USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 14
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 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
about the falls passed from the possession of the Waldron family in 1821 to William Payne, of Boston, and a beginning was made of what finally merged in the Cochecho Manufacturing Company, and which recently became merged in the Pacific Mills Company of Lawrence, Mass. Payne street had its name from this founder of the great company. This was the beginning of things; we cannot go into details. The first printing of calico in these works was under the superintendence of Dr. A. L. Porter, who was succeeded before 1830 by John Duxbury, a thoroughly experienced printer, who had learned his trade in England. The original printery was in No. 5 mill and other buildings near, but now removed. The last printing of calico here was in 1912, following which the machinery was removed to Lawrence, much to the regret of all Dover people. For more than four score years the establish- ment had sent goods to market equal to the best product of the best mills in New England or the whole manufacturing world.
From the close of the War of the Revolution until the introduction of cotton manufacturing, the town grew somewhat slowly. Its population in 1790 was 1,998: in 1800, 2.068; in 1810, 2,228; in 1820, 2,871, which by 1860 had increased to 8,186, the valuation at that time being $3,629,442. It was, so far, a farming and shipbuilding town. But with the erection of cot- ton mills a change came over the place. The succession of sawmills, grist mills, fulling-mills, oil mills, and nail factory, finally merged into the "Cochecho Manufacturing Company" (now the Pacific Mills Company). To this enterprise alone must be ascribed the steady growth and commercial pros- perity of Dover.
In 1841 the opening of the Boston & Maine Railroad, and the construc- tion, after 1850, of the Cochecho railroad to Alton, to both of which Dover people contributed liberally, had a marked effect upon the business of the town. While its local trade and interests were on the increase, its importance as a distributing point for interior trade declined. The Dover-Packet Com- pany, which had for many years given life and activity to the wharves and storehouses on the river, soon discharged its last cargo, the Landing ceased to be the center of business, which from this time gathered around the rail- road station and the streets leading to it. In 1847 the introduction of shoe manufacturing for the southern and western markets added largely to the business of the place, employing after a few years a large capital, and in a good season more workmen than any other industry. The shoe business is now flourishing here better than ever before.
The act incorporating the city of Dover was signed June 29, 1855, and was accepted by the citizens at a town meeting held August 15, 1855. The first mayor. Andrew Peirce, took the oath of office March 25. 1856, and the city government was then inaugurated. The first attempt to change from town to city government was made in 1850, and the proposition was voted
145
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
down by a very large majority. Gas lighting was introduced September 20, 1853.
The schools of Dover are regarded with much favor by our citizens and large appropriations are devoted to their use each year by the city government. They are under the control and direction of a school committee consisting of fifteen members, each ward electing one member annually for two years, the remaining members being chosen by the city councils. Their sanitation, heating and ventilation are carefully attended to, and the course of study prescribed is judiciously selected to meet the requirements necessary for the imparting of a sound education to the pupils. The high school is situated on Locust street, next to the public library, and is an imposing and beautiful building, wholly up to date. It was erected in 1904 and put into use in the fall of the following year. Its curriculum is of the highest order. It has an excellent commercial course; manual training has been introduced, as well as domestic science. The teaching force number forty-six and the total enroll- ment of pupils is 1,398, exclusive of the parochial school. There is also a well managed and largely attended business college, where pupils are fitted for commercial pursuits.
The parochial schools in the city are also largely attended. The authori- ties of St. Mary's parish have recently completed a very large and beautiful schoolhouse, technically called St. Mary's Academy, in which they have every convenience for doing first-class work in teaching boys and girls, from the lowest grade to the end of a high school course.
SAWYER WOOLEN MILLS, NOW AMERICAN WOOLEN COMPANY
These mills are located on the Bellamy Bank river, about a mile from the Cochecho Falls. They are run by the waterpower of the three lower falls, with added steam power, as also a reservoir in Barrington. The tide water of Back river reaches to the lower mill and is navigable for coal barges and power boats of moderate siz. The Portsmouth & Dover Railroad has a station there, about sixty-eight miles from Boston. From small beginnings it has grown into a large establishment. The mills are equipped with machinery of the latest and most approved patterns. It passed from control of the Sawyer family to the American Woolen Company about fifteen years ago.
The business was commenced by Alfred I. Sawyer, who came to Dover from Marlborough, Mass., in 1824.
The Great Falls Manufacturing Company then owned all of the water- power on the Bellamy Bank river in Dover, having secured them by pur- chase made through the agency of Isaac Wendell, in 1823-24. They had also
146
HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
secured land covering the outlet of Swain's Pond, in Barrington, upon which now is built the reservoir dam.
Alfred I. Sawyer leased of the company the privilege near the bridge, upon which was a grist mill called the "Libbey Mill." Another building was erected in 1826 in connection with the grist mill, and on the same fall, in which he carded rolls, fulled, and dressed cloth. In 1832 he bought the Hanson Cotton Factory at Bellamy, moved and erected it on the falls about twenty rods below. In this mill he commenced the manufacture of woolen flannels with one set of machinery. The business prospering, the mill was enlarged, another set of machinery added in 1837.
In 1845 Mr. Sawyer bought of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company all of their rights in the property, and continued the business without inter- ruption until his death, which occurred in 1849. The business then passed to his brother, Zenas Sawyer, 1849-50; Z. & J. Sawyer, 1850-52; F. A. & J. Sawyer (Francis A. Sawyer, of Boston, and Jonathan Sawyer, of Dover), 1852-73, when Charles H. Sawyer was admitted, and the concern incor- porated as the Sawyer Woolen Mills.
In 1858 the property now known as the lower mill was purchased, with the two sets of machinery which it contained.
The Great Falls Manufacturing Company sold this property in 1845 to C. C. P. Moses, and on the site of the old foundry, which had been operated by William and Daniel Osborne, he built a brick mill, in which he manu- factured paper until 1855, when it was changed into a flannel mill. After it was purchased by F. A. & J. Sawyer, the old machinery was replaced by new, and the mill gradually enlarged to its present capacity. The old mill, before mentioned as started in 1832, was continued in operation until 1872, when it was replaced by the present structure.
ISAAC B. WILLIAMS & SONS' BELT FACTORY
The foundations of the present business of Isaac B. Williams & Sons belt factory was laid by the senior partner in 1842 in the manufacture of belting for the Cocheco Manufacturing Company.
In 1871 the firm name became I. B. Williams & Son, Frank B. Williams having been taken into the partnership. In 1875 the business had outgrown its quarters in the Cocheco Manufacturing Company's buildings, so that larger and better facilities were needed to supply the increased demand for their goods, and a large and valuable property on Orchard street was pur- chased, and so added to and remodeled as to afford the desired facilities.
In 1878 George H. Williams was admitted to the partnership and the firm name changed to I. B. Williams & Sons. Since then the senior member
147
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
of the firm has died and the junior member has withdrawn, but the firm name remains the same under ownership of the elder son, Frank B. Williams.
In 1882 the firm, by reason of still increased and increasing trade, were compelled to tear down and entirely rebuild their factory, having in the mean- time purchased an adjoining property. A large and handsome brick building, four stories high, one hundred and forty feet long by forty-five feet wide, with a tower, containing elevators and stairways, five stories high, now cover their land.
The factory now contains all the modern machinery required to produce in all respects a perfectly reliable belt, all of which are manufactured from the finest of oak-tanned leather, finished and perfected in their own building under the firm's own immediate supervision and inspection.
Their goods are sold throughout the United States and South America, and the factory has grown to be one of the largest in the country.
CHAPTER XIII
HISTORY OF DOVER (IN )
GARRISON IJILL
The Sawyer Memorial Observatory on Garrison Hill was dedicated August 2, 1913, at which Mr. John Scales delivered the following historical address, which seems appropriate for publication in the volume of "Strafford County History :"
The first mention of this hill in Dover records, or anywhere else, is in a grant of land to Elder William Wentworth dated 5 December, 1652, two hundred and sixty years ago, which says :
"To the northward of half-way swampe * on the north side of
John Heard's 40 acre lot
*
*
*
and so along the carte waye that Raeneth
to the marsh forty roedd in Breadth and one hundred sixtie Roedd in lenkth."
Same date : 5 acres of upland
"near the Great Hill at Cochechoe, on ye east side of ye Great Hill one hundred Roedd in length and the north of the Cartwaye fower scoer Roedd in Breadth."
Elder Wentworth had several other grants of land east and north of the Great Hill. It is impossible to define the boundaries, except one mill grant on Fresh creek, with any exactness. But the land is east and northeast .of this hill, on the eastern side of the road down there which leads to Somers- worth, and west of north of Fresh creek tide-water. The Boston & Maine Railroad runs through the west side of the land, and the turnpike cuts through it on the east side. It is further identified by the fact that the part, perhaps the central part, is still in the family name, having come down uninterruptedly from Elder William Wentworth, the present owner being William H. Wentworth.
It was there that he lived; and the Elder's burial place is on a knoll in the field east of and near to the railroad.
The "half way swamp" which has been mentioned in the land grants was the low ground west of the Cartway and southeast from Great Hill. It was so called because it was half way from Cochecho Falls to the Great Cochecho Marsh.
148
149
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
On the same date, 5th, 10 mo: (December) 1652, John Heard was given a grant of fifty acres, "under the Great Hill of Cochecho, on the south side below the Cartway. A freshet ( brook ) is mentioned the same day as 'coming out of the marsh beside the Great Hill at Cochecho.'"
The name Garrison Hill was originally given to the hill over which the ancient Cartway, now Central avenue, passed, and took its name from Heard's garrison which stood near where the Bangs house stands. That was the garrison nearest the summit of Great Hill, but there were several other gar- risons around it. After Ebenezer Varney came into control of the land by his wife, a granddaughter of Richard Otis, and he and his wife built the Ham house at the foot of the hill, about 1694, it began to be called Varney's Hill and so continued to be named until about eighty years ago, when the land passed out of the name Varney, having been purchased by John Ham, father of our esteemed fellow citizen, John T. W. Ham; after that purchase, in 1829, instead of calling it "Ham Hill" the people began to call it Garrison Hill, transferring the name from Central avenue to the whole elevation. There have been various owners of different parts of it from time to time, but in 1888 the summit here was owned by Joseph Ham and Harrison Haley, and that year they sold eight acres of it to the city, which now constitutes the Garrison Hill Park. The city purchased it in order to place the reservoir here ; but the city fathers "Patres Conscripti," builded better than they knew, for henceforth with this massive observatory here it will be the city's most popular park, and the pride of its citizens, who will delight to take their guests here and show them one of the most picturesque, grand and far-reach- ing views to be seen in New Hampshire, or New England, outside of the White Mountain summits. The ground on which this observatory stands is 298 feet above the head of tide water at Cochecho Falls, just below Central avenue bridge. At the close of my address I will tell you what can be seen on a clear day from the upper balcony of this observatory.
Rev. John Pike, in his journal, says, in 1704: "May 28, Sacrament day. An Ambush of 4 Indians lay betwixt Tristram Heard's and Ephraim Went- worth's upon the north side of (Great ) Hill, but were happily discovered and escaped."
This Tristram Heard lived in the garrison which his father, John Heard, built and which stood near where the Bangs house now stands. He was born there 4 March, 1667; he escaped the Indians in 1704, but about twenty years later at Cochecho he was killed by them in 1723.
I have spoken of the land grants made to Elder William Wentworth and to John Heard (Hurd) in 1652, by the town of Dover. There was another grant of land to Richard Otis in 1655, about two years and a half later. Mr. Otis had several grants, the first was "26th 9 mo. (Nov.) 1655. Ten acres located as follows : 'Forty Rod on the Cartway, on the west side of the
150
HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
land from his house, and forty Rod north east from his house, and forty Rod a piece on the other two sides.'"
His house stood where the present Hutchins house stands, in from the street and north of the parsonage of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church. The next year, 1656, a few months after this grant, "Richard Otis had fifty acres of land given unto him." This was north of and adjoining his first grant on the west side of the Cartway, now Central avenue. It was laid out and bounded by William Wentworth, Ralph Hall and John Hall. Later in the same year the town granted him one hundred acres of land on the west side of the "Great Hill," and the selectmen established the bounds. That made 160 acres of land owned by Richard Otis on the southwest side of the "Great Hill" in 1660, and he retained the ownership until he was killed by the Indians, and his garrison house was burned thirty-three years later, June 28, 1689. The exact boundaries of that 160 acres, of course, cannot now be determined, but it certainly included the southwest side of this hill, where the Ham house is and down to the Hutchins house. The Cartway was where Central avenue is, and the land adjoined it on the east side.
In this connection you may be interested to know how the age of the Ham house is determined.
When the Indians began to be troublesome, about 1675, Mr. Otis built his garrison on the west side of what is now Mount Vernon street, a short distance from Milk street. He lived there until he was killed by the Indians and his son Stephen lived in the old house, where the Hutchins house now stands. Stephen was killed by the Indians at the same time his father was, and some of his children were carried to Canada and never returned to Dover. But he had a daughter, Mary, who was born about 1675, and married Ebenezer Varney about 1693, and they built the house soon after they were married. It required some time to settle the estate of Stephen Otis after the massacre of 1689, and thus enable Mary Otis, his only heir remaining in Dover, to get possession of it and build a house on it. But she finally forti- fied her title (in her husband's name) by deeds from the Canada heirs and quitclaims from the others. Of course Mr. Varney would not have built the house you see down at the foot of the hill until he got possession of the land ; and he could not get possession of the land until he married Mary Otis; but she could not get full title to it, to transfer it to her husband, by marriage, until the estate was settled, which required three or four years, at least. Thus the building of the Ham house is reasonably fixed at 1693 or '94. And so, in the course of years, when the Varney family came into possession of the whole hill it took the name "Varney Hill," and the smaller hill, between the present Bangs house and Stevens house, retained the name Garrison Hill, and the village there was the Garrison Hill village. But for the last three-quarters of a century the "Great Hill" has been called Garrison Hill.
151
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
At the massacre in June, 1689, the Heard (Hurd) garrison was saved through the instrumentality of Elder William Wentworth. Why he hap- pened to be there that night instead of at his home over the other side of the hill here has never been explained, so far as I have been able to find out, but he was there, and when he heard the Indians coming up the hill he ran and closed the gate to the palisade enclosing the yard around the house, and lay on his back with his feet against it and held it until the people in the house were roused by his cries for help and came to his assistance. Elder Wentworth was aroused from his sleep by the barking of the house watch-dog who scented the approach of the Indians from afar.
Ebenezer Varney was a Quaker; so being a non-combatant and friendly in his treatment of the Indians, they never troubled him or the Varney fam- ilies who inherited the house and the Great Hill after him. It remained in possession of that Varney family until 1829, when John Ham bought it and in a few years, 1837, he gave it to his son, Joseph Ham, father of the present owner of the house, Miss Theresa Ham. This brings my story down to a speaking distance of the present generation. I have heard Mr. Ham say that he had plowed and planted crops all over the top of the hill here.
At some period after the Civil war the late Harrison Haley became part owner of the summit here and in the autumn of 1880 they completed the con- struction of the first observatory, erected on the same spot on which this grand structure stands. This enterprise was the outcome of the construction of the Horse railroad. The observatory, as finally completed, was sixty-five feet high, on the upper deck. It was built by Mr. B. D. Stewart, at a cost of about one thousand dollars. In a description of it, given at that time in a circular by Mr. Haley, he said: "Its construction is similar to one at Coney Island, N. Y., and that on Davis' Hill, Philadelphia, with open balconies, so as to afford unobstructed views. The highest balcony affords a view of rare beauty, characteristic of New Hampshire ; the great distant ring of the horizon is rugged and broken with a continuous chain of hills, somewhere in the south- east the distant ocean shows its line of blue. The late Hon. John P. Hale, on his return from Europe, said, in a public address: 'That of the hills he had visited in any country, none for beauty and variety of scenery surpassed Garrison Hill.'"
Gazing upon scenery thus charming, one is reminded of Whittier's beau- tiful lines :
Touched by a light that never dies, A glory never sung, Aloft, on sky and mountain wall, Are God's great pictures hung.
Just here I want to say a word in honor of the memory of Harrison Haley. If it had not been for Mr. Haley, Dover would not have had a horse
152
HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
railroad; if that road had not been constructed Mr. Haley and Mr. Ham would not have built the observatory in 1880; also if Mr. Haley had not pushed through the construction of the horse railroad when he did, there would have been no electric road started through Dover to Somersworth by Henry W. Burgett, when he took hold of the job and substituted electric power for horse-power in moving the cars; it is doubtful if we should have the electric cars today ; certainly not until many years later, some time perhaps in this twentieth century.
Mr. Haley was a good, Christian business man. He helped build up Dover in many ways, for which he never received his proper credit. He was a man of good sense, good judgment and always ready to lend a helping hand to every good cause, so far as his means would permit. Of course there were men in his time of activity here, who thought they knew a good deal more than Mr. Haley did; perhaps they did, but those wiser ones never did half as much for Dover's advancement as he did. It is not necessary at this time to further enumerate his good deeds.
The observatory was completed in the autumn of 1880; that was thirty- three years ago; a third of a century has passed into history when we stand here to dedicate this beautiful and substantial structure, which is its suc- cessor. Thirty-three years; how old are some of you young folks here today? Those who are forty now were only seven-year-old kids then, and of course cannot remember much about "the beginning of things" here as a pleasure resort. You who are fifty can recall the many pleasure trips you made here. You remember the spacious roller skating rink that was erected northerly of where the reservoir is; roller skating was then the most fashion- able diversion young people could engage in; baseball and golf now are poor comparisons with it; you ladies and gentlemen of fifty remember how you used to do it. John Wheatland Caverly was the manager of the rink and was one of the most popular men in town, among the young folks. IIe deserved his popularity, courteous, generous and upright in all his dealings. Now, and for many years he has resided in Lynn, Mass. Sad to say, he has been blind for a number of years and otherwise out of health; but that same, cheerful, hopeful spirit abides in his heart. It is well that we should recall his memory here today in connection with Mr. Haley and the old observatory.
In May, 1888, the city councils completed the purchase of eight acres of the summit of the hill, and soon after workmen commenced digging a hole for the big basin to hold the water for use in the city; that put an end to its previous use as a pleasure resort ; temporarily at least. The electric road took the pleasure seekers to Burgette park, and the skating rink was taken down, the material removed to the park and set up again, and in which are the bowling alleys, billiard tables, etc., for the use of visitors. By the way, in passing allow me to express the opinion that the name Burgette park never
153
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
ought to have been changed to Central park. But for Mr. Burgette it is very improbable that we should have had a park then, or now. It was his energy, shrewd judgment and push that created it; circumstances and financial con- ditions beyond his control forced him out of the management and then he was further robbed of the name.
The observatory continued to be visited quite frequently in the years that followed the placing the reservoir there, but on Sunday, June 27, 1897, it was set on fire by the carelessness of some smokers, who dropped a match, or lighted a cigar, and all efforts to save it proved in vain. Everybody felt grieved at the loss. The city council did not fecl rich enough to rebuild it. Everybody said there ought to be an observatory here; but nobody ever expected to see one take the place of Haley and Ham's grand "Outlook." And yet. here we are today dedicating its successor. And how comes it ? What of the donor? Ex-Mayor Nealley has told you something about Mrs. Sawyer, by whose generous will the observatory stands here as a memo- rial of her beloved husband. Now let me give you a brief sketch of that gentleman, Joseph Bowne Sawyer.
Joseph Bowne Sawyer was born November 20, 1832, in the house in which he died, down at the foot of the hill, on Central avenue, Tuesday after- noon, July 5, 1905, in his seventy-third year. He was the son of Levi and Hannalı (Pinkham) Sawyer. Mr. Sawyer built the house in 1825. In the Dover directory of 1837 he is mentioned as "blacksmith and wheelwright." Later he was much engaged in real estate business and prospered in what- ever he undertook, being a man of good judgment, correct habits and indus- trious. He died about 1867, being one of the last of the old-fashioned Quakers, who have a good record in Dover history. Mr. Sawyer was descended from good New England stock. His grandmother was Mary Varney, a lineal descendant from Ebenezer Varney, who built the Ham house, and of Richard Otis, who was killed by the Indians June 28, 1689. Mrs. Clarence I. Pinkham, 171 Mount Vernon street, who is clerk of Society of Friends in Dover and vicinity, kindly furnished the correct statement of Mr. Joseph B. Sawyer's ancestry, as shown by the Friends' records, which are the best kept of any of the old records in the city.
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.