USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Manchester on the Merrimack, the story of a city > Part 12
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various organizations began to assemble at the headquarters shortly after seven o'clock, and were soon drawn up in line on the street. The members numbered three hundred, nearly all being provided with torches. (There were) the companies of the Young Men's Club, Machine Shop boys, Grant and Wilson Guards and the French Club. The Machine Shop boys were in uniform, wearing black capes. They bore a transparency with pictures of Grant and Wil- son on opposite sides. The line of march was up Elm Street to Lowell, up Lowell to Pine, down Pine to Manchester, up Manchester to Wilson, down Wilson to Merrimack, down Merrimack to Beech, down Beech to Laurel, down Laurel to Pine, up Pine to Merrimack, down Merrimack to Elm, down Elm to Bakers- ville, and return to Republican Headquarters (in Merchants' Exchange)". The first scene was at the corner of Merrimack and Wilson Streets, where a flag was raised to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner. Cyrus A. Sulloway "made remarks". Another flag was raised at Bakers- ville, where the ceremony was under the di- rection of Mr. Nathaniel Baker 2nd, and others who lived in the vicinity, whose homes were brilliantly lighted. Says the press report: "Amid the blaze of Roman candles and the sound of music and cheers, the flag was raised,
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which was succeeded by a few remarks from Captain Patten, congratulating all upon the (party) gain in Vermont and predicting the same result in Maine next Monday."
The Democrats also had their innings and raised their flags with music and rejoicing. It is reported that on one of these occasions, the Republican Headquarters, either in a spirit of defiance or desire to cooperate, displayed Chinese lanterns suspended from their win- dows. Some stone-throwing, verbal and other- wise, is also mentioned in the records of these events. Horace Greeley, native of neighboring Amherst, was the man on whom the Democrats pinned their hopes in 1872, and the Mirror re- ports a parade of his party in September, end- ing at Smyth Hall. On the platform of the auditorium were some of the most prominent men in the Democratic party and "a few liberal-minded Republicans". Waterman Smith presided and introduced Rev. Theodore Tilton as speaker. This gentleman, in a burst of false prophecy, congratulated those present on the fact that the next president would be a New Hampshire-born citizen. The newspaper states: "Mr. Tilton spoke for nearly two hours, and the address was elaborate in its arrangement, abounding in classical and poetical quotations which were not appreciated by the major part
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of the audience, but the oft-repeated slanders against the President and the Republican party were heard with yells of delight."
Perhaps the superlative example of all torch- light parades was that staged by the Republi- cans in 1888. There were over four thousand men in line, the illumination and decorations were gorgeous beyond description, and between four and five thousand sandwiches were dis- tributed, together with twenty-five hundred doughnuts and four-hundred-twenty-five gal- lons of coffee. The Tippecanoe (Republican) Club had been organized that year and when its members marched they were always preceded by a huge truck, provided with a powerful calcium light which threw its brilliance on the marchers, conspicuous in long, white linen dusters, topped with tall white hats and equipped with canes. It was in the mammoth Republican demonstration of 1888 that an old hack was drawn through the streets, its up- holstery ablaze from plentiful saturation with kerosene. When the framework itself took fire and became too hot for the horses, they were withdrawn and enthusiastic rooters for the Re- publican party "carried on", drawing the blazing vehicle with long ropes. It would seem that singed eyebrows, at least, might have been the penalty, but no casualties were reported.
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The banquets typical of that day and age seem incredibly sumptuous to us of this genera- tion, with food rationing a very recent memory of yesterday and a possibility of tomorrow. On the occasion of the ceremonies dedicating the Soldiers' Monument in September, 1879, Trinity Commandery (Masons) entertained visiting brethren and feasted them with the following menu:
ROAST
Rhode Island Turkey Goose Spring Chicken BOILED
Ham Tongue
Pressed Beef SALADS
Lobster
Chicken Salmon
Escalloped Oysters RELISHES
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Ladies'
Almond Currant
Pound
Citron
Jelly Roll
Cocoanuts Macaroons
ICE CREAM
Vanilla
Strawberry
Chocolate
Lemon
Pineapple
Lemon and Orange Sherbet
Peaches Pears
Frozen Pudding Apples
Grapes
Melons
Tea
Coffee
Vienna Rolls
Butter
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Pickles etc. CAKE
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This dedication of the Soldiers Monument was one of the outstanding events of the whole period. The parade preceding the ceremonies, long and colorful, required fifty minutes to pass a given spot. It consisted of the First and Third Regiments of the New Hampshire State Militia, Grand Army Posts from all over the state, the Manchester Fire Department, visiting and local Knights Templar Commanderies, Hibernians, French societies and school chil- dren. A mammoth grandstand had been erected on the Common, and two thousand people wit- nessed the ceremonies. There was an address by Daniel Clark, president of the day; prayer by Rev. E. G. Selden; unveiling of the monu- ment by Colonel George Bowers, Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic; delivery of the monument to the city by the chairman of the building committee, Hon. James A. Weston; acceptance by the Mayor, Hon. John L. Kelly; dedication of the monu- ment by the State Grand Lodge of Masons; reading of a poem (written by Mrs. Dame) by R. F. Dame; oration by John W. Patterson; and addresses by Governors Head, Garcelon and Van Zandt. Keller's American Hymn and Stabat Mater were rendered by the American Band.
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The monument itself is an elaborately ex- ecuted piece of work, with figures representing the infantryman, the artilleryman, the cavalry- man, and the sailor. The main column, fifty feet in height, is crowned with a richly- carved capital, and upon this rests a colossal granite statue of Victory, a shield lying at her feet and in her hands a wreath and a recumbent sword, emblem of the triumph of peace. We may well believe that the men and women present on that day of dedication, only four- teen years after their own deliverance from war, sent up fervent prayers that the symbol of the recumbent sword might typify reality for them and their children. And yet-three times since that day, Manchester has sent her sons into battle.
George Keller of Hartford, Connecticut, was the architect whose design was adopted for this memorial. The contractors were Frederick Field, of Quincy, Massachusetts, and the sculp- tors Buberi, Richards, and Hartley of New York. M. J. Powers furnished the bronze work. The cost of the monument was $18,773.21.
Massabesic Lake was also blooming as a rec- reation resort about this time. Boat races and aquatic sports in general were popular, and there was a floating dance hall, known as
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Noah's Ark, owned by Noah B. Reed, that be- came a rendezvous for those fond of the waltz. This pleaure craft had a floor space thirty-two feet long and sixteen feet wide, surrounded by well-cushioned seats and guarded by a railing. When loaded with about fifteen couples, it was twelve inches above the water. It was towed by the new steamer, the Minneola, carrying those who chose to be spectators rather than active participants. Says a report of one of these evenings, in 1879: "We floated out upon the upper bay with the twinkling lights from camps, cottages and hotels with which its shores are dotted, past North Battery Point-and the cliffs of North Battery looked wild and fantas- tic in the light and shadow of the evening- past Loon Island, Currier's Point, around the south end of Ladies Island, up toward Sucker Village and Emery's Shore, and then returned in nearly the same course, arriving at Reed's Wharf about eleven o'clock. It was beautiful with the light of late evening, but with the full moon and the lake as quiet, it would be one of the most enjoyable excursions that can be made in New England."
If you had lived in the Manchester of those days, you might have enjoyed clam bakes at Fletcher's Island, and you might have viewed the boat races from the veranda of the Lake
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View House, which rested "upon the edge of the lake within half a stone's throw of the water." The Shamrocks, the Manchesters, the Emmets are mentioned as competitors in these races, and popular interest drew as many as five hundred people in one afternoon to watch this sport. In September, 1879, there was a four- oared challenge race between the St. Mary crew of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and the local Shamrocks. The course was two and a quarter miles in length, and the Shamrocks won, making the record of fourteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. Charles W. Eager was referee and judge. The Massabesic House, whose management took complete control of hotel, café and picnic grounds, was also a well- known resort. A press report in August, 1879, gives a brief glimpse of what was presumably a typical summer scene at the Lake: "A diver walked quite a distance on the bottom of the lake, and torpedo explosions projected water to a considerable height. The grounds were brightly illuminated and the French band dis- coursed enlivening music. Most of the after- noon the water was fairly alive with craft of various kinds."
The river also became a popular scene for sports during these years. The Cygnet Boat Club, organized in 1882, built a club house just
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north of Amoskeag bridge on the west side of the river which became a gathering place for a large membership. At the first annual meet- ing the following officers were elected: Presi- dent, Col. Thomas L. Livermore; Vice-Pres- ident, Hon. Charles T. Means; Secretary, William C. Clarke; Treasurer, Willis B. Ken- dall.
The Manchester Driving Club flourished during these years. On July 4, 1867, this or- ganization formally opened a half-mile racing track, under the direction of Hon. E. A. Straw as president, Col. John B. Clarke as clerk, and Hon. James A. Weston as treasurer. The old fair grounds, secured from the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, was chosen as a site, and the whole section was enclosed within a high board fence and equipped with a grand- stand and other buildings. In 1883 the Man- chester Driving Park Association was formed, with Col. John B. Clarke as president. Forty- five acres of land were purchased near the Manchester and Lawrence Railroad, about two miles south of the city, which were carefully laid out for fair grounds and driving park. Over a period of many years, this was a popular choice for fairs. There was also at this time a Manchester Shooting Club, and a Bicycle Club whose members belonged to the League of
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American Wheelmen. In the Mirror we find items like this: "The bicycle boys will enjoy a club run tomorrow to Lake Massabesic"; and, "Mr. Frank O. Moulton's new tandem safety bike attracts the utmost attention when- ever he has it out on the road. It is a novel machine and the first one of its kind ever seen in New Hampshire." Alas! how soon the glory of the tandem safety bike was to be dimmed out as the new-fangled "horseless carriage" " ap- peared to terrify both horse and driver on the road. But the bicycle had its day, and around the year 1889 there were fifteen thousand bi- cyclists enrolled in the League of American Wheelmen, to which Manchester contributed its quota.
Boat racing and bicycling were limited to the relatively warm seasons, but it would appear that Manchester in the 80's pioneered in "winter sports". For in 1886 the Manchester Toboggan Club was organized, and a toboggan slide was constructed on north Elm Street, near the point where Clarke Street now enters Elm. This was destroyed by fire in 1888.
So much for out-of-door sports. There was no lack of indoor entertainment: Grange Fairs at City Hall, featuring a fine display of products of the soil and handwork of the ladies; balls at Music Hall, with perhaps Vance's Quadrille
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Band or the Odlin Band, imported from Con- cord, furnishing music.
The social clubs, still in flourishing condition in 1948, began their activities during these years: the Derryfield, founded in 1875; the Jolliet, in 1884; the Calumet, in 1887; all centers of friendly companionship and entertainment. According to the Calumet constitution, the purpose of the club is plainly stated: "This or- ganization is formed for social recreation and mental improvement." Ladies' evenings and ladies' afternoons have been part of the pro- gram throughout the years. It is said that duplicate whist was introduced into Man- chester through this club.
The drama, too, had its devotees. Gone were the days when a dramatic promoter had to fight his way, as had Messrs. Hough and Robin- son back in 1848 when they made plans to hold theatrical entertainments in the old Museum Building. Be it remembered that in those days even though one might with gen- eral approval study the Greenland whale and other curiosities housed in the Museum, going to a play under that roof was frowned upon. But the years had "broadened" Manchester; definitely she was becoming Thespian-minded. In 1881 the Manchester Opera House was formally opened, with Edward W. Harrington
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serving as manager and treasurer. Over a long period of years it was the amusement center of the community's play-going public, and pro- vided varied attractions, from comedians in "black face" to Edwin Booth who, in 1885, played Iago in Othello. Other celebrities who appeared on the stage, during this period, in- cluded Modjeska, William Gillette, Fanny Davenport, Nat Goodwin, Joseph Jefferson, Lotta Crabtree and Denman Thompson. Operettas were played repeatedly, including the popular Gilbert and Sullivan successes. The Opera House auditorium, equipped as it was with its Venetian drop-curtain and its great crystal chandelier suspended from the center of its high ceiling, was a place of beauty. Report- ing on its opening night, the Mirror said, "That Manchester should possess a temple of amusement rivalling the leading theatres of Boston and New York was a fact that few people were prepared to believe."
Musical entertainments were popular. In October, 1879, the Juvenile Pinafore Company featured one of these performances and the press enthusiastically reported: "A more satis- fying and delightful musical entertainment was never given in Manchester (and) a more charmed and appreciative audience than the one of last evening would be hard to find." But
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the press could be censorious concerning public response to cultural opportunities. "Small, miserably small," reported the Mirror that same year, "was the audience which turned out to the concert given last night by the Kate Thayer Concert Company, under the auspices of the Athens Club." Apparently Manchester's musical appreciation was as variable as New England weather.
In October, 1879, there was a "Concert and Reading" in aid of the City Mission. Its pro- gram, featuring local artists whose talents con- tributed to Manchester's pleasure over a period of many years, included the following numbers:
Overture to Night in Granada Miss Mary Spofford and Mr. F. W. Batchelder Duets: Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast
May Poles and Flowers
Miss Zilla Louise McQuesten and Mr. R. F. Currier
Reading: Death of the Old Squire
Miss Hattie G. Tozier
Solo
Mr. George F. Merrill
Piano Solo: Rigoletto
Miss Spofford
Song: Dearest Heart
Miss McQuesten
Song: Thy Sentinel Am I
Mr. J. J. Kimball
Piano Solo: Valse, op. 64-No. 2; Nocturne, op. 27. No. 2-Chopin Mr. Batchelder
Reading: The Parson's Horse Race Miss Tozier
Song: A Jolly Good Laugh Mr. Arthur Davis
Quartette: Daylight Is Fading
Unitarian Choir
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Appreciation of Zilla McQuesten, later Zilla McQuesten Waters, spread far beyond local audiences, when she toured the country with Bernard Listman and also sang with Myron W. Whitney of Pinafore fame. Everywhere, she was recognized as a vocalist of unusual ability and power.
Lectures were popular and well-attended by interested audiences. The little city was widen- ing its horizons, reaching out. The war had made its citizens "nation-minded", and they were eager to learn. Through the efforts of Clarence M. Edgerly, "the indefatigable Clarence", to quote from Waldo Browne, a long list of the country's great and near-great was included in the Edgerly lecture courses. Two-hundred-and-fifty dollars was the cus- tomary fee, though in some cases three-hun- dred was paid.
Even the churches sponsored dramatic enter- tainments and saw no sin in Shakespeare. A "Kettledrum" featuring tableaux from Shake- speare was offered by the Hanover Street Church Society, in December, 1879. The cast of characters included:
Othello: Dr. L. Melville French Desdemona: Miss Addie Ames Sir John Falstaff: P. K. Chamberlain
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Romeo: Bayard Ryder
Juliet: Miss Etta Dana
Queen: (Midsummer Night's Dream) Ida Estey Puck: Miss Lillian Ordway
Hamlet: George Woodburn
Shylock: Charles F. Sprague
Jessica: Miss Carrie Bartlett
Cleopatra: Mrs. Charles F. Sprague
Lady Macbeth: Miss Ida Plummer
Possibly allied to interest in the drama was the popularity of elocution which had its hey- day around this period. In 1880 the first regu- lar Clarke Prize-Speaking Contest, which has remained a feature of local educational activi- ties to this day, was held.
Mr. John B. Clarke had presented to the city a fund to maintain this project, and it was open to students from any of the public schools. The first prize of sixteen dollars was awarded that year to Grace Evans of the Lincoln School. The second and fourth prizes, twelve and four dollars respectively, went also to Lincoln Street School students, Edwin Richardson and Lewis Tewksbury. The third award of eight dollars was given to Clara Sanborn of the High School.
But dramatics and elocution were not by any means the only evidences of cultural growth in Manchester. In 1871 the Manchester City
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Mid-Victorian Manchester
Library moved from its inadequate quarters in Patten's Block to the new thirty thousand dol- lar building erected on Franklin Street, on the site granted to the city by the Amoskeag Manu- facturing Company. This building, so ecclesi- astical in architecture that many people sup- posed it had at some time served as a church, provided housing for the city's books and a re- treat for its readers, until nearly fifty years later the classic-lined Carpenter Memorial Library became one of its landmarks. This same year, 1871, brought into being the Man- chester Art Association, later to be absorbed by the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences as its Fine Arts Department.
In mentioning the origins of this institution, so significant a part of Manchester's life today, it is fitting to pause and pay tribute to the man who was one of the founders and its first presi- dent-a man whose contributions to the cul- tural and spiritual development of the city was a large and generous one: Henry W. Herrick. In the branches of wood-engraving and water colors he attained a high degree of success and distinction, being recognized not only in his own country but in England, where Sir John Gilbert and Beket Foster requested that he should be commissioned to make reproductions
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Manchester on the Merrimack
of their work in the United States. In New York he did illustrations for Harper's and also was en- gaged in commissions for the American Bank Note Company. But for us, perhaps, his most appealing and significant work was his interpre- tation of New Hampshire historically and scenically: his designs illustrating the life of John Stark, his familiar landscapes, his repro- ductions of old houses in and around Man- chester. The Manchester Historical Society has a valuable collection of these water colors, and the Currier Gallery includes in its per- manent collection his "Cinderella", which he regarded as his best figure piece. The Smith- sonian Institute in Washington, and the Museum of Natural History in New York, as well as other large galleries in the country have become the repositories of the works of this man who for so many years found in- spiration in the little city by the river. It is worthy of note that brush and pen were not the only means by which he impressed himself upon the era in which he lived. An artist who combines his unconscious and indirect influence with formal religious instruction is perhaps a rare phenomenon, but for fifty years Henry W. Herrick taught a Sunday School class in the City Mission.
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Service clubs were of course as yet undreamed of: the time was not yet ripe. But civic con- sciousness, a sense of social responsibility and the urge to organize for public benefit were significant developments in these years. Especi- ally was this true among the women, who doubtless, in common with their sisters every- where, were beginning to question whether "woman's place is in the home" was the last word to be said about them. As they awoke to the need and the destitution at their very doors, they awoke also to their own possible power to relieve it. So it was that on a forbiddingly stormy winter day in 1875, a group of cour- ageous women from the Franklin Street Church met at the home of Mrs. J. G. Cilley, on the corner of Merrimack and Franklin Streets, and founded the Manchester Women's Aid and Re- lief Society. Today, a visible memorial to the vision and enterprise of this group, stands the Women's Aid Home, occupying the entire square bounded by Beech, Pearl, Ash and Myrtle Streets.
This building was the gift of Aretas Blood, founder of that pioneer industry, the Blood Locomotive Works, whose wife was largely in- strumental in organizing The Aid and Relief Society. Deservedly called "the good angel of Manchester", she was outstanding in the com-
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munity for the greatness of her heart, the clarity of her vision and the wisdom of her judgments, and she it was who guided the early destinies of the Women's Aid Home. Following her death her two daughters, Mrs. Frank P. Car- penter and Mrs. L. Melville French, assumed her responsibilities, and today her granddaugh- ters, Mrs. Carl S. Fuller and Mrs. Charles B. Manning are carrying on the work whereby the purposes of those early days continue to be realized.
When this home was founded Manchester was without a hospital, and the building in South Manchester first secured for the use of the Aid and Relief Society served also in this capacity. It would be hard to measure the ser- vice performed through the years by this or- ganization that had its beginnings on that snowy January day. A constitution was drawn up and the following officers were elected: President, Mrs. B. F. Martin; Secretary, Olive Rand; Treasurer, Mrs. Aretas Blood. The vice- presidents were selected from the various churches and it was decided that any woman might become a member on the payment of fifty cents for annual dues. Honorary mem- bership (open also to men) carried the obliga- tion of five dollars per annum. To quote verbatim from a report: "The sum of two-
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hundred-five dollars from life and honorary memberships, in one stormy day, besides ordin- ary membership fees, is a pretty good beginning for the society."
Three years earlier, another Manchester in- stitution was born: an institution destined to develop into a source of justifiable pride and a means of ever-growing and significant service- the local Young Women's Christian Associa- tion. This, too, had its beginnings in the Franklin Street Church. Dr. William J. Tucker, referring to his pastorate there, wrote: "In 1872, the women of the church cooperated in a plan of making the parlors on the basement floor available to the young women operators for their winter evenings". How simple and unostentatious were those humble beginnings of this organization that today numbers over eighteen hundred members, and channels its usefulness through a wide variety of depart- ments! Its purpose was to offer an attrac- tive retreat for the many girls in the city whose only home was a boarding house, and to this end the "parlors" were pro- vided with a sewing machine for the practical, a piano for the musical, and books and maga- zines for the bookish. Soon there were classes in literature, classes in German and music and science-and always companionship. All
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