USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Northfield > History of Northfield, New Hampshire 1780-1905: In Two Parts with Many Biographical Sketches and. > Part 11
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Stephen Cross lived at Boscawen but several of his sons went across the river and established various kinds of business near the brook draining Sondogardy Pond. They carried on their business by rafts and boats, passing down the river. Here were established many kinds of business. There were a grist and fulling mill; jeweler's shop, where they manufactured gold beads; a tannery; a blacksmith shop, where scythes were made; and a shop or kiln where they manufactured lampblack. There was also a pottery where earthen-ware and crockery were made, fine clay being obtained across the river. The river soon washed out the supply and this trade had to be abandoned. Here was also a store and shoe shop.
There was also a ferry across the river, in charge of Jesse, while Thomas was merchant and overseer of much of the busi- ness. They built the house owned many years by Thomas Piper and it was in good repair a century later. The shingles for it were home-made and were fastened to the roof with wooden pins. . Thomas owned and ran the flour, plaster and oil mills and the wooden ware shop. All these mills were running in 1811. He was one of the selectmen in 1790 and paid the largest tax in town in 1796.
Mr. Goodwin says the store and shops were the gathering places for the settlers for miles around, as the women came on horseback ,with their bundles of wool to be carded and their freshly-woven webs for the fulling mill. Thomas failed in 1806 and was obliged to sell out his thriving little village to Thomas Thompson, Esq., and removed to Montreal, where he again con- tinued the same lines of business. Parker Noyes, brother of Paul, came into possession of this property in 1815 and sold 200 acres of the land to Abraham Plummer in 1835.
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INDUSTRIAL.
POTASH.
The early settlers found it difficult to dispose of their wood and timber in clearing land for their farms and before the establish- ment of sawmills near at hand used to burn the immense trees on the land. Later, some enterprising settler started the manu- facture of potash and soon a half dozen were in full blast in different parts of the town. This industry flourished but a few years, as the big fireplaces of the increasing settlers furnished an ample market for surplus wood and the many sawmills disposed of the larger growth. This industry called for another and coopers were not wanting to furnish barrels for its storage.
COOPERS.
David Timothy and John Hills were coopers in Haverhill, Mass., before coming to Northfield. In fact, an abundance of oak was the secret of their coming. A little shop was attached to each of the early homes where the tap, tap of this industry was heard early and late. There were many in other and all parts of the town and this business continued until a later date, though it is entirely absent at the present time.
TANNERIES.
No. 1 .- Very early in the settlement of the town Ebenezer Mor- rison came from Sanbornton and established a tannery near the meeting-house at Northfield Centre, occupying the house just then erected by his brother-in-law, Robert Gray, a carpenter from Salem, Mass. A tavern was kept here and the good-sized barn afforded stabling for the relay horses used by Peter Smart, the veteran stage driver from Plymouth to Boston, of whom more is given elsewhere.
The tannery sheds bordered the brook running through the field south of the house, and a thriving business was conducted until 1819 when he moved to the home of his father-in-law, Lieut. Thomas Lyford, on the West Hill, as it was called, where he conducted the business for many years. He then removed to Sanbornton Bridge, where, with his two sons, Liba C. and Ebenezer, he built a steam mill for the business on the south end of A. H. Tilton's upper dam, where Carter's Mill now stands. It was destroyed by fire after the business declined.
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
No. 2 .- Dea. Jeremiah Hall, a tanner, came from Canterbury to West Northfield, now Franklin, in 1801, and established a tan- nery on the place long owned by Jonathan Scribner and at pres- ent by John L. Kelley. . Nine years later he removed to the bank of the Winnepesaukee, opposite Sanbornton Bridge. Here he continued for many years. The old "tenter-bars" along the river bank for years displayed hides in all stages of the process of leather making and were also used by his son-in-law, Benjamin Chase, who was a clothier nearby. The old bark house became unfit for use and, his home having been burned, he removed his business to the Morrison tannery.
No. 3 .- There was also a tannery at what has long been called Kezar Corner, near the residence of Gawn E. Gorrell. It was conducted for long years by the Keysers, father and son. There was still another further to the east, carried on by Mr. Goodwin.
No. 4 .- New methods and patented devices were later adopted for the making of leather and the ease with which families came to be supplied with satisfactory foot wear caused the trade to fall into disuse and the half dozen tanneries of old Northfield have been for a score of years only a matter of memory.
Many of the above not only tanned hides for the farmers for hire but purchased them and sold the dressed leather in Massa- chusetts markets. Northfield furnished an abundance of oak and hemlock bark.
INDUSTRIAL CLUB.
The young people of Northfield had a decided penchant for organization. Among others, one with the above name seems not unworthy of mention. Annually, after the labors of the harvest were over, the following class of young men used to go by twos, threes or dozens with tools on their shoulders to the quarries of Quincy to seek employment. Sometimes a sickly one would make the trip by stage and take along the baggage for the rest. This half-organized club contained these names, mostly from the eastern section of the town :
Mathew Whicher, Roby Sanborn, Joshua Smith, Joseph Smith, Mathew Sanborn, John Smith, Asa K. Osgood, Jeremiah Cofran, Andrew French, Henry Osgood, Jeremiah Rogers, William Evans, Albertus Atkins, Hiram Glines, Samuel Brown, John Rogers, John Brown, Chase Wyatt, Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Hiram
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INDUSTRIAL.
Tibbetts, John Colby, James Sanborn, Joseph Rand, Nathan Bean, Joseph M. G. Smith, Jeremiah Colby, Daniel Sanborn, William Gilman, Franklin Hannaford, John Hannaford, Ephraim Smith Wadleigh, M. Garvin.
Of this number were several who served as teamsters in the quarries.
There was also a large business in transporting goods for the merchants from Portsmouth and Boston, or, as they were gen- erally called, "down country," and there were many profes- sional teamsters. Among the latter. were Chase Wyatt, Hiram Glines and Samuel Forrest. Of this club several were unfor- tunate enough to lose an eye and most of them laid up for thei- selves, not only a good round sum with which to begin life as farmers, but by their strenuous labors, an old age of decrepitude - as well.
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CHAPTER VII.
NORTHFIELD CENTENNIAL.
Northfield completed one hundred years of corporate existence on June 19, 1880. The citizens of the town, having the event in mind, caused the following article to be inserted in the war- . rant for the annual town meeting:
"ART. VII. To see what action the town will take with refer- ence to celebrating the hundreth anniversary of its incorporation . and appropriate money therefor."
A committee was chosen, consisting of Jeremiah E. Smith, F. J. Eastman, W. C. French, B. F. Cofran and O. L. Cross and one hundred dollars was voted to defray expenses. At the first meeting of this committee, March 27, 1880, Jeremiah E. Smith was chosen chairman, O. L. Cross, secretary, and B. F. Cofran, treasurer. Mr. Cofran declining, F. J. Eastman was chosen to fill his place. It was voted to hold the celebration at Union picnic grove at Northfield Depot. Others were added to the committee as deemed necessary. Lucian Hunt, A. M., was secured as his- torian and Mrs. Lucy R. H. Cross as poet. Circulars of invita- tion were sent to former citizens, good music was secured and a bountiful dinner was assured.
COPY OF CIRCULAR. "NORTHFIELD CENTENNIAL.
"The town of Northfield completes One Hundred Years of Corporate Existence on the 19th of June, 1880.
"Conforming to a custom that has obtained favorable recog- nition; to the general desire of its Citizens; and in accordance with a Resolution adopted at its last Annual March Meeting its Centennial Anniversary will be Celebrated with proper ob- servances and appropriate ceremonies on the day above men- tioned.
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NORTHFIELD CENTENNIAL.
"Present and Former Residents are cordially invited to par- ticipate. .
"J. E. SMITH "O. L. CROSS
Chairman
Secretary
"F. J. EASTMAN
Treasurer
"WM. C. FRENCH
"JAMES N. FORREST "MRS. JOHN S. WINSLOW
"MRS. WILLIAM H. CLOUGH
"MRS. LOWELL M. FRENCH
"MRS. JOHN S. DEARBORN."
THE DECORATING COMMITTEE.
Hiram Streeter, Esq., and Mrs. David Tebbetts, with a force of volunteers, met at the grove on June 18, erected booths and put in place numberless flags, streamers; mottoes, evergreen wreaths and flowers. Tables were set up and all made ready for the morrow.
A RED-LETTER DAY FOR NORTHFIELD.
Visitors began to assemble before eight o'clock and before the first train deposited its crowd more than a thousand were on the grounds. The day was warm and beautiful, one of those Lowell had in mind when he asked, "What is so rare as a day in June?" Not a cloud was to be seen the livelong day. At noon the trains had brought large crowds and some 600 teams brought large numbers from the adjoining towns. At three o'clock good judges estimated the crowd as high as 4,000.
Adam S. Ballantyne was president of the day and Jeremiah E. Smith, chief marshal. The Belknap Cornet Band was in at- tendance and by their music added greatly to the day's enjoy- ment.
Daniel Barnard, Esq., at the risk of open censure, referred to his part in the wresting of a good-sized slice of the town and securing its annexation to Franklin.
Mrs. Cross, superintendent of schools, had, by soliciting a small sum from the present and former pupils, secured suffi-
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
cient to purchase a copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary for each schoolroom, eight in number. This presentation was one of the pleasant exercises of the day. They were received by 'James N. Forrest and delivered to the various schools.
It is safe to say that nearly every one of the old families was represented on the occasion. Blanchard, Gerrish, Rogers, Cate, Hill, Glidden, Clough, Haines, Dearborn, Hancock, Foss, Brown, Winslow, Eastman, Smith, Hall, Hannaford, 'Cross, Ken- iston, Forrest, Chase, Gilman, Sawyer, Sanborn, Cofran, Co- nant, Hodgdon, Simonds, Glines, Gile, French and Wadleigh. The fullest delegations were from the Hall and Dearborn fam- ilies. Old friends met after years of separation and families were again reunited. The greetings were long spoken and heartfelt, as gray-haired men and women met as children and mingled once more in the dear old scenes of long ago.
Rev. Liba Conant, who was to open the exercises, was too feeble to be present, and that duty was happily performed by the Rev. J. W. Adams of Tilton.
Miss Fannie Rice of Lowell, a descendant of the first settler, Blanchard, filled the woods with song and very graciously re- sponded to several recalls. Her masterly handling of the cornet called forth much enthusiasm and all will readily recall her pleasant rendering of "Yankee Doodle," with variations, with the band and audience joining in the chorus.
The fine historical address of Prof. Lucian Hunt of Falmouth, Mass., an old teacher and resident of the town, as well as the poem by Mrs. L. R. H. Cross, will be given herewith in full.
The Congregational Church of Northfield, later removed to Sanbornton Bridge, was represented by its pastor, Rev. Corban Curtice, as was the Methodist Church by Rev. Mr. Adams.
There were addresses from Hon. Jeremiah Forrest Hall, M. D., of Portsmouth, and Marshall P. Hall of Manchester. The former spoke feelingly of the good old times, particularly his school days, while the latter, from his long connection with the public schools, gave a fine talk to the school children.
Mrs. Nancy Smith Gilman caused much merriment with her old-time stories.
There were letters of regret and congratulation, read by O. L. Cross, Esq., and speeches by distinguished visitors.
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Too much cannot be said of the collation. The large crowds were abundantly supplied and a table loaded with every deli- cacy was furnished for the special guests. After dinner exer- cises were again resumed, and a very able paper, by Maj. O. C. Wyatt, paid a worthy tribute to those "brave old Continentals," as they stood
"In their ragged regimentals swerving not And in their frenzy fired the shot That echoed round the world."
He also recalled the names of the boys who "wore the blue" at Gettysburg, Antietam and Richmond.
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The day came to a close all too soon. Trains took their loads to their homes. The voice of song, of martial music, laughter, cheers and chat died out in the evening air. Thanks had been extended to trooper and troops; to speaker and singer; to the lenders of colors and givers of flowers, and especially to the dear old mother town of Canterbury, who sent her sons and daugh- ters in large number to honor us by their presence at our birth- day feast.
The following report of the committee by Oliver L. Cross, Esq., was spread upon the records of the town, with treasurer's report annexed :
"Ample contributions of food were obtained by the solicita- tion of the ladies who rendered timely and efficient aid from the beginning to the close of the undertaking. Every call was re- sponded to on the part of our citizens to make the occasion a success.
"That it was so is due to the hearty co-operation of our en- tire population after the time and place were definitely deter- mined.
"Everything passed off pleasantly. There was neither dis- turbance nor accident throughout the day and with the excep- tion of dust which was everywhere universal nothing could have added to the enjoyment of the proceedings.
"The literary part of services were of a high order especially the Address of Prof. Lucian Hunt and the Poem of Mrs. O. L. Cross. .
"Hoping our successors will in 1980 celebrate the 2nd Centen- nial of our grand old town with the prosperity that now rests
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upon us transmitted with continuous increase we leave for them this record of the first."
CENTENNIAL ADDRESS AT NORTHFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. Delivered June 19, 1880. BY PROT. LUCIAN HUNT.
After an absence of many years, it is a pleasure not to be expressed in words that I am permitted to meet once more this great company of familiar faces, and on this bright June morn- ing to assist in some slight degree to celebrate Northfield's one hundreth birthday.
. And it is fitting that we should celebrate this. Ever since the . peopling of the earth, has the custom prevailed of commemora- ting the eventful days of a country's, town's, or family's his- tory.
To keep in remembrance past events, all modern nations have their festival days; the Greeks and Romans had their games; and the Jews, their Passover, their Feast of Tabernacles, and their Year of Jubilee.
But America's great festival day is destined to be the Cen- tennial; both for our republic as a whole, and for its towns individually; for the Centennial commemorates the event most important in the history of each-its birth. This is not possible in the Old World, as the origin of every nation there is veiled in the dim and distant past. Not so with us. The exact day of every town's birth is known. Our great republic, the United States of America, was proclaimed a nation one hundred and four years ago, on the 4th of July. Our little republic, which we call Northfield, was proclaimed a town just one hundred years ago today-that is, on the 19th of June, 1780.
This event you resolved should not pass unobserved. And with you, to resolve was to perform. And the result is this grand, rousing, social reunion of the present and former inhabi- tants of the town, this great outpouring and commingling of good feeling and town patriotism, and this meeting of old friends and revival of past associations; and, in short, this com- ing together of your whole population-to bid farewell to the old century and to greet the new.
We welcome you, sons and daughters. of Northfield, to this
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gathering of good will and old remembrances! We welcome you in the name of the living present, and in memory of the deceased fathers! We welcome you, one and all, male and fe- male, young and old, from far and near, to this wedding of the past with the present! And may this reunion result in great good to our town and in a blessing to us all.
Northfield is a century old today. And since we have reached this first centennial mile-stone of our town's history, let us pause a few hours this morning from that eager looking ahead, so characteristic of the Americans, and look back-let us, I say, us of the fourth generation, look back-over the heads of our fathers, our grandfathers, our great-grandfathers-not only to the event we are celebrating today-the act of incorporation- but twenty years beyond-to the first settlement in 1760, and render deserved honor to that hardy band of pioneers, who left friends and planted their families in the deep solitude of what was then a vast forest-not like the pleasant grove in which we are celebrating on this 19th of June, but tall, dark, pathless, forbidding, and dangerous.
Benjamin Blanchard is generally credited as being the founder of Northfield, though two years earlier Jonathan Heath is said to have built a log hut on the Gerrish intervale, which was once included within the limits of old Northfield, but now belongs to Franklin. However that may be, by common consent, Blanchard was among the first settlers within the present limits of the town.
In 1760, he cut his way through an unbroken wilderness from an old fort in Canterbury, and settled on what is now known as Bay Hill. Blanchard was then forty-one years of age. . His father, Edward Blanchard, was killed twenty-two years before by the Indians at the old Canterbury garrison. At this time, Benjamin is supposed to have had nine children. "For several years," says Mr. M. B. Goodwin of Franklin, "as far as I can learn, Benjamin Blanchard and family were the only settlers in Northfield. It is an interesting fact to state in this place, that the first Methodist church that existed on this continent was erected the same year in which Benjamin Blanchard erected his log house on Bay Hill-in 1760." He opened a clearing for himself on what is now the farm of Ephraim S. Wadleigh- his dwelling standing back of the orchard.
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
Blanchard's residence was a log house-then, and for many years after, the fashionable style of architecture among the pioneers of Bay Hill, and of the town generally. It was a con- venient style. not showy, but having a severe Doric simplicity, quite in keeping with the character of the early inhabitants. They were not capacious containing but one, or at most, two rooms, and with the big families of those days, they must at times have furnished rather close quarters. But they were warm and cosy-easily constructed, for the timber was close at hand and a few days' labor only was required to transform it into the settler's modest mansion. When the logs were squared by the axe, they formed a solid, massive structure, bidding defiance to winds, and proof against cold and the bullets of the savages, thus making at the same time comfortable homes and strong fortresses. There are worse homes, let me tell you, in the world even now, than the log hut. Compared with the mud hovels of many parts of Europe, and the board shanties of this country, it was a palace.
Here, then, Blanchard lived for several years, cut off from mankind by many miles of intervening forest. We don't know, but we imagine, that a feeling of loneliness would creep over him sometimes, when he thought of his isolation from his fellow- man. Perhaps he thought occasionally, when the perils around him from beast and savage were greatest, and his struggle with primeval nature the fiercest, that he was leading rather a tough life. It would not be strange, if he had now and then his blue days, when discouraged and heart-sick, he was ready to give up, and retrace his steps back to the old Canterbury garrison. But of his feelings no record tells. He must have suffered privations we know-all settlers did in those times. Many a weary mile may he have trudged-a bag of corn on his back-perhaps even to Concord, or farther, in order to obtain a scanty supply of meal for the manufacture of an occasional bannock for his house- hold, or to thicken their porridge. Such groceries as sugar, tea, coffee, butter, cheese, and the like, we may believe, were rare visitors at his table, and wheaten bread an unknown luxury to him and the little Blanchards.
But after all, this picture has its bright side. If he had n't beefsteak, he could get bear-steak, merely by burning a little
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NORTHFIELD CENTENNIAL.
powder. If biscuit was wanting, potatoes, such as new ground only can produce, supplied its place; while rabbits, deer, squir- rels, and partridges furnished many a delicious titbit. Besides, the Winnipiseogee-only a mile distant-teemed with millions of shad, and Skendugady, no doubt, was fairly alive with the delicious brook trout.
After all, Blanchard was probably a happy man. His mode of life, we may suppose, gave him perfect health-he had the satisfaction of seeing his clearing growing broader every year, giving him more sunshine and blue sky overhead, and a greater extent of tillage land beneath; while as for loveliness, his little cabin was fairly running over with children, so that he might be as much puzzled where to bestow his imported young Can- terburyites, as was the famous old woman "who lived in a shoe." His home was all the dearer to him from its seclusion. He was decidedly a home body. He could n't well be otherwise. You didn't see him lounging about the stores, or taverns, or depots, or grog shops, after it was time for honest folks to be abed. Institutions for loafing were not yet invented. His nest, crowded with those nine Canterbury birds and their mother, required and received his presence and protection each night. And he kept good hours-retiring early, first taking care to rake up the coals, so as to find a bed of glowing embers in the morn- ing, for this was before the day of Lucifer matches, and the loss of fire would have been quite a serious misfortune.
Well, in this way, the years came and went, and in process of time he began to have neighbors. The first to follow him was William Williams, whose daughter, widow of George Hancock, died at the residence of her son, William Hancock, in Canter- bury, January 14, 1860, aged one hundred years, eleven months, and four days. Let her be remembered as the oldest person that Northfield has as yet produced. We 'll see what the next century can do in that respect.
Afterwards came Nathaniel and Reuben Whicher, Capt. Samuel and Jonathan Gilman, and Linsey Perkins, and settled on the farm where Warren H. Smith, Esq., now resides. On the Perkins place, opposite Mr. Wadleigh's, was a hut used for school purposes.
The first two children born in town were Aaron Collins and
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
. Ezenezer Blanchard, grandson of old Benjamin and Bridget Blanchard, whose birth took place in 1768. . Ebenezer kept a hotel on the Wadleigh farm. His father, Edward, was a prom- inent man in town-twenty-five years a selectman, often moder- ator at town meetings, and served as a soldier throughout the Revolutionary War. The old people, Benjamin and Bridget, were buried on their farm. Years after, the old lady's grave- stone was found among some stones hauled to repair the well.
The settlement had now so far increased that the mail route from Concord to Gilmanton Corner passed over Bay Hill. The first postrider was Ezekiel Moore, a native of Canterbury, where his son, Col. Matthias M. Moore, still resides. He carried the mail from 1798 to 1812, and possibly a little later. This was the only regular means of communication the little settle- ment had with the great outside world, and old people used to tell his son, years after, with what intense anxiety they awaited the coming of the postman, his father. After Mr. Moore retired from the business, his neighbor, Mr. Tallent, a young man, whose death occurred but a few years ago, succeeded him. A post and box stood at the end of the lane on the Blanchard place for the reception of the papers deposited there by the mail car- rier.
A little farther south, down by the Smith meadow, was a log hut, in which lived a Mr. Colby. His wife was a weaver, and for want of bars was accustomed to warp her webbs on the apple trees. It would be difficult to find such fruit on our modern apple trees, I reckon.
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