USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Boscawen > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 17
USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Webster > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 17
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[1820.
CHAPTER XII.
FROM 1820 TO 1830.
FROM the establishment of Hillsborough county in colonial days, Amherst had been the county scat. The county was large, and for several years the question of creating a new county had been agitated. The sense of the town was taken on the question at the annual meeting in 1820. The vote was 176 in favor and 46 against the proposition.
At the same meeting, several pews in the West meeting-house were sold, which had previously been sold but not paid for. The town's interest in the house was in the frame alone, and the ground for the pews. The town expended for the frame, when the house was erected, $104. The money derived from the sale of the pew ground had been applied to finishing the house. Here was an anomalous state of affairs, and the town's interest in the house was the cause of a great deal of trouble and disturbance to the people of the west end.
THE CHRISTIAN UNION SOCIETY.
It has been said that Protestantism is the very genius of freedom ; that to be true to itself it must ever be protesting; and that from this cause have come the one hundred or more denominations of Protestants in religion.
From the settlement of the town to the year 1820 there had been no organized dissent to the theological doctrines of the Trinitarian Congregational church; but in every free community there will be . differences of opinion in politics and religion. In the nature of things, it cannot be otherwise. The time had come for a new religious society to make its appearance in the town.
Friend I Burbank,
189
CIVIL HISTORY.
1822.]
The legislature of 1819 passed a general law in regard to the organization of religious societies, and during the year 1820 (see Ecclesiastical Hist.) the Christian Union Society was formed. The society having made application for its proportion of the par- sonage money, a committee was appointed at the annual meeting of the town, in March, to report what proportion belonged to the new society. Up to this time, the money had been divided be- tween the Boscawen Religious Society and the Westerly Relig- ious Society.
The Christian Union Society also demanded their right in the use of the West meeting-house. Some of the members of the society were pew-owners, while all the members claimed a moiety under the town's ownership of the frame.
The committee reported that the Christian Union Society was entitled to the use of the house "one fourth part of the time for six months next ensuing ; " and in regard to the parsonage fund, that said society was " entitled to an equal share of the parsonage money not otherwise appropriated."
The town was dissatisfied with the report, and it was recom- mitted for the purpose of having a report of all the facts in the case.
1821. At the meeting, held November 5th, for the choice of electors, the town appointed Ezekiel Webster and the selectmen a committee to confer with Concord in respect to building a bridge across Contoocook river.
At a subsequent meeting, held December 17th, the town au- thorized the committee to build and support such a bridge, to be located near the residence of Richard Elliott.
1822. At the March meeting the sense of the town was again taken in regard to establishing a new county,-yeas, 196; nays, 37.
The committee, to whom was recommitted the report in regard to the rights of the Christian Union Society in the West meeting- house, reported that the amount of money originally received from the sale of pews was $1,838; that the Christian Union Society claimed pews amounting to $325.75, the Westerly Religious Soci- ety $894.75, while those not belonging to either society held pews valued at $618.25.
190
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1823.
A motion was made that the Christian Union Society should have their privileges in the house ; but the town voted to postpone action till the next annual meeting.
At this meeting, the selectmen were instructed to settle with Mr. Price for taxes, which were assessed by the town and paid by him before the statute was made providing for taxing the polls and estates of clergymen.
FARM FOR THE POOR.
The poor of the town were set up for the last time at vendue, the town voting to appoint a committee to purchase a farm. The committee consisted of Benjamin Little, Nathan Plummer, Thomas Coffin, Isaac Gerrish, and John Cogswell, who were made overseers.
The price paid for maintenance of the poor was from 19 cents to $1.00 per week.
The committee purchased the farm of Mr. Joseph Sargent, on High street, near Salisbury,-the first establishment of the kind in the vicinity. The price paid for it was $1,500; for stock and furniture, $638; for superintendence, $120. The cost of main- taining the poor this first year upon the farm was $292.83.
1823. Some of the citizens of Hopkinton, seeing the effort to create a new county, with Concord for the shire town, made an effort to throw the tide of travel tending to Concord in a new di- rection. Application was made to the court for a road, beginning in Andover, on the 4th New Hampshire turnpike, and following down the valley of the Blackwater through West Salisbury; thence via Knight's meadow and White plain to Davisville, Con- toocookville, and Hopkinton, and thence to Manchester. The project was strenuously urged by Gen. Aquilla Davis, of Warner; and the road was laid out by the court. Such a highway would have been of little benefit to the town; and at a meeting held January 10th the matter was placed in the hands of Ezekiel Webster, Esq., who succeeded in obtaining a reversal of the order.
At the annual meeting, in March, the town voted to equalize the school districts.
The town also voted that the Christian Union Society should
191
CIVIL HISTORY.
1825.]
have the use of the West meeting-house one fourth part of the time. The Westerly Religious Society questioned the town's right to control the house, carried the matter to the superior court, and obtained a decision, that, where members of one or more religious societies held pews in a house, the town could not exercise jurisdiction.
Pending the decision, the Christian Union Society took posses- sion of the house, on a Sunday morning. The Westerly Religious Society thereupon withdrew, and built the meeting-house on Cor- ser hill. (See Ecclesiastical Hist.)
GREAT FRESHET.
1824. A great amount of rain fell on the 11th and 12th of February. Enoch Little's day-book contains the following record :
" Feb 11. Rained all last night & part of the day by spells.
" Feb 12. Rained all last night, snow all gone.
" Feb 16. On Merrimack river one of the piers of Hookset bridge gone, but not rendered impassable. Concord lower bridge two stone piers & a part of the body of the bridge carried off. Concord upper bridge new, one wooden pier & about two thirds of the body carried off. Canterbury carried off. Republican bridge, a new one between Salisbury & Sanbornton [in Franklin] gone. Smith's bridge at New Hampton also. On Contoocook river Four bridges in Henniker & a number of mills, among them those lately erected by R. M. Wallace at an expense of $3000 carried away. Three bridges in Warner, four in Weare on the Piscataquog. A number on the Connectiont & White rivers carried away & many mills, dams & other bridges damaged. Im- mense quantities of timber which had been prepared & carried to the bank of the Merrimack were swept away by the flood."
1825. The town had increased in population to an extent that entitled the citizens to two representatives, and a second repre- sentative was accordingly elected.
Some citizens not being satisfied with the valuations as re- turned by the selectmen, twelve assessors were elected to make the valuation for the year.
No action in regard to the regulation of schools was had till this year, when the following resolutions were passed :
"Resolved That it shall be the duty of the school committee to ex- amine all teachers of schools for the towns; to recommend books to be
192
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1827.
used as classick's to give direction when needful for the government of schools; to signify their approbation or disapprobation of the teachers employed to the district committee if required; and to give such rec- ommendations as may tend to promote the general interests of Litera ture.
" Resolved that no teacher shall be considered as qualified to instruct until approbated by the school committee; or entitled to his wages un- til such certificate of approbation is exhibited to the collector or treas- urer who pays the money."
REGIMENTAL MUSTER.
The muster of the 21st regiment was held this year in the field west of the house now occupied by Mr. Tilton, in Webster. The field now (1877) is mostly overgrown with trees. The sham fight was carried on with such vigor that one of the cavalry horses was killed by running upon a bayonet.
THE FRESHET OF 1826.
The summer of 1826 was very dry. With the drought came innumerable grasshoppers. On Monday, August 28th, rain began to fall in the forenoon-occasional showers, accompanied by thun- der. From three o'clock till ten P. M. it fell in a continuous tor- rent,-more than twelve inches falling in six hours. Every bridge across the Blackwater, with the exception of that at Sweatt's mills, was swept away. The water ran through the ravines west of the village at Sweatt's mills, and also took the short cut from the bend near the residence of Mr. Orlando Fitts to the mills near Samuel Little's. The roads were very much washed. The dam- age in other towns was equally great. At the White Mountains occurred the slide by which the Willey family lost their lives. It has ever been known as "the great August freshet."
The town voted at the annual meeting to appoint sextons to have charge of the several graveyards, and that all graves should be dug at the town's expense.
1827. The town voted that the letter B be the town seal for weight and measures.
The town voted that cattle, sheep, or swine should not run at large : "provided however that the selectmen may on application
193
CIVIL HISTORY.
1828.]
give licence to any poor person to let one milch cow run at large," which entirely defeated the object of the by-law. Subsequently the town voted that no cattle should run at large.
1828. The town voted to instruct the selectmen "to cause the turnpike gate to be removed from the town's road."
At the ballot for electors this year 420 votes were cast, one of the largest ballots in the history of the town.
The taverners and store-keepers licensed to sell ardent spirits were Jacob Gerrish, Fish street, taverner; James West, Plain, tav- erner ; Reuben Johnson, Fisherville, taverner ; Worcester Webster, Plain, store ; Daniel Corser, Corser hill, taverner; John Greenough, Plain, store ; Reuben Greeley, taverner; H. & M. Fellows, Corser hill, store.
The town suffered a great loss in the death of its foremost citi- zen, Ezekiel Webster, who fell dead while making a plea before the Merrimack bar in the court-house at Concord, April 10th. The funeral was on the following Sunday, in the afternoon, at- tended by an immense concourse of people at the meeting-house on the Plain. [See Biography.]
The regimental muster was on the farm of Wm. Abbott, on Water street, now owned by Jeremiah Chadwick. A company appeared in the afternoon dressed as Indians, with war paint on their faces and roosters' feathers in their caps. They took an active part in the sham fight.
Two hearse-houses were built during the year,-one at the east and one at the west end, both now standing (1877),-and two hearses procured.
13
[1830.
CHAPTER XIII.
TEMPERANCE.
RIOR to 1830, there was a general use of spirituous liquors throughout the country. Men took their "bitters" before breakfast, to give them an appetite. They took a dram in the middle of the forenoon to "keep them up" till dinner time. Af- ter dinner they drank again to " settle their stomachs," and must have a "night-cap " before going to bed. No matter how poor a man might be, in his cupboard or somewhere about his premises was a brown jug containing rum, gin, or brandy.
Those who had accumulated property, and were accounted pros- perous farmers, furnished their cupboards with fine cut glass de- canters, and kept a generous supply of New England and West India rum, brandy, gin, port and Madeira wines. In their cellars were kegs of cherry brandy and barrels of cider. Cider was a common beverage, and bread and cider a common diet. A neigh- bor, entering a house, felt at liberty to help himself to a drink from the white or brown mug always standing on the table or mantel-shelf, which on cold winter days was usually spiced with red pepper.
Visitors were always "treated" with the best liquors and wines the house afforded. No matter what the occasion, be it wedding or funeral, guests and mourners alike partook of the liq- uors generously provided. Pastor and people alike replenished their brown jugs at the stores. Ministers, in making their paro- chial calls, were presented with a glass of wine, either before or after prayer. If ministers exchanged pulpits on a Sabbath, each was careful to have the kind of liquor on hand which the other preferred.
195
CIVIL HISTORY.
1832.]
It is narrated, that when the General Association was about to meet in Boscawen in 1810, Rev. Mr. Wood asked Mrs. Wood, who knew the habits of the neighboring ministry, as to how much liquor would be needed, and if she thought a gallon of rum would be sufficient. "No, my dear," replied the wife, "you know that Father Hidden will want a whole case bottle full of rum for himself."
Rev. Mr. Hidden was minister at Tamworth. It is not to be supposed that he drank more than his brothers in the ministry, but that Mrs. Wood knew he had a liking for that kind of liquor.
Liquor drinking was universal. In 1824, when the people of Canterbury were agitating the question of building a new meet- ing-house, a committee was sent to view the meeting-house on Corser hill, then just completed. They were so hospitably " treated " that the driver of the double sleigh could not manage the team, and the entire party were so oblivious of surrounding matters that they were upset in the ditch.
No farmer thought of beginning haying without first replen- ishing his rum jugs. No enterprise could be undertaken without liquor. The largest trade of the stores was in rum. At this pe- riod, Messrs. Hezekiah & Moses Fellows, store-keepers on Corser hill, frequently sold a hogshead of West India rum in a week. The traders on Boscawen Plain doubtless had even a larger trade. An inspection of old account books of this period shows that in a ma- jority of the accounts are items for liquors sold by the gallon, quart, pint, and glass.
The temperance movement in Boscawen began in 1831. Jona- than Kittredge, afterwards of Canaan, a reformed drunkard, gave lectures on temperance throughout the state. Temperance meet- ings were held in Boscawen, Rev. Mr. Wood and Rev. Mr. Price being earnest advocates of the movement. Many of the promi- nent citizens saw the necessity of reform, and advocated it. Meet- ings were held in the school districts and in the meeting-houses. Other citizens conscientiously opposed the movement.
The Second Congregational church, Feb. 7, 1832, at a confer- ence meeting held at the house of Dea. Eliphalet Kilburn, adopted the following pledge, all the members present but two assenting to it :
"Resolved, that the ordinary use of ardent spirits is inconsistent with
196
CIVIL HISTORY. [1833.
the Christian character & that we will entirely abstain from it except as a medicine. Also:
" Resolved that all persons who may hereafter unite in covenant with this church shall be admitted on the principle of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits except as a medicine."
A warm discussion was had,-several members, whose lives and characters were beyond reproach, earnestly opposing it, on the ground that to sign a pledge was inconsistent with Christian freedom.
The pledge was adopted, however, by a large majority. It was circulated through the community. On the 4th of July a temper- ance meeting was held at the meeting-house on Corser hill. The light infantry military company paraded, marched to Dea. James Kilburn's, and escorted the Martin Luther Musical Society to the meeting-house, where addresses upon temperance was made, and songs sung.
The churches and the leading men in the community having engaged in the reform, public drinking soon became disreputable.
1833. The temperance movement had not lost its force. Dur- ing the fall a series of evening meetings was held in the meeting- house on Corser hill, in which temperance was publicly discussed. Mr. Amos Couch, a young joiner working with Mr. William Abbot, advocated reform with great ability. The great question was, where the line should be drawn. Why should not cider be included ? Men became intoxicated on cider. Many citizens were ready to cut off distilled liquors, but would not discard the use of fermented. Those opposed to the temperance movement pressed the argument home, that, to be consistent, the reformers must quit the use of all that could intoxicate. Some conscien- tious men saw that they could not consistently ask their fellow- men to give up rum, while they held on to cider. Both were in- toxicating when taken in excess. By no half-way halting would they hinder the great movement : they discarded cider, and cut down their apple-trees !
One of the first to destroy his trees bearing only cider-apples was Thomas Coffin, who had a mill in which he made nearly one hundred barrels of cider per annum from his own orchards. Others used the mill, which was kept running from September till Decem- ber; but from 1833 on, no cider was sold by its owner till it was changed to vinegar.
197
CIVIL HISTORY.
1835.]
A vigorous war was waged against foxes and crows. Forty-two foxes' heads were presented to the selectmen for the bounty of twenty-five cents, twenty-two of them having been caught by William T. Pillsbury.
The selectmen were instructed to sell the town farm, and pur- chase another in a more convenient location.
The town voted that " those who worship in the West Meeting House should have liberty to repair the house."
The selectmen were instructed "not to grant to any one license to retail ardent spirit." From unrestricted sale and universal drinking, in 1829, Boscawen had become a temperate community.
1835. The town passed a by-law to prevent cattle from run- ning at large, "except the single cow of a poor man, who must be licensed by the selectmen."
The selectmen were instructed to have the town buildings insured.
The town farm having been sold, another was purchased of Mr. Samuel Elliot, on Water street, for the sum of $2,000.
The town voted that the Universalist Society have their pro- portion of the parsonage money with other societies, according to the tax.
The town also voted to instruct the selectmen to put in force the vagrant law, " to cause all the persons in town who are wast- ing their time or property by intemperance, idleness, or dissipa- tion, to be placed under guardianship, or sent to the house of correction, and to prosecute all persons in town who traffic in ardent spirits illegally."
A road having been laid out by a committee from court, avoid- ing the hill between the house of Mr. Hale Atkinson and Mr. Nathan Plummer, on Fish street, the town successfully opposed its construction as laid out, and obtained a modification of the order.
The town voted that one fourth of the highway taxes should be reserved for winter service.
The town voted to accept its proportion of the surplus revenue of the United States, and appointed Hezekiah Fellows agent to take care of the same, the money to be loaned to the town.
The town voted against a proposition submitted by the legisla-
198
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1837.
ture, in regard to endowing a state asylum for the insane,-66 yeas, 200 nays.
During the winter occurred a great rain, which carried off a large body of snow, and broke up the rivers, causing great destruc- tion of bridges. The Canterbury bridge, the Boscawen bridge, and four bridges in Concord were swept away.
1837. The town appointed a committee to confer with the pew-owners in the West meeting-house in regard to making it a town-house. The committee consisted of Samuel Chadwick, Col. Moses Gerrish, Thomas Elliot, Joseph Ames, and Richard Gage.
A controversy with the town of Concord in regard to the line between the towns having arisen, the selectmen were instructed to defend the town from all encroachments.
This controversy arose from the construction of the factory, which was erected in 1836, both towns claiming it.
CONTROVERSY BETWEEN BOSCAWEN AND CONCORD ABOUT THE LINE BETWEEN THE TWO TOWNS.
The line, as defined by the selectmen of both towns, June 2, 1797, was as follows :
" Begin at a stake and stones on the southerly side of Contoocook river nearly opposite the middle of the main branch where the same empties into Merrimack being where a forked white pine formerly stood, which is the southeasterly corner of Boscawen running west 17º and 35' south by needle four miles to a pitch pine tree which is the northeast corner of Concord, on which is a number of letters, marks and figures which we have newly spotted on three sides, which bounds and line we do hereby agree to ratify and confirm as the bounds and line, and to be the bounds and line between Concord and Boscawen.
" (Signed) Winthrop Carter ) Selectmen
Thomas Thorla of Daniel Shepard Boscawen
John Odlin
of Jona. Eastman S Selectmen Richd Ayer
Concord (Henry Gerrish surveyor.)"
In 1830, Benjamin Kimball bought the water-power on Contoo- cook river, at the upper falls, and the next year erected a grist and flouring mill, which was located on the line. Mr. K. died soon
199
CIVIL HISTORY.
1837.]
after, and the property passed into the hands of F. & F. Fisher, of Boston, who in 1835-6 built the stone factory adjoining the grist-mill, just north of the line in Boscawen. The abundance of water-power, and the prospective increase of the manufacturing interest, made the boundary question one of moment. The dif- ference of opinion as to the boundary line arose from the descrip- tion in the respective charters of the two towns. The colonies of Massachusetts Bay, in General Court convened, at Boston, June 17, 1725, granted to the proprietors of Penacook (Concord) a tract of land on Merrimack river. The north boundary, west of the river, was described in the grant as follows :
" Begin where the Contoocook River falls into the Merrimack River and upon a course west 17º south four miles.
The same court, May 20, 1733, granted to John Coffin & Co. the plantation at Contoocook (Boscawen). The southern boundary adjoining Penacook was described thus :
" Beginning at the middle of the mouth of Contoocook River where it empties itself into Merrimack where it joins on Penacook Plantation thence running west 15° south adjoining on Pennycook line four miles to a white pine tree marked Pennycook corner bounds."
Concord was bounded by Contoocook river, in general terms ; Boscawen, by the middle of the mouth of the Contoocook where it empties into the Merrimack. By construing the latter literally, the line would be carried north one half the width of the river, and would inclose all of the mill and new stone factory in Con- cord. Concord claimed that the language of the charter should be construed literally, while Boscawen insisted that the line of 1797, as before stated, should be continued, which would leave the factory in Boscawen.
At the annual meeting in March, 1837, the town of Concord in- structed their selectmen to serve the town of Boscawen with no- tice to meet for the purpose of making suitable arrangements in regard to the line between the towns, agreeable to the provisions of law.
Boscawen declined to meet. At the September term, 1837, the selectmen of Concord presented a petition to the court of common pleas, setting forth that "the line is and has for a long time been in dispute," and praying the court to appoint a committee to
200
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1837.
examine and establish the line between the two towns. Upon this petition the court ordered that John Porter, Thomas D. Merrill, and Henry B. Chase be a committee to establish a line between Concord and Boscawen, and renew the bounds and marks. Nothing was done until Oct. 9, 1840, when a hearing was held at the hotel of Reuben Johnson. Concord was repre- sented by Samuel Fletcher, and Boscawen by George W. Nesmith and Ichabod Bartlett. After a full and careful examination of the evidence presented, the committee affirmed the old line of 1797, with more definite description. There are those now living who attended the hearing and heard the arguments, and who speak of Mr. Bartlett as having been very eloquent, forcible, and convincing. Stone bounds were erected, and no further contro- versy has arisen.
A neat turn was given to the argument by him. "Boscawen," said Mr. B., "had in her generosity once built one half of the bridge across the Contoocook for the convenience of the public, although the river at that point was wholly in Concord ; and now she would again show her generosity-she would give the whole of the bridge to Concord, and take the factory."
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