USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Sanbornton > History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, Vol. I - Annals > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
for cela. but having at or instead of the vertex a month or slnice- way some two or three feet wide. At first, as we judge from the above vote of the town, the tendency was to build these walls from opposite shores of the river so as to connuand the whole stream ; which being compressed, at a low stage of the water, into one of these sluiceways, would be damaging to those who had built weirs farther down the stream : hence, the public or general interest being consulted, the weirs to be built by individuals were restricted to halt the stream. Several of these were constructed between the mouth of the river and Sanbornton Bridge, between the two bays at Union Bridge, and also below Shaker Bridge, especially at the swift water directly south of the Wyatt place, Lot No. 78, Second Division, which was the favorite resort for the dwellers on the Sanborn road. At the last-named local- ity the Sanborns of that neighborhood were accustomed to build or rebuild their weirs each year, in August, when the water was lowest ; and four men would be employed about two days, as it was found that the freshet waters, with the logs and ice of the previous spring, had
Their cou- struction torn down their hastily constructed walls of the year be-
fore, thins necessitating a renewal. The first diagonal wall
described. would be built about a foot above the surface of the water from the Sanbornton shore down stream, and ending at a point one fourth of the way across the river. Then, from a point in the middle of the stream, opposite the beginning of the first wall, a second would be constructed, aiming at the same point with the former, and consti- tuting the other leg of the angle. These walls would be " chinked " with grass and weeds on the inside, so as to make them impervious to fish ; and at the place below where the two walls nearly cante together, like the narrow neck of a bottle, a " tlume," six of seven feet long, would be introduced. The making of these walls was considered a pleasant August ocenpation by the young men, who would be from knee deep to breast deep in water most of the time. Below the mouth of the flume, in a little deeper water, the " pot" was inserted, and partly held down by the fiume itself. This was made of slats or strong lattice-work, sometimes three feet by four, and two and a half feet deep, with a capacity of four or five bushels, by which measure the fish when caught were usually reckoned. Finally, a " horse," or
275
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
narrow plank walk of wood, was made and secured, extending to this pot from the nearest shore. This provided, they would await the time in September when the eels began to move down stream. migrating from the lakes above. The pot. theme, and woodwork of the house would be taken ont at the close of the season, leaving ouly the wall to be renewed the next year, so far as dislocated by the spring freshets.
During the cel season, which lasted nearly a month, the fish coming down the stream. for half of its width at least, would be floated within the augular cuclosure of the two walls, and thus, with no means of escaping through the same, would be wafted down the fatal thine or sluiceway into the pot, where, at stated intervals. they
Securing would be found entrapped in greater or less muubers.
the linh.
One man would then get into the pot and pass them out to his associate (a decidedly slippery operation !), who would secure them in baskets or on strings, requiring care and not a little nerve to prevent their loss.
The above minute description of the weirs, as built on the Winni- piscogee River, is substantially from the personal experience and remembrance of Mr. James G. Sanborn ( Vol. II. p. 655 [374]), who further informs us that pots made of withes were sometimes used for a different purpose, being baited for cels and other large fish, and stuk in deep water ; also that the cel-pots as above described were of no account whatever for shad. The old shad returning to Jamies G. Sau- born's lesti- the sea in. August were very poor, and the young alles, wuony. migrating in September, were only three or four inches long ; and though a few stragglers of either class would occasionally be found among the eels in the fall, being entrapped in their down- ward course towards the ocean, yet they were uniformly liberated, and suffered to continue their journey with the reasonable assurance that they would be in better condition when they returned the following spring.
Mr. Sanborn also relates that at oue time his Uncle Jonathan and himself bore home fully one hundred cels as a single mess from their A big haul. These trophies of their luck they lugged over a mile, strung pot. This was the largest haul they ever made at one time. upon a long pole between them, extending from shoulder to shoulder. The largest on this occasion weighed over five poumls, though the average weight was between one and two pounds.
During the cel season these pots must needs be watched by night. to prevent the depredations of " pot thieves." It has been said that the people of the contiguons towns on either side of the river were accustomed to play their pranks and pay off oll grudges upon each other in these nocturnal raids. Two of the Sanborns, - James G. and
279
THE FISHING INTERESTS.
his Uncle Abijah. - while one night watching on the sly, heard a noise
Nocturnal at their pot, and soon discovered that a man had taken his
raida. place among the cels, designing to help himself. Abijah sprang upon and partially seenred him ; but not till Jantes G. had added his force was the thief indneed to beg for quarter. They led him out over the " horse " trembling, and promising better fash- ions in the future. Our neighbors of Northtiekl and Belmont cannot charge us with any disrespectful insinnatious in this recital, when we assure them that the culprit on this occasion was a Sanbornton man !
Corresponding with the " cel times" in the fall were the * shad times " of the early summer. Both were seasons of hilarity and good cheer, being of great interest and importance to the early inhabitants, - a portion of their yearly harvests ; for these fish were salted down, and helped to eke out and add variety to the stock of their year's pro- visions. These seasons also afforded recreation to our fathers. in youth and age, since they used to assemble at the river from all parts of the town, some to engage in, more to see the sport, and usually with an extra gallon or two of New England ruin, obtained from Concord or the Square, to keep them from taking cold! ! The old " shad times."> It must, however, be remembered that the angular stone weirs already described had but little to do with the shad, except that the mouth of some old weir, which had been used for taking eels the fall before, and had not been entirely carried away during the winter and spring, might afford a favorable point for cap- turing the shad ; their natural avenue for ascending, that side of the river at least, being through the swift water of the sluiceway. In this sense the " shad weir" has sometimes been spoken of; like one between Franklin and Tilton, from which Taylor Clark is said to have carried home a basketful of shad on one occasion as his share of a day's fishing.
These valuable fish in former years were said to appear in the Mas- saclmsetts rivers early in May, the greatest run being when the appk .- trees were in full blossom ; when also the shad-fly would appear, some- times covering houses and fences. But the best recollected testimony assigus their appearance in the Sanbornton waters at no carlier date
Time and than June 1. They were then taken most frequently by bundle of' means of a spear with four or five tines and a long handle, capture. not milike the sucker spears of modern use. At the shice- ways of the rapids and the weirs (as just noted), also at the rollways usually left at the extremity of a primitive dam for the passage of logs, they were watched and speared while ascending the current, with wonderful dexterity ! Dip-nets, though less generally, were also used, as in the waters of Maine.
1
280
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
The original dam at Gibson's Falls (Union Bridge) was one of the great shand resorts of town. Here the youngsters used to find rare sport in witnessing the operations, and sometimes the auties and adven- tures, of the shad-catchers ! At the rollway of this dam, Mr. J. G. Sanborn, already referred to, - now one of the oldest men in towu, -once saw James Shirley (see Vol. II. p. 706 l'usurl. [21]) strike at a shad with so much force that the spear's head in the impaled fish suddenly slipping in the current, he lost his balance, was thrown into the swift water, and instantly carried eight or ten rods down the stream. So long did he remain under the deep water below that the bystanders thought he must be drowned. Dea Benjamin Philbrick was hurriedly pulling towards the spot in his boat. But Mr. Shirley in due time emerged from an mexpected James Fhir- ley 's adven- quarter, and waded to the shore, still bearing the spear
Lure.
and large fish upon its tines as his pahn of victory ! The shad, when once struck and partially secured, would often be lost from the spear's head and floated down stream. The gathering of these was a legitimate branch of business during the shad season, for which boats were employed, as by Dea. Philbrick on this occasion.
We should hardly prove true to the heading of this chapter did we not allde, at least, to some others of the " varied race" which the " plenteons streams " of Sanborntou have supplied. The writer must confess that after the prospectus of this work was issued, in 1880, one of the most exciting moments of his Sanbornton life was experi- enced down in a rough, tangled thicket of the Gulf woods, in securing a " speckled beauty" that weighed a full half-pound. But Trout fishing. this is hardly a matter of history. Mr. William Herrick might claim the honor of making some of the largest " hands" of our brook trook in these latter years; but he is quite modest iu stating numbers, weight, ete., and as to the localities where they were caught he is singularly reticent !
The real salmon were never taken in Salmon Brook except at its mouth, or below the Morrison Falls, which they were never known to ascend. The specimens captured with spears in early times there, and in the Pemigewasset generally, along the borders of our town, are reported to have weighed, in some cases, more than twenty pounds. It was from the " salmon tront," doubtless, that the brook received its name. These fish (more property called the
The salmon
of salmon longe) were very common through the whole course of the Brouk. brook, and more especially in its ponds, till within twenty- five years. A resident near Cawley . Pond remembers to have caught them there, weighing from one to two pounds cach, as lately as 18-15- 50, but remarks that since that time the pickerel (or " tyrant pikes ")
281
THE FISHLING INTERESTS.
have mostly destroyed them ; though these in turn have disappeared by fishing, and now horned pout and perch are the fish chiefly caught in the same pond.
Mr. Theophilus R. Morrison has probably taken far more of these tront from Salmon Brook than any other man now living. He says they used to be caught by hook and line, sometimes weighing four pounds singly, and in dip-nets considerably larger; and that the favorite way of catching them in the spring was by stationing a dip- net, with one man to hold it, at a given point in the brook, while three or four others, going above, would wade down abreast, compassing the whole breadth of the brook, and thus driving or " searing" T. R. Morri- bon'a account of fishing in the fish into the net. He further relates that the largest "salmon trout" he ever eanght with a hook was about the sune.
forty years ago, in Rollins Pond, in the haying season. Ile repeatedly felt a " powerful pull" npon his line in deep water, and after three or four attempts succeeded in hooking what he knew to be a " monster." Dropping his pole, and drawing in gradually by the line, he at last succeeded in landing his game, which was found to weigh three pounds and three ounces.
In recent years, Little Bay has been the great resort for fishing pickerel, and one of the largest is known to have been caught through the ice by David T. W. Clark, at the age of nine years, in 1859, which weighed six pounds and six onnees. He has since proved an expert fisherman, and has invented a " fishing reel" to be used The pickerel over holes in the ice, which indicates with unfailing accu- of Little Bay. racy, to one at a distance, when a fish bites the hook. Six-pound pickerel have also been speared, especially on one occasion, by Mr. Alonzo F. Clark.
These Clark brothers stand at the head of the present fishing busi- ness on the bays, for Sanbornton and Tilton. By an accurate account kept between the years 1870 and 1880 (October), 2,203 pounds of pickerel were taken by them ( weighing that amount when dressed, with an average of half a pound to each fish ), which were actually soll for $197.41. These were caught at one hundred and thirty-four dif- ferent times, mostly in winter, through the ice, one hun-
'i-hing opera- tions of the.
dred and twenty-four in an afternoon of four or five hours
Clark brothers. (Dec. 27, 1878), being the largest catch at any one time ; though a smaller portion were taken in summer, with a _ skipping bait," which requires the greater skill, and in which Mr. David T. W. Clark records twenty-five in about two hours as his best " Inck." *
The latest record of the Clark brothers is for Nov. 9, 1881 : " Eighty two pick- erel in about four hours, with poles and skipping bait, weighing, wheu dressed, thirty-
282
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
Other parties have reported the catching of individual pickerel in the hays, of seven pounds' weight. A few lake trout have also been caught in the Muldle Bay, the largest weighing nine pounds. Horued pouts have risen as high as one pound each, and two huu- Otter tỉnh lu dred pounds (dressed) have been caught by the Clark brothers in a single season, which sold for twenty-live cents per pound. Perch, though principally small and taken for pickerel bait, have yet gone up to one and even two pounds apiece. Black bass were put into the Great Bay by the Fish Commissioners ahunt the year 1876, and are now beginning to be caught.
eight pounds." Five hundred fish is their aggregate since Jan. 1, 1881, with market weights two hundred and fifty-six pounds, and mostly sold, amounting to $50.25. They have au ingeniously devised "canoe," three aud oue half by oue and one half fert, of wood, with a wire screen bottom, and covered on the top except at the single oritice which receives the tish, as the canoe is designed to be fastened to their boat, and follow it on their fishing excursions, thus keeping their tish alive until the time of dressing. The " ice chisel," too, is another of their inventions for cutting holes for fishing in the winter, yet so conveniently constructed as to be taken to pieces and carried in their box with the hooks and lines.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
"Nature, good cateress, Means her provision only to the good, That live according to her sober laws, And holy dictates of pure Temperance."
MILTON (COMUS).
IT should not be named to the disparagement of the early fathers of this town that they were addicted to the habitual, and in some cases to the intemperate use of intoxicating drinks. This, like a belief in witchcraft, was an error of the times in which they lived. It was not deemed respectable or hardly possible to keep house without a store of ardent spirits, which civility required them to present
Drinking cus-
tours of the on all important occasions. Especially when their minis- past.
ter came to call upon them, must the unfailing decanter be brought forward ! Instances are related in Sanbornton where parent>, on seeing the parson approach their front door, have been known to send their children out slyly at the back door to hasten to a neighbor's for that suitable supply of the " ardent " which they happened at the time to be wanting.
Apple-trees, too, ou the new. strong soil of their farms, enjoyed a speedy and vigorons growth. Choice or " grafted" varieties of fruit were but little known, and our fathers knew of no other legitimate way for disposing of their vast quantities of cider-apples but grinding them up. Hence they would store away in their cellars, with each returning antmin, from thirty to fifty barrels, per family, of that beverage which no doubt was in many cases too freely quated during the long winter evenings.
The Rev. Dr. Bodwell, in his church centennial address (p. 49), alluding to the ordination of his father in 1806, and to the fact that the oldest man in town, now "erect among us, at eighty-seven years of age," was then, at twenty-two, behind a certain counter near the ok meeting-house, immediately adds : -
" And what did he do behind that counter on that ordination day? Measured . out rum to saints aud sinners! It was the custom then. The godly ministers
284
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
assembled would hardly have thought they could properly lustall the young
polor without the cheering Influence of ardent spirits. Aid
Dr. J. C. B. years afterwant, when the young pastor had become a father, his
well's allusions
In address. son, then a little boy, remembers pleasant day's ou which he was permitted to go in the chaise with him, as he rode over the par- Ish, and how, at each snecessive house where he called, the good people, anx- Ious to show their grent respect and love for their mlulster, offered hin spirits, uml would have been offended if he had refused; and how cautiously he only sAppel, lest such oft-repeated kludness should prove more than he could bear."
In the afternoon of that same centennial day ( Nov. 13, 1871), the venerable man referred to (Capt. J. B. Perkins), being called out by a toast, in the Town Hall, came forward to the stand with the spright- liness of youth, amid the applause of the audience, and humorously remarked, -
"You'd scarce expect one of my age 'To speak in public on the stage,"
alluding to the fact that this was the first time he had ever attempted to make a publie speech. He afterwards gracefully acknowledged that he was the young man alluded to by Dr. Bodwell, in his
Capt. J. E.
Perkins's address, who was selling " the ardent," or rather aiding maiden speech. in that work, on the day of his father's ordination ; but pleaded, in extenuation, the great difference in public sentiment be- tween that age and the present.
"Formerly everybody drank, and the standard of respectability was found, Former aland- not as now, in total abstinence, but in being able, after par- ard of resfeet- taking of the usual draus, to go through the door of the room ability. [pointing to the door with his cane] withont hitting both sides of the entrance!"
As still further illustrating this change of sentiment and of social customs, Dr. Bodwell, in the same address (p. 53), remarked : -
" It might have been expected that such a church as this, and such a coul- umnity as the people of Sanborntou, would enter with decision and carnesl- ness into the great temperance reformation which brought such unspeakable blessings to our whole nation nearly half a century ago. That they did so, some of us are old enough to remember.
" You will permit me to refer to two particular things connected with the movement in this town. As to the first, I quote from the discourse preached by your present pastor at the funeral of my beloved mother: -
". Up to the time of the great temperance reformation, in the day of Jona- than Kittredge and Lyman Beecher, it was customary to furnish liquors at all social entertainments, and all the guests parlook, ladies as well as gentlemen. The custom was nowhere more fixed than in the very best society in Sanborn- ton. To inaugurate a change required no small degree of courage. The pas-
285
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
tor and his wife conferred earnestly together, and came to the united and firm
The roclal oland conclusion that it was their duty, however painful (and it was
carly taken by painful), to set the example. The opportunity soon came. . 1
Rev. and Mrs. large party was at the house, including the leading families in
A. Bodwell. the congregation. In every similar instance previously, spirits had been brought in at a set time, and had been regarded as an indispensable part of the entertainment. In the present instance the set time came, and it was evident that no change in the good old custom was expected. But they had made their decision fully, finally, and in the sight of God, and there was no wavering. It is well remembered how hearty and earnest was the coneur- rence of Mrs. Bodwell with her husband, and how profound was the satisfac- tion she expressed in doing what seemed to be right, even at the risk of giving offence to their best friends. It is believed that this was the first instance of the kind in the society or in the town. llow readily the example was fol- lowed, and how soon the custom was banished forever from the best families in Saubornton, is well known to you all.'
"The other incldent is the fact, recently mentioned to me by your senior deacon, that the principles of that great reformation took so strong a hold on
the couscience of some of the men who were pillars in this church
A struggle against to- that they found no rest until they had abandoned the use of
bacco. tobacco, as well as ardent spirits, and that cost them much the severer struggle of the two. Such men would go to prison and to death for Jesus Christ, and this church has never been without such."
We will now introduce such notes from the town records as may show the regulations by which the sale of intoxicating drink has been governed at various times. These notes will also be useful as giving us a fuller list than has yet appeared of those who have kept the hotels and the stores of Sanbornton. Tavern keepers and retail- Lireuse certifi- ers of ardent spirits were first licensed, according to the cales from the
town records. laws of New Hampshire, by the selectmen, in 1792. Cer- tain persons were by certificate " approbated, licensed, and recom- mended" (or "appointed ") either as " retailers of foreign distilled spirits and wines," or " tavern keepers and sellers of spirits." The former, it is presumed, included most of the regular storekeepers in town at the times specified; the latter, all the hotel keepers. The carliest certificates read : -
"Sept. 28, 1792. Selectmen approbate and license Joseph Conner to sell by retail all spiritnous liquors for one year." Oct. 1, they "appoint and license Moses Tomson to keep a tavern, and grant him liberty to mix and sell any sort of spiritnous lickure for one year." Oct. 22, they "appoint Joshua Bangs to keep a tavern, with liberty to retale or mix," etc. Nov. 1, "approbate, approve, and appoint George Curwen Ward, under ye term of Ward & Cushing." In 1793, Isaac Colby's name is added " to keep a tavern, mix, and sell "; and Walker Buswell's and David Duster's " to sell by rotale." William Duncan and Capt. Benjamin Colby irst appear Sept. 20, 1791 (the latter, at least, as a taverner) ; and Sept. 30, Jacob Tilton, " to keep a lavern; N. B., and likewise to retail." Feb. 10, 1795, "Mr. Abiter Kimball, to mix
. 250
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
and sell, lu small quailtles, distilled spirit,." Three certitleates are entered to Awlrew Lovejos the same year : May 21, "a Retalor of distilled spirlts"; May zz, "a Reatalor of wines"; and Aug. Bi, "approbated, approved, atwl appointed as a person suitably qualitled and provided for a Retailor of wlues and spirits." Samuel Couner jolus the list of retallers lu 1793; The taverters and certitleates to several of the above persous belug renewed lu atul storckerp.
'I'a ul Sau. burbiou. 1799, It is added to each as a condition, " by his strictly adhering to the laws of the State respectlug those ludulgeuces," or word- equivalent. Dr. Benaiah Sanborn dest appears as a " taveruer" lu 1801, and William Weeks in 1502. Feb. 10, 15ul, Cole Weeks has approbation to keep a tavern at hus dwelling-house; and ing. 31, 1805, Joseph Pike, to mlx spirit- tons liquors at his store, near Union Bridge, till the last of March uext. laliii, "To keep a publie house," William PPrescott; 1811, "To retall liquors," Mark Prescott.
The phrascology of these certilleates varles us the years move on : e. g., " to execute the husluess of a taveruer, and sell wlue, riumi," ete., Dr. B. Sau- born, 1812; " to exercise the business of a retailer," Capt. Jonathan Moore, 1512, 1813, aud several thues afterwards; " to be a taveruer, and sell spirits in less quantities than oue gallon," Jeremlah Tilton, Esg., 1813; "to be a laverner, and sell spirits in less quantities thau oue gallon," Abel Kiball, 1514, 1515; also Thomas Kimball, ls14, Richard lfazelton, 1814-17, aud Joseph Dow, 1516, "to retail." Thomas W. Gilmore, Sion Laue, and Christopher Monltou all begin lo be uoticed as retailers, at their several stores or shop-, iu lols.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.