USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 5
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There was a night watchman, Wilber Chesley, who received his orders solely from Mr. Demeritt, superintendent of the almshouse, and who was re- quired to make six rounds each night, one of the stations, No. 4, being in the asylum of the insane. In making his 10 o'clock round on the night of February 9, he saw upon entering the storm door at the main entrance to the asylum, through the glass of the inside door, a reflection from the fire in the cell of Mary La Fontaine. He entered the asylum as quickly as pos- sible, and rushed to the apartment occupied by Mr. Driscoll and family at the further end of the corridor in the L and informed him of the fire. With- out waiting to dress, Keeper Driscoll rushed to the cell occupied by Mary La Fontaine and unlocked it, then turned and unlocked the cell of Jim Daly, nearby, telling the watchman to "get some water and open the doors"; but while getting Daly out, Mrs. La Fontaine jumped upon Mr. Driscoll's back. Mr. Driscoll almost instantly disengaged himself from her, as he states himself, and the watchman also testified that Driscoll had freed himself from the woman before he (the watchman) had got the front door unlocked. The watchman ( Chesley) left the building as soon as possible, and the spring lock effectually closed the door after him and could not be opened from the inside. Driscoll proceeded to unlock the other cells and succeeded with those upon the first floor, barely escaping from the building in season to save him- self and family. By this time, owing to the combustible nature of the build- ing, it was thoroughly on fire so that further efforts to subdue the flames were unavailable. Two of the inmates whose rooms were unlocked by Mr. Dris- coll escaped from the burning building, and the one woman was rescued from the second story from outside. The remaining forty-one inmates were cre- mated.
.After giving a summary of the testimony of each witness, the board says : The board has carefully reviewed all the evidence presented in this case, and has arrived at the following conclusions :
First. That the fire originated in the room occupied by Mary La Fon- taine, and was, probably, ignited with a match in her possession. It was known that matches were furnished those inmates who smoked. She smoked occasionally, therefore it would not be difficult for her to obtain matches her- self or from other inmates. That the attendant of the asylum, William P.
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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
Driscoll, in a manner inexcusably careless, furnished matches to the afore- said inmates when called for.
Second. That the fire might have been extinguished immediately after its discovery had the watchman, Mr. Chesley, and the keeper, Mr. Driscoll, promptly made the attempt, inasmuch as at the time of its discovery the fire was small, being, according to Mr. Driscoll's testimony, "no larger than a bushel basket," and there was a fire hose ready for instant use, within a few feet of the fire, which was not used at all.
Third. That Mr. Chesley, upon his own testimony, is shown to be totally unfit for a watchman, by reason of his defective eyesight, and also in not knowing, after having made the rounds of the institution for several months, that there was a fire hose and fire buckets in the asylum.
Fourth. That the superintendent, Mr. Charles E. Demeritt, while having many commendable qualities, was inefficient in his administration of the af- fairs of the institution in the following particulars: Neglect in not having given specific instructions to his employees (and especially the watchman) as to what should be done in case a fire was discovered; in not disciplining, or reprimanding the watchman for failure to perform his required duties, as shown by the register dial of the watchman's clock; in not having a prop- erly organized and drilled fire squad, consisting of his employees and such inmates as might be available.
Fifth. That the attendant, William P. Driscoll, was guilty of faulty management in not having instructed the watchman regarding the means available for extinguishing fire at the asylum, even though the testimony shows that he had no authority over the watchman.
Sixth. That the county commissioners were negligent of their duties in the following particulars: In not giving explicit instructions as to the man- agement of the institution, both the almshouse and the asylum; in not exam- ining carefully and fully into all the details of the management of both these departments, and remedying the defects that might have been readily ascer- tained by them; in not providing fire escapes, which they might have done, to a greater or less extent, without a special appropriation for that purpose ; in not furnishing suitable means for promptly liberating the inmates from their cells, the testimony showing that several different keys were required to unlock the doors; in dividing the responsibility of the management of the institution on account of personal differences between Mr. Demeritt and Mr. Driscoll, instead of discharging one or both, and employing one competent man to take their places.
Seventh. That prior boards of county commissioners were guilty of offi- cial negligence in not recommending to the county delegation such improve- ments and changes as were necessary to the best interests of the institution, and
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for not taking action themselves as far as their authority extended under the law.
Eighth. That all previous county delegations have been guilty of allow- ing to exist, and of maintaining, after having been officailly warned of its condition in 1883, a building for the use of insane which was totally unfit for the purpose, and at which has existed at all times the terrible danger from fire, which finally destroyed it, with appalling loss of life.
Ninth. In investigating the rumors of intoxication connected with the institution, the board found that Mr. Demeritt has, for a short period, been addicted to the use of chloral; and that, in consequence of the use of that drug, his efficiency was, perhaps, somewhat impaired-but this had no bear- ing upon the question of the fire; that, so far as Mr. Driscoll was concerned, it appears from his own testimony and that of others, that several times within a year he has been given to the excessive use of intoxicating liquor, and on one occasion, at least, was gone from the institution two and a half or three days, leaving nobody, except his wife, in charge of the asylum during that time. There was no evidence showing that he ever drank at the institution. The evidence further shows that two of the employees of the institution had been seen in a condition of partial intoxication.
The above were the conclusions reached from the investigation by the State Board of Health. That system for caring for the county insane was the same in all counties, differing only in some minor details. The system was the outgrowth of a forced necessity, the guiding principle of which was to house, clothe and feed the incurable insane at the smallest possible expense to the county. The result of this investigation had the effect on the next Legislature to enact a law abolishing all of these county insane asylums, and the State assumed the entire support, control and management of the insane, and the county asylums were abolished.
The insane have not been kept at the county farm since then, but another class the next thing to the insane, is housed there in large numbers-"drunks" who are sent there from the police courts in Dover, Rochester and Somers- worth, to be cared for in the house of correction, which was built there several years ago; formerly they had been sent to jail; but the institution at the farm was established so that during the inmates' term of service they could be compelled to do farm work and in that way make some return for the expense for board and clothing. The superintendent and his assistants have given those who have been entrusted to their care very efficient instruction in farm work, and sent them out to the world sober men, and in much better health than when they began their term of "correction"; but the historian cannot find record of any permanent reform in their drink habits; the house of correction has failed to "correct," permanently, the bad habits the men
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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
contracted which brought them into police court, when the judge could do nought else but send them to the county farmn.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The following have been county commissioners: 1867 and 1868, Joseph F. Lawrence, Andrew Rollins and Uriah Wiggin; 1869, Andrew Rollins, Uriah Wiggin and Josiah B. Edgerly; 1870, Mr. Edgerly, Mr. Wiggin and Jesse R. Horne; 1871, Mr. Horne, Mr. Wiggin and Richard T. Rogers; 1872, Mr. Wiggin, Mr. Rogers and True Wm. McDaniel; 1873. Mr. Rogers, Mr. Mc- Daniel and Ephraim Whitehouse: 1874, McDaniel, Whitehouse and John S. Hersey: 1875. Whitehouse, Hersey and Cotton H. Foss; 1876, the same ; 1877, Foss, Whitehouse and John Bartlett; 1878, Whitehouse, Bartlett and William Pitt Moses; 1879, George Lyman, Samuel A. Seavey and Cyrus Littlefield; 1880, the same; 1881, the same; 1882 and 1883, the same; 1884, Ralph Hough, John I. Huckins and William E. Waterhouse; 1885, Hough, Huckins and Waterhouse; 1886, John F. Torr, Benjamin F. Hanson and Joseph D. Roberts; 1887, Torr, Hanson and Roberts ; 1888, Hanson, Roberts and George P. Demeritt; 1889, Hanson, Demeritt and Roberts; 1890, George P. Demeritt, John P. Rowe and Dwight E. Edgerly; 1891, Demeritt. Rowe and Edgerly; 1892, Edgerly, Frank P. Reeve and Winthrop S. Meserve ; 1893, William W. Cushman, John N. Haines and John D. Philbrick; 1894, Cushman, Haines and Philbrick; 1895, the same; 1896, the same; 1897, James A. Reynolds, Jabez H. Stevens and George H. Yeaton; 1898, Reynolds, Stevens and Yeaton; 1899, Reynolds, Stevens and Yeaton; 1900, the same; 1901, 1902, 1903 and 1904, William T. Wentworth, Henry F. Cater and William E. Pierce; 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908, Edwin C. Colbath, Jeremiah Langley and William T. Hayes ; 1909 and 1910, Benjamin F. Hanson, Walter Delaney and Edgar J. Ham; 1911 and 1912, Ham, Frank M. Libbey and Charles E. Hoitt : 1913 and 1914, Ham, Libbey and Hoitt.
The office of county commissioner has always been one of those most eagerly souglit by the county politicians. In the years of county conventions at which these officials were nominated there was always a very lively period of canvassing for the election of delegates who would make the de- cision in the nominating convention. Some over-anxious candidates for nomination would begin work a year in advance, making combinations that would elect delegates who would favor them when the time arrived for voting in the convention which would decide the question. The nominations are made differently now, but the office is just as eagerly sought for.
CHAPTER III
MEDICAL
STRAFFORD DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY
The Strafford District Medical Society was organized in 1808 with the following charter members: Caleb Morse, Asa Crosby, Benjamin Kelley, Simon Forster, Jabez Dow, Joseph Boidin, Jedediah Chapman, Josiah Lane, Timothy F. Preston, Ichabod Shaw, Samuel Pray, Jeremiah Jewett, Abner Page, John McCrillis, Jonathan Greeley, Samuel Gerrish, Robert Woodbury.
Presidents : Dr. Asa Crosby, Sandwich, 1808-11 ; Dr. Caleb Morse, Moul- tonoborough, 1812-21; Dr. Jabez Dow, Dover, 1822-24; Dr. Ichabod Shaw, Moultonborough, 1825-29; Dr. John McCrillis, Wakefield, 1830-32; Dr. James Farrington, Rochester, 1833-35; Dr. Stephen Drew, Milton, 1836-38; Dr. John P. Elkins, New Durham, 1839-41 ; Dr. Noah Martin, Dover, 1842-43; Dr. J. H. Smith, Dover, 1844-45; Dr. J. S. Fernald, Barrington, 1846-47; Dr. C. F. Elliot, Great Falls, 1848-49; Dr. John Morrison, Alton, 1850-51; Dr. Nathaniel Low, Dover, 1852-53; Dr. J. C. Hanson, Great Falls, 1854-55; Dr. P. A. Stackpole, Dover, 1856-57; Dr. A. Moulton, Ossipee, 1858-59; Dr. D. T. Parker, Farmington, 1860-61; Dr. L. G. Hill, Dover, 1862; Dr. I. W. Lougee, Rochester, 1863-64; Dr. M. R. Warren, Rochester, 1865-66; Dr. A. G. Fenner, Dover, 1867-68; Dr. A. Bickford, Dover, 1869-70; Dr. T. J. W. Pray, Dover, 1871-72; Dr. J. H. Wheeler, 1873-74; Dr M. C. Lathrop, Dover, 1875-76; Dr. B. W. Sargent, Rochester, 1877-78; Dr. J. S. Parker, Lebanon, Me., 1879-80; Dr. S. C. Whitties, Portsmouth, 1881; Dr. John R. Ham, Dover, 1882: Dr. S. C. Whittier, Portsmouth, 1883; Dr. J. W. Parsons, Portsmouth, 1884-85; Dr. Carl H. Horsch, Dover, 1886-87; Dr. Charles A. Fairbanks, Dover, 1888-89; Dr. Henry Rust Parker, Dover, 1890-91 ; Dr. J. J. Berry, Portsmouth, 1892-93 ; Dr. Miah B. Sullivan, Dover, 1894; Dr. L. E. Grant, Somersworth, 1895; Dr. A. Noel Smith, Dover, 1896; Dr. A. C. Heffinger, Portsmouth, 1897; Dr. Roscoe G. Blanchard, Dover, 1898; Dr. E. D. Jaques, South Berwick, 1899; Allen P. Hichmond, Dover, 1900: Dr. W. H. Nute, Exeter, 1901 ; Dr. John H. Neal, Rochester, 1902; Dr. George P. Morgan, Dover, 1903; Dr. A. E. Grant, Durham, 1904; Dr. George A. Folsom, Dover, 1905; Dr. P. H. Greeley, Farmington, 1906; Dr. -
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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
D. L. Stokes, Rochester, 1907; Dr. Louis W. Flanders, Dover, 1908; Dr. T. J. Dougherty, Somersworth, 1909; Dr. M. A. H. Hart, Farmington, 1910; Dr. H. O. Chesley, Dover, 1911; Dr. F. L. Keay, Rochester, 1912-1913.
Presidents pro tem .: Jabez Dow, 1832; Dr. Noah Martin, 1841; T. J. W. Pray, 1869; M. C. Lathrop, 1860.
Secretaries : Dr. Samuel Gerrish, 1808-9; Dr. Jabez Dow, Dover, 1810, 1813-16; Dr. Jonathan Greeley, 1811: Dr. Samuel Pray, Rochester, 1812, 1817-19; Dr. Asa Perkins, 1820-22; Dr. Stephen Drew, Milton, 1823; Dr. Moses Colby, Ossipee, 1824-27; Dr. Thomas Lindsay, Jr., Wakefield, 1828- 30; Dr. John S. Fernald, Barrington, 1831-32; Dr. J. H. Smith, Dover, 1833-38; Dr. Levi Merrill, Dover, 1839-44; Dr. P. A. Stackpole, Dover, 1845-54; Dr. L. G. Hill, Dover, 1855; Dr. A. G. Fenner, Dover, 1856-65; Dr. Jeremiah Horne, Dover, 1866; Dr. I. R. Ham, Dover, 1867-78; Dr. C. A. Fairbanks, Dover, 1879-87; Dr. Roscoe G. Blanchard, Dover, 1888; Dr. Charles A. Fairbanks, Dover, 1889-98; Dr. Louis W. Flanders, Dover, 1899- 1906; Dr. H. O. Chesley, Dover, 1907-08; Dr. L. W. Flanders, Dover, 1909-12; Dr. F. L. Keay, Rochester, 1913.
Members from 1810-1913: 1810-William Smith, Northwood; Moses Colby, Ossipee; David W. Clark, Parsons' Field, Me .; Thomas Lindsey, Wakefield; William Chadbourne, Conway.
1812-Benjamin Kittridge; Thomas Webster, Sanbornton.
1814-Henry Sargent, New Durham.
1815-Thomas H. Merrill, Gilmanton.
1816-George Kittridge, Epping.
1817-William Prescott, Gilmanton; John Morrison, Alton; Jonathan Woodbury, Dover; Josiah Crosby, Meredith; John B. Elliot, Barrington ; Ebenezer Dearborn, New Durham.
1818 Jacob Kittridge, Dover; Joseph Hammonds, Farmington; John McCrillis, Wakefield; Asa Perkins.
1819-Stephen Drew, David S. Libbey, Effingham; Levi Merrill, Tuf- tonboro'.
1820-James Farrington, Rochester.
1821-Daniel Mowe, New Durham; Charles White, Sandwich.
1822-Reuben Buck, Shapley, Me .; Ichabod Shaw, Moultonborough ; John
P. Elkins, Middleton; Moses Colby, Ossipee.
1823-Nathaniel Low, South Berwick, Me .; Alexander Hatch, Leba- non, Me.
1824-Freedom Seaver, Dover.
1825-Thomas Lindsay, Jr., Wakefield; Asael Dearborn, Effingham.
1827-John S. Fernald, Barrington; Thomas J. Tibbetts, Wolfborough; Samuel W. Drew, Dover.
1828-James Norris, Sandwich; J. B. Warner, Somersworth.
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1831-Jere. Dow, Farmington.
1832-Richard Russel, Wakefield; G. L. Bennett, Middleton, George Kitt- ridge, Dover.
1834-O. W. Austin; M. R. Warren, Middleton.
1835-Noah Martin, Dover.
1836-J. W. Cowan, Dover; H. G. Ford; C. F. Elliot, Somersworth ; George Fabyan.
1837-A. G. Fenner, Dover.
1839-Alvah Moulton, Ossipee; David T. Parker, Farmington; Richard Steel; Richard Ruzzel.
1840-Calvin Cutter, Dover ; Jefferson Smith, Dover.
1841-Benjamin Woodman.
1842-Calvin H. Guptill.
1843-P. A. Stackpole, Dover; Stephen W. Drew.
1845-J. L. Swinerton.
1846-L. G. Hill, Somersworth ; Jesse A. Sandborn, Wolfborough ; Charles Warren, Wolfborough ; J. C. Hanson, Somersworth; Alvah Parker, East Leb- anon, Me .; George D. Staples, North Berwick; S. H. Paul, Dover; Jeremiah Horne, Dover; W. H. H. Manson, Moultonborough; David Huckins, Sandwich.
1847-Thomas Tuttle, Northwood.
1848-Yeaton, Somersworth; Pratt, Wingate, Russell, Tyler, Somers- worth; T. G. Pike, Durham; Oliver Goss, Tuftonborough.
1849-Thomas J. W. Pray and Nicholas Folsom, Dover.
1850-Abner Horn, Farinington; J. Farrington, Rochester ; C. H. Shack- ford and J. T. Page, Somersworth; G. W. Woodhouse, Alphonso Beckford, Nathaniel Low, Dover; Leighton and Flanders, Durham; William Water- house, Barrington.
1852-Palmer of Strafford; C. Trafton, South Berwick; Palmer, Milton; I. W. Sawyer, Alton.
1854-Frank Tuttle, Somersworth.
1855-C. L. Hartwell, Farrington; Andrew J. H. Buzzell, Dover;
I. S. Ross, Somersworth.
1858-A. M. Winn and N. C. Parker, Farmington; Freeman Hall, North Berwick.
1860-E. C. Dow.
1861-Jefferson Smith, Dover; B. N. Fowle, Newmarket.
1862-James H. Wheeler and G. E. Pinkham, Dover.
1864-J. Hamı, Dover.
1866-John P. Horn and N. Woodhouse, Dover.
1867-S. C. Whittier, Portsmouth; Alvah Junkins, Somersworth.
1868-John Bell, M. C. Lathrop, B. F. Kimball, Dover; O. G. Cilley, Durham; A. C. Newell, Farmington; J. W. Buckman, Somersworth.
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HISTORY OF STRAFFORD COUNTY
1869-R. B. Foss, Farmington.
1870-D. A. Wendell, Dover.
1871-C. A. Tufts, Dover.
1872-W. S. Atkinson, J. H. York, Dover; E. N. Tucker, Canyon.
1875-Frank Haley, W. P. Sylvester, Dover; W. H. Horr, Salmon Falls ;
J. S. Daniels, Barrington.
1876-C. E. Swasey, W. H. Sylvester, Somersworth.
1877-Eli Edgcomb, Somersworth; C. E. Blazo, Rochester; J. W. Parsons, Portsmouth.
1878-E. S. Berry, A. Noel Smith, D. P. T. Chamberlain and Charles A. Fairbanks, Dover; N. C. Twombly, Strafford.
1879-J. Pitts, Dover ; E. Q. Adams, Kittery Point.
1880-J. L. M. Willis, Eliot; T. A. Rogers, Kennebuckport, Me .; C. E. Quimby, Somersworth.
1881-F. J. Harmon, Sanford; W. E. Pillsbury, Milton; S. N. Nash, North Berwick; G. O. Robbins, Somersworth; F. P. Virgin, Rochester; M. B. Sullivan, Henry Rust Parker, J. G. Hayes, Dover; O. B. Hanson, Farm- ington ; J. O. McCarrison, North Berwick.
1882-Herbert F. Pitcher, Milton.
1883-Frank L. Durgin, Sanford, Me.
1884-Roscoe G. Blanchard, Dover.
1885-Elwin W. Hodson, Carl H. Horsch, Dover.
1886-Edwin D. Jaques, South Berwick, Me .; Daniel P. Cilley, Jr., John Young, Farmington; Charles M. Sleeper, South Berwick, Me .; William Hale, Dover.
1887-Frank B. Morrill, North Berwick, Me .; William P. Watson, Dover; George E. Osgood, East Barrington; Charles D. Jones, Milton; John J. Berry, Portsmouth.
1888-Harry H. Stackpole, Dover; George S. Emerson, South Berwick, Me .; John D. O'Doherty, Dover.
1889-George B. Emerson, Allen P. Richmond, Dover; Elwin T. Hub- bard, Rochester.
1890-George P. Morgan, Dover; Lindsey E. Grant, Somersworth.
1892-Dudley L. Stokes, Rochester; Henri A. Jendrault, Inez H. Ford, Dover; Arthur C. Heffinger, Portsmouth; Thomas J. Ward, Dover.
1893-George A. Tolman, Dover ; Benjamin Cheever, Portsmouth ; James S. Roberts, Durham.
1894-Frederick O. Fowle, Portsmouth; Louis W. Flanders, Dover.
1895-Marion F. Smith, Hampton.
1896-Thomas J. Dougherty, Somersworth; John H. Mudgett, Bar- rington.
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1897-William H. Dyer, Providence, R. I .; John C. Parker.
Admitted since 1897 to date-William H. Nute, Exeter; Albert E. Grant, Stephen Young, John H. Neal, Frederick L. Hayes, Wesley M. Newcomb, Hannibal P. Wheatley, John R. Pattee, Thomas W. Luce, Forrest L. Keay, Frank W. Blair, John H. Bates, Chas. W. Hannaford, Ray J. Ward, John S. Meserve, Wm. B. Kenniston, Philips H. Greeley, Walter Tuttle, Pearl Tenny Haskell, Harry O. Chesley, Louis L. Gilman, A. T. Downing, Linwood M. Keene; Eugene B. Eastman, Portsmouth; Oliver N. Eastman, Burlington, Vt .; E. C. Batchelder, Dover, N. H .; J. J. Morin, P. J. Kitridge, Rochester, N. H .; E. N. Carrignan, E. L. Chapman, J. K. Sweeney, Dover, N. H.
CHAPTER IV HOMICIDES AND HANGINGS IN STRAFFORD COUNTY
THE ELISHA THOMAS CASE
There have been three executions for murder in Strafford county, two in the jails here, and one at the Concord state prison; a fourth was sentenced to be hanged, but died before the day arrived on which he was to be executed. The first execution was on June 3, 1788, and took place at the foot of Swazey's hill in what is the mill yard of the Cocheco Manufacturing Co., on Payne street. The unfortunate man was Elisha Thomas of New Durham. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary army, and in any modern court would not have been held for any higher crime than murder in the second degree, man- slaughter. It came as the result of an altercation, in the preceding February, between Thomas and another man, in a tavern at New Durham; both were badly under the influence of New England rum. Captain Brown, who had been an officer in the Revolutionary army, attempted to separate the bellig- erants, and in so doing got stabbed with a knife by Thomas and soon died. Thomas expressed deep grief as he had not the slightest intention of wounding his friend, Captain Brown; but regrets did not count in court. He was ar- rested, brought to Dover and confined in the jail, which stood on "Jail Hill," where Mrs. John H. Henderson's house now stands on the east side of Central avenue, corner of South Pine street. Theophilus Dame was jailor. Thomas left at home a wife and six children. Some days after he was committed to jail, his wife, taking her youngest child to a neighbor's house, set out for Dover to visit her husband; that was no easy journey in those days, and on foot. One night while she was away, the other five children being in bed, the house caught fire and was burned, and four of the children were burned with it, the oldest one escaping. While in jail, and a few days before his execution, Thomas attempted to escape by climbing up the big flue in the chimney, but failed to get free. The jailor allowed him to attend church on Sundays, under guard of the sheriff and his posse. The First Parish meet- ing house then was a wooden building which stood on the site of the present brick edifice at Tuttle Square. The New Hampshire Gasette, of current date, gave quite an account of the execution, and says: "The very peculiar cir-
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cumstances of this unhappy man's fate induced a vast concourse of specta- tors to attend his execution." One of the Dover witnesses of the affair was Michael Read, Esq., thien a boy of ten years. Mr. Read died September 3, 1864, and was probably the last survivor of the vast throng of witnesses who stood on the hill and saw the sheriff perform his sad duty. Some Dover citizens now surviving (1913) have heard him tell the story of what he saw that day, June 3, 1788.
THE CASE OF ANDREW HOWARD
The second execution occurred July 8, 1846, in the jail yard, on the south side of Silver street, just west of the present Dover and Portsmouth railroad, where Mr. Philip Brown's elegant residence now stands. The prisoner was Andrew Howard of Rochester, who murdered Phebe Hanson, September 19, 1843. The executioner was High Sheriff Gorham W. Hoitt of Lee. The final trial was held in the old courthouse, now (1913) Bradley's garage, in the summer of 1845; August II, that year, he was convicted and sentenced to be hung on the twelfth of November following. On that day all the necessary preparations for the hanging were ready, and the gallows up in front of the jail yard, and several thousand persons had gathered to witness the execution, covering all the fields around there, and Sheriff Hoitt was about to escort the prisoner to the platform when a fast riding courier arrived on the scene and presented from Governor Steele a reprieve of the prisoner to the eighth of July, 1846. The crowd was greatly disappointed. They wanted to see Howard hung, and some would have taken him out and performed the job for the sheriff, could they have got hold of him. But Sheriff Hoitt was a strong man and had a strong posse at hand to assist him in defense of the jail and in support of law and order. The affair was a neighborhood talk in all parts of the county until the real execution came in the following July.
The Dover Enquirer of September 26, 1843, gave an interesting account of the murder, from which the following excerpt was taken. It says: "In a remote part of the town (of Rochester) near the line of Farmington, a woman, Phebe Hanson, was shot in her own house at noon-day. Miss Hanson was a maiden lady somewhat advanced in years, and with her brother, also unmarried, occupied the house. About noon a neighbor of the name of Page, living a few rods distant, heard the report of a gun at the house of Miss Hanson, and soon started for there to see what was the matter. Before he arrived there he saw three men advancing toward the house from an opposite direction, with guns upon their shoulders, and they reached the house and entered it a few minutes before Mr. Page arrived. On entering he found them seated in the kitchen. On inquiring for Miss Hanson he was
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