USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Salem > History of Salem, N.H. > Part 3
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About equal in height to this is the hill on the Cross farm near Canobie Lake, where the highway is in one part more than three hundred feet above the sea.
The crest of Zion's Hill, toward the north part of the town, rises to a height of two hundred and forty-eight feet. Unlike Spicket Hill, this elevation has very little timber growth to ob- struct the view, a fact which renders it one of the most sightly spots in the town. As the road leads directly over the summit the view from here is more easily accessible than that from the higher eminence to the south.
The highest part of Policy Street, near the residence of Mr.
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
Arthur Hall at the Depot village, is almost exactly on a level with the top of Zion's Hill, or nearly two hundred and fifty feet high. We have already spoken of the scenery in this locality as being particularly charming.
Two hills in North Salem should be mentioned here, one near King's Corner being twenty feet higher than either Zion's Hill or Policy Street, the other known as Pattee's Hill, the same height as Zion's Hill, southeast of Cowbell Corner. Toward the foot of Providence Hill on the east, and also in the southwest part of the town, the land rises slightly above two hundred feet in several places. Many of the roads are very conveniently ( ?) laid out directly over these steep hills, a condition, however, by no means peculiar to Salem. The early settlers, as a safeguard against Indian surprises, built their homes upon the hills. To these homes the roads were gradually trodden until they became permanent.
WATER COURSES.
While the preceding description of the high lands of Salem shows them to be scattered fairly uniformly over the town ex- cept in the central and southern parts, it is clearly evident that there is a general slope toward the south, where the low lands open out to join the broad valley of the Merrimack. This south- ern declivity is plainly shown by the direction of the water courses. The entire area of the town is drained by the Spicket River system, which drains seven ponds, four within the town and three lying in the neighboring towns to the northward. Each of these in Salem, namely, Canobie, Hitty Titty, World's End and Captain's, pours out its waters through the brook which bears the same name. The entire system is located and traced here by separating it into its six members. The convenience of giving at this time the history and importance of each member seems sufficient justification for digressing from the strictly topo- graphical treatment of this part of our subject. Such informa- tion as may more properly be placed in some later part of the work has been reserved.
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TOPOGRAPHY.
SPICKET RIVER.
The derivation of the name Spicket is not absolutely certain, several accounts having been handed down. The most likely and acceptable is that it was taken from a tribe of Indians who in- habited the region about the falls in Methuen, known as the Spig- gott Indians. Certainly the name has all of the "ear-marks" of Indian origin. The spelling is found as Spigot, Spiggot and Spigott. The clerks having the responsibility of casting the early records were not always proficient in the matter of spelling, nor so imbued with the spirit of research as to always trace the name to its proper form. This was as true of their own names as of the common words of every day usage. But the clerk of Haverhill at the time the Spicket was first known to the settlers was fortunately a man of rare qualities, a scholar graduated from Harvard, Major Nathaniel Saltonstall. His spelling of the name of our river, at the time when the Indian name was not yet a. mere memory, is not the same as we spell it today, but Spiggott.
Someone has discovered a record of later date, bearing the spel- ling "Speekit," and has ingeniously formulated the theory that the original Indian name of the river was too difficult for the white men, who requested the Indians to "speak it" again, that they might catch the sound. But this is certainly a mere corrupt spelling, and from an illiterate source long after the true name had been firmly established.
The Spicket is generally supposed to have its source in Island Pond, just beyond the northern boundary of Salem, lying in Derry, Atkinson and Hampstead. However, Wash Pond in Hampstead empties its waters into Island Pond, and if we con- sider this brook to be a part of the river, then the Spicket must be said to flow through Island Pond. Still there are several other large inlets to this body of water, while there is certainly no evidence of an integral current in Island Pond. Thus it seems reasonable to designate this pond as the origin of the river, rather than Wash Pond.
About a half mile below the outlet of the pond the Spicket enters Salem near Cowbell Corner. The course is along a decliv- ity, affording a location for a dam. Formerly the water power here was used for various industries.
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
Following its southward direction, the stream descends to North Salem village, where a second dam was located, at the site of the Bickford mill. This has gone to ruin since the erection of the large dam at Taylor's mill, near the meetinghouse. Just be- low this is the fourth dam on the river after its entry into the town. This one is near the Atlas Worsted mill, at the crossing of the river and the road. The cut here presented gives a partial idea of the scene, showing the ruins of the Taylor mill in the background.
The fifth dam is a third of a mile down stream at Duston's mill, and is not plainly seen from the highway. From here the river gradually widens out until it comes into the millpond at Wheeler's Mill, which is a very pretty little sheet of water close beside the road. It was formerly known as Allen's Pond, named from the builder of the dam.
Below Wheeler's Mill the river flows without artificial obstruc- tion beyond the town limits to the dam at Methuen. Before it has gone far, however, it receives its first tributary, Providence brook, and again close by, the second, Captain's Pond brook. And not much over a half mile further on, the stream is again swollen by the waters of Hitty Titty brook, very near the farm lately owned by the town. Here the river flows beneath the highway for the fifth time, and winding its way through the broad Spicket Meadows flows through the old "Causeway," on again in the meadows to the old bridge near the town house.
There are three other bridges before the state line is reached- that near Thorndyke Foster's, formerly known as Clough's Bridge; the double bridge on the Turnpike near the Kelley farm; and the covered railroad bridge close by the last named.
A quarter of a mile below the railroad bridge the Spicket re- ceives its most important tributary, Policy brook, bearing the overflow from Canobie Lake. This is its last increase within the town, as World's End brook enters the river after passing into Methuen.
The whole course of the Spicket is crooked in the extreme, due to the uneven composition of the soil. The solid, compact earth is often found in close proximity to the softer and more yielding varieties, turning the current away here and giving away before
ALVAH HALL.
"COWBELL CORNER." (M 612)
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TOPOGRAPHY.
it just beyond. The length of the stream within the town limits is something over ten miles, taking into account the various short turns.
PROVIDENCE BROOK.
Having its origin in Johnson's Pond, a small body of water about a mile south of Hampstead village, Providence brook flows in a southerly direction, entering Salem at Hale's Bridge, near the present residence of James Cullen. This bridge is on the town line, two thirds of it being in Salem and one third in At- kinson. The stream then flows through Providence Meadows, where many years ago large crops of hay were gathered by the early settlers, and joins the Spicket near the Moores Bailey bridge. The length within the town is about a mile and a half.
CAPTAIN'S POND.
This sheet of water lies in the extreme eastern corner of the town, and covers an area of about one hundred acres. The ori- gin of the name is somewhat obscure. It was formerly called by another name, as spelled in the Haverhill records of 1723, "Copls Pond." This may have been intended for Corporal's, the spelling being as correct as that in the rest of this record.
The pond lies in a hollow between two long ranges of highland which open toward the west, allowing the passage of the outlet. This flows in a northwesterly direction to the Spicket, which it meets soon after passing through the ruins of an old dam, form- erly the site of Johnson's sawmill. The length of the brook is one and one fourth miles.
HITTY TITTY POND.
The name as here given is in accordance with spelling em- ployed for more than one hundred years, having been derived from the name by which the Indians designated this really charming lake. It has lately been corrupted into "Hitatit" and "Hit-Tit," without any reasonable justification so far as we can ascertain. More recently the name Shadow Lake has been ap- plied to it, but the old name still holds sway. This is the pond about which historians have raised so much discussion-it is the
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
"Satchwell's Pond" of the Haverhill Proprietors' book of rec- ords. Many have declared this pond to be "somewhere just west of Methuen village," etc., not having at hand sufficient local information to enable them to locate it correctly. Under the chapter on Settlement will be found the full statement of the facts of this controversy.
It lies in a wooded hollow among the high hills of the north- west part of the town, at the angle in the Windham line. The highway follows the east shore for the entire length of the pond, affording one of the most beautiful drives in Salem. Summer visitors have recently erected several cottages in the groves along the lake-side.
In years gone by, when the lake filled this entire valley and extended far beyond its present limits, the stream from the west- ward flowed through the lake near what was then its center; but as the waters receded, the higher part of the bed, toward the south, was the first to be left above the surface, thus bringing the south end of the lake (or that shore toward Canobie station), nearer and nearer the entrance of the brook. It must be under- stood that this brook, then as now, flowed through the lake. Then a still farther recession of the waters left the brook entirely outside the lake on the south, in the channel it had been wear- ing through so many years. Some of the oldest residents today can remember when this was the condition. But this barrier between the brook and the lake was gradually worn away by the severe freshets of successive springs, and they once more joined their waters. As is well known, the brook now just cuts the south end of the lake, then with the augmentation there received, hurries eastward to join its sister streams.
A mile and a half from the lake it is formed into a mill pond by the dam at Millville, crossing the highway twice near the Nathaniel Woodbury place. On through the meadows it flows, to "Dud Jones' " bridge on the road to North Salem, then into the upper Spicket meadow to join the river near the old town farm. The length of the brook from Hitty Titty pond to the Spicket is three and a quarter miles.
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TOPOGRAPHY.
CANOBIE LAKE.
With the exception of Island pond in Hampstead, Canobie Lake is the largest sheet of water in this vicinity. It lies on the western edge of the town, being about five ninths in Salem and four ninths in Windham, and has an area of over five hundred acres. The shores are almost entirely of a rocky na- ture, with fine sandy beaches here and there. The marshes and bogs that are common to most ponds are almost lacking here, with the result that the waters are very pure and clear. Fine growths of timber have fringed the lake until within a few years, when several lots have been cleared, leaving, however, a number of groves remarkable for their heavy timber.
This lake was first known to the settlers by the name of "Haverhill Pond," derived from the fact that the original west line of Haverhill came close to the east side of the lake. But it is doubtful if this name was ever used after the time of building in Salem, for we have references to "Policy Pond" in records long before the town was chartered or the province line estab- lished. The origin of "Policy" is obscure. Hon. J. S. Howe of Methuen traces it to the name of an Indian chieftain, who held authority over the neighborhood of this lake. This conclusion is based partly on an old map which was drawn probably prior to 1700 and is now in the county commissioners' office in Essex County. The spelling here is Polis' Pond, clearly a possessive form. Moreover, the cognomen Polis was by no means uncom- mon among the Indian tribes of New England. And the change from Polis' to Policy is entirely in accord with the phonetic simi- larity of the names. This derivation is by far the most satis- factory that has come to our notice, as it is in keeping with that of many another name accepted during the early days of the town.
The next change was the deliberate giving up of the name Policy, and the adoption in its place of the more euphonious Canobie Lake. This was made official by the change of the name of the railroad station in 1885. This change took place at about the time the lake began to receive the patronage of pleasure seek- ers from the neighboring cities. Camps were built about the shores, and increased capacity given to the picnic grounds. Fin-
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
ally whole groves were opened up for house lots, and the beau- tiful park of the Southern New Hampshire Electric Railway laid out on the east shore. A description of this park will be found in another chapter of this work.
Policy brook forms the outlet of this lake, leaving at the flume of the Methuen Company, near the southeast end, and maintaining a general southeast direction throughout its course. In some places this brook is very attractive, as it splashes its way over small rocks in its bed or glides beneath overhanging trees and bushes, revealing through its crystal waters the silvery sands below. The purity of this water is an evidence of the good sense of the citizens of Salem, who selected Canobie Lake as the source of the town water supply.
About a mile below the flume the brook is checked by the dam at the site of Titcomb's mill and Hall's grist-mill, both burned many years ago. From here it turns eastward, crossing Pleas- ant Street, the Boston & Maine Railroad and the Turnpike, thence doubling on its course to recross the Turnpike and the railroad. It flows through Rockingham Park, then receives the waters of Porcupine Brook, which rises near Gage's Ledge, and crosses the highway twice near the Littlejohn place. Here is another site of a grist-mill, the mill-stones still lying there. A mile below it flows into the Spicket a quarter of a mile down river from the covered railroad bridge, after flowing four and two thirds miles from the lake.
WORLD'S END POND.
In the southeast corner of the town, in a low hollow among the hills, lies World's End Pond. Its level is more than forty feet below that of Canobie Lake, while the character of the shore is as much different as its low position would indicate. The pond is surrounded by swamps, or wet land for a large part of the distance, with here and there a slight elevation. It is smallest of the four sheets of water in Salem, with the exception of Hitty Titty Pond. The latter is very long and narrow, while World's End is more nearly round. It covers an area of about one hun- dred and thirty acres. The bottom is covered with a very deep layer of decayed vegetable matter, which forms a yellowish-
ROAD NEAR HITTY TITTY POND.
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TOPOGRAPHY.
brown mud. The author has pushed a birch pole twelve feet into this soft mud, where the water was only six feet deep. The entire pond is rapidly being filled with this deposit, as the growth of reeds and various aquatic plants is so vigorous and extensive as to leave during the summer months only a compara- tively small area of clear water, near the middle of the pond. As may be supposed, the water lilies here are not to be surpassed in luxuriant growth, beauty or fragrance, by those of any pond in New England.
The name World's End was applied to it by the explorers of the region, who were the early settlers of Haverhill. After they had laid out all of the workable lands near the center of the town then clustered about the mouth of Little River as it emp- ties into the Merrimack, they began to push out west and north toward what is now Methuen. Doubtless this pond did seem to them almost like the outskirts of human possessions, consider- ing the difficulties of traveling through the wilderness, and the proximity of a threatening foe. The name now applied to the entire territory around the pond is Stillwater. It is the estate of Mr. Edward F. Searles of Methuen, and is described and illus- trated in a subsequent chapter.
The outlet of World's End Pond is the brook of the same name, which flows southwest to join the Spicket beyond the state line. The length of the brook in Salem is about one and one third miles. It crosses the highway just south of the number nine schoolhouse, and again on the Turnpike about seventy-five rods above Hampshire Road. Here it also crosses the railroad line.
To the south and west of the pond, and along the brook, are rich and extensive meadows which were early sought by the set- tlers as a source of an easily obtained supply of hay for their cattle. In fact the entire Spicket River system is surrounded to a considerable degree by these meadows. This is due to the level nature of the land, the frequent damming of the streams, and the rich deposits of alluvial soil.
SOIL AND VEGETATION.
In general the soil of Salem is light and sandy. In many places the surface layer is only a few inches deep, while in others
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
there is not sufficient soil to cover the sand beneath. However, where the land is of the rolling nature, very good grass land may be found; and in the low lands or broad valleys the deposit is not infrequently of sufficient depth and richness to admit of profitable farming. The rolling hills in the western part of the town furnish good crops of hay and fruit, while the land in the southwest is the most productive of general farm crops. A few good farms are also found along the Spicket valley in the south- eastern section. But with few exceptions the Salem farmer finds himself at a great disadvantage when compared with his neigh- bor who cultivates the fertile lands along the banks of the Merri- mack in the towns nearby. In fact the poor quality of the soil, combined with the several streams from the hills, has tended to make Salem an industrial rather than a farming community.
Among the farm products the most noteworthy are such staple varieties as corn, potatoes and beans, as well as the common gar- den vegetables. In the fruit line the Baldwin apple is easily the leader, while the other varieties common to New England are grown in small quantity.
Another source of income in the town has been the forests of heavy timber. Most of these have been cut off within recent years, and in many cases the new growth is still light. The old growth was principally soft pine, which is superseded by red and white oak, maple, birch and some hickory. In a few sections are found a few hard pines, and still fewer cedars. Spruce is found here and there in the western part of the town.
The shade trees of the town are principally elms and maples, some fine specimens of both being seen in all three of the villages. Firs and hemlocks are occasionally used as ornamental trees, although their growth in the forests of the town is comparatively rare.
We have not attempted to treat with any degree of complete- ness the vegetation of Salem, but merely to mention its principal features. Nor do we deem it advisable in this present work to take the space necessary for a discussion of the local climate. We consider both these elements of a topographical description of the town too well known to the majority of our readers to re- quire more than a passing comment.
CHAPTER II.
Settlement.
It would be impossible to understand even a most superficial history of the town of Salem without first having a knowledge of at least an, outline of the history of the mother town, Haverhill. Much more is this fact true of our present work. We are to study in all of its details the life of Salem, the life of its institu- tions-yea, even the lives of many of her individual citizens. These institutions and men are the children of similarly situated agents in the development of Haverhill. Even the same names- indeed the very men themselves, were living in what is now Salem, but were then citizens of the more ancient town.
We are interested in the methods and means, the customs and personal traits, the hopes and ambitions, of the early makers of our town. The prototype, the raw material, the essence of these is more clearly defined by going back beyond the beginning of the life of the town as such, to the days when the first settlers began to mow the meadows and fell the forests within the present bounds of Salem.
We shall begin then with the settlement of Haverhill, select- ing from the wealth of historical material at hand only such fea- tures as will throw light on the pages that are to follow. Yes, there is a wealth of historical material, thanks to the men who so carefully kept the records of the proceedings of the settlement, for the books of the Haverhill Proprietors are a marvel of care and neatness, especially when we consider the great difficulties usually attendant upon any new venture, much more the build- ing of a town more than two hundred and fifty years ago.
There are several existing histories of Haverhill, notably Mir- ick's, written in 1832, and Chase's written in 1861. Most of the historical sketches found in county histories and such works are put together from material taken from Chase's book, which is a
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HISTORY OF SALEM.
most fitting testimonial to its worth. This material was compiled from the records of the proprietors, which are still on file in the office of the city clerk at Haverhill. Much of the information contained in these former works has no bearing on Salem, while at the same time much of the original record that is essential to the history might of course be of comparatively slight importance in the development of what now constitutes the city of Haver- hill, and has been left out of the histories of that town. We have therefore used the original sources, where they are explicit upon the points under discussion.
The large numbers of immigrants that came from England between 1630 and 1640 scattered all over northeastern Massa- chusetts, organizing towns or "plantations," as they were called. The General Court of the colony was not backward about grant- ing them privileges and settlement rights, nor were they to be deterred in asking for them. The right to lay out a plantation in the Indian district of Pentucket was granted to a Mr. Ward by the court in 1640. Two years of settlement passed, and the inhabitants realized that the best safeguard against molestation by the most dreaded foe was the title of the land from the origi- nal owners. Accordingly they set about to procure a deed.
Two chiefs, Passaquo and Saggahew, held the land, but were tributary to the great chief Passaconaway, who resided near the conflux of the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers to the north of Concord. He had been chosen sachem over all the tribes of the valley of the Merrimack; and his tribe, the Pennacooks, were by far the most numerous and powerful of this region. He was very friendly to the settlers, and used his influence for their pro- tection. It is authoritatively stated that he lived to the ad- vanced age of about one hundred and twenty years. This chief gave Passaquo and Saggahew permission to sell what land they possessed in Pentucket. Following is the wording of the deed :
"Knowe all men by these prsents that wee. Passaquo and Sag- gahew, wth the consent of Passaconnaway ; have sold unto the In- habitants of Pentucket all the Land we have in Pentucket; that is Eyght myles in lenght from the little River in Pentuckett Westward: Six miles, in lenght fro the aforesaid River north- ward, And Six miles in lenght fro the foresaid River Estward wth
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LEVI WOODBURY'S GROVE, CANOBIE LAKE. (M 472)
RESIDENCE OF MRS. FRANK ROBIE. (M 459)
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SETTLEMENT.
the Ileland and the River that the Ileland stand in as far in lenght as the land lyes by is formerly expressed, that is fourteen myles in lenght. And wee the said Passaquo & Saggahew wth the consent of Passaconnaway have sold unto the said Inhabitants all the Right that we or any of us have in the said ground Ile- land & River: And Doe Warrant it against all or any other Indeans whatsoevr unto the said Inhabitants of Pentuckett & to there heyres and assignes for ever (Dated the sixteenth day of November Ann dom-1642.)
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