USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Antrim > History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families > Part 20
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" Military of Antrim."
Responded to, in writing, by Col. Silas Dinsmore.
My first acquaintance with the military of Antrim was about the year
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RESPONSE OF COL. SILAS DINSMORE.
1810 or 1811. I remember going to a training, with my father, down to Jacob Tuttle's store (the place where James Tuttle now lives). It was the custom, in those days, to train at Tuttle's store and Christie's hotel, alternately, where there was something to take; not the poison of the present day, but the pure article, - unadulterated New England rum. At that training, Parker Morse was captain; Daniel McIlvaine, lieuten- ant; and William Gregg, ensign. The next year Capt. Morse resigned, and, Daniel McIlvaine declining promotion, William Gregg was chosen captain; David McCalley, lieutenant; and Thomas Gregg, ensign.
To show the spirit of patriotism existing in Antrim at that time, I will relate an incident that occurred during the war of 1812. The Twenty-sixth Regiment was required to furnish a certain number of men (I do not remember how many) to go to Portsmouth to defend that place against an expected raid of the British. David McClure, then in command of the north company, received his orders during Sunday service, after which he notified his company to meet at Christie's the next day, either to volunteer or stand a draft. The company met promptly, was paraded, and the object of meeting stated by the officers, who proposed that the musicians march round the company, as it stood in line, when those who wished to volunteer were to fall in after the music. ยป By the way, some, if not all, of the musicians wished to be con- sidered as volunteers; among the number, Clark and Jesse Atwood, drummers. When the word was given to march, the entire company fell into line; but, as there were not so many men wanted, most of them were counted out, greatly to the disappointment of some. Among this number were Thomas Dunlap and Ira Wallace, who went home with heavy hearts On arriving at home they were informed that a draft had been made in the town of Windsor, and, if my memory serves me right, James Walker and Simeon Buck were the drafted men; at any rate, Thomas Dunlap and Ira Wallace went over to Windsor that same night and agreed to take the places of the drafted men. Samuel McClure took the place of a drafted man in Francestown. All that went from Antrim to Portsmouth, at that time, returned safely, with the exception of Ira Wallace, who died from sickness. I mention this circumstance to show that the spirit of patriotism existing in 1776 was not extinguished at the time of which I speak. With the same spirit, exhibited in 1861, you are more familiar than I, since I was absent from the town. In the fore- going remarks I have referred only to the north company, which was .No. 6 in the Twenty-sixth Regiment. There was a company in the south part of the town, with whose history I am not familiar. I think, that, about the year 1817, the two companies were united, and made choice of David McCalley, captain; John McNeil, lieutenant; and Moody Barker, ensign. Previous to this, a grenadier company had been formed, by enlistments from the several infantry companies in the regiment. As that company had been reduced in numbers, the infantry company in Antrim being enlarged by the union of the two, permission was granted to fill up the grenadier company by enlistments from this infantry. This took place in 1822. The company was promptly filled, procured a new uniform, and, from that time until the active duty of the
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POEM BY MRS. STEPHEN G. ABBOTT.
military was abolished by law, the grenadier company was second to none in the regiment, in point of discipline and military drill. My first experience in active military duty was in 1815, on the reception of the news of peace with England. Col. McClure proposed to have a day of rejoicing, and, accordingly, everybody was invited to meet at Christie's for that purpose. The boys met and formed themselves into an artillery company, making choice of Jesse Christie for captain, and Clark Hopkins for lieutenant. I had the honor of being a private in that company. We had a swivel for a field-piece. We marched to the meeting-house, where Rev. Dr. Whiton stated the object of the gathering, and opened the exercises with prayer. Daniel M. Christie then read the declaration of peace, and made an appropriate address, when the crowd formed in procession and marched to Christie's, where the remainder of the day was spent in a general good time. I was then thirteen years of age, and the law required boys to perform military duty at the age of sixteen. I looked forward, with anxious anticipation, to the time when I should be counted in; but, before I arrived at the age of sixteen, the law was changed, making eighteen the legal age. This placed me in the back- ground for two years; but these passed away and my name was placed upon the roll. On the eighteenth of September, 1820, I mustered on Cork plain, under Capt. Moody Barker (I was eighteen years old on that very day). Under Capt. Barker, I performed all the duty required of a private soldier for two years. In 1822 the grenadier company was re-or- ganized, and I was one of the first to join. From this time I continued to perform military duty for twenty-nine years, when it was no longer required. Now, as old as I am, I should enjoy a day of recreation in performing private duty in a well-drilled military company, better than in any other way imaginable.
POEM BY MRS. STEPHEN G. ABBOTT.
The following centennial poem, from the pen of Mrs. Stephen G. Abbott, was omitted in the exercises of the day, with other written communications, for lack of time : -
To-day a hundred rolling years Complete their final round, Since here our sires, in desert wild, Their altars sought and found. Through long and weary years of toil Each struggled for a prize; And now, where stood the forest tall, See happy homes arise.
From early morn till latest day They toil, in want and pain, Till they behold a rich reward In fields of waving grain,
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a RESPONSE OF DR. JAMES STICKNEY.
Which soon the willing, winding streams Impel the mills to grind. And education's mills soon yield The grain that feeds the mind.
And now the rough ascent is made To find a Mount Moriah,
Whereon to build a meeting-house Without a bell or spire.
A church was formed, and placed in care Of good and wise divine,
Who, if a wanderer left his fold, Reversed him into line. 4
Through all the years the wheat and tares Have both together grown,
And side by side shall grow, till when The Master claims his own.
Their names on monuments are graved O'er many a mound of dust,
Which, at the Father's mighty word, Shall yield its hallowed trust.
Their honored names we still transmit To our own children dear,
Who to their sons shall bear them down, - . Untarnished, bright, and clear. Throughout full many a hundred years, In long and bright array, May all, with glory, gild the roll On each centennial day!
RESPONSE OF DR. JAMES STICKNEY, OF PEPPERELL, MASS.
" The physicians of Antrim."
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF MY NATIVE TOWN,- Would that some one more competent than myself had been called upon to respond to the sentiment just offered; yet, unused as I am to public speaking, the inspiration, of the occasion prompts me to give, in a few words, some of the leading points in the character, and the circumstances under which the early physicians labored.
I regret that I am unable to give a memorial of the physicians of the town prior to 1807, when my father, Dr. Jeremiah Stickney, commenced the practice of medicine here, as successor of Dr. Nathan W. Cleaves, who died a short time previous.
Contemporaneously with Dr. Stickney, Dr. Charles Adams established himself at the Center of the town, from whence he soon removed to the South Village, remaining there nine years. He had several children born here, among whom is Hon. Charles Adams, Jr., now of Boston, who .
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RESPONSE OF ISAAC BALDWIN.
has filled, with honor to himself, many important offices in the State, his father having removed to Oakham, Mass., in 1816. At that time, when the inhabitants were few and scattered, with roads almost, impassable except on horseback, with drifting snows in winter, without the comfort- able protection which we of the present generation so much require, the country doctor displayed as much heroism in his profession as is exhib- ited in any calling whatsoever.
Physicians were settled at wide distances from one another, and con- sultations, in cases of emergency, were attended with much delay; conse- quently, each was often thrown upon his own resources: yet I venture to say that crises were met with as great promptitude and skill by them as by the average physician of to-day. Of Dr. Jeremiah Stickney, who was located at the North Branch, and in continuous practice for more than half a century, - may I not be permitted to say ? were mine the conviction that duties to the sick well performed, hardships manfully endured, sacrifices unflinchingly made for those he loved and labored for; were mine'the conviction that such qualities were possessed by myself as I know they were by him, - I would ask no higher commemo- ration,
My recollections of Dr. Israel Burnham, who was settled at the south part of the town, are, that he was a gentlemanly and quiet man, kind and conciliatory in his deportment toward others, attentive to his profession, and that he held the confidence of those who required his presence in the sick-room.
To those who have practiced medicine in town since 1840, when I left it, to return only at long intervals, and whose acquaintance I have not the privilege of possessing, I would only offer this sentiment : When their mission has been fulfilled, may they deserve and receive a eulogium as worthy as their predecessors !
RESPONSE OF ISAAC BALDWIN, OF CLINTON, IOWA.
" Hardihood and toil of the fathers and mothers of Antrim."
MR. CHAIRMAN, - We are met to commemorate, in an appropriate manner, an event of which there are no living witnesses; and it well becomes those who have always been at home in these seats, living in sight of these hills and yonder mountains, as well as those whose tardy steps have brought them hither after long absence, while reviewing these scenes, to renew the traditions of, and to recall from the vanishing past whatever gave character to, those who, through toil and trouble, laid the foundations and erected thereon the institution which we honor and cel- ebrate as the town.
In response to the sentiment uttered, we are not called upon to demon- strate the fact that the founders of this institution, the builders of this home seat of civilization, were possessed, in large measure, of the genu- ine hardihood that springs from trial and culture, nor to prove that they did toil right faithfully to establish this heritage. If this were our theme, it would be enough to say, that they were descended, without corruption, from the Scotch-Irish stock of North Ireland, Presbyterians
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RESPONSE OF COL. SAMUEL I. VOSE.
in faith, of the old school at that, case-hardened by the fires of bigotry and the waters of affliction, well versed in the history and traditions of their church and people, who knew, by practice, what virtue there is in continuance, and from whom they inherited, not wealth, nor favor of .kings, nor liberal franchise, but a love of liberty, and the will to main- tain it ! No hot-house plants were they who made this heritage.
If we consider the time in the history of our country during which the fathers and mothers of Antrim took unto themselves a corporate name and set out to obtain a charter and other conveniences, we find nothing auspicious, no exhibition of effeminacy, nor any softening influ- ence upon such a people. In the disastrous campaign of 1777, the hard- ships of Valley Forge, with the capital of the nation in possession of a victorious enemy, - the cause of King George was not the cause of the people here. Here were none to yield to his exactions or submit to his dictation; and the record does not impeach the truth of the assertion, that those who went hence to maintain their cause were animated by that true courage, that genuine hardihood, which does everything for the right, and were imbued with wisdom to direct.
If we consider what nature had done for the fathers and mothers of Antrim, when Providence cast their lot among these hills and valleys, we perceive that she had not been 'lavish in the bestowal of ways and means for the advancement of civilization. Beyond a pure air, pure waters, and a not unhealthy climate, she showed them no special favors. No deep bays, embosomed in gently nestling hills clothed with verdure; no majestic streams, natural highways for the world's commerce ; no land of voluptuous undulations, so willing to yield all that a proper appetite might crave; no bread-fruit hung overhead mid leafy shade, making sufficient food and shelter ; no land of sensual delights, - but everything grave, serious, and solemn, created to be the domain of intelligence. A rugged soil, a rigorous climate, the parent stock, the discipline of the church, and the hardships of war, fore-ordained the fathers and mothers of Antrim to be a hardy race, inured to toil.
They had been trained to believe, and they so taught, that work was a divine institution, and, in faith, to trace the wisdom of God in so ordering. The intimate relation of works and faith was a favorite theme of both preachers and people, and this the lesson taught : "You 'need expect nothing but by labor."
RESPONSE OF COL. SAMUEL I. VOSE.
" Antrim forty years ago."
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN, - It is a source of satis- faction and real pleasure to me to meet so many of my old acquaintances and friends here to-day. And, as I look upon their smiling faces, my mind reverts to the time when the cares, perplexities, and struggles of life were unknown to many of us. And it must be gratifying indeed to the people of Antrim to meet so many of the sons and daughters of the good old town, who have come from the East and the West, the North
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RESPONSE OF COL. SAMUEL I. VOSE.
and the South, to congratulate each other and participate in the exer- cises of the occasion.
I have looked forward to this day, for the past few years, anticipating that it would be one of the most enjoyable holidays of my life. And should I say my expectations were not fully realized, so far as human effort could accomplish that result, I should speak an untruth; and should I say that my cup of happiness was full, I should commit a simi- lar error : for there will probably be but few days in our whole lives in which we shall experience more sad and pleasant thoughts intermingled, than on this, our centennial day.'
While this day, so long anticipated, is made a season of rejoicing and festivity, it of necessity calls upon us to review, with more or less of sat- isfaction, the record of the past.
And now, let our minds revert to forty years ago, as the events of one hundred years ago must be learned from history alone.
Mr. President, when I look over this vast assemblage of human forms and faces, and strain my eyes to select therefrom those of father, mother, brother, sister, neighbor, and townsman, that we were wont to see on this sacred spot forty years ago, how sad to realize that we find so few ! And shall we ask why it is so? Yes : and yon marble-dotted inclosure sends back the answer.
But let us not dwell on things so sad, but take a glance at the manu- facturing interests of the town, as they were forty years ago. Then, our friend Thomas Poor manufactured the common kinds of leather ; also the patent or morocco leather, which, I think, was about the first of this kind manufactured in New England ; he also did quite a lumber busi- ness, gathering in the pines from the east part of the town and from the Society Land. Then there was one other saw-mill at the South Village, which, I think, comprised all the manufacturing at that place. At Clin- ton Village we find the manufacture of cotton yarn, by Dea. Imla Wright, who was one of the pioneers of cotton manufacturing in New Hamp- shire, which was then jealously looked upon as being rather a dangerous business for the best interest of the town, as in those days each house- hold was a rival manufactory on a small scale. Next we come to North Branch, where we find the quite extensive tannery of Dea. William Little, who, I think, also manufactured the first boots and shoes in town, except those made at liome by men who went from house to house, which was called in those days " whipping the cat." There was also one saw-mill at North Branch, and the wool-carding and cloth-dressing mill of Franklin Reed.
This, I believe, comprised pretty nearly all the manufacturing by power in the town forty years ago. But it must be remembered, that, in those days, almost every house in town was a manufactory in itself, - where woolen, cotton, and linen cloth was spun and wove, and, after being sent to the mill of Franklin Reed, where it was colored, fulled, and dressed, was made up at home, generally by some maiden lady of doubt- ful age, who would rig out the boys and girls for the winter schools; the boys in striped frocking, and the girls in their neat, checked, home-made gowns, - that is what they called them forty years ago, - cut to fall
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RESPONSE OF COL. SAMUEL I. VOSE.
closely about their limbs. But stop! Methinks I hear some young lady exclaim, " Oh, my! how they would look !" But let me tell you, young ladies, those plain dresses were not without their attractions. I have known a young man to ask permission to follow one of them to the wearer's home from a spelling-school a mile and a half distant, tread- ing the middle ridge of a new snow-made country road all the way; and that, I think, is about as well as the young men will do by you to-day.
But, Mr. President, I fear that you will think I am wandering from the subject ; and would it be strange, when one's mind becomes fixed on moving manufactured dry goods ?
Have I spoken of the schools ? I think I have alluded to them some- where; but I wish to speak of them more explicitly, for fear that some of you might think that I have never known what a school was. Well do I remember the old school-house west of the pond. There is where I graduated, after attending seven terms of seven to eight weeks each, under the tutorship of B. F. Wallace, Mary Duncan, Rachel Fletcher, and Annie Fisk. And nobly did they perform their task, considering the material they had to work with. But oh, such a job to get ready to go to school in those days ! We had to hunt up, after having laid away for nine or ten months, " Peter Parley's Geography," " Colburn's Arith- metic," " Webster's Spelling-Book," "Easy Lessons in Reading," and the old " English Reader." Grammar I need not speak of, for you will readily see that it had not come into use in our district at that time, and did not in my whole course. With the addition of an earthen or free- stone inkstand, containing a little cotton saturated with ink, and a wooden stopper ; two or three undutched goose-quills freshly plucked from the old gray goose; ay, and one thing more, which I had almost forgotten to mention, the leaden plummet, which required so much skill to mold, and, when finished, was a remarkable cross between a' toma- hawk and a shingling hatchet, - thus equipped, we were ready for a full term of school, forty years ago.
But enough ! I know that I have already trespassed too far upon your valuable time. But, in conclusion, I find that these social reunions serve to revive old and pleasant associations and friendships, partially obscured by the corroding hand of time. True, some of us have come here, with our heads bleached by the frosts of many winters, to find no near relative to welcome us. Yet it is our privilege to turn aside to yonder graveyard, and there to linger in silent sadness by the tombs of our dearly remembered but departed friends.
But adieu to melancholy musings on the past. The cheering and rosy coloring of the present and the future now demands our attention. And when from this visit to our native town we have returned to our respect- ive homes and various duties and avocations, the memory of this occa- sion will always be fraught with pleasure. It will cause our hearts to overflow with gratitude to God for these sacred privileges, and fill our minds with an enduring fragrance.
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RESPONSE OF DEA. A. H. DUNLAP.
RESPONSE OF DEA. A. H. DUNLAP, OF NASHUA.
" Men and women of 1777 who laid the foundation of the church in Antrim."
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF MY NATIVE TOWN, - It is with the greatest pleasure that I meet you on this deeply interesting occasion, After the lapse of many years since I turned my face from the home of my boyhood to seek my fortune elsewhere, I am allowed by a kind Prov- idence to meet you again, to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of this good old town of ours.
I thank you, fellow-citizens, that you have entertained and matured the idea of celebrating this event; and that you have called back the wandering sons and daughters of the old town to participate with you in the pleasures of this occasion. And I thank you again, that, instead of confining yourselves to the exact day of the year named in the act of incorporation, you have rather chosen this beautiful day, in this beau- tiful month of June, for us to meet you and turn our thoughts backward for a little while, as we review some of the more important events of the century that has just closed.
You have invited us to meet you at the old Center Church, under the shadow of whose dome we are now assembled. Here our fathers and mothers used to worship, and here we, in our childhood, learned to love and venerate the house of God.
This is indeed to me one of the most thrillingly interesting spots in all the world, and I can assure you that those of us who have come back to the old homestead could not have felt at home in any other place on an occasion like this. Once more I have the pleasure of looking out upon these grand old mountains, and these beautiful green fields and forests, as I did in my early days. Every hill and valley and brook presents the face of an old friend; and their image is so indelibly stamped upon my memory, that no time or change of condition can ever efface them. These have not changed ; but all else, how changed ! To-day we stand around the graves of more than four generations of men and women that have passed away since Philip Riley struck the first blow towards the first settlement of the town, in 1744.
In yonder cemetery, silently and peacefully reposes the sacred dust of my father and mother, and many of my kindred and best friends. To that sacred shrine my thoughts go out instinctively; and as I hold com- munion with their departed spirits, and call to mind their many virtues, and the deep interest they ever took in my welfare, the tear of affection rises unbidden, while I bow in sorrow over their green graves.
Our greeting here to-day has been most cordial and satisfactory. We recognize, among those assembled, many of our dear old friends and acquaintances, who were school-fellows with us when we were a little younger than we are now. But a shade of sadness comes over us as we call to mind other dear ones who have fallen by the way since we last met. In vain we search for them among the living; their names are only found on the long catalogue of the dead.
But, Mr. President, I must not longer indulge in this strain of reflec- tion, for you have invited me to speak of the "Men and women of 1777 who laid the foundation of the church of Antrim."
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A. M. Dunlap
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RESPONSE OF DEA. A. H. DUNLAP.
In assigning this task to me, I fear you have made a mistake, for I must frankly admit that I am not equal to it. To do this subject justice, involves substantially a history of the town for several years from its first settlement. This you do not expect me to give, and I will not attempt it to any considerable extent.
This town, as is well known, was settled to a large extent by Scotch- Irish Presbyterians, whose ancestors emigrated from the county of Lon- donderry, in the north of Ireland, and landed in Boston in 1718. Subse- quently, a portion of this colony selected a tract of country in this State and gave it the name of Londonderry, in honor of the county from which they had emigrated. From this colony most of the early settlers of An- trim had their origin.
The first man who began a settlement in this town was Philip Riley, who located himself on the farm now owned by Reed P. Whittemore, Esq., in the northeast part of the town, in 1744. Two years subsequent to this date, a sudden attack upon a garrison-house in Hopkinton, and the capture of its inmates, by the Indians, spread alarm through the neigh- boring settlements, and caused Riley to flee into Massachusetts, where he remained for fifteen years. During this time Antrim was without a white inhabitant, and it was not until Aug. 12, 1767, that James Aiken located himself with his family, consisting of his wife and four children, at what is now the South Village. Mr. Aiken was a pious, Christian man, and subsequently became one of the most prominent and useful men in town. He was chosen one of the first deacons of the Presbyterian church, at its formation, in the year 1788, and continued in office until his decease in 1819. He was a man of great energy and tenacity of purpose, and his humble cabin was always a safe and welcome retreat for those who sought its shelter, and its generous hospitality was freely extended to all' those early settlers who needed his assistance.
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