USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Dublin > The history of Dublin, N.H. : containing the address by Charles Mason, and the proceedings at the centennial celebration, June 17, 1852, with a register of families > Part 54
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physician to acquire a good living. It has, therefore, happened, in former years, that some of the physicians have resorted to means of obtaining a livelihood independent of their profession, as, for example, Dr. Heald, who kept a public house and was also the postmaster; also Dr. Hamilton, who was a merchant.
Dr. Henry Hilliard Smith was born in Liverpool, Ohio, June 16, 1837. He graduated at the medical department of Dart- mouth College, in 1859. He was an acting-assistant-surgeon in the United States Navy, 1861-65, during practically all of the Civil War. Soon after this he came to Dublin and virtually succeeded to the practice of Dr. John G. Parker. He lived in the house, opposite the John Piper place, where Thomas Fisk, Esq., had previously lived. He died in Dublin, October, 3, 1911, having been for more than fifty years a physician, but not in active practice the last few years of his life, in consequence of failing health. His practice was formerly extensive, involving long rides into the country, at all seasons and under all condi- tions of weather. He was kind, sympathetic, and benevolent, and rendered many services with no other compensation than the consciousness that he had done all that he could for some unfortunate person. Dr. Smith was interested in all patriotic movements and always took an active part in the exercises of Memorial Day. He married the daughter of Thomas Fisk, Esq.
There were two or three physicians whose connection with the town was so brief and ephemeral, that we cannot obtain any information with respect to them. There was a Dr. L. K. Hatch, who came to town in 1851 or 1852, and remained about a year. There was also a Dr. George F. Harvey, who came about 1863 or 1864, and remained a very short time. Dr. I. W. Russell, a dentist, was in town for a short time, in 1855-56.
Dr. Hamilton Osgood practised medicine in Dublin nearly six years, from about 1891 until 1897, and sometimes in later years. He was one of the summer colony and not a legal resi- dent of the town.
Dr. Edmund Channing Stowell, a graduate of Harvard Uni- versity in 1888, and of the Harvard Medical School in 1892, has spent many seasons in Dublin, in a house upon the road on the south side of the lake. While living here, his professional services have been available, and his wife, Mrs. Sarah R. Stowell, also practises medicine. They have purchased what is known as the Shaker farm, near the eastern edge of Marl- borough and near the Dublin line, in the north-west corner of Jaffrey. A part of the land on this farm is in Dublin.
Henry HoSmith.
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Dr. Joel Ernest Goldthwait, a graduate of the Harvard Medical School in 1890, who had taken a degree at Boston University in 1885, lived many summers in a summer residence on what was once the Calvin Mason place in Dublin, but is now located in the southern part of the present township of Harrisville. He came here for rest, and his practice, while here, may be said to have been merely incidental.
Dr. Curtis Augustine Wood, born in Dublin, April 7, 1846, graduated at the Dartmouth Medical School in 1869. He prac- tised medicine a long time in Greenville, N. H. He returned to his native town about 1897 and lived in the house where his ancestors had lived before him, on the Peterborough road. He had a quite extensive practice and was esteemed by his fellow-townsmen. Dr. Smith's health had failed, and much of his practice now devolved upon Dr. Wood. Dr. Wood, while attending a patient, contracted an infectious disease, of which he died, December 1, 1902. Mrs. Wood did not long survive her husband. Their only son and child, Ralph C., lives upon the homestead.
Dr. Alfred Henry Childs succeeded to the practice of Dr. Smith and Dr. Wood. He was a graduate of Harvard Univer- sity, magna cum laude, in 1897, and of the Harvard Medical School in 1901. He came to Dublin in 1903. He lived a few years in the Unitarian parsonage, but is now living in the so- called Rufus Piper house, where Rufus P. Pierce lived at the time of his decease. Dr. Childs has been very successful and has a very large practice. He is now (1916) the only physician in town.
In the early period of the settlement of Dublin, it has been said that fever and ague prevailed extensively; but for many years past no cases have been known unless contracted in some other region.
No full record of births, deaths, ages, and diseases has been kept in this town. In the partial records in the office of the town-clerk, we find the births pretty fully recorded, but only a small portion of the deaths.
In the year 1777, the dysentery prevailed, and twenty deaths are recorded as having occurred in the months of July, August, and September. All, except one, Abigail Mitchell, were children or youths. There were only three other deaths recorded for the whole year.
From January, 1820, until the close of his active pastorate, in 1854, a full record of deaths in the town was kept by Rev. Dr.
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Leonard, the pastor of the First Church. The ages of the per- sons who died, and their diseases, when known, are noted in this record. Rev. Messrs. Bridge and Rice continued the same, with not quite the same degree of fulness and precision. The later pastors have recorded the deaths of persons whose funerals they personally attended, occasionally noting other deaths.
The following table shows the number of deaths at different ages, in periods of five years, between 1820 and 1852: -
Under one year of age 63 From forty-five to fifty 9
From one to five years 75 From fifty to fifty-five 18
From five to ten 20 From fifty-five to sixty 14
From ten to fifteen 26 From sixty to sixty-five 28
From fifteen to twenty 6 From sixty-five to seventy 13
From twenty to twenty-five 42 From seventy to seventy-five 40
From twenty-five to thirty 14 From seventy-five to eighty 23
From thirty to thirty-five 31 From eighty to eighty-five 34
From thirty-five to forty 10 From eighty-five to ninety 14
From forty to forty-five
30 From ninety to one hundred 8 Whole number, 520; average per year, 1614
This statement is from the former history. The numbers there given, and here repeated, make a total of five hundred eight- een. Dr. Leonard's total - five hundred twenty - was doubt- less right. In printing, a 5 in the last column of figures, in the manuscript, might easily have been mistaken for a 3.
The average population for the thirty-two years previous to 1852 was eleven hundred sixty-seven; and, of course, the num- ber of deaths per annum must have been one out of seventy- one and four-fifths, or one and thirty-nine hundredths per cent. The United States census makes the annual deaths per cent in the New England States one and fifty-five hundredths, or one death out of sixty-four persons. In the MiddleStates, with Ohio, the annual percentage of deaths is the same as that of Dublin, for the same period, namely, one and thirty-nine hundredths. This was nearly one deatlı to every seventy-two persons of the population.
From 1820 to 1852, eighty-seven persons died of consumption in Dublin. No other disease has proved so fatal. It has been supposed by some that it is more prevalent here than in other places; but, by examining other bills of mortality, we find that an equally large proportion of deaths are ascribed to this disease in many towns of New England.
The number of deaths in Dublin, during the above period,
C. A. Wood
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from scarlet fever was twenty-four; from dysentery, eighteen; from typhoid fever, thirty; and from croup, fifteen.
The number of deaths in each month of twenty-five years, beginning with 1820, was as follows: in the month of January, thirty-eight; February, thirty-eight; March, thirty-eight; April, thirty-three; May, thirty-seven; June, thirty-three; July, twenty-eight; August, thirty-six; September, thirty; October, forty-three; November, thirty-eight; December, forty-three. It will be noted that the number of deaths in October was un- usually large. Having seen that tuberculosis was by far the most fatal of all maladies during that period, the supposition probably proved to be correct that consumptive patients are very likely to die when the leaves fall.
It will be perceived that a large number of persons in Dublin have survived the age of seventy years, the whole number, within the period considered, having been one hundred nine- teen; that is, one death of every four and one-third. According to tables kept in Prussia, the persons dying over seventy years of age were one to eight and one-half. In Concord, N. H., a record of deaths, from 1805 to 1820, showed that one out of six attained the age of seventy and upwards. Dr. Leonard's object in presenting these facts was to show that the bill of mor- tality in Dublin was a most favorable showing as compared with statistics in other places. We feel that the same is true of the Dublin of to-day, although the facts are not at hand to enable us to reach a definite conclusion upon the subject. Tuberculosis seems to be much less prevalent than formerly, in proportion to the size of the population. In recent years, very few deaths have resulted from scarlet fever or dysentery.
In 1853, Dr. Leonard stated in the former history of the town that the following persons survived the age of ninety years: Daniel Albert, ninety-six; Ebenezer Hill, ninety-one; Widow Carlton, ninety-two; Widow Rollins, ninety-eight; Kezia, widow of Ivory Perry, ninety-four; Lydia, widow of Samuel Fisher, ninety-six; Olive, widow of Richard Phillips, ninety-five; Deacon Francis Appleton, ninety. Dr. Leonard also stated that Joshua Stanford, who was born in Sudbury, Mass., March 27, 1753, was still living, in August, 1854, in the one hundred second year of his age. He was then able to do some work. He could read without glasses, but his hearing was very imper- fect. He did not long survive the writing of those words. He died, March 20 (or 19), 1855, having completed, within a week, one hundred two years.
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The church records give the death of another Joshua Stan- ford, who died, December, 1855, at the age of ninety-nine. It is probable that the Rev. Mr. Bridge, who made the record, used the word Joshua where he should have had Josiah Stan- ford, a brother of Joshua, three or four years younger.
Since the former history was published the following names must be added to complete the list to the present year (1916) : Elizabeth, widow of Abijah Richardson, ninety; Isaac Apple- ton, ninety-one; Jeremiah Bemis, ninety-one; Mrs. Anne Augur, ninety-seven; John Perry, ninety-five; Rebecca, widow of Nathaniel Belknap, one hundred two years and one month, the oldest person who ever lived in the town; Benjamin Mar- shall, ninety-four; Betsy, widow of Rev. Elijah Willard, at Pot- tersville, ninety-five; Dorothy, widow of David Townsend, Jr., ninety-seven; Lucy, widow of Stephen Cogswell, ninety-two; Sally Smith, ninety-nine; Anna, widow of Col. Rufus Piper, ninety-two; Hervey Learned, ninety-two; Moses Eaton, Jr., ninety; Rebecca Pratt, widow of Moses Eaton, Jr., ninety- three; Tamesin, widow of Malachi Richardson, ninety-one; Deacon Jesse Ripley Appleton, ninety-five; Julia Piper, widow of Dexter Derby, ninety-two; Diantha L. Fiske, ninety.
Warren L. Fiske, Esq., was ninety years of age, March 12, 1916. Asa Knowlton was eighty-two, March 2, 1916. John A. Upton was eighty-two in June, 1916.
Besides those who were over ninety years of age at death, we have noticed, in compiling the genealogies, that the follow- ing had reached the ninetieth year, dying before they had quite attained that age: Jonas Brooks Piper, a former resident; Charles W. Gowing; Mrs. Olive G. Marble; Thomas Perry; Ebenezer Burpee; Mrs. Julia Piper; Levi Johnson; and John Wilson Learned.
att Child, M.D.
CHAPTER XVII
DUBLIN AS A SUMMER RESORT
A NY native of Dublin who returned to the place of his birth to enjoy the festivities of the centennial celebration, in 1852, found the town looking very much as it had looked for a quarter of a century. The farmhouses were all occupied, herds and flocks were grazing in the hill pastures, teams of heavy oxen were drawing large loads of new hay into the barns, schools were in session in the then ten districts of the town, each house being comfortably filled, and among all the families of the town, as a rule, there was a mutual acquaintance and a general spirit of friendship, love, and good-will. If any survivor of that festival were now to revisit his native town, and drive over the highways, and survey the different sections of the township, he would hardly realize that he was in the municipality in which he was born, so many and so far-reaching have been the changes.
The causes of these changes have been various. Deaths, removals from town, the loss of young men in the Civil War, the decreasing number of children in families (almost to the vanishing point in some cases), and the business attractions of larger places for young men who have received a better education than it was possible for boys to obtain when families - were larger, have all tended to depopulate the town. The chief cause, however, for the greatest physical changes which have been wrought in the place is the coming of the summer visitors.
The unsurpassed natural beauty of Dublin could not always be kept from the knowledge of those who seek to find an escape from the confusion and heat of a crowded city during the sum- mer months. Natives of Dublin were prominent residents and business men of Boston and other cities. Recalling the loveli- ness of their old home, their thoughts naturally turned to Dublin, to its green hills and glassy lakes, its ancient church, and its intelligent and hospitable inhabitants, as furnishing the ideal conditions for a restful and delightful summer.
Thus we find, as early as 1840, the daughters of Solomon Piper, a prosperous merchant of Boston and a native of Dublin,
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spending the summer with their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Piper. This may properly be called the beginning of summer boarding, by city people, in the town, which was des- tined to become a large business. Friends of these ladies soon followed them. In 1846, Miss Hannah Piper, a sister of Solo- mon and a member of his household, married Jackson Green- wood of Dublin, who lived where Mrs. Harriet Greenwood now lives. She arranged to fill her house with summer guests, who were charmed with the town and its people. Among Mrs. Greenwood's guests was Theodore Parker, one of the most vigorous thinkers of his day, whose life-work gave a great im- petus to the study of theology in the true, scientific spirit. Mr. Parker spent two seasons here.
About 1851, Mr. Solomon Piper purchased the house which, in a remodelled form, has later been occupied by Washington Proctor and John A. Upton. Mr. Piper used this for a summer residence. Perhaps this was the beginning of the ownership of summer residences in Dublin by city people.
Among those who early opened their homes to receive sum- mer guests, the names of Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Morse will long be remembered. Heretofore, the summer visitors had been accommodated in the lower part of the village, but when Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Morse received guests in the summer of 1857, it introduced this class of visitors to the very heart of Dublin's scenic charms, with Monadnock Lake in front of the house, and one of the finest views of Monadnock Mountain in the rear. Many persons of distinction were entertained in this ancient mansion. The Lombards were here in 1859. In 1863 came the Page and Jameson families. Mr. James A. Page was the principal of a Boston school, and is now the oldest survivor of those who have received honorary degrees from Harvard University. Mr. and Mrs. S. G. Deblois came here in 1866 and for several years afterwards. Mr. and Mrs. Wyman came on their wedding trip in 1867. Miss Mary Ann Wales came first in 1868, also the Bacons. Mr. and Mrs. James Em- erton were there in 1879. From 1857 until 1881, in which latter year the death of Mr. Morse occurred, this house was filled every summer with the best of people. Many of these boarders eventually acquired summer homes of their own in Dublin and are among the more prominent of the summer colony. After the death of Mrs. Morse, in 1884, the place passed into the possession of Mr. Daniel A. Dwight of Boston, who con- tinued to occupy it every season, until his death a few years
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ago, since which it has been in possession of his daughter, Mrs. F. D. Clark.
Mr. and Mrs. F. F. Myrick came to Dublin from Chelsea, Mass., in 1864, and purchased the Hayward farm, overlooking the lake. They paid the modest price of a Dublin farm at that time. In those days, scenic attractions would not have been considered in a purchase price. To-day, many times the amount given would be refused as a price for the estate. Mr. and Mrs. Myrick, rather reluctantly, consented to board for a time three young men from Jamaica Plain, Mass. This was the beginning of what proved to be a most important under- taking. In 1868, there came to Mr. Myrick's the family of John Osgood of Boston, which led to the coming of the family of Prof. Lewis B. Monroe, who married a daughter of Mr. Os- good. With them came also the family of Dr. Hamilton Os- good. There came to town, about the same time, Mrs. J. S. C. Greene and Gen. Caspar Crowninshield. Professor Monroe purchased the Myrick place in 1872, and made it his summer home until his death in 1879. A daughter of the Monroes married the painter, Eric Pape, and another daughter married the sculptor, George Gray Barnard. This place is still in the possession of Mrs. Monroe. The Greenes afterwards established themselves on the south side of the lake. General Crownin- shield built the attractive cottage now owned by Miss Amy Lowell, and one on what was formerly the Capt. Dexter Mason farm. It was largely due to General Crowninshield that Dublin became so famous as a summer resort. He was a man of wealth and social influence in Boston, connected with the most re- spectable families, and popular in the leading clubs. Through his exertions, persons prominent in social, literary, and cultured circles were led to select Dublin for a summer home. After his death, his beautiful Dublin homes passed into the possession of his daughters. One is now owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Constance (Coolidge) Atherton.
These experiments in summer boarding soon led to the open- ing of other houses for that purpose. This line of business may be said to have reached its height about 1879 or 1880, when no less than ten or a dozen houses in the town were crowded to overflowing. Besides those already mentioned, several other persons engaged in the business. Among those who came each season were many Boston school-teachers, and all who came, as a rule, were refined and agreeable persons, representing the best elements of the communities in which they lived. They
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found accommodations in the homes already mentioned and in the houses of John Gleason (who was succeeded by Rufus P. Pierce), John H. Mason, J. S. May, Mrs. C. May, George A. Gowing, Joseph Morse, Walter J. Greenwood, Samuel Adams, Jr., J. L. Adams, George W. Conant, Mrs. B. Estey, Mrs. P. F. Nice, Miss Anna Betts, A. R. Burton, Mrs. Persis Rice, Washington Proctor, Samuel F. Townsend, and perhaps others.
The business of summer boarding in private houses gradually declined, and visitors who did not own cottages were, for sev- eral years, entertained at the Leffingwell or the Boulderstone. The Leffingwell, long the only hotel in the town, was formerly the residence of a village merchant, whose store adjoined the house. It was a good old mansion and in some of the rooms the panels, cornices, and wainscoting were tasteful in design and attractive to guests. It was built by Joseph Appleton and was purchased by Dr. C. H. Leffingwell of Providence, R. I., in 1871. After being used as a private boarding house for a few years, it was opened as a hotel, in 1877, and called the Appleton House, from the name of its builder and long-time owner. It was managed by Dr. Leffingwell's son, Henry R. Leffingwell. The table was excellent, the rooms were kept in perfect order, the scenic views (including the whole Pack Mo- nadnock range) were of the finest, the air was salubrious, and hundreds of guests from all parts of the country enjoyed the comforts, the charms, and the quiet restfulness of this hospi- table inn. Large additions were made to the building from time to time, creating, at last, a rather fantastic structure in which it would have been difficult for an old resident to recog- nize the former home of Joseph Appleton. After prospering for more than thirty years, the business of this house, largely as the result of the building of cottages for their personal use by so many of the summer colony, began to decline. Finally, on the evening of November 22, 1908, this ancient structure was completely destroyed by a fire, whose origin still remains a mystery.
The Boulderstone, owned by Mrs. Richard Burton, con- sisted of two cottages on the easterly slope of Snow Hill, which were opened as a boarding-house in 1888. The appointments were calculated to suit the tastes of the best class of guests. After serving this purpose for a few years, the buildings were used as cottages for private families.
About 1895, the old Heald Hotel, which had been a stage tavern for more than three-quarters of a century, passed into
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new hands and was fitted for an inn. In 1899, Henry R. Leffing- well, proprietor of the Appleton House, which name was changed to "The Leffingwell," took into his hands this old tavern in the lower village and called it the Leffingwell Inn. The prices were somewhat more moderate than those charged at "The Leffingwell," but the accommodations were of the best. After the destruction of the upper hotel by fire, Mr. Leffingwell continued to do business at the Inn for a time, but eventualy moved from town. This building is a well-preserved specimen of an old-time three-story mansion. It is still used for a public house in the summer and, from its proprietor, Walter E. French, known as Frenchs Inn, and is patronized by a good class of guests.
To the summer boarding-houses and inns succeeded the cottagers, who now constitute the rank and file of the numerous summer colony. Dublin is divided ino two somewhat unequall sections by a high ridge of land extending from the northern edge of Beech Mountain, in a outhwesterly direction, to Monadnock Mountain in the south-west part of the town. This high ridge or watershed is the dividing line between the Connecticut and Merrimack River basins, or, speaking more properly, between the valley of the Ashuelot River, which flows into the Connecticut, and the valley of the Contoocook River, which flows into the Merrimack. The section of the town west of this watershed contains Monadnock Lake, the north- ern and western slopes of Monadnock Mountain, and many hills on whose summits and slopes are choice viewpoints which have been eagerly selected as locations for cottages by wealthy citizens of Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and other - cities. From most of the locations selected for cottages are fine views of the lake, Mount Monadnock, and the long range of the Green Mountains of Vermont, together with many hills and mountains situated between them and Dublin.
The first summer cottage, properly so called, in the town, was built by Mrs. J. S. C. Greene. It was begun in 1872 and occupied in 1873. The next two cottages were built by Dr. Hamilton Osgood and Gen. Caspar Crowninshield. These were on the north side of the lake. Mrs. Greene and Dr. Os- good afterwards built cottages upon the south side of the lake. These first cottages upon the south side were the beginning of a settlement sometimes called the "Latin Quarter." In 1879, there were eight summer cottages in town, five of which were new that year. Between 1879 and 1893, the number had in-
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creased to fifty-six. At the present time (1916), there are not less than ninety cottages in Dublin, many of them very elegant and costly.
Among those who have made permanent homes in Dublin, coming here from large places, are the well-known portrait painters, Abbott H. Thayer and George deForest Brush. Along with these should also be mentioned William Preston Phelps, a landscape painter with a well-earned reputation, a native of Dublin, professionally educated in Germany, who lives and has a studio in Chesham village, formerly a part of Dublin. Col. George E. Leighton of St. Louis, who purchased the Gleason farm, built an elegant summer cottage upon a com- manding position overlooking the lake. His son, Col. George B. Leighton, who succeeded him upon the estate, is a legal resident of Dublin, and his landed interests include five of the important old farms of the town, two of them being within the present limits of Harrisville. Much money has been spent in developing these farms. A large force of men is constantly employed upon them, and the dairy products, poultry, vege- tables, and maple sugar produced upon them have found a ready market. Miss Edith Page, who died in the summer of 1916, purchased the Derby farm, in the southern part of the town, several years ago. She was much interested in agricul- tural matters and enjoyed the development of her farm and dairy stock, upon which she spent considerable sums of money. Another gentleman who has become a legal resident of the town is William B. Cabot, who has built a handsome cottage near the village. He has been much interested in the exploration of Labrador and the north-eastern portion of the habitable part of Canada, and has given much attention to the languages and habits of the Indians of those regions, and of the Algonquin dialects.
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