USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > Hollis [N. H.] seventy years ago > Part 3
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the storm ceased there was the task of "break- ing out" the roads, for there was no getting to town till that was done. All the men and boys turned out with oxen, and steers and sleds. The men shoveled, and the animals ploughed through the many drifts, dragging the sleds loaded with boys. It was hard work, but when town was reached, the toilers were comforted by the generous glasses of free rum and big plates of crackers which the store-keepers pass- ed out. When the road-breakers reached the home of 'Squire Farley, senior, he was wont to furnish "toddy" for the crowd, thus making good his part in the work he was too old to share.
An old gentleman who is my neighbor now, tells me that his pastor in his New Hampshire home, at Winchester, used to go directly from his pulpit to the tavern for the refreshment of his glass of toddy, and took no shame to him- self therefor.
The older people in Hollis will remember the Reverend John Todd, who preached in Groton, in 1826 and 1827. He says in his auto- biography that he has seen liquors mixed at
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funerals on the coffin itself. Liquors were used at funerals in Hollis, to some extent at least. On the death of a little child in a leading fam- ily of the town, I was one of the four boys, about ten years old, who acted as bearers. We went early as we had been told to do, and were taken to a chamber where several kinds of liquors were provided for us. We all drank, but Edmund Messer said, "Drink light, boys, for you know we are to be bearers." In an- other room were various drinks for the mourners.
I listened on one training day to Coolidge Wheat and other musicians while they discussed, as they drank, the question as to what kind of liquor was best to blow their wind instru- ments on. One could blow best on West India rum; another on brandy; and still another, who was already pretty "full," could blow best on gin. I gave careful heed to their experience, for, I thought, I may possibly be one of this brass band yet. The man who placed his de- pendence on gin seemed to me almost as mighty a blower as a certain Dutchman I have heard of out west, who was asked if he could
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blow the great brass horn of many twists and curves. "Ah!" he said, swelling with pride, "If you gifs me plenty viskey, and I gets all my vint apout me, I blow dat horn right oot straight de fust time I try."
It was not uncommon on training days and other public occasions, to see even some of our good men "a little balmy," rather "groggy," "over the bay," or "three sheets to the wind," as the common phrases were. I went one af- ternoon with my father to the house of one of our best townsmen and church members. I was accustomed to hear the good man give wise and pious talks in prayer-meetings, but now he appeared very strange, his tongue was thick, his talk was foolish. He wanted to bet that he could lift a cask of lime that weighed three or four hundred pounds. The more he was urged not to try it, the more he insisted that he would bet he could lift the cask. I did not think of its being possible for so good a man to be tipsy; it was all a mystery to me. But when I went home and told my mother about it, I saw my father smile, and mother said, "He has been drinking some of that aw- ful stuff."
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The temperance reformation which rolled over the land a few years later, reached Hollis, and this same good man was brought before the church for drinking to excess. He met the charge like a man and a Christian. "Breth- ren," he said, "why do you bring this charge against me now? I drink no more now than for thirty years past, and you have never com- plained before." But with the rising tide of temperance principle, and the spreading light of the new dawn which had risen on the world, the good brother came to see that his drinking was an offense and a stumbling-block. He would not stand in the way of others, and in the spirit of Paul, he said, "If rum maketh my brother to offend, I will drink no more while the world stands." He lived for twenty years or more after that, and I never knew of his drinking again, but for months I remember that he looked very white when he came to church, and I doubt not it was a hard battle with the evil habit.
Hollis became comparatively a temperance town, but there were a few, as in all places, who would drink and did drink, though it rob-
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bed wife and children of food and clothing. Some good citizens refused to sign the temper- ance pledge. They "would not sign away their liberty." "They could drink or let it alone." Some of these lived to see that they had made a mistake, for in more than one case the pa- rent's course told disastrously upon his chil- dren.
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VII.
Guided by memory, faithful friend, it delights me still to take, in fancy, long strolls about the Hollis streets and lanes, listening to what she has to tell of the days long past, and adding to her garrulous tales of persons and families who made the village life of three-fourths of a cen- tury ago, such bits of information as have come to me in later years concerning their after achievements and experiences, and rejoicing in the honors and distinctions which have come to the children of my beloved native town and their descendants. Will you come with me for such a walk?
A little south of the parsonage, in a pleasant cottage surrounded by neatly kept grounds, lived Nathan Thayer with his interesting fam- ily, consisting of a wife, five daughters and a son. His occupation, as I have already said, was that of a painter, but he was also a success- ful teacher. He was a prominent citizen, an industrious and worthy man, following his busi-
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ness faithfully until a short time before his death. Thirty winters, his grand-daughter tells us, were passed in the schoolroom. I remem- ber visiting his schools at several different times. They were not remarkable for the good order kept. He seemed to pay little attention to that; but, what was of more importance, he was able to create an enthusiasm for learning which I have never seen equalled. There was a charm about his teaching that made even a dry problem in mathematics attractive. He demonstrated, as many another good teacher has done, that a keen thirst for knowledge is a very good substitute for hard and fast rules of order. Mr. Thayer represented Hollis in the New Hampshire legislature, and was for many years on the Examining Board as one of the school committee. He died at the age of 49 years, and it was marvelous to learn that he had from his daily labors accumulated a fort- une of $18,000, besides providing for his large family. His wife died soon after himself, and his children left Hollis; the house was burned a few years later, and nothing now remains of the pleasant home of Nathan Thayer.
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On the opposite side of the street lived Jo- siah Conant, a cabinet-maker, who confined himself closely to his shop during his life. Here, too, was a family of six or seven chil- dren. Sarah, who was among the youngest, has died within the past year. Mrs. Conant was one of the good Hollis mothers of whom I have spoken. The parents had much reason for happiness in the estimable family which grew up around them. Both were gath- ered home long ago. Mr. Conant's business brought him into close relations with the joys and sorrows of the village. Happy young couples, planning for their new house-keeping, called upon him for their tables and chairs and other home comforts; and he furnished, also, the coffins in which the still forms of loved ones were laid away for the last sleep.
Mrs. Smith, whose home was a little farther north, was a widow when I first knew her. She had several daughters and only one son, Chris- topher, who was near my own age, and who has always remained in Hollis.
Not far to the south was the Cutter home. Deacon Dr. Benoni Cutter died before my re-
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membrance, leaving a wife, five sons and a daughter. A devotedly pious woman and a faithful mother, Mrs. Cutter raised her family to honorable manhood and womanhood. She gave them all a good common-school educa- tion, and the boys became energetic and enter- prising men, engaging early in business for themselves. The daughter, when she married, went to a distant home. Mrs. Cutter died in 1833, after having suffered long and sorely from nervous prostration. A few years later, her son, John H. Cutter, returned to the old home- stead. He greatly enlarged and beautified the house and added new buildings, bringing the old place to such a pitch of magnificence as to astonish the staid old residents. Others caught his spirit and emulated his enterprising ex- ample, which proved a great advantage to Hollis. He was an ambitious man with some political aspirations, and was honored with a seat in the Legislature. Dr. Day once said to me, "If John H. Cutter had not failed in health he would, probably, have been governor of New Hampshire." His handsome residence has made me many times a pleasant home dur-
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ing my visits to my native town. He died in middle life, his wife following him many years later. Two of his children remain in Hollis, but the old home has passed out of the family.
Just across the road, at the home of Mr. Paull, has just passed away one who was, prob- ably, "in her teens" seventy years ago-the aged and highly esteemed Mrs. Clarissa Far- ley Eaton, the last representative, I think, of the large and strong family of "Squire" Farley, senior.
Should I call at the next house and describe the home as it used to be, I should tell of find- ing Captain Page Farley, with his honored mother at the head of the household. The wife had passed away from her husband's side before my remembrance. I should speak of the little daughter a few years old, so frail and delicate that the wise mothers of the neighbor- hood were wont to shake their heads and whis- per that the dear child would never live to grow up. But she did live to a ripe age. When she was ten years old she had a merry Thanksgiving party, and I had the happiness of being one of her guests. Her father's ten-
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der affection for the fragile child was manifest- ed in his great care for her, and in providing everything that love could suggest for her ad- vantage. The Captain, as I have said, was a tanner by trade. He prospered by close atten- tion to business, and a faithful exemplification of the principle that "honesty is the best pol- icy." " His strict justice was so well known that it was often said, when he tanned sheep-skins "at halves," that the smallest child might be sent to receive the owner's share. I remember that the first cooking-stove was introduced into Hollis by him. He died in middle life, but his feeble daughter was near seventy years of age before she followed him. She made wise dis- position of the property left her by her father and its accumulations. All who look upon the fine high school building are reminded of the benevolence and public spirit of Miss Mary Sherwin Farley.
A few steps further southward will bring us to the home of Dr. William Hale. His was an energetic, busy life, driving day after day over the rough roads about Hollis and off to Brook- line, on his missions of mercy. His gentle,
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winning ways endeared him to the families which he served, and mothers willingly entrust- ed their tender little ones to his hands. To feed and clothe his large family from the small fees collected by country physicians at that time, required the faithful and heroic efforts of the brave man he was. He lived io a great age -I think over ninety years. None of his chil- dren remain in Hollis. One grandson, William E. Hale, resides in Oakland, California. He is a successful and popular business man, and at present (1891), sheriff of the county.
I come next to the dwelling of Mr. Sewall Butterfield. He, too, had many children to provide for from his daily earnings. So he sewed and hammered away at his shoe-bench, day after day and year after year, always keep- ing up good courage. If I remember rightly, his boys began early to help bear the family burdens, or at least to strike out for themselves, and as the years went by they all sought homes elsewhere. The parents long ago passed over the river, and the little home went into other hands.
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VIII.
Seventy years ago Major Luther Hubbard occupied and owned a cottage a little to the south of Butterfield hill. A worthy and indus- trious man, he followed through life the trade of stone cutting. Wherever there was stone work to be done, there was he with hammer and chisel. He is associated in my memory with those dark and dismal abodes of the dead which we called "The Tombs," for I remember his building them, not far south of his own house. It wasa melancholy row of stone vaults, full of terror and mystery to my boyish mind. I used to hear them sing in church and confer- ence meetings, in dreary, wailing minor tones, "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound, Mine ears attend the cry;
Ye living men, come view the ground, Where you must shortly lie."
It was all "Greek" to me, except that some very dreadful associations clung around those gloomy "tombs" which made me skim by them on flying feet, if ever I had to pass them in the
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dusk, trying hard to close my ears against the "doleful sound" which I expected to hear, and taking very great care not to "view the ground" any more than was necessary, as I sped away. But good Mr. Hubbard was not to blame for my childish terrors. There was nothing dole- ful about him, and I have very pleasant recol- lections of his family. There were four or five children, all older than myself. Luther Pres- cott Hubbard is the one I knew best. At the time I speak of, he was a lad of thirteen years, and the fire that had been burning in Hollis for seventy-five years had already begun to warm his youthful mind, and kindle aspirations for an education. He made the most of the op- portunities within his reach, studying hard at home and at Pinkerton academy. In 1824, we find him at Nashua, hammer in hand, helping to erect the first cotton factory in that town, Studies in architecture were pursued in Boston, and there the young man superintended the fitting of the granite for the Tremont House, His skilled hand and trained eye also contrib- uted to the building of Bunker Hill monument, and he is pleased to remember that while at
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work in Quincy he saw President John Adams at his ancestral home.
The great metropolis has always drawn its best life and talent from the country, and in 1827 young Hubbard realized a long-cherished desire to make his home in New York. The work of his hand may yet be seen in that city upon some of the buildings in Wall, Pearl and adjacent streets. But he was not to give his life to building. Sixty-one years ago, by the advice of his wise pastor, the Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D. D., he laid aside architecture to engage in works of active benevolence. During more than thirty years of missionary labor, he dis- tributed above a hundred thousand copies of the Scriptures, and, whenever possible, a kind and helpful word accompanied each volume. As an officer of the American Seaman's Friend Society, he has labored continuously for nearly sixty years, and is now financial agent of the society. He has also been for forty years the highly honored secretary of the New England Society of New York, whose annual banquets are famous for the brilliant and witty oratory which graces them, for their after-dinner speak-
Henry &Little
Luther Prescott Hubbardl
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ers are always selected from the most gifted and illustrious men of the time. At these an- niversaries Mr. Hubbard's tall and stately fig- ure is always a noticeable feature, all the more so since he has taken on the snowy locks of the octogenarian. It was at one of the banquets of the New England Society that a humorous speaker brought out a burst of applause by claiming that they had among them a veritable relic of Puritanic times, for he was certain that their venerable secretary came over in the Mayflower. Mr. Hubbard is an interesting writer, a leaflet which he wrote many years ago upon the use of tobacco being especially valuable. It is entitled "How a Smoker got a Home," and has been widely circulated. It is safe to say that it has had millions of readers. Translated into Spanish, it has been extensively read in Mexico. Call upon Mr. Hubbard now, at Greenwich, Conn., and you will find him with his good Hollis wife, Mary Tenney Hub- bard, in his beautiful Christian home. Four of their eight children are still living.
Luther Prescott Hubbard, Jr., born in New York City, served for four years in the Federal
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army during the Civil War; he was engaged in the first battle of Bull Run and in that of Wil- liamsburg. Though twice hit with ball and shell, he escaped with unimpaired vigor and energy. Coming west a few years after the close of the war "to stay," as he said, he spent some time in business in Grinnell, Iowa, but soon found his way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he commenced his business career as a clerk for C. A. Pillsbury & Co., owners of the largest flouring mills in the world. Mr. Hub- bard became cashier for their immense business. Whole trains of cars stand delivering wheat at these mills, while other trains are starting for New York, loaded with thousands of barrels of flour from the same establishment. To manage the finances of the large business requires a man of no common business talent, to say nothing of the unimpeachable integrity de- manded. Mr. Hubbard has held the place for sixteen years. I do not know what his salary is. He says, "They give me more than I could ask." I have spent a day with him at his pleasant summer home on Lake Minnetonka, and have sat with him at his desk in his office
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and seen him sign single drafts for the firm as large as $25,000. All their drafts are signed by him. A few years ago while Mr. Hubbard was away on a vacation visit to his father, Mr. C. A. Pillsbury, the head of the firm, ventured to send drafts to New York signed by himself. His name was unfamiliar to New York bankers, and he was obliged to telegraph to Mr. Hub- bard, at Greenwich, to go into the city and vouch for his millionaire chief.
Frederick Augustus Hubbard had the good fortune to be born at the old Tenney home- stead in Hollis. After graduating from the Law School of the University of New York, he spent two years as a student of law in the office of William M. Evarts. He resides in Green- wich, Conn., and is a member of the bar both in New York and Connecticut.
The only daughter, Mary Tenney Hubbard, was also ushered into the world at the old home in Hollis. After having been graduated at Vassar College she returned to her home, and is now the only child remaining with her parents.
William Norris Hubbard, of the Williams
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College class of 1883, after thorough profes- sional studies, established himself in New York City as a physician. In addition to his medi- cal practice he is one of the lecturers of the New York Polyclinic.
Two sons, John Theodore, and Benjamin Farley Hubbard, were both called to the high- er service in the freshness of young manhood. John died at twenty-four, in Minneapolis, soon after entering upon a promising business ca- reer; Benjamin died at twenty-one, while look- ing forward to a life of usefulness as a minister of the gospel.
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IX.
Not far beyond Major Hubbard's is the house which is now the home of R.E. Tenney, second, son of Wm. N. Tenney, and his excellent wife, Sally Cutter Tenney, where I have been so hos- pitably entertained during several of my later visits to Hollis. It was my mother's ancestral home. The first of the Tenneys in America came from Rowley, England, in 1639, and set- tled in Rowley, Mass. The Puritan piety and devotion which led him to forsake home, and friends and comfort, and brave the perils of the wilderness, for the principle of religious freedom, long survived in his descendants. It is recorded that in the town of Bradford, Mass. there was a succession of deacons in the Tenney family a hundred years long, while at least twenty of the name became ministers of the gospel. The same religious fervor character- ized the family when it was transplanted to Hollis in 1737. In that year William Tenney established a home upon the spot where the
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Tenney homestead stands to-day, and from that day to this the farm has remained in the pos- session of his direct male descendants. In il- lustration of the earnest piety which was char- acteristic of his family, the following incident is on record. Pastor Emerson called to con- sole the widow after William Tenney's death. As he spoke of the virtues of the good man gone to his reward, she exclaimed with empha- sis, "Do talk to me of my ascended Lord, and not respecting my dead husband!" The sec- ond of the name in Hollis was Captain William Tenney, who served at Lexington and Cam- bridge, and in other engagements of the Rev- olutionary War. He was a man who gave val- uable aid in laying the foundations of society. His wife was Phobe Jewett, and of their ten children seven lived to maturity. Mrs. Tenney was a very delicate woman-"a mere bundle of nerves," and in her latter years suffered great- ly from nervous imaginations. For years there were frequently times when she felt certain that death was near at hand. Her husband's calm strength, and wise and gentle manage- ment always soothed and controlled her excite-
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ment, and, it is said, that he failed but once to yield to the wishes of the invalid. That was on a busy afternoon when he was at work in the hay-field south of the house. His wife sent for him in great haste, with the assurance that she was about io die. He heard the mes- sage without laying down his pitch-fork, and replied, quietly, "Ask her to please put it off till I get this hay in."
Their eldest son, Rev. Caleb Jewett Tenney, D. D., took first rank and honors at his gradu- ation from Dartmouth College in the class of 1801, of which Daniel Webster was a member. After serving for ten years as pastor of the Congregational Church at Newport, R. I., he removed to Connecticut and was settled over the church in Wethersfield, then the most im- portant in the state. So acceptable were his labors there that, when he lost his voice after twenty years of pastoral work, his church de- clined to accept his resignation, permitting him for six years to furnish a supply in the hope that his voice would be restored. He is re- membered as an able preacher, a model pastor, and as one especially gifted with wisdom and
·
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skill in settling difficulties. A near neighbor of my own, the Rev. Timothy G. Brainerd, an aged minister who once resided in Dr. Tenney's family, has given me an illustration of this last trait. Walking one day with Dr. Tenney, they passed a fine residence and the doctor related an incident which occurred when the occupants were the young parents of one little child. The mother only was a professed Christian, and she wished the child baptized. The father had leanings toward the Baptist faith, and objected. The controversy grew sharp, and a coldness divided the hitherto happy couple. They agreed, however, to submit the question to their pastor, Dr. Tenney. "Ah!" he said, after listening patiently and kindly to both sides, "You have never been properly and thoroughly married, or you do not remember the solemn promises you have made to God. Stand up now, and take each other by the hand while I marry you once more." So deeply were they impressed by the solemn pledges of mutual love and forbearance required in the second marriage ceremony, and by the earnest prayer in which their pastor laid their difficulties be-
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fore the Lord, that there was never after any hint of trouble between them. Dr. Tenney's wife was the attractive and accomplished Ruth Channing, niece of the celebrated Dr. William Ellery Channing.
Phœbe Jewett Tenney, the eldest daughter of Capt. Tenney, was the wife of Dr. Cutter, deacon for many years in the Hollis church. Nancy, my own mother, married Abner B. Little and removed with him to Illinois in 1836, and died there.
William, the second son, was a graduate of Dartmouth, and became a lawyer in New Mar- ket, N. H. Sarah, who was next in age, mar- ried Mr. Boynton of Westford, Mass. Lucinda became the wife of Deacon Kimball of Temple, N. H.
When Captain William Tenney died in 1806, his youngest son, Ralph Emerson Tenney, was a lad of sixteen years, and, as was customary in those days, the boy was placed in charge of a guardian and regularly "bound out" by him. The instrument which was drawn at the time (probably by Jesse Worcester, Esq. ) has been preserved, and I am indebted to Miss H. M.
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