USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 39
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Mr. Roy N. Putnam became his successor as postmaster, and also trader, having rented the premises from Mr. Holt's heirs. He enlarged his stock of merchandise, adding quite an assort- ment of footwear and many other articles. When the owners of the house and shop wished to occupy the place Mr. Putnam moved his goods to his present place of business and established the post office there ; and he has since added largely to his stock of boots, shoes and rubbers, besides a few articles of men's fur- nishing goods, an extensive variety of fancy articles for the place.
Mr. T. M. Beal, a son-in-law of Mr. Charles Henry Holt, came here to live in the house occupied by the late Mr. Holt. He planned and built a projection to the lower story or base- ment in which the post office was formerly kept, and established a grocery store, adding a small quantity of dry goods and fancy articles. He has also carried on a lunch room.
Mr. J. H. Tarbell, wishing his granddaughter, Miss Minnie E. Stacey, to gain a knowledge of business, fitted up and filled with merchandise a small dry goods store for her in the front room of the brown cottage so long the residence of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Swasey. Miss Stacey kept this store a few years, but several causes rendered the business unremunerative and it was given up.
The unsold stock from the last mentioned store, was trans- ferred to the one which is now used for the post office and variety store. This was conducted by Mrs. Lizzie G. Tarbell, and our public library was kept there, with Mrs. Tarbell as librarian. But there, also, the sales were light and not very profitable, so that this, too, was given up. After that the space was filled with shelves and used by Walter S. Tarbell, as a kind of annex to his store, until secured by our postmaster for his accommodation.
Such is the store keeping record of our village, so far as now ascertainable. The store conducted by J. H. Tarbell, Esq., and
414
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
his successors in trade has generally kept a large assortment, and has filled a large place in accommodating the people of our town.
CHAPTER XXII.
TAVERNS AND TEMPERANCE.
TAVERN KEEPERS.
Were the people of Lyndeborough to be judged by the num- ber of licensed tavern keepers on the records of the town, they would doubtless be thought unusually bibulous. But the repu- tation of our town in that line will not probably be worse than the average. In most of our towns, tavern-keeping was con- sidered a respectable, and even a reputable business, until well along into the nineteenth century. This statement will be illus- trated by merely citing the name of some of our worthy citizens who were engaged in that occupation as well as in cultivating the soil. We cannot attempt to give a full list, nor to classify very extensively. Commencing with the year 1793, we name : 1
James Ordway Capt. Daniel Gould Capt. William Barron Daniel Connex
1793-1798. Eliphalet Badger Ensign David Putnam Nathaniel Martin
Peter Clark, Esq.
1799. Artemas Wheeler 1800.
Daniel Putnam 2 days
Wheeler & Stiles
Benjamen Cram, 2nd.
John Cummings
NO DATE. John Hartshorn
Eleazar Rhodes James Taylor
1804. Nathan Wheeler
1805.
Jedidiah Russell
1806.
Oliver Perham Zaccheus Fairbanks
Eleazar Woodward
Isaiah Parker Solomon Parker Sarah Ordway
1807. John Clark, 2nd. Lemuel Soules (near meeting house)
1808. Timothy Putnam (one day) John L. Perry (at his store) Nehemiah Boutwell Peter Clark, Jr. (at his store) 1809. Eleazar Woodward (at his dwelling) Jacob Manning
416
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
1810.
Timothy Richardson
Jeremiah Putnam Peter Clark, 3rd.
David Farrington 2 days
1812.
Manley Butler
1814.
William Jones
Caleb Blanchard
1820.
Jonathan Cochran
1827.
Oliver Bixby
Capt. Jonathan Thayer
James McCauley
Elias McIntire
Jotham Hildreth
Robert B. Tupper
1838.
John W. Adsit
NO DATE.
S. D. and B. Stanley
The list is incomplete, but we trust no one will seriously im- pugn it for this cause. We judge it possible to add to the list if desirable.
Yet large as this list of venders of intoxicating drinks is, it does not warrant the conclusion that our town was a sinner above others. Neither the records nor the facts would sustain this. The list includes taverners of two or three generations with the changes incident to removals, deaths, and discontin- uance of the business. They were scattered over a wide town- ship, far from the great cities and the thronging haunts of men. The custom of the time was to keep liquor on which to treat guests, and it was a custom too much honored by its observance. Exceptions were very few, and judged uncourtly if not discour- teous. Temperance was then little agitated or practised, and total abstinence was viewed as chimerical. In such respects it will hardly be said, that "the former days were better " than those in which we are now living. A change has come, and we may well consider some of the agencies which had a share in producing it.
TEMPERANCE INFLUENCES.
The leading agency in awakening and producing temperance sentiment has undoubtedly been the Christian pulpit. Fanati- cal people. sometimes berate the attitude of the churches on this subject ; and it cannot be denied that at times they seem too
Charles Parker
NO DATE. Phineas Whiting Mark D. Langdon Samuel T. Manahan
417
TAVERNS AND TEMPERANCE
indifferent to the havoc which intemperance is producing even among church members. But surely, were it not for the churches and the noble army of temperance workers which they have equipped and sent forth, conditions would be much worse, and croakers would be drowned in rum.
The Rev. Benjamin F. Clark, a native of this town, who sup- plied the pulpit of the Congregational church in 1838, gave some very interesting reminiscences of his boyhood which finely illustrate this matter. In a letter to Mr. D. C. Grant, January 17, 1879, he wrote : *
" I well remember the excitement produced on the Fast day in April, 1827, a few days before I left my home, with Palmer and Woodward for East Tennessee. Instead of a sermon, Mr. Merrill read the celebrated lecture by Kittridge of Lyme, on temperance, which contained the statement that 'one gallon of rum used as a beverage in the town of Lyme, is just four quarts too much.' The good old men of the church, including my honored father, went out of the house vexed, if not mad. My father said, ' Why did Mr. Merrill read that foolish lecture? We cannot get our hay without rum. It will rot in the field.' When I re- turned home in 1837, I found all those good men pledged to total absti- nence. They acknowledged that haying and all other kinds of farming work could be better performed without rum than with."
The subject of temperance was receiving more and more attention year by year, and societies were organizing for the promotion of it. Soon after Rev. E. B. Claggett became pastor, a society was organized in Lyndeborough for the suppression by " all honorable exertions of the unlicensed traffic in ardent spirits," and " the relief of widows and orphans." It adopted the following constitution : +
"Art. I. No man shall belong to this society who is not known as a tried friend to the cause of temperance, believing in the expediency of using legal suasion.
Art. 2. Every member shall pay all assessments on the subscription set against his name, made by a board of directors hereafter specified.
Art. 3. This society shall have a President, Vice President, Secretary, and a board of directors.
Art. 4. It shall be the duty of the board of directors to record all testimony that may come to their knowledge against unlicensed traffick- ers in ardent spirits in this and other towns in Hillsborough County ; to commence prosecutions and see that they are carried on ; to make all necessary assessments on the money subscribed in order to meet the expenses of the society, and pay the assessments made by the county committee ; and to call a meeting of the society whenever they think circumstances require it.
* Hillsborough County History, page 510.
t Constitution presented by J. A. Johnson, Esq., secretary, May 13, 1848.
418
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
The names of subscribers, and sums forming the basis for assessments follow :
Names
Sums
Names
Sums
Jacob Butler
$10.00
Eliphalet Atwood
$10.00
David Holt
10.00
Peter Clark
10.00
William Jones
10.00
Benjamin Goodridge
5.00
Josiah Wheeler
10.00
Harvey Holt
5.00
Eli Curtis
3.00
John Hartshorn
10.00
Joseph A. Johnson
5.00
Jonathan Stephenson
5.00
Joseph Chamberlain
10.00
Amos Pratt
5.00
E. B. Claggett
10.00
Foster Woodward
5.00
John Richardson
10.00
Samuel Jones
5.00
·R. C. Boutwell
10.00
Nathaniel T. McIntire
5.00
John C. Goodridge
10.00
Lyndeborough has not the reputation of being an intemperate town. It is true, that while the glass works were in operation at South Lyndeborough, there was said to be much drinking among the employees; and sad traces of it have too long remained. But in those very days, an active temperance organ- ization sprang up to counteract the evil.
The records of this organization show that on Sept. 24, 1876, a tem- perance lecture was delivered in the Baptist Church at 4.30 o'clock P. M. by Dr. Benjamin Colby. The audience was evidently interested, for a meeting was appointed at the same place, the next evening, Monday at 7 o'clock P. M. to take some action on the subject of temperance. At this meeting Mr. Luther Cram was appointed chairman; and Mr. Rufus Chamberlain, " President of the division of Sons of Temperance," made remarks. Mrs. Burdette, a member of a "reform club" in Beverly, Mass., followed, and spoke for about an hour, and a total abstinence pledge was circulated for signatures. The form was, "Believing the use of all spirituous and malt liquors to be the cause of much crime and sorrow, we do hereby with the help of Almighty God, pledge ourselves to abstain from the sale or the use of all intoxicating drinks, wine or cider, as a beverage."
Fifty-seven signed this pledge at the time. A short discus- sion ensued, after which officers were elected as follows ; Presi- dent, F. B. Richards ; Vice-President, H. Cutter ; Treasurer, Mrs. William Wallace; Secretary, William R. Warner. The President, Vice-President and Secretary were chosen a com- mittee to prepare a constitution and by laws. The organi- zation was called "The South Lyndeborough Reform Club."
A break in the records deprives us of a full account of its proceedings ; but the meetings are said to have been maintained with a good degree of interest. Ninety-two signatures, in all, were appended to the above pledge, two of which were for one year only.
419
TAVERNS AND TEMPERANCE
At the election of officers in April 1877, Mr. Luther Cram was chosen President, William R. Warner, Vice-President, and Edward M. Roby, Secretary. The last meeting recorded was on March 7, 1878. The Reform Club as an organization, thus had its day and ceased to be.
The writer does not endorse the doctrine of the "transmigra- tion of souls," taught by an ancient Greek philosopher ; but something very much resembling this seems to have occurred in South Lyndeborough. For after the quiescence of the Reform Club, the Sons of Temperance increased in number till they reckoned about seventy names and seemed to be filled with the energy of the reform spirit. Thus, the work of reform did not cease, although the organization bearing its name ceased its operations.
SONS OF TEMPERANCE.
The temperance organization above named, had its local representative here, called the "Lithleukonia Division of Sons of Temperance, No. 29, of South Lyndeborough." * Officers, David Putnam, G. W. P .; Rufus Chamberlain, W. P .; Fannie A. Wallace, W. A. P .; Luther Cram, R. S .; Letitia McGinley, A. R. S .; Edgar Danforth, F. S .; J. A. Johnson, Treasurer ; William B. Warner, Chaplain ; Olney P. Butler, Conductor ; Ida M. Newton, A. Conductor; Ruth Ross, I. S .; George Ruffle, O. S. These were duly installed by Mr. Thorndike, G. W. P., of the State Division of Sons of Temperance. This organization was very flourishing for a time, and accomplished much good.
When, in 1903, the question of licensing the evil traffic in intoxicating drink in our town, was presented for decision, it was very gratifying also, to our better citizens, that while only seventy-four votes, in all, were registered, sixty-seven of them were against license. Hence, neither in former days could our town justly be ranked as intemperate, nor can it be at the pres- ent time. Today, at least, there is no open sale of liquor within its borders. While, therefore, its record is not all that its sturdiest, best citizens could wish, they are proud and grateful to have it as favorable as it is; and they think that it will average fairly with that of sister towns.
May it never grow worse ! !
* Substance furnished by J. A. Johnson, Esq.
420
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
BAND OF HOPE.
A flourishing "band of hope " existed soon after the other temperance societies were formed, but no records have been found.
THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.
In the autumn of 1887, a W. C. T. U. was organized in South Lyndeborough, with Mrs. Emily C. Tarbell as President, and Miss Emma D. Putnam as Secretary. These officers soon after- wards removed from town, and in 1889, the organization became extinct.
A second society of the same name was formed in Dec. 1896, when the officers were, Mrs. Martha M. Farrar, President ; Mrs. Dorcas Colson, Vice-President ; Miss Hattie D. Steele, Recording Secretary ; Mrs. L. R. McGinley, Corresponding Secretary ; and Mrs. Carrie Cheever, Treasurer. The organi- zation was active for a time, seeking to increase interest in temperance work by means of lectures, essays, addresses from pastors and prayer services. Once the county convention of the W. C. T. U. was entertained by them, holding a meeting of unusual interest and spiritual fervor. But the membership was never large, and the work became burdensome and difficult for the few, and active operations were suspended finally, May II,, 1902.
THE LOYAL TEMPERANCE LEGION.
A Loyal Temperance Legion was organized in 1897, as a child of the W. C. T. U. and indicated the interest of the women in the rising race. It was carried on for a short time by Mrs. Lizzie Richards assisted by Miss Marion Hartshorn. Later, Mrs. Lizzie Tarbell had charge for a while; and still later, Mrs. Carrie Cheever had charge, conducting the exercises for two or three years. The aim was to instill temperance prin- ciples into the minds of the children, and the legion is thought to have won a good degree of success. But the members of the society finally grew remiss, interest in the meetings waned, and like all living things, the legion found "a time to die."
GUARDIAN FOR INTEMPERATE MAN.
The advocates of present day license of the liquor traffic would, doubtless, regard the following procedure as a sad infringement of sumptuary privileges.
421
TAVERNS AND TEMPERANCE
To the Hon. Luke Woodbury, Judge of Probate, at, within, and for the County of Hillsboro.
The undersigned Selectmen of the town of Lyndeborough in said county, represent that of said Lyndeborough, an inhabitant thereof, by excessive drinking, idleness and vicious habits, is so wasting, spending, or lessening his estate as thereby to expose himself and his family to want, and the said town to the charges and expense of main- taining him and his family.
Wherefore, they request that a guardian may be appointed over said - as the law in such cases directs.
Signed / Samuel T. Manahan, Ebenezer Fiske.
Lyndeborough, Aug 2, 1842. -
Hillsborough Ss.
Probate Court at Temple, Aug. 3, 1842.
On the foregoing complaint it is Ordered, that the same be heard at the Probate Court to be holden at Amherst on the 4th day of October next, at which time and place the said - is hereby cited to appear to answer thereunto; and an attested copy thereof and of this order is to be served on him at least fourteen days before said Court, and an attested copy of the same (if by the Selectmen thought expe- dient) left with the Town Clerk as soon as may be after the service on the said to the end that he may appear, and also be pre- vented from making any sale or contract.
By order, S. Peabody, Regr.
Received Aug. 8, 1842 in the Town Clerk's Office, and Recorded and Examined.
By Jonathan Stephenson, Town Clerk.
Whether the legal process above outlined was carried out in all its particulars or not, does not appear on the town records. But it was surely a sensible mode of guarding against such pauperism as naturally results from intemperance.
CHAPTER XXIII. MAILS, POST ROUTES, AND STAGES.
BY J. A. WOODWARD.
The first settlers of Salem-Canada and Lyndeborough had no postal facilities, and probably gave such matters very little thought. When they came with their families into the forests to make homes, they knew they were severing themselves from all communication with their relatives and friends except at infrequent times. The sending or receiving of a letter was not the common occurrence that it is now, and the contents of a letter received was made known to the neighbors all around if it contained news not personal to the receiver. Letters might be sent by special messenger or by the hand of a neighbor going on a visit to some of the lower towns.
Newspapers they did not have for a long time or until the " Farmers' Cabinet " began to be published at Amherst, ex- cept perhaps a stray copy of some Boston paper that found its way into the backwoods.
These pioneers had little time to read, and but very few books could be found in most of the houses. The labor of building their houses and barns, of clearing their land and fencing it with stone walls occupied pretty much all their time, and involved the expenditure of so much muscular energy, that they were little inclined to sit up evenings and read even if they had books. This condition of things continued until the establishment of the post office at Amherst and the building of the second New Hampshire turnpike in 1800, although it is probable that from 1780 until 1800 more letters passed back and forth than in the earlier years.
The turnpike road was built from Nashua to Claremont and passed through the northeast part of Lyndeborough. Then came stages and stage routes ; and letters and the " Farmers' Cabinet " were left at the tavern stands to be called for. They were left at Isaiah Parker's, where George Barnes lives now, and at the Lynch place now in New Boston, then known as Beech Tree Corner.
One of the Goodrich family went to the Parker Tavern in 1812 to get his "Cabinet " and found the proprietor dead of
423
MAILS, POST ROUTES AND STAGES
spotted fever, a man who at noon of that day was apparently sound and well.
Before the establishment of the post office at Lyndeborough Centre those who lived south of the mountain used to take turns in going to Amherst for the mail, letters being addressed "To be left at the post office at Amherst." This Amherst office was established in 1791 and the office at Wilton in 1816. It is probable that some of the people of the south part of the town got their mail at Wilton for two or three years. The earlier stages over the turnpike made two trips a week, and later there was a daily stage.
Lyndeborough was not included in the towns accommodated by post riders. One of these post routes or post circuits was arranged in 1791 as follows : Beginning at Concord, thence to proceed through Weare, New Boston, Amherst, Wilton, Temple, Peterboro, Dublin, Marlboro, Keene, West Moreland, Walpole, Alstead, Acworth, Charlestown, Claremont, Newport, Lemster, Washington, Hillsboro, Henniker, Hopkinton to Con- cord. It will be seen that this "route" went completely around Lyndeborough.
The rates of postage in those days were for a single sheet of paper :
Under 40 miles 66
150 66 300 17 500 Over 500 90
25 IO
8 cents
121/2 "
20
If the letter was composed of two pieces of paper the rate was doubled, if of three it was tripled and so on .*
Prepayment was not demanded, and people were frequently obliged to pay a heavy postage on letters of no value. There was little money in circulation in those days, and the sixpence, ninepence or shilling they had to pay on their letters seemed a heavy tax.
Most of the business was done by barter, and in a year's transactions one man in Lyndeborough gave his note for $2.50, balance due in settlement, and he owned a number of hundred acres of land, free of debt. It was a common thing to give a note for sums of one or two dollars.
The rate of postage to Boston was ten cents for a single
* We are indebted to Rev. Mr. Cochran's Francestown History for many facts about the mail.
424
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
sheet. The evils attending the non-enforcement of prepaying postage led to an agitation, which, in 1855, resulted in a law compelling prepayment.
In 1868 newspapers were made free of postage in the county where published. Postage stamps were first used in this country in 1847, but did not come in common use until some years later.
The rate for letters for a long term of years was 3 cents for 1/2 ounce or fraction thereof. In 1883 it was reduced to two cents for one ounce.
April 29, 1822, the post office at Lyndeborough Centre was established, with Oliver Bixby as postmaster. The mail was then brought to Mont Vernon by stage, and Jacob Butler carried it from there through Lyndeborough to Greenfield twice a week. At first he went horseback and carried the mail in two capacious saddle-bags, each holding about half a bushel. Later he drove a horse and wagon. This route was continued until the open- ing of the Forest road in 1831.
Most of the time the post office was at the store. Oliver Bixby, Samuel T. Manahan, Daniel Woodward, Jr., James S. O'Donnel, William J. Herrick, William W. Curtis, Oliver P. Hutchinson, Martin Whitney and Thomas A. Williams all kept the office at the store.
David Stiles kept it at his house, where William H. Clark now lives. Mr. Stiles used to put the mail in a box on a table, and every one sorted the contents and picked out his own, if he had any. It was not until 1843 that any case or boxes were used and this was a very rude affair, with a glass front where the letters were put with the address side outward. Persons finding there a letter belonging to them frequently opened the door and helped themselves. The post office was always opened Sunday noon; the room was warmed in winter, and before stoves were put in the church this place was a favorite resort. Women would come and replenish the coals in the foot warmers to last through the afternoon service, and the men lingered to get thoroughly warmed up for the same ordeal.
After the post office at South Lyndeborough was established the mail was brought from there twice a week, and later the service was increased to a daily mail.
Following Jacob Butler, David Stiles, Jr., carried the, mail for a time. Hiram Cram was one of the early carriers. For a time Artemas Woodward had the contract, and it was while
425
MAILS, POST ROUTES AND STAGES
carrying the mail that his wife was thrown from a wagon and killed. She and Huldah Woodward were returning from the village at the "Centre." Miss Woodward got out of the wagon at the corner to go to her home; when the team started down the hill the holdback strap became unhitched and the horse (a blind one) ran away, throwing Mrs. Woodward out and, her head striking the ledge, she was instantly killed.
In 1860 the mail was brought from Wilton daily by Dr. William A. Jones, but as he was frequently called to visit a patient from out of town, the mail took a very circuitous route sometimes and was what you might call irregular.
With the coming of the railroad to South Lyndeborough a daily mail was brought from there to the office at the centre. Levi P. Spaulding carried it for a number of years, and it was carried by the milk teams of Fred A. Richardson and William H. Clark. As the milk teams left South Lyndeborough before the arrival of the forenoon train, the mail had to remain at the South Lyndeborough office for twenty-four hours, a cause of much vexation. When Byron Putnam became a carrier this was remedied. There have been many mail carriers on this route. Azro D. Cram was one, Dana B. Sargent another, and others whose names we cannot recall.
The post office at the "middle of the town " accommodated the whole town from 1822 to 1835. The south part of the town, Johnson's Corner and North Lyndeborough, got their mail there. It was kept in private houses most of the time after the old store was burned, May 13, 1870. Martin Whitney and Thomas 'A. Williams were the exceptions, they kept it in stores.
The free delivery of the mail at farmers' homes had been advocated for a few years by the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, perhaps better known as the "Grange." Many thought the scheme impracticable and visionary and too expensive to be ever carried into effect. But persistant effort on the part of its friends caused the government to make the experiment, and the result of that experiment has been the establishing of rural free delivery routes all over the farming sections of the country. It proved a success from the start and now the great majority of the farmers have their mail brought to their doors once a day at government expense. Contrast this service with that of a hundred years ago, and the thought comes, what will the next hundred years bring in the way of improved mail facilities.
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