USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Wentworth > History of the town of Wentworth, New Hampshire > Part 7
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The quota of the town up to about January I, 1863, was 52 men, while the town now claimed a credit against this of 51 men enlisted.
With the coming of 1863 it was only too evident that the volunteer system, which is well enough per- haps in times of peace, had failed as it always did, and always will when subjected to the test of actual war.
Conscription was already in force in the South and was now about to be put into effect in the North. En- rollments were made during the spring and summer of 1863 of all liable for military service, and showed the town had then 149 men subject to draft.
On September 8, 1863, the town voted to pay each man drafted and accepted, $300, and to raise $6,000 on the credit of the town for this purpose, the quota of the town on the first draft being 20 men.
The result of the first draft which was made at the headquarters of the Provost Marshal at West Leb- anon on September 15, 1863, was awaited in town with interest and anxiety.
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
Quite a large number who were liable for service preferred to pay $300 as commutation and did so, thus being released from their liability.
With the putting into effect of conscription, volun- tary enlistments practically ceased. The quota of the town henceforth was filled largely by hired substi- tutes.
At this time substitutes were hired for about $300 each. Prices increased greatly, so that during the last months of 1864, and until the end of the war, a bounty of $1,200 was paid as a rule to the late recruits.
The substitute system is wrong in principle and a failure in practice.
It would be unfair as well as unjust to denounce all the men who entered the army as substitutes, many of whom had, as soldiers, a creditable record. But taken as a whole, the most that can be said is simply that they were, as a class, mercenaries with all which that implies.
In many cases they were the riff-raff of the earth. A large per cent deserted at the first opportunity. Some men never even reached the regiments to which they had been assigned, but deserted en route in order to enlist again elsewhere under another name and in- cidentally receive another large bounty.
On July 18, 1864, there was another call for 500,000 men, as it was now impossible to fill the quotas by
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
enlistment; all towns were now paying large bounties and hiring substitutes. The town's quota at this time was twelve men. On August 13, 1864, the town voted "To hire $10,000 as bounty to soldiers to fill the quota of the town."
The last draft was September 21, 1864, about six months before the close of the war.
Enlistments came in slowly during the later part of the war. But we find James S. Howard enlisted in August, 1864, in the 7th Vermont Infantry, serving on the quota of Topsham, Vt.
Towards the close of the war several of the older men, whose terms of service had expired, reënlisted, notably Alba Haines, Albert Smith, Hiram Farns- worth and Willard Simpson. Lewis E. Brown, who enlisted September 2, 1864, in Co. G, Heavy Artil- lery, was one of the last recruits.
All told, it can be stated that twenty-seven sub- stitutes served at some time during the war on the quota of the town. They were divided among the different regiments as follows:
2nd N. H. Vols. William Wardrobe 4th N. H. Vols. William H. Coffin 5th N. H. Vols. Thomas Keating Peter Lawson
6th N. H. Vols. Thomas E. Cox
Levi Founier
Samuel B. Harbison Elijah O. Harwood
Rufus Howe
William Kerr
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
Almon D. Lewis
Francis Despierre
Alexander Miller
William Goldsmith Thomas Mahanna
James Morrill
Andrew Quigley
Hial A. Osgood 7tb N. H. Vols.
Frank Thompson
James B. Conway
9th N. H. Vols.
Charles Edwards
James Howard 8tb N. H. Vols.
William Bucker Richardson Howland
Frederick DeWilder
Ist N. H. Cavalry
Charles Dixon
Chancey H. Miner
As a matter of justice, it can here be said some of these men had a good record in the army. Ten of them were in the field when the curtain fell at Appomattox.
William Kerr, serving in the 6th Regiment, was captured at Poplar Springs Church, Va., and died of disease and starvation in the Salisbury, N. C., Con- federate Prison.
Almon Lewis and James Morrill died in the army, of disease.
Chancey Miner, a boy of only eighteen, born in Littleton, was the last recruit to go from Wentworth. He entered the army in March, 1865, and saw no service.
Mention should also be made of two more men who went from Wentworth to the war. The records made by these men in the army does them or the town no credit, but in order to make the list as complete as possible it should be stated:
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
Byron Smith, a native of Orford, served in Co. F, 4th N. H., enlisting August 22, 1861. Smith was sen- tenced in June, 1863, to two years in prison and dis- honorably discharged from the army.
Benjamin F. Martin, better known as Frank Mar- tin, was in the army. One account assigns him to the 6th, N. H. If he ever served in that regiment it was under an assumed name. The tradition is he deserted and became a bounty jumper during the latter part of the war. Some months after the war closed he returned home and died in town.
From the foregoing it can be seen there were, from Wentworth, 39 men serving on the quota of the town, 6 men serving on the quotas of other towns, 27 sub- stitutes, a total of 72 men in all.
Reckoned on the basis of the number of enlistments, the town furnished nearly 80 soldiers, as one man en- listed three times and several, twice each.
Below is given, as a matter of interest, the names of nineteen soldiers born in Wentworth but who went from other places into the army. Their military serv- ice is credited to other towns in the official records.
Elbridge Avery John O. Barnes
8th N. H. Vols.
IIth N. H. Vols.
John C. Currier IIth N. H. Vols.
Amos P. Foster 6th N. H. Vols.
Frederick P. Hardy 6th N. H. Vols.
James E. Haynes 4th N. H. Vols.
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
Nestor Haines
Ist and 8th N. H.
Carey Hobbs
12th N. H. Vols.
Charles P. Hobbs
4th N. H. Vols.
Fernando Hobbs
14th N. H. Vols.
Alonzo W. Jewett
12th N. H. Vols.
Olof L. Jewett
12th N. H. Vols.
George H. Rainey
7th N. H. Vols.
Albert Sanders
5th N. H. Vols.
Benjamin Smith
17th Inf. U. S. A.
Luther Smith
5th N. H. Vols. U. S. Navy
James Webb
Thomas J. Whipple
Charles C. Whitcher
Ist and 4th N. H. Vols. 7th N. H. Vols.
Some of these men had splendid records as sol- diers.
Thomas J. Whipple as lieutenant-colonel, Ist N. H. and colonel, 4th N. H. Vols., achieved the highest rank. Frederick P. Hardy, Nestor Haines and Alonzo Jewett were all commissioned officers when the war closed, having earned their commissions on the field.
John O. Barnes, Carey Hobbs, Charles P. Hobbs, Olof Jewett and Albert Sanders were killed in battle or mortally wounded; several were severely wounded. George Rainey, awarded the Gilmore Medal of Honor, for bravery, was later killed in battle at Olustee, Fla. Elbridge Avery, Nestor Haines and Charles Whitcher, each served two enlistments.
Taken as a whole, the above group of men rendered distinguished service in the army, as the above very brief statement will sufficiently show.
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
In the military roster, which will be found in the back part of this volume, is the abridged record of all the above men as well as brief notices of several veterans who have lived more or less in town since the close of the war.
We will close this account by making mention of Comrade Charles H. Sprague, now in his eighty- eighth year, the last survivor of the soldiers of the Civil War in town.
Charles H. Sprague was born in Dexter, Maine, July 28, 1841. He enlisted in October, 1861, in the 3rd Maine Light Artillery. This regiment spent the following winter camped in Augusta, Maine, back of the State House and were quartered in cloth tents. The regiment went to Washington in the spring of 1862, serving later as part of the pioneer corps during the Fredericksburg, Va., campaign and afterwards.
In 1864, Mr. Sprague reënlisted in the 18th Maine Heavy Artillery, Co. M. This regiment saw service in the Shenandoah Valley and was at the siege of Peters- burg. Here they had a part in the Mine Explosion and saw the fall of Richmond. Mr. Sprague served three years and seven months in all and is now, in spite of his years, a good looking, well preserved man in body and mind.
The Civil War ended in April, 1865, and the sol- diers returned one by one to their homes in town, re-
-
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
suming, for the most part, the same occupations they had formerly followed. Many of them retained their old army overcoats after their discharge, and the "faded coat of blue" was for years a familiar sight in town.
The war left the town saddled with a heavy debt which lasted for a generation. Taxes were high and burdensome and times by common consent generally hard. During the war period the town had, however, succeeded in finding enough money to build two large wooden lattice-covered bridges over Baker's River. One of these was at the village; the other near the Dr. Stevens place. This bridge, built in 1865, is still in use and bids fair to last for years to come.
The village bridge did not prove as durable, being replaced several years ago with a steel structure, hav- ing a sidewalk on one side.
The hill farms now began to decline in number and value. The gradual decay of the agriculture of our town had already commenced and still continues, to the great detriment of the community.
Extensive lumbering operations, which gained in volume, were carried on in various portions of the town during the years immediately following the close of the war.
It was during the Civil War period that a telegraph line was built, following the line of the railroad, and an office opened in the village.
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
This office was installed in the year 1862, in the store of Albert S. Hammond, later Eastman and Brown. Mr. Hammond was the first telegraph agent. The telegraph instruments were then the recording kind, printing the Morse code on a paper tape. The telegraph office was in this store until 1888, or about then. The office was then removed to the depot, where it has ever since been located, with the station agent as manager.
During November and December of 1863, the town was greatly afflicted by another outbreak of "Spotted Fever." The epidemic lasted for several weeks. The disease was not general throughout the town, being epidemic only on Atwell Hill.
Dr. Hoyt records about thirty cases occurring at this time and there were nineteen deaths. Many of the sick suffered for lack of proper care and nursing.
In some instances, an entire family would all be sick at the same time. As others were reluctant to expose themselves to the disease, believed to be contagious, it is easy to believe some of the sick ones suffered greatly for lack of care.
Deacon George S. Dean of the village, let it be recorded to his credit, did at this time all he was physically able to do.
He watched with and assisted in caring for the sick and helped to lay out and bury the bodies of
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
those who died. He did not contract the disease or suffer, except from fatigue, because of his efforts. The truth of Whittier's lines "That simple duty hath no place for fear" was in his case amply demonstrated.
There were many changes in the town's population during the period from 1860 to 1870. Judge Sargent, who had lived more or less out of town after his ap- pointment to the Bench, removed to Concord. His fine house in Wentworth was burned in February, 1868, and about that time the Judge ceased to hold his residence in town.
Thomas J. Smith, Esq., who represented the town in the legislature for five years, 1861-65 and served as state senator in 1867-68, removed before 1870 to Dover, N. H., where he followed his profession.
It is a source of much regret to find the town was no longer attractive to men of the caliber of Judge Sar- gent and Lawyer Thomas J. Smith.
The Academy was now passing slowly but surely out of our picture. At the last an effort was made to run it as a private school. This attempt failed finally. The stockholders then sold the building, which was later converted into a public hall.
For some twenty years Joshua S. Blaisdell had been prominent in town affairs as merchant, business man and substantial citizen. In 1869 Mr. Blaisdell sold his store property to Kelley and Cleasby. He then
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
moved to Rhode Island, and died a citizen of that state.
Having mentioned some of the town's recent losses, it would be fitting now to speak of some gains made during the same period.
In the year 1633, Francis Plummer, "Linen Weav- er," emigrated from Woolwich, England, to Boston. In 1635 he became one of the original grantees and settlers of Newbury, Mass., and died a citizen of Newbury.
A descendant of Francis, George Plummer was born in Upper Gilmanton, now Belmont, January 4, 1821. As a boy and young man he lived in Groton.
In 1851 he went via the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Coast. The trip was made in the "Covered Wagons," drawn by ox teams.
This journey of some two thousand miles through the Indian country lasted for five months.
He spent some seven years in Oregon and California before returning to his native state. Until the end of his long life, it was his greatest delight to recall and retell the adventures of this march across the plains and life in the western wilds. In 1861 Mr. Plummer bought of Jabez Hall the place on the Buffalo Road first settled about 1800 by Samuel Stevens. He moved to this farm from Hebron in February, 1862, with his wife, who was Frances, daughter of
..
HOME OF THE LATE GEORGE AND FRANCES PLUMMER
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
Abner Blodgett of Dorchester, and their infant daughter, Persis M.
A son, George F. and the youngest daughter, Lucinda B., were born in Wentworth.
Mr. Plummer was selectman in 1874-75 and repre- sentative in 1877-78, and always a thrifty farmer, good neighbor and respected citizen. Politically, he was a lifelong Democrat. He died on August 26, 1911, in his ninety-first year. Frances, his wife, died April IO, 1924, both being buried on the family lot in the village. The farm on the Buffalo Road is still held in the family.
Benjamin M. Libbey, one of the sons of the stalwart John Libbey of Warren, moved into town about the year 1866. He bought the Calvin Clifford farm on the upper east side. Here he lived until his death in 1929, at the great age of ninety-three. Here were born his sons, Fred E. and Walter S., both of whom became active in later years in the affairs of the town.
Mr. Libbey, like many of his race, was a well-built, deep-chested man, of uncommon strength and en- durance. To hear him emit one of his peals of laughter was a privilege, although in this respect it must be admitted he was hardly the equal of his brother, George, whose good nature and stentorian voice were locally famous,
Mr. Benjamin Libbey was selectman for three
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
years, representative in 1887, held many minor town offices and always a good citizen, of a type now all too scarce.
Alfred Page came to town about 1865 with his family. He built, or at least rebuilt and enlarged, the building on main street now (1928) occupied by the family of the late John A. Davis. Here he had a large tin shop and did for many years a good business in tinware and stoves. He was representative in 1881. He was fond of the woods and found time nearly every fall to catch one or more bears on the mountain side, a feat which endeared him greatly to all the boys of the village.
Calvin T. Shute came about 1868 with his family from Gloucester, Mass., to the East Side, settling upon the Rawson Clifford farm.
In later years he built a house further up the hill near the Warren line and lived there until his death. The home is now owned by his son, Philip Shute of Concord, N. H. Mr. Shute was a keen-witted, well informed man with many of the attributes of a born orator. He was fond of discussion and argument, either public or private. He was an excellent debater, who took an active part in discussions at town meet- ings and elsewhere. He served as delegate to the con- stitutional conventions of 1912 and 1918.
Among the men active in town affairs during the
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THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD, 1850-1870
years we are now considering may be mentioned John Whitcher, chairman, Board of Selectmen, eight years; Lorenzo W. Currier, member of the Board several years, and chairman in 1867. Samuel B. Burn- ham and John Foster, both from the south part of the town, saw much service, too, upon the Board. William H. Moore, representative in 1866-67 and much of the time town clerk, and Col. Joseph Savage, representa- tive in 1868-69, are entitled to be considered as prominent citizens and representative townsmen of this era.
The population of the town as shown by the census of 1870 was 971, a loss of 85 during the decade, 1860 to 1870.
CHAPTER VI-1870-1890
CHANGES IN THE VILLAGE - FOUNDING THE PUBLIC
LIBRARY - STANYANS HALL - ABOLISHMENT OF SCHOOL -- AND HIGHWAY DISTRICTS
THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS - 1870-1890
There were many changes wrought in the lives of the people of the town during the years around 1870; one of these which can be mentioned was the death, in 1871, of Doctor Hoyt. This sad event in connection with the gradual retirement of Dr. Whipple, who, prematurely old and enfeebled, gradually gave up his practice, removed both of the old doctors from the scene.
It is always hard to see our old family doctors go off the stage, but it must be said that Drs. Whitmore and Durkee were doing very well indeed to sustain the reputation of the medical profession in the town.
There was also a complete change of storekeepers in the village. The firm of Kelley and Cleasby, succes- sors in trade to Joshua S. Blaisdell, did business but a short time. About 1870 they sold the store to John A. Davis and Franklin Eaton, who came from Dor- chester, where they had been associated in business.
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THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, 1870-1890
This partnership was successful and lasted for many years. They were both enterprising men and inter- ested in the town and its welfare. William H. Davis, a cousin of John A., shortly acquired an interest in the store and retained it until 1890, or perhaps even later.
Albert S. Hammond, prominent for twenty years as merchant, postmaster, express agent, telegraph agent and leading citizen, in 1871 sold all his property in Wentworth and removed to Concord, where he lived as a merchant for many years, and died.
The purchasers of the Hammond store were James B. Brown and James Eastman. The firm of Eastman and Brown did a good business for some twenty years. Eastman finally withdrew from the firm; Mr. Brown continued in business until about 1910. He was, dur- ing all these years, successful in business and active and influential in town affairs. He was postmaster for more than thirty years in all. As the leader of the Re- publican or minority party in the town he was at all times adroit, resourceful and capable.
Of the children of James B. and Eva Merrill Brown the oldest son, Harry, became a successful lawyer. He lived and practised in Concord and died there. David, a graduate of Dartmouth, studied medicine and has practised his profession in Vermont. He later removed to Concord, where he now lives as a practising physi- cian. The daughter Bessie married a Mr. Young, one
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
of the associates of the Parker-Young Co. of Lisbon. Mr. and Mrs. Brown settled in Concord after dispos- ing of the store in Wentworth. Mr. Brown died in Concord some ten years ago, but Mrs. Brown still has her home there.
For twenty years the stores of Eaton Davis and Co. and Eastman and Brown were much more to the town than merely places where things could be bought. They were political headquarters for both parties, Chambers of Commerce, Bureaus of Information, club houses, and the forum, where there was no limit to debatte, discussion or argument.
These public exchanges had two daily sessions: the first was from 8 A.M. to 3 P.M .; the second began at once after the close of the first and lasted until the tired storekeepers closed up for the night. Great quan- tities of tobacco were consumed at these gatherings. Those who had few affairs of their own to attend to formed a standing committee, which attended to everybody's business but their own. After the weather, some of the favorite topics for discussion were politics, the hard times, how to kill potato bugs, theology, the latest horse trade, how best to line wild bees and set bear traps, ethical questions of all kinds, the unruly boys, the incompetent officials, and when suckers would be most likely to run again. All the foregoing topics, besides many which have not been enumer-
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THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, 1870-1890
ated, were cussed and discussed, stories were told and re-told, great adventures related and perhaps some- times invented. By those who congregated daily at the stores to attend to their duties as a committee of the whole to consider the state of the nation, these de- baters pointed with pride, viewed with alarm and shared the emotions of some of the over-anxious publicists of our present day - may they rest in peace.
Speaking in a general way, the town had declined in population and ambition ever since the coming of the railroad in 1851. There was, however, one notable exception to the above statement, to wit: there was developed soon after the close of the war one very substantial industry in town which lasted for years and provided employment to many of the towns- people.
A. L. and W. G. Brown, prominent for many years in the lumbering industry in the northern part of the state, had bought of Stephen Aldrich the property at the outlet of the Baker Ponds, first improved some sixty years before this by Aaron Jewett. They also acquired much timber land in Wentworth, Orford and Piermont. About 1867 they built a large well-equipped sawmill on the site at the outlet of the ponds, formally occupied by the Jewett mill. The locality has been known ever since as Brown's Mills. After the Browns
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HISTORY OF WENTWORTH, N. H.
got fairly under way in this region they did an exten- sive business; for years it was the main industry of the town. The mill ran steadily about the whole year round. A steam engine was in use as an auxiliary to the water power during periods of drought or low water. The sawed lumber was hauled to Wentworth station for shipment by rail.
The movement over the brook road of so much heavy traffic cut up the road badly at the best, and in the spring during mud time the road was all but im- passable for anything except the heavy lumber teams. In places it became almost a quagmire and the abomi- nation of all who had occasion to use it.
The Browns did business at this mill for more than twenty years. During the last few years the mill ran it was operated only some three or four months in the spring and summer, as the lumber supply grew scarce and more remote. William Wallace Brown, always known in town as "Wall" Brown, the son of Alson L. Brown, became manager of the business in later years. During the last few years the mill ran, he lived upon the old Jewett place and died there. His sons, Alson L. and Oscar, now own the Brown property and are living near the site of the old mill. The house on the old Jewett place, for many years the home of Wallace Brown and his family, was burned in 1928 by a fire of unexplained origin.
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THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, 1870-1890 .
In 1872 Elias M. Blodgett moved from Dorchester to Wentworth, and was one of the foremost citizens of the town for the next forty years. He was engaged at various times in farming, as a miller and grain dealer, and in the lumber business. He served several years as selectman and as chairman of the Board in 1913. He was a man who made his own decisions and in- clined to be original in speech and action. Politically he was a thorough going Independent if there ever was one. His private life was at all times exemplary. His son, Fred W. Blodgett, succeeded his father in the lumber business, and lives now on the home place in the outskirts of the village in the house where his father lived for many years and died.
The mention of the name of Blodgett at this time naturally brings to mind the subject of "Uncle Jerry," who was very widely known, and in political circles at least a leader in town for the thirty years, from 1850 to 1880. A brief sketch of his life and activities deserves a place in this work. The Hon. Jeremiah Blodgett was born in Hudson, N. H., then Notting- ham West, March 10, 1806, and died in New Haven, Conn., August 2, 1881. He grew up in Dorchester. His first wife was Amanda, daughter of Deacon Wil- liam and Hannah Brown Johnson of Wentworth. She died February 9, 1849. Of their seven children, most of whom died at an early age, Rufus, who in
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