USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Boscawen > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 18
USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Webster > The history of Boscawen and Webster [N.H.] from 1733 to 1878 > Part 18
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A road was laid out during the year from Battle street to Fow- ler's plain ; but the selectmen, for some cause, saw fit to delay its construction, and it never was opened.
A committee was appointed, consisting of Samuel Chadwick, Col. Moses Gerrish, Thomas Elliot, Joseph Ames, and Richard Gage, to confer with the owners of the pews in the old West meeting-house in regard to selling their rights, with a view of making it a town-house.
ANTI-SLAVERY.
The anti-slavery agitation which had begun, reached Boscawen. On the 4th of July a public meeting was held in the meeting- house on Corser hill, and an address given by Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace, then a student in Gilmanton Theological Seminary, for many years pastor of the First Congregational church, Manches- ter. Petitions were circulated, asking congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. Anti-slavery societies were formed at the west and also at the east end of the town, but the prevailing sentiment was against any agitation of the question.
201
CIVIL HISTORY.
1838.]
Many of the citizens favored the colonization scheme,-that of sending the negroes to Africa, their own country. The emanci- pationists retorted that America was their own country. They obtained papers and pamphlets. They hung up in public places figures of a negro in chains, kneeling with this appeal,-" Am I not a man and a brother ? "
It is not probable that there was a citizen of Boscawen who at heart wished to have the negroes remain in slavery ; but there was an intense prejudice against color,-a prejudice which was shared by some of the best men in the community. Several negro fami- lies had taken possession of a house that stood on Fowler's plain west of Beaver-dam. They were in the Corser hill school district, and the children made their appearance at school. On a Sunday evening, after a prayer-meeting for the conversion of the world, the citizens tarried, and voted that they should not be permitted to attend school in that district.
The excluded children, however, found no barrier to their at- tending school at North Water street. The great and chief fear was, that if the negroes were liberated in the South they would all flock to the North. Thomas Coffin was an emancipationist ; his brother-in-law, Dea. Nehemiah Cogswell, was a colonizationist. Their discussions were always friendly, though sometimes warm. "The negro is a man, and is entitled to freedom," said the first.
" Brother, do you want all those niggers to make their appear- ance on Water street ? " was the reply, often repeated.
1838. Hezekiah Fellows, custodian of the town for its propor- tion of the surplus revenue, reported at the annual meeting that he had received three instalments, amounting to $5,518.86, which was loaned to the town.
The committee appointed the previous year on a "town house" reported that they had seen a majority of the pew-holders in the West meeting-house, and that "most of them were willing to give them up for a town house, while a few wanted about the first cost." The expense would be about $500. The site selected by the committee was near " Aaron Flanders's corner," the southerly end of Water street.
The report of the committee was accepted, but nothing further was done in the premises.
202
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1839.
1839. The country was still suffering from the commercial disasters of 1837. There was little money in circulation. Emi- gration from the East to the West still continued. Although the valuation of property on the selectmen's books was unchanged, there had in reality been a great depreciation of values.
The only business out of the usual course at town-meeting was a vote to make the alms-house a house of correction for vagrants. This was prompted by the unusual number of tramps roaming the country-some in search of work, more to sponge their living out of the community.
-
EKWebster
[1840.
CHAPTER XIV.
FROM 1840 TO 1850.
HE canvass for the election of President and Vice-President during the year was one of the most exciting in the history of the nation. There were two great political parties, the Demo- cratic and the Whig-the Liberty party not then having been formed. The Democratic party was in power, with Martin Van Bu- ren president, whom they renominated. The Whig party nomi- nated Gen. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio. The Whig party charged the Democrats with extravagance,-with being respon- sible for all the commercial distress. They raised the ery of re- form, economy, honesty. A party enjoying a long lease of power is open to attack on every side. The Whigs knew it, and made the most of their opportunities.
The campaign opened June 17, on the Whig side, by a mass meeting held at Concord,-a meeting remarkable for the numbers congregated in days when the only conveyance was by horses. The attendance was estimated at twenty thousand. Large delegations were present from every section of the state. Many of those at- tending must have been absent from home a week.
The Whigs brought into use appliances never before dreamed of in political campaigns. Gen. Harrison, having been born in a log cabin, was "the Log Cabin candidate ;" and cabins built of logs, drawn on wheels, with bear-traps and coon-skins hanging on the walls, were features in the grand procession. It was popular- ly supposed that Gen. Harrison was cradled by his mother in a sap trough, and wore a coon-skin coat. The Democrats called him the " coon " candidate. The Whigs accepted the name, and gloried in calling themselves "coons." Many of the Whig news
204
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1840.
papers brought out wood-cuts representing a gathering of raccoons playing the chorus of victory on trombones.
It was popularly supposed that Gen. Harrison had lived on coarse fare in his early life, and drank hard cider. Hence he was called by the Democrats "the hard cider" candidate. The Whigs accepted the appellation, and at all Whig gatherings there was a supply of fermented apple-juice. The Democrats could re- sort to no such appliances to win popular favor. Mr. Van Buren was of an old New York family-a life-long politician. He had lived in luxury-enjoyed for many years the emoluments of office. Gen. Harrison had distinguished himself in the war of 1812-had fought the battle of Tippecanoe, and in song was "Old Tippe- canoe."
LOCO-FOCO.
The campaign produced a literature peculiar to the times. The Democrats were called "Loco-Focos" by their opponents. In 1834, one John Mack opened a store in Park Row, New York, in which he had two novelties that attracted attention. One was champagne wine drawn from a fountain; the other was a self- lighting cigar, on one end of which was a composition that would light itself on being rubbed. These last he called Loco-Foco cigars. He patented them, the patent bearing date April 16, 1834.
In the year 1835 a division occurred in the New York Democ- racy. At a meeting held in Tammany hall a brawl occurred, during which one wing of the party extinguished the gas-lights ; but the other wing, having some "Loco-Foco " matches, immedi- ately relighted the hall. The Courier & Enquirer, in a notice of the meeting, called that wing of the party "Loco-Focos." The country accepted the name, which during the presidential cam- paign was applied by the Whigs to the whole Democratic party.
In Boscawen, as in other towns, the young men who sympa- thized with the Whig party organized clubs, and sang campaign songs on every possible occasion. Many of the songs were the merest doggerel, but they served to keep alive the political enthu- siasm. One was entitled
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CIVIL HISTORY.
1841.]
"VAN AND THE FARMER."
Tune-The King and the Countryman.
" A farmer there was who lived at North Bend, Esteemed by his neighbors and many a friend ; And you'll see on a time, if you follow my ditty, How he took a straight walk to Washington eity.
The farmer walked on, and arrived at the door,
And gave such a thump as was ne'er thumped before.
Mister Van thought the rap was the sound of a flail, And his heart beat with fear, and he turned deadly pale."
The song went on to picture the consternation in the White House, where the president and his cabinet were dining at a table spread with a service of golden plates, eups, knives, and forks, and ended by installing the rough-handed farmer in Mr. Van Buren's chair.
Another song was entitled "Rolling the Ball; or, Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
John Tyler, of Virginia, was the candidate for vice-president on the Whig ticket.
"Oh! what has caused this great commotion, motion, motion Our country through ?
It is the ball a rolling on for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too-
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.
Chorus-
And with them we'll beat little Van: Van, Van, Van,
Is a used up man, And with them we will beat little Van."
The enthusiasm was mainly on the Whig side. The Demo- crats, from their position, were compelled to be on the defensive, and could not employ like agencies ; but the Whigs made noise enough for both parties, singing and hurrahing through the cam- paign, and burning a great deal of powder over their victory in November.
THE FORMATION OF THE BAPTIST SOCIETY.
1841. The political excitement of 1840 was followed by a remark- able attention to religion in the fall of 1841, spreading through-
206
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1842.
out Boscawen and neighboring towns. The preaching of the Ad- vent doctrines, as held by Miller, who believed in the immediate destruction of the world, had aroused the attention of some who had never been interested in religious matters.
There being a few individuals of the Baptist order in town, an effort was made by them to organize a society. Rev. Mr. Pea- cock, Rev. Mr. Worth, and other ministers, were employed as preachers. A church was formed, and a meeting-house was erected on the east side of King street, between the house now occupied by Mr. Caleb Hall, and the brick store then kept by John Greenough. The church and society flourished for a short time, but the proximity to Fisherville, and the formation of a vigorous Baptist church and society on the Concord side, ere long made it apparent that to attempt to build up a church in that locality would be a waste of energy, and it was abandoned. The edifice was subsequently taken down, removed to Canterbury, and erected as a town-house.
GRANITE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.
During the year a charter was obtained for the Granite Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which was organized at the west end,- Simeon B. Little, President, and Rev. Ebenezer Price, Secretary.
NEW POST ROUTE.
From the year 1830 there had been a post-office at Sweatt's mills, and the mail was carried once a week from Hopkinton to Salisbury. The post-office was of little value, most of the people receiving their mail through the office on the Plain. The citizens of the west end petitioned for a change of route, and a mail tri- weekly between Boscawen and West Boscawen, which was granted by the post-office department, and has remained un- changed to the present time.
1842. The academy had been twice used for the holding of the annual town-meeting. An effort was made at the March meeting to have the town finish off a town-house in the basement of the new Baptist meeting-house ; but the town refused to enter- tain the project.
The anti-slavery agitation, which began in 1835, had been in-
207
CIVIL HISTORY.
1844.]
creasing from year to year. There were many ardent supporters of the cause in Boscawen, but there was a division of sentiment in regard to the best methods of advancing it. The parent anti-slavery society in New York had divided on the question. As in all great projects of reform, there were extremists, who held to their own measures and methods with great zeal, and were in- tolerant towards those not agreeing with them. One of the most zealous workers in the cause was Stephen S. Foster, a native of Canterbury, who had taught school in Boscawen, and who em- braced the cause with all his heart. The churches not coming up to his standard of action, he undertook to arouse them by inter- rupting the services at the East meeting-house, on Sabbath, Feb. 3d, and at the meeting-house on Corser hill the next Sabbath. In both instances he was led out of doors. The affair gave rise to a great deal of excitement in church, and subsequently in politics.
1843. The town voted to put a stop to the sale of spirituous liquors ; and Benjamin F. Kimball, Thomas Elliott, and William H. Gage were appointed a committee to prevent this sale.
During the year the question of building a railroad from Con- cord to Lebanon was agitated, but no active measures were taken towards furthering the project.
1844. The town at the annual meeting voted that every person should be put under oath at the time of taking the in- ventory.
The town granted leave to the Christian Union Society to floor the galleries in the West meeting-house. The town also voted to bear half the expense of repairing the outside, and of keeping it in repair so long as it was used as a town-house. The Chris- tian Union Society, having obtained leave of the pew-holders, pro- ceeded to make the proposed alterations, thus obtaining a com- modious chapel.
Fisherville having become a thriving village, the town voted $150 towards the purchase of a fire engine.
THE NORTHERN RAILROAD.
During the year the route was surveyed for a railroad from Concord to Franklin, and thence to Lebanon,-a movement inau- gurated by the residents of those towns. The survey was made
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CIVIL HISTORY.
[1847.
under the direction of Thomas J. Carter, civil engineer. The people of the west end, believing that they had a better route, employed Stephen C. Badger, Esq., of Concord, to survey a route up the valley of the Blackwater.
The Northern Railroad Company having been organized, the surveys preliminary to the construction of the road were begun during the summer. A route up the Merrimack, another up the valley of the Blackwater, a third up Mill brook, and a fourth via Long pond, were made by the company, under the direction of the chief engineer, Jonathan Adams.
1846. The directors of the Northern Railroad having decided to build upon the present location, contracted for the construction of the road. The first shovelful of earth thrown out in the town was in the excavation south of the small brook emptying into the pond at the southerly end of King street.
The large number of men employed, and the disbursement of money for labor, gave a momentary impulse to business, and an activity surpassing that of any other period, perhaps, in the town's history.
The road was opened to Franklin in the following winter, and the numerous teams and stages that since the opening of the Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike had made King street one of the great thoroughfares of the state, disappeared forever. From that day to the present, no ponderous wagon, with white canvas covering, drawn by eight stalwart horses, has been seen wending its course along that highway; no stage, with its six prancing horses, its complement of passengers, and mountain of baggage, has rolled along the road, leaving a cloud of dust behind : all have gone,-nor will they ever be seen again.
1847. The selectmen were authorized to furnish printed copies of their reports.
The town voted that the selectmen procure a certified copy of the proprietors' records, which should be kept at the town-clerk's office. Hezekiah Fellows, the town-clerk, was authorized to make the same.
Upon the breaking out of the war with Mexico, a regiment of United States soldiers, that had been quartered at Burlington, Vt., marched to Boston, passing through the town, halting for a short time on the Plain by the meeting-house. Some of the citizens
209
CIVIL HISTORY.
1849.]
dragged the field-piece belonging to the artillery from the gun- house, and fired a salute in honor of this first appearance of a body of United States soldiers in the town.
1848. The town having no place in which to hold its annual meetings at the east end, a proposition was received from the Congregational society in that section to make such alterations in the basement of the meeting-house as would accommodate the town. The following communication was received from the society :
" At the annual meeting of the Boscawen Religious Society, holden on the Sth of March, 1847, it was voted that the town have liberty to con- struct a town house under the meeting house, with the understanding that said house should be at all times under the control of said society except when wanted for town purposes, & that the construction be un- der the joint direction of the society & town.
" E. K. Webster, So. clerk."
The proposition was accepted, and the house raised about four feet, thius obtaining room for a hall.
1849. The citizens of Fisherville feeling the need of an organ- ization for protection against fires, upon petition, a fire precinct was established, extending northward to the brook at the south- erly end of King street.
LINE BETWEEN BOSCAWEN AND CANTERBURY.
The bridges on the Merrimack not having been rebuilt by the proprietors, an effort was made to procure the construction of one on the site of the former Boscawen bridge, and one, also, on the site of the Canterbury bridge. There was at the time no free bridge on the Merrimack from Plymouth to Newburyport, with the exception of one at Concord. The town refused to entertain the proposition. The line between Boseawen and Canterbury was in dispute. Was it the east or the west bank of the Merrimack, or was it in the middle of the stream ? In order to settle the ques- tion, the seleetmen were instructed to petition the court of common pleas to appoint a committee to fix the line between the two towns. The committee so appointed decided that the centre of the stream was the boundary, and so established it.
The town voted to adopt ch. 133 of the Revised Statutes, rela- ting to the liens of mechanics. 14
210
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1849.
New hearses-those now in use-were procured during the year. The town passed the following resolutions :
" Resolved, That the selectmen be requested to search out any place or places in town where they have reason to think by their knowledge or by information from others that alcoholic liquor is sold ; that they pro- ceed against them as is pointed out by statute at the expense of the town."
The state constitution had been revised during the winter by a convention called for the purpose. But the town refused the adoption of the revision, forty voting in favor and three hundred and five against it.
CALIFORNIA EMIGRATION.
The discovery of gold in California created a great excitement, especially among the young men. Ships were chartered, from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, for San Francisco via Cape Horn. Other vessels sailed for the Isthmus of Panama, and voy- agers worked their way up the Chagres river across the Isthmus to the old city of Panama, and thence sailed northward to the Eldorado. Others, still more adventurous, started westward, mak- ing the long, tedious, hazardous journey across the plains, over the Sierra Nevada range of mountains, exposing themselves to all the dangers of starvation and sickness, or death at the hands of the Indians. The first emigrants to California from Boscawen were William and Jonas Call and Bitfield P. Burbank, who made their way to the land of gold by Salt Lake, suffering great hardships.
Jurob Servish.
[1850.
CHAPTER XV.
FROM 1850 TO 1860.
HE construction of the Northern Railroad brought about a new order of things. The tavern signs had disappeared with the stages and teams. The store-keepers found that their trade was diminishing. No longer were there rafts of manufactured lumber to be seen floating down the Merrimack. The river bank, in rear of the academy, no longer was piled with boards to be rafted to Lowell or Boston. Some kinds of property had greatly decreased in value, while in others there had been a sudden en- hancement, especially in wood and timber lands. Wood, for which there had been no market, was worth five dollars per cord at the railroad. Hemlock and chestnut timber, which had been considered of little account, rose to the former price of pine, while pine lumber made a corresponding advance.
1851. New and richer discoveries of gold in California, the opening of the Panama Railroad, the establishment of the Pacific Mail Steamship Line, and the marvellous stories told of the for- tunes made, produced a fever of unrest throughout the community. The young men, and many in the prime of life, started for the Eldorado of the Pacific shore, a few to attain the riches they sought, but the majority to meet with disappointment. During the year several citizens of Boscawen, with others from the sur- rounding towns, took their departure for California.
1852. Many of the farmers had set their fences upon the high- way, causing much trouble and expense to the town from the drifting of snow in winter, and the town, at the annual meeting, voted " that all such fences be removed."
During the annual meeting, two travellers from Vermont
212
CIVIL HISTORY.
[1863.
undertook to make themselves citizens, and to exercise the privilege of voting. They were discovered, brought before the moderator, and, having made humble apologies, were allowed to depart, after paying the expenses of their arrest.
1853. The selectmen were authorized to purchase Colton's wall maps for each school district in town. This was the first appro- priation ever made for supplying the school districts with maps or charts.
The cemetery on "Norway " or "Fowler's" plain, between Bea- ver-dam and Little brook, was laid out during the year.
Wood being needed for the town farm, the question was agita- ted in town meeting, and the proposal to purchase a wood lot was rejected.
"Voted that the selectmen be not authorized to purchase a wood lot."
The town passed a by-law, forbidding persons to drive faster than a walk over any bridge that cost more than $1,000. The penalty for such an offence was $1.
THE REBELLION.
1861. In all free governments there will ever be political parties. Well for the human race that it is so. In the free discussion of the great principles underlying republican government lies the liberty of the nation. Previous to the outbreak of the slave- holders' rebellion, party lines were strictly drawn throughout the nation ; but, with the booming of hostile cannon upon Fort Sum- ter and the humiliation of the flag of the nation, the citizens of Boscawen and Webster, in common with the great majority of the people of the North, gave their support to the government. The part taken in the great struggle by the citizens of the two towns is set forth in another place. [See Military Hist.]
1862. At a meeting held Aug. 4, the town voted $100 to vol- unteers,-to be paid to those enlisting in the town.
The sum of $2,000 was voted in payment of the same, to be assessed the following year.
1863. At the meeting in March, the town voted that no horses, cattle, or other stock be permitted to run at large, under a penalty of $2.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
1866.]
At a meeting in August, the town voted to pay each conscript or his substitute, when mustered into the service of the United States, the sum of $300; and the selectmen were authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding $10,000 in payment of bounties.
WAR MEASURES.
1864. At the annual meeting in March, the town voted to raise $3,500, and the selectmen were authorized to hire a sum not exceeding $3,000 for families of soldiers.
The following resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That whenever during the year the selectmen shall be officially notified that the town is required to furnish soldiers for the service of the United States, the selectmen be authorized to offer and pay, in behalf of the town, such bounties to or for volunteers as they may deem necessary, and to take such means as they may deem expe- dient to procure volunteers ; also, that they be authorized to borrow on the credit of the town a sum not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars.
The town purchased an iron safe, for the preservation of the records, which was placed in the town hall, but which, from the dampness of the place, proved of little value.
1865. At the meeting in March the selectmen were authorized to hire $33,000, and to issue coupon bonds bearing interest at six per cent., the sum of $2,000 to be retired each year.
"Voted, To raise 82,000 for the payment of the interest on the town debt, and $3,000 for the families of soldiers.
"Voted, To memorialize the legislature for a loan equalizing bounties paid to towns."
Although the selectmen had been authorized in the previous year to raise a sum not exceeding $100,000, only a third of the amount was needed to fill the town's quota, and the indebtedness of the town did not much exceed $30,000.
FUNDING THE DEBT.
1866. The indebtedness of the town to the amount of twenty- eight thousand dollars, was funded, and bonds issued in denomi- nations of $50, $100, $200, and $500, dated 2d July, 1866, bear- ing six per cent. interest, $2,000 to be retired yearly, till the debt should be extinguished.
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