USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > The history of Concord : from its first grant in 1725, to the organization of the city government in 1853, with a history of the ancient Penacooks ; the whole interspersed with numerous interesting incidents and anecdotes, down to the present period, 1885 > Part 48
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The late Gen. Benjamin Pierce, when governor of the State, in 1827 and 1829, wore his tri-cornered hat, short breeches, buckled at the knee, and high boots. The hat was the same that he wore when general of the Hillsborough militia, and was the last ever worn in Concord on a public occasion. This hat, and also the military coat which Gen. Pierce wore as brigade inspector of the militia of Hillsborough county, at their first organization, about 1785, were deposited in the rooms of the New-Hampshire His- torical Society, by Gen. Franklin Pierce, in 1840.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
The ordinary outer dress of the women in summer was tow and linen gowns, checked tyers, or aprons ; and in winter woolen gowns and aprons, thick woolen stockings, and cow-hide shoes. The clothing was of their own manufacture. Every house might truly be termed "a home factory." The females carded and spun their wool and flax, and wove their cloth in a hand loom. They also manufactured cloth and made garments for their husbands, sons and brothers. They could all understand without a commentary or dictionary Solomon's description of a virtuous woman : " She seeketh wool and flax and worketh diligently with her hands; she riseth while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household; she girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms ; she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She looketh well to the ways of her house- hold and eateth not the bread of idleness." We credit fully the tradition of those days in which the mothers and daughters of the first, second, and even third generation, bloomed with health, strength and beauty ; when their own fair hands disdained no sort of domestic labor, and they needed no " help;" when their most beautiful garments of " fine linen and wool" were of their own manufacture, by means of the hand-card and hatchel, the foot-wheel and the hand-wheel, the hand-loom and the inkle-loom.
These terms now require definition and description as matters of ancient history ! But our grandmothers understood them. In those days boys and girls-and they remained boys and girls till they were married-generally went bare-foot in the summer. Snow-shoes, as they were called, were then in common use by men, in traversing the woods, hunting, &c. They were also occasionally worn by females, as is authentically related of the grandmother of Dr. Ezra Carter, who lived on the hill west of Long pond, and of the wife of the elder Henry Martin, who traveled about three miles on the snow to Horse hill, to attend a sick woman ; and also of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Hazeltine, whose constitution remained vigorous one hundred years.
Snow-shoes consisted of a light piece of wood, commonly ash, about an inch thick, bent into an elongated curve, like an egg, about two feet long and one foot wide, till the ends met, which were fastened together so as to make a handle. About three
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inches from each end of the curved-bow was a thin, flat piece of hard wood, to which, with the sides of the bow, anet-work of strong, elastic leather strings was firmly fastened. On this leather netting the feet were placed for walk- ing, and the shoes fastened on to them by strings. The material of which the snow-shoe was made was very light ; the elastic leather net-work both gave a spring to the step in walking, and prevented its sinking more than an inch or two into the snow. The opinion is common that a person could walk faster and farther in a day on snow-shoes, than he could on bare ground without them.
The labor of females was almost entirely in doors. The only exception was that sometimes they assisted in pulling and spread- ing the flax which was afterwards to be spun and woven by their hands. As this article was formerly of great use in domestic manufacture, the method of raising and preparing it may here be stated. Nearly every farmer had a plat of ground for flax. The quantity of seed sown varied from one and a half to three bushels per acre. The stalk, or stem, when growing was of a pea green color and from two to three feet in height, bearing a blue blossom, which ripened into a ball that contained the flax-seed. When the flax was ripe it was pulled up carefully by the roots, tied up in small handfuls, left to dry on the ground a day or two, then set up in small stooks, and after being well dried was stacked in the field a fortnight or more. Then the seed was thrashed out. Next, it was sometimes immersed in water for a week or more, and then thinly and evenly spread upon the grass, to be rotted. This being sufficiently done, it was stowed away for the winter ; but as soon as fair days appeared in spring, there was a general turn out of the men for dressing flax. The dressing was to separate the fibrous thread from the stalk. This was done by the use of several implements, called the brake, the hatchel, the swingling board and knife. It was a laborious and dirty process, but a smart man would dress on an average forty pounds a day. Being thus dressed and twisted together in bunches, it was handed over to the good house-wife and daughters, to spin, weave, whiten, and convert into thread, cloth, and neat beautiful
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
garments. How they did it, I shall allow my friend George Abbot, Esq., to describe : "First, the hatchel was brought and fastened into a chair with a string or stick ; and the mother, with her checked apron and a handkerchief pinned about the neck, and another handkerchief tied about her head to keep off the dirt, sat in another chair; winding one end of the flax tight around the fingers of the right hand, and holding it, she drew the flax through the hatchel until it was thoroughly combed. Then changing, she combed in a similar manner the other end. Next it was snarled or wound upon the distaff, and spun into thread, or yarn, upon the foot, or linen wheel. What was drawn out by hatcheling was called tow, and it was carded by hand with hand cards and spun upon the large wheel. This was called tow yarn. From the wheel it went to the reel; from the reel to the loom, with which about every family was provided, and every woman knew how to use. Some families, however, hired their spinning and weaving done. Old Mrs. Elliot now glories in it, that she spent many a day in spinning and weaving " for Judge Walker's and Esquire Bradley's folks." Many other women either " took in work " of this kind, or " went out " to do it.
The custom of rising and retiring early was universal. The former was at the dawn of morning, and the latter by eight or nine in the evening. The oft repeated adage was,
" Early to bed and early to rise, Will make you healthy, wealthy and wisc."
" Going to meeting," as it was called, on the Sabbath, was for seventy-five years and more the universal custom. Elderly peo- ple, who owned horses, rode double- that is, the wife with her husband, seated on a pillion behind him, with her right arm encircling his breast. The young people, of both sexes, went on foot from every part of the parish. In the summer, young men usually walked bare-foot, or with shoes in hand ; and the young women walked with coarse shoes, carrying a better pair in hand, with stockings, to change before entering the meeting-house. The usual custom of those west of Long pond was to stop at a large pine tree at the bottom of the hill west of Richard Bradley's, where the boys and young men put on their shoes, and the young
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women exchanged their coarse shoes for a better pair, drawing on at the same time their clean white stockings. They left the articles thus exchanged under the tree till their return, having no fear that any one would be guilty of such a sacrilege as to steal them on the Sabbath! In a similar manner the young people from the east side of the river came on foot, erossing Tucker's ferry, and exchanged and deposited their walking shoes under a willow tree near Horse Shoe pond.
Going on foot to meeting was not, however, confined to the young people. Old Mrs. Elliot says, that she "always went a foot from her house, at the Borough, about six miles ; yes, and often carried a baby, too!" The first wife of Daniel Abbot, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel Abbot, used to go a foot, following a patlı across the woods, carrying a babe, attended by one or two children on foot. She would go early, leave her child at her father Abbot's, attend meeting; then, with babe in her arms, walk home. Married women from Horse Hill, a distance of seven miles, usually walked. This practice was indeed continued as late as 1825. The wife of the late Mr. Isaac Runnels says she has often walked from her house, seven miles, to the old North church, leaving a nursing babe at home. She would start in the morning about eight ; and going out of meeting immediately after sermon in the afternoon, walked homeward till overtaken by persons who rode on horseback or in a wagon, and occasionally would get a ride part of the way, and reach home at four in the afternoon.
It is remembered with pleasure that in the old meeting-house the venerable old men sat on a seat prepared for them at the base of the pulpit, wearing on their bald heads a white, linen eap in summer, and a red woolen or flannel eap in winter. This prac- tice continued as late as 1825 and 1830.
Among the ancient men who thus sat in the " old men's seat," the following are distinctly remembered : Reuben Abbot, senior, Christopher Rowell, senior, John Shute, Capt. Joseph Farnum, Samuel Goodwin, Moses Abbot, Reuben Abbot, 2d, Nathan Ab- bot, and Chandler Lovejoy.
The intermission was short -an hour in winter and an hour and a half in summer. The people all stayed except those in the immediate vicinity - and hence, as every body attended the same
34
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
meeting, a fine opportunity was afforded for every body to be ac- quainted. Old people now say that they used to know every person in town. Thus public worship greatly promoted social union and good feeling throughout the whole community. What- ever new or interesting event occurred in one neighborhood, such as a death, birth, marriage, or any accident, became a sub- ject of conversation, and thus communication was kept up between the people of remote sections, who saw each other on no other day than the Sabbath. Previous to about 1822 there was no stove to warm the meeting-house. The practice then was, for cach family who thought it necessary for their comfort, to carry a small hand-stove, made usually of perforated tin, or sheet-iron, fastened in a wooden frame, about eight or ninc inches square, in which was placed a little pan of coals. Those who traveled a considerable distance would step into some house near by, before meeting- such as Dea. Kimball's, Judge Walker's, Esq. John Bradley's, Mr. Hannaford's, Mr. Coffin's, or Robert Davis's, and fill up their little pan with live coals. This would keep their feet warm, and two or three dozen such stoves would, by afternoon, give a softened temperature to the whole house. At the inter- mission the elderly people usually stepped into Dea. Kimball's, or some other hospitable neighbor's, where they found a good fire blazing out from the great chimney, and, forming a circle around the room, sat and conversed of the sermon and any thing else that was fit for the Sabbath, making sure to hear and tell all the news of the week. There they would eat the lunch which they had brought, and one of the boys, at the motion of his father, would bring in and pass round a mug of cider - all relishing equally well !
On the west side of the old meeting-house was, and is, a horse-block, famous for its accommodations to the women in mounting and dismounting the horses. It consists in a large, round, flat stone, seven and a half feet in diameter, or about twen ty-two feet in circumference, raised about four feet high, with steps. Tradition says it was erected at the instance of the good wives who rode on pillions, and that they agreed to pay a pound of butter apiece to defray the expense. This horse-block de- serves to be celebrated, not only for the " aid and comfort " it
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ANCIENT MATTERS.
afforded to the elderly folks, but for the many glorious jumps off of it and sports around it, which the children have had for three generations. I believe it was an understood condition in the sale of the meeting-house that the horse-block and weather-cock should remain forever !
ANCIENT SINGING.
In the early period of the settlement, from 1730 till about the time of the Revolution, the singing on the Sabbath was led by some one appointed for the purpose ; he, giving out the tune and reading two lines at a time of the psalm or hymn which was to be sung - and the singers, with as many of the congregation as were able, joining in the service. What was called " Tate & Brady's Collection" was then used. After Mr. John Kimball, subsequently deacon, came into town, some innovations were introduced. Being one of the singers, Mr. Kimball proposed to Rev. Mr. Walker to dispense with the lining of the hymns, as it was called, on the Sabbath ; but as Mr. Walker thought it not prudent to attempt it first on the Sabbath, it was arranged be- tween them to make the change on Thanksgiving day. Accord- ingly, after a hymn had been given out, the leader, as usual, read two lines ; the singers struck in, but, instead of stopping at the end of the two lines, kept on, drowning the voice of the leader, who persisted in his vocation of lining the hymn! This was the first change.
When the meeting-house was finished, in 1784, it was fitted up with a singers' pew in the gallery opposite the pulpit. This was a large, square pew, with a box, or table, in the middle, for the singers to lay their books on. In singing they rose and faced each other, forming a hollow square. At this time the chor- ister used, for pitching the tune, what was called a pitch-pipe, made of wood ; an inch or more wide, somewhat in the form of a boy's whistle, but so constructed as to admit of different keys. Under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Evans, who was himself very fond of music, some instruments were introduced, which was the second great innovation, and attended with so much excitement and opposition, that, according to tradition, some persons left the meeting-house rather than hear the profane sounds of " the fiddle and flute." During this period Dea. John Kimball and Capt.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
David Davis are remembered as being leading singers. Master Flagg and Simeon G. Hall - the latter a son of Dea. David Hall - dressed in small clothes with knee-buckles, played the flute. About this time Watts's Psalms and Hymns were used in singing, and an old singing book called the Worcester Collection.
Mr. Asa McFarland was first introduced to Concord as a teacher of music, about 1793, and after his settlement a musical society was formed, which obtained an act of incorporation. The society was duly organized September 10, 1799, at a meeting in the old town-hall, and the following officers chosen : Timothy Walker, Esq., president ; John Odlin, clerk; Jacob Abbot, Jr., treasurer ; Timothy Chandler, Richard Ayer and Jonathan East- man, trustees ; Jacob Abbot, Jr., chorister ; Thomas Stickney, Jr., assistant chorister.
At an adjourned meeting, October 7, 1799, Nathan Ballard, Jr., was elected 2d assistant chorister ; Thomas Stickney, Jr., collector, and Jacob Abbot, Jr., librarian ; and a tax of twenty- five cents laid on each member.
To this society Dea. Joseph Hall made a donation of five hundred dollars, as a permanent fund,*" from a desire to encour- age and promote the practice of sacred music in the town of Concord," which fund, safely invested, has proved highly con- ducive to the proposed end ; the interest annually accruing there- from being devoted to the object. The following persons have
* Whereas I, Joseph Hall, of Concord, in the County of Rockingham and State of New- Hampshire, gentleman, from a desire to encourage and promote the practice of sacred mu- sic in said town of Concord, have thought proper to make a donation to the "Concord Musi- cal Society " of the sum of five hundred dollars in the funded debt of the United States, bearing at this time an interest of six per cent. per annum. Now, to the intent that a full understanding of my will in respect to the said donation may be known to the members of the said society and all others, whom it may concern, I do hereby voluntarily enter the same on the record of the said society.
Ist. The sum of five hundred dollars shall always be kept on interest, entire and undimin- ished : Therefore the payments which government may from time to time make of the prin- cipal of the aforesaid stock, shall, by the trustees of said society for the time being, imme . diately upon receipt thereof, be again put to interest upon good security, so that lawful interest upon the said sum of five hundred dollars may annually and forever accrue to the said society.
2d. The interest which shall arise upon the aforesaid donation shall always be subject to the disposal of the society in that way which they shall judge will best promote and encour- age the use and practice of sacred music in said town.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this thirtieth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and one.
JOSEPH HALL. [L. S.]
Signed and sealed in presence of Obadiah Carrigain, Philip Carrigain, Jr.
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ANCIENT MATTERS.
been appointed choristers by the Society, who were also leaders of the choir in the old North meeting-house, viz :
1799 - Jacob Abbot, Jr. 1806-9-James Ayer.
1800-Timothy Chandler. 1810-George Hough.
1801 - George Hough. 1811 -15 - James Ayer.
1802-Thomas Stickney, Jr.
1816-19-Samuel Fletcher.
1803 66 66 66 1820-1 -George Stickney.
1804-Timothy Chandler. 1822-41 - Samuel Fletcher.
1805 - Dyer Abbot. 1842-45 - James Ayer.
When the addition was made to the meeting-house, in 1802, the old singers' pew was taken away, but seats assigned them in the same relative position opposite to the pulpit. They stood in singing, but did not turn round. The musical instruments which were used for many years, more or less, were the violin and bass- viol, the flute and clarinet.
The first organ used in town was in the Unitarian meeting- house, and which was burnt with the house in 1854; the second in the Episcopal church ; the third in the South Congregational ; the fourth in the New North ; and the fifth in the First Baptist meeting-house.
Music has for a number of years past been cultivated as a sci- ence. In this, as in every considerable place, there are gentlemen wholly devoted to it, as a profession.
In the families of the original settlers, and also in those of their descendants of the second and third generation, religious order was maintained. The late aged Mrs. Hazeltine gave the writer the names of all the families that lived on Concord Main street when she was a little girl - about 1746-and says they all had " family orders" - that is, attended family prayer. Having very few books, the Bible was daily read, and the Assembly's Shorter Catechism committed to memory and recited by the children, who were also trained to habits of strict submission, and obedience to parental authority. Most of the heads of families also were members of the church, either on the " half way covenant," or in full communion, and their children were baptized. Commonly each family had a nice white blanket, called the " baptism blanket," in which their children, in succession, were carried out
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
to meeting for baptism. George Abbot, Esq., and his sister Betsey, wife of Amos Hoyt, have the white linen blanket, about a yard square, which was used as the baptism blanket for all of Dea. George Abbot's family, nine sons, and of his son Ezra's family, eleven in number. It has been used for the baptism of children to the sixth generation, besides being borrowed for the same purpose by neighbors. It is now more than one hundred years old, and not a brack in it !
The social manners and customs of the people in early times were simple, friendly and unceremonious. Visiting was common and frequent among neighbors, and often without formal invita- tation. When a company of neighbors was invited, the women went early and " spent the afternoon," taking their knitting or other handy work, and their babies with them. Their husbands either accompanied them, or went in season to take supper and return early in the evening. Tradition relates that on one occa- sion the women who lived near the meeting-house made a visit to their friend, Mrs. Elizabeth Hazeltine, living about three miles distant, on what is now called the Silk Farm, to assist her in quilting. Being young mothers, they took their babies and reached the house early, expecting to finish the quilt so as to be home by sundown. But night came on and the quilt was not out. Candles were then wanting, for the lack of which Mr. Hazeltine went to his wood-pile, and, pieking out a large pitch- pine stump, placed it whole on the fire. The light was wonder- ful -all but equalling the orb of day- enabling the women to finish " the flowers " in the quilt in the handsomest style. The husbands being now present, all partook of a well cooked supper, and at such an hour as a modern party begins, this closed. The babies were wrapped in their warm blankets, and each one placed in its mother's arms after she was seated on the nice blue pillion behind her husband; and all started for " home- sweet home !"
The suppers on these occasions consisted of plain, wholesome food - new bread, pies, dough-nuts, sometimes roasted meat, or turkey, with good cider for the men, and a cup of tea for the ladies. The ancient customs of the early settlers are still pre- served in a considerable degree in the " West Parish," and in the castern section of the town. But in the main village the
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ANCIENT MATTERS.
change is entire. This, however, was gradually brought about. The customs of old families-the Ayers, Bradleys, Walkers, Kimballs, Stickneys, &c., were modified and new ones introduced by new families that moved into the village. Among these may be mentioned the Harris and Duncan families, previous to 1800, who were reckoned genteel and fashionable. Col. William A. Kent, a gentleman of highly social qualities, and his wife, a lady of accomplished manners; Peter Green, Esq., and at a later day Hon. Thomas W. Thompson and family, took a lead in the fashions of society. The hours for parties were changed from early after dinner, to late in the afternoon ; then from six o'clock to seven, eight and nine ; and the hour for retiring till ten, eleven, and still later. Of course the knitting and other handy work which formed a part of the social entertainment of olden times, is not considered genteel at this day !
In the social gatherings of young people, of both sexes, danc- ing was a favorite amusement. Old Mr. Herbert says, "The young folks always danced, sometimes with a fiddle, and sometimes without, but when there was no fiddler they sung and danced to the tune ;" but he adds, " we always went home by nine o'clock." On particular occasions, such as ordinations, new year, and other times, there were evening dancing parties, in which not only the young, but elderly and married people participated. Although the parson, deacons, and other members of the church, did not " join in the dance," yet they would " look on," and admit that there was " no harm simply in dancing, though the time might be more profitably spent."
The amusements and recreations of young men were mostly of the athletic kind. "Playing ball" was always practiced, as it still is, in the spring and fall. Wrestling was very common ; but this took place at social and public gatherings, especially at raisings, when, after the labor of raising the building was over, stimulated by the good treat which all hands had received, they were dis- posed to show their strength in raising or prostrating one another. First, the sport would begin with youngsters trying their strength in the centre of a circle formed by spectators. Then older and stronger ones would come into the ring. Wagers would be laid, and a little more stimulant taken in would give wonderful elas-
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ticity and strength to the parties. By and by defiant and angry words would be heard, and it was well if a fight did not end the sport. The most famous wrestler and fighter of old times was Ephraim Colby .* The last wrestling match that is remembered to have taken place in the Main street was at the raising of Capt. Joseph Walker's large barn, about 1831.
It should be added that it was customary at all large raisings, after the ridge pole was fairly in its place, for the master-work- man to celebrate or dedicate the whole, by dashing upon it a bot- tle of rum, with three hearty cheers from the company. Atkinson Webster, Esq., says the last rum-ceremony of this kind that he re- members, was at the raising of the first Eagle coffee-house, in 1827.
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