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 28
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Charles L. Putnam, a native of Chesterfield; was in practice in Claremont from 1830 to 1840; postmaster of Keene four years ; died in Worcester, Mass., about 1887.
Frank T. Vaughan, studied law with Ira Colby; was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1892; in practice a few months and removed to Kansas in 1893. He is a son of the late Edwin Vaughan.
Edward W. Wooddell was in practice in Claremont from about 1850 to 1860; died in Unity, Oct. 20, 1889.
PHYSICIANS.
In the biographical chapter are sketches of the following named physicians :
Truman Abell.
Albert L. Marden.
Arthur N. Allen.
Josiah Richards.
Cyrus E. Baker.
Silas H. Sabine.
Alvah R. Cummings.
Nathan Smith.
Winefred M. Dowlin.
William Sumner.
Leland J. Graves.
Clarence W. Tolles.
James P. Holt.
Nathaniel Tolles.
Leonard Jarvis.
Samuel R. Upham.
Leonard Jarvis, 2d.
Carl A. Volk.
Samuel G. Jarvis.
Osmon B. Way.
William M. Ladd.
Fred C. Wilkinson.
BRIEF RECORDS.
Edward F. Barnes, son of Obed D. Barnes, was in practice in Claremont from 1879 until his death, Aug. 28, 1883.
Albert Bartlett, in town from 1835 to 1845; lived on Central street.
334
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
George W. Brooks, son of the late Levi Brooks, in practice here from 1883 until his death, about 1886.
Enoch F. Colby, in town from 1838 until his death, in 1849; lived on Central street.
Sherman Cooper, in town from 1859 to 1867; now lives in Westfield, N. J .; native of Croydon.
C. C. Ellis, in town from 1877 to 1885; now at Somerville, Mass.
Thomas Field, in town in 1790.
Bela Fitch, in town from 1810 until his death, March 2, 1813.
Andrew J. Flagg, in town a few years succeeding 1868.
Mrs. Fletcher, in town about 1876.
A. A. Gilbert, in town in 1865.
Robert S. Gleason, came to town about 1820; in practice here until his death, Oct. 23, 1868.
Timothy S. Gleason, came to town with his brother, Dr. Robert, about 1820, and was in practice here until his death, April 5, 1843.
Harvey M. Guild, came to town in 1887; died May 8, 1892.
Charles Haddock, in town in 1850; died at Beverly, Mass., Oct. 10, 1889.
E. J. Hall, here a few months in 1886.
James Hall, in town in 1822; died near Baltimore, Md., in 1888.
Edward F. Houghton, graduated at Hanover Medical College; not in active practice.
M. G. Houghton, in town a few months in 1863.
Emery G. Judkins, in town from 1854 to 1862; died at Waitsfield, Vt.
Thomas B. Kittredge, in town from about 1830 to 1848; died at Keene, about. 1883.
Luke Lincoln, in town from 1810 to 1820.
F. L. McIntosh, in town from 1885 to 1889; now at Newton, Mass.
Abner Meigs, in practice here more than twenty years succeeding 1773; lived in the east part of the town.
G. M. Morse, in town from 1843 to 1846; removed to Clinton, Mass.
T. E. Parker, in town from 1887 to 1890; now lives in New Jersey.
Joseph Petty, in town from 1791 to 1796.
M. B. Richards, in town about 1879.
Leonard E. Richardson, in town in 1849; removed to Stoddard, and thence to Hartford, Conn.
George D. Roberts, here in 1885.
Thomas F. Saxton, in town from 1812 to 1822; removed to Windsor, Vt., where he died; lived near Union church.
S. T. Shaw, in town in 1876.
J. S. Spaulding, in town from 1810 to 1840; removed to New York state, where he died.
335
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
C. C. Slocum, in town from 1853 to 1864; went West.
William H. Smart, Jr., in town from 1860 to 1863; lives in Boston.
James Steel, in town a few years succeeding 1776.
William C. Squier, in town from about 1858 to 1865; went West, where he died about 1890.
Thomas Sterne, the first physician settled in town; here from 1768, living on Town hill, until his death, Nov. 21, 1816.
Linus Stevens, in town a few years succeeding 1814; died in Michigan, in 1851. He was a son of Elihu Stevens.
A. F. Sumner, in town in 1889; now in practice at Concord.
J. H. Thuriault, in town in 1890.
E. 'Torrey, in town from 1810 to 1815.
Henry Tucker, in town from 1868 to 1874; removed to Brattleboro, Vt .; now living at Lakeport.
CHAPTER XXIV.
FIRES - CASUALTIES - FRESHETS - LIGHTNING - TORNADO - EARTH- QUAKE - MURDERS.
Claremont has not suffered from fires to the extent of many other places of similar size. Some of the more notable confla- grations have been the following :
What was known as Union Factory, situated on the Island south of the Freeman & O'Neil works, principally or wholly owned by the late Nicholas Farwell, was burned November 13, 1841, and has not been rebuilt.
In April, 1853, the house of Arnold Farr, in the north part of the town, on the Red Water brook road, in the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Farr, in the evening, took fire and was burned down. Their three children, aged from seven to fourteen years, perished in the flames.
The Meacham factory, on the site now occupied by the Free- man & O'Neil works, at the time operated by William Earl, was burned in March, 1854.
A part of the Eastman tannery buildings, on the north side of Sugar river, were destroyed by fire January 22, 1871, and the balance of them in the same way, October 6, 1890. This property was owned by the widow of Charles H. Eastman.
The Sugar River Paper Mill buildings were damaged by fire in May, 1873, to the amount of about $12,000. In April, 1882, the bleach exploded, forcing out a portion of the west wall of the building, killing Warren Whitney, an employee of the com- pany, and causing a damage of near $20,000.
TREMONT HOUSE IN 1870.
337
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
The house, barn, and other buildings of Harvey Barney, near the brickyard on the road to Unity, about two miles from the village, were burned February 6, 1876. The fire originated from a defective stovepipe.
The most distressing fire in this town, because destructive to human lives, was that of the Tremont House, which occurred March 29, 1879. This house was built by the late Josiah Ste- vens, in 1800, and had been occupied as a hotel from 1823. When the fire occurred there were about forty persons in the house, including the proprietors, Messrs. F. H. Gibson and Riley Deming, and their families, servants, boarders, and transient guests. Soon after the last guest, who came by the midnight train, and the clerk, Fred. Marvin, had gone to their rooms, something like an explosion of gas occurred in or near the office, and the halls and stairways were immediately filled with smoke and flames, cutting off escape by the stairs. Abel McCoy, a boarder, who had just gone to his room on the third floor, gave the alarm and aroused sleepers and others and apprised them of the danger of their situation. The only means of escape for those on the second and third floors was by the windows. Citizens and the fire department soon assembled, but the building was so filled with fire as to make the saving of any part of it, or of any considerable portion of the furniture, almost hopeless, and attention was directed to rescuing the inmates, by ladders and other means at hand. At least four persons perished, viz : Mrs. Gibson, mother of one of the proprietors, Mrs. S. A. Place, a cook, Annie Johnson, chambermaid, and Lydia Merrill, table girl, were known to have been burned. Charles Morgan, a lodger, was missing, but in searching the ruins no remains of him were found, and it is said that he has been seen alive since the fire. Mrs. Fred. Marvin, wife of the clerk, was seriously injured in escaping from the third floor, and William Butler, of Brattlebo- rough, Vt., suffered the sprain of his ankle in jumping from a window on the second floor. The fire extended to two large barns, an annex occupied by A. C. Stone & Co. as a stove and
338
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
tin shop, and three small buildings at the west of the hotel, one occupied by Lambert D. Patten as a harness shop, one by Henry A. Dickinson as a boot and shoe store, and the other by Mrs. Harlow, dressmaker, and all were destroyed. The cause of the fire and the disappearance of Charles Morgan are mysterious. The Tremont House, and all the other buildings, were of wood, and owned by Aurelius Dickinson, who was partially insured.
The paper mill of the Claremont Manufacturing Company, and the paper machinery, were destroyed by fire in 1880, and the company did not resume the paper-making business.
In December, 1882, the main building of the Freeman & O'Neil wood-working establishment, containing valuable machinery, choice woods, and finished and partially finished work, was destroyed by fire. The loss was estimated at nearly twenty-five thousand dollars.
Oscar J. Brown's three-story wooden block, at the corner of Sullivan and Pleasant streets, where Union block now stands, which was occupied by the postoffice, express office, and stores on the first floor, a meat market in the basement, and by offices and halls in the second and third stories, together with a building adjoining, on Pleasant street, containing two stores and a tene- ment occupied by George Judkins, were totally destroyed by fire on the night of March 25, 1887. Most of the contents of the postoffice and express office were saved, while the goods in the stores, and the furniture, libraries, and other property in the offices and halls of the upper stories were nearly a total loss. Most of the occupants had more or less insurance. The whole loss was estimated at the time to be $50,000.
On the 30th of March, 1890, a tenement house on North street, occupied by seven families, owned by Gell Lenven, was burned.
The Jarvis Paper Mill, at West Claremont, with a considerable amount of stock and paper, was destroyed by fire May 12, 1890.
On the 15th of April, 1892, the house, barns, and other build- ings on what was for many years the town farm, owned by the late Thomas B. Fletcher, were completely destroyed by fire.
339
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
On January 30, 1893, the storehouse owned by the Monadnock Mills, near the railroad crossing on Mulberry street, filled with bales of cotton, was discovered to be on fire. The fire was not accessible, and in spite of the best efforts of an efficient fire de- partment, with ample apparatus and an abundance of water, the building was nearly destroyed and the contents damaged to the extent of about $30,000. The cause of the fire has not been satis- factorily accounted for.
On May 23, 1894, the sawmill at the north side of Sugar river' owned by the Monadnock Mills, leased to Burt Chellis, with the machinery, was considerably damaged by fire.
CASUALTIES.
Joel Roys, a Revolutionary soldier, was burned to death. He was buried at West Claremont, and his gravestone bears the following inscription : "Here lies buried Mr. Joel Roys Who Fell in to a Fier and Burnt to Death Sept. 4, 1782 in the 27th year of his age. O! Mortality."
Amos, aged twenty-one years, son of Jonathan York, was drowned in Connecticut river, July 26, 1788.
Artemas, son of William Whiting, eleven years old, fell from a horse and was killed, November 23, 1799.
Miles, son of Ephraim Tyler, was killed by being run over by a cart. Near the spot, on the east road to Cornish Flat, about two miles north of Claremont village, a stone was erected, which bears this inscription : "6 or 7 Feet East of this stone, Miles Tyler, son of Ephraim Tyler, was killed by a cart wheel, August 5th, 1811, in his 13th year."
Chester and Elisha, sons of Solomon Putnam, were suffocated by the fumes of charcoal, and found dead in their bed on the morning of January 29, 1814. A kettle of coals was placed in their room to warm it, and caused the death of both. Chester was in the twenty-seventh year of his age, and Elisha was in his nineteenth.
340
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
At a time of high water in Sugar river, in 1815, Aaron Wheeler, a brother of the late Moses Wheeler, and a man by the name of Merrill, were carried over the gristmill dam at the lower village, in a small boat, and both were drowned.
Bill Andrews Barnes, aged twenty-five years, a son of Bill Barnes, was killed instantly, June 29, 1822, by a tree falling upon him.
While the Fourth of July, 1846, was being celebrated, and a salute was being fired on the common, the cannon burst, and a piece of it hit and instantly killed Willard Fales, a young. me- chanic who was standing in a crowd of spectators, five or six rods from the gun.
The Fourth of July, 1856, was celebrated by a procession, ora- tion, trial of fire engines, and other ceremonies. In attendance was the Mascoma fire engine company, of Lebanon. After the exercises in the town hall, the Mascoma company, preceded by music, went for a march. They crossed the upper bridge and went by way of North street onto the suspension wire bridge, between the Home Mill and the Claremont Manufacturing Com- pany mills, keeping step to the music. The strain was too great, a cable broke, and the bridge with all upon it fell into the river. In the fall, William Griffin, of North Hartland, Vt., a fifer, had his back broken, and he was dead when taken out of the river.
On the twenty-second of September, 1869, Amos Keyes, owner and occupying the Cottage Hospital farm, fell from his cart, was run over and so much injured that he lived but a few minutes.
On the seventh of May, 1871, the Rev. C. E. Sawyer, his young wife, and father-in-law, Sylvanus Cushing- the latter of Abington, Mass. - were drowned in Connecticut river, at Ashley's Ferry. For fuller account, see history of the Universalist church.
William D. Pierce, a miller, was killed by being caught in the machinery in Sugar river gristmill, February 19, 1874.
Alden J. Bliss, a shoemaker, was drowned in the mill pond of the Sugar river gristmill, April 8, 1874, and his body was
341
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
found on the twelfth. The verdict of a coroner's jury was to the effect that he probably accidentally fell into the pond the night of the eighth, which was very dark, when on his way home.
Charles H. Bacon, while painting the Herbert Bailey knitting mill, fell from a staging, near sixty feet, and was instantly killed.
David Ewing was instantly killed in one of the Monadnock mills, January 23, 1877, by being caught by a belt and drawn over a shaft.
Ebenezer E. Bailey, while trimming an elm tree in his yard, on Washington street, in the spring of 1860, fell and was instantly killed.
William C. Wheeler was found drowned in the Claremont Manufacturing Company mill pond, October 1, 1873. Supposed accidental.
The dead body of Philip S. Hunter, a man of middle age, was found in the wheel-pit of George L. Balcom's woolen mill, Octo- ber 15, 1883. It was supposed that he accidentally fell into the flume, and was carried by the strong current into the wheel-pit. The wheel was clogged and stopped, which led to the discovery of the accident.
Daniel Canty was fatally scalded by accidentally falling into a bleach vat in the Coy paper mill, at West Claremont, June 25, 1881, and died the next day.
Matthew Caffrey fell down stairs, broke his skull, and died in a short time after, November 20, 1886.
FRESHETS.
In consequence of very heavy rains on the fifth and sixth of August, 1856, the water in Sugar river reached a height seldom known before. The meadows east of the village were completely flooded, and late crops nearly ruined. Bridges were swept from their foundations, and small buildings, piles of wood and lumber, as well as other property within reach of the high water, were carried down stream. The Monadnock Mills Company was the
342
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
greatest sufferer. Three or four small buildings owned by this company, on the north side of the river, used for various me- chanical purposes, were carried away. A three-story building on the same side of the river, also owned by this company, occupied by Joseph G. Briggs for a cabinet-furniture manufactory, and by other parties for different mechanical uses, was swept from its foundation and badly broken up. Basements of the mills were filled with water, and their contents damaged. The loss to the company was estimated at the time to be eight to ten thousand dollars. The Claremont Manufacturing Company's paper mill, printing office, and bookbindery were flooded. The suspension wire bridge, owned by this company and the proprietors of the Home Mill, was carried away. Two or three bridges on Red Water brook were washed away, and roads all over town were gullied by the rains, and in many places made impassable for teams.
The last part of February, 1866, a thaw melted the heavy body of snow, and raised the water in the streams to an unusual height. Connecticut river was very high, and caused considerable damage along its course. On the twenty-fifth the toll-bridge at Windsor, Vt., was carried away, and as it passed down stream it took the Sullivan railroad bridge along with it, and the two hit the Clare- mont toll-bridge and carried away a portion of that structure. The railroad bridge was soon replaced, but it took some months to repair the toll-bridges, and public travel was accommodated by ferryboats. The ice dammed up at the mouth of Sugar river, and set the water back onto the Cupola and John S. Lovell farms to considerable depth. Fred. W. Dunsmore, on the Cu- pola farm, lost one hundred and sixty-four valuable sheep, and Mr. Lovell had two cows and two steers drowned in his barn. In many places highways were badly washed, as was the bed of Sullivan railroad.
On the twenty-eighth of August, 1891, the reservoir of the Bible hill aqueduct, owned by John Tyler, in consequence of heavy rains, broke away, the water rushed down a ravine, doing
343
HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
some damage to fields, and carrying off a small bridge at Draper Corner.
LIGHTNING.
On the eighth of July, 1805, Zara and Orlando, sons of Zara Thomas, were killed by lightning. Zara was about eighteen years old, and Orlando about seven.
On the fourteenth of April, 1890, Mrs. Drury's house, on East street, was struck by lightning and badly damaged. Mrs. Baker, a sister of Mrs. Drury, received a severe shock. On the same day the barns of Oliver A. Bond and Lemuel Dole, north of the village, were struck and slightly damaged. In the same shower the barn of George Davis, in the north part of the town, on the river road to Windsor, was struck and considerably dam- aged. Mr. Davis and six horses were in the barn, and all were killed. On the twenty-fifth of June, of the same year, the house of Leonard N. Kempton, on Pleasant street, was struck, and suf- fered some damage.
TORNADO.
On the first of July, 1831, two large barns and sheds of Joel Goss, on the farm about two miles south of the village, now owned by George P. Rossiter, were demolished by a tornado. The timbers and boards were hurled in every direction, some of them to a considerable distance.
EARTHQUAKE.
About twelve o'clock on the night of July 20, 1871, an earth- quake shook houses in Claremont village and vicinity, and fright- ened the people.
MURDERS.
The dead body of George Ducharm, a Canadian blacksmith, in the employ of the Sullivan Machine Company, was found in a well near the company's furnace, September 10, 1865. Marks
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
upon the body plainly indicated that the victim was killed before the body was put into the well. Ducharm was seen alive about nine o'clock on the night before his body was found. The party guilty of the murder has never been discovered.
George Wooddell, a quiet and inoffensive citizen, was murdered by his nephew, James Kenney, January 18, 1869. Mr. Wood- dell lived with his wife and infant child on a back road in an out of the way place in the west part of the town, near Connecticut river, and Kenney made his home with them. Early in the evening, without warning, Kenney rushed into the house with a kind of Indian war-whoop, and attacked his uncle with a sharp. ax, killing him in a barbarous manner, and then attacked Mrs. Wooddell, who had the infant in her arms, but both escaped alive, although she was considerably gashed. On investigation it was found that Kenney was violently insane at the time, though he had previously manifested no marked indications of insanity. He has since been confined in the insane ward of the New Hampshire state prison, growing more and more demented year by year.
CHAPTER XXV.
POSTAL SERVICE - BANKS -RAILROADS.
According to its records, published in the Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society, the Committee of Safety, on the third of December, 1779, voted as follows :
Agreeable to a vote of the G. Assembly of the 18th of Novemb'r last, au- thorizing the Committee of Safety to Establish a post to ride weekly from the post office in Portsmouth to the western part of this State, Resolved that agreeable to the proposal of Peter Robinson, He be & hereby is appointed Post Rider for the term of Six months, to ride weekly from the post office in Portsmouth ; to Set out from thence on Saturday morning & ride to Peter- borough in this State, and Send a man from that place weekly to Charles- town, No four, and to Carry and Return all public letters & Despatches free of Charge, for which Service he shall receive from this State the Sum of Three Hundred pounds Lawful money.
The same committee, on July 27, 1781, " Appointed Mr. John Balch a Post-rider for the term of three months, and agreed with said Balch to set out from Portsmouth on Saturday morning and to ride to Haverhill, by way of Conway, Plymouth, thence down the River to Charlestown, Keene, & to Portsmouth again, every four- teen days during said term, For which Service he shall receive the sum of seventy hard Dollars, or paper money Equivalent."
The Federal constitution, adopted in 1779, gave the exclusive power to establish post-offices and post-roads to congress. In 1790 there was a post-rider from Walpole through Charlestown, Claremont, Newport, Unity, and some of the other towns in the vicinity. As there were no post-offices in these towns at that time, letters and other postal matter were delivered by the post-rider or left by him at con-
23
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
venient places on his route. The first post-office established in Claremont was January 1, 1802, and Josiah Stevens was appointed postmaster.
In 1790 there were seventy-five post-offices in the United States. The rates of postage were, on a single letter, composed of one piece of paper, for any
Distance not exceeding 30 miles
6 cents.
66 above 30 and not exceeding 80 miles
10
80 4 . 66 150
1212
150 “
400
1834 66
66 400 miles .
25
A letter composed of two pieces of paper was charged with double these rates ; of three pieces, with triple; and four pieces, with quadruple.
POST-OFFICES AND POSTMASTERS IN CLAREMONT.
A post-office was established in the village in January, 1802. In June, 1828, an office was established under the name of Sumner- ville. The name was changed to West Claremont in August of the same year. In April, 1891, an office was established at Claremont Junction. Following are the names of the postmasters and the dates of their appointment :
Postmasters.
Date of Appointment.
Josiah Stevens
January 1, 1802.
John Tappan
April 11, 1813.
Jonathan Nye
September 25, 1829.
Holden R. Nye
February 24, 1841.
Albro Blodgett
Ambrose Cossit .
July 15, 1841. August 30, 1842.
John J. Prentiss
April 17, 1843.
Alonzo B. Williamson
May 16, 1845.
Edwin Ainsworth
April 9, 1849.
William M. Ladd
May 5, 1853.
Charles O. Eastman
June 17, 1861.
Edgar L. Hapgood
June 11, 1870.
John M. Whipple George W. Paul .
February 10, 1875.
February 22, 1887.
Henry C. Sanders
February 12, 1891.
CLAREMONT NATIONAL BANK.
X
-
JOHN L. FARWELL.
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HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.
SUMNERVILLE.
Ezekiel Carey
WEST CLAREMONT.
June 17, 1828.
Ezekiel Carey
August 7, 1828.
John H. Sumner
October 9, 1829.
John Tyler
July 30, 1841.
Leonard Gilmore
January 15, 1847.
Wyllys Redfield .
July 23, 1861.
Henry A. Redfield
July 23, 1863.
Horace G. P. Cross
January 18, 1870.
Nancy J. Pierce .
December 20, 1887.
Clifton E. Densmore
October 29, 1894.
CLAREMONT JUNCTION.
Stephen Noonan
April 28, 1891.
Frank Shelden
April 1, 1894.
BANKS.
THE CLAREMONT BANK,
Capital sixty thousand dollars, was in operation in 1826. George B. Upham was president during its existence ; James H. Bingham, cashier ; directors, George B. Upham, John Tappan, Samuel Fiske, Leonard Jarvis, David Dexter, Phinehas Handerson, and Godfrey Stevens. In 1842 Erastus Glidden was elected cashier. Its busi- ness was wound up between 1844 and 1846. At this time the offi- cers were: George B. Upham, president; Erastus Glidden, cash- ier; directors, George B. Upham, George N. Farwell, Ambrose Cossit, William H. Farwell, John W. Tappan, Nicholas Farwell, and Samuel Glidden.
In 1848 a new bank, under the same name as the old one, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars, was chartered and organized, with Ambrose Cossit, president; Uriel Dean, cashier; directors, Nicholas Farwell, Ambrose Cossit, Isaac F. Wetherbe, of Charles- town, William Rossiter, George N. Farwell, Woster Jones, Thomas Sanford. In April, 1851, Mr. Dean resigned and George N. Far- well was elected cashier in his place, and in March, 1853, his son, John L. Farwell, was elected assistant cashier. In March, 1856, Mr. Farwell resigned and John L. Farwell was elected cashier.
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