The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 67

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 67

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).

ABRAM CHASE was another of Weare's odd sticks. He was orderly and neat, and on retiring at night would place his clothing in certain relative positions, from which he never deviated. He never shook hands with strangers without first washing his own. Chase had a voracious appetite, eating whenever he was invited, sometimes a dozen meals a day. He had a great aversion to fish, and it was only necessary to allude to a fish-dinner to be rid of him at once. He would also depart suddenly if asked to come again.

One of his habits was, solitary and alone, preaching in the open air on some hill-top with uncovered head. It would provoke him

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to have any one come to listen on such occasions. A young school- master once approached, when Chase changed his subject, and in stentorian voice made a not very flattering personal address to his auditor. He rebuked him for all his errors, both of omission and commission, for breaking the Sabbath, for laughing in meeting, dancing, sparking the girls, giving the details in each case, and ask- ing, " What would your grandfather Brackenbury say to that ?" After enumerating all the young master's shortcomings, he closed in good orthodox fashion : "And what do you think will become of you; where do you expect to go to? You'll go to hell, that's where you 'll go to."

At raisings the boys often got him to preach, but when they offered to pay him for his sermon he always refused, saying, "I'll never take pay for preaching the gospel." He enjoyed loud preach- ing, saying, "The speaker gave it up good."

When one of his chickens died, he dug a grave and buried it, and remarking to the spectators that he felt called upon for a few words at this funeral, said : -

" We often have* A silent grave Open to a chicken's eye, That we behind Must bear in mind That we were born to die."

Some have called Chase an imbecile, but the following was an impromptu stanza on visiting a poor, sick old man : -

" Thee has none to make thee laugh, Nor none to make thee cry, Nor none to lean on as a staff, And none to see thee die."

JONATHAN OSBORN, with his wife Esther and their children, Samuel, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Jr., John, who married Abigail P. Green, Patience and Esther, came to Weare just before the Revolu- tion. He claimed to be a Quaker, and on that ground did not sign the Association Test. They lived about half a mile from Weare Center, and were a very quiet, worthy, but peculiar people. One of the daughters remarked to a neighbor, "I can sit all day and never think of nothing."

He soon had a good farm, on which he set out a great number of fruit trees, and had the best orchard in town, raising pears, peaches,-

* Pronounced to rhyme with grave.

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HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1831.

clingstones, freestones and rareripes, - as well as apples. The farm was noted far and near for its fine pears. Once a company of boys paid the orchard a night visit. While busily engaged filling a large bag the owner quietly slipped in among them and helped the work along. When it was full he made himself known by saying, " Come, boys, now come in and have some cider." They had to accept the invitation, were treated to a fine supper, cordially invited to come again, and when they went away they had to take the bag of pears along with them. His orchard was never again molested.

Mr. Osborn was very careful not to allow any variety of seed handed down from a former generation to "run out." At one time a considerable piece of ground was sparsely covered with growing wheat, which evidently would not yield more than half a bushel of threshed grain. The attention of one of the sons was called to the lightness of the crop. " Oh," said he in a tone im- plying perfect satisfaction, " We've had that kind of wheat a good many years and don't want to get out of the seed." In truth they had for years raised only enough for seed.

Mr. Osborn was somewhat peculiar about his dress. One very hot day he was seen mowing, having on two shirts, stout pants, felt hat and a long waistcoat, all made of heavy woolen goods of home manufacture. A neighbor, seeing him evidently suffering from the intense heat, inquired why he did not take off his vest. " I keep it on," said he, "in winter to keep the heat in, and in summer to keep the heat out."

Mr. Osborn is still quoted as a weather prophet. He said it was a sure sign of rain when a cloud came up over the Kuncanowet hills, and the wind came after it, but the surest sign was when you heard it on the shingles.

The entire family would gather around the fire, and smoke in silence hour after hour, and a pet dog was taught to hold a pipe in his mouth. The following conversation once took place between the male members of the family : -

Father -" They have terrible great guns in the army."

After a long pause, -

Samuel -" A man might near about crawl into 'em."

Jonathan, Jr. - "I should think they would hold as much as a pound of powder."

John -" Take as much as four men to touch it off."

The children were known as the Osborn boys and girls as long as

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they lived, and sometimes were called the living Osborns, on ac- count of their generally lifeless appearance.

John was a blacksmith, and did odd jobs in the way of mending for the neighbors. He made out his bills and kept his accounts this way :-

" To mending kettle. nothing.

66 rake shoeing horse. $1 00

sharpening plow irons. .nothing."

The women of the family were very neat and methodical. They had no paint on floor or wall, but the house was kept scrupulously clean by much scrubbing with soap and sand. Though they all smoked, the rooms were thoroughly aired, so there was no offensive odor from the pipes. They always made one candle daily, and never in any emergency made more than one. Instead of pouring the melted tallow into a mould they dipped it in with a spoon, waiting to allow each spoonful to cool. When one of the daughters was ill enough to need a neighbor to watch with her, the watcher was re- quested to extinguish the solitary candle as soon as she had attended to the invalid's wants, and to light it again if it became necessary. If it burned continuously they feared it would not last through the night. When Samuel was confined to his bed during his last sickness, he kept his day clothing on, even to his hat and boots, and thus died.

JOHN GILLET, JR., probably born in Waltham, Mass., was the son of John Gillet who once practised law, and moved to Weare about 1815. John, Jr., had a good education, taught school and afterwards preached. He had a rhyming proclivity, and thus men- tions his early life : -

" I was brought up in Waltham, In Massachusetts state, My father was a dish turner, His belly it was great.

" I went to live in Weare, New Hampshire was the state, I let myself to an innholder, Who made me sit up late."

One who knew him well says he was a dashing young fellow, who did not like to work, but could write a song and sing it. One of his songs began thus: -

" My father can turn wooden dishes, My mother can card and spin, And I am a jolly young fellow When the money comes tumbling in."

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HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1844.

Young Gillet, when in his teens, worked on a farm for Ira Gove's father, and was then noted for his odd sayings and assumed wisdom. He told the workmen, with great gravity, one Friday afternoon, that if the sun set clear of a Friday night it will rain before Monday night. "For," said he, "I've noticed it more than a hundred times this summer." The remark caused much merriment, for it was just the beginning of haying.

When he became a young man he frequently taught school, was called a fine mathematician, and was a peculiar disciplinarian, as we have seen. He also improved his rhymes. The following is an acrostic which he wrote for a lady still living : -

" Eternal wisdom doth prevail Light for her children, and divide In every state their given lot ;- Zion shall never be forgot As time moves round in every spot.

" God shall preserve thee day by day, Offer him praise, learn to obey, Virtue shall be thy choicest prize, Ever must hope cost sacrifice.

" For Eliza Gove by Johnington.

" 2d day of the week, 4th day of the month, 11th month of the year. 1844. Weare."

John Gillet married Susan B. Webster, of East Weare, and moved to Maine. While there the small-pox attacked his family. People were so frightened they fenced up the road, and no one was allowed to go to his house. His wife and one child died, and he was obliged to perform the funeral service alone, for none dared to come near.

This made him insane; but he soon found another wife, with whom he did not live very harmoniously. Finally, he says, they divided the house, she taking the inside, and he the outside. Soon after he returned to Weare, built a rude cabin half a mile north of North Weare, and there, with his pet animals, spent the rest of his days. He wrote a poem, in which he affectionately mentions them all by name. Speaking of his swine he says :-

" Plasing, the sow, I tell you now She eats her fill Of corn and swill."

The poem goes on to tell about his cockerel and hens, his cat, pig, tame trout and white bull, named Abe.

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PECULIAR PEOPLE.

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" With my bull I plow my acre, Harrow deep the rugged soil, And his neck, stiff like the Quaker, Ne'er shall flinch in time of toil."

He built a fantastic cart, harnessed in the white bull, and drove about with a mixture of pride, oddity and independence, undoubt- edly enjoying his turn-out quite as much as many others a carriage and span. He kept his pets scrupulously neat. He took his pig daily to a neighboring spring and gave it a thorough washing. It would follow him about the village like a dog. He was very fond of his cat, and confined her in a barrel when he was to be absent. Once when he tried to shut her up Miss Kitty rebelled, and sprang out of his hands several times. Indignant, he caught and forced her in, with the remark, " Can it be that I, John Gillet, am unable to put a cat into a barrel ?" Whew! Now he knows what caused the rebellion ; a skunk had taken up its quarters there. The odor was suffocating. No doubt John Gillet wished he had not found out whether he could put a cat in a barrel.

He dressed himself oddly, wearing garments of many colors, with his cross, six diagonal lines, worked on the back of the short jacket he always wore.

Once he drove his white bull as far as Lowell, and so great a curiosity was he that the crowd that pressed to see him entirely blocked up the street, preventing his passing. He immediately rose in his cart, and with flashing eye and gesture wild, made them a speech on good manners and the rights of citizens, which was so pleasing that they heartily applauded, and opening to the right and left, allowed him to go on.

A family by the name of Emery annoyed him very much. They abused and insulted him. He met them one day, looked at then savagely and then broke out : "You know that I am insane; that I am not responsible for any act ; and if I should kill you, I could not be hanged for it." They took the hint, and ever after treated him courteously.

Gillet once heard several people in conversation express strong feeling in regard to the last resting-place of a well-known citizen which was unmarked. After listening some time he got out of patience, and ejaculated, " If a man was so unfortunate in the day of judgment that he could not be found unless he had a grave- stone, he had better be left ! "

He was very abstemious in his living, and when he had eaten

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HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1866.

what he had allowanced himself, could not be coaxed to take another mouthful or another sip of coffee or tea.

He was tall and erect, of soldierly bearing ; had decided military tastes, and loved to command much better than to obey. He tried to recruit soldiers to release Governor Dorr, of Rhode Island, who was confined for treason. He styled himself a military chieftain, and was continually talking about raising an army to kill all the Whigs, whom, as a politician, he violently opposed.

About 1855 his mind dwelt much upon the currency which was then in circulation. He often asserted that there could be no uni- form standard of currency so long as we were liable to discover large gold and silver mines, and that these metals might at any time become so abundant as to materially lessen their money value. He argued that something less liable to change in value must become our money basis. In his opinion, corn would make a good substi- tute for gold and silver, for it required, to produce it, a certain amount of labor, which did not materially vary. He said the credit of a bank should be based on the amount of corn which it held in store, and that it should only be allowed to issue bills to the value of that amount.

At length he determined to start a bank himself; so he went about with his white bull collecting and storing corn. When he had a considerable quantity on hand, he began to issue bills designed by himself, and circulated them among his friends. The following is a copy of one of his five dollar bills: -

" $ ets $ ets

5,00 I. R. R. L. 12 80 6§ 1. Sept. 3ª. 5,00

" FOR VALUE RECEIVED I promise to pay unto the bearer Five dollars in specie (if demanded), at the house of Cyrus E. Wood, any time when presented.

JOHN GILLET

" JOSIAH DOW, Witnesses. JOHN GILLET,

JOHN.

N B SMITH Prin.

CYRUS E. WOOD,

SIR, JOHN BROWN,

Pay Master.

Surety."

On the back is the following : -

L m

" Weare Dee 10th 18 66

" Ten per cent premium will be given by me if paid in paper money

JOHN GILLET."

John Gillet scrupulously redeemed all the bills he issued, and no one ever lost any thing by him.

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PUBLIC MORALS.

1830.]

He was pleased to be considered insane, and showed a method in his madness, which led some who knew him to think his odd freaks assumed for effect. "There never was but one sane man," said he, "and that was Jesus Christ. You are only a little more sane than I." He possessed far more than an ordinary intellect, and his wild vagaries were strangely intermixed with no small share of real common sense.

Not having been seen at the village for several days, one of the neighbors went to his house. He was found dead ; his body lying on the threshold, half in the cabin and half outside. His empty swill-pail was by him, his last effort evidently being to feed his animals.

Back of his home he had enclosed with a high and substantial stone wall a piece of ground as his grave-yard, and in it had buried some of his pet animals. Here he was laid. to rest, and the only monument to mark the spot is the stout wall that he built.

ANNEXATION. The town, in 1826, refused to be annexed to the county of Merrimack.

PUBLIC MORALS. Joseph Philbrick was a philanthropist ; he . wished to make the world better, and mankind more happy. He tried good example, preaching and moral suasion for many years, and still vice prevailed. In 1830 he essayed legal suasion, and at the annual town-meeting he advocated the appointment of a com- mittee, " whose duty it shall be to enquire into all well-grounded reports of filthy abominations committed in this town, and upon satisfactory evidence obtained, to prosecute such offenders to judge- ment of the law." He said he did this, hoping to purge out such iniquity from the inhabitants of the town, and to avert the wrath of the Almighty. The town agreed with Mr. Philbrick, and chose Joseph Philbrick and Israel Peaslee, Esqs., and James Baker, a committee to carry his ideas into execution.

The good work of improving the morals of the community went on. In 1838 a house of correction was established in connection with the poor farm, and Amos W. Bailey, Daniel Paige and Moses Peaslee were chosen a committee to draft and report suitable by- laws for the proper management and government of the same. They reported in 1839, reciting the law of 1828; stating who might be sent, how, and for how long; that they should be kept at hard labor, might be punished the same as refractory children and be placed in solitary confinement not exceeding forty-eight hours.

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HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1834.

Not many persons have been sent to our penal institution, and there is no question but that the morals of our town have always been as good, if not better, than those of neighboring towns.

ACADEMY AND HIGH SCHOOLS. Many schools have been taught in Weare beside the public ones of the town.

THE CLINTON GROVE ACADEMY was established in 1834. The money to buy the materials for the building was furnished by Moses Hodgdon, Levi Gove and Josiah Gove, -$1000, $500 and $277 re- spectively. The labor on the building was largely gratuitous. Daniel Gove, then a very old man, hewed the first stick of timber, and Samuel Osborn the rest of it with a broad-axe, some young men scoring for him.

The house was two stories, the first being of granite, and the second of brick. The granite was drawn from Henniker by Moses Hodgdon, and the brick from Hillsborough, lower village, by Eli- phalet Paige and Levi Gove. Mr. Silver, of Hopkinton, laid the brick. It was situated at what was then known as the north end of Hodgdon's woods, Moses Hodgdon giving the land, and was near the Friends' south meeting-house. Moses A. Cartland bestowed the name, " Clinton Grove," it being in honor of De Witt Clinton, the distinguished engineer of the Erie canal.

The first teacher in the new academy was Moses A. Cartland .*

* MOSES AUSTIN CARTLAND was born in Lee, Nov. 17, 1805. He was the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Austin) Cartland, and grandson of Joseph Cartland, who was of Scotch descent. The family were members of the Society of Friends. Moses was the sixth of a family of seven children, -Hannah, Caroline, Joseph, Anna, Plcbe, Moses A. and Jonathan. Of these Caroline, Joseph, Phebe, Jonathan and Moses A. spent a portion of their lives in Weare.

Moses was educated in the public schools, and in 1826 attended the Friends' boarding-school at Providence, R. I. He constantly added to his stock of knowledge by incessant study, and by careful and varied reading of books and periodicals. He probably was an assistant in the school at Providence for a few terms, and then be- gan his school-teaching career in old Halestown, in an ancient school-house just on the outskirts of the village, afterwards so widely known as Clinton Grovc. It was in district twelve, and he taught there two successive winters.

About the middle of August, 1834, he opened Clinton Grove academy, and for fourteen years was its most successful principal. His school was a model. He had remarkable ability as a teacher, possessing skill, tact, and wonderful gifts in the power of securing not only the respect, but the affection of his pupils. "He was not a mere instructor, but a rarely endowed cducator." " He not only put knowledge into the minds of his pupils, but he developed their intellectual powers, learned them to think and to express their thoughts." Hc established a lyceum in connection with his school, and took an active 'part in carrying it on. He was a vigorous debater, and opposed by such men as William H. Gove, Simon P. Colby and John L. Hadley, showed as much ability and cloquence as is displayed in the halls of congress or in parliament. William B. Govc, after a residence of twenty-five years in Washington, D. C., and a long familiarity with the talent displayed there, said, " The more famil- iar I have become with the best eloquence at Washington, the more I appreciate the ability shown by Moses A. Cartland and his associates at Clinton Grove lyceum. The senators and representatives do not excel that old home-talent, and I hear noth- ing that surpasses Cartland's specches when he was aroused by some of the vital questions of the day."

He early espoused the abolition causc, and aided to form a society which soon had sixty members. His house was always a station on the underground railroad.

Moses a. Cartland

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THE CLINTON GROVE ACADEMY.

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He had previously taught school in district twelve with marked suc- cess, and for two years had labored in the Friends' boarding-school, Providence, R. I. The first winter he had forty scholars, and the next eighty. There was a lack of accommodation for so many pupils from abroad, and it was decided to build a boarding-house. A company was formed, stock issued, the par value of each share being $100, and ten men* took the same. The company also built a barn, and the whole cost of all the buildings was about $4000. The boarding-house was a two-story wooden building, and stood south of the academy, with which it was connected.

Mr. Cartland, assisted by his sisters, Phebe and Caroline, had charge of the boarding-house for several years. He was a liberal provider, his sisters skilled cooks, and they set an excellent table.

Moses Sawyer, speaking of the part he took in anti-slavery and temperance move- ments, said, "I have heard from him when roused to his best efforts some of the grandest sentiments that ever fell from a man's lips."

Mr. Cartland was liberal in his ideas and kept pace with the best thought of the age. At one time he was censured as being too radical for one belonging to the Society of Friends, and professing to believe as le did. In a speech made soon after, he answered the charge, closing his remarks thus: " Who does any thing in the way of reformation has always been sneered at. They have tacked upon me the name of 'comeouter.' Men who have taken part in great movements have always been thus assailed. St. Paul was a ' comeouter,' St. Peter was a ' comeouter,' Jesus Christ was a ' comeouter,'" then lowering his tone and pausing, his face and figure expressing the most intense earnestness, he said slowly, " I am not ashamed to be a ' comeouter.' "

Mr. Cartland left Weare about 1847, and for several years taught the Walnut Grove school at Lee. He then returned, taught the district school at North Weare two winters, and one term at Clinton Grove.

In 1849, he was engaged in the anti-slavery movement in Pennsylvania, and assisted his cousin, J. G. Whittier, the poet, in editing the Pennsylvania Freeman. He was also the editor at different times of the New Hampshire Journal of Agricul- ture, the New Hampshire Journal of Education, and the White Mountain Torrent, a temperance paper, all published at Concord. He wrote many articles for the National Era, published at Washington, and was the " Washington correspondent" of that paper, writing the letters in the Academy boarding-house. His reading and his imagination made his letters appear fresh and pertinent as from the hand of an actual resident. He contributed also to many magazines.

Mr. Cartland was frequently honored by his townsmen with public office. He was the able superintendent of schools for several years, and was the representa- tive of the town in the state legislature.

He bought a farm on Burnt hill, a mile from North Weare station, where he spent his last years, and occupied much of the time in writing for his papers.

He married, in 1846, Mary Gove, of Weare, one of his pupils, known among her school-mates as "Little Mary." In reply to some newspaper "chaff," relating to his taking a wife when so old, he told the story of the sailor, who when on shore in Scotland, profaned the Sabbath by deer-hunting. Being reproved by his captain, he replied, " I only got one little one." Their children are Mrs. Charles B. Shackford, Charles Sumner Cartland, now treasurer of Strafford county, Miss Bessie Cartland, one of Dover's best teachers, Mrs. Charles F. Thompson, of Lee, and Miss Jane Smith Cartland, who is a successful teacher in Exeter.

Mr. Cartland was over six feet tall and well proportioned. He possessed the grace of a gentleman, and was perfectly at home in the most polite society.

His last literary effort, and perhaps his best, was an oration on the Mission of Poetry, delivered before the Friends' Alumni at Newport, R. I. He was taken sick a few days after with pneumonia, and died at the house of his brother Joseph in Providence.

Mr. Cartland had many mourners. William H. Gove, of Weare, wrote a poem, "Threnody," of considerable merit, to his memory, and Whittier, some beautiful lines entitled, " A Memorial to M. A. Cartland."

*Moses Hodgdon, Levi Gove, Daniel Paige, Daniel Gove, Johnson Gove,

Josiah Gove, Enoch Breed, Ebenezer Gove,

Moses Sawyer, Edmund Gove.

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HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1834.

Anna Huse, for a time, had the care of the culinary department and was chief cook. "Squire " Daniel Paige afterwards had charge of it for a year. William Patten and his sisters, Mary and Anna, had it for a short time.

The academy had a small amount of apparatus to illustrate the studies : a globe, electric machine, philosophical and chemical in- struments, a magic lantern and a set of astronomical views.

Mr. Cartland was principal from 1834 to 1841. He was then away for a year, William Patten, a Dartmouth graduate, teaching a term during his absence. He returned in 1842 and taught till 1847. He was deservedly popular. His school was widely known, and his pupils were from many states, Massachusetts furnishing the largest number; Alabama and Texas sent pupils at one time; yet he al- lowed no advertising and issued no catalogues. He had many assistants: his two brothers, Joseph and Jonathan, Dana B. Gove, William H. Gove, William Breed and Elijah Pope are among those best remembered. He gave many lectures in connection with his school work, and organized a weekly lyceum, in which the topics of the day were spiritedly discussed. He had at times as many as eighty scholars, and averaged more than forty each term.

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 67

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