USA > New Hampshire > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 15
USA > Vermont > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 15
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They went down to the tannery and, finding a shovel, scraped off the dirt from two movable planks of the floor, and raising them were gratified to find the field-piece, nestling where it had been hidden. He re- marked he "was glad it was there," which sentiment was echoed by the Captain, and after the town clerk had retired the much coveted prize was loaded into the wagon and taken to Bellows Falls, where it was the "first gun" of the next day's celebration.
The same year the Westminster boys stole the can- non from Walpole, but, as soon as its voice was heard and the New Hampshire boys knew where it was, they rallied in so large numbers as to be able to take it by force. The rally force was under command of old Cap- tain Sparhawk, a prominent resident of Walpole in his day. Such incidents occurred each year, and there was considerable rivalry to see which locality would use the most cunning or force, and secure the use of guns, which were limited in number in all this locality. No Fourth of July celebration was considered complete without a
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goodly-sized cannon to make such noise as is now seldom heard.
One Fourth of July some of the boys were celebrating at a very early hour in the morning, having a good-sized cannon which they were causing to "talk" in front of Mammoth block on the south side of the Square in Bel- lows Falls, in front of the present clothing store of J. J. Fenton & Co. The patrons of the "Bellows Falls Stage House," across the Square, being unable to sleep, were many of them sauntering about the house. A guest of the house, who had been lying on an old-fashioned hair- cloth sofa in the "sitting-room," on the south side, had just risen and sauntered out to the piazza. He stood leaning against the second pillar from the east when the boys, in their excitement, forgetting to remove the iron ramrod from the cannon, fired it toward the hotel. The ramrod passed between the post and the guest, through the side of the building into the sitting room, lengthwise through the lounge from which the guest had just arisen, and buried itself in the opposite wall of the room with- out doing further damage.
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LAUGHABLE TRANSPOSITION OF SIGNS- A GOAT AT IMMANUEL CHURCH SERVICES
It is a well-known fact, often commented upon by the older citizens, that the traditions of the humorous happenings of a century or more ago are longer remem- bered and more often rehearsed than some of later years. This is particularly true of this town and the writer has treasured several told him many years ago, actual oc- currences of this locality. It often seems that the present generation is lacking in the keen sense of humor that was so often perpetuated by word of mouth a century ago.
On October 31, 1833, during the navigation era of the Connecticut river, a rule was adopted by the Bellows Falls Canal Company requiring that all boats entering the canal at either the upper or lower end should do so stern foremost. Notices of this were posted near each entrance to the canal and other public places in Bellows Falls.
One of these signs with large letters, "All Enter Stern Foremost," stood many years at the head of the canal. One Friday night some of the practical jokers, for whom the town was noted, removed the sign and nailed it up over the door of a tenement house on West- minster Street occupied by two maiden ladies. The public efforts of these worthy women Saturday morning to remove it by pulling it down with spike poles were ludicrous. Worshipers at Immanuel (Episcopal) church the next morning smiled broadly as they approached the church and discovered the sign nailed high over the door of that edifice. Men who in after years were among
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the most sedate and sober of our citizens often admitted with a sly wink that they were responsible for the transposition.
Col. Roswell Shurtleff built the Island House, which from 1849 to the Civil War era was one of the most noted hotels of the entire Connecticut valley. In the early fifties he kept two or three goats, which used to stray about the village. One warm Sunday evening while vesper services were in progress at Immanuel church one of these strayed in at the open door and stalked solemnly up the right-hand aisle of the old church until at the head of the aisle it stood and faced the rector as he proceeded with the service. Capt. Henry F. Green, then one of the most prominent of the local citizens, who occupied the front pew on that side, warned by the tittering of the younger worshipers that heroic measures must be adopted in order to save a serious disturbance, suddenly swung wide open the high pew door used at that date and administered to the intruder a most vigorous kick. The goat turned and scampered back the length of the church aisle and out of the open door, the clatter of his hoofs upon the carpet, and later the uncovered floor of the vestibule, beating a tattoo which for many years rang in the halls of mem- ory of those who heard it, and the leap from the steps is said never to have been excelled by that of any goat upon record.
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CAPTAIN CHARLES CHURCH-USED LIQUORS FREELY-INCIDENT OF A RAFTING CREW
One of the notably strong characters among the early settlers of this vicinity was Captain Charles Church, who came here in 1807 from Westmoreland, N. H., where he had been a tavern keeper. He purchased 700 acres of land in the north part of Westminster, adjacent to Bellows Falls, and built three saw mills on Saxtons River, sending his product to the markets down the Connecticut river on rafts. He was a Revolutionary soldier having served in the Continental army two years during the war. During his early years here he was prominent in the militia, probably accounting for the title of "Captain" by which he was always known. He had a family of 20 children, and of these 12 sons and sons-in-law were members of his company. There are many descendants of the family still residing in this section of New England.
Captain Church's practice in relation to the hand- ling of intoxicating liquors is interesting today, as show- ing the practices of the broad-minded men of his day. His family was always a large one, usually from 35 to 40, including his 20 children and employees. He always purchased his liquors by the barrel, of which he always kept a number of different kinds in his capacious cellar. The prominent variety was New England rum. He made the rule that all members of his family might par- take twice a day, before breakfast and before supper. His children came under this rule as soon as they were large enough to "line up" with the older ones. At these times the Captain mixed his great bowl of toddy with
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a stick, the bowl being a wooden one, which is still shown by his descendants. He ranged the whole family around the room and passed the bowl from one to the other. The rule was that each was to have a certain number of swallows, and if at any time anyone attempted to take more than his allowance the Captain said sharply, "Cut," which meant "enough," and if the partaker did not stop quick enough to suit him, a sharp rap with his toddy stick, which he held in his right hand, was always effective. Nothwithstanding this free use of the liquors, it is noteworthy that there was never a member of the family who ever became intemperate.
In the Captain's employment of men to drive his large rafts of lumber down the Connecticut to the different city markets he made the rule that each raft take a 10-gallon cask of rum, which must do for the trip. While those in charge of the rafts had authority to procure from storekeepers along the route any pro- visions needed, charging them to Captain Church, all had instructions that he would not pay for any liquors furnished. At one time a raft was stranded some days on the island just above the village of Putney and the liquor was exhausted. A discussion was held regarding the method of supplying the absolutely necessary article. Old Peter Wood, whom present citizens remember as living on the back road to Westminster, was one of the gang and fertile in expedients. He took the 10-gallon cask and put in five gallons of river water. He was an extremely large and powerful man and shouldering the keg he carried it two miles up to the Putney storekeeper (all merchants then dealt in rum). He ordered five gallons "more rum" put in it, which was done, and
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Wood shouldered the keg for the return. The merchant asked for his pay and Wood said "Charge it to Captain Church," which was refused because of the known rule of the Captain. After a little discussion Wood took down the keg from his shoulder, saying, "Well, take your d-d old five gallons of rum back again then," which the merchant did, putting it into his hogshead, supposing all in the keg to be rum. Wood then shoul- dered his keg containing five gallons of mixed rum and water, carrying it back to his companions, and they completed their cruise with the supply thus furnished.
It is a well authenticated tradition that Captain Church and his family were such regular attendants at Immanuel Episcopal Church on Sunday that on one occasion when they did not go, his old horse, recognizing the day, went to the church at the appointed hour and stood under the tree as usual until the services were concluded, when he walked home as demurely as if the family were with him.
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LAFAYETTE'S VISIT TO VERMONT IN 1825- SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF EARLY DAYS
Interesting recollections of the visit of General Lafayette to this vicinity in 1825 were given to the writer in 1898 by Mrs. Lucia Maria (Campbell) Wheaton, then 86 years old. She was born in this town December 31st, 1811, daughter of Dr. Alexander Campbell and Rhoda Corey, one of the earliest families of this town in the 18th century.
" I remember well seeing General Lafayette," she said "in 1825, when he made a visit to the United States and was the lion of the day. I was 14 years old. I lived in Bellows Falls. He was expected to dine with my uncle, Edward R. Campbell, at the neighboring town of Windsor. I went over there to see him. It was a pleas- ant summer day, and the street in front of the place where the general was to speak was crowded. He ap- peared on a balcony of the second story of a store. I was across the street in a shop looking out of a window. Governor Cornelius Van Ness of Vermont was with the general. I could not hear what Lafayette said but I do recall that he seemed to me like a small common man. His hair was rather long, and he had on a coat that was rather longer than those worn by the other men. La- fayette did not take dinner with my uncle as had been expected. He was making many towns and hadn't time to stop. So the nearest view I got of the great French soldier was from across a New England village street."
When 6 years old Mrs. Wheaton went to school in the village of Rockingham to a teacher 16 years of age. She essayed the study of Latin at a tender age, but did not make a go of it, as the teacher knew no more of it than she did. From reading a primer with pictures and
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hymns in it, she changed and "began to read Shake- speare and Milton's 'Paradise Lost and Regained.' Be- fore I was 13 years old I had read the big poem and I understood all of it that was proper for me to know. Next I read Scott's novels and poems."
Added local interest is given to her description of the drinking habits of the leading families of that day from the fact that the old Campbell mansion, in which she was born and resided during her childhood, was the same stately old dwelling still standing across the street in Rockingham village from where the village hotel used to be, on the north side of the road leading to Saxtons River village. It is now owned by Natt L. Divoll and in a very dilapidated condition, but is a fine example of the architecture of a century and a quarter ago. It was built by Mrs. Wheaton's father in 1804.
"My father, Alexander Campbell, always dispensed liquors at home with a free hand" she said. "At Rock- ingham, during political campaigns, he had a large square table in one of the rooms, covered with decanters of various spirituous liquors. Then there were essences to flavor the drinks, particularly peppermint and check- erberry, and lemon and sugar. When a guest arrived he would go into the room and help himself. Rum was a favorite drink. A person would take a large glass, pour in about an inch of New England rum, then put in a spirit of essence, after that a cube of loaf sugar, and then fill up the glass with boiling water and drink it. The men in those days seemed to stand the liquor better than their descendants do now. I can remember of seeing only one drunken man during any political campaign.
"I remember that in the campaign of Jackson for president much was made of his shooting six soldiers after the battle of New Orleans. My father and his
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family were Whigs. A brother kept a general store. A friend of his, a Mr. Taylor, who was a Baptist minis- ter, was a Democrat and a warm supporter of Jackson for the presidency. This minister wrote to my father's brother in a jocular vein and ordered from his store a pound of 'Jackson.' My uncle, having in mind the shooting of those six men, sent him a pound of gun- powder. I was quite a child during all this discussion about shooting six soldiers and I got the idea into my head that if Jackson were elected president we would all be shot too. I suppose this was because my family was so bitterly opposed to him."
"Thanksgiving," Mrs. Wheaton said, "was a fam- ily festival. We had roast turkey, every kind of vege- table, pies and plum pudding, cider and plenty of New England rum, and other spirits. People could eat then and digest a big meal. They did more manual and less brain work. Christmas differed from Thanksgiving in that strangers were invited in to dine. We used to have regular course dinners-soup, oysters and so on. Some- times the Christmas dinners were only for men-that is, specially served for parties of men. The Christmas tree and Christmas stocking are comparatively new insti- tutions in New England. I was 16 years old before people began to hang up stockings on Christmas eve in Vermont. The custom was borrowed from Germany. So was the idea of the Christmas tree."
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CHARLESTOWN BANK ROBBERY RESULTS IN A MOST PECULIAR MANNER IN 1850
One of the most peculiar bank robberies that ever occurred in this vicinity was that of the old Connecticut River Bank at Charlestown, eight miles north of here, because of the circumstances of the immediate recovery of the booty, entirely by accident. It occurred on the night of June 10, 1850, and caused great interest and excitement in all this vicinity.
It was planned and carried out successfully up to a certain point by two brothers named Larned, who lived on a farm in Grafton County about 25 miles away. The banking building was the same now used by the Con- necticut River National Bank. The burglars arrived in Charlestown about 9 o'clock in the evening with a team and soon went at their work. They were amateurs in the business, but the primitive safeguards of the vault were soon overcome and by midnight four locks had been picked and $12,000 largely in specie was secured. The doors were all relocked and nothing indicated the robbery until the next morning when Cashier Olcott, father of the late George Olcott, opened the bank for business. The alarm was then given and in the absence of either telegraph or telephones messengers were started in all directions.
An unheard-of simple accident defeated the success of the scheme. They had loaded their booty into their buggy wagon and with a swift horse started for their home, thinking to reach there before daylight leaving no traces behind them. When they reached the foot of a long hill in Alstead they alighted to walk up the hill
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and thus relieve their horse. While one of the brothers walked much faster than the horse the other fell some distance behind. The foremost one reached the top of the hill, and after some minutes the other emerged from the darkness, but the horse was nowhere to be seen.
They retraced their steps but the horse, buggy and money had all disappeared. They perceived a light in a farm house but no trace of the missing team. Day- light soon coming on they were obliged to give up the search and went home.
The horse had turned into an obscure wood road at right angles with the hill, and having no one to guide him had continued on several miles until the road came out on another main road in the town of Marlow. A man who had been out caring for a sick neighbor was going home about daylight and discovered the driverless horse meandering along the highway. He thought who- ever owned the team would soon be along, and started to hitch it to the fence, when he was surprised to find a quantity of gold coin on the buggy-bottom. Investiga- tion revealed the large amount, together with the false keys and a lot of tools. He took the team and its con- tents to his home in Marlow, and returned over the road he had come to Alstead, where he found messengers from Charlestown who had been sent out to give the alarm. Cashier Olcott and President ex-Gov. Hubbard of the bank went to Marlow and identified the money, of which not a dollar was missing.
The identity of the team was established and officers went to the home of the Larned brothers to arrest them but one had run away and was never apprehended. Abijah Larned, when confronted with the evidence, made
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a complete detailed confession. He was bound over under $2,500 bonds and paid all expense the bank had been put to, but when the time for trial came he forfeited his bonds and neither of the brothers was ever seen in that vicinity again. A few years later Abijah was arrested for robbing a bank in Cooperstown, N. Y., and sent to prison, where he died before the expiration of his sentence.
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FOUR BANK ROBBERIES ATTEMPTED AT BELLOWS FALLS
The first banking institution in Bellows Falls was the Bellows Falls Bank, organized in 1832 and merged into the National Bank of Bellows Falls in 1865. The same year they built a small, brick, one-story banking house on a lot on the west side of the Square, just where the tower of the present town hall stands. This was the only bank building in Bellows Falls until the erection of the present buildings of the National Bank and the Bellows Falls Savings Institution in 1875, and it was typical of hundreds of the New England banking build- ings of a century ago.
Four times in the history of that first typical build- ing were unsuccessful attempts made to burglarize it: November 5, 1864; March 14, 1866; April 30, 1867; and November 21, 1870. Since the last date no known attempt has been made to disturb local banks.
In the first attempt, Saturday night, November 5, 1864, the would-be robbers gained entrance to the bank- ing room of the small building through the window fronting upon the Square, by bending upward the hasp which secured the lower sash. With powder they blew off a portion of the vault lock and succeeded in prying open the outer door. The inner door foiled them, prob- ably from lack of time, and they departed, leaving some tools inside which they had stolen from the blacksmith shop of O. B. Arms. The attempt was not discovered until Sunday evening, when Hon. H. E. Stoughton, who resided in the brick dwelling near by, noticed the dis- arrangement of affairs. The bank was guarded through
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the night, fearing a renewal of the effort. That the thieves were not experts was evident from their bungling methods of procedure.
The night of Wednesday, March 14, 1866, was se- lected for the second attempt. Access was gained by prying open the outside door. Powder was then used upon the vault door, but this time it resisted all efforts. It was not opened, the only damage being to the lock, which was injured so that it could not be used thereafter. In their retreat the robbers left a canister of powder, a piece of fuse and a cold chisel. Dr. O. F. Woods, who kept the hotel on the opposite side of the Square, about seven o'clock the next morning, noticed the blinds of the bank closed, which led to an investigation and the discovery of the attempted robbery. Two days later, a satchel was found upon the depot grounds containing two mallets, a burglar's jointed iron-bar, powder, fuse, and some clothing. It was ascertained that three men, evidently those connected with the break, went toward Rutland on the morning train. Two left the train at Chester, and the third, giving his name as Thomas Mc- Cormick, was arrested at Rutland and proved to be a professional cracksman. He was brought here and had a hearing, March 20, 1866, before Justice Alexander S. Campbell, who held him in the sum of $750 bail for trial at county court. Bail was furnished by the late Charles Towns, which the man forfeited, the money paying the same being sent from New York by McCormick's friends. He was a young man and in later years was known as a professional rogue.
Tuesday night, April 30, 1867, the third attempt was made. The building was entered through a window
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upon the south side. No explosive was used, but the outer vault door was opened by means of bars, prying in, and through, the key-hole. This evidently took so long that there was no time for further effort, there being still two more, and still stronger, doors to open. As before, the tools were secured from the Arms blacksmith shop. The same night an attempt was made to blow open the safe in the hardware store of Arms & Willson.
The fourth and last attempt to rob the bank was made Monday night, November 21, 1870, and was evi- dently the work of experts. Entrance was gained by prying open the street door. The burglars succeeded in removing the casings of the outer door to the vault, getting as far as the second of the three doors that guarded the money. Either they were frightened away, or they lacked for time, as there was no evidence of any work upon the second door. They left in the room the most complete set of burglar's tools ever seen in this vicinity, consisting of two new jack-screws, a heavy sledge-hammer, and a large variety of wedges, bars, and chisels of all sizes and of the best workmanship. The bars were made to be put together in sections like fish- poles, and many of the implements were supplied with duplicate handles. Upon leaving, they swung the door of the vault together and the attempt was not discovered until James H. Williams (2nd) opened the bank for business the next morning.
In only one of the above attempts was there ever secured any evidence to warrant an arrest.
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THE TOWN POUND-EARLY TOWN OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
In the records of the first Rockingham Town Meet- ings occur the names of several town officers whose duties are not known to the residents of today. Among them are "Tything-men," "Field-drivers," "Pound-keepers," "Deer-reaves" and "Hog-reaves." Reference to the early records of town meetings will show record of elec- tion of these officers each year, and the names of the first incumbents of these offices.
Tything-men were more prominent in duties about the old-fashioned meeting houses than elsewhere, but they were a kind of general police of the town. The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and means the chief man of a tything or parish. It was their duty to keep order in public assemblies, particularly in the meeting house on the Lord's Day. In the old church at Rockingham vil- lage the tything-men of the town occupied the seats nearest the pulpit and with their crooked staff five feet long, as insignia of office, they used to keep a watchful eye over the audience and presumably reached out to awaken the unfortunate sleepers, if the disturbance of snoring became too loud. He was a terror to the small boy disposed to be uneasy or mischievous, and it is in this respect that tradition most frequently connects him. Many other important duties, however, were required of the tything-man. It was his duty to inspect taverns, keep an eye upon strangers and suspicious characters, and they could arrest without a warrant offenders against the law. It was their duty to detain travelers
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upon the highway on the Sabbath unless it could be shown that travel was necessitated.
A number of the duties required of them are now performed by other officers, and some of the duties are obsolete, as is the office. The office was considered im- portant, and only the most staid and substantial citi- zens were elected to it. The first town meeting, held in 1761, elected but one tything-man, Samuel Burr, while the second elected two, Thomas Stebbins and William Simonds. The usual practice was to have two, each to be from a different section of the town. Other towns in the vicinity often had a larger number, Keene, N. H., electing 15 in the year 1815, only seven of whom qualified.
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