USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Candia > History of the town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H., from its first settlement to the present time > Part 31
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At the present day, bleeding is seldom resorted to. Many physicians of thirty year's practice have not bled once in two years on an average, and some, who have been in the practice ten years have never bled a patient at all. Calo- mel in modern days is rarely used and antimony is practi- cally abandoned. Many intelligent persons have believed that the indiscriminate use of powerful drugs in the treat- ment of disease in past times has sent many a patient to an untimely grave, and some have declared that if all the med- icine in the world was sunk at the bottom of the ocean, the people, on the whole, would suffer no great damage. In referring to this statement, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the distinguished poet and eminent professor remarked: "that if all the medicine was sunk in the ocean he should pity the fishes."
Within the past few years, great advances have been made in medical science, especially in surgery, and the common people have been enabled to acquire some knowl- edge of the physical laws by which they are better enabled to defend themselves against sickness as well as quacks and charlatans than were some of their ancestors. The dis- covery of ether as an anæsthetic about the year 1848, was a great blessing to the world in saving those who are oblig- ed to submit to severe surgical operations, from the agonies which were endured by people in the same circumstances before that period, as well as to others who suffer pain from any cause.
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The physicians of to-day enjoy great advantages for ac- quiring a thorough education and training, and, as a gen- eral rule, they are more successful in the treatment of disease than were their predecessors of sixty years ago.
Seventy-five years ago, a professional dentist was un- known in New Hampshire, and there was no such art as filling teeth, partially decayed, or of supplying a new and beautiful set when all had become useless. All that the doctors could do in the dentistry line in those days, was to seize the decayed and aching teeth of his patients with the clumsy old-fashioned cant hook and pry them out without much ceremony. By the way, it used to be said more than fifty years ago that a very romantic, though timid and bash - ful young man in the town, was so deeply in love with the accomplished daughter of the doctor at that time and so anxious to see her, that he was willing to have a sound tooth extracted now and then as an apology for going to her residence. It is barely possible that the story was slightly exaggerated.
EPIDEMICS.
About eighty years ago, there were several cases of spotted fever in the town, one or two of which proved fatal. The throat distemper was also prevalent about that time and it is said that several persons died, among whom were the wife, the oldest son and two daughters of a citizen in the east part of the town. While lung fever or pneumonia, typhoid fever and scarlet fever have almost every year car- ried off a considerable number of persons, cases of con- sumption are less common than they were at a period pre- vious to 1850.
During the years from 1889 to 1892, a dangerous disease with the French name of La Grippe, much resembling in- fluenza, prevailed in many parts of the United States and Europe. There were many cases in Candia and some of them resulted fatally.
By accident, the names of the victims of Small Pox which prevailed in the town in 1835 were omitted in the account of that calamity which appears on page :08 of this volume.
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The following is a full list of the names of those who died from that disease : William Towle, Owen Reynolds, aged 45, Marietta Reynolds his daughter, aged 18, Asa Hun- toon, aged 36, , Nelson Healey, David Heath, aged 56, and Asa Heath.
HON. THOMAS W. THOMPSON.
It was mentioned on page 212, that Hon. T. W. Thompson, Concord, gave, by his will, to the Congregational Society of Candia, a tract of land in Allenstown. Mr. Thompson was a very distinguished lawyer and statesman. He was a fellow student with Rev. Jesse Remington at Harvard Col- lege and gave to the Congregational Society the land'referred to as a tribute to the memory of his friend and companion. He held many important offices in the state and was a rep- resentative to Congress several terms, and was a United States Senator four years. He died in 1823.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY AND OTHER MATTERS.
Soon after the American colonies were founded, negro men, women and children who had been kidnapped in Af- rica were brought into the country and sold like sheep or cattle. Slavery existed in all the colonies, including New Hampshire, previous to the war of the Revolution. Rev. Dr. Bouton, in his history of Concord, gives the names of a considerable number of the citizens of that town who own- ed slaves, including that of Rev. Timothy Walker, the first minister of the place, who owned one negro man and two women. He also gives copies of bills of sale of slaves, one of which was from Patrick Gault of old Chester, dated in 1767, conveying to Andrew McMillian of Concord, a negro girl named Dinah, for the sum of 12 pounds. Mr. Gault lived in that part of Chester which is now Hooksett, and near the present residence of William F. Head. So it seems that Candia came within about three miles of being slave territory in ancient days.
Slavery at length became unpopular and unprofitable in the North and a large number of the slaves were sold to Southern planters. In 1784, slavery was abolished in New Hampshire by law. As time went on, slave labor was in great demand at the South for raising cotton and other crops and the negro population increased very rapidly. For
many years, the people of the country felt very little interest in regard to the moral bearings of slavery which John Wes- ley denounced as the sum of all villainies ; and they seem- ed utterly regardless of the cruel wrongs which were inflicted upon the victims of the system. The merchants and manufacturers of the North were on intimate terms with their slave holding customers of the South and mem- bers of Northern churches were in close fellowship with their spiritual brethren of the South while slave holding
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ministers were often invited to occupy northern pulpits. The great national missionary society of the Congregation ist called the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was composed of members belonging to the North and the South, many of the latter being slave holders and. funds which were the proceeds of the sale of negro men, women and children are said to have been often received. by the "Board" to aid in saving souls in heathen lands without rebuke from the churches in any quarter.
In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison established a weekly paper called the Liberator in Boston and opened a fierce and relentless war upon slavery and demanded its immediate abolition. He charged that the Federal Constitution pro- tected slavery and was therefore a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.
Among the early abolitionists were Wendell Phillips of Boston and Parker Pillsbury, Stephen S. Foster and Nath- iel P. Rogers, of New Hampshire. All of these and others were often mobbed, their meetings were broken up by parties who were set on and encouraged by men who were prominent in the churches and in political and business. affairs. The slaveholders became greatly exasperated on. account of the exposures of the cruel wrongs inflicted upon their helpless victims. The most of the politicians and influential citizens, both in the North and the South, de- nounced the abolitionists as enemies to the peace and welfare of the country. Slavery was defended on scriptural grounds. by various eminent theologians of the North, among whom were Rev. Dr. Adams, of Boston, Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Lord, President of Dartmouth College, Prof. Moses Stuart, of Andover Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher and Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Hartford, Conn. It was argued that slavery existed in the primitive churches and was al- lowed by Christ and the apostles.
The early abolitionists were opposed to war for any cause. They relied solely on the power of moral and spiritual truth to rescue the slave, as well as to redeem and save the world. They neither formed or joined any politi- cal party. They abjured the ballot altogether as a reform agent as they did the bullet, and yet, though they always
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acted on those principles, they were despised and persecu- ted for many years.
In the course of a few years, after the movement against slavery was made by Garrison and his associates, a small number of Candia people became interested in the cause of emancipation. A few anti-slavery tracts were circulated in the town, there were two or three subscribers to the Herald of Freedom, published by N. P. Rogers at Concord, and, once in a while, a copy of the Liberator was seen in the territory. Benjamin Chase, in his history of Chester, relates that, at the annual meeting of the Rockingham Western Conference of churches which was held at the Congrega- tional meeting house in Candia, in 1835, Stephen Chase of Auburn offered a resolution to the effect that it was the du- ty of all Christians to oppose all forms of injustice and oppression wherever they may appear. The resolution was discussed and slavery was denounced by two of the speak- ers. At the conclusion of the meeting, Rev. Charles P. Russell, who was then settled in Candia, severely rebuked Mr. Chase for introducing the slavery question, and declar- ed that he did not wish his people to hear one word upon the subject on that occasion.
In 1844, when the proposition to admit Texas into the Urion as a slave state was being discussed, many of the people of the North were aroused to the consideration of the political bearings of the slave system upon the country. A few citizens belonging to'both of the great national par- ties strenuously opposed the scheme to further extend the slave system and organized a third political party. In 1845 and 1846, by a combination of the Whigs and the anti-slave- ry citizens of Candia, Jonathan Martin, one of their num- ber, was elected a representative to the Legislature.
The opposition to slavery was greatly intensified in the North by the passage of the fugitive slave bill by Congress in 1850, and also by the passage of the Kansas and Nebras - ka bill in 1854, repealing the Missouri Compromise, which forbade the existence of slavery north of a certain para- lel of latitude. In 1856, the most of the members of the great Whig party combined with the Free soil party and Col. J. C. Fremont, their candidate for President came
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near being elected. Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1861. Then came the secession of the slave states, and then the great civil war.
During the first two years of the war of the rebellion neither the citizens of the North or the soldiers in the Fed- eral armies ever thought of overthrowing slavery by force. They only demanded that the system should not be extend- ed, and that the Union of the States should be restored. Slavery was not abolished by moral influences on the part people of the North, but by the famous proclamation of President Lincoln, which was issued strictly as a war mea- sure to have no effect except upon the refusal of the rebels to lay down their arms and return to the Union.
When the "cruel war was over" and the slave were set free, almost every body claimed to have always been a first class abolitionist. Many ministers and politicians who for twenty-five years had figured as open enemies of the anti- slavery cause, were all at once heard bragging of how they had labored to secure freedom for the slaves.
PEACE AND WAR.
About the year 1830, a national organization called the American Peace Society was established in the United States for the purpose of abolishing war. Auxilliary soci- eties were founded in various parts of the country ; periodi- cals and pamphlets, advocating the doctrines of peace and good will among nations and states were published and circulated in great numbers It was claimed that all wars are brutal, anti Christian and sinful in the highest degree, and that all disputes between nations should be settled by arbitration. Many of the people of Candia became.much interested in the cause and peace lectures were sometimes given in the churches by agents of the society. At a later date, peace societies were organized in England, France, and Germany. Great international conventions, or con- gresses were held in London, Paris, Geneva, and other places and many very intelligent people firmly believed that the time was near at hand when swords would be turned into plough shares, and spears into pruning hooks,
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and that the Prince of Peace would soon hold undisputed sway throughout the world.
On the 4th of July, 1845. Charles Sumner, one of the most distinguished scholars and statesmen the country has produced, gave the annual oration before the members of the city government of Boston. The oration, which was entitled, "The True Grandeur of Nations," made a great sensation throughout the country. Mr. Sumner contended that disputes between nations are seldom settled upon prin- ciples of justice by an appeal to arms as the result often depends upon accident or the superiority of numbers of the victors; but it was chiefly against the supreme wickedness of war that his arguments were directed. The following are brief extracts from the address: "Amid the thunderbolts of Sinia God declared, 'Thou shalt not kill.' Who on earth shall presume to say that this injunction was not directed to many but to one person only ; that one person may not kill, but many may ; that it is not forbidden to a nation to cut off by the sword tens of thousands of people? We are struck with horror and our hair stands on end at the report of a single murder; we think of the soul which has been hurried to its final account; we seek the murderer ; and the state puts forth all its energies to secure his punishment. Viewed in the unclouded light of truth, what is war but or- ganized murder ? The injunction, 'Love one another' ap- plies to nations as well as individuals. What has taught thee O man! to find glory in an act performed by a nation which you condemn as barbarous when committed by an individual ?"
The late James Russell Lowell, who has been regarded as one of the best poets and essayists in the country and who was for several years U. S. minister to England, was an uncompromising opponent of war. Soon after the breaking out of the Mexican war in 1846, he published a sat- irical poem written in Yankee dialect, under the assumed name of "Ezekiel Bigelow," an unsophisticated farmer, in which he denounces war in scathing terms. Ezekiel is sup- posed to have been on a recent visit to Boston, and while there, to have seen an officer of the U. S. Army marching through the streets at the head of a squad of soldiers, ac-
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companied by a drummer and fifer, for the purpose of get- ting recruits to serve in the war against Mexico. The folowing stanzas will afford some idea of the spirit of the poem :
"Ez for war I call it murder, There you have it plain and flat; I don't want to go no furder Than my Testament for that; God has said so plump and fairly It's as long as it is broad And you've got to get up airly If you want to take in God.
'Taint your eppyletts and fethers Makes the thing a grain more right, 'Taint afollering your bell wethers Will excuse you in his sight. Ef you take your sword and dror it, And go stick a feller through, Guvment aint to answer for it, God will send the bill to you.
What's the use of meetin goin Every Sunday, wet or dry Ef its right to go amo win Feller men like oats or rye ? I dunno but what its pooty Trainen round in bobtail coats, But its curis Christian dooty This ere cuttin folks's throats."
In 1861, when the people of the South undertook to dis- solve the Union, all the beautiful Christian sentiments of the New Testament relating to the duty of loving our ene- mies and overcoming evil with good, became extremely unfashionable and were'pronounced utterly impracticable by the people in all sections of the country, and one of the greatest and most dreadful wars ever known to the world quickly followed. Vast armies, composed largely of pro- fessing Christians stood up on many a field and deliberate- ly sought to destroy each other, and hundreds of chaplains on each side prayed earnestly to God for victory over their enemies. Hundreds of thousands of lives were sacrificed, billions of dollars were expended and a vast amount of
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misery was entailed upon the people of all conditions, but the Union was saved and the Star Spangled Banner again waves proudly over every inch of the territory of the country.
NEWSPAPERS. f
The people of Candia have been good patrons of the newspaper press for many years. In Colonial and Revo- lutionary times a few copies of the Portsmouth Gazette were taken. Then the New Hampshire Patriot, an organ of the Democratic party which was established by Isaac Hill, at Concord in 1809, and the New Hampshire Journal, an organ of the Federal party, conducted by Jacob B. Moore, a neph- ew of Peter Eaton, were well patronized by the citizens of Candia. Mr. Eaton was a frequent contributor to the Jour- nal. The New Hampshire Observer, a religious newspaper of the Congregationalists, and the Morning Star, the organ of the Free Will Baptists, printed at Dover, had a consider- able number of subscribers for many years. The Morning Star is still in a flourishing condition. Sixty years ago, two or three copies of the Trumpet, a Universalist paper, publish- ed at Boston, by Thomas Whittemore were taken. The Exeter News Letter, The Philadelphia Saturday Courier, Horace Greeley's New York Weekly Tribune and the Youths' Companion were among the papers which were well patronized forty years ago. In addition to these, two weekly papers which were published in the interest of Sab- bath Schools were well supported by the members of the
Congregational and Free Will Baptist churches. When Manchester became a great manufacturing town, the Man- chester Democrat and the Manchester American were well patronized in Candia. Later on, the Manchester Weekly Mirror was taken by many citizens.
In February, 1879, the ladies of the Free Will Baptist Soci- ety published a quarto newspaper sheet on the occasion of a Fair, called The Village Organ. The paper contained a full account of the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the declaration of Independence in Candia in 1876, and an interesting poem entitled: "My fathers' prayer," written
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by Sarah J. Dudley, daughter of Dea. Samuel Dudley. Other papers have been occasionally published by ladies connected with fairs.
In 1878, John Jenness Lane, a son of Cyrus T. Lane, started a weekly newspaper at the Village, called "The Candia Banner." Though Mr. Lane was then quite young and a novice in the newspaper business, he soon succeeded in making an interesting journal. The paper was devoted largely to matters pertaining to Candia and adjoining towns. Mr. Lane had correspondents in Deerfield, Northwood, Ep- som, Kingston, Raymond and other neighboring towns. Among the contributors who resided in Candia, or were born in the town, were Abraham Emerson, Jesse R. Fitts, Mary Ann Robie, Rev. William C. Reade, Mrs Octavia Reade, Aaron Bean of New York city, Wilson Palmer, of Oyster Bay, Long Island, Rev. John D. Emerson, who then resided in Jericho, Vt., Francis B. Eaton, and the author.
The publication of the Banner was suspended in 1882.
TOWN FAIRS.
On October 4th, 1878, the people of Candia had an agri- cultural fair. Early in the forenoon a procession which was formed at the Corner, under the direction of E. R. In- galls, the Chief Marshal, was escorted to the grounds near the Congregational meeting house by the Lane Rifles, ac- companied by the Candia Cornet Band. Near the head of the procession, there was a town team, consisting of forty- three yokes of oxen drawing a large wagon, decorated with evergreens, flowers and fruits. The largest pair of oxen weighed 3330 pounds. Next came a team of six yokes of oxen, drawing a wagon filled with young ladies. The day was warm and beautiful and it was estimated that there were 1500 people upon the grounds. There was a fair ex- hibition of cows and heifers but there were few horses or sheep. In the vestry of the church, there was an excel- lent display of vegetables, fruits, products of the dairy, pic- tures and needle work.
In the afternoon, the following named officers of the
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town agricultural society appeared upon a stand near the church : Moses F. Emerson, President, Jonathan C. Hobbs, Vice President, A. F. Patten, Secretary, W. J. Dudley, Trea- surer, Jesse R. Fitts, P. W. Sanborn, J. C. Colcord, Asa Truel, F. S. Rowe, Directors.
Addresses were made by James O. Adams of Manchester, N. B. Prescott of Derry, F. B. Eaton of Manchester, A. D. Dudley of Haverhill, Mass., Rev. Charles L. Hubbard of Boxford, Mass., John Moore, Esq., and others.
In the course of the afternoon, there was a foot race for a prize and other entertainments.
In October 8, 1879, the Candia Agricultural Society made arrangements for another annual fair. A procession, under the direction of John W. Cate, the Chief Marshal, was es- corted by the Lane Rifles, accompanied by the Candia Band to the fair grounds near the Congregational meeting house.
Forty yokes of oxen drew a large and finely decorated wagon, containing the officers of the Society, the orator of the day, and various carriages, contained the invited guests and citizens generally. The exhibition at the vestry in all departments was very creditable. In the forenoon, there was a pulling match, and in the afternoon, Capt. W. R. Patten of Manchester, delivered an oration. He was fol- lowed by Martin W. Cochran of Pembroke, Stephen Holt of Epping, Ex. Gov. Smyth of Manchester, and others. In the afternoon, there was a foot race.
The third and last agricultural fair in the town, was held October 12, 1881. A procession, marshalled by John W. Cate, was escorted by the Patten Guards from the Corner to the grounds. The exhibition was in most respects simi- lar to those of 1878 and 1879. Among the speakers at the stand were James O. Adams and F. B. Eaton of Manches- ter and Aaron Whittier of Raymond.
LONGEVITY.
The following are the names of those persons belonging to the town who died at upwards of 70 years of age so far as has been ascertained. The record of deaths which has
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been kept by the town clerks have been quite imperfect un- til within a few years because the said clerks were not supplied with the necessary data :
I793. Nehemiah Brown, aged 76 years.
1798. Arthur Libbie, aged 70.
1799. Anna, wife of Nehemiah Brown, aged 80.
1801. Major Henry Moore, aged 73 years.
1802. Mrs. Silas Camett, aged 82.
1803. Mrs. Clifford, mother of Anthony and Zachariah Clifford, aged 96.
1804. Thomas Anderson, aged 72; Henry Clark, Sr., 82; Mrs. Amos Knowles, aged 82.
1805. James Varnum, 73; Robert Wason, 70.
1807. Theophilus Sargent, one of the first settlers at the Corner, 87.
1808. David Bean, the first settler at the Island, 81; Lt. Abraham Fitts, 72.
1809. Mehitable, wife of Jethro Hill, 74; Amos Knowles Sr., 87.
1810. Esther Roth, wife of Dea. Nathaniel Burpee, 88 ; Joshua Blunt, 70 ; Isaiah Rowe, 72.
1812. Jethro Hill, 70.
1813. At Andover, Lt. Benjamin Batchelder, 70 ; John S. Dearborn, 70.
1814. 'Comfort, wife of Simon French, Sr., 73; James, McClure, 71; Lt. Joshua Moore, 73.
1815. Dea. Nathaniel Burpee, 94 ; Mary, wife of Thom- as Patten, Sr., 91.
1816. Mrs. Joseph Dearborn, 74; Widow Elliot, (blind) 90; Benjamin Lang, Sr., 79 ; Thomas Patten, Sr., 91.
1817. Mrs. Stephen Dearborn from Chester, 74; Nath- aniel Wood, 80.
1818. Stephen Fifield, Sr., 71; Mehitable, wife of Dr. Samuel Mooers and the first white child born in Chester, 95 ; Walter Robie, Esq., Sr., 77.
1819. Lt. Jonathan Bagley, 85; Mrs. Henry Clark, 82 ; Jonathan Currier, Sr., 93; Edith, wife of Eben Dearborn of Chester, 72 ; Hannah, wife of Paul Eaton, 70.
1820. Mrs. Thomas Critchett, 95; Mrs. Adonijah Morrill,
FRANK P. BROWN.
Sketch, page 516.
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73; John Martin, Sr., 79; Hannah, wife of Samuel Murray, 86 ; Mary, wife of Biley Smith, Sr., 73.
1821. Susan, wife of Walter Robie, Esq., 78.
1822. Caleb Brown, Sr., 80; Jacob Clifford, 74 ; Anthony Clifford, 80; Sarah, wife of Ephraim Eaton, 78.
1823. John Lane, Sr., 72.
1824. Col. Nathaniel Emerson, 83 ; Deborah, wife of Arthur Libbee, 93 ; Samuel Morrill, Esq .. Sr., 74.
1825. Mary Lyford, wife of Caleb Brown, Sr., 86 ; Reu- ben Bean, 75; Timothy Bagley, 75; Eben Dearborn, 81 ; Mrs. Thurston, mother of Mrs. Aaron Brown, 98.
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