USA > Vermont > Orange County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Vermont, from the discovery of the Coos country to present time > Part 28
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BAYLEY, MRS. ASA, (Daughter of Dea. James Abbott.) Memoir. By herself, edited by Rev. Ethan Smith, 1815, pp. 207.
BATES, REV. S. L. Sermon. On the death of Miss Mary E. Tenney, February 15, 1880, pp. 13.
Sermon. Before the General Convention, 1888, (In Vermont Chronicle.)
"The Days of Old." An Historical Discourse, upon the 125th, anniversary of the First Congregational church, September 29, 1889.
BOLE, REV. JOHN. Sermon. At funeral of Mrs. William Reid. (In published volume of sermons, 1860.)
BRADFORD, REV. EBENEZER. Sermon, at ordination of Rev. Nathaniel Lambert, November 17, 1790.
BROWN, CHESTER. Shepard Family, (of Newbury and Hardwick.) Montpelier, Argus & Patriot Office, 1894, pp. 16.
BURTON, REV. H. N. Report as Superintendent of Schools, 1860, '61, '62.
"Go Forward." Discourse delivered at the semi-centennial of the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, at St. Johnsbury, June 17, 1868. Montpelier, Freeman Office, pp. 16.
BUTTON, REV. A. G. Report, as Superintendent of Schools, 1863.
BUTLER, PROF. JAMES DAVIE. Address, on the Battle of Bennington, delivered before the legislature, October 20, 1848, while pastor of the church at Wells River. (Contains the narrative of Thomas Mellen.)
CAMPBELL, REV. GEORGE W. Republicanism. Sermon delivered at the dedication of the Congregational Meeting-house in Newbury, November 13, 1849, Haverhill. J. R. Reding, pp. 18.
Sermon. February 20, 1847. At the Ordination of Rev. George H. Atkinson, Newbury. L. J. McIndoe, pp. 24.
CHAMBERLAIN, WRIGHT, Report, as Superintendent of Schools, 1875.
CHAMBERLIN, EVERETT, Chicago and the Great Conflagration, 1872.
The Political Struggle of 1872.
Chicago and Her Suburbs.
CHAMBERLIN, JOSEPH EDGAR, The Listener in Town, 1896.
The Listener in the Country, 1896.
John Brown, a Biography, 1899.
Statement of Line of Descent of Chamberlin Families in Newbury, 1894, pp. 11.
CHALMERS, ROBERT, Description of Plans Submitted for the Garfield Monument, 1881, pp. 4.
Pamphlet upon Atmospheric Moisture in the Form of Fog and Dew, 1874, pp. 6.
CHURCH, FIRST CONGREGATIONAL. Covenant, 1823, pp. 4. Manual, 1876, Montpelier, J, Poland, pp. 24.
Report Annual, 1877, and each succeeding year, except 1889, '90, '91.
Wells River Congregational. Manual, 1842.
Manual 1864, McFarland & Jenks, Concord, N. H.
Manual 1890, Coos Steam Press, Woodsville.
DEMPSTER, PROF. J. The Benefit and Danger of Society.
An Address to the Ladies' Mutual Improvement Society of Newbury Seminary, November 14, 1845. L. J. McIndoe, pp. 11.
FARRAND, DANIEL. It is not known that Judge Farrand published anything while living here. Several of his daughters wrote tales and sketches, poems and historical works, or were associated with others in the preparation of school and college text-books, But they lett Newbury while young, and were not identified with the town in any way.
JOHNSON, NANCY, Letters from a Sick room.
Simple Sketches and Plain Reflections, pp. 180.
The Myrtle Wreath.
Little Things.
Peasant Life in Germany, Two Ed., pp. 426.
Cottages of the Alps, pp. 401.
Iroquois, (See Johnson Family-this volume.)
JOHNSTON, JANE, She is understood to have published several small volumes, or tracts, for children. One is remembered-An account of the life and death of Amaziah, son of Joseph Ricker, who died about 1815, at the age of twelve.
249
LITERARY NEWBURY.
HASELTINE, SAMUEL, Religious Experience. By himself, with some account of his life and death, pp. 38, 1819.
HINMAN, CLARK T. Address before the Ladies Literary Society, November 17, 1841, pp. 33.
INGALLS, JEREMIAH, The Christian Harmony. A book of church music, 1805, pp. 201, Henry Ranlet, Exeter, N. H.
KEYES, DEA. FREEMAN, Memorial, 1872, pp. 27.
KEYES, HENRY, In Memoriam. Testimonial of the Vermont State Agricultural Society, 1870, pp. 4.
LAMBERT, REV. NATHANIEL, Election Sermon, delivered at Newbury before Governor Tichenor, October 8, 1801, pp. 21.
Sermon, delivered about 1796.
MERRILL, REV. J. L. Historical address at the Centennial of Haverhill Academy, August 4, 1897. (In "Centennial Anniversary.") pp. 68-85.
MUNSELL, MRS. ANTHA M. "The Over Sixty Club," of Wells River, pp. 26, Sherwin & Son, Wells River, 1900.
NEWBURY SEMINARY. Catalogues. The first catalogue was of the fall term of 1834. Afterwards a catalogue was issued at the end of each academic year, except 1868. Triennial catalogues were published of the Collegiate Institute in 1867, and after removal to Montpelier.
Catalogue, by Rev. S. L. Eastman, in 1875, '76. Newbury High School, 1844.
NEWBURY, TOWN OF. Town Reports, 1893, and each following year.
Selectmen and Auditors, Report of the Financial Condition of the Town, February 1876.
Report of the Committee appointed to Investigate the Financial Books of the Town of Newbury, March 1, 1877.
Report of the Superintendent of Schools, by Rev. S. M. Plympton for March 1859. By Rev. H. N. Burton for 1860, '61, '62. By Rev. A. G. Button, for 1863. By Wright Chamberlain, for 1875. By Horace W. Bailey, for 1886. Of late years the school report has been printed with the town report, in the years 1894, et seq.
Town Central School. Catalogue published in 1897, and each succeeding year.
Village Library Association. Catalogue, 1881.
PATTERSON, RICHARD, On the Financial affairs of Newbury, May 1, 1877.
Same subject, February 1, 1880.
PLYMPTON, REV. S. M. Report as Superintendent of Schools, 1859.
PORTER WILLIAM T. Timothy O., Benjamin and George, (See Porter family.) William T. Life of. By Francis Brinley 1860, pp. 273.
PUTNAM, ELDER BENJAMIN, Sketch of life of. By himself, 1821, pp. 216.
POWERS, REV. PETER, Sermon delivered at his installation in Hollis, N. H., February 27, 1765. "For the Towns of Newbury and Haverhill, at a Place Called Coös." Portsmouth, 1765.
Sermon at the Funeral of Mrs. Frye Bayley, February 1, 1772. (This was one of the very earliest publications in Vermont.) Newburyport.
Sermon preached before the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, on the day of their First General Election at Windsor, March 12, 1778, Newburyport, pp. 40.
Tyrany and Toryism Exposed. The substance of two sermons preached at Newbury on Lord's Day, September 10, 1780. Westminster, 1781. (These were the sermons which were the occasion of Mr. Power's leaving Newbury.) POWERS, REV. GRANT, Historical Sketches of the Discovery, Settlement and Progress of Events in the Coos Country, Haverhill, 1841, pp. 240, 2d edition, 1880.
SANBORN, PROF. E. D. Sermon at Funeral of Dea. Freeman Keyes, June 1871. (In "Memorial," also in Vermont Journal.)
SUTHERLAND, REV. DAVID, Christian Benevolence. A Sermon Delivered before the Washingtonian Benevolent Society in Newbury, July 4, 1812, pp 15.
TEMPERANCE, SONS OF, Constitution and by-laws of Pulaski Division Established at Newbury, April 23, 1849, pp. 24, Aurora of the Valley Press, 1849.
TENNEY, MARTHA J. The Tenney Family, 1891, pp. 370.
TENNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY. Catalogue 1897, pp. 88, Opinion Print, Bradford. Catalogue Supplementary, 1900, pp. 34, Sherwin & Son.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
THRALL, REV. SAMUEL L. Sermon. Valedictory, at Wells River, March 28, 1847. WALLACE, JOHN, Oration before the Washington Benevolent Society, July 4, 1812, pp. 14, Windsor, Thos. M. Powers.
Address delivered at Newbury, July 4, 1823, pp. 11, Haverhill, N. H., S. T. Goss.
WELLS RIVER VILLAGE. Annual Report 1898.
Annual Report 1899.
WILLETT, REV. WM. Inaugural Address delivered before the Newbury Biblical Institute, 1843. In Biblical Magazine.
WOOD REV. H. C. On Reading. An address delivered before the Ladies' Literary Society of Newbury Seminary, 1845. Hayes & Co., Newbury, pp. 12.
WHITE, LYDIA E. (Miss White is not a native of this town, but of Topsham, yet is of Newbury ancestry, and spends much time here. As mention of her name and publications is not given in Gilman, they are recorded here for preservation.)
"The Record of a Day." A paper published in October, 1864, under the auspices of the Christian Commission as a supplement to all the religious weeklies in New York, circulating in these and in pamphlet form, to the number of about half a million copies, besides being copied extensively by the general press. It proved exceedingly popular, being an account of a day spent in gathering hospital supplies. So true to life were its character sketches, that, although entirely fictitious, it everywhere passed for a bona fide narrative. Nothing else was produced during the war that gave so graphic an idea of the home work done for the army and navy, during those trying years. Later works of Miss White have been, "The Campaign at Widdletown," "Parish Notes," "Live Coals," "Success in Society." Her brother, Carlos E. White, published "Ecce Femina," and a younger brother, N. Byron White, has published certain agricultural works, the best known of which is "Thirty Years Among Cows."
. WHITE, REV. PLINY H. Essay upon the Ecclesiastical History of Vermont. Delivered before the General Convention of Congregational Churches, held in Newbury, June 1866.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
LIBRARIES-TEMPERANCE.
EARLY COLLECTIONS OF BOOKS .- THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF 1796 .- THE NEWBURY VILLAGE LIBRARY .- THE TENNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY .- THE BUILDING .- ITS DEDICATION .- THE WELLS RIVER LIBRARY .- PRIVATE LIBRA- RIES .- TEMPERANCE .- EARLY DRINKING CUSTOMS .- MR. LIVERMORE'S TESTI- MONY .- REV. DAVID SUTHERLAND .- AN OLD BILL.
B Y the year 1800, several men had quite respectable collections of books. Rev. Nathaniel Lambert, Mr. Farrand, Benjamin Porter, Col. Thomas Johnson, and Col. Frye Bayley were among these. The latter reported in 1805, that he had £50 worth of books. Many of these were rare volumes, or were so by the time the family became extinct in town, so that at the auction sale of the property, in 1863, after the death of its last representative, some of the rarer volumes were secured by collectors, and libraries in the cities.
About 1796, certain gentlemen agreed to place in a convenient room, such books as they could spare, for the common use of such as acquired a title to the privilege by presenting a book. This Library Association was afterwards incorporated, and was in existence for many years.
The Congregational Sunday-school was organized about 1815, and soon began a collection of such books as were then considered proper for religious reading. The library of Newbury Seminary was neither large, nor carefully selected, but contained many valuable works. An agricultural library was started in February, 1864, by a number of farmers, who subscribed for shares, which were five dollars each. This did not seem to arouse much interest, and most of the shares were sold at a small portion of their cost. The greater part of these volumes are now included in the Tenney Memorial Library.
On October 10, 1868, a few ladies formed the "Newbury Village
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
Library Association," at the suggestion of Rev. Dr. G. H. Atkinson, who presented it with a number of volumes. Mrs. C. M. Atkinson was the first president, and Miss Julia Farnham was librarian. The books were kept in Mr. Farnham's house. In 1885, the library was moved to a suitable room in the Congregational vestry. In 1890 Miss Charlotte Atkinson became librarian, and in 1894, Mrs. J. L. Merrill succeeded her. An annual fee of one dollar was required of the persons using the library, and funds for the purchase of books were raised by means of entertainments. The first catalogue was printed in 1881. By June, 1897, the number of volumes had increased to about 1600.
In the autumn of 1895, Miss Martha J. Tenney, of Haverhill, Mass., made public her long cherished intention of erecting a suitable building for a library, in memory of her father, Col. A. B. W. Tenney, and the owners of the old Spring Hotel site promptly offered as much of that valuable location as she should desire for the purpose. A definite proposition was made by Miss Tenney to the town, to which the selectmen responded by calling a special town-meeting on January 28, 1897, which was well attended. A unanimous vote in favor of accepting the proposition was the result of the meeting, and upon the receipt of the telegram announcing the acceptance of her offer, Miss Tenney instructed Mr. H. M. Francis, an architect of Fitchburg, Mass., to prepare the plans for a building 40 x 45 feet, of brick and stone, for a library.
Mr. J. B. Littlehale of Fitchburg was the contractor; the work began in June, and was completed in January. The building is Romanesque in style, the basement is of Ryegate granite, the walls are of Longmeadow stone, and red brick. The roof is slated, and the construction of the building is very thorough. When completed the land and building were conveyed to the town, under the conditions set forth by Miss Tenney in her proposition to the selectmen. The building and its contents are under the care and management of a board of nine trustees, who are, in the order named by Miss Tenney :
F. P. Wells Thos. C. Keves
Horace W. Bailey
Erastus Baldwin
Byron O. Rogers Mrs. W. H. Atkinson
Mrs. C. F. Darling C. C. Doe
Rev. J. L. Merrill.
This body of trustees is self-perpetuating. The present officers are: Rev. J. L. Merrill, President ; Mrs. W. H. Atkinson, Secretary ; Mrs. C. F. Darling, Treasurer; Byron O. Rogers, Auditor. Horace W. Bailey is chairman of the executive committee, and Miss Frances M. Atkinson has been the librarian since the building was opened. The town, by its acceptance of the deed of gift, must appropriate, annually, a sum of not less than $150 for its maintenance and enlargement. The building was first opened to public inspection on
MARTHA J. TENNEY.
a
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LIBRARIES-TEMPERANCE.
the evening of March 17, 1897. It contains a reading and art room, and the library of the Newbury Village Library Association, with such additions as have been made to it. The village library contained about 1,600 volumes, to which some 600 were added before the building was opened. By gifts and by purchase the library has steadily grown, until on November 1, 1900, it numbers 3,535 volumes. The reading-room is furnished with the best magazines, and works of reference are accessible. It is open to the public on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, and is free to all the inhabitants of the town. When opened, the library was without endowment, or other income, than the annual appropriation from the town, but liberal gifts have been made to it, and the income from the town and its invested funds, has paid all its expenses and provided for the purchase of new books. Within the past year, (1900) through the liberality of Miss Tenney, it receives the photographs and other publications of the Library Art Club.
The Tenney Memorial Library was dedicated June 10, 1897, the one hundred and second anniversary of the birth of Col. Abner Bailey White Tenney. The day was very rainy, but the Congregational church, in which the exercises were held, was completely filled. Rev. J. L. Merrill presided ; prayer was offered by Rev. W. H. White, and a scholarly oration was delivered by Prof. Sanborn Gove Tennev. Hon. Horace W. Bailey testified the public appreciation of the gift by a well prepared address, and remarks were made by Hon. Henry O. Kent of Lancaster, N. H., Hon. F. W. Baldwin of Barton, Vt., Mrs. A. P. Webster of Plymouth, N. H., and others. Letters were read from Miss Tenney, Mrs. Sophia Tenney Hale, and Rev. Artemas Dean, D. D. The Mahogany Quartette of St. Johnsbury sang, and a Boston lady presided at the organ. At this gathering several hundred dollars were subscribed as the nucleus of a permanent fund. Miss Tenney, who is much of an invalid, has never yet seen the building which she has erected for the benefit of her native town.
The Wells River Library Association had its origin in 1849. Rev. James D. Butler, paster of the Congregational church, who had traveled extensively in Europe, gave a course of lectures, the proceeds of which went for the purchase of books. These were the first lectures upon European travel ever delivered in this town. This library has steadily grown, and was, for some years, kept at the bank, Mr. Leslie, the cashier, serving as librarian. On May 30, 1892, Col. Erastus Baldwin conveyed to the village, and the association, the two-story building in which the library is now placed, in memory of his brother, Alvi T. Baldwin, and Ralph Baldwin, the latter's son. The rent of the tenement above is for purchase of books, of which there are now about 1,500. The present officers of the association are: Erastus Baldwin, President ;
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
R. G. Brock, Vice President; Miss Addie K. Bigelow, Librarian and Treasurer, and the Executive Committee are: Dr. and Mrs. J. F. Shattuck, Mrs. E. Baldwin, Mr. J. F. Hale and Mr. N. H. Field. A membership fee of fifty cents annually entitles each member to take books from the library, under the rules. In 1899, arrangements were made for an exchange of volumes between the libraries at Wells River and Newbury village.
Several private libraries deserve mention. That of Hon. Benjamin Hale, most of it having been that of his father, President Hale, of Geneva College, was large and valuable. He lived in the brick house now owned and occupied by Mr. Richard Doe.
The First Congregational church has retained its pastors long enough for them to collect many books, and Rev's H. N. Burton, S. L. Bates and J. L. Merrill, the successive occupants of the present parsonage, have made it the home of libraries, by no means altogether theological. The same may be said of the pastors of the Wells River church.
The largest private library in town is that of Hon. Horace W. Bailey, which, somewhat miscellaneous in character, has many rare volumes, and is especially rich in publications relating to the early history of Vermont. The editor of this volume returns his thanks to Mr. Bailey, and to Rev. J. L. Merrill as well, for the free use of their collections of historical works.
The most valuable and best selected private library in Newbury, is that of Mr. George H. Moore, which contains fine editions of the English classics, many of which were imported by him. It is particularly strong in the departments of philosophy and history. Mr. Moore owns some of the earliest printed books known, and several of his volumes are so rare as to be almost unique. He possesses the only set of Hogarth's Plates in this vicinity.
"Of making many books there is no end," said the wise man, and the present inhabitants of Newbury have no reason to complain of a scarcity of reading. The young people of the present day have no comprehension how their predecessors sixty years ago, or even much later, hungered after "something new to read." They will never value books as people used to do when they were very few.
In early days the use of ardent spirits was universal. Everybody, practically, drank; only here and there was a man who did not drink at all. Intemperance, and all the evils that followed in its train, was regarded with indifference by most, with aversion by some, and with horror by a very few. Spirits were handed around at weddings and funerals. Every social gathering was marked by excesses. A glass of spirits was placed upon the pulpit, that the minister might refresh himself when fatigued by the
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LIBRARIES-TEMPERANCE.
delivery of his long sermon. Col. D. S. Palmer, who died at West Newbury in 1886, remembered hearing one of the most noted divines of New Hampshire preach a sermon upon the wrath to come, when too much under the influence of liquor to stand erect in the pulpit. It seems strange how little good men realized the extent of the evil, and their own share in extending it. Men in those days sold rum and whiskey, who would at the present time no more sell liquor, than they would poison their neighbors' cattle.
Cider was universally drank, and in some families was placed on the table at every meal. There was a cider-mill and often three or four, in every neighborhood. There were also several distilleries in town. The old farmers consumed an amount of the beverage which seems incredible. From twenty to forty barrels of cider were considered necessary to support a family through the winter, and some of this cider became hard, very hard indeed, before it was drank. Many, but by no means all, of the old cider-drinkers, acquired a taste for potato-whiskey and apple-brandy. But there were many men who drank cider daily who rarely tasted anything stronger. Indeed, it must be admitted that spirituous liquors did not, seventy years ago, have the deadly effect which they now produce.
The men of the early decades of the century were much more exposed to cold and storm and their toil was hard and in the open air. Their vigorous frames could readily withstand the effects of the stimulants. And there may be some truth in the remark of an aged lady that "folks didn't talk temperance till liquor got so bad it killed people."
Rev. David Sutherland, of Bath, has left the following record of the use of liquor in his early ministry, which began in 1804:
"During the first seven years of my pastoral life, I was sorely grieved with the prevalent use of intoxicating drinks. I could enter no house without encountering the rum bottle, or an apology for its absence. Intemperance was the bane, not only of the church of which I was pastor, but of all churches within my knowledge. I preached with great earnestness and plainness on the subject of intemperance. But the evil still continued. It occurred to me at last, that total abstinence must be the only check, for just as long
as temperate drinking continued, intemperate drinking would.
I
immediately adopted the total abstinence principle, although, for ought I knew, I was alone in creation in adopting the principle. But I did adopt it, and not only published it in my own congregation, but in every congregation to which I had access, that I would never offer a drop of strong drink to any man, nor accept it from any man. And my resolution became so extensively known, that, except in one instance, I have not been asked to drink any intoxicating liquor these forty-two years." (This was written in 1853.)
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
Haying and sheep-washing were especial seasons of excess. People drank in summer because the weather was so warm, and in winter because it was so cold. It was not thought possible to raise a barn without spirits. As late as 1860 it was not uncommon to furnish liquor, but by that time it had begun to be thought a bad practice. At the raising of a barn in that year, the owner had promised that there should be no liquor. But when the help came together it was found that several men were under its influence, and the temperance men seeing the situation, went home. The owner was obliged finally to concede to the temperance sentiment, in order to get his barn raised at all.
The accounts kept of a distillery at West Newbury, from 1811 to 1813, reveal some curious things. A well known citizen, a pillar in the town and church, who kept a tavern, was credited to thirty-seven gallons of whiskey. In December, 1812, Daniel Lindsey began to work eight months for Daniel Eastman, for twelve gallons of whiskey a month. It is not probable that he drank any part of this. He simply took his pay in what was, in those days, an article of commerce, and no more was thought of it than if he had taken it in wheat.
There is a curious bill extant entitled :
"To sundry expenses against the commissioners of the estate of Peletiah Bliss, 1798.
L. S. D.
L. S S. D.
to one pint brandy, 0. 3. 0. to five meals, 0. 7. 6.
to five meals, 0. 7. 6. to 1/2 mug tod, 0. 0. 9.
to 1/2 pint brandy, 0. 1. 6. to mug Cyder, 0. 1. 4.
to 1/2 mug Flip, 0. 0. 9. to pint brandy, 0. 1. 6. to three meals, 0. 4. 6. to pint of wine, 0. 2. 0. to 1/2 pint brandy, 0. 1. 6. to four meals, 0. 6. 0. to horses kept, 0. 6. 2. to pint wine, 0. 2. 0.
Amounting to £2. 2s. 4d.
William Wallace, Isaac Bayley and Asa Tenney were the commissioners, and the spirits were set before the people who had business with them. The bill rendered by Col. Thomas Johnson in 1801, against the committee who built the "old court house" included a charge of £9. 16s. 8d. for rum.
It was many years after that before the temperance reform began, and even as late as 1833, the New Hampshire Courier, speaking of the commencement exercises at Dartmouth College in that year says: "The most striking feature of this annual college celebration, and the one which appears most prominent in the eyes of a stranger, is the shocking extent to which vice and intoxication are carried on by the assembled crowd. The common was covered with a complete hurly-burly of peddlers, auctioneers, tippling booths and travelling shows. More than twenty different gambling establishments were to be seen in operation on the open common at one view."
The annual musters and June trainings were scasons of
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LIBRARIES-TEMPERANCE.
drunkenness. At the muster in 1821, the bill for treating the regiment, of about 600 men, was $21.25-about one gallon of spirits to each thirty men. The handbill for an auction in Haverhill, in 1832, contains the announcement that a barrel of choice whiskey would be opened for the benefit of purchasers. Mr. David Eastman thinks that at a certain store at West Newbury, after 1841, a hundred barrels of rum were sold in ten years. It is by such facts as these that we may mark the progress and operation of the temperance reform, which began about 1840.
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