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 5
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
a dozen or twenty miles to be ground, and in case there was no horse, the head of the family carried half a bushel or more of corn upon his back to the mill.
Their food was of the plainest quality. The greater part of the time it consisted of salt pork fried and boiled, baked beans, bean porridge, hasty pudding, bread and milk. They had no table cloths and but few plates and knives. They had no tea and for coffee they used rye or roasted barley pounded in a mortar. In the spring they sometimes had veal, and in the autumn and winter they had fresh beef and pork, and at Thanksgiving they regaled themselves with chicken pie and in rare cases with roast turkey.
Besides doing all the house work and taking care of the children, the women and girls often worked in the fields with the men. They could drive oxen, plant potatoes and corn, reap and bind, spread hay and assist in getting it in- to the barn. They also spun and wove all the cloth worn in the family.
The settlers continued to cut down the forest, and to bring a few acres under cultivation year by year, until they had goodly farms suitably cleared into fields and pastures. But all these improvements required the hardest and most persistent labor. To construct the walls and fences was a herculean task. As these farms became more productive and increased in value, their condition in regard to food, shelter and clothing was greatly improved. The log cabin or shanty was exchanged for a substantial house, generally of one story for the first succeeding years, and good barns and other out buildings.
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CHAPTER VIII. HIRING AND SETTLING MINISTERS.
THE majority of the early settlers of New Hampshire were Calvinists and Congregationalists, and the ministers of that denomination of Christians were legally constituted the "standing order" in the state. The citizens of the towns were required by law to tax themselves for the support of the doctrines and ordinances of that sect whether their con- sciences approved of them or not. The people in town meeting assembled voted for their religious teachers, and the meeting houses and parsonages were built and support- ed at the public expense. The grantees of the townships in many cases were required by the terms of their charters to reserve one lot for a parsonage and another for the sup- port of the minister. A provision of this sort was contained in the charter of the town of Chester. This condition of things was continued in New Hampshire without much op- position for more than a hundred years.
Very soon after Candia was incorporated, measures were taken by the citizens to provide for the support of the Chris- tian ministry. At the very first town meeting, in 1764, it was voted to raise 150 pounds Old Tenor for preaching .. In 1765, it was voted to raise 300 pounds Old Tenor, and in 1766, four hundred pounds was raised. Tristram Gilman, who was the first minister in town, was employed to preach fourteen Sabbaths and was paid twelve pounds. Theophilus Sargent, who resided at the Corner, was paid one pound and ten shillings for boarding Mr. Gilman and five shillings. for going to Exeter to engage him. The same year Benja- min Batchelder was paid four shillings for going to Hamp- ton to secure a minister.
In 1767, John Clay, Ichabod Robie and Moses Baker were chosen a committee to hire a minister. Rev .- Mr. Webster was employed and was paid eighteen pounds for preaching fifteen Sabbaths. In 1768, the same committee
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was re-elected, and the sum of twenty pounds was raised for the support of preaching. Mr. Gilman preached fifteen Sabbaths and Rev. Mr. Hall preached two Sabbaths. John Clay was paid two pounds for going after Mr. Gilman and for boarding him. Moses Baker was paid three shillings, and Ichabod Robie was paid five shillings for going after ministers. The meetings for religious services were held at that time in the dwelling house of Joseph Palmer, who lived in the house nearly opposite the old parsonage.
There were no post offices, telegraphs, telephones, rail- roads or stages in those days, and no communications be- tween people living at a distance from each other could be had except by special messenger, and yet they managed to get along, notwithstanding.
On June 8, 1768, the town voted that there should be a minister settled as soon as it could be conveniently done, and it was voted that the committee already appointed should appoint a day for fasting and prayer in order to the calling of a gospel minister, and hire a minister upon pro- bation or trial. It was voted, as the parish had agreed upon Rev. Mr. Gilman as a minister, that the commit- tee should hire him upon trial in order for settlement Mr. Gilman declined the call.
In June, 1769, it was voted to raise twenty pounds lawful money to be laid out for preaching, and Dr. Samuel Mooers and Benjamin Cass were chosen a committee to lay out the money. It was also voted to select for further trial the three ministers who had preached. In August, of the same year, it was voted to give Mr. Searle a call to settle and to offer him a salary of forty pounds with the use of the par- sonage. Mr. Searle gave a negative answer. Mr. Searle was paid for preaching ten Sabbaths, Mr. Currier for two, and Mr. Lancaster for four Sabbaths.
In November, 1770, it was voted to give Mr. David Jew- ett a call to the work of the ministry, and to give him a sal- ary of fifty pounds the first year, and to add five pounds to that amount, annually, until it was sixty-five pounds, and that should be his stated salary, with the income of the parsonage ; to finish the parsonage and barn and dig a well as soon as convenient. Mr. Jewett accepted the call, and
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was ordained on the first Wednesday of September, 1770.
Mr. Jewett performed the duties of the ministerial office to the satisfaction of the people for eight or nine years, when from some cause troubles arose, and on February 8, ' 1779, the town voted that he be requested to resign his po- sition as minister. This was in the midst of the war of the Revolution, money had greatly depreciated in value, and the people were greatly straightened in their circumstances. It has been suggested that Mr. Jewett wanted more salary. It should be stated that the paper currency had become greatly depreciated in value, and it would seem that Mr. Jewett was fully justified in demanding more pay for his services. On May 27, of the same year, the town voted unanimously not to make any addition to his salary that year. A few days later, Mr. Jewett sent a communication to the selectmen, whereupon the people voted not to act
upon any paper or letter which he had written. Subse- quently another committee was chosen and authorized to settle with Mr. Jewett in regard to the civil contract be- tween him and the people of the town. On May 8, 1780, the people voted not to increase his salary.
Upon the request of Mr. Jewett, the whole affair was re- ferred to a mutual council of five citizens, who belonged to some of the neighboring towns. The referees were chosen, ' but a part of them declined to act. Hon. Meshech Weare, who was consulted, advised another trial for settlement. Mr. Jewett then made a communication in which he offered some terms of settlement. His terms were accepted and soon after he was dismissed and left the town.
CHAPTER IX.
THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE AND PARSONAGE.
AT a town meeting held September 8, 1766, it was voted to build a meeting house and to set it near the northwest corner of the parsonage lot. This lot is No. 90, on the pro- prietors' plan.
It was voted that the meeting house frame should be com- menced upon the 22nd day of September, and that John Clay, Walter Robie, Benjamin Cass, Nathaniel Emerson and Abraham Fitts be a committee to oversee the work.
It was voted to raise sixty pounds lawful money to be paid in lumber or in work at two shillings and sixpence per day for common hands, and that the committee hire work- men to construct the said frame and have it completed by the last day of October ; and if any persons refuse to pay their proportion in work or lumber, they would be required to pay the same in money to the constable.
It was voted that the meeting house should be built 45 feet wide and 55 feet long, and at a town meeting held on October 20th, it was voted that the selectmen should assess a sufficient sum to finish the meeting house frame, and pro- vide the workmen and the people who assist at the raising a supper of codfish, potatoes and butter.
The timber for the building, which consisted mostly of red and white oak, was probably cut from the parsonage and school lots, which belonged to the town and were situ- ated in the immediate vicinity of the spot which was chos- en for the site of the meeting house. The huge logs were drawn to the spot by ox teams, and it must have required a great amount of labor to hew and prepare them for their proper places in the frame. There were great double raft- ers in the frame to support the roof, as many a boy who clambered up to the attic sixty years after the building was raised could have testified.
The work upon the frame was completed in the best
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manner possible and, on the day appointed, everything was ready for the raising. All the able-bodied men in the town were on hana to assist in the great work. Many women and children were also present as witnesses of the exciting scene.
The building was successfully raised without accident, and the supper of codfish, potatoes and butter was served in the dwelling house of Colonel John Carr according to the programme; but, alas! no record of the details of the event has been preserved. No daily newspapers, with their long col- umns of local items, were published in the town or in the vicinity in those days and the people of the present and succeeding generations must remain in utter ignorance as to who was the master builder on the occasion, or whether he worked by the square or scribe rule ; or whether, when the last wooden pin had been driven into its proper place, some bold adventurer, inspired by the inward conscious- ness of genius, climbed to the ridgepole and, standing erect, proceeded to dedicate or " name " the building in an ex- temporaneous oration, and whether when the climax of the peroration had been reached, he dashed upon the heavy timbers below a decanter of rum and sprinkled the precious fluid over the beams, the spars, the braces and the sills, as was oftentimes the custom on similar occasions in those . days. Neither can they know as to where in the great ocean the codfish served at the supper were taken, whether off Marblehead or on the banks of Newfoun 1: 1 or how many pounds were required to feed the hungry farmers and mechanics assembled at the feast, or where they were pur chased, whether at Portsmouth or Newburyport; or wheth- er they were paid for in depreciated continental money or in red oak hogshead staves; nor can any person now living know as to how many bushels of potatoes were cooked or whether they were long reds, old-fashioned whites or lady fingers ; and, worse than all, the names of the good housewives of the town who assisted Mrs. Carr in cooking and preparing the entertainment, and those of the rosy-cheeked maidens who waited upon the tables and laughed at the dry jokes of the young men seated before them, have long since been consigned to oblivion.
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
At a town meeting held February 5, 1767, it was voted to sell the pew ground for the wall pews, and Moses Baker, Dr. Samuel Mooers and William Turner were chosen a com- mittee to sell it and take care that the frame be boarded, shingled and underpinned. The pew ground was sold Feb- ruary 19, 1767.
At a town meeting in September, it was voted to sell ground for six more pews behind the men's and women's seats, in order to raise funds to finish the outside of the meeting house that fall as far as the avails from the sales would go. The purchase of the pew ground referred to was sold Octo- ber 1, 1767, and the purchasers paid for it in merchantable pine boards at eighteen shillings per thousand and in shin- gles at seven shillings per thousand.
On November, 1767, it was voted that the meeting house should be glazed that fall, and liberty was given to cut tim- ber on the parsonage and school lots to make red oak hogs- head staves to defray the expense, the staves to be three feet and eight inches long, and delivered at the meeting house by the 10th day of February following.
In 1769, it was voted that the meeting house committee build the men's and women's seats in the meeting house, and in June, 1773, it was voted to build a pulpit within six months. From the foregoing account of the building of the meeting house, it appears that the progress in the under- taking was exceedingly slow, as nearly three years had elapsed before the men's and women's seats were built, and about seven years before a pulpit was constructed. It does not appear from any record that the building was ever formally dedicated nor is it known when the first religious service was held within its walls. The latter event proba- bly took place immediately after the building was boarded, shingled and glazed late in the fall of 1767. In 1775, it was voted to sell ground for pews in the gallery to the highest bidder and the finishing of the meeting house to the low- est bidder. In 1779, it was voted to build seats in the gal- lery and that the breast-work should be lined during that season .-
It would seem that this work was not done that year, for on July 21, 1783, it was again voted to build the seats and
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complete the work upon the breast-work, or panel work be- low and around the gallery.
The house faced the south a few degrees east. Over the pulpit, which was erected in the middle of the north side of the building, there was an old-fashioned sounding board, and in front and below the pulpit were the deacons' seats. On the west side of the broad aisle and immediately in front of the pulpit there were seats or benches for the accommo- dation of the elderly men of the congregation, who were hard of hearing, and on the east side there were seats for the elderly women. All of them were free seats. In 1828, these seats were removed and a tier of pews was erected in their places. The wall pews, so called, were erected next to the walls of the four sides of the building, and the rest of the area, which was covered with pews, was called the ground floor. There were 36 pews on the lower floor and 24 in the gallery.
The pews were of panel work with a row of turned balus- ters about eight inches long near the top. The seats, which were placed upon three sides of the pews, were hung with hinges and, during prayers, they were turned up for the convenience of the worshippers. When the prayer was ended the seats were slammed down upon their supports, causing a loud, rattling noise slightly resembling a volley of musketry.
In the gallery there were pews around the walls on three sides, and three pews on the east and west sides be- ween the wall pews and the breast-work. The latter pews were built about a foot lower than the wall pews. Next, south of the pews last described, there were two long seats or benches for the use of those persons who were not other- wise accommodated. Those on the west side were occu- pied by men and those on the opposite side were occupied by women. Mrs. Flora Stewart, the colored servant of Mr. Duncan, the trader, seated herself on the east side of the gallery while her sons, Isaiah and George, who worked on Mr. Duncan's farm, were seated on the west side. A few of the pews were owned by one person, but the. most of them were owned in shares. Some owned half a pew and others only a quarter of a pew.
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The pews were built at the expense of the parties who bid off the pew ground. None were built, however, for sev- eral years after the building was raised, boarded and shin- gled. Some of the pews were built by one carpenter and others by other workmen. John Lane, who was an excel- lent carpenter and cabinet maker, built a large number of pews as will be seen by the following extracts from his ac- count book :
September 20, 1791. John Sargent, Dr. To building part of a pew, 8 shillings.
In the same year there were the following charges :
John Bagley and Lieutenant Fitts, Dr. September 24, to building a pew, I pound.
Benjamin Rowe, Jonathan Brown and others, Dr. To building half a pew, 10 shillings.
David Pillsbury, Dr. To building a pew, I pound.
Nathan Bean and Phinehas Bean, Dr. To building a pew, I pound.
Isaiah Rowe, Dr. To building 1-4 of a pew, 5 shillings. In 1791, there were also the following charges :
Jonathan Rowe, Dr. To building 1-4 of a pew, 5 shil- lings.
Thomas Towle, Dr. To building 1-2 of a pew, 10 shil- lings. ยท
Daniel Dolber, Dr. To building half a pew, 10 shillings.
Elijah Clough, Dr. To building 1-4 of a pew, 5 shillings. Samuel Colcord, Dr. To building half a pew, 10 shillings.
Moses Dustin, Dr, To building part of a pew, 11 shil- lings.
Mr, Lane performed a large amount of labor upon the meeting house for the town, between the years 1796 and 1800. He kept a strict account of every item of work as it was performed day by day, as the following extracts from his account book, in 1791, will show :
The Parish of Candia, To John Lane, Dr.
August 13. To six days' work on the meeting house, I pound 4 shillings.
August 20. To three and a half days' work, 14 shillings. September 7. To three days by Lieutenant Buswell and one by myself, 16 shillings.
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HISTORY OF CANDIA.
September 25. To one day's work, 4 shillings.
October I. To four and a half days' work, 18 shillings.
October 8. To six days' work, 1 pound 4 shillings.
October 29. To nine days' work by my brother, I pound 16 shillings.
Mr. Lane continued to make charges for work done upon the building at times during the remainder of that year.
BUILDING THE STEEPLE.
In the year 1795, the people of the town began to talk of adding a steeple, a spire and a porch to the meeting house. At a town meeting held March 29, 1796, a proposition to build a steeple was defeated by a vote of fifty-two to fifty- nine.
For more than twenty years after the meeting house was erected, the entrances to the gallery were by stairways in the southeast and southwest corners of the building. At a town meeting held early in the spring of 1796, it was voted to take away the stairways and sell the spaces which they had covered for pew ground and devote the money received therefor to building a steeple, provided a sufficient sum could be raised by subscription to carry out the under- taking. The necessary funds were immediately raised, and a very handsome steeple was soon erected at the west end of the building. The spire was supported by eight strong oak pillars, and the dome of the belfry, which was of octa-
gon shape, was constructed in an artistic manner. The distance from the ground to the gilded rooster, which sur- mounted the spire, was said to have been about one hun- dred and ten feet. A lightning rod was attached to the steeple soon after it was built.
John Lane also performed a good deal of work on the steeple. It appears that Major Samuel Mooers was a mem- ber of the committee appointed by the town to build the structure, and was authorized to employ the carpenters to do the work. In the summer and fall of 1796, Mr. Lane charged Major Mooers, the chairman of the committee, for services on the steeple. The following are a few of the items set down in his account book :
To myself and horse to Chester to view the meeting house in that town, 6 shillings.
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To myself six days, and Joseph, (one of his sons) three days, boarding, etc., 1 pound 16 shillings.
To one day after stuff, 4 shillings.
To finishing the inside of ye porch by the job, finding myself, 6 pounds.
To myself and Joseph two days on ye foreside, I pound 16 shillings.
To myself three and a half days on ye ogee and eight square, etc., 15 shillings 9 pence.
To myself and Joseph two and a half days on ye eight square, etc., 15 shillings 9 pence.
To myself five days, and Joseph six days on the inside ye steeple, 1 pound 12 shillings.
There were various other charges in the bill of the same character, the total amounting to 24 pounds, 6 shillings and 9 pence.
THE PARSONAGE, ETC. .
On October, 1768, the town voted to build a parsonage for accommodating the ministers who came to settle in the parish ; to dig a well ; clear up and bring under improve- ment thirty acres within four years. To cut down and burn off the thick growth of old trees and shrubbery, which stood upon the lot ; to take off the boulders, dig up and prepare the soil for a crop of rye, corn and grass, was no small job, and it required many hard days' work.
On February 6, 1769, it was decided that the house should be located on the north end of the lot upon the spot where Mr. Sylvester now resides, and nearly opposite to the pres- ent parsonage belonging to the Congregational Society. The house was thirty-eight feet long and twenty feet wide, with a " Citching Room," (kitchen) upon the east end of the south side, two stories high and eighteen feet square.
In August, 1769, it was voted that the overplus of the staves be laid out in buying brick for the parsonage house chimney.
In 1770, it was voted to build a stack of chimneys with two fireplaces, and finish one room by the first day of Octo- ber, of that year; likewise, to finish another room by the first day of December ensuing ; dig a cellar and also set
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out an orchard of one hundred apple trees the next spring.
During the time that the parsonage lot was owned by the town, it was occupied by Rev. Mr. Jewett about ten years, by Rev. Mr. Prince seven years, by Rev. Mr. Remington twenty-five years, by Rev. Mr. Jones two years, and by Rev. Mr. Wheeler ten years. .
Upon September 13, 1813, it was voted to sell one acre of the parsonage lot, situated on the northeast corner, to Rev. Mr. Remington.
THE PROVINCE DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES.
Previous to 1770, all the business pertaining to the courts, etc., was transacted at Portsmouth. In August, 1767, the House resolved to divide the province into four counties, while the Council insisted that two counties were sufficient. The King was appealed to, and he gave leave to the House and Council to pass a bill establishing five counties.
The bill was passed and signed by the provincial governor. The following are the names of the five counties which were es- tablished : Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire and Grafton.
Portsmouth and Exeter became the shire towns, and the the jail and the offices of the Register of Probate and the Register of Deeds were established at those places.
Trials by jury also took place there and for several years the expenses of the jurymen were paid by the towns from which they were sent.
By the selectmen's accounts for the year 1775, it appears that nine jurymen were paid by the town for services at the courts at Portsmouth at various times during that year.
JOHN BROWN.
Sketch, page 510.
CHAPTER X.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION,
AFTER the conquest of Canada and the close of the French and Indian wars, the people of the American, colonies cher- ished the hope that they would be permitted to enjoy a long period of peace and prosperity. But they soon began to realize that their hopes were delusive dreams, so long as they were under the dominion of tyrants beyond the seas.
The long war with France had exhausted the British treas- ury, and various schemes were devised by the ministry and parliament to replenish it. Among these was an act to tax the American colonies, by greatly increasing the duties on tea, sugar, molasses, coffee, and other goods imported from the West Indies and other countries. The Stamp Act, which was passed by Parliament in 1765, providing that no deeds, wills, or other legal papers should be valid unless they bore government stamps, which were brought from England and sold at stipulated prices, was another exercise of tyran- nical power. The intelligence of the passage of this act caused great excitement and indignation throughout the col- onies, as it had been constantly asserted and maintained that taxation without representation was tyranny.
The duty on tea was the most obnoxious tax, not because of the amount per pound, but because of the claim of the Brit- ish Government that it had a right to tax their American colonies at all ; and the people very generally entered into an agreement that they would not import or use tea while it was subject to a duty. As a consequence, the importation of tea was greatly limited, and the attempt to derive a rev- enue from this source was a complete failure. The British Government there upon took off the duty, and the East In- dia company was allowed to ship their teas to America, and to pay the Government three pence per pound on its being landed. The three pence per pound was of course added to the cost of the tea to the consumers. The colo-
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