The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 2

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1240

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Weare > The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888 > Part 2

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SUGAR HILL (1000) is a fertile ridge, two or three miles long, in the north-east part of the town, near Dunbarton. It has many fine farms upon it, and its name comes from the fact that rock-maple trees once abounded there, and maple-sugar was made.

BURNT HILL (1000) is west of Sugar hill and north of the Piscataquog. It got its name from extensive forest fires that once occurred upon it.

RATTLESNAKE HILL (1000) is nearly in the center of the north line of the town, and abounds with shelving rocks and abrupt precipices, forming dens and caves. During the summer season the reptile from which the hill takes its name is frequently found.§ Rattlesnakes have been killed here since 1823. In old times, the farmers used to set the woods on fire and burn it over to destroy them.

PINE HILL (975) is in the north part of the town, west of Rattle- snake hill. An immense number of pines once grew upon it, whence the name.

MOUNT ARARAT (987), on the north line of the town, west of Pine hill, was so called by some student of Bible literature, in honor of Mount Ararat, where the ark is said to have rested.

* Hitchcock's Geol., vol. iii, part 1, p. 170.

t The height of Weare's hills are taken from the contour lines on Cline's map.

# Found so spelled on a state map made about 1764. It is sometimes spelled "Duncanowet."

§ Farmer and Moore's Gazeteer (1823), p. 256.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

CRANEY HILL (1100) has three crests ; the lowest one in Weare, the other two in Henniker. It is said to have its name from a Mr. Crane, who lived on it; but more likely from Craney pond, a sheet ·of water, with reedy, muddy shores, where cranes and other water birds once abounded.

HOGBACK HILL* (734) ; so called from its looking like a hog's back ; is a singular formation of river-drift, near the junction of Thorndike brook with the Piscataquog.

CHEVEY HILL (1000) is west of Clinton Grove and south of the Piscataquog. Chevey Chase once lived on its slope, and from him comes the name. It is covered with open woods, has a fertile pasture on its top, and affords a fine view of the neighboring country. It is also called Townly hill by the Quakers.

MINE HILL (1100). Iron pyrites and some other minerals are found on it, hence the name. It is in the west part of the town, half way from Mount Wallingford to Deering line; wooded on its top, and has sheep pastures on its sides.

TOBY HILL (976) t is near the middle of the west line, and is an excellent, fertile ridge. It was first settled by Samuel B. Toby, whose buildings on it were the second highest in town, and it was named for him.

ODIORNE HILL (1050). Jotham Odiorne, of Portsmouth, a Mason- ian proprietor, being one of the twelve who bought out Mason, owned a lot of land on this hill, and the early settlers gave it his name. It is a pretty, rounded eminence between Mounts Dearborn and Misery ; has several great boulders, travelers from the north, on its summit, and is called by Hitchcock, state geologist, Mount Odiorne.

BOAR'S HEAD HILL (867) is west of Mount Misery, near Deering line, and the name is from Great Boar's Head in Hampton, whence many of the early settlers came. It is covered with wood, and is very rocky.

BARNARD HILL (937) is east of Mount William. It was so christened for Tristram Barnard, who once lived upon it. It has inany good farms, with strong soil, full of boulders. Abraham Melvin, familiarly known as "Sheep Melvin," lived on it for more than three-fourths of a century, and annually raised hundreds of sheep.

* There is another small eminence of the same name near Sugar hill. +N. H. Geol., vol. i, p. 285.

THE RIVERS OF WEARE.

RAYMOND CLIFF (650), a spur of Barnard hill, is a high ledge rising abruptly from the valley of the Piscataquog near Everett station. It has several caves, with a huge boulder at the entrance of one of them. Jeremiah T. (Hogg) Raymond once owned a farm at its foot, and immortalized himself by bestowing his name upon the cliff .*

RIVERS.

Weare has more than fifteen miles of river length flowing within her borders, but only two rivers.

PISCATAQUOG RIVER is formed by three streams, called the north branch, the middle branch, and the south branch. The two first run through Weare, and the north branch is called by Weare people the Piscataquog. It is an Indian name, from "pos" (great), "attuck" (a deer), and "quoag" (a place) ; meaning "great deer place," as Judge Potter says ; t or, "a place for many deer," as a writer in the Historical Collectionst would have it. The correct spelling of the word is "Poscattaquoag." § In Deering the stream is sometimes called "Nomkeag," from "namaos " (a fish), and "keag" (a place) ; meaning " fish-place."

Several small streams from Deering hills flow into Gregg pond. A dam at the outlet of this little lake allows the water to be drawn down twenty-three feet from high-water mark, thus making it a · valuable reservoir. | The Piscataquog issues from Gregg pond, flows five miles in Deering, and enters the west part of Weare south of a central east-west line of the town. It runs almost due north about three miles, bows away to the east about five miles, then flows south six miles, and at Oil Mill village passes into New Boston. It receives the united waters of middle and south branches in Goffstown, and falls into the Merrimack at Manchester, about thirty-two miles, as the river runs, from its source. Twenty ponds and more than a hundred brooks help swell its waters.

The river falls about three hundred and fifty feet from Deering line to Oil Mill Village, affording, for a small stream, one of the best water powers in the state. There are twenty-three mill sites where

* There are some other small eminences called hills : Leighton hill, north of Mount Wallingford; Huntington hill, a part of Barnard hill; White Oak hill, two miles north- west of Oil Mill, -a great place to hunt foxes; Green hill, east of Mount William ; Peaslee's ledge, north of Green hill; Bear hill, in the west part of the town; and Page hill, a spur of Burnt hill, so called from Col. Samuel Page, the first upon it. Also, Gould hill is a part of Barnard hill.

t Hist. of Manchester, p. 28. ¿ Vol. viii N. H. Hist. Col., p. 452.

§ See Capt. Daniel Pecker's Scout Journal, post.

|| The dam is a huge earth-work, 1200 feet long, 60 feet thick at its base, 12 feet at its top; was made in 1884; cost $12,000, and flows over 300 acres at a depth of 20 feet.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

dams are or have been erected, and the water-wheels of fifteen mills in this town are now driven by it.

Before the white men built dams upon it, salmon, shad, alewives, and lamper-eels abounded in its waters ; and its valley for many centuries was a noted hunting ground for the Indians.

MIDDLE BRANCH RIVER rises in Haunted, otherwise called Scoby, pond, in Francestown. It bows up from New Boston, and flows (a sluggish stream) for about one mile in Weare. It is so called be- cause it runs between the north and south branches, and we have not been able to find that it ever had any other name. The maps of the county and state do not show its course correctly. It is nearly as large as the north branch ; has seven mill sites on it, - there are none in Weare, - and it unites with the south branch near the center of New Boston.

BROOKS.

Weare's brooks joined end to end would make a stream near a hundred miles long. Most of them are never-failing, running at all seasons : now high and roaring from freshets and melting snows, then low and silent from summer drouth. The following are the largest : -

FERRIN BROOK, Enos Ferrin, whose house was near it, gave it his name, flows from Ferrin pond through the south-west part of Weare, turns the wheel of one saw-mill, is four miles long, and empties into Middle Branch. It has five affluents .*

PEACOCK BROOK. Mr. Andrew Philbrick said that old Mr. Zebu- lon Carr, now long since dead, told him that it got its name from the fact that it would rise and fall like a peacock's tail. The rain pours suddenly into it from Toby hill, Mine hill, Odiorne hill,

* AFFLUENTS OF FERRIN BROOK : -

GREEN BROOK rises in a small meadow near the south road leading to Deering, and about one-third of a mile east of Deering line. It empties into Ferrin brook, right bank, and was so called from Elisha Green.

LOCKE BROOK, in the west part of the town from the cast slope of Candlewood hill, is nearly a mile long, and falls into Ferrin brook, right bank. Benjamin Locke once owned the farm by it, and gave it his name.

EIGHT-LOADS-MEADOW BROOK has its source near Candlewood hill; flows through a meadow of the same name; so called because it furnished, annually, eight loads of meadow hay, on Elisha Green's farm; is one mile long, and joins Ferrin brook, right bank.

LILY-POND BROOK, from Lily pond; fragrant in summer time with water-lilies; between Mount Misery and Ferrin pond; is one mile long, and enters Ferrin brook, left bank.

EMMONS BROOK, SO called from Joseph Enmons, a soldier of the old French and Indian war, rises on the south-western slope of Mount Misery ; is one mile long, and runs into Ferrin brook, left bank; it fails in time of drouth.

CRAM BROOK, name from Nathan Cram, who once owned the land through which it flows, is a small stream, one mile long, from the slope south of Mount Misery, and runs into Middle Branch in New Boston, between Ferrin brook and the Peacock.

The

THE BROOKS OF WEARE.

Mount Misery, and Mount Dearborn, and causes its quick fluctua- tions. Two branches unite to form it : one from near Deering line, and the other from Clinton Grove. It is six miles long, and once had many beaver ponds on it; their old dams are still to be seen. It has eight mill sites now or once used. Hodgdon and Philbrick meadows afford an excellent place to make a reservoir, one and one- half miles long, half a mile wide in some places, and ten feet deep. The stream below the meadow has more than two hundred feet fall. What a busy, laughing, hurrying, useful little river it would be if the pond could only be made, the mill-dams built, and mills set at work! It would be about the same, summer and winter, in rain and drouth; and it ought to have hundreds of happy people dwelling on its banks .*

MEADOW BROOK gets its name from its winding through Dustin meadow, and an old deed from William Dustin to Charles George, made in 1806, thus calls it.t It comes down from the height of land west of Mount William pond ; is a rapid, loud-talking brook in spring-time and freshets ; was a good trout-stream once ; has three affluents, runs four miles in all; has seven mill sites ; turns the mill wheels, or once did, of a tannery, two grist mills, carding machine, cabinet shop, blacksmith shop, and saw-mill, and falls into Middle Branch in Weare. In old times, a canal from Mount William pond was dug to its head-waters, by Jesse Hadley, that he might have a reservoir and make the stream a fine water-power. The water from the pond ran that way for a short time, when some good folks in the north part of the town, for the sake of their own mills and as they had a right to do, kindly put a stop to it by filling up the canal. Hadley took counsel, found that he could not legally draw the water from the pond, and gave up the enterprise.

OTTER BROOK. When the land was all woods, trappers caught many otters on this stream, hence its name. It rises on the east slope of Mount William, has one branch from Gould hill, is five miles long; the first mile a swift, wild brook, then a meadow stream, full of deep pools, where trout hide and otters plunge, a home for mink. Years ago, it had three saw-mills on it. It falls into Middle Branch in New Boston.

* CURRIER BROOK, from the south slope of Mount Misery, got its name from Moses Currier, an early settler, flows south-easterly two miles, and is an affluent of the Peacock.

t It is also called " Meadow brook " in a deed from Charles George to Peter and John Dearborn, 1833.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

BASSETT BROOK is formed by two branches : one rises in Hop- kinton, the other in Dunbarton, and flows by the old Stark burying- ground. It is five miles long, famous for trout, and enters the Piscataquog, left bank, one mile below East Weare. Jeremiah Bassett owned a small farm by it, had a saw-mill on it, and gave it his name. It has one affluent, in Weare .*

CHOATE BROOK, so called from Simeon Choate, flows from Hop- kinton; is four miles long, and joins the Piscataquog, left bank, a little below East Weare. A saw-mill on this brook, in Weare, stands within four feet of Hopkinton line. The brook has had many names : Asa brook, from Asa Choate; Parcel brook, Cold Meadow brook, Bald Meadow brook, Meadow brook, and may be some others. The road from Hills bridge over the Contoocook in Hopkinton, about which there was so much contention, comes down through its valley. A small branch enters it from the west.

CENTER BROOK issues from Mount William pond ; is rapid for the first mile, running under ground, like an African stream, part of the way; flows through the north-east corner of Duck pond, then through the Center Square of the town as first laid out; has five mill sites and two mills; is four miles long, and enters the Piscataquog, right bank, a little east of North Weare. As it runs through Center Square and the center of the town, it is called Center brook. It has two tributaries.t

DUDLEY BROOK issues from Pleasant pond in Henniker; flows south-east through Dudley pond in Deering. Turns a saw-mill and grist-mill in the latter town; enters the north-west part of Weare; is four miles long ; a good trout stream, and runs into the Piscata- quog, left bank. A man by the name of John Dudley, of Deering, was its godfather. Mills have been owned on it by Runnels, Lover- ing, Bartlett, Breed, and Dow. It has one affluent in Weare. ¿

SALL BROOK rises in a swamp west of Mount Ararat, and flows north beside the road from North Weare to Henniker, one-half mile in Weare, two miles in Henniker, and falls into the Contoocook

* ALEXANDER BROOK; name from David Alexander; is a merry, tinkling trout brook, from the Kuneanowet hills. It is two miles long, and runs into Bassett brook, left bank.

DAVID C. BREED BROOK rises on the north slope of Mount Wallingford, is two miles long, and runs in an easterly course into Center brook, left bank. It got its name from the man who owns the land through which it flows.

ZEPHANIAH BREED BROOK starts near Clinton Grove, is two miles long, and enters Center brook, left bank, not far from Duek pond; so called from Zephanialı Breed.

#HADLOCK BROOK is a Deering stream, two miles long, its lower half mile in Weare, where it unites with Dudley brook, right bank. Hezekiah Hadlock cleared a farm by it years ago, dammed it, fished it, and named it. One man said "it was an awful trout brook."

MOUNT WILLIAM, FROM MOUNT WILLIAM POND.

THE BROOKS OF WEARE.

river. Once it drove a saw-mill, a grist-mill, two shingle-mills, and a small rake factory; all in Henniker. The owners of these mills, many years ago, diverted the water of Dustin brook in Weare down their stream of euphonious name, but it was soon turned back again by mill-men on the Piscataquog. The stream was so called in honor of Widow Sally Dow, a lady who lived beside it in Henniker .*

PONDS.

Weare has three ponds of considerable size and four small ones.

MOUNT WILLIAM POND is at the southerly foot of Mount Wil- liam, and takes its name from the mountain .. It has a bold, rocky

* THE FOLLOWING SMALL STREAMS ARE AFFLUENTS OF THE PISCATAQUOG, RIGHT BANK :-

HUSE BROOK was named for Enoch Huse, who once owned the farm through which it flows. It starts on the south slope of Barnard hill, is a happy, laughing stream two miles long; sometimes called Hoyt brook. Formerly it had two saw- mills; it enters the Piscataquog a mile above Oil Mill.

HUNTINGTON BROOK, from that part of Barnard hill that is sometimes called Huntington hill, so called from John Huntington, is two miles long, and runs into the Piscataquog about a inile below East Weare.

GETCHEL BROOK, about one mile long, from the north-west side of Gould hill, flows into the Piscataquog. It was named for Winthrop Getchel, a very eccentric man, who had a house on its bank.

MAXFIELD BROOK, name from John Maxfield, is from the valley west of Barnard hill; three-quarters of a mile long, has one branch, and falls into the Piscataquog one-half mile above East Weare.

BURROWS BROOK, William Fletcher Burrows gave it his name, from a spring on the north side of Breed hill, is three-fourths of a mile long, and empties into Max- field brook, left bank. It is sometimes called Breed brook.

HALF-MOON-MEADOW BROOK, so called from the shape of the meadow through which it flows, is three-quarters of a mile long; runs by what is called the " Honey Pot " into the Piscataquog. The Honey Pot is a deep spring, twenty-five feet across, never-failing, never is frozen more than twenty-four hours at a time, and sends a small rill to Half-moon-meadow brook. Moses Peaslee and a boy once caught thirty- six trout from it in less than half an hour, all weighing ten pounds.

STONING BROOK rises in the Stoning pasture on lot two, range five; is about one- half mile long, flows north-east, and falls into the Piscataquog. Its name is from Amos Stoning, who settled by it in 1780, and lived there seventy years.

HORSE-NECK BROOK starts in a meadow north of Mount William, about one-half mile long, a very crooked stream, crosses the highway twice, and enters Center brook south of Center Square.

DOW BROOK, Winthrop Dow gave it his name, comes from a swamp near Leigh- ton hill, runs a mile, or more, and falls into the Piscataquog. There was a tannery on it once.

THORNDIKE BROOK, Thomas Thorndike lived by it, and the name of the brook commemorates the fact. It comes from the east slope of Chevey hill, the water-shed between it and the Peacock being a few rods south of the Friends' church at Clinton Grove. It is a mile and a half long, a trout brook; has one mill site, -a mill there once, -and falls into the Piscataquog a mile or more west of North Weare.

SMALL STREAMS IN THE NORTH PART OF THE TOWN :-

CILLEY BROOK rises near Hopkinton line, is four miles long, has a saw-mill on it, - once had two tanneries, -and runs south into the Piscataquog, left bank. John Cilley lived by it, and it was named for him; it has one branch.

FELCH BROOK comes from south-west of Sugar hill; two miles long, once full of trout, and unites with Cilley brook, right bank. Joseph Felch was the nearest neigh- bor to it, and it borrowed his name.

BOG BROOK comes from Moose bog, hence its name, and runs into the Piscataquog, left bank, just east of the North Weare depot. The railroad formerly ran up its val- ley to Henniker.

WOODBURY BROOK, a little, musical stream, runs by the home of William Wood- bury, and got its name from him. It falls into the Piscataquog, left bank.

HANSON BROOK, in North Weare, is so called from Daniel Hanson, and empties

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

shore. The water in its basin is forty feet and nine inches deep .* The pond was dug by the ice sheet thousands of years ago, and its surface contains one hundred and twenty-eight acres .; Its outlet is Center brook, and a dam flows the pond about six feet. A canal, cut early the present century, made, for a short time, Meadow brook its out- let. Many kinds of fish abound in its waters, which are clear as crystal, the bottom being visible at its greatest depth. It is sur- rounded by fields and pastures where high blueberries grow, and woodlands. Fishermen camp here days at a time, and some of the pious early settlers came here to be baptized. From a boat on its surface, one can see Mounts William, Wallingford, and Dearborn.

DUCK POND is near the center of the town, at the north foot of Mount Wallingford. Center brook runs through it. It has a great deposit of mud in parts of it, although some say it is bottomless, contains about fifty acres of water surface, is full of white pond- lilies, and bushels of them, of the sweetest fragrance, are carried away every year. The pond seems to be filling up, or "growing over," slowly, and is surrounded by swampy woods, which abound with birds. Redwings, Maryland yellow-throats, and cat-birds are especially plenty. In primitive times, its tender water-plants made it an excellent feeding ground for great numbers of wild duck, hence the name, "Duck pond." Pickerel, eels, and horn-pouts flourish, and there is talk of introducing German carp. Reptiles

into the Piseataquog, left bank. It had a tannery, owned by Pelatiah Gove, on it once, and is lost in dry times.

DUSTIN BROOK rises in Clough pond on the east slope of Craney hill, near Henni- ker line; it runs south down a steep declivity, falling about seventy-five feet in a few rods, forming Chipmunk falls; flows through a meadow where it nearly joins Sall ' brook, which runs north into the Contooeook, through the Dyer Dow pond, and falls into the Piscataquog, left bank. This pond is celebrated for being the place where Stephen Lee, a noted counterfeiter, hid his tools and dies, when hard-pressed by the officers. Many people hunted for the tools and dies, but never found them. Paul Dustin settled by the brook and gave it his name.

TOBY BROOK, a small stream, starts on Craney hill, named for Samuel B. Toby, one mile long, and runs south into the Piscataquog, left bank.

EMERY BROOK, Caleb Emery, a Revolutionary soldier, furnished the name, rises on Craney hill, by Henniker line, a fine trout stream once, two miles long, and joins the Piscataquog, left bank, in the north-west part of the town. It is also some- times called Putney brook, from Nathan Putney. It has two branches.

COLLINS BROOK, another Craney hill stream, is one mile long, and is a branch of Emery brook, left bank. Reuben Collins gave his name to it.

HUZZY BROOK, from Craney hill in Henniker, flows south one mile into Emery brook, left bank. Joseph Huzzy gave the name.

JOHNSON BROOK, name from Amos Johnson, sometimes called Horne brook, a niekname for Johnson, comes from a spring in the north-west part of the town. It is one mile long, a trout stream; runs south into the Piseataquog, left bank. Johnson had a daughter Dorcas, and the neighbors sometimes called it Dorcas brook; it is also called Brown brook, from Enoch Brown, who lived near it. It has one branch.

SHEARER BROOK, name in honor of Samuel Shearer, is a branch of Johnson brook, a mile long, from the west.

* Herbert Barrett measured it in February, 1885, through the iee. He found it thirty-six feet nine inches deep; but the surface of the pond was about four feet below high-water mark at that time.

t Geology of N. H., vol. i, p. 309.

VILLAGES AND PLACES OF WEARE.

thrive here, and a huge mud-turtle once caught by the nose a sheep that was drinking at this pond, pulled it into the water, and drowned it.

FERRIN POND, in the west part of the town, - Mount Misery to the east of it, Boar's Head to the north-west of it, -contains about forty acres, and its outlet is Ferrin brook. It has hard, rocky shores, and is evidently a glacier-dug pond. An immense boulder stands at its head. Pickerel and horn-pout abound in its waters, and woods and rocky pastures are on its banks. Enos Ferrin, who settled near it, bestowed his name upon both pond and brook.

CLOUGH POND is high up on the east side of Craney hill. It contains three or four acres, and its surplus waters flow away through Dustin brook to the Piscataquog. A man named Clough lived near it and furnished the name.

LILY POND No. 1, between Mount Misery and Ferrin pond, is the source of Lily-pond brook ..

LILY POND No. 2, on the Tristram Johnson place, east slope of Mount William, is circular in form, and about two hundred feet in diameter. In its center is a small island, which Winthrop Clough cleared and cultivated as a garden. John Maxfield, just a little crazy, afterwards lived at the Clough place, planted the island, and called it "Lord Maxfield's garden."

JOE POND, at East Weare, contains about three acres, and is nearly three hundred feet in diameter. Formerly it had no outlet. Charles Black dug a canal to it and made it a part of his mill-pond reservoir. It abounds with fish, and is also noted for the great number of its water-adders. So called for Joseph Collins.

There are many meadows where the first settlers found natural mowing, and some where an abundance of high blueberries and cranberries grow.

GREEN MEADOW is in the west part of the town, near the foot of Candlewood hill, an eminence in Francestown.

SQUAMSCOT BOG is at the foot of Chevey hill; abounds in cran- berries ; and it is thought by some that it was the place referred to by Whittier, where the cranberries were picked for the marriage feast in his " Bridal of Pennacook."

VILLAGES AND PLACES.

Weare has five villages and several places with local names : OIL MILL, in the south-east part of the town, by New Boston line.

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 2

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co. Number of Pages: 1240

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1240