The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 35

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 35

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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305

THE CONGREGATIONALISTS.

1789.]

act, and the needed repairs were made. A stove was purchased in 1832, it having become fashionable to have them. The slips or anxious seats were made into new-style pews about 1835. Then the old meeting-house was used for nearly forty years more, when it was sold at auction, to Amos W. Bailey, for $50, and gave place to our new meeting-house, built in more modern style.

Several other meeting-houses have since been built in town, an account of which will be given in connection with the societies who erected them.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE CONGREGATIONALISTS.

A CONGREGATIONAL church was formed in Weare, June 17, 1789. Several ministers from neighboring towns, among whom may have been Rev. Solomon Moore of New Boston, and Rev. Jonathan Barns of Hillsborough, organized it. It was weak at first, but in a few years it grew strong in numbers. The members stood upon the plan of the Cambridge platform. They believed in one God, only, composed of three Gods, Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; in the Bible as God's Word ; total depravity ; infant damnation ; the atonement ; the free justification of sinners by faith alone; salvation by grace; the resurrection ; everlasting punishment for the wicked, and life eternal for the righteous .* The creed has since been somewhat modified .;

They had no settled pastor, at first, but relied upon supplies from abroad. Among those who preached to them were the ministers

* 53 N. H. Law Report, pp. 154, 164.

t CONGREGATIONALIST CREED.

Congregationalist Doctrines as enunciated at a later date.

" 1. The divine and special inspiration of the holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testament, and their supreme authority in faith and practice.

" 2. The unity of God. The Deity of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

"3. The depravity of man, and the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit's agency in man's regeneration and sanctification.

" 4. The incarnation of the Son of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; the universal sufficiency of the atonement by his death; and the free justification of sinners by faith alone in him.

"5. Salvation by grace, and the duty of all who hear the gospel to believe in Christ.

" 6. The resurrection of the dead and the final judgment, when the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." - The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 1, pp. 834, 835.

306

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1802.

before named, Revs. Daniel Merrill, Christopher Page, Walter Harris, David Long, Moses Bradford, and William Sleigh who lived in Deering. Mr. Sleigh was considered by the church in that town as "unsound in his doctrinal views," but he was popular with the majority, and was much liked by the people of Weare. In 1802 he was paid by the committee of the church, for preaching at the north meeting-house, $14 .*

This year the church settled Rev. John Cayford, from England. He was ordained Oct. 20, 1802. He was a man of talent, an accept- able minister, and added a large number to the church. In 1805 there were fifty-nine male members, and a larger number of fe- males. James Emerson was the first deacon.

Mrs. Cayford, the pastor's wife, was a great help to the church. She took active interest in both its spiritual and temporal welfare. She was an object of interest to the townspeople as well. Her habit of omitting the letter " h" from words to which it belonged, and prefixing it where it ought not to be, amused them. She was noted for her quaint sayings, some of which have come down to us. She told one man that her "'oe would not abide on the 'andle unless she put a cleave in it." She was rather short of household utensils, and the church did not provide very well for her. Once, Mrs. Jona- than Edmunds told her she would give her some apple-sauce if she would send a dish for it. Mrs. Cayford went home and got a hog's bladder, the only vessel she could find in her house, and sent her child with it for the sauce. Still she never complained and was always cheerful. When her reverend husband lived on lot ninety- nine, range five, he was too lazy to cut his wheat, and she cut it with a pair of shears.

* " Received of Mr Humphery Eaton fourten Dollors on Acount for my preaching at the North Meeting house by order of the Comitte for preaching " July 15, 1802 WM SLEIGH "

+ THE MALE MEMBERS WERE: -

Samuel Page,

Ithamar Eaton,

Nathaniel Fifield,

Moses Boynton Amasa Foster, Jacob Cilley, Philip Cilley, Jonathan Wood,

Timothy George, Samuel Eaton, Abner Hoit, Jr., Paul Cilley, John Evans, John Day, Thomas Emerson, Follansbe Shaw,

Moses Emerson, Richard Collins,

John Collins,

Abiah Straw(?), Thomas Stevens,

Jonathan Edmunds, Benjamin Cilley,

Moses George,

Osgood Evens,

John Cilley,

Daniel Gould, Thomas Shaw,

David Lull, Abraham Fifield, Samuel Colby,

Theodore Cross,

Tristram Barnard, Jr., John Dow, Benjamin Marshall,

Ezra Clement, Stephen Emerson, Jesse Clement,

Thomas Raymond,

Moses Emerson, Jr.,. Stephen Gould,

Asa Marshall,

Thomas Evans, Jr.,

James Emerson, StephenEmerson 3d John Dow, Jr., Jonathan Jones,

Seth N. Cilley,

David Cross,

Enoch Goodwin,

Jonathan Cilley, David Barnard, David Barnard, Jr., Tristram Barnard, Edmond Barnard, John Favour,

David Paige,

Jonathan G. Fifield, Thomas Evans,

- Laws of N. H., 1805, pp. 6, 7.

307

INCORPORATED INTO A PARISH.

1805.]

In 1805, the church, being strong in numbers, wished to be set off as a parish by themselves. They had often tried to get the town to allow this, but those in the south and west parts, being in a majority, opposed and prevented it. But this year they went to the legislature with a large petition, in which they set forth that they had erected a meeting-house in the northerly part of the town, settled a minister upon the Cambridge platform, and for some time had acted, in matters of religious concern, as a separate parish, and they prayed that they might be incorporated into a poll-parish. The town opposed them,* but they had a full, public hearing before a committee of the General Court, and their petition appearing just and reasonable, they were " incorporated into a parish, a body pol- itic and corporate, to have continuance and succession forever by the name of the Congregational Society of Weare." They could sue and be sued to final judgment, execution and satisfaction ; choose all necessary parish officers annually, in the month of March, and assess and collect taxes. Either Samuel Page or Nathaniel Fifield could call the first parish meeting. This was a great victory for the church, and it encouraged them wonderfully.t

Soon after, Priest Cayford settled on one of the "parsonage lots," number sixteen in the sixth range, and claimed it by right. He built a small, rough house and lived there a few years. The town did not believe he could hold it, and, as they had already sold it to Aaron Cilley, at a meeting held Oct. 14, 1805, they chose Eb- enezer Peaslee and Jonathan Atwood, Jr., a committee to assist Mr. Cilley in a suit he had brought against the "reverend tres- passer," " to be heard and tryed at the Superior Court at Amherst." Samuel Page and many others filed a remonstrance# against assisting

* March 12, 1805. " Chose Capt George Hadley and Samuel B. Tobie, a committee, in behalf of the town of Weare to go to the General Court against a poll-parish be- ing set off on the easterly side of Weare."

+ N. H. Laws, 1805, pp. 6, 7.

Į REMONSTRANCE OF SAMUEL PAGE AND OTHERS.

" Weare October 14th 1805.

" Wheras we the under Signers finding there are those in the town who are dis- posed to make difyculty and disturbance in the town and to involve the town in an unreasonable law sute which will be attended with expense and difyculty we hereby declare our decent against such procedings likewise declare we will neither aid asist or support in any way whatsoever for the following Reasons (viz)

" lly that Aaron Cilley and others have involved themselves in an unreasonable sute they ought to bare the Consequence

" 2ly that whereas we have not only Complyed with the Result of a Committee in the town who divided the personage land but also with a disintresd Committee Chosen by the town for that purpose. " SAMUEL PAGE ABNER HOIT JAMES EMERSON NATHLL FIFIELD

JONA EDMUNDS JOHN DAY

ASA FRENCH

THOMAS EMERSON DAVID PAIGE

RICHARD COLINS

JOHN COLLINS 2D ITHAMAR EATON

DANIEL GOULD MOSES BOYNTON

PAUL CILLEY

JOTHAM T. TUTTLE "

ENOCH GOODEN

308

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1805.

to fight a lawsuit with " Rev. John Coffer," but it availed nothing. In due time the case was tried; Priest Cayford was beaten, and the church also. It was a sort of death blow. The pastor had to move off the ministerial land, his popularity waned, his usefulness was at an end, he felt it, asked for his dismissal, and got it May 4, 1808. He removed from town soon after .*

The church sank into a rapid decline after their minister left. It is said "the habits of thought of the people were not consonant with the doctrines of Congregationalism."t Ithamar Eaton, a lead- ing member, had married a widow, Hannah Low. She was an Anabaptist, and must have that kind of preaching. She persuaded her husband to attend her meetings. His example was contagious, his fellow church-members went with him, they were encouraged, were received with open arms, soon joined that close-communion church, and the Congregational church died in East Weare. A lawsuit and a woman's influence killed it.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A ROUND TRIP TO SALEM.

FROM the earliest times the farmers of Weare generally went twice each winter to market in the sea-board towns. They visited Portsmouth and Newburyport, but usually did their trading in Salem. Before the roads were good and bridges built they went with ox- teams, and if the weather was fine and cold it took but two weeks to make the trip. When there were drifts or a thaw they were much longer. Benjamin Huntington was once a fortnight in getting from Amesbury to Weare with his ox-team.

The farmer loaded his surplus products upon his stout sled, and if he did not have enough of his own for a load he took on some for his neighbor. Whole hogs, frozen stiff, butter, cheese, poultry, wheat and other grains, wool, yarn, flax and white linen cloth, the skins of mink, foxes, sable, fisher-cats and sometimes the bear, sheep

* Cayford had an adopted daughter. After he moved from Weare, he ran away with her to Maine, and his wife returned to England.

¡ N. H. Churches, p. 244.

309

A ROUND TRIP TO SALEM.

1783.]

pelts, dried apple and other farm produce were all tightly bound on. He had a big tub of frozen bean porridge, with a hatchet to cut it out, bannocks well baked, and plenty of roasted meat, for his own living while on the road, and he also took several bushels of oats or corn for his cattle.

Jacob Carr used to tell how he went to market just after the Revolution. The deep snow had come; it was freezing cold, no danger of a January thaw, and with his thick overcoat on, blue frock over that, double woolen mittens and a muffler to keep his ears warm, he yoked Buck and Bright and with goad stick in hand, amid many good-byes, was off to the seaport town. The temperature was often zero or below when he would start out on the frosty morn from the wayside inn. It was haw, and gee, and get up there, the oxen advancing on the road, he walking in the path behind his load with his goad stick under his arm, a small cloud of steam rising from the cattle's noses, white hoar frost about their nostrils and his own, his cow-hide boots and the sled runners creaking on the frozen snow. Jacob Carr was a philosopher as well as story-teller, did not believe in the creeds of his time, talked about the transmigration of souls, said he himself " was an old white horse once and was now living in the great Platonic day."

The farmers drove a barter trade at the old Salem market. For their loads they got salt, tea, sugar, dried fish, calicoes, crockery and tinware, pewter dishes, steel traps, powder, shot, lead for bullets, sometimes a gun, fish hooks, with other necessaries, and then they were off for home. There were plenty of inns on the road, where they got hay for their cattle, a chance to eat their own food on the bar-room table, plenty of grog from the landlord's bar to wash it down, and a good bed to sleep in nights. When they neared home their oxen turned off the main road instinctively into the unfre- quented path to the homestead, and what joy was there in the cabin when the treasures were unpacked and distributed and the incidents of the journey told !

When the roads were better and the northern country full of people, marketing to the seaport towns much increased. The road from Henniker through Weare became a great thoroughfare, and thousands of teams traversed it every winter. William Whittle's tavern and Elijah Purington's inn at the Center, Hutchins' hotel at Mount William pond and Dustin's house at South Weare, since kept by Jeremiah Philbrick and by John Dearborn, became noted places.

310

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1815.

Traders in towns at the north sent great covered teams drawn by six, eight, and sometimes ten horses through our town to market. Farmers discarded the ox-sled, superseding them with the two-horse pung and the one-horse pod. These were well shod with steel shoes more than an inch thick, polished bright and easy running on the snow. The horses in front, the long reins reaching back over the load, the driver stood on the semi-circular step in the rear, so that when cold he could easily step off and run to warm himself. They also left behind the tub of bean porridge and took the lunch box in its place.

The Weare farmers generally went together to market. On a morning agreed upon, all made their way to the main road and fell into line. All came in at night to the inn that was the most popu- lar with them. Their horses cared for, there was a rush for the bar- room. The table was loaded with their capacious boxes, which were packed with cold meats, cold fowl, bread, doughnuts, cheese and pie. What a supper they eat! It is told that one Weare man took out a whole neat's tongue, held it up and said, "There is a tongue that never told a lie, and I doubt if there is another such in the room." The evening was spent in story telling and toddy drinking, the landlord probably making more profit on the liquor he sold them than he would have made on the meals had he furnished them. They were up at four o'clock and off at the dawn. At night of the second day they were in Salem. The third day they made an ex- change of commodities and securely packed everything for the re- turn. That night it was the custom to have a grand supper at the best inn. At the ringing of the bell all, full of rollicking fun, re- paired to the dining-room and seated themselves around the festive board ; the viands on the table were transferred to the individual plates and then disappeared as if by magic. There was the joke and the laugh and the good digestion that accompanied. One old Quaker from our town complained of the mysterious disappearance of a piece of brown bread he had laid on his plate but a moment be- fore ; he believed some one had eaten it; he took another and would watch that, but this also soon went in the same mysterious manner, and so did several other pieces, much to his annoyance and the amusement of his friends. When he finished his supper the crowd proposed a search, and pulled out of his coat-tail pocket all the brown bread he had lost and more too. One said, "My friend, you have laid in a generous supply of the staff of life, you must have hungry

311

INCIDENTS OF A ROUND TRIP TO SALEM.

1815.]

mouths at home." "Yes," said the Quaker, "I not only intended to . take enough for them, but also to have some for all of ye, my needy neighbors." His good-natured answer was the occasion of a hearty laugh. One of the company, who had boasted of his great wealth, how he had a whole barrel of silver money, played the role of a beg- gar, passing round his hat and in dolorous tones asking assistance. A few coppers were given, when an individual, who looked as though even pennies might be strangers in his pockets, threw in a silver half dollar with the exclamation, "There, take that and buy some wit"; and then there was a great shout. Before the evening was spent they got so full of viands and drinks that they would laugh at any- thing. A solitary individual leaning back in his chair against the wall seemed insensible to the sport going on. All at once he began to groan, very sick, and in a tone of great distress said, "Do call a doctor quick !" One was brought, and then the sick man in a suppli- cating voice, pointing to the clown of the company said, " Oh, dear doctor, do trepan that man, take the nonsense out of his head and put in a little good sense, and I will give you anything you ask." And then there was another shout, and so it went on. They got Abner Huntington up three times in the night to go out and see if the horses were all right and if the hay had not been taken away from them. They put him on the lead the next morning, thinking he would take the wrong road and get lost, but he did not, and the farmers could see his horses tails fly up about once a minute, as he put the brad in the end of his whip-stock to them to hurry along.

It was ten o'clock at night of the fifth day when the heavily laden pung came creaking up to the door. A well-known voice was heard to say, "Boys, get up, and take care of the horses." They were not slow in obeying that call, and then came the nuts, ginger-bread and other luxuries that they only got when the round trip to Salem was made.

Sometimes our farmers were caught in a January thaw and were delayed on the road. Then they looked out to stop at one of the best of the inns, where the sheets were clean, the blankets warm, the quilts plenty and the beds of soft live-geese feathers. How well the old host and landlady could furnish the table, the butter the nicest, the eggs the freshest, the chickens the fattest, the steaks tender and juicy, and the potatoes so mealy. The floors were so cleanly swept, such a good fire in the capacious bar-room, the bar with the most delicious drinks, milk-toddy, egg-nog, punch, good old New England

312

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1830.

rum, and the loggerhead always hot in the coals under the great oak or maple forestick. Scores of roystering marketmen had merry times, and the neighboring farmers came in to see the fun, hear the news, learn the state of the market and talk politics. Landlords, who did not patronize their own bars got rich, but alas, too many be- came drunkards and died sots.

Moses Peaslee once set out for the Salem market on a terribly cold Tuesday, when he thought there would be no thaw. Every man he met going north had his ears or nose frozen, if those organs were ex- posed. The night he arrived at Salem there came a change; the next morning it was balmy ; at ten o'clock the water was running in the streets. He hurried for home, and when he got to Cilley brook, near his place, the water was so high that part of the bridge planks had been carried off. He did not notice it till he was on the bridge. He had a pair of green colts, and could not well go ahead, while it was impossible to back. There was but one way, he applied the whip, jumped the colts across, and they drew the pung after them in safety.

It is handed down that Jesse Hoit once drove a market pung to Salem. There was a large number of Weare farmers with him. At the usual supper he made much fun. He was a great eater, and after partaking of the regular courses with the rest, and all had finished, he called for cracker toast made in melted butter; four quarts were brought him, which he swallowed with a relish, and when the crowd thought he would burst, he ordered a large pumpkin pie to top out with and swallowed that.

It is also told how a number of persons, among whom was Benjamin Felch, were once at Whittle's tavern enjoying them- selves with a crowd of northern farmers. Benjamin was a man of large gastronomic capacity, and the question arose how much he could eat. So they contracted with Mr. Whittle, the landlord, for a square meal for Mr. Felch. When it was ready they accu- rately weighed the hearty man and took seats in the dining-hall to see him fill himself. He swallowed roast beef and potatoes, pork and potatoes, veal and potatoes, several loaves of bread, a few quarts of hasty-pudding and milk, some sweet cake and a number of large pies. They weighed him again when he was through, and found he had stowed away just seventeen pounds in his capacious stomach. He thanked his entertainers heartily, said "it never hurted him a bit," and he is reported to have lived to a good old age.

313

THE SHAKERS.

1774.]

This way of going to market increased as the years went by, and . in winter a hundred pungs and pods, with jingling bells and shout- ing drivers, along with many large teams, would pass in a day. Our inns flourished, and each would have scores of horses in the stables every night. The town was never more prosperous, and the farmers had a ready market for their hay and grain at home. This continued till the era of railroads, when gradually as the iron rails crept to the north the business ceased, and then the prosperity of the inns was gone forever.

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE SHAKERS.

MOTHER ANN LEE and her disciples, from Manchester, England, landed in this country, at New York, Aug. 6, 1774. They settled in the woods, seven miles from Albany, where is now the village of Watervliet.

From this point Shakerism spread into several states. A few converts were made in Weare, in the summer of 1784. They lived on the western slope of Rattlesnake hill, where no one lives now, and a few more in Henniker, in the south-east part of that town, on Noyes hill.

To the people of Weare their belief was somewhat peculiar, but no more so than that of most other new sects. It is difficult to harmonize any creed with the ordinary common sense of mankind. The only reply to the many strange things asserted in creeds is "Oh! that is a mystery."

The Shakers believed in a God dual, who had sex, an Eternal Father and an Eternal Mother,-the Heavenly Parents of all angel- ical and human beings. Jesus is spoken of " as a perfect Jew," and Christ as " a supermundane being," " the Agent of the new revela- tion to Jesus," which was, "first, the immortality of the soul," and, " second, its resurrection."

They had four heavens and four hells. The good went to the first heaven; the righteous Jews, such as Abraham, Daniel, David and others, went to the second heaven, which is called Paradise ;

314

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1784.

Paul was "caught up to the third heaven," and Jesus ascended " into the fourth heaven, after his departure from earth."

The wicked antediluvians, who rejected the preaching of Noah, went to the first hell, and the wicked Jews to the second hell, called Gehenna.

They taught, as a radical and most important principle, " the oral confession of sins to God in the presence of one or two witnesses."

The Bible was held to be a record of the most Divine Angelic ministrations to man.

Their worship consisted of singing and dancing. For this, they said, they had the best authority. "God is a Spirit," and can be worshiped only " in spirit and truth." " Without the presence of the Spirit there can be no true worship." God forgives sins con- fessed and forsaken, and removes gloom and sorrow ; then the Spirit brings joy and rejoicing, thanksgiving and praise ; and singing and dancing are the spontaneous effects of a true devotion .* The Jews " rejoiced before the Lord " " with music and dancing."i

They owned much of the land about Rattlesnake hill, and tried to buy all the land on Noyes hill, near by, in Henniker. They. wanted to establish a family or community, such as those at Enfield and Canterbury.

The Shakers in Weare were Phinehas Ferrin and family, Elijah Brown, unmarried, Mercy Brown, his sister, Jonathan Brown, Anna Carr, Lydia Wright, William Evens, Joshua Wright# and family, the Beck family, and the Blakes. Near by, in Henniker, lived Jonathan Basford and Asa Williams with their families.

They were very sincere in their profession, and taught their children that all the rest of the world were bad - no better than so many satans. One day the Basford boys met Samuel Kimball ; they at once turned away from him and waved the backs of their hands at him, crying, -" Shoo, devil; shoo, devil, shoo !"

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 35

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