USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Warner > The history of Warner, New Hampshire, for one hundred and forty- four years, from 1735 to 1879 > Part 23
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Voted to keep the old sum for schooling and the Remainder to buy Nails and Glass.
At the annual meeting of March, 1799, two new selectmen were elected, viz., Benjamin Cass, of the north side, and Foster Goodwin, of the south side.
Voted to send a petition to Court to git our Meeting changed to the first Monday, and by Abner Watkins.
Voted to raise 15 pounds for school this year.
On the 4th of February, 1800, a meeting was held at the house of Ebenezer Scales,-
Voted to build a school-house by the twentieth of March.
Voted to raise $60 to build the school-house, to sine a bond to pay their Equel proportion of Sixty Dollars.
Voted Mr. Abner Watkins to Draw the bond for to sine.
Voted Jason Watkins and Ebenezer Scales in Committee for to , sell the school-house built.
At the annual meeting of March, 1800,-
Voted to raise $10 to defray charges.
Voted 10 pounds for school.
Voted to remove the fences and bars that are crost the road.
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HISTORY OF WARNER.
Officers for the year nearly the same as for the pre- ceding year.
At the annual meeting of March, 1801,-
Voted Mr. Cast in Moderator. [ Cass is probably meant. ]
At the annual meeting of 1802, Ebenezer Fisk ap- pears, and is chosen selectman. He probably lived on the north side of the mountain. He was the father of John Fisk, who was accidentally killed in a saw-mill at Warner.
Voted fifteen votes for John Langdon for Governor.
Voted ten votes for James Flanders for senitor.
At the annual meeting of 1803,-
Voted to Doe nothing about polley Simpson.
Voted 21 votes for Langdon 6 for Gilman for Governor.
At the annual meeting, March, 1804, Benjamin Cass, Ebenezer Fisk, and James Palmer were chosen selectmen.
Voted that all having demands against the town shall bring tham Every anual meatain for afuter.
Voted that Eich Destrect shall Bild their own school housen and furnish tham the meatain Dismist.
There were two school districts in the Gore, one on the north and one on the south side of the mountain ; also, two school-houses.
At the annual meeting, March, 1805, Jeremiah Brown was chosen moderator.
Voted to raise $100 with the non-resident tax for the highway for the Present year.
Voted to send a pertition to General Cort for a Committee to settle the Line between Salisbury and Kearsarge Gore.
439
KEARSARGE GORE.
Voted in Abner Watkins to be the man to present the pertion to gineral Cort.
The annual meeting of 1806 was held at the house of Thomas Cross on the north side of the mountain ; at which meeting,-
Voted Samuel Thompson in moderator.
Voted S. Thompson, Noah Little and Insley Greeley in Select- men.
Nothing worthy of record was transacted at the annual meeting of 1807 Immediately following the account of that meeting, this record is found on the books of the Gore :
Marig Covenant
12 march 1807 than Alder Watson marid John Savery and Salley Straw.
Wilmot is now incorporated, and the Gore is sev- ered. The part of it on the south side of the moun- tain still remains the Gore, and maintains its organi- zation, but the larger half is gone. In 1790 its pop- ulation was 103; in 1800 it was 179; in 1810 (more than half its territory having been dissevered) it was reduced to 125.
A military company was organized in the Gore at an early day, and Jonathan Watkins (son of Abner) had the honor of taking command. This company came out for inspection and duty, as the companies of towns came, at least twice a year. In 1810 Capt. Watkins, with his command, met the Wilmot com- pany for drill and . exercise on the top of Kearsarge.
440
HISTORY OF WARNER.
Near the close of the day the two companies were brought face to face on the very summit of the moun- tain, and a " sham fight" of great spirit was indulged in. This battle was 2000 feet higher than Hooker's celebrated fight "above the clouds," on Lookout Mountain.
The annual meetings of 1808, 1809, and 1810 were barren of interest. In 1811 the Gore was permitted to have a voice, through her representative, in the legislative halls of the state. Wilmot and the Gore were classed. The meeting was held at the school- house on the south side of the mountain, March 5th. Thomas Annis was chosen moderator. [This was not . the first Thomas (son of Daniel), but one of the third generation, and he remained in the Gore but a short time.] The class elected Eliphalet Gay, of Wilmot, for representative, and then the Gore chose Robert Savory, John Palmer, and Jason Watkins for select- men.
Voted to postpole the 9th article tel the ajurnment.
Thomas Annis bid of the Collector's beth at two cents per Dol- lar.
Voted A bounty on crows heads voted 122 cents on old wons 6 cents for young crows Killed in K Gore.
The election of 1812 is void of interest ; no repre- sentative appears to have been voted for. The elec- tion of 1813 is more lively. The warrant reads :
In the name of the state of new hampshire we Doe hear by notify and warn all the freeholders and other inhabitance of the 1
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KEARSARGE GORE.
town of Kearsarge Gore and Wilmot qualified to vote in town meeting to samble and meet at the school house in saide Kear- sarge Gore on the second day of March 1813, at one o'clock in the after noon to act as follows
1, ly, to Chuse a moderator to govern said meeting
2, ly, to vote for some Person for Representative tour general Cort.
Jason Watkins Ezra Waldron Selectmen.
John Palmer
Pursuant to this notice the towns met, and the record of the meeting follows :
At a town Meeting Legally notified and holden in the town of Kearsarge Gore on the second day of March anno Domini 1813 the following votes were givenin for Representative to gineral Cort viz, their was a Majority for Jason Watkins.
Jason Watkins town Clark
in the same ower Come in Wilmot and Voted for Eliphet Gay Representative General Cort
Jason Watkins Town Clark.
It will be seen that the district elected two repre- sentatives that day, though entitled to but one. The merits of the controversy cannot now be known. Gay certainly took his seat in June, and Watkins made no contest. It was alleged on the part of Gay's friends that Watkins was elected before the legal hour ; that when the Watkins party saw the Wilmot folks com- ing in large force down the mountain, from the Cur- rier Quimby place, towards Samuel Savory's, they set forward the nearest clock there was to the school- house, rushed in their votes, and elected Watkins be- fore the time set for the organization of the meeting.
442
HISTORY OF WARNER.
General Eliphalet Gay was a man of wealth, and a hotel-keeper. He supplied his friends with victuals and drink, both to and from this meeting. They came, with pungs and sleighs, via Andover, Beech Hill, Googgins's Mills, and Smith's Corner. On arriving at the Gore they took possession of the polls, treating what had been done as a nullity. Benjamin Stanley's house was the scene of conflict. That was the school- house of the district at that time, and it stood precise- ly where it now stands. Many years ago it was con- verted into a dwelling-house. Here it was that the contending factions swayed to and fro ; here it was that victory was both won and lost.
The meeting for town officers that year was held the 9th of March. John Palmer was elected moder- ator, and Jason Watkins, clerk.
Isaac Palmer, Isaac Annis, and Robert Savory were chosen selectmen.
Voted that the south west Corner of Salisbury should not send. to our school With out A greein with our Selectmen.
The list of voters of Kearsarge Gore, as made up by the selectmen, Feb. 16, 1814, was as follows :
Abner Watkins, Abner Watkins, 2d, Abner Watkins, 3d, Dan- iel Savory, Ezra Waldron, Ezekiel Trumbull, Foster Goodwin, Isaac Palmer, John Palmer, Jonathan Smith, James Palmer, John Savory, John Palmer, Jr., Jason Watkins, Jonathan Wat- kins, Jabez Harvey, Jacob Waldron, Joseph Wells, Joseph Palm- er, Moses Palmer, Nathan Hunt, Robert Savory, Samuel Savo- ry, Samuel Wells, Stephen Stanley, William Harwood.
The proceedings of the annual meeting of the Gore
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KEARSARGE GORE.
in March, 1814, were commonplace, and they need not be recounted.
The district meeting, for the choice of representa- tive, was held at Wilmot, and though not a man from the Gore attended that meeting, Jason Watkins was triumphantly elected representative, and he served his constituents faithfully in the legislature of the state. Undoubtedly there was a feeling abroad in the district that Watkins was unfairly treated in 1813.
Jason Watkins was born in Joppa. He was a son of Abner Watkins, senior, and the father of Abner, 3d (who held many positions in Warner), and of the wife of William G. Flanders.
Nov. 10, 1814, the selectmen of Kearsarge Gore, and of Wilmot, established or confirmed the boundary line between the two territories. They left it pre- cisely as it stands in the charter of Wilmot of 1807. Their report is signed as follows :
Isaac Palmer Selectmen
of
Robert Savory Kearsarge Gore.
Samuel Kimball Selectmen
of
Obadiah Clough Wilmot.
At the annual meeting, March 7, 1815, holden at the school-house in the Gore for the choice of a repre- sentative, Eliphalet Gay was chosen moderator, and J. Youngman, of Wilmot, representative.
The proceedings of the local meeting of that year
29
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HISTORY OF WARNER.
would not interest the reader, nor would those of 1816 or 1817.
As the election of March 10, 1818, was the last election ever held in Kearsarge Gore, the record of its proceedings is given in full.
John Palmer, Jr., was chosen moderator.
Jason Watkins, town-clerk.
John Palmer, Jr., Abner Watkins, Jr., and Robert Savory, were chosen selectmen.
James Ferrin (the father of the late Lorenzo, and of Stephen N.), Jabez Harvey, and Jonathan B. Watkins were chosen fence viewers, and Daniel Savory, surveyor of lumber.
Voted to raise $75 to defray town charges the present year.
John Watkins bid off the Collector's berth at four cents per Dollar.
Voted to have meetings of worship in the School house.
The last vote above was the last ever given in Kearsarge Gore as a municipal organization, for, by act of the legislature of the state, approved June 13, 1818, the Gore was annexed to, and made forever thereafter part and parcel of, the town of Warner.
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CHAPTER XXXI.
POST-MASTERS-DEPUTY SHERIFFS-LAWYERS -PHYSICIANS- COLLEGE GRADUATES-HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHERS-DEBATING CLUBS-LITERARY MEN AND WOMEN.
HERE was no post-office in Warner till 1813. Before the year 1800 nothing like an efficient post-office establishment existed in the country. In 1791 the legislature of New Hampshire passed a law establishing " four routes for posts, to be thereafter appointed to ride in and through the interior of the state."
These " posts," or riders, were appointed, two of whom started out from Concord, and two from Ports- mouth. They went out one way and returned anoth- er, making a round trip a week. They took the mail matter that accumulated at these principal offices, and in this way it was distributed. They "carried and fetched." The first rider, starting from. Concord, rode through Weare, New Boston, Amherst, Wilton, Tem- ple, Peterborough, Dublin, Marlborough, Keene, West- moreland, Walpole, Alstead, Acworth, Charlestown, Claremont, Newport, Lempster, Washington, Hills- borough, Henniker, and Hopkinton, to Concord.
446
HISTORY OF WARNER.
The second rider, starting also from Concord, rode through Boscawen, Salisbury, Andover, New Chester, Plymouth, Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Lyme, Han- over, Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Grafton, Alexandria, and Salisbury, to Concord. The other two started out from Portsmouth, and performed their circuits in the southern and eastern sections of the state.
As late as December 31, 1809, David George, post- master at Concord, published a list of letters remain- ing in the office at that place, which contained the following out-of-town names :
Richard H. Ayer, Dunbarton ; Miss Mary Carter, Bow ; Tim- othy Chandler, Daniel Cooledge, Miss Hannah Corbett, Canter- bury ; Prine Ayers, Northfield; Jeremiah Eastman, Mrs. Eliza- beth Mirick, John Noyes, Henniker; Nathaniel Green, Rev. Christopher Page, Daniel Young, Hopkinton; Rev. Sebastian Streeter, John Maynard, Weare; Daniel Lord, Bradford.
In 1813 a post-office was established at Warner Lower Village, and Henry B. Chase was the first post- master. He held the office till 1817, when Dr. Henry Lyman was appointed, who held it till 1825, when Levi Bartlett was appointed. Mr. Bartlett held the office till 1830, when it was discontinued.
During the year 1829, and a part of the year 1830, there was an office at Waterloo, and Philip Colby, Jr., was post-master. This office, and that at the Lower Village, were consolidated in the year 1830, and es- tablished at Warner village, with H. D. Robertson for post-master. He held the office till 1844, when George
D.C. Carroll
447
ALONZO C. CARROLL.
A. Pillsbury was appointed. William Carter, Jr., suc- ceeded Mr. Pillsbury in 1849, and Gilman C. Sanborn succeeded Mr. Carter in 1851. In 1855, Abner B. Kel- ley was appointed ; in 1862, Hiram Buswell, who held the office fifteen years. In 1877 the present incumbent, E. H. Carroll, was appointed.
Mr. Buswell was from Grantham. He came to Warner when a young man, and engaged in the business of painting. No other man has held the post-office as long as he. He has also held the office of commissioner for Merrimack county two years.
In 1865 another office was established at Waterloo, and Walter H. Bean was appointed post-master. He resigned, after holding the office six or eight months, and T. Leavitt Dowlin was appointed. The office was discontinued after an existence of a year or two.
In 1871 an office was established at Roby's Corner, with Moses H. Roby as post-master, which continues unchanged.
ALONZO C. CARROLL, the father of the present post- master of Warner, was born at Croydon, Nov. 24, 1826. His parents were John P. and Rachel Carroll. When he was 12 years of age his mother died, and the family was broken up. He and one of his sisters went to Grafton to live with a relative, where they remained together five years, and till the marriage of the sister. Then for two or three years Alonzo C. was found at Quincy, Mass., driving a stone-team
448
HISTORY OF WARNER.
from the quarries to Boston. He returned to Grafton, and bought the old "Horton farm," which he carried on for three years. In 1851 he removed to South Sutton, and engaged in the stove business, and in 1853 he added to this a dry-goods and grocery store. At the same time he was concerned in the patent- right business. In 1860, having sold out his interests at South Sutton, he went into partnership with Geo. Putney, in manufacturing bobbins at Sutton Mill Vil- lage. In 1863 he reengaged in the stove business, and in 1867 went into trade with George Thompson, at the Potter Place.
In 1868 he bought out Hale & Adams, at the Robertson store, in Warner, and commenced trade there. He kept the Winslow House, on Kearsarge mountain, during the season of 1869. In April, 1870, he commenced trade in the Union Hall building, where he still continues. Besides carrying on a large trade at this place, he kept the Warner and Kearsarge Mountain House through the season of 1874, and a part of the season of 1875. In the summer of 1878 he again took charge of the hotel, and, in his hands, it is a popular and well-patronized summer resort.
Mr. Carroll married, in 1849, Miss M. A. Hale, who died in 1866, leaving two sons,-Clarence F. and E. H. Carroll. In September, 1868, he married Miss Margaret H. Adams, of Warner. His oldest son is a successful school-teacher, and his youngest, when not
449
DEPUTY SHERIFFS.
occupied in the post-office, is engaged in the store of his father.
DEPUTY SHERIFFS.
The first deputy sheriff in Warner was Calvin Flan- ders, son of James. He lived at the place in the Lower Village where the late Zebulon Davis lived and died. He was appointed about the year 1790, and held the office nearly twenty years.
In 1808 George W. Kelley was appointed. He also lived at the Lower Village. He was a son of Sheriff Moses Kelley, of Hopkinton, and Moses was a brother to Rev. William, the first minister in town.
Mr. Kelley performed the duties of this office till 1813, when Richard Pattee, who kept the hotel at the Carter place, was appointed.
In 1816 Capt. Joseph Smith received the appoint- ment. He continued in possession of the office till 1820, though in 1819 Stephen Currier, Jr., and John Kimball were deputized for a special purpose, which will hereafter appear.
Capt. Smith had been many years in the regular army before the war of 1812, and had been stationed both at Boston and at Portland. He was captain of the Warner company in " the last war with England." His home was at the Dr. Eaton house, where he died, November, 1824, aged 50.
In 1820 Stephen Currier, Jr., was the only sheriff, and he continued such till 1829. While sheriff his
450
HISTORY OF WARNER.
home was at the Lower Village. His father was Dan- iel Currier, of Joppa; his son Charles occupies the old homestead.
In 1829 Stephen George (who held the office till 1838) was appointed. He was a son of John George, and a brother to John, 2d, and to Daniel and Joshua. He died in Michigan, while on a journey to the West.
Franklin Simonds succeeded Mr. George as sheriff, in 1838, and continued in the office till 1856, a period of eighteen years.
In 1856, John Currier, Jr., was appointed.
In 1863, Gilbert Davis.
In 1868, Albert P. Davis.
In 1876, George N. Tewksbury.
In 1877, the present incumbent, David C. Harriman.
LAWYERS.
Nathaniel Green, a brother to Judge Samuel Green, was the first lawyer to hang out a sign in Warner. He opened an office at the Lower Village, near Joseph Bartlett's, in 1795; but not finding a very promising field to cultivate, he remained in town but a year or two.
Jeremiah Hall Woodman came in 1797, but re- mained no longer than his predecessor. He removed to Dover in 1798, and became a lawyer of large prac- tice and good standing.
Parker Noyes was the third in the line of succes-
451
LAWYERS.
sion. He was reared in South Hampton. He came to Warner in 1799, and opened his first office. It was at the Lower Village. After remaining in town two years, he took down his sign and carried it to what is now Franklin Lower Village. At this place his office was just across the road from Capt. Eben- ezer Webster's, and Daniel Webster was his law stu- dent. He was offered a seat on the supreme bench by Gov. Morrill, but declined it on account of ill health.
Henry B. Chase was the fourth lawyer in Warner. He came in 1805, and remained through life. [See a preceding chapter.]
Harrison Gray Harris was the next in order, and the first at Warner village. He was born in the beau- tiful town of Harvard, Mass., in 1790. He read law mainly with his brother, Judge John Harris, of Hop- kinton; was admitted to the bar in 1815, and com- menced practice in Warner in 1816. He held some of the public offices of the town; connected farming with his law business for many years; and finally made agriculture his chief pursuit. He was eminent in his day in the Masonic order, as was his son (John A.) after him. He died at Warner, March, 1875, aged 84.
Edward B. West was the sixth lawyer in town. He came from Concord about the year 1848, remained a few years, and then changed his residence to Nashua,
452
HISTORY OF WARNER.
where he was actively engaged in his profession some ten or twelve years. He then accepted a government office at the Navy Yard, and removed to Portsmouth, where he now resides.
Samuel Davis, Jr., a native of Bradford, graduated at West Point, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He opened an office first at Enfield, but came from there to Warner as early as 1859. He has not given his whole attention to the law, but has connect- ed farming and the care of schools with it. In the war of the Rebellion he was major of the 16th N. H. regiment. Since the war he has served in various town offices, and two years in the legislature of the state.
ALBERT P. DAVIS was born at Warner, May 2, 1835. He is descended from an ancient family. Willi Davis, a native of Wales, came to New England in 1640. He took the freeman's oath at Amesbury in 1645. On the 2d day of December, 1677, his sons, Francis and Samuel, together with " a large number of the sons of the first settlers," took the same oath. This Willi (or William) and this Francis were the ancestors of Capt. Francis and his brother Gideon, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Gideon settled on the Moses E. Davis farm in 1782, and the farm has re- mained in the hands of the family to the present day.
The sons of Gideon and Mary (Cheney) Davis were John, Robert, Gideon, Moses, and Oliver; and the
A. P. Davis
453
ALBERT P. DAVIS.
daughters were Molly, Ruth, and Anna. The children of the above-named John and Mary (Pervere) Davis were John, Sally, Rachel, Lois, Zaccheus, and Eleazer. Zaccheus married Lucinda Pervere of Sandown, and to this couple were born Albert P., Mary, Charles S., and Zaccheus. Albert P. married Lavonia W., daugh- ter of Abner Harvey, Jr. They have two children, Ida M. and Woodbury E.
Albert P. Davis received a good academic educa- tion, and for some fifteen years was a well known and popular school-teacher. He served as deputy sheriff from 1868 to 1876, and while in the discharge of the duties of this office he devoted his leisure hours to the study of the law. Being admitted to the bar in 1876, after a rigid examination, he went immediately into practice as a lawyer in his native town, where his success has been equal to his highest expectation.
As a newspaper correspondent he wields a ready pen, and ranks with the enterprising writers of the day.
To the foregoing list of lawyers may be added the names of such as have been reared in Warner and have followed the profession elsewhere.
John Kelley, the oldest son of Rev. Wm. Kelley, was a lawyer. He commenced business in North- wood, where he had gratifying success. Desiring a larger town for a home, he went to Exeter, and there remained through life. He was register of probate
454
HISTORY OF WARNER.
for Rockingham county a great many years ; was also a member of the legislature of the state, and of the constitutional convention of 1850.
Stephen C. Badger was a lawyer by profession. His first office was at New London. After remaining there a few years he removed to Concord. For a long time he was clerk of the courts of Merrimack county. He was also assistant justice of the police court of Concord. His wife was a daughter of Benja- min Evans.
Henry B. Chase, the second (a son of Henry B.), graduated at Dartmouth about the year 1839; studied law, and settled in Louisiana, where he still remains, in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice.
Herman Foster read law with Henry B. Chase, opened an office in Manchester, and was successful in his profession.
John H. Watson, a son of Capt. Cyrus Watson, be- came a successful lawyer and editor in Lawrence, Mass.
Edwin W. Harriman, a son of John, read law, and was admitted to the bar in Concord in 1864. He shortly afterwards went into practice in the state of Iowa, where he died in 1865 or 1866.
John George, son of Joshua, was also admitted to the bar at Concord in 1864. [See Chapter XXVII.]
Walter Channing Harriman read law at Concord, first with L. D. Stevens, and then with Tappan &
455
HERMAN FOSTER.
Albin. He was admitted to the bar, at Concord, Dec. 13, 1876, and commenced business at Portsmouth April, 1877. He is now solicitor for Rockingham county.
Jesse Pattee, a son of Stephen C., read law at Haverhill, N. H., and was admitted to the bar in 1877. Soon after being admitted, he went into prac- tice at Brockton, Mass., where he now is.
George L. Ordway (son of N. G.) was admitted to the bar in 1878. He served on the staff of Governor Prescott, with the rank of colonel. In March, 1879, he commenced business in the line of his profession at Denver, Colorado.
HERMAN FOSTER was born at Andover, Mass., Oct. 31, 1800. He was a descendant of Reginald Foster, who came from Exeter, England, and settled at Ips- wich, Mass., in 1638. His grandfather, Obediah, was born in 1741, and his father, John, in 1770, at An- dover. The other children of John Foster are Mrs. E. S. Badger, of Warner ; John, a leading merchant of Boston ; and George (now of Bedford), who served several years as selectman of Warner, and who has since been two years in the state senate from the third district.
The subject of this notice removed with his father's family from Andover, Mass., to Hudson, N. H., in 1810. He had prepared for college at an early day, but a disease of the eyes prevented him from pursuing a
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HISTORY OF WARNER.
college course. He was engaged in mercantile busi- ness a number of years. In November, 1826, he was married to Harriet M. A. Whittemore, of West Cam- bridge. He removed to Warner in March, 1830, and purchased the Ballard farm, on which he lived eight years. He then removed to Warner Lower Village, and commenced the study of the law with Hon. Henry B. Chase. Being admitted to the bar, he com- menced practice in Manchester in 1840, where he died Feb. 17, 1875, aged 74. He left no children. Mrs. Foster still survives.
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