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 40
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4. "Moses Johnson-For many years an active, en- terprising, and public spirited citizen of the town. He has stamped the impress of those qualities upon various por- tions of the village in a manner hardly to be effaced by time."
5. "The memories of Dr. Amos Twitchell-The skill- ful physician and surgeon, and of Capt. Aaron Hall, the benevolent merchant and apothecary.'
6. "The memory of Hon. Phineas Handerson-The sound lawyer, upright magistrate, and exemplary Chris- tian."
Hon. Levi Chamberlain was called upon to respond to the thirteenth regular toast, but the lateness of the hour prevented.
The three fire companies of Keene, the Deluge, Tiger and Lion, made their first appearance in new uniforms, with full ranks, and did escort duty. The meeting adjourned for one hundred years. In the evening the band gave a concert at the town hall, and the president of the day opened his house for a general reception.
The general committee by a unanimous vote requested a copy of Judge Parker's oration for publication, and a
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committee was appointed to publish a full report of the celebration. At the annual meeting in 1855 the town passed a vote of thanks to Judge Parker "for his learned and eloquent address," and instructed the selectmen to publish twelve hundred copies of it-provided "the expense shall not exceed $250." The address was never published, nor any report of the celebration except by the local newspapers.
The subject was revived at the annual meeting in 1860, and a committee was appointed to procure a copy of the address for publication-300 copies of the pamphlet to be printed instead of 1,200. But Judge Parker's reply to the request-recorded in full in the town books-was to the effect that the address was not historical and therefore would not be of sufficient general interest to warrant its publication.
The Keene Debating Club, a resuscitation of the old Forensic Society, now (1853) held regular meetings, every Tuesday evening, in Odd Fellows' hall. The Keene Lyceum lectures had also been established by Levi Chamberlain, Samuel Dinsmoor, Thomas M. Edwards, Wm. P. Wheeler, Wm. O. White, Geo. B. Twitchell, F. A. Faulkner and others, afterwards managed for several years by George Tilden. The list of lecturers comprised the names of Josiah Quincy, Jr., George W. Curtis, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Anson Burlingame, John G. Saxe, Wendell Phillips, J. G. Holland, Bayard Taylor, Charles Sumner, Grace Greenwood, Revs. E. H. Chapin, Starr King and Henry Ward Beecher, and others equally distinguished.
At the annual meeting in 1854, upon the report of a committee previously appointed, the town voted to pur- chase the "Woodland Cemetery" lot of Thomas M. Ed- wards, which included a part of the muster field; and the trade was consummated in June. In 1856, a committee, consisting of N. B. Harrington, Timothy Twitchell and Geo. W. Sturtevant, was appointed to lay out and appraise the lots, and Mr. George A. Wheelock was appointed superintendent.
In October, 1854, the State Agricultural Society held its annual fair in Keene, on what is now Wheelock park,
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continuing four days. The lot-twenty-five acres-had recently been purchased by the county society, largely through the influence of Thomas H. Leverett, fenced and provided with excellent buildings and conveniences. A building nearly 100 feet long had been erected for the dis- play of fancy articles, farm products and manufactures; a barn for horses; a grand stand capable of seating 2,000 persons; and numerous pens and stalls along the west and north sides of the lot for stock. The display was fine and drew a large number of people. More than 200 pairs of oxen and about 400 head of other cattle were entered for premiums, besides large numbers of horses and other stock. Governor Baker and many distinguished men were present, and the Manchester Cornet band furnished the music. For many years afterwards the Cheshire county fair was a permanent and important institution, excelling other county and even state fairs in the display of fine oxen and other exhibits.
In the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 2, 1854, a wind and snow storm visited Keene, which increased in violence and continued through the night. Much damage was done to buildings, fences and timber. Fifty chimneys in the village were blown down and some buildings were destroyed. More than 500 old growth pine trees, belonging to Stephen Chase, were blown down, and large numbers on a lot in Ash Swamp, on the ministry lot, on the Wright farm on Beech hill, and in other parts of the town. The following summer, Mr. Chase, in connection with his brother Charles, put up a steam sawmill on the east side of the road a few rods north of his house, to cut up the pine timber. After running a few years, the mill was sold to Charles Chase and Madison Fairbanks, who removed it to Ralston street in 1860, increased the power, added other buildings and carried on a large business in the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds and other products of wood. Later the plant was owned and operated by Mr. Fairbanks alone.
On the 30th of December, 1854, the old Watson harness shop, next south of the Cheshire bank, was destroyed by fire. The fire department was commended as being very effi- cient; there was no wind and other buildings were saved.
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The Cheshire County bank was organized in August, 1855, and occupied the brick building which was erected during the summer by Henry Pond on the north half of the Watson lot; capital, $100,000. The board of directors consisted of Zebina Newell, George Huntington, William Haile, Frederic Vose, Amos A. Parker, Lawson Robertson and Harvey A. Bill. The president was Zebina Newell, and the cashier, Geo. W. Tilden. Mr. Newell died in 1858. He was succeeded by Frederic Vose, and he, in 1871, by Edward Joslin, who died in 1901.1 Mr. Tilden was cashier until his death in 1879, and was succeeded by J. R. Beal, who held the office until his death in 1895, when he was succeeded by Wallace L. Mason. In 1865, it was organ- ized as a national bank, and the name changed to Keene National bank. The capital remained the same.
On the 21st of December, 1855, the old glass factory at the north end of the village, which had been an important landmark for nearly half a century, was destroyed by fire.
Mrs. Betsey (Nourse), widow of Capt. John Leonard (who died in 1829, aged seventy-six), died, December 7, aged one hundred years, seven months and ten days.
The 4th of July, 1856, was celebrated, many people from other towns joining. Hon. Thomas M. Edwards was president of the day, Capt. D. W. Buckminster marshal. A procession was formed on the arrival of the train from Boston and marched through the principal streets of the village. Speeches were made and a collation provided at the Emerald House.
In January, 1857, there was a term of remarkably cold weather, lasting ten days. "The mercury ranged be- low zero for several days." On the 16th, it fell to 40° below, and at Montpelier, Vt., to 50° below.
A firemen's muster was held here in September, 1857. Sixteen companies from this and neighboring towns, with their engineers-seven of them with military bands- paraded and marched through the streets. In the after- noon there was a trial of efficiency in which the Deluge Company, No. 3, of Claremont, won the first prize, $150; the Franklin, No. 2, of Greenfield, Mass., the second, $100;
1 Blisha F. Lane followed Mr. Joslin, serving one year. He was succeeded by George A. Litchfield. [EDS.]
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and the Alert, No. 1, of Winchendon, the third, $50. The engines were the old-fashioned tubs, with hand brakes, and they threw water to the height of 160 feet.
When the courthouse was removed from the east to the west side of the turnpike, in 1808, Capt. Josiah Rich- ardson gave the land for the new site (conveyed to the county by "lease and demise;" consideration one dollar) with the condition: "To have and to hold the same for the use of a Court house thereon, and for so long a Time as said County shall Choose to use it for that purpose and no longer." When the county was about to build a brick courthouse on the same site in 1824 it procured a deed of the same premises (consideration five dollars) from Joseph Dorr and his wife, Rebecca-sole surviving heir of Capt. Richardson-but that deed contained the same con- dition as to the use of the land and courthouse as the con- veyance of Capt. Richardson. The county forfeited its rights in the premises by permitting the building to be used for other purposes than those of a courthouse. Dea. Samuel Wood purchased the reversionary rights of Mrs. Dorr and brought suit to recover the property. The case was decided against the county in 1856. (See New Hamp- shire Reports, vol. 32, Wood v. Cheshire Co.) The county convention of the legislature then authorized the purchase of an additional tract of land on the north side of the stone county building, the removal of that building, and the erection of a new courthouse. From a larger commit- tee Thomas M. Edwards, of Keene, and Nelson Converse, of Marlboro, were appointed a sub-committee to superin- tend the work, and the present courthouse was built in 1858. G. J. F. Bryant of Boston was the architect. The south half of the old courthouse came into possession of S. A. Gerould & Son, was rebuilt, and was for many years the drug store of Dort & Chandler and B. W. Hodgkins; the north half is the store of Bullard & Shedd.
At the annual election in 1859, a committee, Wm. S. Briggs, Thomas H. Leverett, and Levi Chamberlain, appointed the previous year, reported that they had pur- chased a strip of land eighteen feet wide at the north end of the town hall for a driveway, as instructed; and Wm.
COURTHOUSE. ERECTED 1858.
-
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P. Abbott, F. F. Lane and Arba Kidder were appointed a committee to enlarge the hall and provide an entrance at the north end. The enlargement was made later.
Hon. Thomas M. Edwards was elected to congress in 1859.
Early in this year the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of Keene was organized-S. D. Osborne, president; Reuben Stewart, Albert A. Woodward, S. W. Hale, D. R. Calef, Simeon Ballou, directors. They occupied chambers on the east side of the Square.
In 1857, after several years of subsidence, interest in the subject of a public library in Keene again revived. A meeting of the citizens in December appointed Wm. P. Wheeler, Wm. O. White, George Tilden and Wm. H. Thayer a committee to consider the subject, propose a plan of procedure and report at a future meeting. Under the call of that committee a meeting of the citizens was held at the town hall on the 31st of January, 1859, Hon. Thomas M. Edwards, chairman. The result of that meeting was that a voluntary association was organized by Wm. P. Wheeler, John H. Elliot, Geo. B. Twitchell, E. A. Webb, Gilman Joslin, F. F. Lane, Wm. H. Thayer, D. H. Sawyer, Wm. S. Briggs, George Cook, Leonard Bisco and their associates under the general laws of New Hampshire, taking the name of the Keene Public Library. It had a paid-up cash capital of $1,000, in shares of $5 each, and was managed by a board of twelve trustees, chosen each year. The library began its circulation on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1859, with a few remaining volumes of former libraries, forty-two volumes of public documents, presented by Hon. A. H. Cragin, M. C., fifty-three bound volumes of the New Hampshire Sentinel-1799 to 1852-and other ancient newspapers from John Prentiss, many miscellaneous volumes from others, and about 1,000 new books. Its room was the office of Leonard Bisco, on the second floor in Elliot's block, corner of West street, and Mr. Bisco was the librarian; and there it remained until it was transferred to the city of Keene, in 1874, and was made a free public library. It then numbered 2,644 volumes.
At the annual meeting in 1860 the town voted to
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accept the bequest of $1,000 made by David A. Simmons, a native of Keene. The conditions of the bequest were that it "be safely invested and the interest thereof and income only to be forever annually applied by the Selectmen of the said Town for the time being toward the relief and comfort of such of the poor of the Town requiring assist- ance therefrom who are aged and infirm."1
In the original grant of Upper Ashuelot by the province of Massachusetts one "house-lot," or right-one sixty-third part of the township, or a fraction over four hundred acres -was reserved for the first settled minister, one for the ministry and one for the school; and those house lots, carrying with them the rights in the subsequent divisions of the lands, were laid out with those of the sixty indi- vidual proprietors and were numbered, respectively, 13, 28 and 29. Again, the New Hampshire charter of 1753 granted "One Sixty forth Parte of the Said Tract (3941% acres) for the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign Parts, One Sixty forth Parte of the Said Tract for the first Settled Minister of the Gospel in Sd Town One Sixty forth Parte of the said Tract for A Glebe for the Church of England as by Law Established." In March, 1761, the proprietors granted the minister lands -the one sixty-fourth part of the township as prescribed in the charter-to Rev. Clement Sumner, as the first (per- manently) settled minister of the town; and he disposed of those lands at his pleasure, as we find by the records of deeds. But nothing appears to have been done concern- ing the lands belonging to the "ministry" until 1787, when the proprietors of the undivided lands in Keene voted to lay out in said lands fifty acres to be kept for a woodlot for firewood for the gospel minister of said town, and to be used for no other purpose-to be under the care of the selectmen. This grant of about one-eighth of what both the Massachusetts grant and the New Hamp- shire charter required of them apparently satisfied the consciences of the proprietors concerning the "ministry" lands.
1 In 1887, the Simmons fund of $1,000 and the bequest of Susan Eastburn of $300 for the same purpose, with some accrued interest, were deposited in the Guaranty Savings bank, resulting in a serious loss. In 1896. Julius N. Morse bequeathed $1,000 to be added to the Simmons fund.
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Concerning the glebe lands we find the following in the proprietors' records :
"Cheshire ss )
§ May 28th 1804 Met according to adjourn- ment. On the 2nd Article voted that Elijah Dunbar or any other person or persons legally authorized should lay out one sixty fourth part of said Township for a Glebe for the church of England as by Law established and have the same entered on the Proprietors book of Records, provided the same be done at his or their own expense & the same be laid out in the common and undi- vided lands in not more than three lots or Divisions by the Committee for laying out the last Division in said Town."
"I have laid out the said land and taken possession of the same in behalf of the Episcopal society which I hereby affirm I have a right to do by virtue of a Lease of the Rev.d Daniel Barber agent for said Society.
Elijah Dunbar.
"Attest L. (Lockhart) Willard, Props Clerk."
Mr. Dunbar's grant was not secured to him nor to the Episcopal church or society, no record of its lay-out has been found, and no one knows where it was located. The "Glebe road" to Westmoreland was so called because it ran through or near the Westmoreland glebe, not that of Keene, so far as is known.
No account has been found in the proprietors' records, or in those of the town of Keene, concerning the disposi- tion of those original school lands, nor has the town ever had them in its possession or received any income from them for the benefit of the schools. Apparently they were seized by the proprietors, and finally passed into the hands of private parties. And the same is true of the glebe lands and those granted to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
To return to the ministry lot. Many years after the grant of fifty acres in 1787, when more than one minister had been settled in town, firewood from that lot was given to each of them. It was laid out in the north part of the town, about two miles from the village, on the hills west of Beaver brook. On it was a heavy growth of pine timber, a large part of which was blown down by the
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wind storm of 1854. The selectmen sold the wood and timber, and afterwards such trees as were deteriorating, and put the money into the town treasury to be accounted for. At the annual meeting in 1860, the town instructed the selectmen to separate from other moneys the proceeds of the sales from the ministry lot and treat them thereafter as a separate fund.1 The interest of that fund has since been divided each year among the resident settled ministers in lieu of firewood.
The close of this decade, ending 1860, showed decided progress and many improvements in Keene. Shelly & Sawyer had built a three-story brick block on the east side of the Square, in place of the old Perry & Wheeler store; and, adjoining it, the Cheshire Mills corporation of Harris- ville (the sons of Josiah Colony of Keene) had put up a handsome building with an iron front, of smaller dimensions but of the same height, filling the space to the old Lamson building on the corner of Roxbury street; the Cheshire House had been remodelled by Henry Pond, the south wing added, with stores on the ground floor and a hall above 40 x 76 feet, 17 feet high, and the large stables in the rear built; the Congregational meetinghouse had been moved back four feet to the line of the Wilder building, raised, to give height for the vestry beneath, widened, to give room for two more rows of pews, the steeple remodelled and extended twenty to thirty feet in height, and a new organ placed in the gallery. In January, 1861, it was rededicated, and Rev. John A. Hamilton was ordained as assistant to Rev. Dr. Barstow.
St. James' Episcopal church had been organized, Rev. E. A. Renouf, rector. The incorporators of the parish, under the general laws of New Hampshire, were Thomas B. Kit- tredge, Wm. P. Wheeler, Samuel Dinsmoor, James Q. Newell, Josiah Colony, Cyrene Johnson, F. M. Ballou, Lucius Goodnow, John Bixby, Harry Brownson, M. T. Totting- ham, D. H. Sawyer and Joshua D. Colony. Episcopal services had been held in Keene as early as 1816, in the old courthouse, by Rev. Mr. Leonard, of Windsor, Vt., and Rev. Mr. Moss, of Newburyport, Mass. Among the citizens
1 In 1887, the accumulation of those sales and interest amounted to $4,155.
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UPPER MAIN STREET AND HEAD OF CENTRAL SQUARE IN 1859.
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who aided in those services were Elijah Dunbar, Ithamar Chase and Dr. Thomas Edwards. The burial service of that church was first used in Keene by Rev. Dr. Strong, of Greenfield, Mass., in August, 1817, in the First Congrega- tional church, at the funeral of Hon. Ithamar Chase, and made a deep impression. Occasional services were held afterwards by Rev. Mr. Barber, of West Claremont, and by Rev. Nathaniel Sprague,1 a native of Keene, son of Hon. Peleg Sprague; and Dr. and Mrs. Edwards were confirmed by Bishop Griswold. Services were held here for several weeks in the summer of 1850 by Rev. Henry N. Hudson, the celebrated Shakesperian scholar, but he was called to another field and it was not until 1858 that they were renewed by the Rt. Rev. Carlton Chase, bishop of New Hampshire, with the result above related. The stone church on West street was built in 1863, Charles E. Parker, architect. The corner stone was laid on the 30th of June with appropriate ceremonies, and the edifice was com- pleted during the following winter and spring, and was used for the first time on Sunday, August 21, 1864.
T. J. French had built the brick house on West street, now the residence of Mrs. Eliza Faulkner, and Henry Pond his residence on the same street, now owned and occupied by his son, Herbert. Chase & Fairbanks had set up their steam mill on Ralston street, and nearly one hundred buildings had been erected in the village within the preced- ing two or three years.
The Keene Gas Company had been organized-J. H. Carter, president; Solon A. Carter, secretary and treasurer ; J. H. Carter, F. A. Faulkner, T. H. Leverett, Edward Gus- tine, Geo. B. Twitchell, F. M. Ballou and Samuel Wood- ward, directors. The pipes were laid and a part of the vil- lage was lighted by gas for the first time in December, 1859.
The fire department consisted of a chief engineer and four assistants; the Deluge and Neptune fire companies- former names Lion and Tiger-and the Phoenix Hook and Ladder Company.
The Cheshire House was kept by C. H. Brainard, succeeded by E. Holbrook; the Eagle Hotel by Asaph
1 A memorial window inscribed to him was placed in the church edifice by his sister, Miss Elizabeth Sprague.
.
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Harrington, who kept the house until he died in 1867; the Union Hotel, formerly the Emerald House, by G. A. Goddard, soon succeeded by Ashley Jones. And those were all the public houses in town at that time.
Elliot & Ripley were keeping the hardware store on Elliot's corner; Bridgman & Co. were still in the old Hall store; G. H. Richards, jeweller, on the corner of Roxbury street; J. D. & L. J. Colony in the main part of the Rich- ards building; Shelly & Sawyer in their new block north of them; Parker & Beal, dry goods and clothing, after- wards J. R. Beal & Co., and S. D. Osborne, furniture, were in Pond's block; D. W. Buckminster & Co. were in the old courthouse (now Bullard & Shedd's); S. A. Gerould & Son and G. & G. H. Tilden were in the same stores they had occupied for thirty-five and twenty-five years, respectively ; Elbridge G. Whitcomb had bought the Prentiss building and Whitcomb & Dunbar occupied the south store. J. H. Spalter, with a bookstore in Pond's block, formerly Wilders' building, was publishing Adams's arithmetics; E. C. & F. E. Keyes were in their store on the corner of West street; William French was selling groceries, and his brother, T. J., dry goods under the town hall. E. R. Gilmore and Elbridge Clark were in the millinery business, and Reuel Nims kept the store in the old Cooke building, where Lane's upper block now stands. The druggists and apothe- caries were O. G. Dort, E. Goddard and Jacob Green; M. T. Tottingham succeeded Wm. S. Briggs in the furniture business, east side of Main, below Church street; O. H. Gillett had followed J. C. & T. New in stoves and tinware; and Geo. O. Leonard made excellent rifles on Winter street, many of which were used in the Civil war. The principal shoe dealers and manufacturers were George Kingsbury, S. L. Randall, Geo. P. Drown, David Hutchins, O. P. Hall and W. O. Willson; the principal blacksmiths were Wm. H. Brooks and Wm. L. Davis, on Church street, L. P. Dean, on Mechanic street, and A. H. Freeman, on the north corner of Marlboro and Main streets; the princi- pal carpenters were D. W. Comstock and H. P. Muchmore. John Humphrey made wood-working machinery, and soon afterwards began the manufacture of water wheels; James
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Knowlton had a steam planing mill on Davis street; W. H. Wilkinson-succeeded by S. S. Wilkinson-and A. S. Tilden were manufacturers of harnesses and trunks; and carriages were still made on the north corner of Mechanic and Washington streets by A. H. Miller, and by the Frenches on Church street. Chester Allen, S. C. Dustin and J. A. French were taking photographs; Henry Pond dealt in furs and made hats and caps; P. B. Hayward had suc- ceeded Dea. Asa Duren in the bakery; and Laton Martin, the prince of horsemen, kept an excellent livery stable in rear of the Eagle Hotel for many years, and afterwards north of the present City Hotel. Thomas Hale & Co. were publishing the Sentinel in the Whitcomb block, and Hora- tio Kimball, the Cheshire Republican in Pond's block. The physicians in town were Geo. B. Twitchell, Thomas B. Kittredge, J. J. Johnson, Wm. H. Thayer, Wm. B. Chamber- lain, homeopathic, and J. F. Jennison, botanic and eclectic; and Dr. Jacob H. Gallinger, now United States senator, was here for a short time a little later. The lawyers were Thomas M. Edwards (in congress), Levi Chamberlain, Wheeler & Faulkner, F. F. Lane, C. C. Webster, Harvey Carleton, Edward Farrar and Silas Hardy.
At South Keene, manufactures were flourishing and profitable; Edward Joslin had built and then occupied the two-story house east of the factory; the mechanics were a bright, intelligent class, and a lively debating club was sustained by them and the villagers.
The Cheshire County Agricultural Society continued its yearly exhibits. The former building on the fair grounds for manufactures, produce and fancy articles had been replaced by "Floral Hall," 200 feet long, and other improvements made, and the displays of stock and other exhibits were · remarkable. Distinguished men were employed as speakers, and upwards of 6,000 tickets of admission were sold on favorable days; and the interest continued through the Civil war.
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