The history of Hancock, New Hampshire, 1764-1889, Part 5

Author: Hayward, William Willis, 1834-
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Vox Populi Press, S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1257

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hancock > The history of Hancock, New Hampshire, 1764-1889 > Part 5

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Let us leave the sad thoughts of our mem'ry to silence; The future now claims all our noblest and best. As we buried the beautiful under the daisies, So we lay all our past in its quiet to rest. One thought for the red-man, who raised here his wigwam And sailed o'er the lake in his light bark canoe. No record is left of his home in the forest; Should we care for him less if his sorrows we knew?

And one for the brave man who alone as a hermit First reared on the hill-tops a rude, humble home; The spot has its record no hand can disfigure :

'Tis sculptured on granite, -'tis written on stone.

Tere

ete

HANCOCK CENTENNIAL.

We would honor the grandsires and matrons courageous Who followed in trust where their love bade them go. They nurtured their children with many a tremor,

For they tracked the wild beast by his path in the snow.

, Nor will we forget in our pride and in honor To treasure the thought of the brave and the true, Who for liberty gave us the strength of their manhood, And won for their country its triumph anew.

A century gone ! like a map we enfold it; Whatever is good there we know will remain,

It is ours by our birth-right, and thus we can leave it, And turn to the hope of the future again.

The century to come! who can tell what 'tis bringing? We place it in trust with the good God above. It is ours to toil on in the faith of the present, And do our whole duty in trust and in love. Farewell, then, old years! now we tenderly leave you - Years of gladness and hope, years of joy and of pain,

Years of hopeful endeavor, of trial, and failure.

If I could, there's not one that I'd call back again.

Farewell to each moment that swiftly is flying! It brings us still nearer the glad and the free, Nearer the hope of all goodness and loving, Nearer the heaven - the home that's to be. Farewell once again! as I count the years over, Each day has brought nearer my hope and desire,

In the sweet far-beyond for which we are sighing, And the love that is leading us higher-still higher.

Singing by the choir, after which dinner was announced, and the multitude were requested to keep their places, when all were served as expeditiously as circumstances would permit. For two hours basketful after basketful of tempting food was brought forth and distributed to the hungry people, and when all had cried "Enough," there were huge quantities left untouched. Everybody was filled, and everybody satisfied. The manner in which the multitude were provided for and entertained during the entire day was a credit to the foresight of the committee of arrangements and the liberality of the people of the town.

During the collation some fine selections were rendered by the Peterboro' cornet band, after which the choir sang "The Star- Spangled Banner," with band accompaniment.

J. H. Felch, Esq., was introduced as toast-master, and presented the following :-

" The past of Hancock contrasted with the present." Response by H. F. Robinson.

HISTORY OF HANCOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Mr. President, Sons and Daughters of Hancock :

Friends, - When it was suggested to me by your committee that I should open these post-prandial exercises, I hesitated at the thought of attempting to entertain so soon after dinner; but being assured that should I make a hit, I should carry off the chief prize, as first impressions are strongest, - should I make a failure of it, it would be forgotten in the efforts of those who are to follow, - I consented.

This goodly town, situated away back among the hills ard valleys of rock-ribbed, old New Hampshire, has an honorable record, to which the ex- ercises of this afternoon will bear ample testimony. Her sons have faithfully served their country whenever the security or integrity of her institutions have been threatened, and her daughters have graced the arts of peace. We trust the record will be such that none will have occasion to feel that we, who have entered into the labors of a noble ancestry, have been unmindful of our obligations.

We can well believe that in this great home-gathering to-day are very many whose birthplaces were in some of the quiet farm-houses nestled among the hills or in the valleys of this pleasant town; whose tenderest memories of childhood's hours and a mother's fostering love are indissolubly con- nected with these familiar scenes; whose earliest impressions of God and heaven were received from that mother's knee and from the sacred desk in yonder church; and whose parents and early friends, when they found the burdens of life too heavy to be borne, here laid themselves down in their last sleep. They return to-day with a feeling akin to that of Sir Walter Scott, who, in a moment of inspiration, exclaimed -

" Breathes there a man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own my native land; Whose heart has ne'er within him burned As home his footsteps he hath turned From wandering on a foreign strand ? If such there be, go, mark him well; For him no minstrel raptures swell. High though his title, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish could claim, Despite that title, power, and pelf, The wretch concentered all in self. Living shall forfeit fair renown And doubly dying shall go down To the vile depths from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonored, and unsung."

The early settlers of this town, in common with those of every new country, encountered obstacles that tested their power of endurance and their unself- ishness. How fully they met and overcame these obstacles, a township redeemed from a wilderness, and dotted with pleasant homes; a church, pointing with its graceful spire towards heaven; a " school-house planted on every hill"; a prosperous people, and a grateful posterity, - bear ample evidence. To the present generation, a history of the daily lives and strug-

W bici area

HANCOCK CENTENNIAL.

gles of the early settlers of these towns would read like " Gulliver's Travels," or a tale from the " Arabian Nights." And yet, this primitive life, with all its hardships and privations, has a fascination for me. Its simple and homely pleasures : its healthful food and early hours; its freedom from the worry and mad rush for wealth of our day ; its spirit of mutual sympathy and help- fulness, - are among its chief attractions. Well has the English poet, Gray, said -

" Let not ambition mock their useful toils, Their homely joys and destinies obscure, Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile The short and simple annals of the poor."

The early homes of this people, though deficient in nearly all those con- veniences which we are apt to consider essential to home-life, were not with- out their homely comforts. Among my earliest recollections is one of these primitive abodes, dismantled and for many years left to rats and decay ; yet imagination could again fill its deserted rooms with a mother's presence, and again hear its walls re-echo with childish laughter. The living-room, or kitchen, was on the north side of the house, long and low, with wainscoted walls and blackened beams. The fire-place, fully eight feet across, was the principal feature of the room. Nothing can exceed in beauty and simplicity Whittier's description, in "Snow Bound," of a fireside on a winter's night in a primitive New England home. Allow me to quote : -

" Shut in from all the world without, We sat the clean-winged hearth about, Content to let the north wind roar In baffled rage at pane and door, While the red logs before us beat The frost-line back with tropic heat. And ever, while a louder blast Shook beam and rafter as it passed, The merrier up its roaring draught The great throat of the chimney laughed. The house-dog, on his paws outspread, Laid to the fire his drowsy head; The cat's dark silhouette on the wall A couchant tiger's seemed to fall. And, for the winter's fireside meet, Between the andirons' straddling feet The mug of cider simmered slow, The apples sputtered in a row, And close at hand the basket stood With nuts from brown October's wood."

We must not forget the spacious oven at one end of the fire-place, from which came forth in tempting array pots of beans, huge loaves of brown- bread, baked meats, puddings, and pumpkin-pies, the flavor of which, once asted, never to be forgotten ; the dresser, with its array of pewter, wooden, ind earthen ware; its large and small wheels, whereon the mother and laughters converted the wool and the flax into yarn, which the busy loom converted into woolen and linen cloths. These the skillful fingers of the

HISTORY OF HANCOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

household converted into every necessary article of wearing apparel and for all domestic uses in the household, - from the coarse, striped frocks of the men to the dainty fabrics of the bridal trousseau.

The household fires were renewed each morning from embers covered the night before in the capacious fire-place. Matches did not come into use until about 1835. Before that time, should the fire go out on the hearth, it had to be renewed either from the flint and steel or from embers borrowed from a neighbor. Well does my mother remember the coming of a neighbor's child, in the early twilight of a winter's morning, to " borrow fire."

Charles Symonds was one of the first, if not the first, to introduce a cook- ing stove into use in town, about the year 1835.

Let us, for a moment, contrast the privileges of the early settlers with those enjoyed to-day : -

THE MARKETING FACILITIES. - In the early days of the town, the farmers, after the harvest was made, would load their teams with the surplus products of their farms and together make the trip to Salem, Mass., their nearest market. Oxen were used for the journey, for the first few years, but later horses were substituted. Each man on these trips carried provisions for himself and grain for his team, procuring hay for his team, and a mug of cider to go with his lunch, at the taverns which lined the roads in those days. Returning, they loaded with the necessary supplies for the year: a few bushels of salt, a quintal of fish, a side of sole-leather, a keg of molasses, and a few loaves of sugar, to be used for company and to sweeten the toddy for the minister and other guests of degree.

At a later day the " county road " was traversed by long lines of "pod " teams, transporting the products of the virgin soil of Vermont to the sea- board. To-day we have four railway stations in town, affording us as good facilities for handling products as are furnished in our large railway centers.

FACILITIES FOR TRAVEL. - The rising generation, that has always en- joyed the advantages of good roads, comfortable carriages, and the steam- cars, can hardly realize that our older people can remember when the so- called "pleasure carriages " were introduced. Some of these vehicles are still in existence, -heavy, clumsy affairs, with wooden axles, and capacious bodies bolted directly to the axles. Prior to this innovation, all journeying, for pleasure or business, was done in the saddle. One horse often served as a means of conveyance for the whole family - the husband in the saddle, the wife on the pillion, with perhaps a child in her arms and others at her back. A horse piled high with bags of grain, and a small boy astride the whole, going to mill, was a familiar scene.

Mr. Lewis Symonds tells me that his grandfather, Joseph Symonds, dur ing the first few years of his residence in town, was obliged to carry his grain on his back to Peterboro', to get it ground, making the distance ir winter on snow-shoes, by a line of marked trees.

Mr. Samuel Knight informs me that his father raised the first pair of cattle owned in town. While still very young, those steers were put to good use A large tub, - the scalding tub, - partly filled with straw, was placed upor a sled; into this the children were packed ; the mothers accommodated them

HANCOCK CENTENNIAL.

selves on the sled as best they could. To this the steers were attached, and preceded and followed by the men and boys, visits were made during the long winter months to the different settlements in town.

OUR MAIL FACILITIES. - A daily mail is one of the conveniences -the necessities of our times. For many years after the incorporation of the town, our nearest postoffice was Amherst. The early settlers were accus- tomed to take turns in making the trip for the mails. Later, Francestown became our office, and continued to be till an office was established in town in 1812, and John Whitcomb appointed postmaster. Letter postage, paid by the receiver, was twenty-five cents. But few letters were written; money was scarce, and the receipt of a letter was a calamity one had need to pray to be delivered from.

In means for intellectual culture and entertainment, there is no comparison between the past and the present. Books were few and hardly of such a nature as to interest the young. Public libraries were a thing unheard of, except in large cities. Newspapers were few, and their meagre news was stale with age before it reached their readers; but sometimes I question if the larger intellectual scope of to-day, made possible by our better facilities for education and our greater accessibility to books and periodicals, has not been obtained at the expense of the heart -if, in fact, it has not cost too much? Early in the century the Village Messenger and Amherst Cabinet, published in Amherst; the Nashua Gazette, New Hampshire Patriot, and the Portsmouth Gazette, were taken in town. The number of daily, weekly, and monthly publications taken in town to-day is not easily ascertainable, but it has kept pace with the growth of the town in population and intelligence.

In our social relations we fear we are not improving on the past. A spirit of mutual sympathy and helpfulness was engendered by their mutual depen- dence upon each other. The poor and unfortunate were always remembered in the annual " bees," by which neighborhoods were accustomed to help each other over the hard places in the year's work. Even to us, the young people of to-day, the simple pastimes of that early day possess a charm which our more elaborate and studied entertainments have not. Whittier makes the dear aunt " call up her girlhood memories : the huskings and the apple-bees," with their rough accompaniment of blind-man's buff.

The quiltings and the afternoon teas furnished an opportunity for the small talk of the day, spiced with a little gossip and scandal-a pastime which, by the way, does not belong wholly to the past. For the recreation of the men and boys, there was the annual muster of the old militia at Cork- plains, with its sham battles and unlimited flow of rum, election day and Fourth-of-July celebrations, raisings, and the annual bees.

The first two-story frame house erected in town was the one now occupied by Samuel Knigh, who assures me that every able-bodied man in this town and the adjoining town of Peterboro' was present at the raising, which occu- pied two days; and when asked how the company was cared for at night, he replied that it did not matter much about the accommodations, as there was a plenty of rum, and the festivities were kept up all night. Doubtless the 3

HISTORY OF HANCOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

most agile and fearless of them all went up with the ridgepole and " wet it down " with a bottle of rum, as was the practice at a later day.

We have had occasion to note that another " spirit " besides that of mutual helpfulness was present on such occasions, of which Shakspeare says, " If thou hast no other name, I will call thee Devil," and we have sometimes imagined that the helpful temper of the people of those days was owing in part to the leadings of this " spirit." Much might be said upon this point, but we refrain, as we have no wish to scandalize the customs of our ancestors. We are glad to be able to say, however, that as soon as our people generally saw that the use of liquors was wrong, they cast it aside.

The impression seems to be gaining ground that we are decreasing in wealth and population. I have taken some pains to inform myself on these points, and am glad to be able to make so favorable showing.

The valuation of our town never was as large as it is to-day. In 1850, when the first census was taken after Bennington was set off, our valuation was $387,130; population, 1012; number of polls, 199.

To-day our valuation is $421,528 ; population, 700; number of polls, 188; thus showing that while we are falling off in population slightly, we are gaining in wealth. I will also add that while formerly we owred a farm, where we supported from ten to fifteen paupers constantly, to-day we have not a single town pauper and only one county charge.

Just one word in conclusion to our young men who are casting about them for a location.

The edict has gone forth, "Thou shalt earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow." This, like all curses, is a blessing in disguise if rightly improved, and the only means under God by which a true and sterling manhood is attained. Wherever we locate let us remember that labor-hard, persistent, and self-denying labor- is the price paid for success.

To one who has a taste for rural life and pursuits we think no place offers superior inducements to Hancock. With our railroad facilities, furnish- ing us easy access to the best markets of New England; with our fertile farms and fine scenery ; with our good school, church, and library privileges ; with good roads, and best of all, an intelligent and progressive community,- certainly this pleasant town offers superior inducements as a home.

Young men of Hancock, upon whom the future welfare of the town de- pends, let it not be that this town has reached the zenith of her prosperity, but as the descendants of a noble ancestry who laid the foundations of our insti- tutions in righteousness, let us prove ourselves worthy of our inheritance.

" The Clergy of Hancock." Responses by Rev. William Clark, D. D., of Amherst, and Rev. Josiah L. Seward, of Lowell.

DOCTOR CLARK'S ADDRESS.

The character of the early settlers of Hancock was a guaranty that its chartered rights would not long precede an ecclesiastical organization. Among them were a goodly number who had been connected with churches in the towns whence they came, and hastened to secure the privileges of re-

REV. WILLIAM CLARK, D. D.

HANCOCK CENTENNIAL.

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ligious ordinances in their new home. An ecclesiastical council was called on the 28th of August, 1788, when a church was constituted, consisting of ten males and seven females. Thirty-one members were added to it before the settlement of its first pastor, Mr. Reed Paige, who was ordained Sept. 21, 1791, eleven years after the incorporation of the town.

Rev. Mr. Paige was a native of Hardwick, Mass. ; born in 1764; was grad- uated at Dartmouth college in 1786, and studied divinity with Rev. Dr. Em- mons, of Franklin, Mass., whose home was then the theological seminary of New England. He possessed a high order of intellect; vigorous, logi- cal, and enriched with liberal culture. He was thoroughly evangelical in sentiment, and an able Biblical scholar and preacher. While not eloquent, according to the present standard of oratory, his manner was impressive, and his sermons awakened thought in his hearers, as was evinced by com- ments on them by many, gathered Sabbath noons under the shade-trees about the sanctuary. A near-sighted vision required his notes very near the eye. It is distinctly remembered by one of his youthful hearers, that often his eye would glance from his manuscript and rest upon his audience with an elo- quent extemporaneous utterance.

A contemporary wrote of him : "He was justly esteemed a learned, pious, able, faithful minister; a firm patriot, a zealous and able advocate of his country's rights, which very much endeared him to the people of his charge, who frequently elected him to represent the town in the state legislature, of which he was a member at the time of his decease." As a pastor, he was marked for his fidelity to the office. His interest in the youth of his charge was quite exceptional for that day. Sabbath-schools did not then exist; but Mr. Paige adopted a method of instruction scarcely less valuable - recitations by the children from the Assembly's catechism, when making his parochial visits, thus explaining and enforcing simple Bible truth, and winning the affectionate confidence and great respect of the entire family.

The great benevolent enterprises of the present day were not then organ- ized. The New Hampshire Bible Society was formed shortly before his death, in which he took a deep interest, and he awakened in his people a like sympathy. Such ministerial influence could not fail to be pervading and salutary. It secured him a well-filled house of worship, nearly all the families in town being regularly represented at church on the Sabbath. It is also most happily apparent in the sober, staid, intelligent character of the succeed- ing and present generations.

His death transpired July 22, 1816, after a short, acute sickness, at the age of fifty years. He died much lamented, having had a pastorate of a quarter of a century.

After the decease of Rev. Mr. Paige, an interval of some six years elapsed in the stated ministrations of the gospel. In that period thirty-one persons were added to the church, and sixty-eight children were baptized. This in- terregnum was closed by the settlement of Mr. Archibald Burgess, a native of Connecticut and graduate of Yale college. He was ordained and installed as pastor Dec. 22, 1822. His pastorate commenced auspiciously. So long without a regular ministry, the church and community generally were hungry

HISTORY OF HANCOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

for the re-establishment of religious ordinances, and the many benign influ- ences connected with them ; so the young, promising candidate was cordially installed at once in their service and affectionate confidence.

In person, Rev. Mr. Burgess was one of "Nature's noblemen." Com- manding in presence, his whole physique betokened intellectual superiority. which was justly accorded to him, not only by his own people, but widely through the state. Of scholarly tastes and habits, he aimed to be an "able minister of the New Testament"; yet did not suffer his fondness for study, nor yet his naturally taciturn habits, to abridge the performance of pastoral labor. He was highly esteemed and valued as a citizen ; judicious in counsel, of few words; interested and helpful in the welfare of society generally.

As a preacher, his sermons were a happy combination of the argumenta- tive and practical in style, compelling his hearers to logically accept his conclusion, while the conscience was stirred by the pungency and earnestness of his appeals. His pulpit manner was impressive and somewhat unique. The introduction to his discourse would be rendered in a clear, distinct, quiet way ; but in unfolding the point in question, his well-modulated voice would adapt itself to every phase of sentiment, till he would become thrill- ingly eloquent. His public prayers, too, are remembered as exceptionally able, appropriate, and impressive. Mr. Burgess was an earnest advocate of the great Christian enterprises of the age, for which he trained his church systematically and generously to contribute, especially to foreign missions. In this department of benevolence he had a very deep interest and wide in- fluence, which was recognized by his election as a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Under his ministry, the church enjoyed several seasons of refreshing, in which three hundred and fourteen persons were added to its number. He retained the pastoral office until Dec. 18, 1849, -a period of twenty-seven years, -when he was dismissed by his own request, "on account of physical inability to perform his ministerial duties."

His death, occasioned by paralysis, transpired Feb. 7, 1850, at the age of sixty years. The departure of this beloved servant of God, in the meridian of his powers and usefulness, was very sincerely and tenderly mourned, not only in Hancock and vicinity, but throughout the state.

The third pastor of this church, Rev. Asahel Bigelow, was installed May 15, 1850, some five months after the dismission of Rev. Mr. Burgess. Mr. Bigelow was a native of Boylston, Mass. ; a graduate of Harvard college in 1823, and of Andover Theological seminary in 1826. He was installed as pastor over the church in Walpole, Mass., in 1828, where he remained till Jan. 1, 1849. In that time he twice represented the town in the Massa- chusetts legislature. His ministry in Hancock commenced in 1850, and con- tinued twenty-eight years. He died in office in 1878, though relieved from pastoral service two years earlier. His age was eighty years.

Mr. Bigelow was of medium stature, erect in person, of intelligent, benignant countenance, of affable manner, magnetic in social intercourse, and possessed of a well-balanced and highly cultivated mind. His style was classical, pulpit manner attractive, and public performances always appropriate, in-

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The history of Hancock, New Hampshire, 1764-1889, Part 5

Author: Hayward, William Willis, 1834- Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Vox Populi Press, S. W. Huse & Co. Number of Pages: 1257

Author: Hayward, William Willis, 1834-
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Vox Populi Press, S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1257