USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Sutton > The history of Sutton, New Hampshire : consisting of the historical collections of Erastus Wadleigh, Esq., and A. H. Worthen, part 1 > Part 14
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SEVERE SNOW-STORM.
Oct. 7, 1804. On this day occurred a remarkable snow-storm. Almost a foot of snow fell, the greater part of the potatoes and apples being buried under the snow. In the open fields the snow grad- ually melted and disappeared, but in some cold spots secluded from the sun, it lay till the next spring.
THE GREAT GALE OF SEPTEMBER 25, 1815.
This was the greatest which had ever occurred in New England. It swept from the sea-coast of Massachusetts over the southern part of New Hampshire. Such was its violence and strength that the atmosphere was filled with the salt spray from the ocean. All kinds of fruits,-apples, pears,
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and grapes,-were impregnated with the salt and to as great an extent as if they had been dipped in brine. Forests were laid low, and windrows of trees marked the track of the devastating hurri- cane. The morning was dark with clouds and rain, and the east wind momentarily increased. The gale commenced about noon, and rain fell rapidly. Great damage was done to wood and timber.
The great gale of September 9, 1821, was not unlike the gale of September 25, 1815, and did nearly as much damage,-forests levelled and build- ings blown down. This was the great tornado which occurred about 5 o'clock p. m., Sunday, and was very destructive to forests, houses, and every- thing in its narrow path of half a mile, in Sutton and especially in Kearsarge Gore. The following account of its doings in Sutton was prepared by Erastus Wadleigh, Esq .:
Standing on the front of my father's house, Benjamin Wadleigh's, the day being Sunday, about five o'clock, P. M., we observed black clouds rising rapidly, bearing south-easterly, in the vicinity of Sun- apee lake, accompanied with continuous lightning and roaring. Above and below everything seemed in frightful commotion.
The tornado struck Sutton westerly of Harvey's mills, near the White lot, passing through Dea. Josiah Nichols's farm, prostrating his entire wood lot, south-east of his buildings, and a short distance to the south, where resided Stephen Woodward and son. After it had passed here, Mr. Woodward and family, to their surprise, were in plain sight of New London village, which had ever been hid from them by the intervening woods. From Dea. Nichols's it passed by the south end of Chadwick's meadow near the bridge, thence a little south of Ira Rowell's near Critchett's hill, destroying all the wood on the Edmund Chadwick farm. From Critchett's hill it passed through the large, dense pine forest of Hon. Jonathan
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Harvey, above North Sutton village, to the adjoining farms of Dea. Benjamin Fowler and Elder Elijah Watson.
At the residence of the latter there was a religious meeting, and the room was filled with worshippers. The north door was wide open. Elbridge G. King, then a young man of twenty-two years, sat near the door, and, feeling the force of the wind, sprang with almost lightning speed and with tremendous effort closed the door, and thus, in all probability, saved the house and its inmates from harm. The adjoining barn and out-buildings were entirely de- molished, and thrown in every direction.
Fences, forests, and all movable matter were scattered promis- cuously. Dea. Fowler resided about fifty or sixty rods south. His was a large, double two-story house fronting to the west, with an L on the east. The tornado crashed a hole through the north end of the front chambers, tearing away the partitions between the cham- bers, passing out at the south end, taking all the furniture and mov- ables from them. Some of the furniture was afterwards found in the towns of Andover and Salisbury. The family were in the L part, and were not injured. Near by were the large barn, cider- mill, and other buildings, which were blown down and scattered in every direction ; only a portion of the hay in the great bay was left. The forest, fences, and implements, and all kinds of personal property, were destroyed or blown away. The adjoining orchards of Dea. Fowler and Isaac Mastin near by were blown over, cattle and other stock were damaged, and everything lay exposed.
The tornado then passed to the valuable and extensive wood lots of Isaac and Jacob Mastin, prostrating as it went forests, fences, and everything in its way. Thence it went near the Parker farm, thence southerly near Warner line, east of Daniel Mastin's, through Benjamin Wadleigh's mountain lot, near the Gore road at Warner line.
We, at home, had no intimation of all its disastrous consequences till Monday morning. A militia training was to take place at North Sutton that day, at one o'clock P. M. The writer of this, then a boy of thirteen years, attended with his father, who was a soldier. After the company was brought into line, Captain Levi Fowler, son of Dea. Benjamin Fowler, informed then of the great need of help that the sufferers by the tornado were experiencing, and said there would be no military duty required, and such as chose could go to their relief. The soldiers, boys, and all hastened to the place of
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REMARKABLE NATURAL EVENTS.
distress, rendering such aid as they could. One party, of which the writer was a member, set to work to right up the apple-trees. Some of these trees are yet standing in a bearing condition, slanting to the south-east, in the direction in which they were blown.
The area passed over, doing damage in Sutton, was about ten thousand acres, extending from near the north-west corner of the town, passing almost the entire width diagonally, striking Warner line a little south of the centre of the eastern line of Sutton, a dis- tance of about six miles, which was the centre of the tornado. The damage done in this town could not be less than from six to ten thousand dollars.
We have merely referred to this remarkable tornado or cyclone through Sutton. Other portions of its course have often been described more accurately than we are able to do. Dea. Fowler, the one of all others who suffered most by the tornado, was then past the meridian of life, and, becoming disheartened, soon after disposed of his remaining property, and, leaving the scene of his great misfortune, removed to Orange with his son, Micajah, where he had several married daughters, and where he spent the remain- der of his days. By his departure the town lost one of its noblest citizens, and the church a strong right arm.
Governor Harriman, in his " History of Warner," says,-" The tornado passed across the northerly part of Sutton, cutting a swath through the forests which is visible to this day." The woods where this hurricane did its worst damage have always been known as "The Hurricane Woods."
THE GREAT FROST, 1794.
The spring of 1794 was very forward, but on June 17 occurred what was called the Great Frost, destroying the grain crop for the year and most of the fruit. But it also destroyed the canker- worms which had been previously so destructive to vegetation. Ice one inch thick formed on tubs of water standing in the open air.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
POVERTY YEAR, 1816.
This year was long known as Poverty Year. It was a remarkably cold year, the season for grow- ing crops being " cut short at both ends." The late frosts of the spring and the early frosts of the autumn made the corn crop a total failure. Still, of spring grain there was a medium crop, while pota- toes were good and apples plenty. In some parts of New Hampshire snow fell to the depth of several inches in June, and in September corn froze to the centre of the cob, and apples froze upon the trees.
MACKEREL YEAR, 1817.
So called because no meat being raised the year before, the people depended upon mackerel for animal food for themselves.
THE AURORA BOREALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS, 1721.
This wonderful phenomenon was seen for the first time in New England in 1721.
GREAT FRESHET OF 1824.
On the 11th and 12th of February, 1824, a great amount of rain fell, by which the streams in our section of the country were so swollen that many bridges were carried away. Salisbury, Boscawen, Warner, and other places suffered much loss, as well as Sutton.
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REMARKABLE NATURAL EVENTS.
GREAT AUGUST FRESHET OF 1826.
Scarcely any rain had fallen through the sum- mer, and with the severe drouth came an innumer- able multitude of grasshoppers which did immense damage. The great rain flood of August 28, how- ever, which carried off so many bridges, carried off the grasshoppers as well, so that there was some reason for thankfulness even in the midst of the wholesale destruction caused by this freshet. On Monday, August 28, rain began to fall in the fore- noon-that is, occasional showers, accompanied with thunder. From three o'clock till ten P. M. it fell in torrents continuously, more than twelve inches fall- ing in six hours. The mountain streams, of course, rose rapidly, and in some their course was changed by the bursting through of their former barriers. Every bridge across the Blackwater except one (at Sweatt's mills) was carried away, and other streams, of course, in this vicinity fared no better. This was the freshet which caused the land-slide at the White Mountains whereby the Willey family lost their lives. The following account of the effects of this flood in Sutton was supplied by the recollections of Mr. Jacob Mastin, in 1867 :
"The storm was more violent than any ever before known. The rain came down in sheets and floods. The grass- and potato- and corn-fields in the intervales were quickly covered with water four feet deep, and so great a deposit of gravel-stones and rocks was left that the fields were then sup- posed to be ruined, and many of them were not cultivated for twenty years afterwards.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
"A torrent came roaring down Kearsarge moun- tain, bearing along whole trees and rocks weighing tons, tearing out a channel as wide as Connecticut river, and depositing all its frightful burdens in the valleys and intervales below. It changed the course of one of the main tributaries of Stevens's brook from the Warner to the Blackwater river. It carried away a log-house and a saw-mill from the base of the mountain so entirely that no ves- tige of them met the owner's eyes in the morning. It filled Merrill Roby's yard with stones, washed away every part of the foundation stones of his house, and deposited a pair of cart-wheels in place of them."
The awful gulfs and ravines created by this freshet are not even now obliterated, as a visit ยท made in 1888 to the scene of the greatest of the land-slides fully testified. The vast chasm is not filled up, and loose gravel yet rattles down its sides, though great forests have had time to grow in the denuded valley below.
GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
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The first settlement was at Dover, in 1623. Other settlements followed, but they remained scat- tered and feeble, and in 1641 they united with their more flourishing and powerful neighbor, Massachu- setts. This union continued till 1680, when, by the authority of the king of England, New Hamp- shire became a separate province, John Cutt, Esq., of Portsmouth, being appointed president. New Hampshire was again united with Massachusetts, under the presidency of Joseph Dudley, in 1686; also, under that of Andros, in 1687, and of Brad- street, in 1689.
From 1692 New Hampshire had a separate gov- ernment again, under Usher, Partridge, and Allen, for ten years, when Dudley was again appointed governor, having, also, Massachusetts under his charge.
The two governments were thus again united, and so continued from 1702 to 1741, at which latter date Benning Wentworth, a graduate of Harvard college, was appointed governor of New Hamp- shire. He was succeeded in this office by his nephew, John Wentworth, in 1767, whose term of office closed with the breaking out of the Revolu- tion. New Hampshire continued under the Pro- vincial government till 1775, when, by the flight of the governor from the province, the royal authority
15
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
was at an end, and the people assumed to govern themselves.
By a convention chosen for that purpose a form of government was adopted at Exeter, Jan. 5, 1776, and under this act a government was duly organ- ized, which continued in operation till 1784, though there were unsuccessful attempts to change it in 1779 and in 1781.
In 1777 the subject of a form of state government was agitated in the legislature, and the sense of the people was requested to be taken on the subject. A convention was called to meet at Concord, June 10, 1778, to form a plan of government. The con- vention formed a plan of government, and sent it out to the people June 5, 1779; but at their ad- journed meeting in September, the returns from the towns having come in, it was found to have been rejected by a decided majority, and the convention coneluded not to act further upon the subject. By reference to the record of Sutton town-meeting, in September, 1779, it will be seen that, of the nine voters present, eight voted against the new plan of government.
Another convention was called, and met at Con- 'eord on the first Tuesday of June, 1781, to form a permanent plan, or system, of government. This plan, also, was generally rejected throughout the state, and the convention, when they met, found again their labors had been disapproved. They, however, continued their sessions, resuming their labors on the last Tuesday of December, 1782.
The existing form of government was only pro- visional. It was to continue only as long as there
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GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
was war. Accordingly, there being a prospect of peace, the legislature, at its last session, passed a resolution that, in case peace should take place, the present form of government should continue till June 10, 1784. This resolution was sent to the several towns in the state for their approval, and was ratified by a majority of the towns.
The articles of peace having been ratified by con- gress, our old form of state government was, by its own provisions, at an end. But this state of things, as just stated, having been anticipated by the legis- lature, in consequence of its action the Committee of Safety issued the following proclamation continuing the form of government for a specified period. Copies of this proclamation were sent to the differ- ent towns in the state. The copy sent to Perrys- town is yet in existence, and in possession of the compiler of this History of Sutton, having been pre- served among papers of Matthew Harvey, and was probably sent to him by the Committee of Safety, he being that year, according to the record, constable, and chairman of the board of selectmen. The proc- lamation is as follows:
State of New Hampshire In Committee of Safety, Apr. 16, 1783.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Form of Government agreed upon by this State in the year of our Lord, one thousand, seven hundred, and seventy six, was, (considering the then situation of affairs) established to con- tinue only during the unhappy and unnatural contest then subsisting with Great Britain :
And whereas, the General Assembly of this State in their last Session from information they received, had a promising prospect of a speedy and happy termination of those contests, and establish-
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
ment of Peace; and taking into consideration the fatal consequences which might follow from being destitute of a regular Form of Gov- ernment, did pass a Resolve recommending that the present Govern- ment be continued in its full force till the 10th day of June, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, notwithstanding a general pacification should take place in the meantime ; provided a perma- nent Plan of Government for this State should not be established antecedent to that period ;
And it was recommended to the Selectmen of the several towns and places in this State to lay said Resolve before the inhabitants at their next annual meetings, if received before such meetings were finished, if not so received then at meetings to be called for that pur- pose, and the inhabitants were requested to signify by vote their approbation or disapprobation of continuing the present Govern- ment according to said Resolve; and the Clerks of the several towns and places were required to certify the same to the Committee of Safety on or before the 15th day of April then next,
Which returns having been made and carefully examined by the Committee, it appears clearly to be the voice of the inhabitants of this State that the present Plan of Government be continued agreea- bly to said Resolve.
We therefore make known that the present Plan of Government for this State is continued in full force and effect until the tenth day of June one thousand seven hundred and eighty four provided a permanent Plan of Government for this State should not be estab- lished antecedent to that period,
And All officers, civil and military, and all persons concerned, are to take notice hereof, and govern themselves accordingly.
M. Weare, President,
By order of the Committee
J. Pearsons, Dep. Sect'y
The convention finished their labors, after nine sessions, Oct. 31, 1783, having, at last, produced a plan of government, which, being submitted to the people, was generally accepted throughout the state; and the convention published and declared this ac- cepted plan of government to be "the civil consti- tution of the State of New Hampshire."
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GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSIHRE.
This constitution, adopted in 1783, continued in force (with slight amendments) until 1878, a period of ninety-four years. In 1791 a convention was called to revise the constitution. The convention met, and on the second Wednesday of February, 1792, finished revising the same, and sent it out to the people for them to approve, adjourning the con- vention to the fifth day of September following, to await the decision of the people.
On September 5, the convention having met, it was found that the constitution, as revised by them, had been accepted by the people, and it was declared to be the "Constitution of New Hampshire," and was to take effect the first Wednesday of June, 1793.
This constitution differed but little from that of 1783. It changed the name of the executive from president to governor; it provided for twelve sena- tors, to be chosen from twelve districts, into which the state was to be divided by the legislature, in- stead of choosing the same number from not more than ten nor less than five districts, as before. And it provided that the council, of five members, should be chosen by the people, either from the counties, or from five districts into which the state might be divided by the legislature, instead of the same number of councillors, chosen by the senate and house from their members, as before. These were the most important alterations.
Hon. Josiah Bartlett was chosen governor, being the first chosen by the people of New Hampshire under a republican form of government. And the government of the state was duly organized at Concord on the first Wednesday in Jime, 1793.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
In 1850 a convention was called to frame a new constitution, which was presented to the people in the form of fifteen questions; and in March, 1851, this was voted on, but was defeated.
The convention reassembled and presented cer- tain amendments, which were submitted to the people in three questions :
1. On the question of abolishing all religious tests from the constitution, Sutton voted,-yeas, 64; nays, 160.
2. On the question of abolishing all property qualifications,-yeas, 82; nays, 104.
3. On the question of having amendments in the future proposed by the legislature, instead of by a convention,-yeas, 5; nays, 149.
In the state the second proposition only was car- ried. The property qualification existed no longer in the constitution. Joseph Harvey was the dele- gate to this convention.
CONSTITUTION OF 1877.
Another constitutional convention assembled at. Concord in December, 1876, and continued in ses- sion eleven days, framed a constitution, and sub- mitted it to the people in the form of thirteen ques- tions, which were voted on at the election in March, 1877. All the propositions, except the first and twelfth, were adopted by the regular two-thirds vote.
The first election under this constitution took place Nov. 5, 1878, at which time a governor, mem- bers of congress, councillors, members of the senate
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GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
and house of representatives, and county officers were elected for two years.
The town elections are held, under a law of the state, annually in March, as before.
Under this constitution, towns having a less population than 1800 are entitled to but one repre- sentative.
The questions submitted to the people were,-
1. Do you approve of striking out the word "Protestant" in the bill of rights, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas (in Sutton), 62; nays, 63.
2. Do you approve of so amending the constitution that tlie gen- eral court shall be authorized to provide for the trial of causes in which the value in controversy does not exceed one hundred dollars, and title to real estate is not concerned, without the intervention of a jury, as proposed by the amended constitution ? Yeas, 103; nays, 17.
3. Do you approve of the biennial election of governor, council- lors, members of the senate and house of representatives, and bien- nial sessions of the legislature, as proposed in the amended consti- tution ? Yeas, 83; nays, 15.
4. Do you approve of a house of representatives based upon population, and constituted and chosen as provided in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 103; nays, 16.
5. Do yon approve of a senate of twenty-four members, to be constituted and chosen as provided in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 72; nays, 39.
6. Do you approve of the election by the people of registers of probate, solicitors, and sheriffs, as provided in the amended consti- tution ? Yeas, 98; nays, 24.
7. Do you approve of abolishing the religious test as a qualifica- tion for office, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 68; nays, 55.
8. Do you approve of prohibiting the general court from author- izing towns or cities to loan, or give their money or credit, to cor- porations, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 102; nays, 17.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
9. Do you approve of changing the time for holding the state election from March to November, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 109; nays, 14.
10. Do you approve of authorizing the general court to provide that appeals from a justice of the peace may be tried by some other court, without the intervention of a jury, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 99; nays, 18.
11. Do you approve of authorizing the general court to increase the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to one hundred dollars, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 83; nays, 35.
12. Do you approve of the proposed amendment prohibiting the removal from office for political reasons? Yeas, 58; nays, 60.
13. Do you approve the proposed amendment prohibiting money raised by taxation from being applied to the support of the schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination, as proposed in the amended constitution ? Yeas, 106; nays, 13.
There were no delegates chosen to the conven- tion in 1876 from Sutton. After balloting twice, the town voted not to send. Moses L. Pillsbury and James R. Smiley were the candidates.
COMMITTEE OF SAFETY.
This committee, in whose name and by whose authority was issued the proclamation regarding the continuance of the government established in 1775, which proclamation we have quoted, origi- nated in this way. That government was soon found to be deficient in not having an executive head. This difficulty was foreseen by its framers, but at that critical period there was such an antipa- thy against the one man power, such as had been exhibited by the governors under the royal govern- ment, that the people were opposed to giving the executive authority to one officer.
To obviate this defect in part, and that there
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GOVERNMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
should be an executive in the recess of the leg- islature, a Committee of Safety was appointed. These committees were chosen by every legislature, and were considered as the supreme executive of the state, and their acts were considered as binding as those of the legislature when in session.
Mesbech Weare, whose signature, M. Weare, in his own handwriting, is on the printed proclamation alluded to, was chosen president of the committee on its formation in 1776, and Ebenezer Thompson, secretary.
Mr. Weare, and some of the other members of this committee, were continued in office, by annual election, until the alteration in the form of govern- ment in 1784. Mr. Weare was usually, but not always, president of the committee. Hon. Josiah Bartlett and Hon. Matthew Thornton, also Dr. Ebenezer Thompson, held the responsible office. The Committee of Safety for 1776 were,-
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