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 70
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HEATHHEN HILL .- This hill is at the northeast of Bald Hill. It is little worthy attention save for its name, which it receives from the fact that in former times the heath-hen was found upon it. This is a bird a little larger than the quail, with a tuft upon its head somewhat like the peacock. They were often found upon this hill twenty-five and thirty years since. They are occasionally seen in this neighborhood at the present time.
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
BUSHNELL'S HILL .- This is northeast of Oak Hill, and is mostly in Hooksett.
MIDDLE HILL .- Middle Hill is the one north of Little Pond, betwixt Oak and Bald, hence its name. It is the highest point of land in the city, being some 445 feet in height. From this hill the White Mountains and many other of the principal mountains in the state are to be seen.
STARK'S HILL .- Stark's Hill is the elevation in the north part of the city, and receives its name from Archibald Stark, who first settled upon it. This is a fine swell of land, and is mostly capable of cultivation. A fine view of the city and the Merrimack is to be had from this hill.
ROCK RIMMON .- This is a noted ledge of rock just west of Amoskeag Village, and some 200 rods from the Merrimack. It is known far and wide as " Rock Raymond," a corruption of a well-known Scripture name. It is in itself a very great curi- osity. It is an outcropping of gneiss from the midst of a sandy plain, being an immense mass of that stone some three hundred feet in length, one hundred and fifty in width, and some sev- enty or eighty feet in height. The ledge extends nearly in a north and south direction, rising gradually from the north so as to be of easy ascent in that direction, and ending in an abrupt precipice towards the south and southeast, some seventy-five or eighty feet in height. This rock is seen at a considerable dis- tance up and down the valley of the Merrimack, and from its top is a splendid view of the city of Manchester and its neigh- borhood. It is a place of great resort in the summer, and the paths to it are kept well beaten, making it a pleasant jaunt on foot or in a carriage. 'There are ledges on the eastern bank of the river equally high with Rock Rimmon, but they are cov- ered mostly with soil, while this, by some convulsion of nature, is left projecting its frowning battlements to the skies.
VILLAGES.
AMOSKEAG VILLAGE .- This is the name of the Village on the west side of the Merrimack, opposite and adjoining Amos- keag Falls, and formerly was in Goffstown. It became a part of the territory of Manchester, by annexation, in 1853. Here was located the first cotton mill upon the Merrimack, built by Mr. Benjamin Prichard, in 1809. In 1810, his mill was pur- chased by a Joint Stock Company, and the business of manu-
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AMOSKEAG VILLAGE.
facturing cotton yarn was prosecuted with some considerable energy.
From this period may be dated the commencement of the Amoskeag Village, though its name as applied to that locality, may be traced back more than two centuries. And it is high- ly probable that its very site had been occupied by an Indian village, for centuries before a white man placed foot upon the territory. It was for thirty years a thrifty manufacturing vil- lage, and so continued until its proprietors determined to ex- tend their operations, and change their location to the east side of the river in Manchester. Since then their policy has been to repair but not to rebuild at Amoskeag. Accordingly the vil- lage has greatly depreciated. The cotton mill upon the Island was destroyed by fire in 1840, and was not rebuilt. The only cotton manufactory carried on there now, is that of batting, in a small brick mill, operated by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. 'The remaining buildings upon the Island are occu- pied by Capt. James M, Varnum, as a bleachery. The stores, shops, and boarding houses of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company were leased to Messrs. H. Boyd & Corey, shoe manufacturers in 1852, for a term of years. This operation has restored the village in some small measure. Messrs. Boyd & Corey employ 350 people in cutting, binding, and making shoes. They manufacture 150,000 pairs of shoes annually, principaly for the southern market.
Amoskeag is in Ward 8, and contains most of the inhabi- tants of that ward, being entitled to one representative, and having its Alderman, Councilmen, and other city officers. It is probable that at no distant day, when the power upon the east side of the river becomes exhausted, that the privilege at Amoskeag may again be occupied for manufacturing purposes. The Farmer Village on Black Brook, is reckoned a part of Amoskeag, and with increase of buildings, will soon be part and parcel of the same village. This is upon the "Tileston Grant," so called from Col. Thomas Tileston, who received a grant from the government of Massachusetts of 300 acres, the south line of which grant, extended to Amoskeag falls, and its east boun- dary was the Merrimack, for a mile or so up the river.
PISCATAQUOG .- This village was a part of Bedford, and was joined to Manchester by annexation, in 1853. It comprises, in population, the principal part of Ward 7-which is entitled to one representative. The village is pleasantly situated on both banks of the Piscataquog river, from which it derives its name.
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
It contains near 200 dwelling-houses, and about 1200 inhab- itants. According to the History of Bedford,
"When the town was first laid out, and allotted to the proprietors, Lot No. 1. on the Piscataquog, containing 25 acres, now occupied by James Walker, was drawn to Gov. Belcher. No. 2, now belonging to the Amoskeng Land and Water Power Company was drawn to James Davenport. Between these two lots and the range line at the head of the home lots extending west from nearly where the road now is, west and south of the Piscataquog river, including the mill privilege, and the most thickly settled part of the village, was lot No. 123 of the third division, containing, probably a hundred acres or mo e. The re- cords do not state to whom it was drawn. Next, south of that, extending from the range line to the river, was lot No. 73, drawn to " Madam Livingston." Home Lot No. 1, on the Merrimack river, south of the last named, was drawn to Jacob Griggs ; No 2, to John Plympton ; No. 3, to Habijah Savadge, Esq .; No. 4, to John Simpkins ; No. 5, to Samuel Hollis ; No. 6, to James Yeates ; No. 7, to Israel Hubbard ; which will probably be the extent of the village, south. The Island in the mouth of the Piscataquog, was drawn in the third division to Samuel Bass, as a meadow lot, and hence probably called "Bass Island."
At this time, 1781, there were but three houses within the limits of the present village of Piscataquog, and one mill ; and here the historian may well pause and look around to find the elements of its prosperity as a business and commercial place. A vast amount of white and hard pine, and white oak suit. able for ship building. the facilities for rafting at the mouth of the river, and the increasing population of the surrounding country, crowned with the recent return of peace, permanently secured by the independence of the country, were the elements of its prosperity-but inactive and valueless, until acted on by a motive power.
About this time, viz : in 1785, William Parker, in the language of his bio- grapher, moved from Litchfield to Bedford, and built a small house ne :r where the school house in District No. 5, now stands, and worked at shoemaking. To his energy, enterprise, and perseverance, we are indebted for the foundation of this flourishing village ; yet, as we shall hereafter see, others, emulous to equal him in prosperity, as they were perhaps equal to him in enterprise, took up in his declining years, and carried out the great plan of prosperity which he had begun.
'The manufacturing operations at Manchester, likewise, have had a great in- fluence in building up the Village, especially that part on the north side of the Piscataquog river, which now comprises one half of the whole number of dwel- ling houses, is the most compact, and bids fair to increase more rapidly than the other part
There are now in the village, two stores, two taverns, one mill, carried by water power, for grinding meal and plaster and manufacturing lumber, and one steam mill, two school houses, and one academy, and meeting house under the same roof. Its proximity to the growing city of Manchester, with which it is connected by the Granite Bridge, built in 1840 by an incorporated company, made free by a vote of the town of Bedford, and the city of Manchester, in 1848, renders it a desirable resort and pleasant retreat from the busy din of that city of spindles, and will afford some of the most pleasant country resi- dences in the vicinity. The New Hampshire Central Railroad, intended to con- nect the Vermont Roads, by the way of Claremont, Bradford and Henniker, with the Lawrence Road, passes through the heart of the village, and by a bridge across the Merrimack, connects at present with the Concord, affording hereby increased facilities for communication with all parts of the country.
The business of the place continued to increase, and in 1811, Wm. P. Riddle opened a store in the building opposite his present residence, and in company with William Parker, purchased the mills then owned by a Mr. Dow, and commenced the lumber trade in good earnest, sending down a vast amount of wood and lumber every year. The following year, 1812, boating on the Mer-
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PISCATAQUOG VILLAGE.
rimack river was first extended up to this place, which for a number of years was the head of navigation on the Merrimack. During this year, Isaac Riddle then a successful merchant at the centre of the town, and Caleb Stark of Dun- barton, alike at that time friends of internal improvements, conceived the de- sign, in connection with the recent improvement of the river by locks, and the Middlesex canal, of navigating the river by boats. Accordingly they built a boat at Bedford Centre, and drew it a distance of three miles and a half, to the Merrimack river, with forty yoke of oxen, and there launched it amid the shouts of the multitude assembled to witness the novel scene, and named it the Experiment.
It was loaded and navigated down the river, and through the Middlesex Ca- nal, to Boston, where its arrival was hailed with cheers, the firing of cannon, and the following announcement in the Boston Centine'.
"Arrived from Bedford, N. H., Canal Boat, Experiment, Isaac Riddle, Capt. via Merrimack river and Middlesex canal."
This introduced a new era in the trade of the place, by increasing the facili- ties of transportation and reduction of freight on heavy articles. Previous to the commencement of boating, freight was eighteen dollars per ton, but after the boats began to run, it was first reduced to ten, and afterwards to four dol- lars per ton.
In 1816, finding his business so much increased, Wm. P. Riddle built a large store and boating-house at Piscataquog bridge ; and in order to facilitate his increasing boating business, in 1818 he built the locks at the mouth of the Piscataquog, and at one time it was seriously contemplated to unite the waters of the Merrimack and the Connecticut by a canal up the valley of the Piscata- quog. Wm. Parker, Isaac Riddle, and Isaac Riddle and Sons, were the prin- cipal ones engaged in boating until the death of the former ; after which, up to the time when the Railroad was built, boating was mostly carried on by Wm. P. Riddle.
In 1817, the firm of Isaac Riddle and Sons, was formed for mercan- tile boating, and manufacturing purposes, carrying on a very extensive business in various places, viz : Bedford centre, Piscataquog village, Souhegan village, Merrimack, and Boston.
The business of this firm in this place, amounted in a few years to $30,000, supplying by way of boating and trade, in conjunction with the other stores, the towns of Goffstown, Weare, Dunbarton, Hopkinton, Warner, Sutton, New London, Fishersfield, now Newbury : and probably more lumber has been boat- ed and rafted from this landing, than upon all the rivers above Nashua.
In 1820, the year after the toleration act, so called, was passed by the Legis- Jature, the inhabitants of the village took measures, to erect a meeting house, dividing the stock into shares, the principal part of which was owned by James Parker, and the heirs of the late Wm. Parker.
During this year, the bridge across the Piscataquog, was rebuilt, under the superintendence of W. P. Riddle.
The other traders in the place at d fferent times have been, Thomas Parker, Riddle and Aiken, Charles Redfield, Ozias Sil-bee, 1. Riddle and Whittle, Wm. F. Riddle, Parker and Palmer, Kendrick and McGaw, Jonathan Palmer, James Walker, Abbot and Melvin, Aaron Gage, Kidder and Rundlett, Moor and French, Wm. French, French and Barr, Wm. and J. N. French, F, G. Stark, Jan.es Walker, R. V. Greely, James Wilson, A. W. Dickey.
In 1843, the meeting-house was purchased by an association of gentlemen, the upper part remodeled, and converted into convenient rooms for an Acade- my, which has very ably sustained itself without funds, under the instruction of Hiram Wason, who continued in it about a year ; and Benjamin F. Wal- lace, under whose instruction it has been, since March, 1845, with the excep- tion of about a year, while under the care of the Rev. Amos Abbott. A good apparatus has been furnished the Academy by the liberality of the ladies and gentlemen of the village.
This place has been probably the greatest depository of hops, for inspection and boating, of any place in the state,-Gen. Riddle having inspected and forward-
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
ed to market, either by purchase or on freight, four or five hundred thousand pounds in a year. A great number of sleepers have also been furnished to va- rious rail-roads in the country from this place, and even sleepers have been exported by some of the business men of this place to Cuba, in the West Indies.
Next to Moor, a Mr. Dow owned the mills in this place; they were after- wards owned by Thomas Parker, Buzell & Wm. Parker, Wm. Parker & Isaac Riddle, until they were again carried off by a freshet. They were again re- built by Kendall & Gage, and sold to David Hamblett, who carried on a large business in grain, meal, plaster, and manufacturing lumber, until his death in 1848 ; and there is still a good business done there.
This village, now belonging to the city of Manchester, will in a very few years cease to be known by its present name. In fact, when the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company shall put their lands into the market, upon the west side of the river, and shall throw across the Merrimack one or more bridges, then Piscataquog and Amoskeag Villages will become Manchester west of the Merrimack, and their present distinctive names will pass away.
Identified with the origin and growth of Piscataquog, and in fact with the business of this entire section of country, and worthy a more particular notice in this connection, are the names of Matthew Patten, William Parker and Isaac Riddle.
HON. MATTHEW PATTEN .- This gentleman was born in Ireland, May 19, 1719, and was the son of John Patten. His father emigrated to this country in 1728.
In 1738, he moved to Souhegan East, now Bedford, where he settled as a farmer, upon the plains, and with his sons made the second clearing in town. I am not able to discover where Mr. John Patten spent his time from 1728 until he came to Souhegan. Wherever it was, his son spent it to good advan- tage, for in the season he was wont to go to Londonderry and work for his board with his uncle McMurphy, for the priv- ilege of his uncle's instruction of evenings and other leisure time. In this way, upon coming to Souhegan, he possessed a good education for that time-could write a good hand. and was the only surveyor in the region, nearer than Dunstable. With these qualifications, he soon had to do the business of the region, in the way of surveying, making deeds, contracts and the like. Matthew Patten married Elizabeth, daughter of John McMurphy, Esq., of Londonderry. He was a very methodical man, and kept a diary, in which all his transactions were placed down with the utmost minuteness, as will have been seen from the extracts from it in this work. At the age of thirty-two, in 1751, he received from Gov. Benning Wentworth a commission as Justice of the Peace. This was a compliment to him, as
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HON. MATTHEW PATTEN.
few people out of the circle of personal friends and favorites, received a commission as provincial magistrate, at so young an age. From this time Mr. Patten transacted most of the busi- ness of a magistrate, in all this region, often trying causes, civil and criminal in New Boston, Goffstown, Derryfield, Merrimack and Litchfield, besides sitting in the Court of Sessions at Am- herst, for the county. Entries were made in his journal of all such treats. Some of them are very amusing. Under date of June 1. 1761, is the following entry :
" I fined Mr. Loggan 16s for swearing one profane oath in Derryfield."
There is no means of coming at Mr. Patten's scale of fines, but it is to be presumed that Mr. Loggan was fined for swear . ing a very big oath, as the very next day there is the following entry :
"2d. I fined James Steel 4s for swearing four profane oaths in Derryfield."
Mr. Patten was one of the leading men in obtaining the charter of the town of Bedford, which was granted in 1750, and for twenty consecutive years, from 1752, he was chosen clerk of the town, for ten years during the same time, from 1759 to 1772, was chosen selectman of the town, and for twelve years, from 1783 until his death in 1795, was chosen treasurer of the town. These facts show the unlimited confi- dence that was placed in him by his fellow townsmen. He took an early and earnest part in the cause of the Revolution, and was elected to the County Congress at Amherst. as the delegate from Bedford, in May, 1775. He was elected by that Congress as one of the County Committee for the trial of causes and exhibition of difficulties, and soon after was chosen by the town as one of the Committee of Safety for Bedford, in obe- dience to the order of the Congress at Exeter. In 1776, he was chosen as the member of the State Committee of Safety for the County of Hillsborough. In this office, he was partic- ularly active, to the discomfiture of the plans and practice of the tories in this section of the country. In 1778, he was chosen Counsellor for the County of Hillsborough. In every position through our struggle for independence, Mr. Patten took a prominent and active part, and in connexion with Col. Goffe, contributed greatly of his time and money towards forwarding the patriot cause. With a large family, and at an advanced age, he could not enter upon active military life; but in enlist- ing troops, furnishing them with arms and equipments, and his judicious advice, no man did more than he in this section of
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
the state. Besides, three of his family, John and Robert, his sons, and John Dobbin, his hired man, entered the army at the firing of the first gun at Lexington. John died in the service, After the Revolution was over, Mr. Patten was appointed Judge of Probate for the County of Hillsborough under the Constitu- tion of 1784. He was particularly qualified for the office, as for years, he had been engaged in the settlement of estates in this region. He performed the duties of his office most accep- tably until 1789, when being 70 years of age, his commission expired by constitutional limit.
Mr. Patten died suddenly, August 27, 1795, aged 76 years. On that day, he carried some refreshments into his field to his workmen, who were mowing; after which he sat down to rest himself under a tree. Soon after, the attention of his work- men was attracted to him, when it was found that he was dead. He had expired without a struggle or a groan.
WILLIAM PARKER, EsQ .- The History of Bedford, has the following sketch of the life of this gentleman ;
"This gentleman, a native of Litchfield, moved to this town in 1775. He had been in the Revolutionary service, and was stationed one winter in Charlestown, on Winter Hill, He built a small house, which stood near the school-house No. 5 ; worked first at shoe-making, and there his oldest son and second child was born. While engaged there, he used to walk out about twilight at even- ing, and seat himself on the side-hill, near the present mansion house, and there he would contemplate the future prospect. It was then all woods, there being only one house at the Mills and one where Deacon McQuesten lives, and another, east of James Harvel's on the intervale. While sitting there he had a view of the travel from Concord to Boston, and also down the Mast Road, turn- ing off each way to Concord, and Boston. Some little lumber laid on the landing, on a little spot cleared off to roll in masts. Here it occurred to him that some day it would become a place of business. The land was owned by old Mr. Samuel Moor. He thought, if he was able he would purchase an acre, so as to command the four corners where he built his tavern house, where his stable stood, where his store stood, where his house now stands. Accord ngly he applied to Moor, to know what he would take for an acre of land, to let him select it where he chose. Mr. Moor would sell on this condition, one acre for $100 and a pair of calf skin boots. Parker wanted the land, but he was poor and did not know how to raise the money. He went to Amos Martin, and offered him one half in common, if he would help him to buy the acre. Martin at first agreed to do so, but on reflection, he thought the land too high and back- ed out. Not so with Parker. He persevered, closed the bargain, took his deed, and paid promptly, according to his agreement. He moved the little house he had built, near the school house, to the spot where the tavern now stands, added a little to it, and resumed the business of shoe making, which he now united with a little store of spirits and tobacco.
As his business increased, he took an apprentice ; laid up money : was soon able to purchase, in his way, about six or eight thousand feet of board, at $4 per 1000 ; rafted and sent them to Newburyport ; sold for $S ; made a hand- some profit ; laid out the money in the purchase of more boards, which he sent off with equal success. And here was the starting point in his lumber trade, that brought him so much property. In this way he added to his acres
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ISAAC RIDDLE, ESQ.
and added to his trade, and a few years found him in possession of a store of goods.
He soor. became popular, as an honest trader, and this multiplied his custo- mers. All this time his tavern was open to travellers, and being a central place he had as much company as he could accommodate ; and money was coming in from all quarters.
He always paid punctually ; and in this way he raised his credit in Boston, so that he could get trusted for any quantity of good. "I have known," savs his son-in-law, "his creditors, when s-ttling up his bills where he purchased his West India goods, to hand him at the close $50," no doubt to retain his custom.
In 1796 or 1797 he built his large tavern house, and added to his store-his business all the time increasing. He established his brother-in-law, Wm. Par- ker, in trade in West Goffstown-he was known as "Farmer Bill." That being a good place to get lumber in exchange for goods, they soon became wealthy."
ISAAC RIDDLE., Esq .- According to the History of Bedford, in the year 1737, three brothers, Hugh, Gawn and Robert, came to this country from Coleraine, county of Londonderry, in the North of Ireland. They first settled in Londonderry, N. H., and removed to Bedford, N. H., in 174S. The same bark that con- veyed the brothers across the ocean, brought also Mr. John Bell and family, among whom was a daughter Mary, then four- teen years of age. She subsequently married Gawn Riddell, and their fifth child was Isaac, the subject of this sketch.
The education of Isaac Riddle was acquired not from books, but from intercourse with mankind, guided by early parental training. When only seventeen years of age, he enlisted in Col. Nichols's regiment, and did military duty at the important post of West Point, in the year 1780.
On the 10th of June, 1783, Mr. Riddle became of age, with about fifty dollars in his pocket, mostly money saved from his earnings during military service. He went to Newburyport to purchase a stock of goods. That place was then the market for all this section of the country ; the goods were transported on drays, or dray carts, drawn by one horse, or two in tandem style, as the baggage wagon or light cart was not in use. Oc- cupying for a storehouse the front room of his mother's dwell- ing, trade increased until he was able to commence the manu- facture of potash. But the funds were wanting to purchase a new kettle at an expense of thirty-five dollars. Emboldened by conscious integrity, without money or city acquaintance, he started for Boston. On arriving at Medford, he was met by Maj. John Pinkerton, who was a man of the same stamp, the pioneer of trade in Derry, who gave him a line of introduction. The manufacture of potash proved to be a lucrative business. It was taken to Boton by ox teams, and bartered as an article of export, for imported goods.
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