USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Windham > The history of Windham in New Hampshire (Rockingham country). 1719-1883. A Scotch settlement (commonly called Scotch-Irish), embracing nearly one third of the ancient settlement and historic township of Londonderry, N.H > Part 14
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
" With the old oaken bucket, The iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket which arose from the well."
Often the log houses had no cellars; and for windows, a wooden shutter to let in the light, and which was of necessity closed during cold and stormy weather. This is a faint picture of the early homes of our ancestors. In these uncomfortable abodes, amid great discouragements, trials, and hardships, they lived for years, reared their large families, and hopefully looked forward to brighter days, which came to their descendants.
The fire upon their humble hearths, like the sacrificial flames upon the ancient Aztec altars, were never, as a rule, permitted to be extinguished ; but night and day, winter and summer, year in and year ont, it burned cheerily, or was kept alive by the coals being covered by a huge pile of ashes. If by accident it was extinguished, they went to their neighbors for coals. Their large open fire-places were often capacious enough to burn wood four feet in length, the same as was burned in our first school-houses. Their living room was mainly lighted by the blazing fire. As the settlement became older, tallow candles appeared, dipped by the- good housewife, or run in tin moulds, these being supplanted by oil lamps, and these in their turn by kerosene lamps of the present day.
113
HABITS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS,
By the blazing fire of the open hearth, or the light of a pitch- pine knot, many an ambitious lad received the rudiments of his education.
By this same open fire the cooking was performed. Before cranes came in use, two pieces of wood, called cross-bars, were placed in the chimney, and some three feet below was placed the wooden mantel-piece, and another piece called the luy-pole across them, on which to hang trammels.
The crane was an iron bar, fastened at one side of the chim- ney, which could swing over the fire or away from it, as desired, on which the hooks or kettles were hung over the fire. Cooks became expert in cooking over the open fire. At times, four or five kettles would be swung over the same fire at once.
The brick oven was a great convenience in its day. Once a week it would be thoroughly heated, and the Sunday beans, bread, and pies would be cooked. The tin oven was another invention, which aided greatly in performing the labor of the kitchen. Stoves are a comparatively recent invention, being known as early as 1790, and did not come into general use in this town till some time after 1830.
The Dutch oven, a shallow cast-iron kettle with a cover. The articles to be cooked were put into the kettle; it was then placed over the fire, and the cover filled with coals.
Friction matches were not introduced till about 1833, and did not come into general use till a much later period. Fires were often lighted by a tinder-box, or by flashing powder in the pan of an old-fashioned gun.
The first milk-pans in use in town were wooden ones.
The early settlers procured considerable wild game. The woods were full of it; and William Gregg, the boy emigrant, was a famous hunter in West Windham. The ponds abounded with fish, and had not then, as now, "been fished to death." From them the settlers could at almost any time procure fish enough for a "good square meal."
. But the most noted place for fishing, and the one most prolific of good results to the early residents of Windham, Londonderry, and other towns, was Amoskeag Falls, near what is now Manches- ter. There the people of Windham fished, and on account of the manner in which some persons took possession of the most available places for fishing, caused great dissatisfaction. So, on the 22d of December, 1759, a petition was presented to the gov- ermment from Londonderry, Windham, Chester, and Bedford, stating their grievances and asking redress; and on Jan. 11, 1760, regulations were adopted by the government in relation to fishing at the falls. This fishing ground was of great importance. Away back in the far-distant past, it was the chief residence of the powerful tribe of Pennacook Indians, who inhabited or roamed through all this region. The Scotch at Londonderry, and the English who settled Concord in 1725, pressed their claims to these
114
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
fishing grounds. The Scotch were in possession, and possession being " nine points of the law," they heldl their ground tenaciously. The shad were abundant, also many salmon, and the lamprey eel. The latter has been eulogized by the late William Stark. Intelli- gent readers can judge of the value and magnitude of the fishing interest, unless he has greatly exceeded poetic license in his description of the value attached to them by the Derryfield people. He says : -
" From the eels they formed their food in chief, And eels were called the Derryfiekdl beef; It was often said that their only care, And their only wish, and their only prayer, For the present world, and the world to come, Was a string of cels and a jug of rum."
If eels were of so great value, what shall be said of the salmon and shad? Another poet may yet sing of their merits and value.
In later years, it was the custom for many to procure shad from the Merrimack, in the vicinity of Lawrence, which were salted down for use during the season.
Wheat was not raised in early times, but rye and Indian corn. From these their bread was made till a comparatively recent date. Flour was not to be purchased till some time after 1800. A favor- ite method of cooking potatoes was to roast them in the hot ashes and coals. Cider was a common drink, and almost every farmer put a large amount of it into his cellar each fall, for use during the succeeding year. Beer, compounded of roots and herbs, was often made in the spring, and drank.
Still, in spite of all their efforts, the pioneers were oftentimes hard pressed for food and the comforts of life. They were resi- dents of a rough, cold, and wintry land, and all their subsistence was to be dug out of the earth or fished out of the waters. Their roads at first were only paths marked by blazed trees. There were no wagons, no mowing-machines, no horse-rakes, no ma- chinery of any kind; and the few tools they had were of a rude kind and of inferior quality. Few articles could be purchased at any store.
Plows had the wrought-iron shares, the beam being very long, with a mold-board of wood, covered with seraps of iron ; the handles were straight. The crooked handles were introduced since the commencement of this century. Wooden shovels, with the edges shod with iron, were in use till after 1800. The pitch- forks were made of iron, unwieldy and heavy. Common black- smiths made the hoes, which were heavy and bungling. The rakes were of home mannfacture, and much heavier than now. Scythe-snathes were home-made, and were either straight, or had a natural bend, till about 1810, when they were first bent when steamed.
Great economy was practised. People, many of them, went barefoot in summer, No shoes were for sale then; the farmer
115
LINEN MANUFACTURE.
would procure the leather, and the shoemaker would go from house to house and make the shoes for the family. People would go barefoot a large share of the way to meeting before putting on their shoes, to save them from wearing out.
There were no furnishing stores then ; no ready-made garments, as now, for sale, when a person can appear as a " new creature" in fifteen minutes after crossing the store's threshold. Their clothing was of home production. Men often wore "buckskin breeches" made from the hides of deer, which were of great strength and durability.
BREAKING AND SWINGLING FLAX.
The culture of flax and the manufacture of linen was intro- duced by the Scotch residents of 1719, and they were eminent in that business. Every farmer had his field of flax. This was pulled, the seed threshed off, then spread on the ground in rows and rotted, then it was "broken" and swingled, and was thus
116
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
prepared for the combing, carding, and the little spinning-wheel. Every house had its loom and spinning-wheel, and as many little wheels as there were daughters in the family. They spun and wove fine linen for sheets and table-cloths, of which they were justly proud.
Men made a business of manufacturing spinning-wheels and sold them in the settlement ; they were called wheelwrights. Such was Adam Templeton, whose second house stood where Robert Simp- son's now stands. He carried his wheels through Windham on horseback, and sold them.
The tow, which was the coarse portion combed out of the hetchel, was spun into coarse yarn, from which the cloth was made which furnished the men and boys with their summer suits. The tow shirt, so commonly worn, was an instrument of torture to the wearer, when new, as it was full of pricking spines left from the woody part of the stalk. The tailor of "ye olden time," with his goose, travelled from house to house, and made up the clothes for the family. The tailoress supplanted him here within the memory of many of us.
Most of the travelling was done on horseback, the man in front, and the woman on a pillion behind. Grain was carried to mill on horseback, and other articles were transported in the same way. At first there were no grist-mills nearer than Haverhill or Andover, Mass .; and as many had no facilities for conveying corn except upon poles trailed from the horses' back, they broke their corn into meal by means of a hand-mill, called a cairn, formed by turn- ing the irregular surface of one stone upon the other. The stones of a cairn, some two feet in diameter, can now be seen in the wall of Albert A. Morrison, on the west side of the highway, near to the second pair of bars north of his barn.
SNOW-SHOES.
But there were seasons when travelling on horseback was impossible, by reason of the great depth of the snow. At such times, when the snow was not solid enough to bear one's weight, they travelled on snow-shoes, as appears in the cut. These presented a large surface, and pro- vented one from sinking in the snow. They were from two to four feet in length, and from a foot to sixteen inches in width, and one ac- customed to their use could travel with them with ease. In the earlier history of the coun- try, soldiers fought campaigns on snow-shoes, marching long distances against the Indians.
The snow-shoe was made of a tough piece of maple or ash, about one inch in diameter, and bent in the shape represented, and the
117
UMBRELLAS. - CLOCKS AND TIME-KEEPERS.
ends riveted together. There were cross-pieces, to which and to the bow of the shoe was attached a strong netting of green hide or leather. The toe of the foot was slipped under the loop of the front cross-piece and fastened, while the heel was left free, though sometimes it would be weighted so as to trail in the SHOW.
UMBRELLAS.
Umbrellas, or sunshades, were first used in the countries of the East for protection against the fierce rays of the sun. Slaves carried them over the heads of their mistresses, and lovers bore them over the heads of their sweethearts. They were in use in France, and from that country were carried into England about 1790, and about 1795 were first brought to America. The price, five or six dollars, was too high for their general introduction. As the price became reduced, their use became general.
CLOCKS AND TIME-KEEPERS.
In old times people were troubled greatly in keeping time. Money was scarce and hard to get; they were poor, and clocks were high ; so they employed several substitutes for noting the passage of time. Their houses were often set fronting to the south, and noon would be known as the shadow would be square with the house. Sun-dials were used. The dials were of pewter, with a three-cornered piece so placed on the meridian as to cast a shadow, while the hours were marked upon the outside surface. These instruments were of no benefit except during sunshiny days.
The clepsydru took the place of the dial in cloudy weather and at night. It was a cylinder filled with water, all of which would escape from it, through a hole in the bottom, in a certain number of hours. The hours were marked upon the sides of the cylinder, commencing at the top and going to the bottom, and the surface of the water would show the hour.
Clocks were manufactured in New England as early as 1720; in New Hampshire as early as 1730. They were invented and used as early as 1120 in Europe, and introduced into England about 1288. It is not probable that there was a clock in Wind- ham much before 1800. They were certainly here not far from that date. In the corner of a room in my house stands a tall, old-fashioned, eight-day brass clock, procured by my grandfather at a cost of sixty dollars. There it has stood ticking away for nearly three-fourths of a century. Several of these old clocks, good time-keepers, still åre in town. Wooden clocks came a quarter of a century later. If they could speak our language, what a history could they reveal! The joys, sorrows, successes, and reverses of nearly a century would be brought before ns in panoramic view !
118
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
SHADE-TREES.
Shade-trees are not abundant in town, either by the wayside or in front of the dwellings of our citizens. The first residents seemed to prefer that the rays of the sun should reach their dwellings unchecked. Unlike some towns, there are but few of those trees near dwellings, whose wide-spreading branches furnish refreshing shade in the heat of summer, and add so much com- fort to man and beauty to the landscape. Latterly there has been an improvement in this respect. People are beginning to realize that " a thing of beauty is a joy forever." Shade-trees are appear- ing in the vicinity of our people's homes, and by the sides of the highway. In the centennial year, 1876, many trees were set out, and L. A. Morrison set out more than one hundred in the east part of the town, which may in future years delight the eye of the passer-by.
BLACKSMITHIS.
Blacksmiths did every variety of work. They made axes, hoes, plow-irons, scythes, and shod the wooden shovels. They shod the horses the same as now. When oxen were to be shod, a large pile of hay or straw was thown upon the floor; then the ox was thrown down and turned upon his back. One man would hold his head, the fore and hind legs were lashed together, and he was shod in that position. The nails and shoes were made by the black- smith. Swings for shoeing oxen were not used till abont 1810, and it was many years after this before they came into general use.
PICTURE OF OUR FATHERS' HOMES.
For a long time after the settlement, that portion of the town embraced in School District No. Two was the most populous and thrifty of any in the town. Most of the farmers owned at least one hundred acres of land, had large families of children, seldom less than four, and generally ten or more. Like the other inhabi- tants of the town, they lived in Arcadian simplicity. Nature loves her intelligent and trusting children, and seldom betrays those who rely upon her bounty. The people lived chiefly upon what they produced from the soil. There was no machinery then to help in the fatiguing labor of the farm, but there were plenty of young men and maidens, with strong and willing hands, and both worked in the hay-field and helped to fill the great barns with hay. They labored together in gathering into the store- houses the golden, ripened corn, and together, with the harvest- inoon shining down upon them, in those autunm evenings the happy groups of neighbors met and husked the corn. Then the
119
PEN-PICTURE OF OUR FATHERS' HOMES.
bountiful supper of baked beans and pumpkin pies, and other luxuries of the farm. The huskings usually wound up with the merry dance.
Each house had a large brick oven, which must be thoroughly heated, and several bukings would hardly furnish victuals enough for such a company. But as there were no factories or shops near at hand in those days, there was plenty of household help, for the young women stayed at home till they went to homes of their own.
Each farmer kept two or three yoke of cattle, and eight or ten cows, with horses and colts, besides forty or fifty sheep. In the winter, when the roads were blocked with snow, all the men and boys rallied to break out the highways. On some occasions as many as twenty yoke of cattle and steers made one team, and all were owned between the farm now owned by Isaac Emerson and T. W. Simpson's mill, where there are now hut three cultivated and occupied farms, and not a single yoke of oxen.
-
CARDING AND SPINNING WOOL, COTTON, OR TOW.
120
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
They spun and wove all their own clothes, besides sending much to Salem and Boston, Mass., for sale. We can almost see them with their spinning-wheels, the mother and the daughters of each household gathered in the large, old-fashioned kitchen, with its sanded floors, and the wide, open fire-place all aglow with light and heat, as the great logs burned and crackled, and cooking the vegetables and meat which filled the large kettle hanging on the crane above the fire. In those days there was no waiting for the butcher to come from four or five miles away, bringing the meat for dinner. Every cellar had several barrels of beef and pork. Shad from the Merrimack were in their cellars, salted and ready for use. When fresh meat was wanted, a calf or lamb from the barn, or a pig from its pen fit for a good roast, filled the demand. Any portion of these which was not needed by the owner was presented to his neighbor, who in turn would return an equal amount.
One kitchen was almost a perfect picture of every other one. There was the long dresser in the corner, shining with the pewter platters and plates, scoured as bright as sand from Cobbett's " surf-beaten shore" could make them. They were proud of those pewter dishes, for they were brought by them or their fathers from over the sea, in that old battered sea-chest in the other corner of the room. In that same old chest were their books, the Bible, the Hymn-book, Baxter's Saints' Rest, and Pilgrim's Prog- ress, together with other precious relies, which were hoarded with care. There, too, were the gold beads and the few simple jewels and the wedding-dress that had been worn by happy brides in dear old Scotland, for in those days silks were handed down with the family jewels from one generation to another.
Near the fire stood the settle, a seat that would accommodate three or four persons, with a box to pack away mittens or stock- ings, and other wearing apparel. In the other corner, near the fire, was the " old arm-chair," in which sat the gray-headed grand- father or grandmother, whose life-work was done, and who was " only waiting" the summoner's call.
In that time, Saturday was a day of preparation for the Sab- bath. The oven was filled, and the baking commenced. All the work that was possible to be done was performed, so that no unnecessary labor might disturb the peace, sacredness, and quiet of the Sabbath. On that sacred day, arraying themselves in the best attire, they wended their way to the old church on Cemetery Hill (none staying at home except the very young and the very aged), and there listened to a sermon from the eccentric, saintly, and scholarly Parson Williams. So their quiet lives passed in peace and pleasantness, and security and abundance were with them.
A CHANGE COMES.
A change commenced at the death of Parson Williams, Nov. 10, 1793, and the removal of the church, 1798, though the population
121
A CHANGE COMES.
remained nearly the same till 1824. The farms were not so well tilled; the farmers did not keep so many horses and cattle. A spirit of unrest seemed to brood over the people; they were wait- ing for a change, and it came at last.
About this time, rumors were afloat that a great city would be built at the falls of the Merrimac. This was at the commence- ment of what is now the city of Lowell, Mass.
Men from Windham were employed in the construction of the dam and canal, and earned considerable money. When those who remained upon the farms saw how much more easily money was made there than by farming, they grew restless and dissatisfied, and soon all the young men were gone.
At the starting of mills in Lowell, the young women and girls went to work in them. Very few remained at home over fourteen years of age, and some left as young as twelve years. The rising city had great attractions. Everything was new; the mills were new, the boarding-houses new and attractive, and the mill-hands were the refined, bright, intelligent, and well-educated daughters of New England farmers. The factory people had their improvement circle; they published a paper; the articles were contributions by the mill-hands. Many of the young people settled in Lowell, others married and went to other States, and hardly an individual ever returned to the old homestead to live. The old people were left alone, but in many instances followed their children to new homes. They would return occasionally to visit the familiar haunts, to look again upon Cobbett's bright and sparkling waters, and to gaze upon the graves of their friends and kindred. But to them it was "Lochaber no more."
Everything was changed; friends, neighbors, kindred were gone; the houses fallen into decay, and the farms deserted. To-day, 1882, the old cellars and door-stones alone remain, in the dense woods, or fields, or pastures, to mark the place where were once hospitable homes and well-cultivated farms.
In autumn, Cobbett's Pond reflects the trees which surround it, and could hardly have been more peaceful or qniet in former days, when the Indian flitted through the forest, or in his bark canoe shot across its sky-blue waters.
This same experience was repeated at a later date, more partic- ularly in other parts of the town, when Manchester and Lawrence were built. They have drawn from us much of our strength, the bone and sinew of this town. Yet it is gratifying to know that Windham's sons and daughters have carried with them lessons of thrift and industry which they learned in their youth, and their records have, as a rule, been creditable to themselves and to the town of their nativity.
9
122
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAPTER XI.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. - REV. WILLIAM JOHNSTON, FIRST MINISTER. - SABBATH SCHOOL. - DISSOLUTION OF CHURCH FROM STATE. - THE CHOIR. - NAMES OF MEMBERS OF THE CHURCHI.
THE Scotch settlers of Windham were of a stern and rugged type. They elung to the tenets of the Presbyterian church with an obstinacy and devotion little shor; of bigotry, and in it was mingled little of that charity for others "which suffereth long." Nor is this surprising when we consider the circumstances of their lives and the stock to which they belonged. They were the descendants of a brave and heroic race of men and women, who had resisted the encroachments of the "Established Church " of England, risen in opposition to it, and entered in 1638 into a "solemn league and covenant" to maintain the reformed reli- gion in Scotland, and to resist and put down popery and prelacy ; hence the name of "Covenanter." Says Macaulay, "The Church of Rome was regarded by the great body of the people with a hatred which might justly be called ferocious; and the Church of England, which seemed to be every day becoming more and more like the Church of Rome, was an object of scarcely less aversion."
For the preservation of their religious liberty and their form of faith, the Covenanters had struggled and fought and suffered amid the moors, and mountains, and fastnesses of Scotland, with a fortitude and heroism unsurpassed. Many had laid down their lives to secure its preservation ; many struggled bravely on through the troubled years, bearing aloft the ensign of their faith, which they believed was the only true faith, and their banner the only true standard of the Cross.
Some of those who had taken part in the brave defence of Londonderry owned land here, which was occupied by their sons. The story of the past, of the conflicts in Scotland, the emigration to Ireland, the sufferings and sacrifices, the endurance, and final triumph at the " Siege of Derry," were fresh in their memories ; these were engraven on the tablets of their souls, and the lessons influenced their lives. So the faith of the stern, grim, uncon- quered, and unconquerable Covenanter was transplanted to these shores; it took root and flourished on American soil; it grew with a strong, steady, solid growth in the settlement of this town.
123
INSTALLATION OF REV. WILLIAM JOHNSTON, 1747.
The Scotch are a conservative people, and they do not readily make changes in their habits and customs. They are a thinking people, -their institutions are the result of thought. In short, they generally knew they were right, and those who differed from them were consequently wrong ; and rather than have. different religious or politieal enstoms thrust upon them, they would cou- tend heroically against the fiercest opposition.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.