USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Newport > Newport, New Hampshire, 1761-1961 : bicentennial celebration, Aug. 14-20, 1961 > Part 6
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HOSPITAL OPEN HOUSE
Everyone is cordially invited to Open House at the Newport Hospital from 2:00 to 4:00 o'clock p. m .. on Wednesday, August 16. 1961.
There will be a special exhibit. a guided tour of the hospital and tea will be served.
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NEWPORT'S POLICEMEN
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE NEWPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT
By Chief of Police ALEX LEWKO
NEWPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT
E
Don Eggleston Photo
From left to right: Special Officer Gilbert Morrow; Officer Harold Hurd; Sar- geant Norman Lacroix; Chief Alex Lewko; Deputy Chief Arthur Lake; and Special Officer Fred Maxfield. Absent when the picture was taken was Officer Floyd Fowler.
On September 1, 1769. ten or more inhabitants of the township of New- port, Province of New Hampshire, peti- tioned to one Samuel Cole, one of his Majesties Justices of Peace, to hold a Town Meeting in said Town on Sep- tember 27, 1769 at eight o'clock in the morning of said date. The second arti- cle of the meeting was to choose Select- men and other town officers. On Sep- tember 27, 1769 Sam Hurd was chosen constable and sworn. One of his first duties was to warn the inhabitants of town meetings.
Through the years constables be- came police officers and their duties multiplied and varied.
In going over old town reports, the name of George H. Dana appears as Chief of Special Police and he received the great sum of $36.75 for his faithful services for the year of 1878. Also he had under his command two other of- ficers, George B. Lear and C. H. Watts, who received salaries of $30.00 and $20.00 respectively. The total expendi- ture of the police department for that year was $119.94, out of a total expen- diture of the town of $33,401.14.
In 1888 the names of Geo. B. Lear, C. H. Matthews and M. S. Jackson ap- pear as police officers. Geo. B. Lear performed police service etc., while C. H. Matthews and M. S. Jackson were appointed to keep peace on the Fourth of July.
In 1898 the names of Geo. B. Lear, William T. Milliken and Charles H. Matthews appeared on the Town re- port as Town Police Officers and re- ceived a total of $51.00 and Officer Milliken received $2.00 extra for use of his team. (evidently first cruiser or paddy in town).
In 1908 Geo. B. Lear, and Chas. H. Matthews were still police officers, also the name of Harvey A. Emery appears. Each officer received $50.00 annual salary. Also five others were named "extra" police at a salary of $3.00 a year. They were, Ellsworth Dodge, J. S. Haven, E. B. Culling, Geo. L. Chadwick and Geo. A. Allen. Also S. L. Whitmore received $14.25 for providing teams of horses for the police.
At the Town Meeting in March 1909, there appeared an article in the Town Warrant "to see if the town will vote to have a police officer who shall devote his entire time to the duties of his office and appropriate money therefor. The names of Geo. W. Karr, Chief of Police, and Harvey A. Emery appear as Town Officers. Chief Karr's salary was $260.81. Of- ficer Emery received $15.00, also Geo. B. Lear and J. La Croix were on as extra officers. The expenses of the department, other than salaries, was $245.93 and the town collected $166.25 in fines from Frank P. Rowell, Esq.
In 1911, Geo. W. Karr was still Chief of Police at a salary of $547.00, and J. M. Barton, attorney for the town, tried 46 police cases.
In 1914, Fred M. Gunn, was chosen as Chief of Police and in 1915 Chief Gunn submitted the first report of the police department to appear in the Town Report. There were 117 ar- rests for intoxication and 313 tramps were given lodging, 21 for disturbing the peace, 11 for assaults. Chief Gunn served until January 1, 1916 and then Harvey G. Hastings was appointed to replace Chief Gunn. Chief Hasting's report for the year 1916 showed 40 arrests for intoxication an 2 arrests for motor violations. Chief Hastings served the Town of Newport until 1930.
In 1931. Charles H. Fryer was ap- pointed Chief. Other officers in the department were Marshall C. Perkins, M. S. Colby, H. A. Emery, J. W. Boyce, E. E. Trow, Geo. H. Mason, Charles Tenney and H. L. Kempton. Total ex- penditures for salaries and expenses were $3,195.66.
Chief Fryer served until 1935 and in 1936 Fred M. Gunn was again ap- pointed Chief and he had two regular officers to help in keeping order. They were, Marshall C. Perkins and Jesse E. Fowler. Special Officers were, Har- vey A. Emery, Mason S. Colby, Floyd Fowler, Edward Beauchaine, Wallace Blanchard, Leon E. Colby, Fred Cros- by, Leon Cutting, Herman L. East- man, Robert W. Kemp, Richard Lar- ken, H. J. Mason, C. A. Rowell and Perley Whipple.
Chief Fred Gunn served until 1941 when Merton J. Sargent was appointed Chief. Marshall Perkins and Jesse Fowler were still regular police of- ficers. Special Officers were Floyd Fowler, Wilfred Snow and Alexander P. Lewko. Chief Sargent served until March 1946 when Alexander P. Lew- ko was appointed Chief. Marshall C. Perkins and Jesse Fowler were regular patrolmen.
From 1946 until the present time members of the department have been, Officers Jesse Fowler who retired in 1947, Sargeant Marshall Perkins who retired in 1957 and Officer Howard Mason who served from 1947 to 1952.
The roster of the present depart- ment consists of Chief Lewko, Deputy Chief Arthur Lake, appointed in 1948, Sargeant Norman Lacroix, appointed in 1954, Officer Floyd Fowler ap- pointed in 1952, and Officer Harold Hurd appointed in 1959. Special of- ficers are, Fred Maxfield, Gilbert Mor- row, Myron Cummings, Louis Willett and Norman Bentley.
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DEX TER
From "The Book of Old Newport"
"DEXTER" AND THE FIRE BUCKETS
The hand-tub, "Dexter", was bought by private subscription previous to 1832 when "Engine Company No. 1" was formed. It was built by the Hunniman Com- pany of Roxbury, Mass., in 1815. An early regulation required that fire buckets like the three shown at the top be kept in every house in the village.
THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
This is a picture of the contro- versial County Courthouse or Grange Hall building as it has come to be known, when it was in its prime. The present Board of Selectmen are pondering the ques- tion of whether or not it should be torn down and made into a parking space or restored.
It was only after a long struggle, in which Colonel William Cheney was Newport's strongest champion, that the new county of Sullivan was set off from Cheshire in 1827, and by popular vote Newport was made the county seat. The old
court-house was finished in 1826, a year previous to this, showing that politics were at work in those days to "get out the popular vote" in Newport's favor. The building was used for social gatherings as well as for court purposes until 1873, when it was deeded to the town. From that time until the erection of the Richards building in 1896, it was used for the high and grammar schools.
The "County Safe building," at the right was built in 1843 by Jona- than Wilmarth for county offices, and was deeded to the town at the same time that the court-house was turned over. At the left is the form- er Dr. John L. Swett's house.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT'S FIRE DEPARTMENT
HISTORICAL FACTS FURNISHED BY CHIEF HERBERT H. WRIGHT
STEAMER
Courtesy of Cecil Page
The old horse drawn steamer, which was used to pump water in the days just previous to the modern motor driven pumpers.
Newport boasts one of the finest volunteer fire departments any- where to be found. The present group comprises forty-three men, including the officers, and has five pieces of the most modern appara- tus. Herbert H. Wright is the pres- ent chief, having served continu- ously since 1948. Previous to that he had been a member of the com- pany since 1913.
He succeeded the late Chief George E. Lewis, a prominent New- port banker, who had served as chief from 1910 until his death in 1948, and at that time was the old- est active chief in the United States, being 86 years of age. Chief Lewis had been a member of the fire de- partment since he was 17 years of age, joining the department in 1878. His total length of service in the department was over 68 years.
At the time that Chief Lewis serv- ed the department as a call-man, 1885, Newport had one of its largest conflagrations, burning all of the buildings from Sunapee Street as far south as the railroad tracks on Main Street. C. M. Watts was chief at that time. He was succeeded that same year by John B. Cooper, who served as chief until 1886. It was during his second year as chief that the first steamer was pur- chased. E. J. Graves became chief in 1887, serving through 1890. F. T. Latimer followed Graves and serv- ed until Lewis became chief. It was during Chief Lewis' term too, that the first motorized unit was purchased (1920), and that the company became completely mo- torized (1929).
Newport's first fire company,
known as Engine Company No. 1, was formed Nov. 17, 1832, with Jonathan Cutting, David B. Chap- in, Naylor Starbird, David Harris and others being interested in its formation. The engine had been previously purchased by individual subscriptions and is believed to have been the "Newport" built by Hunniman of Boston. This is the same business establishment that built the "Dexter", which originally was sold to the Town of Worcester, Mass., for $500.00 and which is now in Newport's possession. "Dexter"
is thought to be the second oldest engine in existence today.
Probably as the result of the big fire, Newport purchased its second Engine, the "Rapid" in 1873, at a cost of more than $2,000. This en- gine was complete with "hose, car- riage and all modern improve- ments".
The cost of Newport's first en- gine house was said to be $500. The first fire station at the present loca- tion, which has since been moved to the rear of the Primary school yard, cost about $1,200. The present sta- tion was built in 1912.
Asked to name a few firemen who have served the town but who were in neither picture reproduced here, one old-time member men- tioned Charlie Thompson, Alex Brazil, Jim Burns, Jim Mahoney, Myron Blaisdell, George Chadwick and Bellringer Pike, all of an earlier day; and Capt. Harold P. Shepard, Arthur Peters, Frank Paris, Ted Corliss, Clem Chase, Harry "Doc" Brown, John Brooks, Sib Shattuck, Clesson Cap. Parker, Frank Cram, Arthur Ford and Emery Patten, of just a few years ago. Of course there are many, many more.
NEWPORT HOUSE - ENGINE 3 - DEXTER
NEWPORT HOUSE
M.
LEWPORTE
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Made In 1815
Courtesy of Chief Herbert H. Wright
The old and the new, exhibited in front of the Newport House. Dexter is on exhibition in the foyer of the county courthouse during the Bicentennial Celebration.
Page 45
THE DEPARTMENT IN 1909
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Courtesy Chief Herbert H. Wright
From left to right: front row, William Mahoney, Gene Dandrow, Frank Chellis, Chief Frank Latimer, George E. Lewis, John Kelley, Orvis Thompson, Dan Remington, Leon Scribner, William Couitt, William Davis.
Second row, Fred Karr, Alfred Clark, Charles Wright, Walter Darling, John Glynn, Franklin P. Rowell, Ralph Tenney, Arthur Rowell, Charles Cramer, Irving Rowell, Freeman Sargent, Arthur Clark, Ralph Tilton, Converse Currier, Patrick Hitchcock, William Boyle, Irving Blaisdell.
Back row, William Louiselle, Roy Jordan, William Duling, Peter Wright, Ralph Dandrow, Robert Wright, Charles Wright, Mose Dandrow.
THE DEPARTMENT TODAY - 1961
Don Eggleston Photo
From left to right, front row, Chief Herbert H. Wright; second row, Lt. Paul Benner, Lt. Leonard Rochford, Capt. Edward Karr, Asst. Chief Robert Darling, Lt. James Wright, Lt. Arthur Gokas. Third row, Charles McDonald, Grover Gillingham, Robert Rollins, Norman Trudeau, Nicholas Haservlat, Francis Collins, Raymond Henault, Sam Spear, Clifton D. Fisher. Fourth row, David Waltz, Charles Robertson, Kenneth Dresser, Howard Harvey, William Lantas, Olin P. Perry, Herold Maynard, Lloyd Nelson, Norman Lacroix. Fifth row, Anthony Maiola, Alec Lantas, Richard Holland, John Marcotte, Harold Aiken, Edward Levasseur, Robert Sartwell, Arnold Campbell, Howard Bartlett, John DeMayo. Back row, Chauncey Littlefield, Carl Latva, Sherm Wilkins, Olin P. Perry, Jr., John Feenstra, Leroy Billings.
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THE PASSING OF THE RAILROAD By ARTHUE K. WHITE
8)
From "The Book of Old Newport"
The Concord & Claremont Rail- road began operations between Concord and Bradford in 1850. It proved to be an unprofitable ad- venture. In 1870 it was sold by mortgage foreclosure for $200,000, approximately 30% of the construc- tion cost.
In 1866, the Town of Newport agreed to give $45,000 - 5% of the town valuation - to any respon- sible person who would construct a railroad from Bradford to New- port. Construction began, by the newly incorporated Concord and Claremont, N. H. Railroad, in 1870. The first "train of cars" arrived in Newport on the evening of Novem- ber 21, 1871, "cheered by a jubilant throng of spectators.'
About 1890, this line was absorb- ed by the Boston & Maine System. The peak of activity was reached about 1915. During the summer months there were six passenger
and four freight trains weekdays and an occasional "extra." Pullman sleeping cars were operated on weekends, to Lake Sunapee.
The competition of motor ve- hicles eventually forced the Boston & Maine to request permission to abandon the line.
In 1954 the road was sold to the Claremont & Concord Railway Co., an operator of short lines. Passen- ger service, which by that time had been reduced to one round trip daily, was discontinued in Novem- ber 1955. The passenger station, and adjoining land, was sold to Mr. Jesse R. Rowell on July 31, 1958.
Each year, as the grass attempt to cover the rusting rails, one wonders if the present income is sufficient to cover the cost of repairing a ma- jor washout or the replacing of bridges. If not, the day that such expenditures are faced will probably
bring to an end, for Newport, the era of the Iron Horse whose cry has been changed from the wail of the steam whistle to the blast of the diesel horn.
Don Eggleston Photo
Page 47
FROM TRAINS TO PLANES
THE HISTORY OF AVIATION IN NEWPORT
By KENNETH ANDLER
Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Darling
One of the first planes to land at Newport Airport. Major Robert Fogg, now of Croydon, was one of the early pilots and is believed to be the first person to set a plane down at the present airport.
Thompson Photo
An aerial photograph of the Newport airport showing the extended landing strip. It is planned to extend the runway even further by changing the course of the river at the south end.
In 1929 a group of citizens, called together by the late Judge Jesse M. Barton. met in Citizens Hall and re- solved that Newport should have an airport. Although George A. Fairbanks generously offered his field on Elm Street, this site was considered unsuit- able for several reasons. The meet- ing decided to lease the fields at the junction of Route #10 and the North Newport road from Austin Corbin, and to proceed to raise money by public subscription of donations to a corporation formed for this purpose, and stock to be issued for the same.
Susanne Parlin, of Croydon, widow of Albert N. Parlin, made a contribu- tion of $5000 and the future airport was named the Albert N. Parlin Field in his honor. The corporation formed with Judge Barton as President, and the other officers and directors were George E. Lewis, Lewis J. (Josh) Young. William F. Sullivan, and Michael J. Hourihan. These men gave unstintingly of their time and money over many years. Among the principal contributors were George A. Dorr, Sr., George A. Fairbanks, Francis W. Na- son. Sr., Howard Coonley, Austin Cor- bin, Francis P. Murphy, and Rowell Brothers. Of course, substantial amounts were contributed by a great many others.
An old stone wall and line of trees. which divided in two the present NW-SE runways, and running from the North Newport road to the bend in the river were immediately removed and much grading done. A steel hangar and house for the airport man- ager were erected. Although noted pilot Bob Fogg, of Croydon and Con- cord, had landed there years before improvements were made, probably the first plane to come in with the
Parlin Airport as its destination was piloted by J. M. Lambertson in Sep- tember 1930.
Running head on into the great de- pression. the Airport Corporation oc- casionally requested modest financial help from the Town. This, as historian Samuel H. Edes has written in his historical sketch of the Airport, re- sulted in a "twenty-year contest be- tween a comparatively small number of citizens who could see that air facilities should and must be located here and who proceeded with energy and dispatch to put their ideas into effect; and those who considered any such idea a wild flight of fancy on the part of people possessed of too much imagination and too little common sense."
Sometimes knocked down in Town Meeting but never knocked, out, Judge Barton and the other founders of the airport, assisted in the debates by Robert E. Gould, John R. Kelly and others, managed to keep public senti- ment alive to the need for an airport.
First pilots here were George Cramp- ton and Floyd Miller, and consider- ably later, Grover Gillingham. First students were Frank Nason and Lester Coonley.
After Austin Corbin died in 1938 the Town bought the land from his Estate in 1939. The Airport was there- after in charge of the Town's Airport Committee on which have served Jesse M. Barton to his death in 1943. Michael J. Hourihan, Robert E. Gould. Kenneth Andler, Leonard W. Powers, Wm. R. Smith, Harry Woodward, Dr. Ralph Benson. John Avery, and Jacob M. Shulins. up to the changeover to Town manager form of government.
Graded and improved from time to tinie, the really vital improvement
came when the North-South runway was widened and lengthened and the North Newport Road relocated. Much credit for this is due those concerned with the Airport at about that thime - Leonard Powers, Harry Woodard, Dr. Benson and Judge Shulins who was also town counsel. This new airstrip was dedicated July 10, 1949, and a good program booklet issued with an his- torical sketch by Major Edes. This runway was black-topped in 1953, and in 1958 it was extended to its present length of 2800 feet.
The Airport has proved to be a valuable asset to the town. Since 1949 leased to Buker Airways (Major Har- old Buker, war hero and farsighted business man of New London) and under the able managership of Richard C. Stone, the Airport is a live wire organization.
Dick Stone is always on some inter- esting assignment such as air-dropping feed to the wild boar in Corbin Park in the winter, flying over power lines to locate breaks, rushing small machine parts to factories, carrying ill persons in emergencies. Dick also was the one out of all the pilot search- ers to find the bodies of the two Dart- mouth doctors who had crashed in the White Mountains in Feb. 1959.
Besides the ordinary passenger "feeder-service," it should be noted that numerous summer residents of this area use the field for commuting. The executives of local business firms- especially those of the Dorr Woolen Company - find the Airport a great timesaver. Now that grass is growing on the railroad tracks, with passenger service abandoned, we can derive some comfort from the Airport being a busy place.
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NEWPORT MEN AT WAR
FROM THE REVOLUTION TO KOREA
By HENRY WHITTAKER
The military history of New- port reaches back to the Revolution- ary War, but as small a settlement as the town was at that time, having been settled just about a decade, her individual efforts can not be pin-pointed to reflect any credit or discredit upon the community.
Most of inland New England was
opposed to the War of 1812, which was mainly distinctive for this country's naval engagements, but the town had some participation and it was about the same with the War With Mexico. Newport never had many colored people as natives and but two are known to be buried in the Maple Street cemetery.
One might say Newport came into its own, militarily, with the Civil War. In the early 60's, a company of Cadets was trained in the high school which, as time went on, furnished many officers for the Army. At the outbreak of the war. Capt. Ira McL. Barton Newport's first Civil War soldier -
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Courtesy of Miss Emma Rowell
A gathering of Civil War veterans pictured on the front steps of the Richards Free Library. The occasion is not known to the author.
recruited a full roster of men and they were off to four years of war. During that time, Newport now numbering some 2,000 people, en- thusiastically voted, at its annual town meetings, "relief money" to enlistees and their families and at the war's end found themselves to have a war debt of $72,000. About 30 casualties were suffered by New- port's men, about half of them from camp diseases.
Of particular interest to modern veterans is what appears to be a
deserter list of thirty men. Actually Newport had but one deserter. In those days when a man became dis- satisfied with his own outfit, he left and joined another. At other times, men became separated and were shot. Names, in either case, were re- moved from the company rolls and sometimes listed as deserters.
Another puzzling thing was the draft law. It was perfectly honorable for a draftee to furnish a "subtitute" at his own expense, or, as was some- times done, to have the town fur-
nish one at its expense. This re- sulted in a great deal of unneces- sary expense to the town and it put into uniform many undesirable men.
The Spanish-American War of 1898, caught Newport unprepared except for the fact that Capt. Ira Stowell, hardware merchant and selectman and a man of much previ- ous training, had, just previously, organized a company of militiamen and enthusiasm was running high. It was officially known as Company
Page 49
TI. BOWY
Courtesy of Mrs. Eva Jordan
Civil and Spanish War Veterans march down Central Street as a part of the Memorial Day Exercises in the years immediately following the war.
M, 3rd. New Hampshire Infantry. Capt. Ira Stowell, commanding; and as Stowell unofficially
"The Guards". Clarence D. Collins, now residing in Georges Mills, is the sole remaining member.
The outfit was called into Fed- eral service as the war opened as Company M, Ist. N. H. Volunteers. It did not go to Cuba but Chica- maugua Park, typhoid and other needless diseases were rampant and Capt. Stowell and one private died. 'The body of the captain was re- turned to Newport, given full mili- tary honors and interred in Maple Street cemetery.
After the war, the United Span- ish War Veterans came into being and as time evolved, succeeded its predecessors, the Grand Army of the Republic. Edwin H. Perry and Fred Gunn became state officers in this new group.
Stowell's Guards continued in existence for a good many years and in February, 1913, Samuel H. Edes became C.O., with Vincent J. Bren- nan, Jr., and Harry Hastings, first and second lieutenants. President Woodrow Wilson called the Com- pany into Federal service to police the Mexican Border against Pan- cho Villa. Three years later they were mustered out at Manchester and returned home in February, 1916, just in time to participate in Newport's first winter carnival on Washington's Birthday.
Diplomatic relations had been
broken with Germany and many were soon to return to service in World War I. Army organization had changed, however, and a "com- pany" instead of being sixty-five men now rated six officers and two hundred and fifty effectives.
It was at this point that New Hampshire lost its identity as this organization was merged with the 2nd. Maine Infantry into the 103rd. U. S. Infantry and as such fought over most of Europe.
At the end of the war, the Ameri- can Legion came into being and Newport formed Post No. 25, out
of 106 Posts in the state. The Post was named in honor of Claude J. Brewster of Company M, who was shot and killed in an inactive sec- tor not far from the famous Mt. Sec. Company M was disbanded and reorganized as Hdqtrs. Det .. 197th. A.A.
From the close of WW 1 until the outbreak of WW 2, the local unit stayed the 197th AA. In Sep- tember of 1940, the unit left for Fort Hulen, Texas for training. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was sent to the defense of New York City and in February of 1942 shipped to Western Australia. Four months later, they were moved to the NE tip of that continent to de- fend a bombing base. A short time later, the unit was sent to Milne Bay in New Guinea where they spent between 21/2 and 31/2 years before returning to the states.
In 1947, the local unit was chang- ed to Company M, 195th Infantry Regimental Combat Team and remained in this capacity until De- cember 1955 when the National Guard in Newport was changed to the 421st Field Artillery Battalion.
Each year, the Newport guards- men participated in summer field training programs, first at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts and for the past seven years, Camp Drum, New York which is the site of this summer's training.
In December of 1958, the unit
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