The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 63

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 63

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CLOTH was made by nearly every farmer's wife in town. The great, stout loom stood in one corner of the kitchen, and it was the most common thing to see the good housewife mounted in it and weaving with all her might. There was the whiz of the shuttle, the jarring of the lathe and the clattering of the treadles, while buzz, buzz, went the rapid wheel, and creak, creak, the windle from which run the yarn the rosy daughter was quilling.

William McQueston had the first loom in Weare to weave twilled cassimere, and Huldah Tenney was the only person who could operate it. When she was sick, the loom stopped.

John Johnson made cloth by hand in the time of the 1812 war. He employed many hands. He took a load of cloth to Portsmouth. As he was driving along, a custom-house officer followed him. Mr. Johnson, having a fleet horse, led him a long race, then let him come up, when he found that the cloth was all American manufacture and that be had raced for nothing.

Cloth was a great deal nicer when it was fulled and dressed. John Gibson was the first man to engage in the business in Weare. He came from Blue Hill, Me., and in 1794 Elijah Brown sold him site eighteen on the "Scataquog," with about one-fourth acre of land, for £6 lawful money. Here Gibson built a clothing mill, and operated it till 1803, when he sold it to David Cross, of Pembroke, for $1000. It was then known for many years as Cross' mill. The only work done was to full and dress the cloth his customers had made at home by hand.

Peaslee & Nason built the next clothing mill at site nine, west of North Weare, which was so long operated by the Woodburys, and Moses Sawyer had a fulling mill at his site ten, in 1831, and did a very large business for many years.

At South Weare James Woodbury had a clothing mill at site thirty-six on the Peacock, and Squires Gove continued the business.

THE WEARE COTTON AND WOOLEN FACTORY was incorporated December, 1812, by the legislature. The directors, Joshua Folsom,

Moses Sauvages

553

THE WEARE WOOLEN FACTORY.

1813.]

William Whittle and Enoch Breed, Jan. 13, 1813, purchased site twelve on the Piscataquog of Josiah and Oliver Edwards. They paid for the old mill, the site and forty-two acres of land, $677. This company operated the mill till 1854, when, Oct. 2d, they sold to Alanson Crane, of Lowell, for $10,000. Mr. Crane, Feb. 21, 1856, sold one-half to Charles Kelley, of Weare, and to Lyman and Emanuel N. Paine each one-fourth. The latter were of Blackstone, Mass. They assumed a new name: the Rockland Manufacturing Co. The firm were prosperous, and in 1862 greatly enlarged their mill. In 1870 their capital was $30,000. They employed eleven males and twenty-nine females, had an annual pay-roll of $11,000 and made four hundred and seventy-five thousand yards of cloth, valued at $65,000. Their mill was destroyed by fire Jan. 3, 1882, and has not been rebuilt. Some of the more prominent agents and mana- gers were Oliver and Josiah Edwards, Herman Davis, Nathan Cheney and Charles Kelley. There have been several other agents, but only for a limited time. The ruins remain as the fire left them. They seem to possess good staying qualities.

THE WEARE WOOLEN FACTORY was incorporated by the legis- lature in July, 1831, with a capital of $20,000. Moses Sawyer* bought the mill privilege and about two hundred acres of land, and

* MOSES SAWYER. The progenitor of the branch of the family found in New Hampshire was Williani Sayer, or Sawyer, as the name was afterwards called by his sons. He and his wife Ruth, a Welsh lady, settled in Newbury, Mass., in 1640. He was very prominent in the Presbyterian church of that place, of which both were members. There is on record a very well written protest against the assumption of authority by their pastor, which he composed and signed with forty others. A part of their thirteen children united with the Society of Friends, and all the ances- tors of the Sawyer family in Weare have since been members.

Stephen, their eleventh child, was born April 25, 1663, and married Ann Titcomb, of Newburyport. He died at the advanced age of ninety years. Their son Daniel was born Jan. 28, 1689, and married Sarah Moody. Among their children was Hum- phrey, who married Mary Phillips, of Lynn, Mass. They had three children. Their son Phillips was born in Newburyport in 1746 and died in 1821. He married Mary, daughter of Nathan Breed, of Lynn, Mass. They moved to Weare in 1788. They had six children. John, the eldest, was born in Newburyport June 25, 1774, and died March 1, 1841. He married Eunice, daughter of Daniel Gove, of Weare, a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and greatly respected for his conscientious adlier- ence to what he thought right. Like others of his sect he believed all war contrary to the law of God, and would not pay taxes to support it. Therefore, during the Rev- olution, much of his property was sacrificed. Among other things a crow-bar was set up at auction. None of his neighbors were willing to bid on it. Finally one inan, less kindly than the others, gave a small sum and took the bar. But ever after when any one wished him to feel uncomfortable he would be reminded of his bargain, and he never failed to lose his temper.

John and Eunice (Gove) Sawyer settled in Henniker in 1799. The former repre- sented the town in the legislature and was one of the selectmen for seven years, His quiet. unobtrusive Christian character won the respect and love of all who knew him. His wife outlived him many years and died at the age of ninety-seven years. She was a thoughtful, intelligent woman of unusual energy and courage, and retained her faculties to nearly the end of her long life. They had five children, the second of whom is the subject of this sketch.

MOSES SAWYER was born in Henniker, N. H., Oct. 26, 1803. His school life began when he was four years old and ended when he was thirteen. Yet he devoted his evenings so closely to study that he soon mastered the branches taught in our acad-

554

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1837.

soon after built the mill at site ten on the Piscataquog. He put $7500 into the business, run the mill as a "custom shop" and did carding, weaving and fulling. The mill was burned Nov. 16, 1836. Peter Gove was there at work and went out to get some cider; Cape Woodbury, the watchman, was fast asleep. It was insured for $2500; but Hon. Richard H. Ayer, who settled the loss for the insurance company, would only pay $2000.

Mr. Sawyer rebuilt the mill in 1837, twice as good as the old one, with much better machinery. The great financial crash came the same year, but he kept at work, and for the next ten years averaged to make twenty-five per cent on the capital stock. He did $25,000 worth of business a year, and a custom business of $10,000 more. He made satinets, blankets and cassimeres, and the last of his work was wholly cassimeres. He also did custom carding. When busi- ness was good he employed twenty hands; when poor, from twelve to fifteen. In 1848 he built a second mill at site eleven, just below on the river. This was used as a fulling and finishing mill. The tariff, devised by Henry Clay that year, was a great injury to him, and he lost several thousand dollars in a short time. He and his associates ran the mill till 1880, when he, being about eighty years old, ceased work .* The mill was used a short time in 1885 for spinning, and it is now occupied as a hosiery mill.

emies and high schools. He learned the trade of dressing cloth at Henniker, and before he reached his majority was engaged as superintendent of a mill in Vermont. He went from there to Amesbury, Mass., where he worked several years in the mills to perfeet himself in his business. When twenty-eight years of age, with little other capital than his hands and his natural energy of character, he formed a company and started the Weare woolen mills, which were under his care from that time to 1886. When he came to North Weare in 1831 there were only four houses where the village now stands, and these were widely scattered and sadly needing repair. There was no store or post-office, and the only public communication with the outside world was a weekly mail from Concord. He was largely instrumental in having a railroad built through the town, and tried to induce intelligent, high-minded people to settle in the village.

A member of the Society of Friends, both by faith and inheritance, lie has been prominent in their meetings and Sabbath school.

Mr. Sawyer has never cared to hold any political office, nor has he accepted such a position except at the earnest request of his friends. Yet he represented the town in the legislature in 1866 He thinks the three essential attributes of success in life are : first, character; second, industry ; third, perseverance; and that one reason so many fail is a belief that " might makes right," and a mistake in choosing a calling. Too many parents crowd sons into professions who should be mechanics.

Mr. Sawyer has been twice married. First to Rebecca B. Morrill, of Seabrook, N. H., to whom he was deeply attached. She died in 1848, leaving him one son, John Edward, born April 17, 1841, and died in his early manhood in 1858. In 1852 he was again married to Mrs. Hannah (Bassett) Jones, daugliter of Daniel and Abigail (Bean) Bassett, of Wolfborough, N. H.

Mr. Sawyer has three children by his second marriage : Henry Abbott, a graduate of Dartmouth college, born in 1853, married Elizabeth A. Matthews; Ellen Rebecca, born in 1857, married J. Fred Smith, A. M .; and Mary Elizabethi, born in 1859.

* The mill is thus reported in 1870: Capital, $30,000; males employed, 12; females, 8; annual pay-roll, $6000; products, cassimcres, carpets and yarns; yards of cassi- meres, 25,000; value, $23,000.

555

TAILORS AND CLOTHING.

1808.]

TAILORS. Many tailors have lived in Weare. In the last century they went, like the peripatetic shoemakers, from house to house to cut and make the men's clothing.

Asa Dow is well remembered. He visited a large part of the town, and although he had none of the rollicking gaiety of Shoe- maker Anderson, he was always a welcome guest.

Abraham Thorp and his sons, Isaac, William, Joseph and Charles, were tailors at South Weare.

Benjamin Goodwin was a tailor at East Weare in 1808, and Aaron Colby succeeded him.

Sidney Brigham did business at Weare Center, and also James M. Templeton and Moses Chase.

Abraham Channel, who wanted to marry Col. Nathaniel Fifield's daughter, but had to marry another girl, was a tailor on Sugar hill.

Lorenzo B. Chapin is at present the tailor at North Weare.

CLOTHING. Abraham Thorp* manufactured a large amount of clothing for outside parties, from 1840 to 1885. He did work for Boston parties, and in time of the war had contracts to furnish clothing for several regiments. He has also furnished a large amount of clothing for the navy.

HATS were made in Weare in the earliest times. Isaac Hubbard, Isaac Kelley, Asa Smiley and Aaron Sargent, 1809, had hat-shops at South Weare, and John Bird one by the road to Mount William pond in 1790.

At Oil Mill, Andrew Savage and James Priest made hats. The latter did a large business.

George Nichols, for a long time, made the best of hats at Slab City.

* ABRAHAM THORP, son of Thomas and Kitty (Ouhly) Thorp, was born at Derby, Eng., Feb. 2, 1799. His mother died when he was eleven years old; he then went to service till he was fourteen, when he was apprenticed to learn the tailor-trade, and served seven years. He married Sarah Webster July 9, 1820, and in 1829 set out in a sailing vessel for America, and arrived at New York in August, after a voyage of fifty days. He came to Clinton Grove in November, 1837, where he pursued his trade for two years and then moved to South Weare. About 1840 he began to make coats for parties in Boston, commencing with two coats, which were sent by a great six-horse team that made a round trip once a week. In 1846 he made, with his son Joseph W., additions to his buildings, and they did business on a much larger scale, often receiv- ing a thousand coats at a time. In 1859 he began to use Blodgett's sewing machines and again enlarged the business. In the time of the Rebellion he furnished clothing for several New Hampshire and Massachusetts regiments, and a large amount for the · navy. In 1876, with his son Joseph W., he commenced making garments for the United States marine corps, furnishing eighteen thousand garments annually for four years, and distributing among the families of South Weare and neighboring towns $25,000.

Mr. Thorp was liberal in sentiment and an early worker in the anti-slavery move- ment. He was temperate and abstemious, generous and public-spirited, and engaged in every good work. No man during the time he lived in South Weare did more for the place than he.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thorp, five in England and two in New York city. Their son William went to the war and died. Mr. Thorp died Sept. 21, 1882.

556

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1830.

John Webster was a hatter at Baker's mills in 1815, and Hiram Gove was also a hatter there in 1830.

The hat business ceased in Weare about 1850, James Priest per- haps being the last who carried it on. They made all kinds of hats : silk, wool and fur, soft felt, stiff and "stove-pipe."

HOSIERY. This industry was begun in 1886 by John W. Hanson and Charles A. Jones. They bought all the property, rights and franchises of the Weare woolen factory, and do business under that name at site ten on the Piscataquog, North Weare.

Harrison Simons* and his son, Harry H. Simons, under the firm name of the Simons Knitting Company, built another hosiery mill in 1886 at site twenty-two on the Piscataquog, in Oil Mill vil- lage. It occupies the site of the first grist-mill. Ten knitting machines are now in operation, and it is proposed to soon add thirty more.

WASTE. Thomas L. Thorpe, of Manchester (1876), purchased the mill at site nineteen on the Piscataquog, in East Weare, and for about two years prepared "waste" for the market. He was then burned out, and the business ceased.

ROPES. Robert Johnson made many ropes at East Weare. He used the highway for his rope-walk, and made them so long that they reached from Rodney W. Gould's to Good Templars' hall. There was a great demand for Johnson's ropes in all the country round.

BRICK. The first brick used in Weare were drawn from Con- cord on an ox-sled in winter. James Emerson got his there. Brick have been made in the valley of the Peacock; by Otter brook; on Barnard hill, near the source of the Otter; by Choate brook, east

* HARRISON SIMONS, son of Christopher and Nancy (Locke) Simons, was born at the mountain in Weare July 14, 1813. He received a district-school education and attended the Franklin academy two terms, then taught by Professor Tyler. He worked with his father in the linseed-oil mill many years. In 1845 he owned the grist-mill in company with his brother Hiram. The mill was burned in the great fire of 1848, and having purchased his brother's interest, he built a new mill. In 1857 he built a grist-mill south of the road where the oil mill stood, and used the mill north of the road to saw shingles, clapboards, laths and fence-pickets. The grist- mill south of the road was burned in 1861, and he built another in its place that year. He used this till 1884, when, business much increasing, he took it down, moved it back to the north side of the road to the spot where stood the first grist-mill in town, and built a much larger and heavier mill, which he now operates. In 1886 Mr. Simons, in company with his son, Harry H., finished the mill on the north side of the road into the hosicry factory, which is now partly in operation. In politics Mr. Simons is a Democrat; in religion, a Universalist.

He married Lydia Ann Foster Nov. 15, 1840, and to them have been born seven chil- dren : William F. Simons, now superintendent of the Boston & Lowell railroad, south- ern division; Eliza Ann, who married Abel F. Moore, for many years road-master of the Concord railroad; Mary Ella, Clara M., who married Jolin G. Sumner, of Nashma; Nina M., Sarah N., who married George E. Smith, of Manchester, and Harry H., who married Adah C. Whitney, and is now the trader and postmaster at Oil Mill.

Mluart Boatu!

Harrison Simons

557

THRESHING MACHINES.

1835.]

of Sugar hill; north of the meeting-house in North Weare and in the great meadow on the Piscataquog, near Deering line.

Jonathan Gove and Woodbridge Belcher made brick on Barnard hill. Tristram Johnson got his clay there, but hauled it home and burned his kiln near his house.

Col. Nathaniel Fifield made brick near Choate brook, and Benja- min Clark worked for him.

Several made brick at North Weare, and David Dow made a large amount of pottery from the same clay-bank.

They had no machine for grinding clay in the early days, and all that was used was pulverized by the feet of oxen. A bed was made of plank about fifteen feet in diameter, on which the clay was spread a foot thick; there was a post in the center, and the whole was sur- rounded by a railing. Into this they put four oxen, yoked with chains; a boy kept them going round and round, the "core" next to the post being "turned out" occasionally and the "rim" "turned in," till the whole was thoroughly prepared. Then this was re- moved, and another bed subjected to the same process. From the clay treated in this way, excellent brick were struck and burned. They were used to build the great chimneys which rested on huge arches in the old-fashioned farm-houses. Clay is now ground be- tween two great rollers, set perpendicularly, and turned by a long sweep or crane, drawn round and round by a horse.

THRESHING MACHINES. All grain, for many years after the settle- ment, was threshed with a flail and winnowed with the wind. Leavitt's almanac has a pleasant December picture of two men pounding out grain on an open barn floor, the great haymows by them, and poultry picking up the flying kernels.

Winnowing machines came as early as 1825, and perhaps earlier, and threshing machines, operated by horse-power, about 1835. The last went about town and threshed at the farmers' barns.

Elijah Johnson established a threshing machine in his mill at site seventeen, East Weare, about 1840, and farmers brought their grain there to be threshed.

In 1856 Robert Peaslee set up a threshing machine in his mill at site thirteen, and operated it for ten years.

Homer F. Breed for many years has operated a threshing machine in his mill at site fifty-nine on Center brook; Squire L. Gove has long had one at site forty-six on the Peacock, and H. Romeyn Nichols has operated one for several years at site forty-four on the

558

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1764.

same stream. There was also one at site twenty-eight on Bassett brook, which was used for a long time.

GRIST-MILLS. It was a great inconvenience to go to Londonderry and Bedford to mill, or even as far away as Goffstown, and so the settlers early turned their attention to the building of a grist-mill.

The Clement mill was erected in 1764 at site twenty-two on the Piscataquog, in what is now Oil Mill village, by Jonathan Clement, and was the first in town. Mr. Clement's sons, Henry and Ezra, and James Emerson assisted in building it. The stones, as has been told, were got from a hard boulder on Barnard hill. Benjamin Gale afterwards owned the mill for many years. In 1814 John Whitney sold it to Jonathan N. Philbrick. Christopher Simons afterwards bought it, and it is now owned by his son, Harrison Simons. It has been rebuilt several times, having been burned Nov. 8, 1848, and once since. It first stood on the east bank of the river, north of road two; but after the second fire, it was built south of the road on the site of the old oil mill.

The Caldwell grist-mill was built in 1771, by Lieut. Samuel Cald- well, at site four on the Piscataquog, west of North Weare. He sold it in 1803 to James Baker, of Salisbury, Mass., who made ex- tensive improvements and had the reputation of making the very best flour. Farmers from all the neighboring towns brought their wheat there to be ground. Capt. Samuel Baker, son of James, in 1848, sold the mill to Levi H. Dow. He sold to Nathan C. Paige, from Danvers, Mass., who thoroughly rebuilt it. Jan. 14, 1861, the mill was accidentally burned, and there has been no grist-mill there since.

The Samuel Philbrick grist-mill was built in 1775, by Captain Philbrick, at site forty-four on the Peacock. Oct. 2, 1781, the town " Voted, That Capt. Samuel Philbrick should build his dam for his mills on the road [road thirty], and the said dam to be the bridge to pass on, and the said Philbrick shall not damnify any man's property ; and to support said dam on his own cost." The dam is the bridge for the road to this day. . Old Mr. Zebulon Carr was long the miller here. Afterwards Squires Gove owned the mill for sev- eral years. William H. Hutchins succeeded him, and the mill is now owned and operated by H. Romeyn Nichols.

The Peaslee-Hoit grist-mill was built on the mill lot in 1779, by Ebenezer Peaslee and Abner Hoit, at the proprietors' site, number thirteen on the south side of the Piscataquog. In 1784 Abner Hoit

559

EARLY GRIST-MILLS.

1783.]

sold his interest in the mill to John Morgan, who soon sold to Mr. Peaslee. The latter and his successors operated it till 1840, when it was discontinued. While Ebenezer Peaslee owned it he employed Jesse C. Blake as miller, who cut the initials of his own name on the ledge under the mill, thus-"J. C. B., 1797, M."

The Nathaniel Weed grist-mill was built by him in 1783, at site forty-seven on the Peacock. It was probably an opposition mill to Samuel Philbrick's. Road two to the mountain crosses its pond. Weed sold it to Simon Perkins in 1784. Squires Gove and Charles Gove owned it afterwards, and Jesse Gove was drowned in their mill-pond. Dea. Robert S. Fifield was the next proprietor, and while he owned it there were many glorious baptizings in the pond. Betsey Stone was the next owner, and the mill went down on her hands.

The Purington grist-mill was built in 1785, by Chase Purington, at site ten on the Piscataquog, at North Weare. It stood about twenty years and then gave place to other mills. The site is now occupied by the hosiery mill.

The Edmund Johnson grist-mill was built by him in 1785, at site nineteen on the Piscataquog, at East Weare. A great freshet oc- curred in 1792, which cut a new channel north of the mill next to the road, and Mr. Johnson built a saw-mill to fill up the gap. Ever after the grists had to be carried out and in through the saw-mill. This mill did a fair amount of business till 1825, and was owned at different times by Edmund Johnson, Jr., Robert Johnson and Moses Johnson.

The Benjamin Collins grist-mill was built by him on lot one hundred, range five, in 1788, at site seventeen on the north side of the Piscataquog at East Weare. He operated the mill about twelve years. Elijah Brown succeeded him, followed by his sons Jonathan and David, and afterwards by his son, Benjamin Brown, who in 1823 sold to Israel Peaslee and Jacob Eaton. Subsequent owners were Elijah Johnson, Louis F. Eaton, John Q. Eaton, Joel Chand- ler, John H. McAlpine and John C. Ray. Alonzo P. Nichols is the present owner.

The Stephen Dow grist-mill was built by him about 1790, at site fifty-eight on the Zephaniah Breed brook, south of Weare Center. He ground only corn. The mill went down more than seventy years ago.

The Jesse Blake grist-mill was built by him about 1800, at site

560

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1806.

fifty-nine on Center brook. Oliver Edwards afterwards owned and operated it thirty years.

The Raymond grist-mill was built on lot seventy, range three, in 1806, by Jeremiah P. and Thomas Raymond, at site twenty-one on the east side of the Piscataquog, near Everett railroad station. Leonard Parker, son of Dea. William Parker, from Dunbarton, was drowned in the pond. Capt. Moses Hoit tended the grist-mill here in 1828 and 1829. Only a small business was done, and it went to decay about 1835.

The Jesse Hadley grist-mill was built by him about 1812, at site thirty-five on Meadow brook at South Weare. It was afterwards owned and operated by his son, William Hadley. The mill rotted down many years ago.

The James Corliss grist-mill was built by him in 1820, at site thirty-seven on Meadow brook, at South Weare. He used it about forty-five years. James Buxton occupied it about five years, until 1870, when it was abandoned. The old building is still standing.

The Winthrop Dow grist-mill was built by him in 1820, at site eight on the Piscataquog, west of North Weare. He run it during his life and was succeeded by his sons, David and Winthrop Dow, Jr. Abraham M. Flanders bought a part of this site, on the north side of the river, about 1860, and built a new grist-mill, which he now owns and operates.

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 63

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