USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Bristol > History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 16
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July 21, 1877, a road was laid out from the dwelling-house of Levi N. Heath, thirteen rods over Mr. Heath's land.
May 1, 1878, the old road over New Chester mountain was discontinued from the Sleeper burying-ground to the road on the north bank of Smith's river.
For many years previous to 1882, the Mayhew turnpike between where David M. Chase now lives and North Bristol had been used so little that an article was inserted in the warrant for the annual town meeting of that year to see if the town would vote to discontinue it. The town voted, wisely, not to discon- tinue. Several dwellings have since been erected there, and this road is now much used.
Sept. 29, 1885, Hillside avenue was laid out from Lake street to the residence of George Scott Tilton ; Oct. 27, 1885, ex- tended six rods to land of Roswell Blake; May 9, 1896, extend- ed to the old turnpike, now North Main street.
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HIGHWAYS
Sept. 16, 1889, Mayhew street was laid out from North Main to School.
Oct. 9, 1894, a street was laid out from the dwelling of S. H. Cross north to the house of Fred J. Ballou.
Nov. 9, 1897, Green street, from Chandler south to Hillside avenue, was laid out. This street is two rods wide from the starting point to the southeast corner of land of Alvin Goodhue, thence two rods, four feet.
June 4, 1898, the county commissioners laid out a road, two rods wide, from High street west, between the dwellings of F. H. Briggs and G. W. Sumner.
Nov. 20, 1900, a short street was laid out from the easterly side of Green street about twenty rods in an easterly direction to residence of J. W. Tewksbury.
On the 9th of October, 1883, an exhibition of the work of the road machine was made on Lake street. In the call for the next annual town meeting an article was inserted "To see if the town will vote to buy a road machine." The town voted to pass the article without action; but, in 1887, the selectmen purchased, without instructions, a machine at a cost of $250, and the good work it did proved the wisdom of the purchase.
In 1892, the town voted to make a complete survey of the village for sewers ; and this was done in 1895.
The large amount of heavy teaming on Lake street and the eastern part of Pleasant street, made it imperative that a road should be constructed better than could be made in the ordinary way. After a few years' discussion of the comparative value and cost of concrete and macadam, public opinion selected the latter ; and, in 1892, the town voted to buy a stone crusher. Here the matter rested till 1898, when the town purchased a stone crusher and steam roller at a cost of $4,794, and adopted Chapter 78 of the General Statutes of 1897. That season the eastern part of Pleasant street was macadamized at an expense of $1,066, taken from the regular appropriation for highways. In 1899, $2,000 was voted for macadam roads, and the work was extended on Lake street to near Union, at a cost of $2,355. The sentiment of the town appeared at that time to be to appro- priate about this amount each year till the work was completed ; but at the next annual town meeting, it was voted, on motion of Capt. W. A. Bickford, to raise $21,000 on the bonds of the town to complete the work. After adjournment, it was discovered that the vote did not conform to the law in all respects, and a special town meeting was held Apr. 10, 1900, at which time the following vote was passed by ballot as the law required :
Voted, that the town raise $15,000 to build macadam road and neces- sary sewers connected with same, and to raise bonds therefor under the act known as the municipal bond act of 1895, said bonds to draw three
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I34
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
per cent. and not taxable if held in Bristol, N. H., all to be payable with- in seventeen years from the time of issue of the bonds first issued in evi- dence of said debt, and that there be $1,200 raised each year for interest and sinking fund to meet the bonds.
The whole number of names on the checklist at that time was five hundred and twenty-six ; the whole number of votes cast, two hundred and ninety-one; necessary to carry, one hun- dred and ninety-four. Two hundred and seventy-one voted "yes," and twenty voted "no," and the motion was carried.
Under this vote the macadam road was extended to the bridge on Lake street near the woolen-mill; and nearly all of Central square and a portion of Central street were covered. In all of this territory, substantial sewers were laid, supposed to be ample for all requirements for many years. To do this work, $14,871 of the $15,000 was expended.
The work of 1898 was done under the supervision of Road Agents S. H. Cross, Nathan P. Smith, and Henry A. Welch ; that in 1899 and 1900, by Road Agent G. L. Tilton. S. A. Howard, of New Hampton, who laid most of the concrete in town, had the immediate charge of the work.
In 1898, a bicycle path was constructed from Central square to the paper mills.
In 1900, the town laid out $200 for sprinkling its streets, and has since continued appropriations for this purpose each year.
Previous to 1860, the town had given no attention to its sidewalks. A rude sidewalk was maintained in most of the streets by the abutters. In 1873, the highway agents were instructed to maintain suitable sidewalks in the principal part of the village. As late as 1880, not a sidewalk was broken out in winter by the town authorities, and all pedestrians traveled in the middle of the highway, even in season of deep snows.
The first concrete sidewalk laid in town was put down by Albert Blake in front of his residence, at the corner of South Main and Church streets. About 1877, the selectmen com- menced to lay concrete sidewalks at the expense of the town, and this has been continued from time to time. All the princi- pal streets in the village now have a concrete walk on one or both sides. The largest amount paid out for concrete in one year was in 1889, when $1,550 was expended ; in 1892, an additional amount of $1,464 was laid out.
Until recent years, the town was divided into highway dis- tricts, and a highway surveyor was elected for each. Each of these 'surveyors was given a book containing the highway taxes of his district, and every tax-payer was expected to pay his high- way tax in labor. The number of districts, and consequently the number of surveyors, varied from time to time. Bristol started, in 1820, with thirteen districts; in 1823, there were fifteen; in
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1838, seventeen, and in 1860, twenty. The last election of high- way surveyors was in 1869, when ten were elected. Subse- quently, the selectmen appointed the surveyors. Those who did not pay their highway taxes in work were required to pay in money, and with this the surveyors hired laborers to do the work. So much better results were obtained from men working for money than from those simply working to pay their taxes that frequently the town voted to make a discount on highway taxes paid in this way. In 1848, it voted a discount of twenty- five cents on the dollar for all highway taxes paid before June I. This discount was continued for some years. At that time, workmen on the highways were allowed only ten cents per hour. In 1848, it was also voted to allow ten cents per hour for a yoke of oxen ; the same for a cart and wheels, a plow, and a scraper. In 1860, the discount made for cash was seventeen cents on the dollar. Since then, the discount when made has been from five to ten per cent.
Gradually, the selectmen assumed charge of the highways, and appointed men in various parts of the town to act in case of emergency, like the washing of the roads by a freshet or a sudden shower, or the blocking of the roads by snow ; and the highway taxes were collected as a money tax as now. Under this system all who desired to work out their taxes were given the privi- lege. This system prevailed in Bristol till 1893, when the law compelled the election of road agents, and since then the roads have been under the care of one or more highway agents. The prevailing price of labor on the highways in recent years has been $1.25 per day, though some years it has been $1.50.
CHAPTER XII
POST-ROUTES AND POST-RIDERS, MAILS AND POST- MASTERS
From the road with sudden sweep The Mail drove up the little steep, And stopped beside the tavern door. -Longfellow.
Previous to the Revolutionary war there was no regular mode of conveying the mails in any portion of New Hampshire. A post-office had been established at Portsmouth at some date previous to the war and Eleazer Russell was the first post- master. The Fourth Provincial Congress, which met at Exeter May 17, 1775, "established " or continued an office there and made Samuel Penhallow postmaster. The postmaster and the members of the Provincial Congress from Portsmouth were made a committee to secure post-riders, and they evidently at once established a route between Portsmouth and Exeter, for on the twenty-sixth of that same month the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts voted that the post-rider from Cambridge to Haverhill, Mass., should extend his route to Exeter "to meet the post-rider from Portsmouth, a post-office having been estab- lished at Exeter."
Letters received at these offices destined for the interior of the state remained there till called for or a chance opportunity offered to forward them to their destination. It was not till 1781 that a post-rider penetrated the interior of the state. On the twenty-seventh of July of this year the Committee of Safety at Exeter employed John Balch of Keene to ride post for three months. He was to start on a Saturday morning from Ports- mouth and to ride to Haverhill via Concord, New Chester, and Plymouth and thence down the Connecticut river to Charlestown, thence to Keene and back to Portsmouth. He was to make this trip once in two weeks and to receive for his services seventy hard dollars. This summer arrangement was probably con- tinued till 1785.
At the fall session of the legislature at Concord in 1785, a joint committee of the two houses was appointed, for the purpose of "reporting a plan to employ a person to ride post through the state." The result was the passage at that session
I37
POST-ROUTES AND MAILS
of an act to establish two post-routes. One was from Ports- mouth through Exeter, Nottingham, Concord, New Chester, and Plymouth, to Haverhill, thence down the Connecticut river to Charlestown, Keene, Amherst, and Exeter, back to Portsmouth. The other was from Portsmouth through Dover to Wakefield, Tamworth, around Lake Winnepesaukee through Gilmanton, Barnstead, Barrington, Dover, back to Portsmouth. His excel- lency, the president of New Hampshire, was authorized to appoint post-riders and postmasters, to pay them for their services, and, from time to time, to fix the rate of postage.
On the third of the following March, probably before the above named routes were put into operation, another joint com- mittee was chosen to see what changes were necessary ; and the result was, a report that these routes were insufficient to accom- modate the public ; the act authorizing their establishment was repealed and four routes were established in their stead. This act gave the president of the state power to appoint a postmaster- general, to direct him where to establish post-offices, to appoint postmasters, to employ or direct the postmaster-general, to employ a suitable number of post-riders, to fix the rate of postage, "so that newspapers, letters and mails may be trans- ported in the most easy, safe and expeditious manner, to the various parts of the state, through the several towns following, viz." :
One post to leave Portsmouth on Monday and proceed through Exeter, Nottingham, Concord, and Plymouth to Haverhill, Orford and Hanover, and from thence to return through Boscawen, Northfield and Canterbury to Epsom, thence to Newmarket and Portsmouth.
Another post to set out from Portsmouth on Thursday, the next week, and proceed through Exeter, Kingston, Chester, Londonderry and Litchfield to Amherst, and to return through Dunstable, Salem, Plaistow and Kingston to Portsmouth. The above two posts to ride one week to Hanover, and the next week to Amherst, alternately.
Another post to receive the mail at Amherst and proceed through Keene to Charlestown and return through Hillsboro to Amherst.
And another mail to set out weekly on Monday from Portsmouth, and proceed through Stratham, Newmarket, Durham, Dover, Rochester, Wakefield and Ossipee to Conway, and return through Tamworth, Moul- tonboro, Meredith, Gilmanton, Barnstead and Barrington to Portsmouth.
At the June session of 1786, the act authorizing the above named routes was repealed and a resolve passed reestablishing two routes. One post was to "leave Portsmouth on Monday, and proceed through Exeter, Nottingham, Concord, and Ply- mouth, to Haverhill; thence down the river to Charlestown ; thence through Keene, Amherst, Merrimack, Londonderry, Chester, and Exeter to Portsmouth." This tour was to be performed once every fortnight.
Another post was to "set off every other Monday from Portsmouth, and thence proceed through Newmarket, Durham,
138
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
Dover, Rochester, Wakefield, Ossipee Gore, and Tamworth, to Moultonboro ; thence through Meredith, Gilmanton, Barnstead, Barrington, and Dover, to Portsmouth." Samuel Dearborn was appointed post-rider for the northern route, but was succeeded in September following by Naham Ackerman.
At the January session of the legislature in 1791, four routes were again established. Two routes started from Ports- mouth and two from Concord. The northern route, so called, from Concord, was through Boscawen, Salisbury, Andover, New Chester, Plymouth, Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Lyme, Hanover, Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Grafton, Alexandria, and Salisbury, to Concord. Naham Ackerman was post-rider of this route.
The post-riders were to receive as compensation, on all private letters, six pence for every forty miles, and four pence for any number of miles less than forty; on packages, according to weight. State documents were to be carried free. The post-riders were to make one trip each week for six months commencing with the first day of April, and one trip each two weeks for six months commencing with the first day of October. They were to alternate in the direction traveled.
This act provided for the appointment of ten postmasters : At Portsmouth, Exeter, Concord, Amherst, Dover, Keene, Charles- town, Hanover, Haverhill, and Plymouth. The postmasters were to receive as compensation two pence on each private letter or package. Both post-riders and postmasters gave bonds to the state treasurer for the faithful performance of their duties, and both were to present their accounts yearly to the General Court, which might grant them additional compensation if deemed reasonable.
As important as these measures were to the prosperity of the state, they met with strong opposition, and the last measure passed the house by only one majority, the vote being thirty- four in the affirmative and thirty-three in the negative.
Under this act, John Rogers was appointed postmaster at Plymouth, the nearest post-office to New Chester, and George Hough, at Concord; while John Lathrop, of Lebanon, was inade post-rider.
When the route from Bristol to Plymouth was first es- tablished, it was over the road from this village up the hill through the Locke neighborhood ; thence over the old road, long since abandoned, to the Bridgewater meeting-house, and thence to Plymouth; and it so continued for some years.
Previous to 1800, the post-office department of the general government had extended its authority over New Hampshire. In 1802, the following rates of postage prevailed : For a single letter, not exceeding forty miles, eight cents ; over forty and not exceeding ninety miles, ten cents ; over ninety and not exceeding
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POST-ROUTES AND MAILS
one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one-half cents; over one hundred and fifty and not exceeding three hundred miles, seventeen cents; over three hundred and not exceeding five hundred miles, twenty cents; over five hundred miles, twenty- five cents.
The northern route continued till 1817, without material change. April 12, of that year, the postmaster-general ad- vertised for proposals to carry the mails in New Hampshire. The number of routes was largely increased. The route which accommodated this section was from Concord, through Salisbury, Andover, New Chester, Bridgewater, Plymouth, New Holder- ness, New Hampton, Salisbury, and Boscawen, back to Concord, and was called forty-eight miles. The post-rider was to leave Concord Tuesday morning and arrive at Plymouth at II a. m., Wednesday; to leave Plymouth at 2 p. m. the same day and arrive at Concord at 6 p. m., Thursday. It will thus be seen that twenty-eight hours was allowed the post-rider to travel the forty-eight miles, and that the trips were to be made once a week.
A forfeit of one dollar was imposed on the post-rider for every thirty minutes' delay in arriving at a given point at a specified time, and if the delay extended beyond the time of departure of a depending mail, the fine was trebled.
This route did not long continue, and in its place a route was established from Concord to McCrillis's tavern in Canterbury, Northfield meeting-house, Sanbornton, New Hampton, across the river to Bridgewater, and thence to Plymouth and Haverhill; and another from Concord, to Boscawen, Salisbury, Andover, New Chester, Bristol, and Bridgewater, over the Mayhew turn- pike, to Rumney and Haverhill. These routes continued practi- cally unchanged till the advent of the iron horse. Stages for the two routes traveled together from Haverhill to West Ply- mouth or the "head of the turnpike," from which point one went to Plymouth and New Hampton, and thence to Concord on the eastern side of the Pemigewasset; and the other came to Bristol and proceeded to Concord on the western side of the river.
The names of but few of the post-riders have come down to us. Samuel Harriman was post-rider in 1816, and advertised in the New Hampshire Patriot of Apr. 9, of that year, for the payment of all bills due him for papers, etc., stating that he would be at Dodge's inn in Bridgewater village on the twenty- sixth of that month for the purpose of receiving what was due him. Peter Dudley was for many years a rider on this route.
Simon Harris succeeded Harriman as post-rider, and drove from Haverhill to Concord. He takes the same method to col- lect his pay for services as his prodecessor, and inserts an adver- tisement in the Patriot of Dec. 14, 1820, as follows: "Simon
I40
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
Harris, mail-carrier from Concord through Plymouth to Haver- hill would inform the public that his contract for carrying the mails will expire the first of January next, at which time pay- ment must be made for newspapers as well as for transacting other business, the printer being very urgent. Those sub- scribers who live off the road will leave the pay where their papers are left, where they may find their bills receipted."
The first attempt to substitute the coach for the horse and rider on the route from Haverhill to Concord via Bristol was made in 1811; but it soon failed for lack of support. In the spring of 1814, Robert Morse passed a subscription paper in every town on the route for assistance in starting a stage-coach. The result was that that summer a four-horse, covered coach made its first trip from Concord to Haverhill.1 The event was a great one. Col. Silas May held the ribbons and blew the horn ; while Robert Morse and a company of friends filled the coach and had a free ride from Concord to Haverhill. Business was largely suspended along the route, and the people turned out to rejoice over the innovation and to welcome the stage-coach. The running of the stage-coach, thus happily inaugurated, con- tinued ; and Robert Morse was for many years at the head of the Haverhill and Concord stage line.
In July, 1821, Robert Morse again electrified this whole section with the announcement that he would run the Haverhill and Concord stage the rest of that season twice a week ; that the stage would leave Sinclair hotel in Haverhill Mondays and Fri- days at 4 o'clock a. m., and arrive at Wilson Stickney's in Con- cord at 5 p. m., same day ; that the stage would leave Stickney's Tuesdays and Saturdays at 4 a. m., and arrive at Sinclair's at 5 p. m., and connect with the Coos stage that run from Haverhill to Lancaster, and the Passumpsic stage from Haverhill to Bar- net, Vt., St. Johnsbury, Vt., Sutton, Vt., and on to Stanstead, Lower Canada. These stages probably carried the mails each trip, though the government paid for carrying them only once each week.
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