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 36
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In speaking of our native trees we will not forget the willow, which, like " wet-shod alder," prefers to grow where water is plentiful, but can live else- where. Formerly on the long turnpike routes the willow most effectually served the road-makers. They planted willows on both sides of every piece of road built through boggy land, to help support the roadbed and keep it in place. It is needless to re- mark that the trees always proved faithful to duty, and, strange to say, never seemed to die or grow old.
Of elms, most that are seen seem to have been set out for shade or ornament, and, where they have opportunity for growth, frequently attain immense size and height.
About the beginning of the present century the Lombardy poplar was a favorite, and many good substantial houses had a row of these trees grow-
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NATURAL FEATURES.
ing taller and taller in front of them. The Lom- bardy poplar was, as its name indicates, a foreigner, and not nearly so beautiful as many of our native trees, but was considered very ornamental and desirable till it was discovered that it was some- times infested with poisonous asps, and then it fell into disrepute.
This tree began to be set out in eastern Massa- chusetts in 1798, and was not long in finding its way " up country." A handsome row of Lombardy poplars used to grow in front of the Dr. Lane house in the North Village.
WILD ANIMALS.
Those formerly found in the wilderness of Per- rystown were such as were common in this region, viz., the bear, beaver, wolf, and wild-cat, as well as deer and moose, which two last named became, it is said, sometimes almost tame, and would stand and look over the fence where, on the inside of the yard, a woman was milking her cows. These are now all gone, and only a few of the smaller animals now survive the sportsman's autumnal ravages. The coon, woodchuck, rabbit, and squirrels- striped, red, and grey-are yet found here, but are not plenty.
BIRDS.
Robins and other small birds still exist here, though owing to the same cause which has nearly exterminated the small animals, they are fast dimin- ishing in number.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Loons used to be fond of the neighborhood of the Sutton ponds, and their peculiar cry was not an unusual sound at certain seasons of the year, but it is now seldom or never heard. Wild pigeons and partridges were plenty formerly, and their flesh was very nice, and was a great help to the early inhabitants.
KING'S HILL OR BEAN'S HILL, IN 1824.
PREPARED BY ERASTUS WADLEIGHI, EsQ., IN 1878.
This includes School District No. 5. as described and defined by vote of the town in 1808, which district was bounded north by New London, east by District No. 2, south by No. 4, and west by New- bury (then Fishersfield), containing 2,270 acres, or about one tenth of the area of the whole town.
This hill is situated in the north-west corner of Sutton, adjoining New London on the north and Newbury on the west, on the height of land between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers.
The residents on and around this hill in 1824 were as follows : William Bean, John King, Capt. Amos Pressey, Moses Hills, Esq., Joseph Chadwick, David Chadwick, and Jesse Fellows, who all settled here previous to 1790; Joseph and Israel Bean, sons of William Bean ; Jacob Bean, the first born male adult of the town (born April, 1772) ; Guy King, son of John King ; James Morgan ; Joseph, Jr., and Samuel Chadwick, who were sons of Joseph Chad- wiek; William and Nathaniel Todd ; Benjamin Wells. Jr., son of Benjamin Wells; Samuel Kezar; Isaac Fellows, who was son of Jesse Fellows ; Moses Davis, and his son Samuel,-and perhaps some others. Capt. Woodbury Knowlton owned a part of Lot No. 40, but resided very near Newbury line.
The original farms of John King and William Bean embraced the highest portions of the hill, the line between their farms run- ning east and west over its top: hence the two names, King's lill and Bean's hill. Mr. King's farm was on the north side, and Mr. Bean's on the south side, of the hill.
Mr. King was a man of great bodily strength. Whatever lie undertook to do he did, and could endure any privation necessary to accomplish his purpose. He acquired a good estate, and died quite aged.
William Bean had several children before he came here. He was a large, broad-chested man, possessed of giant strength. His
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
grasp of the hand, when once fastened, was not easily loosed. He acquired a good estate, and lived to a great age, but left town before he died, and went to Hatley, P. Q. His sons, Joseph and Israel, succeeded him as owners of the old homestead, where Joseph died. Isaac went to Hatley, P. Q., with his father, about 1850, where he died.
Jacob Bean lived where the Poor Farm now is; settled there about 1795, and there resided till his death at the age of 77 years. He was one of the heavy tax-payers of the town, being a large land-owner. Was a prominent man in town, and was known as Ensign Bean. He left a large and respectable family.
Jesse Fellows was a substantial farmer, and acquired a good estate. Had a large and respectable family. His son Isaac lived with him on the same farmi-the Alison Cheney farm (lately pur- chased by Dr. Furman, of New York).
Moses Hills, Esq., lived on Newbury town line, near Capt. Amos Pressey's, on what has been known in later years as the Fisher farm. He was a leading man in town. Was justice of the peace as early as 1803, and served the town as selectman and as representative several times. Had a large family, but left town some years before his death.
Capt. Amos Pressey lived west and adjoining William Bean's farm. He was the first deputy sheriff resident of the town. Was many years constable and collector, and was moderator of town- meetings frequently, for which last office he was well qualified. In person he was large, and of commanding voice and mien, with a great share of ready wit which could not fail to receive attention from any audience, and whichi, in fact, people learned to expect and look for whenever he opened his mouth to speak, whether as an auctioneer, in which occupation his witty speeches were very effec- tive, or before graver assemblies.
Joseph and David Chadwick lived at the northerly base of the hill. Joseph was the oldest, and was in the Revolution. He died about 1829. His son Joseph, known as Capt. Joseph Chadwick, lived near what has been in recent years the J. D. Prescott farm.
David Chadwick had a family of thirteen or fourteen children, who lived to be adults. Lieutenant John Chadwick was his oldest son, and lived near him; but at the time here referred to (1824) most of his children had left him to seek for themselves other homes. T. Jefferson, Walter, and George were minors.
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KING'S HILL.
David Chadwick was a man of great good humor, wit, and cheer- fulness, and of untiring industry. He lived to be aged. His wife was a sister of Thomas Tucker, Esq., of Henniker, and was a most capable and worthy woman. Perhaps no woman ever lived in Sutton who, under so many unfavorable circumstances, has reared so numerous, so vigorous, and so industrious a family of children as this lady.
William and Nathaniel Todd, brothers, lived a little north of the Chadwicks, and on New London town line. Both were then young men. from twenty-five to thirty-five years, with families. Nathaniel left town first and went to Newport, and he was representative to the legislature from that town. Subsequently both brothers re- moved to New London and resided near each other. Both lived to a great age.
James Morgan, brother of John, Solomon, Samuel, Daniel, Will- iam, and Obediah, lived a little west of the Chadwicks ; had a wife and several sons. His wife was an exemplary, pious woman, and he was a very industrious man and a kind neighbor.
Moses Davis was a man of many peculiarities ; he died about 1848. His wife was Anna, daughter of Jacob Davis, but it is not certain that they were nearly related.
Permanent residents or land-owners of some of the farms named in the foregoing description of King's hill, who held or occupied the same in 1878 :
William Leach, the N. Todd farm.
William Coburn, the Samuel Kezar farm.
Town farm, the Jacob Bean farm.
James H. Bean, part of the Jacob Bean farm.
John Blodgett, part of the Jacob Bean farm.
Allison Cheney, the Jesse Fellows farm.
David Hart, formerly owned by William Bean, 4th.
FARMS DEPOPULATED IN 1878.
William and Israel Bean farm. Joseph Bean farm. Joseph and Samuel Bean (Chadwick farm). David Chadwick farm.
Moses Hills, Esq., farm. John and Guy King farm.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Amos Pressey farm. William Todd farm.
ROADS TO AND OVER KING'S HILL.
The first road built to this hill of which we have any knowledge was from where John Pressey now lives, up by Quoit brook, to the Moses Davis farm and to the poor-house.
In 1788 a road was built from the William Bean farm, over the hill by John King's, to Mr. Chadwick's.
In 1789, a road was made from where T. B. Lewis lives, running by the Esquire Hills farm, to New London town line.
In 1795 a road was made from where Daniel Hardy now lives (the Porter farm), across the meadow and on by William Bean's and Capt. Amos Pressey's, to Newbury town line.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME OF THE KING'S HILL MEN.
William Bean, John King, Amos Pressey, and Jesse Fellows were all large, muscular men, self-reliant, and capable of enduring great hardships. They were among the heaviest tax-payers in town.
The Chadwicks were men of integrity and industry, and were much respected. They cleared their lands and made their buildings.
Guy King, Samuel Chadwick, John Chadwick, Isaac Fellows, Samuel Davis, James Morgan, Nathaniel and William Todd, and Benjamin Wells, Jr., were all young men,-most of them settled in life with families, and were owners of real estste.
Religiously, most of the land-owners in this district were Univer- salists. Jacob Bean was Calvinist Baptist; Samuel Kezar had no particular preference for any denomination, being a Free-Thinker.
Benjamin Wells and his son Gideon Wells, Moses Davis, Isaac Davis, James Morgan, and Edward Chadwick (son of Joseplı, who was in the Revolutionary war), were in the War of 1812. Benja- min Wells afterward went to Canada. The Wells family lived where Mansel Marshall lived later.
In early times the inhabitants of this district were noted for rais- ing fine cattle, especially oxen and steers, and, after a blocking snow-storm, men and boys with their teams would assemble and break out roads to North Sutton village, indulging in merry jokes upon the people there as they valiantly fought their way along, mockingly reminding them of their inability to raise or even to
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KING'S HILL.
manage cattle that could do such work. The whole affair became a sort of festive occasion, their service for the public good being purely voluntary, and the village people recognizing the same in the man- ner which was customary and always acceptable, namely, inviting them into the stores (all the stores sold ardent spirits at that time) and treating them to a good drink of liquor. Their homeward journey up the hill was thus rendered even more hilarious than their coming down had been.
School district No. 5 was divided about 1822, and district No. 11 was formed. The tax-payers after division were as follows :
IN DISTRICT No. 5.
IN DISTRICT No. 11.
Jacob Bean.
David Chadwick.
Joseph Bean.
Joseph Chadwick.
Jesse Fellows.
Samuel Chadwick.
Isaac Fellows.
John Chadwick.
Moses Hills, Esq.
Daniel Butterfield.
Samuel Kezar.
I. J. Hill.
Amos Pressey.
John King.
William Bean.
Guy King.
Isaac Bean.
James Morgan.
Benjamin Wells, Jr.
William Todd.
Moses Davis.
Nathaniel Todd.
At the time of division the school-money for No. 5 was $57.63. Of this money No. 5 had $31.10, and No. 11 had $26.53. In the early years of the century, after its formation into a district, old No. 5 not unfrequently had a hundred scholars in the winter term.
We have thus hastily and imperfectly referred to the inhabitants in old school-district No. 5, as we remember them when living there in 1824, a youth of 16 years. With one or two exceptions, there is not a man, nor a descendant of a man, living there now who was living there then.
KEZAR HALL.
King's hill region, although so extensive and so well populated in 1824, was yet remote from any place of public worship, which was quite a serious privation, especially to the aged and feeble. Occa-
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
sionally ministers from other localities would come on Sunday afternoons or evenings and hold a " third meeting" in the school-house or in some private house.
The house of Samuel Kezar was large, with a long L running out to the shed and barns. Mr. Kezar was, as we have said, a free-thinker, but by no means averse to opening his doors to let his neighbors in for any not unrighteous purpose.
By the desire of his wife, Martha (Sargent), he finished off in the upper story of the L part a hall, with seats all around the sides, so that she could invite her fellow church members and neighbors to hold religious services there, and make them comfortable in summer or winter. It was also util- ized for purposes not religious. Several terms of singing-school, and occasionally balls and dances were held there. On these dancing occa- sions the presiding genius was generally Anthony, or, as he was usually called, Tony Clark, a famous fiddler and teacher of dancing and ball-room etiquette. He was a colored man, and had been a Revolutionary soldier. He used to make an annual visit to this hill of at least a week in length, coming on foot, with fiddle in hand, and the whole region was made jubilant with music and the dancing par- ties, which would be held every evening while his visit lasted, the same company assembling each evening, whether the dance was at the hall we speak of or at other private houses, for this danc- ing institution of a week's duration was made migratory, to accommodate each section of the neighborhood as far as possible. Sometimes the
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KING'S HILL.
mountain went to Mahomet, sometimes Mahomet went to the mountain.
One of these dances came, by reason of sad news brought to Tony, to a very abrupt termination. A messenger came to the door and called him out to inform him that one of his children was dead. He returned to the dancing-room, drew his bow solemnly, slowly, and dirge-like across the instru- ment, announcing, " Dead nigger in Warner! No more drawing the bow this week! " and at once de- parted for Warner, where his home was.
Poor Tony! he might as well take his trouble philosophically, for he was used to the rod of afflic- tion. IIe had been father of a very numerous fam- ily of children, quite a number of whom had died in infancy or early childhood. Probably no man ever lived in Sutton or Warner who was so univer- sally known as this man. He lived to be over one hundred years of age, and is believed to have in- structed at least three generations of young people in the arts of dancing and ball-room etiquette.
FELLING TREES ON KING'S HILL.
In the autumn of 1888, a party, of whom the present writer was one, being on a visit to the granite quarry on King's hill, chanced there to meet and enter into conversation with Mr. Austin Morgan, of New London, in the course of which that gentleman related the following:
The labors of the King's hill settlers, in common with those of every other section of this town, were very great, especially in clear- ing the land of the forest growth preparatory to cultivation. To 37
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
facilitate this labor somewhat, they occasionally resorted to an expe- dient which was not uncommon at that time, viz., that of compell- ing the trees themselves to aid in the process by throwing each other down. Their method of procedure was this: The axe-men went from tree to tree on the piece of land to be cleared, cutting each tree about half way off, but leaving all standing till the whole had thus been prepared for the sacrifice. Then selecting one tow- ering tree for the " leader," they chopped into the remaining half of its immense trunk, and, as it began to topple, giving it a slight impulse in the desired direction, in its fall its branches would inter- lock with those of its next neighbors, which, aided by the force of gravitation, would cause their immediate downfall, they, meantime, doing the same deadly duty of executioner to those within their reach, and so on, till in a few minutes the whole lay prostrate on the ground.
Jesse Fellows and his wife were among the earliest settlers of that part of the King's hill range which has ever since borne their name, Fellows's hill. Mr. Morgan related an incident of the "clearing " of a portion of their farm, which he had heard from his grandmother, Mrs. Fellows, who lived to the ripe old age of more than 96 years. When Mrs. Fellows came to the hill to live, owing to the dense growth of towering trees, Kearsarge mountain could not be seen from their cabin. Her energetic husband, aided by half a dozen strong men, chopped in the woods till acres of noble trees were made ready to fall. A huge monarch of the for- est near the cabin was pitched upon for the leader. All hands gath- ered about its base, and plied their axes merrily. At last, with a shiver, a sigh, a mighty crash, slowly at first, as if pitying its com- panions, of whose wholesale destruction it was thus forced to be the unwilling agent, it toppled over, starting the "jam "; other trees began to fall, each one in falling giving a death-blow to its nearest neighbor, and soon the work of destruction was over, and the pri- meval forest existed no more on Fellows's hill. An exultant shont from the men called the attention of the good housewife from her labors. and, looking forth over the fallen giants, she saw, rising grandly in the distance, old Kearsarge, standing guard over the beautiful lake at its feet, as it stands to-day and shall stand till time shall be no more. Fire finished the work thus begun, the ashes furnishing rich elements of fertility to the soil, which the crops of nearly a century have not yet exhausted.
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KING'S HILL.
PETITION TO BE ANNEXED TO NEW LONDON.
The road described as being built in 1795, that is, the road leading from the present Daniel Hardy place, across the meadow and up and over King's hill westerly to Newbury town line, was a very great advantage to the settlers in this region, bringing them into easy communication with the North meeting-house and village. Owing to its position in a corner of the town, as well as to its great altitude (for King's hill is the highest land in town), they were much isolated from other parts of Sutton, and, before the building of this new road, they had felt very keenly the inconvenience of being included in the geographical limits of a town- ship with which they had little else in common. In fact, as the town records show, they had twice made an effort to move out of Sutton. In 1786, only two years after incorporation, and again in 1789, they had petitioned to be set off from Sutton and annexed to New London. The following is a copy of one of these petitions, which was found among the papers of Dea. Matthew Harvey, where, having rested quietly for more than a century, it again makes its appearance before the public.
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire at Concord in said State in General Court convened.
Honorable Gentlemen,
We, your humble petitioners, being part of the inhabitants of the town of Sutton, in said State,-Humbly show that we labor under very great disadvantages on account of being almost separated from the main body of the town to which we now belong, partly by rea- son of mountains and broken land, which will not admit of making
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
passable roads, and partly by a large pond across or near the mid- dle of said town from East to West, and also by reason of the length of the way ;- the town being seven miles and a quarter in length from North to South, and we being at or near the North end of the same, which renders it very difficult for those of us especially who are situated near the North-west part of the town, we having almost six miles, some of us, to travel to the Centre.
And whereas the inhabitants of New London; adjoining to us on the North, are about building a Meeting-House, and also the inhab- itants of Sutton aforesaid have voted to build a Meeting-House, both of which will very much affect us in this matter, which causes us to be so much the more importunate,-and inasmuch as we live adjoining to the town of New London aforesaid, with which we are very much connected in trade and business,-and the most of us live not more than three miles from the centre of the same, ---
We therefore your humble petitioners, humbly pray that your Honors would be pleased, in your wisdom and prudence, to take this our case under your wise consideration, and in some measure remove this our present grievance by taking only four Ranges of Lots off the town of Sutton aforesaid extending at least as far to the East as the Grantees land, so called, in said town of Sutton, and annex the same to the southerly part of New London, aforesaid, which, as we humbly conceive, will not be the quarter of the damage to the inhabitants of the town of Sutton aforesaid as it will be of real, necessary advantage to us .-
And your Honors' very humble petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray.
Sutton, June 15, 1786.
Reading over the account of their difficulties, geographical and geological, as set forth in the foregoing petition, we sympathize with those peo- ple sincerely, and we almost wish the town could have afforded to let them " secede;" but this could not be, first, because the King's hill settlers, who were the only really aggrieved parties in the case, were a class of citizens such as no body politic that understands itself would surrender without a
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KING'S HILL.
struggle; and second, because the territory was too valuable to part with. If this petition had been successful, Sutton would not be the handsome par- allelogram now shown upon the map.
Three years later another attempt at division was made, in 1789, in the form of a petition to the selectmen to call a special meeting to consider this question, and that of selling the "2d Division Min- ister Lot." To both questions the town voted in the negative. The selectmen's call for the meeting says,-
Whereas a number of the inhabitants of this town living on the Northerly ranges of Lots have requested us the subscribers to call a town-meeting to see if the town will vote them off to New London, with all the town privileges appertaining to them and the other lands of the Non-Residents (i. e., the Lord Proprietors) that lie connected with them," &c.
It will be observed that this petition asks for more of Sutton's territory than the former one did, to be set off to New London. If granted, it would have given that town a straight cut across the north part of Sutton, which would include a por- tion of the lands originally reserved by the lord proprietors for themselves, and of their own choos- ing, and, of course, among the best in the township of Perrystown.
Although these petitions were unsuccessful, they were not altogether without good results, the first of which was the building of the road through the King's hill region, the road of 1795, as soon as the difficult work of filling up the meadow, and bridging the stream, and climbing the mountain or hills beyond could be accomplished. The re-
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
corded votes of the town also indicate other con- cessions :
March 17, 1794, Voted that the inhabitants of Sutton that attend public worship at New London, shall have their proportionable part of the money raised for the support of the Gospel in this town, to pay to New London.
Some who could be better accommodated with school privileges in New London were also allowed the liberty of paying their school-tax to that town.
KEARSARGE GORE AND CASS HILL.
It appears from Harriman's History of Warner that Kearsarge Gore, in 1781, stretched from what was subsequently called Warner Gore to near what is now called Wilmot Centre. Previous to 1807 this constituted a town by itself, Kearsarge moun- tain being nearly in the centre. A large part of Wilmot proper was taken from New London in 1807, when it was incorporated a town. It seems from the Gore records that
a meeting was held at the house of Joshua Quimby, in said Gore, Aug. 25, 1794, when William Quimby was chosen clerk, William Graves, Abner Watkins, and Nathan Cross selectmen, Nathan Clough constable, Samuel Quimby, Thomas Cross, and Elisha Smith highway surveyors, Clough, Graves, Cross, and Smith be- longing to the north side of the mountain, Quimby, Chase, and Watkins to the south side.
In 1795 Nathan Clough was chosen moderator, W. Quimby clerk, Abner Watkins, Samuel Priest, and Nathan Cross selectmen.
1796. Ebenezer Scales, clerk ; Nathan Clough, Abner Watkins, and Nathan Cross, selectmen. Raised $40 for schools.
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