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 21
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1832. - William Simpson (father of Samuel W.) was thrown from a load of wood and killed at the guide-post near JJ. L. Cottle's.
1833. - In the fall of 1833, Noah Webster. a youth of about sixteen years, who was in the employ of Robert Bartley, was injured by the explosion of a percussion cap. A small piece of the cap flew into his eye, by the effect of which he lost the sight of both eyes. This was too great a misfortune for him to bear, and he sank under the heavy calamity, became violently insane, from which he never recovered. Once he wandered away from home, and after several days and nights of search was found in a patch of green peas, upon which he had subsisted. He died in the insane asylum at Coneord.
1834, Nov. 2. - Rev. Jacob Abbott and John Dinsmoor were drowned in Cobbett's Pond while returning from church, an account of which will be found in the record of the Abbott and Dinsmoor family.
1837. - About this time James Alexander started in the night for Lowell with a load of wood. He rode upon the spire, fell off, his head trigging the wheel. He was dead when found.
1847, March. - Jesse Simpson, on town-meeting day, died while eating dinner at the tavern.
1848. - Powder-house explosion in the ledge north of E. O. Dinsmoor's, while building M. & L. R. R. Two Irishmen were blown to atoms.
1852, Nov. 29- Asa Buttrick's house burned.
1856, April 7. - The most destructive fire occurred in the village which ever took place in town. The old tavern and stable, the sheds, barn, store, and dwelling-house of Robert Bartley, were en- tirely consumed. Part of the store goods and household furniture were saved, though in a damaged condition. - It was at
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
this time that the "Windham Social Library," which had been recently established, was consumed. Loss $100.
1857, July 3. - The manufactory at West Windham was burned.
1858, Jan. 21 .- Rev. Loren Thayer's barn was burned. - Jan. 28. George Simpson was crnelly mangled by the machinery of his mill, now T. W. Simpson's. He. died after one day of great suffering.
1861, April 11. - Robert Simpson, an aged man, in getting out of his wagon, fell and broke his neck. - In the spring of this year, Gilman C. Dow had his hand badly mutilated by the accidental discharge of a gun.
1862. - Edward P. Titcomb, a boy of six years, was injured at the saw-mill at West Windham, and died March 24.
1864, Sept. 28. - Thomas W. Simpson's house and buildings were burned.
1866, Oct. 28. - William Anderson's house was burned.
1870, April 16. - Joseph Clyde fell from his wagon at Bartley's store, and was killed.
1873, Aug. 23. - The barn of Mrs. E. Davis was struck by lightning and consumed.
1873, Oct. 25. - The buildings of Benjamin O. Simpson were totally consumed.
1875, May 11. - At 4 P. M. the barn of Jerusha Kelly was burned.
1876, Feb. 2. - Joseph S. Clark's house was burned.
1877, Sept. 6. - Fire at Policy Pond Grove. A camp-meeting of the Second Adventists had been in progress for several days. Some nine persons were in the chambers, and some thirty in the whole building. About twelve o'clock at night the building was found to be on fire. The alarm was given, and all the inmates except one quickly escaped from the building. Then it was found that Mrs. Lonisa M., wife of Samuel Plummer, of Salem, and the mother-in-law of Abel Dow, the proprietor of the grove, was still in the burning building. It was too late then to render any assistance. Thus ended the life of a faithful Christian woman. She was always active in every good work. To the sorrowing she spoke words of cheer, and by the bedside of the sick and suffering she was a welcome visitor. - The buildings of William H. Humphrey were burned. The barn of Daniel Haskell was burned. Dates of the two latter not ascertained.
1880, May 31. - Albert R., a young child of Mrs. Eva (Simpson) Cutting, fell into a tub of water and was drowned.
1882, Jan. 26. - The house, barn, blacksmith and wood shop of Charles N. Perkins, at the Centre, were burned.
CEMETERIES. - FIRST CEMETERY APPOINTED, MAY 22, 1749. 181
CHAPTER XVI.
CEMETERY. - FIRST CEMETERY LAID OUT, 1749. - FIRST BURIAL, 1749. -THE CEMETERY ON THE HILL, LAID OUT ABOUT 1753. - THE FIRST BURIAL IN THE CEMETERY ON THE HILL. - THE NEW CEME- TERY, LAID OUT IN 1835. - RECEIVING TOMB, BUILT IN 1872. - MANNER OF EARLY BURIALS. - MORT CLOTH. - FIRST HEARSE AND HEARSE HOUSE, 1827.
" Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap, Each in his harrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
THERE have been three public cemeteries and two private cemeteries in town. The public cemeteries are, the old one on the plain, the one on the hill, and the new cemetery on the plain, in close proximity to the one first located. The private cem- eteries or tombs are those of Jonathan Parker, on the farm now occupied by George W. Hanscom, and of James Armstrong, on the farm of William H. Humphrey.
It has been the enstom to bury in the public cemeteries; and before any of our burial-yards were laid ont, the early settlers carried their dead and deposited them in the old burial-yard in the rear of the church at Derry Upper Village. This practice was continued for many years. After this town's incorpora- tion, as the ties which connected the early settlers became stronger, binding them more closely together, and the inter- course with Londonderry became less frequent, and the " silken meshes" of association became weakened, then necessity, pri- dence, and convenience dictated to the early settlers the pro- priety of establishing a grave-yard in their own midst.
One burial had taken place before any yard existed. This was the first burial. The person's name was David Gregg, son of William and Elizabeth (Kyle) Gregg, who died March 6, 1749, aged 8 years 9 months. He was buried in very nearly the centre of what is now the old cemetery on the plain, and a stone, giving his name and age, marks the resting-place of the early but young sleeper. One can readily imagine that first burial seene, as the fond parents tenderly laid their son away to rest alone amid the silence and unpleasantness of the then alnost wilderness. But this burial really established a cemetery of the town.
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
FIRST CEMETERY LAID OUT, 1749. - FIRST BURIAL, 1749.
In the warrant for a special meeting of the frecholders, May 22, 1749, was an article, " To see if you will appointe a place of land for a Burying place Where William Gregg hath Buried his son." And so, in the pathetic and poetical language of the record, it was voted to set apart one acer of Land for a " Burying place Where William Gregg hath Buried his son." An acre of land was laid out, but only one half acre was walled in and used. In this yard many of the first settlers, and their descendants, in the centre of the town, and the southerly and westerly sections, are buried. There sleep the Kyles, the Campbells, the Clydes, the Armstrongs, the Wanghs, the Davidsons, the Bettons, the Hemphills, the Karrs, and others, till the final awakening. This yard is nearly full, and for a long time has been only occasionally used as a place of burial.
THE CEMETERY ON THE HILL, LAID OUT ABOUT 1753.
This is the second place in town used for burial purposes. There is no record of its laying out, but it was probably laid out immediately after the first meeting-house was built in 1753. Our Scotch ancestors, exiles from the lochs and glens of Scotland, could not forget the customs of the dear old Fatherland. So they located the burial-place of themselves and their kindred in the shadow of the kirk. Naturally it is a beautiful spot. The lovely lake nestles at the foot of the hill, shimmering with bright- ness in the summer sun, and in autumnm mirroring in its bosom all the beauty of the forest trees. It is a pleasant spot on which to pitch one's tent after the weary march, and it has become doubly consecrated ground, consecrated by the worship of gener- ations gone, - consecrated as their last resting-place.
After the church was removed, the place upon which it stood was occupied. The scholarly and eccentric Rev. Simon Williams reposes beneath the spot where his pulpit stood. Mr. Samuel Senter lies beneath his pew in the old church. In this yard were buried many of the first settlers and their descendants, of the easterly and southerly parts of the town, and some from that portion of Windham afterwards annexed to Salem. In cither yard oftentimes a row of head-stones mark the places where lie representatives of four or five generations of the same family. Here are buried the Dinsmoors, the Smiths, the Thompsons, the Richeys, the Armours, the Simpsons, the Cochrans, the Morisons, the Parks, and representatives of other families familiar in the past or present history of the town,
THE FIRST BURIAL IN THE CEMETERY ON THE HILL.
The first person buried here, to whom a stone was erected, was William Bolton, who died April 22, 1755, in his seventy-third year. The second was William, son of Hugh and Mary (Park)
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THE ANCIENT PART OF THE CEMETERY ON THE HILL.
183
THE NEW CEMETERY, LAID OUT IN 1835.
Smylie, born Nov. 12, 1751, died Nov. 26, 1756. Then Margaret, daughter of Gawen and Janet Armour, died April 18, 1757, in her sixth year. Dennis Murphy died 1758, in his twenty-eighth year ; Hannah, daughter of Jaffery and Lilly Powar, died March 13, 1759, aged 2 years 2 months; and Mrs. Jane, wife of Capt. John Cristy, died Jan. 9, 1761, in her forty-seventh year.
There was not over three fourths of an acre in this yard, and in neither yard was there any order in the arrangement of the lots, but the head of the grave was laid to the west. So in this country, where land is cheap, a niggardly economy compelled the burial of our people for eighty-six years in a plot of ground not exceeding one and one fourth acres. Gravestones could not have been common in proportion to the number of deaths, and it is not improbable that, as the marks of graves were obliterated, the same space would again be used. This was a species of economy not exeusable in any age, but deserving of strongest censure.
Nov. 16, 1807, the town "voted that the proprietors of the burying ground in the south easterly part of the town shall have liberty to extend their Burying Ground to within two rods of the northerly Cart Rut where the Rhod is now trod." The bounds of this cemetery remained unchanged till 1872, when the town, at its annual meeting, March 12, voted to enlarge the new cem- etery on the plain, and this cemetery on the hill; and that "it be left to the selectmen to do as they think best for the interest of the town." The selectmen, William D. Cochran, Leonard A. Morrison, and Joseph L. Cottle, purchased about three quarters of an acre of land of Ebenezer B. Smith, for $22.00, which was an- nexed to the yard, and has been laid out in lots.
The ancient head-stones in either cemetery were of slate. But they are very durable, and the names cut into them, nearly a cen- tury and a half ago, are still clear, after so long an exposure to sunshine, and storm, and heat, and cold.
THE NEW CEMETERY, LAID OUT IN 1835.
As time passed away, the old yards became nearly full, and the vacant lots about all taken, so the subject of a new cemetery began to be agitated.
At the annual meeting, March 11, 1835, the town voted to appropriate one half acre of land belonging to the town, and buy one half acre of land of Robert Morrison adjoining. This " one half acre " the town authorized the selectmen to locate " on the road leading from Mr. Cutler's to Mrs. McAdams's," and the whole was to be for a " burying ground forever." The selectmen, Alexander Gordon, Samuel W. Simpson, and Samuel Anderson, obeyed their instructions, and one acre of land was enclosed with a faced wall of split stone along the highway. The first person buried in it was Mrs. Ruth Parker Lewis, mother of the late Ebenezer B. Lewis.
184
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Sept. 16, 1843. - The selectmen were directed by the town to divide the new grave-yard into ranges and lots.
At the annual meeting, March 12, 1872, the town instructed the selectmen to enlarge the cemeteries. The board purchased of Robert P. Morrison an aere and a half of land for $55.89. The walls of the yard were changed so as to ineInde this addition, and a faced wall of split stone was built along the highway. The old slate stones are discarded to-day, and marble or granite ones take their place.
RECEIVING TOMB, BUILT IN 1872.
Prior to 1872 there was no receiving tomb in town. At the annual meeting, March 12, 1872, it was voted to build one. A sum of $500 was appropriated, and a committee chosen to carry the vote into effect, consisting of Dea. Rei Hills, Thomas W. Simpson, and Benjamin H. Hughes. This committee located it in the westerly part of the new cemetery, -in the part annexed in 1872. It was built in the fall of 1872, under the charge of Dea. Rei Hills. It stands back two and one half rods from the front wall of the cemetery, and faces the highway. Its front and its inside wall are of hammered granite. Over the door is a cap- stone, with this inscription, " Receiving Tomb, Built 1872." Its whole expense was $537.93. The town expended that year on tomb and cemeteries, $867.57.
MANNER OF EARLY BURIALS. - MORT CLOTH, SEPT. 9, 1757.
From the first settlement, down to 1825, the town provided a large heavy cloth, usually of broadcloth, to be thrown over the coffin at funerals. The coffins were usually cheap affairs, not pleasant to the eye and made by the nearest carpenter at hand, and were colored dark. The cloth was called the " mort cloth " upon the records, and the town legislated considerable in regard to it.
Sept. 9, 1757. - " Voted to raise one hundred and fifty dollars old Tenor to purchase a mort cloth."
Oct. 23, 1758 .- " Voted that John Morrow disburse the money for buying a mort eloth and to buy the same inside and out with the trimming for the same."
March 27, 1759. - " Voted to compleat and finish the mort cloth and that it be lodged with Samuel Mc Adams."
The fringe for the last one used in town was woven by Naomi Morrison, and was in nse till 1827. This cloth completely cov- ered the coffin. The latter was placed upon a bier, and borne upon the shoulders of four men to the cemetery. Beside the bier walked six pall-bearers. Accompanying them oftentimes were other friends, who would relieve the bearers of their burden as occasion required. In this manner the coffin would be carried several miles. When it was necessary to carry it a great dis-
185
FIRST HEARSE AND HEARSE HOUSE, 1825.
tance, it would be placed in a wagon, but this was distasteful to the feelings of the people. Not infrequently the mourners fol- lowed the bearers afoot, and before the introduction of carriages oftentimes the mourners rode on horseback. This manner of con- ducting funerals was a great burden on the community, but it was continued in some if not all parts of the town till 1827.
FIRST HEARSE AND HEARSE HOUSE, 1827.
March 13, 1827, the town " voted that the Selectmen shall buy a Hearse, and build a Hoarse House near the centre of the town." This was the first hearse brought into town, and was continued in use till 1854.
March 14. 1854. "Voted to authorize the Selectmen to pur- chase a new hearse throughont, with wheels and runners and a new harness, and to dispose of the old one for the best interest of the town." Agreeably to this vote, a modern and respectable hearse was purchased, and is still in nse.
The yards have usually been under the charge of the select- men, though in 1852 John D. Emerson was appointed an agent to destroy the bushes, keep the grounds in proper order, and have general charge of the three cemeteries in town.
We have never had a sexton or undertaker. When one de- parts, kind friends or neighbors dig the grave, attend the funeral, convey the body to the burying-ground, and perform without money or price all the last sad offices of love, affection, and respect.
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186
HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAPTER XVII.
MANUFACTORIES. - FESSENDEN'S OR NEAL'S MILLS. - SIMPSON'S MILL, BUILT 1788-89. - OLD NAIL FACTORY. - BROWN'S MILL, 1850. - SEAVEY'S MILL. - HASKELL'S SAW-MILL, AT TIIE JUNCTION. - MER- RILL'S MILL. - FIRST STEAM SAW-MILLS, 1866. - POTASH. - BRICK- YARDS. - STORES AND STORE-KEEPERS. - STORE AT WINDIIAM CEN- TRE, COMMENCED 1815. - STORE AT WEST WINDHAM, BEFORE 1838. - STORE AT WINDHAM JUNCTION, 1861. - MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST. - RELICS. - RAILROADS. - POLICY POND, OR GRANITE STATE GROVE, STARTED 1850. - BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF WINDHAM, APRIL, 1882.
THE people of this town have not depended upon manufactures for a livelihood, but have won their sustenance by agriculture, and wrested their subsistence from the rough, rugged, and unwill- ing soil. Consequently the history of mills and manufactories is necessarily short.
The erection of saw-mills was a very important event to the first residents, and it was encouraged by public favor, and often- times by freeing such property from taxation. By their erection the whole settlement was greatly benefited, as the' settlers could readily convert their lumber, of which there was an unlimited supply, into boards, plank, joist, timber, and all manner of build- ing material, thus enabling them to displace their rude hab- itations of logs, and build substantial frame houses in their stead. Few people of the present think of or appreciate the civilizing influence of a good saw-mill in a new settlement.
The first mention of any mill in Windham is on Nov. 17, 1750, when a highway was laid out "to Henry Campbell's new saw- mill." This Henry Campbell, emigrant ancestor of the Camp- bells of Windham, had located on the Henry C. Crowell place in 1733, and being a progressive man, having the public interest, as well as private, at heart, had erected this mill as early as 1750. This was located in West Windham, on Beaver Brook, at what has latterly been known as Burnham's Mills. The mill was owned by the Campbells for many years.
New saw-mills have been successively erected, and David Campbell, of Revolutionary fame, was at one time owner. It was afterwards held by different owners, and kept in successful operation till quite recently, but is now entirely gone, and the excellent water-privilege unused.
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BUTTERFIELD'S ROCK.
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MANUFACTORY OF GEORGE S. NEAL.
187
FESSENDEN'S OR NEAL'S MILLS. - NAIL FACTORY.
Sept. 26, 1751, mention is made of a saw-mill which appears to be at the spot now known as Kendall's Mills, in London- derry.
About this time Dea. John Tuffts had located in the east part of the town near the Turnpike, and owned the farm now owned by John S. Brown, and once the property of Alexander Gordon. Ile, too, was a man of business, with a progressive spirit. He built his dam at the top of the hill north of the present house, flowed back the waters of the brook which drains Flat Rock meadow, and made his mill. So, on Dec. 2, 1755, the town " voted to clear John Tuffts of his mill rates."
March 20, 1757. - The town voted not to alter the road leading from George Davidson's (now Alpheus Goodwin's in West Windham) to Butler's Grist Mill.
Jan. 11, 1759. - A highway was laid out near Benjamin Wil- son's mill, location not known.
In 1772, Dea. Samuel Anderson's saw-mill is alluded to.
About 1780, one of the first mills built in town was at the outlet of Mitchell's Pond. An old dam can still be seen.
FESSENDEN'S OR NEAL'S MILLS.
The first grant of right to use the waters of Cobbett's Pond was to Samuel Senter for a grist-mill. The first mill ever erected there was built by Alexander Wilson, a short distance above the head of the present mill-pond. This he sold to Sam- uel Senter, in 1790, who built a grist and saw mill near the pres- ent site, and carried on business till his death, Feb. 11, 1833. In 1811, Hamilton Davidson came to Windham and commenced the manufacture of scythes, axes, and other tools. He had a trip- hammer whose blows could be distinctly heard in the eastern extremity of the town, four miles distant. A period of great business depression fell upon most of the industries of the coun- try, caused by the 1812-15 war with Great Britain. Almost complete stagnation prevailed in business circles. Sales were few, money hard to obtain, this manufacturing concern was unprofitable, and he was obliged to abandon it about 1819.
Isaac Senter, about 1833, sold the mill to the father of Stephen Fessenden, of Boston. The latter, with his family, came to town about this time, and soon made a change in the surroundings. A saw-mill and grist-mill were then there. He built a shingle and clapboard mill, then a building for carding rolls, which was en- larged for the manufacture of twilled flannel and frocking. This business he carried on till his death, May 10, 1868. The property was sold to George S. Neal, in October, 1870. In 1871 the town voted not to increase the valuation of his property for purposes of taxation for seven years, in consequence of any addi- tional buildings he might erect, etc. In 1871 he built the present commodious building.
188
IHISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
SIMPSON'S MILL, BUILT IN 1788-89.
It was originated and built by Joseph Simpson in 1788-89, and was owned by shareholders. There is now a grist-mill, a saw-mill, with planing and shingle mill attached, where lumber can be manufactured fit for building purposes, and is owned by T. W. Simpson.
Butler's saw and grist mill, in Pelham, near the Windham line, and Kendall's saw and grist mills, in Londonderry, near the Windham line, have been extensively patronized by Windham people.
Alexander Park built and owned a saw-mill on the site of the old Tannery at Windham meeting-house. It was built about 1775 or 1780. The dam kept breaking away, and finally the mill was given up.
About 1824 the Tannery was built at the same place by Daniel G. Davidson, and took in hides and tanned them; was unsuc- cessful, and was succeeded by David A. Davidson. His suc- cessors were John Page, of Bradford, Mass. (?), and he by James M. Carlton, of Bath, N. H., and he by David A. Davidson and Algernon Nichols, of Deerfield, N. H., afterwards of Haverhill, Mass. Partnership dissolved, and Davidson run a while, was unsuccessful, and closed business. The buildings stood till about 1860, when they were torn down and removed.
OLD NAIL FACTORY.
Alexander Park manufactured nails by hand ; afterwards he and his son Robert built a mill on the brook southeast of Jacob A. Nesmith's, and put in a trip-hammer. Soon after getting this mill into operation, the process of cutting nails came into vogue, and their business was destroyed, and was given up.
BROWN'S MILL, 1850.
This saw-mill and grist-mill was started in April, 1850, by John Noyes Brown, located in the east part of the town, on the Turn- pike and Flat Rock Meadow Brook. Has been owned by John S. Brown, Clark G. Bove, George B. Poor, John N. Coleman, and John S. Brown. It was burned in 1871, and rebuilt by John S. Brown in 1877.
SEAVEY'S MILL
was built on Flat Rock Meadow Brook, east of the Turnpike, and not far from Bissell's camp, by Alexander Wilson. Saw mill, shingle mill, and cider mill were owned by John B. Wilson, James Cochran, Rei Hills, Benjamin E. Seavey, and George E. Seavey.
189
STEAM SAW-MILLS. - MILLS AT WEST WINDHAM, 1836.
HASKELL'S SAW-MILL, AT THE JUNCTION.
The mill at this spot was first built by Samuel Wilson. When the Nashua & Rochester Railroad was built, the water-privilege was entirely destroyed, and consequently the mill fell into disuse.
MERRILL'S MILL
was built by Giles Merrill, George W. Hughes, and others. The water-privilege was not good, and no great amount of business was ever carried on there. It is now in a ruinous condition. It is situated on the Merrill farm, a short distance from the house.
FIRST STEAM SAW-MILLS, JANUARY, 1866.
Portable steam saw-mills have almost entirely supplanted the old water mills. The first one in town was put in at the Junction by John S. Brown, George E. Seavey, and Hemphill Clark in January, 1866; burned in May, 1869, and rebuilt that year; en- larged and rebuilt in 1877, by George E. Seavey. One has been there almost continuously at the Junction since that date. George E. Seavey now owns the one there, also the cider mill in connection with it, and the cider mill in connection with the saw- mill near Bissell's camp. Within 20 years many steam portable saw-mills have been in active operation in town. A mill would be moved on to the lot from which the lumber was to be taken, the logs sawed, and then moved away to another lot. It is an economical method of reducing the raw material to merchantable lumber, and many millions of feet have been thus operated, and the prod- uct quickly found its way to the neighboring cities. These mills have stripped this and other towns of their most valuable timber, taking from the towns this source of taxable property, and it is hardly an open question whether they are not a positive detriment to our agricultural towns.
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