USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 21
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This period 2 also saw the settlements in each of the other sec- tions of the town well advanced. On Mann's hill, Elijah Mann, who had made the first beginning in 1796, had disposed of his betterments to Asa Colburn. His location was on the left of the road, in what is now the Allen pasture. On the opposite side of the road, then but a path, as early as 1797, Abijah Allen, the first of the name in town, began to clear the farm, which has since remained in possession of the family, and is now tilled by a de- scendant of the fourth generation from Abijalı, the pioneer. In the same year Jehial Kilburn began on the Goodwin place. In 1801 Colburn, Allen, and Kilburn each had five acres under culti- vation. The hill derives its name from Solomon and Elijah Mann, who were of the Orford family of that name. Solomon married a daughter of Gen. Jacob Bailey, and resided in town until 1815. He subsequently removed to Ballston Spa, N. Y., where he died. In the early town records the hill is once referred to as Kilburn's hill, and again as Rowell's, for Micajah Rowell, who lived on the lot where now is formed the junction of the Mann's and Farr hill roads, at present owned by George H. Bartlett. In 1804 Ephraim Parks, a brother-in-law of Major Curtis, came from Charlestown and located on the farm now owned by William Harriman. Of these settlers,
1 Present residence of Leslie F. Bean. Mr. Newhall's house and shop were on the Lancaster road, which then turned east from a point just beyond the site of the old meeting-house, passed by the Bean place, thence turned to the left to the Wheeler place.
2 1800-1803.
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Mr. Kilburn sold to Zadock Wheeler, who in turn sold to Samuel Goodwin. Mr. Colburn passed his title to Denison Lathrop.
On the Ammonoosuc meadows Ephraim Bailey had sold the Caswell farm to Capt. Elkanah Hoskins, who came from Peters- ham, Mass. He had been a Revolutionary soldier, and was sub- sequently an influential participant in Shays' rebellion, and after the collapse of that ill-starred adventure deemed it prudent to leave his native State. He hastily disposed of his property, and, with his family and twelve hundred silver dollars, came to Little- ton. Mr. Bailey took the specie with him to northern New York. The Hoskins family was, however, by far the more valuable pos- session, and remained to add much to the character and wealth of this section of the State. John McMillen 1 and one of his brothers were located on the place now owned by Mr. Bailey. Roswell Savage lived on the Flanders place, Jonathan Parker on the farm which has passed through three generations of his descendants into the possession of Frank I. Parker, the present owner. Sylves- ter Savage had a house on the road leading to the mills. It was on low ground near the river, in the rear of the present residence of Leonard Taylor. Mr. Savage's tract extended to the present junction of Main and Meadow Streets. At this time all the origi- nal lots on the Ammonoosuc had been taken up. Luther Thomp- son first located on what has since been known as the Brackett place, now occupied by B. F. McIntire. In 1804 he sold the north part of his tract to William Brackett, and built on the hill below. Both places are now the property of Mr. McIntire. On the old McIntire place Samuel Douglass was established.
At the north and west ends of the town a considerable increase was made, both in population and wealth, prior to 1805. Nearly all the valuable agricultural lands in those sections were occupied. The log cabins were rapidly giving place to substantial frame build- ings, though the primitive dwelling was in a few instances occu- pied as late as 1840.
The first settlement on Farr hill was made by Ebenezer Farr and his sons. They came from Chesterfield. The elder Farr be- gan on the place now owned by his grandson, John W. Noah located on the Shute place. There were eight children in this family, all of whom married, and at one time resided in town, - most of them living on the hill which bears the family name.
The first post-office was established in 1802, with James Wil-
1 The persons of this name then residents were Ananias and Samuel at the west end, and Alexander, John, and Daniel on the meadows. The Mc was dropped in 1805.
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liams as postmaster. The office was at his inn at the north end, the place now owned by William Humphrey. The mail came and went each way once a week. The conveyance was by saddle-horse, the carrier taking a course that enabled him to serve all the offices in the Connecticut valley between Hanover and Lancaster. His course took him from Lisbon (then Concord) to Lyman, thence he again reached the valley at West Littleton. It was the custom of the time for the carrier to take his newspaper mail in open saddle-bags, and deliver the papers to such subscribers as resided on the route. The postman was a Mr. Prescott.1 He was due at the Littleton office on Saturday. One stormy week in midwinter the mail was delayed a day, and when he reached the house of Deacon James Rankin on Sunday, he tossed the newspaper into the open door. The sheet was rendered vile by a Sunday delivery, and Mrs. Rankin lifted it with the tongs and dropped it into the fire which was blazing on the hearth. The paper was the only one taken in the neighborhood, and some of the gossips thought the deacon's wife more pious than wise to thus deprive them of their weekly instalment of information concerning the great events then taking place in Europe, where Napoleon was at the height of his great fame, and threatening the peace of the world by the abroga- tion of the treaty of Amiens. The administration, too, had just at this time purchased Louisiana, -. an act which met the disap- proval of nearly every voter at the west end of the town, which was decidedly anti-Jeffersonian in its political opinions, and they sadly missed the vigorous denunciation of this act of political folly, of which the conduct of this zealous Sabbatarian had deprived them.
The first settlers evinced little interest in party politics. Remote from centres of political influence, and to a certain extent of polit- ical information, they were content to discharge the simple duties required by law, as they understood them, unbiased by partisan considerations. The advent of such strong Federal partisans as Rev. David Goodall and James Rankin, wrought a change and created a public sentiment which soon assumed a form of consid- erable political activity. It was a one-sided activity, however, as all the voters belonged to the Federal party. The first note of dissent was sounded at the election of 1801. The political ideas enunciated by Jefferson had, unperceived, penetrated this quiet hamlet, and nine votes were cast for Timothy Walker for governor. The Republicans were content with this expression of their polit- ical opinions, and the vote for other state officers was, as usual
1 Possibly Trescott, - at least one narrator gives that name.
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unanimous. The leader of the opposition was Alexander Albee, who had but recently moved into town from Westmoreland.
Ancient party names, without a brief explanation, might confuse the modern reader, as parties bearing the same name have, at different periods, advocated conflicting principles.
The Federal party was founded in 1787, for the purpose of se- curing the ratification, by the States, of the Constitution framed by the Constitutional Convention held at Philadelphia. That object accomplished, it naturally directed the course of events that led to the organization of the first government under that instrument. Its leaders were Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. The opponents of the ratification of the Constitution were known as Anti-Federalists: Their leaders were Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and Luther Martin. The. Federalists controlled the government until 1800, when it was overthrown by Jefferson and his followers.
The avowed purposes of the Federalists were to create a strong national government by the centralization of power in the Federal administration, the fostering of commercial interests, the main- tenance of friendly relations with Great Britain, and the establish- ment of a National Bank. They also believed it essential to the welfare of the people that the administration of affairs should be committed to the intelligent and substantial classes. To this end, attempts were first made to engraft a property qualification for suffrage and office-holding in the national Constitution. Failing in this, a successful effort was made to incorporate this principle in the constitutions of several of the States. After its defeat in 1800, it continued as an opposition party, with varying fortunes, until 1828, when it ceased to exist.
The Anti-Federal party of 1787 became the Republican party in 1793, under the leadership of Jefferson and Madison, who had in 1792 abandoned the Federalists and united with Jefferson in the formation of the Republican party. This party, in the early years of President Jefferson's administration, assumed the compound name of Democratic-Republican, and retained that designation as a national organization until 1830, when the Republican half was dropped. In some of the States that portion of the party name disappeared as early as 1810. New Hampshire was the last to part with the title bestowed by Jefferson, and retained the hyphen- ated form until the enactment of the Australian ballot law in 1889, when it became necessary, in order to avoid confusion in the official ballot, to part with the last part of a name which had been borne by one of the great parties in the State for more than three-quar-
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ters of a century. Prior to 1830 this party was popularly known as the Republican, after that date as the Democratic party. The declared principles of the party were in favor of a strict construction of the Constitution, the reservation to the States respectively of all powers not specifically granted to the Fed- eral government, and opposition to a National Bank and to internal improvements by the Federal government.
The political activity caused by the division of public opinion, though the dissenters were few in number, brought out a large vote at the election in 1802. John Taylor Gilman, Federal candi- date for Governor, received 52 votes, and John Langdon, Repub- lican candidate, 29. The vote for other candidates for State and county officers went by default, with the exception of that for Reg- istrar of Deeds. This position had long been held by Samuel Brooks, who must have been a popular official, as the voters in this town took the laborious trouble to write his name upon their ballots. He received 69 votes. None were cast against him.
For several years the vote of the town was in the proportion of two to one in favor of the Federalists. The growth of party feeling is indicated by the fact that the opposition soon began to cast their ballots for officers other than that of Governor. In 1804 Ezra Bart- lett received 35 votes for Counsellor and Daniel Blaisdell 32 votes for the same position, while William Tarleton had 35 votes for Senator to 31 cast for Moses P. Payson, a Democratic majority of 3 and 4 respectively for their candidates for these offices ; while, on the vote for Governor, Gilman had a majority of 25 over Langdon. It is likely that Mr. Payson's vote was dimin- ished by reason of his having brought suits against some of his party friends, who took this method to square accounts. In 1806 the Democrats carried the town for Langdon, giving him a majority of three votes. Mr. Payson had a majority of two for Senator at the same election. This vote cannot be accepted as indicating a change in the political sentiment of the town, for it continued thereafter for many years to adhere to the doctrines and teachings of the Federal party. In 1810 the vote for Governor was, Jere- miah Smith, 90, John Langdon, 31. Thus it appears that the forces of the dominant party in town were strengthened in a larger proportion during this decade than were those of the opposition.
Interest in national politics was of slow growth. The in- habitants of the town were warned to meet at the house of Nathan Caswell, on the 13th day of December, 1788, to cast their votes for three Representatives in the Congress of the United States and " to give in their votes for five suitable persons, electors,
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whose duty it is to give their votes for a President and Vice- President of the United States agreeable to an act of the General Court passed in November instant at their last session." What action, if any, was taken at this meeting, the record does not show. In the first volume of the town records the warrant is copied in full and a blank space left for a record of the transac- tions of the meeting. We may reasonably conjecture that when the committee whose duty it was to transfer from the loose slips on which they were originally inscribed the proceedings of the several town meetings held prior to the purchase of the first town books in 1794, the record of this particular meeting was missing, and the blank space was left in the hope and expectation that it would be found and inserted in its proper place in the records. But it was never discovered, and it cannot be known whether any votes were cast for George Washington and John Adams for first President and Vice-President of the United States.
No meeting was called or held at the presidential election of 1792. At that of 1796 a meeting was warned to assemble at Captain Caswell's, on the first day of November, to vote for one member of Congress and Presidential electors. At this meeting twelve votes were cast, all for Jonathan Freeman, for member of Congress, and it was " voted to omit choosing electors for Presi- dent not being acquainted with suitable persons as the law pre- scribes." Since that time our townsmen have not been troubled with scruples of this character. There is no record of a meeting or of votes cast for Electors of President and Vice-President at the election in 1800. A special election was held in October to fill a vacancy in the congressional delegation, caused by the resignation of William Gordon. Eighteen votes were cast, all for George B. Upham.
The records show that votes for presidential electors were first cast in November, 1804. Thirty-six voters evinced sufficient ill- terest in the event to go to the polls. These divided with more than the usual percentage in favor of the Federal party. Its can- didates received 30 out of the whole number of votes cast. At the congressional election in August previous, the whole number of ballots cast was 62, of which the Federal ticket received 51, and the Republican ticket 11.
The presidential election of 1808 brought out a large vote. The population liad increased in the four years that had passed since the election of 1804, but not so much as this vote would indicate. It was the period of the general embargo, and party feeling ran high. The town was in sympathy with the prevailing sentiment
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in New England in condemnation of the restrictive laws and orders, which, it was claimed, would banish our merchant marine from the seas. These influences served to bring to the polls many a man who had never before felt it his duty to take part in the choice of the chief magistrate of the nation. The citizens of the town had taken more interest in the election of members of Congress than in the choice of President, and the election of this year was 110 ex- ception to the rule. At the congressional election in August 129 votes were cast, and at the presidential election in November but 92. Silas Symonds was town clerk, and in making up the record he added the party name, and tells us that at the August election the " Federal ticket" received 106 votes and the " Republican ticket " 13 votes, while at the election in November the vote stood 73 to 19.
The political history of this period closes with the election of . members of Congress in 1810. The vote cast was 31 for the " Federal ticket " and 17 for the " Republican ticket." This vote iudicates a surprising loss of interest in Federal politics. Whether this was produced by a conviction that the result was not to be affected by any action on the part of the citizens of this town, or was the result of a more general cause, now termed an " off year," when the end to be gained is esteemed of little consequence by the average voter, is left to conjecture. On this occasion the indif- ference was confined to the Federal party. Its vote shrunk in two years from 106 to 31, while the Republican vote was increased from 13 to 17.
Town legislation during this decade was largely confined to mat- ters concerning roads, bridges, and schools. New districts were created, and school districts were authorized in 1801 to " raise and collect " money in addition to such sums as were appropriated by the town, for school purposes. The law of the State in regard to laying highways was substantially as at present, yet the question of building a new road was usually considered in town meeting, and the selectmen were instructed to lay, alter, or repair high- ways, and to build or not to build bridges. The warrant for the annual town meeting in March, 1801, contained an article in refer- ence to building a bridge across the Ammonoosuc River " on the most convenient place near Capt. Wetherbees mills." The meeting voted not to build the bridge. The Captain Wetherbee referred to was Samuel Wetherbee, who in 1800 bought of Solomon Mann " the mills at Ammonoosuc." He sold the same property two years later to Asa Lewis. Mr. Wetherbee resided at Concord, Vt.
The question of building the bridge over the Ammonoosuc was
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an important one at the time, and was largely affected by local in- terests and prejudices. The voters along the Connecticut regarded the erection of a bridge over the larger river as of more importance, and steadily opposed an appropriation for the construction of a bridge at the Ammonoosuc Mills. In 1805 the Ammonoosuc high- way district was divided by setting off that part lying on Mann's Hill. Parley Robbins was elected surveyor of the new, or mills, district. Under his administration a stringer, or log, bridge was built at or very near the point where the present bridge stands. The cost of the structure was not large. The material was cut on the adjacent banks of the river. The labor, aside from the small sum furnished out of the surveyor's tax-list, was contributed by village residents and citizens of Bethlehem, who were among the patrons of the mills. When completed, it was not a substantial structure, and in 1810 it broke down and was swept away.
The harmony which had existed between the different sections of the town was disturbed about this time by the business rivalry between the settlements at North Littleton and the Ammonoosuc Mills. It is difficult, at this distant time, to discover a reasonable cause for these local dissensions. They were, however, sufficiently strong to cause the insertion in the warrant for a special town meeting in April, 1803, of an article " To see if the town will agree to divide s'd town into two towns, or set off any part of s'd town." While this town meeting was exceedingly contentious re- garding some other matters, it was sufficiently unanimous to take but one vote on this question, which was thus briefly recorded : " Voted not to divide the town."
Other matters considered at this meeting were to refer the re- quest of the selectmen of Lancaster in regard to the proposed divis- ion of Grafton County, to the selectmen, with instructions to notify Lancaster that the town would take no action in reference to such division.
It appears that a petition had been presented to the Legislature asking for the passage of an act authorizing the selectmen to levy a tax of three cents per acre on the lands in this town, for the purpose of raising a fund for building and repairing highways. This action was obnoxious to some citizens, and they carried the matter into town meeting, where the contending forces waged a hot and for a long time doubtful contest over the question. It was first moved to pass over the article. The motion did not pre- vail. As parliamentary law for the government of town meetings is now understood, this decision left the question before the meet- ing for consideration, but a motion was made, and entertained,
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that the vote whereby the meeting had refused to pass over the article be reconsidered. This motion was adopted, and then the friends of the tax secured the passage of a vote to " pass over the article." So our fathers had their troubles over the questions of taxation and internal improvements. "Good roads," as an issue, has survived the mutations of a century, and is likely to be heard of " as the most important question of the hour" at our annual meetings for many years to come.
For a long period the offices of collector and constable were vested in the same person. The duties of constable were analo- gous to those now discharged by police officers, and the fees were sufficiently remunerative to make the position desirable to many citizens. It was the custom to put up at auction in town meeting the office of collector of taxes, and strike it off to the lowest bid- der. Usually the bid was to collect the taxes for nothing, but sometimes the competition was sufficient to induce the successful contestant to pay a small sum into the town treasury for the honor. In justice to our townsmen of a hundred years since, it should be stated that this was the only office they disposed of by auction. The sale closed, the meeting proceeded to choose the collector to the office of constable. His surety was announced in open meeting, and accepted or rejected by a vote of the town. This custom has interspersed throughout the early records an annual statement, similar to the following, in regard to a trans- action at the meeting of 1803 : " Voted, to vendue the collecting of the taxes to the lowest bidder. Denison Lathrop bid s'd col- lection down to nothing, and it was struck off to s'd Lathrop; " and this was followed by such records as : " Chose Denison La- throp Constable," and " Voted to accept Peter Bonney as bonds- man for Denison Lathrop, Collector of taxes."
The appropriations for 1803 indicate the parsimonious methods of the town in dealing with its various interests. No money was raised for town charges or schools, because it happened that the town had, the previous autumn, been indicted on account of the bad condition of the county road, and to meet this extra charge it was required to increase the amount of $120, raised for high- ways in 1802, to $400, besides a special appropriation of $50 for the county road. Even this sum was insufficient for its purpose, for the town was several times indicted within the next few years for the same cause. The following year (1804) the town raised $180 for schools, $60 for town charges, and $300 for highways. Each of these sums was largely in excess of the usual appropriation for these purposes, the amount for town charges being doubled.
VOL. I. - 15
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The warrant for the town meeting in 1805 contained articles covering a series of long-standing complaints and demands, the selectmen evidently intending that the town should do some house- cleaning at its March meeting. Among these articles the most important were those to see if the town would build school-houses through the town ; to appropriate money to repair the county road ; to hire preaching ; to reconsider the vote passed in 1803 not to pay Capt. James Williams and Asa Lewis the money paid Mr. John Lord for preaching; and to see if the town would make any alteration in school and highway districts.
All school money, whether for schools, buildings, and such sup- plies as they then had, was voted by the town. In several in- stances districts' had asked the privilege of raising money and been refused. At this meeting, in 1805, a committee of eight was appointed to consider all matters relating to schools, and to report at an adjourned meeting. Regarding the question of raising money for repairing the county road, the meeting displayed its usual vacillation. It voted to pass over the article, then reconsidered, and decided not to raise any money for that specific purpose, but raised $600 to repair roads in town, a large proportion of which was presumably for the principal thoroughfare. The account of Messrs. Williams and Lewis was several years old ; the town had once voted to pay it, but the selectmen refused to comply with the instructions, and it was finally disposed of by voting that both bills be paid.
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