USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Salem > History of Salem, N.H. > Part 28
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The Past Councillors are J. A. Huson, Chas. P. Tabor, Thos. B. Gilbride, O. G. Woodbury, 'Jr., Linus L. Chase, David W. Felch, H. W. Harris, E. E. Conley, J. H. Hunt, Moses C. Hall, J. E. Long, S. M. Pattee, Geo. A. Pattee, W. S. Pattee, H. P. Taylor, J. T. Littlefield, C. J. Palmer, Jr., W. E. Palmer, L. L. Hunt, W. E. Palmer, A. B. Jennings, I. D. Woodbury, C. H. Mirick, David Willey.
The number of members at present is 39; the total number enrolled since organization is 86.
Following is the list of present officers :
Councillor, A. B. Jennings; Vice Coun., C. P. Nichols; Rec. Sec., S. M. Pattee; Asst. Rec. Sec., J. T. Littlefield; Fin. Sec., C. J. Palmer, Jr .; Treas., L. L. Hunt; Chap., W. E. Palmer; Con., W. H. Rolfe; Warden, S. L. Duston; In. Sent., R. A. Jennings; Out. Sent., I. A. Bartlett; Trustees, W. H. Palmer, H. P. Taylor and W. E. Palmer.
Washington Council, No. 11, J. O. U. A. M., was organized in 1893 by seven men, who secured a charter. Several members were admitted before the privilege of the charter membership was closed, until the lodge had a good number with which to begin its career. About two hundred members have been en- rolled; the present membership is 31.
Meetings are held the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in Masonic Hall. The officers for the current year are :
Past Councillor, Newell H. Tilton; Councillor, Harold P. Haigh; Vice Councillor, Andrew Coleman; Rec. Sec., Lorenzo F. Hyde; Asst. Rec. Sec., Benjamin Austin; Treas., Elmer F. Austin; Fin. Sec., George H. Coleman; Warden, George H. Smith; Conductor, George McDonald; Inside Sentinel, John Morris; Outside Sentinel, Thomas Holt; Trustees, John J. Rich- ardson, Walter Haigh, Lorenzo F. Hyde.
DAUGHTERS OF LIBERTY.
Golden Rule Council, No. 4, Daughters of Liberty, was insti- tuted January 7, 1892, with thirty charter members. The meet-
SALEM DEPOT R. R. STATION. (M 155)
ALFRED E. GOODWIN RESIDENCE. (M 245)
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ORGANIZATIONS.
ings were held on the first and third Saturdays of each month, in Masonic Hall at the Center. The membership January 1, 1900, was forty-three. The Council afterwards disbanded and returned their books to Concord, consequently we have no list of the charter members or first officers. The officers for 1900 were :
Past Councillor, Frank N. Emerson; Past Assoc. Councillor, Mary N. Drew; Councillor, William Drew; Assoc. Councillor, Mary E. Gordon; Vice Councillor, Joseph Long; Assoc. Vice Councillor, Anna Long; Rec. Sec., Grace B. Emerson; Asst. Rec. Sec., Jennie Palmer; Fin. Sec., Laura Goodhue; Treas., Henry P. Taylor; Guide, Emma F. Coburn; Inside Protector, Gertrude Hastings; Outside Protector, Cora Winning; Trustees, Mary Gordon, Jennie Palmer, Frank Emerson.
MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
There have been other societies and orders in Salem, most of which had a short existence. The Farmers & Mechanics' Club was one of the most promising of these, but the meetings were held only for two years. On January 17, 1885, a meeting of those favoring the organization of the club was held in Masonic Hall. Wm. G. Crowell was chosen President and John F. Hall, Secretary. At a meeting held a week later a committee was chosen to draft a constitution-Chas. Kimball, Ruel F. Wheeler and Wm. G. Crowell. At the meeting on January 31, Levi Cluff was chosen Treasurer and Rules & Regulations were adopted. Art. 2 of these gives the purpose of the movement: "The ob- ject of the Association shall be to encourage the cultivation of Fruits, Farm Crops and Mechanical Industries."
The list of members shows what a gathering of substantial citizens of the town this club presented : Abraham H. Merrill, Joseph W. Emerson, Stephen Currier, Wm. H. Haseltine, Ruel F. Wheeler, Mason B. Presby, Frank M. Upton, Charles Kim- ball, Elbridge Larrabee, George Wilson, Israel T. Foster, H. B. Sills, Wm. G. Crowell, Levi Cluff, Chas. T. Maxwell, Isaac Woodbury, C. Frank Kimball, Otto F. Cress, John W. Wheeler, William R. Wheeler, Darius M. Thom, George W. Noyes, Joseph Cleveland, John F. Hall, Jacob W. Kelley, Isachar O. Foster,
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
John F. Smith, H. H. Colburn, Charles W. Mann, Jasper H. Johnson, Horace Carlton, Oliver G. Woodbury, Wm. B. Kimball, Alonzo G. Wilson, Silas Hall, Jesse C. Silver, Theodore W. Fel- lows, Wm. H. Clark, John Brady, George M. Adams.
A membership fee of fifty cents was charged. Meetings were held regularly until April 20, 1887, at which discussions, read- ings and singing were features of the exercises.
A political club known as the Order of the United Americans was organized at the house of Francis Smith, April 26, 1858, in preparation for the fall campaign. Among the members were James Ayer, John H. Lancaster, Ezekiel D. Sargent, and Hiram Webster. (See Ch. V.)
There was for a number of years a lodge of Good Templars at the Center, organized January 14, 1866. One year later an anniversary was observed. We have not the full data regard- ing the society.
The Order of the Golden Cross was instituted in Salem on May 7, 1880, by A. Morrison and Mr. Morgan of Lawrence. It was a benefit society and did not last a great while.
There was a branch of the Provident Mutual Relief Associa- tion here in the seventies.
There have been other organizations, of more or less tempor- ary nature, formed for either social or business purposes; but either they were comparatively unimportant or data concerning them is wanting.
CHAPTER XI.
Historical Tales.
There is in the story of the life of every community a mass of legend, tradition and neighborhood gossip, much of which is, perhaps, most fitly characterized by the term "yarn." To omit this from the printed record would, to many minds, be almost sacrilege, while to include it really does contribute much to the acquaintance with the times and people of the past.
All such material as does not fall properly elsewhere under the topical divisions of the book are "thrown in" here without any attempt at arrangement, but still fulfilling its own mission. The object of this section is intended to amuse rather than to instruct-to furnish a browsing place where one may find food for reflection upon the home life, the interests and experiences of the men and women who "trod the same paths and saw the same sun" that we ourselves enjoy.
The veracity of these stories is not vouched for by the author. They are whispered by the tall soft pines along the hillsides and murmured by the brooks, whose waters roll along their crooked ways-you may hear them if you will but stroll and listen.
Besides the stories many bits of genealogical information, notes on schools, industries, map locations, etc., are here in- cluded. All such are authentic, but are better presented by ex- panding here with explanations than in the condensed form of their respective chapters.
WIDOW HARRIS' LOOM.
Before the days of the incorporation of Salem there lived in this neighborhood a man by the name of Joseph Harris, whose father also was Joseph. He and his wife, Martha, were living on a sunny hill by the brook which turned the wheel of Henry Sanders' sawmill, when in later years the news came that the
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
British had fired on American troops at Lexington. Joseph got down his musket and powder horn and prepared to leave for the scene of action as soon as a call should come for assistance. We do not know anything of him after he went into the army. But we can pick up the thread of the story of Martha many years after.
She had a large hand loom, on which she wove cloth to sell. By this means, aided by her cow and garden, she managed to eke out a living. But disaster overtook her. The little house on the hill fell a victim to the angry flames, only the huge chim- ney remaining in its original position. Willing hands, however, assisted her in saving her great loom. With undaunted courage she placed this with its massive square frame up against the chimney, secured pieces of board and nails, and built herself a house. In this she lived until she became very old, still keeping her cow and her garden. She then was granted a pension for her dead husband. With this she built a new house, small but comfortable, on the site of her former dwelling. This was after- wards moved by the town authorities to the town farm, whither she had gone, as a more comfortable home could there be pro- vided. Before she went there she lived with her grandson, Dudley Jones, whose house was just across the brook from her own. The government pension list for 1840 for soldiers and widows of the Revolution gives her age then as ninety-six years.
The cellar of her house may still be seen on the crest of the gentle rise of land just north of the Dudley Jones bridge (form- erly called Widow Harris' bridge), on the east side of the road. A small oak has in recent years reared its sturdy top, as if to mark the spot where this humble cottage stood.
GRANNY OBER'S WITCHERY.
About the time of the Revolution, John Ober lived on the Bricket Bradley place (M 651), and John W. Wheeler's great grandmother lived on the Larabee place (M 442). There was an old path across lots, passing near the west end of Captain's pond, called "Ober Path." Old Granny Ober lived with John, and used to come over to Wheeler's for milk. One day she was told by Esther (Mrs. Wheeler) that there was none to be spared.
THOMAS D. LANCASTER.
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HISTORICAL TALES.
This enraged the old woman, and she threatened, "You'll be sorry," as she stormed from the house.
The next morning, when Esther went to milk, she found the cow on her back. The neighbors were called to help get her up, and thought the occurrence very strange. The next morning she was all right, but on the second she was down again. Mrs. Wheeler now suspected that Granny Ober had bewitched the cow. She rushed into the house and got a carving knife, with which she cut off a portion of the cow's tail and ears. Carry- ing them into the house in her apron, she poked over the coals and threw in the ears and tail, holding them down until they were consumed. She said they "sputtered and blazed terri- bly." Shortly afterwards Abner Wheeler, who lived next door, where Captain Beveridge's house now stands, came in and said, "Heard the news? Granny Ober has got into the bush and scratched herself terribly, burned her ears off, and burned to death in the fire." Doubtless the cow was not further troubled.
This Abner, by the way, was called "King of the Wheelers." When a company of persons belonging to the family were on a certain occasion talking in separate conversation until there was a considerable commotion in the room, he arose and put up his hand saying, "Huh ! listen to me, I'm a man of sense."
TAVERN TALES.
There is an interesting book in possession of the Hall family, which throws some light on the prices of commodities a century ago. It is the account of Hezekiah Jones when he lived in the house later known as the Tenney homestead. Here he kept a tavern and store when the Turnpike was first built. Here are some of the prices for which he sold goods :
Mackerel, 6c lb ; pork, 6c lb ; butter, 12c lb ; beef, 4c lb ; nails, 41/2 lbs, 38c; calfskin, $1.42; cheese, 7c lb; veal, 6c lb ; chickens, 10c each; oats, 67c bu .; 1/2 bu. salt, 44c; cider, $1 bbl; bowl of milk and lodging, 20c; breakfast and lodging, 28c.
From the account it appears that the proprietors of the Turn- pike paid 1c commission for every meal furnished their employes or members of the company.
Dolly Jones, his wife, received $4 for weaving 32 yds. table linen (at 121/2c).
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
The book shows that he kept the tavern business until 1822. It also gives the following birth dates of himself, his wife and children :
Hezekiah Jones, b. June 13, 1769.
Dolly Head, b. November 9, 1775.
Anna Jones, b. November 9, 1790.
Lydia Allen 'Jones, b. August 4, 1797.
Chauncey Newell Jones, b. October 15, 1799.
Caroline Betton Jones, September 3, 1804.
Dolly Head Jones, b. July 12, 1807.
Amos Head Jones, b. September 8, 1809.
Charles Hildreth Jones, b. September 10, 1815.
In those days a man's labor brought fifty cents a day, and his yoke of oxen the same price. The men's clothing was often made by women who went about from house to house tailoring, generally staying a week or more at a place. The cloth sold for about sixty cents a yard. It was woolen, and so coarse that "you could shoot peas through it." The first wetting made it shrink until it was very thick and hard. It is almost unneces- sary to add that a suit of this material was sufficiently durable to wear for many years.
Mrs. Lydia Merrill, a daughter of Capt. David Messer, has left us some interesting stories of life at the old Messer Tavern and of life in that community. She went to school in the old No. 9 house, which stood some distance north of the present building. Her teachers were Richard Messer, Robert Campbell, James Miltimore of Derry, Persis Sargent, Hannah Webster, Lucinda Currier, and Lucretia Page Bradley. She describes Lafayette's passage through Salem: "I saw him as he passed father's house. He was on horseback, and wore a big hat, broad brimmed, which he took off in response to the greetings of those who were present. His horse was of medium size, and carried his head low; he was a good looking horse, and sleek. The stirrups shone like silver. The general paused just a mo- ment to acknowledge greetings. I think he had stayed in An- dover over night."
Mrs. Merrill tells of the domestic life also: "Turkeys were roasted by hanging in front of the fire in the fireplace, and meat
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HISTORICAL TALES.
also was cooked in the same way. A pan was set on the hearth to catch the drippings. Afterwards 'tin kitchens' were used. These were long tin affairs which were pushed up against the fireplace, open next to the fire, with the other sides closed. They were about two feet high, raised upon legs about three or four inches long. The food to be cooked was placed in dripping pans inside the 'kitchen.' The great heat from the back log was caught by the metal case, which was long enough to reach across the entire front of the fireplace, and there confined for the cooking. The large fireplaces had brick ovens where bread, pies, brown bread and beans were baked. The fire was built up hot until the oven was right, then allowed to burn low as the oven could hold the heat until the baking was finished.
"Dutch ovens were sometimes used. This was a hanging pan with a grooved cover, on which coals were placed. This was then hung on the crane over the fire, when the heat above and below would soon cook the food in the pan.
"The crane was the large iron arm that swung from the side of the fireplace. It was provided with hooks and trammels, which were flat bars of iron bent so as to hang over the crane, and pierced with holes so that a hook could be inserted at dif- ferent heights. Thus a kettle could be raised or lowered at will. I have been often to the Bailey house to get fire to use at home. Afterwards a tinder box and flints were used to get fire; the flints were struck together making sparks which fall- ing into charred paper ignited it."
She remembered the dedication exercises at the completion of the Bunker Hill monument, being an eye witness of the event. A cannon was raised to the top, carrying a man astride, who pushed his feet against the wall to keep the cannon from strik- ing. After it was raised it was discharged from the top. Mrs. Merrill tried to put her hand on the capstone before it was raised to be placed, but the crush was so great that she could not get within reach.
When John Ewins kept the store at the corner, and Granny Ladd was just across the street, there was a jolly company of loiterers in the neighborhood almost any evening. On one oc- casion a number were in Ewins' store, spinning yarns, when
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
"Jock" Emerson happened along. His fertile brain at once associated a certain few present conditions, among them being the large empty crockery crate which stood just around the cor- ner of the building. Placing this carefully in front of the door, open side uppermost, he rushed into the store and shouted, "Run for it, fellows, there's a h-l of a row over to Granny Ladd's!" It was a race to see who would be first on the scene -but, alas, like Napoleon at Waterloo, they had not counted on the "Sunken Road." The crockery crate received a tangled mass of heads, arms and legs, while the vocabulary spattered upon the atmosphere would have staggered a Western broncho buster. The account hints that "Jock" was missing from the neighborhood for several days.
AN AGED TEACHER.
Living at Windham Depot is a man nearly eighty-five years old, who was a teacher in Salem fifty or sixty years ago. This is William C. Harris, a member of a family of teachers, his four brothers and four sisters, all now dead, having taught, as well as his father and grandfather. He sends the following remin- iscence of his work here:
"My first school was in the westerly part of the town in District No. 7, called the Woodbury district, from the fact that there were seven families of that name in the district. The schoolhouse was called Dark-entry schoolhouse, because there was no window in the entry until the fall of 1846, at which time the schoolhouse was thoroughly repaired.
"I commenced teaching there the Monday after Thanksgiving of that year, having between forty and fifty scholars, and re- ceiving as wages the first term $14 per month and board. In those days it was the custom to employ male teachers in the winter and female in the summer.
"I continued teacher of this school for four successive win- ters. The first I boarded with Capt. Isaac Thom; the second and third with Capt. Richard Woodbury; and the fourth winter 'boarded around,' at the homes of the scholars. This custom had its advantages, as it gave the teacher a chance to get better acquainted with the children and their parents.
OLIVER G. WOODBURY.
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE W. THOM. (M 188)
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HISTORICAL TALES.
"The parents manifested much interest by frequently visit- ing the school, and by carrying their children to and from school when it was poor walking.
"I took to this school a set of Fowler's outline maps, which I had just purchased from their publisher at a teachers' insti- tute in Derry, and the daily use of these added much to the interest in geography. They were so well liked that the dis- trict paid for them and kept them.
"In packing my trunk to go to this school I put in a singing book and an oak ruler. The former was much used, the latter was not taken out of the trunk until I went home at the close of the term, and it was not taken again. Good order was main- tained in all the schools which I kept, without resorting to corporal punishment.
"Mr. Smiley Smith sent eight children to school who were natural singers, and the Gorrell children, four in number, were good singers, and we had singing in school almost every day, which added much to the interest of the school. Occasional spelling matches were held in the evening, which were inter- esting and profitable.
"The third winter, 1848-49, after finishing the term in this district, I taught the winter term of seven weeks in No. 5, called Zion's Hill district, now known as Millville, boarding with Nathaniel Woodbury. I had about forty scholars there; one of the boys, Frank Goodhue, became of age and voted at town meeting before the term closed.
"The older pupils used to get up what were called kitchen dances, a man named Shedd furnishing music on the violin. These dancing parties absorbed so much attention as to detract very much from the interest in the school. The schoolhouse was an old one, much out of repair. The floor under the desks was an inclined plane, rising to the back, and occasionally an ink- bottle or a half-eaten apple would come rolling down in front of the teacher's desk.
"The next two winters (beginning January, 1851), I taught in the stone schoolhouse, District No. 6, receiving $20 per month and board. I boarded with Silas Hall. The schoolhouse had
24
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
just been repaired in the fall of 1850, and new single desks and chairs had been put in, sixty-four in number. The first winter there were sixty-eight pupils that attended more than two weeks, with an average attendance of fifty-eight. The next winter there were sixty-seven, with an average of fifty-five.
"When the house was repaired, the old door on the north end had been closed up and a new one made on the south end, and a large entry built on. This we often used for a recitation room, where the older pupils would assist the teacher by hearing the little ones read and spell. In this school also, outline maps were introduced, which were of great benefit in the study of geography.
"Several of the older boys of this school, when grown to man- hood, engaged in honorable and profitable business, and became quite wealthy. Of this number may be mentioned Prescott C. Hall, Edwin M. Stickney, George, Milton and Charles Tenney and Levi Woodbury. The two last named have shown a very commendable spirit in spending a portion of their wealth in im- proving and beautifying the old homesteads on which they were born.
"WILLIAM CALVIN HARRIS."
The meagre living of many of the early people of the town is well illustrated by an anecdote of the Emerson family. Mrs. George Jones' great grandfather, James Emerson, one year lost all his seed corn. This was a serious state of affairs, where so much depended on the crop for making meal. White flour was almost unknown then, rye and corn meal being the staple food stuffs. He walked to Newburyport and brought home on his back half a bushel of corn. This he divided, putting away what he wanted to plant and pounding the rest in a mortar, to be made into johnnycake. When it was baked each of the chil- dren was given a piece about three inches square and the rest was hung from a rafter for breakfast next morning.
Mrs. Jones' grandmother, Rachel Stevens, worked for Dr. Howe in Haverhill, where she received fifty cents a week for her services. It seems that one of the old laws designed to pre- vent too luxurious equipment, stipulated that a private house should not have more than ten pairs of sheets. The doctor had
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HISTORICAL TALES.
thirty pairs. So Rachel put the extra ones between the feather beds and mattresses. When the men came to take the inven- tory she told them she had only so many besides what were on the beds, thus avoiding the tax for the extra sheets.
There are two stories told by Mr. Levi Woodbury, which ap- peared in the souvenir book issued at the time of the one hun- dred and fiftieth anniversary celebration. They are so good that they are reproduced here :
TALES OF MY GRANDFATHER.
Dedicated to the Boys and Girls of Salem.
My young friends :
I will try to relate to you, as near as I can from memory, two stories my dear grandfather told me a long, long time ago, and how I hung upon every word with child-like interest and the many, many times I importuned him to repeat them until they were so impressed upon me that I remember them as well as though told to me but yesterday.
Why I dedicate these stories to you, the young folks of our town, is because I wish to impress upon your young minds the trials and hardships your ancestors and forefathers had to endure, and that you may cherish their memory for the many blessings you enjoy through their devotion to country, for the welfare of their own and future generations. Grandfather was born December 10, 1759, and lived to the good old age of ninety- nine years and ten months.
I was always interested in adventurous stories and being fond of my grandfather and he of me, I was continually coaxing him to tell them, but the two that I am going to tell you are the ones that made a lasting impression upon me.
When grandfather was about seventeen or eighteen years old, the colonies rebelled against the mother country, old England, for good and sufficient reasons, as you all know. He enlisted and went forth to battle for our independence. And the history of that revolution tells us how gallantly our forefathers fought, the brave deeds done, their hairbreadth escapes, etc. And our great and glorious country, today, shows how well their de- scendants have taken care of the great republic, given them by
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
those noble men and women, by their sacrifice of life and treas- ure, as a sacred inheritance for all generations.
Right well has our noble flag been defended and the principles of our republic have been upheld, unto this day, and we .can justly and proudly say, that we are the most powerful republic on earth and respected by all nations.
But I am digressing from those stories I promised you. Well, grandfather bade his people good-bye, joined his regiment and for seven long years did not return. He was stationed in north- ern New York. There the measles broke out in camp, and be- came epidemic; as fast as they recovered the soldiers were sent to the front. When grandfather was nearly well the camp was surprised by a marauding tribe of Indians, and those who tried to escape were slain, but grandfather being too weak to run was taken prisoner and carried to the St. Lawrence River and across to Canada, where he was turned over to a wealthy Frenchman, who held him as a vassal for a long time, even after the war was over. But by the aid of a half-breed he managed to escape and recross the St. Lawrence in a canoe, and when on American soil struck out through the wilderness for Salem, his home. His parents had given him up for lost, supposing he was dead, as the war was over and they had heard nothing from him.
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