USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Richmond > History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, from its first settlement, to 1882 > Part 11
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ing paupers some years ago was small, the price per capita varying from six and a quarter to seventy-five cents per week, depending largely on the amount of labor that might be forced from them. The alms- house system was never adopted. The less expen- sive practice of selling their keeping to the lowest bidder on town-meeting days was the popular mode of dealing. In this neither the wishes of the pauper or the character of the bidder were of much account. The old maxim, that " beggars must not be choosers," seemed to have the right ring. Places distasteful to paupers' might be good enough for poor, lazy louts that would not work enough to support themselves. It was not considered good policy to have the situ- ation of a pauper particularly agreeable, as pleasant surroundings might tend to invite new comers, and be equivalent to offering a bounty on laziness. The auction system of disposing of the poor continued until about the time of the beginning of the anti- slavery agitation, say about 1845, when some said " that selling paupers at vendue was not much better than nigger slavery, and that we had better correct evils at home before going abroad." The argument seemed conclusive, and the old favorite method was abandoned for the more humane practice of putting them out in such families as the selectmen, who have ever been overseers of the poor, might in their judg-
ment deem proper. The change in the pauper laws, transferring to the county the charge of maintenance of many whose settlements dated back to the early time, relieved the town to a considerable extent. At present, the list is small. For the year 1882 mem- bers of three families only received assistance as the town's poor, at an expense of $235.37, and most of
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
this was expended by reason of the sickness and death of one individual. The amount expended for five county paupers living in town was $204.75. Aside from the exceptional expenditure of the one that died, the whole cost to the town for all its poor was only $121.50.
A change was made in the method of disposing of the poor about 1865. The keeping of all was given to one man, on a contract for five years, and as the most of them died within a year or two, the pre- sumption is that the contractor got the best of the bargain, but it does not appear that the town ex- pressed any regrets that the matter turned out thus.
The novel plan adopted by the town in 1827 for doctoring the poor is exceptional, certainly. Hitherto the town had paid the doctors for attendance on the poor, and as their bills at times were considered un- reasonably high, the town resolved to try the plan of selling the doctoring of the poor to the lowest bidder at the annual March meeting, many believing that catnip and other good "airbs" would do them as much good. At this time the records show that the doctor- ing of the poor was sold to Nathaniel Naromore for $16.75, and the doctoring of Lois Estas, a county pauper, was sold to him for $4.75.
Paupers once to him were sold, The lowest price, would say ; Their doctoring, too, we are told Was sold town-meeting day. If wrong it was, between man and man, This now we must confess, They saved some money by the plan, And made their paupers less.
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CHAPTER V.
POST-OFFICES AND POST-MASTERS, ETC.
Post-offices and Post-masters - Physicians - Professional Men - Musicians - Band - - Inns and Inn Keepers -Stores and Store Keepers - Mills and Mill Owners - Tanneries - Mechanical Industries - Other Industries - Blacksmiths - Carpenters - Shoemakers - The Old Baptist Meeting House - Burial Places - Times of Sick- ness - Accidental Deaths - Fires - Town Meetings - Singing Schools - Nahum Grout - Solomon Atherton - Went to Law - A Great Fracas - A Temperance House - Shows and Exhibitions.
The first post-office in town was established July 4, 1812, when Jonathan Pierce of Royalston began car- rying the mail on the line from Worcester to Keene. The office at first. was probably in the corner store, now kept by Mr. Norwood, but then owned by Job Bisbee & Co. It was afterwards removed to the widow Howe's tavern, and there kept until 1829. In 1832 the office returned to the old corner store, and has remained there most of the time since, except from 1845 to 1858, when J. Weeks was post-master. This office has had fifteen post-masters. Their names and dates of appointment are as fol- lows, viz. : -
Job Bisbee,
July 4, 1812.
Ono. T. Cass,
July 24, 1829.
Stephen Wheeler, Apr. 24, 1832.
John Parkhurst, Sept. 6, 1837.
Nov. 10, 1840.
Danford Tyler, Jarvis Weeks, July 8, 1845.
Amos G. Bennett,
May 6, 1858.
Daniel R. Spaulding, July 16, 1861.
L. W. Wright,
Dec. 19, 1870.
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
Charles H. Lyon,
May 10, 1871.
Amos Martin,
Mar. 7, 1873.
Andrew Dodge,
July 12, 1875.
Warren Kenop,
Apr. 6, 1877.
John E. Norwood,
Dec. 18, 1877.
Charles Norwood,
May 7, 1883.
The post-office at North Richmond was established Sept. 15, 1853, at Harvey Martin's, and has remained there most of the time since. The following contains the names of the post-masters of this office and dates of their appointment, viz. : -
Harvey Martin,
Sept. 15, 1853.
Edson Starkey,
June 16, 1856.
Harvey Martin,
Oct. 30, 1856.
Discontinued,
June 17, 1879.
Re-established,
July 3, 1879.
Orlow E. Parsons,
July 3, 1879.
Orlan H. Martin,
Apr. 13, 1880.
Changes in Rates of Postage.
The United States post-office department was established 1789. At first and for many years the rate of postage was fixed not by weight, but by the number of separate sheets or pieces of paper contained in the letter. The single rate for one piece of paper was, for any distance not exceeding 40 miles, eight cents ; not exceeding 90 miles, ten cents; not exceeding 150 miles, twelve and a half cents ; not exceeding 300 miles, seventeen cents; not exceeding 500 miles, twenty cents; any distance over 500 miles, twenty- five cents. These rates made correspondence, especially with distant places, an expensive luxury, but the burden was not felt so much as we should now suppose it would have been, for our country was not so large as it is now, the settled portion of it not extending far from the sea coast. A journey of two hundred miles inland would bring the traveller into the unpeopled wilder- ness. Few persons travelled from their own homes, or had rela- tions of friendship or business with any beyond the limits of their own state. Cheap postage was then unknown anywhere, and if our forefathers felt that their letters cost more than they liked to
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pay, they met the difficulty by writing fewer, and never thought of cutting down the rates. But they did not pay double rates. If they had more to say than a moderate sized sheet would contain, they used larger paper. They had no envelopes, and the ability to fold a letter neatly, and seal it so that it could be opened without defacing the contents, was an accomplishment which every well- brought-up young person was obliged to acquire. Correspondents generally felt it a duty to cover the whole of their paper, as the ex- change of letters was rare and expensive, and it was wasteful to pay for one or two pages what would have paid for three or four.
In 1816 the rates were changed, but without general reduction. For any distance not more than 30 miles, the postage for a single sheet was six and a quarter cents; not more than 80 miles, ten cents ; not more than 150 miles, twelve and a half cents; not more than 400 miles, eighteen and three-fourths cents; more than 400 miles, twenty-five cents. This schedule increased more uniformly than that which it superseded, the rate being doubled, tripled, 01 quadrupled according to the distance, and the single rate being the now obsolete Spanish or Mexican coin, the fourpence-halfpenny, or, for short, fourpence of New England, sixpence of New York, the fippenny bit or picayune of the southern states. Those coins, and the ninepence, shilling, or bit, of the same origin, were more com- mon than the dimes and half dimes of our own mint, in those days, and all the transactions of retail trade were made in their terms. The practice survives yet in some parts of the country, but has nearly died out in New England.
With the increase of travel and business, and especially with the development of railroads, came lower rates of postage. In 1845 letter postage was reduced to five cents the half ounce, the weight instead of the number of pieces of paper being taken as the stand- ard, but distance was still an element of cost. A single rate was paid for distances less than three hundred miles, and a double rate, or ten cents, for all greater distances. Contrary to expectation, this great reduction of rates proved very unprofitable at first to the post-office department. The number of letters sent did not increase so fast as had been anticipated, and the expense of carriage on the new railroad and other routes was large. By this time people were beginning to push into the new states and territories of the west, and the establishment of new post routes in those sparsely settled regions was burdensome to the department. At this time, too, the government began to guard more strictly its monopoly of postal business, and to use its authority to prevent the carriage of letters, as well as newspapers and other periodicals, by private hands. The post-office deficit became so large that an effort was made to
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
restore the old rates of postage, but it failed, of course. Next came the reduction to three cents on all domestic letters, except those which were to cross the Rocky Mountains, for which the ten- cent rate was continued, but, though letters might be prepaid by a three-cent stamp, prepayment was not compulsory, and five cents was exacted if paid at the office of delivery. But this plan did not work well, and in 1855 prepayment was required. The people did not get used to this for some time, and the department was much perplexed to dispose of the unpaid letters, but that trouble has much diminished with better post-office regulations and more gen- eral familiarity with them. The department was self-sustaining for a short time during the civil war, when the long and unpro- ductive southern states were cut off. But as the authority of the government was restored and the old routes were re-established, the deficit returned. Postmaster General James, by his efficient business methods and his vigilance in detecting fraudulent prac- tices, reduced the expenditures and increased the earnings of the department, and the present surplus is the result. Our post-office department, so far as the prompt, safe and cheap carriage of the mails throughout a vast territory is concerned, is not excelled by that of any country in the world, but it cannot be said to be the equal of those of European countries until the system of delivery by carriers has been developed far beyond its present limits. It is provided in this country only in cities of twenty thousand inhabi- tants or more, and in them the deliveries are less frequent than in the English towns of like size. In England every village and hamlet has its carrier delivery, and there is scarcely a private dwelling above the dignity of a cottage, at which the postman is not a daily visitor.
Among the commonplaces of modern civilization none is more wonderful or more beneficent than the complex organization by which the postal business of the world is carried on. The postal system of each country is only a branch of the great organism which, under the name of the International Postal Union, provides for the written inter-communication of mankind. You wish to send a letter to an interior town of Australia. You drop it, properly addressed and with five cent stamp affixed, into a box in tlie street, and in an hour or two it is on its way, traveling by the swiftest conveyance, with safety, speed and certainty to its destination. Its arrival can be foretold with almost absolute pre- cision. There is a remote possibility of its loss or destruction on the way, but the chance of it is less than one in ten thousand. The letter passes through many hands, and is carried by all the modes of conveyance known in civilized countries. It is delivered finally
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by a postman at the door to which it is addressed. Between the letter-box here and the Australian postman is a space of twelve thousand miles or more. It is traversed regularly in about thirty days, and at a cost of five cents. This is one of the marvels of our time, and not the least of them.
PHYSICIANS.
Dr. Aaron Aldrich was chosen by the town " gram- mar-school master " in 1778. He, together with his brother Solomon, settled on the farm north of Zimri Bowen's, towards the Benson place. But little is known of his practice. He removed from town early in its history to parts unknown.
Dr. Ebenezer Swan came to town about 1776, and bought the farm which has borne his name to a recent date. He married Tamison, the daughter of James Ballou, sr. He continued in practice until his death in 1820.
Dr. Buffum Harkness, son of Nathan, studied medicine in Hoosack, Mass., and removed to western New York in 1804, where he attained a large and successful practice. Before his removal, he lived in the house afterwards occupied by Dr. Brittan, and may have practiced here for a short time.
Dr. Amos Howe's advent into town was in 1797. He established his office at first at Jedediah Buffum's, whose daughter Candace he soon married. The first public house at the Four corners, known after- wards as Mrs. Howe's tavern, was built by him about 1798. He went into the army as a surgeon in 1812,
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
and died soon after while in service on the northern frontier.
Dr. Martin Brittan commenced practice here about 1809. He lived in a house nearly opposite Pere- grine Wheeler's, and after a practice of about two years he died while on a journey to the west.
Dr. John Parkhurst, the next on the list of physi- cians, came from Marlboro', N. H., about 1811, and took quarters at Peregrine Wheeler's at first. He afterwards bought and lived on the place now owned by Edmond B. Southwick. He attained an extensive practice both in and out of town. His education was respectable, and his natural abilities were of the first order. He maintained a high standard among the physicians of the county, by whom he was often called in consultations on difficult cases. His prac- tice covered a period of nearly thirty years. He used his means for the promotion of other pursuits, having interests at times in the store on the corner, the potash, the saw-mill, and the blacksmith shop. In his early practice he had a number of students, some of whom are remembered as belonging to town. We recall the names of Darius Garnsey, Nathan Cook, and Russell Ballou, jr. All of these became successful practitioners in the several localities to which they went. In 1840 Dr. Parkhurst, with his son John, went on a visit to his brother's, in Pennsylvania, and from thence he never returned. He died soon after his arrival there of fever and dysentery, aged 59 years.
Dr. George W. Hammond commenced practice in Richmond in 1824-'5, and located at the middle of the town. He remained here a short time, and then re- moved to Gilsom in 1826, where he continued in suc-
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HISTORY OF THE
cessful practice many years. He took for wife Miss Dianay Rawson, a daughter of Josiah Rawson, a highly accomplished lady of this town.
Dr. Franklin Wallace made his debut here in 1835. He stayed but a few months, and then sought more inviting fields elsewhere.
Dr. Lewis Ware was contemporary with Dr. Parkhurst, but the practice of each did not much interfere with each other, as Ware was a botanic travelling doctor, whose patients were mostly in Ver- mont. He was portly - would balance 250 - rode in an old one-horse chaise, and in his peregrinations was absent from home much of the time. He had little acquaintance with the citizens generally, living as he did in a corner of the town. His practice had the merit at least of causing no particular injury, if by chance it did no particular good. A fair estimate, however, would adjudge that his herbs were remedial, and that many having chronic complaints were bene- fitted thereby.
Dr. Isaac P. Willis commenced practice at the middle of the town about 1833. He secured a fair share of practice, some of which he retained after his removal from town. After a short sojourn, he re- moved to Royalston, and finally succeeded to the large practice left by Dr. Stephen Batcheller, and served the people with " positive skill and science in his profession."
Dr. Christopher C. Wheaton, a native of War- wick, Mass., formed a co-partnership with Dr. Park- hurst in 1836. His sojourn was quite limited. He removed to Winchester in 1838, where he succeeded in securing a large practice, which he retained until his death. While here, he kept one term of the
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
school in the brick school-house, District No. 6. He was well educated, and evinced a good degree of skill in his profession. Being of a social turn and of jovial disposition, he acquired a host of friends. He died in Winchester.
Dr. Alvin Ballou, from Halifax, Vt., moved into town in 1840, and was the successor of Dr. Park- hurst. He was a lineal descendant of Rev. Maturin Ballou, the first minister, through his eldest son Ben- jamin and grandson Asahel. After remaining in successful practice here about three years he removed to Princeton, Ill.
Dr. Leander Smith, from Royalston, was prac- tically the successor of Dr. Ballou. He studied with Dr. Stephen Batcheller, and was well equipped for the business. He married Elizabeth, the only daugh- ter of Dr. Parkhurst, and moved to Pennsylvania with the rest of the family in 1845. His name as a physician is still held in good repute.
Dr. Samuel P. French, the last but not the least of the physicians of Richmond, a native of Gilmanton, N. H., took the place vacated by Dr. Smith in 1846. He was a graduate of Dartmouth college, and was well instructed in his profession. In literary attain- ments he was undoubtedly superior to any of his pre- decessors. His ability and worth as a citizen is well attested by the confidence reposed in him by electing him a representative to the General Court in 1856. In professional practice he undoubtedly re- ceived a full and fair share of the business of the town ; but fields of labor more inviting, apparently, called him away. He removed to Winchester in 1864, and after remaining there four years, removed to Warwick, Mass., in 1868. In both these places
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he appears to have secured a fair amount of practice ; but finally, in 1881, he returned to the people who had paid him the highest honors, and perhaps had rendered him the most substantial support. His earthly life was suddenly terminated by apoplexy while on a visit to a patient in February, 1882.
Dr. Charles J. Town, from Stoddard, succeeded Dr. French in 1865. He left in 1867.
Dr. Edward J. Dunnell came to town in 1868, and remained until about 1870.
Dr. John Heard was here in 1873. He remained here but a few months.
Dr. Joel R. Hardy occupied the field here for a short time in 1874. From this time forward to 1881, when Dr. French returned, the town was without a resident physician. Since the decease of Dr. French, Dr. George F. Shove, who occupied the pulpit of the Baptist church in 1882, has been the only resident physician.
MINISTERS WHO WERE BORN OR BROUGHT UP IN TOWN.
David Ballou,
Moses B. Wheaton,
Hosea Ballou,
Reuben Bowen, jr.
David Pickering, Lorenzo R. Thayer,
Robert Bartlett,
Randall H. Aldrich.
PHYSICIANS BORN IN TOWN, SETTLED ELSEWHERE.
Buffum Harkness,
Nathan Cook,
Russell Ballou, Darius Garnsey.
MUSICIANS.
Drummers - Bass.
Ebenezer Ballou,
Israel C. Hale,
Edwin P. Tenney, Benjamin Aldrich.
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
16I
Drummers - Tenor.
John Wooley, Luke Harris, Lewis Whipple,
Leason Martin, Stephen Buffum.
Fifers.
Moses Garnsey, Dan. Buffum,
Willard Randall,
Olney Ballou.
James Ballou,
Clarinet.
Willard Randall,
Lucien Streeter,
James Ballou,
P
Edwin N. Bowen.
Bugler.
Holman Barrus. Trombone.
Timothy Pickering, jr.
Fiddlers.
Ichabod Whipple,
Benoni Ballou,
Nathaniel Naromore,
Nathaniel Naromore, jr.,
D. B. Aldrich,
Timothy Pickering, jr.
Bass Viol.
Nathan Bowen,
Alvan Atherton,
Wheaton C. Jillson.
BAND.
The Richmond brass-band was organized June 5, 1874, and continued until March 17th, 1883. The instruments were bought of John C. Haynes of Bos- ton, at a cost of $300.
II
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HISTORY OF THE
List of Members.
Nathan E. Tuttle, Cornet Leader, Lucius L. Fisher, Alto,
Abner S. Barden, Bass Drum,
F. O. Bowen, Baritone,
Nathaniel Naromore, Solo Alto,
Orrin B. Howe, Basso,
Frank Amadon, Cornet,
Willis D. Martin, Cornet,
Orrin Brewer, Tenor,
Silas O. Martin, Alto,
Albert E. Jillson, Basso,
George W. Goddard, Tenor,
Edwin Amadon, Basso,
Hiram E. Mellen, Cornet,
Edwin N. Bowen, Clarinet,
Watrous Garnscy, Tenor Drum.
Admitted after Organization.
Ozro C. Flint,
Stephen A. Bullock,
Leslie E. Smith,
Henry Bullock.
INNS AND INN-KEEPERS.
The town from the earliest time has been provided with ample accommodations for the travelling public. Before the town had been settled five years, at least three places of public entertainment were opened on the line of the old Winchester and Royalston road. The number of persons at one time licensed
as inn-keepers seems now to have been dispropor- tionate to the public needs. About 1800, eight per- sons are recorded as inn-holders licensed to sell spirituous and intoxicating liquors. As it is hardly
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
possible that these could have been supported to any considerable extent by travellers, it is but reasonable to conclude that they were licensed largely to supply the local demands for ardent spirits, which soon after the Revolutionary war came into quite general use, and were regarded as one of the necessities of the household, and, in fact, indispensable in carrying on the more laborious parts of husbandry or mechanical business. New England rum was the liquor mostly used. The general use of this became quite com- mon, and is traceable largely, no doubt, to habits acquired by those out in the service, where the rations of soldiers consisted in part of New England rum. The immediate and remote consequences of this com- merce must have been disastrous to the social and material interests of the people, and a greater hin- drance than all other agencies combined to the highest development and prosperity of the town. A marked change in the use and traffic of alcoholic liquors has taken place within the last fifty years, and the use of these as a beverage has been nearly dispensed with by the people of the town.
The first inn-holder in town of which we have any account was Deacon John Cass, whose tavern was in use in 1765. Timothy Thompson, who lived next east on the old road, is also named in 1766. Silas Gaskill was an inn-keeper in 1776, and lived on the Ebenezer Ballou place. Jonathan Thurber, first settler on the farm now owned by Charles H. Cass, had a large two-story house which was kept as a tavern until about 1825. Captain Isaac Benson's house, still standing, was built for an inn, and was used for that purpose from 1788 to about 1810. Luke Cass had a tavern, a large two-story house, on
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or near the site of the residence of Nahum Cass, Esq., built about 1780. Samuel Curtis kept an inn on the Daniel Twitchell place from about 1770 to 1800. James Cook had a store, and was a licensed inn- keeper. The building was on the spot where the house of Edson Starkey, Esq., now stands. Na- thaniel Taft's tavern was the house now occupied by David B. Aldrich, Esq., and was built in 1788. Lemuel Peters built the Crooker house, so called, in 1790, designed especially for a public house, and was so used for about twenty years. The house at the middle of the town occupied by Julius M. Whipple was built by James Holmes in 1806, and was kept as a public house about twenty years. Dr. Amos Howe built the house at the Four corners, more generally known as "Mrs. Howe's tavern," in 1798, and it was used for public entertainment until 1872.
The hotel at the Four corners, now kept by Jerry Allen, was built in 1817 by Sylvanus Wakefield, who sold it to David Powers. Wakefield removed from town about 1820. Mr. Powers continued in occu- pancy until about 1830, when he sold to Stephen Wheeler, Jr., of Troy. The house was remodeled and the barn enlarged by Stephen Wheeler in 1833; and again the house was enlarged by Obed E. Adams in 1865, and a new barn was built by George W. Howe in 1873. The first barn was built on the corner west of the hotel. This is now the only hotel in town, and affords ample ac- commodations for the travelling public. Some other places may have been used to accommodate the pub- lic travel, as the owners were licensed inn-holders ; or they may have been used mainly for the sale of liquors. The house that formerly stood on the
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