USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Claremont > History of the town of Claremont, New Hampshire, for a period of one hundred and thirty years from 1764 to 1894 > Part 18
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Between 1830 and 1850 Ilock Hills had a mill just below the Coy paper mill, where he sawed out marble and slate stone.
Just below Ilock Hills's stone mill was a tannery and a shop where J. H. Cross & Co. tanned deer skins and made them into gloves and mittens. This business was discontinued soon after 1850.
THE S. T. COY PAPER COMPANY.
On the same privilege, and drawing water from the same pond, but on the north side of the river, is a large, well-appointed paper mill, owned and operated by the S. T. Coy Paper Company. This mill has been built within the last ten years, on the site occupied fifty years ago, more or less, by Leonard and Hiram Gilmore, brothers, for a blacksmith forge and trip-hammer shop, where they made axes and other edge tools, carried on a general blacksmithing business, and made heavy mill irons for many years. Subse- quently on this same spot was a paper mill where straw wrapping paper was made, owned and operated successively by Daniel F. Maynard and John S. Farrington.
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BENJAMIN TYLER'S SMELTING AND IRON WORKS.
Between 1770 and 1780, Benjamin Tyler, having bought a con- siderable tract of land on the north side of Sugar river, put a dam across that stream, near where the Sullivan County Railroad's high bridge now is, built a shop in which he had a forge, trip-ham- mer, and smelting works, and made heavy mill irons, and other articles from the ore. Here he did a large business in this line for those days,' employing twenty to thirty men for more than twenty years. The iron ore used was brought from a bed three or four miles north of Charlestown village, and the lime from Weathersfield, Vt. This property finally passed into the hands of Mr. Tyler's son-in-law, John Strobridge.
THE GILMORE EDGE TOOL WORKS.
In 1826 Leonard and Hiram Gilmore, sons of Hon. Gawin Gilmore, came from Acworth and established themselves in the business of making axes, scythes, and other edge tools, in a shop on the north side of the river, on or near the spot where the S. T. Coy paper mill now stands. It was the only shop of its kind in the vicinity, and they did a large business until 1841, soon after which it was abandoned.
FLAX MILL.
In 1800 Benjamin Tyler put in operation, at or near the site of the Jarvis paper mill, what was known as the Flax Mill, the pur- pose of which was to prepare flax for the old hand spinning wheels.
A short distance above the Russell and Kidder dam, many years ago, was another dam across Sugar river, and on a canal cut across a point of land, on the north side of the river, stood a saw- mill, said to have been owned by a Mr. Billings.
In 1840 Alexander Graham carried on brick making on his farm, south side of Sugar river, just above the site of the Russell and Kidder carpet-mill dam. This yard was being worked about 1850, and the bricks for that mill, which was called Ascutney Mills, were
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made there. They were loaded on to a scow or flat boat, floated to near the Red Water brook bridge, and then carried by team to where they were to be used. In 1891 and 1892 Marshall Harlow made bricks there.
Sixty to seventy years ago quite a business was done in char- coal burning in the northwest part of the town. Solon C. Gran- nis, Samuel Carlton, and the Gilmore brothers had kilns.
About 1812 Timothy Grannis built a sawmill on Red Water brook, between the highway to Windsor and the place where Daniel N. Bowker now lives, which was afterward owned and operated by John Pressey. It disappeared many years ago.
THE GRANNIS LUMBER MILL.
In 1883 Homer E. Grannis built a dam and mill for manufac- turing building lumber, on Red Water brook, about two miles above where the brook crosses the highway to Windsor. Here, by reason of the large fall, he has ample power except in very dry times.
SHOE MANUFACTURING.
Nicholas Farwell came to town in 1803, and had a small shoe- maker's shop on Town hill, just north of the Michael Lovell home- stead farm, now owned by Dr. O. B. Way. In 1813 he moved to the village and began, on a small scale, to manufacture women's sale shoes by hand, in the honest old fashioned way, doing much of the work himself. These shoes he sold to country merchants. At first it was hard to convince them that any shoe not made to measure by the home shoemaker was worth having, or that they could be sold to any considerable extent. But Mr. Farwell war- ranted his work to be as represented, and before long a demand was created for it. His way was to carry out, sell, and deliver his shoes himself. His best market was found on the west side of. Green mountain in Vermont. In one of his early trips he went to Vergennes and offered his goods to the merchants there, who each and all turned a cold shoulder to him and declined to buy or look
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at his goods, saying there was no demand for them in that vicinity. Mr. Farwell was not the man to be discouraged or beaten in what he undertook. His reply was "I will create a demand for my shoes." He drew his wagon up in front of the principal tavern, got out his shoes and began to exhibit them to the crowd of people who had gathered to see what he had to sell. He said he only wished to show his shoes but did not care to sell them. He explained their quality, told where they were made, and said he warranted every pair of shoes that bore his mark. They were so much more stylish and handsome than home-made work, and appeared so good that people began to call for them. The next time Mr. Farwell went to Vergennes those same merchants who had treated him so coldly were only too ready to buy his shoes, and for many years afterwards ladies in that section wanted no other than Farwell's Claremont shoe. The business increased rapidly until more than a hundred hands, in and out of the shop, were employed. The shop was on Broad street, corner of what was Scrap alley, now Pine street. Just south of this Mr. Farwell opened a general store to supply his help with necessaries.
In 1827 Mr. Farwell took his two oldest sons, George N. and William H., into partnership. After a year or two the senior member of the firm retired, William H. took the store, and George N. continued the shoe business. He erected the two-story brick building, corner of Broad and Pine streets, which was subse- quently converted into a dwelling-house and is now owned and occupied by Mrs. William Clark, and took Lewis Perry into partnership. In 1851 Russell W. Farwell, a brother of George N., also became a partner, and the firm was styled G. N. Farwell, Perry & Co. In 1852 Mr. Perry sold his interest to his partners, and the firm name was changed to G. N. Farwell & Co., and so continued until 1858, when Russell W. bought his brother's interest and became sole proprietor, soon after which the business was removed to the old Claremont bank building, on the east side of Broad street. In 1865 Edward J. Tenney became a partner with Russell W. Farwell, and the business was carried on by
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Farwell & Tenney there and in the building south side of the upper bridge until 1871, when they divided the stock, machinery, and tools, and Mr. Farwell went on alone, and with one or more partners for a few years, and then removed to Rutland, Vt.
Mr. Tenney formed a copartnership with Augustus Barrett and they carried on about the same kind of business in a build- ing corner of School and Oak streets, until 1877, when Mr. Bar- rett sold his interest to his son, George A., and he and Mr. Tenney continued until 1881, when George A. Barrett bought Mr. Tenney's interest, carried on the business alone for four or five years, and then it was abandoned.
In May, 1846, William T. Noyes came from Newport to Clare- mont and opened a shoe store in Gleason's brick building, cor- ner of Broad and Tremont streets, and manufactured by hand women's shoes for his own retail trade. In the following Sep- tember, his brother, Silas E. Noyes, came, took the business and continued to make the same kind of shoes, in the same way, to supply his retail trade, and some in a small way, to sell at wholesale. He gradually increased his business of manufactur- ing until 1855, when he made from forty to sixty pairs of women's shoes per day, employing from eight to ten hands. In 1865 he bought the first Gordon Mckay machine, for stitch- ing on soles, that was brought into town, and with the help of this and other machinery, increased his production, and em- ployed twenty men and ten women in his business. Shoe manu- facturing changed by the introduction of machines for making every part of a shoe and putting it together, got into large es- tablishments where a great amount of capital was required to carry it on successfully, so that small shops could not compete with the large ones, and Mr. Noyes, as did all the other shoe- makers then in town, gradually abandoned the business.
INDUSTRIES.
In 1836 Ebenezer E. Bailey bought a small piece of land, at the junction of Sullivan and Main streets, of Paran Stevens, and
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erected upon it a two-story brick building. For several years previous Mr. Bailey had been engaged in manufacturing silver spoons and spectacles, at West Unity, which were mostly sold by peddlers going about on foot, carrying tin trunks. When this building was completed he removed his business to Clare- mont. Later he bought at sheriff's sale the house and lot ad- joining on the west and made an addition of fifteen feet to his building, which is now the Fiske Free Library building. He took his brother, Samuel C., into partnership, and they carried on the silversmith and jewelry business quite extensively, under the firm name of E. E. & S. C. Bailey, for twenty-five years, when the business of manufacturing was practically given up. Ebenezer E. Bailey fell from an elm tree, on Washington street, in the summer of 1862, and was instantly killed. Samuel C. Bailey removed to Missouri in 1873, where he now lives.
About 1857 Josiah W. Deane commenced the manufacture of cigars, in Perry's block. In 1860 Edward J. Tenney became a partner, and they carried on quite an extensive business in mak- ing cigars, employing fifteen hands, and as wholesale dealers in manufactured tobacco, under the firm name of J. W. Deane & Co., until 1865, when Mr. Tenney sold his interest, and was succeeded by Henry C. Deane, a brother of Josiah W., who sub- sequently became sole proprietor, continued the business a few years, and then removed to Ogdensburg, N. Y.
CLAREMONT CREAMERY.
The Claremont Creamery Association was organized under the voluntary corporation act, March .6, 1889, with a capital of $3,000. Erastus B. Bailey was chosen president, Dudley T. Chase, clerk, and Edwin B. Heywood, business manager. Land was bought of Reuben B. Ellis, on Washington street, buildings erected and the first butter, was made in June of that year. In April, 1891 the capital stock was increased to $4,000, which is in shares of $50 each, and is largely owned by patrons of the creamery The total receipts for 1891 were $25,495 ; paid for cream, $20,886;
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butter made in 1892, over one hundred thousand pounds, of su- perior quality. Officers for 1893, Reuben B. Ellis, president ; William B. Ellis, treasurer ; Charles B. Spofford, clerk; Reuben B. Ellis, Geo. F. Long, George F. Scott, and Ora D. Blanchard, directors.
MILITARY.
CHAPTER XV.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
STAMP ACT.
In 1764 an act of Parliament was passed for raising a revenue by a general stamp duty through all the American colonies, which the colonists regarded as an assumption of power by Eng- land and oppression to her subjects in America. The stamped paper was prepared in England, brought over in bales, and Ameri- can citizens appointed to distribute it. The act was so framed that it was claimed it would execute itself, as no writing could be deemed legal without the stamp, and every newspaper and other publication must bear them. To this oppressive act there was a spirit of resistance manifested all over the country.
SONS OF LIBERTY.
The House of Burgesses in Virginia passed some strong and spirited resolutions, asserting the rights of the country. The Assembly of Massachusetts proposed a Congress of Deputies from each Colony, to consult upon our common interests in the mat- ter, as had been practiced in times of common danger. Several speeches were made, in one of which the Americans were styled " Sons of Liberty." The actions of Virginia and Massachusetts were generally approved by the colonists, and according to Dr. Belknap's History of New Hampshire, the title of "Sons of Lib- erty " was eagerly adopted by associations in every colony. The spirit of opposition to the stamp act was first manifested in Boston by publicly exhibiting effigies of the enemies of America, and
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obliging the officer appointed to distribute the stamped paper to resign his employment. This spirit of opposition extended and animated the mass of the people in every colony. George Meserve, of Portsmouth, being in England, was appointed to distribute the stamps in New Hampshire, and embarked for America. Before he landed he was informed of the opposition to the act, and that it would be agreeable to the people if he would resign, which he un- hesitatingly did, and was heartily welcomed on shore. On his arrival at Portsmouth he made a second resignation before he went to his own house. Soon after this the stamped paper designed for Massa- chusetts and New Hampshire arrived in Boston, but there being no one in either province who was authorized to receive it or had any concern with it, the governor of Massachusetts ordered it lodged in the castle.
The stamp act was to go into effect on the first day of November, previous to which the appointed congress, consisting of delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, was formed in New York. This congress framed a bill of rights for the colonies, in which the sole power of taxation was declared to be in their own assemblies. They prepared three distinct ad- dresses to the King, Lords, and Commons, stating their grievances and asking for redress. These were signed by the delegates of six colonies ; the others present were not empowered to sign, but their constituents subsequently approved the proceedings in assembly and forwarded their petitions. No delegate went from New Hamp- shire to this congress, but the assembly at their next meeting adopted the same measures and sent similar petitions to England.
It was doubtful whether the courts of law could do business without these stamps; but public sentiment was more powerful than the act of Parliament, and business was transacted by the courts, and newspapers and pamphlets opposing the act were issued, without bearing the offensive stamp. The courts of law and cus. tom-houses were kept open, and licenses for marriage, without stamps, were publicly advertised. Dr. Belknap, in his history,
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said : "As it was uncertain what might be the event of the peti- tions to the King and Parliament, it was thought best to awaken the attention of the merchants and manufacturers of England, by an agreement to import no goods until the stamp act should be re- pealed. To provide for the worst, an association was formed by the 'Sons of Liberty' in all the northern colonies, to stand by each other, and unite their whole force for the protection and relief of any who might be in danger, from the operation of this or any other oppressive act." "The petitions of the American assem- blies, enforced by the agreement for non-importation, and aided by the exertions of the British merchants and manufacturers, induced the new ministry to recommend to Parliament a repeal of the odious stamp act. It was accordingly repealed, not on the true principle of its repugnancy to the rights of America, but on that of political expediency."
DUTY ACT.
In 1767, a new act of Parliament, laying duties on paper, glass, painters' colors, and tea, and establishing a board of com- missioners for collecting the American revenue, was passed. According to Dr. Belknap, "In the other colonies, particularly in Massachusetts, these duties had become a subject of alterca- tion and serious alarm, being grounded on the right which the Parliament had assumed of binding America in all cases whatso- ever." The merchants in most of the colonies united in adopt- ing a non-importation agreement, which so affected the manu- facturers of Great Britain that they exerted their influence for the repeal of this revenue law, and all the duties, except that on tea, were taken off. This did not satisfy the Americans. The controversy between England and the colonies seemed to be ap- proaching a crisis. By the reservation of the duty on tea, the Parliament insisted on it as their right to tax their American brethren without their consent, to which the latter could not be brought to agree, and they opposed the claim by refusing to purchase or use the tea brought here on such conditions. Dr. Belknap says: "The revenue failed and the warehouses of the
15
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East India Company were filled with an unsalable commodity. The ministry and the company thus severely disappointed, formed a plan by which it was expected that the one would enforce its claim and the other secure its traffic. It was therefore enacted by Parliament that the duty on the exportation of tea from Britian should be taken off, and the East India Company be enabled to send tea, on their own account to America, sub- ject to a duty of only three pence on the pound, by which means it would come to us cheaper than before, or than it could be procured by illicit trade."
This attempt to accomplish by indirection what England did not think it wise or safe to insist upon directly, so incensed the Americans that the principal trading towns passed resolutions not to permit tea freighted by the East India Company to be landed or sold; and in many instances it was returned unladen, while in others it was stored until it could be re-shipped. In Boston a large cargo was thrown into the sea and destroyed, by citizens in disguise. In New Hampshire, by the wise course of Governor Wentworth, assisted by citizens, the hateful commodity was sent away without damage and but little tumult.
A general distrust and detestation of the measures of the Brit- ish ministry prevailed in the colonies in 1774, and the towns severally passed resolutions in which they asserted their right to exemption from taxation by Parliament; condemning the impor- tation and use of tea and appointing committees to carry their resolutions into effect. The committees were vigilant and were efficiently aided by the almost universal sentiment of the people.
The Parliament assumed judicial as well as legislative powers over America, but the people were not to be frightened or co- erced, and were united in their determination to resist the op- pressive acts of the British Parliament, and further encroach- ments upon the sacred rights of liberty, and also to demand and regain, if in their power, the enjoyment of those privileges which had been taken away.
In 1775 it was the general belief that by reason of the op- pressive acts of the British Parliament, war with the mother
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country was inevitable. Much the greater part of the people of Claremont were in favor of open hostility with England, while some regretted the existence of the difficulty, and a few avowed them- selves firm royalists, labored to furnish aid and comfort in vari- ous ways to the King and his army, and were denominated Tories.
In Claremont the two latter classes were more numerous than in most towns in New Hampshire, of the same, or nearly equal, population. The town was comparatively new, and many of the settlers were either recently from England or the sons of English- men, and their attachment to the old country would naturally be stronger than that of those who could then behold in their midst the graves of their ancestors covered with the turf of a century. Many regarded violent resistance as dangerous and felt that it probably would be unavailing. Still, the spirit of resist- ance against the tyranny of England was popular, and the neu- trals and Tories were greatly in the minority. About this time many families, some of whose descendants are now inhabitants of this town, disgusted with the opposition of the Whigs, re- moved to a large township in Canada,called Shipton, in which is now a parish or borough bearing the name of Claremont. Thither also many who remained here during the war resorted after its close. Many also removed to New York state, keeping them- selves under the protection of the British until the war was ended, soon after which most of them returned to Claremont.
Among those who left about this time was Col. Benjamin Sumner, who took up his residence on Long Island. He was suspected of being on friendly terms with the British, but so far as is known no act of disloyalty was ever proved against him. He occasionally made short visits to the town, when on his journeys to and from Canada, carefully avoiding any contact with his former townsmen, excepting certain known and well-tried friends. Several attempts were made by the Committee of Safety and other active Whigs to arrest him when on his flying visits, but without success. One William McCoy, a noted Tory, was believed to be his confidential friend and adviser. So artful and shrewd was McCoy in this
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sort of sly diplomacy, that it was impossible to fasten upon him any act of a treasonable nature, although the effort was often made to do so. After the close of the war Colonel Sumner returned to town, was several times elected one of the selectmen and to other offices of honor and trust, and in 1793 and 1794 was a representa- tive in the New Hampshire legislature.
Among others who left town about this time were Capt. Ben- jamin Brooks, one Spencer, several by the names of Leat and Nut- ting, and John Brooks, son of Capt. Benjamin Brooks. John Brooks actually joined the British army, and served during the war. His farm and all his property in town was confiscated and sold; but, after the close of the war and the treaty with Great Britain, his property, or the value of it, was restored to him. No favor was shown to the Tories, or those suspected as such, by the mass of the people. Public indignation was aroused to so great an extent that Tories and suspected persons were continually in imminent danger of the loss of liberty, and even life itself, without the formality of legal proceedings.
A small company of resolute and determined Whigs, among whom were Timothy Atkins and two or three of his brothers - all young men of unusual size and remarkable strength and activity - associated themselves together, and resolved to rid the town of all Tories. These men solemnly promised to give each other immedi- ate information if a Tory was discovered to be lurking about, and to pursue him instantly ; and if capture were impossible, to shoot him, if that could be done. In the neighborhood of such men there could be but little repose or security for the enemies of free- dom. Summer was the season when the secret agents of the Brit- ish were scouring the remote parts of the country, picking up, here and there, whatever information they could find respecting the condition and movements of the people, and carefully noting everything which they judged important to the interests of their employers. Scattered along the route from New York to Canada were certain places of rendezvous, where any one of them on his mission might be safely concealed and find ready means of
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communication with his confederates in the neighborhood. About fifty rods below what is known as the Rich place, on the right hand side of the road as you go toward Red Water brook, is a place famous in Revolutionary times as a favorite resort for Tories. It has since been known as "Tory Hole." So perfectly adapted was this spot to the purposes and wants of its occupants that for a long time they assembled there without exciting the least suspi- cion among the active and vigilant Whigs.
Inaccessible on three sides by a swamp covered with a thick growth of alders, and protected, on its fourth side, by a steep bank about thirty feet high, it was, notwithstanding, easily approached by those who were familiar with the ground. The side of the precipice toward the retreat was nearly circular in form, and was intersected by a deep ravine, which afforded means of access from one direction. Another way began a little below the Rich place, and wound along the foot of the bank. The surface of the ground, including the spot, was irregular and slightly elevated. A few yards distant was a cool, bubbling spring of water. The Tories in the neighborhood were accustomed to convey thither provisions and whatever else might be needed by the transient visitors to the place. This led to the discovery of the retreat. One night, in the autumn of 1780, a man, with a huge pack on his shoulders, was seen passing along the road by the Rich place. His singular move- ments attracted attention, and he was closely watched. Turning into the woods a short distance from the house of Mr. Rich, he was instantly out of sight.
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