USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 33
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Water Commissioners : James N. McCoy, 1899, 1900; Frank H. Rollins, 1899, 1900; Charles J. Ayer, 1899, 1900; Warren G. Chase, 1899, 1900; Alvin F. Wentworth, 1899, 1900; Charles H. Bowles, 1901, 1902 ; Charles J. Gould, 1901-1905 ; Amasa W. Avery, 1901, re- signed, and Edwin J. Foster, elected, 1901-1905 ; Alvin Burleigh, 1903- 1905.
THE PLYMOUTH AQUEDUCT AND WATER COMPANY. - A record of this corporation is a part of the history of the Plymouth Village Fire District. The company was incorporated in 1881, and prose- cuted with vigor the work of construction. The village is indebted to James Fogg Langdon, the leading spirit of the company, for an early inauguration of a system of water works for fire and domestic purposes. Mr. Langdon died in 1887, and during the ensuing twelve years the system was managed by Woodbury F. Langdon, who had been associated in the management from the
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beginning. In 1899 all the rights and properties of the corpora- tion were sold to the Plymouth Village Fire District, and the cor- poration was dissolved.
THE PLYMOUTHI FAIR ASSOCIATION. - This is a local corpora- tion and the successor of older organizations. The New Hampshire Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1812 and reorganized in 1850. The Grafton Agricultural Society was incorporated June 23, 1818. The incorporators were Jonathan Wilcox, Dan Young, John B. Wheeler, John Ford, Thomas H. Pettingill, Thomas Whipple, Jr., Benjamin A. Gilbert, George Woodward, Augustus Storrs, and John Dame. Nearly all of these were resi- dents of the towns in the Connecticut valley, and there many of the early annual fairs were held. At a date not certainly known, but soon after 1820, one fair, or cattle show, under the auspices of the County Society, was held in Plymouth. The tents and pens for cattle were on the interval immediately south of the Pemi- gewasset House. The annual address was delivered by Moses P. Payson of Bath.
In a record of Plymouth the number and locations of the annual fairs held in the western part of the county is not material. In 1858 the fair was called the Eleventh Annual Fair of the Grafton County Agricultural Society. It was held in Plymouth, with the pens and some of the tents on the east side of the river in Holder- ness. The following account is found in the New Hampshire Statesman of Saturday, Oct. 2, 1858: -
The eleventh annnal fair of the Grafton County Agricultural Society was held near Plymouth on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The grounds selected for the exhibition were an interval tract on the easterly side of the Pemigewasset, owned by Mr. N. J. Bond, being part of the fine farm of the late J. M. Whiton, Esq. The enclosure embraced some thirty-five acres, around which a secure fence was constructed, and the interior arrangement of pens, booths, racecourse, and tents was very advantageously made.
In some of the departments the collection, whether considered as to quantity or quality, was above the average standard of New Hampshire counties ; in others, below, and among the latter were the horses, some
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disappointment being felt that so few good animals were presented. In the more remote towns of the county little interest seems to have been felt, if one may judge by what they contributed to the material of the fair.
The first day (Monday) was cool, with an easterly wind and signs of rain. The usual episode of a runaway horse was introduced about four o'clock. Nobody was harmed, and the performance was greatly admired.
A very eloquent gentleman, in a gig wagon, devoted his powers of mind and body to the sale of copying material, whose merits he felt sure were of a very high order. A younger gentleman in his audience, who wore a red shirt with forty-five bone buttons arranged in a diamond form on each side of the front, insinuated that the eloquent gentleman was a humbug. Eloquence said he was no such man. Red Shirt would not retract. Eloquence therefore said he was a " wolverine," and if they had steel traps where he resided he would never have come to the fair. This was considered a personality by the wearer of the buttons, and hostilities seemed impending, but the affair was happily arranged without a sacrifice of honor by either party.
Tuesday was a clear, beautiful day, and after the sun had lifted the fog clouds from the vale of the Pemigewasset the borderers began to gather, and soon the crowd exceeded that of Monday.
The circle around the pleasant, morning fire of the Pemigewasset House, including its jovial landlord, Burnham, were considerably exer- cised to learn that a mishap had befallen the flag, which hung across the square, the day previous. It was owned by the Fremont folk, and that was, perhaps, the cause of its abstraction. Breakfast enabled us to bear the disaster.
At 10 o'clock the horses were exercised on the track, the fastest mile being made by the horse owned by Geo. L. Batchelder in 3: 07. At half past 11 the address to the Society was delivered by Samuel Herbert, Esq., the President.
Among the distinguished strangers on the ground we noticed Daniel Flagg, formerly of Pembroke, in his usual costume.
An exhibition of horsemanship was made by Col. Ira Coffin, Dr. J. A. Dana, and three ladies, who each rode a bay horse. These ladies were Mrs. A. L. Carson of Holderness, dressed in green thibet trimmed with black velvet, and velvet cap with plume ; Miss Martha J. Dana of Holder- ness, in crimson bodice, trimmed with black, blue skirt, and brown hat; Miss Martha J. Kenniston of Plymouth, dressed in black velvet, velvet cap and plume. These female equestrians rode well and attracted much at- tention. The judges declined to express any preference, but complimented them all, and rewarded the merit without distinction.
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The fair was regarded as a success, to be repeated in succeeding years. Excellent music was furnished by the Holderness and the Plymouth bands. Although the last named was organized only six months ago, its performances were highly creditable, and gave promise of high attain- ment in their indispensable profession.
The address of Samuel Herbert, delivered on this occasion, was printed. It is a pamphlet of twenty pages, and several copies are preserved in Plymouth. In 1859 and 1860 the fair was held in Littleton. To secure a proportion of the fairs in Plymouth it became necessary to lease or purchase suitable grounds for the meetings. In 1871 Alfred Cook leased to Joseph A. Dodge, trus- tee for the Grafton County Agricultural Society, the land since known as the Fair Grounds. A fence, trotting track, and the buildings usual in such grounds were erected, and have been main- tained to the present time. In these proceedings Joseph A. Dodge and other officers of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad rendered an efficient service. With few exceptions fairs have been held annually. In 1896 the incorporators of the Plymouth Fair Association, which succeeded the carlier organizations, were Rod- ney E. Smythe, Loren Webster, Joseph P. Huckins, Chauncey A. Fellows, George H. Adams, Jason F. Draper, William M. Peppard, and others. William M. Peppard was elected president, William D. Baker, secretary, Rodney E. Smythe, treasurer, and Joseph P. Huckins and Charles A. Holden, directors. Later, Charles C. Wright was the secretary, and Chauncey A. Fellows was added to the board of directors. The management was efficient, and all the premiums were promptly paid. In 1902 the corporation was dissolved, and the capital stock was paid in full to the stockholders. Under this organization fairs were held each year from 1896 to 1902. The horses owned in Plymouth which are best remembered were " Camors," owned by Charles H. Bowles, " Lady Mar " and " Yankee Boy," by Captain Little, " Almont X," by William G. Flanders, and " Dandy Boy," by Emerson O. Gitchell.
THE EMILY BALCH HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION. - This useful in- stitution was established through the intelligent and benevolent
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effort of Catherine Holme Balch of Holderness, aided and gener- ously supported by the philanthropic women of Plymouth. J. R. Coolidge and other generous friends contributed liberally to a fund for this worthy object, and as a preliminary work several patients were cared for at the home of Mrs. Ames in Holderness. In the meantime the effort to found a permanent hospital was continued, and the funds were increased to nearly two thousand dollars. The Emily Balch Hospital Association was incorporated July 3, 1899, and received a name in honor of the mother of the foremost of the promoters. The association purchased a house on Highland Street in 1899, and fitted rooms for the accommodation of the sick and others seeking medical attendance. An experienced nurse with competent assistants is permanently employed.
The church organizations of Plymouth, the Pemigewasset Woman's Club, the Woman's Auxiliary, and the Neighbors' Friendly societies have loyally supported the hospital, and many charitable persons, men and women, have made timely and sub- stantial contributions. During the fifth year, which ended June 30, 1905, fifty-four patients were admitted and received medical or surgical treatment. The receipts and the expenses exceeded twelve hundred dollars
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XXVIII. BIOGRAPHY.
C OL. DAVID WEBSTER.1 - The stock from which our Revo- lutionary colonel, David Webster, sprang passed from Scot- land, through England and Massachusetts, into New Hampshire. From the arrival in America it can be followed in the records of church and town. The lonely graveyards on the hillsides or in the fence corners of the old farms hide their forgotten dust. The old slate headstones are mouldered away. Yet, on many of those headstones might truly have been inscribed the epitaph, " Siste viator! Heroem calcas!" Stop, traveller! Thou treadest on a hero!
" It is not in Indian wars," said Fisher Ames, "that heroes become celebrated, but it is there that they are formed." It can hardly be said which menaced the infant frontier settlements most, the inexorable forces of nature in that wilderness or the red sav- ages, set on by the French from the country of the St. Lawrence. The traditional hatred of the French and English had been trans- ferred from the old world to the primeval solitudes of the new continent. The former had established a chain of posts from Quebec, through the region of the lakes, to New Orleans, and their eastern camps constantly threatened the peninsula of New England.
The birth of Colonel Webster occurred a quarter of a century before the peace of 1763, which terminated the old French War, commonly so-called, in which, as a youth, he was to take part. He was born in Chester, in 1738, December 12. His father was Stephen Webster, a substantial pioneer, trained in border warfare, who married Rachel Stevens. The father of Stephen
1 This sketch of Colonel Webster is contributed by Alfred Russell, a descend- ant, and a loyal son of Plymouth.
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Webster was Nathan Webster, one of the first settlers of the town of Chester. The father of Nathan was also named Nathan, and lived in Bradford, Mass. His father, John Webster, emigrated from Ipswich, Eng., to Ipswich, Mass., in 1635. David was the first child of his parents. The town records of Chester contain the names and dates of birth of their five children: David, Stephen, Lydia, Sarah, and Amos. The latter was born Jan. 5, 1748, and took part in the battle of Saratoga in 1777, where he ยท fell at the head of the company of which he was captain. David enjoyed the training of good parents and acquired the elements of education in what was called the district school. George Ticknor, a son of New Hampshire, the eminent author of a History of Spanish Literature, wrote that, "in New England, ever since the first free school was established amidst the woods that covered the peninsula of Boston in 1636, the schoolmaster has been found on the border-line between savage and civilized life; often, indeed, with an axe to open his own path." Great equality of condition then prevailed, but it was the equality of poverty. At the same time, amid all the struggle, there was sincerity and valor, contentment and happiness. Religion and education were not unprovided for. The schoolhouse and the meeting-house were there. Not long after Webster's birth, the apostolic Wheelock built the foundations of Dartmouth College in the wilderness and laid live coals on the altar of learning while yet the fire hardly flamed on his own hearthstone. Stephen Webster, David's father, was himself a schoolmaster, and taught the first school in Plymouth. But David's tastes were rather for athletic sports and hunting and fishing than for books. Of a robust constitution, and endowed with great physical strength, he became popular with his fellows in the little border commu- nity, and by his courage and manliness won the respect of his elders. When David was seventeen years old, in 1755, there was an incursion of Canadian Indians, who came as far south into New Hampshire as the confluence of Baker's River with the Pemigewasset, - the very spot where David was to establish his
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home years afterwards, - and there they made a prisoner of the celebrated John Stark, whose statue New Hampshire has con- tributed to our National Statuary Hall at Washington, and carried him into Canada and sold him to the French for forty pounds. General Stark, in his old age, when the property of neighbors was being canvassed, said that if a thing is worth what it will fetch he was worth forty pounds.
In 1757 Stark, who had escaped from Canada, co-operated with the famous Maj. Robert Rogers in forming his historic Regiment of Rangers. The first young man they picked out in Chester was David Webster. He was enlisted in Captain Hazen's company, and received the warrant of sergeant at the age of nineteen. Ebenezer Webster, father of the great Daniel, also went out with Rogers's Rangers. David served thenceforward in the old French or Seven Years' War until its close in 1763. He went with Majors Stark and Rogers in pursuit of the enemy from Ticon- deroga to Crown Point, Chambly, and Montreal. In 1760, at the age of twenty-two, he commanded the advance guard in dis- lodging the enemy at Isle aux Noix, the night before it was abandoned. He took part in the final engagement of the war at Chambly, and was at Montreal when the forces of General Am- herst and Sir William Johnson obtained the final surrender of all Canada to his Britannic majesty. I may here observe, con- sidering the youth of Webster at nineteen, that a majority of the soldiers who won the war for the Union a hundred years later, 1861 to 1865, were not above twenty-three.
Peace being restored, Webster returned to his home at Chester, and April 20, 1761, at the age of twenty-three, married Elizabeth Clough of Kingston. Eleven sons and one daughter were the fruit of that union. The daughter married Hon. Moor Russell of Plymouth, for many years a State senator of New Hampshire.
As Mr. Batchellor has recently shown in his Notes on the Militia of New Hampshire, the military system of the province was in a state of marked efficiency at the close of the old French or Seven Years' War. It was, he says, definitely established by
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law, and the different organizations were well equipped and efficient. The military experience of the previous century had shown the necessity of constant readiness for hostile outbreaks. Accordingly, when the northern counties were organized, two additional provincial regiments were created, one, the eleventh, with headquarters at Plymouth, with John Fenton, colonel; David Hobart, lieutenant-colonel, and Jonathan M. Sewall, major. Web- ster afterwards became captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel of this regiment. Samuel Cummings of Hollis was one of the original proprietors of Plymouth. He was brother-in-law to Webster, and the latter, through Mr. Cummings's influence, re- moved from Chester, first to Hollis, in November, 1763, and secondly to Plymouth, after exploring the new settlement there. He returned to Hollis for the coming winter's provisions and furniture, and, in the fall of 1764, drove an ox-team to Plymouth and cleared a place for a cabin on the spot where the Pemige- wasset hotel now stands, about a mile south of the junction of the river of that name with Baker's River. In October Mrs. Webster started from Hollis on horseback, with her boy, two years old, to join her husband at Plymouth. There were only a footpath and spotted trees to guide her as she came near Ply- mouth. Evening was drawing in, and clouds obscured the moon. A ledge is now shown to visitors where she hitched her horse to a tree and crawled into a sort of cave to pass the night. Later, the moon came out, and she espied an Indian camp on top of the ledge, where the savages were holding a powwow. At daybreak she renewed her journey, undiscovered by the red men. I doubt whether the " new woman " of the nineteenth century surpasses that pioneer woman.
The life of these frontiersmen was not by any means unat- tractive. They were physically strong, and had a resulting zest of life which is denied to feeble people. The woods were full of moose and the river was full of salmon, which ascended from the sea, stopped by no dams. The present countless spindles of Manchester, Lawrence, and Lowell were, as yet, undreamed of.
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The glorious hills uplifted the souls of the settlers and imparted something of their own loftiness.
Webster was placed on committees for building roads, bridges, mills, etc., connected with the settling of the proprietary lands, and displayed activity and good judgment. The next year, 1765, he was engaged in raising an independent company of foot for the royal service, and was commissioned by the captain-general of the province, as ensign, May 24, 1765. The commission is now in the possession of David M. Webster, Esq., of Bridgewater, with the other commissions hereinafter referred to.
This independent company was subsequently incorporated into the eleventh regiment, above mentioned, and in 1773 the royal governor of the province appointed Webster a captain in that regiment.
The next year, 1774, being the fourteenth year of the reign of King George the Third, Webster was made major of the same regiment, the Eleventh New Hampshire Provincial Regiment, Colonel Fenton.
Major Webster now found himself living among scenes and events of stirring interest. The divisions between the colonies and the mother country were increasing and widening. The inhabitants of New Hampshire (as of all the colonies) were not a unit. Many insisted on loyalty to the crown, and party feeling ran high. Major Webster had now reached the age of thirty-five and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all parties. Without hesitation he declared himself for independence, and his words and example were potent. The British ministry made orders forbidding the sending of military stores to America, and Maj. John Sullivan, of the Second New Hampshire Regiment, with other patriots, on Dec. 14, 1774, attacked the royal Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth, hauled down the English flag, and captured the powder, guns, and munitions of war. This occurred several months before Lexington and Concord, and is believed to have been the first hostile demonstration of the Revolution. In vain did the royal governor issue proclamations. He was soon
.
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compelled to flee from the province, and an independent colonial government was established for New Hampshire with a legisla- ture called a congress. In September, 1775, the congress of the colony of New Hampshire appointed Major Webster to be lieutenant-colonel of the eleventh regiment, and the following is a copy of his congressional commission, signed by Matthew Thornton, president of the congress of New Hampshire, and later a signer of the Declaration of Independence: -
Colony of New Hampshire
(seal)
The Congress of the Colony of New Hampshire
To David Webster, Esquire, Greeting.
We, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Fidelity, Courage and good Conduct, Do by these Presents constitute and appoint you the said David Webster, Esq., to be Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment of Militia within the said Colony of New Hampshire.
You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of a Lieutenant-Colonel in leading, ordering and exercising said Regiment in Arms, both Inferior Officers and Soldiers, and to keep them in good Order and Discipline ; hereby commanding them to obey you as their Lieutenant-Colonel, and yourself to observe and follow such Orders and Instructions as you shall from Time to Time receive from the Congress of said Colony for the Time being, or (in recess of Congress) from the Committee of Safety, or any your Superior Officers for the Service of said Colony, according to Military Rules and Discipline, pursuant to the Trust reposed in You.
By order of the Congress : (signed) Matthew Thornton, President.
Exeter, the fifth day of September, A. D. 1775.
(signed) E. Thompson, Secretary.
About this time Hon. Samuel Livermore, the eminent lawyer of Portsmouth, with whom General Sullivan had studied his profession, and who was afterwards chief justice and senator in congress, removed to the town of Holderness, across the river from Plymouth, and occupied the beautiful farm, the site of Trinity church and churchyard, and where, at present, the Hol- derness School for Boys is established, and the residence of the
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family of the late Archdeacon Balch stands. Between Livermore and Webster a friendship sprang up which ceased only with their lives. Arthur, the son of Samuel, was afterwards on the bench, and the grandson of Samuel, the present Arthur Livermore, has furnished me with some reminiscences of Colonel Webster in his later years, which I print further on. The change from the culti- vated circles and beautiful old mansions of Portsmouth to the forests of Grafton County was a sharp one for Judge Livermore. But he helped make the wilderness blossom as the rose, built a fine homestead, and elevated the tone of the new community.
In June, 1777, upon the retreat from Ticonderoga, Lieutenant- Colonel Webster marched from Plymouth with a detachment, col- lected there and in the adjacent towns, but did not arrive in time to take part. The retreat of the Americans from Ticonderoga greatly disheartened the people, but resulted in spurring them to renewed exertions and increased enlistments. Col. John Stark, whose name was a tower of strength, took command of the new levies, at Charlestown, and marched for Bennington, Vt., where the British were moving to capture our military stores. Stark's famous victory in the ensuing battle, at that place, filled the country with hope and led to a determination to take the offensive against General Burgoyne. Stark found that Burgoyne would try to retreat to Canada and moved in his rear, capturing Fort Edward, to cut off retreat. General Burgoyne's plan of campaign had been ably formed, but after the battle of Bennington he was placed on the defensive. Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, command- ing a detachment, hastened to join the main army of the American General Gates. Capt. Amos Webster, brother of Lieutenant- Colonel Webster, took part in the battle of Stillwater, and wrote a letter to his brother giving some account of that battle. I copy the letter which is still extant, in the possession of a descendant : --
To you, loving brother, -
STILLWATER, Sept. 29, 1777.
I embrace this opportunity to write you, to let you know I am in good health, and I hope this will find you the same. I would inform
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you that on the 19th instant we had a fight with the enemy. We, with two thousand men, fought Burgoyne's whole army ; the battle lasted about seven hours ; a steady fire. I, with my company, was in the warmest part of the fire, but, through the goodness of God, I escaped, and am well. Our killed was seventy-three, and one hundred and fifty wounded ; by the last account of the enemy, there were one thousand dead, taken and wounded the same. The enemy are a mile, or there- abouts, off. We hear that General Burgoyne is mortally wounded. Time being short, I shall write no more, but I remain, your loving brother,
Col. David Webster.
AMOS WEBSTER.
Captain Webster, as he wrote, escaped at Stillwater, but fell at Saratoga shortly after, at the head of his company. His last words were, that victory gained, he died content. General Bur- goyne fell back on Saratoga, and here took place the decisive battle of the Revolution, resulting in the surrender of the entire British army as prisoners of war Oct. 1777. At that battle the New Hampshire troops were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, and Colonels Bellows and Chase. No State could exhibit a nobler roll of colonels than New Hampshire with these, and Cilley, Reid, Bedel, Hale, Adams, Poor, and Scammell. Colonel Webster's joy as a patriot was dimmed by the loss of his brother, as stated above, the captain, next younger than himself. Captain Amos had been lieutenant in the Third New Hampshire Conti- nental Regiment the previous year.
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