USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Salisbury > The history of Salisbury, New Hampshire, from date of settlement to the present time > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
(1839.) In the month of February occurred another destruc- tive freshet, which carried off many bridges. The rivers were broken up, and immense bodies of ice jammed up against the bridges, forcing them from their foundations. The ground was frozen very deep, and the snow was all melted. In this freshet Republican bridge was again swept away.
SURPLUS REVENUE.
March 14, "Voted that the proportion of the surplus revenue now in the hands of the State Treasurer at Concord, belonging to the Town of Salisbury, remain in the treasury to be put at interest for the benefit of the Town. Chose Nathaniel Bean as agent for the town to receive the interest on said money as it becomes due said Town."
IO3
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
There is no record in the Treasurer's office at Concord, to show when this surplus money was paid to the town, or that it had ever been paid. The State Treasurer of that time, it is said, claimed that he was a special trustee to hold this fund for the benefit of the town, and hence no account of it is kept in the Treasurer's books. The interest this year amounted to $1 17.50. In 1840 it was voted, "That the Selectmen be agents to apply for and receive the surplus money," and on the treasurer's book we find they received the principal, amounting to $3357.57, and interest on the same amounting to $193.27. Although there is no town record to show what became of it, we are assured that it was used towards building the town house and for other town expenses.
HARD CIDER CAMPAIGN.
(1840.) This year was the most noted of any since the foun- dation of the government, for the exciting political canvass for President and Vice President, between the Democratic and Whig parties, the Liberty party not having then been formed. It was a square contest. Martin Van Buren, then in office, was re-nominated by the Democrats, and General William Henry Harrison, "a war-worn soldier," was nominated by the Whigs. The Whigs charged the Democrats with being responsible for the commercial distress and the financial gloom which pervaded the country. They raised the cry of reform. The Democrats had been enjoying a long lease of power. Some indiscreet editor of some one of the many democratic newspapers in the country said that General Harrison was born in a "log-cabin." Some one ridiculed him as having been cradled by his mother in a sap-trough. Some even alleged that he was rocked in a hog-trough, and dressed in coon-skins, and was brought up on hard cider. These unwise and senseless allegations called forth no rebuke from the Democratic papers; and the Whigs, seeing their advantage, caught at them at once, and he was paraded in the papers, in pictures, in handbills, and everywhere, as the
104
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
"log-cabin," "hard cider," "coon-skin" candidate for President. What was intended as a reproach was immediately seized upon as merit. "Let him," said Mr. Webster, "be the log-cabin candidate. What you say in scorn we will shout with all our lungs, and we will see whether he who has dwelt in one of the rude abodes of the West may not become the best house in the country." The Whigs accepted the name of "coons," and gloried in it, while they called the Democrats "locofocos."
In April, 1834, John Mack, of Park Row, New York city, obtained a patent for a self-lighting cigar, on one end of which was a composition that would ignite by rubbing. These were called " Locofoco cigars."
In 1835 a division occurred in the New York Democracy. At a meeting held at Tammany Hall a brawl and tumult was raised. One party turned off the gas-lights, but some of the other wing, having some "locofoco matches," immediately re- lighted the hall. The Courier and Enquirer newspaper, in a notice of the meeting, called that wing of the party "Loco- focos," and the country accepted the name. The Whigs there- upon called their opponents by that term, while the Whigs were nicknamed Coons.
The Democrats had been a long time in power, and for three years all public enterprise had been languishing. They could charge nothing, but could only labor to throw off the responsi- bility of the financial ruin that had overtaken a majority of the business men of the country. So the Coons charged continu- ally, and it was said "took nothing back." The Locofocos had to stand on the defensive. On the 4th of July, in 1840, in a town not far distant from Salisbury, a gentleman stated before a public audience that it could be proved that Isaac Hill, while Governor, stole four pairs of cartwheels from the State of New Hampshire and took them to Portsmouth and sold them; and he asked with an air of triumph, "If he didn't steal the wheels, where are they ? Let him produce them !"
In this campaign three eminent speakers, natives of Salis- bury, took a very active part, and their influence in the campaign was very marked. They were Daniel Webster, Ichabod Bart-
105
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
lett, and Joel Eastman. Daniel Webster was at the zenith of his greatness and power. No man probably ever had manner, form and features, eyes, voice and action-all the attributes of a stump speaker-as Webster, in the "Hard Cider " campaign of 1840. Ichabod Bartlett was several years younger, and a brilliant speaker, while Joel Eastman had a commanding figure and a voice that could be heard at almost any distance, and yet it was like music.
At a hard cider, log-cabin, coon-skin, bear-trap, Tippecanoe and Tyler too Whig mass-meeting, in Salisbury, October 26, two of these distinguished men were present, Bartlett and East- man, and made addresses. Upon the election of Harrison, Daniel Webster was made Secretary of State, Joel Eastman United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, and Israel W. Kelley, the brother-in-law of Mr. Webster, United States Marshal-three important offices for one little rural town in the Granite State.
MR. WEBSTER AT SARATOGA.
On the 19th of August, 1840, Mr. Webster was at Saratoga, to attend a session of the Court of Appeals. He was invited to address the people on the issues of the campaign. It is well authenticated that this famous speech, in the beginning of the campaign, he intended to deliver at a mass-meeting to be held at Salisbury early in the summer. The meeting did not come off in the early part of the season, so it was delivered at Sara- toga. It was, no doubt, his best effort on the stump. It was in this speech that he spoke with such tenderness and regard of his father, his brothers and sisters, and his rude home in Salisbury. It does great credit to his head and to his heart, and it is most appropriate that it should find a place here :
"GENTLEMEN: It did not happen to me to be born in a log- cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters were born in a log-cabin, raised amidst the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke first rose from the rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence
106
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
of a white man's habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist ; I make to it an annual visit ; I carry my children to it, to teach them the hard- ships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive family abode. I weep to think that none of those who inhabited it are now among the living, and if ever I am ashamed of it, or if I ever fail in affec- tionate veneration for him who reared it and defended it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic vir- tues under its roof, and, through the fire and blood of a seven years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice, to serve his country, and to raise his children to con- ditions better than his own, may my name and the name of my posterity be blotted from the memory of mankind."
JUNE SNOW.
(1841.) On Saturday, June IIth, more or less snow fell throughout the State.
END OF THE WORLD.
( 1843.) Great excitement existed in regard to the final des- truction of the world, in accordance with the prediction of one Miller, who had followers in Salisbury and throughout the coun- try. So confident were some people of the fulfilment of certain prophecies, as explained by the preachers of this doctrine, that their property was sold at merely nominal prices, their shops were closed, and their farm crops remained unharvested. The appearance of a remarkable comet about this time, while it was hailed by the believers as a supernatural "sign," contributed to increase the excitement and consternation of the ignorant and superstitious.
A COUNTY FARM.
(1847.) May 7th, the town voted on the question, "Is it expedient to purchase a farm for the support of the poor of said County ?" Yeas, 52; nays, 54. Subsequently the countyde-
107
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
cided the question in the affirmative, and the result of their action was the establishment of a county house and farm, in the north part of the town of Boscawen, about 1864.
GREAT HAIL STORM.
(1851.) Wednesday, August 13th, occurred a notable hail- storm. This was preceded on the 9th, ( Saturday ) between the hours of three and four o'clock in the afternoon, by a terrific shower. During some minutes darkness prevailed to such an extent that print could not be read. This was followed by a perfectly clear and cool day, but on Monday the sky became overcast and towards evening the weather was as sultry as on the preceding Saturday. On Tuesday evening another power- ful rain fell, likewise accompanied with much vivid lightning. Wednesday was hot and sultry before the storm, which rose to a tornado, with lightning and hail. As first seen by our citizens it appeared approaching from Ragged mountain. The first damage in town was at the O. B. Stevens house. Centre Road Village escaped serious damage. Continuing over the hill, it struck William H. Moulton's house and barn, breaking all the glass, taking out the sash and shattering clapboards. The house of Frank B. Calef was struck by the full force of the storm, most of the glass shattered, and clapboards and shingles torn from their fastenings. Some of the hail-stones weighed two ounces, many measured five inches in circumference and at least one seven inches. The indentations made by them are to be seen at the present day. The course of the tornado through Salisbury was very irregular and at no point over a mile in width. All crops in its track were destroyed.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
(1852.) March 13th, on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, submitted to the town, the vote was in the affirm- ative, 189 to 44.
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS.
(1852.) For several years there had been an increasing interest in the temperance cause, and the question of passing a
108
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
prohibitory law, similar to one already in operation in the State of Maine, was widely discussed. Towns instructed their repre- sentatives in the Legislature in regard to their action on this question. Salisbury was a temperance town, and was willing to give a positive expression of her position. At the annual meeting this year, John B. Smith introdued the accompanying resolution, which was accepted :
Resolved, " That we disapprove of the use of alcoholic liquor as a beverage, and request our representative, in his capacity, to vote for a law to prevent the sale of "it in the State, and we hereby instruct our selectmen, in their capacity, to take all prudent, lawful measures to stop the sale of it in the town, except for medicinal and mechanical purposes."
AN INACTIVE PERIOD.
For several years the town moved on in a quiet way. There was but little enterprise manifested ; a few shops and mills were operated, for the manufacture of lumber or light implements. Schools were maintained, and churches were regularly opened on the Sabbath. The population gradually diminished, and real estate depreciated.
THE REBELLION.
(1862.) But when war was declared in 1861, many of the young men, anxious for a change in their condition, and inspired by a love of the Union, volunteered. By official action, the town encouraged her citizens to enlist, as will be seen in the chapter on the Civil War. August 2d, of this year, a town meeting was held, to take action regarding enlistments. Cyrus Gookin was chosen moderator.
Voted, "To pay to soldiers who will volunteer to fill our quota of the first three hundred thousand men, called for by the Pres- ident of the United States, the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, [each ] to be paid when they are mustered into the service of the United States."
Voted, "To pay all those who have enlisted since the war commenced, (except three months men,) who are now in the service of the United States, the sum of fifty dollars [ each ]
109
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
also the widows of said enlisted men who have been killed or died while in service of the United States."
On the 20th of October of the same year it was "Voted to instruct the selectmen to borrow five thousand dollars, on the credit of the town, to pay volunteers that have enlisted to fill the quota called for by the President of the United States, and who may enlist hereafter for that purpose, and also to pay State aid to soldiers' families."
The Legislature authorized towns to pay a given sum monthly to the families of soldiers who were in the service.
(1863.) On the first day of October, Voted, "That the sum of three hundred dollars be appropriated for each and every drafted or conscripted man from this town, who has been drafted, and has been, or shall be accepted as a conscript or soldier, or their substitutes, agreeably to the law in such case made and provided."
Voted, "That the selectmen are hereby authorized and in- structed to hire on the credit of the town a sum of money suffi- cient to pay the sum of three hundred dollars to each and every man who has been drafted and accepted, or may be accepted, as a conscript from the town, or their substitutes, and give the town notes therefor."
1869. July 7th, by an Act of the Legislature, certain terri- tory was severed from the town of Franklin and annexed to the town of Salisbury.
The civil history of the town for the years immediately ensu- ing is mostly embraced in the history of the Rebellion, as set forth in a subsequent chapter of these annals.
(1872.) In 1871 the Legislature passed an Act, providing for the partial reimbursement of towns for money paid during the war to meet the demands of the army. Bonds were issued, and the amount assigned to Salisbury was $7,975.00. These bonds the town sold and appropriated the funds towards paying the town debt.
ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.
(18SI.) September 6th was characterized as the "Yellow Day," and will be remembered as exhibiting some of the most
IIO
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
beautiful phenomena ever witnessed. The day was warm, even sultry, and the rays of the sun were obstructed by a curtain of haze or smoke. The green of the grass and foliage of the trees and shrubbery was converted into blue, while the prevailing tint upon other objects was yellow. At times the cloud was so thick as to cause a deep gloom, making gas or other light nec- essary for the transaction of business. The gas-jets burned white; nothing appeared to the eye in its natural hues, and the effect was like a magical transformation by invisible artists be- hind the scenes, with the world for a stage. Travelers in Eng- land, it is said, have witnessed similar effects from the sun dimly shining through a "London fog." The cause is undoubtedly to be attributed to the presence of smoke, which by a peculiar condition of the atmosphere was held suspended like a screen between the earth and the sun. As extensive forest fires had been raging in Canada and in northern New York and Vermont no other explanation seems to be necessary. The phenomena extended beyond the limits of New England.
CHAPTER IX.
OUR CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.
"Build me straight, O, worthy master, Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle."
A STATE GOVERNMENT FORMED.
That we may show the work which Salisbury performed in the organization of a State government, and in the original adoption and subsequent amendments of the Constitution, it becomes necessary to depart from the ordinary course of town histories, and give brief notes relative to the different conven- tions which were held to institute and perfect the Constitution of the State.
Governor John Wentworth, in September, 1775, issued his last official, but unexpected order, dated at the Isles of Shoals, and immediately returned to Boston.
On his departure the royal government was dissolved. There was no executive head, and the State of New Hampshire was practically "without form and void," so far as rules were con- cerned. The political necessities of the time brought order out of this chaos.
On the 14th of November, 1775, in accordance with a recom- mendation of the Continental Congress, the Fourth Provincial Congress of New Hampshire adopted a plan of representation, upon which an election of delegates was held. [ Prov. Pap. Vol. 6, pp. 657-8-9.] In this plan Boscawen and Salisbury were entitled to one delegate, and the whole number constitu- ting the convention was 89.
II2
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
This body, when assembled, was "Impowered to resolve themselves into a House, and remain such for one year."
These delegates when elected met at Exeter, "on the 21st day of December, 1775, and continued a Congress until the 5th of January, 1776"; (Fifth Provincial Congress,) "and then, by leave of the Continental Congress, resolved themselves into a House of Representatives or an Assembly for the Colony of New Hampshire." [ State Pap. Vol. 8, p. I.] This body, after this, and while engaged in forming and adopting a new plan of government, was virtually the First Constitutional Convention of New Hampshire. It adopted the Report and Plan of the Committee, consisting of Matthew Thornton and others, with slight modification, and this became the first form of govern- ment of the Colony, by the people for the people. A copy of this Constitution is published in Page 2, Vol. 8, State Papers. A fac-simile of the original printed issue is contained in the IIth Vol. of Town Papers, p. 739.
On the 5th of January, 1775, the Fifth Provincial Congress ceased to exist.
Having adopted the above Plan of Government, and having elected a Committee, it immediately became the "Council and Assembly of the Colony of New Hampshire."
This form of government "was not made permanent, but to continue during the present unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain."
Henry Gerrish, Esq., was delegate from Boscawen and Salis- bury in this assemblage. He was sent March 12, 1776, as a messenger to Orford, entrusted with letters to Colonels Morey and Bedel, and with other confidential matters.
This Constitution is believed to be the first adopted by any Colony or State in the Union. It continued in force from January 5th, 1776, to the first Wednesday in June, 1784, a little more than eight years and five months.
FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
A Convention was called, to be held in Concord, June roth, 1778, "For the sole purpose of forming or laying a permanent Plan of Government."
II3
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.
April 21st, 1778, Salisbury chose Capt. Ebenezer Webster and Capt. Matthew Pettengill, delegates to attend this Conven- tion, and they met the delegates chosen by the other towns and parishes for the abovesaid purpose, in Concord, on the day designated, June 10th, 1778. [State Pap. Vol. 8, pp. 757-8, 774-5.]
Rev. Mr. Bouton, in Vol. 9 of his Town Papers, p. 834, remarks : "It is much to be regretted that the journal of that Convention cannot be found. Search was made in vain by the late John Farmer, Esqr., and Mr. G. Parker Lyon, as also by the editor of this volume. Mr. Lyon was at great pains, how- ever, in collecting the names of the delegates to that Conven- tion from the town records throughout the State."
On the same page (834) and the three following pages, is a list of the names of the delegates thus collected, which list is doubtless imperfect, as George Jackman is put down as the delegate from the classed towns of Boscawen and Salisbury, when the fact is there were two delegates from Salisbury, Capt. Ebenezer Webster and Capt. Matthew Pettengill, as the records of the town show.
The adjourned meeting of this Convention was held in Con- cord, June 5th, 1779, at which time a Constitution was agreed upon, and copies sent to each town for ratification. [Town Pap. Vol. 9, p. 837 ; Coll. of N. H. Hist. Soc. Vol. 4, pp. 156, 157; Town Pap. Vol. II, p. 741.]
This Constitution, which had been sent out to the people for ratification, was rejected, but the state of the vote upon it no one has been able to find.
SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
On the 25th of March, 1781, the House of Representatives voted to call another Convention, known as the "Second Con- stitutional Convention," and which was to meet at Concord, on the second Tuesday of June, 1781. Capt. Ebenezer Webster was chosen as delegate.
The Constitution formed was submitted to the people and by them rejected. S
114
HISTORY OF SALISBURY.
In June, 1783, the same Convention met and agreed upon another form for a Constitution; Jonathan Cram, in 1782, hav- ing been chosen a delegate. This Constitution was submitted to the people, and the Convention adjourned to October 31st, 1783, to await the decision of the people upon this the third Constitution. It was ratified and adopted.
Upon the assembling of the Convention it made a declara- tion of the adoption by the people, and that it was established as "the Civil Constitution for the State of New Hampshire, to take effect on the first Wednesday of June, 1784."
The time from the assembling of the Convention, June 5th, 1781, to the declaration of the adoption of the Constitution, October 31st, 1783, was two years and nearly three months.
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, ETC.
New Hampshire was the ninth State to adopt the Federal Constitution. The first session of the Convention to consider the subject met at Exeter on the thirteenth day of February, 1788. The most distinguished statesmen and civilians of the State were among its members, and General John Sullivan was its president.
Salisbury sent, as delegate, Colonel Ebenezer Webster. It is a noticeable fact, that, to all these Conventions where wise judgment and careful deliberation were to be exercised, Mr. Webster should be chosen. At this time Mr. Webster was a State Senator, holding the office in 1785-1789 and 1790-1791, and was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Hillsborough County, from 1791 to the time of his death in 1806.
The action of Judge Webster, and of the town, in this Con- vention, is best told by Hon. George W. Nesmith, who is con- versant with the subject.
In 1788, January 16, Col. Webster was elected a delegate to the Convention at Exeter, for the purpose of considering the United States Constitution. A committee was also chosen by the town to examine said Constitution and advise with said delegate. This committee was composed of Joseph Bean, Esq., Jonathan Fifield, Esq., Jonathan Cram, Capt. Luke Wilder,
115
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.
Deacon John Collins, Edward Eastman, John C. Gale, Capt. Robert Smith, Leonard Judkins, Deacon Jacob Truc, Lt. Bean, Lt. Severance and John Smith. At the first meeting of the Convention, in Feburary, Col. Webster opposed the Constitution under instructions from his town.
A majority of the Convention were found to be opposed to the adoption of the Constitution. The Convention adjourned to Concord to meet in the succeeding month of June. In the meantime Col. Webster conferred with his constituents, advised with the committee on the subject, asked the privilege of sup- porting the Constitution, and he was instructed to vote as he might think proper. His speech made on this occasion has been printed. It did great credit to the head and heart of the author.
SPEECH OF COL. EBENEZER WEBSTER.
" Mr. President: I have listened to the arguments for and against the Constitution. I am convinced such a government as that Constitution will establish, if adopted-a government acting directly on the people of the States-is necessary for the common defence and the general welfare. It is the only government which will enable us to pay off the national debt, the debt which we owe for the Revolution, and which we are bound in honor fully and fairly to discharge. Besides, I have followed the lead of Washington through seven years of war, and I never have been misled. His name is subscribed to this Constitution. He will not mislead us now. I shall vote for its adoption."
A session of four days was sufficient to complete the work. The final vote stood fifty-seven in favor of the Constitution and forty-six against it.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.