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 32
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Our early settlers were characterized by a keen and vigorous wit. Sidney Smith once said that you " couldn't get a joke into a Scotchman's head without a surgical operation, " - which statement is a joke coming pretty near to a falsehood. The jolly Englishman well knew that the Scotchman did not stop for a joke when he meant fight. There was a straightforward, mighty earnest about the Scotch at such a time. Nevertheless, they were a jolly, witty race, fond of repartee and good cheer. They could not be made to laugh when they did not feel like it; they hated all flat, clownish, Frenchy, effeminate humor: but they gloried in hard hits, vigorous feats, and stinging repartee. There was nothing weak or timid about their fun. Their wit was a keen blade. Jokes went round their companies, like their old sports, with a blow for every one. These hills of Antrim rang with their laughter in the day when the panther's howl answered
295
THEIR INTELLECTUAL ABILITY.
back, and the Indian's whoop echoed in the forest. The laugh of some of the Antrim fathers was glorious to hear. Their log cabins heard many a brigliter piece of wit than may be found on the printed page." Young and old were full of it. The venera- ble grandmother in her easy-chair in the corner would deal her strokes of wit as keen as the keenest, or tell a story with real side-shaking power and zest. And, as showing the quick retort of the young, it is said that a little lassie met a man on his horse driving some hogs, and politely courtesied to him. Willing to plague the lassie a little, he stopped and asked : " What, my bairn, da' ye courtesy to a drove of hogs ?" " Na', na', sir," said she, " only to the one on horseback ! "
The high intellectual cast of the Scotch-Irish is also to be no- ticed. They were thinking people, - strong-minded, capable, from highest to lowest. The humblest of them took up the great themes of government and of religion, and could talk ยท intelli- gently about them. Parents were capable of instructing their children. It is believed that every one of the settlers of Antrim could read and write. There were mental giants in these New Hampshire colonies ; and we may look with just pride on the capabilities and caliber and good judgment of these humble yet large-minded ancestors. On this point I add these words of another : -
No people have shown themselves so capable of high culture as the Scotch. It is of little consequence where you may look for the material to be operated upon. You will find men at the plow, on the hill-side tending sheep, in the carpenter's shop, in the mason's shed, or in the engine-manufactory, behind the counter, and at the merchant's desk, who only require the means of study and advancement to make them fill with credit and honor any situation to which a free, loyal-hearted man may be called.
Where'er you go through the world below You'll find old Scotia's men ; And when you rove through the world above You'll find them there again. .
Much might be said of the physical powers of our ancestors. They were great in body, and commanding and noble in de- meanor. They had foot-races, wrestling-matches, log-rollings, and various diversions, all calculated to foster their physical strength. Both men and women hated effeminacy. They grew strong by hardships, and took pride in it. The grandmother of one of our citizens was out, baby in hand, pulling flax, when she was complimented upon her vigor, as the child was very young.
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THEIR PHYSICAL POWERS.
Her reply was : " Weel, if I can't have a baby and pull an acre of flax every year, I'll give up the ship!" Generally, the women were about as strong, and fully as heroic, as the men. The wives of Aiken, Joseph Boyd, James McAllister, the Steeles who mar- ried Jamesons, and Mrs. Dickey, whose husband was killed in the Revolution, were women whose courage nobody could ques- tion, and whose arm might well be feared. Nor were they much ahead of the rest. The maid of twenty feared not the face of man or beast; and many with ax or gun were strong and agile enough to outdo the sterner sex. Boys in those days were not intimidated by desperate tasks. Thomas Nichols began the Shattuck farm when a mere lad, all alone. Dea. Jonathan Nes- mith began to subdue the heavy forests on his farm at less than sixteen years of age, camping out alone. The two Steele boys chopped all summer on the Perry farm, at an age when many boys of the present day would feel overworked by the care of a barn or a fire. The men generally were tall, erect, brawny, somewhat coarse in feature, but perfect in form, and weighed two hundred without obesity or slowness of movement. I have seen a Scotchman of two hundred and fifty pounds, aged sixty years, dance as lightly and nimbly as a maid. It is said of the late Gov. Patterson of New York, formerly of Londonderry, some of whose early days were spent in Antrim, that, though a man of majestic form, he was lithe and agile at eighty years, like a boy. The grenadiers of the old Twenty-sixth Regiment, who were the wonder of everybody on account of their great size, were almost entirely picked out of the Scotch-Irish communities, and a majority were from Antrim. Their leader, McNiel, was a Scotchman, and was only six feet six inches tall! And the strength of these men corresponded to their size. They could carry heavy burdens for long distances without worry. Instances are on record where men were killed by a single blow of a Scotch- man's fist.
The Scotch-Irish emigrants of 1719, settling some in Maine, and some in Massachusetts, but chiefly in Londonderry, have had a vast influence in New England and in the whole country. The colonies that went out from them became leaders every- where. In war and peace, in art and learning, they have stood at the front. When the New Hampshire convention met at Exeter, April 25, 1775, they formed the State forces into two regiments, and placed both under Cols. Reed and Stark, two
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Daniel M. Christi.
DISTINGUISHED DESCENDANTS OF LONDONDERRY COLONY. 297
Scotch-Irishmen of Londonderry. The descendants of this col- ony have been governors, senators, jurists, college presidents, generals, philanthropists, teachers, missionaries, and everything that is noble and high. About fifteen of these New England Scotch-Irish have been governors of States ; not less than twelve have been judges of supreme courts ; quite a number have been United States senators ; and probably not less than twenty-five, at one time and another, have been members of Congress. Among scholars and teachers of the stock of the emigration of -1719, may be mentioned Joseph McKeen, D. D., president of Bowdoin College ; Prof. C. A. Aiken, D. D., of Princeton ; Prof. Jarvis Gregg ; Prof. W. A. Packard ; Joseph McKeen, D. D., of New York City ; Rev. James Means ; Samuel H. Taylor, D. D., late of Andover; and hosts of lesser lights.
Among the distinguished lawyers, jurists, and statesmen in this colony and its descendants, were Hon. John Bell, justice, and member of the Provincial Congress ; John Bell and Samuel Bell, governors of New Hampshire ; the two Samuel Dinsmores, governors of this State ; Daniel M. Christie, of Dover ; judges, Jeremiah Smith, George W. Nesmith, and Samuel D. Bell, of New Hampshire, and Levi McKeen and Peter Patterson, of New York ; senators, Samuel McKeen of Pennsylvania, Samuel Bell and James W. Patterson of this State, and James W. Nesmith of Oregon ; Matthew Thornton, physician, judge, and signer of the Declaration of Independence ; Clark B. Cochrane, a noted advocate and congressman of New York ; Hon. George W. Mor- rison of Manchester; and a long list of men now living, some of whom are in Congress, and some in almost every position of honor and trust all over the land, and with prospect of adding still greater luster to the race which settled here.
A great number of clergymen have sprung from the London- derry colony. Rev David McGregor ; Rev. James Miltimore ; Rev. Silas McKeen, D. D., formerly of Boston; Rev. Rufus Anderson and son, missionaries and authors; Rev. Dr. Morrison ; Rev. Dr. McCollom ; Rev. John Nichols and Rev. Seneca Cum- mings of Antrim, missionaries ; and probably fifty other clergy- men, dead and living, trace themselves back to this little flock.
From the same source the army of physicians is very great, many of them of the highest rank. Princely merchants, invent- ors, and eminent writers and authors also sprung from this fruitful tree. Among military men of this particular flock, may
298
SCOTCH-IRISH IN OTHER SECTIONS.
be mentioned Gen. Stark, Gen. Reid, Gen. McNiel, Gen. Miller, and a large number of less distinguished and able men in the field, for every war which our country has passed through.
And of the Scotch-Irish not belonging to this particular Lon- donderry flock and its branches, a proportionate record mav be made. Though outside of our work, yet, as belonging to our race, it will be deemed proper for me to add, that, like the Lon- donderry men, they have been cropping out in distinguished places all over the land for one hundred and fifty years. Among Scotch-Irish divines and scholars, notice such names as Archibald Alexander, D. D., James W. Alexander, D. D., Joseph A. Alexander, D. D., and, it is said, Charles Hodge, D. D., and Bishop Mellvaine, and many other such. Among public men, notice such names as Thomas McKeen of Pennsylvania (kins- man of Antrim McKeens), signer of Declaration of Independ- ence, from that State, senator, and president of Congress, 1781; President Buchanan ; the Wallaces of Pennsylvania, including the present Senator Wallace ; John Cochrane of New York ; and many of the most distinguished statesmen of New Jersey, Virginia, and other parts of the land.
The military record is also very flattering to the Scotch race in America. President Grant is of this stock, and is a fair speci- men of its inflexible, straightforward determination. Others of the best leaders in the great war were of Scotch origin. This race were very few in numbers compared with the whole, but furnished a remarkable proportion of leaders. I have found somewhere a list of "Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who were officers in the army of the Revolution, many of them elders in Presbyterian churches," which is as follows : " Major-generals,- Wayne, Stark, Mercer, Sumter, Alexander (Lord Sterling), McDowell, Montgomery, Sullivan, and Moultrie ; generals, - Morgan, Beatty, Marion, Rutherford, Graham, Irvine, Moore, Stewart, Armstrong, Davidson, Hughes, Pickens, St. Clair, and Reed ; and brigadier-generals and colonels almost without num- ber."
This is certainly a remarkable showing, considering the size of the whole army and the comparative fewness of the Scotch. It is hoped that some abler pen, and some more extensive and faithful investigation, may show the standing and influence of the Scotch-Irish on this continent. Such a history would also find large material in the Dominion of Canada, whither many of Antrim's kinsmen have gone, and risen to exalted positions.
299
BOUNDARY LINES.
CHAPTER XVII.
VARIOUS DESCRIPTIVE ITEMS OF A TOPOGRAPHICAL NATURE.
ANTRIM is in the northwestern part of Hillsborough county, being bounded on the north by Windsor and Hillsborough ; on the east by Deering and Bennington ; on the south by Benning- ton and Hancock ; and on the west by Nelson and Stoddard. It contains a little over thirty-three square miles, and about 21,175 acres. Of this, only a little more than half (11,730 acres) has been classified as improved land. Antrim is separated from Deering and Bennington, on the east, by the Contoocook river, which runs northward toward Concord, its course bounding An- trim being about north twenty degrees east. The north and south lines of the town are nearly parallel, being about five and a half miles apart. Mr. Whiton likens the shape of the town to that of a diamond. The thriving village of South Antrim is on the southeast corner of the town, from which the distance to the opposite corner, adjoining Stoddard, is about seven and one-half miles ; while from the southwest to the northeast corner a line would measure nearly eleven and one-half miles. The south line is due east and west, commencing at the center of the Contoo- cook river, and extending to Nelson, with no break or bend, except the small break made by annexing the farm of John Flint to Hancock, referred to elsewhere. By a perambulation made in 1804, this line ran " south eighty-seven west," which has since been corrected or changed. Bennington bounds Antrim on the south one hundred and forty rods ; and the south line, were it straight, would extend six miles and about seventy-five rods. The west line of Antrim is not a straight line, running north twelve degrees east on Nelson, and north fifteen degrees east on Stoddard; having three hundred and two rods on the former town, and fourteen hundred and fifty on the latter. Commenc- ing at Stoddard, the north line of Antrim runs east three degrees north to the center of Contoocook river. Formerly this line was bent to the north on Hillsborough two degrees more, but now it is a straight line for the whole distance. Some early perambu- lations made the line east seven degrees north. The distance on Windsor is about nine hundred and forty-nine rods, and on Hills-
300
SOIL AND GENERAL APPEARANCE.
borough about twelve hundred rods. The old perambulation made the line extend " across said river six rods to the north- west corner of Deering," so that Antrim was not then bounded entirely by the river on the east.
The soil of Antrim is for the most part fertile and strong, as compared with New England land in general. Some parts are of a light loam, productive and easy to cultivate ; but the greater part is rocky and uneven. On the whole, it is a soil hard of cul- tivation, yet retaining its enrichment for a long time, and amply repaying the labor spent upon it. It is a soil not easy to run out. There are pastures in Antrim that have been fed for half a cen- tury, and are still good. The amount of poor land in town is very small. Along the streams are beautiful and valuable mead- ows. The intervals of the Contoocook are of surpassing fertility and loveliness, and are divided among a multitude of farms along the whole eastern side of the town. There are many farms de- cidedly desirable and excellent ; notably such being the farms of Franklin Perry, Eben Bass, D. H. Goodell, George A. Cochran, Jacob Whittemore, and Hiram Griffin. There is an unusual number of fine farms in the town. In fact, there is hardly a miserable, starving farm to be found within our borders. In the course of years these farms have diminished in size, but increased in number and value. They would not now average more than seventy-five acres each. Most are well cultivated and wear the appearance of neatness and thrift. Farm buildings have been greatly improved, and do now compare favorably with those of any town in the vicinity. The villages are attractive and thriv- ing, and the whole face of the town is smart and good-looking.
A vast amount of labor has been spent in building wall, and consequently the farms and pastures are strongly fenced. It would take an immense fortune to build these walls at the pres- ent day. Rough and rocky fields were cleared to construct them, and the process went on for a hundred years. This toil of the fathers will be of great value for generations to come.
The west part of Antrim is peculiarly rich in pasturage. Hundreds of horses and cattle from below find here a delightful home through the hot summers. Large flocks I have seen com- ing here in the spring, lank, poor, weak, and tired ; but going back in the fall, full, sleek, frolicsome, fat, and of double value. Few towns in the State, or in Vermont, can boast of fatter cattle or finer teams than Antrim. Formerly, sheep were raised by
301
FORESTS OF ANTRIM.
thousands on these hills ; now they have mostly given place to horses and cattle.
The forests of Antrim are quite extensive, especially in the west part of the town, though the old growths have mostly been removed. A few lots have never been culled or cut over. For the various mills and fires, vast amounts of wood and timber are taken every year ; and yet good judges say the growth nearly equals the cut. Not half the wood is burned in town that was burned eighty-five years ago ; now the effort being made to save it, then to get it out of the way. I have often spoken of the exceed- ing beauty of the forests of Antrim. In autumn, the hues are brighter and more varied than I have ever seen them anywhere else. Even in winter they are attractive, being dotted every- where with evergreens. We have white pine, Norway pine (have not seen any " hard pine," so called), white, double, and bald spruces, and two kinds of hemlock. Our deciduous forest trees are, beech (white and red); birch (white, black, and yellow, have never seen any gray birch here) ; red oak, white oak in small amount; ash (white, black, and mountain) ; rock maple, white maple, red maple ; elm, butternut, bass, locust, hornbeam, lever wood, willow, balm of Gilead, poplar, cherry, and moose- wood. In very small amount may be found the chestnut, walnut, mulberry, cedar, and fir-balsam. Sumachs, and all small shrubs and plants common to this part of New Hampshire, flourish here in abundance. Berries of all the valuable kinds are plentiful, and, following each other in season, are of great comfort and value to the people.
It hardly need be added that our forests are a mine of wealth. Nearly all the farmers have been accustomed to draw more or less wood and lumber for sale winters, for years. The bedstead- factories in Clinton have swallowed up immense piles annually ; for these, maple, birch, and beech being used. Spruce has been sent abroad in great amounts. This is a " hard-wood town," on the whole. Pine, though sufficient, does not abound here as in some of the lower towns. Pine lumber, though valuable now, was considered of small account by the early settlers. In 1790, Dea. James Carr was offered fifty acres of heavy pine tim- ber for a pair of three-years-old steers, worth about fifty dollars, which offer he declined. That timber in that condition would be worth ten thousand dollars to-day ! The deacon in old age used to repeat the story, and tell with a laugh how he " missed it."
302
MOUNTAINS IN ANTRIM.
But then the fifty dollars at interest would amount to more than twenty-five thousand dollars now !
The surface of Antrim is greatly, and sometimes abruptly, broken, especially in the west part of the town. The east part slopes gently and gracefully toward the Contoocook, forming from the hills of Deering a most beautiful picture. The rest of the town is made up of mountains and hills, and vales among them. Many of the elevations have had from time to time the names of the owners. A few have permanent names. Near the junction of the Contoocook and North Branch rivers, and situated between them, in the northeast corner of the town, is Riley's Mountain, about fifteen hundred feet high, named after the first settler. I have heard it called by other names, but this is the old and only proper appellation. It has two summits, extends a little into Hillsborough, has large and beautiful pastures on the south, rises abruptly on the east and north, has large forests, and is worthy of the tourist's ascent.
The Windsor mountains, along the north line of Antrim, form a lofty ridge three or four miles long, the line being about on the summit all the way, and the broad southward slope giving fair pastures and ample forests to this town. At the base of this ridge, through broad meadows, the North Branch river flows. On the south of these mountains is a cave of some note. Three different roads ascend from Antrim over these mountains to Windsor, very steep and dangerous, yet down them are brought great loads of lumber and hay, with chained runners or wheels, and no serious accident has ever yet occurred.
On the south side of Branch river, extending along the west part of the town five or six miles, and reaching into Hancock, is a range of mountains of considerable height. This range is sit- uated nearly midway between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers, and reaches approximately the height of land between them. This ridge extends to the Monadnock on the south, and to the Washington, Stoddard, and other mountains on the north. This range is divided in Antrim into three parts by two valleys across it ; one valley being of small depth, the other said to be low enough to build a comfortable road through it. The north- ern part of the range is called Tuttle Mountain, from Charles Tuttle, who settled well up on the north side of it as early as 1797. The range of lots extending along the north slope of this mountain was called the " High Range " by the settlers, on
303
ROBB MOUNTAIN AND BALD MOUNTAIN.
account of its high location, a name still attaching to that sec- tion of the town. Through these lots lay the old Stoddard road, and this was a prosperous and valuable part of our territory, occupied by many families, though most of it is now deserted. Tuttle Mountain covers a large area, has several points or sum- mits, and presents very different features as seen from different . stand-points.
The middle part of this chain, as it is divided in our town, is Robb Mountain, named' from Andrew Robb, who settled on its western declivity about 1796, and owned a large part of it. It is of nearly the same height as Tuttle Mountain. At a distance it seems like a vast and regular elevation ; but it has many depres- sions and elevations, several summits, many wild and romantic spots, and, but for difficulty of access, would be often visited by the tourist. Various names have been given from time to time to peaks in this part of the range.
The south part of this chain, so far as belonging to this town, . is Bald Mountain, so called by the fathers because a forest fire had swept over it, leaving it bare and bald. From some points of observation it is not unlike a broad, bald head. I have heard this mistakenly called Ball Mountain, from James Ball, on the supposition that he lived upon it. But it was Robb Mountain on which Ball settled, and the two men were neighbors. Bald Mountain, from the first known of it, was bare and naked. It may be that the Indians kept it so for reasons of their own, as it seems certain that it must have been many times burned over to make it as it was when first discovered. Nor would forest fires confine themselves to that mountain without help. Did the Indians have it as a point of observation ? Was it a forage- ground of the moose once abounding here ? Was it a gathering- place in summer for their councils ? We must remember that fire was the only means the Indian had to clear the land. Bald Mountain is properly named for now, as well as then. From a distance it looks smooth and clean and naked as of old. It is found on near approach to be quite rocky ; and its broad summit and gently sloping sides afford many excellent pastures. In fact, this whole mountain chain, both on the eastern and west- ern declivities, supplies pasturage unsurpassed, and of vast ex- tent. Here, also, are large tracts of wood and timber, - a sort of lumber reservoir, from which many teams draw year after year, without apparent diminution of the store. On the west side of
304
OTHER ELEVATIONS IN TOWN.
Robb Mountain there was once quite a population, a whole school- district, within the limits of Antrim ; but now every habitation is gone.
Smaller elevations in town may be also named. Goodhue Hill, partly in Hancock, east of Bald Mountain, is very considerable in height. Patten Hill forms the eastern boundary of Gregg's pond, and was named for Samuel Patten, who settled near its summit. Holt's Hill, north of the pond, was named from its owner, Daniel Holt, has a wide and beautiful prospect, and a fine farm on its summit. Hedge-hog Hill, eastward from Holt's, has some local note for its precipices, ledges, and caves, and was named from the animal formerly frequenting its rocks and hiding-places. Meeting-House Hill, on which were the " Old Center " and the old church, extends from the present Center northward about two miles, and is seen from nearly all sections of the town, being visited by many people yearly, both for its beauty of situation, and its association with the past. Rising from >South Village southwestwardly is Nabor Hill, whose summit is in Hancock.
On the other hand, there is nothing in town that can be called, strictly speaking, a plain, though the tract in which the Branch cemetery is located has received this designation. It is a level, light, easily-cultivated tract of about one hundred acres, extend- ing southward from a bend in the Branch river.
But, speaking of mountains, it may be desirable to add that Mount Washington, among the White Mountains, is 6,293 feet above tide-water; Monadnock, 3,718; the highest peak in Stod- dard, 2,200 ; the highest point in Antrim, about 1,550; the Uncanoonucs in Goffstown, 1,388; and the highest point in the road-bed of the Manchester and Keene Railroad, at Harrisville, 1,084.
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