USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Amherst > History of the town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (first known as Narraganset township number three, and subsequently as Souhegan West) > Part 10
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EXTRACT FROM A TOWN MEETING,
OR A TOUCH OF THE TIMES AT A T.
March comes, the first-born child of Spring : The bells for annual meeting ring ; Joy smiles in every patriot's face, And A * t dreams not of disgrace !
Forth from the North in crowds come down
Old age, on crutch, and youth, half grown ;
Old age, whose one foot in the grave is,
Whose other to the gout a slave is ; And youth, not yet arrived at freedom,
Who need their nurses still to lead 'em ;
All, all came down, a motley nation,-
As tho' "in hell there were vacation," -- Burning with Jacobinic zeal To overturn the public weal.
Before them stalked a man of stature,
Designed a Jacobin by nature,
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Whose mind and mien strong traces bore Of that great Jacobin of yore, Who, for Sedition, forth was driven, Eternal from the gates of heaven. Despising peace and lawful labors, He sows sedition 'mong his neighbors ;
Tells them that government are knaves,
That they, poor sonls, will soon be slaves,
And those that rule them soon will stand The lords and sovereigns of the land. To church he goes, but not for preaching;
He gives his precious time to teaching That those that dare not tell a lie Have surely lost their liberty. He at his heels the rabble brought, Who long beneath his eye were taught To banish order, stir up evil, And serve their lord and master, Devil.
*
At length the cause of all their ills,
The Alien and Sedition bills, The tax direct on lands and houses,
Which every foe to peace arouses, Comes publickly to be discussed,
By friend and foe, by blest and cursed. A solemn pause-debates proceeded As though the Jacos some man needed- Some natural son of base sedition, To rise and speak for their petition. Their chief arose -" Tis strange," he cries, " Since freedom is our blood-earned prize, That we, like slaves, should be debarred The use of speech-indeed, that's hard. No more shall scandal charm our souls, Since government our tongues controls. Aliens no more with monied reasons Shall stir up faction, death, and treasons ; But under harrows, saws, and axes, We be compelled to pay our taxes, Support our Congress men in style, By cruel, unrewarded toil, Till we, at last, O dreadful thought !
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CURRENT EVENTS.
Beneath these tyrants shall be brought,
And see in tears the fatal day When we to tyrant laws gave way.
Beware, my friends, 't is our condition ! () curse the law against sedition ! () curse the Pres -! no, no, I fear
Some friend to government may hear,
And I, like friend and brother Lyon,*
Be tried, and feel the power of iron. ( Liberty ! 't is but a name,
When we no longer can defame !"
Reasons were offered when he ended,
And government and laws defended ; But sense and reason all are vain,
When faction rules the heated brain,
For ignorance, deceived by lies, All human argument defies.
The question put, the chief uprose,
Surveyed his friends, surveyed his foes.
His minion friends united stand, Instructed by his factions hand.
Their chief they watch, his actions view, And when he votes, why, they vote too.
Such are Columbia's servile foes,
Led on, like asses, by the nose,
Seduced from order by a villain,
Whose honor is not worth a shilling,
Who, worse than Judas and such gents,
Would sell our State for thirty cents.
O! would he ape that child of hell,
In all his actions, 't would be well ; His neck, too, then, a rope would grace, And he depart to his own place.
AMPHION.
* Matthew Lyon, at that time a Republican member of the national House of Representatives. A motion to expel him from the house, for sedition, had just failed.
At a meeting held 20 May, 1799, the town moved in a matter that was not accomplished until 1846,-and then only in part,-by voting to instruct their representative in
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HISTORY OF AMHERST.
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the General Court to use his utmost endeavors to obtain the passage of an act by the legislature to divide the State into districts for the choice of Federal representatives and electors.
A committee appointed to give the representative some further instructions reported that he be instructed to use his influence in the General Court to induce that body to recommend to Congress the repeal of the land tax law as it stands at present and give the states liberty to assess and collect taxes for the support of government in the usual way.
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COMMEMORATION SERVICES.
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CHAPTER VIII.
1800-1840.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TOWN, AND CURRENT EVENTS.
SERVICES IN COMMEMORATION OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON .- SOLAR ECLIPSE, 1806 .- UNION CELEBRATION OF FOURTH OF JULY, THE "DECLARATION " AGAIN READ BY CHARLES H. ATHERTON FROM THE " ROCK."-THE COLD FRIDAY .- CAPT. BROWN'S TOAST .- MEETING AT THE COURT-HOUSE, AUGUST, 1812 .- THE SEPTEMBER GALE .- MOVEMENT FOR THE ESTAB- LISHMENT OF SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. - THE COMMON AND ITS BOUNDARIES .- ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS .- REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HORSE-SHEDS AND HEARSE-HOUSE .- FIRST FAIR OF THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. -STAGES, IN DECEMBER, 1821 .- UNION CELEBRATION OF FOURTH OF JULY, 1824 .- NEW ROAD FROM AMHERST TO HENNIKER .- RECEPTION OF GEN. LAFAYETTE AT CONCORD, 1825 .- THE "GRASSHOPPER YEAR."-MORTALITY IN AM- HERST, 1826 .- MOVEMENTS IN FAVOR OF TEMPERANCE .- PUR- CHASE OF THE PAUPER FARM .- SOLAR ECLIPSE, 1831 .- THE METEORIC DISPLAY .- FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION, 1834 .- RAISING OF THE UNITARIAN MEETING-HOUSE FRAME-ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE .- THE "SURPLUS REVENUE."-THE HOP CULTURE .- " WHIG" MEETINGS AT AMHERST, 1840.
Services in commemoration of President Washington were held in Amherst 22 February, 1800, in which the citizens of Amherst and Milford, and the members of Bener- olent Lodge, No. 7, participated.
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A procession was formed, which marched across the common to the meeting-house, where an eloquent oration was pronounced by Charles H. Atherton.
Daniel Campbell, jr., acted as marshal of the school children, who made a fine appearance.
1 March, 1801. Quite a smart shock of an earthquake was felt in this and the neighboring towns. It was also noticed in Massachusetts and Maine.
GREAT SOLAR ECLIPSE, 1806.
The only total eclipse of the sun visible in New England in the nineteenth century occurred on the sixteenth day of June, 1806, between the hours of ten A. M. and one P. M. The whole duration of the eclipse was three hours and nine minutes, and the duration of the total eclipse two minutes and twenty-seven seconds. The day was clear, and hardly a breath of air stirred the leaves. At the time of the total eclipse the planets Mars, Venus and Mercury, were visible, also, Sirius, Procyon, and the large stars in Orion and Ursa Major. The bees returned to their hives ; the fowls went to their roosts : and the cattle in the pastures ceased grazing, and gazed around with a wild stare. The dark- ness was so great that objects could be seen only at a short distance. The thermometer, which at the beginning of the eclipse stood 66°, fell to 60°, and dew fell sufficient to wet one's shoes in passing through the grass.
In the spring of 1807 several animals in the vicinity of this town were bitten by mad dogs, which were killed by their owners, or died after exhibiting every appearance of madness.
A union celebration of the Declaration of Independence took place 4 July, 1807. A procession was formed at Whitney's tavern, which marched to the " Rock " in front of the meeting-house on which Sheriff Kelley stood when he
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read the Declaration in 1776, where it was again read by Charles H. Atherton, president of the day.
After this the procession returned to the tavern where an excellent dinner was served.
This is the last mention I find made of the " Rock." It stood in front of the meeting-house, a little to the east of the front door, and was used by the fathers and mothers as a " horse-block." After the use of chaises and wagons became general it was no longer required, and it was removed about 1825. Of its present location no man knoweth. Like the whipping post and pillory, it is among the things of the past.
At the annual meeting in March, 1808, the town voted to accept the provisions of an act passed by the legislature, entitled " an act for the extinguishment of fires that may be accidentally or otherwise kindled," and chose Robert Means, Esq., Capt. Daniel Prior, Charles H. Atherton, Esq., Wil- liam Fisk, Esq., Daniel Weston, James Roby, Capt. Eli Brown, David Stewart, William Read, and Jonathan Shepard, firewards, in accordance with its provisions.
The spring of 1809 was remarkably backward. As late as the fourth of April the sleighing was perfectly good in the northern parts of the State.
From the New Hampshire Patriot we learn that at the ordination of Rev. Nathaniel Kennedy, at Litchfield, 12 April, 1809, " several pieces of music were performed by a select choir from Amherst, which evinced a return to that correct taste and love for genuine music which the editor hoped was gaining ground in this country."
THE COLD FRIDAY.
The "Cold Friday" of 1810 occurred on the 19th of January of that year. People were frozen to death in many places, and many houses and barns were blown down by the strong wind which prevailed all day. One who remem-
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bered it said "it was difficult to stand on one's feet, the wind was so strong." Thousands of the tall trees in the forest, that had braved the storms and tempests of cen- turies, were blown down, and their huge trunks were in many instances left to rot on the ground where they fell. The cold, as indicated by the thermometer, was not very intense, as it ranged from -15° to -20°. The mercury is said to have fallen 55 degrees in twenty-four hours from Thursday to Friday noon.
4 July, 1810. The day was celebrated by the Republi- cans of Amherst and the adjacent towns. A procession was formed, which, after marching over the common and through several streets in the village, under the escort of Capt. Patterson's company of artillery, proceeded to the meeting-house, where prayer was offered by Rev. Hum- phrey Moore, of Milford. Owing to the serious illness of the wife of Hon. J. K. Smith, the orator of the day, no oration was pronounced ; but an appropriate address was made by Dr. Rogers Smith, who also read the farewell address of President Washington.
In the procession was an elegant model of the frigate Constitution, from the prow of which, after the discharge of seventeen guns, Captain Brown made a short address.
Capt. Eli Brown presided at the dinner on this occasion, and gave as a toast ;-
" AMHERST, the focus of Aristocracy in our County. May that aristocracy dissolve like the fog before the sun from the low ground that envelops it, and may Republicanism flourish in it like the rays of the sun on this auspicious morn."
A notice appeared in the New Hampshire Patriot, 4 August, 1812, " requesting the Republican citizens of the County of Hillsborough to meet at Amherst on the seventh day of August, inst., at two oclock P. M., to take into considera-
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POLITICAL MEETING, AUGUST, 1812.
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tion the momentous subjeets suggested by the present alarming situation of our national concerns, and to adopt such resolutions as the great occasion may be thought to require." It was expected there would be a large meeting, and the more remote towns in the county were requested to send delegates.
The Federalists took advantage of the notice, and, by an understanding among themselves, assembled at the time and place in considerable numbers, organized a meeting, at which speeches were made and resolutions were passed to suit themselves.
The Republicans finding themselves outnumbered, met at Emerson's hall ; chose Gen. Benjamin Pierce, chairman, and John Burnham, secretary ; and voted that it was expedient to hold a convention at the town-hall in Weare, on the third Tuesday of September following, to which the Republicans in all the towns in the county were invited to send delegates.
At the appointed time delegates from all the towns in the county to the number of 150, attended by 1,500 other citizens, assembled, and gave utterance to the feelings of the Republicans of Hillsborough County.
The conduet of the Federalists at Amherst was calcu- lated to provoke a collision, which was only avoided by the prudent course taken by the leaders of the opposite party, whose hour of triumph came with the assembling of the meeting at Weare, the largest and most enthusiastic political gathering that had ever been held in the county.
Mr. Hill, in the Patriot, characterized the meeting of the Federalists at Amherst " as one of the most scandalous, outrageous, and aggravating affairs" he ever witnessed.
The following speech, made by Hon. Timothy Farrar, of New Ipswich, at the meeting, shows the temper and atti- tude of the Federalists at that time :
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Fellow-Citizens : We are brought together to-day from distant parts of the County by one common feeling of the importance of the crisis and for the purpose of expressing our sentiments on the present alarming state of affairs. We consider the late measures of adminis- tration as dangerous to our liberties, and tending to the destruction of that form of government and those principles which have been com- mitted to our keeping and to which we are all sincerely attached. Many of us remember, and all of us know the high price at which those rights were purchased, and we are all disposed to defend and support them. We are those and the descendents of those who fought to establish those rights, and we all remember that the liberty of the press and the freedom of speech were then regarded among the most essential of them. We still regard them as such. We have lately seen them wantonly violated, and this induces us to consult on the means of preserving the rights which we have contributed to establish.
The declaration of war against Great Britain we consider as a law of the land, and shall obey it as such while in force. So far as we are constitutionally called upon to support this war, we shall comply. If called on to march, we shall go or send a substitute. If called on to pay, we shall pay. Beyond this our actions are voluntary, and we shall be careful not to involve ourselves in the guilt of an unjust war by any voluntary aid to carry it on ; for if we think it unjust we should partake of the guilt if we go a step further than our duty calls us to do. So far as we are constitutionally called on, it is our duty to go, and so far we will support the government and the measures of gov- ernment, even those that we disapprove; but we shall feel ourselves bound to do all we can lawfully do to produce a change of men and a consequent change of measures. We meet here in consequence of an invitation addressed to Republicans. We are entitled to this appella- tion, and have never given up our claim to it. We are those and the descendants of those who fought to defend their rights, which were finally secured to us by a Republican form of government, who know the blood and treasure they cost. We know how to estimate them, and cannot consent to give them up to any set of men who claim the exclusive privilege of this name. We claim no exclusive privileges, but we know the rights we are entitled to in common with all our fellow-citizens who have fought even to defend them from foreign enemies, and will not submit to surrender them to any set of men among ourselves.
A smart shock of an earthquake was felt in this town early in the evening of 28 November, 1814.
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THE COMMON.
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THE SEPTEMBER GALE.
One of the most violent tempests ever experienced here occurred on the 22 September, 1815. It commenced at about 11 : 30 A. M., and continued with great fury about two hours. Trees and fences were blown down, buildings were unroofed, and their fragments, with limbs of trees, were strewn in all directions. Along the coast the storm was still more severe, and the damage done to the shipping was immense. Fortunately, but few lives were lost. A current of air, like one from a hot bath, almost suffocating, was noticed at Worcester, during the middle stages of the tem- pest.
Snow is said to have fallen every month of the year 1816, and the following season was also a very cold one. But very little sound corn was raised in either of these years ; but the crops of rye and other small grains were excellent.
About three o'clock A. M., on the morning of 22 May, 1817, a smart shock of an earthquake was felt in this town, and another on Sunday, 5 October, the same year, during the morning service in the meeting-house. The last shock lasted about a minute, and was so severe that many persons left the meeting-house. It was noticed in Concord, Boston, Salem, and other places. Its course seemed to be from north-west to south-east.
A meeting of citizens interested in the project was held 15 May, 1818, to take into consideration the expediency of establishing sunday-schools in this town.
THE COMMON.
At a meeting held 29 June, 1818, William Fisk, Jede- diah K. Smith, Charles H. Atherton, David Stewart, and Daniel Campbell, were appointed a committee to ascertain the boundaries of the common. On the twenty-first day of September following the committee reported ;-
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HISTORY OF AMIIERST.
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" That, from the best information they could then collect, the Com- mon begins on the road the west side of the burying-ground, five rods north of Col. Means's Corner, thence West, or about West, thirty-two rods on land sold by Ronaldson Ellinwood to the County, to a long stone inserted in the ground, between the stores of Wallace and Spalding and Mrs. Shepard, thence North so as to take in a Corner of said store of Wallace and Spalding and a part of his (their) horse- shed to a stake near the fence running from Mrs. Smith's to the turn- pike, thence easterly so as to take in about one third part of Mrs. Smith's dwelling-house and almost one half of the Court house to the line of the road running West of the burying-ground, thence by said road to the place of beginning, which is exclusive of that part of the Common included in the burying-ground."
They stated that
"The North line may possibly be two or three feet further north than the line indicated above."
26 November, 1858. The town voted to appropriate the sum of $250 for the purchase of the Read lot, so called, and that a title to the same be obtained, and that it be used as a common belonging to the town for ever.
This was a lot on which the store, occupied for many years by William Read, Read & Spalding, David Underhill, and others, formerly stood. It laid west of the common, and adjoining it. A part of it is now occupied by the Soldiers' Monument.
12 May, 1866, the town voted to discontinue that part of the common lying between the road leading from H. E. Abbot's store to George Kent's, and that leading from said Kent's to William Wetherbee's, and from said Wetherbee's to the chapel, and from the chapel to H. E. Abbot's store, and allow the same to be fenced, provided it can be done without expense to the town.
An effort to reconsider this vote was made at a meeting held 2 June, 1866, which failed.
In 1866 a portion of the common was fenced in, and 4 May, 1867, the citizens turned out and spent the day in
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setting out trees within the inclosure, encircling it with maples and elms. The work went on through the following week, every day bringing something new to add in time to the beauty of the place.
The citizens turned out again on " election day," 5 June, 1867, and finished the work on the common in good shape. They dined and supped together at the "Stewart" house. After supper the treasurer reported that the funds in the treasury were $15 short of the demands made against it, which amount was contributed at once.
The park on the common was dedicated 1 July, 1868, by an open-air concert, given by the Nashua Brass Band, E. T. Baldwin, conductor. After the concert the band and many of the citizens partook of a collation, prepared by the ladies, at the Court House.
Assuming that the south-west corner of the common, as reported by the committee in 1818, was identical with the south-west corner of the training-field, burying-place, etc., laid out by the proprietors' committee in 1735, that lot extended east from the corner mentioned, some 38 rods, to a point in the old cemetery, thence north 74 rods, thence west some 38 rods, thence south 74 rods to the bound first mentioned. To the west of the training-field lot and adjoining it was the ministerial lot of 60 acres. This extended 124 rods west from the west line of the training- field.
North of the training-field lot, its south-west corner being the same as the north-west corner of the training-field, and extending along the north line of that lot and beyond, was the minister's lot, of 60 acres. This lot extended 78 rods east and west, and 124 rods north and south, land being reserved for a road along its southern boundary. On this lot Mr. Wilkins settled, and built the house long known after his death as the "Henchman " house. For some cause the first meeting-house was also built on this lot.
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Directly east of this, and bounded by the road, on the south, was the school lot of 60 acres.
The present road to Manchester and Merrimack seems to have been laid out on the land reserved for the purpose by the proprietors.
The committee appointed 29 June, 1818, to ascertain the boundaries of the common, were also instructed to ascertain what number of horse sheds would be wanted near the meeting-house, what number of them it would be proper to build on the common, and where they should be built. On these matters they reported
" That they could not recommend the erection of any horse sheds on the common ; but, as they supposed about thirty sheds would be wanted, one of their number had purchased a strip of land of Samuel Dana, Esq., which they supposed would furnish room sufficient to allow of the erection of some 20 or 30 sheds, which he offered to the town for $3).25, that being the price paid for it, in addition to some trfling expenses in effecting the purchase, not exceeding three dollars.
This land the Committee asked to be authorized to lay out in lots suitable for the accommodation of sheds, and sell the rights at auction, Mr. Atherton giving deeds to the highest bidders, and if any thing was realized above the cost of the land it should be paid into a common fund for the erection of the sheds. This plan would make it necessary to remove the hearse-house to some part of the burying-ground, and to turn Mr. Lord's shed to face the east, and let it form the first shed on that side."
The report of the committee was accepted and adopted, and they were authorized to divide the land into lots and dispose of it in the manner indicated.
The hearsc-house was moved to the north-west corner of the burying-ground, where it braved the storm, tempest, and lightning, for many years. The spots occupied by Mr. Lord's shed and some others on that line are now covered by the meeting-house, which was moved there in 1836, the sheds having been previously removed to a spot near the Baptist meeting-house. The remainder of the sheds are still on the land bought by Mr. Atherton.
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DARK DAY OF 1818.
15 July, 1818. A great smoke filled the atmosphere in this and the neghboring towns. The sun was so obscured that the people were reminded of the dark day of 1780. The smoke was produced by the burning of the woodlands on the mountains and a general burning of brush in all directions. A strong north-west wind prevailed through the day. In Salem and Boston the darkness is said to have been much more intense than here.
TAXES.
March, 1819. By a vote of the town those tax-payers who paid their taxes on or before the first day of Septem- ber this year were allowed a discount of five per cent .; those who paid between that time and the third day of November, three per cent. ; after that time the full amount was required ; and the collector who did not pay up his taxes on or before the first day of the following March was to have no pay for collecting what remained unpaid at that time.
20 March, 1819. After a winter of bare ground and mild, pleasant weather, snow fell to the depth of eight- een or twenty inches on a level, which was piled into huge drifts by the high winds, and greatly obstructed the travel- ing in many places.
FAIR OF THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The first cattle show and fair under the direction of the Hillsborough County Society for the promotion of agricul- ture and domestic manufactures was held on Amherst Plain, 13 October, 1819.
A procession was formed at Ray's tavern, which, under the lead of Gen. Benjamin Pierce, moved across the plain to the place of exhibition, and viewed the stock, farm products, and manufactures offered for premiums. They 9
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