USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Warren > History of the town of Warren, N.H., from its early settlement to the year 1854: including a sketch of the Pomigewasset Indians > Part 6
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SURPLUS REVENUE.
ed, and it was not until the 22d of December, 1836, that persons were permitted to pass over it. At that time the selectmen were authorized to post up a notice at each end of the road that people could travel over it at their own risk.
The town voted that the selectmen should ob- ject to Mr. Horace Webber being ordained in town, unless he would sign an acquittal to the ministerial rights which he might obtain by being ordained. This Mr. Webber did, and was ordained a minister of the Free Will Baptist denomination.
Gave at the regular town meeting nineteen votes in favor of revising the Constitution and fifty-five against it.
In the year 1837 the town received nearly eighteen hundred dollars as her share of the sur- plus revenue. This money had been accruing for many years in the United States Bank, and after that institution was dissolved, government, after paying her debts, passed a resolve that the surplus should be divided among the different States, and then distributed to the towns of which they were composed. By a vote passed at the regular meeting the selectmen were empowered to go to Concord and receive the money. It was also voted the selectmen put the money out at usury, not letting any one individual have more than two hundred dollars.
104
HISTORY OF WARREN.
In 1838 the town voted that the selectmen call in enough of the surplus revenue to pay up for the building of the Berry Brook Road; also chose Solomon Cotton an agent to take charge of the money, and then voted that the select- men hire it of Mr. Cotton, and pay their debts with the same.
About the year 1830, and perhaps at an earlier date, different clergymen of the Universalist de- nomination preached occasionally to the be- lievers in a world's salvation from sin and suffer- ing; but the first society was organized in the year 1838 under the ministry of the Rev. John E. Palmer. The society have had preaching since but a part of the time during each year. In 1851 Mr. Nathaniel Clough at his death be- queathed to them a small fund, the interest of which is to be annually appropriated for the support of Universalist preaching. The names of the ministers who have labored with the so- ciety will be found in the statistical part of the work.
March 10, 1840, the town gave four votes in favor of, and ninety against dividing the county of Grafton.
1841. This year the town became involved in a perplexing lawsuit with the town of Went- worth. A certain Mrs. Sarah Weeks, wife of Benjamin Weeks, had become chargeable to
105
VOTE ON THE CONSTITUTION.
Wentworth for support, and the town thinking that it was the duty of Warren to support her, asked the town so to do; but Warren consider- ing the request unjust, refused, and Wentworth sued for the money they had paid for the sup- port of Mrs. Weeks. The town of Warren defended the case and was beaten ; but not will- ing thus to give it up, at a town meeting called expressly for the purpose, Nov. 22, 1843, they passed the following vote : That the agents cho- sen to carry on the case between Warren and Wentworth have it tried where they think prop- er: That the agents ascertain whether the re- view destroys the decision of the former trial : if it does destroy it, then the agents are to settle with Wentworth, by that town paying the legal cost the town of Warren would recover by law, and they also support Sarah Weeks; if they will not settle upon these conditions, then the agents are to proceed with the case. But the town of Wentworth did not wish to risk another trial, and so, before the sitting of the next term of the court, the agents of that town came and wished to settle the case with those of Warren, which was effected by agreeing to the above proposition.
March 8, 1842. Three voters were for, and seventy-four against a revision of the Constitu- tion ..
6
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
In 1844 gave fifty-five votes in favor of and eighty-six against the abolition of capital pun- ishment.
At the June session of the Legislature, in 1845, that body passed an act incorporating the Boston, Concord and Montreal railroad company ; the road to run from Concord, N. H., via Lake Winnipisseogee and the Pemigewasset and Baker rivers to the Connecticut, and from thence to Littleton, N. H. The company immediately or- ganized, and the people along the route freely paid their money for a survey, which was made this season by Mr. Crocker, throughout the whole length of the line, and a considerable amount of stock being subscribed for, the grading of the road was commenced upon its lower sections, and the road gradually completed eighteen miles, from Concord to Sanbornton Bridge.
During this season a destructive fire occurred upon the old homestead of Amos Little. All the male members of the family had gone away, while Mrs. Little, who was unwell, had retired to her chamber. There was a barrel standing in the shed adjoining the house, in which some meat had been placed to smoke, and as the family had smoked their meat here the preced- ing spring, and no accident having occurred, it was considered safe.
From this the fire took. It was a beautiful
107
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.
summer day; there was no wind stirring, and all around was still. All at once an individual standing near the meeting-house happening to direct his attention in the direction of the house, saw curling slowly up in the clear air, a thin hazy column of blue smoke. One moment more and the cry of fire rung out in clear, start- ling tones from his stentorian lungs, that roused every neighbor around. The inmates of the school-house near by were dismissed, and the young urchins dispatched in all directions to give the alarm. When the first individual ar- rived at the house, had he had but another per- son to assist him, the flames might have been stayed, but it was otherwise, and before another had arrived the flames had gained much head- way, and were breaking out upon the roof of the shed. Mrs. Little, hearing the noise, now came out to see what was the matter, and seeing the flames, almost swooned with fright, but quickly recovering, with the rest of the individ- uals commenced carrying the furniture from the house. In an almost incredible short space of time almost every individual in the village had arrived. Some tried to tear down the shed con- necting the house with the three large barns, but before it was half demolished, the flames and blinding smoke drove them from the under- taking. The whole attention of every individ-
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
ual was now directed towards saving what they could from the burning buildings. Such was the haste and excitement of many persons that windows were taken from their casings in the second story, and thrown to the ground, where they were picked up and borne away by others; looking-glasses and other furniture easily demol- ished, shared the same fate. The flames were now advancing rapidly, and it was evident that the building must soon be abandoned ; but one man, Mr. Miranda Whitcher, wishing to save some article of furniture which was in a room on the east side of the house, went thither. He had scarcely entered it before the flames sprung up behind, and firing an unplastered wall, made a retreat almost impossible. Ą dense volume of smoke now filled the room, choking and blinding him ; but Mr. Whitcher, being a resolute man, resolved to make an effort to save his life: With one bound he shot through the flame, and tread- ing quickly along the tottering floor, which now creaked beneath his step, made for a distant window. Here the people below saw him and loudly shouted to him to jump out upon the ground; but he seemed possessed of a strange fatality, and not noticing them, gazed wildly around. The flames were creeping rapidly along the floor behind, and, scorching the poor man,
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DEATH OF MR. WHITCHER.
he grasped the window sill and slowly let him- self down, but did not relinquish his hold. The fire at that instant bursting from the window below, circled up and around him. Individuals loudly entreated him to let go, but he heeded them not, until at last, exhausted, his hands slowly relaxed and he fell. It was now almost impossible to approach near enough to remove the poor man; but two individuals resolutely advanced almost into the scorching flames, and succeeded in reaching him, whither he was re- moved to a little field situated on the north side of the road. The large buildings were now com- pletely enveloped in flames, crowned by an im- mense column of black smoke, which rolled itself aloft in the still air. Nearly all of the many individuals who were there had gathered around the almost dying man, whose groans, mingling with the crackling of the flames and the roar of the burning building, made a scene truly awful. In a few moments more, after one convulsive quiver, it fell, and the fine old house was a mass of burning ruins. Mr. Whitcher was then conveyed to his home, and in a few hours died.
1847. This year the Methodist Episcopal So- ciety, under the pastoral charge of Rev. SULLI- VAN HOLMAN, built them a convenient little chapel in which to hold their meetings, and short-
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
ly after, during the time Rev. L. L. EASTMAN Was their pastor, they purchased the beautiful toned bell that now hangs in its steeple. How many beautiful reflections are woke up in the mind, as listening, on some clear summer's day, its solemn peals float out on the air, echoing in many a shady dell and around the hill tops, at last die away in the distance. There is a charm in mu- sic that will soothe the wildest passion, and wake up to action man's better nature.
At the Conference held at Claremont in June, 1843, the Methodist Episcopal Society became a station, having been for a number of years pre- vious joined with Wentworth and Orford in a circuit.
In 1848 several new routes were surveyed through Warren for the railroad, by Mr. Thomas Piersons.
At the regular town meeting this year it was " Voted, that it is not expedient to act on the subject of spirituous liquors in the town of War- ren."
At a meeting held November 7, the represent- ative of Warren to the legislature was instruct- ed to procure a copy of the charter of Peeling, now Woodstock. For a few years past this lat- ter town had been laying claim to a considera- ble part of East Warren. By its charter, Wood- stock was granted as nearly a square township,
111
STATE CONVENTION.
which at the present time it is not; and Wood- stock, believing that Warren encroached on her territory, made the claim. But in the trial that was had on the case it was proved that the leg- islature in 1784 had established, by an act for the purpose, the boundary lines of Warren and the towns around it, and the case was decided in favor of Warren.
In the year 1849, early in the summer, the house of Mr. Vowel Leathers was burned, to- gether with his wife. It was on the Sabbath, and Mr. Leathers was absent, as was also his son. This fire created a great excitement in the pub- lic mind, and as Mrs. Leathers was blind, and could not help herself in any manner, there was a great deal of conjecture as to the cause of the fire. As yet, that cause has not been satisfacto- rily explained, and probably will forever remain a mystery.
1850. March 9, upon the question of the ex- pediency of altering the Constitution, there were eighty-seven votes in favor and forty-six against.
October 8. Chose Enoch R. Weeks a delegate to attend the State Convention, to be holden at Concord the sixth day of November, for the purpose of revising the Constitution.
During the summer the present year, the Bos- ton, Concord and Montreal Railroad caused a
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
new survey of the route from Warren to Woods- ville to be made ; and as the road was nearly finished from Plymouth to the south line of War- ren, a contract was made with Mr. Warren H. Smith, an enterprising gentleman residing at Sanbornton Bridge, to complete it to Warren village. The work was commenced the ensuing fall, in October, and before the first of April fol- lowing, the grading and bridges were nearly completed. As soon as the ground was suffi- ciently settled, Mr. Smith commenced to lay the track, and on the twenty-fifth of May it was completed to Warren Village, the first steam engine running into Warren the day before.
On the evening of the 25th there was quite a celebration of the event by the people of War- ren, and Mr. Smith gave a bountiful and excel- lent supper at L. C. Whitcher's hall. The follow- ing Tuesday the Company held its annual meet- ing at Wentworth, and on the first Monday in June the cars began to run regularly from War- ren.
At the meeting of the Company at Wentworth it was voted to prefer six hundred thousand dol- lars of stock, with which to construct the road from Warren to Woodsville; and early in the fall the grading was contracted for by Mr. War- ren H. Smith and rapidly commenced. The cut- ting through the ledge upon Warren Summit in-
113
HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
volved a large amount of labor, and occupied a hundred and fifty men, seventeen horses, with a number of yokes of cattle, a year and a half. The expense amounted to above one hundred thou- sand dollars. The cut is nearly three fourths of a mile in length, and in some places from fifty to sixty feet in depth. Near the north end a little rill of pure, clear water comes dashing down over the huge rocks, and at the bottom divides itself into two streams; the waters of the one run- ning north emptying themselves into the Con- necticut, eventually find their way into the ocean through Long Island Sound, while those running south unite with Merrimack river, which discharges itself into the ocean nearly two hun- dred miles from the mouth of the Connecticut.
The cars commenced running over this last section in the fall of 1852 as far as East Haver- hill, and early the ensuing spring the road was finished to Woodsville, where it connects with the Passumpsic Railroad and the White Moun- tains Railroad.
1851. The town voted, by quite a large ma- jority, in favor of the Homestead Exemption bill.
In 1852, voted, by a large majority, that it is expedient to alter the Constitution. .
Previous to 1853 those large tracts of timber upon our hills and mountains have almost re- *6
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
mained untouched, for the reason of the incon- venience of getting the timber to market, and the consequent unprofitableness of the business ; but now, through the medium which the rail- road affords, a rapid and convenient communi- cation is opened with the large towns upon the sea-shore, and thereby the business of lumbering is much more profitable; consequently several individuals are now extensively engaged in the work, and large quantities are sent to market.
Wood has also become an object of impor- tance, and the once heavy forests are fast dis- appearing. Upon the side of Carr mountain a large company are now chopping, under the su- perintendence of Col. Charles Lane. This indi- vidual, more easily to facilitate the transporta- tion of the wood from the mountain side, has con- structed a sluice nearly two and one fourth miles in length, extending to the valley near the rail- road. The sluice is twenty inches in width and sixteen inches in height. In it he has turned the waters of Patch brook, a wild moun- tain stream, and placing the wood in this, it rap- idly descends, in its serpentine course, now cross- ing some deep gully, then spanning the torrent, and then creeping rapidly along on the side of some steep bank, it at last reaches the valley, having descended in its course over a thousand feet.
115
LICENSE LAW.
Mr. Lane also constructed a large canal, of about one half a mile in length, through which he has turned the water of Baker river into a large mill pond situated on Black brook. The cost of the work was about two thousand dol- lars. It was finished late in the fall, and the water first let in on the 28th of November.
During the winter of 1854 the buildings of Mr. Amos Clement, together with nearly all their contents, including thirty-three valuable sheep, which they could not drive from the fire, a hog and a yearling steer, were destroyed.
March 14, at the annual meeting of the legal voters of the town of Warren it was voted to ap- propriate fifty dollars to repair the meeting-house built in 1818, and also passed a resolve that the selectmen of Warren shall prosecute, at the ex- pense of the town, all violations of the License Law, which shall come to their knowledge. This vote shows the admirable ground upon which a majority of the people of Warren at the present time stand, in relation to temperance. May they long maintain it.
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CHAPTER VI.
DESCRIPTION OF SCENERY.
THERE is beauty in all of nature's productions -yet in some far more than in others. New- Hampshire scenery will equal that of any other country. Her tall mountains are grand and sub- lime ; her beautiful lakes, constrasting with a milder beauty; while the gliding on of her noble rivers, or furious rushing of her moun- tain torrents, show a stern majesty combined with impetuous fury. The town of Warren has her liberal share of New-Hampshire wildness and beauty. The roaring torrent, the more smoothly gliding stream, the beautiful pond, the lofty mountain, towering far above the lower ranges of hills, and the craggy steeps, all lend their aid to deck her in nature's charms.
Among the most imposing and grand of the scenes around us is Moosehillock mountain. This high elevation, as viewed from the south part of the town, presents two distinct peaks, each hav- ing a bold, sharp outline. An ascent to its sum- mit, although toilsome, when once gained, well repays, in the magnificent prospect it affords, for all the labor incurred. Standing upon its high- est peak, and looking down thousands of feet be-
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MOOSEHILLOCK MOUNTAIN.
low in the deep and dark ravine where the rays of the sun scarce ever come, one sees the water trickling over the moss-covered rocks and form- ing the furious mountain torrent; further off the other neighboring mountains seem low down beneath, while in their valleys are the pleasant farms of the sturdy yeomanry of New-Hamp- shire. Looking south over the "Smile of the Great Spirit," above all, in the farthest off blue hazy distance, is seen the sky, settling down with azure tints into the almost boundless ocean. In the north a series of hills, divided by the wa- ters of the Connecticut, stretch far away to the high table lands of Canada. To the east are the lofty granite White Mountains, terminating in Maine, with Mt. Pleasant on the south and Mt. Abrams and Bigelow on the north; and to the west lay the rolling ranges of the Green Moun- tains ; while over them tower Camel's Rump in Vermont, and Mt. Marcy, of the Catskill Range, in New-York. The vegetation around upon the top of the mountain is similar to that of other high mountains of New-Hampshire. Blueberries, mountain cranberries, and harebells abound amid the crannies of the rocks, but no forest trees grow near the summit.
Moosehillock receives its name from the circum- stance of there once being many moose found around it, and tradition says the Indians called
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
it by a similar name though of a different meaning, it being Moosilauk; Moosi in their language meaning bald, lauk place ; bald place, a name very appropriate, considering its bald summit. Of the many stories related concerning this mountain the following is the richest one :
Long before the country was settled, and on the retreat of Major Rogers, after destroying the village of the Arosaguntacooks, the company, being short of provision, separated into small bands, that they might better supply themselves with food by hunting. One of these parties fol- lowed up the wild Amonoosuc, and in wandering about upon its upper waters were lost, and in time two of them climbed to the top of the mountain. Here they saw spread out before them the country, which was covered by a dense forest, and they traced the course of the rivers that ran south. They then descended upon the southern slope, and when they arrived at the forest stopped to quench their thirst at a little mountain rill. One of them drank and proceed- ed slowly on, but the other, as he kneeled to sip the sparkling water, saw shining in the sand at the bottom what appeared to be bright grains of gold. Picking up a handful of these, he tied them in a corner of his handkerchief, and after heaping a small monument of stones on the bank, departed. The particles which he collect-
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SCENERY OF WARREN.
ed he carried to Boston, and on showing them to a jeweler was informed that they were gold, and received for them fifty dollars. The man now made preparation to return to his golden foun- tain, but being taken sick, shortly after died, and the golden stream has not since been discovered.
Following round upon the east line of the town, and noticing the principal objects which serve to form Warren's varied scenery. First, to the south of Moosehillock, upon the left rises the Walternumus, so called from an Indian chief. It is a green, wooded mountain, with three summits, which are in Woodstock. At its foot runs Baker river, which rises on the north side of Moosehillock, from a large spring situated in an immense circular basin, formed by two spurs of that mountain. Thence, for several miles in the dark ravines about these mountains, when the snows are melting or heavy rains have fallen, it rushes onward a furious torrent, until it reach- es a more level country, where it looses its wild, turbulent spirit ; and, flowing on in fertile mead- ows, receiving in its course the water of many other streams, it at last unites with the Pemige- wasset in Plymouth. This stream receives its name from Capt. Baker, who defeated the In- dians at their encampment near its mouth, in 1725. There is a tradition in vogue that the
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
Indians called the river Pehaungun, and the Pemigewassets once had a chief of that name.
We do not wish to be finding fault with the names by which many of our mountains, ponds and rivers are known ; but who would not rather they would all be called by those harmonious, beautiful, rich, swelling names, bestowed by the red men of the forest, who once battled and hunted around them ; for every lake, river and forest in our country was designated by them with a name appropriate to its situation and character. The Indian language was a beautiful nomenclature ; but it seems that our forefathers, with driving them from the soil, were anxious to obliterate almost every trace of their existence, and now only few of their names remain with us.
Next to the Walternumus is Kineo mountain, standing in the north-east corner of the town --- deriving its name from another Indian chief. This mountain is also densely wooded. East Branch takes its rise upon its western slope, and falls into Baker river near the place where it also receives Merrill brook, from the side of Moose- hillock ; while, in the valley separating from Cushman mountain, is Kineo brook-a small stream, whose fountain is but a few rods distant from that of another stream, which runs east through Woodstock, and unites with the Pemi- gewasset. This mountain is 2700 feet high,
121
CUSHMAN MOUNTAIN.
while its neighbor, Cushman mountain, is 3000 feet. The highest point of Cushman mountain is in Warren, although a greater portion of it is in Woodstock and Ellsworth-the latter towns forming their corner on its northern side.
The mountain receives its name from a hunter of olden time, who, late one autumn, was trap -. ping sable upon it. One day, after being busily engaged in his labor, he entered his camp, and night had scarcely begun to come over him, when the melancholy howl of the wolves struck on his ear, the mournful echoes of which were repeated through every part of the forest. Eve- ry moment they seemed to approach nearer, and soon his camp is surrounded by a pack of the hungry creatures. Snatching his gun, he scram- bled up a small sapling near by, just in time to save himself from their jaws. Being disappoint- ed of their prey, they howled and leaped about in mad fury. Cushman now thought he would treat them with a little cold lead, and aiming at the leader of the pack, fired. The wolf gave a mad howl, and, leaping several feet in the air, fell to the ground, and was torn in pieces by his hungry companions. Loading his gun, he fired at another, who shared the same fate. Again he fired and killed the third, when the wolves, seeing their numbers decreasing, and having satisfied their appetites upon one of their own
.
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
species, fled, and Cushman was no more annoyed by them that night.
The last of this range is Mount Carr, which is located partly in each of the towns of Warren, Ellsworth, Rumney and Wentworth, and is 3381 feet in height.
" It is composed," says Dr. Jackson, " of gran- ite, overlaying mica slate ; and from the vertical dip of this rock at its base, it would seem highly probable that the granite had been erupted through it, forming a cap on its summit." The mountain is wooded to the top; but owing to the great elevation, the trees are stunted and gnarled in appearance, and consist principally of low firs and mountain birch. From this circum- stance it is seldom ascended, as it would be al- most impossible to obtain a good prospect of the surrounding scenery.
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