USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Lebanon > History of Lebanon, N.H., 1761-1887 > Part 29
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HEATING AND LIGHTING THE TOWN HALL.
From the earliest days the heating and lighting of the town hall had never been satisfactory to everybody. The methods did not suit the people in the year 1881, and they began to devise improvement by voting "that the Selectmen be and hereby are authorized to make such changes in the method of heating the Town Hall as in their judgment may be deemed necessary." The selectmen to whom this important business was entrusted were Solon A. Peck, John S. Freeman and Charles M. Drake. There is no reasonable doubt but that this board of selectmen did what seemed to them wise and best, but their efforts did not sat- isfy the people any more than the efforts of many predecessors, and it began to seem as if selectmen were not adequate to this work, for at the annual meeting in 1884, only three years later, the town adopted the following resolution :
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
Resolved that the Selectmen be and hereby are instructed and em- powered to make such further provisions for lighting and heating the Town Hall and to make such additions and repairs to said Hall as in their judgment may be necessary for the safety convenience and comfort of all who resort thereto, and that the expense of such pro- visions and repairs be paid out of any monies of the town not other- wise appropriated.
The former board of selectmen, we gather from the resolution, had done something but not enough. The selectmen to whom the matter was again committed were Solon A. Peck, Charles A. Downs and John K. Butman. Under these instructions an addi- tion was built at the rear of the hall, providing for ante-rooms at the rear of the stage, and room for storage above and below. Two furnaces had been employed to heat the hall, which were suffi- cient in moderate weather, but failed in the coldest times. A third furnace was placed in the northwest corner of the lower hall, to be used in emergencies. These furnaces, used with good judgment, gave sufficient heat, and continue to the present time.
When the interior of the town hall was changed in 1868, gas pipes were introduced to afford means of lighting better than kerosene lamps. Gasoline began to be employed for lighting purposes. This substance gave good light when all conditions were just right, but seems to be endowed with an unusual amount of the perversity said to inhere in all material things. It was quick to resent any want of care, or lack of nice adjustment of the machinery by which it was operated. Its lights would flicker, die down to the merest spark and suddenly flash into intense brilliancy, causing the people to wonder what it would. do next. Sometimes the light went out entirely at unseemly times and in exasperating ways. Matters went on much in the same way till 1880, when the town decided to light the town hall by electricity. This illuminating agent has its eccentricities as well as the others before employed, but is far better than any other for lighting purposes, and infinitely better so far as com- fort and health are concerned.
STREET LIGHTS.
At the annual meeting in 1882 the first steps were taken to introduce street lights by instructing the selectmen "to make such provisions for lighting the main streets of Lebanon Center
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY.
and West Lebanon as they deemed proper." The streets were lighted first by whale oil in lamps suspended from posts; then by kerosene, for which new and improved burners were adopted, without ever reaching satisfactory results, when electricity in 1891 took the place of everything else.
MANUFACTURERS' EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.
At a special town meeting held April 30, 1881, the following preamble and resolution were adopted :
Whereas In the town of Lebanon we have the largest amount of un- occupied water-power of any other town in the state; and whereas it is of no value in its present normal condition, but if occupied our town would soon contain a manufacturing population and wealth only second to the city of Manchester, and whereas it has become almost universal for towns and cities with manufacturing facilities to offer to capital seeking opportunity for investment in this and other New England states, such inducements as the legislature has seen fit to grant, with the good wishes of their inhabitants and we, seeing the importance of sim- ilar action for the interests of our community
Resolved that we, the legal voters of the town of Lebanon do cor- dially extend a hearty invitation to manufacturing capital, and that we will vote at the earliest opportunity to exempt all new Capital employed in manufacturing when five thousand dollars or more shall be invested for the term of ten years from the time when such manu- facturing shall commence and that the clerk be requested to forward a copy of this Resolution to the Crocker Co Holyoke Mass
From this time to the present the town passed many votes exempting manufacturing plants from taxation. Probably the amount exempted would be in the neighborhood of a million dol- lars. In some cases the period of exemption has already expired and in other cases the limit is not distant.
SPRING AT WEST LEBANON.
At the annual meeting in 1882 the town voted to instruct the selectmen to lease to the Congregational Society at West Lebanon the spring situated in the cemetery ground. Little was thought at that time of the necessity of guarding carefully the sources of palatable water.
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
TOWN CLOCKS.
The clock which for many years had been a faithful sentinel in the tower of the town hall, marking the passage of time and regulating the life of the inhabitants in many ways, had become worn and more or less disabled in its functions, so at the annual meeting in 1881 the following resolution was adopted : "That the selectmen are hereby authorized to procure a new clock for the Town Hall and put the same in running order at an expence not exceeding four hundred and fifty dollars."
The selectmen employed F. B. Kendrick, then a jeweller and watchmaker, to procure the clock and place it in the tower. Expense, $447.59. The people of West Lebanon desired to have their time measured out to them in a reliable manner and in 1882 made application to the town at the November meeting for a town clock. Action upon the article in the warrant was post- poned to the annual meeting in 1883. At that meeting the town voted to adopt the following resolution : "That the selectmen be authorized and instructed to purchase a suitable town Clock to be placed in the village of West Lebanon whenever a suitable and proper place shall be prepared and furnished without expence to the town, to the satisfaction of the Selectmen." The "suitable and proper place" was not prepared and furnished until the erection of the West Lebanon High School building in 1892. The clock was purchased by C. A. Richardson, watch- maker, at a cost of $400.
BALANCE OF THE DOG TAX.
The law required the money received by tax on dogs, and later from license, to be used first in paying for damage done by dogs and any balance to be appropriated to the support of schools. How this balance was to be divided became a vexed question in town meetings. At the November meeting, 1882, the vote was "to divide the remaining dog tax money equally among the school districts." In 1885 the vote was renewed, and again in 1886. The following resolution was also adopted: "That the Selectmen are hereby instructed to enforce Section 9 of Chapter 115 of the General Laws of New Hampshire, respecting the licens- ing of dogs and repealing the by-law passed in 1880." For
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY.
many years towns were given the right "to make by-laws for licensing, regulating or restraining dogs as they deemed expedi- ent"; but the towns generally took no action toward licensing dogs. An addition to the law was passed, in case the towns failed to pass by-laws for licensing dogs, requiring the selectmen to prepare such by-laws and affix penalties for the violation thereof.
In the meantime a statute had been enacted, 1863, directing the selectmen to levy a tax of one dollar on all male dogs and two dollars for female dogs; this was outside of a license fee. Finally, in 1891, the present law concerning the licensing of dogs was enacted, requiring two dollars to be paid for each male and five dollars for females. The framers of the law neg- lected to repeal the law as to taxation, so that the people for about two years had to pay three and seven dollars for keeping a dog, according to sex. The tax was afterwards repealed. The town did make one by-law as to dogs in 1880 requiring a fee of five cents, but it was illegal and repealed.
In 1886, at a special meeting held on the 31st day of March, the following action was taken on the following resolution :
Resolved that the penalty for a failure or neglect to license a dog or dogs owned by any person or harbored by them be and is hereby fixed at fifty cents. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 102 for and 78 against, but was never inforced
This question was finally settled by law, requiring the balance of dog money to be treated as any other school money. Dogs are by many considered as useless animals, but they have a place in the affairs of society and their uses. It has been said that no people could emerge from barbarism to civilization with- out the aid of the dog. He does not go to school himself but he helps others to an education by contributing to the school fund, after paying for the damage some of the inconsiderate mem- bers of his race have done to sheep. The amount of the balance of the dog money to be added to the school money for 1896 is $351.90, which would require an invoice of about $18,000. The valuation of the sheep for 1895 was $2,492, so that the dogs con- tributed more than eight times as much for the support of schools
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
as the sheep-a result surprising to those who have not consid- ered the matter.
COLBURN PARK.
The Center Village was known for many years as the meeting house. Then the people of the village spoke of the enclosure as the "Common." At the annual meeting in 1884 the town voted "that the Common be hereafter known as Colburn Park in honor of the donor." How this land came to be given to the town has already been narrated in the history of the meeting-house.
POSTMASTERS OF LEBANON.
The names of postmasters, with the dates of their appointment, are as follows :
James Ralston, January 1, 1801.
Thomas Hough, October 1, 1805.
Andrew Post, October 1, 1811. William Benton, July 1, 1814. Calvin Benton. Nathan B. Felton.
Elijah Blaisdell, January 1, 1835.
George S. Kendrick, May 19, 1841.
Calvin Benton, January 14, 1845. Edward J. Durant, August 3, 1861. Elisha P. Liscomb, January 22, 1866. Alpheus W. Baker, January 19, 1881.
William M. Kimball, January 25, 1886.
Charles H. Clough (died in office), December 21, 1889. William A. Churchill, January 15, 1891. Albion T. Clark, January 15, 1895.
GEORGE S. KENDRICK, May, 1841.
EDWARD J. DURANT, August 3, 1861.
ELISHA P. LISCOMB, June 22, 1866.
ALPHEUS W. BAKER, January 19, 1881.
WILLIAM M. KIMBALL. January 25, 1886.
CHARLES H. CLOUGH, December 21, 1889.
WILLIAM A. CHURCHILL, January 15, 1891.
ALBION T. CLARK, January 15, 1895.
POSTMASTERS OF LEBANON.
The Town in the Rebellion.
The war of the rebel gun turned against Fort Sumter pene- trated to these peaceful valleys. The people were at once aroused and excited, and Lebanon began to have a War History. At the first call for volunteers, men here sprung to arms. In the month of April, 1861, ten men answered to the call of the president for seventy-five thousand volunteers. Their names are Joseph Harris, E. D. Cumming, William Hall, B. Clifford, Charles C. Seavey, Henry C. Norton, Heman Maynard, Cor- liss C. Wheeler, Joseph Sennett, Daniel Dacy. Subsequent calls were met, until Lebanon had representatives in every regiment and military organization of the state.
In compiling the war history of the town, I propose to give first the formal action of the town as found upon the records; second, an alphabetical list of the soldiers who represented Leb- anon, with the branch of service in which they were employed, together with a brief notice of each so far as can be ascertained; third, expenses incurred; fourth, events and incidents.
I. TOWN MEETINGS.
At a legal town meeting held on the 18th day of May, 1861, voted to adopt the following resolutions :
Resolved that the town of Lebanon appropriate a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, out of the treasury of the town not otherwise appropriated, for the benefit of citizens of said town, who have volun- teered and entered the service of the United States, and such as may hereafter may volunteer for such service and b accepted, and for the benefit of their families
Resolved: That the Selectmen of Lebanon are authorised and in- structed to pay to each citizen of Lebanon who has recently entered the service of his country, and all who may hereafter volunteer and be accepted the sum of ten dollars, and faithfully provide for and support such of the families of said. volunteers as may require or need assist- ance
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
At a legal town meeting held on the 9th day of Nov. 1861:
Voted to instruct the Selectmen to borrow, on the credit of the town, a sum of money not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars to carry out the provisions of Chap. 2480 of the Pamphlet Laws
This was an act authorizing cities and towns to aid the families of volunteers and for other purposes.
Voted that the Selectmen be committee to disburse this money in accordance with the provisions of said Chap 2480.
Voted to accept the following Resolution: viz.
Resolved that the Selectmen be authorized and directed to pay to each inhabitant of the town of Lebanon, who has been accepted and mustered into the service of the United States, or may hereafter be mustered into said Service in the state of New Hampshire or elsewhere, provided he enlisted into some company raised in the State of New Hampshire, the sum of ten dollars out of money in the treasury not otherwise appro- priated; provided that those who have already received a bounty of ten dollars heretofore voted by the town, are not to receive any farther bounty, unless they have been, or shall be, after being honorably dis- charged, re-enlisted and accepted mustered into said service.
At a legal town meeting held on the ninth day of Aug., 1862 : Voted to adopt the following resolutions
Resolved: that the town of Lebanon will pay a bounty of fifty dollars to any inhabitant thereof who has enlisted since the first day of August 1862, or may hereafter enlist and be mustered into the Volunteer service of the United States from this State; provided such soldiers are non- commissioned officers and privates.
Resolved that a like bounty of fifty dollars be paid to any person, who has not been enrolled in any town in this State, and is not liable to do military duty in this State, and who may enlist in this town and be mustered into the Volunteer service of the United States from this State; provided such bounty shall not be paid to such persons after the number necessary to complete the quota of the men or soldiers shall have been furnished.
At a legal town meeting held on the 30th day of Aug., 1862 :
Voted to pay fifty dollars to each inhabitant of Lebanon who has en- listed since the first day of July last, or who may hereafter enlist and be mustered into the Volunteer Service of the United States, in addition to the sum heretofore (Aug 1st 1882) voted.
Voted to pay the sum of two hundred dollars to any inhabitant of
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THE TOWN IN THE REBELLION.
this town, who may volunteer and be mustered into the service of the United States for the term of nine months, to answer the call for the three hundred thousand men, to be drafted from the militia.
Voted to adopt the following Resolution viz:
Resolved that the selectmen of the town of Lebanon be authorized and directed to pay to the families of the nine months volunteers from this town, who may be accepted and serve instead of drafted militia for the State of New Hampshire, under the call of the Prest. of the United States dated May 4th 1862, for 300,000 drafted malitia the same sums per month as are now authorized by law to be paid to families of Volun- teers for three years or during the war; subject to the same condi- tions and limitations in every respect; provided provisions are not made by the State, for paying said families the same as volunteers are now paid. And the select-men are hereby authorized to borrow money, on the credit of the town, for the purpose of carrying out the [pro- visions] of this Resolution, and the votes heretofore passed.
At a legal town meeting held on the 15th of August, 1863, voted to adopt the following resolutions, viz. :
Resolved: That the town of Lebanon hereby votes to raise and ap- propriate, and the Selectmen are hereby authorized and directed to pay as a bounty the sum of three hundred dollars to each of the mem- bers of the enrolled malitia of the said town who may be drafted or conscripted for the present prospective draft, under the laws of the United States to serve in the army of the United States during the ex- isting rebellion, or to the substitutes for such conscripts, who shall ac- tually enter the service of the United States as aforesaid provided that such bounty shall not be paid to any such conscript or substitute, or his order, until thirty days after he shall have been duly mustered into the service of the United States.
Resolved: That the Selectmen of the town of Lebanon are hereby authorized and directed, to any volunteer from this town, or to any vol- unteer from any other town, or place, who has already been in the ser- vice of the United States for a term not less than nine months, and who can count on the quota required from this town the sum of two hundred dollars, in addition to the bounties and pay offered, or which may here- after be offered by the United States, the money to be paid after such volunteer has been duly mustered into the service of the United States.
Resolved: That the Selectmen of the town of Lebanon are hereby au- thorized and directed to pay [to] every volunteer from this town, or to any volunteer from any other town or place, who has not heretofore been in the service of the U S. and who can count on the quota required from this town the sum of $300.00 as a bounty, payment to be made af- ter such volunteer has been duly mustered into the service of the U. S.
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
At a legal town meeting held on the 28th of November, 1863, voted to adopt the following resolution, viz. :
Resolved, that the town of Lebanon approve the action of the select- men in procuring thirty-three volunteers for said town, that being the quota of the town under the last call of the President of the United States; and that said selectmen be authorized to borrow and appropri- ate, the sum of $147.15, for the purpose of paying for said volunteers, according to the arrangement already made by said Selectmen.
At a legal town meeting held on the 8th of March, 1864:
Voted that the town pay to re-enlisted men $200.00, and to all new men $100.00 as a bounty; and continue to pay this for all men who can count on the quotas of this town till the rebellion is put down. And when the government bounty ceases to new recruits, then the town pay $300.00 for all new recruits, to privates and non-commissioned officers only.
At a legal town meeting held April 7, 1864 :
Voted that the town authorize the selectmen to pay a bounty of $200.00 to re-enlisted veteran volunteers; and to all new recruits a bounty of $100.00 and continue to pay this to citizens of Lebanon who can here- after be accredited to the town, the number not to exceed 22 men, after filling the quota of the last call of two hundred thousand men; and when the government bounties cease, to pay to new recruits the sum of $200.00. The above bounties to be paid to privates and non-commissioned officers only.
At a legal town meeting held August 9, 1864 :
Voted that the Selectmen be authorized and directed to pay the high- . est bounty authorized by law to volunteers substitutes and represent- ative recruits, drafted men or their assigns, who may be mustered into the service of the United States, and be credited to the town of Leb- anon, and raise money for that purpose.
Voted that the Selectmen be requested to use their utmost en- deavors to fill the quota of this town, in the most speedy manner and on the best terms, and that they be authorized to employ one or more agents, and pay all necessary expenses for that purpose.
Adjourned to the 13th day of August instant.
Met according to adjournment Aug. 13th 1864. Voted that the Se- lected men be authorized and instructed to fill the quota of this for the present call of the President of the United States, for men; and to raise sufficient money therefor.
Voted to adjourn until Saturday next.
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COL. JAMES G. BENTON.
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THE TOWN IN THE REBELLION.
Met according to adjournment and Voted to instruct the Selectmen to canvass the town for recruits.
At a legal town meeting held August 30, 1864 :
Voted that the Selectmen of the town of Lebanon be authorized to pay to any person, who may for three months previous have been an inhab- itant of the town, and shall enlist on the quota of this town and be ac- tually mustered into military, navy, or marine service of the United States, for one years service the sum of six hundred dollars; for two years service the sum of eight hundred dollars, and for three years ser- vice the sum of ten hundred dollars, and they are hereby authorized to raise money and appropriate the same for that purpose
Voted that the thanks of this town be presented to Daniel Richardson 71 years of age, and Benjamin Smith 2d 73 years of age for pulling in representative recruits which are credited to this town.
SELECTMEN DURING THE WAR. 1861.
Wm. S. Ela, Solon A. Peck, O. L. Stearns.
1862.
Solon A. Peck, O. L. Stearns, Ebenezer Cole.
1863.
Solon A. Peck, O. L. Stearns, Ebenezer Cole.
1864.
Wm. S. Ela, Ebenezer Cole, Solon A. Peck.
1865.
Solon A. Peck, Ebenezer Cole, J. Warren Cleaveland.
Robert Ash, Fifth Regiment, Company E; mustered October 19, 1861; died of disease in Fairfax County, Va., January 16, 1862, after eight weeks' sickness. He had first typhoid fever, then measles, mumps, another fever, ending with camp dysentery. The following tribute was paid to his memory by one of his com- rades : "He was one of our best boys and a true soldier; he was highly esteemed by all his comrades, and his soldier-like bearing had won for him the confidence of his officers. He placed his confidence in Him who rules the universe, and was willing to die
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HISTORY OF LEBANON.
in his country's cause and be laid where the weary are at rest." Colonel Cross, in announcing his death, thus speaks of him. "As I sat by the bedside of that dying boy and saw the tide of life slowly ebbing away, and beheld with what bravery and Christian fortitude he awaited death, I thought then how, in his humble life and death he had set us a glorious example, not only as a soldier, but as a man. The heroism of a soldier's life and death is not confined to the battlefield. It requires more courage to suffer a lingering illness and 'die in hospital' than to meet death amid the din of arms."
Zenas P. Alden, enlisted Seventh Regiment, Company C; mus- tered November 15, 1861; promoted to corporal November 28, 1863; mustered out December 22, 1864.
John Adams, s., Sixth Regiment, Company G; mustered No- vember 21, 1863, three years; deserted at Camp Nelson, Ky., January 1, 1864.
John H. Ansel, Company I, First Cavalry ; mustered one year, April 5, 1865 ; mustered out May 6, 1865.
Albert Aspinwall, Lebanon, mustered September 23, 1864, three years ; musician, Second Brigade Band, Tenth Army Corps ; mustered out July 4, 1865.
Lawrence Albach, Lebanon, Third Regiment, Company K; mustered November 24, 1863; wounded May 18, 1864; sick July 20, 1865.
Charles G. Balch, enlisted in Seventh Regiment, Company C; mustered November 15, 1861; drowned at Beaufort, July 26, 1862.
Capt. Daniel C. Buswell, enlisted in the First Regiment, Min- nesota. This, we believe, was the first regiment tendered to the government, and Captain Buswell's name the second on the roll of his company. He was in the first battle of Bull Run and at the siege of Yorktown. He was seized by camp dysentery and only saved by the care of E. P. Liscomb, Esq., to whom many a soldier is indebted for kindness shown when most needed. He returned to Lebanon, his birthplace, to recruit his health. While here he was transferred to the Ninth New Hampshire Regiment, with a captain's commission in Company E, which he enlisted at Lebanon. No finer company left the state than this. He was in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, under Burnside in
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THE TOWN IN THE REBELLION.
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