USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Northwood > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 4
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Nottingham > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 4
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Deerfield > History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, comprised within the original limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H., with records of the centennial proceedings at Northwood, and genealogical sketches > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
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tive justice, and the dark stain upon our national escutcheon washed out by the precious blood shed in willing sacrifice upon the altars of freedom.
Henceforth we may expect to stand as the Mount Wash- ington of the Appalachian range of political governments, as frce as the winds that play around its snow-capped sum- mit and as enduring as the indestructible granite of its base ; and above which the North Star of liberty shall ever shine, as a beacon-light to the toiling millions of every land and climc.
Already Columbia's star is the hope-beaming cynosure of the civilized world. Shining with renewed brilliancy, it has arisen so high above the dark horizon of the past, that they may no longer question, as they upward gaze, whether it's
" The meteor's flash or the sun's bright blaze."
Already the influence of our example is giving new life and hope to the down-trodden masses of the old world, and the thunders of our Niagara are shaking the proud king- doms and empires of Europe.
"Oh, ever thus, America, be strong ; Like cataract's thunder pour the freeman's song,
Till struggling Europe joins the glad refrain, And startled Asia bursts the despot's chain."
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RESPONSE OF THOMAS J. PINKHAM.
" The future of Northwood."
MR. PRESIDENT, -Distinguished and honorable gentle- men have to-day eloquently addressed you upon various subjects pertaining to the past and the present. You have been instructed by the orator of the day upon the early and late history of the town. He has portrayed to you in vivid colors the hardships of your early ancestors, the successes of your fathers, and the virtue and industry of your mothers. He has called your attention to the fact of the early establishment of churches and school-houses in your town ; and from the influence, largely, of these is the town what it is to-day. You have also been eloquently entertained by some of the distinguished sons of the town who have returned to the home of their youth to greet you upon this happy occasion. They have spoken to you of the beauty of the town, -its landscape, its mountains, hills, valleys, lakes, streams, and forests. In fact, you have been entertained upon all manner of pleasant thoughts, and it now remains for me to give a new direction to your thoughts, and address you upon a very homely subject ; viz., your bread and butter.
THE FUTURE OF NORTHWOOD.
That means bread and butter ; for without these there is no future to your town. I wish to call your attention to those interests upon which the future prosperity of the town depends. Your town, from its earliest history, has essentially been a farming town. But ordinary farming in New England at the present time does not pay, and no man can afford to do a non-paying business. This is what
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is ruining our interior towns, and the people have been slow to wake up to the fact. I spent money and much time, years ago, to call tlie attention of the people to this matter. They are now in the full realization of the situa- tion. I have not time, nor do I propose, to go into a gen- eral discussion of the subject; but, in as few words as possible, wish to call your attention to those interests which tend to the future prosperity of your town.
When I was asked by your committee to speak to you to-day upon the future of Northwood, I instantly said to myself, The future will be what the people make it. Men, to a great extent, make their own futurc ; so do communi- ties, towns, states, and nations. The boy is the father of the man. If you see a young man idle, vicious, loafing about the streets, visiting low places of resort, indulging in coarse language and filthy practices, disrespectful to his parents and those with whom he comes in contact, perfectly ac- quainted with the various brands of cigars, the quality of to- bacco, and the flavor of " old rye," careless of his cxpendi- tures, and reluctant to meet his engagements, is it not easy to determine his future ? Then, upon the other hand, if a young man is honest, industrious, anxious to improve his mind, willing to listen to wise counsels, and stands aloof from all vile practices and low indulgences, truthful and faithful, kind to his parents, and respectful to those with whom he comes in contact, is it not also easy to predict his future ? As with individuals, so with communities, because communities, towns, and states are made up of individuals. So you see, Mr. President, that a responsibility rests upon each and every individual in all communities to see to it that the practices and morals of all shall be such as shall commend the community to the confidence of honorable and virtuous men. Morcover, it should be remarked, that every dollar of capital that is created or earned has its influence upon the people, and tends so far to elevate, enrich, and benefit the town. This being so, then it fol-
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lows that a man who earns more than he spends is a public benefactor, and a man who spends more than he earns, although he may benefit some, cannot be said to be a help to the community generally.
Hence it should be the aim of each to so manage his estate, in whatever it may consist, as that each year he may have an income exceeding his expenses. However, many fail by mismanagement, first of their
WOOD AND TIMBER LOTS.
Wood and timber are property and should be treated as such. They have their seasons of growth and decay, like other products of the soil, and require harvesting at a proper time, like other crops. If harvesting the product at a proper time is neglected, it is money lost, as hay or any other crop. It is true, that, in some localities, the ex- pense of getting the crop to market would be greater than the sum rcalized therefrom ; hence there is no other way than to let it remain. But, in this town, all timber and a large part of the wood can be harvested with profit. The demand is constant and must continue. I have no doubt, that, if the surplus wood and timber in this town had been judiciously disposed of thirty years ago and the proceeds put at interest and the intcrest compounded once in six months, the sum total to-day would be a larger sum than the whole valuation of the town. If this is true, is it not a sufficient solution to the problem of the decline of New- England agricultural towns ? The fact is, farmers are car- rying too much dead property. They cannot afford it. The man who has a good timber-lot has but a faint rcali- zation of what he is worth, or might be worth if his busi- ness was conducted upon wise principles. If the mercantile or manufacturing business of the country was donc as loosely as the interior farmer does his, nine-tenths of them would fail every five years. Then it must be considered that the manufacturing of this timber into lumber makes
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business ; and that gives life and thrift to the people. The lumber can be converted into the many useful things that are, in all communities, constantly in demand ; which also makes trade. Probably it requires more lumber to make the boxes that are required by the manufacturers of New England than for all other purposes. And I see no reason why they cannot be made at the mill where the lumber is sawed, at a considerable saving of the cost of transporta- tion. It is true that this requires machinery, and the operation of which requires brains. But, as the country towns, to a large extent, supply these to the cities, why not keep both at home, thereby equalizing things, and save the old homesteads from that desolation that almost seems inevitable ?
Some twenty years ago, I purchased a farm in this town. Upon this farm was a small wood-lot, of some ten or twelve acres. It was unfortunate that there was not more, but my friends thought, that, with due care, there would be enough for home consumption. It was said, that it was nearly depleted of the timber that was formerly upon it, as the several previous occupants had sold large quantities. The owner did not regard it of much account. I soon, however, disposed of the pine timber for several hundred dollars, and then the hemlock for more, and a large lot of cord-wood for yet more ; and have been selling annually for twenty years, some years sixty or seventy cords, and there is enough left to supply the neighborhood for many years to come, though the lots sold amounted to more than two thousand dollars, which at interest would have amounted to more than four thousand dollars for a wood-lot consid- ered of so little account in the sale of the farm.
Precisely what land is worth an acre to grow wood upon is somewhat difficult to determine. It depends upon so many contingencies. When land is so located that there will be a rise in value, of course it will do to pay a higher price for it to grow wood upon than where there can be
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no advance in valuc. It is the wants of the people that give value to property, and it matters but little whether these wants are real or imaginary, so long as they have the means to gratify them. Then it follows, that a people who earn more than they spend are more of a public benefit than those who spend more than they earn. Consequently, it is for every man's interest to have thrifty neighbors. I have sometimes thought that it is money-making men that do about all the good that is done in the world; but I will not stop here to discuss that question : cxaminc it for yourselves and see how nearly true it is. The people in this town can just as well double their valuation in the next ten years as not. Let them put all their dead property into the market and employ the proceeds thereof as productive capital, and the work is done. Farmers need active brains and to know how to use them. They must learn that success is a duty, and progress the law of their being.
SUMMER TRAVEL.
The people in all our cities and populous places must go from the stifled air of their homes during the warm season. Whcre shall they go ? They will go somewhere, and they will go prepared to spend freely of their earnings. The hills and mountains of New Hampshire are their resorts. Why may not the people of Northwood attract their atten- tion and draw crowds of lovers of nature ? They may, by putting their houses in order and building smooth and level roads over which it shall be a pleasure to ride, and let the world learn through the press the improvements. The good people of Northwood cannot afford to trifle with a matter of such vital interest.
The next subject to which I wish to direct attention is
MANUFACTURES.
Home talent, industry, energy, and independence must . be cultivated. Had they been so, the town would have
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been like a bee-hive, and Northwood wares would have had a world-wide reputation. A properly eondueted boot-and- shoe shop, a harness-shop, a tin-shop, a box-shop, and other industries might here be eondueted as well as elsewhere, and thus enhance the business of the town.
Now for a
RAILROAD.
If any party or any interest desires to eonstruet a rail- road through the town, throw no impediments in the way, tell them they are at perfect liberty to do so ; but, when they ask you for money for this object, tell them you prefer to put it where it will do the most good, and keep it where your own brains will control it.
UNITED NORTHWOOD.
In union there is strength : always remember this. Great things can be done by determined, united effort. Let the people of this town act harmoniously in all matters that relate to future growth and prosperity, and they will surely eome, and no one will be more disappointed at the results than the actors themselves. Let each respect the rights and interests of his neighbor, reeollecting that his suecess and prosperity are in no small degree his own advantage. Let the people kccp their earnings at home as much as possible, and, in proportion as they prosper, their ideas of human destiny will beeome enlarged, and humanity and good-will will more generally prevail.
Mr. President, Ict me close these remarks by assuring the gentlemen of Northwood, that their wives and daugh- ters, who are here to-day in all their attractiveness, will be ready to do their part in the effort to make the future of this town glorious, to make her oeeupy the first rank among the inland towns of the Granite State. To both, ladies and gentlemen, may there be given to see the right path to future greatness, and to seize golden opportunities to make the coming history of this town the pride and glory of the generations of the next century.
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RESPONSE OF GEORGE W. CATE.
" The pioneer fathers of Northwood, - we honor them for their hardihood, perseverance, and integrity."
MR. PRESIDENT, - The pioneer fathers are absent, but their work remains as a monument of their hardihood, per- severance, and integrity.
Everywhere and always, the pioneer in civilization leaves behind an ineffaceable impress upon the manners, morals, social and religious institutions, of his time. His life is one of constant toil, self-denial, and anxiety. The pioneer sol- dier, daring danger, volunteers to be a pathfinder, and, ad- vancing, removes the obstructions and prepares the way for the advance of the main army; the pioneer in literature corrects old errors, coins new words, introduces new phrases and idioms, and thus elevates to a higher plane the literary standard ; while he who first polished the marble surface, or adjusted machinery to warp and to weave, or constructed agricultural implements to sow and to gather, each, is a pio- neer in his way and performs a humanitarian work. Eachı experimenter in an untried field guards with a jealous care every act and watches at each advance step the indi- cations of success or failure. So the first settlers of North- wood came, trembling between hope and fear. With distrust and forebodings of danger, but with a strong hope of ulti- mate success, they left the settlement near the " deep- sounding sea " to penetrate the forest northward. With a courage and fortitude worthy of their enterprise, relying on Him who never forsakes his people, with strong hands and brave hearts, they clasped the implements of civilization - the ax and spade - and marched forth to fell the forests and break up the untried soil. To-day, witness the result.
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A century has passed, and, with its swift-fleeting years, our fathers, too, have passed from earth ; but, though dead, they speak to us from every field and valley, from every lake and rivulet, with a silent but impressive voice. Their places are vacant forever, but their memories are cherished by dutiful sons who remain. As the result of their labors, to a great extent, we now look forth with unfeigned pleasure upon this beautiful township, formed by the eternal hand, but adorned by man. Here are presented hill and valley, field and forest, lake and rivulet, all forming a scenery unsur- passed in grandeur and beauty. The first rays of the rising sun fall upon her hills, and his departing beams play upon the summits thereof, but they reanimate not the fathers. Beneath the cold sod, they
" Sleep the sleep that knows not waking."
They were men of sterling worth, full of high aims and noble impulses. They were men of toil. The love of money, even, did not harm them; neither aristocrats nor peasants, but, like Webster, the great expounder of consti- tutional liberty, they were from the middle stratum of soci- ety. They were not marked as intellectual giants, but in reality were well endowed with that essential qualification, common sense. They were more distinguished for their goodness than their greatness, ever as true to the right as the needle to the north. Among their very first acts after their incorporation, than which none is nobler, was to pro- vide for the maintenance of the public schools. We may say that was their duty. Then let us be thankful that our fathers were willing to make sacrifices to do their duty ; herein have they taught us an important lesson. The source of such action must have been from the heart, nor was it gauged by any narrow or selfish measure. Inured to hardship, separated from friends, they never faltered.
To-day in imagination we see them, but not as they really existed. Not only were they separated from the
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parent colony, but six miles actually intervened between the different settlements of this town. No lust for undue gain, no inordinate desire for place or power, no hope of immedi- ate reward, enticed them hither. They came, as the Puritan fathers came, to find a liome.
Here a chosen town seems to have been providentially reserved for certain men, who were as peculiarly fitted by naturc for this location as were the Spartans for the defense of Thermopyla. From the surrounding hills freely did they imbibe the spirit of freedom. The heroic valor and manliness which they displayed in a seven years' revolution in defense of equal rights will ever be remembered with pride and satisfaction ; and especially is it pleasing for me to remember that my grandfather, John Johnson, and his brother were among those who went forth from Northwood to defend the infant colony. Never have the sons of this town been remiss in defending civil liberty. General intelligence, industry, frugality, and integrity have ever marked the lives and character of our citizens. They were peace-makers ; here litigation was never encouraged. If, in the catalogue of her sons, there be none to com- pare with Webster in point of intellect, we need not be discouraged, for, in honor, virtuc, excellence, and in true Christian principles, they have ever been as firm and stead- fast as our everlasting hills. Every republic will live by the virtue of the common people. They are the strong bul- wark of defense. To them, our fathers looked for support. To them, in times of trial, every republic must look ; and, so long as they are educated correctly, so long our republic will live; and what is true of our own is of all, -- " as the twig is bent, the tree inclines." Every virtuous life speaks to us potentially ; every noble struggle has its influence upon the world. It is ours, not only to preserve, but to improve, all institutions founded in the interest of the peo- ple, and to extirpate all whichi are destructive to civil liberty. Preserve no institution known to be wrong, for its antiquity ;
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adopt no measure known to be wrong, to court popular favor; but, rather, let us move forward, enriched by the granaries of the past, each generation developing more than the former the correct line of action.
Thus shall we exemplify the lives and characters of our ancestors, even to the third and fourth generations. It was their high privilege to teach the lesson, and ours to profit from it. Young men, it is of the utmost importance how you live. Be true, be right, and see to it personally that your lives are exemplars which shall shed as bright a luster upon others a century hence as those of our illustrious an- cestors do upon us to-day; and may your lives be as pros- perous and happy as theirs were glorious and honorable.
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RESPONSE OF REV. GEORGE B. BUZELL.
"The pioneer women of Northwood, -their children rise up and call them blessed."
MR. PRESIDENT, - It is proper to state, that, in the very brief time allowed for the preparation of this paper, it has been impossible to collect more than a few isolated facts concerning the pioneer women of Northwood, of whom we should be glad to know and to record a much more eom- plete history. In the part of the town known as the Nar- rows, the first household established, while the surrounding country was an unbroken forest, was that over which Mrs. Solomon Bickford presided. The nearest neighbors were the Godfreys, who had a short time before eommeneed a elearing in the eastern part of the town. Mrs. Biekford was a woman of domestie habits, and ordered well her numerous family, which is represented here to-day by many descendants. Of one of those reared in this pioneer home, we would especially make respectful mention, Miss Deborah Biekford. In person unusually tall and strong, she was mentally endowed with a native strength and vigor rarely surpassed. Her religious character was strongly developed. With a vivid imagination, it would seem that she possessed a natural taste for the supernatural and the marvelous, with a strongly retentive memory and extraordinary powers as a narrator, so that her fund of stories was at once the terror and the charm of her many youthful listeners.
Another of the pioneer homes of the town was situated at the summit of Clark's hill, near the highest point be- tween the Merrimack and Piseataquis waters. Its location was selected by Mr. Clark from the top of one of the high- est trees of the hill, which he had climbed to get a view 4
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of the surrounding forest. In his employ, men came from Stratham to build the first house on the old site, with pro- visions designed to last them until the building was framed and raised. Before the job was completed, the provisions were consumed ; but they kept at their work until the last stick was in its placc, and, at the close of the last day's work, marched to Stratham for their supper ; and tradition says that that night their bean-porridge was especially good. The matron who came to preside in this house was Mrs. Susan Clark, a woman worthy of the time and place, a Christian of sterling piety. She guided well the affairs of her large household and contributed an invaluable ele- ment to the wide circle of influences which centered there. Her many descendants, scattered now in perhaps almost every country of the world, should hold her name in rever- ence. The old elm-tree is a monument to her taste and judgment. About ninety-three years ago it was planted where it now stands. Mr. Clark brought the tree on his shoulder to the house-door and called Mrs. Clark to advise where it should be set, her little daughter Susanna, after- ward the wife of Solomon Buzell, standing by.
Mrs. Nancy Prentice was emphatically a pioneer in her own department of life, in the peculiar experiences of the first minister's wife, in the days when a freezing congre- gation came to her hearthstone for warmth in the noon intermission ; when her long kitchen, with its chairs and benches, was kitchen, dining-room, and church vestry ; when the parsonage was the minister's hotel, and known as such a hundred miles away ; when garments for her household were wrought by their own hands from the flax-field and the fleece, with cards and spinning-wheels, looms, dyes, scissors, and needIcs ; when the minister's salary of three hundred dollars was paid in money, corn, wood, and prom- ises. Under these circumstances, she reared her numerous family. She was a woman of mcek and quiet spirit, of an unusually retiring disposition, but who felt keenly whatever
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affected the eause of Christ, and whose Christian cheerful- ness often sustained her husband in his ministry. Mrs. Sarah Harvey, the wife of Col. Harvey of Revolutionary fame, was a woman of such strength of character as enabled her to bear the trials and deprivations of those sad days with heroie fortitude. By the light of a pine knot, we are told, she did her household work and taught her sous to cipher. Her children were early taught to reverence the word and worship of God.
Mrs. Elizabeth Sherburne, wife of John Sherburne, whose many deseendants are among us, was a woman whose Christian influenee in her own household and among hier associates was beyond priee.
Of many others equally deserving, perhaps, an honorable mention we cannot now give even the names. Let us at least, however, make a note in memory of a venerable woman, who, in the days when eorn was pounded in the old samp mortar, which our townsman Mr. Cate still has or ought to have, and when the few roads were not always passable even to side-saddle or pillion, carried on the prac- tice of medieine, and, on one oceasion, at least, eame from her home in the Saddlebaek-mountain district on snow- shoes to make a professional eall on Clark's hill; also, of another, who, carrying all her life the wound of eruel wrong, yet earned and maintained a local reputation as a poetess and humorist ; who, being once aeeosted by an impertinent young fellow with " Sally, give us somnc poctry," instantly replied, -
"I was not taught at school To make a rhyme for any fool;"
and of another who, in the days of linen-spinning, was an - adept in that now lost art, and who, though of very diminu- tive person, carried hier wheel before her on horseback when going from place to place, and of whom, an old man, seeing hier pass in this way, said that " Molly went by a
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spin-n-i-n ;" and of another of a darker race, whose hus- band was a slave, given as a marriage present to one of the pioneer matrons of the town ; and, collectively, of the lassics and lads, who (as the story is) met at a husking-bee on the old farm where the stalks grew higher than a man's head and twenty hogsheads of cider were yearly rolled into the cellar, and in one evening husked forty cart-loads of corn ; who were requested to move their after-supper frolic from the second story to the ground floor of one of the stanchest old houses, lest their weight should break the timbers. We would that it were possible to make a competent record of thesc and many other lives of the pioneer women of Northwood, -lives of which we have almost no history except the quaintly carved inscriptions on the stones which mark the graves where they lie buried, their names in a few old legal documents, and here and therc a passage from their experiences, tragical or humor- ous or pathetic, still lingering in fast-vanishing traditions ; -lives marked by native traits and unsurpassed by those characteristics delineated by Scott or Cooper. But they belong now to the fast-locked treasures of the past. Their true history is written in ourselves, - their descendants, ---- in what we are, in what we accomplish. Let us be warned by their errors ; let us keep alive in ourselves their vigor ; let us emulate their faith and courage ; and let us rever- ence always their memory.
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