral train, And with sad, reluctant tread, Breaking heart, and burning brain, March the living with the dead. Die those hearts to earthly hope, Bruised by traitor's chastening rod, As the dusty portals ope, For that loved and lifeless clod.
*John G. Lewis was first lieutenant of Company H, 9th N. H. Volunteers. He was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December, 1862. His body was brought home and buried in the old cemetery, with Masonic Rites, Dec. 18, 1862.
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POETS AND POETRY OF LANCASTER.
How the soul sinks down, and down, Into realms of deepest gloom, When cruel death's awful frown Wakes the terrors of the tomb ; When a dear one's clay is cold, In its narrow mansion hid, And when other clay is rolled Heavy on the coffin's lid.
'Tis a soldier's fate we weep, 'T is a soldier's grave we scan,- Let the gallant Lewis sleep, Undisturbed by warring man ! Far from battle's strife and din, Mid the smiling scenes of peace, Here the hero enters in Where his toils forever cease.
Here-'mong old familiar ways, Sweet with joys that could not pall In the bright, unclouded days, Ere he heard his country's call Call him forth with stern alarm, Where the waves of conflict rose, Bade him raise his loyal arm 'Gainst her fierce and haughty foes,-
Here, where home had arched its sky, Where its light made all things dear, Where loved faces blest his eye, And loved voices charmed his ear, Where warm friendship and regard Round them wove their Mystic Tie,- Here his fame can ne'er be marred, Here his memory shall not die.
Here affection's tongue will tell, Half with pity, half with pride, How the patriot martyr fell By the Rappahannock's side, When the hellish missile broke, Charged with death, and pain, and woe, How he met the mortal stroke Bravely, as he faced the foe.
God of Heaven ! at Thy command, When shall war and carnage end? When shall man with bloodless hand Greet his brother as his friend? When shall Moloch's reign be o'er? When shall Right assume her throne, And our slighted flag once more Wave, unrivaled, and alone?
God of Heaven ! to Thee we call In our nation's trying hour,-
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HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
Give us grace to suffer all, Give us purpose, give us power ! Lead our wavering steps aright, Guard and guide us from above, Through the darkness of the night, To the dawn of peace and love.
CHAPTER XXI.
EARLY MAILS, POST RIDERS, AND POST-OFFICES.
Mails, Post Riders, and Post-offices. There were arrangements for communication by letter before 1692, in some of the more thickly settled colonies of New England. On Feb. 17, 1692, King William and Queen Mary constituted Thomas Neale postmaster- general for the colonies; and 1710, an Act of Parliament estab- lished a uniform system for all. When this plan had been in ope- ration more than sixty years, Benjamin Franklin was appointed postmaster-general; but his conduct gave offense to the king, and
he was removed in 1774. Immediately one William Goddard planned what he called a " Constitutional Postoffice," and the colo- nial congress adopted it July 26, 1775, with Franklin as postmas- ter-general. The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution gave congress full power over the post-offices of the country. In 1790, congress took action on the matter continuing the post-office as it had been conducted under Franklin. Two years later congress fixed the rates of postage, which were :
"For every single letter, conveyed by land, not exceeding forty miles, eight cents. Over forty, and not exceeding ninety miles, ten cents. Over ninety miles, and not exceeding one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and a half cents. For one hundred and fifty miles, and not to exceed three hundred, fifteen cents. For three hundred miles, and not to exceed four hundred, twenty cents. For four hundred miles, and not to exceed five hundred, twenty-five cents. For every double letter, or a letter composed of two pieces of paper, double the above rates. For every package weighing one ounce, or more, at the rate of four single letters for each ounce. Newspapers, one cent each, when not exceeding one hundred miles, but not to exceed one cent each in the state in which they are published."
With these extravagant rates were also established some very stringent rules. A letter or parcel had to be deposited in the post- office a half hour before the time for the mail to depart or else it had to lay over until the next mail. All letters and packages to and from the president and vice-president of the United States, and certain other officers, passed free of postage. Mail was delivered to parties to whom it was addressed and an account kept with them, and a bill was presented once a quarter for collection. The entire
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EARLY MAILS, POST RIDERS AND POST-OFFICES.
revenue from postage, for many years, constituted the pay of the post rider. Later the postmaster received a share of it; and not until near the end of the first quarter of this century did he collect the postage on its own account.
Under these old arrangements for carrying the mails in colonial days, Lancaster was not affected. There were no post riders until the beginning of the present century. For over thirty years the first settlers had to get their letters from here to other points by persons who happened to be going to those places they wished to commu- nicate with; and letters reached Lancaster in the same slow and uncertain way. I have before me a letter sent by Edwards Buck- nam to Jonathan Grant, who was then attending a term of court at Plymouth, that went as far as Littleton, and from there the carrier of it changed his mind and went to Portland, from which point he next went to Exeter. From there he sent the letter to Charlestown by another party going there on business. There it laid for over two months before there was an opportunity to send it to Haver- hill, N. H., by another party.
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