USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. II > Part 50
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variation would make the later line north 531° west. The reason of this discrepancy arose from the fact that those who settled the line between the towns of Littleton and Concord (now Lisbon ) commenced at Lyman Corner and ran back at a later period, making no allowance for the variation of the magnetic needle. The consequence was that they brought the line at the south- westerly corner of Littleton about forty rods into Littleton, which mistake has never been rectified. The proprietors of Littleton were thus deprived of about one hundred and thirty acres of land. This was probably done by the ignorance of the Selectmen of the two towns, and the neglect of the proprietors of Littleton to protect their interests. The southeasterly line of Apthorp was run by Coleman in his survey of 1769 from its northeasterly corner south 56 ° west. That line now 1 bears south 58° west, showing the same westerly variation of the magnetic needle.
In 1780, ten or cleven years after Coleman had run the out- lines of the township of Apthorp, a surveyor named Ebenezer Willoughby was sent by the proprietors to allot the central por- tion of the town into tracts of four hundred acres each ; one ob- ject of making the lots of that size was the fact of their being six specific grants of that amount. He commenced at the lower corner of Lancaster on the Connecticut River as there located, and ran a straight line of Colonel Hurd's tract, which was the old line of Lancaster, and found the distance to be three miles and two hundred and twenty rods. He then turned and ran on that line to its intersection with the southeasterly line of Apthorp on the northeasterly shore of Round Pond. He here turned and set his compass south 56° west, to follow Coleman's line towards Gunthwaite. The first half-mile was on the pond, and when he reached the southwesterly shore he was several rods to the right of Coleman's line, and continued to diverge from it on to Apthorp, until at the end of eighteen hundred rods to the right from Cole- man's line, although professing to run the same points, viz. south 56° west. This line is now (1860) found to bear south 61° west, making about 5° variation.2 His compass might not have been good, or the magnetic variation might have been greater than now. He pushed his survey of forty-five lots of four hundred acres each, leaving a gore between his line and Coleman's. Four years after this the town was divided into Dalton and Littleton,
1 1860. Its present (1903) course would be S. 62º 15' W.
2 In 1903 the course is : Dalton Corner to Ammonoosuc River, S. 66° W. ; Am- monoosuc River to Bethlehem Road, S. 64° W. ; Bethlehem Road to Lisbon Line, S. 61º 45' W .; average course, S. 63º 55 W.
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481
Surveys.
- Dalton taking the three upper ranges of this allotment with the Hurd tract, being one-third of it, leaving the remaining two- thirds in Littleton, and making a range line the division between the two towns. Bethlehem and Whitefield cornered about half a mile above the corner of Dalton and Littleton, both standing on the original line of Apthorp. In about ten years after the divis- . ion it became incumbent on the towns, by their Selectmen, to perambulate and remark their town lines. Dalton and White- field began at the northwest corner of Dalton, followed the line originally made by Coleman to the southwest corner of White- field, and there stopped. This they repeated many times, as often as the law required.
Littleton and Bethlehem began on Gunthwaite, or Concord (Lisbon) line, and followed in the reverse course, taking the line made by Willoughby instead of that run by Coleman, followed it up to the corner of Dalton and Littleton to one of Willoughby's lot corners, being as far as the latter location was required, until about the year 1828 it was discovered that Dalton and White- field were perambulating one line, and Bethlehem and Littleton another, - the space between the corner of Littleton and the northwest corner of Bethlehem, being about half a mile. The line between Bethlehem and Dalton had never been perambu- lated. The main portions of both lines lay through a primitive forest. The mistake has been clearly demonstrated by which it appears that Bethlehem has taken from Littleton a strip thirty-four rods wide at one end and eighty at the other, amounting to eight or nine hundred acres, which, with what Lisbon holds, makes the area of Littleton less than it originally was by about one thousand acres.
Willoughby's allotment was abandoned in Littleton. The allot- ments made for the first settlers were into lots of one hundred acres each, with allowance for roads. The allowance was nomi- nally three acres, or an addition of three rods to the width of each lot of the length of one hundred and sixty rods. Robert Charl- ton was the first surveyor, and allotted the west and north parts of the town bordering on the Connecticut River. His lots were designated by number only. They were characterized by one feature, - large measure ; he was a very liberal-minded man, and always acted on the principle that there was land enough for all. He was an expert penman and draughtsman, but was not considered a finished surveyor. The lots above the junction of the village and river roads were not numbered, but pitched irregularly and disconnected by metes and bounds. The great VOL. II .- 31
482
History of Littleton.
bend at the north part of the town back to Snow's head line was thus allotted, covering an area of about twenty-five hundred acres. This was divided into lots by Robert Charlton, and was occupied by early settlers. He never surveyed much beyond the limits of the town.
The east and west parts of the town were surveyed into one hundred acre lots by Nathaniel Snow about 1790. He made the line of Dalton his base (being N. 26° W., S. 26° E.). Charlton made Lyman line the base of his allotments in the west part of the town, namely, N. 57º W., S. 57º E. Mr. Snow was accustomed to survey large tracts. His custom was to run his range lines and mark the corner of his lots at the distance of one hundred rods, and not marking his check lines. Of course no chainmen were able to measure so accurately as to bring the corners in range when the check lines were run. Sometimes he would omit run- ning the next range line and run the one beyond, marking his corners on that, thus making two corners at one end of his lots, and leaving the other end without corners or range lines. This procedure caused great confusion when the lands were occupied. He surveyed the lands southeast of Littleton, covering an area of sixty thousand acres. A part of it was soon incorporated into the town of Bethlehem. The land was sold by the State in lots according to Snow's survey, represented on a paper plan. The consequence was endless confusion, every claimant running out his lots to suit himself ; and as the ownership was often changed, a lot would have as many sets of corners as it had had owners. Snow's work in Littleton was only partially done on the ground, but fully done on paper. There were many omissions to run his lines over the hills, causing irregularity in some of his lines. He was a man of easy conscience. His original survey of the State land was deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, as ap- pears by the testimony of the late Stephen P. Webster. It was made on three or four different pieces of paper, according to each sale, of which there were four. These sales were made in the years 1787, 1792, 1794, and 1796. In 1799 a part of the land was incorporated into the town of Bethlehem, a plan was made resem- bling the original, but with material variations as to the number and localities of lots. This was certified by Nathaniel Snow, un- der oath, to be a correct representation of his original survey according to his best recollection. But the alterations were so palpable that no surveyor could believe that it was not a deliber- ate misrepresentation. A few copies of the original survey were kept in the hands of land speculators, and the spurious plan was
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adopted by the town of Bethlehem, and has ever since been al- lowed by them. The original surveys have been sought in the office of the Secretary of State, but are not to be found.
The committee appointed by the State to make the sale were : Edwards Bucknam, of Lancaster, Andrew McMillen, of Conway, and John McDuffie, of Rochester. From the amount and manner of their sales, and their neglect to render their account to the State, they were called the " Unaccountable Committee." They were appointed by the State to sell land enough to make a road from Gunthwaite to the notch of the White Mountains. In doing this they sold a portion of the land belonging to the owners of Littleton. The purchasers never attempted to enforce their title beyond a demand and threats.
After the southerly portion of the town became populated, the surveying was done, so far as running out lots for settlers accord- ing to Snow's and Charlton's plans, by James C. Webster, up to the year 1832, when he left town and his place was taken by Philip C. Wilkins, who was an industrious and experienced surveyor. He kept a record of all the surveys he made, which filled several folio volumes.
No man is liable to be called to testify before a court oftener than the skilful surveyor, and no one is more liable to popular prejudice on account of his faithful testimony unless it is the skil- ful physician. The public mind is often unable to comprehend the data on which the impartial opinion of either is based ; and nothing is more common than to charge the surveyor as well as the physician with wilful perjury in giving his opinions. On this account some excellent surveyors have studiously avoided keep- ing records to prevent their being called to testify in court.
Dr. Moore's account ends with the last stated observation writ- ten in 1863. The doctor was a man of many accomplishments, not the least of them being his knowledge of mathematics and surveying. As the agent of the heirs of Moses Little, who was the father of his wife, he became familiar with land titles and allotments in this section of the State, and was probably better qualified to discuss the topic with intelligence than any other person in his time.
Since the death of Philip C. Wilkins, in 1880, Ray T. Gile has been the principal land surveyor for this and neighboring towns. He was graduated from the Scientific Department of Dartmouth College in 1877, and from the Thayer School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, two years later. A thoroughly trustworthy man, he has a large clientele.
484
History of Littleton.
William I. Richardson, a Dartmouth College graduate in the class of 1888, is a civil engineer of repute, who is making his way to the front as a safe and skilful surveyor.
At one time James J. Barrett did a considerable business as a surveyor, especially in the laying out of roads. He was not skil- ful, and was one of the class, referred to by Dr. Moore, who kept no records. He never assumed to be other than what he was in this respect, - one sufficiently versed in the art to run courses and do plain work.
RAY T. GILE.
485
Highways and Bridges.
XLVIII.
HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES.
T HE early settlers of the town experienced many difficulties, extending through a long series of years, on account of their inability to build roads and bridges. Their trials arising from this cause have to some extent been related in another part of this narrative.1
The refusal of the proprietors and inhabitants to build roads caused the towns north of Littleton and Dalton to petition the Legislature for a compulsory act to insure the building of a high- way through these towns for their accommodation. Petitions for this purpose were presented at more than one session of the Legis- lature. The town was also in the midst of the controversy in re- gard to " back taxes," and one of its answers to the demand of the State was that the people were too poor to pay, and that the pro- prietors had failed to " build roads and mills," as promised, and the settlers should be empowered by special act to levy a tax on all the lands in the town for the payment of the State tax and to raise money for building roads. This proposition was op- posed by the proprietors, and their influence was sufficient to post- pone the day of reckoning for more than ten years.
It was under these circumstances that Capt. Peleg Williams was appointed agent of the town to wait upon the Legislature and present its case for consideration. On the 16th of June, 1788, he submitted to that body this petition : -
To the Honble Gen1 court of said state now setting -
The Petition of the Inhabitants of Littleton in said State humbly sheweth, that your Petitioners for eighteen years last past, have laid under many and grevious difficulties - your Petitioners cannot ascertain the number of acres of Land in said Littleton, neither can we find out the original Proprietors of said Town, so that we can Tax said land ex- cept we have a special act of this Honble court for that purpose, your
1 Vol. I. chapters covering period prior to 1800.
486
History of Littleton.
Petitioners woo'd further Inform your honors that although we were promised by said Proprietors or owners of land (as they cal'd them- selves) to have our land given us for settlement & that the compliment of setlers according to charter shoo'd then soon be in Town, that they woo'd make good roads through said Town, Build Mills &c. - all of which is neglected by said owners, and although it is eighteen years since said Town began to settle, there is but nine families in it at this time and there is no mills in said Town, nor can we get at any under fifteen miles, the Public road that runs through said Town is eleven miles in length and almost Impossible to pass in the same, which road your Petitioners have to travel to get to mill, to market, to courts and to almost every Kind of Business - so that your Petitioners have got under such poor and difficult circumstances that we cannot live in said Town nor move out of the same except your honors will Interpose in our behalf.
Therefore your Petitioners most humbly pray that your honors woo'd take our singular Situation under your wise consideration, and grant that a special act of this court be made that said Town be setled according to charter in years from this date your Petitioners further pray your honors that a special act of this Honble court be made to assess and collect the taxes now due or that may be due from said Town - we further pray your honors that a committee be appointed by this Honble court to lay out and make a road through said Town, and that the cost be paid by the landowners thereof and on their neglecting or refusing to pay said cost of laying out and making said road your Petitioners most humbly pray your honors to give order that so much land in said Town be sold as will pay the cost aforesaid or otherwise as your honours shall think most expedient and your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.
PELEG WILLIAMS In behalf of said Inhabitants.
The allegations of the petitioners indicate that the real parties to the long controversy were the inhabitants and the proprietors.
Action on the petition was postponed to the December session, at which time another petition was presented covering substan- tially the same ground but with this additional statement : -
" All or most all of said town is owned by two1 gentlemen one of which lives in Massachusetts the other in Vermont and we know not who ware the original Proprietors of said town or how much Land there is in the Same as it has been granted regranted and Divided and Sub- divided so that under every circumstances if your Petitioners Should be Calld on by your honours to do thare duty as other Towns it will be more then we Can possably Do.
1 Col. Moses Little, of Newbury, Mass., and Gen. Jacob Bailey, of Newbury, Vt.
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Highways and Bridges.
They also asked that they be authorized to levy "a tax of two pence on Each acre of Land for the purpose of making and repair- ing a road through the same and that a Committee be apinted by your honours to Carry the same into effect."
The signers were Peleg Williams, Thomas Miner, Samuel Learned, Benjamin Nurs, Nathan Caswell, Isaac Miner, Nathan Caswell, Jr., Robert Charlton.
The General Court passed an act in the following January authorizing the levying " of a tax in the way and maner as taxes by Law are collected of Non-resident proprietors in other towns in this state." As the town was not divided into proprietary shares, but held in one body by Colonel Little and his associates, it was found impracticable for the town to avail itself of the law passed for its relief, and through Samuel Young,1 of Concord (Lisbon), the General Court was asked for the passage of an act impowering the Selectmen
" to assess and cause to be collected all public taxes due from said town in one tax bill on the lands therein not confining them to any particu- lar rights but to sell as much of said Lands in one body as will pay said tax with Incidental charges, . . . as will compeat said road through said Town."
The result of the joint efforts of the inhabitants of this town and the residents of the Coos country was the passage of an act creating the committee of which Edwards Bucknam, William Cargill, and Peter Carleton were members. This committee did the work of laying a road from Concord (Lisbon) line through this town and Dalton to the line of Lancaster in the summer of 1793.2 This road, when completed, made a rough but passable thorough- fare between Haverhill and Lancaster. This, like nearly all highways in this section, was made to be travelled on horseback or on foot and by ox-teams. Fordable streams were not bridged, and swamps were sometimes corduroyed ; stumps were cut close to the ground, but rocks were permissible in the best roads of that day.
The highway following the river from Monroe line to its junction with the county road at the Wheeler place was laid by the Board of Selectmen in November, 1793, and is the first laid in the town by the local authorities. At the line of what is now Monroe (then
1 Then representative of the class.
2 A map of the road as laid is preserved in the office of the Secretary of State, and a copy is reproduced in this work.
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History of Littleton.
Lyman) it connected with the river road through that town and Bath to Haverhill, where the prosperous village of Woodsville now is. This was another thoroughfare from the Lower to the Upper Coos.
The next road to be laid was that which debouched from the county road at the Flanders place, then owned by Sylvester Savage, crossed the meadow diagonally to a point near the Am- monoosuc River, and up the north bank of that river to Mann's Mills. This was in 1798 and 1799. It was more than two miles in length, and all of it was discontinued before 1840, and that part east of the lower village bridge was abandoned but not legally dis- continued till about 1885.
In 1801 the road from Rankin's Mills to the Foster place on Lyman line was built and opened a thoroughfare by the way of Parker Hill to Bath and Haverhill.
The most important thoroughfare in the town during the first half of the eighteenth century was that known as the Portland road. It passed through the town from the line of Lyman (Monroe) to Bethlehem. Its course was devious, and was laid out and built at different periods between 1793 and 1807. In 1801 its. course from Rankin's Mills was by the farms of the Rev. David Goodall (home place), the Madison Sanborn place ; Mr. Goodall's hill farm to Jonas Nurs's, then to Jonathan Parker's, fol- lowing the side of the mountain, and up the river to Mann's Mills, thence to Bethlehem line; thence by Bethlehem Hill through Bretton Woods to the Notch of the White Mountains.
This route did not satisfy the public, especially that portion residing in Vermont traversing it annually to Portland. Promi- nent men of some of these towns united in the following petition to the Selectmen asking a change : -
To the Selectmen of Littleton in the County of Grafton, State of New Hampshire, The petition of the inhabitants of Barnet, Peacham and Danville in the State of Vermont respectfully sheweth :
That it being of the most consequence for the benefit of society, the promotion of agriculture and commerce that necessary highways be made and maintained in our infant country and it is the opinion of the publick that a road through the town of Littleton aforesaid of the follow- ing description will be a publick advantage begining at or near the dwelling house of Samuel Pierce in Lyman from there following the most practicable course to Mann's Mills in Littleton. May it therefore please the Gentlemen, Selectmen of Littleton to lay out, make and open a road to or highway as soon and as near the above mentioned descrip-
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Highways and Bridges.
tion as they in their Wisdom shall think best and your petitioners will ever pray.
BARNET May 20th 1802.
JAS BUCHANAN
ALEXANDER HARVEY
DAVID ELKINS WALTER BROCK
ENOS STEVENS JOHN WALLACE
JOHN GILCHRIST ARCHIBALD HARVEY
JOHN MCKNAB &C &C
(Records, Vol I. pp. 82-83)
The only result of this appeal of non-residents was the building in 1803 of the meadow road from the county road in the Jonathan Parker pasture to the village. That road still follows the same course, except that the west end was discontinued when the county road was changed from the hill to its present course on the meadows. This, however, was an improvement both in re- spect to distance and the character of the road-bed.
The volume of travel on this thoroughfare constantly increased, and appeals for change and improvement were as constantly made to the Selectmen of the town. But they fell on deaf ears, and in 1820 the question was taken to the court, and a committee con- sisting of Abel Merrill of Warren, Benjamin Baldwin of Bradford, Vt., and Nathan Pike of Waterford, Vt., was appointed to lay a road from Connecticut River to the line of Lincoln through the towns of Littleton, Bethlehem, Concord (Lisbon), and Franconia. The petition presented to the court upon which action was taken was signed by residents of Franconia and that part of Concord (Lisbon) known as Sugar Hill. The court committee began its work at the upper bridge on Connecticut River in the centre of the road, and laid a highway four rods wide. From the foot. of the hill to the old meeting-house it was a new road laid through the woods. Just as the old road turned to pass through the brick- yard its course was changed again to a new route, that of the present highway passing the Jackson place ; from there it followed the old road, with slight deviations, leading through the village which is now Main Street to Franconia. From the Bethlehem road on there were numerous changes from the then existing high- way, and the course was shortened and otherwise improved.
It would seem that the question of land damages did not cause much trouble. The expense awarded by the committee for dam- age caused by laying more than five miles of new road was only $30.07. Twenty dollars of this sum was awarded Josiah Little, of Concord (Lisbon), and ten to Jonas Little, Jr., who kept the tavern at the point where the new road turned from the highway
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