History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 194

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 194
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 194

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The meeting-house is a modest and attractive building of familiar New England architecture, hav- ing a tower with a bell and a pretty, tapering spire. The audience-room is tastefully frescoed, and con- tains a fine organ and appropriate appointments.

The Universalist Society was organized July 19, 1848, at Meredith Bridge. They built a meeting- house, employed a preacher and continued to hold services until about 1846, when the society lan- guished. From that time until 1860 there were only occasional services held. At that time the organiza- tion was revived, preaching was supplied, and in 1867 the name was changed to the First Unitarian Society of Laconia. The church was repaired and meetings were held until the congregation outgrew their ac- commodations. In May of that year a committee was

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appointed to build a new church, and the next year the old building was sold to the Methodist Society. The new edifice cost over twenty thousand dollars, and was dedicated in 1868. It is centrally located, and is the most conspicnons building in the town. The in- terior is elaborately finished, containing, in the base- ment, a Sunday-school-room, a study, a dining-room and a kitchen, and above, a large audience-room, lighted by cathedral windows, with elegantly-paneled wall and ceiling and rich walnut furniture. The gener- al effect of the room is pleasing, and expresses quiet elegance. Rev. Thomas L. Gorman was the first set- tled minister ; he was succeeded, in 1869, by Rev. C. Y. De Normandie, who, in turn, was succeeded, in 1873, by Rev. Clarence Fowler ; later, by Rev. James Collins, Rev. Enoch Powell, Rev. John D. Wells, and, in September, 1884, by the present pastor, Rev. James Pardee. The society incIndes abont one hundred families.

The St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church .- For more than half a century there have been Catholics in Laconia and Lake village. As their numbers grew, they were occasionally visited by priests from other parishes, Fathers Dailey and McDonald, of Manchester, among others. Rev. T. H. Noiseux, then of Lancaster, gathered the faithful into a society about the close of the war, and stimulated them to raise money and build a church. Accordingly, a lot on Main Street was bought, and a building was erected, and was consecrated by Rt. Rev. David W. Bacon. The people now wanted a resident priest, and, in 1871, Rev. John W. Murphy was settled-the parish including Laconia, Lake village, Franklin, Ashland, Canaan, Lebanon, Hanover and other places. In April, 1872, Father Murphy was succeeded hy Rev. M. T. Goodwin, a gentleman of great learning, elo- qnence and zeal, who rednced, by his exertions, the church debt.

The Catholic Church was burned July 1, 1877, having been struck by lightning ; but the money for the erection of a new edifice was quickly raised. Father Goodwin left the parish the same year, and was succeeded the year following by the present in- enmbent, Rev. John Lambert, under whose ministra- tions the rebuilding of the church was conducted. The basement was first occupied February 24, 1879; the church was finished in 1881, and was consecrated the first Sunday in May.

In 1879 a convent school was opened in the village by four Sisters of Mercy, of whom Sister Margaret was superior. The school can accommodate two hundred scholars.

In September, 1881, the parish purchased a ceme- tery lot of six acres, which was consecrated July 5, 1885.

In 1884 Franklin was erected into a separate par- ish, Ashland and northern towns having been de- tached several years earlier.

The church is of Gothic architecture, cruciform,

with tower on epistle side, and cost about six thou- sand dollars.

CHAPTER III.

LACONIA-(Continued).

The Press-The Belknap Gazette-The Laconia Democrat-The Belknap Tocsin-Horse Railroad-Telephone Company-Roads and Bridges- Fire Department-Fire-Alarm Telegraph-First Fire-Engine-Li- braries.

Belknap Gazette .- The Belknap Gazette was the first newspaper published in Meredith Bridge, and was started abont 1840 by the late Colonel Charles Lane. Colonel Lane conducted an extensive estab- lishment for those days, running a printing-office and book-bindery, located about where the post-office building now stands. Bibles, hymn-books and works of that kind were printed on a hand-press and furnished to order all complete. Colonel Lane was a Jefferson- ian Democrat, and in 1843 the Whigs bought the pa- per and afterwards controlled it. Varions editors and proprietors had the management of the Gazette after Colonel Lane, but the paper was discontinued in 1861. The late J. H. Brewster was the last pro- prietor, and his reason for stopping the publication was the war prices of paper and scarcity of laborers.

The Laconia Democrat .- In the year 1848, Abram Keach and D. K. Seaver, of Manchester, came to Meredith Bridge to print a weekly newspaper for Enoch Gordon. At this time Belknap and Carroll were the only counties in the State that had no "or- gans." The paper was called The New Hampshire Democrat, and the first number was printed the last week in December, 1848, and bore the date January 4, 1849. This issue bore the name of E. Gordon, publisher and proprietor; but as Gordon conld furnish no secur- ity to carry out his contract with the printers, his connection was severed after one issue, and Messrs. Keach & Seaver assumed control, with J. Elkins, Esq., as editor. The paper was a success from the start, and was at that time said to be the neatest printed sheet in the State. May 13, 1850, Seaver retired from the business and Keach continued alone until 1852, when the paper passed into the hands of Samuel C. Bald- win. David A. Farrington of Concord was associated with Mr. Baldwin from 1854 to 1857 and then retired. Mr. Baldwin committed suicide, and the paper was pur- chased by Joseph B. Batchelder, January 24, 1862, who, in turn, disposed of the concern to O. A. J. Vaughan in Jannary, 1868. Mr. Vanghan died April 6, 1876, and in June of that year William M. Ken- dall, Jr., of Lebanon, N. H., took control and united the Democrat and Weekly News, which he had pre- viously published at Lebanon. The Democrat was enlarged and otherwise much improved about this time; bnt Mr. Kendall became weary of the business, and was succeeded in 1878 by Edwin C. Lewis and Fred. W. Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn retired in April,

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HISTORY OF BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

1882, and the paper is now published by the firm of Lewis, Vaughan & Co. An evening edition was commenced in December, 1883, and continued about a year, but not receiving sufficient encouragement, was discontinued for the time being.

The Belknap Tocsin .- This paper was established as a Republican organ by Messrs. C. W. & A. J. Hackett, of Belmont, in the summer of 1881. The Tocsin was a large paper, neatly printed and ably edited. A daily edition was commenced about a year later, and the Lakeside News from Lake village merged with the Tocsin, Mr. E. G. Wilcomb, of the News, taking an active interest in the firm. The Hacketts shortly after gave up the business, and the paper was continued until March, 1884, at which time Mr. Wilcomb sold out to Lewis, Vaughan & Co., of the Democrat, and the Tocsin was discontinued. The paper did not receive a hearty support from the Republicans of the county, and it was evident from the first that the Tocsin would not long continue.

Horse Railroad .- The Laconia and Lake Village Horse Railroad was chartered at June session, 1881, of the New Hampshire Legislature. The grantees were A. G. Folsom, James H. Tilton, J. P. Hutchin- son and Richard Gove. The capital stock was fixed at fifteen thousand dollars, and the road built in the summer of 1882. The first car was run over the road on Friday afternoon, August 18, 1882. The first annual meeting of the stockholders was held at Folsom Hall January 16, 1883. A. G. Folsom, J. P. Hutchinson, S. C. Clark, C. A. Busiel, S. S. Wiggin, R. Gove and S. B. Smith were elected directors, and subsequently A. G. Folsom was chosen president of the board, J. P. Hutchinson clerk, and W. L. Melcher treasurer. Bela S. Keniston was the first superintendent of the road. About two and one- half miles of track were laid, extending from the Williard Hotel, in Laconia, to the steamboat landing in Lake village. The road was a success from the commencement.

Telephone Company .- The Winnipesaukee Bell Telephone Company was incorporated April 23, 1881. E. H. Blaisdell was the first president ; W. F. Knight, secretary ; S. B. Smith, treasurer ; Augustus Doe, D. W. Marsh, E. H. Blaisdell, G. H. Everett and E. C. Lewis. The capital raised amounted to The lines of the company now extend to Lake village, Weirs, Meredith, Gilmanton, Tilton and Belmont.

Roads and Bridges .- The first bridge over the Winnipesaukee River was built in 1764, four years before the town of which Laconia was then a part was chartered under the name of Meredith. This bridge was built of logs and was termed a passable bridge. It stood, with occasional repairs, for nearly fifty years, and was replaced with a better structure about 1810. The bridge at Great Weirs was built in 1804.

In 1781 a road was built from the head of Round

Bay to the falls of the Winnipesaukee River, and from Folsom's Falls (Lake village) to what is now Church Street, and half of a bridge was built soon after, the town of Gilmanton building the other end of the bridge. The first bridge across Mill Street was built in 1788, a few years after the saw and grist-mills were put in operation.

Fire Department .- Soon after the ercction of the cotton-mill, in 1813, measures were taken to procure apparatus to extinguish fires, and the first fire-engine was purchased in 1815, and a suitable engine-house provided on Mill Street, in about the location of the Belknap boarding-house. There was no suction hose attached to the first engine, and it was therefore equipped with leather buckets, and the water poured into the top and forced out with the brakes. This engine was destroyed in 1855. The company to work the engine was incorporated in 1814 by the Legisla- ture, and went under the name of Meredith Bridge Engine Company.

In 1834 a hose company was organized to operate force pumps, one of which was located in the yard of the cotton-mill, and the other just across the river, on Mill Street. This company was incorporated under the name of Meredith Bridge Hose Company, James Molineaux, Alvah Tucker aud Abram Brig- ham being foremost in the enterprise.

The present fire precinct was established by the Legislature in 1849, and the hand tub "Torrent, No. 2," was purchased in that year, and a company was formed to man the machine. A store-house in the Belknap mill-yard was used for an engine-house for some time, until the precinct erected the house on Water Street, where the old Torrent is now stored. The Torrent boys were the first company at the Bridge to procure uniforms, and for many years a vast amount of pride was taken in this engine and its company.

In 1875 a steam fire-engine was purchased, the " Laconia," also a new hose-carriage and a hook-and- ladder truck. In this year the present companies were organized as follows : Laconia Steam Fire-En- gine Company, No. 1, Reliance Hose Company, No. 1, and Laconia Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1. The Fire Department now has two engine-houses, about a dozen large reservoirs and other property, valued at nearly fifteen thousand dollars.

Fire-Alarm Telegraph .- The fire-alarm telegraph was introduced in Laconia by Frank H. Champlin. The sum of one thousand dollars was raised in March, 1876, and the apparatus was manufactured by F. H. Champlin and O. L. Andrews. There are at present about ten miles of wire connected with forty six-inch gongs in the dwellings of the firemen, and a twelve-inch gong on Gove's Block, on Main Street. Twenty-four signal-boxes are distributed throughout the precinct.

At a meeting of the legal voters of the Meredith Bridge Fire Precinct, held at the Universalist Church

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(on Lake Street), on Saturday, September 22, 1849, it was voted to adopt an act making further provision for the extinguishment of fires. Nathan B. Wad- leigh was chosen chief engineer, with Alvah Tucker, Charles Ranlet, I. E. Brown, James S. Hoit, Charles Lane, J. F. Clough, E. Mallard, John T. Coffin, A. Warren and T. D. Whipple, assistant engineers.

The sum of one thousand dollars was voted for the purchase of a fire-engine and other necessary appa- ratus.

First Fire-Engine. - Stephen Perley was ap- pointed a committee to go to Boston and purchase the engine. By his bill to the precinct we find that the sum of two hundred and seventy dollars was paid for the machine. Seventeen dollars was charged for hauling the " tub " to Meredith Bridge, and the pre- cinct also paid eight dollars, one-quarter of Mr. Per- ley's expenses. The committee appointed to locate an engine-house reported in favor of building on the court leading to the burying-ground (on Water Street, where the engine buildings are now located). It was first kept in Avery mill-yard.

Laconia's Libraries .- The Meredith Bridge Social Library was started in 1803. The first meeting was held February 14th, when Jeremiah H. Woodman presided, Daniel Avery acted as clerk and Simeon Taylor, J. H. Woodman and Richard Boynton were chosen a committee to draft a constitution. They re- ported, April 25th, a constitution of twenty-seven articles. The annual meetings were to be held the last Monday in December, at five P.M., in the hall at Mrs. Deborah Sanborn's tavern. Members were to pay an entrance fee of two dollars and an annual as- sessment of fifty cents. No professional books, in law, physic or divinity, could be purchased at the ex- pense of the proprietors. The officers were moderator, clerk, librarian and three directors; and the library was to be open each Saturday from three to six P.M. At the first annual meeting, in December, 1803, the membership was reported to be thirty and the amount expended for books was $83.47, the largest amount reported in any one year, the average sum being less than thirty dollars. In 1805 only $13.55 was used in buying books, but Lieutenant Stephen Perley was paid eight dollars for covering books with sheep- skin.

The library was incorporated in 1807, and Stephen Perley and David Avery called the first meeting of the corporation. John Burleigh was elected modera- tor, John A. Harper clerk, Simeon Taylor, J. A. Har- per and Dr. Zadock Bowman directors and Daniel Avery librarian. The fee for membership was ad- vanced from three dollars to $3.50 in 1806, $4.25 in 1810, and to six dollars in 1826. In 1811 the librarian was authorized to sue as many as he thought proper of those who were delinquent in dues and fines for six months. The result was that forty-one dollars was expended for books that year instead of nothing, as the year before. It was also voted to enlarge the

book-case or get a new one, to buy the " History of England" and make a catalogue. The records do not state how many volumes there were, but a copy of the catalogue was ordered to be hung in the library- room.

There were twenty-three members to meet at the annual meeting in 1818. Those who were delinquent for three years were expelled, and once more the " History of England " was ordered, but two or three years seem to have slipped away before it was ob- tained. In 1820 the library subscribed for the North American Review, which was continued for several years. In 1821 we have the only record of the books actually purchased in one year. They cost twenty- five dollars, and consisted of the North American Review, Federalist, "Delano's Voyages," "Presi- dent's Hour," "Gazetteer of the Bible," "My Friend's Family," "Watts on the Mind " and "Schoolcraft's Tours."

In 1826, Rev. Francis Norwood was given one share while he remained in town. In 1831, Rev. John K. Young " was allowed the use of Butterworth's 'Con- cordance of the Bible' from the time he took it from the library until otherwise ordered by the proprie- tors," and he was also given a share in the library. Conveyances of shares are recorded with all the for- mality which attends the transfer of real estate, and the records show the names of nearly all the leading men in Meredith, Gilford and Gilmanton.

In 1836 an attempt was made to create a uew in- terest in the enterprise, and it was proposed to bring in twenty new members at four dollars apiece, if so many could be found. But the attempt seems to have been a failure, for in 1837 the record ends very ab- ruptly. At that time S. C. Lyford was president; J. T. Coffin, Sr., clerk; Otis Beaman, librarian; Daniel Tucker, G. L. Sibley and Francis Russell, directors.

We do not find that the yearly accounts ever rose as high as ninety dollars, and there is a prudence and carefulness shown in looking after small items that is positively ludicrous. For instance, the rec- ord for 1813 shows that there is $1.38 in Dr. Bow- · man's hands, twenty-three cents due from the libra- rian, and $1.67 from J. A. Harper. The same items are reported due in 1815, and in 1816, Dr. Bowman still stands charged with $1.38, and the estate of J. A. Harper with $1.67. We do not see that the Harper estate ever paid. The Bowman item appears in 1817 and then drops out.

In the thirty-four years covered by the records the whole amount expeuded for books could not have been but little more than what the town of Laconia annually appropriates for the public library ; and yet it is plain the Social Library furnished more or less reading for the most intelligent families living within several miles of the " Bridge."

The library was for some years kept in the Avery store, and some of our older citizens remember to have seen it there. They all speak of it as a small

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HISTORY OF BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

affair, almost insignificant when compared with some of the private libraries which may now be seen here. The late John T. Coffin had the care of it for many years, and it was located in the rooms of the Meredith Bridge Savings-Bank. During its later years it seems to have been unused and neglected, and was practi- cally unknown and forgotten to all but a few of the surviving proprietors.

It went through the fire of 1846 in safety and met its fate in the big fire of.1860. Mr. John T. Coffin was among the very last to see it. He tells us that it was in a case some eight feet long and six feet high, and stood in the bank-room. By dint of hard work, all the other property of value was carried out and the library case was moved toward the door. But he could not obtain sufficient help to carry it out before the flame broke into the room, and so he was forced to leave the old relic to make his own escape through a back-door ; and this was the end of the Meredith Bridge Social Library fifty-seven years after its organ- ization. With it there went many old papers which would have been of priceless value to the future histo- rian of the town, and if the old volumes had been spared, there are many besides the antiquarian book- worm who would have enjoyed themselves in shaking the dust from the calfskin covers and examining the literature which our fathers read half a century ago.

The foregoing facts in regard to the first public library at Meredith Bridge were published in the Laconia Democrat in 1883, and were taken from a record-book then in the possession of the late Deacon F. W. Reeves, but since presented to the Laconia Public Library.

CHAPTER IV. LACONIA-(Continued).

WEIRS AND LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE.

THE vicinity of Weirs, which lays just within the limits of Laconia and at the outlet of Lake Winnipe- saukee, has been famous as a summer resort further back, probably, than the historical or traditionary records exist. Long before the white men invaded New England, the Winnipesaukees, a branch of the Penacook tribe of Indians, maintained a permanent ahquedaukenash, or fish-weir, at the outlet of the lake, and all the tribes in the vicinity would gather to par- ticipate in the spring and fall catch of shad. The weir was constructed by placing large boulders in an irregular line across the river at a proper distance from the outlet. The rocks were generally placed some ten feet apart, and a matting woven of twigs and tough bark was strung from rock to rock entirely across the stream, leaving a narrow opening in the centre of the weir, through which the fish must pass to enter the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. When the shad would reach the weirs and crowd through

the opening was the red man's harvest-time. The braves would man the canoes, and, paddling out among the struggling fish, with spear and dig-net would soon fill the boat to the water's edge and return to the shore to deliver the shad to the squaws. The fish were split open and cleaned, and either laid out to dry on flakes or hung up and smoked for winter use. This wholesale method of fishing was also indulged in to a certain extent by the early settlers, and as shad were plenty in those days, many loads were used to enrich the soil on the high ground in the vicinity of the river. The weir was constructed in a substantial manner and portions of it remained long after the mill-dams on the Merrimack had stopped the annual visitation of the shad; and now, although the Indian, the shad and the ahquedauken are among the things of the past in this vicinity, the name by which the locality was known still remains, and the Weirs is to- day one of the most popular summer resorts in New Hampshire. Until within a few years, however, the place was simply known as the landing-place of the steamer " Lady of the Lake," in connection with the railroad.

The visitor to Weirs now will find three large hotels,-the Hotel Weirs, built by the late Captain W. A. Sanborn, for many years commander of the " Lady of the Lake ;" the Lakeside, built by L. R. & G. W. Weeks; and the Winnicortte, built by D. S. Doolittle. Besides these are many less pretentious places of resort, and in the grove near the wharf are numerous cottages of all grades, neatly laid out along the avenues. Opposite the passenger station is the per- manent encampment of the Veteran Association of New Hampshire, who held their first reunion here in 1879. These reunions are held every year and gener- ally last three days, calling together thousands of New Hampshire's veteran soldiers, many of them coming from far distant States to attend the gather- ing. Large and substantial buildings have been erected, which serve as barracks, regimental head- quarters, dining-rooms, officers' headquarters, etc.

In the grove, nearer the lake, the Methodists, Unitarians and various other societies hold an annual gathering. An annual New England musical festival was also established in 1884.

Lake Winnipesaukee lies in the counties of Belk- nap and Carroll, and is very irregular in form. Its area, exclusive of two hundred and seventy-four is- lands, is upwards of seventy-one square miles and the distance around its shores is one hundred and eighty- two miles. It is about twenty-five miles long and varies from one to seven miles in width. There are ten islands, each having an area of more than one hundred acres, and one (Long Island) having an area of over one thousand acres. At the west end the lake is divided into three large bays, at the north is a fourth and at the east end there are three others. The waters descend four hundred and seventy-two

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feet on their way to the Atlantic, forming a rapid river of the same name as the lake, and emptying into the Merrimack. The waters of the lake, are so clear that the fish which abound in it can be seen playing among the stones at the depth of many feet.

While Lake Winnipiseogee is distinctively a moun- tain lake, yet it lacks almost all those wild, rough features of mountain scenery that usually character- ize inland lakes in mountainous regions. The shore, seen from a distance, appears, as it is, comparatively smooth and level, but the mountains rise high on all sides. The islands which dot its surface are covered with vegetation and are generally neither rocky nor precipitous.

Steamboat Navigation .- The first steamboat ever operated on the lake was called the " Belknap," and was built by Ichabod Bartlett, a well-known lawyer, and Stephen C. Lyford, Esq., of Laconia. The keel was laid at Lake village in 1842, and the boat was fin- ished early in the season of the next year, the launch taking place in June, 1833. The work of getting the boat through the channel at Weirs, into the lake proper, occupied nearly a week, the channel at that time being a shallow, turbulent stream, with many large boulders at the bottom, and was only navigable for very small boats with but little draught of water.

The master-mechanic of the "Belknap" was, at first, Charles Bell, of Weathersfield, Conn, Bell, however, was drowned, at Lake village, while pulling planks from the dam. He was succeeded by Harry Upton, who completed the boat. The first pilot was Perkins Drake, for many years well-known as a stage-driver between Centre Harbor and Laconia. Levi Cowdin was the first engineer. James Jewett was the captain of the " Belknap," and, consequently, the first commander of any steam craft to travel the waters of the lake.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 194

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1520

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520