USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 46
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(Mrs. Richard's Papers)
No. 42. (1820, August 12, Vol. 128, p. 533.) Jonathan and Sarah (Putnam) Clark of Lyndeborough, in consideration of $100, paid by Abigail Putnam, quit-claim to her &c. all right and title to "property which our honored father, David Putnam, died possest of," (viz.) all our right to the saw and grist mills, together with about three acres of land adjoining said grist mill-bounded as follows: South by the stream on which said mill stands ; west, by land of Pierce and Marshall north, by land of David Putnam ; east, by land of Jonathan Town.
Mrs. E. H. Putnam's papers.
No. 43. (July 25, 1838, Vol. 198, p. I.) John Carlton of Lyndeborough to Mariah Putnam of Lowell, Mass., part of second division lot No. 41, estimated about 70 acres, together with the buildings thereon, consider- ation $1500.
This deed states that John F. Holt owned land once the property of Daniel Chamberlain ; that Henry Cram's land adjoined the graveyard ; that Joshua Sargent's land was north from the corner of Harvey Holt's land ; and that there were two mill privileges in the tract, one improved by Uriah Cram and Israel Putnam, and the other deeded to Henry and James Cram.
The above deed was witnessed by Israel Fuller, Jr., and Lewis Cram ; it was signed by John Carlton and Miriam, wife of John Carlton.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CELLAR. HOLES AND OLD BUILDING SITES.
NORTH LYNDEBOROUGH, CENTRE, JOHNSON'S CORNER, ETC., BY J. A. WOODWARD.
Directly opposite the house of J. H. Goodrich at North Lyndeborough was the pottery of Peter Clark and John South- wick.
A little to the north of this is the cellar-hole .of the South- wick house.
In the southwest corner of the same field was a blacksmith shop kept by one, Peabody.
A little to the east of this site is the cellar-hole of Peabody's house.
On the road a little to the east of the Peabody cellar-hole is the site of the Union Lecture house.
Still farther east is the cellar-hole where Dea. Peter Clark's house stood. This is on the town line.
Opposite the house of John H. Goodrich was once a tan-yard owned by Paul Atwood.
A little to the south of this tan-yard was the blacksmith shop of Jonathan Thayer.
James McCauley once occupied a house on the south end of John H. Goodrich's buildings. This house was bought by Phineas C. Kidder and is now the house owned by Frank Gardner.
Back of John H. Goodrich's house was once a potash shop owned by Benjamin Goodrich.
North of John H. Goodrich's, on the turnpike, was the house of Daniel Holmes.
West of the Holmes house was the house of Jotham Searles.
Near the house of Horace D. Gage is the cellar-hole of the house of Isaiah Parker.
East of the cemetery at North Lyndeborough is the cellar- hole of the house of Ruth Senter.
On land of Levi P. Bailey is the cellar-hole of Benjamin Sen- ter's house.
On land of D. B. Whittemore, near the old road by Harry Richardson's, is the cellar-hole of the house of Jotham Wilkins.
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On the road from L. P. Bailey's to the centre was a mill, on Cold Brook, owned by Capt. Ebenezer Flint.
On the hill west of the schoolhouse in District No. 4 was a log-house. This hill now goes by the name of Log-House hill.
Opposite Irwin D. Wilder's barn was once the house of Thomas Boardman.
On top of the hill west of Irwin D. Wilder's was the black- smith shop of Charles Whitmarsh. His house stood opposite. This was moved later to where the house of D. E. Proctor now is.
South of the old Proctor place is the cellar-hole of the house of John Proctor. This is on the side of the mountain, and he is supposed to have been the first settler there.
A cellar-hole near where the John Proctor house stood is where Seth Allen once lived.
On the Needham place is the cellar-hole of the house of Ben- jamin Bullock.
Near where D. B. Whittemore lives was the house of Jona- than Whittemore.
Near the No. 8 schoolhouse was a house once occupied by the workmen of Benjamin Jones. To the west of No. 8 school- house up the hill was the Oliver Whiting farm ; the buildings now entirely removed.
Still farther west was the Dea. Samuel Houston place. The building site is marked by two rows of Lombardy poplars, some of them of great age.
South of this place about a quarter of a mile is the old Reu- ben Dutton homestead. Reuben's son Benjamin also lived there. Benjamin's widow was the last occupant, and the build- ings were torn down soon after she left.
East of the Dutton place is the old Woodward homestead. Daniel Woodward was there as early as 1800, and at that time there was an old house on the side of the road opposite where he built the brick house. Sumner French was the last occu- pant. House burned.
A few rods east of the Woodward place was where Ira Hous- ton lived. It was from here that he emigrated to the West.
North of the Ira Houston place, in a pasture, is the site of the house where Capt. Levi Spaulding of Revolutionary fame lived.
Between the Hill place and D. B. Whittemore's was the house of Samuel Whittemore.
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
Just west of Harry Richardson's is a cellar-hole, owner un- known. Robert B. Osgood lived there in 1860.
Not many rods north of Frank B. Tay's is the site of the old District No. I schoolhouse. It was on the east side of the road.
South of where Charles D. Riley lives was a cellar-hole ; owner unknown. Grannie McMaster is said to have last occupied the premises.
There is a cellar-hole in Everett Hutchinson's pasture; former owner unknown.
Cellar-hole, on George W. Parker's place. Warren Damon occupied the premises once. House burned.
Cellar-hole in the Fitch pasture. Mollie Curtis lived in the house that stood there.
Cellar-hole of the house of Joseph Melendy. House burned July 4, 1879.
There is a cellar-hole on land of Harvey Perham heirs. The house was once occupied by Lizzie Bevins.
Cellar-hole on the place known as the " Creesy " place, near H. H. Joslin's.
Cellar-hole in the Cummings' pasture on Winn mountain. Occupants unknown. There is a tradition that one of them found money in a tea-kettle secreted on the premises, and appro- priating it, left for parts unknown.
Cellar hole on the road to Greenfield, past the Pinnacle house. Known as the Joslin place. Oscar Joslin last occupant.
Cellar-hole on land of E. C. Curtis, near the foot of the hill, on what was an old road from where he lives to the Johnson Corner road.
Cellar-hole on the road south of where Wm. Richardson lived. Eli Curtis lived there.
Cellar-hole on the road past Luther Cram's place, known as the Ellingwood place.
Cellar-hole on the road from Foster Woodward's corner to the Annie Fish place. Charles P. Cummings last occupant. Known as the Israel Cram place.
On same road, cellar-hole on land of Andy Holt. Stiles last occupant.
Cellar-hole on Rose mountain, where James Grant lived. David C. Grant born there.
Cellar-hole on Rose mountain, where Abram Rose settled.
About twenty rods south of the David Holt place was where David Stratton built a house, said to have been the seventh
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framed house built in town. This house was moved to near where the present buildings stand, and many years ago was torn down.
Oliver Holt built a house in what is now land of B. G. Her- rick's. Known as the Holt field. It stood near the brook.
Cellar-hole on road from the Ryerson place to No. 5 school- house, where Samuel Hodgeman lived and where he was killed by lightning. He was the last occupant.
Cellar-hole south of the Hodgeman place. A man named Stiles once lived there.
Cellar-hole about 20 rods north of Hodgeman's place. Upton said to have lived there.
Foster Woodward was the last occupant of a house that stood near where Joseph Blanchard's barn stands. Samuel Wood- ward lived near by. The railroad passed through the site.
West of where Brandy Brook crosses the road to the Centre was once a dwelling. Ruins of the old stone fire-place still to be found. The builder or occupants are unknown. This is on land of Joseph Blanchard. On land of Moses Fuller, between Rose Mountain and the Pinnacle, is the site of a set of build- ings. One or two old apple trees still stand there. A man named Hardy once lived there. Further to the north on the old road or bridle-path to the Dutton place over Rose Mountain is the site of the Starrett place. The Rose place, the Grant place and the two places just mentioned are all that can be traced of the farms on Rose Mountain. The situation of all these farms is about as bleak as any that can be found in town. It would be interesting to know just why these settlers chose such exposed places for homes.
On the Forest road northeast of Winn Mountain is the cellar- hole where John Woodward settled. Jotham Stephenson after- ward lived there, last occupant unknown.
On Woodward hill, so called, Joseph Putnam lived and the old cellar-hole may still be seen.
Further along this road on Woodward hill was where Samuel Woodward lived and where his children were born. The cellar- hole may still be seen. North of Samuel Woodward's place was the land of Eleazer Woodward, on which were buildings. He never lived there but used to cut the hay on the place, and send some of his boys there to feed it out in the winter to stock kept there, the boys boarding themselves. Israel Woodward used to say that the wolves used to come around nights and
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
howl, and sometimes they were obliged to sit up all night to protect the sheep.
In the Johnson corner district, on the road to Purgatory falls, . is the cellar-hole where Mark Morgan had a house.
Further on is the cellar-hole where the Towns family lived, father and son.
Still farther to the east is a cellar-hole where a man named Curtis lived. Said to be no relation to the Curtis families in town at present.
On the road to New Boston, in what was a part of Lynde- borough since set off into Mont Vernon, is the cellar-hole where Amos Pearsons lived.
Next north is the cellar-hole where John Stearns, father of Daniel, Seth and John, lived.
Further on is the cellar-hole where Mr. Chamberlain lived.
Next is the cellar-hole where Ephraim Kidder lived.
Next is the site of the John Rand house.
Next is the site of the Edgar Rand house.
And last is the cellar-hole where Oliver Senter lived.
On the old road towards Milford is the cellar-hole where John Carson lived.
Still farther southeast is the cellar-hole where Levi Curtis lived.
In that section of the town is a cellar-hole in what is called the Buxton pasture. Occupant unknown.
Between the Haggett place and the brook is the cellar-hole where David Butterfield had a house.
West of the Rose place is the site of the house where James Marshall lived. There was formerly a road running west from the Rose place to the present South Lyndeborough road. The Marshall place was on this road.
Further west was the site of the William Abbott house.
At the foot of the hill west of the Boutwell place is a cellar- hole. Who first built there is unknown. Adoniram Wood- ward, David Cram and many other families once lived there.
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OLD CELLARS NEAR SOUTH LYNDEBOROUGH, BY REV. D. DONOVAN.
A citizen well acquainted with all parts of the town has often said that there are, it seems to him, more old cellar-holes in the town than there are inhabited dwellings. Be that as it may, we find several such ruins near South Lyndeborough, which invite a passing notice.
I. On the farm once owned by Ephraim Putnam, the first of that name in town, was an old cellar, of which the oldest citizens of three generations ago could give no satisfactory ac- count. David Putnam, Jr., who was about eighty years old when he died, knew nothing of its origin or owner. It was then on Dea. John Hartshorn's land about thirty rods south of his house. In cultivating the field the cellar has been filled up, and no trace of it is now visible, though it is well remembered.
2. The old cellar of Ephraim Putnam's house, last occupied by Capt. Israel Putnam, is on land now owned by Mrs. E. H. Putnam, at the corner of the field, nearly opposite the summer cottage of Mr. Lawrence of Cambridge, Mass. The house which stood over this cellar was torn down July 23, 1883. Its lower story was found to be lined with brick between the boards and the lathing. The brick were doubtless used in this way as a defense against the bullets of hostile savages in colonial days. The house was two stories high in front, while the rear roof was like that of a shed, leaving the back of the house but one story, and sometimes low at that. Mr. A. S. Conant, the car- penter who took down the frame, vouches for the brick lining.
3. There is at present no indication of a cellar on the spot, where, according to the Wilton History,* Nathan Hesselton, Jr., was born. The buildings of the glass factory covered the spot, as vouched for by the late David Putnam.
4. It would be a satisfaction if we could as readily name his neighbor, who lived about thirty rods to the southwest. In the pasture now owned by H. E. Emery is a cellar concerning which little more can be learned than its existence. It was east of the road which led from the saw-mill of Nathaniel Put- nam to the original center of the town. The lane which led to this place crossed the Mill Brook by a bridge whose abutments are still in a good state of preservation. One tradition is that a man named Wilkins lived there. Southeast of this cellar are
*Page 401.
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
two circular spaces whose rims are slightly elevated above the common level .* These circles show that some one used mattock or spade in the days of their construction. The circles are about 30 feet in diameter. The lot in which these remains are found was Second Division lot No. 30, and belonged to the original proprietor, Joseph Blaney ; and a part of this lot was sold to Hesselton. (See Deeds of David Putnam, No. 32.)
5. On the old road to Wilton Center, which after crossing the Bradford bridge, west of South Lyndeborough, turned abruptly to the left, passing through land now owned by W. N. Cheever, lived a few families who cannot well be ignored. About forty rods southwest of the abrupt turn above mentioned is an old cellar which might easily escape notice, if not specially pointed out. This marks the spot where lived William Abbott, grandfather of our townsman, W. H. Abbott, and also, maternal grandfather of Mr. John C. Carkin.
6. Following this road nearly a south course, up a very steep hill, a person comes to the line fence between William Blaney and Jonathan Chamberlain, Jr., which line the road follows over into Wilton. On the east side of this road on a spot com- manding a fine view east and northeast, a century ago stood the dwelling of Capt. William Blaney. The old apple trees and the walls of his fields and garden and the ruins of the cellar all indicate a once finely cultivated farm. His title of captain is said to have come from following the sea.
7. Westward from this site, stood the home of Jonathan Chamberlain, Jr .; and the ruins of the cellar are on an elevation from which he could look across a little valley to the home of his father-in-law, Benjamin Cram, Jr., the place now occupied by Mr. Frank Winn.
8. Turning southwest from the residence of Frank Winn a road down the little valley about an eighth of a mile comes to the old cellar on the south side of the road, over which was the house of Mr. Jacob Woodward, owned recently by his son Jacob Newton Woodward.
9. West of this last mentioned cellar, is that of Jacob Das- comb, once prominent in town affairs, having served four years as town clerk, 1798 to 1802, and said to have been a Revolu- tionary soldier of the Massachusetts line. He was father-in- law of Col. Timothy Putnam.
IO. On the old road, a short distance east of Mr. Rufus Cham-
* A suggestion is that these may have been coal pits, where charcoal was burned.
.
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OLD CELLAR HOLES
berlain's is the old cellar of Mr. Amos Wilkins's house. It is near the northwest corner of land now owned by Mr. W. N. Cheever.
II. Still farther east on the same road, and also on land of the same owner, is the cellar of Thomas Lakin's house. It is on the south side of the road.
12. About as far east from the Thomas Lakin cellar as that is from Amos Wilkins's, is the cellar of Moses Stiles, one of the very early settlers. He married Phebe Cram, the sister of Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan Chamberlain, Sr. The cellar is on the land of Mr. Rufus Chamberlain, and owned perhaps by his ancestor, Jonathan, in Moses Stiles' day. The cellar is on the north side of the old road, between it and the road which passes the cemetery. Mrs. Stiles was a daughter of John Cram, the first settler.
13. As far east of the Stiles place as the latter is of the Thomas Lakin place is the cellar of Abel Lakin a brother of Thomas. It was in Abel's barn, which caught fire while he was attending an ordination in Mont Vernon, in 1809, that his two children and one of his brother's perished in the flames. The farm now is owned by Mr. W. H. Abbott.
14. In Emery Holt's pasture sixty rods or more southeast of his house is evidently a very old cellar. None of our citizens have now any knowledge of its builder.
15. There is also in what is called the Burton pasture, on the west side of the Wilton road, a very ancient cellar. The person who lived there is unknown to the present generation, though the land on which it stands is now Mr. W. A. Burton's, and has been Burton property for several generations.
CHAPTER XXX.
CEMETERIES.
BY J. A. WOODWARD.
In the absence of all records, it would be hard to deter- mine which of the burial places in town was the first. From the fact that the first settlements in Salem-Canada were made on and near Putnam Hill, one would be led to infer that the South cemetery was most likely the first to be laid out. On the knoll where the pine trees stand in this yard is the grave of Sarah, wife of Lieut. Thomas Boffee, and the headstone bearing the date of Sept. 9, 1772.
In the cemetery at Johnson's Corner is the grave of Aaron Carkin, the headstone giving the date of his death as Nov. 19, 1777. In the cemetery at the "Centre " is the grave of George Gould, the date of whose death is Apr. 29, 1783.
These dates would indicate that there was probably but few years difference in the time of the laying out of these three yards. Tradition says that most of the first burials in town were those of children, the exposure and privations of pioneer life making the mortality among infants large. Who was the first adult to be buried in any of the cemeteries in town is, to the writer, unknown, and there are no records and no tradi- tions to tell. John Badger was the first within the limits of Salem-Canada without doubt.
It was not the custom of those early days to arrange the burial places with the ultimate view of beautifying and adorn- ing them. Neither can it be learned that any lots were sold, each family selecting such a lot as it desired.
The mountains and hills, and the rugged character of the land of the town, made it inconvenient for the early settlers to have one central cemetery, and so the places of sepulture were located so as to be convenient for the various communities. In inany towns of the state the cemetery adjoined the church, and the cemetery at the " Centre " was probably located as near the church as the nature of the ground would permit.
The older headstones in all the yards are of slate, a material which seems to withstand the corroding effects of weather rather better than granite or marble, though some of those old
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headstones are so covered with lichens and moss, as to make it difficult to decipher the inscriptions.
There are several out of the way places in the town where the dead have been buried. One is in the northwest corner of the field back of the house of Moses C. Fuller. Some of the members of the Chamberlain family are buried there.
There is a tradition that there are graves on a knoll east of the old town farm, though there is nothing now to show such to be a fact. Dr. Bartlett is buried on "Crooked S. Hill." His story is told elsewhere.
JOHNSON'S CORNER CEMETERY.
This was land taken from the farm of Amos Wilkins, the first settler on what is best known now as the Kilburn S. Curtis place. There are no records to show whether the land was bought or donated for the purpose. The town has kept the walls in repair and cared for the grounds to some extent, but it was never deeded to the public. Here lie many of the first set- tlers of that section of the town,-the Wellmans, Carkins, Man- nings, Perkinses, Clarks and others who were the pioneers in that vicinity.
The cemetery on the Forest road near the Benjamin Crosby place is a private yard controlled by the Butler, Stephenson and Crosby families. It is said that a man named Thompson, who died of the small pox, was the first man buried there.
SOUTH CEMETERY.
The first plot of land appropriated for this burial place con- tained one half acre. Who was the first owner of the land can- not now be told ; most probably one of the Cram family, perhaps John Cram, the first settler of the town .* There are no writings to show when it was first set apart as a burial place for the dead, but it must have been very early in the history of the town. In comparatively recent years Peter Cram gave a deed of the bal- ance of the land, that is, more than a half acre, to Joel H. Tar- bell and Timothy T. Putnam and their associates, and by them it was deeded to the town. About the same time this deed to the town was given, Rufus Chamberlain gave a deed to the town of a strip of land on the south side of the yard, on condi- tion that the town build a good wall next the road. This condi- tion was accepted and the wall built. On this strip stands the
* Joseph Blaney, Esq. who drew home Lot No. 3, drew also 2nd. Div. I,ot 41, and was the first owner. See Schedule, p. 53, and also old deed No. 2, p. 482. John Cram bought of Blaney, and was first settler.
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
monument erected to the memory of the soldier dead of the civil war.
Some of the Revolutionary soldiers are buried in this yard, Lieut. Jeremiah Carleton, Abram Rose, the Boffee family, many of them, and the Putnams, Crams and Chamberlains, of the early settlers.
THE WHITTEMORE CEMETERY.
Daniel Whittemore came into possession of his lot of land in 1770. Lot No. 124 was deeded to him April 28 of that year, Benj. Goodhue being the grantor. Mr. Whittemore died in 1776 and was the first one buried in this little cemetery, and all of his descendants who have died in town have been buried there. There is strong evidence that some fifteen or twenty out- side that family have also been interred there, among them Capt. Nathaniel Bachelder.
Daniel B. Whittemore, the great-grandson of the Daniel be- fore mentioned, says that "most of the families in this vicinity "buried their dead there previous to the establishment of the cemetery at the Goodrich corner," and that "this lot was dis- carded largely on account of the difficulty of digging graves, in consequence of there being so many large rocks in the soil."
NORTH LYNDEBOROUGH CEMETERY.
This burial place was probably established about the year 1775, and was on land of Nathan Brown. While there is no deed showing the fact, the land was undoubtedly given by him to the community for a public cemetery. Sept. 15, 1869, Mr. Nathan Brown, of Roxbury, Mass., gave a deed of ninety-five rods of land as an addition to the old yard, and citizens of the vicinity gave money and labor to put in a fence and gate in this new part. In 1895 the town laid out over fifty dollars in build- ing wall and repairing old wall.
The oldest gravestone bears the date of May 8, 1793, but Mrs. Benj. Punchard, who died in 1775, was buried there. The headstone of Eliphalet Senter was made of a common boulder, and the inscription was cut out by some member of the family and is dated 1793. This must be the first instance of what is now so common a practice, that of selecting a large granite boulder as a monument.
It is here that the Punchards, Bullocks, Gardners, Browns, Eppeses, Senters, Boardmans, Whitmarshes, Proctors, Atwoods, of the older settlers of this part of the town are buried. Many
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of the Lewis family are buried here also, and there is a record of Mr. Eppes' negro, Jennie, being buried here. Whether she was a slave or not is not now known.
PERHAM CORNER CEMETERY.
This cemetery was probably established when this section of the town was known as Bevins' Corner, but alas! like all the others, it has no records to aid the historian, and its age as a burial place goes beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant. There were graves there which time had almost obliterated as early as 1820.
The oldest headstone is dated about 1790. It must have been a public yard from the beginning.
THE CENTRE CEMETERY.
There have been more burials at this yard than at any other in the town, but there is no deed to show how the town came into possession of the land, though tradition says the land was bought of James Boutwell. Probably a larger plot of land was bought than was needed for there are records to show that the town sold part of the land back to Mr. Boutwell.
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