USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Cornish > History of the town of Cornish, New Hampshire, with genealogical record, 1763-1910, Vol. I > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
A law was passed by the Legislature of 1891, providing for the establishing of libraries in each of the towns of New Hampshire where they did not already exist.
Section 23, chapter 8 on Free Public Libraries, Laws of 1891, is as follows:
"The board is hereby authorized and directed to expend, upon the application of any town having no public library owned and controlled by the town, a sum, not exceeding one hundred dollars for books, for such town entitled to the benefits of these provisions, such books to be used by the town for the purpose of establishing a free public library and the commissioners shall select and purchase all books to be provided."
The above board of commissioners consisted of four persons of the state appointed by the governor. No town was entitled to the benefit of the law until such town had accepted its provi- sions at a regularly called meeting of the town.
The law also provided that a board of library trustees, three in number, should be elected by each town, one for three years, one for two years and one for one year, whose duties should be to provide for the care and circulation of the books and to judi- ciously expend all appropriations made for books.
The law also required of each town making application for the library, an appropriation by such town of a certain sum of money additional, to be expended for books and maintenance of the library.
After the enactment of the law in 1891 the town appeared comparatively indifferent regarding it. An article, however, appeared in the town warrant of March 8, 1892, as follows: "To see if the town will elect a board of library trustees, and appropri-
17
242
HISTORY OF CORNISH.
-
THE CH STOWELL FREE LIBRARY
THE STOWELL FREE LIBRARY AT CORNISH FLAT. A Gift to the Town from Hon. George H. Stowell. Erected 1910-11.
TOWN BUILDINGS-SOLDIERS' MONUMENT-LIBRARIES. 243
ate the money necessary to receive the gift of one hundred dollars worth of books from the state."
The article was postponed at this meeting, but it appeared again on the warrant of 1893. At this meeting the article shared the same fate as on the preceding year.
At the meeting on March 13, 1894, the town voted to accept the proposition of the state agreeably to the foregoing law. Dur- ing this year the necessary money was raised; the hundred dollars worth of books were received from the state, and the new free library began its life. It was thought best to divide the library for the convenience of its patrons, leaving half at the Flat and half nearer Windsor, with privilege of exchanging the same at any time. The library has been in successful operation ever since.
During the season of 1909, Hon. Geo. H. Stowell of Claremont, who was a native of Cornish, made known his intentions of erect- ing a valuable library building in his native town and, when com- pleted, of presenting the same to the town under the name of "Stowell Free Public Library."
Mr. Stowell's preference for a site for said building favored Cornish Flat, as it was the center of his activities when young. He is proposing to expend the sum of six thousand dollars on said building and its furniture.
The town unanimously voted (March 8, 1910) to accept the proposed legacy, and to furnish a site whereon to build; and the work began in early spring and was carried on during the season, and, excepting the interior, was nearly completed before. the close of the year 1910, the date this record closes.
CHAPTER XIX.
MISCELLANEOUS-CLIMATIC EXTREMES- HOTELS- STORES- CENTENNIAL -POST OFFICES-TOWN REPORTS-INDIANS- SHOWS -ASCUTNEY MOUNTAIN - PRESIDENT'S VISIT -OLD PEOPLE'S ASSOCIATION.
CLIMATIC EXTREMES.
The Cold Winter of 1779-80.
THE winter of 1779-80 was the most severe that had ever been known in this country. It is said that the cold extended south so that Chesapeake Bay was covered with solid ice from its head to the mouth of the Potomac. At Annapolis the ice was five to seven inches thick, so that loaded teams passed over it. Snow was so deep in all New England that nearly all roads were closed for "several weeks. People traveled only on snow shoes. Travel had not been so much obstructed for forty years.
-Boston Chronicle, Jan. 28, 1780.
The Dark Day of 1780.
The nineteenth day of May was remarkable for its uncommon darkness. The morning was cloudy, attended with a little rain. Between ten and eleven o'clock the darkness increased and began to assume the appearance of evening. Fowls went to roost, and cattle collected around the barnyards, as at the ap- proach of night. Before noon it became so dark as to be difficult to read without a candle; and lights were necessary at dinner and to transact the ordinary work of a family through the after- noon. The evening was enveloped in total darkness. The sky could not be distinguished from the ground. All these circum- stances caused much consternation throughout New England. A little before midnight the clouds began to separate and the vapors to disperse and some glimmerings of light appeared. The next morning was cloudy but not unusually dark.
The theory generally accepted as to the cause of this phe- nomenon was this: For several weeks previous there had been
245
MISCELLANEOUS.
extensive fires in the woods, and the westerly winds had driven the smoke and einders, with which the air was charged, all over this part of the country. On the morning of the nineteenth, the wind eame in various directions but principally from the eastward, and brought with it a thick fog. These opposite currents meeting, stopped the progress of the clouds and formed several different strata of them. Owing to their number, breadth and density they became almost impervious to the light of the sun. The atmosphere was likewise filled with clouds of smoke and cinders, as well as with vapors which gave it a dirty, yellowish hue. Pieces of burned leaves were continually falling. The darkness extended throughout New England and was ob- served several leagues at sea.
The traditions of this day have often been repeated within the memory of the writer, and these also state that the phe- nomenon gave rise to fears in the minds of many that the end of the world had come, and that these fears were not fully allayed until Nature had resumed her wonted appearance on the follow- ing day.
The Year 1816.
But few, if any, now living retain any remembrance of the year 1816. But the hardships of that year were by those immediately concerned forcibly impressed upon the succeeding generation. The year is designated as "the year without a summer." In New England it went by the phrase, "eighteen hundred and starve-to-death" and also as "the cold summer of 1816."
It was phenomenal in every sense, being unlike any other year of modern, or even of any known ancient record. The sun's rays seemed to be destitute of heat, and all Nature was elad in a sable hue. Men and women became frightened and imagined the "fire in the sun" was being extinguished, and that the world was about to come to an end. Ministers took the phenomenon as a text for their sermons. The winter of 1815-16 was not unlike that of other years, and did not indicate the character of the weather that subsequently prevailed.
January was mild, so much so that artificial heat was but little needed for comfort. This continued until near the middle of February, when a "cold snap" occurred, followed by more mild
246
HISTORY OF CORNISH.
weather. There was nothing unusual in the climatic conditions of March.
April was the first manifestation of this strange freak in tem- perature. The early days of April were warm and bright; but as the month drew to a close, the cold increased, until it ended in ice and snow with a very low temperature.
May was a month of bitter disappointment to those who de- lighted in balmy days, opening spring and budding flowers. Almost every attempt of the husbandmen to start the usual crops, was attended by frosts and a blackened waste. Corn was killed, and the fields again made ready for a second planting; but the people's disappointment was complete when they found ice formed to the thickness of half an inch in the pools.
June, usually the month of roses and other bloom, was this year a month of desolation. Frost and snow were common. A few intervening warm days permitted some crops to partially develop a growth, and then be followed by a frost or snow. Various kinds of fruit were nearly all destroyed. One day this month, snow fell to the depth of ten inches in New Hampshire and Vermont. Matters were beginning to assume a serious aspect.
July was accompanied by frost and ice and it is said that those who celebrated the "glorious Fourth" found an abundance of ice handy for immediate use on the next morning. This caused the good people to look grave. This month, Indian corn was finally destroyed in all but the most favored locations, and but a small quantity escaped.
August came, and with it the expectation and hope that the cold weather would end, but in this they were disappointed. Ice formed even thicker than during the previous month and almost every green plant was frozen. The scanty corn was cut for fodder. The little that was ripened in sheltered localities and states was worth almost its weight in silver, and farmers were compelled to obtain corn grown in 1815 for seed used in the spring of 1817, at a cost of five dollars per bushel.
The next month was ushered in, bright and warm, and for a week or two the almost frozen people began to thaw out. It was the mildest weather of the year, and just as the people got ready to appreciate it, the cold winds with Jack Frost came,
247
MISCELLANEOUS.
and hardened and whitened everything in their path. On the sixteenth of September, ice formed one fourth of an inch thick, and winter clothing was brought forth and wrapped around shiv- ering humanity. By this time people had given up all hopes of seeing flowers bloom or hearing the birds sing, and so they began to prepare for a hard winter.
October kept up the marvelous record of its predecessors. Scarcely a day did the thermometer register higher than 30 degrees. November was also extremely cold. Sleighing was good nearly all the month, but when December came, the spell seemed broken, and, strange to say, this month was the mildest and most comfortable month of the year.
As a matter of course, breadstuffs were the highest ever known and it was impossible to obtain many of the common vegetables at any price.
The writer has often heard the circumstances of that year mentioned by those who experienced them, and therefore be- lieves the foregoing account is no exaggeration.
Tornadoes or Cyclones-1821, 1848.
Cornish has been slightly visited by two, at least, of these troublesome events. The first one, in 1821, was the larger, and the most destructive generally. It seemed to form not far north and west of Cornish, passing over the north part of the town in a southeast direction, striking Croydon Mountain. Here it destroyed nearly every tree on hundreds of acres. Passing over the mountain, it finally spent its force about Wendell Harbor (now Sunapee) where it did considerable damage.
The cyclone of 1848 was of less dimensions. It started and followed nearly the same course as the other, sweeping down through "Dodge Hollow," overturning many trees and destroy- ing one house with disastrous results. (See Dodge Record.)
Snow-Crust of 1862.
During the winter of 1861-62 a large amount of snow fell, somewhat larger than usual. Slight thaws, followed by freezing, had hardened each successive layer of snow during the winter and thus formed a solid icy mass about three feet deep, firm enough to hold any team in safety. A good deal of teaming business was safely done upon the surface of this crust for several
248
HISTORY OF CORNISH.
weeks. This vast body of snow and ice was very slow in melting, and therefore remained until late in the season. As late as the middle of April, teams could be driven over it in safety, it being at that time about two feet in depth and still retaining its solidity. Many an enjoyable morning sleigh ride over this erust was taken in April, riding over fields and even fences, avoiding the highways as much as possible, as there was no sleighing there.
There were scarcely any spring rains this year to hasten the melting of the snow, but the increasing warmth of the sun soon caused the snow to disappear, while underneath it the green grass had finely started. Some now living can easily recall the events of this season.
Floods-July 19, 1850.
The circumstances of this flood are vivid in the mind of the writer. They resulted from a succession of very heavy thunder showers occurring on the afternoon of July 19, 1850. These show - ers were almost continuous, lasting from 2.30 p. m. until nearly six o'clock. The rain poured in torrents most of this time. The effects were very marked and sudden. The brooks were swelled to unheard-of dimensions. Intervales and meadows were soon under water. Bridges were carried away. Acres of grass just ready for cutting were ruined. Some brooks were diverted from their original channel. The upper sawmill at the Flat, with its dam, gave way. The water with the timbers coming down, caused the lower dam also to give way, and the débris was all carried down stream and deposited on the meadows below. The damage to highways and bridges in Cornish by this freshet, amounted to nearly four hundred dollars.
Floods-March 3 and 4, 1866.
This was a veritable thaw and spring freshet. Water was high in all the brooks. Those pouring their waters into the Con- necticut River caused the ice to break up. This dammed the water of the river at Cornish bridge. The latter could not stand the pressure, and gave way, and the bridge all went down stream. The other damage in Cornish was only trifling. A new bridge (the present one) was erected the following season. (See Cornish Bridge.)
249
MISCELLANEOUS.
Floods-October 4, 1896.
A succession of heavy rains occurred on this day that caused the water to rise as high as was ever known by any persons of that time. This rain was more general throughout New England than was the flood of 1850. The damage was great and wide- spread. Brooks became small rivers and swept off many of the bridges crossing them. Roads were washed and many of them rendered impassable for a time. These conditions were similar in all of the surrounding towns, but the damage was chiefly con- fined to highways and bridges.
Hotels.
During the first half of the nineteenth century there was necessarily much more business on the highways than now. All the merchan- dise for the country stores, all the surplus products of the farm, all the products of the mills, passed over the highways for long distances, to reach their destination by the slow and tedious agency of horse power. All thus traveling over the roads were obliged to stop wherever night overtook them. This made necessary a large number of public houses or taverns. The leading thoroughfares were thickly dotted with them in all New England towns. These houses were always open to receive and entertain teamsters and all other travelers. Here they usually found comfortable quarters both for themselves and for their teams, with ample refreshments and lodgings for both. These taverns were the news centers of the town. Here the post-riders always stopped, bringing occasional letters and news- papers; and later the stage coach, bringing in the same, together with passengers with the latest news. Every weekday night here congregated travelers and teamsters, and many residents of the town, and discussed the general news of the day, as well as the local happenings, not forgetting meanwhile to test the quality of the landlord's grog whenever they felt so inclined. These were generally counted as "gay old times." They still linger in the memory of a very few aged persons. The writer well remembers, when a boy, of hearing the old men of those days speak of the good times they had enjoyed in the old- time taverns.
250
HISTORY OF CORNISH.
But within the last sixty years, these things have greatly changed. The advent of the steam car on the railroad has revolutionized the modes of travel and the conveyance of merchan- dise. Long-distance travelers now go on the cars from center to center, and so have no use for these country hotels. For this reason taverning on the old plan has almost entirely disappeared in all the New England towns. In Cornish the houses hereto- fore thus devoted to the use of the public have been converted into private dwelling houses. The number of these which were in town, and the number of their landlords or owners can be told only by much research that does not warrant a sufficient com- pensation for the effort; but it is known, however, there were many of them. Several houses now standing are pointed out as having once been public houses. There are but two that now remain in use in town: one near Windsor bridge, and the other at the Flat. In each of these the entertainment feature has been made secondary to that of the saloon, usually attached to each.
Stores.
One of the most essential members of a community is the vender of goods necessary for the use of the people. A good many different persons at different times have been thus employed in different parts of the town. No sooner was the town settled than a need was felt that at some convenient place a ready supply of needful articles could be procured. Apprehending this need, Col. Jonathan Chase opened the first store in town on his prem- ises on the river. This store continued to do business for a good many years. As the population of the town increased east- ward from the river, other places were opened for the sale of goods in several parts of the town. Citizens of the town residing near Windsor have gone there to procure their supplies and do their trading because more convenient. The greatest trading center finally located at Cornish Flat, where a store was opened some time prior to the opening of the nineteenth century. This has ever since been considered a trade center of the town,- all the time having one store and much of the time two of them. Among the most prominent merchants who have been longest in trade there have been, Esq. Daniel Chase, Capt. William Atwood, Newton Whittlesey, Henry Breck, Orlando Powers, and Breck & Powers, John T. Breck, Lafayette H. Smith, Timo-
251
MISCELLANEOUS.
thy A. Gleason, Boynton Brothers, George W. Hunt and others. For about twenty-five years George E. Fairbanks has kept a store of general merchandise at South Cornish. This has been a great accommodation, especially to many living in that section of the town.
Centennial Anniversary.
March 14, 1865, an article appeared in the town warrant which read: "To see what measures the town will adopt, and how much money the town will vote to raise for the purpose of celebrating the present year, the anniversary of the settlement of the town which took place June, A. D. 1765."
When the subject came before the town for their action, the advocates of the movement were not in sufficient numbers to warrant further action, and so the subject was indefinitely postponed, much to the regret of the minority.
It appears that on May 31, 1865, the town, or a self-appointed committee, attempted to rally the citizens to reconsider their former action and they met for this purpose at the town house; but little enthusiasm was manifested and so the project was abandoned.
Post Offices.
In all the earliest years of the town, before the advent of the steam cars or even the stage coach, a place was appointed for the reception and distribution of mail in some convenient home on the river road. This of course was named Cornish Post Office, as for a time it was the only post office in town, receiving the entire mail designed for the people of Cornish.
It is well to note the fact that the quantity of mail in those days was much less in proportion to the population than at present. Letters were a greater rarity and sent at greater cost. Magazines and newspapers were few in number and but few taken; hence, the post-riders on their weekly or semi-weekly rounds were not heavily loaded with mail.
As the population of the town spread eastward and northward, it became quite inconvenient for the citizens of the newer parts of the town to obtain their mail from the Cornish post office. For this reason a post office was opened at Cornish Flat which for many years was the chief receiving and dis-
252
HISTORY OF CORNISH.
tributing center for the largest part of the town. This office, with that on the river, handled all the mail of the town until after the middle of the last century, when, owing to the nearness of the Cornish post office to that of Windsor, the office of the latter seemed to absorb the former, and the citizens of West Cornish were obliged to go to Cornish Flat or to Windsor for their mail. This order of mail service was unsatisfactory to the western and middle parts of the town, yet it continued until 1878, when a petition by George E. Hilliard and others was presented to the post office department, for a post office at the "City" (so called) to be called "Cornish Center Post Office." The petition was granted and the office was opened July 1, 1878, in the house of Mr. Hilliard, and himself appointed post- master. He held the office until his death, March 31, 1904. After this his widow was appointed and served until June 15, 1908, when she resigned. On September 15, 1908, the office was discontinued by reason of the establishment of new postal routes under the law creating rural free delivery routes. During the thirty years this office was in operation, it was a great con- venience and received a good share of patronage.
In 1879 another post office was established in the southern part of the town on the mail route from Cornish Flat to Clare- mont. It was called "South Cornish Post Office." It was granted on petition of George E. Fairbanks and others, and Mr. Fairbanks was appointed postmaster. This office, under the same management, continued twenty-nine years, or until June, 1908, when it was discontinued, being supplanted in part by the rural free delivery routes. .
In 1879 another petition was sent to the post office depart- ment for an office at the geographical center of the town. This fact gave prestige to the scheme and the project was favorably entertained, and another office was opened there January 1, 1880, near the Congregational parsonage, bearing the name of "Cornish Post Office." The name of "Cornish Center Post Office," which had been applied to the office two miles nearer Windsor, has sometimes been mistaken for this office at the Center.
The town, therefore, has been favored with four contempora- neous post offices for more than a fourth of a century, ending in 1908, at which time three of them gave way to rural free delivery, while the other at the Flat, is still active (January 1, 1909).
253
MISCELLANEOUS.
Town Reports.
In 1850 the first annual Cornish town report was printed for distribution among the inhabitants of the town, and they have been issued yearly ever since. The first year it was simply a sheet, but has been in pamphlet form each year since.
All records of the town prior to the above date were recorded by the town elerk in the ordinary book of records and were kept in his office.
A law enacted in 1886 requires the town elerk to make a full record of the vital statistics of the town each year. Since that year this report has been prepared and appended to the other town report.
Indians.
Previous to the settlement of Cornish, the Indians had appar- ently receded to other sections, chiefly towards Canada, therefore they figure but little in the early history of the town. Occasion- ally some friendly Indians have appeared for a brief period, but owing to their roving habits and their natural dislike of agri- cultural pursuits, none ever became permanent citizens of the town. Nothing now remains of them in New England except in tradition or song, or the sweet names they left on mountain, lake or stream.
Shows and Exhibitions.
The citizens of Cornish are no exception to the mass every- where who are fun loving, and seeking after the new, the curious and exciting things of the world. These proclivities are innate and are ever seeking their gratification. Large and pretentious shows have not been attracted to the town, owing to the sparse- ness of the population, and the smallness of the village, hence, the people of the town have generally resorted to adjoining towns, more populous, to attend shows and "see the folks."
For several years the circus and kindred shows were debarred from showing in the State of Vermont, while at the same time they were permitted in New Hampshire. This gave occasion for them to exhibit on "Cornish Street," near Trinity Church. The proximity of this place to Windsor gave opportunity for many from the Vermont side to attend.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.