USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 47
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The year 1892 is memorable in the history of the library for having received its first considerable donation, - a gift of more than six hundred volumes from Col. Charles A. Sinclair. These were especially valuable, as they were selected with care for the purpose of strengthening weak places in several departments that had been necessarily neglected for want of funds. When the Colonel concluded to make the gift, he left the selection of the volumes to the book committee of the library, his only desire being to add to the usefulness of the institution as an educational
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Libraries.
influence. The only other considerable gift was a bequest in the will of the late Harry Bingham of the sum of $1,000, which has been invested, and the income is used in the purchase of books, the selections being restricted by the exclusion of works of fiction.
As originally founded, the collection contained very few of the works of writers of current fiction. There was a fairly good selection of the classics, and standard authors, but fiction, now so much in vogue was confined to authors who were publishing in the years from 1850 to 1875, and was out of fashion when it came into the possession of the trustees from the old village library. It was therefore necessary that a large share of the annual addition of books should consist of the class fiction then in demand. In fact, the funds available in the hands of the trustees have seldom been sufficient to more than meet this de- mand and that required for the use of the several literary clubs, which calls for special lines rather than works of a general char- acter. Consequently the library has continued deficient in some of the departments that must be strong if it is to be an edu- cational institution rather than one designed for intellectual recreation.
Change has been the tendency of the governing board from the beginning. Mr. Bellows retired after a year's service, Mrs. Stevens by removal from town, Mr. Batchellor on account of pressure of business affairs, Mr. Remick for the same reason, and at the close of the fifth year of its existence as a town institution, the only members of the original board of trustees in service were Edgar Aldrich, Mrs. Parker, and Miss Brackett. Mrs. Parker served, continuously, longer than any other member, her term extending from 1889 to 1903. During most of the time she was a member of the board she also served as its treasurer. Judge Aldrich follows next in order, his services being from 1889 to 1898. He was the first president of the board, and continued in that position until continuous absence from town caused his retirement. Judge Batchellor has been accorded more elections or appointments to the board than any other person, having been a member no less than five different times, and having resigned from it nearly as many.
The present officers and members are as follows : A. S. Batch- ellor, president ; Elizabeth K. Remich, vice-president ; H. M. Morse, secretary ; Charles F. Eastman, treasurer; and Delia B. Mitchell, Julia A. Eaton, Stella B. Farr, George H. Tilton, and G. S. Whittaker. The librarians have been Stella B. Farr, first year ; Julia A. Eaton, and, since 1892, Hannah F. Merrill.
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History of Littleton.
The rooms occupied by the library in the Rounsevel Building had long been inadequate, and when the town building was erected in 1895, provision was made for it on the second floor, over the court-room. The books and furnishings were moved to the new quarters, which were adorned with pictures presented by Mrs. Ira Parker and the Rev. F. G. Chutter. Other gifts were the presentation of a settle for the reading-room by Mr. and Mrs. . B. W. Kilburn, two chairs by Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Mitchell, and a table by Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Remich. These rooms were opened to the public on Saturday, June 1, 1895, and were ample for their purposes. Several years before, legislation had been obtained authorizing towns to appropriate money and maintain reading- rooms, and this occasion was availed of for the opening of a reading-room well supplied with magazines and newspapers.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1902, action was taken directing the purchase of a lot for, and the erection of, a library building, which was to be a gift from Andrew Carnegie, and was to cost a sum not exceeding $15,000. Oscar C. Hatch, Daniel C. Remich, Charles F. Eastman, Henry F. Green, and Fred H. Eng- lish were chosen a building committee with full powers. This committee purchased of Dr. George W. McGregor the property at the corner of Main and School Streets, so long owned and occupied as a residence by Dr. William Burns, as a site for the library building. By this act they unconsciously made some reparation for the gross injustice to the Doctor's memory perpetrated by the town officers by selling and distributing among indifferent pur- chasers the hundreds of volumes he gave the town as a foundation for a public library. Owing to differences with his associates in regard to the purchase of adjoining property to enlarge the lot, D. C. Remich resigned from the committee, and Cortes F. Nutting was appointed to the vacancy.
The new building is now in process of erection, and the town will soon have a substantial home for one of its most cherished institutions, the Littleton Public Library.
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Music and Musical Associations.
XLV.
MUSIC AND MUSICAL ASSOCIATIONS.
S O far as we have any authentic information Capt. Peleg Wil- liams was our first musician. Before the organization of the town he was noted for skill in playing the violin, and for thirty years furnished music for dancing in this vicinity. Dr. Ainsworth, too, was an expert in drawing the bow, but regarded it as beneatlı his dignity to become in any sense a rival to the doughty captain in the way of fiddling while the belles and beaux tripped the light fantastic toe. Captain Williams retired from the musical arena before 1816, and was succeeded by David Goodall, Jr. who played the " bag fiddle " much to his devout mother's disgust, and by James Dow, the drummer and fifer of the War of 1812, who fur- nished music for more than a generation of dancers.
In 1835 Cephas Brackett, Luther T. Dow, and Charles H. Lovejoy were among those who were active in forming the first band. They and their associates engaged a Mr. Bond, of Boston, as teacher and director of a brass band. Whether he was the same person who was afterward noted through New England as the leader of Bond's Cadet Band we do not know, but it is not unlikely that such was the fact. It was under his direction that the Littleton Band, the first musical organization of this character in the town, came into existence in 1835.
After Mr. Bond a Mr. Wood was engaged as teacher. Cephas Brackett took the new leader to a ball at Waterford, Vt., and introduced him as Mr. Timber. Then John Windus, a musician of note at the time, was employed as teacher and director. In 1894 Luther T. Dow gave to George C. Furber this list of the members of the band : John Windus, cornet and leader ; Luther T. Dow, first copper bugle ; William B. Douglass, second bugle ; Hiram B. Smith, trumpet; Cephas Brackett, tenor trombone ; Fred Hughes, tenor trombone; Charles B. Allen, B-flat clarinet ; Charles H. Lovejoy, B-flat clarinet ; Daniel M. Young, E-flat clari- net ; Nat Allen, bass horn ; Elisha Burnham, bass horn, and Fred-
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History of Littleton.
erick Hazeltine, French horn. Gilman K. Morrison and Andrew M. Quimby were afterward members. Mr. Quimby and Natt Allen were noted Abolitionists ; the former was the local correspondent of the "Herald of Freedom" and the " Liberator " and at one time postmaster at North Littleton. Mr. Morrison is the only survivor of this membership. The band was in existence four or five years. Its principal public exhibitions were at the May trainings in town, musters at Lisbon, and Fourth of July cele- brations. After the Band which Mr. Windus instructed went out of business there was no similar organization until 1855, when the Littleton Brass Band was formed. The membership and instrumentation of this, as appears from its roster, was : Franklin G. Weller, leader, E-flat cornet; Luther T. Dow, E-flat cornet ; Cyrus E. Burnham, E-flat cornet'; Daniel Quimby, B-flat cornet ; Albert H. Quimby, B-flat cornet; Frederick Hazeltine, E-flat alto; Henry H. Lovejoy, E-flat alto; Charles Hodgman, E-flat alto; Ai Fitzgerald, B-flat tenor ; Ira Q. Blake, B-flat tenor ; Henry L. Tilton, B-flat bass ; George L. Russell, E-flat tuba ; William W. Weller, E-flat tuba; Henry B. Burnham, snare drum; David P. Sanborn, bass drum; Luther D. Sanborn, cym- bals. Franklin G. Weller was leader until 1861, when Daniel Quimby was elected and served until his death. Franklin G Wel- ler was then elected again and continued until 1865. When the war broke out, H. B. Burnham, Cyrus Burnham, H. H. Lovejoy (who was at that time a member of the band), Albert H. Quimby, John Palmer, and F. D. Sanborn enlisted in either the Second, Third, or Thirteenth Regiment Band.1 Nearly all of these served to the close of the war, and came home in 1865. In the fall of 1865 Henry B: Burnham was elected leader and continued in that capac- ity, with the exception of one year, until 1887 ; he was also leader during the season of 1889. Another case of long service in this old band is that of Chauncey H. Greene, who joined in 1863 and was soon after elected secretary and treasurer, in which capacity he served most of the time for fifteen years. At the time the Littleton Brass Band was organized Professor Whipple, of Lancaster, was
1 H. B. Burnham, solo alto; John W. Palmer, E-flat cornet; F. D. Sanborn, B tenor (enlisted as private in Company D, but after Fredericsburg was detailed to the band), enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment and belonged to the regimental band until it was dissolved. Cyrus E. Burnham, tuba; H. H. Lovejoy, B cornet, enlisted in the Third Regiment Band. Albert Quimby, B cornet, enlisted in the Fifth Regiment Band. When the regimental bands were disbanded, about 1862, F. D. Sanborn, John Palmer, and H. B. Burnham became members of the Second Brigade Band, Third Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps. Cyrus Burnham and H. H. Lovejoy went into the Seventeenth Regiment as musicians after regimental bands were disbanded.
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ALBERT H. QUIMBY.
FREDERICK HAZELTINE. CHARLES HODGMAN.
AI FITZGERALD.
CYRUS E. BURNHAM. HENRY H. LOVEJOY.
IRA Q. BLAKE. DANIEL QUIMBY. LUTHER T. DOW. HENRY L. TILTON.
WM. W. WELLER. FRANK G. WELLER. GEORGE L. RUSSELL. DAVID P. SANBORN. LUTHER D. SANBORN.
HENRY B. BURNHAM.
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Music and Musical Associations.
employed as teacher, and afterwards Prof. Walter Dignam, of Manchester. The membership of the band was naturally more or less changed each year, but some of the original members served for a long time : notable among these were Ai Fitzgerald, who was a member about twelve years, and Luther T. Dow, who was a member nearly as long. In 1865 the name was changed to "Littleton Cornet Band," and this was retained until 1880 or 1881, when it was changed to "Saranac Band " on account of the liberal gifts presented by the Saranac Glove Company. After that date the name was not changed until the organization was disbanded in 1889. For the most part it had a fine record and ranked among the best bands in the State. After Mr. Burn- ham gave up the leadership he had several successors, - Henry H. Lovejoy, Harry C. Parker, Francis H. Palmer, and George H. Wilder. now the leader of Wilder's Orchestra, of Montpelier, Vt. Since then several efforts have been made to organize a band, but with indifferent success. The town has twice appropriated money for the purpose of patronizing the movement, the last sum of $400 being given under the guise of providing band concerts during the summer of 1903, to a band under the leadership of William H. Nute.
Albert H. Bowman was for a long time Drum Major of the Littleton Cornet Band and its successor the Saranac Band. With an imposing figure, arrayed in a bearskin hat and a uniform not wanting in gold braid and other rich adornments, on parade he was the observed of all observers. The Major filled the require- ments of this position to the letter. Major Bowman has long been a patron of outdoor sports, especially of baseball and foot- ball, and a generous contributor to the funds raised for their maintenance. He gave his services freely as Drum Major, and his pecuniary gifts to the band helped them out of financial diffi- culty on more than one occasion.
The first band stand was erected in the summer of 1868 at the corner of Main and Jackson Streets, and was used until 1874, when, having become worthless, it was destroyed one night by some of the fun-loving lads of the town. In the summer of 1875 Isabel, daughter of H. L. Tilton, raised money by subscriptions sufficient to build a new stand, and it was erected on the old location in May, 1875. This was used for many years, but the band at last outgrew its proportions and the stand was removed to the lower park, where it now stands. In the fall of 1894 B. W. Kilburn and D. C. Remich erected the stand in Hillside Park, at a cost of about $350.
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History of Littleton.
A movement was made as early as 1866 to organize a musical association to hold conventions in Lancaster and Littleton. Those interested in the matter at the time of its inception were residents of the former town and held a convention there in 1867, which was so successful that its managers were encouraged to hold one in this town in the summer or early autumn of that year. They received the support of several men in Littleton who were inter- ested in music, of whom Frank G. Weller, George Abbott, and Henry L. Tilton were the most active in promoting its success. The following year a convention was held under the direction of the Lancaster association, and met with a fair degree of patronage.
These conventions awakened much interest among the lovers of music in Littleton and neighboring towns, and in the autumn of 1868 it was decided to hold a convention the following winter, under the management of a committee of residents of this town. A paper was circulated which received numerous signatures pledg- ing " the undersigned " to contribute equally to such fund as might be necessary to make up any deficiency arising from an excess of expenditures over receipts in holding the convention. The sub- scribers to the guarantee fund held a meeting and appointed a committee to carry out their plans. No record of their transac- tions was kept, and the names of the members or their number is not known beyond the fact that William J. Bellows was chair- man, Frank G. Weller secretary, and Francis F. Hodgman treas- urer. Henry L. Tilton, F. G. Weller, George Abbott, and Charles A. Sinclair were among the members of the committee.
The convention was held in the last week in January, 1869, with C. M. Wyman, of Keene, as conductor ; Martha Dana Shepard, pianist, and J. P. Cobb, of Boston, humorist. The chorus num- bered one hundred and forty-four. There were no professional soloists, except Mr. Cobb, but very satisfactory substitutes were found in Mr. Wyman, the conductor, who sang with effective pathos "Over the River ; " George H. Doane and Mrs. Doane, of Concord ; Mr. Ingalls, of the same city; Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Kimball, also of Concord ; Mrs. Hibbard, of Lisbon, and Ardelle Knapp of this town. Notwithstanding the fact that the attend- ance was large and the expenditures kept down to the lowest possible mark, the signers to the guarantee fund were required to pay $3.60 each to make up the deficit. It was then thought that the convention would be the last, as it was the first, held under the auspices of our townsmen.
The spirit awakened by the convention of 1869 survived, though dormant for months, and an accident awakened it to activity.
ALBERT H. BOWMAN.
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Music and Musical Associations.
In the last week of November of that year a sacred concert given for a charitable purpose was held on Sunday evening in Music Hall, Boston, at which Mrs. H. M. Smith, Addie Ryan, William H. Fessenden, and Henry C. Barnabee were the singers. It was at- tended by two of those who had contributed to the guarantee fund which furnished the sequel to the convention of the preceding January, and they left the hall with a distinct purpose of organ- izing at home a musical association, holding a convention, and having the quartette of that evening as the attraction.
Within a week they secured the co-operation of H. L. Tilton, William J. Bellows, T. E. Sanger, Henry Morrill, F. G. Weller, Evarts W. Farr, George Farr, Frank Thayer, and a few others, and held a public meeting in Weeks Hall to consider the project. This meeting was well attended. Dr. Sanger was appointed chairman. and James R. Jackson acted as secretary. The plan was unfolded and favored by several of those mentioned as its supporters. It was, however, apparent that a majority were of the opinion that it could not be successfully carried out. Their argu- ment was that the expense would be great, the public would not lend it their patronage when the price of seats was placed at a sum before unknown in the town, and there was no suitable hall for the concerts. The projectors maintained that the great ability of the artists was alone sufficient to warrant the proposed charge of ad- mission and to fill the hall to its full capacity, and that in various ways the number of seats in the hall could be increased. They pro- posed that the time of the convention should be treated as a festival week and those attending from abroad should be received and enter- tained by the friends of the association. Doubtful of the result should the question be acted upon at the time, an adjournment was taken for one week. When the meeting reconvened, all were pre- pared to give the proposed convention at least one trial. A consti- tution prepared in the interval between the meetings was read for consideration, and the meeting adjourned to the 29th of December.
The meeting reassembled at the time to which it had been adjourned. The constitution proposed at the preceding meeting was adopted, and with two immaterial changes has been in force thirty-four years.' The meeting proceeded to organize under the provisions of the constitution then adopted. William J. Bel- lows was chosen president ; Chauncey H. Greene, George Abbott, and George Farr, vice-presidents ; F. G. Weller, corresponding secretary ; Luther D. Sanborn, recording secretary ; Francis F. Hodgman, treasurer, and Henry L. Tilton, Ira Parker, Henry H. Lovejoy, Aaron D. Fisher, and Thaddeus E. Sanger constituted the
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executive committee. The meeting approved the action of the committee previously appointed, ratified the engagement of Mrs. H. M. Smith, and directed the committee to also engage Henry C. Barnabee upon the terms he had submitted. The proposition to secure the services of Miss Ryan and Mr. Fessenden was referred to the executive committee. It was subsequently decided not to hazard the expense of engaging other talent than that already em- ployed. But fourteen persons became members of the association at this meeting, though at least three times that number had been present and participated in its proceedings.1 Before the convention in January, 1870, twenty-three others had joined the association.
The third convention (those of 1868 and 1869 being counted in the enumeration) was held during the third week in January, 1870, beginning on Tuesday, the 18th, and closing on Friday, the 21st, of that month. It was under the direction of C. M. Wyman, who had served as conductor of that of the previous year. Beside the eminent vocalists from Boston there were in attendance Mr. Harlow, the blind pianist, who afterward made his home in this town for some years, the Harrington family, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and Mrs. Shepard, who was present on the last day only. The order governing the proceedings then established has been substantially followed in the conventions since. On Wednesday night there was a promenade, and concerts were given on the even- ings of Thursday and Friday. Each was a pronounced success. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Barnabee were received with great favor and enthusiasm. People attended the convention from all the sur- rounding towns, and the hospitality of the citizens contributed in no small degree to the success of the occasion. The financial result was also of a satisfactory character, about two hundred dollars remaining in the treasury after the payment of expenses.
In 1871 John G. Sinclair was president, and the executive com- mittee consisted of Henry L. Tilton, Ira Parker, Chauncey H. Greene, Charles A. Sinclair, and Minot Weeks. The talent en- gaged for the third convention comprised Mrs. H. M. Smith, Addie Ryan, Henry C. Barnabee, William H. Fessenden, and Mrs. Shep- ard. Mr. Wyman having died, Solon Wilder, of Boston, was engaged as conductor, and proved a satisfactory successor to the genial and accomplished Wyman.
The association was thus firmly established in the confidence of the public, and only on two or three occasions in nearly a score
1 The original members were T. E. Sanger, James R. Jackson, Henry L. Tilton, Evarts W. Farr, Charles A. Sinclair, Ira Parker, William H. Sturtevant, J. S. Davis, Charles H. Applebee, L. D. Sanborn, William J. Bellows, F. R. Glover, A. D. Fisher, and A. J. Church.
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Music and Musical Associations.
of years did the annual convention fail to add to the funds in the bank. Its purpose was to bring within the reach of all the best musical talent, to cultivate a public taste for a high order of vocal and instrumental music, and to furnish an amusement cal- culated to have a lasting impression on the minds of its patrons. In each respect it has been successful.
Its musical directors have been men of high repute in their profession. Carl Zerrahn, Emil Mollenhauer, William O. Perkins, R. H. Palmer, W. W. Davis, George W. Dudley, L. A. Torrens, J. Wallace Goodrich, and Henri G. Blaisdell attest the character of the artists who have conducted the conventions. Many of the eminent professional singers of New England have appeared upon its stage, and artists and organizations of renown as instrument- alists have been engaged for its annual concerts, some of whom have a national reputation. Notable in this class are Barnabee, Whitney, McDonald, and Fessenden, the organizers and bright particular stars of the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Others who shone in their time in song were Mrs. H. M. Smith, Addie Ryan, Gertrude Edmands, Mrs. E. Humphrey Allen, Mrs. Kempton, Mrs. Knowles, Mrs. Jennie Patrick Walker, Mrs. H. E. Sawyer, Anna Granger Dow, Miss Nellini, Miss McLane, Miss Clarey, Miss Kaula, and many others. especially those who have appeared in recent years, - and Bartlett, Want, W. W. Clark, Saxton, Babcock. In the list of quartettes are such well-remembered organizations as the Temple Quartette when it was composed of its original membership of Fitz, Fessenden, Barnabee, and Clark, and since it has passed through several changes; the Schubert Male, the Albion, the Schubert Female, and others. In instrumental music have ap- peared the Mendelssohn Quintette, the Schubert, Germania, and Blaisdell's orchestras, and Arbuckle, the celebrated cornetist of his day, whose mellow notes still linger in the memory of the older patrons of the organization.
We cannot give the names of those who are enrolled in the list of the " home talent." They were many, and came from far and near to be for a week the guests of their Littleton friends, and add their voices to swell the volume of the chorus or make up the programme of the Thursday matinee.
A distinguishing feature of the convention for thirty years was the attendance of Martha Dana Shepard, the pianist, whose cul- tured musical talent, wide acquaintance with musicians, freedom from the sensitiveness which is supposed to furnish no small part of the equipment of the musician, whose energy and readiness at all times to take upon herself the burden of guiding the convention
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History of Littleton.
over its rough places, and whose love, deep and abiding, for her art rendered her services through almost a generation invaluable to the organization, and furnish a theme to which all who have at- tended the festivals of the association recur with pleasure. Her last appearance here was in 1897. She has, however, withdrawn from the musical world only in the professional sense, and contin- ues to " play " when old friends are near.
One of the difficulties encountered by the association in the management of its affairs has been that of providing an enter- tainment that would please all sorts and conditions of men. The general public is fond of the humorous and grotesque, a few wor- ship at the shrine of classical music, while there is an intermedi- ate class who demand that the programme shall consist largely of church music, varied occasionally with a sentimental ballad. The pervasive art of compromise has governed the selection of the talent. While the main purpose of instruction in the higher branches of music has been adhered to as a rule, the comical has found a place in the programme of nearly all recent conventions. In the early days Barnabee supplied from his large and varied entertaining equipment amusement of this kind. He was followed by the professional humorists, Thomas, Wilder, Grilley, and others, who were received with uproarious acclaim, much to the disgust of the sober-minded in the audience.
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