USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Bristol > History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 14
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II5
HIGHWAYS
point it bore to the north and continued in nearly a straight course over Ten-Mile brook and over the base of Pine hill till it again reached the bank of the river at the mouth of the brook a short distance north of Pemigewasset bridge on the Sylvanus W. Sweat farm. This piece of road, where it passed the site of the Pemigewasset bridge, was nearly a half mile west of it, the river making a bend to the east. From this brook it followed the river bank to Moore's mills, and continued as now to the Andrew J. West place; thence across the intervale, nearer the river than now, and so continued till it passed the Simeon Cross farm, the buildings of which were destroyed by fire a few years ago while occupied by James Aiken ; thence it again followed its present course till it passed the Charles H. Woodman farm and reached a point a little south of the present brick schoolhouse. Here it again left the low land and proceeded along the hillside, leaving the site of the coal kilns and the present road nearly a half mile to the east, and again reaching the present road just south of the Webster farmhouses. From this point it bore away to the northwest to the settlement of Col. Thomas Crawford, now the farm of Sherman S. Fletcher. It then made a turn to the east, or northeast, and continued along the present road till it crossed the Clay brook at the extreme northeastern part of the town not far from the Plymouth line, where John Mitchell settled.
This was substantially the road as opened by the workmen sent here by the proprietors of New Chester, and was called the Concord and Plymouth road. It was not, however, formally laid out by the selectmen of New Chester till June 11, 1785. Impor- tant changes have been made from time to time at various points. The great freshet of October, 1785, caused the abandon- ment of the road on the intervale in Bridgewater, on the Cross farm, and the construction of a road on higher ground. This second road was later abandoned, and the present road, between the first two, was constructed at this point.
As early as 1776, an unsuccessful effort was made to improve the approach of the road to the bridge at the head of the falls at Smith's river. Dec. 2, 1785, however, a road was laid out which left the Concord and Plymouth road a few rods north of the present farmhouse of William C. Kelley, in Hill, crossed the flat west of the highway and ascended the foothills of Periwig mountain, then turned north and proceeded till it reached the old road south of the bridge. This road was still further improved in November, 1797, by leaving the Concord and Plymouth road just south of William C. Kelley's, thus making the ascent of the foothills of Periwig still more gradual. The first two roads at this point were discontinued in March, 1798, and the latter in March, 1809, after the construction of the turnpike.
The bridge over Smith's river at this point was the first, and probably the only, bridge constructed by the New Chester
II6
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
proprietors previous to the settlement of the town. This par- ticular site was evidently chosen because the banks were high and the channel narrow and the stream could be spanned by logs cut in the woods near-by, and the necessity of a pier obviated.
In 1784, a road was laid out from the south end of the bridge over Smith's river into the Borough as far as William Murray's on the Alexandria line, a distance of five miles, which was known as the Murray road. This road is spoken of in the town records as early as 1776, thus showing that a trail was there as early as that date.
One of the earliest roads opened was from Smith's river bridge to Clark's Corner, in South Alexandria, on the north bank of the river. The continuation of this road was over Plumer hill to Crawford's Corner in Alexandria, and thence to Hebron on the west side of Sugar Loaf mountain. This was the first road to Hebron from the south. The New Chester part of this road was laid out in 1784, "as the road is now trod," thus showing it had been in use before being laid out, as was customary at that time.
A road to connect with this last described road was laid out Aug. 20, 1781, from what is now High street in Bristol village. The eastern part of this road was between Lots 61 and 62, exact- ly where Prospect street now is, and continued west to near the westerly end of those lots, near where William H. Hannaford now lives, where it turned to the south and thus continued to the Alexandria line.
There is no record showing the laying out of a highway where is now North Main street previous to the construction of the Mayhew turnpike about 1804; but there was a trail from Central square to the log cabin of John Sleeper, where David M. Chase now lives, at the base of Sugar hill, as early as 1780. A little later it was extended to and along Willow street up Alexandria hill and over Hemp hill, past where Charles A. Gale now lives to Jonas Hastings's; thence to near where Silas S. Brown now resides. That part of this trail from Newfound river to Mr. Brown's was laid out as a highway by New Chester, June 21, 1790. In 1831, this road was extended north past the farmhouse of Col. Samuel T. W. Sleeper, later occupied by his son, J. Martin Sleeper, and now by Jacob Ackerman, to the burying-ground on the Sleeper farm, and thence to the farmn- house of Moses Atwood, later occupied for many years by Cal- vin H. Mudgett and now by William Adams. In 1837, this road was extended still farther north, passing on the west side of the Mudgett farmhouse, and crossing Fowler's river just below the present bridge; thence to David Ladd's farmhouse, later occu- pied for many years by Ezekiel Follansbee, near the base of Sugar Loaf. That part of the road between Fowler's river and
II7
HIGHWAYS
Col. Sleeper's was discontinued after the construction of the Sugar Loaf road.
In 1837, a short road was laid out from the Moses Atwood residence about northeast at right angles with the above de- scribed road to the site of the buildings owned by A. W. Carr, destroyed by fire in 1902. On this road lived at different times Aaron Sleeper, William Mudgett, Walter Haywood, John Ladd, John Simonds, and Gilman Sanborn.
In 1792, the court laid out a road from "the bridge " at the outlet of the lake to "the potash of Sherburn Tilton on the Newfound pond brook," now known as Black brook. This potash was near the head of the brook on land leased by Mr. Tilton of Jonas Hastings in December, 1780, east of Mr. Hast- ings's house. It was connected on the west with a road from the Hastings house, which stood as now on the road laid out, in 1790, over Hemp hill. A path was also opened from Mr. Hastings's west to connect with the road over Plumer hill, before described, called the Hebron road. This was laid out in 1822 as a highway. The road, therefore, from the bridge past the potash was the first opened from the foot of the lake to Alexandria.
In 1811, a road was laid out from the bridge at the outlet of the lake southeast to the David H. Sleeper farm on the turn- pike, as it was then traveled.
July 22, 1812, a road was laid out from this bridge extend- ing one hundred and fifty-three rods northwest along the lake shore to land of Peter Fellows. This was near where Amasa Highlands now lives. At this time or later, there were two farms on this road. Here Benjamin Fellows lived in 1820, when his son Milo, was born; and here lived later Amos Brown and William Pattee. This road was extended later to the mouth of Black brook along the shore of the lake; thence west past the house of John Sleeper to that of Col. Samuel T. W. Sleeper. May 19, 1824, this road was laid out by Bristol as a public highway, at highwater mark, "as now trod," "with- out expense to the town." The bridge at the outlet of the lake at that time was known as Dimond's bridge, a man by the name of Thomas Dimond living on the west bank of the river at this point. Sept. 8, 1840, this road was extended west from Col. Sleeper's farmhouse to the Alexandria line to connect with the Hebron road, and the road from the Hastings house to the Hebron road, spoken of above, was discontinued in 1842. The road along the shore of the lake was found to be hardly at "high water mark," because for some distance it was under water when the lake was full, and, in 1847, a new piece of road one hundred and forty-three rods long was laid out on higher ground on land of Amos Brown and that part of the old road abandoned at this time was discontinued in 1854.
8a
II8
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
About 1821, Ebenezer Kendall built a saw-mill at North Bristol, on the west side of Lake street and just above the road running at right angles with Lake street at this point. March 8, 1825, a road was laid out from the "turn of the pond," supposed to mean the outlet of the lake, to near where is now the schoolhouse; thence south on the ridge till opposite North Bristol, where it descended the bank to this mill. Thence it continued a few rods south and there ascended the bank, passed the cemetery to the house of Edmond Brown, later the Samuel H. Rollins house, and from there eight rods to the turnpike. In 1821, the road from the southeastern shore of the lake to the site of the Kendall mill, which was a part of the old road laid out in 1801, described below, was apparently discontinued; but, in 1825, it was reopened, the description being that it extended from "the turnpike past Eben Kendall's mill to the turnpike again." This description would indicate that a part of this road was laid out over a part of the road constructed this same year from "the turn of the pond " to Kendall's mill, and from there to the turnpike, as before described. This overlapping of one road on another was several times done in laying out the roads of Bristol. The roads between this mill and the lake appear to have been discontinued in 1863 and 1864, and were unused for many years previous.
In 1827, the road running west from Kendall's mill to John Allen's house was laid out, constituting what is now the street at North Bristol.
John Kidder settled, in 1772, where Fred Kidder now lives, and a trail was cut at that time from the Concord and Plymouth road to his log cabin. This trail was soon after extended to the Locke neighborhood, and New Chester ex- pended money on it in 1783; but it was not laid out as a highway till 1789. The custom was for men to locate where fancy led them, sometimes miles from other settlements. Their first communication with the world was by the blazed path, or trail, then the rude road, and finally the laid-out highway. As a rule, no road was laid out till it had been used and its necessity proved.
As early as 1785 a trail extended from the Locke neighbor- hood west, passed Bristol Peak, and crossed Basford's brook, now known as Hemlock brook, in the deep ravine at the base of the mountain, to what was later the town farm and still later the Homans farm; thence it extended down the west slope of the hill to the lake, and thence on the east shore to Hebron. The first settlers east of the lake traveled over this circuitous trail in going from their homes to what is now Bristol village. From the point on Basford's brook, named above, a trail extended past the Homans farmhouse on the height of the land about three miles north, to where J. E. S. Fifield recently lived,
II9
HIGHWAYS
near the summit of Bridgewater hill; thence down the east slope of the hill past the Bridgewater meeting-house, to the log cabin of Col. Thomas Crawford, where it united with the Concord and Plymouth road previously described. This trail was made a highway July 25, 1788, and was the first road laid out by Bridgewater after its incorporation that year. In 1796, this road was extended south from Basford's brook down the side of Bristol Peak, through the Nelson or Hall neighborhood, "as now cut and trodden, " uniting with the Concord and Plymouth road as now, near Danforth's brook. This extension greatly lessened the distance between the east side of the lake and Bristol village.
When the road on the southern slope of Bristol Peak was first constructed, it made a long detour to the west from where the Nelson house now stands, and then again swung to the east. reaching the location of the present road near the site of the farmhouse of Reuben Kidder, near the highest point of the road. On this curve was the first house of Levi Nelson, in the orchard west of the present house; above him lived Josiah Fuller, and near his home was the schoolhouse of that district, destroyed by fire in 1816. Mr. Fuller removed to the shore of the lake, and Nelson deserted his home for a new one farther east but just above the present house. The road was straight- ened, as it now is, in September, 1821, at which time it was described as "striking the old road four rods north of where the old schoolhouse was."
Apr. 19, 1814, a road was laid out from the corner of John Clough's barn, one hundred and twenty rods northeast to Mr. Clough's woods. Mr. Clough lived at this time on the Homans place.
September 22, 1796, the trail from Hebron was laid out as a highway. This trail is spoken of as passing the farmhouse of Peter Sanborn, who lived on the Caleb Whittemore farm on the "Point"; thence past the home of Abram Hook, now the Gilbert B. Dolloff farm, and from there to Basford's cove, near where Edwin T. Pike now resides. This was what is now the Point road. July 1, 1799, the trail from Basford's cove to the road that crossed Basford's brook on the hill was laid out, thus making a continuous highway from the. Hebron line to Bristol village past the base of Bristol Peak through the Hall neighborhood.
Returning to the Locke neighborhood we find, in 1789, another trail leading due north, through what is now the Smith pasture to the Bridgewater meeting-house. This was laid out Oct. 5, 1799. It was over this road that the post-riders traveled for many years in carrying the mail between Bristol village and Plymouth. Still another trail from this point led northeast past the William H. Abel farmhouse to the river road, now so-called.
I20
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
This road was laid out in 1791. Another that united with the river road a short distance north of the Pemigewasset bridge, was laid out Sept. 18, 1795.
The road over New Chester mountain was the most difficult between Concord and Plymouth, and naturally gave rise to much complaint by those traveling over it. In the spring of 1797, a petition was addressed to the court praying that a high- way be laid out on the east side of the mountain. The court sent a committee to view the route with authority to lay out the road if thought necessary. This committee laid out a road, in September of that year, practically over the same route as that afterwards taken by the Mayhew turnpike corporation between Newfound and Smith's rivers. There was an evident determination on the part of New Chester to avoid, if possible, the construction of this road, on account of the great expense. Feb. 23, 1798, a town meeting was held, when the subject of the construction of the road was considered, and Maj. Theophi- lus Sanborn was made a committee to go to Haverhill in March to lay before the court the grievance of the town, and see if the court would accept a road on the west side of the mountain in place of that laid out by the committee. The efforts of Maj. Sanborn were of no avail, and another town meeting was held May I, of that year, when it was voted to appeal to the legisla- ture at the session to be held that month in Hopkinton. This vote was finally reconsidered, and it was decided to send a petition to the court at its next session to see if it would post- pone the execution of its order for the construction of the road. This effort was also a failure; and another town meeting was held Aug. 27, when a petition was addressed to the court to see if it would give the town any relief by allowing the road to be carried west from the top of Merrill hill till it should unite with the old road over the mountain, and thus avoid the expense of building between the top of the hill and Smith's river; or afford relief in any other way. The court was inexorable, and this effort, like the other, appears to have had no effect. At the annual meeting, Mar. 18, 1799, the town voted to raise $100 to construct the road. This sum was entirely inadequate for the work, and apparently no work was done. The subject again came up at the annual meeting in March, 1800, when the town voted not to raise any money for the building of this road.
Thus matters drifted till Oct. 27, following, when the town chose Col. Peter Sleeper an agent to appear at the superior court of judicature in November to ask the court to stay a bill against the town for neglecting to construct the road as ordered by the court of common pleas. Hope was entertained that the court might be induced to do this because of the proposed construction of the Mayhew turnpike over the route laid out by order of the court. A meeting was held Nov.
I2I
HIGHWAYS
IO, when the town promptly voted to grant the petition of Thomas W. Thompson and others for permission to build a turnpike; but this did not end the difficulty as hoped. The superior court did not interfere, and the lower court did not withdraw its mandate for the construction of the road; but an indictment was issued against the town for neglecting to comply with the order of the court. I11 the warrant for the annual town meeting in March, 1801, there was inserted, there- fore, the following article :
To See how much money the Town will Vote to Raise to Build and Repair the Road on the East Side of New Chester Mountain or what the Town will do with Respect to being Sued for not Doing Sd Road.
Under this article no money was raised; but Maj. Theophilus Sanborn and Ebenezer Kimball were elected a committee to appear at the next June term of the superior court of judicature in behalf of the town. The efforts of this committee appear to have been as unavailing as former efforts, for immediately after their return a special town meeting was called, at which the town voted to raise $200 for building the road, and the select- men were made a committee to superintend its construction. It may be regarded as significant, however, that at the same special meeting the selectmen were instructed to build a road on the west side of the mountain as petitioned for, and this road was constructed, while there is no evidence to show that a dollar was ever expended for the road on the east side. It seems that the matter drifted till the Mayhew Turnpike corporation was granted a charter in 1803, and no further action was taken by either party.
The petition referred to above was dated May 1, 1801, and read as follows :
State of New Hampshire, Grafton, ss.
To the Gentlemen, Selectmen of New Chester in County and State.
Whereas a Public Highway has been Laid out and made passable from Rumney through the westerly part of Plymouth and through a part of Hebron by the Easterly part of Newfound Pond so called through Bridgewater which appears to be of public Utility and will be a much shorter way from Rumney to Concord by Several miles therefore wee pray that your Honors will lay out a Road from Newfound River So Called to the Westerly side of New Chester mountain and to strike the Main or River road about Sixty rods below Smith's mills in New Chester and wee your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. Orford, May 1, 1801.
Isaac Barnard Theophilus Tilton Peter Mayhew Jonathan Tilton John Brown
Joshua Tolford John Adams Abel Chamberlain Benjamin Norris Samuel Hazeltine, Jr.
I22
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
Dean Rogers
William Achin
Benjamin Norris
Samuel Davis 3d
John Bartlett William Heslern
Moses Hoyt
Nathan Davis
Benjamin Cotton
Thomas Weare
Jabez B. Barney
Samuel Davis
Barrit Blaisdell
Isaac Day
Aaron Jewitt
Nathan Davis Jr.
Isaac Dean
John Johnson
Daniel Page Aaron Barry Rui Mason Israel Hoyt
A portion of the road described in the above petition was the same as that laid out by Bridgewater, in 1796, from the Hebron line to where Edwin T. Pike now lives. Bridgewater now ex- tended this road to Newfound river at Willow street. The route was from Mr. Pike's to the foot of the lake on the east shore ; thence southwest to near where the schoolhouse now stands, a few rods south of the outlet of the lake ; thence south, keeping on the high land east of the river to the junction of Willow and Lake streets; thence along Willow street to the east bank of the river, which was the dividing line between Bridgewater and New Chester.
New Chester continued this road from this point to the present residence of Zerah E. Tilton ; thence in nearly a straight line across the fair ground and Bartlett's plain, past the present farmhouses of William H. Hannaford and Favor Locke, uniting with the road on the north bank of Smith's river twenty-two rods west of the present high bridge. It crossed Smith's river on this bridge, and then proceeded east on the south bank of the stream fourteen rods; thence one hundred and twelve rods southeast, where it united at the foot of "Goulding hill" with the old road from the first bridge over Smith's river. This road can be readily traced from the lake to its terminus by the aid of the accompanying sketch.
In 1801, trouble arose between the court of common pleas and the town of Bridgewater over the river road, so-called. The road between Danforth's brook and Moore's mills as originally constructed, has been described, running from just beyond Solon Dolloff's to the river bank, then up the bluff to Horace N. Emmons's, and again to the bank of the river opposite the Heath burying-ground, then over Pine hill to the brook north of Pemigewasset bridge. This year the court sent a commit- tee which relaid the road as it now is between Danforth's brook and the brook north of Pemigewasset bridge; and the court issued an order that the new road must be made passable for teams by the tenth of November of that year. A town meet- ing was held at Lieut. Samuel Worthen's, Oct. 22, and Moses Lewis was awarded the contract to do the work for $500. An- other meeting was held Nov. 13, when this vote was recon-
1707 1614
FOND
N. 60 E. 66 To Turnpike
New Road 93 Further than the Turnpike
N 45 E. 64
20
130
6ª
24
72
21
28
N 33 E.20 Mill
12
30
28
28
30 16 Links
26
29
10
14
33 17
15
12
28
23
94
114 19
194
53 S
54
39 10
N 24 E.400
24
48 21
N 40 €60
៛ 37 W. 56
20
31 17
By the town pikes
S 30 ±W. 21
60
29 20 20 10
N 45 5.600
$ 25 W. 14
14
₦ 35 E. 22
40
2.0
24 15 17 13
N 38 E. 960
15 32
E 10 Rods across the
ridge
S 42 EX 40-4
Eastman's Shop
64
12 19
N.28 E.16
66
60
N 79 E. 24
27 /3
Very Bad Hill
48
36 38
26
N 10 E. 140
Low Swenig
$40 E. 30-101614- 6 S 51 E. 48-21 $ 38 E. 34 S 28 E. 31-17 § 15% E, 29-20
$ 12 W. 20-10
N TI w. 194
East Mt. $4124. 14
N 9W. 94
S 49 W. 84-9
N 24 E. 28
S 52 W. 24-15 $ 49 W. 17-13
West
$ 55 W. 26-201 $ 37 W. 15-22
NOW. 15
Mt.
$ 19W. 19-16
₦ 25 N 35 W. 14
$ 55 W.30.13
N TW. 10 Steep Ledg N 27 W. 29
=N.28W. 26
$ 11 W.60
ROAD MAP
N 46 E 8
N 70 W.28
N 50 W.72
27-13
56E. 48
NTE.20
$ 15 W.C 36
S 3%
Great
Banks!
N 35W. 66+62
Bad Sandy Hill-Very Steep $165 26
E. R. Musgrove
214 Rods to mile stone
From the pond
56 UNONCE New Road
Turnpike
214 Rods 17
N 28 E. ++ N 24. Stees hill
N 61E. 252 N 30E 20
S iq W. 17 Rods
is /4W. 130
NS W. 100
Through Brown's clearing
NIE. 20 N 21 5.20
S 22 W. 21
16
34
10
22
$ 20 W. 12
60
84 9
S !1 W. 30
20
100
26 20
2.0
22
20
19 16
24
15 19
40
30 13
NII E.20
$ 10 E. 30 -16 $ 16 E. 11-18 $ 27 E. 7-13
$ 43 E. 39-17
$ 39 E. 544-22
ZFS 20 E. 23-1
S 22 E. 114-19 1707
S SS-E. 53-9
Mountain Road
Merrill Hill
$ 33 W. 15-19
$ 49 W. 12-19
W 65 W. 28
N 77 W. 28 W 61 W.12
Smith's R
across the bridge
N 37 W. 24 Down very Steep hill NII E. 64 Up a long hill
SHOWING ROAD PETITIONED FOR IN MAY, 1801, AND SUR- VEY FOR TURNPIKE IN 1804. FROM THE ORIGINAL
Periwig Me
62
21
56
11 18 7 13
54 22
40
86
S 2 E. 32
Steep Bank
Newfound R.
N II W. 12
123
HIGHWAYS
sidered, and the town voted to raise $200 in labor or money for this road, the work to be done by June 30, 1802. The work, however, was not completed at the date specified, and another meeting was held Aug. 30. One article in the warrant for this meeting was "to see what further measures the town will take for completing the river road as laid out by the court's commit- tee." This meeting was called at John Mitchell's, but ad- journed to meet at the house of Robert Burley, near that part of the road to be rebuilt, Sept. 27, when it was voted that the work should be completed by the first of the following December, and to let the work, in three sections, by vendue. The eastern part of the work was let to Robert Craige for $95 ; from the John M. R. Emmons farm to the Heath burying-ground, was let to Robert Craige for $29; from the burying-ground to the brook north of Pemigewasset bridge, to Simon Harris, for $156. The exact date of the completion of the road is not known ; but as no further action was taken in town meeting in regard to it, it was probably completed by the contractors in the time specified. The old road over Pine hill was discontinued in March, 1809.
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