The history of Newport, New Hampshire, from 1766 to 1878, Part 12

Author: Wheeler, Edmund, 1814-1897
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Concord, N.H. : Printed by the Republican press association
Number of Pages: 722


USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Newport > The history of Newport, New Hampshire, from 1766 to 1878 > Part 12


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LITERATURE.


THE LIFE-STREAM.


One April morning, when the Spring Released the mountain rill, I heard the baffled Winter wind Retreat along the hill.


The father-sun came bending o'er, And tenderly caressed The laughing prattler, as he drew His mountain-mother's breast. The rill, when tired of revelling Among the fountains full, Ran sparkling down the velvet slope, To sleep-a shady pool.


But when, as morning dawned again, He peeped the margin o'er, And'saw the beckoning buttercups Fast marching on before,- He could not stay ; he turned and kissed His sleeping mother-then Stole softly 'neath the lintel green, And rippled down the glen.


As childhood, in uneasy dreams, Flies through the green aisles dim Of some old crooning forest where Lurk monsters fierce and grim,- So fled he, as the stealthy roots Of gnarled and wrinkled trees Came twisting out the loamy bank His truant foot to seize.


In most fantastic windings lost, In meadows dewy sweet, To catch the jocund birds that flung Their music at his feet,- He wandered dreamily along Till day began to wane, And sighed, "Ah, me! I ne'er shall see My mountain home again."


He hurried down a rocky steep, A wild and reckless stream, And lay all quivering at its foot, At rest-perchance to dream


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Of that long way he needs must wend, The victories to be won, The blessings waiting at the end When all his work was done.


Day after day he travelled on .- Grew broad, and deep, and strong,- And turned the ponderous wheels of life To rhythmic flow of song : And while in all the strife of years He aimed to bear a part,


A white swan lay upon his breast, Her image in his heart.


One golden autumn afternoon, The traveller neared the goal With hurried step and lab'ring breath ;- He heard the thunder roll, But pressed right onward to the brink, Nor shunned the dread abyss,- His hopes all fixed on realms above, One last fond look on this.


Oh ! transformation wonderful ! Above that gulf, at even, Hovered a misty form of grace, Robed in the hues of heaven !


ALLAN M. JENKS, son of Edward A. Jenks, born April 17, 1858, is local editor of the Concord Daily Monitor.


BARON S. CROWELL, son of Samuel, though most of his life an invalid, was nevertheless an apt scholar, and had a vigorous intellect. He made frequent contributions to the public jour- nals, both of prose and poetry, which were favorably received. At his request, the article calling for the writing of the history of the town was, in 1870, inserted in the warrant calling the annual meeting.


GEORGE S. BARTON, while here in the practice of law, in- dulged his pen freely, both in prose and poetry ; the latter, however, was his favorite diversion.


AMASA EDES has published several addresses upon agricul- ture, temperance, and other subjects, and has been a constant contributor to the press.


J.L. Bowers


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LITERATURE.


SHEPHERD L. BOWERS has for several years been the regu- lar correspondent of the Boston fournal, and has otherwise contributed to public journals.


MARY DWINEL CHELLIS, NOW MRS. S. FRANK LUND, a native of Goshen, and daughter of Seth Chellis, Esq., has written, during her residence of eleven years in this town, some twenty-six volumes. Several of them were prize works, when she had numerous competitors, and in the writing of which she won valuable prizes. Her productions have been published in Boston and New York, and have had a wide circulation. She has also written poetry and dramas, and other matter for the periodical press. A writer in a public journal says, -


Hler books are in public libraries, and in Sabbath-school libraries of all denominations, and are marked by fine imagery, keen sarcasm, and moral sentiment, and they all bear the impress of the author's finished scholarship. She is an able writer, and a ceaseless toiler in the prolific field of literature she has chosen. She makes literature her profession ; and proof-sheets are constantly passing between her city publishers and herself.


The following are the titles of some of her more popular works : " Charley Wheeler's Reward," " Old Sunapec," " Dea- con Sims's Prayers" (took the prize among fifty competitors), " Molly's Bible," " Effie Wingate's Work," "Father Merrill" (prize book), " The Mystery of the Lodge." "Good Work," "Jimmy's Shoes," "Only a Plain Woman," a series of six books, entitled " Glimpses of Nature," " The Temperance Doc- tor," "Out of the Fire," "Aunt Dinah's Pledge," " Old Times," "At Lion's Mouth," " Wealth and Wine," "All for Money," " Ten Cents," " The Brewer's Fortune," " Bill Drock's Invest- ments," " The Old Doctor's Son," ".Mark Dunning's Enemy," " The Hermit of Holcombe," etc. In addition to the above, Mrs. Lund's eleven years' work includes many popular stories, sketches, serials, and lectures.


ALBERT S. WAIT, although a lawyer, and mainly devoted to his profession, has nevertheless a decided fondness for books, delights in surrounding himself with the choicest works of science and literature, and has a beautiful cabinet of rare specimens illustrating the science of geology. He has written essays and lectures upon various subjects. His lectures on


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HISTORY OF NEWPORT.


"American Antiquities," on "Spectrum Analysis," on " Greek Character," the latter delivered before the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society, and his Masonic " Reports on Foreign Correspondence," published in 1878, are among his most fin- ished productions. To him the author of this history is indebt- ed for valuable aid in the review of several chapters, and espe- cially for the one on Free Masonry, the composition of which is wholly his.


NATIIAN E. REED wields a ready pen, and has been a popular correspondent of the National Eagle and other pa- pers, and has written lectures.


LOVELL WHITE, son of Nathan, wrote "El Rio Colorado del Sur," a graphic description of the Colorado river of the South and its surroundings, as well as the Gulf of California, into which it discharges ; " Margaret Hemming," a story which had the honor of a republication in English magazines ; and " The Judge's Story," which was published in the Overland maga- zine.


ISABEL WILCOX, daughter of Calvin Wilcox, and wife of Judson M. Ewing, of Kansas, has a poetic turn of mind, and was much given to rhyming during her school-days. She wrote the "Class Ode" at the time of her graduation at Kimball Union Academy, in the summer of 1866, which was published at the time.


ANNE PARMELEE, a daughter of Joseph W. Parmelee, inher- its much of her father's fondness for books, and though still in her girlhood, has contributed several valuable poems to the press.


ELIZABETHI BRETT, while living with her father, S. G. Brett, at Northville, contributed liberally to the press, and was the author of several beautiful poems which were published at the time. The railroad depot now occupies the once charming lit- tle nook which surrounded that " Riverside Cottage " made classic by her pen.


FRANK H. CARLETON, son of Henry G. Carleton. born Oct. 8, 1849, early in life indicated a taste for literature. In 1872, the year in which he graduated at Dartmouth college, he won the " Grimes prize" for the best English composition, and wrote the " Parting Ode" for class day. He has been the


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LITERATURE.


author of several poems, and as " Deciplus " has been a liberal contributor to various public journals since his carly boyhood. He wrote several interesting communications for the press, while teaching at the South in the winter of 1871. At the close of his college course he became one of the editors of the Union Democrat, at Manchester. Ile went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was for a season connected with journalism. and was clerk of a court of record. He ultimately studied law in the office of Gov. Pillsbury, and is now in the practice of his pro- fession in his adopted city.


VIRGIL C. STEVENS, a native of Goshen, but who was for some time a resident here, went from this town to California, where he became editor of the California Whig.


BELA W. JENKS, son of Bela W., published a paper in Cali- fornia.


MISS B. AILEEN YOUNG, a native of Lisbon, N. II .. came to this town with her mother's family, and remained here until the time of her death, which occurred in 1871, at the age of twenty-two years. The year previous to her death she pub- lished a volume of 240 pages, entitled " Twice an Orphan, and other Sketches," written and compiled by herself.


CHAPTER XX.


LIBRARIES.


T HE charter for the NEWPORT SOCIAL LIBRARY was granted to Jesse Lane, Jesse Willard, and Samuel Church, and their associates, June 9, 1803. The by-laws, proposed by Rev. Abijah Wines, Hubbard Newton, and Arnold Ellis, were adopt- ed in 1812. For many years it furnished the main reading for the town. Its volumes, especially its more recent publications, were eagerly sought for, and read with the greatest interest, and exerted a beneficent effect upon the intellects and morals of the town. In 1853, the old, and what were deemed the less valuable books, were sold to the antiquarian bookstores, and the pro- ceeds reinvested in new works. It now has some four hundred volumes. As no appropriate room has ever been furnished for its keeping, it has had various homes. It has been kept at the residence of Samuel Church, at the James Breck store, at the Wheeler saddlery, and at the offices of S. L. Bowers. L. W. Barton, and S. H. Edes, the present librarian.


The SOCIAL LIBRARY, at Northville, was established about the same time. It had, for the times, a large collection of valuable books, which were much read by the people in that portion of the town. It was kept at first. and for many years, by Dea. Elias Metcalf, afterwards by Maj. Josiah Wakefield and by James Haven. It was finally divided among the share- holders.


There are libraries, containing many valuable works, con- nected with the Sabbath-schools of our churches. The cata- logue at the Congregationalist has a list of nearly 1,000 vol- umes ; the Baptist, 600 ; Universalist, a choice selection ; and Methodist, 1,000 volumes. The Methodists have, also, a libra- ry at the parsonage, for the use of their clergyman. The


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LIBRARIES.


Ladies' Charitable Society, connected with the Congregational church, has a library.


The Hon. Edmund Burke has a private library of over 6,000 volumes ; besides which there are several other private libra- ries of some 1,000 volumes each.


John C. Kelley, in IS71, transformed his bookstore, containing all the latest and most valuable works, into a circulating library, thus affording our citizens an opportunity to read all the more recent works without the necessity of purchasing. This library is still continued by Eleazer C. Converse.


NEWPORT LYCEUM. Newport has been blest with a good share of forensic talent, and hence lyceums, when undertaken, have usually been well sustained. The legal fraternity, among whom have always been able debaters, has always given it a hearty support. During three periods in the history of the town, the proceedings have been invested with more than ordi- mary interest. One, commencing about IS30 and continuing for several years, was supported by the old lawyers .- Amasa Edes, Hubbard Newton, Josiah Forsaith, and B. B. French .- and by Josiah Stevens, Simon Brown, and the then youthful Charles Peabody and William P. Wheeler. Another, about twenty years later, was sustained by Q. A. Gilmore, S. M. Wheeler, L. W. Barton, George Dustin, George T. Angel, J. W. Parmelee, W. M. Guilford, Benjamin F. Sawyer, and E. Wheeler. A desire among its members to be the star speaker led to thorough preparation, and invested it with interest. The most successful term was held some three years prior to IS70, in which the finest music, and a paper ably conducted by the ladies, were made to lend an extra attraction to the exercises. W. H. H. Allen, P. S. Adams, S. L. Bowers, L. W. Barton, I. A. Reed, A. S. Wait, H. H. Metcalf, and Marquis Collister were among the more active debaters. At the last annual meeting, held March 28, IS73, S. L. Bowers was elected pres- . ident ; E. Wheeler, vice-president ; O. P. Baston, clerk ; and Granville Pollard, treasurer.


NEWPORT READING CIRCLE. This circle was formed in IS33, and was composed of the young ladies and gentlemen of the village, who associated together for the two-fold purpose of


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HISTORY OF NEWPORT.


social enjoyment, and mutual improvement in literature. They met once a week, and listened to original and select readings.


PERIODICAL CLUB. This club was organized Jan. 6, 1844, and took nearly all the leading magazines in this country and Great Britain. By the by-laws, the members were required to meet once a week and exchange books. At the end of the year the files of the different works were collected together and sold to the highest bidder, and the proceeds invested in new books. This club, for a time, enjoyed quite a popularity. Another similar club was formed some twenty years later, and was well patronized.


A LECTURE ASSOCIATION was formed in 1859, and employed several very interesting speakers.


CHAPTER XXI.


FREE MASONRY.


BY A. S: WAIT, ESQ.


A HISTORY of Newport would be incomplete without some reference to an institution so much connected with the social interests of the town as has been that of Free Masonry.


On the 12th of June, 1816, a Dispensation was granted by William H. Woodward, then Grand Master of Masons of New Hampshire, to Arnold Ellis, Hubbard Newton, Samuel Rogers, Luther Delano, John Quimby, Prince Crosby, James D. Wal- cott, Samuel Marsh, Jr., Sylvanus Richards, Joshua Currier, and Nathaniel Woodward, to form and open a Lodge, at New- port, by the name of Corinthian Lodge, No. 28; and naming Arnold Ellis as Master, Hubbard Newton as Senior Warden, and Samuel Rogers as Junior Warden. The first meeting, as shown by the records, was held in " Richards hall" on the 21st of June of the same year, when the other officers were chosen, and the Lodge was duly organized. "The first regular communication of the Lodge " was " holden at Col. Luther Delano's hall, on Tuesday, the 2d day of July, A. L. 5816," and, as the records show, " the Lodge was opened on the first de- gree of Masonry." At that meeting Nathaniel Wheeler, Jr., was proposed for admission to the first degree, and at the next meeting, on the 6th of August, he was duly initiated. The second person receiving this honor was William Chency, who, having presented his application on the 6th of August, was ad- mitted to initiation on the third of the following September.


A charter having been obtained from the Grand Lodge of the state, on the 12th of November the Lodge was duly consti- tuted and its officers installed,-the first three being the same as mentioned in the Dispensation.


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HISTORY OF NEWPORT.


Nathaniel Wheeler, Jr., and William Cheney received the degree of Master Mason, on the Ist of April, 1817, and very soon Asa McGregor, Amos Little, Erastus Baldwin, David Hale, and many other prominent citizens of the town, as well as of several adjoining towns, were admitted to the same honor.


The first known practical step towards a temperance reform in Newport appears to have been taken by Free Masons, in their associated character as such ; for on the first day of Sep- tember, 1818, at a regular meeting, as the records show, Cor- inthian Lodge


" Voted, That no ardent spirits shall hereafter be introduced into our Lodge during Lodge hours."


When it is recollected that, even at a much later period than this, the use of intoxicating liquors was so common as to be re- garded as a necessity ; that it was an article of ordinary mer- chandise, sold in all stores, and dealt out openly at bars in all hotels ; that it was deemed an essential part of refreshment at all social gatherings, by all classes, clergy as well as laity, and equally by both sexes,-the significance of this vote cannot fail to be apparent. The writer well remembers a venerable Bap- tist clergyman, a near neighbor of his father, in an adjacent state, though not very distant from Newport, sending on Sun- day, after his clerical duties were over, for the loan of spirit with which to refresh himself after the fatigues of the day, his own supply having become exhausted. It is but just to say, however, that this clergyman became afterwards one of the first movers in the temperance cause, and labored earnestly for its success. To the Masonic institution in Newport must there- fore be conceded the credit of having initiated the temperance movement in the town.


In September, 1822, the Lodge met with what was justly deemed an irreparable loss, in the death of David Hale, its Worshipful Master, an account of which is given in another part of this history. Brother Hale was elected Master of Cor- inthian Lodge in April, 1821, and was reelected in April, 1822. On the occasion of his obsequies, a sermon was preached to a large concourse of people, by the Rev. Jonathan Nye, of Clare- mont, then District Deputy Grand Master, an eminent clergy


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FREE MASONRY.


men, and a distinguished Mason. The remains, borne to the grave by his brethren, including many members of distant Lodges, were deposited with the solemn rites of the order ; and his office appropriately remained vacant until the annual elec- tion, in April of the following year, when William Cheney was duly chosen and installed as his successor.


The membership of the Lodge continued to increase by the accession of worthy and useful citizens of Newport and adja- cent towns, until what is known as the " Morgan abduction," which occurred in the western part of the state of New York, in September of the year 1826. Any discussion of this occur- rence, or of its consequences to the Masonic order, would be out of place in a history of the town of Newport. We may, however, be allowed to suggest, that to the philosophical stu- dent of history, its careful study cannot fail to present one of the most interesting of the episodes of human progress. He will there see the people of a territory, greater in extent than that of Great Britain and Ireland, so deeply moved as to unset- tle all the social relations of society ; he will see political par- ties swept from existence, and re-formed upon new bases ; he will see brother literally arrayed against brother, parent against child and child against parent, husband against wife and wife against husband ; he will see churches riven to their very foun- dations, and Christian charity nearly extinguished in a Chris- tian land,-and from a cause which, in the light of former ex- perience, would have been expected to form no more than a subject of mere local inquiry. Thanks to a better civilization, that the melancholy events of the Popish Plot of English his- tory were not reënacted upon American soil. and that returning reason has to regret no sacrifice of human life in a cause as un- real as a phantom.


On the 4th of March, IS2S, the degree of Master Mason was conferred upon Harrison G. Smart, which was the last acces- sion to the order in Corinthian Lodge.


At the meeting on Dec. 1, 1829, there was received " a com- munication from Hiram Lodge, respecting celebrating the ap- proaching 27th of December ;" and it was " Voted. that the Secretary return an answer, that, considering the excitement


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HISTORY OF NEWPORT.


against Masonry, it is thought inexpedient to join the celebra- tion."


The Lodge continued to hold its meetings regularly each month, until May 7, 1833, when it was opened and closed upon the Entered Apprentice's degree, after which no records appear, and the charter was soon surrendered.


The following are the names of those brethren who held the office of Worshipful Master of Corinthian Lodge, from its constitution to the surrender of its charter: Arnold Ellis, IS16-17 ; John Quimby, 1817-19; Horace Chase, 1819-21 ; David Hale, 1821-22 ; William Cheney, 1823-24; Sylvester Partridge, 1826-27 ; Harvey Huntoon, 1827-29 ; John Silver, 1829-31 ; Benjamin B. French, 1832-33.


MOUNT VERNON LODGE. Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 15, previously located in the town of Washington, was, by author- ity of the Grand Lodge, removed, in 1848, to Newport. Its first meeting here was held on the 10th day of July of that year, Brother Jonas Parker being Worshipful Master, Lewis Underwood Senior Warden, and John Gunnison Junior War- den, all residing in the town of Goshen, and Daniel M. Smith, of Lempster, Secretary. At this communication, Brother Har- vey Huntoon, of Unity, acted as Senior Deacon ; Naylor Star- bird, of Newport, as Junior Deacon ; Oliver Lund, of New- port, as Treasurer ; and John Carr, also of Newport, as Tyler ; and Brothers John Silver, Harvey Huntoon, Naylor Starbird, Amos Little, Seth Richards, and Oliver Lund, all formerly members of Corinthian Lodge, were, on a vote by ballot, ad- mitted members of Mount Vernon Lodge, as was also, at the next regular meeting, Brother Mason Hatch, likewise a former member of Corinthian Lodge ; and the records state that " Re- marks were made by Brothers Chase, Silver, Huntoon, Lund, and others, interesting and highly encouraging to the cause of Masonry." From this period the Lodge has experienced uni- form prosperity, and its influence has continued to widen.


From the time of its removal from Washington the meetings of the Lodge were held in the building known as the Matson block, where a hall was fitted up for its use, until the year 1872, when it became necessary to provide more ample accom- modations for its largely increased numbers. Accordingly a


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FREE MASONRY.


contract was entered into with Dexter Richards, a mem- ber of the Lodge, for the construction of a suitable hall and other apartments for the use of the Lodge, in a building early erected as a dwelling-house by William Cheney, being the same which was afterwards for many years the residence of Dr. Thomas Sanborn, and which, having been purchased by Mr. Richards, was then about to undergo those transformations since the completion of which the building has been known as the Cheney block. Here an elegant hall with adjoining apart- ments, and ample for the accommodation of the Lodge, was, on the 13th day of November, 1872, by the Grand Lodge of the state, publicly dedicated to the patron saints of the order.


From this time the Lodge has steadily increased in numbers, until at the present time (IS7S) its rolls show a membership of 192.


The names of those who have been Worshipful Masters of the Lodge, since its removal to Newport, are,-Jonas Parker, 1848-49 ; Levi Underwood, 1849-50; Virgil Chase, IS50-51 ; John Puffer, 1851-52 ; Thomas Sanborn, 1852-53 ; James Karr, 1853-54; Benjamin M. Gilmore, IS54-55 ; D. W. Watkins, 1855-56; Charles H. Little, IS56-57; Charles Emerson, IS57-58; William E. Moore, IS5S-60; Thomas Sanborn, 1860-61 ; Jonas Parker, 1861-62 ; John Young, Jr., 1862-65 ; Matthew Harvey, 1865-67 ; Albert S. Wait, 1867-69; David McLaughlin, 1869-71 ; Josiah Turner, 1871-73 ; Henry M. In- gram, 1873-75 ; Arthur II. Ingram, 1875-76; John Young, IS76.


Its present officers are,-Worshipful Master, Frank A. Raw- son ; Senior Warden, William H. McCrillis ; Junior Warden, Frank J. Latimer ; Treasurer, Frank P. Meserve ; Secretary, Charles H. Little ; Senior Deacon, Charles H. Kelsey ; Junior Deacon, Elisha P. Fisher ; Stewards, Lorenzo Whittemore, Fred W. Richards; Tyler, Edward E. Stearns; Marshal, S. Frank Lund ; Chaplain, A. V. Hitchcock.


CHAPTER OF THE TABERNACLE. Until the year 1872, Free Masonry in Newport was principally confined to the lodge. On the 19th day of June of that year, a Dispensation was grant- ed, by Edward Gustine, of Keene, Grand High Priest of the state, to Albert S. Wait, of Newport, John Young, of Sunapee,


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HISTORY OF NEWPORT.


Albina H. Powers, of Croydon, and nine other Royal Arch Masons, all members of Webb Chapter at Claremont, to open a Royal Arch Chapter at Newport, by the name of the " Chap- ter of the Tabernacle," in which the three Companions named were designated, respectively, High Priest, King, and Scribe. The first Convocation under this Dispensation was held on the 15th of July ; and there were at that time presented the appli- cations of ten brother Master Masons for the degrees in the new Chapter, and they all in due course received the several degrees from Mark Master to Royal Arch Mason. At the Con- vocation of the Grand Chapter of the state, in May, 1873, a charter was granted to this Chapter; and on the 19th of the following February it was duly constituted and its officers in- stalled. The number of members now upon the rolls of the Chapter of the Tabernacle is thirty-five. The office of High Priest was held by A. S. Wait until the annual Convocation on the 7th of April, 1876, when he was succeeded by Ashton W. Rounsevel, Nathan S. Johnson being at the same time chosen King, and George E. Dame, Scribe. The present officers of the Chapter (1878) are,-George C. Edes, High Priest ; D. George Chadwick, King; Henry M. Ingram, Scribe ; Perley S. Coffin, Treasurer ; Charles H. Little, Secretary ; Arthur H. Ingram, Captain of the Host; Alonzo D. Howard, Principal Sojourner ; Oliver Call, Royal Arch Captain ; Morris J. Em- mons, Abiathar Richards, Arial A. Huntoon, Masters of the Veils; George W. Tilton, Charles L. Brockway, Stewards ; Edwin M. Hunton, Tyler.




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