USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > History of Manchester, formerly Derryfield, in New-Hampshire : including that of ancient Amoskeag, or the middle Merrimack Valley, together with the address, poem, and other proceedings of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of Derryfield at Manchester, October 22, 1851 > Part 3
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As one of the consequences or causes of this neglect of educa- tion, it is worthy of notice, that for nearly a century after the settlement of the town, there was neither lawyer, physician or minister, among its permanent inhabitants. And so far as we can learn, during this long period, no man born in the town, has devoted his life to the pursuit of either of these professions .- No son of Manchester has been graduated at college until with- in the last 2 years; and it is a gratifying circumstance, that our first and only example is present on this occasion, to speak for himself, and to present testimony here, that he is a true scion of the right stock, and that a hundred years of waiting has not been in vain. In making this statement, it is by no means in- tended to intimate that none were educated here for the various departments of active life. There were many such, and some of them have been especially distinguished as merchants.
The causes which have contributed to produce this state of
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things, so unlike what appears in other towns, as Londonderry, which furnishes a list of 50 or 60 college graduates, and Bed- ford, over 30, must be looked for far back in the history of the people. The institutions of religion and education stand or fall together.
Among the first settlers of the town there was, no doubt, a respectable number who were anxious to support these institu- tions. But there were leading minds opposed to them, and the majority of the people were unwilling to make the sacrifice, and hence followed the results we have been obliged to notice.
These facts are full of important instruction for those, who are laying the foundations for coming generations. The Bible, the Sabbath, the Sanctuary, the school-house, laws to promote virtue and punish vice, our Puritan fathers found equal to all their wants.
They are instrumentalities which have lost none of their pow- er, and we shall fail to procure from any other source the rich blessings which they afford.
We pass to the notice of other subjects of historical interest. At the time white men first settled along the banks of the Merri- mack, the river was distinguished for its supply of fish. The salmon, the shad, the alewife and lamprey-eel, were here found in great abundance. Amoskeag falls afforded peculiar facilities for taking these fish, and the inhabitants from all the towns in the vicinity, resorted here in great numbers for this purpose.
In a journal kept by Hon. Matthew Patten, of Bedford, we find the following entry :- " 1759, June 8-9-Fished at Na- moskeag Falls, and got 120 shad and I gave Robert McMurphy 10 of them, and I got 4 shad and 1 small salmon for my part from the setting-place. Wm. Peters fished for me by the halves."
The habits of these fish were such, that they passed up the river in the months of June, and July, when they were taken by means of nets and hooks prepared for the purpose. Some fish- ing stands were prepared and owned by individuals. Others, and those the most important, were formed by nature at the an- gles of rocks, and eddies in the stream. These were common property, and were held for the time by whoever might occupy them.
If, for instance, a man wished to gain possession of a particu- lar fishing place, he must watch his opportunity, and, in the absence of any occupant, enter and take possession, his title be ing good while he remained, but vanishing the moment he left, and made room for a successor who wished to take his place .-
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So important were some of these stands regarded, that they would be watched for weeks, before a fish of any kind appeared in the river. Sometimes, however, the right of possession was not so clear and indisputable, but that it required the boiling of Irish blood, backed up by angry words, and heavy blows, to determine to whom the claim belonged.
Records and traditions have preserved the names of many of these fishing places. One was called the " Sitting Place," anoth- er the "Maple Stump." And to these may be added, the " Eel- pot," and the "Puppy-trap," the "Crack in the Rock," and last, though not least, the "Pulpit." Shad and salmon were also tak- en by the Fly and Drag-nets along the shores of the river, and immense quantities of alewives were caught in the stream which empties the Massabesic Lake into the Merrimack at Moor's Ferry or Goff's Falls.
In the early settlement of the country, fishing was, no doubt, a pleasant and profitable employment. It furnished a very accept- able article of food at little expense. But it soon became a very precarious business. No one could tell when the fish would run, or who whould catch them when they did. Besides, it broke in upon the work of the farm, at a very important and busy season of of the year.
It also tended to promote habits of idleness and intemperance. And while it was a kind arrangement of Providence to supply the necessities of the first settlers, yet we may doubt whether, on the whole, it was an advantage for a long time, before it was discon- tinued.
Manchester, stretching, as it does, for eight miles along the bank of the river, lying both above and below the Falls, and having the " Alewife Brook " passing directly across the centre, would be likely to receive all the advantages and disadvantages arising from this business, and it is to be feared, more of the lat- ter than the former.
Still, some of us remember how very unwilling the old fisher men, dwelling in the neighborhood of the Falls, were, to part company with their shad and eels. When dams were thrown across the river to divert its channel, and thus prevent the free passage of the fish, these men felt that their rights were invaded, and, had they possessed the power, they might have felt them- selves justified in resorting to almost any measures to restore the ancient order of things, even to the stoppage of every saw and spindle carried by our water falls.
The first important work of art prosecuted in this town, was the construction of the Amoskeag Canal around the Falls for
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the purpose of rafting. This work was designed and erected by Samuel Blodgett, Esq. Of the early life of Mr. Blodgett, little is known beyond the time and place of his birth, which was Woburn, Mass. April 1, 1724.
He was evidently a man of considerable note in his day, pos- sessing an inventive mind, and far reaching sagacity, which real- ly made him a man ahead of his age.
We hear of him as a Sutler in the French and Indian war, and when Fort William Henry was taken by the French, Blodgett was found concealed under a batteau. He was suffer- ed to go at liberty, after being plundered of every thing but his scalp. It is said that he was never partial to military ser- vice afterwards.
We next hear of Mr. Blodgett as a merchant and as one of the assistant deputies of the " King's Woods," under Governor Wentworth. He was also an excise officer appointed to collect duties on all spirituous liquors. These commissions he held till Independence was declared. Whether owing to the recol- lections of the affair at Fort William Henry, or to the patron- age he had enjoyed from the mother country, we know not, but from some cause, he appears to have taken no part in the revolutionary struggle .*
After the war-he invented what he called a " Diving tongue," the design of which was to raise the wrecks of sunken vessels. He was successful in one or two instances on our coast. He afterwards visited England and Spain for the same purpose. Perhaps while abroad he formed the grand design of digging the Canal around the Falls of Amoskeag. Be that as it may, soon after his return in 1794, he commenced what he evidently regarded as the great work of his life. His first designs were very crude and imperfect. His plan was to construct slips in- stead of locks. Failing in this and other experiments, he final- ly adopted substantially that which went into general use. But unacquainted with that kind of engineering, and unable to se- cure the services of an engineer, he met with many disappoint- ments. The work was long delayed. Some parts, when con- structed were carried away by freshets, and finally, what was most vexatious of all, his whole fortune of thirty-five or forty thousand dollars, was expended on a yet fruitless undertaking. Having exhausted his own resources and expended all the mon- ey he could raise by other means, he made application to the
* This is probably a mistake. It is said Mr. B. was engaged for a time in the revolutionary war.
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Legislatures of New Hampshire and Massachusetts for grants of lotteries, according to the custom of that day, to raise money to complete the enterprize. In this he was partially successful. The work, however dragged slowly, and exceedingly tried the patience of its projector.
In an appeal he made to the public, dated December, 1803, he says :-
" It is very painful indeed to me to reflect on a ten years ar- dent exertion, at this stage of my life, sparing no pains in my power, with the utmost stretch of invention to finish this canal, the expence of $60,000, already having been devoted to it, and the canal not yet completed."
By great exertions on his part, by the help of lotteries and by money raised by the sale of shares in the property, the ca- nal was finished about the time of his death in 1807.
When we take into account the circumstances under which this enterprise was commenced and prosecuted ; when we reflect on the pecuniary depressions of the country ; when we consider that there were no engineers or mechanics who understood the kind of work,-when to this we add that the enterprise was the first of the kind of any importance anywhere in this coun- try-and above all the fact that it must, to a great extent, have originated in the mind of Mr. Blodgett : When we take into view these things, the Amoskeag Canal assumes an importance which places it among the great enterprises which distinguished the last century.
Invention is the rare quality of a few minds. Imitation is comparatively easy. It is the former that places the names of Fitch, and Folsom, and Arkwright, and Morse so high on the scroll of fame, showing that the first humble and crude attempts of inventors indicate the presence of greater genius than may be expected by the most polished and successful imitators. It is in this view that we hesitate not to pronounce the Blodget Canal a greater work in its day than was the construction of the Erie Canal twenty years after, or than it would be now to con- struct a rail-road from St. Louis to SanFrancisco.
We have never been taught to place the name of Blodgett among the patriots or reformers of his age, but as a man of genius and deathless perseverance he had few equals.
As to the morality of raising money by lotteries, it is now justly regarded as very questionable ; but if any think other- wise, and wish to try their luck at a game of chance, there is an abundance of Blodgett's tickets still on hand, which may be
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obtained cheap, and which may be warranted about as likely to draw prizes, as any in the market.
But it is the manufacture of cloth, which, more than any thing else, will distinguish this city in coming time.
The rise and progress. of this great interest of the place, claim our notice. The machinery first used for manufac- turing purposes, was erected on the west side of the riv- er. It is difficult, however, to find the precise time when it was put into operation It was more than forty years ago when the undertaking was commenced by Mr. Benjamin Prichard. For want of capital, he was unable to proceed, and disposed of his interest to a company, becoming himself a part- ner in the concern.
The first record of the meetings of the directors of this com- pany, that I can find is as follows :-
" At a legal meeting of the Directors of the Amoskeag Cot- ton and Wool Factory, being duly notified and holden at the house of Robert McGregor, Esq., in Goffstown, March 9, 1810.
Present, James Parker, Samuel P. Kidder, John Stark, Jr., David McQueston, and Benj. Prichard."
From the votes passed at this meeting, it is evident that the factory was then in operation. At subsequent meetings, holden soon after the above date, the names of other directors appear and Jotham Gillis signs his name as clerk of the corpora- tion, though the record of his appointment does not appear .- It is possible Mr. Gillis was, in fact, agent of the company as well as clerk, from March 9th, 1810, till August, 1813, at which time Frederic G. Stark, Esq., was appointed, and made solemn oath before David L. Morril, Esq., that he would faithfully dis- charge the duties incumbent on him as agent of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool Factory.
The first building, as we have said, was erected on the west side of the river, at the falls, on the spot where the old factory stood which, three years since was destroyed by fire. It was, indeed, a part of that building. It was small, perhaps forty feet square, and two stories high.
For a number of years after the old factory went into opera- tion, the business was limited to spinning cotton, and it is curi- ous to learn under what disadvantages this now simple opera- tion was performed.
The first step after the cotton was received, was to send it out into the families in the neighborhood, in lots of from fifty to one hundred pounds, to be picked. This was done by first whipping the cotton with rods in a rude frame prepared for the
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purpose, and afterwards separating the seed by hand. Four cents per pound was paid for picking cotton.
This old fashioned whipping machine operated by a boy with two sticks, has given place to the picker of our day.
The work of carding and spinning was performed at that day by machinery less perfect ; but the yarn manufactured, as to strength and durability, would compare well with the article at the present day. Some years after the manufacture of yarn was commenced, perhaps because the market was more than supplied, the company introduced the weaving of cloth. It was, however, not done at the mill, but by hand-looms, in the families in the neighborhood.
Among the most vivid recollections of my childhood, is that of seeing Mr. Gillis ride up to the house where I then lived, with large bundles of yarn to be woven into cloth by the hand- loom process. It was before the days of Railroads, it was even before carriages had become very common, and the clerk of the Amoskeag Cotton and Wool Factory, found it convenient to travel a distance of five miles on horse-back, and carry his yarn in bundles, tied about his saddle.
As it is no part of my purpose to attempt any thing like a history of manufacturing in this place, it may be sufficient to mention that the machinery in this old mill was sold to Gen. Riddle for $1000, and was moved to Merrimack. He was offer- ed the whole privilege, building and all, for $500 more. But he declined the offer. Afterwards, a Mr. Babbit came in, and commenced the manufacture of Gingham. Then followed a Mr. Robinson, and then the property passed into the hands of a corporation. An addition was made to the old mill spoken of, in 1826. The machinery was put into the belt mill, so called, the same year, and the foundation laid for a mill on the Island. These mills have all been burned. That on the Island in 1840, the other in 1848.
The first spindles, on the Manchester side of the river, com- menced running in July, 1839. But not to dwell on matters of recent date-let me advert to some points of comparison be- tween the past and the present, that may be noticed with inter- est :-
First, in the price of labor. When Judge Stark made solemn oath before D. L. Morril, that he would faithfully perform the duties of agent, he was to receive by contract, $15 per month-quite a contrast, probably, with what agents now receive. A Mr. Robinson, was engaged in 1811 to build machinery. An entry in the book states that he was to receive $3,50 per day, and
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board for himself and hands, and they find their own spirits .- A Mr. Cushing was paid as overseer $1,25 and boarded himself. The highest price paid for the labor of females was $1 per week, and from that down to almost no price at all. The price paid for weaving in hand-looms varied according to the texture of the cloth, from eight cents the minimum up to sixteen cents the maximum price per yard. Common shirting was twelve- and a half cents.
When wages were at these rates, cotton yarn was worth from seventy-five cents to one dollar per pound. Common sheeting and shirtings from thirty to forty cents per yard. Calicoes which may now be bought for twelve and a half cents, cost then from forty to fifty cents.
From this statement it appears that the prices now paid for fe- male labor are more than double what they were forty years ago-while the more common and necessary articles of wearing apparel, cost not more than one-third as much now as they did then. The difference in the price paid for men's work is not so great. It has, however, increased perhaps, one-third.
If the principle laid down, that the greater the price paid for labor, the greater the prosperity of the country, be true, then New England has greatly increased in her pecuniary prosperity within the last forty years. If the old proverb, that money is power, be true, and if the price paid for woman's labor goes on increasing for forty years to come, as it has for forty years past, they will, ere long, become the lords of creation, and nothing but some compromise will save those who have hitherto swayed the sceptre, from a subordinate position.
There is, however, consolation in the thought-if the scep- tre must pass from the hands of those who have so long held it, it will be transferred to those who in all ages have been prover- bial for kindness and generosity.
If, therefore, such a change must come, we will still hope to secure a dwelling-place, should we be deprived of our former dignity and honor.
A few figures will show us something of the progress that has been made in the manufacturing interest in this neighbor- hood within forty years, and as this is a very fair representation of the advance of this branch of industry, in our country, it is an item of much importance.
I have examined the accounts kept in the beautiful round hand of Judge Stark for the month of October, 1813. For fifteen days in succession, during that month, there were manu- factured at Amoskeag, three hundred and fifty-eight skeins per
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day, of cotton yarn. This was about the average amount .- This three hundred and fifty-eight skeins, at factory price, was worth twenty-nine dollars and twenty-two cents.
The Stark mills, in this city, have for six months in succes- sion, manufactured thirty miles of cloth per day.
The Amoskeag mills have manufactured forty miles in length per day. The Manchester mills are now manufacturing about seventeen miles per day.
We have then, this result :- In October 1813, they could spin at Amoskeag, three hundred and fifty-eight skeins of cot- ton yarn per day.' In October, 1851, thirty-eight years after- wards, they can manufacture eighty-seven miles of cloth per day, an amount sufficient to stretch a web across the Atlantic in thirty-four days, and to belt the Globe in two hundred and eighty-seven days.
It would be a quick passage for one of our fastest sailing ves- sels to make a voyage round the earth in a period so limited.
As the progress made in manufacturing in the place, is only a fair index of the progress made throughout the country, it is easy to see that a vast change has taken place in the industrial habits of the country. For it will be borne in mind, that oth- er branches of industry have advanced in an equally surprising ratio.
The question naturally arises, what is to be the effect of all this change in the country at large ? We point to our spindles and looms, to our forges and machine-shops, to our rail-roads and steam-presses, and call it prosperity. But is it real substan- tial prosperity ? Is it an advancement for which the generations to come will bless us ?
Was not the community as well off, when the sons of our farmers remained quietly at home, to enlarge and beautify the old homestead, and pass life free from all the bustle and turmoil of the day in which we live? When their daughters sought wool and flax, and worked diligently with their hands for six- pence per day ? Was it not as favorable to the general weal as the present condition of things, with all our progress ? This is certainly a fair question, and there are those who say,-"The former days were better than these !"
But if we begin to go backwards where shall we stop? If we conclude nothing has been gained by spinning and weaving by machinery, by what arguments shall we show that the steam press is an advantage to the world ? If the rail-car is no bene- fit, how does it appear that the wagon and chaise are so ?- Why not go back to the old pillion? If anything is gained
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by sawing a board by water-power, why not plane it by the same power, and gain as much more ? I confess myself a con- vert to the doctrine of human progress. I do not regard labor as an affliction. But any discovery that reduces the elements of nature to the service of man, diminishes the toil of human life, and at the same time multiplies the sources of enjoyment, and supplies the means of gratification.
Instead of going backward till all labor-saving machinery should be silent, and commerce swept from the ocean, my hope and belief is, that the world will yet go onward, mind constant- ly making new triumphs over matter, till a point is reached as far in advance of that which we now occupy, as the present is in advance of the remotest past. Such is the destiny of our race, and the man who most helps to roll on this tide of improve ment, stands among the greatest benefactors of earth.
But to whom is the world indebted for all this improvement ? Every cultivated mind has contributed its share, and a large share to the common advancement. Every class of society has furnished its individuals who have struck out new trains of thought, and executed new works of skill. But to one class in an especial manner, the world is indebted for this progress, I mean that of the practical mechanic. Every department of in- dustry, every friend of human enterprise, has given new impulse to his power, and received in turn new impulse from the reac- tion. It has been said that God has bestowed special honor on agriculture, by making it the employment of the first pair, and by choosing many of the prophets and kings from this occupa- tion.
It is said that special honor was conferred on the employment of the sailor by the man of Calvary, when he chose so many of his disciples from among the fishermen of Galilee.
We take no honor from other professions. But when God arched the Heavens, and hung the earth on nothing, and set in motion the wheel of nature, yea-when he formed the wonder- ful mechanism of the human body, and gave instinct to the an- imal creation, he exhibited a skill which the mechanic is only attempting to imitate.
And every advance he makes in the cultivation of his art, is only helping to move the world onward to that perfection, which its author intended it should reach.
Who, that contrasts the savage with the civilized state, who that looks at the printing-press, brought to such perfection by mechanical skill, who that beholds the steamboat sitting quietly on the ocean wave, or flying, as on the wings of the wind,
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thus facilitating commerce and international communication, can doubt that the mechanic has much to do in accomplishing the world's renovation ?
Ah! when we are dead and the world has grown wiser, wil- ling hands will take the laurel wreath from the warrior's brow, and entwine it upon that of the humble artisan, as a token of the world's gratitude to him who has done so much to " beat the sword into the plough-share, and the spear into the pruning- hook."
In bringing my remarks to a close, allow me to recur again to the thought with which I commenced. We dwell in a chang- ing world, amid scenes that are shifting and passing away. As we have walked to-day among the monuments of the dead ; we have been reminded of the influence of the past on the present. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who have lived before us. They have labored ; have brought to light principles ; perfected schemes of improvement ; and left them a rich inheritance to the present generation. Let us be thankful for these blessings, first of all to Him from whom "cometh down every good and perfect gift,"'and then to those by whose skill, enterprise, and virtue, under God, have been accomplished these blessed results.
We are proud to speak of our Pilgrim ancestors, and regard it as an honor that the blood of such men flows in our veins ; we delight to build their monuments, and point to the princi- ples of civil and religious liberty, which they planted, as the seed of our golden harvest.
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