USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Lebanon > History of Lebanon, N.H., 1761-1887 > Part 24
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Whereas the constant, progressive and increasing encroachments of
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the slave power have become so formidable and imperious that forbear- ance ceases to be a virtue and to be silent is to be false to the great in- terests of liberty: Therefore,
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court convened, That Newhampshire solemnly and deliberately an- nounces and reiterates her abiding and unchanging adherence to the great principle of the declaration of our Revolutionary fathers, that "all men are created equal," reasserted in the first article of the Bill of Rights of our own Constitution; that she declares her firm determina- tion, that in the great contest now being waged between slavery and freedom, her voice shall be heard on the side of the oppressed; that she pledges her cordial sympathy, and within the limits of constitutional ac- tion, her cooperation with the friends of civil liberty throughout the land, in very just and well directed effort for the suppression and ex- termination of that terrible scourge of our race, human slavery.
Approved July 10, 1846.
The following resolution was passed at the same time :
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened: That the Senators and Representatives from this State in the Congress of the United States be respectively requested to urge in that body the passage of measures providing for the extinction of slavery in the District of Columbia; for its exclusion from Oregon, and other territories that now or any time hereafter may belong to the United States; for all constitutional measures for the suppression of the domestic slave trade and to resist the admission of any new state into the Union, while tolerating slavery.
Resolved that his excellency the Governor be requested to furnish copies of the foregoing Resolve to the Legislatures of the several states, and to our Senators and Representatives in Congress.
Plainly the "irrepressible Conflict" waxed stronger and fiercer, producing endless discussions everywhere. Families were dis- rupted, father against son, brother against brother, and even the bark of Cupid was wrecked on these shoals. The present generation knows little about this division among the people, the strength of feeling, the bitterness of hostility evoked by these issues now so plainly and boldly made. In this we may discern the meaning of those strange changes in the voting of the people, the gathering and falling away of parties. In these conflicts we may discern the gathering of that cloud which later, surcharged with lightning and tempests, burst upon the devoted land.
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
DIVIDING GRAFTON COUNTY.
In 1840 the following article was inserted in the warrant for the annual meeting: "To take the sense of the town (agreeable to a Resolution passed the N. H. Legislature, June Session 1839) upon the following Question: Is it expedient to divide the County of Grafton ?"
This indicates that some of the people were still discontented ·with their position in county affairs and desiring better accom- modations.
The vote of the town was, yeas 49, nays 52; and so the matter rested for a time.
SURPLUS REVENUE.
At this same meeting the town voted that "the sum of three hundred of the Surplus Revenue deposited with the Town be paid to the Overseer of the Poor for the use of the Town Farm, and all the residue of said surplus be appropriated for town purposes."
At the annual meeting in 1845, the town voted "that it is expedient to receive the portion of the Surplus Revenue due this State from the United States." This was in addition to a sum already received. In 1849, "Voted to appropriate the Surplus Revenue to Town purposes." At a subsequent meeting in August the vote was renewed.
4TH N. H. TURNPIKE.
For some time the Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike had been. unprofitable to the corporation, and a movement was made to have it declared a free road. In view of this the town at its annual meeting, 1840, "Chose Col. Abel Baker agent for the Town with regard to the Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike being made a free road."
At a meeting held on the second day of November, 1840:
Voted that the Selectmen be and they hereby are authorized, and directed to borrow on the credit of the town the sum of sixteen hundred dollars for the purpose of paying to the Proprietors of the Fourth N. H. Turnpike Corporation the damages as assessed by the Court's Committee in December last. The Selectmen are also directed to take charge of the road and put it in good condition.
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At the annual meeting in 1841 the town :
Voted that the Selectmen be authorized to expend three Hundred dol- lars of the Town's money to repair the old Turnpike in addition to what may be necessary to repair the bridges &c.
Thus passed away one of the noted institutions of this region and of the state. It was one of the paths from the interior to the seaside, over which there was an immense traffic. In one direction went the product of the farms of Vermont and New Hampshire, beef, pork, mutton, butter and cheese, eggs and poultry, potatoes and grain. In the reverse direction were car- ried groceries, dry goods, all manner of supplies for the family, many casks of New England rum, farming implements, iron and steel for blacksmiths, tools for the mechanic, toys for the chil- dren, medicine for the sick, and almost everything needed in the affairs of life.
It required many horses, many drivers, many wagons, many harnesses, many blacksmiths along the route. There were eight- horse teams, six-horse teams, four-horse teams and two-horse teams. These last were called "Pod teams." Besides these reg- ular teams, farmers, especially in the winter, "went to market" with their own teams, neighborhoods joining together for the sake of company and mutual assistance. Ceaselessly these teams went to and fro, often in long procession.
In addition to these freight teams were the stages, carrying passengers and the mails passing over this great highway.
Fortunate in those days was the man, usually a farmer, who lived at the top of a long and hard hill, for these teams were loaded to the last pound and required assistance up the hills, and the man had a span of horses or yoke of oxen ready to ren- der that assistance-for a consideration. It was helpful to the teamster because by this occasional assistance he could transport a heavier load; it was more profitable to the farmer than many of his most fertile acres. But sometimes the farmer missed his fee, for neighbors or friends traveled in company, and when a difficult hill was reached one of the wagons was left at the bot- tom and the horses attached to the other and it was drawn to the top of the hill, and then the horses were returned to the wagon at the foot of the hill and that was drawn up. This was called doubling up.
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In these days the country taverns flourished mightily. They were to be found every two or three miles along the route. There were seven or eight in this town alone. At night there were from twenty-five to sixty horses to be housed and fed, with their drivers. These teamsters were acquaintances and had good times in the evening when the toils and hardships of the day were over. Experiences were compared, the condition of the highway criti- cised, stories were exchanged, religious doctrines were discussed, for in those days these subjects had a strong hold upon the minds of the people. They were pondered more than they are today, and the discussion of them and the thinking of them nat- urally developed a strong intellectual grasp-not so common today. Politics had a large place in their discussions, and they grew warm and heated over these matters, for in those days dif- ferences of opinion were not accompanied with any spark of courtesy or amiability.
In the winter, gathered around an open fire of well seasoned logs, they had their lively frolics, helped on by visits to the bar, then openly and unblushingly kept. Those were the days when liquors were pure and indulgence in them only added exhilara- tion to their spirits without making them quarrelsome. Many were the practical jokes they played upon each other. One found his boots full of ice, a companion having filled them with water and set them outdoors. But that debt was repaid soon after when the roguish companion found an obstruction in his boots as he sought to pull them on one morning in the shape of a young kitten, whose claws and teeth resented the introduction of the unwary foot.
This sketch of the ancient turnpike would be incomplete with- out the mention of the stage drivers. These were a class of men above the teamsters, the aristocrats of the road, gentlemen, well dressed, much trusted, proud of their occupation, the envy of all the boys who made their manners by the roadside as the gaudy Concord coach rolled swiftly by, whose ambition was to be a stage driver when old enough. They were skillful men, knowing every rod of their routes,-just where all the bad spots in the road were in the darkest night. It would pay a stranger to go a mile or two to see one of these four or six-horse teams come up to the tavern door at full speed in a cloud of dust or
JOHN W. PECK.
1
J. W. PECK HOMESTEAD. BUILT 1780.
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snow, pulling up exactly at the landing place, to leave the mail bags and passengers, while a crowd of loungers admired or criti- cised the skill of the driver.
These drivers had an annual ball in Concord, than which none was more select; an invitation to attend their ball was an honor greatly coveted by the highest in the land.
When the railroads were built this valuable class of men dis- appeared from these pathways, and most of this generation have never seen a genuine stage driver and cannot find them without going hundreds of miles. Some of them, however, found employ- ment as conductors on the railroads in their early days.
THE MEETING-HOUSE.
The meeting-house, still standing on the common, grew more dilapidated and forlorn, and it became evident that something must be done to prevent danger from accidents. So, at the an- nual meeting, 1840, it was "Voted that the sum of twenty-five dollars be appropriated to be expended, if necessary, under the direction of the Selectmen in repairing the bell deck of the old Meeting-house." Note that it has come to be the "old meeting- house. "
At the annual meeting in 1841, "Voted that the Selectmen fit up the Town House, so as to make it convenient for Town pur- poses-not to exceed one hundred dollars in expense." This was the lower part of the house, the Universalists occupying the upper part.
In December 25, 1841, at a special meeting the town "voted to appropriate the sum of two hundred dollars to repair and im- prove the town house so that it will be more convenient for pub- lic meetings and doing town business. Voted to appoint Watson K. Eldridge, Alpheus Baker, and John W. Peck committee for the above purpose. Voted that said committee procure two suit- able stoves and funnel for the town house, not to exceed in the amount the sum of fifty dollars."
At the annual meeting, 1842, a new duty was imposed upon the town clerk, as follows: "Voted that the Town Clerk take charge of the Town House and see that the same be kept in proper repair, and generally open the same for the use of any portion of the Inhabitants of the town upon all proper occasions
1
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& to any Gentlemen for scientific purposes, and if at any time said Clerk shall doubt as to the expediency of opening the Hall, he shall consult with the Selectmen, and the board shall settle the right." The town clerk to whom this important duty fell was Timothy Kenrick. It may be safely presumed that the town clerk "faithfully and impartially discharged and performed" his duty in this matter, for neither meeting-house nor town house appear upon the records again until 1845, when this vote was passed at the annual meeting : "Voted that the Selectmen paint in a good and substantial manner the lower part of the outside of the town house up to the top of the lower windows, and one half of the steeple or belfry above the roof of the house, provided the Universalist society, will, in like manner, paint the other part of the outside of said house and steeple or belfry."
It does not appear that the selectmen ever did the work as- signed to them.
At a special meeting held July 2, 1849 :
Voted that the Selectmen be directed to purchase the reserved rights of the heirs of Robert Colburn to the Meeting House common, provided that the whole can be' obtained for a sum not exceeding two hundred and the necessary expense not exceeding twenty-five dollars
Voted that the Town consent that the town-house be removed, pro- vided a good deed of a strip of land 72 feet wide from the common and one hundred feet back towards E. A. Howe's house be given to the Town & provided said house be raised a suitable height above the land of the common when graded & to be set not more than one hundred feet from said common & provided E. Blaisdell G. S. Kendrick, C. C. Benton & H. R. Stevens give bonds to the town to remove said House and put in as good repair as it now is, without expense to the town, this to be done under the supervision of the Selectmen.
SALE OF SPIRITUOUS LIQUOR.
At a special meeting held December 23, 1843, the following- resolution was adopted :
Resolved: That we consider the sale and use of spirituous liquor in all its forms, except for medical purposes, and then under the direction of medical men, as immoral and unbecoming in a Christian commun- ity; as decidedly injurious to health, as destructive to sound happi- ness, as a great incitement to crime, as one of the greatest and most alarming causes of increasing pauperism and as the source from which comes more of moral and political evil than any other single vice to which man is addicted.
HARVEY MURCH.
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ELISHA P. LISCOMB.
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Therefore voted that the Selectmen of this town be directed not to grant any license for the sale of spirituous liquors or wines of any kind for any other than medical purposes, and that under such re- strictions as they may judge proper for the promotion of a strictly tem- perance community.
The vote was eighty-six to four in favor of the resolution.
They also voted to postpone indefinitely the question of grant- ing a license to tavern-keepers and retailers.
At a meeting held February 1, 1848, the town voted not to grant a license to any person for the sale of spirituous liquors or wines except for medicinal or mechanical purposes. The vote was 139 to 88 in favor.
At the annual meeting in 1849 the town reaffirmed the pre- ceding vote.
Railroads.
At the annual meeting in 1844 the following preamble and resolutions were adopted :
Whereas we believe Railroads to be one of the greatest improvements of the present age, and above all others best calculated, not only to facilitate and cheapen travel and transportation over our hills and along our vallies, but to bring together and harmonize the various feelings and interests of our common Country and thereby strengthen and perpetuate that union and harmony without which human society can scarcely be called a blessing, and
Whereas it is contemplated by many individuals to petition the next Legislature for a charter from Concord to the valley of the Connecti- cut river, and
Whereas there are some who believe the Legislature is prohibited from granting a charter for Rail Roads with the right of way, and others who believe the right of way may be obtained by purchase of the individuals over whose lands such Rail Road may pass, without the grant of such right of way by the Legislature, and Whereas we believe the Legislature of this State have by the Constitution full power to grant the right of way for Rail roads as well as for other great public roads and ways for public use and convenience, and
Whereas from full examination recently made, we are satisfied that no such right of way can be obtained without an act of the Legisla- ture authorizing such Corporation to take the land of individuals for such way,
Therefore Resolved that our Representatives this day elected [E. P. Liscomb, G. H. Lathrop, be instructed, and we do hereby especially in- struct them, by all fair and honorable legislation to promote the ease and convenience of the inhabitants of the State by voting for charters for Rail Roads in all proper and necessary places, with right of way under such restrictions, and with such reasonable provisions as shall insure to land-owners, full and ample compensation for any lands they may be required to surrender for such right of way, and at the same time with such liberal priviledges, as shall enable the Corporation to carry forward this great enterprise through and not around New Hampshire
The Preamble passed on division of the house 194 yeas to 14 nays. The Resolution passed on division of the house 190 yeas to 18 nays.
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The town clerk was directed to publish the above action in some newspaper.
At the annual meeting, 1845, the following action was taken :
Resolved that by the making of the contemplated Rail Road through this town its inhabitants would be relieved for ever from the cost and expense of great and important alterations in its present leading roads, as also of much of the expense of keeping them in repair for the heavy teams which are now continually passing over them; and whereas in- dividuals have already expended large sums for surveys for said Rail Road; and whereas further sums are necessary to procure its location, and, as we believe its ultimate success, which would be of great ad- vantage to the town in relieving its inhabitants from the burden afore- said
Therefore voted that the Selectmen pay over to the Rail Road Com- mittee a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars of any money belong- ing to the town to be by said Committee expended in procuring the lo- cation of said Rail Roads, and to take a receipt of the chairman of said Committee, that the sum be refunded to the town, with interest, upon the completion of said railroad, and not otherwise
By a subsequent vote the selectmen were directed to pay to T. J. Carter the sum of one hundred dollars toward expense of the survey.
OPENING OF THE NORTHERN RAILROAD TO LEBANON.
On Wednesday, the 17th of November, 1847, the Northern Railroad was farther opened to Lebanon, in New Hampshire. This event was celebrated by a large number of persons who came from Boston for that purpose, and by a great concourse from the neighboring region. The train made a halt at South Frank- lin for the purpose of taking in Hon. Daniel Webster, then on a visit to his farm in that place. A collation had been prepared · for the company at Lebanon. At this entertainment, a toast in honor of Mr. Webster was proposed by Charles T. Russell, Esq., of Boston, chairman of the committee of arrangements, to which Mr. Webster responded as follows:
I wish, Sir, that the gentleman who has done me the honor to propose the toast just given had called upon some other per- son than myself to address the meeting and had left me in the position of a listener merely; but I could not properly refrain from expressing my sincere thanks for the manner in which my name has been announced by the president and received by the
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assembly. Thus called upon to speak, I cannot disregard the summons. Undoubtedly the present is a moment of great in- terest, and I now have to perform the pleasing duty of congrat- ulating the directors and stockholders of this road upon the suc- cessful completion of their enterprise; and also the citizens re- siding in this part of the country, upon the result which has been witnessed today, the entire accomplishment of this most im- portant work. It is an undertaking not only important in it- self but also very important when regarded as a link in the great chain of railroads which is to connect the West with the sea- coast.
For myself, in considering the progress of railroad structures throughout the country, I have been, doubtless many other indi- viduals have been, generally contented with admiring the enter- prise manifested, the ingenuity displayed, the industry shown in carrying them forward to completion. But here, on this occa- sion, there is to me a matter of peculiar interest. Perhaps, and very possibly, this is because the road whose completion is now to be hailed runs not only through New Hampshire, my native state, but also through that part of New Hampshire in which I have a considerable personal interest. This is but natural, for the road passes through my own farm, my own New Hampshire home.
This Northern Railroad is destined to be connected with two other roads of vast importance, each having Montreal for its end. The one will traverse Vermont, passing Montpelier, and proceeding along the valley of the Winooski to Lake Champlain, while the other will extend itself up the valley of the Passump- sic. Each, for the present, has its terminus at Montreal, so that the traveler from the Atlantic coast, arriving at Lebanon, might have a choice to make between the routes. This choice, perhaps, may occasionally be perplexing. The passenger from the coast to the St. Lawrence may now know on which line travel is best, or which is most convenient for his purposes. It may not im- probably so happen that the traveler will compromise the mat- ter, deciding to go on by the one route, and return by the other. So far as I am concerned, both lines have my best wishes for their entire success.
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My friend, the presiding officer, has spoken of Burlington and Montreal as the termini of this road; but in point of fact, this is a mere link, a part of a line of land navigation, by steam, from Boston to Ogdensburg, and thence, by land and water, to the Great West. I do not exactly remember whether it was Mr. Gouveneur Morris or Mr. Clinton who said, with regard to the Erie Canal, that the object and aim of that undertaking were to "tap Lake Erie and draw down its waters to New York har- bor." One or the other of these two great men it was, and the design has been carried out. It may not, perhaps, be proper for me to say, that the design of this road, with its extensions, is to tap the St. Lawrence, but it can be asserted, and with truth, that it was to relieve that noble river of a large portion of its great, rich, overwhelming burdens, and deliver its freight, or at least a great part of its freight, at the Atlantic shore by a more safe, speedy and cheap conveyance than any before available. That, I imagine, must be clear to all.
Again, no one can fail to perceive how greatly instrumental this road, with its extension, will prove in bringing Ogdensburg near to Boston,-as near, indeed, as Buffalo now is to Albany. This connection between Ogdensburg and the capital of New England would open at once a new thoroughfare for the prod- ucts of the West, an outlet hitherto untried, through which the commodities of Lake Superior and the other upper lakes may seek and reach the Atlantic by the way of Massachusetts Bay and its chief port. I will not undertake to compare the little city of Boston with the great city of New York, preëminent as New York is among the cities of America, for her extended com- merce and her facilities for its increase. The great city of our neighboring state towers above all rivals in respect to every ad- vantage of commercial position. Let her enjoy all the benefits she can, let her claim all the credit she can from this circum- stance. Neither envy nor malice, on my part, shall contribute to rob her of one of her well deserved laurels; but without any very great arrogance, or any very undue exhibition of local pride, we may say that Boston, with her adjacent towns, throughout all the neighboring shore from Hingham to Marble- head-which extent of country, in effect, is but one seaport, cer- tainly one so far as commercial and manufacturing industry is
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concerned-is entitled to command some degree of respect from the whole confederation of our states. Standing, indeed, upon the summit of Bunker Hill, one can look around upon a terri- tory and a population equal to that of New York and her im- mediate suburbs. In fact, from Boston to Newburyport it is all one city ; and by the development of her own enterprise, Boston, with her environs, has made herself a rival not lightly to be con- temned by any city of the country. I will for one not under- take to estimate the increased extent of her commerce when all the links in her chain of railroad communication shall be com- pleted.
There is another consideration which will commend itself to those who would contemplate the immediate future. It is this, that there will soon be an entire railroad line from New York, through New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, not only to Bos- ton, but up the valleys of the Connecticut and Passumpsic, to Montreal. It is the impression of many, that land in New Eng- land is poor; and doubtless such is the fact with regard to a. great portion of it. But throughout the whole United States I do not know of a richer or more beautiful valley, as a whole, than that of the Connecticut River. Parts of it are worth two hundred and fifty dollars an acre for the purpose of cultivation, and there is no land in the West worth half so much. I cannot say so much for the land of the Merrimack Valley for culti- vation, but that portion of the country is rich in water-power, rich in manufacturing industry, and rich in human energy and enterprise. These are its elements of wealth; and these elements will soon be developed, in a great measure by the means of rail- road communication, to a surprising extent. The whole region of country along this line of road, a distance say of about one hundred and twenty miles, will, before our children have ceased to be active among the sons of men, be one of the richest portions of the whole world. Such, I really believe, is the destiny of the Merrimack valley. Rich, not in the fertility of the soil on its banks, but in its almost illimitable water-power, the energy and industry of its people, and the application of these elements to the improvement and extension of productive machinery. It
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