USA > Vermont > Orange County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Vermont, from the discovery of the Coos country to present time > Part 31
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
sisters of Mrs. Morse. Mr. Greenleaf was the first conductor on the old Boston, Concord and Montreal railroad, and was employed in that capacity till 1868. Mr. C. H. Greenleaf of the Profile House is his son.
Dennison R. Burnham came here about 1830, and his first partner, in the Morse building, was a Mr. Skinner. This partner- ship did not last long, for Mr. Morse bought Mr. Skinner out, and the firm became Morse & Burnham. James M. Chadwick, who had been their clerk, came into the firm, and they had a branch store at South Newbury, in the house now that of Mr. A. B. Rogers. Later Mr. Burnham removed to Plymouth, N. H., and kept the Pemigewasset House, until it was burned, in October, 1862. Carlos M. Morse, son of Timothy, bought out Mr. Chadwick, and had Anson M. Stevens as a partner for some two years. After carrying on the store alone about a year, Mr. Morse sold out to Henry H. Deming, in 1862.
Timothy Morse was one of the most active business men Newbury ever had. His plans embraced a great variety of ventures, many of which were successful, and others were not. He owned the great meadow farm which is now that of Frank E. Kimball, and usually had some building operation going on. He built the brick part of the old Newbury House, the brick house in which the Leslie family live, that of S. L. Swasey and that of C. F. Darling, and others. He was largely influential in erecting the Methodist church building in 1829. There had been much controversy and some bitterness about the old meeting-house between the two religious societies, but Mr. Morse was far-sighted enough to see that it was for the interest of the Methodist society that it should have a house of worship of its own. The event proved his sagacity, as one of the motives which operated largely in securing the establishment of Newbury Seminary here was the fact that the society had a good church building.
Mr. Deming came from St. Johnsbury, and carried on that store till 1882. The later years, his son, Charles H. Deming, was his partner, and, before the store was sold to James B. Hale, in 1882, C. H. Deming had carried on the business alone. Mr. Hale has now been in trade on that corner eighteen years. About the time Mr. Deming came here, Mr. Chadwick erected a small building in front of his house, which was the one in which Mrs. Jacob Worthen lives, and in which he kept a gencral store till a few years before he died. This store is now the middle part of that in which Silsby & Knight have their grocery and feed business. After Mr. Chadwick, Ezra A. Day, now of Worcester, Mass., kept store there, the building being moved to the site of Silsby & Knight's store. Horace W. Bailey came into it a year or two after Mr. Day went away, and kept groceries and feed. He erected the front part of that building. Before the fire of 1876, there was a long, two story
RESIDENCE OF T. C. KEYES.
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RESIDENCE OF MISS H. E. KEYES.
T C. KEYES'S STORE.
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MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN OF NEWBURY.
building, with a high basement, standing with its end to the street, between the house and the store of James B. Hale. It was an old building, and had many occupants. Deacon Swasey does not remember its erection or its builder. L. J. McIndoe had his printing office in it, after he went out of the depot building. He also had an excellent book-store, which his brother, Rev. David McIndoe, kept after him. Mr. James Smillie had his book-store there a few months in 1870-'71.
On the other side of the street, Col. William Wallace kept store in the back part of what is now called the "Old Newbury House," which, in 1834, his son, Moses Wallace, offered for sale, in the Democratic Republican. Timothy Morse built the brick part of that old hotel, and it was used for a tavern till about 1873. There was a brick blacksmith shop in those days, on the brow of the hill, back of Mr. M. A. Gale's house.
The business house now represented by Thomas C. Keyes, has existed longer than any other in this vicinity excepting, perhaps, that in Bradford of which J. B. W. Prichard is the present head, whose father, Col. George W. Prichard, began business there, in 1812.
Reed & Gould were general merchants in the building which is now the dwelling-house occupied by J. E. Worthen, and which then stood where Mr. Keyes's store now stands. In 1823, Freeman Keyes, then a young man of eighteen, came here from Vershire, as their clerk. In 1825, his brother Henry, then fifteen years old came, into that store. In 1829, Mr. Gould died, and Freeman was taken into the firm, which then became Reed & Keyes, and when Henry became of age, in 1831, the two brothers bought out Mr. Reed, and formed a partnership, under the firm name of F. & H. Keyes, which continued without interruption till 1854. During this time they built up one of the strongest mercantile firms in Orange county. From 1831 till after 1834, at least, the brothers conducted a branch store, in "Goshen," a few rods from the meeting-house. * The building was taken down about 1880. One of the brothers was usually in charge of this establishment, and it did a large business. It was called "Keyes's backstore." Mr. T. P. Hazelton was in charge of it at one time. In addition to their mercantile business they conducted other enterprises. After the death of Rasmus Jonson they bought the distillery, and converted the buildings into a tannery in which they did a fair amount of leather manufacture, making a market for hemlock bark.
In 1846, the Connecticut and Passumpsic railroad was begun. The firm commenced by subscribing $10,000 for stock, which was frequently increased as more money was needed. From that time
*Their first store was in Bradford, but they erected a building just on the Newbury side of the line. After some years they sold to William McDuffie.
278
HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
Henry Keyes devoted most of his time to the railroad enterprise, leaving the management of the store to his brother. In 1854, the brothers dissolved partnership, Freeman taking the store, and Henry took the farm in Haverhill. This was the General Dow farm, which was owned by Mr. Dow and his heirs from 1785 to 1848, when it was sold to the C. & P. R. R. Co. to avert a suit for damages, threatened by the circumstance that the building of the embankment in the river, just above the point of rocks, on the Newbury side, had caused the river to wash away some part of the farm in Haverhill. This farm was bought by F. & H. Keyes in 1850. The firm was reconstructed under the name of F. & H. T. Keyes, the latter member being a younger brother, Horace T., who remained in the firm till 1872. In 1864, Thomas C. Keyes, son of Freeman, was admitted as a partner, the firm name being F. & H. T. Keyes & Co. In 1871, Freeman Keyes died, and, a year later T. C. Keyes assumed the management, which he still retains.
The present building was erected in 1840, and the old store was moved to its present site, the third building below the Keyes's store. The store was not closed during the moving of the building, but customers were let in and out of it by movable steps. John A. Meader was the master workman on the present building. The upper part was finished off for, and used as, a tenement.
The post office building was put up for a storehouse originally, with a hall above, which was used by the Sons of Temperance, "The Know-Nothings," and, later by the Masons, being called "Pulaski Hall." During the civil war this hall was used by the ladies who made supplies for the soldiers. During many years the upper part of the store was used for offices, tailor shops and the like, and the telegraph office was there till about 1862. In the long period-almost eighty years-in which the Keyes family has conducted the mercantile business in Newbury, a great many young men and boys entered their employment, and were trained toward the attainment of the success in business, which most of them secured.
Some particulars of clerkship are preserved which cast light upon the wages of the time :
In 1829 Royal Blake engaged to work one year in the store as clerk for $70, one-half cash and the other half goods at twenty-five per cent advance. In 1830, he left the store and went on the road, peddling goods for one-half the profits made after deducting the cost of freight, and all cxpenses. In 1845 Josiah Tilden came there to learn the business, and was to receive $35 the first ycar, and $10 in advance each following year. Several other young men entered the store from time to time, on similar terms.
About 1825, William Bailcy bought the old "Lovewell Tavern stand," and with Dea. John Buxton as his partner, conducted a general store for some years.
Deacon Buxton was a harness maker, who, later, took his
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MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN OF NEWBURY.
apprentice, Ebenezer C. Stocker, into partnership. Mr. Stocker carried on the business after Deacon Buxton retired, until he died, in 1892.
P. W. Ladd came from Haverhill in 1828, and after working many years at the blacksmith trade, went into the stove and tin ware business, in the building which Mr. Marcy uses for a carriage shop.
The building in which E. H. Farnham carries on the cabinet business, was built and after some years enlarged, by Mr. George Ropes, who came here about 1826, and married a daughter of John Johnson. He did considerable business, and made many winnowing mills, some of which are still in use.
Evelyn H. Farnham made furniture and coffins, and did general repairing in that building, and his son, bearing the same name, is a cabinet maker, and has done a great deal of fine work in repairing and renovating antique furniture.
There has been no general store at South Newbury since the branch store of Morse & Burnham went out of trade. Mr. Runnels has kept a grocery in his mill, since he came there, in 1881. There was no merchant at West Newbury until Capt. Samuel Eastman began trade in 1841. He built the store in which J. B. C. Tyler now trades. In 1847* he built a starch factory near the Union Meeting-House. Mr. Eastman failed in business, and was succeeded in the same building by Hazen K. Wilson, who took Horatio N. Carleton as partner, a year or two later. In 1870 they built a new store where the creamery is now, and carried on a very large business. In 1874 Mr. Carleton went out of the firm, and John N. . Brock became partner with Mr. Wilson till 1877, when he sold out to Mr. Wilson, and removed to Bradford. Mr. Wilson took his son George into trade with him, and conducted the business till the winter of 1882-'3, when he closed out and went to Florida. David Brown, with a small capital, went into the building and did a little trade, and died there. The Darlings of South Ryegate bought the building and put in a new stock of goods, a Mr. Adams, who had been in the store of A. T. Stewart & Co., New York, being their manager. This store was burned while owned by the Darlings February 21, 1888.
John B. C. Tyler is the merchant at West Newbury now, in the old Eastman store. A telephone line was constructed from South Newbury to West Newbury in 1897. Samuel Gibson kept store, many years ago, in a wing of the tavern-house built by him, and afterward long owned by John Wood at the Centre. In 1865 Thomas P. Bailey opened a general store, at the same place, which he kept till 1869. In 1870, Nelson B. Tewksbury began trade in the same rooms, building his present store in 1871. He has carried on a general mercantile business there for over thirty years.
*This date is incorrectly given in a previous chapter as 1841.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CEMETERIES-CARE OF THE POOR-THE MILITIA.
OX-BOW CEMETERY .- THE GROW NEIGHBORHOOD .- ROGERS HILL .- WEST NEW- BURY .- AT WELLS RIVER .- BOLTONVILLE .- JEFFERSON HILL .- TOWN HOUSE .- THE POOR .- WARNING OUT OF TOWN .- "SELLING THE POOR."-TOWNFARMS .- THE OLD MILITIA.
T HE oldest burial-ground in this town, and one of the very oldest in this state, is the Ox-bow cemetery, which has been in continuous use since 1763. Rev. Clark Perry, in 1831, states that the first person buried there was Polly Harriman, who died in Haverhill in the spring of 1763, whose remains were brought over to Newbury for burial. Mr. Perry twice repeats the same statement later in his discourse, which was delivered while there were several persons living, who might have attended her funeral. But Rev. Grant Powers, writing sixteen years later, states that she was buried near the meeting-house at Horse Meadow. The second person buried there was the first who died in this town-"the Widow Pettibone." The third was Abraham Webb, who was an half-breed Indian, and had been a slave of Gen. Jacob Bayley. To quote Mr. Perry's precise language: "Polly Harriman, the Widow Pettibone, and Abraham Webb, were the first three occupants of that plot of ground where most of the fathers and many of the children, and the stranger that came to sojourn among them, now sleep together in quiet silence." It is believed that it was, formerly, an Indian burial- ground, as human bones were exhumed in digging the earliest graves. Originally, the cemetery did not come up to the road, but there was once a house between it and the highway. This was removed long before the birth of any one living.
The town-meeting, held May 28, 1776, voted-"To clear and fence the burying-ground," by which vote it would seem that little
INSERT FOLD-OUT OR MAP
HERE!
THE OX-BOW CEMETERY.
CEMETERIES-CARE OF THE POOR-THE MILITIA. 281
pains had then been expended upon the last resting place of the dead. There is no recorded action regarding the cemetery again till March 27, 1798, when the town voted-"To fence the two front sides of the burial-ground that is near the court-house with cedar posts, hard-wood rails tenanted in the posts, and boards nailed on sd rails, with pickets sawed in top, the back sides to be fenced with cedar posts and rails." It will be remembered that there was then one house, and perhaps more than one, in what is now the newest part of the yard, and a lane ran along the south side of the old part. Additions have been made to the ground from time to time till it now includes several acres.
The older part had long been neglected, and had grown up to a thicket of pine bushes and poplar trees, which had, in some instances fallen, and broken down the ancient stones, few of which are now left. In 1870 these bushes were all cut down, and the ground cleared of the undergrowth. The oldest stone which can be deciphered bears the date of 1768-the name has crumbled away and no one knows whose dust has lain there all these years. Many of the older stones were made by a Mr. Risley, at Hanover, and paid for in wheat. Some of the bills are still in existence. The fine and well-preserved stone erected to the memory of "Mr. Peter Powers, son of Rev. Peter Powers, and Mrs. Martha Powers, his wife, who died at New York, in ye Continental Army, September 30, 1776, in his 19th year," was made by Mr. Risley in 1790, and cost twenty bushels of wheat. The one to Rev. Jacob Wood (now broken) cost eighteen bushels, and the one to Capt. Simeon Stevens cost the same amount. Many of the later slate stones were carved by Wyman Smith. The early headstones, with their quaint inscriptions and elaborate carvings are nearly all gone. and pains should be taken to preserve the few that remain, No record is known to exist of the number of burials in this village of the dead.
It is probable that, with one or two possible exceptions, no burial ground east of the Green Mountains, in this state, contains the dust of an equal number of revolutionary soldiers. The late Col. Jacob Kent believed that about seventy-five were buried there. His estimate is probably under rather than over the real number. It also holds the dust of several men who were participants in the earlier struggle-the French and Indian war. Of many, the places of their burial can no longer be pointed out, and in a few years, more of these heroes' graves will have disappeared. It is the duty of the town, either of itself, or by acting through some patriotic society, to see that the graves which can be indicated, are provided with suitable headstones.
The following are the names of revolutionary soldiers who are buried here, whose graves, with very few exceptions, are known.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
The titles given are those which indicate their rank as commissioned officers, in the Continental service.
Bancroft Abbott
Jacob Fowler
Nathan Avery
Abner Fowler
Gen. Jacob Bayley
Jonathan Goodwin
Capt. Jacob Bayley
Nehemiah Hadley
Major Joshua Bayley
Jonathan Hadley
Capt. Frye Bayley
Sylvanus Heath
Capt. John G. Bayley
Capt. Lemuel Holmes
James Bayley
Col. Thomas Johnson -
James Bayley sd
Joe (Indian)
John Barnett
Col. Robert Johnston
Thomas Brock
Col. Jacob Kent
Peletiah Bliss
Jacob Kent, Jr.
Joel Carbee
Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell
Richard Chamberlin
Peter Martin
Lieut. Abiel Chamberlin
Thomas Mellen
Lieut. Joseph Chamberlin
John Mills
Benjamin Chamberlin
John Mills, Jr.
Moses Chamberlain
William Peach
Remembrance Chamberlain
Gideon Smith
Asa Coburn
Capt. Simeon Stevens
William Doe
Peletiah Watson
John Eaton
William Wallace.
The absence of any memorials to mark the last resting place of so many of the patriotic dead of the revolution is easily understood by any one who calls to mind the poverty of the country in the early days, the destruction by time of so many of the rude stones, and the fact that many of these veterans died very poor, and
"Lie here by poverty distressed no more."
Few of the men of the revolution survived when the country grew rich enough to pension its heroes, but in that place of graves lies the forgotten dust of many a brave man. There should be some organization to preserve the memorials which remain.
Of the soldiers of the war of 1812, the following are known to be buried there :
Col. John Bayley Michael Bayley
John Bayley
J. Amherst Bayley
Edward Rollins Ross C. Ford
Simeon Stevens George Avery.
Soldiers of the civil war:
George Bailey
William O. Moulton
George Chalmers
Alvin G. Mckinstry
Henry E. Dunbar James A. Newell
Samuel A. Eastman
Edwin M. Noyes
Charles W. Greenleaf
Owen O'Malley
W. W. Johnston
Orvin C. Temple
Joseph Kent
C. S. Wallace
Edward P. Keyes
Emery J. Webster.
Thomas F. Kelley
This cemetery has, of late years, received the oversight of an association which has expended considerable labor and money in
"The Old Haseltine House," West Newbury, built about 1807, by Capt. David Haseltine, in which he died, and in which his son, David, lived after him. This house has been repaired since this photograph was taken.
Photo. by Corliss.
CEMETERY AT WEST NEWBURY, NOV. 1900.
1
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CEMETERIES-CARE OF THE POOR-THE MILITIA.
the care of the grounds. While much has been done, much is needed-the building of a receiving tomb, the introduction of a water supply, and many lesser conveniences for the proper care of a large cemetery.
Next in age to that at the Ox-bow is probably one in the extreme southwest part of the town, in what was long called the Grow neighborhood. This cemetery has a sunny location, with a southwesterly slope, and is believed by Mr. D. S. Fulton to contain about 200 graves, only a part of which are marked. Reuben Page, who saw several years' service in the Revolutionary war, Benjamin Muzzey, who was in local service, and Daniel Stevens, who was a teamster in the army at 17, are buried there. This cemetery contains one or two of the quaintly carved stones which were common about 1800. The burial-ground near the Rogers hill schoolhouse, is on land conveyed to the town by Daniel Eastman, in 1801, and the interments there are estimated by Mr. David Eastman at above 200. John and David Haseltine, Thomas Eastman, Paul Ford and Joseph Olmsted, were revolutionary soldiers, whose remains rest there, and probably others. The ground, being wet, was not well adapted for a cemetery, and in 1835 a new one was opened near the church, on land given by Col. John Smith, and to this latter, some of those interred in the older one were removed. Most of the older settlers of West Newbury are buried in one or the other of these cemeteries.
In the new cemetery are buried: Col. John Smith, Israel Putnam, Stephen Powers, and Dudley Carleton, who served in the war of independence, and Colonel Smith, David Haseltine, Nathaniel Niles, Ware McConnel, John Corliss, and Col. Levi Rogers of the war of 1812. Soldiers of the civil war: Stillman Jenne, Joseph M. Nason, Edwin C. Niles, Robert F. Smith, and Thomas L. Tucker. George King served in the Crimean war.
There is another cemetery at West Newbury, a sort of family burying-ground, on the "old Putnam place." Some ten or twenty are believed to have been buried there. The graves of only six are marked in any way. The place had grown up to timber, but was fenced by the town in the year just passed.
The old cemetery at Wells River, which was in the village, was first used about 1801, and was in use till after 1863, and there were occasional later burials. These ceased after the opening of the one near Mr. Eastman's, in 1867, and in 1890 leave was obtained to remove the dead therein buried to the new enclosure. This was done, and the ground given over to other uses. It is said that several veterans of the old wars were buried there, but of these the name of Joshua Hale is alone recalled, of the revolutionary war; Charles Hale and others are of the last war with England. Loren Vance, Edward B. Wright, Joshua Kendall and William Wallace were soldiers of the civil war.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
The cemetery at Boltonville is of late enclosure, and contains. many graves-the earliest burial was in 1842. Lieut. John Whitcher, John and Stephen Putnam, and Carlos Chamberlin, of the civil war, rest here.
The first burial in the cemetery on Jefferson hill was about 1848. The location of this yard is very pleasant. Jacob and Joshua Bailey and William White were soldiers of the war of 1812; George Lumsden and William Wheeler of the civil war. Dr. Samuel White must not be forgotten, as he was a surgeon in the revolutionary war, and attended the wounded from the Battle of Bennington. There are two other small cemeteries on Jefferson hill, each containing a few graves. One is on the "Jewell place," and the other in the Tenney pasture. These have lately been enclosed.
On the "Nourse place," in the Lime-Kiln neighborhood, is a small burial ground, containing perhaps fifty graves. George Banfield, of the revolutionary war lies here, also Aaron Fisk, Daniel Stevens and Edwin Tuttle, of the civil war. On the Orrin Heath farm is a small enclosure, in which the Clark and Renfrew families, with a few of their neighbors are buried. The locality is very retired. The cemetery at the town house is on land given by Charles George, and the first burial was that of his daughter, in 1839. Many families bury their dead here. A new yard was enclosed south of the town house in 1884, Wells Goodwin and Thomas Corliss, soldiers of 1812, are buried here, and John Wells, a "Plattsburgh Volunteer." Horace D. Eastman, Ephraim E. Fleming, Edmund E. Hix, Amos Meserve, Ephraim Rowe, Jonas W. Tuttle, and Milo C. Bailey, of the civil war, are here buried. Amos Meserve was the only Newbury soldier killed in battle, whose remains were brought home. There are a few unmarked graves in other parts of the town, but the custom so common in many parts of New England, of burial upon farms, never prevailed here.
Funeral customs have changed considerably since 1763. About 1785, the town purchased a "burying-cloth," in accordance with the usage of the time. This was made of heavy black goods, with a gilt fringe and tassels, and was large enough to cover the coffin, while it was being borne to the grave on a bier. The burying-cloth was owned by the town, and a small fee was charged for its use. In early days coffins were not bought ready-made, but were ordered of the local carpenter when wanted. It was not uncommon in many places, although perhaps not in Newbury, for people of some wealth to have their coffins made while they were yet living, and upon such, considerable expense was sometimes lavished. The custom, now universal, of enclosing the coffin in an outer box for burial, came in about the opening of the civil war, although occasionally observed before.
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CEMETERIES-CARE OF THE POOR-THE MILITIA.
The cemeteries in town are pleasantly located, and, generally, quite as well looked after as those of other towns. One thing, however, should be no longer neglected. The inscriptions upon all the older stones should be carefully copied, and recorded. It sometimes happens that the date of some person's death is of great importance.
The poor and unfortunate we have always had with us, and the money expended for their support would amount to a larger sum than people suppose. The town had not been long settled before there were people needing aid, and in 1771, Jacob Bayley, Jacob Kent and John Haseltine were chosen "poormasters." Who were the objects of their care, or what the expense to the town, we do not know. It is probable that such aid was in the shape of provisions and medical attendance. The officers do not seem to have had much to do, as the same persons were also chosen as "supervisors," "commissioners," and the like for many years. Usually there is no mention of any overseer of the poor in the record of town-meetings. There were poor people, however, who had to be helped and bills and receipts preserved among the Johnson and Kent papers show that such public expense was much the same in its details as now-aid to the physically and mentally infirm, help in sickness, burial of the dead, and the care of orphan children.
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