USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Keene > History of the town of Keene, from 1732, when the township was granted by Massachusetts, to 1874, when it became a city > Part 37
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While the legislature was in session in June, President Jackson, accompanied by Vice President Van Buren and Secretaries Marcy, Woodbury and Cass,1 visited the state. Eight companies of militia were ordered to Concord for escort duty, among them the Keene Light Infantry, Col. James Wilson, then its captain, commanding. The company left Keene Monday 2 morning, June 24, 1833, with full ranks-128 muskets, four officers and twelve musicians-
1 Wm. L. Marcy was secretary of state, Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, secretary of the treasury, and Lewis Cass, a native of New Hampshire, secretary of war.
2 As the time of the president's arrival was uncertain, it had been arranged that the members should be notified by the sound of their one piece of artillery. That was fired on Sunday evening.
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all in full, new uniforms of blue, faced with red, with hel- mets and black plumes. The rear guard was composed of eight ex-captains averaging upwards of six feet in height. Teams were provided for all.1 The route was through Dublin, Hancock, Hillsboro Bridge, Henniker and Hopkin- ton. Upon approaching a village the company would leave the carriages, form and march through, the teams bringing up the rear. They encamped the first night at Hancock. The next day it rained and they remained in camp. Wednesday evening they reached Concord and en- camped in the fields west of the town, now covered with residences, near the site of the present insane asylum.
The president reached Concord on Friday, at 3 p. m. At the town line he was met by the committee of the legislature with the eight companies of militia-the Keene company, 2 by far the finest of all, on the right-a large cavalcade of citizens, and civic processions, and escorted to the Eagle Coffee House, where he was received by Gov. Dinsmoor, and the officers of the state and the members of the legislature were introduced. On Saturday the presi- dent reviewed the troops and spoke in the highest terms of their appearance, saying that the Keene Light Infantry was the finest and best disciplined company of soldiers that he had ever seen; and Secretary Cass was equally pronounced in his encomiums. The same afternoon the company started on its return, encamped that night at Henniker, reached its armory at sunset on Sunday, fired its evening gun and dispersed.
Among the notable deaths in 1833 were those of Thomas Wells, one of the early settlers, who aided Mr. Hale in his preparation of the Annals of Keene, aged eighty- seven; Aaron Davis, senior, a Revolutionary pensioner, aged seventy-seven; Isaac Billings, aged fifty-three; John Clark, aged fifty-five; and James, a young son of Capt. Nathan Bassett, drowned in the Ashuelot river.
In January, 1834, the Cheshire County Mutual Fire
1 In most cases, six men in each, with a driver. A six-horse team carried the tents and camp equipage, including four barrels of liquor-one of each of four kinds. These particulars were furnished by Samuel P. Ellis, a member who was with the company on this expedition.
2 . . . "probably the best disciplined, most effective, largest and most attractive military company ever seen in New Hampshire." (Mcclintock's His- tory of New Hampshire, page 565.)
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Insurance Co. was organized, with Thomas Bellows, pres- ident, succeeded by Phineas Handerson, John H. Elliot, Silas Hardy and others at different times. It did a success- ful business for more than sixty years.
At the annual town meeting, the selectmen were in- structed, acting in concert with the town agent, Thomas M. Edwards, and a committee of twenty chosen by the town, to enforce the laws in regard to licensed houses, several parties in town having been in the habit of selling intoxicating liquors without license.
In August, John Sears, a Keene boy who had been attracted to the business by the exhibition here in 1823, brought a fine menagerie to town and exhibited on the ground in rear of Mr. Lamson's store, on Roxbury street, which was then an open lot.
The first "Franklin fire-frames," invented by Benjamin Franklin, designed to bring the fire on the hearth further to the front and thus, with its own warmth, throw more of the heat into the room, were brought to town and sold by Adams & Holman.
Among those who died, 1834, were Abiathar Pond, aged eighty-nine; Jonathan Stearns, sixty-three; Mrs. Mary Boyd Reed, wife of Gov. Dinsmoor, sixty-four; Cor- nelius Howlett, seventy-two; John V. Wood, thirty-eight; Samuel Bassett, a Revolutionary pensioner, fifer of the com- pany that marched from here April 21, 1775, aged eighty ; Mrs. Miriam, widow of Charles Rice of the same company, aged ninety ; Dea. Thomas Fisher, seventy-six ; Mrs. Tamar, wife of Dea. Abijah Wilder, eighty-five; and Major John P. Blake, a Revolutionary pensioner, seventy-seven.
The 15th of January, 1835, was a remarkably cold day, the mercury here reaching thirty-four degrees below zero; at Dublin, twelve below. On the 16th it was nine degrees below here, while at Dublin it was twenty-three degrees above zero-showing the difference in temperature on the hills and in the valleys on still, cold mornings.
In January, Salma Hale and Elijah Parker formed a law partnership, Mr. Parker remaining in his office over A. & T. Hall, and Mr. Hale in his, over Lamson's store.
The Keene Railroad Co. was chartered in July, 1835,
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
and Aaron Appleton and Salma Hale were authorized to call the first meeting, at the Phoenix Hotel. The project was to run from Lowell and Nashua through Keene, Brattleboro and Bennington, to Troy, N. Y. A committee consisting of Salma Hale, Thomas M. Edwards and Justus Perry of Keene, and three from Brattleboro was appointed to push the enterprise. Col. Loammi Baldwin, engineer of the Middlesex canal, was appointed engineer, and vari- ous routes were examined, one through Marlboro, Dublin and Peterboro. Books were opened and more than a thousand shares were promptly taken. Salma Hale, Sam- uel Dinsmoor, Justus Perry, Phineas Handerson and John H. Fuller, were chosen commissioners of the road, and Justus Perry, Salma Hale, Thomas M. Edwards, John H. Fuller, John Elliot, Azel Wilder and Thomas Thompson, directors. But all the routes were found to be impractica- ble or too expensive, and the scheme was abandoned.
In July the canal, locks, water privilege and mills at Bellows Falls were purchased by a Boston company for manufacturing purposes-the navigation of the upper Connecticut having been abandoned.
This year, 1835, the Twentieth regiment mustered in Keene and was reviewed by Gen. James Wilson, who had been promoted to the command of the Fifth brigade. His brother Robert, who had succeeded to the command of the Keene Light Infantry, was appointed lieutenant colonel and inspector on his staff, and Capt. Sumner Carpenter commanded the Keene Light Infantry.
George Tilden had carried on his bookbinding business in the basement of the building south of A. & T. Hall until this year, when Samuel A. Gerould built in the space between his store and Mr. Prentiss' block, and Mr. Tilden took that store and the rooms over it-taking with him the Cheshire Provident Institution-and they are still occupied (1902) by his son, (Geo. H. Tilden & Co.) The same year the Wilders made an addition to their block, on the west-now occupied by the Citizens bank-and Edward Poole took it for his jewelry store. He was the first to advertise and sell "Loco Foco (friction) matches for families."
ABIEL A. LIVERMORE.
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The notable deaths in 1835 were those of Dea. Abijah Wilder, a resident of Keene for about sixty-six years, aged eighty-three; Dea. Elijah Carter, aged sixty-eight; Hon. Samuel Dinsmoor, aged sixty-nine; Capt. Isaac Wyman, · a Revolutionary soldier, son of Col. Isaac Wyman, aged seventy-nine; Eli Metcalf, aged eighty-five; and James Banks, aged eighty-three.
On the 6th of April, 1836, at 11 o'clock in the fore- noon, a fire broke out in the attic of the Phoenix Hotel and that building was burned to the ground. Only the brick walls were left standing. It was kept by E. W. Boyden, who was well insured, and much of his furniture was saved. It was said at the time that the building was lost in conse- quence of the lack of a proper supply of hose by the town. All through the summer the blackened, unsightly ruins lay undisturbed, but about the 1st of September, John Wood and William Lamson called a meeting of those in favor of rebuilding, a fund was raised, a company organized, prep- arations made during the winter, and the present Cheshire House was built the following summer. It was afterwards extended twenty feet farther south, filling the space to the next building, and giving a front of seventy-five feet on Main street.
In August, the stables and outbuildings in rear of the · Eagle Hotel, with those of Sumner Wheeler, next south of them, were all burned. The women aided as usual in form- ing lines for passing buckets, and the main buildings were saved.
In November, 1836, Rev. T. R. Sullivan having resigned, after a pastorate of nine years, Rev. Abiel A. Livermore was ordained over the Keene Congregational Society.
Among the deaths in 1836 were those of Joseph Brown, for a long term of years one of the most active business men in town, aged seventy-two, and on the same evening his wife Keziah (Day) aged seventy-two; Nathan Wheeler, who came from Troy, N. H., a Revolutionary pensioner, aged seventy-nine; Mrs. Eliza, widow of Noah Cooke, aged seventy-four; Timothy Colony, aged seventy-two; Everett Newcomb, aged fifty; Mrs. Elizabeth Page, aged ninety- two; and Mrs. Dorothy, widow of Thomas Wells, aged eighty-seven.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
CHESHIRE HOUSE - FROM AN OLD PEN DRAWING.
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TOWN AFFAIRS.
On the evening of the 25th of January, 1837, occurred one of the most marvelous displays of the aurora borealis ever recorded. Scarlet, crimson and all shades of color, in brilliant rays and fantastic shapes, constantly chang- ing, spread over the whole heavens from Nova Scotia to Kentucky and from Montreal to the Bermudas. "The beauty and sublimity of the whole were beyond descrip- tion."
In the spring of 1837, the "Academy in Keene" was opened to the public by a prudential committee of the First Congregational Society, consisting of Eliphalet Briggs, Wm. Lamson and S. A. Gerould, under the direction of Breed Batcheller,1 a graduate of Dartmouth college, who had been successful as preceptor of an academy at Bos- cawen, N. H. A brick building of suitable size, two stories high, with a basement,2 had been erected during the pre- ceding summer on land of A. & A. Wilder8-110 square rods, which they gave for that purpose-with funds raised by subscription, chiefly through the efforts of Rev. Z. S. Barstow and Mr. William Lamson. It stood on the lot now occupied by the High School building, which was deeded to fifteen trustees-Joel Parker, Amos Twitchell, Z. S. Barstow, A. A. Livermore, James Wilson, Aaron Hall, Azel Wilder, William Lamson, Elijah Parker, and Eliphalet Briggs, all of Keene, and John Sabin, of Fitzwilliam, Elisha Rockwood, of Swanzey, Alanson Rawson, of Roxbury, Larkin Baker, of Westmoreland, and Pliny Jewell, of Win- chester-five of them ministers4-the board to be self- perpetuating.
Mr. Batcheller was popular and successful, remained two years, had about 200 pupils, and employed Miss Sarah M. Leverett and Miss Mary M. Parker as assistants. The name was changed to "Keene Academy," and instruction
1 Grandson of the noted loyalist of that name of Packersfield. 2 The basement was used for a chapel by the First church, the attic for singing schools, and later for the Natural History Society's room. 3 The deed was made by Abijah Wilder, through an exchange of properties, but it was understood that both brothers were parties to the gift.
+ It was essentially a Congregational institution. The deed of the land was given "in consideration of the promises and of the sum of one dollar," and one of the promises was that "the said trustees shall not elect or employ any per- son as Principal of said Academy who is not a professor of religion in an Ortho- dox Congregational or Presbyterian church, and who does not hold in sub- stance the faith now held and maintained by the First Congregational Society in Keenc." And the subscriptions came chiefly from members of the Congrega- tional church.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
was given in vocal music and on the piano and organ, 1 in addition to the branches usually taught in academies. In the spring of 1839, Mr. Batcheller married his assistant, Miss Leverett, and gave up his position. He was suc- ceeded by Mr. Noah Bishop, and he by Abraham Jenkins; and from 1841 to 1844, Mr. A. E. P. Perkins was principal, succeeded by Mr. Seneca Cummings-all graduates of col- leges. Mr. Cummings resigned in 1845 and was followed,
KEENE ACADEMY.
for one term, by his assistant, Miss L. K. Kimball, and afterwards by a Mr. Clark, for two years, and Blodgett and Woodworth, for one year each.
In 1850, Mr. William Torrance, of Enfield, Mass., a graduate of Amherst college, who had been an instructor at Ann Arbor, a man of lovely character and an excellent
1 The apparatus was meagre, but was soon increased by subscriptions to the value of $160. Abijah Wilder built the brick house, corner Court and Summer streets, for a boarding house for the academy. Mr. Timothy Hall gave a bell for the building which is still in use on the high school house, and Mr. Eliphalet Briggs gave a set of globes which cost $100.
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teacher became the principal. But the academy was not a success financially; it had no fund, and the trustees found difficulty in keeping it up to a proper standard.
In 1853, chiefly through the exertions of Mr. Torrance, the building was leased to the "Associated Districts"- composed of those covering the village-for the term of ten years, for a high school, of which Mr. Torrance became the first principal. The lease was afterwards renewed for a shorter term.1
Miss Catherine Fiske died in May, 1837, and the Young Ladies' Seminary was continued for several years by Miss E. P. Withington, with assistants.
The railroad from Boston to Lowell having been opened for traffic, stages ran from Keene to connect with the trains at Lowell, one line leaving the Emerald House Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 a. m., reaching Lowell, via Peterboro, at 3 p. m., and Boston by cars, at 4.30; another line leaving the same house on alternate days, at 8 a. m., reached Lowell at 6 p. m., and Boston the next morning, at 10.30. Returning, cars left Boston at 7 a. m. At Lowell a steamer took passengers to Nashua, where stages for Keene and beyond awaited them. But this arrangement lasted only a short time, as the rail- road was completed to Nashua in September, 1838.
Two other lines still ran to Boston direct, and con- tinued a year or two later; one from the Eagle Hotel, daily, except Sundays, through Troy, Fitzwilliam, Win- chendon, Fitchburg, Lancaster and Waltham; the other from the new Cheshire House-through Fitzwilliam, Rindge, Ashby and Groton. Fare by each, $2.50.
The first great financial crisis of the century came up- on the country in 1837. The suspension of specie pay- ments by the banks in the large cities created alarm throughout the country. A meeting of the citizens of Keene was held in the town hall, Gen. Justus Perry, chair- man, to consider the situation, and to aid in restoring con- fidence. A committee consisting of Joel Parker, James Wil- son, Jr., Levi Chamberlain, William S. Brooks, John Towns,
1 From the rent, the sale of the apparatus to the high school, and other sources, the trustees had on deposit, Jan. 1, 1860, a fund of $750, which, with the proceeds of the final sale of the property some years later, and interest, has increased to a large sum, now in the hands of fifteen trustees.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Samuel Wood, Jr., Abijah Wilder, Wm. Lamson and Caleb Carpenter presented resolutions which were adopted, stat- ing that it was expedient for the two banks here to pur- sue the same course as the larger banks and suspend specie payments, and that "such a measure should in nowise im- pair the confidence which the community has heretofore placed in the management of the Banks in this town." The banks suspended, causing less financial disturbance than was anticipated. Merchants advertised that "New England Bank bills will be taken for goods, notes, or accounts if presented soon."
In the list of deaths in 1837 are found the names of Mrs. Artemisia, widow of Abijah Foster, aged seventy-one; Miss Hannah Lanman (sister of James Lanman), eighty; Dr. Thomas Edwards, eighty; John Hatch, formerly land- lord of Phoenix Hotel, fifty-one; James Wilson, 2d, sixty- three; Miss Catherine Fiske, fifty-three, and Mrs. Azubah Morse, her mother, seventy-five; Phineas Pond, seventy; Daniel Watson, seventy-six; Eli Blake, sixty-nine; Rev. Silas Wilder, seventy-three; Solomon Woods, sixty-five.
Washington's birthday was celebrated in 1838, chiefly by the Whigs, with a view to carrying the state for their party and electing Gen. Wilson governor. A large conven- tion was held in the meetinghouse, opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Barstow, and presided over by Hon. Salma Hale, with several vice presidents, some from surrounding towns. Music was furnished by the choir, Hon. Phineas Hander- son delivered an oration, and short speeches were made by others. At the annual meeting, the town cast 400 votes for Gen. Wilson for governor, to 152 for Isaac Hill. Hill was elected. The selectmen this year appointed Rev. Z. S. Barstow, Rev. A. A. Livermore and John Henry Elliot superintending school committee, and the same were con- tinued the following year.
The wonderful Siamese twins visited Keene for one day, May 21, and exhibited at the Eagle Hotel.
A local census of Keene was taken in 1838 by Daniel Watson, who reported:
Males under 14. 409 Males over 14 802
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FAULKNER & COLONY WOOLEN MILLS. BUILT IN 1838-9.
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TOWN AFFAIRS.
Females under 14.
435
Females over 14. 927
Total
2,573
Total in 1830 2,374
Increase in 8 years. 199
Acres of wheat in cultivation 106
Acres of rye in cultivation. 368
Acres of corn in cultivation 375
Acres of other grain in cultivation 427
Acres of root crops in cultivation 341
Total (besides grass) 1,617
Maple sugar made in 1838 19,550 lbs.
In August, 1838, Faulkner & Colony's brick factory, built in 1825, with dye-house and other buildings con- nected, was destroyed by fire. The main building was 73x36 feet, two stories high, and contained the gristmill, with three sets of stones, corn-cracker and smut-mill. The sawmill occupied the west end and the clothing works the east, with a low building running sixty to eighty feet to the south. "The valuable brick house on the east was saved." Loss $12,500-insured for $7,500. The firm im- mediately rebuilt on a larger scale-a brick mill for mak- ing flannels, heated by steam, and separately, to the west of it, their saw and grist mills. In 1859, the brick factory was enlarged, and again in 1900.
The Twentieth regiment, now commanded by Col. Robert Wilson, was inspected, in October, by Col. Ed- mund Burke of Newport, brigade inspector. The West- moreland Light Infantry, Capt. Levi Barker, 100 men, and the Keene Light Infantry, Capt. Walter Taylor, Jr., seventy-six men, both in attractive uniforms, completely equipped for service, were pronounced the finest companies in the brigade.
The Keene Thief Detecting Society, in its day an im- portant institution, was organized in 1838. At its next annual meeting John H. Fuller was elected president; Geo. W. Sturtevant, secretary; Abel Blake, treasurer; Thomas M. Edwards, attorney; and Gen. Wilson, Josiah Colony, Oliver Wilson, Wm. Dinsmoor, Oliver Holman, Robert
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Shelly, John B. Dousman and B. F. Adams standing com- mittee; and the "pursuers" were the leading men in town.
The notable deaths in 1838 were those of Jonathan Rand, aged seventy-seven; Daniel Bradford, sixty-seven; Thomas Dwinnell, eighty-five; Dea. Henry Ellis, a Revolu- tionary soldier, ninety-two; Capt. Joshua Ellis, fifty-three; Solomon Woodward, seventy; and Mrs. Mary (Ralston), wife of Elijah Dunbar, seventy.
The subject of having a hospital for the insane in the state had been agitated for several years, and Governor Dinsmoor had been the first executive to recommend to the legislature its establishment as a state institution. A large meeting had been held in Keene in March, 1836, the call for which was signed by the leading men of the county, at which it was "Resolved that it is expedient and desirable to establish an Insane Hospital in this state." Similar meetings were held in Portsmouth and other large towns. The question was submitted to the people, and on the 7th of November of that year, the town, after an eloquent address by Gen. Wilson, voted unanimously in favor of state appropriations for that purpose.
One of the political questions of that time was that of the disposition to be made of the surplus revenue that had accumulated in the national treasury. It was finally divided among the states; but even then there were differ- ent opinions as to what the respective states could do with it, and for what purpose it could properly be used. In February, 1837, Keene had voted to accept its proportion of the $892,115.17, which had been paid over to New Hampshire, amounting to $2,607.20, and chose Phineas Handerson commissioner to receive the money and loan it out on good security in sums of $100 to $500-preferably to individuals in town. On the 30th of March, this year, the town "Voted to give the interest which may accrue from the Public money deposited with this town for the term of ten years to the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane on condition said Asylum is Located in this town." The asylum was established by the legislature and Dr. Amos Twitchell was made its first president and one of the locating committee, but the place selected for it was
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the capital of the state. The next year the town voted to use the interest of the surplus revenue fund for paying poll taxes and ordinary town expenses, and afterwards it went into the town treasury, to be used for town expenses.
By act of the legislature approved July 2, 1841, towns were permitted to dispose of the surplus fund as they saw fit. Acting under this authority, the annual town meeting of 1842 voted to distribute the surplus held by the town of Keene among the taxpayers and those exempt from taxes by reason of being seventy years of age (provided they were American citizens). The taxes were first to be deducted and the surplus was to be paid in money.
At the annual meeting, upon the question of the erec- tion of a fireproof building by the county for keeping its records, the town voted unanimously in favor, and such a building was ordered by the county convention at the session of the legislature in June; and it was built this year, of granite, 28x32 feet, on the site of the present courthouse. Henry Coolidge, of Keene, and Jonathan K. Smith, of Dublin, were the sub-committee to superintend the work. The Baptist society from West Keene built a brick church on Winter street this year, (now a part of the armory). Rev. John Peacock was the pastor, succeeded by Rev. Mark Carpenter, and he by Rev. Gilbert Robbins, who remained eleven years.
At this period the Ashuelot Manufacturing Co., con- sisting of Wm. Lamson, John H. Fuller, B. F. Adams, Phineas Fiske, John Wood, Thomas M. Edwards, Wm. Dinsmoor, Oliver Holman and some others, was in active operation. In 1835-6, the Winchester factory and other water-power properties in the village of West Winchester were purchased by those gentlemen and for several years they carried on the business of manufacturing fine cassi- meres, under the general management of Benj. F. Adams. In 1853, they sold the factory and mill property to Joshua Ward, of Winchester.
The Twentieth regiment, Col. Levi Barker, of West- moreland, mustered in Keene in 1839, and was reviewed by Gen. Wilson. The two light infantry companies were rivals as usual. The Westmoreland company had ten or
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twelve more in number than the Keene company, but each had upwards of 100 men. A few days previous to the muster, the Keene company, Capt. Geo. G. Dort, had been presented by the citizens with "an elegant standard."
Among the deaths in 1839 were those of Hon. James Wilson, Sen., aged seventy-three; Quincy Wheeler, of the firm of S. & Q. Wheeler, thirty; John Emerson, a Revolu- tionary pensioner, seventy-five; Capt. Abel Blake, eighty ; Mr. Luther Smith, the clockmaker, seventy-three.
The period of fifteen years ending with 1840 had brought great improvement to the village of Keene, and a marked increase in the wealth and population of the town. Central Square had been enlarged to its present dimensions, three-storied brick buildings had arisen on its north, east, and west sides, and most of the old plank sidewalks had been replaced with brick. The Cheshire House, the Unitarian church, the academy, and the Bap- tist church on Winter street, now a part of the armory, all brick buildings, had been erected near the Square; the Emerald House and Gen. Wilson's residence on Main street, and many tasteful dwellings on that and other streets. The Eagle Hotel had been greatly improved and enlarged ' by the addition of another story, and the annexation of the store on the south by building up the space between. The roads had been improved, and the stone bridges at the lower end of Main street and on the Walpole and Surry road had replaced wooden ones. At the close of this period both glass factories were still in operation, and there was a third one for a short time on Gilsum street. There was active manufacturing at South Keene, where Aaron Davis had established an iron foundry, and added the manufac- ture of firearms to his other works, in which Thomas M. Edwards, and later William Lamson, Jr., were interested. Faulkner & Colony were making fine flannels, and the mills in the various parts of the town were turning out large quantities of lumber and grinding thousands of bushels of home-raised grain. Alvah Walker had taken the Cheshire House and brought it up to the standard of his noted pred- ecessor in the Phoenix, John Hatch; Asaph Harrington had succeeded his father, Col. Stephen, in the Eagle Hotel,
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