History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 80

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714

USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 80
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 80

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An upright saw above, with a run of granite stones in the basement, constitute the mills. This mill was rebuilt in 1857; but concerning its predecessors we learn from tradition the lines repeated at the raising of its frame, according to the custom of that time. They have been handed down from Christopher T. Chase, who was present, to his daughter Sally, who died in 1871, at the age of eighty-five years, to her nephew, John Lewis Chase.

" Here's a fine frame, It's well put together ; Mr. Spofford's a good workman, Hubbard Weare is clever."

Hubbard Weare was a relative of Governor Me- sheck Weare and a brother of Uncle John Weare, the ancient miller, who died in 1877, at the age of eighty- seven years. His son, Benjamin F. Weare, succeeds him in the business. To the credit of that neighbor- hood, it is said that this mill has never been locked, and no grist has ever been missing. Following this stream in its downward course to the sea for about two miles, during which it crosses the highway just below the mills and again at Bennett's Bridge, we come to three stone dams, built about one hundred years ago by J. Nathaniel Hubbard Dodge, who came

to this place from Windham, Mass., about the year 1765, and purchased these mill-privileges from the noted Gen. Moulton, of Hampton. This Nathaniel Hubbard was a descendant of Richard Dodge, who landed in Salem in 1629.

He had nine sons, some of whom were among the first settlers of Ohio in 1788; was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of New Hampshire, and died in 1830, at the age of ninety-two.1 Some little improvement of these privileges had already been made, but Mr. Dodge was a natural mechanic and a man of great energy, and with his coming great improvements were made and a thriving business established in several different lines of manufacture. The dams were built of natural faced stones of large size, some of them being brought from Kensington. The upper one was built to make a reservoir, but a bark mill was at one time in operation there. On one side of the middle dam was built the old saw-mill, which was torn down in 1876. On the other side a mill for wool carding, and the fulling, dyeing, and dressing of home-woven cloth. Perhaps for the bene- fit of the young people of to-day it should be stated that the wool was first brought to be carded into rolls, then taken home to be spun and woven, and the cloth brought back to be fulled, dyed, and dressed ready for the tailor, who journeyed from house to house to make it into garments to be worn for many years. The name of one Fogg has been handed down as the journey-man tailor in the vicinity of these mills, and the expression " A Fogg's run" came to be proverbial, as implying haste rather than thoroughness of exe- cution. At the lower dam was the grist-mill, which Squire John Philbrick, now in his nineties, says was an old building so long ago as he can remember. " Old Dodge," as he came to be called, had a genius for stone-work ; was the first man in this vicinity who split stones with wedges, and in the cellar-wall of the grist-mill may be seen a specimen of his work, which can hardly be excelled at the present day. The grist- mill contained one run of large granite stones, which were driven by a breast-wheel in Hubbard's time. It is said that this mill, like the mill of the gods, ground very slow, but neither the old gentleman's boys nor the water which passed his mill were allowed to run idle so long as there was any work to be done. This mill passed from Nathaniel Hubbard to Polly, the widow of his son John, and thence to her grandson, John W., until, about 1870, it came into the possession of George D., a great-grandson of Hubbard.2 In 1872 the venerable ruin of one low story was replaced by a substantial building of two stories, and the tub- wheel resigned its place in favor of a thirty-inch iron turbine. This change doubled the working capacity

1 One of his daughters, Mrs. Polly Janvrin, is still living in this place, making the span of their two livee already one hundred and forty-four years and eight monthe.

2 Johu died in 1816, aged forty-five; hie widow, Polly, in 1856, aged seventy-eight ; and John W. in 1875, aged fifty six years.

336

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

of the mill,-from three or four bushels per hour to six or eight bushels,-but unfortunately the granite stones were retained in deference to the prejudices of customers, though a twenty-inch run of burrs were also used to some extent. In 1881 this property was purchased by the widow of the previous owner, the old granites were taken out and replaced by a thirty- inch run of burr-stones, which are now doing satis- factory and profitable work.1 The saw-mill passed down from Hubbard to his grandson Richard,2 and then to Jolin W., and the privilege is now owned by the heirs of the latter. As we have already stated, the old mill was taken down in 1876, it having been allowed to go beyond repair, in consequence of being supplanted by the steam-mills, where logs can be promptly sawed, instead of lying about the mill-yard for a year or two, as they sometimes used to do. The old mill had its day, and had done a great deal of work for the benefit of the public and the profit of its owners.

But the place of largest investment and largest re- turns was on the opposite side of the dam, at the clothing-mill. This property Hubbard gave to his son Dudley, who was a clothier by trade as well as a farmer, and conducted this branch of business with success. He died in 1834, at the age of sixty-one, leaving this mill property to his son, George Hub- bard. Besides the carding, fulling, dyeing, and dress- ing departments, there was also a run of granite stones in the basement, with the privilege of grind- ing all the rye. Nathaniel Hubbard was not only a skillful mechanic and good farmer, but a competent surveyor and successful trader. The stone dams re- main as monuments of his energy and industry, and anecdotes concerning him are still in circulation. He cut the race-way of the clothing-mill through a solid ledge for several rods, all done with a pick. His grandson, George Hubbard, inherited much of his energy and business ability ; for when the custom clothing business was supplanted by the establish- ment of woolen-factories, he changed his mill to the manufacture of cotton batting and wadding, and in this direction laid the foundation of the largest for- tune ever accumulated by a resident of Hampton Falls. But this success came only after the conquer- ing of numerous difficulties. In August, 1847, his batting- and wadding-mill, run by steam and water, was destroyed by fire. In the spring of 1848 it was running again on batting alone, propelled by a breast- wheel.3 The joint use of the water with the saw-mill was a bone of contention until the matter was settled by a board of referees giving the first right to the

water to the saw-mill from March 1st to May 15th, and to the batting-mill for the balance of the year. The old flutter-wheel of the saw-mill took a dehuge of water until it was replaced by an iron wheel of more economical habits. The grist-mill below was also a source of annoyance to the batting-mill, in claiming the right to let water through the saw-mill gates for its use. But for all this we never knew of any hard words between the parties, however much they were inwardly vexed. George H. Dodge died in February, 1862, aged fifty-four years and eight months. Previous to his death the war of the Rebel- lion had checked bis manufacturing business; and having become extensively engaged in railroad af- fairs, his mill had laid idle for a year or more. Ilis death found his eldest son, George Dudley, in the State of Georgia, forced into the military service of the Confederacy. After a year of perilous effort he es- caped from Savannah to Charleston, was advertised as a deserter and followed by a detective, but after a delay of eleven weeks and six fruitless attempts, he finally escaped in a small sloop and reached home in January, 1863, via Nassan and New York. He found the batting-mill in bad condition, it having been run by contract for years, with little or no repairs, and then laid idle for the boys to pelt with stones. IIe spent a year in making thorough repairs at war prices, and started up in the spring of 1864, employing eight hands, and turning out five hundred pounds of goods per day, which found a ready sale in New York. The highest price received was sixty-five cents per pound, making a business of three hundred and twenty-five dollars per day. The same quality of goods were worth only about five cents per pound before the war, put up then with less care. Raw cotton, which before the war was worth about twelve cents per pound, sold in the fall of 1864 at two dollars per pound in eur- rency, equal to about seventy-five cents in gold. Cot- ton cloth, made partly from poor waste and old ropes, sold for seventy-five cents per yard. With the cap- ture of Richmond cotton quickly declined from two dollars to fifty cents per pound, and soon settled to twenty-five cents. This business hurricane caught the young proprietor of the batting-mill with all sail set, affecting him as it did thousands of other busi- ness men. He continued to conduct the business on a smaller scale and with varying fortune until 1877, when, finding that the manufacture of batting by large concerns and corporations using their own waste had made the situation difficult for the smaller mills, he retired from the business to the advantage of his health ; and the batting-mill has since laid idle, again to become a target for the stones of the thoughtless boys. To-day these idle mills stand like ghosts of departed activity, while the shrinking stream has be- come the resort of thirsty cattle. The tide of busi- ness activity which here once flowed has now ebbed. May it be the pleasure of the future historian to record a succeeding flood-tide of successful activity.

1 Just below the grist-mill was built in 1855 a substantial stone .arched bridge at an expense of five hundred dollars. It stands just above the head of tide-water, below which the stream twists and turns through the flat marsh for a mile to the railroad crossing on its way to the old stage-road to Newburyport.

2 Richard died in 1864, aged sixty-six.

3 This wheel was used with repairs until 1872, when George D. Dodge put a thirty-inch turbine in its place, it having become useless.

337

HAMPTON FALLS.

TAYLOR'S RIVER .- While Falls River derives its name from the natural rapids in its course, improved by stone dams, Taylor's River is named from an early resident of this town. It rises in Kensington, in two branches, one branch fed by a spring on the land of Stephen Green, and the other by three springs located on the different lots of True M. Pres- cott, Newell W. Healey, and Smith and Bishop. En- tering Hampton Falls through .land purchased by Stephen Brown from the Lamprey heirs, near the green-house establishment of James Warren Pres- cott, it crosses the highway near the homestead of Edwin Prescott, soon crosses the road leading to Robert S. Prescott's, then crosses twice within a quarter-mile the road leading by the residence of Dr. Curtis, and next comes to public view on the Exeter road near the North school-house, crossing which it flows in Hampton, then furnishing the water-power for Coffin's mills before descending to the level of the salt marshes. On the side of the road where it first crosses, near Edwin Prescott's, may be seen the remains of a dam where a saw-mill was erected by Aaron Prescott, father of Edwin, about 1842. In 1854, after the decease of Aaron Prescott, the mill was purchased by Joseph Poore, of Kensington, and moved to that place, where it is now in use at the proper season.

GRAPE-VINE RUN. - As Hampton Falls is in- debted to Kensington for the service of its two other streams, so this one finds its source over or near the border line of that town. Crossing the highway near the residence of Nathan H. Robie, at the distance of about half a mile beyond, it crosses the Exeter road ; thence flowing about the same distance in an easterly direction it comes to another highway, where a dam of stone and earth obstrnets its further progress, and forms a reservoir in the land of John T. Batchelder. This reservoir is almost entirely dry in the summer- time, but in the wet season affords a considerable supply of water, which is controlled by a gate for the use of a saw-mill about a quarter of a mile below. This mill was erected in 1832, by Moses Batchelder, father of John T., principally for his own use, and is so run by his son at the present time. At an eighth of a mile below, where the stream enters the marsh- land, Mr. Batchelder erected in 1880 a grist-mill containing two run of granite stones formerly used in the old tide-mill at Hampton. This mill is run by Mr. Batchelder for his own use principally, and is driven hy an iron wheel, as is the saw-mill. This stream runs at about equal distance between Falls River and Taylor's River, and is the smallest of the three. Thus we find that, in connection with the three mill streams in Hampton Falls, there were for- merly in operation at the same time four saw-mills, two or three grist-mills, with a shingle-mill in con- nection with one of them, and a woolen- or cotton- mill. Abont 1877 the steam saw-mill of Jacob T. Brown, on his homestead place, was sold and taken

to Greenland. And besides this stationary mill, one or more portable mills have been used to clear wood- lots. In the spring of 1877 the old wind-mill on the premises of Levi E. Lane, at Cock Ilill, was taken down. About thirty years ago this mill was used to grind plaster of Paris to be nsed as a fertilizer.

CHAPTER LI.

HAMPTON FALLS .- ( Continued.)

ECCLESIASTICAL-EDUCATIONAL-CIVIL-MILITARY.

Congregational Church-Baptist Church-Rockingham Academy-The Weare Monument-Representatives-Military Record,

The First Congregational Church (Unitarian) of Hampton Falls 1 was organized in 1711. The first minister was Rev. Theophilns Cotton, who was settled in 1712, and died in 1726. The records of the time say that "he was decently buried at the charge of the parish." He was followed by Rev. Joseph Whip- ple, who was ordained Jan. 15, 1727, and died in 1757.

After him Rev. Joseph Bagley, from 1757 to 1762; Rev. Paine Wingate, ordained 1763; resigned 1776. About this time a church building was erected near the centre of the town, where now the Unitarian Church stands.

In 1781, Rev. Dr. Langdon was ordained pastor over this society. He was president of Harvard University a part of the time of the Revolution. Quite a number of valuable books belonging to Dr. Langdon's library are still kept in the library at the Unitarian Church. He died in 1797.

In 1798 the Rev. Jacob Abbot was settled over the society, a man very tolerant and free-thinking for the times. He was pastor twenty-eight years. With- out preaching the Unitarianism of to-day, his large charity and spirit of free inquiry opened the way for that agitation in the minds of the people which soon results in the disorganization of the established churches. About the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a Baptist agitation in the town. Some members left this church and formed them- selves into a Baptist society. Later a Calvinist so- ciety was established. Still later there was quite an exodus from the original church of prominent members; these united with a number from Sea- brook, establishing a society at what was called the Line.

Mr. Abbot's salary was three hundred dollars, six- teen cords of pine wood and eight of hard a year.

After Mr. Abbot various ministers were engaged without being regularly settled. Among them were Rev. Messrs. Ward, Whitman, and Dow. Gradually there was a call for more liberal preaching.

1 By W. A. Cram.

338

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Rev. Linus Shaw was settled over the society a few years. "The people were mueh united in him." Mr. Shaw was followed by Rev. Jacob Caldwell, a preacher whose practical, earnest life encouraged the people to think forward, without fear of results, trusting that truth was always safe. Amidst the agitation attend- ant upon Theodore Parker's first preaching in Boston, Mr. Caldwell, in straightforward recognition of the spirit of Christian tolerance, said he would welcome Mr. Parker to his pulpit. So, step by step, the society was led and grew into the liberal faith. After Mr. Caldwell, who had charge of this society and one at Kensington, came the Rev. Summer Lincoln. Rev. A. M. Bridge was the next pastor for about fifteen years, a minister of fine culture and earnest work. After Mr. Bridge, Rev. Everett Finley had charge of the society a year or two. He belonged to the new class ealled Radicals. Since then Rev. J. C. Learned and Rev. B. F. MeDaniel, settled over the Exeter Uni- tarian Society, have supplied the pulpit. For the last fifteen years the society has had its ups and downs, but has lived on until at the present time it is a church stronger in individual thought and religion than in organized body and power.

The Christian Church was organized as a Baptist Church in 1805, and reorganized as the First Christian Baptist Church in 1833. Members in 1833, fifty-six, -Jacob Brown and fifty-five others.

Pastors, Samuel E. Brown, Daniel P. Pike, Warren Lincoln, Thomas F. Barry, George M. Payne, Jere- miah W. Marsh, Appleton W. Reed, Charles P. Smith, John McGlauffin, Joseph H. Graves.

The present officers are as follows: Ministerial Com- mittee, George Moulton, Warren B. Pevear ; Secretary and Treasurer, John J. Brown.

Church buildings were erected in 1805 and 1835. Present membership, fifty-one. Present pastor, Jo- seph H. Graves.

The Baptist Church.1-Probably the first Baptist in Hampton Falls was Betsey Fifield Dodge, who was converted under the preaching of Rev. Elias Hull, and with her husband, Dudley Dodge, united with the Congregational Church at Seabrook on the 18th of July, 1800. Mr. Hull, their pastor, preached in the old meeting-house at Seabrook from February, 1799, to April, 1817. Mrs. Dodge was a person of strong and independent mind, and embraced Baptist views without, so far as is known, being influenced by Bap- tist preaching. The nearest Baptist Church was at Exeter, and, desiring to unite with those of that faith and order, her husband urged her to wait one year, hoping in the mean time to effeet a change in her views. For that purpose he engaged Rev. Mr. Web- ster, the pastor at Hampton, a relative of Daniel Webster's, to endeavor to convince her of her error. She called in Mr. Samuel Hateh, of the Baptist Church at Exeter, a man well versed in the Scrip-

tures. As the result of the discussion Mr. Dodge himself was convinced, and baptized July 11, 1816, by Rev. William Hooper, pastor at Exeter, after which Mr. Hooper preached in Mr. Dodge's house what is said to have been the first discourse ever delivered by a Baptist in Hampton Falls. This Wil- liam Hooper was the father of Rev. Noah Hooper, grandfather of Rev. N. Hooper, Jr., and a member of the first Constitutional Convention of New Ilamp- shire, as was Dudley Dodge's father.

From this time Mr. Dodge's house became a place of resort for Baptist ministers, and so continued dur- ing his lifetime and that of his son, George H. Dodge. It also became the place for Baptist preaching until the erection of the academy building, in 1834. Here services were held by such distinguished Baptists as Thomas Baldwin, settled in Boston from 1790 to the time of his death, in 1826; Lucius Bolles, of Salem ; Nathaniel Williams, of Beverly ; George Dana Board- man and Mr. Wheelock, afterwards missionaries to Burmah; and Rev. Drs. Chaplin and Prof. Chapin, presidents of Waterville College. It is said that Elder Peak, a noted Baptist evangelist, preached about one hundred times in this house. Dudley Dodge died in 1834, at the age of sixty-two, and his wife, Betsey Fifield, in 1855, at the age of eighty-five.

In the fall of 1828 the following persons were dis- missed from the Baptist Church in Exeter to consti- tute what was then called the Baptist Church in Sea- brook and Hampton Falls : Dudley Dodge, Betsey Dodge, Mary M. Dodge, Miriam Dodge, Nancy D. Dodge (all three daughters of Dudley and Betsey), Richard Dodge, Clarissa Dodge, Mary Dodge (wife and sister of Richard, who was a nephew of Dudley).

These persons, all relatives of Dudley and Betsey Dodge, together with Hannah Dow, Ruth and Lydia Brown and Anna Knowles, of Seabrook, constituted themselves into a Baptist Church at the house of Richard Dodge, on the evening of Oct. 28, 1828, and at that time invited Rev. T. P. Ropes to become their pastor. At a meeting held in the brick school-house in Seabrook, November 24th, they received Huldah Gove to their fellowship. On the morning of Decem- ber 2d, at the house of Richard Dodge, they received Mrs. Sally Chase and Mrs. Elizabeth Green, and in the afternoon of the same day the church was recog- nized, and Mr. Ropes installed as their pastor by a council of ministers and delegates from neighboring Baptist Churches. These services were held in the old meeting-house in Seabrook, built in 1763, and first occupied by the Presbyterians until 1799, then by the Congregationalists, and now by the Baptists in 1828. Rev. Baron Sterr, then at Portsmouth, after- wards settled at Boston, preached on this occasion and presented the church with a Bible, which was de- stroyed in the academy fire in 1875. In September, 1829, Mary and Nancy Dodge presented them with a communion service, which is still in use. From the fall of 1828 to the fall of 1834 they continued to wor-

1 By George D. Dodge.

339

HAMPTON FALLS.

ship in the old meeting-house in Seabrook', and then the church, including thirteen baptized by him as the fruit of a revival in the spring of 1851. In September, 1851, Rev. John E. Wood, previously pastor of the in the new academy building at Hampton Falls until the erection of the meeting-house in Hampton Falls. This house was opened for services in September, , Methodist Church in Exeter, was baptized here by 1836; dimensions, forty and a half by fifty-five feet ; Rev. James French, himself a convert to the Baptist faith, and installed as pastor of this church. cost, two thousand one hundred and seventeen dol- lars and fifty-eight cents; building committee, Wil- liam Brown, Richard Dodge, Joseph H. Weare, Aaron Gove, and George HI. Dodge. In the summer of 1859 it was repaired and improved at an expense of two thousand dollars; committee, George H. Dodge, John W. Dodge, and Nathan Brown. The roof was then slated, the tower replaced by a spire, the high : of the Christian denomination, took charge of the singing gallery over the entrance taken down, the pulpit lowered, the walls frescoed, floor carpeted, and pews upholstered. Rev. Mr. Ropes, a connection of Dudley Dodge, continued as pastor from September, 1828, until April, 1830. He was a man of excellent character, education, and abilities, but suffered from a chronic complaint which caused him to be despond- 1 ent and underrate his own influence. At that early date Mr. Ropes was a strong temperance advocate, while some of the ministers were still addicted to the use of intoxicating drink. In 1836 this church was reported as "strictly a temperance church." After the departure of Mr. Ropes, the church candidated for about two years; then Rev. Oliver Barron was pastor for about a year ; then Calvin Monroe and Rev. James W. Poland supplied for about two years.

Several were baptized during his ministry, which closed April 30, 1853. He is now in Minnesota, acting as a State missionary. After him the first pastor, T. P. Ropes, supplied for one year. Mr. Ropes died in Missouri in September, 1774, at the age of -. Rev. Samuel Emmons Brown, previously a minister church in October, 1854, and remained until Sep- tember, 1856, when he left, against the wishes of all the people. Ten were added during his ministry. He died in South Hampton in June, 1862, and it was truthfully written of him, " A person of sound judg- ment, extensive biblical knowledge, and a true Chris- tian man, modest in his deportment, self-forgetful in all things, full of sweet Christian charity." After an interval of seven months Mr. E. B. Law came, and was ordained Oct. 28, 1857, and remained until August, 1858. During his stay eighteen were added to the church, making the membership ninety-eight, the highest number it has ever reached. "Mr. Law was a young man of ability and devotion," and is now settled in his native State of New York. During the summer of 1859 the meeting-house was closed for re- pairs. In June of that year twenty-three members were dismissed to form the Seabrook Baptist Church. In October, 1859, Rev. Alfred Colburn took charge of the church, in addition to his duties as preceptor of the academy, and remained until May, 1863. He is now in Hopkinton, Mass. " Feb. 14, 1862, the church suffered the loss of one of its most prominent mem- bers, George H. Dodge." Mr. Colburn was followed immediately by Rev. F. K. Stratton, a Methodist preacher, who supplied most acceptably until March, 1864. Rev. William II. Walker, lately settled at Warner, N. H., came in May, 1864, and served as pastor until April, 1867.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 80

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1714

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714