USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 23
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During the three years following, the roads leading from the Amherst road to the Hollis line were straightened somewhat, (for further particulars the curious are referred to vol. 3 of the Dunstable town records, now in the city clerk's office at the City hall, in perfect preservation.)
The following appears on the record of the meeting held March 14, 1820 :-
"Voted that the Surveyors of Highways Shall not be allowed anything for Rum out of their lists."
"Voted to lay out the Money as it had heretofore been except finding spirits."
"Voted that paupers who reside or who hereafter may reside in Town who are now chargeable or who hereafter may become chargeable the current year, be put up at auction in one lot, the person taking the paupers, to keep their clothing in as good repair as he finds it, and so return them; the
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
children to receive a common chance of Schooling, the Doctoring to be paid by the Town, the paupers to be nursed by the person bidding them off, if any paupers happen to die they shall be decently Buried at the expense of the Person bidding them off," etc., etc. They were bid off by Dr. Peter Howe for $589.00 who also bid off the Doctoring for $10.00 per year. Heretofore the paupers were bid off singly to the lowest bidder.
If there is anything correlative to be deduced from a reading of the above action of the town, at least let us hope that they were honestly consistent and refrained from taking their regular nip behind the door. Of one thing we may be glad, they did not allude to that unfortunate class as the worthy poor, a discrimination that in these latter days savors strongly of hypocrisy when poverty is rated as a crime.
It would seem that the town had been indicted on account of a defective highway, for, Sept. 3, 1821, it was "Voted to raise two hundred dollars to be laid out in highway work on the road now lying under Indictment." This is the first instance on record of any legal action relative to a defective highway.
June 15, 1822. "Voted to discontinue a road passing through Cummings Pollard and James Baldwin's land and leading from the road which leads from the great road at C. Pollard's to Josiah Danforth's, Esqr., to Spit brook & Ichabod Richardson's."
" Voted to discontinue that part of the road leading from Edwd Turrell's cornhouse to Lovewell's pond."
"Voted to purchase a hearse and build a house for the same."
It was customary for the town to own a hearse and as the inhabitants had largely increased in numbers, it became necessary to purchase one. All went well with it, no complaint had ever been made by those for whose use it had been obtained until five years later we find in the warrant for the meeting of June 15, 1829, the following :-
"Art. 3. To see if the town will correct any abuse or outrage committed by the Selectmen in relation to the very extraordinary assumption of Power exercised by them in withholding from the Inhabitants of said town the hearse and its appendages for the purpose of Burying their dead."
And this counterblast. "Art. 4. To see if the town will do anything in relation to the breaking open of the hearse house by David Wallace in April last."
Although the record does not show it, we may well imagine that a part of that meeting was a stormy one. It ended, however, in passing over both articles "provided David Wallace shall purchase a lock as good as the one he broke and put it on to the hearse house."
March II, 1823. "Voted and chose a Committee of twelve to co-operate with the Selectmen in the Inspection of Licensed Houses."
The members of this committee must have found their duties delightfully arduous, but no doubt the landlords devoutly prayed that their visits might be few and far between, especially if they went the grand rounds in full force.
The Nashua Manufacturing company was chartered June 18, 1823, having secured the previous year, through interested parties, lands and water privileges which covered all that was necessary for the company to own to ensure success in their undertaking. I have before me a copy of the original survey of the river and adjoining lands, including Mine falls and all the lands to Main street, extending as far south as Lake street and the Hollis road. This survey was made by John Lund, a noted surveyor, probably in 1822, as the plan bears the date of Feb. 4, 1823.
The first recorded deed was dated July 28, 1823, of Mine island and adjacent land given by Daniel Abbot, the able lawyer of the town, which was followed two days later by a deed conveying the Marshall farm, the French farm, and more land at Mine falls, and also a deed of the Emerson farm, one hundred acres on the river and all the mills in the vicinity of the falls. November 6, following, a deed is recorded of Patterson mills and the land adjoining, including what is now Franklin street. Later, other lands and flowage rights were obtained covering all below to the Merrimack river and all above extending into Hollis. All this included what for a considerable time comprised the residential part of the town. The company laid out streets and divided up its lands into lots and, in fact, made the town. I mention this not only as unrecorded history but as the reason why there has been no record of the laying out of so many of our streets and highways, no titles having been acquired by the general public except by adverse possession, and they stand simply
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as "rights of way" guaranteed by the original owners to the abuttors; the purchase of the entirety on any street would give the owner the right to close up that street in spite of the authorities representing the general public.
Fire wardens were first elected March 8, 1825, when Col. Prentice Cushing, Col. William Boardman and Col. Joseph Greeley were chosen.
The Nashua river bridge which had served the public need for nineteen years, with occasionally a small outlay in repairs, again appears prominently in view. The Nashua Manufacturing company intending to build a dam below, it became necessary to rebuild this bridge, raising it above the pond thus created. A committee of six was appointed March 28, 1825, who submitted a very able report, evidently from the pen of Judge Abbot, at the meeting held June 6, following, stating that in their opinion, " a new bridge will be indisputably necessary in the course of the next year, or the year following, and that in order to be prepared for its erection, it will be expedient to build two stone Piers, at proper distances and of suitable dimensions to receive a Bridge, when it shall be necessary to erect one, to be twenty-five feet wide in the clear," and as an inducement the committee stated that the said Nashua company offered to give all the necessary stone for building the bridge and they offered the following motion : "That a Committee be chosen, or the Selectmen authorized to build sd. Piers agreeably to the foregoing Report" which, after amending by substituting one Pier instead of two, was adopted, and the selectmen authorized to go on with the building, giving them directions relative to advertising for bids, raising funds, etc., "Voting to accept the offer of stone and directed the selectmen to take an obligation from said company to perform their part before going on with the work."
This was not satisfactory and a special meeting was called to consider matters. It was held Aug. 18, 1825, when the selectmen presented the following report :-
"In persuance of the Votes passed at the last town meeting June 6, the Selectmen posted up Notifications in sundry public places in town for proposals to be bro't in for building a Stone Pier under Nashua River Bridge, agreeably to the Plan and description for erecting it,-The Proposals presented considerably exceeded the calculations which had been previously made of the expense of effecting the object. In addition to this objection, very serious difficulties were suggested by the best informed people upon such subjects, and by persons whose opinions had great weight with the selectmen, as to the utility of the proposed Pier, if it should be built. From the best information your Selectmen have been able to obtain, they believe that omitting the proposed Centre Pier altogether, and enlarging & extending the Abutments, according to a plan & description to be presented to the Meeting, will ensure us a more permanent & durable Bridge, than by persuing the former proposed course.
" The difficulties attending the former proposal and calculation in regard to the Bridge, together with the situation and feelings of the town, were communicated in writing to the Directors of the Nashua Maunfac. Co. The subject has been fully considered and duly appreciated by them, and they have come forward with a proposition, which by the Selectmen, and many others who have examined it, is considered both liberal and honorable as regards that Company, and highly beneficial to the Interest of the town and of the Public.
"The Plan of the proposed Bridge, together with a particular statement of the Abutments & Walls, and some calculations in regard to the expense will be laid before the Meeting. The general outline of the Proposal is this :- that the town shall build two strong & sufficient abutments, to extend Fifteen feet each into the River beyond the present ones, suitable to receive a Bridge Twenty-six feet wide, to be raised from six to seven feet higher than the present Bridge, and also suitable Walls running from them, to extend as far as the lines of the Road, which is three rods wide, to meet similar Walls which are to be built by the Company and by the Messrs. Pearsons, which are to extend up and down the River to a distance of at least Fifty feet beyond the Town's Walls. The Abutments & Walls to the line of the Road being completed, the Company propose to erect a Bridge, upon the Plan to be presented, twenty-six feet wide, to find all the material of good and approv qualities, to have the work done in handsome style, and in a workmanlike manner, to complete the whole satisfactory to the town, place it securely upon the Abutments and present it to the town for their own and public use.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
"The Company also offer to give the necessary stone from their lower ledge, and the sand & gravel for filling up the Roads, upon both sides of the Bridge, to be taken out in a reasonable & proper manner, from convenient places therefor, to be taken in a manner satisfactory to the Company's Agents. And it is understood that provided the town accept the proposals of the Company, the expence of the Abutments and Walls is to be assessed and paid the next year.
" It will readily occur to the town, that the stone work required of them by the foregoing proposals, if once done & well done, as it should be, is not done for the present year, or age merely, but that probably we, nor our children, may be called on to rebuld it.
"In every light in which your Selectmen have been able to view the subject, it presents itself to them, as one eminently beneficial to the Town, and they trust that after due examination and under- standing of it, it will be received in that spirit of Amity and good feeling, in which it appears to be offered.
"August 18, 1825.
Dan1 Abbot, Selectmen Cummings Pollard, of
Willm F. Boynton, Dunstable."
August 23, 1825, the Amherst road at Pennichuck bridge, near Whitney's tavern in Merrimack, was altered by building the bridge ten rods and five feet further up stream and changing the road to correspond. The center of the bridge being on the dividing line.
July 3, 1826, Moses Tyler, Joseph Winn, Joseph Greeley and their associates were incorporated under the name of the proprietors of Taylor falls bridge for the purpose of building a bridge across the Merrimack river between Nashua and Hudson, or as it was then called, Nottingham West, giving them the right to collect tolls as hereinafter specified. The contract was made with Samuel Chittenden, a carpenter of Chelsea, Mass., and Franklin Sawyer, a mason of Cambridge, Mass., for the sum of eleven thousand and one hundred dollars. The contract, together with a covenant of warranty and bond, with sureties to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, were signed Nov. 22, 1826, and the bridge was opened for travel in the following year. The stone piers and abutments are the same now standing under the present iron structure. The bridge was of wood, in three spans, and covered. As a curiosity I give the rates of toll. "For every foot passenger, Two Cents ; for every horse and rider or led horse, Six Cents ; for every Chaise or other carriage of pleasure drawn by one horse, Seventeen Cents; and for each additional horse, Six Cents; for every Cart or other carriage of burthen drawn by one horse or yoke of oxen, Ten Cents ; for each additional horse, Three Cents ; for each additional yoke of oxen, Five Cents; for each Gig wagon, Ten Cents ; for each pleasure sleigh drawn by one horse, Eight Cents; and for each additional horse, four Cents; for each Sled or sleigh of burthen drawn by one horse or one yoke of oxen, Six Cents; and for each additional horse or yoke of oxen, Three Cents; for each carriage of pleasure having four wheels and drawn by two horses, Twenty-five Cents ; for horses and mules in droves, Three Cents each ; for neat cattle in droves, Two Cents each; for sheep or swine, one-fourth of a cent each; and one person and no more, with any loaded team or drove of horses, cattle, sheep or swine shall be allowed to pass said bridge free of toll : and at all times when the toll gatherer does not attend his duty, the toll gate shall be left open."
The justices of the Superior County Court had the power to regulate, alter or amend the rates of toll so that the net income should not exceed twelve per centum, the company making returns to them every five years.
To allay the constantly increasing irritation and burdensome payment of tolls, Nashua and Hudson finally acquired all right in this bridge in 1854, and opened it as a free bridge to the general public.
In 1881 the old bridge, originally warranted to safely sustain the passing of not exceeding five tons' weight with a time limit of ten years, began to show the effects of its more than fifty years of constant wear and was condemned as unsafe; it was replaced in that year by the present iron structure which scarcely met the requirements which the times then demanded and has since proved entirely inadequate both in regard to strength and travel capacity. The running of the electric cars over it has almost ruined it for general public use but it has demonstrated one fact, that in the erection of public works, the future must be considered entirely, leaving the present out altogether.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. II.
The early settlers considered the rivers highly important not only as waterways or roads, but valuable for their fisheries and they were exceedingly averse to parting with any rights in them. This is shown in the defining of the lines and bounds of Hudson (Nottingham West) when set off from Dunstable, being bounded to the Merrimack, thus reserving to Dunstable the full control of the river. With this condition of ownership it was urged, when the payment for the first bridge came under consideration, that Nashua should pay a very large part of, if not the entire cost. This would never do and so the county commissioners were appealed to, who decided that the divisional line should be the centre of the river, an opinion affirmed by the Supreme Court, and the cost was settled on that basis.
Following the construction of the Middlesex canal from Boston to Chelmsford, which was incorporated June 22, 1793, and opened for business in 1804, a series of dams, locks, and short canals were built to overcome the natural rapids and falls of the river and render the Merrimack navigable as far as Concord. Dunstable took immediate advantage of this new opening, and we learn from Fox's history that an elaborately constructed canal boat built by Robert Fletcher, Esq., was launched on the Fourth of July, 1803, attended by a great gathering of the people, who with much parade and general rejoicing christened it the "Nashua " and the village that had until then been called "Indian Head " received the name of Nashua Village. It was celebrated by a public meeting and an oration by Daniel Abbot, Esq. The landing was on the Merrimack near the mouth of the Nashua river.
Concord, Piscataquog, Litchfield and Nashua each had its line of boats, making in the aggre- gate quite a fleet, and this waterway for nearly forty years formed the principal channel for heavy transportation between Boston and Concord until its usefulness was destroyed by the railways.
The Nashua Manufacturing company at once took advantage of this waterway and, securing a charter from the legislature in December, 1824, to connect the Nashua with the Merrimack by means of a canal with the necessary dams and locks, erected the lower dam across the Nashua with its head gates, built the locks at the Merrimack river and connected the two by a suitable canal ; they also put in a substantial stone wall with the necessary backing just below the Main street bridge for a wharf or landing, built a freight shed upon it and started a regular line of boats for its own freighting.
The building of this dam developed additional water power which was transferred with consid- erable land, Feb. 15, 1826, to Charles C. Haven and associates, who secured a charter and erected two mills for the manufacture of woolen goods under the name of the "Proprietors of the Indian Head Factories." This company bought additional land upon the east side of the Nashua river and built the first bridge on the site of the present Canal street bridge, which was long known as the Haven bridge. Nov. 1, 1828, the Nashua Manufacturing company transferred to the proprietors of the Indian Head factories all of its ownings in their vicinity including the dam, saw-mill, head gates, canal, and all lands between the boating canal and Nashua river. These mills were not successful ; a new company was formed who purchased the entire plant without reservation and were incorporated at the June session of the legislature in 1830, as the "Jackson Company." The building and operation of the Nashua & Lowell railway ruined this boating canal and the Jackson company obtained permission of the legislature in 1852 to surrender its charter whenever they should deem it for their advantage to do so. In the absence of a general flowage law governing water-power plants in the state, which rendered it imprudent to annul the charter at once, it required several years to do so with safety. It was finally accomplished, the bridge on Canal street under which it passed was removed, the stone in the locks were taken out, and the bed of the canal left, like the scar of a wound, to be healed over by nature's own process, so that to-day no trace of it is to be seen. A part of the stone from the locks was used in building the abutments of the suspension foot-bridge in the rear of the mills of the Jackson company.
In accordance with an act passed by the legislature at the June session, 1823, three police officers were appointed June 4, 1827. They were Thomas Chase, George W. Wilson and Willard Marshall. This was the first appointment of a police force in the town.
April 16, 1827, East Hollis street was laid out from the contemplated new bridge at Taylor falls westerly to the Joshua Pierce house, which stood opposite the foot of what is now Arlington street.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
August II, 1828, Canal street from Main street south of the Oval to the land of the Jackson company near the foot of Chandler street was laid out, also that part of it north of the Oval from the Greeley building, joining the former at the foot of Orange street.
December 5, 1828, West Hollis street from Chestnut street westerly as far as the junction of the Dunstable and Hollis roads was laid out.
I judge that this Dunstable road was laid out by order of the court, I find no record in the proceedings of the town relative to it.
January 2, 1829, Bridge street from Taylor falls bridge westerly to land of Charles C. Haven was laid out and Feb. 10, 1829, the selectmen accepted the report of the court, laying out the remaining parts of Canal and Bridge streets; this took in the Haven bridge.
The town voted, Nov. 8, 1828, that it was expedient to purchase a town farm and on the 24th of the same month appointed a committee of five to examine farms, with power to select one and run the town in debt for it. March 10, following, they reported unanimously in favor of the Benjamin Cutler farm, which they purchased for $2,659.14, giving in payment the notes of the town. The plan of this farm, drawn on sheepskin, is now in the office of the city engineer. The cost of running it for the following year was reported by the selectmen as $551.55 net.
June 22, 1825, Temple street was laid out from East Hollis street to the "Great Elm " tree and from thence to the Rev. Mr. Nott's meeting house (Pilgrim church) and Main street. Also Amory street from the "Great Elm" tree to Bridge street. Under the administration of Mayor Williams Hall in 1893, this latter street was widened and paved, a much needed and most appreciated improvement.
January 25, 1830, Lowell street was laid out from Abbot square to the Unitarian church, mention being made of the postoffice and the Greeley building.
June 5, 1830, West Hollis street, from Main to Chestnut street, was laid out through land of the Nashua Manufacturing company and Joseph Greeley.
The Main street bridge across the Nashua river which we have seen was built in 1825 by the town and the Nashua Manufacturing company, jointly, after ten years' service was declared in 1835 to have outlived its usefulness, and it was voted August 5 of that year to build a new one, raising it two feet higher and increasing its width with each sidewalk at least ten feet. A committee of seven was appointed to superintend the building. The present stone pier in the middle of the river was put in and the supporting trusses placed under the flooring instead of overhead as they were in the old bridge. It was finished during the next year and cost $7,413.78. With occasional repairing it remained unaltered until the administration of Mayor Otterson in 1870 when it was decided to still further widen and thoroughly repair it. This was done under the supervision of Mr. Samuel Pollard Wilson, an expert mill-wright and builder. Three trusses, similar to those already there, were added on the west side and two on the east side increasing the width correspondingly ; the sidewalks were projected over the water, supported by braces and retained their old width, each ten feet; the roadway was newly planked and concreted and no expense or effort was spared in the endeavor to unite durability with thoroughness of construction. The cost was $14,840.87.
In 1886 the street railway placed their tracks across this bridge and, during the past summer (1895) in re-locating them for the electric cars, it was found that through negligence, surface water had penetrated under the concrete and much of the underlying plank was badly decayed. Advantage was taken of the resultant uncovering of the roadway to widen it two feet and four inches on the westerly side and project the sidewalk the same distance farther out. It was noted that the trusses, five of which were placed twenty-five years since, and the remainder sixty years ago, were as sound and strong as when they were put in, which would seem to show that wood properly put together and protected from the weather is durable.
Nov. 7, 1836, the town voted that the selectmen petition the legislature to change the name of the town from Dunstable to Nashua. With such expedition did they act that on the eighth day of the following month, their petition was granted, to take effect from and after the last day of that month. The rising sun of January 1, 1837, dawned upon the new town of Nashua, and the old town of Dunstable passed into history as a memory.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. II.
The Nashua & Lowell railway commenced running passenger trains in October, 1838. The road ended at the "Great Elm" at the head of Amory street, the bridge over the Nashua river and the station on Railroad square being built a year later.
On the twentieth of this month East Pearl street was accepted by the town, having been laid out by the Nashua Manufacturing company in 1832. It was fifty feet wide from Main street to Olive street (now Spring street), and from thence to Factory street, (now Temple street) forty feet wide.
Feb. 23, 1839, a committee reported the Haven bridge across the Nashua river at "Indian Head " to be in a ruinous condition, and during that year it was rebuilt at a cost of $4,459.98.
The stone bridge over Salmon brook at the "Harbor" was probably built in 1838, as I find in the selectmen's annual report of March 12, 1839, various amounts as having been paid for rebuilding the "Harbor " bridge; one amounting to $283.03, probably for the stone work.
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