USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Washington > History of Washington, New Hampshire, from the first settlement to the present time, 1768-1886 > Part 3
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BENJAMIN BABCOCK it is supposed came from Harvard, Massachusetts. He lived on land belonging to John Saf- ford. He died leaving no descendants.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
WILLIAM and JOHN STEELE were from Amherst, New Hampshire. They lived on the mountain road. William fell from his horse into the brook near his house and was drowned.
The ARCHIBALD WHITE farm was situated to the north- west of the Safford property, and where the house first stood was the finest situation in town for the prospect afforded. After the building of the second New Hamp- shire turnpike the house was moved to that thoroughfare, where Deacon Farwell kept "tavern", and where it still stands a conspicuous object from a distance, and known for the past seventy years as the "Fisher place." It re- quired a team of eighty-five yoke of oxen to remove the building, on a descending grade all the way. Mr. White was Col. Kidder's agent in the new township and was a prominent and influential man in those times. It was through his influence that the name of Camden was changed to Washington.
THOMAS FARWELL came from Groton, Massachusetts, and bought the Archibald White place in 1780. Deacon Farwell was a descendant of one of the oldest families in New England, well known since their first settlement in Concord, Massachusetts.
JOHN HEALY came here about the year 1778. He came from Newton, Massachusetts, and settled on the north Stoddard road near the line dividing the towns, occupying an elevated situation, and having an extensive view of the surrounding country. He was an influential citizen, and held the different offices in this town. The Healys were granted the same marks of respect in Massachusetts that they afterwards received in Washington.
JOIIN SEATON came here from Amherst, New Hamp- shire. He was a native of Ireland, and first settled in this country at Boxford, Massachusetts. His family were of Scotch origin, and were compelled to leave Scotland on
East Washington,
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
account of adhering to the cause of the Stewarts in some civil war. He came to this town in 1787 and died in 1793.
Among the well known citizens of Washington was "SQUIRE PENNIMAN," who was always ready to help a good cause with money and a kind word. He loaned the town one hundred pounds to help build the meeting house, and willed a sum of money for the benefit of the public schools. Mr. Penniman was at the capture of Quebec, and brought back a hatchel or flax comb which is now in the possession of Mr. Charles Lowell.
EBENEZER WOOD came from Littleton, Massachusetts, and took up his abode in the mountain neighborhood. He became the possessor of a good farm and the father of a large family of children. He is remembered as an energetic man and good citizen. He held various town offices and was generally known as Lieut. Wood.
JOHN VOSE was from Milton, Massachusetts, belonging to an ancient and extensive family in that town. He chose for his home a farm on the south side of Lovewell's mountain, where he continued to reside until his death. Mr. Vose was chosen deacon of the church and was a prominent man among his fellow citizens.
There are other names doubtless equally honorable; we have been obliged to use material that came to hand. These men and a succeeding generation have passed away, and left but slight record of their lives and decds; that they builded well we know from the results that followed their labors.
"Like leaves on the trees the race of man is found, Now green in youth, now withering on the ground : Another race the following spring supplies, They fall successive, and successive rise : So generations in their course decay, So flourish these, when those have passed away."
CHAPTER IV.
SETTLEMENT OF EAST WASHINGTON.
Village of East Washington. First Settlers. Some Early Residents.
THE village of East Washington is situated in the eastern part of the town near the Hillsborough and Bradford lines, and it is separated from the larger portion of the town by Lovewell's mountain and the ridge of hills that extend from that mountain towards the south. It is pleasantly located in a valley at the foot of the mountain, and has a delightful view of that and other hills. Two small streams, one from Island pond and the other from Ayer's pond, unite here and form a branch of the Contoocook.
The first settlers on this side of the mountain were Charles Brown, who lived on the Simon Jones place, Dea. William Graves and Capt. Jonathan Brockway. Dea. Graves came from Sudbury, Massachusetts, and first built a log house near where the rake shop now stands, in the field owned by Arthur Severance, and afterwards built the house owned in later years by John Severance, and which was taken down in 1880. That house it is supposed was the first one built in the place. Mr. Graves was at the battle of Bunker Hill, and soon after the war came to this place. At that time the mountain was infested with bears, and the family were often aroused from their slum- bers to drive away the unwelcome visitants. The name
Brockway hary
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
of Graves was, until within a few years, prominent in this community, and there are some of Dea. Graves' descend- ants still living here, none, however, who bear his name.
CAPT. JONATHAN BROCKWAY came here from the neigh- borhood of Millen's pond, and built a saw-mill on the site now occupied by Mason H. Carr, and a house in the mill- yard. The original house was torn down, and another built on the same spot, and that house was taken away in the year 1884. Mr. Brockway was from Lyme, Connecti- cut, on Long Island sound, had been a sea captain, and came to this town because he desired that his children should escape the inducements to lead a sea-faring life that surrounded them in that place. He gave a deed of the farm now owned by George W. Carr to his son, who was known as Jonathan, 2nd, in the year 1787. This son was married to Mary Proctor, Feb. 24, 1789, and he and his wife proceeded to pass their honey moon in the woods, making maple sugar. They built a temporary house on their farm, Mrs. Brockway assisting her husband in the work of building. In 1812, Mr. Brockway built the large venerable looking house which now stands on the same place. His wife, Mrs. Mary Brockway, lived and died here at the age of one hundred and one years.
CALEB CARR, who married their daughter, now lives with his son in the same house, and is ninety-three years of age. Mr. Carr first settled on the place now owned by Alvah Davis, and a portion of the house that he built there is still standing.
CHARLES BROWN settled on what is now called the Simon Jones place, and he owned all the land south of the pond as far as the road leading up the hill from the village. The remaining part of the land which now comprises this village was, in the early years of its settle- ment, owned by Dea. Graves, Capt. Brockway and Dea. John Fish. Mr. Fish owned the easterly portion, next to
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
the Hillsborough line, and built the house where Hiram J. Gage now lives. Mr. Graves owned the land on the north side of the mill-pond, and as far west as to what is now the farm of Mr. George W. Carr. These farms have been mostly sold for building lots, only a small portion of them being retained with the homestead buildings.
The WOODWARD family from Bellingham, Massachu- setts, were one of the first families to settle here. They first lived near Oak Hill in the southerly part of the town. In this neighborhood lived JOSEPH CRANE, SEN., who came from Milton, Massachusetts. He had a large family of children, and many of his descendants are still living in this town. His son, Mr. Ziba Crane, has recently died at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
ABIJAH MONROE came here in 1808 and lived on the farm afterwards owned by his son and at the present time by a grandson. One of his daughters, Mrs. Rebecca Spaulding, still lives in the village, in the house built by her husband, Mr. Gardner Spaulding. Mr. Monroe pur- chased his farm of Rufus Severance, and paid him in sil- ver dollars. Mr. Severance came from New Ipswich with his father, Ephraim Severance, who was one of the first settlers in town, and many of whose descendants still live in this vicinity.
MOSES JONES built the house which was afterwards the home of his son, Simon W. Jones, and which is still in the possession of the family, in the year 1830. Mr. Jones had a large family of children, nearly all of whom have lived in this neighborhood. A son and daughter and other descendants of Moses Jones are still living here.
DAVID LINCOLN came here from Bedford, New Hamp- shire, in 1802, and lived during the remainder of his life on the place now owned by James A. Crane, which was first cleared by Rufus Brockway. Isaac N. Gage received the farm from Mr. Lincoln, and lived on it many years.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Mr. Gage was a native of Wilton, one of a family of nine children, all but two of whom have resided in this part of the town, some of them for many years, and a younger brother only for a brief period of time. This has been one of our most respected families, and is still well rep- resented here in some of its descendants.
The PROCTORS, the BAILEYS and NATHANIEL GORDON were influential men in their day, but their names only live in memory, or are transmitted in some few of their descendants who are still living. We can relate but little with regard to their lives, only hoping to correctly trace their genealogies.
CHAPTER V.
FIRST MEETING HOUSE.
Building Meeting House. Committees chosen. Timber, when cut. Price of materials for building. Workmen's wages. Outside house finished. Expense of meetings of the committee. House raising. Completion and appearance of the house. Liquor drink- ing habit.
ASHINGTON had now become fairly started in the world as an independent town organization ; the centre of the town had begun to be a place of some importance as something of a village had been built there, and it was now decided to build the Meeting House for which provisions had been made in the town charter. Aug., 1785, chose Dea. Jaquith, Capt. Lemuel Tabor, Samuel Draper, Col. Woods and Maj. Davis, to be a committee to bring in a draft of a meeting house. Sept., same year, voted to accept the draft presented, and also voted at this time to sell the pews at vendue and take securities of the purchasers for materials to be used in constructing the house.
A committee had been chosen by the town consisting of Thomas Penniman, Ephraim Davis, Ebenezer Wood, Jonathan Brockway, John Safford, Joseph Rounsevel, Ebenezer Jaquith, Wm. Proctor, David Danforth, Samuel Draper, and Church Tabor, to procure materials for build- ing the house. The committee met for the first time Aug. 21, 1786. They voted that there be a book procured
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
to record all matters transacted in said committee. The expense of this meeting was 2s. 6d. and they adjourned to Sept. 4. At that meeting they voted "that all the hewing timber should be cut in the old of the moon 'in Septem- ber and October.' That the windows shall be glazed with seven by nine glass, forty squares in each window. That Church Tabor shall make the window frames at 4S. a frame, and the sashes at 21/2 d. a square."
On the 4th of Dec., 1786, the committee met and chose Ebenezer Jaquith, Ephraim Davis, John Safford, a sub- committee to procure the under-pinning stones. They also voted "that ten-penny nails shall be delivered in Wash- ington at 12s. a thousand, and eight-penny at Ios. and four-penny at 6s. and good N. E. rum at 3s. a gallon."
At the next meeting of the building committee they voted "that one-third part of the cash articles be allowed to the purchasers of pews for their transporting said ar- ticles to the committee, and to be endorsed on their lum- ber notes. Likewise the articles at their prime cost at Boston be endorsed on their notes."
In May, 1787, the committee met and decided that the first-class men for framing, namely: Church Tabor and Joseph Tabor, should be paid 6s. per day ; the second class, such as are carpenters, should have 5s .; and the third class, raw hands, 4s. a day, they finding themselves. That each . purchaser of pews shall procure and deliver two lbs. flax by the 5th of May, one shilling per lb. on his cash note. That Dea. Jaquith shall have nine shillings a week for boarding carpenters. Wheat and other kinds of grain, good maple sugar at 8 pence per. lb. and other articles were to be brought to the committee instead of money. Bricks used for the underpinning were furnished by dif- ferent men. Certain individuals were chosen to raise the frame.
In Sept., 1787, a committee was chosen to see that the
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
body of the house should be "boarded and done work- manlike." Contract was made with John Safford to fur- nish the lumber for the galleries at 15s. per thousand and with others to furnish black birch plank, fifteen inches wide and three thick, at 9s. a hundred, all timber to be the best of stuff. Church Tabor was to make the pillars to support the galleries.
Feb., 1788, agreed with Goodhue Farley that he was to finish the outside of the house for £8. "to be done work- manlike, he to find himself and be paid in neat stock, or rye, or flour." The expense of this meeting was 3s. for one qt. rum furnished by Capt. Brockway, one qt. rum from Esq. Rounsevel and one lb. sugar from Capt. Proctor. The expense of a meeting held March, 1788, was "I pt. new rum and sugar to sweeten the same." Other meet- ings were held to settle for timber and choose a committee to sell the pews in the gallery ; and they decided to sell them at public vendue; to be paid for, one half in one year's time, in rye at 4s. a bushel, or in neat cattle at an equivalent price. The other half to be paid in two years. The total value of the pews in the house was set at £817 16s. od. At the meeting of the different committees a quantity of rum was usually provided by some member of the committee to be paid for by the town. Thus did our fathers seek to enliven the details of an exceedingly dry subject, and warm themselves up to the arduous un- dertaking they had engaged in.
At this time there was no adequate currency in circu- lation, and the resources of this town, as well as the whole country, had been crippled by the war, and provisions and materials for constructing the house were taken in place of money. It is not known just when the house was completed, the first sum appropriated not being suffi- cient for that purpose. Meanwhile it was used by the town for its annual meetings, and for a place of religious worship by the church of the "standing order," and other
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
societies which were organized within a few years after it was built.
Miss Shedd, in a poem, narrates the circumstances at- tending the raising of the meeting house and one would judge from her statement that it was a day of festivity and pleasure. The raising was conducted by a Mr. Cum- mings who must have been in the habit of boasting of his skill for he is reported to have said,
"That every joint he ever framed Ile knew would pinch a hair."
On that occasion a large quantity of New England rum was provided by the town ; tubs of home-made beer were drank, and a large quantity of pies, puddings, baked beans, and loaves of brown bread were eaten by the jovial, hun- gry crowd. A junk bottle followed the last rafter to its place and was there drained of the last drop, by whom history saith not.
The custom of rum drinking was more generally prac- ticed then than at the present time, but it is by no means certain that drunkenness prevailed to any greater extent than it does now. The liquor drank then has the reputa- tion of being of a better quality than that of later years, and it is possible that the constitutions of our fore-fathers could endure stimulation better than those of the present generation. Temperance societies and the advocates of total abstinence were unknown one hundred years ago ; it was not until about the year 1826 that the restraining influence of total abstinence movement began to check the evil growth of the monster intemperance, which with the increase of population, and more lavish habits of the people, might have attained much greater proportions than it now has.
When completed the Town House was considered a structure of considerable elegance. Being of large size,
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
and standing on an elevated site, the roof painted Spanish brown, it was a conspicuous object at some distance in the surrounding country. In the interior with its broad aisles, its lofty pulpit, painted gallery front, with carved wood ornaments, it was imposing in its style, and highly satisfactory to those who had planned and built the structure.
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CHAPTER VI.
TRANSCRIPT OF ROADS.
TRANSCRIPT of roads made in 1773 is as fol- lows : "A transcript of roads in Camden, to wit, beginning at the south side of Camden on Lim- erick line, near Mr. William Steel's land, running north- wardly to the mills, thence northwardly to Esqr. Kidder's house, near Mr. Daniel Taylor's, on the west side of the mill-pond, thence eastwardly to Mr. John Safford's house, thence northwardly to Mr. Robert Mann's. Another road taken from the mill-pond about eighty poles south-east of the mills, running north-eastwardly and north, on the east side of said mill-pond, to said Safford's; one branch of the road taken from the road north of Mr. White's house, running eastwardly to Mr. William Steel's farm, lying on Lovewell's mountain, so called; another branch from the road near Mr. Safford's, running easterly to Mr. Abner Sampson's house ; another branch taken from the road near Mr. Josiah Proctor's dwelling place, running east- wardly to Mr. James Maxwell's house; another branch taken from on Mr. Safford's land, running to the mill- pond ; another branch taken from the road west of Mr. Safford's, running northwardly to Mr. Jacob Burkank's, thence north to Mr. Merrill's ; another branch taken from the mills, to Mr. Abraham Estabrook's house." A large
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
part of this transcript is sufficiently clear though more than a hundred years has passed since it was made out. The mill-pond is at present known as Millen's pond. John Safford's place is still occupied by his descendants. Jacob Burbank's house is standing on the road leading from the Marlow to the Lempster road.
From this description it seems that Millen's pond was the nucleus around which the infant settlement gathered. On the back of the transcript we find the following rec- ord : "Ten voted that there should be nine shillings raised on each right for to repair roads in said town : allowed three shillings a day from the last of April to the first of November, from thence two pistareens." Eleven voted to raise a sum of money to cut out Lempster road. From this we infer that there was no highway by which the inhabitants of Camden could reach their neighbors on the west. East Washington was then a wilderness, and bears rushed down from the mountain and roamed unmolested through the valley where the village now stands.
At a town meeting held March, 1777, a vote was passed that the selectmen be empowered to lay out roads in this town, and to bring in a transcript in order to have it re- corded ; and also voted that forty pounds be raised and laid out on the roads in that year. The price of men's labor was now set at 4s. 6d. from April to September, and from that time to the end of the year, 3s.
The next road accepted was in 1778 and was described as follows : "Beginning at the house of Timothy McIntire, running southerly by William Steel's, thence down the road as it is now trod to Israel Keyes' and Josiah Davis' land, thence on the line between Tabor and Lowell, thence on the east side of Half Moon pond, thence across Philip and Joseph Tabor's land to the bridge over Long pond brook." The line of this road is clearly indicated as that of the mountain district. A branch from this was also accepted, "beginning at Thomas White's, west of Steel's
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
land, thence running southerly over John Farnsworth's land into the above mentioned road." A road was also laid out by Robert Mann's, beginning at Mr. Tubbs' land, southerly into the road leading through the town: this is a part of the Goshen road.
In the year 1778 voted to accept a road "leading through the town, beginning at Campbell's Gore, running westerly over Ashuelot river to Lempster, near as the road is now trod."
In 1778 the town voted to raise two hundred and fifty pounds to be expended on the roads.
In 1780 the following roads were accepted : "one lead- ing from Abner Sampson's to Archibald White's, and so on to Mr. Mann's and old Mr. Lowell's to Lempster." Also one leading from Simon Chamberlain's to Abner Sampson's. This was the eastern part of the North Stod- dard road.
In 1781 a road was accepted leading westerly from near Supply Barney's to the first little brook in Atkinson's land. This must have been in the south-west part of the town bordering on Stoddard and Marlow. In the same year the present South Stoddard road was accepted by the town.
In 1785 a road was accepted which is described as fol- lows : "Beginning at the road near Col. Kidder's north house, and running west, thence south, thence north-west- erly and westerly, till it gets round the north end of the hill, thence west about twenty-five degrees south, over Ashuelot river to Marlow line." This was, without doubt, the present Marlow road.
In 1786 a road beginning on the main road before Aaron Wilson's house, thence leading easterly to Stephen Mead's house, was accepted. This must have been a branch road leading from the Stoddard road to the Mead place. Also another road beginning at the north-west corner of William Steele's farm, leading to the north-
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
castern section of the town bordering on Bradford and a corner of Sunapee.
Some short roads were laid out in this year in the same section of the town, which are now discontinued, and hardly remembered, or to be recognized when described.
In 1786 a road was laid out beginning at the Hills- borough line by land of Elijah Fisk. That was the main road leading through East Washington to the mountain road, as it was then run through the farm of Gardner Spaulding and others, a little north of the present road, until it reached the corner where the Bradford road now meets the main road.
In 1787 a road was accepted beginning at the road by Mr. John Vose's, through lands of Col. Kidder, Eben Jaquith, William Everett, Moses Bacon, and William Graves, a little north of Capt. Brockway's saw-mill, to the road before laid out leading to Hillsborough. This is evidently the old mountain road leading towards East Washington-just where it met the road leading from Elijah Fisk's land near Hillsborough line is not definitely known.
In 1790 a bridle road beginning near Ebenezer Wood's house, running westerly to the ford over Long pond brook, thence westerly to Samuel Twist's house-for the benefit of Twist and his heirs-he obliging himself to maintain two gates or handy pair of bars on each side Wood's land.
A road was laid out in 1793 beginning near where James Leslie's house formerly stood, by Freezeland pond, thence south-west to the county road near where Joseph Farnsworth formerly lived.
Nov., 1795, a road beginning at the bridge near the north line of James Herring's land, thence easterly to Long pond brook, thence on the west side of said brook to the north end of David Leslie's lower meadow, thence easterly across the brook to the road leading from Joseph Farnsworth's to Samuel Philbrick's.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
The road from the mill yard in East Washington, over the bridge, up the hill to Hillsborough line, was laid out in 1800. A road from the school-house to Caleb Wood- ward's was accepted the same year. The next year a road was laid out from the mill yard, "to a stake and stones about one rod south of Elijah Fisk's north-west corner, thence to a stake and stones in Fisk's north line, thence on Fisk's line where the road is now trod about thirty rods, where it intersects the road already laid out."
The second New Hampshire Turnpike was built in the year 1800.
In 1802 two roads were laid out, one leading from Joseph Farnsworth's to the turnpike, to be a bridle road for two years, then an open road. Another beginning at Stoddard line in the south-easterly part of the town, run- ning through land of Joshua Blanchard and William Bell, to the old County road.
In 1808 the following roads were accepted. One from David Lincoln's to the Abijah Monroe place ; also from David Tabor's, afterwards the Charles Jones place, to the Hillsborough line; also a road from the house of Eben- ezer Wood, Jr., south to the Croydon turnpike ; also a road from the meeting house to the Stoddard line.
The old Bradford road from the line between that town and Washington, leading to the corner near the Meth- odist church, was laid out in 1817; also the same year a road from Russell's mills to Marlow, and voted to discon- tinue the old road after January, 1818.
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