USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Manchester on the Merrimack, the story of a city > Part 7
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suitable places of worship, and the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company proved unfailingly cooperative and generous. Repeatedly we find on the records the phrase, "land given by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company" for the erection of church or chapel. It should be noted here that the First Methodist Church had been organized as early as 1829, and that a church building had been erected in 1830. But this was over in the old "Centre", near the original Presbyterian meeting house.
In 1839, the Company built a wooden church, eighty by sixty-four feet in dimen- sions, on the present site of the Strand Theater on Hanover Street. This was the home of the First Congregational Church, which merged the older Congregational Church group in Amoskeag Village, founded in 1828, with the Presbyterian Church in the Mammoth Road section, also organized in 1828. In 1839, also, the First Free Will Baptist Church and the Second Methodist Episcopal Church, later St. Paul's, came into being. The same year saw the First Universalist Society, founded in 1825 by Dr. Oliver Dean, moving across the river and building a brick church on Lowell Street. The First Baptist congregation
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followed the popular trend also and changed its location from Amoskeag to Manchester.
In 1840 the First Baptist group built a brick church on the northwest corner of Manchester and Chestnut Streets, and the following year brought the founding of Grace Episcopal Church, at first known as St. Michael's. In 1843, this congregation consecrated its new church on the corner of Lowell and Pine streets, a wooden structure replaced in 1860 by the present building of stone. 1842 brought the founding of the Unitarian Church. The members worshipped for a time in a little wooden chapel on the corner of Hanover and Chestnut Streets, but soon outgrowing the limited accommodations, they moved the building to the corner of Merrimack and Pine Streets, and enlarged it to meet their needs. The same year, 1842, the Second Methodist Episcopal Society built a brick church at the corner of Elm Street and Dean Avenue. Later outgrown as a church, this building was re- modeled and became the Tewksbury Block, which is still standing. The ground floor of this building, where the McQuade store is lo- cated now, was occupied at one time by the Fisk Bookstore. Mr. Fisk, the proprietor, was also a publisher and an antiquarian, dealing in
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old and rare volumes. Later this store was oc- cupied by the firm of Temple and Farrington, who for many years dispensed stationery, office supplies and kindred wares. The year 1844 wit- nessed the organization of the Second Con- gregational Church. In 1847, with the com- pletion of their present church building at the corner of Franklin and Market Streets, this membership became the Franklin Street Con- gregational Church.
In 1844 Rev. William McDonald came to Manchester and began to organize the Catholic members of the community, who numbered at that time about six hundred. About four years later this group began the construction of a church on the corner of Merrimack and Union Streets, on land given by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company.
In 1845, the Second Baptist Church was founded, later to be known as the Merri- mack Street Baptist Church, and 1849 saw the beginnings of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Thus within a period of ten years no fewer than eleven separate and individual church groups were firmly established in the little town. "Or- ganized religion" was being recognized and hon- ored in the new Manchester.
And what about education, the record of which had been so unfavorable back in the
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early days? It will be recalled that there were no public schools prior to the Revolution, and that the community as a whole seemed regret- tably lethargic in all matters pertaining to scholarship. To be sure there had been schools of a sort, financed by private subscription, but not until 1781 was there an efficient attempt to provide education at town expense. In 1783 the school-district system was originated and continued in operation until 1868, when the city took over the control of the schools as a whole. The record of the decade of develop- ment, 1836 to 1846, indicates a definite and steady improvement in the educational set-up. We are told that in 1836, the old meeting house on Mammoth Road was repaired and altered with the idea of using the second floor for a school room. That year the town spent two hundred and forty-three dollars and twelve cents for school purposes. In 1839, school expenses had jumped to three hundred and sixty-seven dollars and sixty-eight cents, and by 1840 they had increased to a little over thirteen hundred dollars. In 1841 the money was appropriated for district school number two, which in 1848 became Manchester's first High School. This structure, on the corner of Lowell and Chestnut Streets, is at present used as the School Administration building. The
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site was donated by the Amoskeag Manufactur- ing Company, and the cost of the building was three thousand dollars. The first master of this district school was David P. Perkins, whose salary was two hundred and thirty-seven dol- lars. Meager as this was it was an improvement over the stipend of twelve dollars per month allotted to Samuel Moor, Jr. "for keeping school in the lower district" sometime during the decade of 1791 to 1801. When, in 1845, John W. Ray became master of the school his salary was five hundred dollars, but this was increased to eight hundred when the High School was established and he became its first master. In spite of underpaid teachers educa- tion was on the march during this highly im- portant period; "the intangibles" were being given a recognized place.
This period was marked also by the organi- zation of two important cultural institutions. The Lyceum, founded in 1842, largely through the efforts of Samuel D. Bell, provided lecture courses. The Manchester Atheneum, organized in 1844, was a private circulating library which became a few years later the nucleus of the City Library. To this enterprise, as to the churches, the mills made material contribution. In 1846, the Amoskeag gave $1000 "with which to pur- chase books on the mechanical arts and sci-
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ences," and later the Stark Mills and the Man- chester Print Works contributed $500 each. There are constant reminders in these early records that the mills did indeed "build the town."
In justice to old Derryfield it should be noted here that as early as 1795 there had been an interest in the idea of a library. On January 4, 1796, the initiators of the project invested $32.94 in books purchased of E. Larken, of Boston. They were incorporated in 1799, as Proprietors of the Social Library of Derryfield.
These were the years, too, that saw the be- ginnings of Manchester's newspapers, another important development. In 1839 the Amos- keag Representative, a weekly, was established, having the honor of being the first publication of its kind in the growing town. The second paper to appear was the Amoskeag Memorial, started in January, 1840, by Joseph Emerson. Later the name was changed to the Manchester Memorial, and in February of 1841 Joseph Kid- der became editor. In 1842, John Caldwell began to edit the Gleaner, which we are assured was a "disgraceful sheet" and survived only a few years. A small labor paper, the Man- chester Operative, was launched in 1843, but
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this also was short-lived, lasting less than a year. 1845 seems to have been a favor- able year for newspapers. Three new publica- tions came into being: the Independent Democrat, established by Robert C. Wetmore; the Semi-Weekly American, and the Man- chester Saturday Messenger. It is of interest to note that the first pamphlet printed in the town was "A Historical Sketch of Bedford, New Hampshire", an address delivered in 1841 by Rev. Thomas Savage of the Bedford Pres- byterian Church, a man who left an indelible imprint on Bedford and the neighboring town of Manchester. Newspaper advertising was not neglected in these early days. In an 1842 issue of the Memorial, the feminine public was tempted by Putney's shop, at 75 Elm Street, as follows:
Black silk for mantles.
Alepines, black and blue black, from 75c to $1.50 a yard.
Silk shawls, plain black and figured.
Mouslin de Laines.
25 pieces of Scotch Prints, war- ranted not to fade in 50 washings.
Black, white and colored hose, 121/2 to 50 cents a pair.
Cotton fringes, 6 to 17 cents. Black Honiton lace veils. Green burrage.
Good black and white mitts.
Good Mohair gloves, 20c. Better Mohair gloves, 25c.
Super Mohair gloves, 37c. Superfine Mohair gloves, 50c.
Cologne, emeries, staybacks, lacings.
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And can the smart lines of modern adver- tising exceed the following verse by which Perry, the apothecary, advertised his wares?
- Like the blush in the shell Just suffusing the pearl Will the rogue of Gourand Tinge thy cheek, pallid girl.
Do pimples, tan, freckles Disfigure thy face? So! Italian soap Will each blemish erase.
Go then to Perry's, (Eighty-six is the store) And improving on Nature Be homely no more.
And the press was not unmindful of its duty to point out needed alterations in public man- ners. An editorial read as follows: ""Tis as much as ones neck is worth to try to get the length of Elm Street of an evening, crowded as it is with people, and all hurrying and covering the sidewalk like a flood, both ways. The fast colt dodging the lightning in a small pasture might be a faint illustration. It would improve the matter if all would conform to the law as
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we find it sometimes written on a double-track bridge: Keep to the right as the law directs."
The year 1839 saw the adoption of fire-pro- tection measures, and the beginnings of a police force and a Board of Health. The following men were appointed fire-wards: Amory War- ren, Hiram Brown, David Bunton, Henry S. Whitney, John H. Maynard, William P. Farmer, Timothy J. Carter, James Wallace, Mace Moulton, George Tilden and Isaac Ford. The fire-wards began their duties with enthu- siasm, purchasing a hand fire-engine, Merri- mack, Number 1, and building a house on Vine Street for its care. If there had been any indif- ference to the need for an efficient fire-protec- tion service, it must have evaporated after the disastrous fire of May 14, 1840, the first fire of major proportions Manchester had ever ex- perienced. The "Island Mill", just below Amos- keag Falls, was completely destroyed, in spite of the valiant efforts of the newly-formed fire companies, supplemented by volunteers from Amoskeag Village. The loss was estimated at $40,000, but the mill and its contents were in- sured with a Boston firm for the sum of $25,000. One hundred and twenty-five operatives were thrown out of employment, and the experience presumably stimulated interest in further pro- tective service. In 1845, after the destruction
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of the new town hall by fire, two additional engines were purchased, Massabesic, Number 4, costing $855.50, and Torrent, Number 5, bought for $780. This same year, a Board of Fire Engineers was established, with Daniel Clark as chief. His assistants were Richard G. Smith, William Shepherd, David Gillis, Walter French, Jacob G. Cilley, William C. Clarke, John A. Burnham and Oliver Bayley.
The four police officers appointed by the selectmen were Hiram Brown, Nehemiah Chase, J. T. P. Hunt and James Wallace. George B. Swift, Zacheus Colburn and John D. Kimball comprised the Board of Health. In 1840, we note, there was a bill of $172.66 for vaccinating, marking, presumably, the effect of a small-pox scare.
One of the most important events of this decade, and certainly the most important of the year 1842, was the opening up of the com- munity to railroad travel. It must be remem- bered that up to this time transportation in old Derryfield and the new Manchester had been by means of stage coaches, those picturesque but uncomfortable conveyances that rocked and rumbled over the badly-kept main routes to and from scattered points. Manchester was a center for various lines, and the schedule is interesting. At 8 A.M., daily, a coach left the
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town for Concord, and another, at the same hour for Goffstown. Three times a week, one might journey to Lowell via Mammoth Road, and on the same days, if so minded, one might take passage for Portsmouth, via Candia and Derryfield. One must board the stage at 7 A.M. if he wished to go to Gilmanton by way of Pem- broke and Pittsfield, or to New Ipswich, by way of Amherst. These stages ran on thrice- weekly schedules, as did the coach for Exeter, via Derry and Hampstead, returning to Man- chester the following day.
But 1842 marked the beginning of the end for the old stage coaches. The Concord Railroad, later part of the Boston and Maine, opened its line through the city. We may imagine the scene when the "steam-cars" were scheduled to make their first official run: citizens from all walks of life lined up beside the tracks, some lifting a skeptical eyebrow as they discussed these new contraptions reputed to be capable of the giddy record of fifteen miles per hour. Who wanted to "get there" at any such speed, anyway-and why? How modern seemed these small, flimsy wooden coaches, coupled together with chains, each car equipped at the ends with a loose cap of leather, padded with waste for a cushion to diminish the shock of collision in joining. They were drawn by a light,
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woodburning locomotive. But the occasion of their appearance was a grand one, both for the officials and prominent residents who proudly rode over the road, and for the on- lookers who cheered from the sidelines. This day marked for them all a long stride forward on the highway of progress.
Manchester's first passenger station, built in the early forties, faced Canal Street, north of Granite. It was soon outgrown and was re- placed in 1855 by the "old depot" erected near the same site. This served for nearly half a century, giving place in 1898 to the present passenger station.
This decade of 1836 to 1846 was marked by other improvements in transportation facilities. Two new bridges were built during this period, and in 1837 needed repairs were made on the old McGregor's Bridge, first built in 1792, de- stroyed in 1815, and rebuilt in 1825. The year 1840 saw the completion of the Granite Street Bridge, at a total cost of $10,281 for bridge, toll house and road. In 1848, the toll was abol- ished and the bridge became the property of Manchester and Bedford jointly. At the same time, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company laid out Granite Street, a thoroughfare extend- ing from Elm Street to the bridge and then west to the river road.
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In 1842, in consideration of $8,000, the right of way, land for street, and site for toll house for the projected Amoskeag Bridge, were given to the Amoskeag Falls Bridge Corpora- tion by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Com- pany. Construction of the new bridge was undertaken at once and it was completed that year, an uncovered bridge, 450 feet in length and 25 feet in width. The cost was $12,069. This bridge was made a free thoroughfare in 1852. In 1853 it was carried away by the flood- ing waters of a spring freshet, and was rebuilt the next year. Several different men served as toll-gathers during the ten years before free passage was allowed, among them a Mr. Col- burn who thriftily combined his official duties with manufacturing and selling spruce beer. He also kept hives of bees and made considera- ble profit by the sale of honey in the comb. A Mr. Burns held this post for a time, also, and he was apparently extremely conscientious about collecting the required fee. It may be imagined that he prided himself not a little upon his zeal and alertness in outwitting would-be cheaters. But an amusing little anecdote has survived the years indicating that he himself was outwitted on one occasion. Toll-gatherer Burns was dozing on his couch one evening when he was aroused by a suspicious noise. He
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had reason to sleep with one eye open, though events had proved that in some cases he was disturbed by nothing more serious than the pranks of mischievous boys throwing pebbles against the gate just for the sport of witnessing his wrath. But on this occasion, he was sure that someone was cautiously lifting the latch of the ponderous gate, swinging it carefully ajar and escaping onto the bridge. In a twinkling he had seized his lantern and was out the door. "Stop and pay your fee!" he roared. Before the words were out of his mouth, his light had played upon the figure of a woman fleeing toward the opposite end of the bridge. Swinging his lantern belligerently and continuing his vocal expost- ulations, he lunged after her. But her steps were light, and he, very definitely, was not in train- ing as a sprinter. Not until she was quite at the farther end of the bridge did he overtake her. Seizing her shawl, he began to splutter his in- dignation. But the words died on his lips. "I told you any one could get by you!" chuckled his wife, jubilant at the success of her joke.
The beehives, the spruce beer, the prank- ish boys, and the old toll-gatherers have all dis- appeared into the region known as long-ago. Even the bridge and one of its successors have been replaced by a modern structure, adequate for the needs of the new age. But a few stray
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stories, a few recalled facts, plus the imagination with which even twentieth-century folks are blessed: these build lasting monuments to a picturesque past.
Before going on to the next chapter, it is necessary to mention a few additional develop- ments of this significant period just before Manchester became a city.
The inauguration of the banks was of signal importance. From 1842 to 1856, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company conducted what amounted to a banking system of its own, whereby its employees, if they wished, might entrust their surplus to the company for safe- keeping. There was no specific investment busi- ness connected with it, and the book-keeping involved was merely a part of the routine pro- cedure. About two hundred thousand dollars had accumulated when the arrangement was discontinued, a sum gradually paid back to the depositors on demand. The old Manchester Bank, predecessor of the Manchester National Bank, was chartered in 1844 and organized in 1845, with the following directors; Samuel D. Bell, Hiram Brown, Jacob G. Cilley, Isaac C. Flanders, Walter French, William C. Clarke and Nathan Parker. James D. Parker was president. It began operation in Patten's Block, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars. The Manches-
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ter Savings Bank, sharing rooms with the Manchester Bank, was chartered in 1846. Samuel D. Bell was president of the board which was made up of the following men: John A. Burnham, Daniel Clark, Herman Foster, Nahum Baldwin, George Porter, David Gillis, William P. Newell, and Hiram Brown.
Tucked away in some of Manchester's gar- rets, it is very likely there may be yellowed copies of "The Stark Guards Quickstep", com- posed by Alonzo Bond, and performed by the Manchester Brass Band on the occasion when "the ladies of Manchester" presented a standard of colors to the famous military company, the Stark Guards, founded in 1840, under the captaincy of Walter French. The likeness of the hero of Bennington adorns the outer cover, and there too, is a steel engraving picturing the ceremony referred to: the Guards, proud in their quaint uniforms, lined up on Amherst Street in front of old Washington Hall, as their officers received the colors from the hands of Manchester's chosen ladies. The Stark Guards had their armory in the old town house, and later, after that had been destroyed, in Patten's Block. They flourished for a period of nearly ten years, adding color and the "military touch" to celebrations of that era, and included in their activities attendance at the ceremonies marking
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the completion of Bunker Hill Monument. The Granite Fusiliers was the name of a similar military company of the same period. The Manchester Brass Band mentioned above was Organized in 1844.
These years brought the lodges into prom- inence. Hillsborough Lodge Number Two of Odd Fellows dates from 1843, Wonalancet from the next year, and Mechanic's Lodge from 1845. Lafayette Lodge of Masons, formed in Bedford in 1824, moved to Manchester in 1845, occupying for a time rooms in Duncklee's Block.
To record the developments and innovations of the late 30's and early 40's is to be made aware of the phenomenally rapid growth of Manchester in a brief ten years. What changes must have occurred simultaneously, in the minds of Manchester's citizens, rushed forward on the tide of progress, and standing in the year 1846 on the eve of becoming a city.
GEN. STARK
24-TON PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE, AMOSKEAG MAN'FG CO.
Emergence of a City
The "Saturday Messenger", in the issue of February 26, 1846, carried this item: "An arti- cle has been inserted in the town warrant to see if the town will vote at the ensuing election to petition the Legislature for a city charter. We hope Manchester will soon become a city. It would be an honor to the Granite State."
And so the town meeting of March 10, 1846, becomes in retrospect perhaps of more signifi- cance than any one since that first gathering in John Hall's house back in 1751. For it was
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at this meeting that a committee was appointed to petition the Legislature for a city charter. No longer was the term "town" sufficient to identify a community so thriving and so for- ward-looking as Manchester-On-the-Merri- mack. It was felt that its growth should be signified in some definite way.
Manchester at this time was composed of what amounted to several small villages more or less loosely united for all important business. Some of these sub-divisions have survived in the terms applied to certain sections of the city today. We still speak of Goffe's Falls, Hallsville, Bakersville, Youngsville, named respectively for Col. John Goffe, Joseph B. Hall, Joseph Baker and the Young family. Hallsville is over in the eastern part of the city; Bakersville, in the south; and Youngsville in the extreme eastern section extending to the Auburn line. Then there was Janesville, located between Lowell, Bridge, Nashua and Malvern Streets, and named for a Mrs. Jane Southwarck, prominent in the neighborhood. Towlesville, in honor of Hiram Towle, was in the vicinity of Maple, Concord and Amherst Streets. Manchester's ratable polls at this time entitled the town to eight seats in the legislature.
The seven men appointed to frame the petition for a city charter were David Gillis,
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Samuel D. Bell, Isaac Riddle, William C. Clarke, John A. Burnham, Luther Farley and Walter French. They discharged their duties with promptness, Hon. Daniel Clark presented the petition, and on July 10 Governor Anthony Colby signed the act of incorpora- tion. A charter was granted dividing the city into seven wards and authorizing the board of selectmen to call an election for city officers.
Again as in the days prior to the building of the town hall, there were citizens who were "contrary-minded." Without doubt they were conscientious in their opposition, when in August they were given an opportunity to register their disapproval at a town meeting called for the purpose of acting upon the in- corporation. But they went down in defeat, as the vote stood 485 for acceptance and 134 for rejection. And so the proponents of the city project went jubilantly about the business of organizing a municipal government.
On the nineteenth of August, only a little over a month after the granting of the charter, the first election was conducted. A full list of aldermen, members of the common council, school committee, overseers of the poor and assessors were chosen, but the leading candidate for mayor, Hiram Brown, a Whig, lacked seventeen votes for the required majority. His
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opponents were William C. Clarke, Democrat, Thomas Brown, Abolitionist, and William Shepherd. On September the first there was another attempt to elect a mayor, and this time Hiram Brown was chosen by a clear majority over Isaac Flanders, Democrat, Thomas Brown, Abolitionist, and John Sullivan Wiggin.
The first board of aldermen, elected August 19, was as follows: Ward 1, Andrew Bunton, Jr .; Ward 2, George Porter; Ward 3, William S. Means; Ward 4, David Gillis; Ward 5, Timothy Blaisdell; Ward 6, Edward McQuesten; Ward 7, Moses Fellows.
September the eighth of that year, 1846, was a red-letter day in Manchester, a day with more than a touch of solemnity. The town hall, henceforth to be known as the city hall, was the scene of one of the most momentous cere- monies in its history: the inauguration of the first city government. One may imagine the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of effort rewarded, in the hearts of Manchester's build- ers, the men who had caught Samuel Blodget's dream before it faded, the men whose vision and industry had created a thriving city on the spot that not so many years before had been a sand bank surrounded by woods.
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