USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Semi-centennial of the city of Manchester, New Hampshire, 1896 > Part 8
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REV. CYRUS W. WALLACE, D. D. DIED OCT. 21, 1889.
REV. N. L. COLBY.
REV. WILLIAM McDONALD. DIED AUGUST 26, 1885.
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happiness and contentment, seemed to be the lot of these brave men and women, but danger from a cruel and unrelenting foe was soon found to be about them on every hand. Their hunting parties were often attacked by the red men from the North, and in the deadly ambuscade the white man fell or was taken away into a captivity worse than death. John Stark, the hero of the Revolution, was taken captive while engaged in one of these hunting expeditions, and held until his ransom had been paid. The homes of many in the neighboring settlements were burned, while women and children were taken away to Canada, and husbands and fathers were slain by their savage foes. Alarm and terror filled the habitations of these early settlers, but no one abandoned the post of duty; the lines of advance which they had established were never deserted, but farther and farther into the wilderness moved these outposts of the coming civilization.
At a later period the contests of the mother country with France inflicted upon these colonies unnumbered woes. The old French and Indian wars involved the border settlements in all the horrors of savage warfare. In those long and cruel conflicts which left their trail of fire and blood over so much of this fair land, we find the men from this little settlement of Derryfield foremost in every battle, and on every field of honor. Her sons were at the defense and massacre of Fort William Henry, at Crown Point, Lake George, Fort Edward, and in the repeated expeditions against Canada. They were a part of that famous body of men, known wherever the history of brave deeds have been read, as Rogers's Rangers, whose perilous duties and whose great achieve- ments have excited the interest of all who honor deeds of noble daring. And in that battle which fills so important a place in English history, upon the Plains of Abraham, with the immortal Wolfe, the sons of Derryfield performed a chivalric and a glorious part.
History has recorded that during the Seven Years' War, and the Indian wars that preceded it, old Amoskeag furnished more fighting officers and fighting men than any other place or territory of equal extent in New England, and no names are written higher or beam brighter upon the roll of honor than the names of our Stark, Webster, and Goffe. Truly may it be said of us, as has been said of other descendants of a New England ancestry:
"No lack is in your primal stock, No weakling founders builded here; They were the men of Plymouth Rock, The Briton and the cavalier."
On the third day of September, one hundred and forty-five years ago, the town of Derryfield was incorporated. Her ancient charter, granted by King George II, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, included eighteen square miles taken from the town of Chester, nine from the town of Londonderry, and eight from Harrytown, and in 1792 that part of Harrytown which was called Henrysburg was annexed. The seat of government was then at the little hamlet which has been known as Manchester Center, and the place where the voters met and the business of the town was transacted was the tavern of John Hall. Here they legislated for the interests of this small community, and here they learned and practiced the great principles of self government. By the experiences of their frontier life, by their hunting and scouting expeditions, by their military training and the part they had taken in an almost constant warfare, they had become accustomed to every danger, inured to every hardship, and sternly disciplined for that nobler and grander field of action, in which they were soon to be known as the patriot fathers of the Revolution. They had reclaimed this land from a state of nature, and they loved that soil which they had taken from the forest and given to the plow. They had found in the freedom of the wood, the stream, and the air the sweet spirit of human liberty, and in their civil government, as they would establish it, they had found an ideal republic, and when their rights, which they believed to be sacred and inviolable, were assailed, these men of Derryfield were ready to defend them against the aggressions of the mother land.
MANCHESTER FROM AMOSKEAG FALLS.
THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MONUMENT. DEDICATED SEPT. 11, 1879.
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The war of the Revolution began. The blood of American patriots crimsoned the green at Lexington, and the call to arms resounded along the valley of the Merrimack. Thirty-four out of thirty-six who could respond, in this little town of Derryfield, answered to that call. And here we may pause to inquire upon what page of history, ancient or modern, can such a record of patriotism be found? In that long and doubt- ful struggle for independence, the men of this town, faithful to the "association test," which all had taken, performed their duty with unflinching courage and left a record of valor and patriotism unsurpassed in the history of that heroic age. They were with Stark and Moor at Bunker Hill, and were the last to leave those heights from which the British hosts, by repeated assaults, had failed to drive them. At Trenton, Princeton, Bennington, and on many other hard fought battlefields, they were among the truest and the bravest of the patriot army.
But there is one name that brightens with increasing luster as the years pass by. It is the name of the greatest military hero which our New Hampshire gave to that Revolutionary period; and today, while in the full enjoyment of the rich blessings which the fathers bequeathed to us, we would pay our tribute to the hero of Bennington and Bunker Hill. Upon yonder bluff, overlooking the waters of the Merrimack, the ashes of the old hero rest in the place he loved, and in a grave which will be forever honored and forever sacred. His hallowed dust belongs to us; his name and fame belong to our city, our state, and our country, and his spirit to the God of battles, who gave to him the genius of victory and an immortality of fame. And in the coming ages, patriotism will find no shrine more fitting for her place of worship, and liberty no place from which to draw a purer, loftier inspiration than at the grave of Stark.
The triumph of American arms and the achievement of our independence were duly celebrated at Amoskeag on the 10th day of July, 1783. The termination of this long war was followed by a constructive period, during which this little community, slowly increasing in numbers, was devoting itself more attentively than before to agri- cultural pursuits. Ten years later Judge Blodget, who had been a commissary in the army, and a judge of the court of common pleas for this county, came to reside on the east side of the river, near the falls. He was a man of rare enterprise, indomitable will, and great wealth. He had conceived the plan of constructing a canal around the falls for the purpose of conveying to market the vast amount of lumber which was easily accessible from the river and its tributaries. His work was commenced the following year, but was not successfully completed until 1807, when, upon a May day of that year, he passed through the canal and the locks to the river, and realized the success of his long-cherished plan, and the gratification of his highest ambition.
He was, indeed, as the inscription upon his monument informs us, the pioneer of internal improvements in New Hampshire. We honor this man for the great qualities illustrated in that gigantic enterprise which he successfully accomplished, but still more would we honor him from the fact that he first saw and appreciated the wondrous possibilities involved in the mighty forces of these falling waters. He invited capitalists to locate here and to utilize those powers, and, believing that the time would soon come when large factories would be built along his canal, he purchased clay banks which have furnished the greater part of the brick for our city. He looked into the future with wiser foresight than any of his compeers. He knew that in the old country, located upon both sides of the river Irwell, as our city is located upon the Merrimack, was the greatest cotton manufacturing city of the world and, as the thought of that ancient and wonderful city of Manchester, England, came to his mind, he predicted that here, at some future time, would be the Manchester of America.
In three years after the death of Judge Blodget, the people of this community dis- carded the name of Derryfield and, under proper authority, assumed the more appro- priate name of Manchester, a change which was doubtless occasioned by the fact that
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a cotton mill had been established at the falls the year before, and by the sanguine hopes of those who believed that this remarkable prediction of Judge Blodget would be verified, and that here would be built a great manufacturing city.
In 1846 our population, which had been rapidly increasing for the past eight years, became so large that the old form of town government and method of electing officers was no longer practicable, and a committee consisting of David Gillis, Samuel D. Bell, Isaac Riddle, William C. Clarke, John A. Burnham, Luther Farley, and Walter French was appointed to petition the legislature for a city charter. At the June session of the legislature of 1846, the charter was granted, and was accepted at a town meeting held on the first day of August of that year. The first meeting for the election of city officers was held August 19. There were four candidates for the office of mayor, and, as no one had a majority, another meeting was held on the first day of September, and Hiram Brown was then chosen as our first mayor.
On the eighth day of September, just fifty years ago, the new city government was organized; prayer was offered by Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace, and the oath of office was administered by Hon. Daniel Clark. Of the men who then assumed the government of the new city, only three are now living: Our honored and distinguished fellow citizens, Judge David Cross, Col. John S. Kidder, and William Boyd, Esq., whom it is our especial pleasure to greet and congratulate today. In 1830 our population was 837, and in 1838 it was probably less than a thousand, but in 1846 it had increased to 10,125, and today we may fairly estimate that we number more than 55,000 inhabitants. The assessed valu- ation of the town in 1846 was $3,187,726; now it is $29,361,418. The number of polls then was 2,056; now the number is 12,583. Fifty years ago the only savings bank in our city was the Manchester, which was chartered July 8, 1846, and now by the last report the deposits in our savings banks amount to $15,599,320.44, and the depositors number 33,351.
What a marvelous growth! It is no wonder that the hearts of our citizens swell with pride, and that we are inclined to boast of this wonderful progress. But while we contemplate these changes and observe how year by year we have grown in wealth and population, the inquiry comes to us, what potent charm has drawn together so many from far and near; what great inducements have gathered this large number and made them citizens of Manchester, and what transcendent power has created these resistless charms and made possible these strong temptations?
The answer comes from not far away. Over the bank and down the valley, you see the broad, bright band of moving waters. You read the answer in the sparkling light from its silvered surface, and where it breaks and rolls over rock and ledge you hear the answer in the roar and thunder of the falls of Amoskeag. Beautiful river, born among the white hills of the north, gathering her waters from spring and stream, and from that lake of rarest beauty, where the smile of the Great Spirit rests forever, she moves with ever increasing power along her channelled pathway to the sea. Other rivers may bear upon their bosoms a larger commerce and greater ships may plow their waters. Others may journey further or in a larger volume before their waters mingle with the ocean, but what river has contributed more generously her tireless energies to the service of mankind, or conferred in a larger measure the comforts and blessings of life? Richer than the deposits of the Nile have been her contributions to the welfare of the two commonwealths through which she passes. For unknown years her fishing places had attracted to her banks the Namaoskcags, and from her depths the early settlers had drawn an abundant supply of food, but the time had come when that mighty power which for untold ages had been wasted was to be called into action. The hand of capital now grasped the energies of these falling waters, harnessed them to the wheel, and set in motion those long lines of machinery which have given occupation to labor, wealth to the capitalist, markets to a neighboring people, and a city to our Granite State.
In the early part of 1809, a small cotton mill was erected on the west side of the Amoskeag falls by Benjamin Prichard, Ephraim, David, and Robert Stevens. This was
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the beginning of that industrial development which has characterized and distinguished our city, but no remarkable progress was made until after the incorporation of the pres- ent Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, in 1831. This company became the owner of all our water power, and of a large tract of land amounting to about twenty-five hundred acres on both sides of the river. In 1838, and at subsequent sales, a part of this land was conveyed by the company, and was soon occupied for business and residential purposes. The new village, as it was called, then sprang into existence, and in 1841, after a spirited controversy, the seat of government was transferred from the Center, and the first town meeting was held in a hall upon Amherst street.
Other corporations soon formed, and it is a matter of extraordinary interest to note the growth of these cotton and woolen industries during the last fifty years. In 1846 there were the mills of the Amoskeag, Stark, and Manchester, with their 88,320 spindles, 2,418 looms, 1,960 employees, and they were manufacturing yearly 19,400,000 vards of cloth. In 1896 there are the Amoskeag, Stark, Amory, Manchester, and Devon- shire Mills, and the printing department of the Manchester, with a total of 565,000 spin- dles, 18,379 looms, capable of employing 14,180 operatives, and of manufacturing yearly 199,770,000 yards of cloth, and of printing 46,800,000 yards. The capital stock of these cor- porations amounts to $8,700,000, and their yearly pay-roll to $5,164,800. You have seen these cotton and woolen mills growing steadily on both sides of the river, and have noticed how their huge walls have been lengthening and climbing up higher and higher. You have also seen our city broadening and extending with a corresponding growth. In the old Greek mythology it is said that when the walls were being built around the ancient city of Thebes, the stones assumed their appropriate places to the music of Amphion's lyre; so may it be said that the stones which made the walls of our city assumed their places to the music of the multiplying notes of the loom and the spindle.
The old resident will be found today in a reminiscent mood. He will think of our city as it was fifty years ago; how its compact part was mainly bounded by Lowell, Union, and Merrimack streets, and on the west by the river. He will recall the little hamlets on the east and the south, and the villages of Piscataquog and Amoskeag across the river, which were added to our city in 1853. He will remember the large tract of woodland east of Union and south of Hanover street, which concealed the awful crime of murder in 1845; the growth of wood and timber just north of Lowell street, and another growth westerly from the city hall, and the low ground where the alders grew, in the place of Washington and Birch streets. He will recall the public assemblies held in a great natural amphitheater, where a ravine extended southwesterly from Merrimack street on the west side of Elm, and he will marvel how the sand hills of years ago have grown into beautiful residences and massive business blocks, and how the forests have given place to fruit trees and flowering shrubs, and how the rough and rugged surface has been transformed into the beauty of well-kept lawns.
If awakened from a Rip Van Winkle sleep, he would naturally inquire for the old fair grounds, and wonder what had become of the famous race track, the cattle pens, and the high board fence. Hardly could you imagine the surprise which the changes there made would excite in his mind, but if he should look across the river, he would there observe the greatest miracle of all, a city fully grown in the short space of fifteen years, provided with churches, schools, and everything essential to a completed city, except a city hall. In whatever direction he may turn his gaze, he would notice how streets have multiplied and extended, and would discover the myriad of happy and beau- tiful homes which adorn their sides, and if he would compare the present streets and walks with the highways of fifty years ago he would find that then we had only eleven miles of streets, and today we have nearly 140 miles and 128 miles of sidewalks. He would miss the old stages, and the barges, and the cars drawn by wearied horses, and would wonder what mysterious power could propel these new and heavier cars miles away without the apparent aid of physical force. Doubtless it would be difficult for him to
ELM STREET, MANCHESTER .- LOOKING SOUTH.
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understand how the fires of heaven have been captured and made to serve the purposes of man, and how the sound of the human voice is conveyed upon a slender wire, and at evening he would wonder as he saw our city bright and clear as noonday, illumined by more than four hundred electric lights, which gleam along the streets or through the emerald lacework of the overarching trees.
Four years before the beginning of this half century, a locomotive engine and train of cars first entered our city. Then for the first time was heard in our valley the sound of the engine's whistle, and the rumbling of cars propelled by steam. Now thirty-seven passenger trains come to our city every week day; a large freight house is in process of construction, and a new passenger station is confidently expected, while our hopes are still sanguine that we shall sometime be able to pass through the good old towns of Bedford and Amherst, on our way to the great West, by the Manchester & Milford Railroad. (
In our brief survey of the past, we have called to mind some of the causes which have given to us a municipal structure of such symmetry and strength. We have thought of its foundation and of the brave and stalwart men and women who were present and active when that foundation was laid, but now we are led to ask what forces have since shaped and molded the character and habits of our people. We learn some- thing of these causes from that chime of sweet-toned bells, which on every Sabbath morning invites all our people to gather at the sacred altar, and also from the blessed sound of the Angelus which three times in every day summons so many to the brief response of prayer. Here the precepts of religion and of good morals have always been respected. Our pulpits have been occupied by men of true piety and of great learning and ability. Our many churches, representing almost every form of religious belief, have been built and sustained with a liberality which has been seldom equalled, and all their missions and charities have been generously supported. The influence of the church upon our young city has been of immeasurable benefit in elevating her character and promoting her highest interests, and we would place the open Bible as the first and greatest cause of our material and moral progress.
From the commencement of her existence as a city, Manchester has been liberal in her expenditures for her public schools. She has ever regarded with affectionate and parental interest the education of her children, believing that upon the intelligence of her citizens largely depended her real welfare and permanent advancement. Today we have belonging to our public schools about fifty-two hundred scholars, and under the parochial charge there are about four thousand. If we would compare the conditions of fifty years ago with the present, we need only to look at the old high-school house on Lowell street, and contrast it with the new school building now in process of con- struction, or with St. Anselm's College. Faithful and excellent instructors have been in charge of all our schools, and we may rest assured that every privilege and oppor- tunity which the city could provide has been generously given for the benefit of those whom we may well regard as the most precious jewels of our community, and we can surely attribute much of our progress and enlightenment to the school book and the school rooms of our city.
Not only has the ennobling cause of education been sustained by her schools but she has added another most efficient means of assisting the young, the middle aged, and the old along the pathway of learning by her library and her library building. In 1846 the Manchester Athenaeum possessed 1677 volumes. Eight years later a free public library was established by the city, and the books and other property of the Athenaeum were purchased. Liberal donations have been made by our great corporations, and the city has expended annually for books the sum of one thousand dollars, and now the number of publications in the library is 40,125.
Ours is an industrious city. Energy, activity, and determination have characterized all her efforts. Idleness has received no crown of honor in her social or business
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life. Her capital and resources have generally been employed in gainful pursuits, and her labor has therefore had a larger and more constant reward. It is true that at the present time the clouds of business depression hang heavily over all this land, but it cannot be that this great nation, with all its power and boundless resources, shall long remain in the shadow of an unnatural eelipse. Beyond the clouds must still be shining the golden sun, soon to dispel the present gloom, and restore to Manchester her accustomed place in the front rank of our most favored cities.
In all the years gone by harmony has prevailed in our councils and unity in our action. While other cities have been disturbed by conflicts between capital and labor, here the liberality of the one and the intelligence and good sense of the other have generally prevailed. Realizing their mutual dependenee they have pursued their way, hand in hand, while both have shared in the beneficent results of their just and helpful co-operation. Fraternal, charitable, and social organizations have here multiplied and prospered, and nowhere have they found more zealous friends or a more congenial home. Here classes are unknown. There is no aristocracy of birth or wealth. That principle of equality, which is the fundamental law of the land, has nowhere a more generous exponent than in our own city. We bring the wreath of honor to deck the brow of that labor which has helped to build up our city with the same pride and sense of obligation with which we would reward the men who planned and directed the work. The spirit of a broad and intelligent liberality has developed more and more with our multiplying years, and the words of Tennyson come back to us as a history and a prophesy that
. . . "through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns."
Her gates have been opened wide. The avenues to her heart and homes have been broad and free, and over every entranee has been seen and read of all men the inviting word "Welcome." She has extended her hand in cordial greeting to every deserving son of toil and to every one who sought in lionor and good faith to become a useful citizen, while her Board of Trade, active and zealous for her interest, has invited here and helped to establish many new and valuable industries. Her busy life and hier golden opportunities have attracted strong and sturdy sons from the neighboring hills and valleys. From across the sea, from the fair land of Ireland, from the home of Shakes- peare, Pitt, and Gladstone, from the Scottish highlands, still vocal with the songs of Robert Burns, and from the principality of Wales they have come. From the banks of the St. Lawrence, from the land of Lafayette, from where the great Frederick reigned, and from King Oscar's realm, they have all brought to us their wealth of brain and muscle, which has helped to rear the glorious fabrie of our city. Far away from where they sundered the ties of home and kindred they have made their dwelling places, and in hearty union have labored with us for the highest interest of this com- munity. None have joined more eagerly and helpfully in the labors and contributions for these commemorative days than have the men and women who were born in other lands. And although their hearts may yet thrill with the music of the fatherland. and their eyes brighten at sight of the flag which floated above their birthplace, yet far deeper in their hearts today swells the heaven-born anthem of "AAmerica," and above the ensigns of every land, their glad and loving eyes behold the Star Spangled Banner of the free.
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